What if We Are Laodicea?

I have a question to begin this morning, and that is, what if we are Laodicea?

What if we are Laodicean? Or Laodicea, however you might want to phrase that.

As most of us will know, Laodicea is the seventh of the congregations to which Christ addressed the book of Revelation and seven specific messages in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. I've been going through a series on Beyond Today covering each of those messages in a Beyond Today program for the past year, and in a few days I will do the final one of the seven and do the message to Laodicea. So it's been on my mind as I wrote up the script this week, and I thought, well, I'll just talk about it here with the congregation, those of you here in Phoenix, what may be a familiar topic for some of us. Yet it always bears a visit and sometimes even a revisit to reconsider what is being said by Christ to that particular church, but also in its context of the other six messages within the context of the entire book of Revelation, and take you through that. But with that question in mind, what if we are Laodicea?

Now, having been in the church for any number of years, some of us may think we might identify with one of the other church messages there in the book of Revelation, particularly that of Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a very good one to identify with, but if you really examine all seven of those messages and look at what is being said, there's something for every congregation, every period of God's church to learn from any one of those seven messages at any given time in their life and existence.

And as I've made a pretty deep study in recent months into those seven messages, I find that there's things that I can learn as an individual Christian, and I think corporately together we can learn as a church from any one of those seven messages. And in fact, some, in my opinion, might speak a bit more directly to the experience that we have lived in the decades of the church of God period that we have been involved with, than ever thought. I look at the book of the message to the church at Ephesus and I think there's things there that really do fit what we have lived through in our time in the church.

And so I think there's something we can learn from each one of those. And so I think as we look at them, the messages are for the congregations of those that did exist during the first century. You can go ahead and turn over to Revelation chapter 3, and at least we'll have our Bibles open in front of us when we get to this.

But what begins with the message to the church at Ephesus in chapter 2 carries through to the church at Laodicea in chapter 7, which is the one I'm going to be going through here. But as a preliminary, just a thought, understand—and this is what we learn in chapter 1 of Revelation—that this is the revelation that God gave to Christ to then pass on to His servants. So it comes from the Father through Christ to the church, to the servants. And chapter 1 really lays the foundation that Christ is standing in the midst of His church with these messages.

And then He goes into chapters 2 and 3 with specific messages to seven congregations that existed late in the first century AD, shortly after the time of the book of Acts and the story there in the beginning of the church, in these cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. They were seven cities in what is today Western Turkey. Some of you have been there.

I've made two trips to that area in the last year, 15 months, and plan to lead a group of members this coming April to visit the seven sites of those congregations. But they were seven congregations, just like we have here in Phoenix at that time. And Christ had specific things to say to each one of them that fit their spiritual condition, their spiritual state, as well as certain local illusions to their history and or their circumstances. And Christ wove that into lessons for them.

And we'll see that, especially in the message to Laodicea. I want to give you a quote at this point from a commentator that wrote a man by the name of John Walford, who wrote a commentary on Revelation. And when he was describing the seven churches, he had something to say. And I'm just going to quote the last paragraph of this. We use this in our booklet on the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation unveiled. So I'm taking it from that, but it comes from a commentator named John Walford. And here's what he says, quote, Many expositors believe that in addition to the obvious implication of these messages, the seven churches represent the chronological development of church history viewed spiritually.

They note that Ephesus seems to be characteristic of the apostolic period in general, and that the progression of evil climaxing in Laodicea seems to indicate the final state of apostasy of the church. The order of the messages to the churches seems to be divinely selected to give prophetically the main movement of church history. And this is, I think, a very reasonable, good statement to begin to understand exactly what is said to each of these congregations.

And with that in mind, I think we can examine what is said to the church at Laodicea if, as Mr. Walford says, that the progression of evil climaxing in Laodicea seems to indicate the final state of apostasy of the church. Now, this is his words. Then what might that mean if there's a progression in Laodicea?

