Okay, today now we're looking
at the last of these seven letters that the Lord gives to the churches
in Asia Minor. And the last one is addressed
to the Laodiceans. So the title of this message
will be, The Lord's Letter to the Church at Laodicea. But now I want you to keep in
mind as we look at this letter and the previous six, these letters
are the word of God and the words of God, the message of God given
to us right now. This is God Almighty speaking
to us right now. This is His message to you. This is what you need, I need,
we need to hear right now. Look at verse 14. And unto the angel, which is
the servant, the pastor, the minister of the church, of the
Laodiceans, or in Laodicea, write these things, saith the Amen. He's the Amen, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the faithful Lord. He's the true witness. You know
what's impossible for God to do some things? It's impossible
for God to lie. He's the faithful witness. He's
the true witness who tells the truth about who we are and who
he is and what he's accomplished. He's the beginning. He's the
Alpha of the Omega. He's the beginning of the creation
of God to reach all things, all things by the word of His power.
We have this precious, precious word from the Lord unto this
city called Laodicea. The city was famous for its wealth,
influence, and power. The townspeople were rich. normally
people in that city in that day, then they boasted about it. They
were rich and knew it. They had an, and this attitude
slowly crept into the congregation of this church in Laodicea. The Lord is long suffering, in
his long suffering and mercy to them sent them a word of rebuke
and correction for their arrogant spirit of religious pride and
self-righteousness, for they said, we have all things. They said in verse 17, we're
increased with good and we don't need anything. And the Lord comes
back and says, you're sadly mistaken. You're wretched, miserable, blind,
poor, and naked, and what's the worst thing about it is you don't
know it. You don't know it. But the Lord
sends this letter to them in love. Look at verse 19. He doesn't
do this because He doesn't love them. He sends them this letter
of correction and rebuke because He says, I love them. I love
them, I've redeemed them, and because I love them and have
redeemed them with my blood, He says, I rebuke those whom
I love, and I chasten those whom I love. And you know what that
brings about in the heart of the believer? It brings repentance.
When the Lord brings conviction, conviction brings repentance.
Repentance. Repentance of heart. Repentance
of thought, attitude. Apparently, at one time, in Paul's
day, this church, Laodicea, was zealous for the gospel of God's
grace, was known for their unflinching spirit, and would not compromise
in the beginning, as we read there in Colossians chapter 4.
But now here, we're 40 years down the road. Forty years down
the road, we find John on this Isle of Patmos, and the Lord
meets with him and gives this letter through John to this church
and to us. Forty years later, this church
is on the verge of total collapse, on the verge of total apostasy
from a true living God. He calls it here, Lukewarmness
in verse 16. So then, because thou art lukewarm,
neither cold nor hot, God said, I'm going to spit you out of
my mouth. In other words, he's saying, you're nauseating to
me. You make me so sick, I'm going
to vomit. That's just plainly what he's saying here. Lukewarmness
generally leads to apostasy, if not soon corrected, and repentance
is granted by God. Lukewarmness, indifference, compromise
usually leads to total apostasy left unchecked. There have been
many churches down through the years that had their beginnings
rooted and grounded in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
by and by, they start compromising to get along. They start cutting
off the edge of the gospel to make it less offensive to the
flesh. They don't want to upset anybody
or offend anybody. Luke warned us to the truth,
and indifferent to the truth, they tried to take the truth
of God and turn it into something less than the truth. Now, what's
less than the truth? What's less than the truth is
a lie. It's either true or it's not. The Gospel is absolutely
true. There's no darkness in it. There's
no lie in it. Let God be true and every man
a liar. And the Lord said when you change
the truth and become lukewarm and indifferent to the truth
and try to change the truth to suit your idea or suit your theology,
the Lord said, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. That is
absolutely sickening to the Lord. It ought to be so to us as well.
The Lord introduces Himself as He does to all these seven letters
in verse 14. The Lord introduces Himself as
the Almighty God. He says, I am the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, I am the Amen. That
word means, so be it. I am the so be it. I am that
I am. There's an article on the back
of the bulletin about the great I am. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the Amen. That is, He's the final word
from God. God has spoken to the prophets
in the past. In these last days, He's spoken
unto us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, turn back one or two pages
to Revelation chapter 1. Remember, the Lord here is called
Look at verse 7 and 8. Behold, He cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see Him. And they also which pierced Him,
and all the kingdoms of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even
so, Amen. I am Alpha and the Omega. I am the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty God. He is the AM. He is the Amen
rather. I am that I am. He is steady,
unchanging in His purpose. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. And He's immutable in His person. He never changes. He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. He said, I am the Lord, I do
not change. That's another thing God cannot do. He cannot lie.
