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Daily Devotions

Revelation

Revelation 
Day 
Day 34

"You are neither cold nor hot"

Text: Revelation 3:15

THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA

Laodicea was a very wealthy city. When an earthquake hit the city, Laodicea refused aid from Rome to rebuild the city. The city state was wealthy enough to finance the rebuilding of the city. The city was famous for its medical practice. A temple was dedicated to a deity called Asclepios who was worshipped as a god who heals.

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness,
the Beginning of the creation of God:
‘I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold or hot.
So then, because you are lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot,
I will vomit you out of My mouth.””
Revelation 3:14-16

1. A description of the Lord Jesus.

a) He is called “The Amen”.

i) We end our prayer with this word “Amen”.

ii) It means, “Let it be so” (as prayed for).

iii) The Lord is the Amen who helps us when we pray.

b) He is also called “The Faithful and True Witness”.

i) He is God’s special Witness.

ii) His witness is marked by faithfulness and truth.

iii) What He speaks is always perfectly true.

c) The “Beginning of the creation of God”.

i) This does not mean that the Lord Jesus was created.

ii) The word “beginning” highlights His rightful place… as the Head.

iii) He is to be regarded as the Most preeminent One.

2. An assessment of the church of Laodicea.

a) It was neither cold nor hot.

b) It was lukewarm.

c) This phrase is drawn from an understanding of the water supply of Laodicea.

i) A great weakness of this city was its lack of a strong supply of water.

ii) The main source of its water was an aqueduct about 6 km away from the city.

iii) The water that was delivered was therefore “lukewarm”.

d) Hot and cold water.

i) Cold water was possible only if people went way out of the city to get snow water.

ii) Hot water would have to be carefully boiled.

iii) Both types of water were considered good.

e) Lukewarm water.

i) This came to symbolise indifference.

ii) The church was not zealous for the Lord at all.

iii) They made little or no effort in their service given to the Lord.

f) The response of the Lord.

i) Imagine if the Lord were to visit them and He was given water to drink.

ii) No effort was made to give Him a good drink of water.

iii) Lukewarm water was unpalatable and unsafe.

iv) The natural response would be to “vomit” the lukewarm water.

v) This was the danger the church of Laodicea was facing!