What is said to them is emblematic or symbolic of the final apostasy of the church, is what he says. Now, that's interesting. These seven churches existed in the context of the Roman world of the first century. And a study of them shows you that they were all impacted by that world. And a study of the Greco-Roman world of that period is essential to understanding not just Revelation, but to book the entire New Testament, because that's where it's set. And it was a world that is, in many ways, as ancient as it was, far removed from our time here. There are many parallels to our modern world. I don't have the time to go into all of that, but it's uncanny. Historians know this. Bible teachers know this. We know this. There are almost parallel worlds separated by 2,000 or so years.

And that is true. We are living in a moment right now in this world that is quite dramatic.

I've used the term that it seems that there are prophetic foundations being laid right now. With what we have experienced in the last two-plus years, with the pandemic and other events. And when you look at society, we see many changes that are taking place. And it's made me wonder, as it has you, I'm sure, that we may be creeping very close to the time that is described by Jesus when He said, will the Son of Man find faith when He comes? When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? As I look at that statement and then look at the headlines of our world around us, I could lay down a number of different comments about that. I could talk about the belief in God being down in our culture today. If you were youth believing in God, I could talk about any number of different polls that show that people no longer look to a personal God. They look to horoscopes, more and more do, and I could go into in-depth matters of any one of those, but I'm not going to. What I will say is that all of those trends that affect other, let's say, religious groups, churches, denominations, they affect us too. We're not immune to that.

I could talk also about other matters that are taking place that we all know about, a war that has erupted in Europe, the impact of the economy of inflation, and the out-of-control spending that is taking place, and its impact on our pocketbooks, and the future of our country, I could talk about all of that, but I won't. I could also talk about the tremendous cultural changes that have erupted with the transgender LGBTQ plus movement upon our world, and especially in America today. I could talk about that, but I'm not going to. But what I will talk about is the impact that all of this is having on us and what we might want to consider, not just our world, America, and others around us, but upon us, and particularly how it may be impacting the view of the world that we have and hold and what we should understand. I was sitting in the McKeon home yesterday, and Mr. McKeon introduced me to a book that was written here just locally by George Barna from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. Some of you, most of you are probably familiar with that here in Glendale. But Barna does a great deal of research in religious American religion. This one is the American Worldview Inventory for 2022, the annual report of the state of worldview in the United States. So I'm stumbing through it because this always interests me. Those of you students that have been to ABC know that I talk a lot about a biblical worldview as we approach the Bible and what we glean from it that we have and should have a biblical worldview. And this, of course, is what this book is talking about. But I was curious as to how he brought out a different type of worldview beyond Marxism, beyond Islam, beyond nihilism, and all the other types of worldview and even Christian theism that are commonly known and introduced a different, to me at least, a new worldview called moralistic therapeutic deism. Moralistic, therapeutic deism. Now that is a mouthful in terms of a worldview, but he, M.T.D. for short.

Mr. Barnas says that this is a perversion of biblical Christianity, a philosophy that believes God exists but stays removed from humanity, where God allows people to earn their salvation through their goodness, and God has low standards for our earthly experience. Moralistic, therapeutic, deism contends that our earthly purpose is to be happy, which comes from feeling good about self and being good to others. That goes on to talk about this being a prevalent view among people who are God-fearers or Bible believers, and identify themselves as Christian. Moralistic, therapeutic, deism. And in the chapter where he goes into it in more detail, and I know that being the Barna Institute, there's a great deal of research that backs this up. It's not given in this book, but just to read what he says here, one other paragraph. In the world of moralistic, therapeutic, deist, the local church exists primarily to offer supportive and upbeat community rather than worship, service, guidance toward holiness, or a genuine relationship with God. Because his foundations are abundantly pluralistic, those who champion this worldview, MTD, encourage people to do whatever works or whatever feels good rather than that which fits with biblical principles. It is a worldview defined and driven by current culture more than by historic religious truths or a comprehensive coherent doctrine. It asks little of its followers while providing the comfort, convenience, and community that followers long for.

