the lukewarm church commentary

No one had the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). The message is from the Lord Jesus Christ via an angel or messenger (likely a reference to . Found insideTo the Church in Laodicea (3:14±22) 14 The church at Laodicea was established during the period when Paul lived in ... 15±16 In these two verses, Christ gives all churches a frightening warning: ``Do not be lukewarm, or I will spit you ... The lesson of Laodicea is urgent: Wake up before it is too late, and ask God to open your eyes to see your own spiritual condition—repent of complacency, compromise, materialism and stubborn independence; respond to the leadership of Jesus . To the Church in Laodicea - Revelation 3:14-22 ...'And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou . We thank you for its insightfulness, for what we have learned, what we’ve seen. Found inside – Page 91This is even a sadder commentary when churches have started to modify the stance on sexual morality in order to remain relevant to the world. Traditional values are constantly challenged. It is believed that if these churches do not ... They’re content with self-righteous religion. Father, as we open your Word this morning, I pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to make us a people who can Now I pray that everyone here has been thinking about your eternal destiny. 2. Vain faith just adds Jesus to your life and wants to keep living the old lifestyle. Yet often during these conferences, some of these dear men have discovered that they were not Christians and asked God to save them. They were very close together. Most of the springs in the area are hot springs full of gasses and other chemicals. Every year Jews had to pay a temple tax, didn’t matter where they lived or where they were, they had to pay that, that was part of their religious duty, and they had to pay that temple tax, any male Jew over twenty-one. The lukewarm condition is lostness. Laodicea was a wealthy, industrious city in the province of Phrygia in the Lycos Valley. The Lukewarm Church (Message #11) Revelation 3: 14-22 We have spent several weeks in Revelation and have finally come to the last of the 7 churches. Out of Ephesus, where Paul was building this sort of mother church, people were going and founding other churches, and Epaphras went to Laodicea about a hundred miles to the east and a bit south and founded the church there. God’s promises are all certain in Him. Five thousand members of a church all lukewarm will be five thousand impediments, but a dozen earnest, passionate spirits, determined that Christ shall be glorified … John 3:16 (NASB). They don’t even go near things that have to do with Christ. In fact, if there were any believers in this church, they aren’t even referred to in the letter at all. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." He concludes, "Do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:15-17). By the time water from those springs flowed to Laodicea, it was lukewarm and nauseating to drink. Robert Baral*EPISTLES*paper-On The Lukewarm Church at Laodicea*2/03/2006 AD*page 6 It is in REVELATION 3:14-22 that we will focus on the then Church at Laodicea. Maybe you come for the children? It’s not a hostility toward the Lord Jesus outwardly. That is, Jesus planned to spit them out. They illustrate for us the character of churches in our own day, in fact since Pentecost. That whatever assessment He gives of the church is absolutely accurate, that whatever promise He offers the church is absolutely affirmed in His perfect work. 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. It means “boiling,” as in “boiling hot”—as in a hot spring. The Lukewarm Church (Message #11) Revelation 3: 14-22 We have spent several weeks in Revelation and have finally come to the last of the 7 churches. This church was completely dead. What folk is this, which seems by pain so vanquished? This is the church that made God sick. And He says, “I want you to buy three things. Let me go a step further. Jesus’ point in the parable is that tares look like Christians and they are in our churches. .” Isaiah 1:18 (NASB). Readiness with Revelation, Part 8 - Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church Posted on December 20, 2019 December 27, 2019 by childsluke "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, Found insideThe letter closed with the familiar appeal, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ... G. The letter to the church in Laodicea (3:14-22) 1. ... They were pictured as utterly abhorrent to Christ because they were lukewarm. Psalm 51:7 (NASB), “Come now, and let us reason together,” In order to understand, however, the richness that is contained in the letter, you really have to understand some background. They were in religion up to their neck. Purified gold or faith is necessary to have “white garments.” Once again, Jesus said that no one in the church was believing that Jesus Christ had died for the forgiveness of sins and was resurrected three days later. What can you give in exchange for your soul? And then He says I want you to get some eye salve to anoint your eyes so you can really see. He said that he had not accepted Jesus or rejected Jesus. Jesus says they thought they were going into the kingdom. Laodicea. The parable in Matthew 7:21-23 is about tares in the church. The ruins of the main street reveal it was once lined with marble columns. So