We have made it to the last of the seven churches, Laodicea. Let me give you a little history of the city before you read. Laodicea was a wealthy area. There was fertile pasture land around the city that boasted great flocks of sheep. This made it the greatest center for the woollen industry in that time. The area was notorious for earthquakes and Laodicea suffered a devastating one in 60AD. However, her wealth and independence allowed her to recover and rebuild without any financial help from Rome. Laodicea was wealthy, proud and independent.
From: The Navigator Study on Revelation
"Laodicea was known throughout the Roman world of its time for three things: its banks, which even Cicero recommended for exchanging money; its linen and wool industry, which produced cloth and carpets, especially from the glossy black wool of sheep reared in the area; its medical school and widely famed medicines, notable among which was an eye-ointment."
The major problem in Laodicea was a lack of any good, fresh water supply. So water had to be diverted from the neighboring cities of Hierapolis and Colosse. There were hot springs at Hierapolis known for their medicinal value and fresh, cold springs in Colosse. By the time the waters had been diverted to Laodicea, those waters were neither hot nor cold ... often undrinkable.
With that in mind, read Revelation 3: 14 - 22 carefully, looking for any commendation, any reproof and any warnings or instructions from the Lord. Then come back!
What a sad state of affairs existed in the church in Laodicea. It seems to be a collection of people who were proud and confident in themselves and their great city - and it was all an illusion. I suspect they even dressed very well! In our Lord's analysis of this group ... He exposes the illusion of each of the things of which they were so proud. And tells them boldly that without Him, they are nothing. Lip service, pride in accomplishments, material wealth ... all worthless without Christ.
And so He tells them that He is right there ... waiting ... to be "invited" into this church. The Lord will never force Himself on a person or a church. He will never force an individual or a church to live submitted to His Lordship. But He is ready ... He is able ... He is waiting to be invited in so that regenerated life, abundant life, His life can flow in and through.
John R. W. Stott says of this church: "Perhaps none of the seven letters is more appropriate to the twentieth-century church than this. It describes vividly the respectable, sentimental, nominal, skin-deep religiosity which is so widespread among us today. Our Christianity is flabby and anemic. We appear to have taken a lukewarm bath of religion."
I think we can see the same tendency as we have entered the twenty-first century. So the call is clear ... for me ... for you ... for our churches. Open the door! Invite Christ in - both in your life and your fellowship! Bow to Him! Put on His righteousness as your robes, His person as your wealth, and His remedy for your healing!
You may have been a church member for a long time and never deliberately asked Jesus to invade your life with His presence. If you have not done so ... why not? If you have ... refresh your commitment to His rule in your life right now. What is at stake? Life. And the right to sit with Him on His throne. Now - there's a promise!!
We have one remaining lesson in this study. I do not want to close it with the tepid taste of Laodicea in our mouth. So we will take one more look at the Lord through the next two chapters of Revelation ... Revelation 4 - 5.
THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES
ReplyDeleteWow - so many lessons from this one message to one church... it seem this emperor truly "has no clothes"! In remembering that fairy tale, several parallels stand out:
A prideful emperor seeking an ultra-exclusive wardrobe hires two swindlers who promise to make him the finest suit of clothes in the world. Heading off misgivings (read: common sense) at the pass and catering to his already-prideful attitude, they tell him the fabric will be invisible to those who are either mentally deficient, or unsuited to his position. Not wanting to appear stupid or unsuited to rule, the emperor refuses to admit either to himself or to the weavers that he, himself, cannot see the fabric. [Being deceived is one thing, but let's go a step further: how often do I allow pride to color my perspective, cloud my judgment, and ultimately influence my actions about the things I know to be true?]
Without even a cost-benefit analysis, the emperor pays an exorbitant price for this exclusive "costume." [The world bombards us with a barrage of advertisement, constantly trying to convince us that luxuries are somehow necessities. Am I diligent about doing my own math and refusing to let the world define the criteria by which I assess quality?]
The emperor puts his full trust in those who are willing to stroke his ego and tell him things he likes to hear about himself. [Do we even want to go there? I hear Paul's admonition not to be conformed to this world... and not to think more highly of ourselves than we should, but to use "sound judgment" -- any applications for us?]
When the suit is finished, the emperor wears it in a processional through the city to show it off to his subjects. [Can we become so taken with a "happening" trend or fashion that we can't wait for everybody to see it on us?]
While the adults, unwilling to express anything contrary to the imperial "spin," are ooh-ing and ahh-ing, a small child's statement reflects a firm grasp of the obvious: "But the emperor has nothing on!" [ "...and a little child shall lead them" -- it seems praise isn't the only thing to come "out of the mouths of babes"! ]
This church had convinced herself that she was utterly self-sufficient -- she "had arrived." Jesus calls her "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked." Nobody wants to be caught undressed, but when we dress ourselves in clothes from the world's textile mills we set ourselves up to do just that! The wedding guest in Matthew 22 who showed up without proper attire rejected the wedding clothes provided by the host. While not rejecting the invitation outright, he tried to come on his own terms. I'm reminded of Isaiah's words comparing our righteous deeds to "filthy rags," but delighting in the LORD because He clothes us in "garments of salvation" and arrays us in "robes of righteousness" -- who wouldn't prefer that!