He labels this among people who are religiously inclined, many of whom will tend various churches, mega churches, but they have what we might call a watered-down view of what the Bible does claim on our lives. Now, coming from our background and our belief in God in the Church of God in terms of truth and the doctrinal truth that we hold from the Bible and believe, fought for, have given our lives to live by, and understand its value in defining both God and man and God's purpose and what we do. We understand very fully in the Church of God that we are a part of that God does have demands on our lives, that this book does speak to us as a guide for our living, and we understand all of that. And yet, we also understand that in the world around us there are many different Christian religions and faiths and views about the Bible, about Jesus, and about God that run counter to what we believe, but nonetheless, sincerely held by people. And they too recognize and see that this world is in dire straits and that there are problems. And as George Barna in his research identifies, a worldview that is impacting, say, the larger Christian world that is around us. And as I read that, I was thinking about this message and the message to Laodicea, it struck me that there are some parallels as to what he sees.

And I raised the question, what if we are Laodicean? And as I look at what Christ said to the Church at Laodicea, I think there's some things for us to study and to think about and to make sure that as we hold the truths of God, as we hold to the distinct teaching of the Church of God, that we understand puts us into the body of Christ within God's Holy Spirit, we living in this world are not immune from the pressures that are out there and some of the ideas. I'm well aware of that as I teach and work with young people and as I am aware of what is in the life of all of us in the Church today and what has impacted us as well as you understand that as well. And so when I raise the question, what if we are Laodicea? There's something for us to think about there in terms of what Christ is saying to that particular Church and if indeed that Church and the message to the Church and the conditions that are expressed by Jesus to it do reflect a progressive, historic flow of the Church within the world that it exists. There's something probably for us to look at and to learn and to examine ourselves by. And so with that as a background, let's turn here to Revelation chapter 3 and let's go through this message to Laodicea and let's look at it with that question. What if we are Laodicea or Laodicean, whichever, in the background of our mind? And hear what Christ says to the churches, which is exactly what He says to each of the churches. You know the messages to these seven. To everyone, Jesus says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Church. And we are a part of the Church of God, the body of Christ. We should be able to hear what is being said here. So let's begin in verse 14 of Revelation chapter 3.

And here's what Jesus says now to this church at Laodicea.

These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. That's a unique title. It's used specifically here in this message. And it can be demonstrated that the title of Amen comes out of the book of Isaiah, where it is used to describe God. And the Amen, the faithful and the true witness and the beginning of the creation of God all refer back to Jesus and explain aspects of His work, His nature. He is the Amen. The word Amen means let it be. It means it is true. Christ embodies truth. He speaks truth. And it's telling us here that that is the guarantee that His message is true, that it can be relied on, and that what He speaks is the essence of a message that we should listen to and we should heed. This also emphasizes His role as the Creator of all things, which adds a great deal of weight and importance to all the message. Colossians 1 tells us that by Christ all things were created as that part, a member of the God family who spoke into existence all that it is. He is the beginning or the beginner of the creation of God. So we're being told here that there's a very special relationship with those who heed this message and understand God's purpose, that He is working out and what it means from Christ as the one member of the family of God who did bring into existence all of this. So next then we look at what is probably the most famous statement that people know about this message to Laodicea and is a very unusual statement. It's unlike anything that's been said to the other six church congregations, beginning with Ephesus. And we all know it. Let's look at it in verse 15. Jesus says to the members there, I know your works.

So they have works. They do things. And if it's a church of God, what do they do?

Well, they know truth. You have to understand that when the church of God at Laodicea began, some few years earlier than the timing of this letter, which was written in the mid-90s AD, sometime back in the early 50s, mid-50s I should say, the Apostle Paul was in Ephesus. And it was while he was for three years ministering at Ephesus that these seven congregations began through Paul's efforts and using the disciples that he trained in the school of Tyrannus that we read about in Acts chapter 18. And he sent them out and these congregations began. And so in Laodicea, they had works. I would assume with truth that they kept the Sabbath.

They were keeping the Holy Days. That they believed in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, had been come from the Father, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and was resurrected on the third day and was at the right hand of the Father and was their Savior. And they professed that belief and they lived accordingly. They had turned from their pagan cultures and religions and begun to worship the true God. Those were part of the works that he's referring to. So here, what do we draw from that? Well, they were not unlike us. You're here on the Sabbath, right? Mr. McKeon mentioned we're getting feast fever ready. So we're going to keep the Feast of Tabardacles. Did they keep that in Laodicea? I think they did.

