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As with the other churches, Jesus begins with a self-description, asserting his authority over the churches in his right to instruct them, to discipline them, to reprimand them, to encourage them, to be an authority over them. What might be confusing initially in this passage is that he says he is the beginning of God's creation. Now some have used that phrase to assert that Jesus himself is a creation, which humanly speaking he was born of a woman, but in terms of the Son of God, he has existed from all of eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Colossians chapter 1 talks about that, it says he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body of the church and he is the beginning, the first born from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent. In Revelation 21, and he who is seated on the throne, behold I am making all things new, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the Thursday I will give from the spring of water of life without payment. So you see the idea that Jesus is the beginning is that he is the first born from the dead, he is the beginning of the church, he is the beginning of making all things new, he is the beginning of the new Jerusalem, he is our beginning. Now the words of Jesus to the church of Laodicea are the harshest of any of the churches. In every other church almost, he has a reprimand but he also has some encouragement. We saw in the church in Philadelphia that he only had encouragement. But here in Laodicea he only has reprimand and it is the harshest of the churches, of the seven. It is only criticism and it is not like criticism either. You might think, why are we looking at, well it is the seventh and the last church and unfortunately I believe this church represents most churches in North America more than the others. Jesus uses some of the things that are known to everyone in the church in the city. As the outline for his reprimand it is very elegant how he does it. He takes things that are true of the city, that he knows are true of the city, that he knows are true of the people in the church and he uses them, flips them around as criticisms. He says, I know your works, you are neither hot or cold, or cold nor hot. Would that either you were cold or hot. So because you were lukewarm and neither hot or cold I will spit you out of my mouth. Now some commentators take that as a metaphor for spiritual hotness or spiritual coldness. One preacher that I respect is explaining that God would rather you be on fire for him so to speak, or that you would be totally against him cold. Because the people that are hardest to reach are those that are in the middle and that are lukewarm. He was talking about much of the church in the US south. But other commentators, and I think they're right, aren't referring to spiritual hotness or spiritual coldness. He's talking about the two cities that are either side of Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colossae. Hierapolis was known for hot springs which were considered medicinal. So people would travel to Hierapolis and they would spend time in the hot springs thinking that that would heal whatever infirmities that they were suffering. The latter, Colossae, had cold refreshing water coming down from the mountains and streams much like it would be in the Alps. That water was cool, cold, refreshing and a pleasure to drink. But Laodicea had no water source so they had to be piped in. And by the time it got to Laodicea it was warm, not hot, not cold. It was warm and it was dirty and it was, to put it bluntly, disgusting. Even today, hot drinks can be pleasurable. Hot drinks on a cold morning or cold drinks on a hot day, those are both pleasurable. But lukewarm is rarely pleasurable. And that's what's like to drink, Jesus is saying, from this church of Laodicea. To drink the spirit of this church, to drink the attitude of this church is disgusting and it makes him want to vomit. But that's not the only thing about the church that he uses as a criticism. Laodicea was a financial center and as such there was great wealth in the city. It was a financial center much like it would be in Wall Street, in the US, London, in Great Britain, other places around the world that are awash in money. And so they were rich. And they were so rich, as a matter of fact, that when an earthquake devastated the city a few years before, they, unlike every other city that experienced an earthquake, they did not ask Rome for help. They said, we can rebuild it ourselves. We're independent. We don't need your help. They were very proud of their independence. And the pride of materialism had seeped into the church, so they looked very much like the culture. Very little distinction between them as Christians following Jesus and the rest of the city. And verse 17 says, you say I'm rich, I've prospered and I need nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. The truth is that when Christian churches are well off materially, they have a propensity to lack passion for what matters most. John Wesley, who's not of our theological bent, made the observation that when people become Christians, when communities become Christian, they tend to be hardworking and apply the principles of the Bible. And as a result, they do well financially. And their wealth increases. But the problem with that is once their wealth increases, they forget how they got there. And while they don't turn their back completely on the Lord, he takes a second seat. And we in North America, in Canada, in Bedford, certainly fit that description. By any measure, we are richer than more than 90% of the people in the world have ever been. And we like our wealth, our homes, our vehicles, our holidays, our vacations, our retirement accounts, our stock portfolios. And all of those things have the propensity, the tendency to give us a false sense of well-being and security, which is what Jesus says about Laodicea. You say, I'm rich, I've prospered, I need nothing. Not realizing your wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. This is a reminder to me of the parable of