Revelation 3, beginning in verse 14. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. The topic I want to address tonight is one that is rather insidious in the way it works its way into every facet and aspect of our lives. That topic is indifference. It's so easy to be indifferent, to say something is not my problem. I have co-workers who tell me that the first step to inner peace is learning how to say, that's not my problem. And what's more, indifference in the church is something that I believe could be called a plague or an epidemic. Obviously not a new one as it's about 2000 years old. But this epidemic, this plague is one that nonetheless bears a dressing in the modern church just as much as it bore a dressing in the ancient church. The authorship of this letter, of course, as we know, is attributed to the Apostle John, the one who wrote the revelation of Jesus Christ as it was revealed to him. This letter specifically, this epistle to the church at Laodicea, was the last of the epistles written to the churches in the book of Revelation. These seven churches are in what's called Asia Minor, or now the nation of Turkey, more or less. This letter also marks the end of the epistolary section of Revelation. Everything after this letter ends is prophetic in nature. So it leaves us, this letter is left in an interesting place. It's something that obviously must be considered as the rest of the book is kept in mind. And then this letter, interestingly enough, is nearly the opposite of the one to the church at Philadelphia, the letter preceding it immediately. While that church, interestingly, had nothing said against it, this letter commends no action or no attribute of Laodicea. There is nothing in that church that is addressed pleasantly in this letter. So this letter to the Laodiceans starts in verse 15 with Jesus informing the church in Laodicea that he knows their works, that they are neither cold nor hot. This is his main point of contention with Laodicea, and it is the main point we'll be evaluating tonight. That of the indifferent and lukewarm state of the church. The Laodiceans are indifferent. Despite being a church of Jesus Christ, despite claiming to have the gospel, they are, chief of all things, indifferent. They simply don't care about the things of God. They're not on fire for him, nor are they coldly set hard against him. Rather, they claim to be his, but they simply don't care about anything either way. Christ continues, I would thou wert cold or hot. He would rather that the Laodiceans as a whole would be hot entirely for him, on fire for him as the colloquialism goes, or even that they were cold, completely opposed to what he was doing. Elijah said to Israel, if the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, serve him. Joshua said, choose ye this day whom ye will serve. And this challenge is echoed now to the Laodiceans. No doubt Christ's question, why do you call me Lord and yet do not the things that I say, is surely ringing in John's mind as he transcribes the words divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. And this question must be considered by us now in the same boat as the Laodiceans receiving this letter. Why would a church claim to be followers of God and yet refuse to fully commit to following Him? Christ continues, so then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Christ has no room for indifference. He will not tolerate it in His church. Nowhere in the Bible will you find a precedent or allowance for allocating God to a place of middling importance in one's life. Christ uses a very poignant image, that of spewing or vomiting something out of one's mouth. The idea of indifference in his church is so distasteful, foul even, that it is in fact nauseating to him. He will not be contented with it. C.S. Lewis said, Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. Christ will be Lord of all, or he is not Lord at all. Verse 17, because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. The church at Laodicea is convinced of its own sufficiency. Be it physical, they have all the money they could ever want. They have every good, every new toy and appliance they could ever dream of needing. They cannot conceive of something that they want and do not have. They have become indifferent to God because of the physical wealth of their families and their land. They do not yet realize that their physical wealth will matter little in the end. In my preparation for this evening, I came across an interesting point made by Matthew Henry regarding this letter. The self-perceived wealth of the Laodiceans may well have been, additionally to physical, spiritual in nature. If this perceived abundance is spiritual, they have taken their knowledge of God, their mere academic head knowledge, and conflated it with spiritual growth. They have seen their own wit and thought it to be wisdom. They considered their own wealth of knowledge and thought it to be grace. Much like those spoken of by Paul in Romans chapter one, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. They have become indifferent to God and the things of God because they do not think that they can get any better than they already are. They confess themselves spiritually wise. They think they've made it and they cannot improve. They cannot grow any further. And because this church believes that they have nothing to gain, nothing to want, and nothing to learn, they have no desire to partake in the things of