It is all about money
This message has been a long time coming, but many of the ones for whom it is intended, will most likely stop their ears so as not to hear the truth. The modern church is in trouble. This is not me saying so, but the Word. Let us have a look at the message Jesus Christ has for the church of today.
14And 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; 15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17Because 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: 18I 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 eye salve, that thou mayest see. 19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. – Revelation 3:14-22
Each of the letters Jesus quoted to John to write to the seven churches had their content based on the situation of the day, considering the history and known facts of the time. History though, has a way of repeating itself. If you do not understand the history of the time, the real essence of Revelation 3:14-22 will pass by unnoticed. Of the seven letters written to the churches, the letter to the Laodicean church is the only one that has no commendation, only criticism.
We have often heard the phrase about not being either hot or cold, but lukewarm, and being spat (the actual word used is “vomit”) out, but where does this come from? You are encouraged to research the history, but in short, this is what happened.
Laodicea, the city and church with money
Laodicea was an affluent city, but it had one problem – it did not have a decent source of fresh water. A supply of water came from a spring some eight kilometres north of the city. It was carried south by an aqueduct built by the Romans. Those aqueducts were very efficient, and the Romans learnt how to use lead to fill the joints between the stones to minimise waste. However, the aqueduct had two problems.
First, as the water channelled from the spring travelled down the aqueduct, it was heated by the sun, and was tepid. It did not remain cold, but became luke warm. Thus, it was somewhere in the middle. Tepid. It was not hot enough to bath in, but also not cold enough to drink. The word used is “emetic”, which in medical terms means something, or a medicine, that makes you vomit. It is taken from the Greek word “emesai”.
The second problem was that the lead and other minerals in the water caused eye infections. Jesus would address this as well to drive home a spiritual application.
Despite Laodiciea's money and affluence, they did not have two important things that the nearby cities of Hierapolis and Colossae had. The latter two had access to a hot spring to bathe in, as well as fresh water from the mountains in the area. Laodicea shared in neither. Quite possibly their pride in the fact that they were self-sustaining prevented them from cooperating with their neighbours so that they too could have cold water so quench their thirst, and hot water to cleanse themselves with.
Let us now look at how Jesus addresses this church. It starts in verse 15:
15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Jesus says He knows how they operate, that they are neither hot nor cold in the way they serve Him as a church. He wishes that they were either hot or cold. Note that He does not specifically imply that being cold is bad, which is why He says he wishes they were either one – hot or cold. He implies that hot water has its purpose, and cold water has an equally important purpose. The cold mountain water would have been excellent to drink.
16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Now we get to the crux of the matter. He says that because they cannot decide to be either, but rather follow the comfortable middle road, they are emetic, and he uses the word ἐμέσαι (emesai) which means to vomit out. Many translations, including the King James Version, tend to use a euphemism to describe the word “emesai” and use “spit” instead of “vomit”. I believe the latter word more accurately describes how Jesus felt about this church.
17Because 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:
He then moves on and challenges their love for money. He starts with “Because” and gives two reasons why He has a next problem with them, and what they need to do:
The first is that He is basically saying to them that as a church, they believe that they are rich, have lots of possessions, and need nothing from anyone. History tells us that after an earthquake levelled the city in 60 AD, the Laodiceans refused assistance from Rome, but rather rebuilt the city themselves. This does not seem to be wrong, but it is very self-centred. The values of the city of Laodicea very quickly became the values of the local church.
Then He says that (because) they do not know that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, He has some advice for them:
18I 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 eye salve, that thou mayest see.
He urges them to get their wealth from Him; get white clothes to cover themselves; and eye salve, so that they can see. This is based on the effects of the mineral-rich water which caused severe eye infections. The Laodiceans produced black wool that was exported all over the world, making the city very rich. They also produced eye salve that was widely used. This led to them being very afluent and really did not have to depend on anyone else.
What we have seen so far is that Jesus uses the situation of the day to teach them not to depend on themselves and their abilities, but as a church, to depend on Him for their wealth, being clothed in righteousness, and to see through the eyes of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Jesus Christ loves the Laodicean church as well, and because He loves them, He rebukes them for their sins, and advises them to repent from their sins.
