Since Scripture tells us that the Word (Jesus) was in the beginning with God and that all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made (John 1:1-3), we know that Jesus was not a created Being. This theory deems the letter addressed to a human messenger rather than an angelic one. You dont expect (or want) to have lukewarm coffee served to you. Jesus doesnt just look at the actions we perform; he focuses on the heart. You would probably spit it out at the first sip. It was about 100 miles east of the port city of Ephesus. When the messages to the churches of Revelation 2-3 are viewed as a chronological development of the Church, this passage also indicates that the return of Christ is near. What he was telling his listeners was that what they were about to hear from him was faithful, reliable, true, and believable. The positive aspect is that if someone does hear his voice, and does open the door, Jesus will come in. Transliteration changes the Hebrew letters (Hebrew is read from right to left but my chart below has it from left to right to make it easy to understand.) How is your hearing? The hot Christian should also be like hot wine; the pleasant taste and aroma of a Christ-like life should cause people to want Christs salvation as well. He is the one who addressed the church at Laodicea. In the medical works of the 2 nd century AD physician Galen of Pergamon, he described an eye medicine made from a Phrygian stone, probably broken down into a powder or made into a clay, and the eye "salve" John mentions in connection with Laodicea is the same word used by Galen and other medical texts of antiquity (Revelation 3:18; Liddell . What did Christ mean when He said He would spit them out of His mouth if they did not change? The word discipline is the Greek word (paideu) and means to correct, to chastise.22 The basic idea behind this word is correction or guidance. Wrapping up His message, Jesus then explains that He is standing at the door and knocking, meaning that He wants to come in and dine with them (Revelation 3:20). Natural fire burns away natural impurities. He and his wife, Teddi, have two grown children and seven grandchildren. As the faithful and true witness, Jesus is relaying to us what he heard from God the Father. It was a central banking center and traded well in black wool and an innovative eye salve used for medicinal purposes. 3 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Lukewarm Church. 14bthe faithful and true Witness. and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Serving wine lukewarm would be considered an insult. The letter to Laodicea was written to Christians who already had the white garments of salvation, so we are led to wonder why they needed to purchase more white garments and how to purchase them. The Laodiceans were rich and self-sufficient, with no need for God to supply their needs. Water is an important necessity for any metropolis, and the ancient city of Laodicea accommodated this need. The white clothing we need to purchase from Christ is imparted righteousness. In terms of textiles, a hot Christian is clean, lives a pure life abstaining from sin, and the colorfastness of the Holy Spirit ensures the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) doesnt fade. There are multiple lessons that we can learn from Christs message to Laodicea. The great Roman road stretching to the inland of Asia from the coast at Ephesus ran straight through its center, making Laodicea an important center of trade and communication. The truth is that sometimes the wicked prosper (Jeremiah 12:1). Instead of looking to God to supply their every need, they look to their wealth instead. Many portions of the city remained unusable afterward. 5. Verse 20 is not a salvation message for non-Christians; it is a warning to Christians. They produced a world-famous salve, reputed to cure certain kinds of eye diseases. In the times of late antiquity, it had a large Jewish community and a significant congregation of Christians. The culture of the city had infiltrated the church, and the members didnt know how spiritually wretched and weak they were. Why does the church not hear his voice? It was uncontaminated water straight from the mountains. They had somehow taken off the white clothing they received during salvation and stood naked before God. Therefore, the Lord Jesus tells them to buy eye salve from Him to see their spiritual state. 14bthe Amen. "11 (According to dictionary.com, the word "aver" means to declare positively, or state something as a fact.) Revelation 3:14-22 At the foot of Mount Cadmus, it benefited from an endless supply of cold, freshwater coming down from the snow caps. Christ told the church at Laodicea to buy____from Him to become truly rich. You see Laodicea was a very wealthy city. When we say that God imputes Christ's righteousness to us, it means that God thinks of Christ's righteousness as belonging to us, or regards it as belonging to us. On the cross daily, they suffer and die. Get the latest blog posts from Life, Hope & Truth straight to yourinbox. Jesus wants you to be hot. 3. It is possible the word meant the messenger or the actual person who delivered the letter, but that would require seven different messengers, one from each of the churches to have traveled to Patmos to get the letter to deliver it. It is to have a sense of what is right and what is wrong. The Greek word for deeds ( - ergon) means means denotes comprehensively what a man is and how he acts.13 Typically translated as works or deeds, these words do not accurately convey the richness of the Greek word. Please understand that Christ is not referring to saving faith in this passage. To heal their weak spiritual condition, Jesus said, I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see (verse 18). Local resources of zinc and alum became the basis for the production of eye ointments, known as kollyria, also sold by merchants from Laodicea.3 The powder would be mixed with water to give it a paste-like consistency and then applied to the eyes. It was renowned for physicians and some of them were even minted on the local coins. Good deeds (Ephesians 2:10), godliness (1 Peter 1:15), Christ-likeness (1 Peter 2:21), and fulfilling the demands of the Law (Rom 8:4) are all part of the cost in purchasing white garments from Christ.). The water came either from hot springs and was cooled to lukewarm or came from a cooler source and warmed up in the aqueduct on the way. One of the wealthiest city of that area during Roman times, Laodicea was widely known for its banks, a medical school with a famous eye salve [1], and a textile industry famous for glossy black wool that was used for making tunics and cloaks. It was named Laodicea by the Greek ruler Antiochus II Theos around 260 BC in honor of his wife Laodice. How do you buy gold when youre poor? For us to purchase something from Christ, something is required. You must know the truth so well that, when the lies of the enemy appear, you can recognize it. So how did Jesus overcome? There are two terms that I would like to point out, and those are attrition and contrition. Attrition is regret for sin prompted by fear for oneself: Oh, no. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Production of the famous "Phrygian powder" was also performed in Laodicea. Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man here my voice, and open the . There was still hope for the church at Laodicea. The reward here seems to be one of sharing royal honor, victory, and authority with Christ in His future kingdom. Both churches needed a severe rebuke. It is possible that faith was the refined gold that Christians were told to purchase from Jesus. And finally, like all the previous messages, Jesus says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (verse 22). Jesus also told the Laodiceans to "anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see" (Revelation 3:18). Their money has become their idol, and they worship it rather than worshiping God. Thats pretty strong language. As a result of not being either hot or cold for Jesus, they are like a rancid drink or repugnant drink that leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Of course, Gods love extends to all humanity. His names include: the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness and the Beginning of the creation of God (verse 14). The Holy Spirit will come and show us the way out. We're currently processing your request and we'll be in touch soon. It covers a myriad of areas, including pride, impatience, selfishness, unrighteousness, irritation, laziness, vanity, complaining, sexual impurity, unbelief, discouragement, envy, greed, ingratitude, etc. (19) Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. While the original name of the city came from Antiochus IIs wife, the name also has an interesting meaning in Greek. Your time in the Word should be at a minimum, four times a week. Pay close attention! Since Christ is referring to spitting something out of his mouth, the image of lukewarm wine comes to mind. But we have to invite Him inside. The city of Laodicea (Greek Laodikeia) on the Lycus (Laodicea ad Lycum), situated one mile south of the Lycus River in the Lycus Valley west of Colossae and south of Hierapolis, was established and fortified about 261 BC by the Seleucids under Antiochus II Theos. (22) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.. The first thing we need to look at is what it means to be cold. In John 14:14, Jesus said: You are my friends if you do what I command you. Had this church been filled with non-Christians, Jesus would not have called them friends. 16 So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Hours of Operation Monday & Tuesday 10a - 6p | Thursday & Friday 8a - 4p Saturday - By Appointment Only. It is the ordinary daily trust of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20) by which we live and minister to others. Jesus loves this church, or he would not have rebuked them. The city also became renowned throughout the empire for it's eye and ear salve. Moses was rebuking the rebellious Israelites by saying, But to this day, the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. He was not referring to physical hearing, but to those who may hear the commands of the Lord but who lacked comprehension and desire to act upon those words (Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2). In other words, the name indicated that people made their own decisions. One of these is what the Bible calls the deceitfulness of riches (Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19). It costs our will. Unfortunately, Colossae did not have the wealth that Hierapolis or Laodicea possessed, and the city did not completely rebound from the earthquake in 60 A.D. as well as they did. Instead of being victorious over temptation, temptation had been victorious over them. But in this verse, Jesus is telling the church that they are naked and in need of white garments that only he can provide. The possibility exists that no one will hear his voice, and no one will open the door. I got caught. They are not taking care of needs, providing moral support, or genuinely caring about people. According to Expositors Bible Commentary, A six-mile-long aqueduct brought Laodicea its supply of water from the south. Repentance is more than a feeling. So wealthy was Laodicea that after the great earthquake of A.D. 17, which destroyed it, the people refused imperial help in rebuilding the city, choosing rather to do it entirely by themselves. The word for overcomes is the Greek word (nika), which means to be victorious.25 What does it mean to overcome, to to be victorious? Colossae had been a major trade center on the trade route from Sardis to Konya and was famous for the dark red wool cloth that carried that its name, colossinum (also derived from the madder root). He was very careful about whom he called friend. Jesus never referred to anyone who was not his disciple as a friend. All of their success and self-righteousness was nakedness in Gods sight. What I said was important! Those who have ears to hear allow the Word to bear fruit to the glory of God. Phileo is the Greek word for friend or friendship. If were not doing things for the glory of God, then we are doing them for the wrong reason. 