Today, Sunday March 06
Laodicea, The Foolish Church Revelation 3:14-17 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—“
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) Today is Sunday!!!!! This is the day that we celebrate the greatest event in human history! The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ! Today we can be encouraged and rejoice despite our circumstances, our challenges, our problems or today, as we say, our issues. Why? Because Jesus is alive!!!!!
Jesus promised us that He is with us always (Matthew 28:20), and that He will never leave us or forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5). Since Jesus conquered death, hell and the grave, we can believe that He will help us with any need we have! So, today go to His church, spend time with His people, listen to His Word and rejoice and sing His praises!
Remember as the Apostle John began to write this Book of Revelation, he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and because he was, he heard behind him a loud voice!!!! And that voice was the voice of Jesus reminding John who He was! Today, maybe we need to be reminded who Jesus is! This definitely is the best preparation for whatever you might face in the days ahead of you this week!
The sad thing about this last church at Laodicea, was that it had lost the presence of Jesus in its midst and didn’t even know it! It was going on with church as usual and actually thought everything was ok. Because it had a good bank balance, a great attendance, the best pastor and music worship leader, the best programs, wonderful, giving, and serving church members, it was saying that it was rich and was increased with goods and had need of nothing!
Sad to say, but this is condition of too many churches in America and the world today! We have lost the presence and power of Jesus and His Holy Spirit and don’t even know it! But Jesus says, because He is the “Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, that He knows the true condition of our hearts and that they are “lukewarm”. They are neither “cold nor hot” and Jesus says, that it makes Him sick enough to make Him vomit. The Lord was about to tell this church the truth about its spiritual condition; unfortunately, they would not believe His diagnosis.
Laodicea was known for its wealth and its manufacture of a special eye salve, as well as of a glossy black wool cloth. It also was located near Hieropolis, where there were famous hot springs, and Colossae, known for its pure, cold water. But both the cold water from Colossae and the hot water from Hieropolis would be lukewarm by the time it was piped to Laodicea.
We are indeed foolish, if we have become comfortable and complacent because of our so called success in our churches and in our lives! The letter to the church of Laodicea should be a wakeup call to all of us today! Are we just going through the motions of the Christian life and have lost our fervency for the Lord? If so, may the Lord convict us with these words today, and cause us to remember that that we have really become wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked in His sight and that we need to repent and return to Him!
Jesus still loves us and is knocking and waiting for us to open the door and let Him back in. (Revelation 3:20)
God bless!