Letters to the Seven Churches, Laodicea

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:14-22 ESV)

This is Jesus Christ speaking to the believers in Jesus Christ in the city of Laodicea. Collectively they were the church in the entire city of Laodicea. And a lot of people believe that they represent the apostate church of these last days, while others say that they represent the church (in general) of the last days before the return of Christ. I would attest to that in my nation, the USA, but I am not knowledgeable about the church (the people of God) in other nations and how they function as the body of Christ.

So we need to apply these words to our lives however they apply today. For I would say that the vast majority of the church (or what is called church) here in America today fits this description. But I believe this is the result of a very slow and orchestrated process to manipulate and to deceive and to alter the thinking of Christians with regard to what church is and how it is to function, and with regard to the true nature of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – and with regard to the teaching of the gospel.

Since I attended gatherings of the church from birth, and I have been part of the body of Christ about 68 years (I turned 75 yrs old today), I have watched how the church has slowly changed and conformed to the patterns of the world and has largely forsaken their passion for Jesus Christ and for the truth of the gospel and for holy and righteous living and walks of surrender and obedience to the Lord. For they have largely been manipulated and deceived into accepting the lies as truth and the truth as lies.

And now so much of what is called “church” are just businesses of man being marketed to the world just like any other business. And so they have conformed the church to the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings, in order to grow their numbers. And so for many Christians (or professing Christians) “church” is something they go to once a week to sing songs and to listen to a sermon and then to go home and live their lives as normal during the week only to return the next week to repeat the same.

And when the Lord counsels them to buy from him these various things mentioned here, he is really asking them to surrender their lives to him, to make him their Lord and Master, and to forsake their sinful practices, and to now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living. He is counseling them to now have spiritual insight into God’s will for their lives and to walk in his ways in righteousness and in moral purity, uprightness, honesty, faithfulness and devotion to him and to his will and purpose for their lives. 

For Jesus Christ is not really the head of most of these gatherings of the church (or what is falsely being called church), for now it seems most of them are being led by marketing books and schemes on how to grow their “churches” in numbers. And so they have essentially pushed God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit – right out of the church, and they have embraced worldliness and marketing gimmicks and schemes and business models to lead them in how to conduct “the church,” instead.

And that is why, I believe, he is standing outside the door of the church, because they have pushed him out in favor of attracting the world to their gatherings. And so he is knocking on the door of this market-driven worldly apathetic to the cause of Christ church of these last days, and he is inviting them into fellowship with him. But for that to happen, they must repent of their sins, and they must now surrender their lives to Jesus Christ in commitment to walk now in obedience to his commands, day by day.

For we read in 1 John 1 that if we say that we have fellowship with God, but while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin), we are liars who do not live by the truth. And if we claim that we know God (1 John 2), but we do not obey him and his commandments, in practice, we are liars, and the truth is not in us. For Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross in order that we might now die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. Sin is no longer to be what we practice. We are to practice righteousness.

So, to conquer is to repent of all sins of idolatry and adultery and apathy and to now follow Jesus Christ with our lives in obedience to his commands. And we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But if you don’t repent, and you ignore the call of God to surrender your life to him and to walk in obedience to his commands in fellowship with him, and so you continue living in sin and in disobedience to God, then you do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. So please take this to heart!

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Letters to the Seven Churches, Laodicea

Video Talk

December 13, 2024

https://youtu.be/Idg9AI1H0Rs

Caution: This link may contain ads

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352