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8. Laodicea -- The Lukewarm Church

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Editor's Note: a lightly edited transcription of the attached audio file will be found at the end of this originally written daily study guide. Appreciation for this transcription work goes to Marilyn Fine.

The New Testament does not record anything about the founding of the church at Laodicea. However, like most of the other six churches, it was likely established during Paul’s ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19:10). The city of Laodicea was one of a triad of cities with Colossae and Hierapolis and was the southernmost of the seven cities. It lay about 40 miles southeast of Philadelphia and 90 miles east of Ephesus.

Laodicea was a wealthy town that was known as a strategic banking center. They used their own wealth to pay for the reconstruction of the city after a devastating earthquake in A.D. 60, rejecting offers of financial aid from Rome. The city was also famous for the soft, black wool it produced and its ancient medicine, particularly an eye salve. All three industries – finance, wool, and eye salve – came into play in this letter. Laodicea’s water supply was also relevant to the message in this letter as the water had to travel several miles through an underground aqueduct before reaching the city. Therefore, the water arrived foul, dirty, and tepid – lukewarm, just like the people in the church.1

As you study this letter, ask God to speak to your heart through the message to the church at Laodicea.

DAY 1: THE DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST AND OVERVIEW

I. Looking to God’s Word

Read Revelation 3:14-22

1. How does this letter differ from the previous six letters? What is not included in this letter that is found in the other six?

2. What do the titles, “the Amen” and “the faithful and true Witness” signify in verse 14?

3. How do these verses give clarity to those titles?

Isaiah 65:16

John 14:6

2 Corinthians 1:20

Revelation 19:11

4. The NASB reads that He is the “Beginning of the creation of God.” What insight do these verses give to help you understand the meaning of that phrase?

John 1:1-3

Colossians 1:15-18

Hebrews 1:2

II. Looking Upward

5. In what situations of life are you most encouraged by His faithfulness and truth?

6. If you truly rested in God’s faithfulness and truth, how would that impact your life?

III. Looking Deeper

This is not the first time we read about the church at Laodicea. What do we know about this church from these verses?

      Colossians 2:1

      Colossians 4:12-17

 

IV. Looking Reflectively

We can always rest in God’s faithfulness and truth, regardless of our life situation.

Spend some time today worshipping Him for these attributes. Meditate on Lamentations 3:22-23. Personalize this verse to your own life.

DAY 2: THE CONCERN

I. Looking to God’s Word

Read Revelation 3:15-17

1. Describe this church.

2. What insight does verse 17 give us concerning the state of the church?

3. What is He implying by the term “lukewarm”?

4. Why would God prefer that they (and we) be either hot or cold, but not lukewarm?

II. Looking Upward

5. How would you recognize a lukewarm individual or church?

6. The Laodicean church was guilty of self sufficiency. In what areas of your life do you lean toward self-sufficiency instead of looking to Christ’s sufficiency?

III. Looking Deeper

When He describes them as “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,” what is He referring to?

How does the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22 relate to this church?

 

IV. Looking Reflectively

There is always the tendency to rely on our own sufficiency and believe we can handle things on our own. God continues to put me in situations where He shows me I am insufficient. I don’t like to be reminded of it, but it is so necessary. My tendency is to want to take care of things myself and not have to depend on someone else. Jesus Christ wants us to depend on Him. When I don’t, I am frustrated and fruitless. When I do, I find it so encouraging and uplifting to see His power in my weakness. He gently reminds me that yes, He is enough. He is sufficient.

Jesus Christ alone is our sufficiency. Do you live as if that is true?

Take some time today to reflect on your life and ask God to show you an area in which you are depending on self or others or things for your sufficiency instead of Christ.

Are you lukewarm, hot, or cold in your relationship with the Lord today?

DAY 3: THE COUNSEL

I. Looking to God’s Word

Read Revelation 3:18

1. What three things does He advise them to “buy” from Him and why?

2. Instead of real gold, they should buy “gold refined by fire.” What does that mean? (Look at Luke 12:21, 1 Timothy 6:17, and James 2:5 to prompt your thinking.)

