seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 3:14 “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 that person, and they with me.
21 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. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
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 that person, and they with me.
21 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. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The easy english commentary says this.
Laodicea was furthest south from the 7 churches. It was almost east from Ephesus. It was in the valley of the Lycus River. It was on the road that came from Ephesus. The road continued to Syria and then to Asia. It was the most important road in Asia. Laodicea was one of the richest trade centres in the world. It was a centre with many banks. It was also the centre of the courts. Like Sardis, it was also a centre of the cloth trade. It was famous for clothing and woollen carpets. They made the clothes from a local black wool. They were proud of these clothes. But they did not realise something. They were naked in the sight of God.
Laodicea also had a famous medical school. The doctors there dealt with people’s eyes. They were very good at that. They produced a special eye *ointment. It came from a rock in the area. There is a reference to these three activities in verses 17 and 18. The Lord has hard things to say to the Christians in this church.
There was a very severe earthquake in AD 60. The people, however, were very rich. They liked to help themselves. So they refused help from the Romans. This is not surprising. They thought that they did not need anything. They were so wealthy that they did not even need God.
We know nothing about the history of this church. We do not know who started it. Epaphras preached there. So he may have started the church. Paul wrote a letter to the church in Laodicea. This letter has been lost, although some say that it is our letter to the Ephesians.
An early Christian writer says that Archippus was the first bishop of the church in Laodicea. Paul mentions this man in his letter to the Colossians. This is what he says to him. ‘See that you complete the service which you have received from the Lord’. Maybe Archippus was not doing his job very well. This was, however, 30 years before the churches received the letters in Revelation.
David Guzik gives us these words.
The thief on the cross was cold towards Jesus and clearly saw his need. John was hot towards Jesus and enjoyed a relationship of love; but Judas was lukewarm, following Jesus enough to be considered a disciple, yet not giving his heart over to Jesus in fullness.
I've been to churches like this. I've also known Christians like this.
