▼ Show Notes

The Laodicean church, referenced in Revelation 3, is the last of the seven churches discussed by Jesus and recorded by the Apostle John. This church has been misunderstood by many over the years. If you can recall teaching you have received from this passage on this church, you might recall learning that it is better to be cold or hot rather than lukewarm. This is a metaphor Jesus uses in Revelation 3:16 to make a profound point.

The real issue at the church in Laodicea is their arrogant blindness. They are wealthy because of the wool they produce, and they are suffering from the sin of self-reliance. Jesus says that they are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. He tells them He reproves or corrects them because He loves them, and He instructs them to repent of their self-sufficient arrogance. He references this as a cure for their blindness.

In 3:20, Jesus says that He wants to initiate fellowship with those who respond to Him. His offer of repentance is generous, but His condemnation of their self-reliant sin is harsh.

The Apostle Paul similarly addresses this underlying sin in his New Testament literature. He urges the Romans, for example, to repent from their sins in Romans 1, and then he condemns self-sufficiency altogether in chapters 2 and 3. He then explains the sufficiency of Christ rather than man in 3:21 and following. He says “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” in 3:22. Like the Laodiceans and Romans, we can rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord by faith rather than our own sufficiency. In doing so, we go from the frustration and misery Jesus describes in Revelation 3 to fulfillment in Him alone. As we saw in last week’s episode, He says that we can be overcomers by relying on Him.

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John Warren