The last church in the seven is the church of Laodicea. This church is known for its lukewarm mediocrity in their relationship with Christ and the outward display of their faith. The description that Jesus gifts to the church at Laodicea about Himself is ‘the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God’ (3:14).
Here Jesus is describing Himself as the fulfilment and conclusion of all that God has spoken and the initiator of all that was planned. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Aleph Tav, the perfector and creator, the First and the Last. He is the One who is going to see every Word spoken come to pass and establish in complete finality the will of the Father. To a lukewarm, mediocre, blasé church, He is showing them that He is all, in all, and committed to the very end and completion.
He has noticed their works but more importantly, He has noticed the heart in which they were done. They turn up, they even perform religious and spiritual service to God, but the tepid, indifferent heart with which they operate out of is an offence to God, to the extent that it makes Him sick to His stomach.
The church at Laodicea, unlike the church at Sardis, was not in cold, rigid religion. Nor was it hot in passion and faithfulness like Smyrna and Philadelphia. The surprising reaction of Jesus is that He would prefer a Sardis, dead and spiritually detached than He would an apathetic, unresponsive, flaccid church.
But why? I mean, at least Laodicea had works that weren’t totally dead cold, unlike Sardis. Here’s why. Laodicea probably had a great service each Sunday, they were a rich church with great facilities and every need was catered for on their property and in their mid-week programs, but, its wealth and comfort somehow caused them to settle into a position of missional inertia, apathetic silence and dormant neutrality on issues that mattered to God and for this, He wanted to spew them out. All Sardis needed was a revival. What made Laodeica worse was that they would have criticised Sardis for being too radical if that revival actually came.
Jesus ironically asks them to buy gold and clothing off Him to alert them to the state of affairs that they lived in spiritual poverty and with the shame of their nakedness. Laodicea was famous for its medicinal products, especially one for the eyes to which Jesus once again with a sense of satire, beckons them to anoint their own eyes in hopes of removing their own spiritual blindness (3:18). The reason He is rebuking them so harshly is because of phileo love (3:19). Not only does He agape them, (unconditional love), but He also phileos them, which is an affectionate love. He says that He is standing at the door, knocking (3:20), because He genuinely wants them to open their hearts to Him so that He can come in and dine with them.
It is of extreme importance that we highlight the fact that although verse 20 is a good verse to use at an altar call, the door Jesus is standing at is not the door to an unbeliever’s heart. It is the door to His own church. The door of His bride’s heart. This wasn’t written to those who are yet to call on the name of the Lord. It was written to the leaders and believers of the church in Laodicea (3:14). This means in Laodicea, Jesus was on the outside of His church wanting to get in and that any moves of His Spirit were deemed unsanitary for the intellectually superior, wealthy elites that were in the pews on the inside (3:17). The indictment of Laodicea was that His name was above the door but His name was not on the guest list.
Unfortunately, this is increasingly becoming true in our time where the love of doctrinal truth in Jesus, submission to His Word and moves of the Spirit are not popular concepts within our highly educated, wealthy society and subsequently, the ever pleasing lukewarm churches of our day are replacing orthodoxy with appeal, the power of the Spirit with popularity and prophetic proclamation with acceptable speech.
The seventh and last church is a dire warning to pastors and believers alike how NOT to live in the last days of the church age before His return. It is a request from Jesus Himself to let Him into the doors of our hearts and churches and to let His love become the fire that burns in our hearts.
To that believer, the overcomer that passionately pursues Christ and does not succumb to the life-killing apathy of comfort-driven spirituality, Jesus grants that person to come and sit on His throne just like the Father invited Jesus to sit on His throne (3:21). Laodicea is really an invitation to the genuine follower of Christ, come and burn for me and set yourself on fire with my Spirit. When you follow me with all your heart, I will pour out the treasures of my heart toward you for the rest of eternity.
Here’s what we can know from these verses:
- Jesus is the Amen of the Word. Whatever promise you have in Jesus, or any promise you have read in your Bible, Jesus Himself is the Amen of that Word. He is the one who will personally oversee the fulfilment of every Word spoken and promise made by the Father.
- Jesus has an affectionate love towards believers. Jesus genuinely wants to spend time with you and be in your presence. He will even stand at the door of a heart that is indifferent and personally request that He come in to dine and dwell with you every moment of your life.
- Jesus wrote these letters to all churches. The repeated phrase in all seven churches is “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (3:22). All seven letters were to be read to all seven churches because all warnings and commendations could potentially apply to all believers at all times. What church best represents your heart right now?
