It Starts Small

Jesus had no praise for this church.

A tepid heart is an indication of spiritual indifference; a boiling heart for God is an indication of spiritual dynamic. – vs 15

The word “cold” metaphorically means without enthusiasm. The church was not completely cold or hard of heart its spirituality. It was not so f cold that we could characterize their walk with God spirituality as in a deep freeze. They were neutral in their walk.

Neither was the church at Laodicea “hot.” The word “hot” means to boil, to be fervent. The idea is boiling hot. Metaphorically, the church was not at the boiling point in their spirituality. Their heart was not favorable to God’s plan for their lives.

This rebuke by Jesus had a special impact on the church Laodicea because their city water supply started hot from Hierapolis, but by the time it arrived in Laodicea, it was lukewarm. Like their water supply, they were tepid in their spirituality because they were content with material things. Self-satisfaction leads to spiritual death.

The church at Laodicea was neither cold nor hot; it was lukewarm. As a lukewarm church, their spiritual water was unpalatable, and Jesus spits it out. Jesus is not in the casual business. Remember during our historical look, the water pools were great for lounging in or health reason, but to drink the water actually made the people sick. Jesus uses this way of speaking for the people to understand His Words.

The word “wish” indicates an unattainable wish and carries the idea of ought. This ought to be done if one had one’s wish. Jesus wishes they would come to grips with where they were spiritually. They diluted themselves into thinking they were right in taking this middle of the road position. Taking no clear position always leads ultimately to spiritual disaster.

Can Jesus draw the charge of a cold heart against you?

Being cold or hot is better than being in-between. If Jesus is real to us, our hearts cannot be anything but boiling hot toward Him. It is impossible to maintain a neutral spirituality. As long as we live in an in-between life, we will never live a dynamic Christ filled life. Apathetic and mediocre spirituality is delusional. Some churches feel that they dare not go to any extreme. They would never be as cold as ice nor hot as fire. They love being halfhearted. Middle of the road Christianity never accomplishes anything much. Passionate people always outstrip indifferent people. A neutral church is nauseating, as we will see in the next verse.

The dynamic believer boils. This person walks in the Spirit constantly. A boiling hot believer constantly confesses his sin and keeps a short account with God.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

Complacent spirituality is repugnant to Jesus. – vs16

Jesus draws an implication of tepid Christianity. The word “lukewarm” means tepid. The tepid church at Laodicea did not furnish any refreshment to the Lord. We get our English word “emit” from the Greek word for “vomit.” We also get the word “emetic” from this word. An emetic is a mixture of glob that doctors give a person when they swallow poison; it makes them vomit. Today we know it as a charcoal solution. A tepid church makes Jesus vomit. Jesus rejects passable Christianity. There is nothing mediocre about Jesus.

The implication in this statement by Jesus is that we care about what makes Jesus nauseous. He spits out this kind of spirituality; it makes Him throw up.

Jesus rejects tepid Christianity. A lukewarm church makes Jesus sick to His stomach. Jesus wants to get this kind of church out of His system. Complacent Christianity is utterly repugnant to Him. A church with no enthusiasm, no passion, no compassion, or urgency is no innocuous situation to Jesus. Many churches are thoroughly evangelical but have little passion for evangelism. Tepid Christianity that is neither more nor less nauseates the Lord Jesus.

God’s estimation of us is often very different from our estimation of ourselves. – vs17

The Laodicean church claimed material wealth. They were very arrogant and prideful in their “things.” The word “wealthy” means opulence. They felt that they did not lack anything and because of that, they deemed that they needed nothing as if all that there is to life is material wealth. They do not require God in their lives. They do not need Him, for they have “everything.”

The word “wretched” carries the idea of a distressed, miserable, and wretched person. These people were “distressed,” but they did not know it. Material things can make us depressed if we make them the center of our lives.

The word “miserable” means pitiable. Jesus pitied these people, but they do not know it.

The church at Laodicea was wealthy in terms of material wealth but poor in terms of spiritual wealth. The word “poor” describes someone who crouches and cowers, a beggar. This church was spiritually poverty-stricken. They were powerless to enrich their own lives or anyone else. They went begging spiritually. They were impotent to make any eternal impact. They were destitute of the wealth that comes from God.

The church at Laodicea was also “blind.” They were blind to the reality of a godly life. They were in the dark spiritually. Spiritual things were obscure to them. Spiritual values were as clear as mud. They did not have the capacity to comprehend God’s plan for their lives.

Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 15:14

The last characteristic of the church at Laodicea was that it was “naked.” This was a church without spiritual clothes. They thought that they had a complete wardrobe by their material wealth, but Jesus saw them as walking around naked. They were not even like the poor, who at least had some clothes to cover themselves. This church had nothing to cover themselves spiritually.

