What is the significance of Laodicea in the Bible?

The Lord by His word fastens upon the root of all the evil, giving in a sentence the character of the condition which manifests such failure and which is the occasion for His expressed judgment. "I know thy works," He says, "that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Care or concern for God's glory there is none, and anything like faithfulness of heart is entirely wanting; nor is there that entire absence of movement in divine things which is an opportunity for the application of the word in the convicting power of the Spirit to the conscience; all is utter and complete indifference. God's word is known and the truth no doubt assented to, but in all the well-satisfied carelessness of those who are contentedly self-occupied and whom the Apostle describes (2 Tim. 3) as "traitors, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." The keen edge of the word is thus turned away from the conscience and so nothing can stop the sickening course of unabashed self-satisfaction and self-occupation, but that rejection by the Lord which will make manifest even to man in the world all its nauseousness.

The first and most terrible characteristic of the Laodiceans is indifference to Christ. As regards Christ they are neither "cold nor hot." They have neither the worldly infidel's hatred of Christ, nor the true Christian's jealous love for Christ. They see no beauty in His Person; they put no value upon His work. As regards the Person and work of Christ, in the "church" of the Laodiceans you may think what you like, hold what you like and say what you like. It is all a matter of indifference. In the sight of the Lord this indifference is fatal. To express His abhorrence of this deadly indifference to Himself, the Lord uses terms of loathing and contempt such as He never used of Thyatira with all its corruption, nor Sardis with all its dead formality. The fact that the Lord can say He will spew them out of His mouth, proves that He views them as professing Christians. He never speaks thus of the heathen. It is the profession of the Name of Christ to enrich and improve a man who is totally indifferent to Christ, that is so loathsome in the sight of Christ.

Hence the Lord introduces Himself to them as the Amen; all security lies in the Christ of God. He only is "the faithful and true witness." This is exactly what the church ought to have been but was not; and therefore He has to take that place Himself. It was so before when He was here below in grace; now He must resume it in judicial power and glory, than which one can hardly conceive a greater rebuke for the condition of those whose obligation was to be faithful and true witnesses. Besides He is "the beginning of the creation of God." This sets aside the first man altogether, and most justly, for Laodicea is the glorification of man and of his resources in the church. He begins that new work, which God delights in as according to His nature.

"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would that thou wert cold or hot. Thus, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spue thee out of my mouth." Being neutral in principle and practice, they were half-hearted toward Christ. Nor is any place more likely to generate neutrality than an outwardly true position, if self-judgment be not maintained with godly sincerity. The more one stands in the forefront of the battle, with the responsible testimony of God, the more His grace and truth are in letter brought out before others, if there be not also walk according to the light, sooner or later comes a lapse back into neutrality, if not active enmity. For heart and conscience are not animated and governed by the power of God's Spirit through living faith in Christ. Indifference to all that is good must follow; and the only kind of zeal, if zeal can so exist, will be for what is of the first man, worldly, and bad.

This is Laodiceanism. So repulsive does the Master declare it to be, that one need not wonder that most are unwilling for it to be their lot, or that it can be, as it is, the last recorded phase before the church is traced no more on earth. People vainly dream of progress, and flatter themselves. "Thus because thou art neither cold nor hot, I am about to spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and the miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of me gold purified by fire." They wanted everything that was characteristic of Christianity: "gold" or divine righteousness in Christ, "that thou mayest be rich"; "and white garments," or the righteousnesses of saints, "that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not be manifested; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see." They had lost the perception of what God values. All was dark as to truth, and uncertain as to moral judgment. Holy separateness and savour were gone. "As many as I dearly love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking: if any one hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." The Lord presents Himself even there in His pitiful way to meet their every want.

Rev. 3:15-16. — “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. Thus because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spue thee out of My mouth.” “I know thy works” is seven times repeated in these addresses according to our English Version, but in the Revised and other critical editions of the Scriptures the formula is omitted in the address to Smyrna and in that to Pergamos. To the angel in Ephesus and Thyatira other items are added to the works of which the Lord says, “I know;” while in the case of Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, “I know thy works” refer to the general state and condition of these churches. The pregnant sentence, however, “I know” occurs seven times, being addressed to the angel of each assembly. Omniscience, a divine attribute, is thus seven times affirmed of our Lord. To Philadelphian weakness this assertion of the Lord’s absolute knowledge of that which is unknown to man, yet known to Him, is a truth full of strength. To Laodicea in its lukewarmness, with its show, and boast, and wealth, the all-seeing eye of the Lord searching the recesses of the heart must be an intolerable thought. What the Lord here specially notes is the lukewarm condition of the angel. This last phase of the Church is the worst. Men would find a deeper evil in Thyatira. The Lord declares the most nauseous state to be that into which Laodicea was sunk, a state moreover in which the angel positively gloried. The terms used are “cold” and “hot,” not “dead” and “alive.” Had these latter been employed the truth of being saved or lost might have been in question, but “neither cold nor hot ” is predicated in relation to their state to Him. Total indifference to Christ, not hatred, is implied in the term “lukewarm.”*

