The Church At Laodicea

The final church the Lord wrote to in Asia Minor was the church at Laodicea.  Like the other churches, it had started out as a very sound church, and Paul had mentioned it several times in the book of Colossians.  Unfortunately, like most of the other churches, twenty five years later their dedication to the Lord had waned.  Revelation 3:14-19 describes their state.  “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; 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 spue thee out of my mouth.  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: 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.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

Unlike the church at Thyatira, they had not gotten caught up in false doctrine, nor had they gotten caught up in materialism and church politics like Pergamos.  They were still teaching the scriptures rather than using the latest fads and techniques to get people into church like the church at Sardis.  The problem was that like Ephesus, they had left their first love for God, but they had gone even farther. While the church at Ephesus was no longer maintaining the same personal relationship with the Lord, they still believed it was important to keep on following the scriptures.  To the church at Laodicea, the scriptures were just some nice sounding traditional beliefs that had little or nothing to do with daily life.  What one actually believed was irrelevant. 

God said he would prefer they were either for him or against him.  They would just go along with whatever other people said or did, without concerning themselves whether it was right or wrong.  They were like a cup of lukewarm coffee, neither hot enough nor cold enough to taste good.   They weren’t bad enough to bring God’s judgment, nor were they obedient enough for him to bless them like he wanted to. 

Many of their people were not saved and those that were really didn’t know the Lord in a personal way.  If they would take him seriously, and take the time, he would reveal himself to them, as Revelation 3:20 describes.  “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”  II Corinthians 3:18 promises, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  To build a strong marriage, it is essential to set aside other things to get to know your mate.  In the same way, to build a strong relationship with the Lord, it is essential to take time to get to know him.  If you are too busy, it really doesn’t matter what you are doing, you will never build a healthy relationship.   

Like those in the other churches, those who have placed their faith in Christ will have a part in kingdom, as Revelation 3:21 promises.  “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.”

Once again, the Holy Spirit stressed the Need to pay attention to these messages to the churches, in Revelation 3:22.  “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”  Today there are thousands of churches like each of these seven.  We have been warned about what will happen in each case.  If we ignore the warnings, we can expect the same things in our churches.  As Revelation 1:3 says, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”