Revelation: Laodicea
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here um we say that regularly uh I'm just one of the pastors we actually don't have a lead Pastor it's a team of five different pastors we also say Elder uh as the New Testament does that oversee different areas of our Church and I'm thankful for that I'm thankful for Isaac Hill who uh oversees families and students and uh facilities and helps with operations he was up there getting that room ready.
For our fourth and fifth graders uh I'm just thankful for the service that he does of our Church thankful for Matt Freeman who was just leading worship he's one of our pastors uh and in the the Church of our size and to be able to have a Sunday morning and the way they worship I'm just I'm thankful for the work he puts in I'm thankful for Chad Phillips who tells good jokes and no he he over SE Community groups and our operations and he puts.
So much effort into leading our Church and I'm thankful I get to preach alongside of him I ever see teaching and counseling and care and spiritual formation and then we have Raz Bradley who often times is less visible uh he just is he works behind the scenes a lot so a lot of the times you don't get to see him working as a pastor here he serves in a bunch of different capacities and oversees different things in different seasons one of the things I appreciate about what Raz brings to our team and I say appreciate in a LoveHate kind of relationship way is uh Raz is very straightforward he just is uh I think part.
Of that is uh he's not from the south I think Southerners we we dance around things a little bit sometimes he's from Australia I think uh is a little more of a straightforward culture I think raz's personality is a little straightforward I think that uh often times it's Holy Spirit empowerment because every now and then when we're in Elder meetings or every now when again we're deciding to do a thing uh it's helpful for him cuz I know it's like I can.
See it coming I can see his face and it's like his beautiful stupid face it's about to come and he says a thing and he's like no no no it's very straightforwardly tells us we this is we're this is foolish we should not do this and he's done that so many times in so many helpful annoying and awesome and beautiful ways over the years but I appreciate uh what he brings the team in this very straightforward when he seees something that is wrong he's going to say something he he's going to call us to account and that straightforwardness uh uh at times like you know like anyone like we all make mistakes and at times.
It's it's uh not good but a lot of times it is really Holy Spirit in power because that's what our God does with us sometimes sometimes he he he looks at us and he straightforwardly calls us to account he calls us uh out in our sin and that's what Jesus does today in this seventh letter and the final letter in this part one we're walking through the letters that Jesus wrote to these new testament churches he is very straightforward with the Church of leoda and it is a straightforward rebuke.
Today we get to look at this final letter before we move on to part two of Revelation and as we look at his straightforwardness and calling them to account we as the Church get to see that how that applies to us and that's all we're going to do today so I'm going to pray for us then we'll walk through the text together heavenly father I thank you for the goodness of the Gospel that we just celebrated and saying that all we have is you our only hope is you.
But that means we need you to confront us in our waywardness to confront us in our sin and foolishness so that we might behold you in faith and walk that out in Repentance and the good works that you have in store for us we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so we pick up in chapter 3 verse 14 and to the angel of the Church in leody deia write the words of the amen the faithful and true witness the beginning of God's creation.
So in standard form in these letters he introduces the Church it's the Church of leoda this is this little route that we've shown that goes through Asia Minor that goes through the modern day Turkey this is the last stop on this route and this Church in this city is like many of the other cities that we've seen before it it is wealthy it is very Pagan very GRE or Roman and Pagan worship has great uh wealth and prosperity and trade that runs through it.
So very similar to everything we've seen thus far and then Christ in the next part as he does in all these letters he describes himself and he says the words of the amen now we're used to that word we say at the end of prayers we may not realize what it actually means in the Hebrew it just means truly so be it it's it's it's it's we pray this thing and so be it in accordance with your will as the New Testament Church as we pray in accordance with Will.
So be it this is a statement that Christ is the amen he is the one that makes things happen he's The Sovereign ruler and Reiger over all things he is the one that makes things to be and it calls him the faithful and true witness that Christ is faithful and he is true and he sees it Witnesses everything this is a sovereign Rule and a sovereign sight amongst the churches amongst the people of God and then it says the beginning of God's creation this is a statement that Christ along with.
