3:14-22

NT

Revelation 3:14-22

esv

Jesus Is Completely Reliable and Utterly Powerful

“And to the angel

Destination

of the church

Descriptive

in Laodicea

Locative

write:

‘The words

Content #1

of the Amen,

Producer

the faithful and true witness,

Explanation

the beginning

of God’s creation.

Subjective

Jesus Despises Lukewarm, Self-Satisfied Christianity

They Were Lukewarm

“‘I know your works:

Ground

you are neither cold nor hot.

Content

Would that you were either cold or hot!

Negative

So, because you are lukewarm,

and neither hot nor cold,

I will spit you

out of my mouth.

Separation

They Were Self-Reliant

For you say,

I am rich,

I have prospered,

and I need nothing,

not realizing that you are wretched,

pitiable,

poor,

blind,

and naked.

Jesus Offers Riches, Righteousness, and Guidance from Himself

The Solution

I counsel you to buy ... gold

Content #2a

from me

Source

refined

by fire,

Means

so that you may be rich,

Purpose

and white garments

Content #2b

so that you may clothe yourself

and the shame ... may not be seen,

of your nakedness

Attributed

and salve

Content #2c

to anoint your eyes,

so that you may see.

The Motivation

Those ... I reprove and discipline,

whom I love,

so be zealous and repent.

Content #3

Jesus Promises Fellowship and Union with Himself to Those Who Hear His Voice

Behold, I stand at the door

Content #4

and knock.

If anyone hears my voice

Condition

and opens the door,

I will come in

Purpose #1

to him

and eat

Purpose #2

with him,

Accompaniment

and he

Purpose #3

with me.

The one

who conquers,

I will grant him

Content #5

to sit

with me

on my throne,

as I also conquered

Comparison

and sat down

with my Father

on his throne.

He

who has an ear,

let him hear

Content #6

what the Spirit says

to the churches.’”