We profess the same belief in the same God and the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. In a sense, we've turned to good works as we obey God and recognize their part in that relationship. Jesus says to this congregation that are just like us. And this letter would have been read to them on the Sabbath. And then he goes on to say to this, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot.

So these were the ideal temperatures that he wanted them to be, cold or hot. That's important to understand as we realize what this message is, what this statement here is really saying. He said, I wish that you were cold or hot. Then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. They were lukewarm. They were not cold or hot. Now, we all know what that means, right? None of us like to get a lukewarm cup of coffee. Mr. McKeon didn't serve me lukewarm coffee this morning. I would have been very upset and spit it out of my mouth, probably. We like our coffee hot. I do like a good cold brew, too, but I don't like lukewarm coffee. Even on that, I like my cold brew and my hot brewed coffee. This is what he's saying to them. These are the preferred temperatures. This is the preferred effect, really, that I want you to have. What he is setting up here is a contrast and should be understood to be connected to something that was going on at Laodicea that archaeologists and historians have unraveled and understood in recent years as the locality of the city of Laodicea in Asia Minor at that time. Today, it's in Turkey. You can go there, and you can see the ruins of the city. What we learned from that and the water supply of that city is something here that speaks to what he is saying and what is important.

If you stand in Laodicea, in the ruins of that site today, you look to the north, and you see some white chalky, whether or not chalk, but calcified deposits at a city in a place that is today called Pamukkale. But at the time of the writing of this letter, it was a city called Heropolis. There was a church there. Heropolis is actually mentioned at the end of the book of collagians. It's only about six or seven miles away, and on a clear day you can see that. These white calcified deposits are there because they are left behind by hot thermal water that comes up out of the ground both then, in the first century, and still today. Very hot thermal waters. It's a world historic site today, Pamukkale. But it was a source of hot water. Now, if you would, again, you're still standing in Laodicea, you turn around and you look south, and you will see a range of mountains to the south. And again, on a clear day, you could make out a mound that is at the base of those mountains, that is the site of the ancient city of Colossae, to which was written the letter of collagians. So there in this valley, you have three congregations right in a row, and they're actually closer together than we are here from your Phoenix South congregation. But there were three separate congregations. And at Colossae, at the base of a mountain range, they had a source of very cold water, water coming down out of the mountains. And Laodicea didn't really take its source of water from either one of these two places. They took it from another source a few miles away, and it was not good water. And it was more of a lukewarm water that had a lot of mineral deposits to it. They've actually found the water channels that came from that era, and they're filled in with a lot of mineral deposits. It was that Laodicea didn't have a good water supply. And when Jesus tells them, I would that you were either cold or hot, and as that would have been read to the church, and as they would have studied it, there would have been a local allusion that they would have understood the waters from Hierapolis were hot, and the waters from Colossae were cold. And Jesus is saying, I would that you were either hot or cold. Why? Because if you look at hot and cold water, they're both effective. What do we use hot water for? To wash with, don't we? Or to stir? If you get it really hot, it will sterilize. It's effective. It's effective. How about cold water?

Is cold water not effective when it's 110 degrees in Phoenix? On an August day? Yes. You want a glass of cold water. It quenches your thirst. It's refreshing. It's effective.