God the father and uh God the Holy Spirit was at the beginning this is the God who made all things out of Christ and The Trinity all things came to be out of nothing this is a sovereign ruler and reigner of all all things from beginning to end as it is in this book and he describes himself and then he leads into a very very sharp rebuke probably the sharpest rebuke of any of the letters that we've seen thus far and it's only rebuke there is no encouragement in this letter not an ounce of it he goes straight into this heavy rebuke.
Now I want to read the whole rebuke to give some context for all of what he's saying and then we'll go through it verse by verse he says I know your works you are neither cold nor hot would that you were either cold or hot so because you were lukewarm and neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my mouth for you say I am rich I have prospered and I need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire.
So that you may be rich and white garments that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen and sound to anoint your eyes so that you may see those whom I love I reprove and discipline so be zealous and repent behold I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and eat with him and he with me okay so this first part he gives three pictures hot water cold water and luke warm water he says I know your works.
Okay he's describing their Works he says your works are neither cold nor hot what that you either cold or hot so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my mouth there are some people who will suggest there's some archaeological evidence that uh that shows that above Leo deia was a city called heropolis and that city was famous for its hot springs and that uh the aqueduct system that the Romans have would take hot water like from that City and transport it down to Le oia.
But by the time that it made the sixmile trip down to leoda it actually was lukewarm water which is useless I mean hot water is hot it's useful for bathing and cleaning cold water is useful because it's it's good drinking Source but lukewarm water well that's useless and and that's I mean that lukewarm water breeds bacteria and sickness now I'm not an archaeologist and archaeology nerds with the Bible disagree on whether that happen or not it's possible it did it's possible it didn't guess what it doesn't matter.
Because it still makes sense to us too because everyone gets the illustration hot water is useful I like a hot shower cold water is useful i' like to have a cold drink of water I don't want a lukewarm drink of water because I'm not a psychopath I don't take lukewarm showers because no just no we all get what he's saying there hot and cold water is useful lukewarm water is useless but here's where it takes a turn and somehow I would I would argue how some misinterpret this how some have taught this is.
So what is being said here is you need to be hot like on fire for Christ and if you're like hot water like you're on fire for Christ that's useful you need to be hot or you to be cold which means you be distant you can be hard and atheist but what God really despises is the middle ground he doesn't like lukewarm faith if you claim Jesus in name only and you just go through the motions God hates that will spit you out of his mouth which is the language Old Testament Prophet language of judgment.
So be hot on fire for Christ or be an atheist but don't be the middle ground and that is how this gets taught sometimes and some of you that may be your understanding of this text what I want to do is push on that a little bit to reshape this in a way that I think is more true to what the text is actually saying here so my guess is is the reason that some folks will come up with this illustration that says hot on fire cold distant from.
God lukewarm Middle Ground has a little bit to do with how we understand the word lukewarm in the English the word itself definition one temperature lukewarm definition two unenthusiastic that's how we understand this word but I think we need to put the cart before the horse and not this is true for any text that we study if you're at home reading your Bible it's not what do I feel that the text is it's not what I think it is is what is the text saying itself and here what does.
Jesus mean when he says hot cold and lukewarm and that's the work that needs to be done here so uh what is he getting at I think very uh simply hot and cold are useful lukewarm is useless is it your works are not useful I oh that you'd be like hot and cold water all that you your Works o lead Deans would be useful but they're but they're not they're useless I think that's directly what he's saying when he's he's keeping it encamped in hot cold.
And then lukewarm and he says if your works are to be found like lukewarm water useless then I'll reject them which leads the next question okay then what does he mean when he says lukewarm what does he mean in this illustration when he says useless works because what I what I don't think is being argued here I don't think God's desire is for you to be on fire for Christ or to be hard and atheist I don't think that's what God is saying here I don't think he's saying that be either or not I know I think he's saying let your Works be useful let them not be useless.
And then he goes on to Define what this uselessness is starting in verse 174 you say I am rich I have prospered and I need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked these leody Deans part of their lukewarmness is that they are wealthy they are rich and they are prideful and their richness they believe themselves to be self-sufficient because of their wealth not in need because of their wealth which is on par with this city leoda is a city that was rich around 60 AD there was an earthquake that hit this region many of the Cities uh got aid from Rome to be able to rebuild their cities Leo deia.
