Repent with Your Whole Heart
Laodicea was located in the fertile Lycus River Valley and at the crossroads of the main trade routes running north-south and east-west. It was a famous and very wealthy city for three reasons. It served as the banking center for the region. It was famous for its soft, raven-black wool. There was a famous school of medicine that specialized in the treatment of eye diseases. Laodicea was the more important member of the tri-city formation with Hierapolis six miles to its north and Colosse ten miles east. All three were part of Phrygia. In AD 60, an earthquake virtually destroyed the city, but unlike the other cities, Laodicea wanted no financial aid from Rome. It was a proud thing to do. The wealthy citizens rebuilt their city. They didn’t need outside help. Jesus pulls no punches in this letter. He has nothing good to say about Laodicea. The church, like the city, had grown fat and complacent, comfortable and satisfied with its wealth.
1. The Amen
V. 14 — And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
The promise of the new creation by the faithful God in Is. 65:15-17 stands behind these titles. Jesus is the Amen, the God of truth, the God of amen. As the faithful and true witness, He speaks with truth and authority. He stays true to his word, in contrast with the lukewarm Laodiceans, who were neither faithful nor true to Christ and whose witness was nonexistent.
Jesus is the beginning, the source, and origin of God’s creation. “In the beginning was the Word…Through him all things were made …” (Jn 1:1-3). And then Col. 1:15-16 — “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
As the Amen, Jesus is also the faithful and true witness to the new creation. In his resurrection, he launched the new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor 5:17). He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5). Jesus is the sovereign Lord of God’s creation, both old and new. God “raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph 1:20-21). In their wealth and complacency, the Laodiceans proudly thought of themselves as in control; as self-sufficient and independent. Jesus tells them that He alone controls creation. He is the very source of their wealth and power.
2. Beware! You Are Lukewarm
Vv. 15-16 — I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
Jesus illustrates the church’s problems using the city’s well-known water problems. It had no water supply. Hierapolis enjoyed hot springs useful for healing. Colossae had cold, pure drinking water from the mountain springs and streams. But Laodicea received its water from hot springs about five miles away. It was piped via aqueducts and clay pipes to the city. By the time this mineral-rich water made its way to Laodicea, it had become lukewarm, disgusting to drink with little use. The hot water was useful for bathing and healing. The cold water was useful for drinking, refreshing, and life-giving.
This describes the spiritual barrenness and shallowness of the church. The Laodicean Christians should have been known for their spiritual healing like Hierapolis. They should have been known for their refreshing, life-giving ministry like Colossae. But they were lukewarm, neither one thing nor the other. They were ineffective in their faith and witness. They have compromised by participating in the idolatry of the surrounding culture. They have become just like them. They were not proclaiming God’s truth. They were not living the radically different kingdom life. They were neither bringing healing nor life-giving witness to their society. They were useless to the Lord. They looked beautiful on the outside but on the inside they are sickening. So the Lord challenges them, “Don’t you realize that you make me sick?” God’s judgment is upon them. He is about to vomit them out of his mouth.
3. Rich or Poor?
Jesus explains why they are lukewarm and making him sick. Vv. 17-18 — Because you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness may not be exposed, and salve to put on your eyes so that you may see.
The Laodicean church had an inaccurate view of themselves and a distorted view of reality. The church reflected the values of their society. Their immense wealth led to self-sufficiency, independence, and complacency. This is a deadly combination for Christians. They confused material prosperity and comfort with spiritual health and security. They believed that material wealth and blessings mean spiritual wealth and blessings. This letter warns us how easily and readily we absorb the attitudes and values of our culture without pausing for critical reflection on our thinking and behaviors. Their boastful pride and self-sufficiency made them blind to the truth, that they had no spiritual wealth whatsoever. They are not spiritually healthy. They are in serious danger.
Because of the city’s banking and commerce, they thought they were rich but they were actually poor. They bought and put their trust in the wrong things. They had all the wealth in this world but were spiritually poor. They should remove the idols of their culture, which have stained them. They should buy from Jesus gold refined by fire. Refined gold is a biblical idiom for purifying one’s life by removing sin. Jesus removed our sins through his death on the cross.
Although the city had a famous and profitable black wool industry, the church was shamefully naked and needed to buy from Jesus white clothes to cover their shameful nakedness. “Exposing the shame of nakedness” speaks of God’s accusation and judgment for participation in idolatry. We can wear Armani suits and Christian Dior dresses but be naked in the eyes of God. The white clothes symbolize purity, righteousness, and honor and enable us to stand unashamed before God.
