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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Revelation chapter 3. God willing, we'll start the 
Gospel of John within the next few weeks, just some background 
study before we embark on that major undertaking. So I thought 
this morning we'd look at the letter to the Laodiceans in Revelation 
chapter 3, verses 14 to 22. Now, these are real churches 
in Asia Minor. These real churches were founded 
at the time of Acts 19. That third missionary journey, 
the bulk of the apostles ministry was in Ephesus. And remember, 
he would go to the synagogues and then he would be chased out. 
Well, in Acts 19, we read that he rented a lecture hall at the 
school of Tyrannus. And there it says he preached 
the word of God for two years. and all who were in Asia heard 
him. And so the book of Revelation 
indicates those letters in chapters 2 and 3 to those churches in 
Asia Minor. Now, specifically, Laodicea, 
along with Colossae and Hierapolis, were probably founded by the 
man Epaphras, or at least he was instrumental in helping to 
found those churches. Those three churches found themselves, 
or those three cities, were in what was called the Lycus Valley. 
And so at the time of Acts 19, when Paul is preaching, a man 
by the name of Epaphras comes. He gets converted. He gets saved. 
He goes back to his region. And through his faithfulness 
and through his assistance, again, churches in Colossae, Herapolis, 
and then in Laodicea were founded. So I want to read the letter, 
and then we'll look at it in some detail. So beginning in 
verse 14, and to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans 
write, these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, 
the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that 
you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or 
hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor 
hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I 
am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and 
do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, 
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that 
you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed, that 
the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your 
eyes with eye salve that you may see. As many as I love, I 
rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and 
knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come 
in to him and dine with him and he with me. To him who overcomes, 
I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame 
and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear, 
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for the book of Revelation. We thank you for 
these letters to the churches in Asia Minor and for their abiding 
and practical influence and application in our own situation. Help us 
to learn the lessons from Laodicea. Help us to take heed and help 
us to be on guard with reference to our lives as individuals and 
our corporate life together as the Church of Jesus Christ. We 
ask for the ministry, the presence, and the power of your Holy Spirit. 
that He would guide and lead and direct us, and that You would 
grant us ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 
Forgive us again for all sin and everything that does darken 
our understanding, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. Well, when we look at each of 
these seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor, they follow a 
similar pattern. In the first place, you have 
a command to write to the angel of the church. Then you have 
a self-description of Christ that typically comes from chapter 
one. You then have a commendation 
for the church, which is missing in Laodicea. And then you have 
a condemnation for the church, missing from Smyrna and Philadelphia. Then you have an exhortation 
to repent, and an exhortation to discern, and also a promise 
to overcomers. In each of these instances, each 
of these seven letters contain, again, the same format, the same 
pattern, but they're different in terms of detail. As well, 
when it comes to Laodicea, Leon Morris helpfully describes it. 
He says it was one of the richest commercial centers in the world, 
so that what we have here is a picture of the church in an 
affluent society. And it's no accident that our 
Lord appeals to those things. Drop down for just a moment where 
He says, I counsel you in verse 18, to buy from Me gold refined 
in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments, that 
you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not 
be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you 
may see. With reference to the church 
of Laodicea or the city of Laodicea, as I said, it was very affluent. It was a major banking center. 
They also had a textile industry and a medical school. And at 
that medical school, they had founded a particular type of 
ISAB in order to help and in order to assist people that were 
suffering in terms of their eyesight. as well with reference to Laodicea. Well, we'll get into that in 
just a moment. But one of the things that is underscored is 
their self-complacency, their self-sufficiency, their pride, 
and their arrogance. That is a bad recipe in terms 
of church life. We are to be God-dependent, we 
are not to be proud, we are not to be arrogant, and we are not 
to boast in the manner that these persons in Laodicea found themselves 
boasting. So I want to look first at the 
self-description of Christ in verse 14. Secondly, the condemnation 
pronounced by Christ in verses 15 to 17. And then finally, the 
exhortation provided by Christ in verses 18 to 22. Now look 
at verse 14, to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans 
write, Now, typically when we see that word angel, we think 
of disembodied spirits attending to the throne of God. And certainly 
that is one of the meanings of the word angel. But the broader 
concept is simply messenger. And most commentators and Bible 
students and theologians agree that the angel of the church 
in these particular cities was the pastor, the bishop, if you 
will. Not bishop in terms of the Roman 
Catholic hierarchy, but the overseer in the context of the church. 
He is written to, he is provided with this letter, he then teaches 
it to his congregation with the hopes and the intention that 
they repent and they do what they're supposed to do in terms 
of service to Christ in this world. So in each of the seven 
letters, you can see it in 2-1, 2-8, 2-12, 2-18, 3-1, 3-7, and 
3-14, is this address to the angels of the churches. And as 
I said, they were heavy on banking, textile industry, and a medical 
school. In fact, there were earthquakes 
at this time, or there was an earthquake that pretty much destroyed 
this part of the world. When the government came to render 
assistance to the city of Laodicea, they didn't need it. They were 
able, because they had a lot of money, to fix and build their 
own infrastructure back up. They were not dependent on government 
in terms of their ability to fund this rebuilding program. 
Now, notice the self-description of Christ. It comes from chapter 
1. You can look at chapter 1 at verse 5. And from Jesus Christ, 
the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler 
over the kings of the earth. Now, both those concepts, or 
two of those concepts, make it in here. Verse 14, these things 
says the Amen. This is the true one. The so 
be it one, the way, the truth, and the life Jesus describes 
himself as in John 14, 6. And then I think he further amplifies 
what he means when he says the amen. We might read it this way, 
these things says the amen, that is the faithful and true witness. And the reality is that Christ 
is the faithful and true witness. Now this might speak to the problem 
in Laodicea. They were not faithful and they 
were not being true. So the self-description isn't 
simply to put us back into chapter 1, but it underscores the nature 
of the problem that Christ will address in each of these seven 
churches. So the faithful and true witness 
has spoken and they need to pay attention to this. In fact, George 
Beasley Murray makes this observation. This element in the character 
of Christ contrasts strongly with the faithlessness and inconsistency 
of the Laodiceans in relation to the faith they professed. 