It's impossible for Him to lie. And He cannot change. He's always
been God Almighty, holy and sovereign. He is the Amen. And then he says
secondly, in verse 14, He's not only the Amen to everything.
He said, I'm the faithful and true witness. Faithful and true
witness. Turn back again to Revelation
1, look at verse 5. Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the
kings of the earth, unto Him that loved us and washed us from
our sin in His own blood. He is the faithful witness. You
can count on His Word. His Word is always true. He's
faithful to His character, faithful to Himself. Faithful to God Almighty. He is the true and faithful witness. Turn to one other reference.
Find Revelation 19. Revelation 19, look at verse
11. Revelation 19, verse 11. And I saw heaven open, and behold,
a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful.
Notice capital F. Capital T. Faithful and true.
And in righteousness he does judge and make war. His eyes
were as a flame of fire. On his head were many crowns.
He had a name written that no man knew but he himself. He was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. And his name was called
the word of God. And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword. His word is true. that with it
he should smite the nations. The word of God is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. He shall rule them with
a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness
of the wrath of Almighty God. He hath on his vesture and on
his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the amen. He is a faithful
and true witness. He tells us he's that prophet
of God, son of God, to tell us the truth. He is the witness
of God. He is the message from God to
us. And then he says thirdly, in
that verse, he says, the beginning, the beginning of the creation
of God. All things begin with God. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. He's the Lord of glory, the Lord
from heaven. the Lord of glory, the Lord from
heaven, He is a mighty God, the Creator of all things. Without
Him was not anything made that was made." Without Him. Nothing
was made that was made. Now, let me read this verse to
you. Don't turn because you're familiar with this, but in the
same book of Colossians we read earlier, the Lord Jesus Christ
in Colossians 1 verse 14, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the
invisible God, He's the firstborn Lord of every creature, for by
Him are all things created that are in heaven, that are in the
earth, visible, invisible, whether it be throne or dominion, principality
or power, all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and by
him all things consist. And that word consist means held
together. He is the super glue that holds
all things together. All things are controlled by
him. ordered by Him, all things consist by Him, and all things
in this order of this universe. Everything is exact, isn't it? Exact. Who controls all that? God Almighty, the Lord Jesus
Christ, created all things, sustained all things, they're made by Him
and for Him and for His glory. Now this is the one who's writing
to us. He says these things to get our attention. In every one
of these seven letters, he introduces himself as the Almighty, the
All-Wise, the Omnipotent, Almighty, Sovereign God. And then he says
this also in all seven of these epistles. Verse 15 says, I know. He says, I know you. And he does. He says, I know your works. He
said that thou art neither cold nor hot, and I would that you
were one way or the other. So then because thou art lukewarm,
neither cold nor hot, I'll spit you out of my mouth. I'll just
spew you out of my mouth. The Lord of glory, the Lord of
heaven knows all things. This is the one to whom all things
are naked and open before him, before his eyes, and this is
the one with whom we have to do. He knows all things. He knows
your heart. He knows your motive. He knows
what makes you what you are. He knows every word that's far
off in our minds, our thoughts, our thinking, everything about
us. He knows us through and through. The intent of every heart of
all men, both saved and lost. The all-knowing, sovereign Lord
says of His church, those In the pew and those in the pulpit,
they were neither cold nor hot, they were just floating along
in lukewarmness and indifference, cold and callous and just uncaring,
not zealous for the gospel of the grace of God. Now here's
a real danger for all of us here, because of the sinfulness of
our flesh, because of the depravity of our flesh. And the Lord here
is giving us a wake-up call. Usually, if the preacher is a
compromiser of the gospel, the people to whom he preaches will
also be people who compromise. They will neither be cold nor
hot. They will just be indifferent. In the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, there's no room for indifference. When it comes to the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord says this, If you're not with
me, you're against me. There's no middle ground. You
either line up with Him, as Joshua said, as for me and my house,
we're going to serve the Lord. Now if it seemed good to you
to serve those other gods, you go ahead. As for me and my house,
we're going to serve the Lord. That's not being indifferent. That is being fervent in spirit,
hot in spirit. There's no room for notality