Said we're good we will handle this ourselves and and that's that cultural probably ethos that was in that City probably trickled down to this Church that's what culture does it impacts us and the way that we view God and others in this world so they are rich and they're prideful in it and their self-sufficiency and they think we we're good we don't have need we're doing okay as a Church and Jesus says you are not I mean wretched pitiable poor blind naked goodness that man alive G A lot of times we have this picture of.
Jesus as this traveling Sage who like Scoops up babies and gives kisses and warm hugs and he is that our God is gentle and he is kind and he is wonderful and he's also a prophet I mean the the these this this is Old Testament uh covenantal language for being morally bankrupt wretched evil pitiable you are pitiful and miserable poor you are spiritually poor you're spiritually blind you're spiritually naked you are pitiful and wretched I mean just imagine listen imagine the force of that hearing that right like.
If I just decided to point at someone in the room and then put my finger on someone and said you are wretched you are pitiable you are poor you are blind you are naked if I said that it would be a little unnerving it would make this a little bit awkward we would not like that you might not come back right this is confrontational Christ okay he does this sometimes this is one of the more aggressive times that we see it and he calls them to account in a very straightforward manner.
Because here's the thing I don't think they knew this about themselves that's what the text seems to lead right I think they thought we're good we're great we're awesome and they're not in it fake the facade of of of being great is hiding the fact that that beneath the surface there's something deeply morally wrong and broken in them to where they're not living out their faith the way they're supposed to a few years ago there was a music festival called fryfest and this Festival was build as like the most luxurious ious Music Festival on a remote island in the Bahamas like it was it's going to be great music it's going to be.
There's going to be luxurious food and AC and accommodations it's going to be great and everyone got really excited about seeing Blink 182 on an island in the Bahamas and overpaying to go see them and they did it they showed up the Bahamas ready for the luxurious Festival experience and when they got there they were like FEMA disaster tents for housing it was uh uh Styrofoam boxes of cheese sandwiches and not even like toasted cheese sandwiches like bread cheap cheese bread closed here's your luxury and like immediately everything unraveled I mean just complete utter disaster people I mean it was actually a safety issue they didn't have enough bathrooms they have Wall I mean it.
Was bad it ended immediately when people arrived and it was buil as I mean they they they sold it as this is awesome and it's great and beneath the surface it was garbage and this Church this is the reality they've deceived themselves they think they're okay they think they don't have need they think they're fine and Jesus is standing in the in front of them and saying you're not okay in fact you're much worse than not okay and you need to.
See the reality and get rid of this facade this fakeness and this you are wretched and poor and pable it is an aggressive call up but then Jesus moves into in verse 18 he moves into language of the Gospel he says in verse 18 he says I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich in white garments you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen and SV to anoint your eyes.
So that you may see this is language of the Gospel he he's speaking about the richness of the Gospel right come to me for for gold don't these Earthly riches that have deceived you into thinking that you're okay it it leave that come to me and I will give you gold and richness I will give you the goodness of my righteousness these white garments this is language of the righteousness of Christ that when you come to Christ in your sin you put your faith in him and what you receive is the perfect righteousness of Christ that stands.
For you and the Riches of of the gifts of the Spirit that are lavished upon us and the riches that await Us in eternity and he said I'll give you I'll give you Sal I'll give you ointment for your eyes you're blind right now you don't see this but I'll give you ointment I will open up your eyes so that you can see your spiritual reality so you will not continue to uh Wander from me towards blinding yourself with riches he gives them the Gospel and in.
Verse 19 he says Those whom I love I reprove in discipline so be zealous and repent which I appreciate two pictures here the first is this that Those whom I love I reprove and discipline y' God disciplines Those whom he loves God's kindness in a lot of ways in seasons of our life is discipline and I I think that we're infected by uh bad feel olical streams that flow in and out of our country that God shows his Blessing through the gifts that he gives you through material things and it shies away from both a Theology of suffering.