Now notice when it says the beginning of the creation of God. There 
is a parallel in Colossians chapter 1. You can turn there. Colossians 
is a letter that the Laodiceans would have been familiar with. 
In Colossians 4.16, Paul says to the church in Colossae, now 
when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also 
in the church of the Laodiceans. and that you likewise read the 
epistle from Laodicea. And then in Colossians 1.15, 
it says, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn 
over all creation. You see that reiterated in Revelation 
chapter 1 at verse 5, which I just read, and then a form or a style 
of it here in the letter to the Laodiceans, the beginning of 
the creation of God. This does not stress or this 
does not suggest that Christ is a creature. In the beginning 
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Christ is not creature. John 
in the prologue, in John 1, 1 to 18, puts Jesus on the side of 
Creator. Everything else is creature, 
but Jesus himself is not. The idea of the beginning of 
the creation of God, or the firstborn of the creation, is the idea 
of preeminence. It is the idea of supremacy. 
It is the idea of sovereignty. In fact, G.K. Beale makes that 
observation. What John has in mind is not 
Jesus as even the principal origin or source of the original creation, 
but Jesus as the inaugurator of the new creation. So he's 
not telling us or suggesting to us that Jesus is a creature, 
the beginning of the creation of God. No, Christ is supreme 
over the creation of God. And in this particular context, 
Beal is right. The new creation. The redemptive 
order brought to us by our Lord Jesus is referred to in Scripture 
as a new creation. It's referred to as the new heavens 
and the new earth. It's referred to in 2 Corinthians 
5 as everything is done and we are new creatures in Christ Jesus. We've already received it, but 
it's not yet been fully consummated. But nevertheless, the new creation 
has broken in on this old creation, and we are the benefactors, and 
the inheritors, and the recipients of it. When the Jehovah's Witnesses 
point you to Colossians 1.15, or when they point you to Revelation 
1.5, or when they point you to Revelation 3.14, and they try 
to tell you that Jesus is a creature, it just demonstrates how foolish 
they are, and how much enmity they have against the true and 
living God. because those who denigrate the 
Lord Jesus Christ have no track in God. That is simply inconceivable, 
and the fact that they are out there openly promoting heresy 
from door to door, and using passages like these that have 
no interaction whatsoever with what they are propounding, just 
shows how bankrupt that system is. Now notice, secondly, the 
condemnation pronounced by Christ in verses 15 to 17. In the first 
place, we see the problem in verse 15. Look at what Jesus 
says. I know your works, that you are 
neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or 
hot. And in the first place, we notice 
that Christ knows His churches, right? Christ sees what's happening 
in the churches. Solomon tells us about the eyes 
of Yahweh. They are in every place, beholding 
the good and the evil. Well, Christ is that intimately 
connected with His churches to know that they were neither cold 
nor hot. Christ is that intimately connected 
with his churches to know what manner of sin they had to be 
condemned for. And he also knows his churches 
intimately that those good works they should be commended for 
should be commended. So Christ knows and understands 
what is operative in his church. But now here he indicts the Laodiceans 
for the reality that they were neither cold nor hot. Now there's 
a typical approach to this passage that I think is wrong. And the 
typical approach basically says, I wish that you were cold, meaning 
a complete atheist, an utter unbeliever, one that is committed 
to not serving God Almighty, or that you were hot, filled 
with zeal and fire and earnestness with reference to God Almighty. 
In fact, a very popular study Bible, some of you may be having 
it or may have it in your laps right now, this particular commentator 
says, the church at Laodicea was neither cold, openly rejecting 
Christ, nor hot, filled with spiritual zeal. One other man, 
Beasley Murray, again says, an honest atheist is more acceptable 
to the Lord than a self-satisfied religious man. Now, that kind 
of a comment should cause us to take a step back and scratch 
our melons and reflect for just a moment. Does the Lord of the 
church actually wish that those who profess his name would just 
be atheists? Would just get done with it and 
throw off any admission or confession that they're in the service of 
Christ? Notice what he says in verse 15. I know your works that 
you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or 
hot. Now, in terms of the historical 
background of this statement, I think it helps us, but I don't 
think it's absolutely crucial for the interpretation that I'm 
going to give you. In terms of Hierapolis, I mentioned that 
was another city in the Lycus Valley. where it was close by 
to Laodicea and Colossae. In Hierapolis, they had hot water 
springs. It was the Harrison hot spring 
of their particular region. Colossae was the only place that 
had a fresh water spring that produced this cold, refreshing 
drink for people. Laodicea, all of their money 
notwithstanding, they didn't have a good water supply. Guess 
how they got their water into town? Well, they did what we 
would do. They piped it in. And by the 
time it was there, it lost all of the heat that was present 
in Herapolis. It lost all of the cool that 
was present in Colossae. Such that now, when these Laodiceans 
received a drink of water in their mouth and it was lukewarm, 
they kind of wanted to just spit it out. Because we like hot drinks, 
don't we? We like coffee. Or if you're 
into that, you like tea. We like cold drinks, don't we? 
We like a nice cold of ice water. It's lukewarm stuff that we don't 
like. We just want to spit it out. 