3. Instead of the black garments popular in Laodicea, they were to “buy from Me white garments.” According to Isaiah 61:10, Revelation 7:9-11 and 19:7-8, what does He mean?

4. What is He alluding to with the “eye salve to anoint your eyes so you may see”? (Look also at Acts 26:15-18, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, and Ephesians 1:18-19.)

II. Looking Upward

5. Is He talking to believers or nonbelievers here? Explain your answer.

6. How can you “buy” gold refined by fire, white garments, and eye salve in the way Christ meant?

III. Looking Deeper

How does Isaiah 55:1-3 relate to His message to the church at Laodicea?

IV. Looking Reflectively

Look to Jesus as the source of life and fulfillment, not worldly things that have no eternal value.

We are all in danger of putting our trust in the wrong things for fulfillment and satisfaction in life. In what areas of your life are you most tempted to do that?

DAY 4: THE COMMAND

I. Looking to God’s Word

Read Revelation 3:19-20

1. What are some possible reasons why He interjects “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” at this point in the letter? How is it related to what He was just saying and is about to say?

2. Is Revelation 3:20 a gospel invitation to come to Christ or an invitation to intimate fellowship with Him? Is this verse directed to an individual or to the church; to unbelievers or believers or both? Explain your answer.

3. What does Jesus mean that He “will dine (or eat) with him, and he with Me”?

 

II. Looking Upward

4. How do reproof and discipline play a role in loving someone? (See also Hebrews 12:6-11.)

5. In Revelation 3:19, why is it necessary for them to be “zealous” (NASB) or “earnest” (NIV) along with repentance in their situation?

III. Looking Deeper

Read Ezekiel 18:30-32

What instructions does God give Israel concerning their sin and why?

What do you learn about God from this passage and how does it relate to the church at Laodicea?

IV. Looking Reflectively

Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell-bound. It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice, and you deny yourself, and take up the cross and go after Christ.”2

How do you view repentance?

Jesus desires intimate fellowship with us.

Is your relationship with Christ growing in intimacy, or is He standing outside, waiting for you to involve Him in your life? Do you desire intimate fellowship with Him; and if so, how are you bringing it about?

DAY 5: THE PROMISE

I. Looking to God’s Word

Read Revelation 3:21-22

1. What does it mean that the overcomer (or believer) will sit down with Him on His throne? (See also Luke 22:28-30, Romans 8:16-17, and Revelation 20:4-6.)

2. What insight do these verses give concerning Jesus overcoming and being seated with the Father on His throne?

    Hebrews 1:1-4

    Hebrews 8:1

    Hebrews 12:2

 

3. Even though this promise will be fulfilled in the future, how does it give us hope in the challenges and stresses of life today?

II. Looking Upward

4. How would you evaluate the effectiveness of the church in the world today and why?

5. What lessons can we learn from the church at Laodicea that would make us more effective?

6. We are instructed to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” What would hinder you from listening to the Spirit and the messages to these seven churches?

III. Looking Deeper

Paul prayed for this church years before this letter was written to the Laodicean church. What does he pray for them according to Colossians 2:1-3?

How is this church doing in relation to what Paul prayed for them years earlier?

IV. Looking Reflectively

I long for the day when I will see Jesus face to face and will be free from the power of sin. I long for the day when we will see Him sitting on the throne and we will bow down at His feet to worship Him. I don’t want to disappoint Him, although I know I already have in so many ways. How grateful I am that He is a God who is merciful and forgives and gives us a second (and third and fourth…) chance. He offers us great hope for the future. In the meantime, as we continue our struggle on this earth in our fleshly bodies, let us press on to obedience out of love; let us take to heart the admonitions and exhortations to the seven churches of Revelation. If you sense that you are growing apathetic or lukewarm in your love for the Lord and commitment to Him, acknowledge it and allow Him to “rekindle the fire” in your heart.

Spend some time today reflecting on this study and how God has most spoken to you through these letters to the seven churches.