But a Theology of God that shows that he disciplines Those whom he loves which is a a broad category for a lot of things I I I think when you sin and you make mistakes you run to God for forgiveness but then you don't want the consequences of your sin to come to bear and some people live under the consequences of their sin for years and that's God's kindness to discipline us that's his kindness to show love to us through discipline I think sometimes we endure hardships we endure endure sufferings and we we we begin to question the goodness of.
God where are you God why aren't you giving me this thing why isn't this working out in the way in which I want it to and it's hard for us to see that in those Seasons that God is refining our faith through the fires of Trials and and and it's disciplining Us in the same way that I I love my children and one of the ways I show love to my children is I disciplined them you ever been around a nine-year-old who's undisciplined at three it's like um how much damage can you do you need to work on this before it gets out of hand at nine it's like goodness gracious this is you've show.
You've not loved your child you certainly don't love everybody else that has to deal with your child now but God did disciplines those me I love that picture this is a new testament beautiful picture of God the second part here is be zealous and repent be zealous and repent so now we're getting a more full picture of what's Happening Here they are a they are a people who have been primul self-sufficient in their wealth but they're also not zealous they lack a Zeal.
For the works of God I think this and I'm not a English uh uh expert on the on the language but I if I had to guess this is probably where the Bible and this happens at times impacts the English language if you go deeper into this and if you really want to do a deep dive on this later go nuts this is great but I think the deeper you go into this I think it it seems that this this zealous language that later informs what lukewarmness is actually impacts the English language in a way that one of our.
Second definitions of that word itself is a lack of zeal is unenthusiastic so there is a a lack of zeal that's a part of this right it's you're self-sufficient in your mind in your riches and building your life on riches and you lack Zeal you are not zealous for the works of God and we should be we should be zealous but we live in a culture that actually has really made that word a no no word it's a pejorative it's like you you don't want to be zealous that's a bad thing especially as a Christian religious Zeal is bad.
But the the Bible doesn't see it as that way the Bible sees it as good uh Romans 12:11 says do not be slothful in Zeal be fervent in spirit serve the Lord we should zealously and enthusiastically serve the Lord we should be eager to do the good works that God has given us we're saved by grace through faith but then he sets apart for his works that we should walk in them we should be zealous for that Titus 214 says who gave himself.
For us this is Christ to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify himself a people for his own possession that's the Gospel right that Christ saves us and then he redeems us for what for his own possession who are zealous for good works that we should be zealous we should eagerly and zealously enthusiastically we should have this Zeal for being obedient to the Lord and doing the good things he has set out before us so this is the problem of leosia this is this this is the picture here this is what he.
Jesus means when he says lukewarm you are pridefully self-sufficient in your wealth and building your life upon riches and you do not see your need and you are not zealous for the good works that God has called you to be zealous in this is your problem and therefore you are unrepentant now here's the problem for us as we read this letter many of us may go man these letters have been rough like God but I dodg a bullet here because I ain't wealthy oh man uh uh you know I'm here every Sunday and in groups.
So I'm doing the things guys I'm doing it and I think that if we try to excuse ourselves from one of the most aggressive calls to repentance that Jesus has in the New Testament I think we misunderstand that American Christians have more in common with the leod doans than we believe I think that on two fronts I think the first front is indeed wealth y'all in the history of the world in the history of human history there is which is a good way of saying that there is more widespread wealth.
Now than ever it's not even close there there have always been wealthy people there's always been a King Solomon and there's always been a Bill Gates there's always been super rich people but never in history until now is there more just widespread General wealth now one of the ways that's been measured for years is GDP which is gross domestic product you go country by country you can look at gdps but econ those in economics who study this will say a more accurate way of understanding this is something called pppp GDP which is purchasing power parity this measures how much the the uh per capita on average.
But individual in a country can purchase and that's a better measurement for how widespread wealth is in a nation and we as a nation in the PPP rankings are number eight and some of you are like America's number one in everything not everything it's just it's not just fun fact we're eight that's still very high on the list and for our country country of our sides that's a that's very high so this is a helpful measurement to see not just who in the top 1%.
But where is the widespread wealth and we're number eight at about $76,000 in spending power per year $76,000 okay now that's about $20,000 more than countries like Japan and Spain which we look at as oh those are prosperous countries and they are youever visit them beautiful and there's a widespread wealth there as well and we're $20,000 more ahead of them we are double the PPP average of Greece we are triple the PPP average of Costa Rica we are five times greater than the highest PPP average in uh the richest country in Africa which is South Africa five times an entire continent in this country.
