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It is good to be content, isn't it. It's good to be satisfied with life, to
have everything you need & want & be pleased with all of it without
wanting more, without needing more.
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It is good to work hard & kick back at the end of the day, the weekend, on
vacation, or when you retire & say, "There! Look at that work. Now I
can relax for a while."
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It feels good to be pleased, satisfied, & content with life.
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But did you know you can be too content?
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To be contented means to not desire anything more.
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In his letter to the church of Philippi, the apostle Paul wrote about the kind
of contentment that the Christian ought to have, which doesn't come from how
little or how much food or material wealth we have, rather it comes by doing
everything through the strength of Christ. (Philippians 4:12-13)
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You see, being content & pleased with life can lead into a place of
self-satisfied indifference, rather than serving in Christ's strength.
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If being content means not desiring anything more, then self-satisfied
contentment doesn't consider the state of anyone else's life nor has the desire
to do anything about it.
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The overly content person doesn't act to meet the needs of others.
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That was the trouble with the church of Laodicea; they were so content with
their wealth & accomplishments as a church that they became indifferent to
the needs around them.
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Laodicea was content with the status quo in their congregation.
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They were half-hearted Christians; their contented outlook made them
complacent.
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Their self-satisfied complacency led them to be unconcerned & disinterested
in God's mission to share the good news about Jesus Christ.
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Emil Brunner wrote that, "The church exists by mission as a fire exists by
burning."
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Laodicea was a church which stopped being the church.
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They stopped being on mission with God to reach the lost, lonely, hurting, &
broken people of their world with the love & message of Jesus Christ.
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But… When we let Jesus in, really let him in, it's impossible to be
indifferent!
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64 km southeast of Philadelphia, we find a cluster of three cities: Hierapolis,
Colossae, & Laodicea, which was the southernmost city of the seven churches
Christ addressed.
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Also the wealthiest of the seven cities, Laodicea had enough money to rebuild
without Rome's help following the quake of 17(AD).
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The city built up its wealth from its profitable trade in coveted black wool
& healing eye salve.
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Unfortunately, Laodicea had a poor water supply. Hot spring mineral water
traveled into the city from Hierapolis via a 10 km aqueduct, however, when the
water reached the city it was lukewarm & tasted terrible.
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Little is known of the Laodicean church, yet we know Paul the apostle wrote
them a letter at the same time he wrote to Colossae & from our passage
today we see that Laodicea received no words of praise from Christ, only the
second city to do so alongside Sardis.
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John Stott wrote that, "None of the seven letters is more appropriate to
the church…of the 21st century than this," citing the lukewarm, surface
level, flabby religion that is so common today.
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What was Christ's main concern for the
church of Laodicea?
- Christ was concerned about the church of
Laodicea's self-sufficiency which made their faith lukewarm, indifferent toward
the souls and needs of others and complacent in their service for Christ.
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In verse 14 we see in Christ's description of himself that he immediately
begins to address their problem.
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"And to the angel of the church of
Laodicea write: the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of God's creation."
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In this verse, Christ contrasted himself with the state of the church of
Laodicea. He was faithful & true, the Amen, a binding word in the world,
while they tried to substitute earthly wealth & power in place of being
faithful & true.
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However, wealth & power cannot replace Christ's authority; he is the
beginning, the ruler of God's creation.
- What is the problem with the
church of Laodicea as Christ sees it?
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First, versus 15-16: "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."
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Here Christ compared the Laodicean church to their water supply which was
lukewarm.
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As mentioned earlier, Hierapolis was famous for its hot mineral water springs, & the aqueduct brought this water & by the time it got to Laodicea not only
was the water lukewarm it tasted horrible because of the minerals.
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Christ wished the church to be either icy cold or boiling hot; by Christ's
thinking we should either boil or freeze than leave a bad taste in his mouth.
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It is better to be refreshingly cold or therapeutically hot than to have a
lukewarm, stagnant faith.
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Such religion gives the Lord Jesus the urge to vomit.
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Second, verse 17: "For you say, I
am rich, I have prospered, and need nothing, not realizing that you are
wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked."
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The congregation at Laodicea sat in their padded pews, content with their
numbers, their building, their salvation, their worship, etc., while the city
around them was going to hell.
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Because of their complacent indifference, they felt they didn't need anything.
