The church of the Laodiceans (Revelation 3:14)

November 8, 2025

Three different optometrists have advised me to use eye drops every two hours during the day, because my corneas are badly damaged. They are confident that progressively worse eye sight will finally convince me that I will go blind unless I undergo a partial corneal transplant.

Apart from vision problems, many of the teeth in my mouth are artificial, but who’s to tell? I wear hearing aids, which don’t provide reliable hearing, and I have lost most of my thick curly hair. Although two of my cancers have disappeared, I still have a malignant mass that one doctor described as of little consequence compared to my former problems, and when considered against my heart and circulatory issues.

In short, the reports indicate I’m a physical mess, but the fact is that I recently climbed ladders to paint the interior of our home; I’m very active every day; I walk, lift weights, and even have another book being published this year.

Strangers frequently comment on my relatively youthful appearance, which is unusual in an 85-year old man. It’s true that modern medicine has extended many lives, so that it’s sometimes said, “60 is the new 40.” So maybe 85 is the new 65.

I attribute my longevity to the loving care of the Lord. But however long I have left, what matters is that I live it well, and that my behavior and accomplishments redound to the glory of God. There will be an end for all of us, unless the Lord returns and takes his own out of this world. For the Bible states, “…it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

So much for inner health and outward appearance. Looks can be deceiving, as we know by comparing the outward beauty of Hollywood stars with their inner moral character, or lack there of.

As his fictional character, John Claggart, observed in Herman Melville’s unfinished novella, Billy Budd, “Beauty is as beauty does.” That is to say, true beauty is defined by one’s actions and character rather than by one’s physical appearance (which was given by God).

So as we examine our own lives and consider the lives of family members, friends, as well as notable and notorious people in the news, we often see a great disconnect between the reputations they carefully construct and their true and hidden motives and desires.

Thus the apostle Paul wrote to us Christians that we should not be hypocrites, but should be consistent in our thoughts and conduct:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

How in the world can we be sacrificial, like those bulls and goats that were slain in ancient times, and yet live? It seems like a contradiction in terms. And what do we do to renew our minds so that we are transformed? The clue lies in other passages that Paul wrote. He was in Rome at the time, under house arrest, and awaiting Caesar’s verdict, because, as a Roman citizen, he had the right to appeal to the emperor because he had been unfairly charged with a capital crime.

During that period, between the years 60 and 62 AD, he wrote four letters. In one of them, he made this brief but profound statement: “For me to live is Christ, and to dies is gain” (Ephesians 1:21).

Paul was so confident of his eternal salvation—that he would experience new life after death, and that it would be a far better existence than this that we now experience—so that he would write, “to die is gain.”

But he wasn’t rushing God to end his trials on earth because he knew that he had important and gratifying work to do for as long as God chose to leave him here.

Why do I bring up Paul’s letter to the Romans, written around 57 AD from Corinth, in conjunction with John’s discussion of the church at Laodicea, which was penned 40 years later? One good reason is because Paul was fundamental in establishing that church at Laodicea, and his teaching and doctrine had been foundational. And if he had not long since been martyred, following a second Roman imprisonment, he would have been very sad to see the depths to which the Laodicean church had sunk, along with four of the six other churches that Jesus criticized in the second and third chapters of The Revelation.

The churches of Asia Minor, to whom John penned Christ’s warnings in The Revelation, had most certainly heard the letter to the Romans read many times. Paul had sent out the evangelist church planters who founded “the church of the Laodiceans,” but was considered their bishop and loving mentor.

So when he begged the readers of Romans to present their bodies as “living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service,” the Laodiceans knew that they were included in his appeal.

Hey, readers of Romans everywhere and through all time, I’m not asking anything extraordinary of you., so “…be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed….” (Romans 12:2).

This business of transformation is clearly a dual effort: Christ has already provided for our transformation through his death, resurrection, and provision of the Holy Spirit, so we have the potential, by prayerfully studying and living out his Word, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Our transformation and the renewal of our minds requires two things: First, the Holy Spirit will make available, when and if we sincerely seek it, the light, wisdom and power to achieve that goal; those things were already assured us at the birth of Christ’s Church when he gave us the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20, and a succinct promise Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Second, the renewal of our minds requires that we pray daily for that light, wisdom, and power, that we prayerfully search God’s Word, assimilating and experiencing those grand truths, not merely becoming familiar with them, but proving in the course of our trials that his word is truth, finding ourselves progressively stronger (edified, and more sanctified (separated from sin), and that our progress is recognized by the world.

So Paul states our objective, “…that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

But that goal is not achieved by every one who claims he or she is a Christian. Each of us—not our families, not our churches, nor the person to whom we are joined in marriage—can do it for us. We take pride in being masters of our fate. So each of us must take personal responsibility. Therefore, Paul exhorts us:

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

After Paul wrote in Romans that we are to prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, he went on to say something else that would impact not only the Laodicean Christians, but everyone through all time, including you and me:

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man (and woman, boy, and girl) that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly….” (Romans: 12:3).