Introduction to the message for Lesson Eight– Laodicea – The Lukewarm Church [Begin Transcription]

Well, today we complete our study on the Seven Churches of Revelation. I have to admit I am always a little sad at the end of a study. I hate to see them come to an end. So, let me begin by asking a question of you today. How would you describe your relationship with the Lord today? Are you in close fellowship with Him or have you left your first love? Do you sense a deep need for Him or do you feel you have life under control? You have it all manageable? Have you become spiritual indifferent or apathetic or do you love Him more today than you did a month ago, a year ago, two years ago? Well, I pray that God has used this study to rekindle the fire in your heart for Jesus Christ.

Background

Today, we look at the final letter, the letter to the church at Laodicea. This city was famous for three things: wealth, it had a lot of banking centers; a soft, black wool, which they produced; and eye salve, which was produced there to treat medical conditions for the eye. However, in contrast, there was one major weakness of this city. It had no adequate water supply. So, it had to have its water pumped in from nearby Colossae or Hierapolis. By the time it arrived there via the aqueduct, the water was lukewarm. It was disgusting. All four of these areas will come into play in this letter as we look into it more deeply.

From a map of the Seven Churches, we see that Laodicea was 45 miles southeast of Philadelphia. It was about 90 miles east of Ephesus. It was the southernmost city of the seven cities. Nearby, within ten miles, was Colossae and Hierapolis.

Description of Christ

Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Revelation 3 if you have not already done so. Jesus begins this letter as He does each of them with a description of Himself that has relevance to the Church and the message that He has for that particular church.

We begin in Revelation 3:14. He identifies himself in three ways.

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: (NASB)

First, the word, “amen,” literally means “so be it.” His words are reliable. If He says something will happen, so be it. It will happen. You can know without any uncertainty. You can know with complete certainty that it will come to pass.

Second, “the faithful and true witness” emphasizes that He is perfectly trustworthy and faithful to His Word. It goes along with “the amen.” What He says will happen. He is faithful. He is trustworthy.

We come to the third thing, “the beginning of the creation of God.” This translation in the English is ambiguous. It is a little misleading. In the NIV it says “the ruler.” In the New American Standard it says “the Beginning.” Several have taken this verse to sanction their view that Jesus was not God. He was the beginning of creation. Therefore, He was the first creature that God created. Because God created Him, He could not be God. That was the heresy that was going on in the Colossian church which we saw when we studied Colossians. So it would make sense that that might have crept into this church. But, that is not what this is saying, because the Greek word used here for beginning can also mean “first in rank” or “ruler.” That is really what He is referring to here. In other words, He is the source of creation. He is the creator. In Revelation 22, He says, “I am the first, the last; the alpha the omega, the beginning and the end.”

Thus, from this three-fold description of Himself, what Jesus is saying is that as the One who is the creator, as the One who is the source of creation, I am telling you the truth. What I say you would do well to listen to. You would do well to heed my advice.

Three Aspects to Rekindling the Fire

Well, this church is symbolic of the period of Church history that we are in today, the last age. The period of Church history before Jesus Christ comes again. This church does describe an attitude that we see so prevalent in our world today. This final letter to the church at Laodicea was the most severe of the seven letters. There is no commendation. There is nothing positive ever said to this church in this letter, only criticism, only condemnation. This church definitely needed to rekindle the fire. As we study this letter, I want to look at three things concerning their need to rekindle the fire in their hearts for Jesus Christ. We will look first at the condition, we will look at the cause, and then we will look at the cure.

1. The Condition

So, let us begin by looking at their condition. Let us read Revelation 3:15-16.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. (NASB)

The condition of this church was one of spiritual indifference. They were spiritually apathetic. They were lukewarm. They were not hot and they were not cold. Yet, Jesus said He would rather them be hot or cold. I do not want you to be lukewarm. Some have suggested that what He is saying here is that He would prefer that they be hot spiritually, passionately, fervently on fire for the Lord or they that they would be cold spiritually. Cold toward Him, hostile to Him. I do not agree with that view because it is inconceivable that God would want anyone to be cold toward Him.

I think a better explanation is that He is saying you are completely useless to Me because of your spiritual indifference. Because of your spiritual apathy, you have no purpose. Cold water has a purpose. Cold water is refreshing. Hot water has a purpose. It can be used for medicine. Whenever you hurt yourself, we put hot pack or cold packs on. There is a purpose with hot and cold. There is nothing better for a sore throat than a sip from a hot tea, but there is nothing worse than lukewarm water. Lukewarm anything does not taste good.