the rich ruler from Luke 18. Beginning in verse 18, a ruler asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother. And he said, all these I've kept from my youth. Now it's not possible that he had kept all these from his youth. Especially how Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount redefines these commandments. If you've ever looked with somebody lustfully, you've committed adultery. If you've had hate in your heart for somebody, you're a murderer. And he said, all these I've kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said, one thing you still lack, sell everything that you have and distribute it to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven and then come and follow me. But when he heard these things, he became very sad for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. See, that's what he was warning Laodicea about. You think you're rich and you're poor. Then he says, for it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. It's quite a picture, isn't it? Everybody knows how small an eye of a needle is and how big a camel is and how it is absolutely impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. His disciples were horrified. They said, who then can be saved? And Jesus said, what's impossible with men is possible with God. But why did the rich man go away sad? The rich ruler go away sad. He asked what he had to do to have eternal life. He was told what he had to do to have eternal life. And eternal life or not eternal life? If you have eternal life, it's forever. You're in heaven. It seems to me that if the rich ruler was serious about the question when he was told, it wouldn't matter. Jesus told him to jump. He would say, how high? But he went away. Why did he go away sad? He went away with what he had. He made his choice. This is what I want. And I think what Jesus was saying is you can't have both. You can't love your money, love your things, love your holidays, love your technology more than you love me, and really follow me. And that was the situation in this church in Laodicea. They thought they were prosperous and needed nothing. They didn't realize the seriousness of their spiritual condition. And how does Jesus counsel them? Excuse me. 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. See, Jesus includes two more characteristics of Laodicea in his rebuke. Not only was the city a financial center, it was known for a special kind of black wool. They had bred sheep so that they had this shiny black wool. And it was very high quality, very fine. And the material that was made from it was very high quality. And very high quality in the clothing that was made from it so that the material and the clothing were highly sought after. So not only were they rich financially, they had this other source of pride, other source of wealth of this fine wool that nobody else had. It was highly sought after. But they also had a medical school. A medical school that specialized in eye care. They had access to a popular Phrygian eye powder that they made eye salve. And people would come who had ailments with their eyes and they would have this eye salve applied. Jesus said, you are blind and you need salve for your eyes. You see what he's doing. He's taking the things that they're familiar with, the things they know about, the things they're proud of, and he's turning them around. You think you're rich, you're poor. You think you're well clothed, you're naked. You think you have this special vision care, you're blind. So Jesus is saying, buy from me gold refined by fire. He's saying you misapprehended your spiritual condition. They made an idol out of wealth and they are weak spiritually and that's what happens. Reminds me of the end of Hebrews chapter 5. Well, the writer says about this, we have much to say. It's hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. And that's what happens with people who are wealthy and claiming to be Christian. They become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of the righteousness since he is a child, but solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good and evil. When prosperity comes, it should be a blessing and it often is, but too often it brings about material idolatry. One minister points out that we in North America are viewed by Christians in other parts of the world. How they're how we're viewed when they come here. He says they're too polite to say it, but when pressed, they are appalled by a few things. First, they're appalled by our lack of prayer. They're appalled by how we spend all of our money, almost all of our money on ourselves, on our homes, our technology, our phones, our cars, our vacations, etc., and are not generous to those who need it. And they're appalled by how we as Christians living in the midst of all this wealth are afraid to tell our co-workers that we're Christian. Think about it, we live in a culture where 5% maybe go to evangelical Christian churches. That might be an exaggeration. An exaggeration. So the harvest is all around us. People are coming from other countries all the time. Are you afraid to tell somebody else you're a Christian to explain the gospel to somebody else because you're afraid that you might lose your job or lose your position? Or as we saw this week in horrifying events, you might lose your life. My concern is that we might be more like Laodicea than we want to admit, both as individuals and as a church collectively. I could point out other churches in the U.S. and in Canada, and some here in Nova Scotia and Halifax. But my concern is here with Bedford Presbyterian Church. And Jesus tells the church of Laodicea to buy gold refined with fire. What does that mean? Refined gold indicates trial or suffering of some kind to eliminate the impurities such as in Zechariah 13.9, I will put this third into the fire and refine them as one refined silver and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer them and I will say they are my people and they will say the Lord is my God. Suffering individually and collectively is a fire that tests the gold. Jesus tells us to buy that gold. Be willing to suffer loss for