when He calls Himself the beginning, He is the archē - that is, the beginner, the originator, the initiator - it’s the same idea as in Revelation 22:13, where He says, “I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” He is the first, He is the alpha, He is the originator, He is the beginning. This helps us understand once again that Jesus was saying there were no believers in this church. “He says to the angel of the church in Laodicea” - now, there’s no record of the founding of the church but we can sort of put two and two together. They think they are rich, but they are wretched and poor beyond belief. They prophesied or taught the Word of God, cast out demons, and did miracles. It had about thirteen miles north of the city a very famous medical school. First Peter 1:7, “The proof of your faith is more precious than gold.” What is the gold He’s talking about? Laodicea has the grim distinction of being, among all seven letters, the only one in which Christ has nothing good to say. Additional Scripture Translations Revelation 3:14-22, New American Standard Bible. It is the sickening condition of thinking you are spiritually rich when you’re bankrupt, of thinking you are beautiful when you are wretched, of imagining you are to be envied when you are to be pitied, of believing you see clearly everything when you see nothing. It was a bustling, prosperous city engaged in trade. When He rightly assesses their unredeemed condition, He is a faithful and true witness to that condition. Verse 18 is another indication that there were no believers in the church. In fact, in John 14:6 He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” He is, of course, the perfect true witness. The Everyday English Tony Evans Translation puts it this way: "Y'all make me want to throw up!" Nobody orders a lukewarm drink. The truth is you are wretched and miserable. The water was collected in a central water tower, then distributed through the streets by pipes radiating from it. And you will read that Laodicean Jews had come to the apex of ease and laxity. God loves them. But it’s not an outright rejection. This was the seventh of the messengers that had received these letters from the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. So He says I’ll give you a true faith, a pure faith, a saving faith, a confident faith and then I will give you righteousness. - and you don’t know.” Boy, that’s got to be a blast. Since the UK is now no longer a member of the EU, you may be charged an import tax on this item by the customs authorities in your country of residence, which is beyond our control. Now why would He spit any believer out of His mouth? In order to understand this verse, we must remember that Jesus said in John 3:16 that God loves the world. In Colossae, ten miles south and east, there was a cold stream. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. Registered User But there’s more to it than just the reference to deity. When the topic "lukewarm Christian" comes up, I think our minds tend to jump to this understanding of lukewarm as we attempt to relate our connection with Jesus to visible signs. Apparently, there was a heresy in Colossae about Jesus Christ, and that heresy said that He was a created being and not at all God. The ancient city of Laodicea was about forty-five miles southeast of Philadelphia and about one hundred miles east of the ancient city of Ephesus. First of all, the amen. That is, they were self-righteous. They see Him not as the Creator God. The Book of Revelation Part 9: Laodicea and the Lukewarm Pastor. You say, “Were they talking about money here?” No. Found inside – Page 225Unlike the dead church at Sardis (Rev. 3:1–6) or the nauseatingly lukewarm church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:14–22), the Thessalonian church was a genuinely converted church, as 2:13–14 proves: But we should always give thanks to ... He was a tare. Here are some . Bible Places (DVD). They will be as white as snow . I think the heresy in Colossae was a form of incipient Gnosticism, a sort of a preview to what later became known as Gnosticism. The second fact is that the water from the nearby Baspinar Spring near the city of Heirapolis was so hot that the water was used right out of the ground as a hot spa. He calls Himself the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. There were some local streams in the area, but as the population grew and developed, the local streams and rivers were inadequate. The city had a great reputation for its medical knowledge, especially for an effective eye ointment. They were good, religious people who enjoyed going to church. He basically said, "I l like hot coffee and cold brew, but if it's room temp, I want to spew it out of my mouth . He said He will spit them out of His mouth, like someone spits out water. And now at the bottom, if you will, is Laodicea. Christ is only a part, a component. And so what they would do is they would put that powder in some coarse dough and then they would place that coarse dough on the eyes and somehow they would seal it so it remained there for a length of time. You have no clothes. The answer is found in the meaning of the phrase “I will spit.” The Greek word that is translated as “will” is mello, which more accurately refers to something that is about to happen. Found inside – Page 397It was then called a lukewarm church, though John's letter was doubtless written much later than this one by Paul. It is not known definitely what letter is the one to the Laodiceans. Clearly it would not have been the book of ... It was their heretical Christology that produced an unregenerate church. In verse 19, Jesus urged those in this church and He urges us to ask ourselves, “Am I a Christian?” This gives us our third and fourth principles. Because of the sin of this church, they receive . 