And they're both desirable. But Jesus says, that's what I want you to be. But he says, you're lukewarm, and you're in danger of me throwing you up out of my mouth. Now, this is a very graphic allusion. But the understanding of this term and of this word is not talking about a spiritual condition so much of being just lukewarm, but it is being lukewarm water at certain times acts as an emitic. In other words, it induces vomiting. And that's what Jesus is saying. Laodicea, who had works, but their works were not effective. They weren't hot or cold. They weren't usable. They were coming to church. They identified as the church of God, but they weren't effective. They weren't bearing fruit. They had a form, but their substance was lacking. This is what Jesus is really talking about here when he uses this terminology and speaks to them. He's saying to the Laodiceans, you're not effective in your work. It's not that they lack zeal. It is not that they even lack enthusiasm. I would rather think they enjoyed coming to church because it was good fellowship. They were good people and moral people as compared to their pagan neighbors that were worshiping it at a pagan shrine where immorality was the standard of worship. They weren't lying to them, weren't seeking to cheat them. There was a morality and an ethic about them. They enjoyed coming together with everybody on the Sabbath, but they were caught up in their world. And what was the world at Laodicea? We'll go on and talk about that here in a moment. What Jesus is saying, you're in danger of being vomited out of my mouth, meaning out of the very body of Christ. This was the danger, and this is what needed to be understood because he now goes on to deal with the reason for their ineffectiveness. Look at verse 17. He says, Because you say, I am rich, I have become wealthy and have need of nothing, which they were. Now, Laodicea, this is again just clearly understood from the history of the city at the time of the first century. They were a very wealthy city for a number of reasons. They were first, they were on a major trade route, which meant that there was a lot of trucks going back and forth, Amazon trucks. And all the goods and services of that time in that world were coming and going through Laodicea, meaning that people were profiting from businesses and from the transfer of all of that. Laodicea even minted their own coins in that day, which was, they guaranteed the value of that coins that spoke to their wealth. They had some very solid financial institutions there that augmented their place on the trade route. They also had something that was known quite well through the region at the time. The fields and the animals, particularly the sheep on those fields around Laodicea, grew a type of wool that was black and was very luxuriant. It was highly valued and garments woven from that wool commanded a high price. And so the textile industry in Laodicea brought in a lot of money. So you had a financial banking center, you had a trade, a lot of trade going on, you had agriculture going on. That was creating a very strong center. We also know from the histories that Laodicea experienced periodically severe earthquake damage. That region is earthquake-prone.

And the last one that pertains to this period that had occurred was in the year 70 AD, about 25 years before this letter is written. There was a major earthquake that toppled a lot of buildings made of stone and created damage. Typically in the Roman Empire, the Roman Emperor would give money to cities of this size to help them rebuild. Kind of like we do today. We have FEMA, right? When a tornado comes through, a hurricane comes through, damage from some natural event. FEMA, our Federal Emergency Management Association, or administration, I think is what that means, kicks into gear. And millions of dollars become available to eastern Kentucky, the Gulf Coast, the eastern coast, or wildfire, forest fires, I suppose, out west. And money comes in. But when the last earthquake in 70 AD happened in Laodicea, they said, we got this.

We don't need your money. Can you imagine a city turning away federal money or government money? Not today. But they, Laodicea said, well, we will rebuild ourselves because they had the money to do so. And they financed their own renewal. That's how much money they had at Laodicea. And so when Jesus says to them, you say I'm rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing. They understood that. Let me tell you just one other thing about the city of Laodicea that is unique. I've been there a couple of times in the last few months. Laodicea had a sports stadium.

I don't know whose name was on there, because of the big benefactor of it, as we do today. But they had a big sports museum. But they also had two amphitheaters. Now, every major Roman city of this period had at least one amphitheater where they had plays, meetings, and other civic events. Laodicea had two, and they were right next to it. I know that you can see those today.

It is the modern form of what we would call a cineplex. All right? AMC 16 or 18. I don't know what you've got out here, but back in Cincinnati, we have 16 theaters, I think, in one building. That's what they had there. In other words, they liked their entertainment.

And those amphitheaters were situated to where people could sit comfortably in an outdoor setting all through the day. Morning, midday, and evening, and be shaded and be comfortable. They thought it through. They were rich and increased in goods. They had need of nothing. And this is what Jesus says to the church, because that rubbed off on the church. That's the point that is a lesson for us. We all know we are living in the best of times of world history in terms of economic wealth, and the poorest among us are wealthy by comparison to the three billion other people that live in the world today. Let me give you just one statistic. How many of us have a refrigerator in our home? How many have two refrigerators in our home? I'll go ahead and admit you're rich and increased in goods. I have one of these big, double-wide refrigerators in our home, and it's got a computer on it, and water, and ice, and everything else, just like you've got. Okay, so I'm talking to myself.