concerning the personal work of Christ. If the gospel is true,
and it is, then we should be as believers devoted, committed
unto it 110% as the old sports coach used to tell the football
team. I need you 110%. We ought to
seek the Lord, serve Him with all of our being, worship Him
with all of our mind and strength, embrace Him with everything that
is in us, body, soul, and spirit. Not with a lethargic warmness,
but with a fervent zeal in our heart. because we love the Lord
Jesus Christ. You remember those two men that
walked on the road to Emmaus? And the Lord, the risen Lord,
met with them and conversed with them and preached to them. Do
you remember what they said? Did not our heart burn within
us when He opened to us the Word of God? It's a whole lot like
He says over here to those people over here in that other epistle
where it says, I am somewhat against you because you've left
your first love. You've grown indifferent to the
gospel. You've grown lukewarm instead
of being full of zeal and earnest desire in your heart. There's no room for neutrality. in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And because the Gospel is true,
because the Gospel is from the faithful and true witness, and
because we've been taught of God, we should be zealous in
our heart for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was a
lukewarm spirit. Now, here's the warning. So then,
verse 16, because you are lukewarm, you need the cold, No hot. He said, I'll spit you out. Now,
man, that's pretty plain speaking, isn't it? That's pretty plain
speaking. And we can all identify with
that. I don't like cold coffee. I don't
like lukewarm coffee. I like hot coffee. It suits my
taste. And that's what the Lord is saying
in a crude illustration. hot, zealous toward the Lord. Lukewarmness to the gospel of
Christ sickens the Lord to the point that it nauseates Him to
throw up. Lukewarmness is a profession
of religion with no conviction of heart, no zeal or love for
the truth. That's a good definition of lukewarmness. It's religion with no righteousness,
It's a religion with ceremony, but no Christ. It's a religion
that's full of tradition, but no truth. Oh, we have traditions. Do you have the truth? You see
what he's saying here? Lukewarmness is a profession
of religion with no conviction of heart and no love and no faith
for the true and living God. Lukewarmness is another word
for what? Hypocrisy. hypocrisy. Our Lord said this of those Jews
in Matthew 15. He said, you draw nigh with your
mouth, and you honor me with your lips, but your heart's far
from me. That's lukewarmness. He said,
in vain do you worship teaching for doctrines and commandments
of men, rather than looking to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. It's disgusting to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Who did the Lord rebuke? When
we read through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
those people who approached Him who were in need, who were blind,
and wretched, and leprous, and in need of great mercy and great
healing, and they came to the Lord and brought all their need
to Him. You know, He had pity on them. But those self-righteous
Pharisees who came to him and said, you have a spirit of a
devil, you're mad, you're a crazy man. He said to them, you are
able to justify yourselves before men. But he says, I know your
heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. It's the same
message from the same Lord. Because, he says in verse 17,
Here's what the Lord knows of those people that are lukewarm. Because you say, here's what
you say, I'm rich, I'm increased with goods, I don't need anything. I've got a good job, I've got
good health, I've got plenty of money in the bank account.
My 401k is doing great. My IRA is full of money. I'm rich, I'm increasingly good,
I have need of nothing. And the Lord comes back and says,
you don't know because your heart is deceived by your riches. The love of money is the root
of all evil. You don't know that you are wretched, miserable,
blind, poor, and naked." Now what a contrast, what a contrast. They seemed to take hope in the
sorry fact that they had enough earthly goods To take care of
all their physical need, they seem to put an emphasis on the
perishing things of the earth instead of the spiritual blessings
of the gospel of Christ. What a sad and useless refuge
of lies to hide in. And it's so telling here where
it says, we don't need anything. Really? You need Christ. You need the Lord Jesus Christ.
You need Him. You see, everything in this life,
you think with me, everything in this life that we touch, feel,
smell, and know, everything we see with our eyes, this world,
the fashion of this world is perishing. It's perishing. Don't build your hopes in the
forest of this world. Build your hope for salvation
only in the Lord Jesus Christ. It reminds me of the people who
came to the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 7 and said, Lord,
we've preached in your name. Lord, we've done all these good
things in your name. We've cast out demons. We've
done these many wonderful works. Remember the Lord said, I know
your works. Remember what he said of those people in Matthew
7? He said, I don't love you. He said, depart from me, you
workers of iniquity. I never knew you. I never loved
you. They were resting in what they
had done. They had wit, but no wisdom.