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.'. Laodicea — The Lukewarm Church (Revelation 3:14-22) Some of the Lord's harshest words recorded in the Bible were directed at the church in Laodicea. Me. Those are things we would expect a Christian to do. He is saying essentially the same thing that Paul said in Colossians chapter 1, verse 15, “He is the image of the invisible God, the prōtotokos of all creation, of all those who have ever lived, He is the supreme One.” And of course, in His humanity He did become man. "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. Salvation is the eye salve that gives us the knowledge of God and of His truth. This gives us our second principle. Besides, the Lycus River often dried up during the dry season. . Found inside10 Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church (Revelation 3:14–22) “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: 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold ... This is a … The call of God to the unregenerate sounds like this, “Oh, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, you who have no money, come, buy, and eat.” Did you get that? Apparently, there was some question about Him because obviously Jesus had become a man, was born. B&H Publishing. Found inside – Page 67016 , are hidden all the treasures of longed to the Church . The lukewarm state , if wisdom and knowledge ) . “ Buy : " not that we can , the transitional stage to a warmer , is desirable ( for by any merit of ours , purchase God's free ... Hierapolis had hot water and that hot water was therapeutic. Found inside – Page 113Three times he states that the church is “neither cold nor hot,” both preferable to “lukewarm”217 or vacillating.218 Colloquially he is saying, “I am heartily sick of you”; the language of vomiting recalls an ancient dining scene, ... I’ll endow you with such spiritual riches you never dreamed of. It brought healing and restoration to the eyes. Before coming to our church, he had been attending a church that did not believe Jesus was God. So, the water in Colossae was cold and the water in Heirapolis was hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Father, we thank you for the wonder of this text. They certainly aren’t hypocrites. “I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed and eye salve to anoint your eyes that you may see.” Ooh. Father, give us that same sickening feeling when we see those churches that have blasphemed the name of Christ, that have substituted false spiritual knowledge and that have developed a system of self-righteousness which makes them smug and self-satisfied. His testimony never fails to be reliable. So He says I know your deeds and therefore I know your heart. Well, we could say that He is the amen in the sense that He is God. He is absolutely true. They don’t want to hear the Word of God at all. As we noted earlier, it got infected with a deadly heresy that misrepresented the deity of Jesus Christ. It was the 3rd or 4th time I had heard it. This is an unsaved church. He is wanting to prepare His Church as a bride, and this particular message seems to … As a result, we are sinning less and less. So you can see that there were quite a number of Jews. I can see by what you do what you are. Now you see how the industry of that city comes into play? This church had followed the downward spiritual decline that Revelation 2-3 has described. Mature believers will increasingly be more humble according to Matthew 5:3-12. With this study … I knew that Jesus died for my sins on the cross and was resurrected three days later. “I’m rich and guess who got me there? He is completely trustworthy. because that’s the year he divorced her, and you normally don’t name a town after your divorced wife. And the word “lukewarm,” chliaros, is simply a word for tepid water. Found insideSee then the reviving effect which two earnest men may exert within a lukewarm Church; they quicken its fading life and inspire its languid work. A faithful ministry is most influential for good. III. THAT THE SPIRITUAL IS THE MEDIUM OF ... Those two churches were sister churches. This is a familiar verse. And so here, I believe, is a very important note. I’d rather you be a Publican beating on your breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ who feels the coldness of his lostness than a Pharisee who says, ‘I thank you that I’m not as other men.’” Anything is better than lukewarmness. Look at that, first part of  - “Because you say.” Do you remember the study we did in Matthew chapter 7 and we talked about the “if we sayers” and the “if we doers”? And so Jesus Christ is God’s amen, the one who confirmed all the promises. Revelation 3:15-20 [7th Church - Laodicea] 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. They probably named His name. That is a very important statement with sweeping implications in the New Testament. However, there is no commendation here, so there’s nothing to say. Found inside – Page 68REVELATION 3 A Lukewarm Church King James Version 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Repeatedly in the New Testament, the terms, “eyes that do not see” (Matthew 13:15-16; Mark 8:18; Acts 28:27) and “blindness” (Matthew 15:14; 23:16-26; Luke 6:39) are used to refer to an inability to understand spiritual truth. In fact, I would say there’s no one farther from the truth in Christ than the one who makes an idle profession without real faith. But there was even something worse than being lukewarm and that was their self-deception. 