The city was home to a leading medical school and famous for its Phrygian powder, a salve to cure eye diseases. However, the church was spiritually blind. They lacked spiritual discernment. They have become insensitive to their spiritual plight. They need the healing salve from Jesus in order to see their true spiritual condition. Jesus came into this world for judgment so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind (Jn 9:39). Their eyes must be anointed, treated with God’s eye salve, Jesus Christ, so that they can see themselves as they really are.
Their spiritual poverty, blindness, illness, and wretchedness cannot be solved by resorting to the resources of the world, their own resources, and the idols of the culture. They really need Jesus who is the only true and reliable source of life, wealth, and health. Only in Christ do we find true riches, clothing, healing, and insight. Therefore, they should buy from Him. How? Repent with zeal, with your whole heart, and open the door.
4. Repent & Open the Door
Vv. 19-22 — Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he 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.”
Jesus loves us. He does not abandon his complacent, self-reliant people. Instead, he pursues us with correction and discipline (Prov. 3:11–12; Heb. 12:4–11). He rebukes us sharply and truly when we are wrong. He punishes us to bring us to our senses. When people are bent on self-reliance, Jesus shocks them through rebuke and discipline so that they may recognize their need for Him, repent and turn back to him. Zeal, an eagerness, and passion for getting right with God must replace the lukewarm attitude and spirituality of the church. Our zeal must change focus from self to God, and the only way to do so is to repent and open the door.
Jesus is standing at the door and knocking, asking to come in. The Laodicean Christians have shut Jesus out of their lives with their self-sufficiency, independence, pride, and complacency. They have pushed Him out of the church and now He is standing outside, knocking on the door of His house because He is the owner of the church. He is waiting for them, for us, to repent and to open the door.
And when we take to heart Jesus’ rebuke, when we repent under his loving discipline and open the door, He will come in and restore our fellowship with Him. He waits for believers to deny themselves and open the doors to a renewed and deep, intimate fellowship with Him. We must open the doors of our hearts and return to abiding in Christ. He promises that if we remain in Him, He will remain, abide, and live in us. As a church, we must open our doors so that Christ can come in, be restored in his rightful place as Lord and we can be truly a Christ-centered church.
Again, Jesus promises us, that if we overcome and are victorious, we will rule with Him in his eternal kingdom in his new creation. But we have also seen that this rule has already begun. We are already rulers in his kingdom here and now. We are a royal priesthood, a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father. What a responsibility and privilege. That is why we must make sure that we are not complacent and lukewarm. Are we lukewarm?
5. Are We Lukewarm?
Perhaps this is the biggest crisis in the North-American church. The churches seem to be more often full of “fans” rather than of followers of Jesus. I wonder, if being a Christian were a crime, will there be enough evidence to indict many of us? We seem to have settled into a Christianity of mediocrity rather than of a burning passion to be Christ’s own kingdom people in this fallen, broken world. Affluence has made us lukewarm. We have become complacent. We interpret our trappings of “success” as God’s blessings. We too easily forget that God wants our hearts, not just our numbers.
Physical wealth and comfort can foster spiritual complacency and self-reliance making spiritual poverty a real danger. Affluence tempts us to forget God. When we get wealthy, it is very difficult to make God first in our lives, work, and ministries. We work but we do not worship. We pour our energy into investments, entertainment, homes, cars, education, and our work. We only seem to need God when tragedy strikes. Christianity becomes little more than an insurance for eternity.
Our indifference to persecution, political oppression, racism, human trafficking, and other forms of suffering and injustices in many regions and even within our land, our indifference to these betrays our contentment with the world as we experience it. Our materialism, greed, wealth, and comfort have deafened our ears and blinded our eyes to the cause of the poor and oppressed.
We may think we are spiritually healthy and wealthy. We profess our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. We do all the Christian and church things. But we take pride in our independence and self-sufficiency. We boast in our worldly and physical achievements. We take control of our lives and rely on our own resources. And Jesus is standing outside, knocking on the door, longing to come back in and restore his fellowship with us. We must repent and open the door so that Jesus can come in and be the Lord of the whole of our lives. And so, abiding in Him, we gain victory over material, self-centered, and earth-centered pursuits. We will only be great in the kingdom if we make ourselves the least on earth. If we live for self and wealth now, we will have “already received our comfort” (Lk 6:24) and have nothing in eternity. We will make the Lord sick and He will vomit us out. Let us repent with zeal and open the door for our Lord. He is the only true and reliable source of life.