The Church in Laodicea

Order of Service

• Hymn — Rise, O Church, and Lift Your Voices
• Call to Worship — Revelation 1:17-18
• Hymn — Rise, O Church, and Lift Your Voices (full)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — Ephesians 1:7
• Confession of Faith — Apostles' Creed
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Thanksgiving
• Hymn of Preparation — O Thou That Hear'st When Sinners Cry
• Sermon
• Lord's Supper
• Hymn — Rock of Ages (stanzas 1–2)
• Lord's Supper — Bread
• Lord's Supper — Cup
• Hymn — Rock of Ages (stanzas 3–4)
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: The Church in Laodicea

Scripture: Revelation 3:14-22

I. New Creation Citizens Are Spiritually Zealous

A. Christ introduces himself as "the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation"

1. Not a reference to Christ being created, but to his role as the firstfruits of resurrection and new creation
2. As Colossians 1 states, he is the firstborn from the dead, ushering in new creation
3. 2 Corinthians 1:18-20: all the promises of God find their "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ

B. The charge of lukewarmness: Revelation 3:15-16

1. Laodicea had no good water source; water was piped in and arrived lukewarm and dirty — fit only to be spat out
2. Neighboring Hierapolis had hot medicinal waters; Colossae had cold refreshing waters
3. Leon Morris: "To profess Christianity while remaining untouched by its fire is a disaster. There is more hope for the openly antagonistic than for the coolly indifferent."
4. The lukewarm Israelites in Jeremiah 7 boasted "the temple of the Lord" while compromising in idolatry — a parallel warning

C. Application: Are you a lukewarm Christian?

1. Do you read your Bible, pray, and speak of Christ in daily conversation?
2. Do you call the Sabbath a delight as commanded in Isaiah 58?
3. Christ warns: the lukewarm are useless, and he will spit them out — wake up and be zealous

II. New Creation Citizens Are Spiritually Rich

A. Laodicea's self-sufficient wealth: Revelation 3:17

1. After the AD 60 earthquake, Laodicea alone refused Roman aid and rebuilt with its own resources
2. The church was likely participating in the city's commerce and trade guilds, which involved pagan idolatry and sexual immorality
3. Foil: the church in Smyrna (Revelation 2:9) was materially poor but spiritually rich; Laodicea is materially rich but spiritually poor

B. The city's wealth highlights the church's spiritual poverty

1. Laodicea was famous for zinc and alum eye salve — yet the church is spiritually blind
2. Laodicea was famous for soft black wool — yet the church is spiritually naked before God
3. Christ counsels them to buy from him gold refined by fire, white garments, and eye salve — Revelation 3:18

C. Christ himself is the all-sufficient answer to every need

1. The elements Christ prescribes correspond to his own appearance in Revelation 1:14-15: golden sash, feet like refined bronze, eyes like flames of fire
2. Ephesians 1:3: believers have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ
3. Puritan William Bridge: there is no condition of the soul for which some name, title, or attribute of Christ does not especially suit
4. Calvin: creation is the theater of God's glory; all things point to Christ (Colossians 1)
5. Material riches are meant to draw our hearts to the eternal debt only Christ's righteousness can pay — ponder and grab hold of Christ

III. New Creation Citizens Are Spiritually Disciplined

A. Christ's loving reproof: Revelation 3:19

1. Even this deeply compromised congregation is still called a church, and Christ still extends the hand of forgiveness to those who repent
2. The Greek word for "reprove" means to expose one's faults — Christ does not say "you're perfect as you are," but lovingly corrects
3. Believers need brothers and sisters willing to hold them accountable to the standards of the gospel

B. The love Christ shows is phileō — intimate, brotherly, interpersonal bond

1. This love is expressed in companionship: those who open the door at his knock, he will dine and fellowship with — Revelation 3:20
2. The fellowship has royal overtones: the one who conquers will sit with Christ on his throne — Revelation 3:21
3. The phileō bond between Father and Son is now shared with the believer — a royal family feast

C. The covenant friendship of David and Jonathan as a type: 1 Samuel 20

1. Jonathan rejected his claim to the throne out of covenantal love for David
2. Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, was shown kindness and ate at David's table as one of the king's sons — 2 Samuel 9:1
3. Likewise, believers are brought to the Lord's Table as heirs of the Father's kingdom, by grace through the covenant friend who laid down his life for us
4. The Lord's Supper is Christ knocking at the door — come, receive the all-sufficient Lord, live in repentance, and persevere to the end