And to the final church, Jesus says…
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this… Revelation 3:14
Jesus describes Himself as the Amen, the One Who is true. And when it is all said and done, He alone is the faithful and true witness about what has been done. He is the Beginning of the creation of God and He will be the One Who brings it all to a halt. His judgments are righteous and true.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Revelation 3:15-16
Jesus knows the deeds of the church in Laodicea and He knows the deeds of all churches today. What He says goes. It is not our opinion that will stand, but His Word on the matter. He says that being lukewarm is unacceptable. So unacceptable, in fact, that He will spit the lukewarm church out of His mouth. Look around you… what do you see?
Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Revelation 3:17-18
What does the church in Laodicea think of herself? What does the church today think of itself? Rich… wealthy… and no need of anything… including Jesus… What does Jesus, in complete contradiction, say is true about them? They are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—and amazingly they are not even aware of their condition. Just like today…
What is Jesus’ stern advice? He offers true wealth, the wealth that comes through the cost that most are unwilling to pay. Gold refined by fire is pure gold, but gold that has been through the refiner’s fire is precious. White garments are ones that are not stained by the ways of the world—holiness is still possible, and demanded. Someday all believers will be clothed before Him in their righteous deeds. Will you be naked? Eye salve is still available to cure the blindness that is prevalent among our churches today. But where are the buyers…
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Revelation 3:19
This is true—if Jesus loves you, He will reprove and discipline you. What should your response to this eternal truth be? Be zealous and repent! Immediately stop what you are doing wrong and immediately begin to do what is right!
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20
What does this door belong to? It is the door to a church. This is so important; so many times we hear it's to the door of your heart. No. Jesus is speaking to a church. Jesus is outside the church wanting to come in. How heartbreaking. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door; does anybody at all inside the church hear His voice? Individuals, you don't have to wait for the whole church to open the door; you don't have to wait for leadership. If you hear Jesus knocking on the door of your church, if you will just go answer it and let Him into the church—He will come in to you. It doesn't mean He's going to dine with everybody else in the church—He won’t—but He will dine with you, and He will lead you. As you dine with Him, He will teach you and lead you in His ways… which will lead you right out of that church if it doesn’t repent.
He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down 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. Revelation 3:21-22
If these churches represent an historical timeline, then Laodicea would be the time that we are living in. Lukewarm, wretched, miserable, blind, naked and poor. They are not to compromise. Lukewarm water happens when hot and cold water are put together. We are not to compromise, teaching or teachers, in the church. You don't even need me to explain this because you know as well as I do, that if you get two people that believe different things, a hot and a cold, the goal will be to avoid confrontation. People don't confront false beliefs because people have been brainwashed into believing they must not confront one another. Instead, they, and their beliefs, all just meld together into lukewarmness. These people were all believing the same things—things which were not true to God’s Word; things which sounded right in order to get along…
Believers are not to be complacent—water that is left alone grows lukewarm. Christians are to stand for truth. Christians are to go into the community witnessing. Today there is no teaching about the cross, the judgment seat of Christ, or hell. There's no teaching on a righteous lifestyle, or laying down your life, and not picking it back up. There's no teaching on rebuke, church discipline, or holy living, because all those things are just too uncomfortable. And so the church will soon be forcefully spit out…
If a pastor loves you he will use the Word of God to discern the thoughts and intents of your heart. He will call you to righteousness, he will challenge your holiness, he will rebuke you if he loves you. Beware of any church that fits right into the community. Being in a church is not the same thing as being part of the church, Christ's body. The traditional thing in our country is still to go to church every Sunday all across America and millions of false believers have perfect attendance.
What kind of a witness does God say you are? If Jesus were to say to you, “I know your…”, what would He say? What does He know to be true about you? You fill in the blank. If Jesus were to say, “But I have this against you…” what He would say against you? He is the faithful and true witness. He speaks the truth. Are you sure that you're not one of those that Jesus describes as lukewarm?
What did the churches do that was wrong?
They left the first love. They had a fear of suffering. They were cowardly. They had the fear of man. They tolerated those who held to false teaching. They compromised the truth. They tolerated false teachers. Their deeds were dead—their deeds were not completed—their deeds were in the flesh instead of in the Spirit. They were lukewarm. They were dead. Only one church was faithful and did not deny His Name. Pretty striking list…
What did Jesus say to do?
Love Him first. Be faithful and pure and focused on Jesus. Don't compromise. Don't tolerate false teaching. Don't tolerate teaching that does not line up with the Word of God. Hold fast to the truth. Repent. Don't tolerate sin. Don't tolerate false teachers. Repent. Wake up. Make sure you are alive in Jesus. Get saved. Hold fast. Be zealous. Repent. Get saved. Pretty important list…