If you have ever had your coffee, sat it down and come back and pick up that cup of lukewarm coffee. Do you drink it? I do not. I either quit or pour some more hot coffee in there. It serves no purpose. So, when He says that you are lukewarm, He is just saying you are of no use because of your indifference, your spiritual apathy. I would rather that you be useful. I would rather you be hot or cold. I would rather that you had some use instead of being useless. They would understand this meaning of lukewarm because of their water supply. As I mentioned earlier, they had to pipe in their water from nearby Hierapolis. Hierapolis was known for its hot spring that had great medicinal power to it. That hot water would be piped down to Laodicea and by the time it got there it was lukewarm. Or they would pipe in the water from Colossae which had cold water which was refreshing as a cold beverage. By the time that cold water got through those pipes to Laodicea it had heated up to lukewarm. They had horrible water. It is said that when people would come to Laodicea and they would drink the water, they would spit it out. It was horrible.

I do not know if you ever traveled to cities where the water just tastes like “yuck” and you just want to spit it out. I know in Dallas in the summertime the last few years that I was there the temperature would get so hot that it would heat up the water in the reservoirs to a temperature and something would grow in it. They told us it was not deadly or dangerous, but it was horrible. You could not even make coffee with it as you could not get rid of that taste. That is sort of this idea that it tasted so bad that you wanted to spit it out. They knew how disgusting lukewarm water was. That is how Jesus felt about them. He said in verse 16,

So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. (NASB)

He is not saying that they would lose their salvation. Some have said does that mean that they are going to lose their salvation. That is not what He is saying there because scripture makes it very clear that you cannot lose your salvation. That word, spit, is really a generous word because in the Greek it is literally the word, vomit. I am going to vomit you out of my mouth. You make me sick to my stomach. You nauseate me.

I pray that we never get to the place where we nauseate Jesus Christ. I pray that we never get to the place that we would disgust Him and make Him sick to His stomach. The warning here for us is to beware of spiritual apathy. Do not let yourself get there. Do not let yourself become spiritually lukewarm, spiritually useless, indifferent toward the Lord. Rekindle the fire.

2. The Cause

So, how does a church or a person become lukewarm spiritually? Let us look at the second point, the cause. What causes it? Verse 17 points out two causes and the first one is self-sufficiency.

A. Self-Sufficiency

Look at the first part of Revelation 3:17, Jesus says,

Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” (NASB)

They were a self-sufficient church, or so they thought. They had no need for anyone to help them. They had enough money. They had everything they needed. They did not help, especially not from God. They were a church which had material wealth and along with that came an arrogant, proud, self-sufficient attitude. They were so wealthy and so self-sufficient that when an earthquake destroyed the city in AD 60, the Roman government offered to subsidize the rebuilding of the city. Let us help you financially. We will pay to have the city rebuilt and they refused the money. We can do it ourselves. We do not need your help.

I am not saying that having wealth and material possession is wrong. It is not wrong as long as you do not look to that wealth for your security and your contentment in life. When we begin to put our trust in those things, in what we have instead of in God alone, we are in danger of moving toward a state of spiritual lukewarm-ness and spiritual apathy. I will be the first to admit to you that I would love to have enough money that I never had to worry about anything. I confess that. I sit at home in my house and I dream. “Man, if I just had this much money, Lord, I would buy a house in this neighborhood” or, “Lord, I wish I had enough money to decorate my house.” “I would love to buy that new car” or “I would love to have those classy clothes like so and so wears.” You can dream and I do. I tell you I do. I admit it, but I also am reminded in those times of the value of having to trust God to provide. Because if I had enough money to buy all those things, He knows if I would depend on Him or if I would not. Those times that I do not have enough money bring me to a deeper place of dependence on Him.