I use more electricity just for that refrigerator in one year, than three billion people in the developing world have accessible to them in one year, just on my refrigerator. It's not counting my freezer, or my television, or my gadgets.

My refrigerator in your refrigerator uses more energy than what three billion people in the rest of the world have for a year. And solar panels are going to replace that? That's another story.

We live in the best of times, and Jesus says, to them, you have need of nothing. But then he goes on. Let's go back to verse 17. You don't know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. He says five things to them here, which are pretty strong.

Wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. He first says, I'm not ready to vomit you out of your mouth, my mouth, but you're poor, blind, and naked here. They couldn't see their condition. Money, wealth, status, prestige, lots of things can blind people, and it did here.

Now, there was another thing working at Laodicea. They also manufactured an ISAV that was medicinal and helped people with eye problems. That's known from history as well. And so when he says that you're blind, they would have understood that. They made a lot of money from that. But they also understood that they needed some help. In verse 18, Jesus gives them some counsel. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire. They had gold. The city had silver. They had wealth. But Jesus is saying now to the church, speaking from a spiritual perspective, buy from me gold that has been refined. In other words, all the impurities are out from the testing and the trial of a time of a fire. That you may be rich, and it's speaking to a spiritual wealth. And white garments that you may be clothed that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. A white garment in Revelation is a symbol of righteousness. They needed not a black garment that was wealthy and valuable. They needed a white garment of righteousness.

They needed to put on a different cloak, a different sweater, a different dress, a different set of clothes that represented something from the inside. This is what Jesus is saying. But the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And an anoint your eyes with eyesave that you may see. Not what your city manufactures, but eyesave that I will give you. That you can see yourself. That you can see into your heart. That's what Jesus is saying here. All of these illusions come together in this in a unique way to show them essentially this one thing. Though they could rebuild their city at an earthquake. Though they could spend all day in their amphitheaters, entertaining and amusing themselves to death. Or they could buy expensive clothing at their boutiques with their money. They didn't have the right clothing. They weren't viewing the right entertainment. And they hadn't bought gold refined by fire. And he's saying to them, you're going to have to buy something that your money can't buy. This is the lesson to Laodicea.

Are we Laodicean? Do we need things that Jesus is saying here to the church that our money, our retirement accounts, our ingenuity, our expertise can't buy?

That our clothing, that our nice clothing doesn't really represent? That's what we need? Is that what he's saying? We should think about that. Because he's saying, what you really need, you don't have enough money for. You're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked to the Laodiceans.

Strong words. Strong message. How many of us like one-click shopping? I bought something on Amazon yesterday. One-click. I love one-click.

Credit cards all set up. I get five percent back. One-click. It'll be at my house. Two days.

What Christ is saying we need, even today, the things that these garments and ice have and money and gold represent, we can't get with one-click shopping. It's not that easy.

It takes a lifetime. It takes a relationship with Jesus Christ that is built on a foundation, block by block, brick by brick, stone by stone, over a period of time. This is an appeal from the heart of Christ to his people to listen and to turn to him. And there's a visually clear picture that Christ lays out here that their status and their future needs. And they will benefit from if they will listen to what he says. You know, I've preached from Laodicea. I've read the message of Revelation. I've heard it. I was taught beginning when I was 12 years old coming into the church of God. And many of the conclusions, many of the teachings that I remember, concluded that Laodicea is the problem child.

Of all the seven churches, you don't want to be Laodicean, right?

Well, they are the worst. They have the strongest condemnation. Pretty, pretty bad. I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth. Laodicea becomes a term for describing a bad group. But you know what?

They are the church. And he says, I know your works. So they do have works. You might have, had you been traveling through Laodicea in 93 AD, you might have looked up on the internet of the time or found out whatever from church director where they were meeting. And you might have gone there on the Sabbath and been welcomed and found them to be a pretty good group of people. And they look very nice. Drove some good chariots parked out there in the parking lot.

