Laodicea: Come Back to Your Source

Rev 3:14-22 says, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of 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. 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: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

What Does It Really Mean To Be Lukewarm?
I have heard people who want an explanation of this passage—does Christ prefer a person to be on fire for Him, or for people not to be saved at all?

I have never understood why anyone would believe that Christ would actually prefer that a person not be saved. This is a misunderstanding of what Christ is trying to say here. So, what does it really mean to be lukewarm?

The city of Laodicea did not have a natural water source located in its town. They built aqueducts that transported the water from two different springs found three miles outside of the city. One of these springs was cold and the other was hot. History tells us that as the water flowed from either spring, it became lukewarm as it made its way three miles into town. The cold water would turn lukewarm and the hot water would turn lukewarm as it traveled further and further away from the source. This was an analogy that the people in Laodicea would understand. Christ was saying, “I would rather you be closer to your source. I would prefer that you would not have left Me, but because you have ventured away from Me, you have become lukewarm in your walk. Lukewarm water is known to induce vomiting.

Christ was telling the church in Laodicea that if they did not return to their source, which was Jesus Christ, that He was going to have to remove them from His body, the church.

With Lukewarmness comes Spiritual Blindness
Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. If this church was wandering further and further away from its source then they were being filled with darkness, which makes it impossible to see properly. This is why they could not see that they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. They believed that their financial blessings and their wealth was the equivalent of being right with God. They were now blind to the truth and incapable of seeing their true spiritual condition.

The Church Today
Remember how we said that these churches represent church ages? Today this is the current church age that we live in—a church that says, “We are rich, increased with goods, and in need of nothing, but in reality we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.” We are in bad shape today, worse shape than we realize, and it has nothing to do with politics or who is in power. It has everything to do with the fact that the church has left its source. We have turned our backs on the work that Christ did for us at Calvary, and we are facing spiritual consequences for it.

Regardless of Condition Christ Loves Us and He Is Reaching Out To Us To Return To Him
Christ is standing at the door full of love in His heart and asking His church to return to Him. We are naked, but He wants to clothe us. We are wretched, but He wants to cover us with His righteousness. We are poor, but He wants to give us His inheritance. We are blind, but He wants to give us sight. We are miserable, but He wants to give us joy. If you will return to Him today, He will give you access to His throne, and He will sit down in fellowship with you. Return to Him today. Come back to your source!

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Parisragan1

Paris, accompanied by his wife Marybeth, coordinates and oversees <a href="https://gabrielswaggart.org/crossfire/unite">Crossfire Unite</a> fellowship groups. He is a regular teacher on SBN’s “<a href="https://gabrielswaggart.org/crossfire/gotc">Generation of the Cross</a>” with Gabriel Swaggart. Paris is a workshop instructor and assists with Church Needs for the <a href="https://gabrielswaggart.org/iyc">International Youth Conference</a>, and he has been an evening professor at <a href="https://jsbc.edu" target="_blank">Jimmy Swaggart Bible College</a> since the spring of 2017. He oversees all Crossfire Unite Student Outreaches. Paris also contributes writings to the <a href="https://gabrielswaggart.org/crossfire/blog?author=paris%20ragan">Crossfire Blog</a>.

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