19btherefore be zealous and repent. The city was also famous for its red dye, made from the juice of the madder root, and the leaves for medicinal purposes. Therefore God exalted Him and gave Him his own thrown (Philippians 2:5-11). Before considering the significance of this term and the rest of the message from Christ, lets note a few things about Laodiceas history. Even though Jesus spent time with sinners, he never called them friends. Why you are doing something is just as important, if not more so, than the works or deeds. Jesus was obedient and faithful, even to the point of death (John 12:27,28). They were doing a lot of things (works and deeds). St. John mentioned Laodicea as one of the Seven Churches of Asia in the Book of Revelation Laodicea lies 40 miles southeast from Philadelphia in the Lycus Valley. (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. It is important to keep this verse in context with the rest of the passage. Thank you! As we await the return of Jesus Christ to earth, we need to avoid becoming callous to Gods way of life and His expectations of us. Youre going to have to spend time in the reading the Bible to learn the truth and by meditating on the Word, reinforce the truth. God cares more about the condition of our hearts than the condition of wallets. Both of these cities were known for the pure waters that flowed through them. This process causes the gold to coagulate and form nuggets and clumps of gold. It would appear so. The Laodiceans needed to turn away from putting their trust in their earthly gold and instead put their trust in Jesus Christ, and that would involve repentance. Christs words showed them that He knew that the citizens of their city were wealthythey had at least twice declined the governments help to rebuild their city after an earthquake and had rebuilt it with their own funds. Spiritual discernment is the ability to tell the difference between truth and error. Setting wine flasks in hot water allowed the wine to heat to the desired temperature. Near the temple of the special god associated with healing, Men Karou (who later became identified with Asclepius), there was a market for trading all sorts of goods (Ramsay, Seven Churches, p. 417). For all its wealth, the city had poor water (comments on Revelation 3:14-22). To fully understand what amen means, you must turn to the Old Testament. The whole point of this verse is that lukewarm has no use. The Laodicean church is not cold. The discipline of Christ stated in Hebrews 12:5-11, explains that God's discipline proceeds from his love and seeks to develop righteousness in his people. You, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The word cold is the Greek word (psuchros) and means cool, fresh, or cold.14 It should be obvious that being cold must be a good thing, or Christ would not have recommended it. The focus of sanctification is the healing of the dysfunctionality of sin (it is imparted). The Corinthian believers were engaged in some seriously messed up things. The black wool of Laodicea produced some stunning dark-colored garments. Gold, clothing, and eye salve represent the three major industries of Laodicea: banking, textiles, and medicines. ""To the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following: "This is the solemn pronouncement of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God's creation: 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. 19a Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. "Laodicea had a famous school of medicine; and a special ointment known as 'Phrygian powder,' famous for its cure of eye defects, was either manufactured or distributed there, as were ear ointments also. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Laodicea was a church that had not overcome sin but rather been overcome by sin. Throughout the ages Satan has blinded the minds of most people (. -- Revelation 3: 14 (ESV) . For example, lets say that I issued instructions for you to sit either on the left or the right side of the room but not in the center. For the Laodiceans, this meant forsaking whatever might perpetuate the lack of spirituality and unwarranted self-sufficiency in which they languished. Here we see Christ speaking as a merchant, advising the church to buy his merchandise. After such strong correction, it is especially poignant to note that God wants sinners to repent and will quickly forgive their sins if they do. A cold Christian visits the shut-ins, the hospitalized, and in prison. eye salve. Whats valuable both now and in eternity is what God cares about: treating people right, forgiveness, and loyalty (Matthew 23:23, Micah 6:8).Were meant to use possessions and love people, not love possessions and use people. People commonly but mistakenly believe that wealth means that God is pleased with them. Jesus is the power and authority that God utilized in creating the universe. 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