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Revelation 3:15-21: Water

The church in Laodicea receives the most negative letter recorded in Revelation. These are Christians Jesus is talking about spewing from Him forever. What is the sin of the Laodiceans? They are rich but they are poor. This is not unlike our nation today. We know that one cannot serve both God and money and as we have grown richer in this country, complacency, crime, pornography, atheism, and self-reliance have sprung up like weeds attempting to choke out the Word of God. Like Laodicea, as we have grown complacent, trusting in our earthly riches, our country is turning further from God.

Laodicea was rich but Laodicea lacked the good water of her neighbouring cities: Hieropolis had great hot mineral springs and Colossae had wonderful clear, cold water. Laodicea’s water was lukewarm by the time it was piped in through its aqueducts. Laodicea was rich in money but poor in the water it needed to survive. Likewise, Laodicea was rich in temporal wealth but poor in living water, which we all need to survive. If only Laodicea was as hot as the waters of Hieropolis or as cool and refreshing as the waters of Colossae! (Important: This passage is NOT referring to ‘spiritual hotness’ as a good thing versus ‘spiritual coldness’ as a bad thing. That was a foreign analogy in the first century!)

This is what John is talking about: The Christians in Loadicea have material wealth but they lack spiritual wealth. They have both the good hot water and the good cold water being poured into them but when they mix together in their wealthy city this becomes useless lukewarm water. This is our nation too but there is good news. Jesus says: “… be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne…”

Even in this state of wallowing in their riches while people in their world starve to death; even in our state of wallowing in our riches while people in our world starve to death; even in this state of not having spiritual strength equivalent to the hot springs of Hieropolis or the religious zeal equivalent to the clear, cold waters of Colossae, God does not give up on them. He does not give up on us. Jesus stands at the door and knocks. It isn’t a casual knocking at the door and seeing that the Laodiceans are too busy to hear him, he goes away – this is a persistent knock. The Greek word here refers to a fervent, continual knocking.

And so it is with us today. He is knocking at our door right now. The question is, will we shut Jesus out and so be spewed from Him or will we trust Jesus, let Him in and sit with Him as He reigns forever?


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