So if you don't know that Heropolis had the hot water, and you didn't 
know that Colossae had the cold water, and you didn't know that 
Laodicea was having it piped in, and by the time it got there 
it was lukewarm, you'd know from experience that when you pick 
up a glass of water, and you put it in your mouth, and it's 
lukewarm, you just kind of want to spit it out. In other words, 
they were not medicinal in terms of their impact on society. They 
certainly were not refreshing in terms of their impact upon 
society. It is a condemnation of the church 
that they had taken on the type of heat or lack of with reference 
to their water. David Chilton makes this comment. 
He says the basic accusation against Laodicea is that it is 
ineffectual, good for nothing. We like hot, medicinal water. We like cold, refreshing water. Lukewarm is good for nothing. Now, I realize that if you're 
about to die of thirst, you'll drink lukewarm and be quite happy. 
We're talking about the normal, ordinary course of events, day 
in and day out. We like hot liquids, we like 
cold liquids. We're not too keen on the lukewarm. He goes on to say, the Laodicean 
church brings neither a cure for illness nor a drink to soothe 
dry lips and parched throats. The sort of Christianity represented 
by Laodicea is worthless. He is not saying that outright 
apostasy is preferable to middle-of-the-roadism. Rather, he is wishing that the 
Laodicean Christians would have an influence upon their society. In other words, you're good for 
nothing. What are you doing there? You're so caught up in your riches, 
you're so caught up in your self-sufficiency, you're so dependent upon yourselves 
that you have forgotten the God of heaven, and you have forgotten 
the church, and you have forgotten the people around the church. 
In other words, you're worthless. And then that evokes from our 
Lord Jesus the promise of judgment, and we see that in verse 16. 
Now, this may seem, again, peculiar to you, but just imagine the 
lukewarm water in your mouth. The tendency is to spit it out, 
to get rid of it, to evacuate it from your mouth. Notice in 
verse 17, because you say... I'm sorry, verse 16. So then, 
because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will 
vomit you out of my mouth. So the nature of the judgment 
goes with the metaphor of cold and hot water. But the description 
of the judgment isn't simply common to man who doesn't like 
lukewarm stuff in his mouth. There's a larger covenantal context 
that Christ is underscoring when he promises to spew them from 
his mouth. Turn back to the book of Leviticus 
for just a moment. Leviticus chapter 18. It's important 
we see this covenantal connection in terms of new covenant religion. Leviticus chapter 18 at verse 
24. Do not defile yourselves with 
any of these things, for by all these the nations are defiled, 
which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled, 
therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and 
the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep my statutes 
and my judgments and shall not commit any of these abominations, 
either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among 
you. For all these abominations the men of the land have done, 
who were before you, and thus the land is defiled. Notice verse 
28. The land vomit you out also when 
you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before 
you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons 
who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. 
See, in the Old Covenant, the land was a central feature. And 
when the children of Israel inherited the land that was given to them 
by God, there were conditions attached. And in the book of 
Deuteronomy, it underscores the reality that if they go into 
the land, and there they function like the Canaanites who had been 
in the land before them, then they, like the Canaanites, will 
be vomited out of the land. See, God's judgment isn't capricious. 
It's not arbitrary. He doesn't just throw the Canaanites 
out because he's a racist. He throws the Canaanites out 
because they engaged in bestiality. He throws the Canaanites out 
because of their sexual ethics that were of hell. He throws 
the Canaanites out because of their murder and their mayhem 
and their wretchedness. And so Israel is taught the lesson 
that if you go into the land and you imbibe the ethics of 
the Canaanites, then you too will be thrown out of the land. 
When you look at the book of Judges, the appendix or the epilogue 
is chapters 17 to 21, and it shows you the increasing canonization 
of the children of Israel in the land of promise. So Old Covenant 
Israel were under this particular condition. Serve God most high. If you do not, the land will 
vomit you out. Deuteronomy 28, curses associated 
with the covenant included exile. The judgment with reference to 
the southern tribes, the Babylonian captivity. It was an exile. They were cast out from the land. 
The land vomited them out. Well, in this new covenant situation, 
Christ is head of the covenant. Christ is the blessing associated 
with the covenant. And those who do not live according 
to covenant obligation will be vomited out of the land. Now, 
the reality is that those who have been saved by grace through 
faith in Him will do so. They will do so imperfectly, 
but they will never ultimately be cast out. Those who went out 
from us, though, John says in 1 John 2.19, were not of us. 
For if they were of us, they would have continued with us. 
So Christ is coming to these lukewarm Laodiceans, and he is 
threatening them with a covenantal curse. If you are neither cold 
nor hot, then I will spew you. I will vomit you. And the metaphor 
is rich. It is disgusting, actually, the 
thought of it. But the sin of being ineffectual 
as a church is more disgusting. It is more vile. It is more gross. Sometimes people get caught up 
like that. Jesus says he's going to vomit them out of his mouth. 
They are wretched. They are poor. They are blind. They are miserable. They're neither 
cold nor hot. Why don't we blame them? I think 
I've told you before, one time we were standing downtown in 
the five corners, we're holding up abortion signs, the pictures 
that everybody says, don't show people because they're so offensive. 
And some lady came up to me and she was so irritated that I was 
holding the sign of a baby that was dismembered by an abortionist. And I said, lady, what's more 
offensive, this sign or the fact that it's actually happening? 
You see, brethren, when we come to passages and God uses metaphors 
that are stark and bang us right on the head, I think of Ezekiel 
16, especially the New American Standard translation of verse 
25. Christians read that and they 
get offended. They don't get offended at the 
sin, the vileness, and the wretchedness that Yahweh is actually condemning. We've lost our way, brethren. 