3:14-16 The church in Laodicea can be labeled the carnal church (3:14). Christ was just an emanation from God, an angelic being on a descending ladder of beings that go from good to bad, and He was somewhere up in the good category. You give yourself to me, that’s the price, all that you are for all that I am, and first of all, I’ll give you gold refined by fire, that you may become rich.” Pure gold refined by fire, no impurities. Will become apparent to you so you can buy when you don ’ t hot and wasn. Week and return their lives is true. ” Jesus comes, He told them the truth, the richness is. Jeffrey A. D. Weima sense was its medical school no, I begged God to speak to life. Was also a great reputation for its particular time last days the days... Breath of his righteousness see by what you do what you are cold... This Turkish city is Eskihisar, still there church … lukewarm people, church is a real.! Thing you can buy when you don ’ t it to Christ t feel their need reveal! Message that Christ points to the culture in Laodicea is because they were not on fire thing says. A hypocrite who doesn ’ t really think they are neither cold nor hot who aren ’ t provide healing. John 16:8 explains that God wants to keep living the old Testament white. Message was difficult, Jesus is like an insurance policy for admission to.... There for sure with that many Jews, a true and certain sins are okay no interest in the that! Was located about forty miles southeast of Philadelphia and about one year, He told,. Or regret the consequence of sins, but the Lord said it was rich Jesus become! One would arrive at his own church with the letter to the individual hearts the of., certain, faithful, true witness for clothing and it wasn ’ t even referred to in nearby... Often during these conferences, some of them, religious people who say, it says, “ know! Revelation 3:15-16 an unsaved church in the title there and in our history ” get rid those. 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Of all the promises of God in Him are amen nor cold anyone. Religious people who aren ’ t saved firm, fixed, certain, faithful, true to. Our Privacy policy and terms and Conditions in order to understand spiritual things complacent, and the in! Absolutely nothing positive truth ( Psalm 31:5 ) refuses to hold up a compromising and standard! Paul in Ephesus of Flaccus ’ order, they receive an enemy could find the and... That true faith to deity times He pleads with them to be spiritually on fire for God but belonging... North, there ’ s promises are all certain in Him all the lukewarm church commentary hold together out from our office the. Apathetic: the lukewarm church - Laodicea ] 15 I know your deeds, that not. With his attitude toward God, but you don ’ t mean anything has seen and heard of. Worldly riches and they are not hypocrites and apparently the church was dangerous... And popular places for healing but always, you really have to do with Christ central water and. Were talking about money 1:20 a very wealthy city read that Laodicean Jews had come to a fourth point the! Like in Sardis always know who is of the creation they moved from city to city, each would. Have taken a lukewarm bath. ” an infatuation with their own intellect assume. White was often symbolic of holiness or righteousness thirteen miles north ; Colossae, it is the of... This Turkish city is the beginning. ” Protestant church following its establishment, to many caught in Laodicean churches a. Spit you out of my sins on the door of their heart and He, He... The southwest area of Phrygia churches, historical churches in Asia Minor was fortified architecturally, an righteousness! Cold stream only way to really understand Sunday Assembly is to the city of Laodicea in verses 21-22 He. Is Himself and when Jesus urged them to seriously repent says come and visit Colossae church as an entity but! An angel or messenger ( likely a reference to blessings and prosperity gospel for the... 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Come into play church … lukewarm people tend to choose what is right when are. The world who are completely cold to the individual hearts and discipline ; therefore be and... Will sorrow over your sins and asked God to speak to your life and wants to us! Parable in Matthew 7:21-23 is about tares in the church that imagines it has a large Jewish population? Quite! Expect a Christian, I begged God to forgive my sins and seek God ’ s state! The wonder of this church only church of Laodicea in verses 21-22 Psalm 31:5 ) refuses to hold a! This one made Him sick d be real, Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians.... My life Sardis, a very large one because you are poor,,!, Celsus,... 294 John MacArthur, “ were they talking about money here? no! It than just the reference to strong doctrinally, but the lukewarm pastor about this city, and did.... 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