I'm going to get right into this as this is one of the fabulous, fabulous passages of Scripture in Revelation chapter 3. But we're going to look tonight at the church at Laodicea. The church at Laodicea. Go ahead and take that supplement sheet and take a look at it. And I think now that we've come to the end of the first three chapters tonight of the book of Revelation, it will give you a little bit of help to look at that little map or that diagram there at the bottom of that supplement sheet. You know what I'm talking about? It says Revelation Supplement Laodicea. You see that? All right, at the bottom you've got a picture there of that area of the world, and you can see what was called Macedonia is actually Greece today, and what was called Asia Minor is actually modern Turkey today. You see the arrow that says Isle of Patmos? Well, you can see that where John is writing the book of Revelation from is this little small island. Actually, most of those islands there are nothing but rock, and this was one of those islands where he had been banished to. And we read in chapter 1, he was there for the testimony of the Word of God, and for the Word of God, for his testimony and for the Word of God. He'd been faithful, and because of his faithful preaching, and he wouldn't recant, they said, all right, he won't recant. We're going to put you on this island." This is after he was boiled in oil, according to tradition. We'll put you on this island, and you're going to be chained to a rock, and you're going to break rocks. Somebody said, well, you know what, I'm glad he was able to survive that. I have a little side note that I want to throw on there, and that is that in a little bit of research and study, I got to thinking about, I heard a preacher say this week that the book of Revelation was probably that Paul had probably been dead 60 years when the book of Revelation was written. I'd never heard that before, so I got to studying and looking. If that is true, and from all indications from all of the writers, and even from Josephus, the first century writer, and some of the others that have written, that statement is true. So when John was writing this book of Revelation, there's a very good chance that he was more than 93 years old. Now, John had been boiled in oil. That's pretty well documented. And John had suffered tremendously for his faith. And they tried to extinguish his voice, but God was not finished with John. Now think about that. Because he had a book to write. He had a revelation to receive and to give out. So he's 93 years old, and he takes up his pen and listens to the Holy Spirit. I don't know how much longer he lived after this book was written. I've got a suspicion that it wasn't very much longer. But isn't that amazing that he didn't just assume that his life was over when he hit 65? And that at 65, he was just going to lock down and go buy a boat or something and go float around? He didn't do that. And a lot of us, I'm afraid, assume that we're just heading toward retirement. I just can't wait to get there. Well, I'm thankful that not only did John not look forward to retirement, which I doubt anybody did in those days, but he didn't look forward to just sitting back and resting. But he endured tremendous persecution because the Lord put him through it. And then God, in His sovereignty, and of course, you know, until God's done with a person, until a person has done what it is that God has them on earth to do, you can't kill them. You can't get rid of them. I heard a story about a man named Hod Jimmy. And I don't know if my father-in-law is going to remember this story or not, but in a church we were attending one time, there was a missionary who showed up. who was a national missionary from Burma. He was of the Karen people, and his name was Ha, H-A, Jimmy, J-I-M-M-I-I. And he was from Burma. And during the time of the Vietnam War, when the Vietnamese and the Viet Cong were coming through all of these areas and all these other, they were trying to just recruit anybody and everybody they could to come and do what they, to help them in their efforts. This fellow named Ha Jimmy was a pastor, a national pastor there. And a person came through, a group of these Viet Cong came through, and they were trying to recruit people to help them and to supply their physical needs while they were in their area and while they were camping there. And so they came in and talked to him, and he said, no, we're not going to be able to help you. And so a guy had a machine gun, and he was a Viet Cong, he was a soldier, and he had a machine gun. And he pointed it at him and said, if you don't do it, I'm going to blow you away. He said, well, you're going to have to blow me away because I just don't believe that's what I'm supposed to do. And they said, well, you better quit preaching this gospel and preaching this Bible. And he took his Bible and tore it up and shot the Bible full of holes. And he pointed the gun back at him and said, all right, I want you to promise me you're not going to do that anymore and you're going to lead all of these people, these little group of people, you're going to lead all of them to help get food for us. He said, no, I can't do that and I'm not going to stop preaching. So he took that gun and he pointed it at him. He said, all right, then die. And he pulled the trigger and nothing happened. Just went click. He took it and held it up in the air and it went brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr is not going to let anything happen to anybody until he's done with them. Now, the converse of that is what? That people do come to the end of their days, even believers, when God is what? Done with them. That's very important to understand. And so I'll never forget that story by a fellow named Ha-Jimmy. We saw him in person. And he told this story that was just too unbelievable to be true, but there he stood. And God had kept him alive. And of course, he went on to be a tremendous evangelist because of that experience. And he went all over that area. And he was of those ancient Karen people who had become believers as a result of that fellow I told you about a few weeks ago, Adoniram Judson, who was the first American missionary who stayed 25 years without a convert. He walked through an open door, though difficult. He stayed, won someone to Christ, who went back into the woods and won this tribe of people called the Karen. Hajime was of the Karen tribe in Burma. And he was the one that was in this story. So God is amazing in what he does. So John is 90, over 93 years old. He's gone through all of these unbelievable persecutions. God's keeping him alive. And he writes, and what he wrote was so very, very important. We finished up with that open door church last week, the church in Philadelphia. So look, if you would, to Revelation 3.14. And let's read right down through verse number 22, Revelation 3, 14. And to the angel of the church at