They had gifts, but no true grace. They had doctrine, but not the
doctrine of Christ. They had ordinances, but no faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. How many today have the same
problem, religion with no righteousness? Sad, isn't it? They don't know
anything about the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, they're going about
to establish a righteousness by the doing of their hand. They
think if they're straight enough, moral enough, good enough, that
that's my righteousness before God. Now, that sounds pretty
good. Morality, no matter what you
think of it, no matter how good morality may be, our Lord says
this, all of your righteousnesses, filthy rags in my sight. He said
there's none righteous, no not one. Our only hope is Christ
to be clothed in His righteousness alone. Blessed is a man to whom
the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Most folks in
religion, Now, you ask some of your religious
friends, do you know anything about the righteousness of God
that's imputed to those who believe the Lord Jesus Christ is our
righteousness? Most people are totally ignorant
of that imputed righteousness that's revealed in the gospel.
The righteousness through Christ and Him crucified. A lot of people
think it's imputed nonsense. It is the Gospel, my friend.
God made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now take careful note of the
Lord's true indictment against them. They did not know because
their heart was deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. They didn't know that their own
heart was wretched. He mentions five things here.
You know not that you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. And they said, we have everything.
We're in need of nothing. You're wretched, miserable, blind,
poor, and naked. They did not realize that they
were in such sorry, sad condition. They had religion. They had no
righteousness. They had tradition, but they
did not have Christ. He calls them wretched. Man at
his best state is altogether vanity. He called them miserable,
without God, without hope, and without Christ. He calls them
poor, spiritually bankrupt, ignorant of a true and living God, going
about to establish a righteousness by their own doing. He calls
them blind. He said, you're blind. You don't
see the wickedness of your own heart. You don't see the holiness
of God. And then he says, you're naked.
You're naked. No covering. No covering before
God. No righteousness to cover them. Now, what's the remedy? What's
the remedy for this lukewarmness? May God give us grace in our
heart to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith. Are we lukewarm? Are we ignorant? of God and going
about to establish a righteousness of our own. Here's what the Lord
says to do. He says, you need some good counsel? You need some good wisdom? The
Lord Jesus Christ is the wonderful counselor, isn't He? He says,
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou
mayest be really true and spiritually rich, white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness do not appear,
and by this ointment I say of that you might see the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ." The wise and good counselor gives
us wholesome words and vital instruction. He said, by of me,
Salvations of the Lord. Buy of me gold, gold that's tried
in the fire. What is that gold that's tried
in the fire? It's Christ. Christ was tried in the fire
of God's wrath, tempted and tested in all points like as we are,
yet without sin. He said, buy of me that which
is free, free, free. You know, the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, even though it's called precious gold, is free. He justified us freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
God who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? He
said, I'll love them freely. You remember Isaiah 55? Ho, everyone
that is thirsty, come ye to the water, buy and eat that which
is real milk, and real wine, and real truth, without money
and without price. The gospel of God's sovereign,
golden grace is free. Free. Buy of me. gold tried in
the fire. Grace is a gold refined in the
oven at Calvary, that you might truly be rich." Rich! Remember 2 Corinthians 8 and
9? You know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though
He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through
His poverty might really be made rich. You see, He's made us heirs
of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'll give you some good
wisdom, some good advice. You buy of Me gold tried in the
fire, that you might really be rich. And then He says, white
raiment, that you might be properly clothed. Properly clothed. What's he talking about here?
Turn over here to Revelation 7. Revelation 7. How are believers clothed? We're
clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Look what he says
over here in Revelation 7. Verse 13, One of the elders answered
and sang unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes,
and whence came they? I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
are they before the throne of God, serving Him day and night
in His temple? And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them." We're clothed in the very righteousness
of Christ provided for us in the gospel. He's called the Lord
our righteousness. The fourth thing He says there
in verse 18, anoint thine eyes with eye salve. You buy some eye salve that you
might be, that you might see." You see, by nature we're blind. Buy this eye salve of the gospel
that we might see the glory and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To you who believe, He is precious. This is what the Gospel does
when it's blessed in the power of God the Holy Spirit. He anoints
our eyes that we might see Him as altogether lovely, and that
we might see ourselves as altogether sinful. Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God, cannot perceive, does
not understand by these things. by the free grace of God in the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of Christ meets our
every need, every need that a poor sinner has. He's able to meet
all our need according to his riches in glory through the Lord
Jesus Christ. The gold of this world, it's
worth almost $2,000 an ounce. $2,000 an ounce. And all that gold in this world
will perish as worthless dirt. It'll be worth dirt when the
Lord comes back. That's all it is, is dirt. That's
all it is. Buy the gold of the Gospel at
infinite, eternal value that will save us to the uttermost,
that will secure our eternal home. What would you rather have?