We can be in a deplorable spiritual state and not even know it.

Our pride so blinds us that we can not see what we are.

Self-conceit brings self-delusion.

here is a big difference between how we view ourselves and how Jesus views us. We think that we do not have any needs. Jesus sees us as totally needy. A materialistic worldview makes us blind to a spiritual worldview. Care of our bodies blinds us to care for our souls. This condition of things calls for pity. Our souls starve while our bodies are full. We are blind to all this. We can not see our state. We think that we know ourselves. Yet we are naked and lay exposed to embarrassment to Jesus. Riches of the body cannot enrich the soul.

Jesus gives true riches as over against illusory wealth. – vs18

The word “counsel” means to take counsel together, give advice, deliberate. There is only one market from which you can buy the goods Jesus offers –“from Me.” The Laodiceans do not have to run to the malls of wealth in Laodicea to obtain satisfaction. Jesus wants to do business with the Laodiceans. First, He counsels them “to buy” a certain kind of “gold,” a “refined” gold of character that comes from the fires of testing. This is not a monetary transaction but a spiritual transaction, a spiritual transaction in exchange for a quality of life.

Secondly, Jesus not only wants the Laodiceans to buy gold, but He wants them to purchase “white garments” from Him. If they do this,  they will not expose their nakedness to others, and they will not be ashamed. Laodiceans were famous for their glossy black goat’s wool. Ignominy always comes from sin. We will not disgrace ourselves with our sin if we enter into transaction with the Lord Jesus. With clothes that Jesus gives them, they will carry a sense of modesty. This will save us a lot of pain from our disgraceful acts, from exposure while sinning. Jesus saves from behavior that brings embarrassment. These Christians will not hide their face in shame.

The third thing that Jesus wants the church to buy is an “eye salve” that allows us to see spiritually. There was a famous medical school at Laodicea. This “eye salve” was a Phrygian powder used by oculists at the temple of Asclepius. They did not need to go to occultists; they only need to go to Jesus. If we use Jesus’ salve, we will acquire true knowledge of our spiritual condition, and we will see the claims of Christ to correct that condition. We need to open our eyes to spiritual truth.

Jesus gives counsel to those who previously rejected His counsel. His counsel to sinful people is that they drop their illusion that wealth satisfies and accept His true wealth. Our sinful condition, no matter how desperate, has a remedy. There is only one market for this remedy, the Lord Jesus Himself (“from Me”). We get His goods by purchasing them from Him. The true gold of character comes from Him. How do we get it from Him? “Without money and without price.”

“Come, everyone who is thirsty,
come to the water;
and you without silver,
come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without silver and without cost!

Isaiah 55:1

Sin is the only commodity that we must part with. When we do this, we make room for true riches. Our eyes will open to eternal and terminal values found only in Jesus’ marketplace.

The church and ourselves today need to repent of the mentality of tolerance and compromise. Churches today are neither cold nor hot. We like moderation and comfort. “Don’t disturb me. Don’t ask me to move out of my comfort zone.” We love moderate temperatures. We want to be the most comfortable possible.

Comfort drives our values. This is very much like the value “peace at all costs.” It is possible to attend churches like this for years with a sense of pleasure but without any serious confrontation of sin.

Compromise lies at the core value of these churches.

Jesus vomits when He thinks of churches like this. They are repulsive to Him. People love these churches, but Jesus rejects them. They are religious Country Clubs that exist only for the benefit of their members. Smug complacency does more damage than these churches imagine. These churches may please their community but do they please their Lord? Public approval drives many values of churches today. This is their standard of how well they are doing as a church.

God always disciplines the church because He loves the church. -vs19

Jesus rebukes and chastens us because He loves us all, “as many as’ should be translated “all.” Jesus’ discipline emanates from love.  We should never infer that because we receive discipline from Him that He does not love us.  He loves us unconditionally, unadulteratedly, and in an undiminished sense.  There are no strings attached to His love.  Jesus says, “When I rebuke your tepid hearts, I do it for your good.  If I left you on your course of destruction, I would be like the mother who does not keep her child from harm.”

The word “rebuke” means to confute, refute.  To rebuke someone is more than telling them their faults, it is rather to convince them of their sin.

Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

John 8:46

When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment:

John 16:8

But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all.

1 Corinthians 14:24

Here Jesus rebukes by action rather than by His mouth.  He will bring to light and expose the sin of the Laodiceans.  He will demonstrate and prove conclusively that they are off base spiritually.  People will not argue otherwise for He will convince them without question.  After Jesus cross-examines us with the kind of questions He can ask, no one will challenge Him.  We will stand patently guilty.  He will bring convincing proof of this.

“Chasten” means primarily to train children.  We train children by our words or corporeal punishment.  This is their first and basic form of education.  God trains His children as well.

for the Lord disciplines the one he loves
and punishes every son he receives.

Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?

Hebrews 12:6-7

Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son,
and do not loathe his discipline;
¹² for the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 3:11-12

A basic idea behind “chastening” is correction or guidance.  This instruction has to do with the purpose of forming proper habits of behavior.

 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.

Acts 7:22

 Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4

Ephesians 6:4 uses this “chasten” for training children.

Jesus challenges the Laodicean church to be “zealous.”  This word means to be eager, earnest.  Jesus wants them to be deeply committed to His values with the accompanying desire to do it.  He wants them to set their heart on His plan for them. We need to take His rebuke and chastening as from His love.  Better are the wounds of a friend than the flattery of an enemy.

The word “repent” is literally to perceive afterwards.  This implies changes after previously thinking about something.  This is the basis of moral and spiritual choice of values.  Repentance is a complete change of view and way of life as a result of looking at what Jesus values.  The English conveys the idea of sorrow or contrition, but the Greek does not necessarily portray this idea.  The Greek idea is more on total change in thought and behavior based on a fundamental change in terminal values, the values of God.

Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.

Luke 3:8

Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.

Acts 26:20

Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God,

Hebrews 6:1

The Greek indicates that we are to decide decisively. 

To repent is not to vow that we will never do it again.  Neither is it a promise to do better next time.  It is not a promise to serve the Lord.  It does not mean that we must crawl our way back to God.  Nor is repentance a guilt complex whereby we feel bad about sins.  All these things are legalistic ways of trying to get God’s approval.  They attempt to pay for our sins by self rather than trusting what God did for our sins.  We have God’s approval because of what Jesus did on the cross.

The modern church is typically unconscious of its spiritual needs.  It deals more with buildings and programs rather than in the reality of what Jesus offers.  Jesus penetrates this fallacy by rebuking and even chastening the church for this.

⁴ In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
or lose heart when you are reproved by him,
⁶ for the Lord disciplines the one he loves
and punishes every son he receives.

⁷ Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:4-11

Jesus, in context, talks about disciplining churches that step out of fellowship.  Repentance is the answer to a lukewarm attitude toward Christ.  The purpose of all discipline is to bring the church or believer back into fellowship with the Lord Jesus.

When a believer returns to fellowship with the Lord Jesus, God immediately turns suffering into a blessing.  He takes the pain that we suffer for our sins and produces blessings in our lives.  If we fail to restore fellowship with the Lord, then we carry misery with us.  The most obnoxious believers in the world know Christ but are out of fellowship with Him.  Many of them wonder why God allows certain things to happen to them.  They are oblivious to God’s purposes in suffering.

When believers stay out of fellowship for a long period, they develop self-inflicted grief.  When the combination of God’s discipline and self-inflicted misery comes together, then you have a very wretched person.  Carnal Christians are very miserable people.  The issue here is not the people who stay out of fellowship for a short while, but these are people who go into prolonged alienation from God.

The Christian can do nothing to destroy God’s love for them.  No matter how carnal they may become, no matter how long they remain carnal, God still loves them.  Although God may inflict misery upon us and we may inflict misery upon ourselves, we need to remember that we are not persona non grata with God.  He loves us through it all.

Above all, we need to change our minds about our most basic value of all — the value of staying in fellowship with Jesus personally.

Jesus will not force fellowship upon us. -vs20

Jesus presents Himself as standing outside a house and knocking on the door. When Jesus approaches this house, He finds the door shut. He takes the initiative to break down the barrier to fellowship. His “knock” is His initiative to break that barrier.

Jesus invites us into fellowship with Him not only with His hand by knocking but with His voice. Jesus appeals to those inside the house by His knock. It is their responsibility to open the door. Jesus cannot fellowship with those inside the house unless they invite Him in.

The “if” in the Greek indicates that Jesus is waiting on our choice. He will not compel fellowship by force. He will not break down the door of your heart to have fellowship with you.

Jesus argues in the previous verse that He disciplines the Laodicean Christians because He loves them. He speaks to Christians who grew lukewarm in their ardor for fellowship with Him. Now He states that He wants fellowship with them.

The word “dine” means to eat the chief meal of the day. Here Jesus speaks of spiritual dining (1 Co 11:25). Jesus appeals here to Christians, not non-Christians. He appeals to them for intimate, prolonged fellowship. He wants to get personal with us. The Creator and Sustainer of the Universe wants fellowship with each and every Christian. Especially, this is an invitation to those who are lukewarm to come back to Him. Jesus asks carnal Christians for their fellowship.

If we want fellowship with the Lord Jesus, we must invite Him into our lives. We invite Him to become the center of our worship. He will not force a relationship upon us. He will not violate our will.

Is Jesus outside the door of your church? Your church is His very own church, yet He stands outside waiting to come in.