Laodicea write, the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God says this, I know your deeds and that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by the fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and eyesalve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Those whom I love I reprove and discipline, be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." I want you to notice something here that he, just a side note before we get going. It says, to he who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. In our minds, when we think of overcoming, we think we're going to overcome the sickness, overcome the problem, overcome the disease. We're going to live, be healthy, wealthy, and wise. But what happened to Jesus? And he's an overcomer. What happened to him? He, what? Died. And then he did what? He rose again. So our overcoming doesn't mean that all of our problems are going to be gone on this earth. It means that overcoming means that the believers are going to overcome because ultimately we're going to rise again and we're going to sit down with him in eternity forever. Let's go back and let's look now at this church of Laodicea. Let's see how well you can name these churches without looking. This is the seventh church, final one. Let's see how we can do it. I'll say that there was a church that had lost its first love. What was the name of that church? Ephesus. Very good. And then there was a church that suffered tremendously. What was that church? Smyrna. And then after Smyrna, there was a church that kind of got married to the world. What church was that? Thyatira, wasn't it? Was it Thyatira or was it Pergamos? I think it was Thyatira. And then the church that was idolatrous, which one was that? Pergamos then after that what there was another church there was a church that became Dead what was the name of it? Sardis then there was a church that had an open door. What was the name of it? Philadelphia and tonight we're going to look at a church that wasn't hot it wasn't cold it was lukewarm It was a pretentious church. It was a church of a big name It was a church of great reputation It is the church at Laodicea. So if you look at your little sheet there, let's look at those on that sheet that I told you to look at. Once again, you can see that that postal route I was telling you about. You were correct. Pergamos was first, then Thyatira. I got them backwards. The postal route was Ephesus, and then Smyrna, and then Pergamos, and then coming down to Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. And so they sort of formed an arc or a circle. And that was the letters that were written. Those were the churches that were there. And so you can see none of them are more than 105 or 106 miles away, even at the farthest point from any other church. And some of them are even closer than that. And the Church of Laodicea is only 45 miles across there from the church at Ephesus. And so I thought I'd give you that just so you get an idea about the fact that these were real churches and how close they were one to another. Now the church of Laodicea. What about this city? This was a very rich and proud city located close to the city of Colossae. And the city of Colossae also had a book written to it. The name of that book was what? Colossians. And this city of Colossae also was very rich. And when the city of Colossae was destroyed, you want to know how proud this city was? The city of Colossae was destroyed by an earthquake in 60 AD. The inhabitants of this nearby city, who also was just ransacked, They were so proud that when Rome showed up to help them that they didn't want any help. This was the city of Laodicea. No, we're rich. We're wealthy. We'll do it ourselves. We'll pick ourselves up and we'll take care of ourselves. This was a tremendous industrial and banking center, the city of Laodicea. Very wealthy. When the Pax Romana, which means Roman peace, was established, and of course they established peace with the sword. They put their roads everywhere. When that was established, it was a very, very good situation for those that were industrious, those that were able to jump on top of the banking idea. And this was one of those cities. It was a very, very, very wealthy city at the crossroads there among many cities. So they were known for that. And then they were known for something else. They made glossy garments of very, very dark black wool, just fantastically beautiful garments that they were noted for. Even some of the, there are drawings and pictures in some of the books that I was looking at, some of these archaeological finds, beautiful, beautiful garments that they made. And then there was something else that was there in the city of Laodicea. They were known for their thermal baths. And there's a reason for that, because Colossae was near to a city called Hierapolis. And Hierapolis was a city of boiling hot water that just came out of the ground. And they piped this water in there. in there to the city of Colossae, and so they had these, or into the city of Laodicea, and they had these thermal baths. And they also got their drinking water from the city of Colossae. So you had the hot water coming from Hierapolis, and you had the cold water coming from Colossae, because they didn't have any water of their own. Very significant to this whole story, and in just a minute you're going to see just how significant that situation is. And God uses a lot of times illustrations that people understand to show them what was important. Now, how many of you like a lukewarm bath? You just raise your hand. You like a hot bath or a lukewarm bath? I'll take a cold shower. I'll take a hot shower. But I don't want it somewhere in between. And so that was what would happen with the water coming from Hierapolis. If they came in and they didn't keep pouring the hot water into it, then pretty soon the thermal baths wouldn't be hot. And then there was, from the city of Colossae, there was the cool streams that would come. But if it just sat still in the cool stream coming from Colossae, was cut off or if they ever stopped it or some of their enemies stopped it up with their bath or their cold drinking water would very soon turn tepid it would turn lukewarm and of course they didn't like that and nobody would like it and I'm like that I like a really hot drink or a really cold drink you go to a restaurant you have hot coffee what does the waitress keep doing because you don't want it to get lukewarm they keep adding the hot hot coffee if you go to a restaurant you got cold iced tea and I love iced tea that is the greatest drink on earth other than hot coffee Iced tea and you want it cold and and then you folks don't drink iced tea like we do when you go to a restaurant here and ask for iced tea Then you've got to ask for the sugar down south if you ask for iced tea. It's going to be loaded with sugar sweet tea and And that's just the way it is but