We say, oh, that's gross and icky that Jesus would threaten 
to vomit them out of his mouth. We don't see it's gross and icky 
for a church to be ineffectual in the place where God has planted 
them. Why is that the case? Because 
we, like the Laodiceans, rest on our own laurels. Notice the 
proof of their problem in verse 17. He doesn't just say, you're 
neither cold nor hot. I'm going to spit you out of 
my mouth because you're lukewarm. But he furnishes the proof. He 
gives the evidence. He provides the exhibit. He tells 
them as to why. And notice what we have. In the 
first place, we have their own self-assessment in verse 17a. 
See, sin always renders us, always, I'd say mostly always, I don't 
know always, but I'll say high percentage, renders us self-unaware. We can be a very self-unaware 
group, can't we? I mean, we can just be completely, 
you know, things go right over our heads. Sometimes you see 
it, well, not sometimes, you see it all the time in politics. 
You see people say things and they're completely self-unaware. 
I mean, that we're banning Dr. Seuss and we're okay with WAP 
on TV shows us that things are not right. There is a problem 
with self-assessment going on in North America. Well, it goes 
on in the churches in North America as well as it did in Laodicea. Now, notice their self-awareness. 
Verse 17, because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and 
have need of nothing. This is contrary to Smyrna. Go 
back to the church in Smyrna in chapter 2. Look at verse 8. And to the angel of the church 
in Smyrna write, These things says the first and the last who 
was dead and came to life. I know your works, tribulation 
and poverty, but you are rich. See, Jesus says, I know that 
you are lacking in terms of material prosperity, but you are rich. You're an impoverished group 
there in Smyrna, which, by the way, has no condemnation, but 
you are actually rich. See, in Laodicea, it was just 
the opposite. They were rich. They had stuff. They had profited 
from the banking industry. They had profited from the textile 
industry. They had profited from the medical 
school. They had profited in some degree 
or other such that they were able to reflect now that I'm 
rich. I have no need of anything. We, like the city, didn't need 
the empire to help bail us out at the time of an earthquake. 
We, like the church, were rich, and so therefore we really don't 
need you, Jesus. Sort of like Solomon or Edgar 
says in Proverbs 30, give me neither poverty nor riches. Why? Because if I'm poor, I'll go 
out and steal, and I'll defile the name of Yahweh. But if I'm 
rich, what is my tendency? It is to forget Yahweh. And these 
persons had forgotten their blessed Lord, and so Christ upbraids 
them here. They thought that material prosperity, 
most likely, was the sign of God's blessing. And if we've 
got this material prosperity, well, therefore, we've got spiritual 
prosperity. Well, brethren, you know as well 
as I do, that's not a good formula. That is not always a consistent 
guide. Sometimes you can have materially 
rich people that are thriving spiritually. Sometimes you can 
have materially poor people that are not doing well spiritually. 
So that formulaic approach is wrong-headed. It is ill-guided. 
It is the scripture that dictates. It is obedience to the revealed 
will of God, and not the blessings associated with our present life. 
So they had benefited, they had prospered, they had received 
all these things, and yet they were not what they thought they 
were. The danger of material prosperity 
unmixed with the fear of God. Just turn to one passage. I've 
preached on this many times. It's not sin to have money. 1 
Timothy chapter 6. You see, sometimes in the history 
of interpretation, people go for the easy interpretations. 
Now, I'm all for Occam's razor and those things that are most 
obvious are probably true, but when it comes to material blessing 
in God's world, it's wrongheaded to be a papist. It's wrong-headed 
to take a vow of poverty. It's wrong-headed to say, well, 
that money is wicked, and therefore, we got to get rid of all of it. 
No, that's the simple way. The more diligent person reads 
the Bible, reflects upon God's command, and does what he's told. So the idea is not that if you 
have money, you need to get rid of it. Now, if you have money 
and you want to get rid of it, go ahead, do whatever you want, 
but we shouldn't bind people's consciences with some sort of 
a communistic manifesto that they must disavow every jot and 
tittle of their resources. Those brethren that say, well, 
you know, communism isn't that big of a deal, or economics, 
the Eighth Commandment forbids communism, brethren. The Eighth 
Commandment forbids socialism. I've always been a bit disconcerted 
when people say, why do you talk about the economy? Because there's 
a commandment given by God to regulate the economy. And they're 
not supposed to take from you and give it to someone else. 
I realize that may seem odd and countercultural in North America 
in the 21st century, but that's the reality. If God tells you 
to get rid of everything you own and sell it and give it to 
the poor, then you do that. But if man does it, no, sorry, 
not gonna listen. Look at 1 Timothy 6. Again, this 
speaks volumes to the problem in Laodicea. If you look first, 
At verse 6, this is in light of what he said before. I don't 
want to read this whole thing and spend the rest of the time 
here. But basically, he says that there are people, religious 
teachers, false religious teachers, the end of verse 5, notice what 
he says, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. He says, 
now godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought 
nothing into this world, and it certainly can carry nothing 
out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 
Isn't that the bottom line? When all is said and done, we 
need food and clothing, right? That's just it. You can live 
without a summer home. You have to have food and clothing. 
You can live without the best Ivy League colleges, and you'll 
live a whole lot better without them, but we have to have food 
and clothing. That is absolutely requisite, 
and if we have that, we should be content. Now, notice the food 
and clothing. It's not steak and lobster and 
Gucci wardrobe, if that's a thing, or whatever. It's food. Whatever 
you can get down your gullet to sustain life, praise God for 
the food that He has given you. Now notice in verse 9, "...but 
those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and snare, and 
into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction 
and perdition." See, the Bible recognizes and realizes the tendency 
of the creature to become overly dependent upon other creature. 
In this case, money. When we become overly dependent 
on creature, we're no longer dependent upon creator. And that's 
where in the problem lies. That's why Jesus uses that parallel 
or that analogy in Matthew 6. God or mammon. Are we going to 
give all our attention to mammon or God? Now, mammon is a tool. God gave us money for a tool. 