God and no desire to be anything more than indifferent to Him. Their church is a social club going through the motions of worship, absent the work of the Holy Spirit, because they have quenched it, and they have grieved, angered, and nauseated God by their lack of care. Their gospel witness is dimmed because they show forth no fruit of the Spirit working within them. They are complacent in their perceived wealth, sitting comfortably, seeing no need to change things. In their wealth and in their comfort, God has been relegated to a more convenient, less life-altering place among their various entertainments and enjoyments. Verse 17 again, And knowest not, thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. The complacency and indifference of this church has left them completely ignorant of the true state of their own selves. This juxtaposition would be comical were it not so deeply and entirely sad when we know that it is in fact the truth. They think themselves righteous but they are simply unlearned. Their state is wretched and miserable because they are to be pitied because they have no true understanding of God and no true knowledge of the faith they proclaim with their mouths. They merit compassion from others because they are pitiful, lost and blind, destitute and still self-righteous. Their bank accounts and their checkbooks have left them thinking themselves rich, not knowing that their earthly treasures will burn at the day of the Lord, and they will carry none of it through to eternity. Spiritually, they are entirely destitute, blinded, and deceived by the very indifference that Christ is angered by. Something that stood out here was seeing how our Lord wants only the best for them, being angered not at the riches and wealth specifically, but at the indifference caused by the deceit of that wealth that in its very existence deceives them and hampers their usefulness for his kingdom. They think themselves holier than the heathen, mistaking their learning for true faith, thinking their intelligence to be grace and knowledge, and utterly missing the truth that they were no better than the heathen they thought themselves better than. Spiritually they are naked, their empty works no more than filthy rags that do nothing to hide the shame and the pollution of sin. Their souls have no rest, no peace, no shelter, because apart from God there is no rest, no peace, and no shelter. Their earthly riches will not fill any heavenly coffers. They may die the richest man in the graveyard, but richest man in the graveyard is not a symbol of status in the kingdom of heaven. Verse 18, Christ says, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. Christ provides a solution for the indifference of the Laodiceans that they may be restored and commended and be a light in this dark world. Christ tells the church to find their riches not in earthly mines, markets, or trades, but in himself. Consistent with what he said in the book of Matthew lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither Moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal For where your treasure is there will your heart be also They must buy these riches from him exchanging their self-sufficiency and sin to be filled wholly with him They must surrender their will to him and come empty to him to be filled with the treasure of an eternal stock That comes only from Christ The spiritual nakedness of Laodicea is something that can only be remedied by Christ. They must put off the filthy rags of their own works and righteousness, exchange them for the white raiment of the righteousness of Christ that covers their sin and shame. There's no good work they can do on their own to cover themselves. Instead, they are currently like Adam and Eve in the garden, desperately sewing together fig leaves in an attempt to cover themselves, not knowing that these fig leaves are a wholly insufficient coverage for their shame before God. Their blindness must be ended by the surrender of their own wisdom. They are blind because simply they are trying to see by themselves. Which of you would wear dark sunglasses into a movie theater and when asked why, reason, there's a sun in the movie, I might be blinded if I look at it. And how many of you watching someone do that would be surprised when they trip and fall and make a fool of themselves in the middle of the movie theater because they're wearing dark sunglasses in a dark movie theater and they can't see anything. This is exactly what Laodicea was doing. Their own wisdom was nothing but folly. They blinded themselves by it. professing themselves to be wise, again they became fools, tripping and falling over themselves in their own reasoning. Christ tells the Laodiceans to find in him the solution to their spiritual blindness, exchanging the blindness of the wisdom of man for the light and guidance of the wisdom of God. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And I would hope that by now, after this explanation of the issues with Laodicea, that there is, among some of you, an idea of where I'm taking the study tonight. Solomon writes that there is nothing new under the sun. And the same letter written to Laodicea applies to us today in California. I've heard many people, and I'm sure many of you have heard the same thing, people asking what Paul would say to us if he were still in the business of writing letters, the likes of which sent to Corinth and Galatia. If the Church of America got a letter, what would it look like? We have it already. We need no new letter, we have all of the letters collected already. And this one, this letter to Laodicea, speaks to me about the state of the Church at California. We have preserved for us, in God's Word right here, a letter preserved for our own doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. Even we have the entire preserved canon of scripture, and those of us who wish for new letters still don't listen to it. Rather, explaining away the inspired truth within, intending to justify our actions with flimsy excuses and bad faith arguments. We're turning to a moment to the full text, and instead of Laodicea, insert California, or perhaps even Yucca Valley. Consider this text as it applies to us, who by now should be noticeably absent the customary halos we like to imagine that we have any right to wear. Unto the angel of the church of California write, these things saith the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, church of California, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, again, Church of California, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou, Church of California, art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. In the United States, we have a unique combination of the same issues that Laodicea faced. We are rich and increased with goods physically. We have need of nothing. We have bank accounts and closets full of nice clothes that keep us warm in the winter and cool clothes in the summer. We have kitchens and pantries full of food, cars with full gas tanks, and a myriad of other things. We, like the Laodiceans, cannot think of anything we truly physically need or are without, at least pertaining to the availability of everything the human mind could think of on the market. We are a nation that thinks itself righteous and wise. We fancy ourselves the defenders of freedom and democracy across the world. We think ourselves increased in faith and knowledge, even enlightened, when in reality, it is mere pseudo-intellectual drivel that fills our hearts and minds rather than the wisdom of God. We have taken our academic wisdom, our academic knowledge of God, and conflated it with spiritual growth. We have seen our own wit, like Laodicea, and thought it to be wisdom. We considered our own wealth of knowledge and thought it grace. And professing ourselves to be wise, we have become fools. Much as I'd love to complain about the nation we live in and how everything is the fault of the government, whichever opposing political party exists, and generally anyone who isn't me, and much as I'm sure I'm not alone in that desire, the fact of the matter is that the issue truly lies with the church right here at home in America. We can't blame the church in Washington or the church in Colorado or the church in Texas or the church in Florida. We cannot whine about the multitude of specks in the eyes of others when we ignore our own myriad two-by-fours. I don't believe anyone can say that the Californian church as a whole is any less lukewarm than Laodicea. They just got put in the Bible as a warning for the rest of us. They had the misfortune of doing it first. Look at the churches in America, if you will, in your mind's eye. Consider some of the news articles many of you have doubtless seen about some of the nonsense many churches have gotten up to. In addition to the myriad denominations that have gone off what we would call the theological deep end, considering various Lutheran and Methodist denominations that have started ordaining homosexual ministers or women, flying pride flags, affirming various different sins, generally ignoring the Bible, the state of the rest of those who claim to be part of the church is little better. Earlier in 2025, those of you who follow Ligonier Ministries in any way saw that the ministries published the 2025 state of theology survey results, where it was found that among other questions, 28% of self-proclaimed Christians, 28% of self-proclaimed Christians do not believe God is a perfect being. 24% of surveyed respondents will not affirm the literal truth of the accounts of the physical resurrection of Christ. And an astonishing 49%, you can check this, you can find the survey yourself and double check what I'm saying. An astonishing 49% said that Jesus is not God. And this in an age where we have the wealth of 2,000 years of biblical study, church history, and theological knowledge very literally at our fingertips at all times, 24 hours a day. What other answer is there for the state of the Church of California other than the same indifference that plagued Laodicea? We simply can't be bothered to care about God. Like Laodicea, the Church in California has become pitiful because it believes itself to be the model. We have forsaken our in-person assembly, labeling it inconvenient and electing to watch services online if we decide to watch them at all. We have become convinced that our access to theological knowledge via the internet is the same as growing in Christ, and that our mere words are a sufficient stand-in for actions. We have become entirely content with playing church, and even then we're only content to play church when it's expected, showing up occasionally, Christmas and Easter and a couple of other services, and reliably when there's food after the morning service. We sit in the sanctuary and we stare at our phones, the wall, the ceiling, the clock, our watches, the backs of the heads of those in