When I was on staff at Campus Crusade, I had to raise support for ten years. I never had a full support team until I went overseas. For some reason, when you go overseas everybody is ready to support you. So I had an abundance when I moved over seas. But, when I was in the States I never had a complete support team. So, I lived paycheck to paycheck. There were times when there would be emergency needs that would come up and I would not have the money to do it. I would say, God, I do not know how You are going to provide for this. Lord, I have a tire that totally just exploded today. I cannot drive a car with three tires. It is a need. What are we going to do? You know I do not have the money to buy a tire. Every time that I was in need He always provided. He would do just things that I would look at as miracles that someone who would not even know would just drop an envelope by. Do you know what it does for you when that happens? It just sends you to your knees. It shows you that He is dependable. You just thank Him and say, God, thank you for providing.

But, I have also been on the other side. When I worked in a hospital and worked in open heart surgery, I had enough money. I made enough to where I never had to worry about what I was going to do with it. If I wanted to go buy something I could. I have seen both sides. I did not have to trust God for money when I had enough, but I will tell you God will find something else to put you on your knees and He did. It was not money, but He will find something to keep us dependent. He never wants us to become self-sufficient.

The warning here is to beware of self-sufficiency. Do not lose your sense of dependence on God. Do not lose your sense of your needing Him. What makes you feel secure? What makes you feel self-sufficient that you have it under control that you are okay? Is it your financial wealth, your husband, your family? Perhaps it is your status in your church or the community. But, what happens if God removed those things from your life tomorrow? Will your world crumble? If your dependence is in Him, if He is your security it will be hard, but your world will not crumble. He gives us blessings to enjoy, but they should never take His rightful place in our lives. Our trust and security must be in Him alone, not in ourselves, not in anyone else, not in any material things, because we will fail and other people will let us down. Material things will come and go, but God will not. He alone is constant. He alone is completely trustworthy. So, the first cause of spiritual indifference is an attitude of self-sufficiency.

B. Self-Deception

The second cause is self-deception. Look at the second half of verse Revelation 3:17. He says,

and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, (NASB)

What is sad about their condition is not so much the condition, although that is sad. What is sadder is that they do not have a clue as to their condition. They do not know how bad off they are. They had deceived themselves into believing that they had it all together and that they were in control and that they were self-sufficient. They said they did not need anything, but Jesus tells them they are in need of everything. They were wretched, miserable and poor because their material riches could not buy them spiritual riches. They were blind because they had no idea of their spiritual poverty. They were naked because they had no clothes to fit them to stand before God. We may flatter and deceive ourselves, but He sees and He knows us as we really are. He knows our true spiritual condition. The warning here for us is to beware of spiritual blindness because an attitude of self-sufficiency will prevent us from seeing our need for Christ.

I remember the first time I shared Christ with my older brother. I was at LSU and had just started walking with the Lord and just got involved with Campus Crusade. I came home for a holiday and my brother and I were sitting there talking. I was sharing with him about how my life had changed. My relationship with Jesus Christ had just turned my life around. I ended up sharing Christ with him and took out the Four Spiritual Laws. We spent several hours. We were up to well after midnight talking through the gospel. His response was “I do not need a Savior. I am a good person.” He was a good person. He really did not do anything that was blatantly bad, but he said he did not need a Savior. “God will only send people to hell that are really bad-murderers, rapists, those kind of people. He will not send people like me to hell. So, I do not need a Savior.” He was spiritually blind to his need. He did not even realize his true condition. Today, as many of you know, he is a member of the Mormon Church. He still does not see a need for a Savior. He is spiritually blinded and I pray every day that God will just open his eyes and allow him to see the truth. When we do not see our need for Jesus Christ, we are in danger. Their condition is one of spiritual indifference and the causes were self-sufficiency and self-deception.

3. The Cure

That brings us to our third point. What is the cure? Well, three things He mentions in this letter for the cure.

A. Be Rich Spiritually

First, be rich spiritually. Jesus tells them in Revelation 3:18,

I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. (NASB)

They lacked spiritual riches so He advised them that instead of storing up material wealth they should buy gold refined by fire. Buy spiritual riches that come from Jesus Christ alone. Really, we do not buy them. We cannot buy them. They are a gift that we simply receive by faith. Instead of the black wool garments that were popular in Laodicea, He urged them to wear white garments, symbolic of righteous conduct or righteousness that would cover our spiritual nakedness. Instead of that eye salve that the Laodicean medical school produced, they should purchase spiritual eye salve. They needed their eyes open spiritually. This is probably a reference to the Word of God because it is the Word of God that enables us to clearly see God’s perspective.