Now inflation certainly has hit hard I feel that every time I order groceries from Walmart plus every time my wife and I were doing it last night into this morning just like oh man the cart's getting bigger oh man and you know and then we wore them and and then they get delivered which is not a thing that happened ever until 10 minutes ago right I mean think about that like it like and listen if you want to talk to me about this like I will I I've done I've done that like going into Walmart is one thing especially with children who want to grab things going to Walmart with a hungry stomach you can.
Just add things to the card but when you're on the app and you're just hitting the things you save money in the long run but hear that right and I think everyone's got some version of this it's like man this is so expensive so hard but it wasn't until 10 minutes ago that you could get on a phone that was connected to a broader internet Universe where you could order groceries that came from all across the world and spices that came from all across the world that you can make meals in a in a in a in a shelter in a home that you could actually I mean goodness that wasn't a thing until until.
10 Minutes ago and that is widespread I I could do this on 15 different examples of the things that we take for granted the things that we think are just oh man that shows yeah we're not you're not you're not Bill Gates but but you are you are wealthier than almost any person that has ever lived by experience by what you can actually purchase and I and I I feel that y'all I feel that as as a person as a pastor and my wife as a teacher and we are literally dragging down the average of PPP in America by by spinning power I I I feel this and I know that some of you might.
Say but you don't know me you don't know my situation you don't know what I depend upon you don't know the government services that I have to depend upon to make ends meet and I get it by comparison to the rest of this country you may not be killing it as the kids say you you may not be spending like everyone else but just in reality the fact that we have a social safety net in our country that that provides for I mean aund over a hundred years ago before the Great Depression like.
If you if you didn't have means you starved that was for thousands of years backwards you didn't make it there there was an ability to to you you better seriously you if of past 100 years ago you would have hoped there was a Church nearby because that was the only one that was going to help me and the reality is I'm thankful for our safety nets I'm thankful the fact that people can get food I'm I'm thankful for all of that.
But you have to understand that in the grand scheme of the Church's history history where we are this Church our Church is wealthier than the overwhelming majority of churches that have ever existed and it's not even close so any bit of us that wants to distance ourselves from lead DEA because we're not wealthy I think is folly I think we're very much in this exact same category and when I think about how comfortable we are even in these difficult times this passage terrifies me this passage soers me and it terrifies me it terrifies me to think that.
Jesus looking at us and looking at everything that we spend money on and everything that we have from phones to to three meals a day and for us to find our sufficiency in the material things of this world to terrifies me to think of Jesus looking at our spending and saying in reality you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked that if Jesus could walk through our budgets he could walk through our spending statements we walk through our cash receipts.
Look at everything that we spend money on and ask the question is this to the glory of God is this to the glory of God I I I would feel the overwhelming weight of conviction when I read this and the reality is is that I'm thankful for his grace and his Mercy because in our self-sufficiency in looking to material things for joy happiness contentment Etc Christ calls us to account through a text like this which means we get the opportunity to turn to come back to him we get the opportunity to sit down before the.
Lord with our with our budgets and our spending and say God how can I use this for your glory how can I use this for your goodness how can I not rely on the things of this world but rely upon you as my Lord and if you want help doing that we have a financial care team that that will do that they will sit down with you they'll help organize budgets they'll help you look at everything that is that is in your budget categories or maybe lack of budget budget categories.
But needs to be a budget and we'll sit and look at this and go how can you do this to the glory of God how can we find our sufficiency in him and not our things so that Christ would look at us and our approach to riches and he would say you are not re wretched but you are Christ exalting you're not pitiable but you are uh admirable in how you Steward what I have given you that you're not poor in Morality In the way you approach money.
But you are rich in Godless that you're not blind but your eyes are open to the spiritual reality of every dollar that is spent that you are not naked and baren but you are submitted to Christ having his righteousness cover us and Empower us for the good works that he has with for us when it comes to how we spend so we get that call there and we should receive it and then the second thing he says is what what about Zeal are we the kind of people that are merely fine with checking boxes whether that's attendance at Sundays in groups whether it's reading the Bible whether it's fill in the blank I'm doing the.