phrasing

Notes

Head: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the mind . We want to think accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I think differently about God/myself/others because of what I’ve just phrased? What doctrines are taught in this passage? What specific contribution to those doctrines does this passage make? What other Scripture texts add to the truths taught in this passage? v. 14: How is Jesus "the beginning of God's creation"? These three descriptions are, unusually, not taken from the vision in chapter 1. The first two show his utter reliability. See Isaiah 65:16, 2 Cor 1:20, and John 14:9. The last description either means that Jesus was the origin of all created things (which is true, according to Colossians 1:15 ), or that he is the start of God's new creation (this is also true, according to Colossians 1:18). I think it is the latter meaning that is present here, because back in Revelation 1:5 Jesus is called not only “ the faithful witness,” like here in 3:14, but also “the firstborn of the dead.” So verse 14 is saying that Jesus is ruling over all things in the new age that has broken into the world when he rose again! v. 15-16: What does it mean to be "lukewarm"? The context helps us - see "for" at the beginning of verse 17 . They thought that they were righteous and strong; therefore, they were self-reliant . That led to lukewarm "works" (15). See Hosea 12:8 for an OT parallel passage; Israel's works were sinful, and not obedient. So also this church said, “We have loads of money; we are a rich church; and yet we are sooooo humble and godly. We don’t need anything from anyone !” Remember the trade guilds that I’ve mentioned so often? Perhaps these church members had decided to cooperate with the idolatry and immorality of the guilds, and therefore we well-off financially because of their sin – and yet they deceived themselves into thinking that what they had done was defensible, right, and pleasing to God! Verse 17 shows three descriptions of their condition (17b, c, and d): they were self-sufficient, self-guided, and self-righteous. Thus they did nothing good for the Lord. Historical information about Laodicea helps us understand lukewarmness also. The nearby city of Colossae had access to delicious cold water, while Hierapolis was known for its hot mineral waters that were used medicinally. But it seems like Laodicea had to pipe water in that was lukewarm and nasty. So Jesus isn’t saying, “I wish you were either on fire for me (hot) or completely indifferent (cold).” No; the problem was that they weren’t hot like a good bath, or cold like a delicious, refreshing beverage! All they were was lukewarm and so repulsive and pointless and useless . Jesus would spew them out of his mouth, like you do a nasty liquid that surprised you when you tasted it. “Useless”? Being spat out of Christ’s mouth? That is a harsh judgment! Yet who is speaking? The one who is "the faithful and true witness" (14). This is sobering: it isn’t outward, shocking, vile sin that makes a church disgusting to Jesus, but simple, easy, respectable, self-reliance. Looking to self instead of looking to Jesus. v. 18: What does it mean to "buy ... gold" from Jesus? I think that 1 Peter 1:7 sheds light on this. I f they came to Jesus, relied on Him, on His grace, on His power, to get through problems, they would find themselves spiritually rich , and thus filled with joy and peace through faith! And such reliance on God’s grace is the polar opposite of pride. Here is the key to the whole problem of self-sufficiency, of pride: in the words “ from me .” They needed to come to Christ – but pride refuses to do this; it looks within self . But only if they came to Jesus would they “be rich ” (v. 18). For "buying" gold, see Isaiah 55:1-3 (see also the call to listen in that passage). v. 18: What does it mean to "buy ... white garments"? Well, we’ve seen white clothing already in this book. See 3:4 in the letter to the church of Sardis at the beginning of this chapter. We saw that these believers turned away from idolatry and from immorality . These believers were naked, then, in that they were rebelling against God’s standard of morality, and were compromising with false gods. To buy white clothing from Jesus would mean that they humble themselves before the ascended Christ, confessing their sins – basically, turning away from all sin and turning to Christ Jesus, embracing Him as their forgiveness, their purity, their life . Again, the key here is to come to Christ and find in Him joy and forgiveness and purpose and purity. v. 18: What does it mean to buy "salve"? It means to get your discernment from Jesus himself . See Prov 3:5-7; 28:26. Perhaps this church thought they were wise ; they knew how to handle the idolatrous guilds, and that they could walk the fine line of participation there without sin. But they had only deceived themselves! They were actually wallowing in filthy sin, oblivious to mortal danger they were in. They were prancing along the edge of a cliff, thinking they were perfectly safe, when they were near death. v. 20: To whom is Jesus speaking? To the church - this is an invitation to Christians to let Jesus into their hearts! v. 21: How will we sit down with Jesus on his throne? It sounds almost blasphemous – but there it is, in black and white! Well, Christ is right now on his throne. One commentator calls this " a posture of rest ,” for His work is done, as well as “a position of honour " (Patterson, Revelation , 145). So Christ offers to us union with Him in His rest and His honour ! Those who repent of sin and love the Lord Jesus with all their hearts will rest forever in His presence, in fullness of joy, free from suffering and the hatred of the world. And we will receive honour from Him – from the one whose praise is worth more than all the praise of man! To help you grasp this truth, think of a wealthy king in the days of kings and knights and dragons who falls in love with an orphaned girl in a village who is dirt poor and must work day and night as a slave just to survive, because her parents left her deeply in debt. What happens when they get married? The king says, in effect, “Everything I have is yours .” All his wealth, his money, his status – she now shares it all , because she is one with him. But he also says, in effect, “Everything you have is mine.” But because all she has is debt and poverty, he absorbs it all – he pays off her debts, rescues her from poverty. He is so rich that he can easily pay off her creditors! And all that belongs to her only because she now belongs to the king, because she is his bride. But what do we call the wife of a king? A queen ! And so it is with us. In eternity, in a way we can’t even comprehend, God’s people will rule over the universe in Christ; Jesus will reign over all things, and He will do so somehow using us as his instruments – that’s what it means to sit with him on his throne. All that will be true because of what is already true of Christ, because He has made us one with Himself . Heart: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the emotions . We want to feel accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I feel differently about God/myself/etc. because of what I’ve just phrased? What emotions are expressed in this passage? What emotions does this passage exhort me to feel? v. 15-16: One emotion expressed here is disgust . Do you feel disgusted at lukewarm Christianity - starting with your own life ? v. 17: Another emotion is pity . Jesus calls those who are lukewarm and self-reliant "pitiable." The world sees such people as strong and admirable; Jesus sees them as worthy of our pity. v. 18: A third emotion is shame. Those who rely on self instead of Jesus should feel shame at their sin, like the shame of nakedness we all feel. See Song 5:2 for the shame of a spouse rejecting her husband. v. 20: I think we should feel awe and joy at Jesus' promise to enter our lives and "eat with" us. See Eph 5:25-27 to stir up your love for Jesus. v. 21: We should also feel overwhelmed with the massiveness of Jesus' promise here. Jesus' rewards are far beyond anything we could dare to dream of! Hands: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the will . We want to act accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I act differently because of what I’ve just phrased? What motivations does this passage give for acting differently? What sins do I need to repent of and put off? What good works do I need to put on? There are two commands in this passage, and two implied commands (besides the command that always appears at the end of each letter, to listen to what the Spirit says). v. 18: Buy gold, white garments, and salve. This means to fully rely upon Jesus for strength, for righteousness, and for guidance. v. 19: Be zealous and repent. Notice the Ground of the call to repent: Jesus' love ! The warnings in verses 15-18 were not words of condemnation, verse 19 reveals; no, they were words of fatherly love! See Heb 12:5-11. v. 20: Open the door of your heart to Jesus. This is a shocking picture! But this is the perfect picture for what had happened at Laodicea. The believers thought they were wealthy enough to take care of themselves; they thought they were righteous enough to do church and live their daily lives by themselves; they thought they were wise enough to make decisions by themselves. That automatically means that Christ is excluded ! When you trust self , you are not trusting Christ ! Your fellowship with Jesus can be restored, made right and wonderful and sweet - but it will require repentance of self-sufficiency and pride, and a readmittance of Christ as the centre of life and of church life, as the object of humble trust and deep love . R epent and readmit Christ to the home of your heart – make Him the centre of your life, the one you trust, the one you love. For only those who live this way will enjoy fellowship with Jesus in Heaven. It is your relationship with Jesus that matters – not whether or not you physically come to church. Is Christ in your heart, loved and delighted in? Or is He only at the periphery , on the outside of your life? v. 21: Conquer your sin. That means to repent of lukewarmness and self-reliance, in the context of this letter. v. 22: Listen to the Spirit's words. See Deuteronomy 29:1-4, Psalm 81:10-14, then Matthew 13:9, 15-17, 43. If you have ears to hear Jesus' words, that will be demonstrated by the way you live. After all, Jesus is completely reliable , and is utterly powerful . So listen to His words in this passage; he will tell you the truth !

notes