front of us, whichever baby is acting up across the sanctuary, and anything else other than focusing on the truth that's being exposed to us. We'll even stop and stare at our Bibles, reading ahead of where the pastor is, because we don't want to hear what he's saying. We're just going to get distracted by reading something else or looking at the pretty pictures in the back. We half-heartedly sing along to songs full of truth that we refuse to implement in our lives. Truth is presented service after service, week after week, month after month, but we don't care. We don't let it affect us because we are sitting pretty where we are, content with our stagnation and preoccupied with the Sunday roast, the crockpot, plans for tomorrow, the week to come. We're focused on the news and politics, our family and friends. We're focused on the current sports game, anything else that's currently in the news. We're preoccupied with what the president is doing and what the governor is doing and what Congress is doing or more likely not doing. We think ourselves to be the ones in the right, pridefully modeling ourselves after the Pharisee, praying thus with ourselves, God, I thank you that I'm not like the evil sinners I'm surrounded by, because I fast, I pray, and I tithe, or I tie when I come to church. We are completely ignorant of and or unconcerned with the lack of depth in our lives. Like Laodicea, our material wealth means nothing in the face of eternity, although it does a really good job of distracting us now. What good will it do when we who are rich in California stand before God in heaven? Our wealth makes us complacent. We don't think we have to rely on God for anything. I have savings accounts. I have money for the week. I have my full gas tank. I have food at home. I have food in the pantry. I have a refrigerator full of food. I don't need to rely on God for anything. What is there to happen? What's he going to do for me? I've taken care of it. I can do it myself. And that lack of reliance on God, what does it do? It makes us indifferent. It drives us away from him, away from his people, away from his true church. and leaves us no better than the Laodiceans that we endlessly talk about as us being better than. We cannot be further from the truth in our thought that we don't have to rely on God for anything. The church in California is poor in the way that matters. We are poor because we have focused on building our material wealth, ensuring that we as individuals and collectively have very pretty houses and cars that we can spiritually starve in, and doing our best to make sure we have no reward in heaven when we arrive. We have forsaken heavenly riches for earthly ones. The church in California like Laodicea is blind because the wisdom of man has been the filter through which we view the word of God when it should be the other way around. The church in California has elected to distort God through the lenses of progressivism and social justice, ignoring the gospel and has become entirely indifferent to the plight of those in desperate need of a savior. The biblical Jesus isn't aligned with the current political climate, so he must be set aside lest we offend someone. We can't be on fire for Jesus. That's inflammatory language. We'll make someone mad with that. We can't call out sin when we see it. Someone might get upset. They might not come back. They might stop tithing. What are we going to do if they stop tithing and don't come back? We can't call it sin when we see it, someone might get upset. It's probably safer to just tickle ears, focus on affirming and loving everyone's sin. Because the Jesus that this world loves, this distorted Jesus says, be vaguely nice to everyone, as defined by the current political and social climate. And that's what passes for Christianity in America, in California today. There's no mention of sin, no heralding of truth, no defense of objective right or wrong, because we don't want to offend. everywhere from the church to the funeral parlor, when there's services happening here, when there's services happening in chapels, when people are deceased, when there's this invaluable opportunity to speak to the entire family at once about the reality of death that they're confronted with when the casket sits in front of them. We can't talk about sin, we'll offend someone. Church is a place to bring people together. We need to build society. We need to be nice to everyone. We need to show Christ to others through our goodness. I'll get to showing others Christ through our goodness in a moment, don't worry. But in reality, this desire not to offend, this desire to be nice to people is the worst hatred imaginable. because it allows lost people to contentedly amble down the wide road to hell completely unassailed. Rather than, as was mentioned a couple weeks ago, ensuring that anyone entering hell is doing it over our dead bodies, we're getting up and opening the door for them. Because we don't want to offend them. We don't want to make them upset that we're trying to save them from hell. Because we esteem the pride, the care of man more than we care about the word of God. The church in California has much blood on its hands because it has chosen to forbear when others are delivered unto death. The church in California is naked because it is not arrayed in the white raiment of the righteousness of Christ. We have focused on our own good works, I told you I'd get here eventually, content to be nice people