Things Lord I'm doing the things or are we coming to God out of a posture that's been so infatuated with Christ because God you saved me when I don't deserve it and you set me apart for good works God what do you want me to do how can every ounce of my life and every ounce of my energy how can every aspect of my life be used for your glory God show me what to do what do you want for me is EV to spend every day starting and praying saying saying.
God what are the things you have for me embolden me make me zealous for the things where I might be obedient to your will and sanctification might be obedient to your will and the things that you have for me he says be zealous and repent and we can we can receive the rebuke of leody deia and we can be zealous for ultimately what God wants for us now it's a it's a hefty rebuke as some of these rebukes have been in these letters.
Now the text is not it's not saying you need to work harder now Jesus isn't saying be zealous now because you got to get right with me it's not the Approach at all no is is this is anchored in the Gospel that as every week as we walk through one of these letters that we see the grace that covers us we come back to Christ who saves us not of our own doing but what he has done and and then we.
Look at the call to repentance and we shouldn't run away from that we should embrace it and say no absolutely Lord help me trust not in myself help me be zealous and then hear what he says next in verse 20 behold I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and eat with him and he with me that after this intense rebuke we have this wonderful picture where he says I'm here like like a.
Father who has rebuked his child I mean because she really messed up he really stepped in at this time she runs off to her room and she closed the door in tears fearful because what they have done God comes the door and he hey you still still part of this family come to the table when you're ready come dinner's ready come on down how good is our God right how wonderful is our God that even when we are wavered even when we do mess up that he stands at the door and he knocks and he says you still have a place at the table Yeah you messed up youve banked your life on riches you've.
Not been zealous for what is good but you can come to the table and you can take part in this meal with me come he says come I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and eat with him he with me goodness gracious our God is so good he invites us to repent he invites us to Fellowship in our repentance and then he holds out this reward this is the final reward of these letters that we.
See and these seven letters he says in verse 21 the one who conquers I will grant him to sit with me on my Throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches y'all to the one who conquers the language that he's used in every letter to the one who conquers to the one who conquers the one who hears this rebuke responds in Repentance who fights daily to die to themselves and their desires to trust in Christ and conquers all the way to the end the picture that we have here of what's waiting.
For us in the new heavens and the new Earth because every one of these pictures is in the new heavens and the new Earth it's in Revelation 21-22 that's where this is going he says I will grant him to sit with me on my Throne as I conquered and sat down with my father on his throne it is the very language of reigning with Christ when Christ resurrected he ascended to the right hand of God the father and one day Heaven comes to Earth and he says.
If you conquer you'll Reign too if if you conquer if you hear the call If You Hear Me Knocking at the door if you come back to the table if you walk this out if you persevere if you make it to the end you will reign which we need to hear and believe because so much of our lives are spent on on building these little tiny kingdoms for ourselves these little tiny kingdoms where we can Reign and the God of the universe is saying put that aside.
Look to me I'm I have a kingdom that never ends I have riches that you cannot possibly begin to understand and if you will conquer to the end you will reign with me that's what is awaiting us but to get there we've got to heed the call to repentance and remember the Gospel and we trust in him and we submit Our Lives to not be a people that are infatuated with the security of riches and not be a people that are overly comfortable and content in this life that we lose the hustle to be zealous.
For the works that he has for us but we own the call to repentance there and we respond to the knock at door at the door and we come back to him and we walk this out until we reign with him again and Kell going to come back up we get to sing one last song we get to remember that we don't love the world and the things that it has to offer that the most beautiful and wonderful person we could.
Behold over anything this world has to offer is Christ don't leave part one of this series I I if if you for seven weeks have sat in each of these texts and are unmoved are unmoved by the call to repentance My Hope Is that God would soften your heart right now that you'd hear the knock at the door and that you'd respond and that you see that the path that he has for you is far better than anything this world has to offer.
So Church sing that wholeheartedly right now and then leave this place today with a faith that's based in what God has done for us and with a repentance that mirrors the very heart of what God wants for us amen.