And if we use it that way responsibly, then good. Notice in verse 10, 
the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Not money. 
Money doesn't go out and sin. It's man who goes out and sins 
with money. See, we always want to see the 
thing as evil. I guess it's easier than just 
saying the heart is evil, right? But Jeremiah tells us that the 
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. 
But we want to say that alcohol is evil, that gun is evil, that 
car is evil, that money is evil. No, it's we're the ones that 
are evil, it's how we use the alcohol, it's how we use the 
car, it's how we use the gun. See, a simplistic interpretation 
says get rid of anything that could possibly cause harm. Brethren, 
we could have no arms and no legs on a deserted island and 
sin very well. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever. We need nothing to assist us 
in the pursuit of sin because it's the heart that's deceitful 
above all things and desperately wicked. So it's the love of money 
that is a root of all kinds of evil. for which some, not all, 
have strayed from the faith and their greediness, and pierced 
themselves through with many sorrows." You think, well, that's 
Paul's word on riches. That's Paul's word. Cautions 
gives us some things to think about, indicates the love of 
money is a bad thing, this desire for things beyond the food and 
clothing, that can present a temptation. But that's not all he says. Look 
at 1 Timothy 6 at verse 17. Timothy, I want you to have a 
Bible study. And in that Bible study, I want you to invite the 
rich people. I guess the poor people can come too. They might 
fall into a bag of money sometime and find themselves in a state 
of riches. But for now, I want you to gather everybody in the 
church. I want you to distinguish. Those who have money, I want 
you to come. He says, come, command those who are rich in this present 
age not to be haughty, the Laodiceans were haughty, nor to trust in 
uncertain riches. The Laodiceans trusted in uncertain 
riches, but rather you're to trust in the living God who gives 
us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may 
be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share." See, 
the Laodiceans were neither cold nor hot. They didn't refresh, 
they didn't heal, they didn't use those resources for the benefit 
of the church or the benefit of the people around the church. 
The Laodiceans didn't listen. They didn't understand, they 
didn't internalize, they didn't think through the reality that 
they ought to be engaged in good works with the money that had 
been given to them. So their self-assessment, they 
said, I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing. 
Back to chapter three in verse 17, notice Christ's assessment, 
the actual condition. 17b, and do not know. So you 
say this, but you do not know this. So I think that would be 
a good thing for all of us to pray. God help me to be self-aware. It would really benefit a lot 
of people. Independent self-government is 
always the foundation of any civil order. We have an absence 
of that. And part of independent self-government 
is an accurate self-assessment. When Solomon talks about the 
four beasts or the four animals in Proverbs, he talks about the 
lion. The lion doesn't need to prepare 
his food in the winter. When the lion's hungry, he goes 
out and he eats, because he's a lion. Ants, however, with the 
correct self-assessment that they're not lions and they'll 
starve if they don't industriously go out and gather up food to 
lay it up for the winter, those are wise creatures. The coney, 
those hydraxes, those rock hydraxes, the cautious coneys, what do 
they do? They post guards around their 
encampment, and those guards will squeal when a predator comes. So the coneys know to then find 
crags in the rocks to hide themselves. See, each of those animals that 
Solomon speaks of have wisdom. They have self-assessment. They know things to be true. 
You're not doing yourself any favor when you think you're a 
10-point holy person when you're about a 3 or a 4. That's okay. God's good with 3 or 4. He wants 
you to sort of bump it up, if you will. 2 Corinthians 7, 1, 
perfecting holiness and the fear of God, all of that to be sure. 
But this self-awareness can damn souls and can damn or shut churches. The lofty assessment they had 
of themselves is completely counteracted by Jesus. Notice in 17b, you 
do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. There is the problem of self-delusion 
that many people still harbor. If you're a wretch, it's better 
to admit it. If you've got issues, it's better 
to deal with it. What does Solomon say in Proverbs 
28? He who covers his transgression 
shall not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes it will 
find mercy, both with men and God. See, this idea that we can 
cover our sin, that we can hide from our sin, that we can counteract 
our sin by some lofty self-assessment is condemned here by Jesus with 
reference to these lukewarm Laodiceans. Now, that brings us thirdly to 
consider the exhortation provided by Christ in verses 18 to 22. 
Notice in the first place the remedy provided in verses 18 
and 19. Notice the remedy in verse 18. I counsel you to buy from me 
gold in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments, 
that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may 
not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eye 
salve, that you may see. Remember in Bunyan's Pilgrim's 
Progress that Mr. Blind Man would always talk about 
how he saw so clearly? That's what the Laodiceans were 
doing too. They saw so clearly. Jesus says, 
you need the eye salve, the spiritual eye salve, not what they're making 
at the School of Medicine over there, but you need spiritual 
eye salve to fix your eyesight and to correct you so that you 
have a proper self-assessment. It's only pride, brethren, that 
makes us want to look so much better around everybody else. 
I mean, imagine if we actually dealt honestly and openly. I'm 
not telling you with everybody. You know, every day's Facebook 
status shouldn't be, I'm poor, I'm miserable, I'm blind and 
wretched. That goes sort of the other way then. It kind of seems 
like you're virtue signaling under the guise of piety. Oh, 
I'm such a wretch. Well, you are such a wretch and 
wretches deal with it by God's grace. They go to Christ and 
seek fresh mercy and they seek repentance so that they deal. So easy to just whine and grumble 
and complain rather than actually do what God has called us to 
do. With reference to these people, he counsels them to get spiritual 
eyesalve, he counsels them to get gold, spiritual gold, and 
the garments, white garments that you may be clothed, that 
the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. See, persons 
try to cover their sin, but they can't do it. It's only Christ. It's the blood of Jesus Christ, 
His Son, which cleanses us from all sin. So in their pride and 
their arrogance and their lack of self-awareness, while they're 
patting themselves corporately on the back, saying, aren't we 
great? Aren't we awesome? Aren't we wonderful? Aren't we 
the best church that ever was? We do everything we're supposed 
to. We're rich. We have no need. We're self-sufficient. And Jesus says, you're wretched. 
