Sermon Cloud

The Seven Churches of Revelation
Pt. 7, The Lukewarm Church (Laodicea)

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading others people’s mail because that is what we have been doing for the past several weeks.  We have been digging through the divine mailbag of Jesus to seven different historical churches.

We are concluding our study in Revelation chapters 2 & 3 this morning.  We have been learning from the resurrected and glorious Jesus who is patrolling his churches on earth.  He tells John to write a letter to each of seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. 

In application, these several individual churches represent the universal church.  Together they harmonize to give us the marks of an ideal church.

• The Letter to Ephesus-Love
• The Letter to Smyrna- Suffering
• The Letter to Pergamum- Truth
• The Letter to Thyatira- Holiness
• The Letter to Sardis- Sincerity
• The Letter to Philadelphia- Mission

I have nicknamed this morning’s church, at Laodicea, The Lukewarm Church. 

I don’t know about you but when it comes time to set the table at my house, we seem to have a variety of preferences in how much ice goes in each of the four drinks.  Maggie and Lacie prefer no ice, while Buffy prefers a moderate amount of ice.  For my drink, I prefer a glass full of crushed, not cubed, ice before filling the glass with liquid.  When I asked the girls why they preferred no ice, they commented that they don’t like it when the cold ice hits their teeth when drinking.  Not me, I am a cold drink lover.

Some of you this morning no doubt were excited to wake up to the smell of coffee in your kitchen.  Maybe, you began your morning with a hot cup of coffee and not doubt you prefer your coffee hot and not cold or even lukewarm.  There is something about having a hot drink to get your day started off.

We cannot help but be drawn to the visual imagery that is used by Jesus this morning as he describes this church being lukewarm.  And what grabs us even more, is that Jesus admits when he takes a sip of our lukewarmness, we are so distasteful to Him, that he vomits us out.

Don’t take my word for it, let’s read Revelation 3:14-22 together.

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

Laodicea was the chief city of Phrygia in the Lycus valley, strategically located where three highways converged. It was thereby a highly commercial and wealthy city. It was a city of wealthy bankers and financiers. The many millionaires combined to build theaters, a huge stadium, lavish public baths, and fabulous shopping centers.

In 60 A.D. Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake. Being highly resourceful and self-sufficient, the people restored their own city rather than receive a government loan from Rome. That was very commendable and a far cry from what we find today in America. It demonstrated a self-sufficient attitude that would have detrimental spiritual results if carried over into their relationship with the Lord.

In addition to being a banking center, it was a manufacturing center for woolen garments and medicinal eye salve and powders.  (3:17-18).

Christ’ Credibility

Rev. 3:14, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:

Commendation = NONE!

Condemnation

Rev. 3:5 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

They did have one inadequacy, however—their water supply. Laodicea received its water through an aqueduct coming from a spring four to six miles to the south. The waters of neighboring Hierapolis, however, were famous as hot springs and would have provided medicinal waters.  By contrast also there was Colossae which had ice cold springs, but nothing like this was known in Laodicea.  This was their Achilles heel.

Again, the problem for delivering water to the town was that there was no quick way to deliver water and when it came either from hot springs, it would always cools down to be lukewarm.  Or if it came from a cooler source, it seemed to warm in the aqueduct on the way. For all its wealth the city had very poor drinking water. The water was so distasteful that visitors, not prepared for its tepid flavor, would often vomit after drinking it.

Our Lord’s point to them is something like this: You are providing neither refreshment for the spiritually thirsty nor healing for the spiritually sick. You may not care about your spiritually lukewarm status but I do and I will not tolerate you.

Their condition was nauseating and they made God ill to His stomach. Can you imagine being known as the church that makes God sick? 

They were a little too cold to be hot and a little too hot to be cold.
They were a little too bad to be good and a little too good to be bad.
They neither loved God fervently nor hated Him zealously.
They were lukewarm, moderate, indifferent, neutral, complacent, self-satisfied and they made God sick. This is the church at Laodicea.

How does this apply to us?