The gold of the Gospel or the gold of this world? There's no
decision there, is there? It's the gold of the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the Lord says all this because
of 19. He says, I love you. Now, you
who are parents, You discipline your children. Why? Why do you
do that? Because you love them. You want
them to see that they do the things that are right, that are
honoring to the Lord and honoring to their parents. As many as
I love, the Lord says, I rebuke them, I chasten them. Be zealous
therefore and repent. Be zealous and repent. Be hot. Be fervent in spirit and repent,
and we know the Lord grants and gives repentance. As many as
I have redeemed, He's loved His people with an everlasting love,
therefore with love and kindness He draws them. As many as I love,
I have redeemed. Here in His love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us, and that He gave Himself
as a sacrifice for our sin. As many as I love, I've redeemed,
I've regenerated, therefore, I rebuke them and I chasten them. Now, be zealous. Be zealous for
the glory of God. Be zealous for the gospel of
God's grace. And repent. Now, repentance is a constant
state of being. I am repenting. I'm constantly,
by the grace of God, looking to Christ, coming to Christ,
believing on Him. And repentance is a change of
mind, heart, and attitude toward God, by the grace of God. Now
look at verse 20. Verse 20. This verse, along with John 3.16,
are two of the most misunderstood verses in all the Bible. Behold,
our Lord says this, I stand, behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man hear my voice. Now,
who are those who are going to hear His voice? His sheep hear
His voice. The Lord is leaning against our
heart And He's constantly calling unto us. And His sheep do hear
His voice. And the sheep are made willing
in the day of His power. They do open to the Lord. He
says, I will come in and will sup with Him and Him with me. Now, it's not this idea that
goes on in religious circles. And you've seen these pictures.
Here's a door. And here's the Lord on the outside.
And the outside of that door, there's no doorknob. And then
they show the sinner on the other side of the door, and the doorknob's
on that side of the door. And you've got to do something
to let him in. That's not what that's saying.
The Lord, He said, Behold, I'm standing, I'm standing. Who takes
initiative here? It's the Lord. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of His power. I stand at the door, and
I knock. I come to you. No man can come
to me except the Father which sent me drawing. If any man hear
my voice, oh, they'll open to the Lord. Thy people shall be
willing in the day of His power. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them, and they do follow me." And he said, I'll come in. I'll
come in, and I'll fellowship with them. I'm united with them,
I will sup with them, and he with me. Now, verse 21. God says, I will. We had that
on the radio this morning. Jeremiah 31. God said, I will
and you shall. I will and you shall. I will and you shall. To him
that overcometh, to him that overcometh, I will grant How
do we overcome? How do we overcome lukewarmness? How do we overcome our sin? The burden of our guilt? How
do we overcome these tremendous obstacles? Only by the Lord's
grace. He's given us the victory. Thanks
be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's how we overcome. We overcome through the blood
of the Lamb. the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation
chapter 12 verse 11 says, we overcome through the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And He grants this unto us, to
sit with Him. Now notice this carefully. To
Him that overcometh, I will grant, I will give, to sit with Me in
My throne. Now that's a pretty good place,
isn't it? to sit with the Lord Jesus Christ on the throne of
glory, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father
in His throne. Believers are already seated
together in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what it says in Ephesians 2. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for whose great love we're with, he loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, and made
us sit together in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ right
now. That's pretty good news, isn't
it? Wouldn't that do something about being lukewarm and indifferent
toward the Gospel? To be with the Lord Jesus Christ,
reigning with Him eternally in the Lord Jesus. Now, he that
hath an ear, let him hear. Would you hear
what God would say? Would you turn a deaf ear? You see those little kids when
they're scolded from mom and dad, they cover up your ears. I don't want to hear that. He
that hath an ear, let him hear. Remember when Peter went down
to the house of Cornelius, God had done a work of grace in the
heart of Cornelius in his house, and when Peter had come to the
house of Cornelius, remember what that Roman soldier said
to Peter, we're all here. to hear all things commanded
thee of God. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to the believers,
to believers. May God deliver us from lukewarmness
of heart and spirit, and by His grace give us a burning zeal
in our heart for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.