Warnings for Laodicea

In the third chapter of Revelation we find the warning given to the Laodicean church. The
description portrays a familiar sort of church, one much like the nominal churches we see today. Have
you ever gone to a church, and all the members could talk about was how nice the church building
was? They want to tell you about the stained-glass windows, the plush new carpet, and the shiny
baptismal tank. They tell you that the church has a couple hundred members, but the truth is, if you
were to show up on Wednesday evening, a dozen saints, at best, venture to come to their beautiful
church for praymeeting. If you were to check their membership records, you would find the reason the
baptistery is so shiny and new...it hasn't been used recently. At fellowship dinners, the church sounds
much like the temple might have when Jesus shouted, “Take these things hence; make not my Father's
house a house of merchandise.” John 2:16. Obviously we are living now in the time of Laodicea. So
what are the warnings for the Laodiceans? How can I, as a last generation Christian, come out of the
Laodicean church?
We'll start in Revelation 3:14 where the warning begins: "And unto the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the
creation of God;" Jesus, our Creator, addresses the message to the angel, or messenger of the
Laodicean church. As disciples of Christ, I believe each one of us can be messengers for our end time
church, so this message is written especially for you and I.
Jesus goes on to say in verses 15 and 16, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I
would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew
thee out of my mouth.” What does He mean when He says we are lukewarm? Hot means to have
God's love in our hearts and have the faith of Jesus. Cold is the opposite of hot, this means that a 'cold'
person is one that doesn't have love or faithfulness at all. Lukewarm tries to pretend it is rich in love
and faith, but it is really poor in these attributes because it doesn't know Jesus.
But the world has love doesn't it? Hardened atheists are willing to give food and money to starving
children in Africa. Earthly mothers love their children. Brothers and sisters care for each other. Is this
love? This is sentimental love, not the love that distinguishes Christians from non-Christians. True
love is action: going the second mile. It is a love that will risk the loss of friendship to give a heartfelt
rebuke, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Revelation 3:19
God's selfless love loves enemies, the unlovable, and those who will never love back in return.
Sin weakens our love. “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But
he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:12,13 There are two major
ways our love can be weakened: First, large cities, worldly friendships, and secular family members
tend to slowly surround us with an evil atmosphere that lessens our resolve to spend time with God in
strengthening our love. The other way Satan tries to steal our love is by giving opposition to our
efforts of evangelism. We can get offended by the reactions of unconverted people and loose our
affection for lost souls. I Corinthians 13:4 says, "Charity suffereth long and is kind..." Remember God
can help our love 'endure unto the end' if we will lean on Him.
The other attribute that the Laodicean Christians are lacking is faith. In four different books of the
Bible is found the sentence, “The just shall live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11,
& Hebrews 10:38) Clearly faith is all important in order for us to live justly. And just as there are two
kinds of love, there are two definitions of faith. If faith is merely believing that God exists and He is
coming soon for us, then Satan and his angels have faith, because they surely believe that He exists.
But that is not real faith. John penned, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12 Faith is action, so it looks like
obedience, repentance, love, or whatever it is magnifying. True faith is living by every word of God.
We continue our study by turning back to Revelation chapter 3 and verse 17. Here Jesus says,
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not
that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked...” The Laodiceans think they are
rich in faith and love, but they have the worldly counterfeit. They are wretched and captive to sin.
Miserably without hope, poor and lacking attention to God's advice that can save them. They are blind
to the deliverance, forgiveness, and inheritance that God wants so much to give. (Acts 26:18) They are
naked, not wearing the righteous robe Jesus paid His life to give us. This is our sunken condition: but
there's hope.
Jesus says, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white
raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint
thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” (Revelation 3:18) But how can we buy high quality
gold if we are poor? The prophet Isaiah wrote something very similar, “Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and
milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1) We compare these scriptures and find that it is
not money that buys the things we need spiritually. Notice these words from Isaiah: ho, hearken
diligently, Incline your ears, behold... It is clear that God is trying to get our attention! So the 'pay' that
God wants from us is for us to pay attention to his advice---it's so simple, yet too often we try instead
to use fool's gold and don't ask for the gifts God wants to give us.
Christ is knocking at the heart door of each Laodicean. He wants to come spend time with us and
give us eternal riches. Will you and I hear His voice? As we do our part of searching the Bible, we
will hear His knocking at our heart's door: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search
for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 Jesus does not force His Presence on anyone, but He freely
gives us gold if we will but ask for it.
In these last generations, I want to keep the faith of Jesus. I want to have His selfless love. My
greatest wish is to be an overcomer because, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21