Title [Rev 3:14-22] Laodicea Church ①
14 Write to the angel of the church of Laodicea: Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation, says:
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I want you to be cold or hot.
16 Because you are so lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
17 You say, "I am rich and prosperous, and need nothing. You do not know that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
18 I beseech you, buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and buy white robes so that you may not see the shame of your nakedness, and buy eye drops that you may see on your eyes
19 All whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.
21 To him who overcomes, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sit with my father on my throne.
22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The church of Laodicea is the last of the seven churches. This church has no praise, only reproof. In a way, it is a church that deserves to be abandoned. Nevertheless, we see that the Lord longs and urges this church to be restored. Now, as we examine the spiritual condition of this Laodicean church, I hope that we will have a precious history of reflecting on ourselves and repenting.
1. The church was a lukewarm church.
2. This church was a spiritually proud church.
“You say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and need nothing,’ but I do not know that you are wretched and pitiful and poor and blind and naked” (17).
There is no one as pitiful as one who does not know their own situation right away. The members of the Church of Laodicea did not realize how poorly they were spiritually. Rather, he was arrogant, thinking that he was wealthy and had no lack. We too consider ourselves rich. They mistakenly believe that they are rich. I consider it to be full of grace. I consider it to be full of words. Devotion and a life of service seem to be enough. However, when I deeply reflect on myself and examine myself, I find that this is not the case. You will discover that you are the driest and lack of faith. It is to realize the wretched, the pitiful, the poor, and the blind. We must be saints who honestly acknowledge our own empty spiritual state and humbly bow down to God and ask for grace. Let's get rid of our spiritual pride even now. I hope that we will become believers who ask for help from the Lord with a thirsty heart.
What we urgently need now is to be spiritually filled. Spiritual recovery must take precedence over material and health. John said, “I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health, as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2). When we are restored spiritually, everything will be restored physically.
If we remain unbroken and proud, we will have no hope. It must be thoroughly awakened. We must abandon only spiritual pride. And it must be fully restored. The secret is to receive grace from the Lord. “I urge you to buy from me gold refined by fire, and white clothes that you may become rich, so that you may not see the shame of your nakedness, and buy eye drops so that you may see” 18). Of particular interest here is the phrase “buy from me”. If you study these words deeply, you will receive a lot of grace.
First, we can know that only the Lord owns everything. We know that only the Lord can make us rich, only the Lord can clothe us with the white robe of righteousness, and that only the Lord can brighten our spiritual eyes. That's right. You must believe that only the Lord is the owner of everything.
Second, we can see that the Lord is ready to provide us with everything. You just have to buy it from the Lord. Then you might be wondering what to pay for and what to buy. The prophet Isaiah clearly testifies to this point. “Come, you who thirst, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money and without price… Heed me, and you will eat good things, and your hearts may find joy in the fatness of your heart. Incline your ear and come to me, and hear, and your soul may live” (Isaiah 55:1-3).
God doesn't ask for money. It demands our faith. He said that if we obey the Lord's word and have complete faith, He will provide everything we need. You shouldn't leave the church because you don't have money. You just need to have faith. What is required not only of the Laodiceans, but of us, is only faith. Faith makes everything possible. We earnestly hope that you will become our Odu who will receive everything by asking the Lord through faith alone.