Laodicea | The Lukewarm Church 7 Churches of Revelation | Episode 8
Laodicea was located about 40 miles from Philadelphia
and a hundred miles east of Ephesus.
It was founded by Antiochus II
and named in honor of his wife Laodice,
who incidentally later poisoned him.
It was located on the Lycus River,
and was about eight miles from Colossae,
to whom the book of Colossians was written,
and was at the crux of two major Roman roads.
It was an incredibly wealthy city.
It had a large banking centre
with large manufacturing interests.
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When Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 60
they refused outside aid
and rebuilt the city at their own expense.
Such self-sufficiency was rare, and made the city famous.
They were also famous for a valuable wool found in the valleys
that was soft in texture and black in colour,
which meant that Laodiceans almost exclusively wore black
as evidence of their wealth.
There was also an important school of medicine
located in the temple of Karu,
and connected to this school was an industry
for the manufacture of a special eye medicine, collyrium,
made from a famous Phyrgian stone.
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Laodicea was a successful and well-ordered city
with proud, arrogant, and self-satisfied inhabitants.
They were accustomed to leisure, pleasure, and entertainment
as evidenced by the ruins of the amphitheaters
which remain here to this day.
Jesus begins His message to the church
and gives them no affirmation.
He tells them that they're neither hot nor cold,
but they're lukewarm.
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This analogy would have been familiar to them.
Hot water from the nearby springs here in Heropolis
was pumped down to them via aqueducts and pipes.
Today you can see the remnants of these aqueducts and pipes
with the mineral deposits inside them.
By the time the water reached Laodicea
it was lukewarm, good for nothing.
Lukewarm water, Jesus says, I will spew out of my mouth,
and if you remain in this state, I will vomit you out.
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There is nothing worse than a half-hearted Christian.
If you are spiritually hot, then you are on fire for God.
If you are cold, then there is at least the idea
that whilst you are not walking with God,
you are aware that you are not.
But if you are lukewarm,
you think you're doing good, but the reality is far from it.
Laodicea's spiritual condition was such that they think they're rich,
increased with goods, and have need of nothing,
but their level of self-awareness is non-existent,
and they don't know that they're wretched,
miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
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The counsel to Laodicea is interesting,
in that it either included things they thought they already had,
or was the opposite of what they had.
They were a banking centre,
and yet they were counseled to buy gold tried in the fire.
They had an eye clinic,
and yet they were told to anoint their eyes with eye salve.
They prided themselves on their black clothes,
and yet they were told to get white raiment.
The gold tried in the fire
is symbolic of faith in the furnace of affliction.
The eye salve represents spiritual discernment,
and the white raiment represents the righteousness of Christ
that we need to clothe ourselves in.
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The name Laodicea means 'a people judged',
and we take the time period for this church
to be from 1844 to the second coming,
during the time period of the judgment,
and it is directly relevant to us today.
The message to the Laodiceans ends with a beautiful appeal.
Jesus is standing and knocking at the door of our hearts.
He doesn't force his way in, though.
He, the person on the outside, is the one taking the initiative,
pressing the door, pleading for entrance.
Salvation is a personal matter,
and we must open our hearts to Him personally.
The Bible says, 'If any man hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in and sup with him.'
Not only will he sup with us,
but the Bible says we can sit on His throne with Him.
Jesus longs for an intimate relationship with us.
If He is knocking at the door of your heart,
then open the door and let Him come in.