Revelation 3:14-22
14 “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. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 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. 18 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.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 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 him, and he with me.
21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
More than thirty years after the ascension of Christ Jesus and the church’s baptism of the Holy Spirit, the apostle John was directed by Jesus to write to the church of Laodicea, the last letter to the seven churches, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write” Revelation 3:14.
We must always remember not to depersonalize to whom these letters were written to in Revelation 2:1 to 3:22. The church is people, people who have received Christ as their Savior and Lord, they are believers who regularly assemble together to worship Jesus and fellowship. The church of Laodicea consisted of people no different from you and me. Just like every congregation today, the church of Laodicea had its unique personality or characteristics, good and bad, whichChrist brings to light in His letter. The only difference about this congregation from the other six is that this is the only one of the seven churches that Jesus had no words of praise. In other words, this body of believers had no praiseworthy characteristics or qualities that our Lord Jesus comments about.
Another thing we need to understand about a church is that like any other congregation each believer contributes to the uniqueness of its characteristics, which are experienced and expressed by the congregation as a whole. This is seen by how Jesus makes a distinction in some of the letters to the seven churcheswhere He is addressing every individual of the congregation. For example, what Jesus said to the Church of Ephesus was not to one person or a group of people but to everyone in the congregation. Revelation 2:2-3, 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Another example is the letter to the church of Thyatira. Revelation 2:19, I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
In letters written to other churches, Jesus makes a distinction between a group of individuals over others, such as with the Church of Pergamum.Revelation 2:14-15, “14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” Jesus also does the same with the Church of Sardis in Revelation 3:4. “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.”
The characteristics of the church, whether good or bad, that were recognized by Jesus, were who the church was or was not in Christ and expressed by what the church did or did not do. Christ points this out with five of the seven churches by saying to them, “I know your deeds”. The negative and sinful characteristics of a church was what separated them from being who they should have been in Christ.
The apostle Paul asks the Church in Rome a question that we should all ask ourselves. Romans 8:35a NLT, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?” Or in other words, “Can anything ever separate” Christ from loving us? The answer is clearly no. Christ will always love us no matter what we do. Romans 5:8, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. However, we must never ignore the fact that there things that we allow in our lives that separates us from loving Christ! Such as, the way we see ourselves (self-perception), activities and commitments in our lives that have become more important and have come in between our love and commitment for Christ. What also can be a barrier and hindrance in our relationship with Christ, is being self-reliant, which is the confidence and reliance on one’s own capabilities, judgment, and or resources.
In his seventh letter to the church of Laodicea, John writes Jesus’ words to a congregation that was so self-centered and complacent, that they falsely believed in their own self-reliance and not a dependence on Jesus. The assembly of believers in Laodicea had come to the point in their relationship with Christand with the life of the church, that Jesus was neglected or not recognized as someone important concerning their identity and what they did as a church.
Their self-reliance caused them to be blinded to their own spiritual condition and deficiency. Their self-reliance caused a false belief that “we have everything we need”, but what they failed to realize was, they needed Christ in their lives and all what they needed for life was provided by Him.
Self-reliance is not limited to age, gender, race or culture. A self-reliant person can be wealthy, middle-class or even poor. A self-reliant person can be educated or uneducated. A self-reliant person believes what they accomplished in life, they accomplished by their own efforts; all they have financially and materially, they have because of their own doing. As a result, a self-reliant person becomes blinded to their own spiritual condition, the lack acknowledging and dependence of Christ in their lives.
Because self-reliance comes from pride, it robs a Christian from having a grateful heart towards who Christ is and what He does in their lives. Self-reliance also works against our having faith in God not just for the things we need for life but most important who Christ wants and needs to be in our lives for a growing and intimate relationship with Him.
Even with all our blessings, that are only possible and because of our relationship with Christ, we need to be careful not to become like the church of Laodicea, believing all that we have and who we are is because of our own doing.
When reading Revelation 3:20, “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 him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20. In this one verse there many valuable spiritual truths we need to consider, of which we do not have the space to do so in this article.
In closing, as depicted in the well-known 1853 painting by William Holman Hunt, The Light of the World, Christ is knocking at a door, the fact is because of Christ’s love for us He will remain on the outside knocking and calling until we hear His voice, open the door and invite Him in.
Pastor John