the sake of Christ means that he is more than anything or anyone first in your heart. I'm going to read this passage from Philippians. Paul says, if any other man has reason to trust in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised the eighth day from the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew is concerning the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, and concerning the righteousness which is the law blameless. Paul was on his way. He was called Saul, but he was on his way. He was climbing the career ladder as a Pharisee. But then he says, what things were gained to me, I have counted these to be lost for the sake of Christ. Are you willing to have things counted as lost for the sake of Christ? Are you willing to lose friends? Are you willing to lose position? Are you willing to be rejected if you tell somebody about Jesus? Are you willing to lose your job for the sake of Christ? That's what Paul said. I count everything as lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have forfeited the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. The righteousness which is of God on the basis of faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, and somehow I make it to the resurrection of the dead. Not that I've already obtained it or have already been perfected, but I follow after it so that I may lay hold of that which I was seized by Jesus Christ. Brothers, I do not count myself to have attained, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press on toward the goal to the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. Let those of us who are mature be thus minded. Suffering, whether we want to hear it or not, is the refinement that Jesus is talking about. Then he says, white garments, trade them. Get white garments for your nakedness. Indicates purity of our love for the Savior, turning away from idolatry which is shameful. And then he says, the Sav is to open our eyes to the truth of the gospel. How do we get these things? Remember, he's talking to the church of professing Christians. He says, those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. I think most of us know what repentance means. It means to turn from your sin and to embrace Jesus. It means to return from your independence and be dependent on God through Jesus Christ. But what does it mean to be zealous? The first commandment, you shall have no other gods before me. Later in Deuteronomy 6, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. These words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand. They shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the door post of your house. And then when a Pharisee asked him, teacher, what's the greatest commandment of the law, Jesus repeated, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets. You have to test yourself. Is this true of me? Or are there other things like the Laodiceans that I love more? Not that I don't love Jesus, but I don't love him the most. Not that I don't want to be a Christian, but it's not the most important thing. Jesus says he stands at the door and knocks. He wants intimacy with you. This is not an invitation to pray a prayer of faith in Christ for the first time. It's been used that way and although if you have never believed in the gospel, I encourage you to believe now. I beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God. Well, what does it mean then when Jesus says I stand at the door and knock? Means he wants intimacy with us. He wants table fellowship with us. If anyone opens the door, I will come in and dine with him. People who eat together have an intimacy with each other. That's what he's offering every Christian. So how do we do it? Well, there's seven things I'm going to mention. First, you have to read your Bible every day. Every day. Whether it's 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, whatever it is, every day. It's better to read a half an hour every day than it is to read 10 hours twice a month. Not once a day or once a week, but every day. Let the word of God come into you, seep into you. The second is you have to pray every day. Ask God to show you your sins so that you can repent. That's a scary thing, but I promise if you ask him to show you your sin, he will. Bring your cares and concerns to him. Talk to him every day. Have fellowship with other believers. Get together for meals. Have Bible studies together. If you haven't been in a Bible study, get in one. Witness, this is the fourth one, witness to the unbelievers that you know. Fifth, be willing to sacrifice for your Savior. Whatever it is. Like Paul, I count all things lost for the sake of knowing him. Sixth, be generous with your time and your money. There are needs all over the city. There are needs all over the world where other Christians are suffering. We should be helping them with some of our material blessing. And finally for today, love what God loves. First John 1, 2, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That's what Jesus was saying to the church of Laodicea. You love the world. You love your money. You love your clothing. You love your standing. I think he's saying that to us too. Don't love the world more than you love me. For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And those are the three things we've talked about this before. Those are the three things that Satan in the garden tempted Eve with. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, all three of them. Those are the three things that the devil tempted Jesus with in the wilderness. It's the same playbook he has now. It was working in Laodicea. It works too often in North America. But the world and its desires are passing away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. The rest of the book, which we will, the rest of this letter to the church, which we will talk about next week, talks about the reward. I will come into him. I will dine with him. Him who conquers will have the right to sit with me on my throne as I conquered and my father allowed me to sit with him on his throne. Those who have ears, let them hear what the spirit says to the churches.