B. Be Repentant

The second prescription for cure that He gives them is to be repentant. In verse 19 He tells them,

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. (NASB)

He disciplines you because He loves you. Be zealous and repent. Rekindle the fire, wholeheartedly repent, not half-heartedly. Come back to Him. Sometimes it takes discipline and God’s reproof to shake us out of our little complacency, our indifference, our lukewarmness.

C. Be Responsive

The third prescription He gives for cure is be responsive. In verse 20, He says,

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (NASB)

Alright, we come to the verse that is the verse of much discussion, debate, I will not say controversy. Is this a gospel invitation or is this an invitation to fellowship with Jesus Christ? Is He addressing believers or is He addressing nonbelievers? Scholars disagree on this. You can read one commentary that gives you a great support for one view and turn around and read another one which gives you great support for another.

My professors at seminary did not agree on this letter. I actually had to write a paper on this letter in seminary on Revelation 3:20 when I was taking the Revelation class. Dr. Toussaint had us write a paper on, “Is this a gospel invitation or is this an invitation for fellowship?” So, I did my research. I had grown up with 10 years on the staff at Campus Crusade. I had always used the Four Spiritual Laws booklet that always used Revelation 3:20 as a gospel invitation. So, here I am in class and I am thinking, “okay, well, we are writing to churches so I think I need to really reconsider my thinking.” So, I wrote a paper and turned it in. My view was that this was not a gospel invitation. It was an invitation for fellowship and that these were believers. Well, we turned the paper in at the beginning of the class and then the professor would proceed during the class to answer the question that we had written about. Dr. Toussaint taught his view on this verse and this letter and his view was that these were nonbelievers. They were nonbelievers because they were nominal. They were a church that said that they were Christians but only by name. They had not really truly professed faith. I will tell you we were sinking in our chairs because most of us had written on the view that this was written to believers and all of a sudden he is telling us why he believes it is written to nonbelievers. He did not count us off because he just wanted to know can you defend your view.

I will tell you I have wrestled with this passage. Even this weekend writing this lecture I thought this was a hard, hard passage. So I will tell you where I come down today. I believe it is both. I am riding the fence on this one, okay. I do believe that it is both. I believe that the primary application of this letter is to the church and that there were some believers in this church. The primary application of Revelation 3:20 then is to the church and He is saying you have shut Me outside your church. You are going on with your programs, with your classes, and everything but I have no part of them. You have completely shut me out. I am standing outside the door of your church and I am knocking on the door and asking you to open the door and invite Me in.

I also believe that this is an application for the gospel. He says “if anyone hears My voice, I will come in.” I believe it is a gospel invitation also and that He is standing and He is saying, if there is one of you who will just let Me indwell you I will do it. The reason I take this kind of middle-of-the road view is because there are verses that support both in this letter. Verse 17 or verse 18 when He talks about buying from Me gold refined by fire, about white garments, and about the salve, these all seem to be things that a nonbeliever would need. Then, when He talks about reproving and loving and discipline, that goes with a believer. So, that is my answer. I believe that this is both. I believe that the primary application is to the church, the believers in the church, but it is also for those nonbelievers.

The Promise

Jesus makes a promise then to them in verse 21. He says,

He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (NASB)

He promises us that as believers we will one day rule with Him in His kingdom. You know what excites me about that is not ruling with Him. What excites me is sitting with Him on His throne. As a little girl I could think of no better place I wanted to sit than in the chair with my daddy and the sense that came with that.

Conclusion

Well, we do not know if this Laodicean church heeded the warning or not. This city, once prosperous and complacent, was now a miserable waste. The 21st century traveler said, “Nothing can exceed the desolation and melancholy appearance of the site of Laodicea.” Will we heed these warnings? Or will our lives become a similar desolation?


1 MacArthur, New Testament Commentary on Revelation, 135- 136.

2 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), 2:248.

Related Topics: Curriculum, Revelation

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