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Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg
Aug 27, 2023
The Seven Churches of Revelation Part 8 (2)
Church in Laodicea
Today marks the final message in our series, The Seven Churches of Revelation from chapters 2-3. Looking back, here is where we’ve been:
> Part 1: Chapter 1 – It’s all about Jesus.
> Part 2: 2:1-7 – Ephesus: Re-capture your first love.
> Part 3: 2:8-11 – Smyrna: Be faithful, even when facing death.
> Part 4: 2:12-17 – Pergamum: Repent soon
> Part 5: 2:19-29 – Thyatira: Stand your ground against sin
> Part 6: 3:1-6 – Sardis: Wake up before it’s too late.
> Part 7: 3:7-13– Philadelphia: Don’t let anyone steal your crown.
Today, we conclude the series with another challenging message. This one to the church at Laodicea.
Revelation 3:14-16
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Laodicea
“Laodicea was a successful and well-ordered city with proud, arrogant and self-satisfied inhabitants. They were accustomed to leisure, pleasure and entertainment…”
The implication of Jesus’ water metaphor: Be intense, passionate, all-in (“hot”) about your life in Christ, not half-hearted, apathetic, lukewarm, on the verge of being “spit out.”
“You shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength and with ALL your mind.” (Luke 10:27)
Prophetic Interpretation of the Text
Each of the seven churches represents a particular period in church history. The Church in each age is like its counterpart in the Revelation text:
> Ephesus represents: The first century church
> Smyrna represents: The persecuted church of the 2nd and 3rd centuries
> Pergamum represents: The world-influenced church infected by Roman culture in the fourth century
> Thyatira represents: The church during the Middle Ages
> Sardis represents: The near-dead church during the Protestant Reformation
> Philadelphia represents: The revived church of the late 19th and early 20th century.
> Laodicea represents: The lukewarm church at the end of the age
Revelation 3:17-18
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
It’s sobering to think of what could happen in the end times to deceive us. To bring our temperature to the safe and comfortable and deadly and lukewarm middle. Are we fully alive? Or are we failed Laodicea?
Revelation 3:19-22
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The Story of Jim and Elizabeth Elliot
Someone once asked Jim Elliot, one of the martyrs of Ecuador, if he thought every Christian had to be a missionary. His famous answer was. “Yes. To their families, their neighborhoods, their workplaces and their schools. If not to Ecuador, then the lost and lonely, broken and afraid. If not across the world, across the street.”
Then Elliot said something that I think about most every day.
He said, “Wherever you are, be all there.”
Perhaps that is the most important lesson Jesus wanted to deliver to the Church at Laodicea, and to us.
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