Free Grace Women

Introduction:

The church of Laodicea is the last of the 7 churches the Lord was addressing in His revelation to the apostle John. It is also the only church in Revelation 1-3 that didn’t receive praise from the Lord, only a rebuke. This is a sad picture but we should be grateful for this example as it provides us with a priceless instruction on how not to find ourselves in a similar situation.

Laodicea was a rich city situated at the crossroads of the popular trade routes of the  Roman Empire. It was famous for producing fine wool, healing eye balm, and for having a powerful banking sector. Its citizens refused help from the Roman government while facing the consequences of the earthquake that occurred in 17AD. All these facts point to a culture of outward self-sufficiency (and possibly pride) rooted in deep reliance on material wealth (Rev 3:17).

Description of Christ:

“These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God”. (Rev 3:14)

By describing Himself in this way the Lord is reminding the church that He is the actual Creator of all things and thus He is the appropriate Person to pronounce judgment (14:6-7) He is the ultimate authority, while man’s judgments can’t be considered as such, for they have no clue what they’re talking about or purposely distort the truth. Other authorities are the spirits ruling over the city of Laodicea, praising financial wealth. This is important in light of the radical contrast between the Lord’s judgment over the church and their own judgment.

Works of the church:

Laodicea didn’t have its own water source and had to use an aqueduct to get the water transported from the surrounding areas. During transportation, the water’s temperature would balance with the air temperature and become lukewarm, losing the benefits possessed by cold or hot water.

As a brilliant Teacher, Jesus uses this imagery, so familiar to the Laodiceans, to describe their works, which were of no value for the coming Kingdom of God, just like lukewarm water for human’s physical needs.

In verse 20, the Lord invites the members of the church to open the door for Him and to have table fellowship with Him. This invitation leads to the conclusion that despite being born again (the Lord is addressing the church, that is, the congregation of believers) these people weren’t walking in fellowship with Him. They bear no fruit worthy of the Kingdom because they don’t abide in Him (John 15:5).

What was the reason for such an attitude?

In Matt 6:24 Jesus warns His disciples that it’s impossible to serve two different masters. Either you serve Him, or you serve money. The church in Laodicea wasn’t in fellowship with Him because they continued depending on their material possessions as they had been used to all their life. In their Christian experience, money continued being their master, which left no place for the Lord Jesus Christ.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)

Rebuke:

Jesus characterizes this church as “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked”. That is quite the opposite of what they thought they were, that is “rich, wealthy and in need of nothing” (v. 17), as they were still guided by the standards of their culture. Let’s look at those characteristics a little closer (you can check a summary table here).

Wretched. The Greek word for wretched is also found in Romans 7:24.  In this passage, Paul’s states: “O wretched man that I am!” referring to his inability to overcome sin in his flesh as a believer. Similarly, the believers at Laodicea, as they were relying on material possessions as a source of provision,  were not walking by the Spirit of God (see Matt 6:22-33) and thus were unable to overcome sin and grow spiritually.

Poor. During His earthly ministry, Jesus called believers to let go of material possessions and store treasures in heaven since the latter can’t be destroyed by time. Money is one of the most powerful things in this life that can provide outward benefits, but it can’t buy us the beauty of the Spirit and intimacy with the Lord. This can only be done through a faithful walk with our Savior. You can have all the riches of the world, but you can’t take them with you to the other side of eternity.

To avoid bankruptcy in eternity we should obey the Lord’s instruction and serve Him instead of mammon.

Blind. Spiritual blindness often comes as a result of pride and self-righteousness and seems to be the hardest stronghold for the word of God to break through. Having a pagan background, believers in Laodicea thought that their financial prosperity automatically meant that God was happy with them (this type of thinking was common also among 1^st century Jews as well, see John 9:1-2). Throughout the NT this mentality is being disproved. The poor of this world are called rich in the Kingdom (James 2:5), suffering is being explained as a motive for joy (James 1:2, 1 Peter 1:6, Matt 5:4). Spiritual blindness doesn’t allow us to see and accept the challenges the Lord is sending us and step onto the path of spiritual pruning tailored by God for each of us.

Naked. Clothing in the ancient world was a sign of the financial and social status of a person. The bigger the wealth, the more luxurious would be the clothing. Jesus uses this parallel to show once again the level of their heavenly riches to the Laodiceans. They were naked, having done nothing with the gift of eternal life they had been so freely and abundantly granted. They had nothing to present to the Lord in terms of the fruit of sacrificial living to which every believer is called (Rom 12:1).

They were enjoying the security and comfort provided by the material resources at their disposal instead of seeking intimacy with Jesus and partnering with Him for the sake of the coming Kingdom.

Instruction:

As a caring Shepherd Jesus gives every church instruction on how they can change their ways and escape their miserable situation. His correction is an expression of His love (v  19) and is also meant to encourage by describing the future reward.

We can see at the end of v  19 two general instructions: be zealous and repent. Instead of boasting in and enjoying their wealth, the Lord is calling them to zealous service. Before that, in v 18, we see some more detailed instructions with specific rewards in view: to buy from Him gold refined in the fire, to buy white garments, and to anoint eyes with eye balm. Notice that all of the mentioned remedies are pure works and thus can’t refer to eternal salvation (Eph 2:8-9, John 5:24, John 6:28-29, John 6:40, Rom 4:4-5, Rom 11:6).

Reward:

As He gives the instructions, the Lord promises the reward that Laodiceans would receive for their obedience (see v 18 and 20-22).

Spiritual problem	Instruction	Reward
Poverty	Buy gold refined in the fire	Spiritual riches here and in eternity
Nakedness	Buy white garments	Special recognition in the kingdom for faithful service to the Lord
Blindness	Anoint eyes with eye balm	Spiritual sight despite having a sinful body
Wretched	Be zealous and repent	Rulership with Christ in the Kingdom
Ignorance	Hear and open the door	Fellowship here and table fellowship with Christ in the Kingdom

Conclusion:

The church of Laodicea is an important example of an unbiblical way of living the Christian life. Regardless of our financial or social status, we should strive not to place our trust and reliance on these temporary things. Instead, we should let God be our ultimate provider and not our employers or businesses. We should strive to partner with Christ by setting our minds on the heavenly things and not on earthly things (Phil 3:18-19). As a result, we will enjoy intimacy and share rulership with the Lord in eternity and not have our earthly lives wasted (Matt 16:25-26).