and assumed that doing so is enough to get us in good standing with God and with our fellow man. Instead of earnestly seeking Him and His will and earnestly trying to save others from hell to which they so easily send themselves, we assume that our nice living and being a good citizen and minding our own business, telling people that it's not our problem, is good enough to keep God happy with us. We focus on the outward appearance, making sure that we look nice and do nice things, all the while completely separated from the truth that the only remedy for our own lack of righteousness is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Once again, like Laodicea, we find ourselves in the same straight as Adam. The church in California desperately trying to cover itself with the fig leaves of good works and community outreach and being nice to people and not talking about sin because we want to be nice to everyone and that's how we're gonna draw people to heaven, right? Being nice gets people to heaven, right, Pastor? Being nice to people draws big churches and we can get real big pretty buildings and ministries out every single door and window. But there's something big missing with a gospel that just says, let's be nice to people, God loves everyone the same. There's something big missing from that gospel. Our good works can't do anything good. They can't hope to cover us. They must be exchanged for arraignment given by God. We foolishly think that our righteousness is good enough for God. We must instead put our hope and faith in the finished work of Christ. There can be no other object of our hope. And as I draw towards a conclusion this evening, let us return to Christ's words, where he speaks in verse 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. These words written here are not the death verdict of an unbeliever. These are not the words designed to condemn us to death, but rather to rally us to life, new life in Christ, returning like Ephesus to our first love, coming back from a place of indifference and stagnation to grow in Christ, to be useful to him as a bright and burning light and a city on a hill that cannot be hid, and as the salt of the earth, with a very distinctive savor that is noticeable even in small amounts. These words written to the church in California and expounded to the church in California are not those words that are words of hatred. These are given to us because the ones that Christ rebukes are those whom He loves. He has not hated us to the point of allowing His church to continue unassailed into the dark depths of unbelief and apostasy like the church has allowed the state to do. He has given these words to awaken us to the truth of our need of righteous, fervent love for Him. To ignore Christ is to ignore His sacrifice for us, to count His death as less than nothing, and to esteem Him as lower than ourselves. May this never be in our lives. Be zealous and repent is the charge given us by our Lord. We're to throw off the indifference that we've grown so used to, this indifference that creeps in a little bit at a time, one spot at a time in our lives until suddenly we've been wholly paralyzed by it. We are to throw it off and we're to repent of it. If we want a revival, we must first recognize and take care of the indifference in our hearts towards the gospel and to Christ himself. If we want others to see our gospel light, then there can be nothing in our hearts more important than God. There can be nothing, there is nothing more deserving of our time, our energy, our utter and entire devotion at our sacrificial living. The Bible says in verse 22, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. The church at Laodicea was told to repent. Even in the depths of their indifference, Jesus loved them to restore them should they repent. And the same is true for us, Church of California. We must not surrender to this tide of indifference that has swept the country by storm. May we instead see a renewal of the righteous zeal we're commanded to have. May our prayer be, as we sang this morning, revive us again. Like I said earlier, we sing the truths we refuse to bow to. We sing the prayers we refuse to pray. But I pray that our indifference might be ended and replaced with purposeful living for Christ. And that purposeful living for Christ is the antidote to the indifference that has so paralyzed the church as a whole. May we be arrayed in His righteousness, leaning only on Him. May the eyesalve of His wisdom be what ends our blindness, and may His pure gold, tried in the fire, those spiritual riches that can only be found in Him, be the treasure for which we endlessly strive. Only those things done for Christ in this life will last, so it is entirely prudent and wise to focus on His will for the duration of that life. My closing thought, indifference must be rooted out and replaced with a revived renewal of purpose in life. And where does that come from? Where does our purpose in life come from? It comes from Christ. It comes from God. The one who gave us life gives us purpose. Ephesians 2.10, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. So may we be purposeful about our living. May we focus entirely on Him. And instead of saying that's not my problem, may our lives be wholly transformed by the renewing of our minds. So that rather than reasoning like the world in that's not my problem, we focus instead on living entirely for Him. Living for Him who died for us. Let's pray.