The Church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22)

We suggested in previous studies that the seven churches had been chosen because they represented types of churches that would be found throughout the Christian era. If it were possible to arrange the seven churches in order of devotion to Christ, then the church in Laodicea would be the worst. The other candidate for this undesirable position is the church in Sardis, but at least there was a faithful remnant within her, unlike the church in Laodicea. The Lord Jesus has nothing good to say about the church in Laodicea.  

 

This letter is an appeal from the Lord of the Church to individuals in a decadent church in order to have fellowship with him. The tragedy of the Laodicean church is not just their spiritual blindness; it is the absence of the Saviour from their fellowship. And they do not seem to have noticed or cared!

 

An obvious question that arises from this letter is, ‘Was the church in Laodicea a true church?’ Later we will consider some of the criticisms that the Saviour makes of the church, and at first glance these features might cause us to conclude that it was not a true church. But the question is a different question from asking whether all the members were true believers, because it is possible that some of them were not. 

 

In support of the church being a true church are the following three features: (1) Christ himself calls it a church in the same way as he calls the other six churches true churches. (2) Jesus states that he loves the church in this letter. The only other church of the seven that is told by Christ of his love is the one in Philadelphia, which received no criticism. Therefore Jesus says that he loves both the best and the worst churches of the seven. (3) To experience discipline is an evidence of membership of the family of God.

 

Laodicea

Laodicea was located six miles from the city of Hierapolis, ten miles from the small town of Colosse, and about one hundred miles east of Ephesus. It was a strategic location, with the great Roman road from Ephesus to the inland of Asia Minor running through its centre, as well as other major trade routes. 

 

Christian churches already existed in Hierapolis, Colosse and Laodicea by the date of Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome (Col. 4:13); indeed he mentions in Colossians 4:15-16 that he had written a letter, no longer extant, to the Laodiceans. Paul also mentions his intense prayer commitment for the church there despite the fact that he had not met them (Col. 2:1). It is likely that these churches had been founded by Epaphras because his concern for them is mentioned by Paul (Col. 4:13). It is also reasonable to assume that the doctrinal problem facing the church in Colosse had also troubled its neighbouring churches and could have been the root cause of the spiritual decline of the church in Laodicea.

 

Laodicea was a city with many famous landmarks, several of which the Lord Jesus alludes to in his letter to the church there. These include a thriving wool industry, a famous school of medicine particularly for eye problems, and a banking centre. It was so wealthy that when it suffered great damage because of an earthquake in AD 60, it did not need outside help from the Empire for rebuilding. It was self-sufficient, which was a good thing for the city, but it illustrates the problem with the church – it was also self-sufficient. 

According to one book on the seven churches, in the next centuries the church in Laodicea was responsible for commencing sixteen other churches. Several church councils took place there; indeed the council that established in an official way the sanctity of the Lord’s Day met there in the year 363. So these historical details could indicate that the church heeded the message that Jesus sent to it.

 

The character of Christ (v. 14)

Jesus introduces himself as the ‘Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God’ (v. 14). I think these words stress three things about Jesus. As the ‘Amen’ he has the last word regarding a matter. As the faithful and true witness, he will give an accurate assessment of the situation. As ‘the beginning of the creation of God’, he has the power to do something about the situation. Depending on one’s personal state, this description would be either a threat or a comfort. How would this personal description have seemed to the church in Laodicea? It was a threat because it indicated that Jesus could remove their lampstand, but it was a comfort to know that he had the power to resolve the situation.

 

The criticism by Jesus (vv. 15-17)

To appreciate this point we need to know that a major lack in Laodicea was a suitable water supply. Hierapolis had hot springs famous for healing qualities and Colosse was known for its cool drinking water, but Laodicea did not have either. Instead water was carried from another location, via a six-mile-long aqueduct that could not keep the water either hot or cold. This is the allusion in Christ’s statement that he would have them either cold or hot. 

 

These words do not refer to one’s spiritual temperature, in the sense of ‘hot’ being an ardent spiritual state and ‘cold’ indicating a backsliding state, but to the inability of the church members to provide spiritual healing or spiritual refreshment for the city. Their contribution to the city was equivalent to the tepid water that flowed along the aqueduct. They should have been conveying the gospel of Christ to their community, but because of their lukewarm spiritual state they were incapable of being used by Christ and faced the real possibility of losing their candlestick, graphically illustrated in the Saviour’s threat to spew them out of his mouth. 

 

A second criticism that Jesus makes is that the church seems to have read their providences as a sign of God’s blessing rather than symptoms of their spiritual problems. They were doing very well in material things. Of course, possessions in themselves are neutral; the possession of them can be a blessing or a means of backsliding. I read recently the opinion of John Wesley as to why revivals seem to burn out. He suggested that revivals produce converts, who then become hardworking and careful with money, which leads to a certain amount of prosperity, which then blinds them to their ongoing need of God, and the Spirit, who brought the revival, is grieved.

 

There is no hint of the problems encountered by the other six churches, such as persecution or false teaching. Rather the church was marked by self-sufficiency and complacency. So those to whom Christ is speaking were in a sad and potentially dangerous state – their spiritual ignorance had resulted in spiritual wretchedness, poverty, blindness and nakedness, with the looming prospect of their cessation as a church. But in his mercy the Lord Jesus draws near to the church. 

 

4. The counsel of Christ

The Saviour uses various aspects of the city’s activities to illustrate the sad state of the church.

 

First, Jesus alludes to the banking system when he urges the church members to buy gold from him in order to be truly rich. This is in contrast to the opinion of the Laodiceans of themselves, for they thought they were rich already. It is not clear on what their assessment was based, but a reasonable suggestion is that they assumed their great material wealth was a sign of God’s favour. 