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They were spiritually safe; they didn't need to grow.
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But what they didn't understand was that with their attitude the way it was,
they already had 1 foot in the grave as a church.
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Christ wanted them to wake up to their true spiritual condition.
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They were wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, & naked.
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The city surrounding the church was proud of their wealth & pride is
contagious. It leads to complacency & indifference.
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If the city could rebuild without the help of Imperial Rome, then the church
could be successful without commitment to Jesus Christ & dependence on his
grace & power.
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Their pride caused them to shut out the Lord Jesus.
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A. W. Tozer wrote that, "Contentment
with earthly goods is the mark of a saint; contentment with our spiritual state
is a mark of inward blindness" (Tozer in Swindoll, Tardy
Oxcart, 114).
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Complacency & indifference have consequences, but… When we let Jesus in,
really let him in, it's impossible to be indifferent!
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What was Christ's prescription for the
church of Laodicea?
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Verse 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."
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Christ counseled the church of Laodicea to buy three things from him: gold
refined by fire, white garments to cover the shame of their nakedness, & salve to restore their sight.
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The Laodicean church had fool's gold in their eternal account; they needed to
replace it by investing in the kingdom of heaven.
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The city was famous for its textile industry in exporting coveted black wool,
but Christ told the church to buy white garments from him.
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Only the goodness & purity which comes from a relationship with Jesus
Christ can cover over our sin & our shame.
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Also the city was famous for its healing eye salve, but the Lord Jesus told the
church to buy the salve for their eyes from him, so their spiritual eyesight
would be restored.
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To have the kind of spiritual vision the church needs to depend on the vision
of Christ.
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These three things cost but the only cost is our self-satisfaction & pride.
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True wealth is found in right relationship with God in Jesus Christ, nowhere
else.
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True satisfaction is found in serving him, nowhere else.
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The Lord Jesus gave the church of Laodicea a second chance.
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Verse 19: "Those whom I love, I
reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent."
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That second chance could be found in taking the opportunity to repent. The Lord
only rebukes & disciplines those he loves.
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Such knowledge should lead every church & every believer to repent of our
disobedient attitudes & habits, especially those which cause us to be
complacent & indifferent.
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Laodicea was poor, blind & naked, but Christ has pure gold, healing eye
salve, & white garments which would only cost their selfish pride.
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They only had to put an end to their complacent indifference by becoming
sincere, zealous & repenting of their former ways.
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Just like them, we must abandon our own complacency & indifference & commit to following & obeying Christ & his ways.
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As we realize our need for Christ in
every part of our lives, we become effective servants of God.
- "If you love me, you will keep my
commandments," the Lord Jesus said (John 14:15).
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When we let Jesus in, really let him in, it's impossible to be indifferent!
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The Lord Jesus gave John's readers a picture of what that restored relationship
with him looks like.
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Verse 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."
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This verse is often used for evangelistic purposes, but we need to remember
that this verse is an invitation from Christ to his church & each
individual believer.
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The picture can be taken either negatively or positively.
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Christ visualizes himself standing outside the door of our lives rather than as
inside with us.
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We can become so busy enjoying our labors & our satisfaction with the fruit
of our labors that we leave him outside in the cold.
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We can be so busy with our own contentment, self-satisfaction & pride that
we exclude Christ from our table.
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But Christ is knocking, gently knocking on the door.
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He knocks because he knows we need him.
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He knocks because he loves us.
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He knocks because he wants us to have another chance.
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He knocks because he knows the best thing we can do is open up the door & let him in.
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& here's what opening the door to the knocking of the Lord Jesus will do…
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Verse 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."
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The Lord Jesus will share his throne with those who conquer their pride,
self-satisfied complacency & indifference.
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He promises to share his kingly authority with every believer.
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What that will look like or how it will take shape, we cannot know.
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But when we open the door to Christ, he will open the door to his Father's
kingdom to us.
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When we let Jesus in, really let him in, it's impossible to be indifferent!
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Every believer is left with the choice: either to be halfhearted & complacent with their faith; or to be wholeheartedly committed to faith in
Jesus Christ.
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Wholehearted commitment gains the privilege of fellowship with him on earth & ruling with him in heaven.
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When we let Jesus in, really let him in,
it's impossible to be indifferent!
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