iced tea you want it iced and hot coffee you want it hot and you don't want either one of them anywhere except at that spot well, that's important to this city Colossi cold water and Hierapolis, hot water, Laodicea in between the two. Interesting, isn't it? And that's what we're going to see something here in just a minute about that. It was a city that produced a medicinal powder that was used for the problems of eyesight. It was called cerulean. So they were known for money. They were known for thermal baths and cool water. They were known for beautiful garments made in black. And they were known for medicinal ice salve made from cerulean. That's what they were known for. You're going to see something interesting about this church that's in that city. This church of Laodicea, we don't know anything about it as far as how it was formed, but here's what we do know, that if we look for the praises about the church at Laodicea, we're going to have to look long and hard, and we're going to come up empty, because the Lord doesn't have anything good at all to say about this city. What are the commendations? What are the praises of Laodicea? Not one single good thing does he have to say about this city. This is the only church, with the exception maybe of Sardis, although even in Sardis, the dead church, the Lord said you've got a little bit of life left. There's a few of them in there that are alive. He didn't even say that about the church at Laodicea. Nothing good about the city at all. It's interesting that the church before this, the church at Philadelphia that was weak, that was small, but had an open door and took advantage of it, he had nothing to complain about. But with the church at Laodicea that was rich and famous and well-supplied and well-recognized, he didn't have anything to brag about. So he didn't have anything to complain about with Philadelphia. He didn't have anything to brag about with the church at Laodicea. Now then, after looking at the city, the church, the praises, They want to look at the complaints against the church at Laodicea. And we're going to do that verse by verse. This is something we really need to look at very carefully here. And the first thing I want you to look at in verse number 14 is that God has an observer. He has an observer. It says to the angel of the church at Laodicea, write. Does anybody have a King James Version in here tonight? I mean, not the new King James, the old King James. Alright, Warren, I want you to read in a loud voice what that verse says in verse 14. Listen. Oh, do you? Does anybody have an old King James? Bev, I want you to read that verse in the old King James. What does it say? Hold it right there. That's all I want you to read. Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans. Go back to chapter 2, verse 1. See what it says in chapter 2 and verse number 1. I want to read it from the same version. Read that to me, Bev, out good and loud. okay stop right there unto the angel of the church of Ephesus of the city okay notice now I want you to go if you would to chapter number 2 in verse 8 read that in Smyrna so it's of Ephesus in Smyrna alright look at chapter 2 in verse 12 In Pergamos to the angel of the church in Pergamos, you say, Pastor, what are you trying to just keep going? Just stay with me. Chapter chapter two, verse 18. In Thyatira, OK, now chapter three, verse number one. OK, and now Philadelphia, chapter three, verse seven. Now read that chapter 3 verse 14 again and tell me the difference. Alright, at every place he writes to the angel of the church of or in all of these cities, of Ephesus, in Thyatira, at Pergamos. But when he gets to Laodicea, he says, it's interesting, and you know what? These versions are all interesting, but do you know that's the correct one? If you look back, the word there says, not of Laodicea, but of the Laodiceans. Now, I want you to just think with me for a moment. You say, well, is that important? Well, I think it is. In the first six churches, it was the church of Jesus Christ in all of those cities. But at the church at Laodicea, the lukewarm, pretentious, reputation church, it was the church of the Laodiceans. It was their church. Not the church in that city that belonged to Jesus. But he says, it's not even my church anymore. It's their church. You say, does that pan out in Scripture? What does verse 20 say? Behold, I stand at the door and do what? Knock. Where was Jesus? He wasn't inside. He was outside. There is a painting in St. Mary's in London. And in that painting, you've seen it. It's famous. It shows a crowned Jesus standing. outside of this door. It's supposed to be a picture of where Jesus is standing. He's standing out there knocking. When the critics came, most beautiful picture. When they came to look at this picture and everything, they said, well, you've made a terrible mistake. There's no door handle on the outside of it. He said, no, I made no mistake. The door handle to a person's life, to a church, is always on the inside. You've got to let him in. Those first six churches, they all had their good points and perhaps they all had their bad points, though the Lord didn't say about two of them that they had any bad points. Here's what we do know. We know that there was life in those churches, and it was the church of Jesus Christ in those cities. But when it came to Laodicea, Jesus was no longer even in there. In fact, He didn't even call it His church anymore. He said it's the church of the Laodiceans, not at Laodicea. Why? Because He was on the outside. That's interesting. Now, we've talked about these church ages, haven't we? Would you like to guess the church age of the church at Laodicea. It's pretty interesting that at the same time that the great missionary movements were happening at Philadelphia, it's just about the same time that people by the name of Julius Wellhausen and some of these great theologians came on the scene and they started casting doubt on the Word of God. And they started coming up with what they called higher criticisms and not lower textual criticism, where you go in and look at the text and make sure that it's all authentic, but higher criticism, and they doubt that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, and they doubt that Daniel wrote his book, and they doubt that Jeremiah wrote his book. In fact, they doubt that the Bible is trustworthy at all. In fact, they doubt that monotheism came first and that polytheism came second. And they just doubted, and they doubted, and they kept throwing doubt, and then the big seminaries in the world, universities that used to be just bastions of truth began to spew out at the same time, that some were getting closer to the Lord and opening up the door and following Him to preach the gospel at the very same time some were going the opposite direction. So what's the time of the Laodicean church? Just about the same time of the Philadelphian church. This Laodicean