You're horrible. You're monstrous. You've got 
more issues than you've even begun to consider. So I counsel 
you to buy from me gold. Doesn't he sound like what we 
read in the prophet Isaiah in chapter 55? Why do you spend 
your wages on that which does not satisfy? Come to God. Come to the Lord Jesus. Quit 
trying to cover your shame and nakedness with your own self-righteousness. That only compounds the problem, 
brethren. It never helps it. The Christian 
is a Christ-righteousness person, not a self-righteousness person. So Jesus upbraids them and indicates 
for them their true condition. And now notice his motivation 
for doing this. Verse 19, as many as I love, 
I rebuke and chase it. Wow. I should back up to a grammatical 
point. Go back to verse 16. I forgot to say this. Verse 16, 
so then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will 
vomit you out of my mouth. Now, a better literal translation 
is, I'm about to vomit you out of my mouth. The way the New 
King James renders verse 16 is that it's a done deal. They're 
going to be vomited out of his mouth. That's just the way it's 
going to be. No, verse 16, he says, I'm about to. What does 
that indicate? He's giving them time. He's giving 
them the opportunity to repent. And why does he do that? Well, 
verse 19 underscores that. As many as I love, I rebuke and 
chasten. Jesus doesn't tell us hard things 
because he hates us. Jesus tells us hard things because 
he loves us. See, Solomon says that in Proverbs 
as well. Proverbs 27.6, faithful are the 
wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. See, in our trigger-happy age 
of hypersensitivity and everything offends us, we'd hear this from 
the Savior and say, well, He must hate us. He must hate us. He said harsh things to us. We 
don't feel good as a result of that. It's out of his love that 
he says this. There's hope for the Laodiceans. 
There's time for the Laodiceans. Stop with this inaccurate self-assessment. Imbibe the condition that is 
yours and come to me for gold. Come to me for garment. Come 
to me, for I shall, with which you can correct your spiritual 
blindness." Why, Jesus? As many as I love, I chasten 
and rebuke. As many as I love, I come and 
write a letter to. As many as I love, I cause my 
spirit to speak to the churches concerning. It's born out of 
love. It's born out of mercy. It's 
born out of grace. And then notice the purpose behind 
this is rebuke and chastening. 2 Timothy chapter 3 indicates 
this purpose for the Word of God. It says that all Scripture 
is profitable. It's given by inspiration of 
God, and it's profitable for three things. The first is for 
doctrine. We need to be doctrinal. We need 
to understand Scripture. We need to know theology. We 
need to, 2 Peter 3.18, grow in the grace and in the knowledge 
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But it's not just a doctrinal 
statement. It's also for reproof. Why? Because we leave the proper 
path at times. Is everybody with me? You're 
all looking at this guy. Brethren, the reality is, is 
that we need reproof. Again, you're not supposed to 
be a constantly triggered, constantly offended person. If somebody 
comes to you out of love and tries to offer a bit of reproof, 
don't immediately throw it back on. Well, what about you? Alright, 
yeah, what about me? Let's talk about my wickedness 
and my sin. We can do that tomorrow. But 
right now I've come to you about something. It's just so offensive. I'm not saying you people. I'm saying when my wife says 
something, I immediately get defensive. Why is that? Because 
I'm a wretch, brethren. I'm a really bad man when it 
comes to that sort of thing. I think we all have belated tendencies 
to just get defensive with any little thing and say, well, that 
wasn't me. I didn't do it. You know, when you're raising 
kids, you have another kid called not me. All your other kids know 
him quite well. Who did this? Well, not me. Not 
me. Once I find not me, he's really going to get it, isn't 
he? You see, the idea is that He chastens us and He rebukes 
us. It's for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. See, the idea 
is that when we go off the beaten path, we get reproved by our 
blessed Father, we get reproved by the Spirit and the Word, and 
then we're corrected so that we're true again. Imagine trying 
to navigate a ship without any instrumentation. I know that 
there are captains and admirals out there that can do that with 
the stars and with the moon and all that sort of thing. But brethren, 
instruments really help stay true. And one of the instruments 
that God has given to help Christians stay true, and by that I don't 
mean honesty, I mean on the proper path. It's the Word of God. It's reproof. It's corruption. 
The hymn writer wasn't kidding. He said, O to grace how great 
a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. Let that grace now, like 
a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, 
I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, 
O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. Hebrews chapter 
12, there's three incentives there for the people of God to 
run the race with endurance that is set before them. The first 
is the cloud of witnesses. The second is looking unto Jesus, 
the author and finisher of faith. And the third is in verses 5 
to 11, the discipline and chastening hand of God. See, it doesn't 
do us any good when we're disciplined or chastened by God to invoke, 
not me, to say, well, that was wrong, or that wasn't me, or 
I'm actually a very splendid fellow, Lord. That's never helpful. Faithful are the wounds of a 
friend, and we should receive them happily. And then he emphasizes 
zeal and repentance. A lukewarm people need some zeal. A lukewarm people need to step 
it up. A lukewarm people need to recalibrate, 
as it were, and get fired up with reference to their commitment 
to their blessed Savior. And, of course, repentance. You 
cannot be ineffectual and stay ineffectual. You cannot be condemned 
as a church and not be changed. There must be repentance. And 
remember, repentance is a change of mind, and then the fruits 
follow in tow. And then he gives this invitation 
in verse 20. I mentioned this earlier. I just 
want to look at it here. Verse 20, Behold, I stand at 
the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and 
opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and 
he with me. Remember, brethren, he's not 
dealing in an unconverted setting. This isn't a crusade. This isn't 
a tent meeting. This is the church in Laodicea. He's talking to as many as I 
love, I chasten and rebuke. It is not an individualized, 
personalized gospel invitation text. There are a multitude of 
such texts in the Bible. Isaiah 55, one and following, 
is one of them. John 7, 37, the last great day 
of the feast. What does Jesus do? He says, 
if any man thirsts, let him come to me. What about Acts 16, 31? That man is going to kill himself. 
