Living in Laodicea: The Laodicean Letter 1

Right up front, I’d like to start with an explanation. I introduced the “Living in Laodicea” series a couple of months ago with excitement. I was excited, you were excited…then the holiday season began. As a result, I allowed myself to get busy and my writing slowed down. However, recently, as I began to consider this topic again, God laid out for me the way in which I would present it. This direction from God came in an unexpected way, and I’d like to share it as we begin.

Last November, while in Bible study, God began to deal with me about a teaching on the Laodicean Letter. While sharing my thoughts with a friend, he mentioned a song that referenced the teaching I was alluding to. The song, written by Steve Camp, is entitled, “Living in Laodicea”. I listened to it that very day, and was impressed. It was exactly in line with what God had placed on my heart. I decided then to seek the Lord about blogging/broadcasting/preaching this word. A few days later in November, I began by writing the introductory blog for the Living in Laodicea teaching series. Okay, now flash forward to last Sunday (Jan 20^th). The family and I, having returned home from church, were relaxing around the house. Actually, my wife, my son Kollin, and I had just finished praying over some issues together. At that point, God reminded me of Steve Camp’s song. I decided to play it for Jennifer and Kollin, but before I did, I felt led to explain the Bible passage that the song refers to. So, we pulled out our Bibles and I briefed them on the text in Revelation 3. As I skimmed through the teaching, simply wanting to set up the song, I soon realized God was providing the perfect outline. It came quickly and unexpectedly. Isn’t that just like God? At that point, I knew it was time for me to really tie into this message.

Here’s how the Spirit has laid out this teaching in my heart. It will be divided into 3 parts:

1.       The Laodicean Letter – in today’s installment we will begin looking at the Laodicean Letter. I will, with the Spirit’s help, begin pulling apart the deeper meaning of the passage. We will key-in on the condition of the Laodicean church of John’s day. Since part 1 is the exegesis of Revelation 3:14-22, it will take multiple blogs to complete. I cannot, in good conscious, short cut this part of the process; however I don’t want to overwhelm you with too much info at one time either…so we will take part 1 in sections.

2.       The Laodicean Age – in part 2, I want to apply the truths discussed in part 1 with a different focal point. We will focus on relating them to the Church of today. As I explained in the introductory blog, the Laodicean church is a scriptural representation of the modern day Church…this should be eye opening.  

3.       The Laodicean Life – in part 3, we will examine the individual that John writes about in the letter to the Laodicean church. We will take a look at how that relates to you and me. At this point, the teaching will become personal.

Wonderful…I’m excited! I love the Word of God. I pray that His anointing will be obvious on the words and ideas placed forth. I pray that you will be receptive to the teaching…not to my ramblings, but to the ministering words of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Living in Laodicea

Part 1: The Laodicean Letter

 

There’s an old saying that goes something like this…the truth hurts. I’m sure we all agree and can recall times in our past when this cliché rang true. The truth is an interesting entity; it deals with us differently depending on our position to it. If we are standing in the truth, holding up the truth, and living out the truth; then the truth will support, protect, and strengthen us. On the other hand, if we begin to operate in opposition to the truth, or ignore the truth, or bend the truth; then the truth becomes a sword that cuts deeply (Heb 4:12). Now I don’t know what you think, but I tend to believe that a slashing sword would hurt! The letter to the church in Laodicea bears this thought out perfectly. They are about to receive a stern warning: The sword of truth is coming…and it’s going to hurt.

In the previous 6 letters to the churches in Asia, John had penned great, encouraging words mingled with rebukes and corrections. Some of the churches were highly praised by Jesus. Others were not so highly acknowledged, but they all had redeeming characteristics pointed out by Christ. Sadly, Laodicea cannot boast of this in any way. The name Laodicea means “judgment”, and that’s exactly what they received in this letter from the Lord.

During the time that John wrote the book of Revelation, history shows that Laodicea was a prosperous city. Archeological sites have uncovered great fountains and water ways that fed the city. It appears they had the engineering capabilities and the financial worth to channel in water from an aqueduct over four miles away (I will reference this water system again later). After reading Paul’s letter to the church, we can conclude that the Christian community of Laodicea was also sharing in this prosperous time. To most folks this fact would lead them to believe the church was blessed, we will soon see that it was not.

Not only did this church have financial resources, but they also had great spiritual resources. Several times in Paul’s writings he refers to the church in Laodicea. In fact, along with the church at Ephesus, the Laodicean church received regular correspondence and teaching from Paul. In fact, Paul sent a man, Epaphras, to Laodicea to help train and disciple them (see Colossians 1:7, 4:12-16). We learn from these verses that Paul also instructed that his Epistle to the Colossians be sent to Laodicea. Wow, can you imagine the tremendous opportunities God afforded this group of believers; handpicked ministers, Holy Spirit inspired letters and teachings, and interaction from Paul and John, themselves. Truly, Laodicea was a blessed community of believers, but, to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48).

