Are You Self-Deceived? (Revelation 3:14-22)

VIDEO

Are You Self-Deceived? (Revelation 3:14-22)

GIST: Repent and receive truth and grace. 

Nine sermons later, we’re finally coming to the last of the seven letters to the seven churches here in Revelation. I’d love to tell you it ends on a high note, but that was last week. The final church, Laodicea, gets no commendation and quite possibly the harshest rebuke of them all. Nonetheless, sprinkled in this letter that pulls absolutely zero punches… is still grace!

Really there is just one key point to understand about this city before we dive into the passage: it was very wealthy. There seems to have been three major sources of its wealth: black wool (used to make fine garments), medicine (specially a special cream for healing eye irritations), and banking (they even minted their own coins). In fact, such was its prosperity that when it was destroyed by an earthquake, like Philadelphia, they refused Rome's offer to send financial assistance, unlike Philadelphia, and instead rebuilt the city by the strength of their own wealth. That’s all going to play into the imagery here. → 

“14 "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. 15 "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 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. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 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. 21 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. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”

There’s a lot we could get from this church, but we have a letter from the God of truth written to an incredibly self-deceived church, and this is what He says: Repent and receive truth and grace. (That’s our gist, by the way.) Let’s break it down. 

I. From The Truth

“14 "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.”

Amen. We’ve covered this many times at this point. The word we have come to use to represent the end of our prayers essentially means “let it be so”, or “this is true”. Jesus is the Truth. As such, He is also the only real→ 

Faithful & True Witness. As God incarnate, He alone brought the complete and honest witness of God to us. His representation of the truth is unhindered and unwavering. And He holds this position beyond debate because He is the→ 

Beginning of God’s Creation. This, of course, does not mean He was the first of God's creations since He is Himself the creator (Col 1:16) and was never created (John 1:1-5), but the word translated beginning here means “first of” or “origin of”. He is the head over all creation. He is the Savior of the World and the King of Kings. 

Yeah, that’s who this letter is from. It’s then addressed→ 

II. To The Self-Deceived

“15 "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

This is heavy. And we could get lost in trying to interpret the intricacies behind what it means to be hot or cold (which admittedly I have spent a lot of time wrestling with). Some take it to make hot is vibrantly Christian living while cold is open rejection of Christ. In that case, cold would be better than lukewarm because at least they would know they weren’t Christians. Others take this to all be a direct play on Laodicea’s actual problem. It was located between two cities: one known for its famous hot springs, and the other known for its refreshing cool springs. They pumped in water from both, but by the time it made it to Laodicea it was disgusting and almost undrinkable. Either way, the message is the same. Laodicea was→ 

Lukewarm & Repulsive. That's the point. They were not what they should be. They weren't useful at all. In fact, Jesus is ready to vomit them from His mouth. This is a serious condemnation. Why? What is it about this church that has brought them to this point? Here’s the key. They were repulsive because they were→ 

Self-Deceived. It seems the attitude of the town had been adopted by the church, as well. They think they have everything they need, but are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. The picture here is one of great need. They are sinful people needing dramatic rescue. The saddest phrase in this line to me is the "not realizing" part. Like the Pharisees who confronted Jesus, they are so self-assured they cannot even see the blatancy of their own sin. They are in great spiritual need like the rest of us. It should be clear to them, but it's not. They do not want to see the truth; so they don't. They think everything is fine, better than fine even. They're wrong. 

Nonetheless, what message does Jesus give them?

III. Repent & Receive Truth & Grace

This is beautiful. He doesn’t tell them. “I want to spit you out, so…bleh!” He says, “You make me sick…but I love you, so come to Me.” 

“18 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. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Verse 18 flips everything on its head. Remember what this city was famous for? He’s addressing them all. You think you’re rich with your banking and coins? Buy gold from Me refined in fire. The idea here echoes the need to grow spiritually through tribulation and trials, to realize your need for Him as He walks you through this broken world. It's through fire that we are made pure. Then, He says, you will have the wealth that matters. 

You have fancy black clothes? The shame of your nakedness needs covered by My pure white garments! You’ve tried covering yourselves with your own works, but I will cover you in My righteousness!

You have created a cream for irritated eyes? Cool. Come to Me, so you can actually see!

It’s after that, He reminds them that He reproves and disciplines the ones He loves! That’s beautiful! It’s like He’s saying, “Yes, I know I’m calling you on the carpet here and bringing down the hammer, but I am only doing this because I love you!” So, come to life and repent! Turn from the reliance on self. Do any of us need to hear that message?

How about verse 20?  “20 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” And here we have one of the most frequently used evangelistic verses. Let’s take it in context. He is talking to the church here. The church of which He is not a part! He is outside of the door. They are a fellowship, but their fellowship has nothing to do with Jesus because He’s not there. Yet, He says, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.” Well, that last part is clearly a picture of salvation, intimacy with Jesus. It is a promise of communion with God. So, what does the opening of the door mean? The first step toward intimacy with God is repentance…which He literally just told them to do! ("...so be zealous and repent.") Opening the door seems to be symbolic of repentance, turning from self-dependence to Jesus. Without it, the door will forever remain closed. Jesus will be on the outside of our lives. Why? Not because He’s powerless to open the door or come in, not because He’s too far gone (He’s right there!), but because we’re refusing to come to Him by choosing ourselves instead. We must turn to Him and give Him our lives. And if we do→  

“21 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. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” Jesus opened the letter by telling this group of people they were repulsive. He ends it by telling them that if they repent, they can sit with Him in Heaven. From being spit from His mouth to being drawn to His side. Exactly where you were meant to be. Doing exactly what you were made to do. Experiencing Jesus, who loves you, forever. Amen!

TAKEAWAYS

1. Do you realize how much you need Jesus?

2. Do you realize how much He loves you?

3. Are you wholeheartedly His?