 

We are not told what Jesus’ promised wealth involved; perhaps it is a reference to spiritual blessings in general. Some commentators suggest that there is a reference here to future suffering (suffering and gold are linked in 1 Peter 1:7). It is the case that persecution of believers increased in that area in subsequent decades. Of course, when Jesus urges them to ‘buy gold’ from him, he is not suggesting that his blessings can be purchased by money; rather he is using the picture of trade that was common in the city.

 

Second, the wool industry is alluded to in Christ’s advice that they should buy from him fine raiment with which to clothe themselves. While this could be a reference to nakedness that requires the robe of righteousness given in justification, I think it more likely that it refers here to righteousness in the sense of holiness of life. 

 

Third, the medical school is alluded to when Jesus tells them to buy from him eye salve in order for them to see clearly. They were spiritually blind to their poverty of Christian experience. In a sense, they were like the believers described in 2 Peter 1:9, who because of a lack of spiritual growth had become short-sighted, unable to see into the future. What the Saviour is promising to them is true spiritual vision, vision to see how to serve Christ, and vision to look beyond the visible to heaven.

 

It is important for us to note the posture of Jesus as knocking at the door. Often this image of the Saviour knocking at the door is depicted as the Lord Jesus knocking in a gospel sense at the heart of a sinner. While there may be a sense in which that interpretation is useful in an applicatory way, I do not think it fits with the context. Rather I would suggest that what we have here is the Master of the House (Jesus and the church) coming to deal with a church whose behaviour had brought it to the place where it was about to lose its place as a lampstand. 

 

The idea of a master suddenly coming to judge his servants was used by Jesus in his parable of the returning householder (Luke 12:36ff). Similarly, the letter of James (5:9) urges believers to live in love because the Judge is standing at the door. In this letter to the Laodiceans, Jesus has already warned them that unless they repent he will spew them out of his mouth. But here he comes with a loving call of mercy, offering grace to any within the church who will let him into their fellowship.

 

Jesus begins with a call to them to pay attention. The imperative verb, translated ‘behold’, does not mean here to gaze with wonder; rather it means to cease practising what they were doing and listen to Christ. It is a call of authority, requiring an immediate response. His call is accompanied by repeated knocking. Obviously, it is not a literal knocking on a physical door that is meant. It is a demand for access to their fellowship.  

Jesus comes to the church looking for repentance in its members. Their repentance will be evidenced by their opening the door and letting him in, that is, acknowledging that he is the Sovereign of the church. His words indicate that only some of the church will respond to his command. But if some were to do so, their response would prevent divine judgement falling on them. This is a reminder that repentance is an essential Christian activity. Jesus commanded the members of the churches in Ephesus (2:5), Pergumum (2:16), Thyatira (2:21-23), Sardis (3:3) and Laodicea to repent of their sins.  

 

What does it mean for a Christian to repent? Matthew Henry describes it in this way: ‘They must repent. They must be inwardly grieved and ashamed for their sinful declension; they must blame themselves, and shame themselves, for it, and humbly confess it in the sight of God, and judge and condemn themselves for it.’

 

A clear biblical example of repentance by believers is that of the church in Corinth. Their response is described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:9-11: ‘As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.’ 

 

This warning by Jesus reveals why the sins of Christians are so serious. The reality is that unless God took the initiative and drew us back to himself we would not return. How thankful the penitent Laodiceans would have been for the grace of the sovereign Saviour, for the restoring ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the tender mercy of the Father.

 

The Laodiceans were urged by Jesus to buy from him. They were to trade with him as empty, poverty-stricken believers. Everything in his shop is free, but the blessings are not experienced until he is requested to provide them. This is a reminder that faith and repentance go together, and the mark of a zealous Christian is that he or she possesses both in an ongoing manner.

 

5. The comfort of Christ 

In his promises to the overcomer, Jesus refers to both present and future blessings. To those penitent believers who welcome him into their midst Jesus gives a wonderful promise. Their spiritual restoration means that once again he is the provider of their spiritual food. Jesus uses the imagery of a meal to illustrate the spiritual warmth and intimacy that exists between him and his restored disciples. Jesus delights in giving spiritual provision to his people. 

 

Attendance at the meal by those who once were backslidden is a reminder that, even for such, faithfulness is still possible. This is made clear in the promise that Jesus gives to the overcomer in verse 21. What amazing grace! Those who had been indifferent to his claims, but who repented of it, will share the throne of Jesus. They can still live for his glory and receive his eternal blessing when the new world dawns, the blessing of sharing his sovereign rule over the new heavens and new earth.

 

Application

First, there is reality of the Saviour’s searching of the churches. This means that he searches our congregation. There is the possibility that some members in the seven churches were not true Christians. And that possibility exists for every church. While from one perspective it is a frightening matter that Jesus is the searcher of our hearts and of our fellowship, from another perspective it is an opportunity for realism. We should join with the Psalmist and ask the Lord to search us to see if there are wicked ways in us (Ps. 139). Our prayer should be for spiritual reality.

 

Second, there is the danger of being blinded spiritually by materialism. This is an obvious feature of life in the Western world today and it would be foolish to imagine that we are not affected by materialism and the desire for more and better possessions. These things can take first place in our lives and when that happens they will be evidenced by lukewarmness in our devotion to Jesus.

 

Third, there is the comprehensive restoration that is given to believers when they repent of their sins. Restoration involves fellowship with each person of the Trinity. Forgiveness from God is a precious reality that opens the way to rich experiences of divine grace.

 

Fourthly, there is the importance of individual dedication to Jesus. We can see from this letter that Jesus appealed for individuals to respond to him, even if others did not. Sometimes an individual has to stand out. It would not have done much good for an individual to follow the church into non-existence. Instead, he or she would need to stand up for Jesus and put him first in their lives.