If you’ve read the account of the church of the Laodiceans, did you notice that his introductory remarks differ from those to the other six churches? Here Jesus says:

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, write…” (Rev 3:14).

To the others, he writes something like, “And to the angel of the church in,” or at, a given city. Here he says that the church is “… of the Laodiceans,” which implies that the church is governed by the moral values of the people of Laodicea, of the world, and not by a group of appreciateive blood-bought souls,nor guided by the truths in God’s Word.

John wrote at the end of the first century, decades after the founding of that church, and it’s clear that the people had drifted far from God. We’re told that they thought very highly of themselves, and not at all of Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:3. Yet it is not the words of Paul’s spirit alone that condemns them, but the voice of the eternal Jesus Christ himself.

“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).

When you were saved,you hopefully felt an enormous sense of your own unworthiness, and immense gratitude that an incredible burden of guilt and shame was lifted from your heart. Did you later notice how quickly you forgot that the Savior holds your life in balance, and how quickly you can be enticed by the world, the flesh, and the devil to forsake him for the things of this present world?

Consider those Laodiceans. Our Lord begins with:

They were immensely proud. The believed they were self-sufficient, and were therefore self-satisfied. They foolishly believed that they were somehow responsible for their physical prosperity, and they ceased to see God in the midst of their lives. So Jesus cleared the air:

“These things saith the A-men, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy work” (Rev 3:14-15).

Jesus isn’t simply waiting to search through the book of life at the judgment, but he’s keeping track now. He’s omniscient and all knowing, and far better than any imaginary Santa Claus, “…he knows when you’ve been sleeping, he knows when you’re away, he knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” He told those Laodiceans, I know thy works!”

Are we just going through the motions, simply saying and doing publicly what is required of us to maintain stature among our contemporaries, saying and doing publicly what is expected among our contemporaries and acceptable in church, while we are truly hypocrites, behaving badly to our mate or children, or holding in bitterness and hatred toward others? Do we deceive ourselves that God can’t see?

You may say, “Hey, I’m not so bad; if anyone should get to heaven, I should.” Really? So you’re making up your own rules and construction your own convenient religion?

Look at what Jesus said to that self-satisfied bunch of hypocrites at Laodicea who had ignored their founder’s exhortation to present themselves as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God.

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16).

Most people like their coffee either piping hot or ice cold. Few enjoy a soft drink at room temperature. But our spiritual states, our motives, and the works that flow from them, are of vital concern to God. It’s difficult to imagine a more dramatic picture of God’s feelings toward those who claim to be his children, yet are merely “lukewarm,” and of hearing the Master say that he will, not that he may, but will, “…spew you out of my mouth.”

His words are graphic, and shouldn’t be watered down in order to please polite society. If you’ve ever been violently ill, if you’ve ever eaten something infected with salmonella or food poisoning, you know how violently your body will react to save your life. You don’t just spit something out. Your body reacts violently, uncontrollably spewing its contents wherever you happen to be facing.

Can you then imagine what wrath our Lord feels toward those who, in reality, trample his gift of life under their feet, who are so self-satisfied that they become indifferent to his sacred sacrifice?

You may question whether these lukewarm people in the church of the Laodiceans were truly saved. Jesus did not absolve a single member, not even the angel, from this sin. All were lukewarm. Our Lord had nothing good to say about any of them.

Instead he offered one final, fatal, last chance. If his words applies to you or me, we’d be fools not to take heed. He that hat an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 3:22).

And what was his specific soul-saving counsel to each Laodicean Christian, and to us?

“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich” (Rev 3:18).

Wait! Isn’t John picturing our merciful, loving, forgiving, benevolent Lord, as vindictive? Actually, he is. He’s giving the adherents of this church one last chance, fo this next words are:

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev 3:19).

Isn’t that a command to every preacher? “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). Isn’t that precisely what our Lord is doing here for the church of the Laodiceans, and for you and me? He’s trying to pull us through, often in spite of ourselves!

Then Jesus made them the twin offers of salvation and renewal, first to any lost who had joined themselves to the church, then to the backsliders:

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20.

Do you sense him knocking at the door of your heart right now? Just open the door, put aside fear and regret, aand put your broken pride to death, and he will come in and begin a profound friendship with you such as you could never imagine.

Consider the promise he makes to the fallen Laodiceans. He is not only holding out an olive branch of mercy to you, but forgiveness, and joy and peace.

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Revelation 3:21).

Did a single person in the church of the Laodiceans heed our Lord’s words?

More importantly, will you?

For the seventh time in the two chapters, Jesus concludes:

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.