Bible Study Making God Spit: The Lukewarm Christian.

[Tenchi]

Revelation 3:14-22
14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen,
the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy,
and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you
are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you
may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself,
and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed;
and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice
and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on
My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"​

I was reading some thoughts of a fellow believer on this passage and was struck by how...oddly the believer had approached the passage, not letting it speak for itself, but forcing a series of ideas into it - usually by jumping completely out of the text of the passage to make a "clarifying" connection to another entirely unrelated passage - which rapidly led to some of the oddest conclusions I've ever encountered concerning the passage and the Christian person generally. Mostly, the illegitimate "clarifying" connections were made on the basis of a word or phrase shared by both the text of the passage above and a verse or passage from another book entirely. Immediate context was ignored, for the most part, when making these sorts of connections and so Scripture became quite contorted and the resulting conclusions about God's Truth very bizarre.

In consequence of this experience, I thought I'd parse through the passage above myself and chew a bit on what it says in this post.

Revelation 3:14-22
14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen,
the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

So, who is the "angel of the church of Laodicea"? Well, the commentaries I consulted generally agree that it is the Elder/Pastor/Bishop over the church at Laodicea. The commentaries acknowledged that there was some debate, however, as to who, exactly, the term "angel" refers. When I consider the introductory words to the Laodicean church above, I'm struck by verse 15 which begins: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot..." Is the church in Laodicea in view here, or the angel of the church, or both? It's the angel of the church of Laodicea to whom the words of the Christ are written. The phrase "of the church in Laodicea" simply describes the angel, identifying him by way of his association with the Laodicean community of believers. It seems, then, that it is the angel to whom the words of Revelation 3:14-22 are primarily written, and so, when Christ says to that "angel" "you are neither cold nor hot" and "I will spit you out of my mouth," he can't, for obvious reasons, be speaking to an angel from heaven.

In verse 14, the word "angel" in Greek is angelos from the root aggellos (an aggregate of ago - bring, lead - and agele - herd), the word carrying the sense of "a messenger" or "one who brings tidings." Angelos doesn't refer necessarily, then, to a literal angel. And inasmuch as the criticism of Christ in the passage is levied upon the "angel" first and upon the church over which he presides only secondarily, it seems a human messenger is in view, not a heavenly one.

Why is this important to understand? Because the "angel" over the church of Laodicea is made responsible by Christ for the state of the church, the Elder's (i.e. angel's) own complacency reflected in the community of believers he was shepherding. In large part, then, the "lukewarmness" of the Laodicean church had to do with the character of the "angel" presiding over it. How often, though, the "angel" is ignored almost entirely and the Laodicean church made the prime focus of the critical words of Christ.

Continued below.

 

[Tenchi]

17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,"
and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white
garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed;
and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
What does it mean to be "neither cold nor hot," to be "lukewarm" (vs. 15-16)? Well, Christ actually says what he means: It's complacency and spiritual blindness born of affluence. The pastor and congregation of believers at Laodicea were materially wealthy and feeling no particular need. This was not true of their spiritual condition, however. Horribly, the material affluence of the "angel"
and church of Laodicea had blinded them all to their wretched state spiritually. They had no idea that, in their affluence, they had become "wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked."

This blindness is, perhaps, the very worst feature of the condition of the Laodicean "angel" and church. I've been in churches where material affluence was thought to be a sure sign of spiritual life and health. And just like the Laodicean situation, these churches labored under a spiritual obliviousness that, to me, was frightening. Oh, there was much noise made over the "blessing" of the expanding physical "campus" of the church, and great "sound and fury" during the Sunday morning worship service, but when I spoke to individual after individual in these churches about their personal experience of God each day, there was just...vapor. Worse, this vaporous Christian living was of no concern to those experiencing it. They had their huge homes, two or three cars in the garage, a boat and a cabin at the lake, and the myriad distractions that go along with such affluence and felt no unease at all that God was a small, misty figure at the edge of their lives, to be called on only in the worst of emergencies.

To such Christians as these God says, "You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked and cannot see that you are." He also says,

18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and
white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness
will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

What use, to be found diseased without a remedy? More vital than the diagnosis is the cure! And so, God has a solution for the condition that makes Him want to spit His own children out of His mouth. But what does it mean to "buy" from Him "gold refined in the fire," and "white garments" and "eye salve"? Well, there is no actual purchasing that goes on between God and His wayward children (Isaiah 55:1). "Buy" is a term reflective of the affluent, consumerist attitude of the Laodicean "angel" and church, used figuratively by Christ in his words to them. Instead of the usual purchases of material goods that their material wealth allowed, the Laodiceans were urged to "buy" what they really needed from God. How? "Be zealous and repent."

"Be zealous" is, of course, contrary to being lukewarm. "Zealous" holds the idea of "warmth of feeling" or "ardor" and derives from the verb zeo (Gk.), meaning "boil" or "heat." God urged the Laodiceans to such "hot" feeling in response to His promise to discipline those whom He loves (vs. 19). Rather than endure such discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11), the Laodiceans could, by repentance from their tepid spiritual living, "buy" from Christ the items needed to improve their condition and so escape divine discipline. Essentially, the Laodiceans were to change their thinking (repent) about their spiritual complacency/apathy and to do so zealously. This would involve accepting God's diagnosis of their spiritual state and admitting to it. Seeking from Him those things required to fix their spiritual wretchedness would also be required.

What is the "gold refined by fire"? What are the "white garments" in which they were to be clothed? And what is the "eye salve" that would cure their spiritual blindness? Here's the answer:

Revelation 3:20-21
20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me.
21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
All of what the Laodiceans were to obtain - gold, clothing, ointment - were found in fellowship ("sup") with Christ (2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 1:3). In Christ, in "dining with him," the apathetic Laodiceans would find fire-refined gold, white garments and blindness-curing eye salve. All of these things are by-products of walking in daily, intimate, life-changing communion with him. The "refined gold" is obviously figurative of purity. In Christ, the Laodiceans could be purified of the "sin which does so easily beset" and always hinders or halts enjoying fellowship with God. In Christ, they could be clothed in his righteousness, a "garment" whiter than any other - which is to say, perfectly "white" (Galatians 3:27; Romans 13:14; Philippians 3:9; Revelation 3:4). In Christ, the blind Laodiceans could find the remedy for their blindness, "seeing" with a divine clarity.

Ephesians 1:17-18
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Continued below.