And Paul and Silas say, don't do that. He comes and he falls 
down before them. And he says, sirs, what must 
I do to be saved? They say, believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Matthew 11, 25 to 30, 
Jesus praises the Father, Lord of heaven above, because thou 
didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, but you 
revealed them unto babes. On the heels of that statement 
concerning God's absolute sovereignty, verse 28, he says, come to me, 
all you who are weary and heavy laden. So the Bible has no shortage 
of personal, individualized texts to call sinners to faith and 
repentance. But Revelation 3.20 is not one 
of them. Revelation 3.20 comes to the 
church in Laodicea. Revelation 3.20 comes to the 
people whom Jesus says, as many as I love, I chasten and I rebuke. Listen to David Chilton. Again, 
I think he underscores this well and a lot more pointedly than 
I would. That's why I'm going to read him. Several Reformed 
commentators have pointed out the widespread abuse of this 
passage by modern evangelicals, who rip the verse from its context 
as a message to the elders of the church and turn it into a 
watered-down Arminian request from a weak and helpless deity 
who is at the mercy of man. We must remember that Christ 
is speaking here as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, 
the creator and sovereign Lord of all. He is not making a feeble 
plea as if he did not rule history and predestine its most minute 
details. He is the King of kings who makes 
war on his enemies and damns them to everlasting flames. Nor 
is He speaking to people in general, for He is directing His message 
to His church. Nor again is He simply speaking 
to Christians as individuals, but to Christians as members 
of the church. So in the midst of this group, 
the Lord Christ nevertheless stands at the door, and He knocks, 
and He gives this blessed promise, whoever hears. Whoever listens, 
whoever opens up, Jesus says, I will come in, I will sup with 
him, I will commune with you. What is the obvious implication 
here? You get out of church what you 
put into church. If you're unhappy, if you are 
just sullen, if you are arrogant, if you have undealt with sin 
toward God and men, if you are loaded forbear to not be blessed, 
guess what's gonna happen? You're not gonna be blessed. 
Now, God's so good. So merciful and so kind, even 
when we adopt that position at times, He still blesses. He overrules 
our hardened hearts. He causes us to open up so that 
Christ can come in and commune with us. But this reality obtains. We get out of church what we 
put into it. It's like that everywhere, isn't 
it? Well, I got nothing. There's so much complaining by 
the people of God about the churches of God. There's so much complaining 
by people that don't serve, by people that don't help, by people 
that don't pray, by people that don't show up, by people that 
don't do anything. And then they're grumbly and 
sullen and mumbly and whiny about, well, there's nothing in that 
church. There's no good thing there. Oh, OK. All right. Thanks. Yeah, we really appreciate 
that. To put something into it. There's a personal responsibility 
element for all of us. Behold, I stand at the door and 
knock. If anyone, that doesn't just mean the bishop, the elder, 
the overseer or angel of the church. If anyone hears my voice 
and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and 
he with me. What does this say about the 
Church of Christ? It should never be closed. It 
should never be closed, either to sheep or to shepherd. Open the doors. Let the people 
of God come to Zion. Let the God of Zion meet with 
them, to dwell with them, to walk among them. Someone in my 
hearing over the last several weeks made the blessed observation 
that churches should be open. Persons who are fearful concerning 
the virus have every right not to attend. But when you shut 
down churches, persons who would take that calculated risk and 
go are being penalized. That's not right, brethren! It 
is not right at all! We'll take the risk to go get 
a burger, we'll take the risk to go to Walmart, we'll take 
the risk to go to the water park, we'll take the risk to take our 
children over to the new pump truck, we'll take the risk everywhere 
else, but we won't take the risk to dwell with our God, to open 
the door to our Savior so that we can commune with Him, so that 
He can dine with us, so that we can enjoy that blessed reality 
of new covenant religion, which is God in the midst of His people. 
Brethren, this is what it's about. And for those who say the church 
is unessential, the church is the most essential. We worship 
God. What do you bring to your community? 
A place to facilitate the worship of God. I realize that the person 
driving by this morning who gave us the one finger salute doesn't 
understand that. I get it. But churches should 
get that. We bring to the table the place 
wherein God purposes to dwell with his people in this new covenant 
era. If we short that out, we are 
betraying our blessed Savior. Again, my animus is toward pastors. 
Pastors, open the churches. Open the churches. I just don't 
think that can be repeated enough. Open the churches. I'll get pastors 
who call me to encourage me and say, oh, we're behind you. We're 
praying for you. Is there anything we can do? I got a zany idea. You could open your doors and 
me too. It's not rocket science. It's 
not more complicated than many realize. It's pretty simple. 