church is a church that is so evident in the day and age in which we live. It is unbelievable. We're going to see some things here that I think are really, really interesting. Thanks, Bev. You didn't know you were going to help me teach tonight, but you did a really good job. This church, the complaints against its church is that we're going to start with verse 14. Let me read it. To the angel of the church of Laodicea write the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, says this. Well, to this church, someone talks. Same person that talks to every church. Who is it that talks? First of all, he calls him the Amen. And the word translated Amen here, the word that would be in Hebrew in the Old Testament is the word for truth. Now, when we say Amen in the New Testament, and the Bible does say that whenever somebody has said something that's true, you're able to say Amen to it. In fact, That was what was wrong at Corinth. If you remember, at the Corinthian church, they got all hung up with the issue of tongues. Do you remember that? I mean, they were all talking in tongues and they were actually praising the person who could talk in tongues more than anybody else. And Paul came in and said, look, that's just not going to flush. It's not going to work. Because when you're talking in tongues and there's no interpreter, he said, how are you going to be able to say what? Amen. Or so be it. or it is truth. How are you going to be able to say that? You're not going to be able to say it because you don't know what anybody said. Saying amen is a biblical thing. There you go. And so saying it means it is true. Amen means it is true, so be it. But it also is the same word in the Old Testament for the word truth. And so who's talking in this passage? It says, here's who's talking, here's who's speaking to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans. Who is it? It's going to be the one that is the Amen, or true. And Revelation starts with two Amens. You can just jot this reference down. It starts with a double Amen in chapter 1, verse 6 and 7. Amen, Amen. And in that location, the amens that are mentioned there are to reveal the fact that Jesus is the final ruler and authoritative person over mankind. Now, that's chapter 1, verse 6 and 7. It says, Amen, Amen, Amen. And it says, It is true, it is true. And what we get there is that Jesus is the one that's the final ruler over mankind. He is going to step onto the scene. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ and he is going to take his rightful position as ruler He is going to judge the wickedness of the world and we're going to get into that beginning in about three weeks The tribulation period we got two chapters to look at first before we get into that but Jesus is going to bring judgment in this world. He's going to take his position as the final ruler and then revelation not only begins with two amens, but it ends with two amens And those two amens come in chapter 22, verse 20 and 21, and in that passage of Scripture, the double amen, the it is truth, it is truth, so be it, so be it, you know, we can put our stamp of approval on it. In other words, those two amens are not about revealing who the final ruler is, but Jesus gets to reveal who God is to the entire world. He is the revealer at that point. And so, the Amen, who is it? It's Jesus Himself. He is the Amen, He is the truth, and He is the final revealer of God. He is not only the Amen, He is the faithful and true witness. Well, He is the truth, and He is the faithful and true witness. In chapter 1, we found out that Jesus is running an inspection program of His churches and all of its professing members all of the time. Remember, he talked about the candlesticks, and he talked about the fact that he was walking among the candlesticks, and he was just going, and he was moving in and out among the lampstands, which are the churches. And so Jesus is running an inspection of all of those churches. Well, here we see that he is running an inspection, and he's giving a report, and his report is faithful and true. He's reported on the first six churches, and everything he said to them, said about them was true. Everything he said about these periods of church history is true. And here, what he says about this church is true as well. He identifies himself as the faithful witness, as opposed to one that's unfaithful. He is the true witness, as opposed to one that is going to tell something that's false. He's faithful and he's true. Then, he is the beginning of the creation of God. Now, there have been those that have taken this verse of Scripture, and they've said, see there? There is just one God, and He's not a trinity, and God created the Son, and He was the first thing that God created. That's not what this verse of Scripture says. What this verse of Scripture says is that He is the origin. Write that in your Bible. He is the origin of all creation. Take your Bible, if you would please, and flip to Hebrews chapter 1. Very important. Hebrews chapter 1. Let's read what God says there in Hebrews chapter 1. It says, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." Jesus is the Creator. Somebody says, well, I thought God created heaven and earth. He did. Which of the Trinity, the Godhead, had the responsibility to speak the world into existence? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, pre-incarnate, before He came into this world, He is the Creator. Look, if you would, please, to John. Of course, we've been preaching through this book. chapter one in verse three very important it says here john one three all things were made through him speaking of jesus and without him nothing was made that was made so somebody comes to you to see their god created jesus because it says he's the beginning of the creation of god no he is the beginning of the creation of god in the fact that he is the alpha and the omega he was there before the beginning and he began the creation of god he did it he is the origin of all creation. That's very, very important. Now, this is who's talking. Jesus is talking. He's the Amen. He's the Faithful and True. He is the Creator. Now, if He created everything, He certainly knows how to come and inspect it. He knows how to see if everything is real. He knows how to point out a counterfeit. He knows if something is functioning the way that it was intended to function. He knows if it's viable. He knows if it's worth if it has any real worth to it. And so, Jesus is the one that's doing that. Then, Jesus is the one that's doing this, and the next thing I want to say in verse 15 is that God has an opinion about how things are going. And look at verse number 15. It says here, I know your deeds, and that you are neither cold nor hot, and I would that you were cold or hot, because You are lukewarm and neither hot or cold. I will spit you out of my mouth. In fact, what Jesus is actually saying about the church at Laodicea is