God is displeased with a church (or a Christian) that is happy with itself, happy where it is and happy with what it has done. No church has ever arrived this side of the coming of the Lord, yet far too many churches appear to be consumed with one passion: maintaining the status quo.

Illustration: A pastor friend I was fishing with a few months back asked me, “Which one of the seven churches do I think characterizes The Village Church?”  In all honestly, this could be the church that I fear we have the greatest potential to follow.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

What does a halfhearted, distracted, partially committed, lukewarm person look like?

1.      Lukewarm people attend church fairly regularly.  It is what is expected of them, what they believe “good Christians” do, so they go.

·         Isaiah 29:13

2.      Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church…as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living.  If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so, After all, God loves a cheerful giver, right?

·         1 Chronicles 21:24, Luke 21:1-4

3.      Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.  They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.

·         Luke 6:26, Revelation 3:1, Matthew 23:5-7

4.      Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.  They don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t truly sorry for it; they’re merely sorry because God is going to punish them.  Lukewarm people don’t really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one.

·         John 10:10, Romans 6:1-2

5.      Lukewarm people are moved by stories of people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act.  They assume such action is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones.  Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers.

·         James 1:22, James 4:17, Matthew 21:28-31

6.      Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends.  They do not want to be rejected, nor do they want to make people uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion.

·         Matthew 10:32-33

7.      Lukewarm people gauge their morality or “goodness” by comparing themselves to the secular world.  They feel satisfied that while they aren’t as hard-core for Jesus as so-and-so, they are nowhere as horrible as the guy down the street.

·         Luke 18:11-12

8.      Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives, their money, and their thoughts, but he isn’t allowed to control their lives.

·         Luke 9:57-62

9.      Lukewarm people love God, but they do not love Him all their heart, soul, and strength.  They would be quick to assure you they try to love God that much, but that sort of total devotion isn’t really possible for the average person; its only for pastors and missionaries and radicals.

·         Matthew 22:37-38

10.  Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves.  Their love for others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with.  There is a little love left over for those who cannot love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, who kids are better athletes than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkward or uncomfortable.  Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached.

·         Matthew 5:43-47, Luke 14:12-14

11.  Lukewarm people will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money, and energy they are willing to give.

·         Luke 18:21-25

12.  Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven.  Daily life is mostly focused on today’s to-do list, this week’s schedule, and next month’s vacation.  Rarely, if ever do they intently consider the life to come.

·         Philippians 3:18-20

13.  Lukewarm people are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor.

·         Matthew 25:34, 40, Isaiah 58:6-7

14.  Lukewarm people do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty.  They want to do the bare minimum, to be “good enough” without requiring too much of them.

·         1 Chronicles 29:14, Matthew 13:44-46

15.  Lukewarm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control.  This focus on safe living keeps them sacrificing and risking for God.

·         Matthew 10:28

16.  Lukewarm people feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America.

17.  Luke warm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to.  They don’t have to trust God if something unexpected happens—they have their savings account.  They don’t need God to help them---they have their retirement plan in place.  They don’t genuinely seek out what life God would have them live---they have life figured and mapped out.  They don’t depend on God on a daily basis—their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health.  The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God.

·         Luke 12:16-21

18.  Lukewarm people probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever.  They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn’t be more wrong.

·         Matthew 23:25-28, Luke 14:34-35

Correction/Judgment

Revelation 3:18 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. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Promise

Revelation 3:20 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.

Illustration: John Piper says here, “But Christ did not die to redeem a bride who would keep him on the porch while she watched television in the den. His will for the church is that we open the door, all the doors of our life. He wants to join you in the dining room, spread a meal out for you, and eat with you and talk with you. The opposite of lukewarmness is the fervor you experience when you enjoy a candlelit dinner with Jesus Christ in the innermost room of your heart. And when Jesus Christ, the source of all God's creation, is dining with you in your heart, then you have all the gold, all the garments, and all the medicine in the world.”

And notice from verse 20, it only takes ONE to spark revival.

Conclusion
Are you lukewarm this morning?  Are there dangers in your life that have the potential to keep you from being neither refreshment for the spiritually thirsty nor healing for the spiritually sick?  Will you pray, “show me my spiritual condition”?