We can wear a mask and we can wash our hands and wander into 
Walmart. I'd like to think the Church 
of Christ has the competency to do the same. I'd like to think 
even before the pandemic, we washed our hands, that we didn't 
cough on each other. I don't ever remember sneezing 
in someone's face. And certainly if I saw somebody 
in the act of sneezing and I had any prudence or foresight, I 
would have moved my way around them. I mean, we're adults. treated like children, and then 
they wonder why we're upset. I don't think that this is right, 
and I don't think that the church should continue to kowtow to 
it. And then he reiterates the promise of verse 21. Notice this. Each of the letters of the churches 
in Asia Minor end on this note. To him who overcomes. In fact, 
go back to chapter 2 to verse 7. in the medal to him who overcomes. Verse 11, he who overcomes. Verse 17, to him who overcomes. Verse 18, verse 26 rather, and 
he who overcomes. Chapter 3, verse 5, he who overcomes. Chapter 3, verse 12, he who overcomes. Chapter 3, verse 21, to him who 
overcomes. What does he mean by that? Well, 
I guess he means we need to overcome. I guess he means we need to persevere. I guess he means that in this 
world we will have tribulation. Did we expect something opposite? Again, this is just bizarre to 
me. I can't believe it. You can't believe it? A state 
that's run with this power craze? You can't believe that? You see 
it in Revelation 13. You see it in Manasseh. You see 
it in Ahab. You see it in Pilate. You see 
it in Caesar. You see it throughout world history, 
and all of a sudden now, I just can't believe that this wonderful 
government would ever make life unbearable for the people of 
God. It's not unbearable yet. Thankfully, they haven't repelled 
in. Thankfully, they haven't locked our, put a fence around 
our building like they did to James Coates and Grace Life Church 
and Edmonton. This is Canada, brethren, and 
they fenced off a church. And we're all okay with this? 
This is somehow acceptable that in Canada we're functioning like 
China or North Korea? That ought to cause us all a 
great deal of concern to perhaps reflect upon the reality there 
might be more at stake here than virus mitigation. But with reference 
to this overcoming, look at Revelation 21.8 where I think it is made 
very clear. Revelation 21 and verse 8. Look at the first word, the first 
category of sinner that finds himself in the lake of fire. 
Let's just skip the first and let's read all the others. But 
the unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, 
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in 
the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second 
death. We'd all amen that. We'd all 
say absolutely. If you're sexually immoral, you 
shouldn't be in the New Jerusalem. If you're unbelieving, you shouldn't 
be in the New Jerusalem. If you're an idolater, you're 
a sorcerer, you're engaged in that kind of practice, yeah, 
you should be in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. 
But the first one is cowardly. That's the ones who didn't overcome. That's the ones who kowtowed 
to the culture and to the society around them. That's the one who, 
when they were ordered not to worship the true and living God, 
said, okay, we won't worship the true and living God. There 
has to be an overcomingness on the part of the people of God 
and on part of the churches of God. If we do not overcome, it 
demonstrates the reality of 1 John 2. They were not of us, because 
if they were of us, they would have continued with us. That 
is the stark reality. And then the note ends, or the 
letter ends on that. Again, he who has an ear, let 
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. You don't think 
Christ is active at the right hand of God Most High? He most 
certainly is. He upholds all things for the 
good of His church. But He also communicates to the 
church by His Spirit. He is prophet, priest, and king. 
He's prophet at the right hand of God Most High even now. From 
whence He sends the Spirit to the churches to inculcate in 
the people of God to have that ear to hear what the Spirit says 
to the churches. And when we hear what the Spirit 
says to the churches, it is our wisdom to put it into practice 
by the grace of God Almighty. In quick conclusion, first, the 
problem of lukewarm Christianity. There is a false assessment associated 
with it, the sins of pride, self-sufficiency, and spiritual ignorance which 
manifest it, and the failure to impart any good effect for 
which Christ promises to spew them from His mouth. In sum, 
brethren, the problem with lukewarm Christianity is that it's not 
Christianity. If we find ourselves lukewarm, 
then we need to listen to what our blessed Savior says and be 
zealous and repent. See, it really is not that complicated. Secondly, the antidote to lukewarm 
Christianity, the need to have dealings with Christ. When he 
says, come, buy from me, seize upon that. Don't reject it. Don't 
deny it. Don't say, oh yeah, he was preaching 
today to the other 95% of the people. Brethren, I'm preaching 
to all of us, every single one of us, not just you, me. We all need to renew zeal and 
repentance. As well, the need to correct 
lukewarmness with zeal and the need to repent from those perennial 
sins. I mean, look at the sins of Laodicea. 
You don't go, wow, they're axe murderers, they're bank robbers, 
they're, you know, a real menace to society. They're counter-revolutionaries. They're going to take down the 
Romans. That's not their problem. They're proud. They're self-sufficient. They're arrogant. They have a 
spiritual ignorance, a malaise over them. They don't see what 
the reality is. If that is us, we need to repent. And brethren, we need to open 
that door to the Lord Jesus Christ when we gather for public worship. 
Behold, he says, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears 
my voice and he opens up to me, then Jesus comes and he makes 
communion with him. May Christ always be welcomed 
in this church. May Christ always be welcomed 
in our hearts. And may Christ show us that blessed 
communion without which, brethren, we die. As the people of God, 
we need the God of heaven and earth. We need this. It's not 
a non-essential. It's not a marginalized item. It's not something we can do 
without. But the people of God need Christ, and Christ is to 
be found walking amongst His lampstands, according to Revelation 
1, 12 to 20. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for the Word of God. We thank You for these letters 
to the churches in Asia Minor and for their relevance to us 
today. And I pray that You would help us to receive these things, 
help us to internalize these truths, and help us, Lord God, 
to make much of our Lord Jesus Christ. to see his condemnation 
of this church and to wear the shoe where it fits appropriately 
in our own situation. As well, let us hear his counsel 
and the invitation to renew repentance, and let us hear that blessed 
invitation that if we open the door, when he knocks, he will 
come and dine with us. What a blessed promise, what 
a glorious thing associated with New Covenant religion, and may 
these things thrill and exhilarate our weary hearts. And we ask 
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. We'll close with 
a brief time of meditation.