REVELATION - THE CHURCH IN LAODICEA

 

Revelation 3:14-22

14 To the Angel of the Church of Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen,

The Faithful and True Witness,

The Ruler of God's Creation.

15 I KNOW YOUR DEEDS,

THAT YOU ARE NEITHER COLD NOR HOT.

I WISH YOU WERE EITHER ONE OR THE OTHER!

16 SO, BECAUSE YOU ARE LUKEWARM--

NEITHER HOT NOR COLD--

I AM ABOUT TO SPIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH.

17 YOU SAY, 'I AM RICH,

I HAVE ACQUIRED WEALTH

AND DO NOT NEED A THING.'

BUT YOU DO NOT REALIZE

THAT YOU ARE WRETCHED, PITIFUL,

POOR, BLIND AND NAKED.

18 I counsel you to buy from Me Gold

Refined in the Fire, so you can become Rich;

And White Clothes to wear,

So you can cover your Shameful Nakedness;

And Slave to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19 THOSE WHOM I LOVE I REBUKE AND DISCIPLINE.

SO BE EARNEST, AND REPENT.

20 HERE I AM!

I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK.

IF ANYONE HEARS MY VOICE AND OPENS THE DOOR,

I WILL COME IN AND EAT WITH HIM,

AND HE WITH ME.

21 TO HIM WHO OVERCOMES,

I will give the Right to sit with Me on My Throne,

Just as I Overcame

And sat down with My Father on His Throne.

22 HE WHO HAS AN EAR,

LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE CHURCHES.

(Revelation 3:14-22)

Christ Jesus declares that He is the Amen

(It will be as I say!),

The Faithful and True Witness during His time on Earth,

And through His people, upon His resurrection,

The Ruler of God's Creation

As the King of kings and Lord of lords.

He knows that the Church of Laodicea

Is neither hot or cold toward Him,

And wishes that they were either one or the other,

As they would be easier to deal with that way.

Because they are Lukewarm,

Christ Jesus is about to spit them out of His mouth,

And Sever Relationship with them altogether;

The Cold of course are already Lost.

The Laodicean Church says of themselves

That they are Rich and in need of nothing.

However, Christ Jesus finds them

Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind and Naked.

God's view is diametrically the opposite

Of the Church's view of themselves.

Christ Jesus counsels the Church

To come to Him and buy Gold Refined in the Fire;

Allowing the Holy Spirit to put His laws in their minds

And write them upon their hearts.

Then they would become Rich in Christ

By the Power of His Holy Spirit;

They would have Gold Refined in the Fire of His Holy Spirit;

Then they would have White Clothes to wear,

To cover their Shameful Nakedness;

Then they would have Salve to put on their eyes,

So that they could see;

They would have Actions and Deeds

Motivated by the Holy Spirit.

Christ Jesus declares

That He Rebukes and Disciplines those He loves;

He always warns them when they have gone Astray.

He admonishes them to be Earnest and Repent;

Their very lives are at stake, Eternally.

Christ Jesus stands at the door of every person

Who claims His name and knocks.

Those who hear, open the door to Him,

And He comes in and eats with them,

And has Intimate Communion with them.

To those who Overcome this World and its ways

He will give the right to sit with Him on His Throne,

Just as He sits at the right hand of God the Father on His Throne.

Those of us who have an ear,

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to His Church.

Today, unlike the Church of Laodicea,

We must be Hot for God,

Full of the Fire and Passion of His Holy Spirit;

An all consuming Zeal for God;

Possessing Gold Refined in the Fire of God;

Having Actions and Deeds

That we can present to Christ Jesus,

That have been accomplished through Christ in us.