We’re wrapping up our Advent series in Revelation this week with the last of the seven letters to the churches in Asia. We’ve been observing what Jesus said He wants from His churches both then and now. Remember the Church is not the building, and not just the assembled people, but it is every Christian in every place and time. So these truths apply to us both individually and collectively.
Who Jesus Is
“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’” (v. 14 ESV).
Each of the seven letters has started with a description of Jesus. In this letter to Laodicea, the description points to Jesus as the center of everything. As children we may have thought everything revolved around us, and we may tend to think the same way as adults. The church doesn’t exist for its own programs or growth, but to point people to Jesus. The question we should ask is not “What can I get out of it,” but “How can we all center our lives more fully on Jesus?”
Jesus is the “Amen”—the affirmative answer and fulfillment of all that God said He would do throughout Scripture. Jesus is the “faithful and true witness”—the one reliable source of all truth. Jesus is the “beginning of God’s creation”—not meaning that He is a created being, but that He is the foundation and reason for all of creation. (See John 1:1-3.)
What Jesus Does Not Want—Lukewarmth
“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” (vv. 15-16).
Cold water is good on a hot day. Hot coffee or a hot shower are good on cold days. But lukewarm water is not appetizing or appealing, especially when you’re expecting something else. A bottle of water that’s been sitting in a hot car is more likely to get spit out than swallowed.
Some people, when asked why they believe they are saved, may say things like “I’m a good person,” “I try not to hurt anyone,” “I’m not doing anything wrong,” or “I’m not perfect, but I’m no Hitler.” But Jesus doesn’t want those who are just decent people. He wants those who are truly committed to Him. Verse 17 goes on to explain what Jesus means by lukewarm Christians:
“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
Those who are lukewarm are unmotivated to receive provision and blessing from Jesus Christ. They feel they have all they need and therefore are not seeking anything from their relationship with God. They are like people filling up on snacks when there is a feast awaiting them. We need the deep, eternal blessings that come only from God, but we often settle for the satisfaction of the world’s temporary pleasures. A false sense of wellbeing and an ignorance of our true needs enable a church to coast along in lukewarm faith, with no motivation to go to Jesus in prayer and the Word and gathering with His people.
We have many ways of providing for ourselves, so we don’t seek Jesus for provision. We have sources of self-care, so we don’t go to Jesus to care for us. We have abundant knowledge available, so we don’t go to Jesus for wisdom. We can hide ourselves, so we don’t go to Jesus to clothe us. If we don’t feel we need Jesus, we become lukewarm.
Jesus Has What We Really Need
“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” (v. 18).
We may have financial wealth without having true spiritual wealth. We may appear successful and confident while still hiding shame and guilt. We may have multiple academic degrees and accolades and yet be spiritually ignorant and blind. Material and social blessings are not necessarily bad, but we need to ask whether they are bringing us closer to Jesus or farther away. As the Israelites were reminded when they were entering the Promised Land:
“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God… lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them… then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Deut. 8:11-14).
Christmas is not the only time that we need to be cautious about cherishing material blessings more than our spiritual growth and wellbeing. We need to remember to look to the Giver of all good things, for “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17a).
Go to Jesus
“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 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. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (vv. 19-22).
God’s love leads to discipline. His children cannot wander in sin and self-sufficiency for long. He calls us to “be zealous and repent.” We may think of zeal in terms of fiery preaching or good works, but in this context, we are to zealously turn to God to supply all our real needs. Beneath all our other needs is the need for fellowship with God. Apart from Christ we are lost and destined for eternal judgment. Through Jesus Christ we are reconciled to God and destined for eternity in His presence. Our neediness should cause us to turn to Him and draw us close to Him.
If we are lukewarm, thinking we have no needs, we’re living with a false sense of security. Needs are the door through which we enter and find Jesus ready and waiting to supply our real needs. He wants us to come running to Him like little children running to their parents. Let us turn to Him quickly and frequently throughout every day.
Application
1) What do you need right now? Is there a “need beneath the need,” such as a need for love and acceptance that makes you seek the approval of others? Whether large or small, have you sought Jesus’s provision for your need?
2) What blessings have you received recently? Have they drawn you closer to Christ? Have you thanked Him for your blessings or told others about His provision?
3) How can we as a church spur one another to run to Jesus with our needs? What needs do we have as a fellowship? How might God fulfill those needs through our members?
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matt. 6:26).