you're not hot, you're not cold, you're not fervent. You're not fervent in prayer. You're not excited about evangelism. You are not enthused about doctrine. You are not greatly engaged concerning fellowship in the church. You are not meeting the needs of the poor. It says you're not hot. It says you're just sort of casual about the whole thing. You're complacent. You're indifferent. You're just sort of going through the motions. And because of that, be frank, be honest with you, you make me sick. Now, I am sort of looking forward in my life to going into the Lord's presence as a believer. I want to go into his presence, and I want to hear him say two words. What do you think those words might be? Well done. I want to hear him say that. Now, I want to pull over to Park right there, and I want to say to you as a believer tonight, we're never going to hear him say well-believed. We're never going to hear him say well-planned. We're never going to hear him say any of those. We're not going to say well-believed. He's not going to say well-spoken. He's not going to say... The words that we want to hear him say is, well done, which means as we hear what we're supposed to do as believers, that we need to do what he tells us to do, because that's the essence of who we are. As Christians, who are we? We are those that hear his voice and obey his commands. And if you love me, you'll obey my commands, is what he says. And so we want to hear him say, well done. Well, here's a church. that carries the name Christian, that what they hear from Him is not well done, but basically, you make me sick. Man, I don't want to hear that from the Lord. He says, I know something about you. He says, I know your actions. Look if you would there at verse 15, I know your deeds. That was that constant statement to every church. Remember that? I know thy works. I know your deeds. I know what you do. I know what you're involved in. I know what's going on in your church. I know who's in charge. I know those that are teaching false doctrine. Those that are teaching true doctrine. I know those that are faking it. I know those that are real. I know. I know your deeds. He knows something else. He knows the attitude. Look if you would there. I know your deeds that you're neither hot or cold. Would that you were cold or hot. But because you're lukewarm and neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. He says to them, He says, you're lukewarm. Now, you remember I told you about Colossae being a city where they had fresh, cool water that ran through aqueducts to the city of Laodicea? And that other city of Hierapolis, which was the city of the thermal fountains that came up, and they piped those over into heated baths over there for thermal baths. So they wanted their baths hot, and they wanted their water cold, but they were glad for their souls to be what? Lukewarm. He drew it right out of their own city. He said, you want hot baths and you want cold drink, but you're just happy to give me any kind of religious effort that's convenient. Convenient, complacent, indifferent. That's the kind of church it was. He says to them, you're lukewarm. Smyrna was hot. Sardis was cold. Laodicea was lukewarm. To be lukewarm is the weakest of characteristics. There was a little hope for Sardis. He said, keep what you have. There was great admiration for Smyrna because they were persecuted. They were hot. But to this church, there was lukewarm and there just wasn't any commendation. Fanatical radicalism and frigid ritualism are both favored over lukewarm Christianity. Think about that. Radicalism is favored and frigidity is favored over a church that doesn't reveal what it really is. Interesting, isn't it? Don't be, according to this pastor's scripture, lukewarm as the church. Now, the church didn't have the same opinion. Now, God had an opinion about the church, and He says, you know what? You guys make me sick, you're lukewarm, you're not hot, you're not cold, and I tell you that's what I think about you. But I know what you think. Here's what the church of Laodicea thought about itself. They thought that if you look at verse number 17, it says, because you say, why don't you underline that in your Bible, thou sayest, Just underline that in your Bible. You say, I am rich, I have become wealthy, and I have need of nothing. Now there's what the church at Laodicea thought. Now remember, what kind of city was this city? This was a rich city. This was a wealthy city. It was a banking city. This was a city that made beautiful black garments. This was a city that knew how to make medicinal ointment for the eyes to help the people with their blindness. I mean, this city, they felt like we've accomplished something. We've made something happen. We are rich. We are wealthy. You just let me pull over and park and let me tell you one more reason why I think we're living in a Laodicean church age. You just go out anywhere and You ask somebody to tell you about their church, and if they happen to have a bulletin in there and they pull the bulletin out, what's going to be on the bulletin? There might be a picture of their what? Buildings. Think about that. Just think about that for a moment. This church, the Laodicean church, They, because they, I mean, no doubt this is the church that had the banker on the elder board. And this is the church that, I mean, they went and found the most successful businessmen that they could find. And that was considered the spiritual person because, you know, after all, they could really do, they could bring something to bear on the situation. And so instead of finding that person who had a heart hot after God, they found somebody that had a fat bank account. Somebody that was business wise. Nothing against being business wise or having a fat bank account. I like those people, to tell you the truth. But to be honest, This is a church that equated... Here's the problem. They equated having all they needed financially, having all they needed in buildings, having all they needed in stuff. They equated that with being spiritual and having the blessing of God on them. He said, you say you are rich. You say you are wealthy. You say you don't have need of anything. Contrast that with the Philadelphia church. They didn't have anything. It says you have a little strength. But here's what you do have. You have the Lord Jesus opening the door in front of you and closing doors to some places and opening doors to others and nobody can shut it. Because I see your faithfulness. And so the Lord was proud of that church and He looked at this church and He says you've got all the trappings. You know what? We live in a Laodicean church age where churches are measured. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with yourself. Churches are measured on the basis of what they got. You say, Pastor, is that negative on our church since we have such a beautiful location? No, it isn't, except to think if we think this building and this stuff makes us acceptable to God, we are kidding ourselves. If we want a well-done stamped on us, then there's got to be more to us than nice buildings, nice pews, and a nice facility. Those things are wonderful, but they're just tools. If this facility and all the things that the Lord has given us ever becomes more important than the power and presence of God, and if we choose the tool over the Savior, if we choose to rejoice in our stuff more than we do the Savior, then we've made a terrible Mistake. You say you're rich, you're wealthy, you have need of nothing. The church believed in itself so much that they did not even recognize their own spiritual condition. They were rich, they were wealthy, they didn't have a need. But God knew something about it. That what they saw was one thing, what God saw was something else. He said here in this verse, he said, you're wretched, you're miserable, you're poor, you're blind, and you're naked. You remember the little story that Hans Christian Andersen wrote called The Emperor's New Clothes? How many of you remember that little story? You ever read it to your children? Wrote a story there was this Emperor that was just so proud and pompous and a couple of these wisecracks came along and said he'll believe anything we tell him and they came in and they said Emperor we want we want you to have the most wonderful clothes in the world and we're gonna we're the greatest weavers and we can do this for you and you just give us some time and and give us some money and you give us and man I mean they lavished the money they gave everything and they just kept going on and on and on They would come in and go through the motions, and they would do the measuring, and finally the day comes, they're going to go out and they're going to show the whole world the Emperor's new clothes, you know. And so of course the Emperor is stark, is completely naked. He doesn't have anything on. But everybody's believing, you know. They believe because... of all the measurements and all the things that they've done, all the money they've given, and all the people, and even the people at his court. Nobody wanted to say the obvious and say, oh man, he doesn't have anything on. Nobody wanted to do that. Because they didn't want to look ridiculous. They didn't want to look like they couldn't see. They couldn't see what was really going on. So they're all, oh yeah, isn't it beautiful? And so as the emperor walks through, everybody's ooh-ing, and ah, how beautiful, and he's walking through naked. And the guys are following, you know, his people are following behind, holding up the train as if he had, you know, and they're all acting like they see it. Finally, a little kid says, the emperor is naked! Then the whispers start going through. Can I just tell you something? The rich, the wealthy, the reputation, the huge names that many of our churches have are quite honestly nakedness. He says you're wretched, you're blind, you're naked, you're poor. He says you have all of the trappings of a church. The Laodicean Church presents us with a picture, a faithful picture of many churches in the time in which we live. Churches are lukewarm, indifferent, apostate. Churches are characterized by materialism, desire for riches, desire to build majestic and beautiful buildings, but are completely without the gifts of the Holy Spirit, without the riches that only God can give by His presence. These are churches without any spiritual vision, no passion for souls, no zeal for the things of God. And of course, without any power of God present at all. I pray God would just close us down, turn out the lights and go do something honest. Then we would become a church that's only about impressing people. Interesting, isn't it? How many times has the church tried to impress with what it has, its buildings, Take your little sheet, if you would, that side sheet that I gave you, and I want you to see some things there on that passage of Scripture. I've written down there just two little words at the top. Got church. You remember the old Got Milk commercial? Well, here's a little way to just look at that. Got church. How do you know if you have a church? Here's five ways to measure a church. Five ways to measure a church and not know really whether you've got church. Here's how we measure churches today. Let you know we're part of the Laodicean church age. Number one, Does the church offer ministries that I am looking for? You know, if people go looking for a church today, they go shopping like they go shopping for anything else. You know, they just go down, okay, let's get in the phone book and see what all they got. Let's go see if they got this and they got that and do they have a family life center and a gym and have they got, what do they got going on? They got saunas? What do they have? They got, you know, and they start looking to see what, does that church have the ministries that I'm looking for? But listen to Mark 10. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your, what? Servant. Well, whoever wants to be first must be slave of all, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. Do we look for churches? Do we look for a place to serve the Lord our God? You know, I read that last week in 1 Thessalonians there. I read that to you, that God bragged about the church at Thessalonica. And why did He brag about it? He said, well, you turn to God from idols to what? To serve the living God and to wait for Him to come back from heaven. And so, what do we do today? Well, we look for the church that offers all the ministry. What do you got for my kids? What do you got for my teenagers? What do you got for the old people? What do you got for the young people? What do you got for the... After you got a cemetery to bury people, what do you got over there? Now, I would not want to go to a church that has a cemetery. How would you like to come through about 500 headstones as you come into church every week? That'd be kind of tough. But I mean, there are people looking for all kinds of things. What does the church offer? And then, here's the second question. Are the worship services and sermons exciting? Listen to 2 Timothy 4, verse 3, for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. Now, I'm just going to make everybody mad tonight. This is going to be the second time in the Revelation study that I've said something about somebody, and you're just not going to like me after this. There's a fellow in Houston, Texas, that's the biggest church in America today that's just growing and growing and growing, and he's been on Larry King several times, and I won't call his name, but his initials are Joel Osteen. He's not faithfully preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and the word of God, folks. He's telling you exactly what you want to hear. He is exactly what the Bible talks about, about heaping teachers to ourselves with our itching ears so that