So they were the church. What does Jesus say to them next? Verse 19, As many as I love, he loves the Laodicea. Now he wants them to change. Yes, and if they don't, he's going to vomit them out of his mouth. But he says, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Christ loves those in Laodicea who take his correction. And work hard to overcome being ineffective. They've got works. They come to church, but they're not effective. They're not useful to him in the work that he is doing through his spiritual body. That's what he's saying. And he says, I love you, but we've got some things that have to be addressed. And I think Christ today loves those who desire to be strong, powerful tools in his hand to preach the gospel, to be a people prepared for good works, to be a light to the world, but who know that it takes more than just having a good community or a safe place.

That the requirements and what is laid upon us by the word of God and by Christ himself is something far greater. It takes our life. Christ loves those disciples who are zealous to the work of God on earth today, just as he was for them. And he loves those who desire a deep relationship with him, a relationship of the heart, so much so that they will accept his invitation to do what he says to do. And what does he say to do? Well, in verse 20, look at this.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me. This part of the message is different from the other six and things that Jesus said even that they had to repent of and change and his prescription to the other six congregations to improve, except for Philadelphia where they seem to be in a much better shape. But the other five, he tells them specifically what to change, but this one is a little bit different in terms of what he tells them to do. He says, I'm at the door knocking, and if you hear my voice and open the door, I'll come in and dine with you. I will dine with him and he with me. That's what he says that they will do here in verse 20.

That's an amazing concept and again in one of these visuals. How could a church that was a part of the body of Christ keep the head of their church outside waiting while he was knocking and wouldn't let him in? It is speaking to a church and a group of people who didn't recognize, didn't hear, couldn't see themselves, and also couldn't see him, and couldn't hear what had already been given to them as the message from God. They had works. They were good. They were doing good. They felt that they were secure. Part of the church had the truth, but they had been influenced in other culture, times in which they lived. Does that not set us up to give us something to think about today and to consider ourselves? I love this verse 20. It's such a rich visual and what it does is remind me of something that is another story involving Christ back in Luke chapter 24. You know that story. On the morning after His resurrection in Jerusalem, there are two disciples that are walking from Jerusalem to a village named Emmaus.

Luke 24, beginning in verse 13, is where the story is told. Only one of those disciples has a name that is given by Luke. His name is Cleopas. And they are walking and talking about the events of the previous three-plus days of Jesus' arrest, His death, and then the empty tomb that the other disciples had found that morning when they had gone. And these two are walking just a few miles from Jerusalem back to their home, talking animatedly, probably, about that when Jesus appears to them. He kind of walks behind them, comes up to them, materializes, no doubt. He's the resurrected Christ, and He begins to talk with them. And they don't know who He is.

And He says, what are you talking about? And they say, well, where have you been?

They haven't you heard what's been going on in Jerusalem these last few days?

And they explained to Him what had gone on, because they don't recognize Him. And they continue walking. And they begin to talk and explain as they go along, and they don't know who He is. Jesus begins to explain to them even the Scriptures from the Old Testament that foretold every detail of His death and resurrection, and they still don't know who He is. I'm sure they listened. They probably thought He was erudite, knowledgeable, but they didn't recognize Him. And that's the amazing part of the story. Remember Jesus said to the latest sins, I stand at the door and knock, but you're miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Buy some ice halves so that you can see. They couldn't even see the head of their church.

Back to that story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, they come to a point where probably the road forked or whatever, and they were going to turn down a path, and they were going to go to their home. But Jesus was going to go on. They invite Him into their home. They come in, and they lay down some food on the table, probably some wine and some bread and some oil, maybe some grains. And when Jesus broke the bread and blessed it, their eyes were awake. And they recognized that He was Jesus. And then He disappears.

And they're stunned. Then they see Him. And the story concludes they run back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples what has happened to them. It's a wonderful story. I think it fits to this verse 20 of Revelation 3. I think that it gives us something to think about here.

Laodicea was at a moment of crisis. The problem was that they thought that Christ, they knew Christ. After all, they were in the Church of God. They kept the Sabbath. They worshiped Christ, but they didn't know Christ. They thought their salvation was secure, but they couldn't see how dangerously close they were to losing out because they weren't effective. They didn't recognize their Lord and Master. They would not hear the knock on the door.