20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
No rightminded person would knock on a door if he were already inside the house. Thus, this verse makes it clear that He was not part of the Laodicean church. He was standing outside. How sad it is that the very Person who should be the focus of the church is not there. He is standing outside, asking to come in. He wants to be an intimate part of the church, which is why He uses the example of a dinner. Dinners were important, and even today in the Middle East, whether in Christian or Muslim families, dinners are long affairs and opportunities for intimate discussions.
21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
This is His warning. If you overcome the desires of the self, He will give you permission to share a place with Him in heaven. In the same way He overcame death so that He could sit down with the Father.
22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
If you are really interested in being with Jesus on the Earth and eventually in heaven, you should open your spiritual ears to hear what the Holy Spirit teaches the churches – all of them.
A wakeup call: We are the Laodicean church!
What is the message here? I look around me at the church of 2024, and I see “Laodicea” plastered all over it. I see a church that is so focused on money, its focus is oblivious to the needs of many around (and even inside) it. Notice that Jesus never saw being cold as negative. A cold person, meaning a completely unsaved one, has a better chance of coming to salvation than one who thinks they have arrived by virtue of just being in the church. There are many church leaders and members who are lukewarm. For them, the attraction and comfort of the salary they earn is worth more than the calling, to proclaim the gospel, and do it properly. For many church members, the attraction of churches with sermons that are spectacles and light shows puts them in a comfort zone. They are not really convinced of the greater cause, but happy to be seen and mingle with the others. Anyone whose eyes are focused on the truth and warns them of the consequences, is ostracised.
As I said in a previous article, what is happening in the church today is so chillingly real, it may as well be that if Paul and Timothy were still alive today, they would have been pastors of small, but God-fearing churches in your town or city. Paul would have been a regional overseer, and Timothy would be a young but committed pastor. Paul would write the following email to Timothy, warning him about how people have become:
1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. – 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Maybe Timothy responded and had some questions about what Paul meant in his first email. Maybe he was looking for some advice about how to pastor his church. In a follow-up email, Paul would write the following and warn Timothy of people in the church who do not want to hear the truth about sin and repentance and are changing the preaching of the Word so that they are not offended by it. They appoint the pastors they like, the ones who are popular, and who preach what they want to hear:
3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. – 2 Timothy 4:3-5
There are too many lukewarm Christians who are going to find out that their efforts for salvation have been in vain and they are vomited out. Does Jesus really want this? Not in the least, but tepid water has never cut it, and never will. They turned their ears to fables – that which is not the truth and cannot be proven, instead of relying on the Truth, the undiluted Word of God. Just look at some of the new “bibles” (lowercase intended) we have today. They are not Bibles based on the original scriptures, but are merely the opinions of writers, with paraphrasing used to add their own ideas, mix it with some truth, and lead people astray.
Many of the pastors who have been appointed ("...for they will gather a multitude of pastors according to their own lusts...") are there because they have been appointed by influential members of the congregation, not necessarily by spiritual leaders. These pastors earn big salaries but they have to do what their money masters dictate to them. We see this with the super rich congregations in our cities. Most of them only take care of themselves. Pressure is put on members to give more and more, under the cover of tithing, which is not Scriptural in the Church period anyway. We are in a phase where church attendance and participation of ordinary people are determined by how much they can contribute. We are right at the point where you will have to pay an entrance fee to hear the Word, which in most cases is so watered down, that it would be better if you did not hear it (and the ear will turn away from the truth and they will turn to fables).
We are in the last gasping moments of the church age. As I write this, the signs that we are told to look out for that will show that the Coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ are so evident, that we would be stupid to waste another minute. You need to carefully evaluate what you are taught from the stage. You can only discern false teaching from the truth by knowing the Word, both He who is the Word (John 1:1) and who is (Revelation 1:8). Unfortunately, the current trend is that it is not necessary to know the Word. You just have to love Jesus, and do what you are told. Do you see the half truth here? Without knowledge of the Word, few are able to differentiate truth from fables. [ See this article for more information... ]
The work that He began in you is worth too much to lose it all right at the end of the race. You may be part of the current Laodicean church, but you do not have to follow their ways. The money of the world, or in the church, cannot buy your salvation. Repent and turn back to Him.