these people will tell us exactly what we want to hear because he tells you all Larry King trapped him in a corner right on there. I heard him say, well, don't you think people are sinners? Oh, I don't like to talk about it. You know, people are always told how bad they are and how they need to improve. I just believe they need to be told they can be champions and they need to be encouraged. Just totally sidestepping the fact that the Bible says all have what? Sinned and come short of the glory of God. Totally denying the fact. He is a poster child for the Laodicean church. Well, it's not Sunday morning and you're a faithful bunch of people and I'm just trusting that you're not going to crucify me over this. Folks. We better quit now. Do you know what the Lord told Ezekiel in the Old Testament, he says, stand up and look at those people and do not fear for their faces, don't worry about what Faces they make at you. If they get upset at you, He said to cry aloud and spare not. Now, I try to be tactful and nice. I try to be as, you know, appeasing as I can be. I don't want to offend you with bad breath. I don't, I mean, I don't want to do anything. I don't want to, I don't want to have mustard, do I have mustard on my shirt? I don't want to have any, I don't want to look, I don't want to, I don't even want to be like John the Baptist, you know, with locust legs in between my teeth when I'm preaching. I don't want to do that. I want to stand up here and have a little bit of dignity and I want to stand up here and just be, you know, I want you to be able to be proud of me. But I want to stand up in the pulpit and I want to read you and teach you and tell you what does God say, what does God want, what does He want of His people. And I don't want to tell you how to be happy and comfortable and just contented living in sin. I don't want to do that. And I want to tell you that this church, the Laodicean church, was the church That they were just, it was all inclusive. Everybody come. We're not going to offend anybody. We just want you to come and just sit down and enjoy yourself. And better yet, the more of you out there that have got some money, you all come. Just really come be a part of this church. Wow. I've got myself in deep trouble now. I know it. The Odyssey in church is like that. How many times has the church tried to impress with its riches? What does God recommend to these churches? Well, in verse number 18, we're going to have to quit, but I advise you to do something. Buy from me gold refined by the fire that you may become rich. And white garments. Notice what they had. They thought they were rich, but they were poor. And he told them, he says, you're really poor, but let me give you, let's go back to the gold standard. That's what he told them. Let's go back to the gold standard. What's that? He said the gold standard, the faith that is tried in persecution, the faith that stands the test, Go back, look at your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Peter. If you would, just flip back over there to 1 Peter chapter 1. Listen to what God's Word says. 1 Peter 1.6, "...in this you greatly rejoice..." He's talking about tribulation. "...in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Listen to that past description. He's telling these people in Laodicea, go back to the gold standard. He said, you hold on to the faith. You hold on to the truth. You hold on to the sword of the Spirit of the Word of God. Hold on to what is true. And he says, if you have to suffer for it, suffer for it. He said, but just like Peter told them, you're going to go through the fire, but when you come out the other side, it's going to be much more precious than literal gold that perishes. It's going to be the gold, the spiritual gold, and you're going to be rich. with the Spirit and the power of the Word of God. And that's what he says. Go back to the gold standard. Then he says to them, clothe yourselves, notice, with white raiment. Do you know what the Lord clothes His people with? Do you know what's going to happen in Revelation chapter 5, chapter 6? When you read chapter 4 and 5, you're going to find all these people clothed in white around the throne of God. Revelation chapter 6, you're going to see white robes given to the martyrs that are under the altar. The Lord always clothes people in white. White raiment signifying the righteous deeds of the saints and the purified saints made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ. They were famous for their black wool garments. This really resonated with them. They were famous for their black wool garments. He said, you know those black wool garments are just like what's in your heart. You've got a black garment on. It's not even a trade that black garment in for a white garment. which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Just trade that thing in. He says, you need some new clothes. He said, you need a new monetary standard, real gold, tried by the fire. Then he says something else to them. He said, then anoint Isn't it interesting how the Lord takes whatever they do, turns it around and uses that as an illustration. He says, you know, you think you guys can see. In fact, you're famous for this medication for opening up blind eyes and letting people come and they're able to see. Cerulean, He said, forget your cerulean, you're blind as a bat backing up. What you need is you need, you need to have your eyes open and anointed. You need to be able to see spiritually. And that's what he says to them. And how is it going to happen? Well, he gives them an explanation in verse 19. He says, those whom I love I'll reprove and discipline. He gives them an explanation. He says, let me tell you something. He says, here's what's going to happen. I'm coming to you. He says, you're rich. He says, you're famous. He says, you have a reputation. He says, you've got buildings, steeples, pews, books, programs. You've got something for the kids, something for the teens, something for the adults, something for the old people. You've got something for everybody. You've got something for everybody but me. And he says, but those I love, I rebuke. Those I love, I correct. The Bible says that in many places. If you be without correction and rebuke, let me use a Bible word from the old King James, don't be offended, then you are bastards and you are not true children. Wow! A person lives his life. A church goes through the motions for years and years, and a person lives his life, and he just does it any way he wants to. And he says, oh, I walked an aisle when I was 11 years old, came down front, took a dip in the baptistry, hip-hip-hooray, I'm on my way to heaven, and now I'm just going to go live it up. And he lives his whole life doing anything he wants to do, believing that he's got security in his salvation. And he lives his whole life. He gets to be 30, and then 40, and then 50, and then 60, and he gets sick. He comes to