For the rest of part 1, I’m going to organize my writing as such; I will place the words of Jesus to the church in red, as it is printed in many of our Bibles. The black text following will be my thoughts and explanations regarding the scripture. Very well, let’s see what Jesus personally directed John to write to the Laodicean Church in Revelation 3:14-22.

 

To the angel of the church of Laodicea write:

The correct meaning of the word “angel” has been a point of disagreement for many scholars. Just what does this word refer to? Some say it refers to an angelic being that was assigned to the church. However, we have absolutely no scriptural backing that alludes to angelic oversight of any church. Others say it is referring to some sort of area wide overseer or bishop. However, the Apostles never set up the church to operate this way. Man has used this method over the centuries, but this was never God’s plan for church government. The word angel can almost always be translated “messenger”, and this is the correct translation for the word in this verse. Jesus’ letter is addressed to “the messenger of the church of Laodicea”. Obviously, the messenger of any given church is the church’s pastor. He is the man that proclaims God’s message to the believers. All 7 letters In Revelation 2 and 3 were addressed to the pastor of the church in question, who was then to share it with the people.

 

These things say the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God.

At this point, as was true with all 7 church letters, Jesus introduces Himself to the church. Throughout the Word, there are countless names and titles given to Jesus. All of them carry an important and distinct meaning. All of them point to an awesome aspect of Christ’s character. Here, Jesus selects the exact title or description for the moment. These are not leisurely placed nicknames…no, they hold perfect meaning and consequence.

Immediately, Jesus is going to make the readers of this letter sit-up and take notice. He does not parse words, He does not begin gingerly, no, He is throwing down the hammer from the beginning. The word amen has become softened in our ears. We use it so often and casually that it is easy for us to skip past it. In this case, we must not. This word sets the tone for the entire letter and the Laodicean pastor would have recognized the tone without question. First, recall that the word “Amen” is capitalized. Jesus is not simply saying amen, He is instead proclaiming, “I AM THE AMEN!”. Okay, so what does that mean? The word amen, as Christ used it, means “he who is eminently true and faithful.” In other words, what He says is absolute truth; He is not passing out idle threats, He is handing out promises. Jesus is not just speaking the truth, He is THE TRUTH. He said it in John 14:6 and He is now proclaiming it again. The Laodicean church will soon be characterized by Jesus as “lukewarm”. Due to the fact that Jesus is the Amen, the Truth, He is perfectly qualified to look at the condition of the church and call a spade a spade. If anyone has the ability to know the truth about the condition of this church, it is “the AMEN.”

Next, Jesus adds to His introduction as He refers to Himself as “the Faithful and True Witness”. If “the AMEN” somehow escaped their attention, Jesus is now going to further explain Himself. You see, when a person has become spiritually deaf and blind because of sin, the obvious things of God can easily slip by us. Things we would see immediately, if we were in good standing with Christ, can become easily skipped over by our darkened eyes of flesh. Perhaps this is why Jesus chose drive home this point. To be sure, He did not make a mistake by repeating HHHHimself. The phrase “the Faithful and True Witness” is almost a text book definition of the word “Amen” used just prior by Jesus. Also, make sure you recognize that these words are capitalized. He is not saying “I have a faithful and true personality” for Jesus IS faithfulness, He IS truth. He doesn’t simply DO these things, He IS these things. Jesus is the Great Witness for God and the truth. He is unable to approve of anything that God does not approve of. The Laodicean church will soon understand this in fine detail.

In the final part of the introduction trilogy, Jesus pulls rank on the church in Laodicea. He wants the pastor and the people to realize in totality who they are being addressed by. The phrase “the Beginning of the creation of God” is a POWERFUL title, indeed. Some translations say “ruler” of the creation…this is a poor paraphrase. The word “Beginning” carries the entire meaning of this title. What is Jesus alluding to in this self designation? First of all, He is not referring to Himself as the creator. It is true that Jesus is the creator of the universe, scripture is implicit on this point (John 1:1-3), but this is not what Jesus is referring to here. Secondly, He’s not stating that He was the first created being. We know that Jesus, being part of the God-head, is uncreated and eternal (again refer to John 1:1-3). When Jesus calls Himself “the Beginning of the creation of God”, He is actually making a reference to His place as the Redeemer. John 17:2 says, God has given Him power “over all flesh”. John 2:8 says that all things are “put under His feet”. Ephesians 1:20-22 point out that Jesus is exalted over all things. Being “the Beginning of the creation of God” means Jesus is the once and future King…the Ruler. In this way, He is speaking with all authority to the church of Laodicea.

After reading the letter’s pointed introduction, the congregation should have easily recognized that whatever followed demanded their attention and response. Jesus was speaking to them personally, and the correct reaction was absolutely crucial.  

Okay then, with the very powerful introduction to this letter from Jesus Christ behind us, this is good place to wrap up this first installment. I will soon post the next installment as Jesus begins to judge this “lukewarm” church. You don’t want to miss it. Check back in a few days as we continue the study “Living in Laodicea”.

 

Keep seeking the truth,

David