And they couldn't hear His invitation. Why? They were rich and increased in goods.

They were a part of a culture, in a city, in a region. They had all they needed. Entertainment associated their interests. Netflix, prime video, movies, entertainment. Sirius XM. You name it, they had it all in their day. But it didn't bring them closer to Christ. It didn't help them to understand who He was. They were in danger of amusing themselves out of the body of Christ in a torrent of vomit. And at that moment, Christ offers them, out of His grace, an invitation to dine with Him.

And at those words, the tension that's building in the letter offered them some relief with a meal. The clear sign that Jesus can give to a disciple or to a friend, then and now.

Who do we invite into our homes? People we know, people we're comfortable with. The invitation to dinner is a good thing. It indicates a desire to get to know somebody, or to maintain a relationship, or to just extend grace and love. When we sit down at a table with someone, Jesus is offering to the Laodiceans a chance to sit down and to dine with Him. It is the most intimate expression He could give to them and is what He gives to us today. This is where we are.

I ask the question, what if we are Laodicean?

What if we even have some of the traits of this particular congregation that apply to us today?

I think this is where we have to come to a really deep introspection beyond even what we might do at Passover time, and rightly so as we prepare ourselves to take of that service.

But I think that as we look at our world, and as I said at the beginning, brethren, I could go through all the headlines with you and talk to you about what's taking place in our world around us and how bad things are, and they are. But I didn't. I don't need to because you know that. Perhaps the message that the church needs more than anything today, at this moment in world history, at this moment in the flow of prophecy, and I know sometimes I don't know how many of you hear or have the opinion you don't want to hear about prophecy. I hear that sometimes as I travel. I hear that even some from my home congregation. I don't want to hear any more prophecy. I never want to hear another prophecy sermon, they might say.

You know what I say to that? Okay, that's fine. You don't have to.

But inside, I'm thinking, yeah, you don't want to hear prophecy until you get mugged by history.

Right now, we're being mugged by history.

Don't think that's not what's going on. We're being mugged.

It's hitting us full in the face. We're being pummeled by history.

And when that happens, God-fearing mind should be going to the Word of God to understand what that means. And I think that peeling away all the history and even the prophetic markers, ultimately, it all comes back to a relationship with Christ. And that's what this letter is telling us. That we examine where we are with God and His Son Jesus Christ. Now, more than ever, brethren, we need to get back to the basics.

We need to get back to the basics of just Christian, biblical worldview teaching and living the Bible and developing that relationship with God through prayer on our knees, through the study of this Word, and putting that as a priority beyond anything that we've ever done, and renewing that. It's a perfect time to do it as we are approaching the Fall Festival season.

God knows in this timing as to how it all comes to us to remind us of certain things.

And we need to just clear away whatever problem we might have that's kept us from doing that.

A distraction in life, a trial then a difficulty, a problem with somebody here at church, or a problem with the church itself, whatever it might be, and just set down and have a spiritual meal with Christ, with the Father at His table. We're going to be able to do that as we come to the Feast of Tabernacles. Day of Atonement, Feast of Trumpets here in a few days, and let's not forget the great meaning of the eighth day. And the whole panoply of the plan of God out before us.

I hope we can use that as a time of renewal. But take it seriously, and take my question as it has meant, as a question to get us to pause and to think clearly about what is being said to this one congregation. And to take a little different view of that message than perhaps we have had in our past, and understand that it can speak to us and have a less than a very important lesson for us today. What if we are late to see Him? Then we should do what He says in verse 21.

To Him who overcomes, I will grant to set with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on His throne. Sum that all up in one word, change or repent. Do better if you want two words. Overcome. The word means to be a winner. That's what that word means. It comes from the word Nikaios, which is what Nike took to make their name of their company and their symbol.

The symbol of the goddess Nike is what it is. The swoosh all comes from the symbol or from the emblems of the goddess Nike. But it means a winner, an overcomer. That's what Christ was saying, and that's what He's saying to us. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Amen.