the end of his life, points back to that day that he lived his whole life. without correction, without any sort of rebuke from God. You know why God didn't rebuke him? Because he wasn't his child. Interesting. He says here in this verse 19, he says, let me explain to you. He said, those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. Then after explaining to them, he exhorts them to do something. He says, so then repent. You know what God's message is? You know, we always think about repentance with lost people. People who don't even know the Lord at all. You know, on the road to hell and we think about repentance, well, that's one kind of repentance. There's the repentance that a person comes to Jesus, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for remission of sin, speaking of spiritual baptism. He says that. But most of the time in the Bible when God is preaching and teaching repentance through his prophets and through Jesus Christ himself and through this writer in the book of John, you know who he's saying repent to? He's saying repent to believers. Well, why would a person not ever want to repent? Because they never feel the correcting hand of God, or they never hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in their heart saying, you better get right. They never hear it. And if they never hear it, and they never feel it, and they never sense it, it's because they're not His children, and of course, they're never going to repent. And so His explanation and then His exhortation, finally He gives an invitation in verse number 20, how precious. He said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock if any one, doesn't say if any church, if your church is a whole. Nope, he didn't say that. He said if any one, any individual, he's still speaking to that church. Isn't it gracious of God to speak into a church that's put him on the outside? Put him right on the outside. He's outside the church. He doesn't figure in their plans, their programs, or anything that's going on. They are just totally tickled pink with all that they have. Their programs, and all of their fun that they're having, and all of their social organization. They're just tickled pink with all of those things. Yet Jesus still speaks grace to the church. And He says to them, you know what, if any of you in there are listening, I know you're entrapped, but if the Spirit of God is in you, if you're in there, if you're listening, You will open the door, I will come in." And the old King James once again says, I'll have supper with you. Interestingly, he doesn't say breakfast, he doesn't say lunch, he said, dine or have supper. In other words, late in the day, even though it's late in the day, even though you've already wasted all of your life, you just open that door, I'll come in, I'll sit down with you, we'll have fellowship. Now, is that grace or is that not grace? He says it to everybody. I'll come at the last moment. I'll come at the last part of the day. We'll sit down and we'll still have fellowship." So he gives an explanation, he gives an exhortation, and then he gives an invitation. He says, look, if you just open the door, I'll come in. Of course, it basically is talking to believers. If believers will get right and repent, he will come in and restore the sweet fellowship. You cannot say this without even thinking of the prodigal son, that prodigal son who deserved absolutely nothing. He had wasted all of the inheritance of the father. He had lived like an absolute fool. But when he finally came to himself, late in the day, the father was still waiting on him and came running to grab him and only said, Two or three things to him. This, my son, who was lost, is now found. Kill the fatted calf, put a ring, put a robe on him, put a ring on his finger, and let's rejoice because my son that was lost has come home. You know, the message of repentance in the Bible is extremely strong, but I will tell you this, that the Lord Jesus Christ goes and seeks and saves those that are lost, but He does not go seeking and saving, listen to me, those who refuse to repent. The father waited until that son repented. That son had to repent, get up from his position and start coming to the father. And as soon as repentance occurred, the father started walking toward him. And there's a lot of believers that have it in their mind that they can just go out and just do anything they want to all their life. And sooner or later, the Lord's going to tap them on the shoulder and say, that's long enough. Come back. Nope. He'll let all kinds of bad things happen. Some people, when the bad things happen, when the correction and the instruction and the discipline of the Lord happen, they don't get better, they get bitter. But some people, when God begins to correct, like this prodigal, turn, turn, and they start coming back to God. Well, that's who the Lord runs to. That's who the Lord receives and embraces, cleans up and puts a robe on, puts a ring on their finger. And he's saying to anybody, he said, if you're in there and you can hear my voice, if you'll open that door, I will come in to you and we'll sit down at dinner time. It's late and you should have been serving me all this time, but let's don't talk about that. I love you. Let's sit down and have fellowship together. What a wonderful, gracious God. It doesn't get any better than this. And finally, it says, he who overcomes, I will grant to sit down with me on my throne. So he turns the dinner table into a throne room, doesn't he? That's industry. You come in and he sets you down for dinner and you look up, you're in the throne room of the King. I'm talking about it on Sunday when I was talking about abiding in Christ. I tell you what, a hospital bed, even a funeral parlor can be a meeting in a throne room with God whenever you're connected to Jesus Christ and you're living in that connection and you're abiding in Him. I'm going to have to finish. I have more to say, but let me say this to you tonight. I preached on abiding in Christ Sunday because I needed it. Well, evidently, there were a lot of other people that needed it because I've had very few sermons that I've preached. Been a lot of response to many sermons, but not many like this one. We're going right back there this Sunday. We're going to go right back to John chapter 15, verse 1 to 8, and we're going to come at it again. I'm going to preach it over. You come ready to listen. But I want you to know it is the essence of Christianity, and we see it here in this church. They were trapped with all of the trappings of churchianity. But Jesus was on the outside. Individuals can do that. Get all just all worked up and doing and going and participating and forget Jesus himself. He wants to sup with us. He wants to have dinner. He wants to sit down and love on us. He wants us to love him back. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this time. Thank you for this wonderful passage.