We do not hold with some that the lukewarm condition of Laodicea springs out of the Philadelphian state of the Church. Such an interpretation is beset with insuperable difficulty, but, undoubtedly, the coldness and death of Sardis, with the weakness yet warmth of Philadelphia, had left but a feeble impression on the general condition of Laodicea. We take it that the legalism of Thyatira, the moral insensibility of Sardis, and the rejection of the truth and position of Philadelphia, with, of course, other causes, contribute to produce the Laodicean condition of that Church, i.e., absolute indifference to Christ. What can the Lord do with it? Had it been cold — an active position taken up — or hot — as manifesting a measure of spiritual activity — then something might have been done. But an undecided, neutral position towards Christ and the truth is one so hateful that it must be got rid of without delay. The last phase of the Church is its worst. Philadelphia is cheered with the promise, “I come quickly.” Laodicea is threatened with judgment, “I am about to spue thee out of My mouth.” Both promise and threat are presented as at hand. It has been remarked more than once that the last four phases of the Church run on concurrently to the end. The mass in Thyatira and Sardis are involved in the doom pronounced on Laodicea, whilst the remnants in these churches equally share in one distinctive blessing of Philadelphia — “caught up.” The Lord’s Coming is not referred to in the address to Laodicea. Its public repudiation as God’s witness will be effected by the translation of the heavenly saints. In other words, the removal of Philadelphia and the rejection of Laodicea are coincident events, the latter being dependent on the former. Christendom, which commenced its history under the brightest auspices, will close under the darkest cloud which has ever rested on the course of human responsibility.

"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 eye-salve, that thou mayest see." (vv. 15-18.) Such was the sad state of the church of Laodicea, such the sad picture of the professing Church in one of its last phases. There is not the gross corruption of Thyatira, nor the hopeless deadness of Sardis, but what is even more offensive to Christ, whose name is turned into a means of self-exaltation, instead of being an object of love. There is activity in the name of Christ, abundant works, abundant self-complacency, but heartless indifference to his person.

Laodicea gives the last aspect of the nominal church, and He who stands in the midst of the candlesticks sends a last message. He knocks at the door. Laodicea is not in the deathly cold condition of Sardis, but in what is even more offensive to the Lord. "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." The deadness of Sardis was worse than the corruptness of Thyatira, and the lukewarmness of Laodicea worse than the deadness of Sardis. Protestants may boast in being free from Romish idolatry, but lukewarm orthodoxy is more hateful than corrupt doctrine. All the previous evils in the churches call for judgment, but nowhere such abhorrence and disgust as here. It is Sardis death pretending to Philadelphia life; it is the five foolish virgins with the lamp of profession, but no oil. There is nothing good found in them. In the former steps of the declining church some were found who in a little way met the mind of the Lord. To Laodicea the Lord says, "Thou art miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." They are counselled to buy gold and white raiment of the Lord, To buy! It seems to point to the impossibility of obtaining what they needed, save indeed by parting with their pretended riches, and confessing their real condition. For with what else could they buy? Nevertheless they were responsible to obtain the gold tried by fire and the white raiment. So the foolish virgins were told to go and buy oil for themselves. Terrible moment: when having refused and now, as it were, denied the gift of grace, they are bidden to get their need supplied as best they can. Over Laodicea the Lord lingers in mercy. He says, "buy of me." We know how He sells, and He alone in the darkest, guiltiest condition of the professing church can supply the need. And He was ready and waiting to do so. He would not turn away, and makes a last appeal in declaring both His love and righteous dealing. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent." To all who would repent, there was the assurance of His love. The solemn fact appears here, that although one like the Son of man is in the midst of the churches judging their condition, the Lord Jesus, as the One present in the midst of the two or three gathered to His Name, is not in Laodicea. He is without knocking. Nor is He now knocking at the door of the church, but at the door of each heart. It is individual: "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." Can we gather from this that one or more souls in Laodicea will hear His voice and open the door? Grace is sufficient even for this. But the church as a corporate body is not owned, and the ruin is complete and final. Compare this end with the bright beginning at Pentecost. The deep failure of the nominal church is only exceeded by the grace which has kept the real children of God — spite of their failure — through the constantly deepening darkness from Ephesus to Laodicea. The root of all the evil was found in Ephesus; is the ripe fruit now visible? There is high pretension, and mixed with a walk defiled and defiling, and the word to each one, "To him that overcometh," comes with increased force as the end approaches.

Laodicea follows. Lukewarmness characterises the last state of profession in the assembly. It is nauseous to Christ; He will spue it out of His mouth. It was not mere want of power, it was want of heart — the worst of all ills. This threat is peremptory, not conditional. It brought irremediable rejection. With this want of heart for Christ and His service, there was much pretension to the possession of resources and competency in themselves; "I am rich," whereas they had nothing of Christ. It is the professing assembly accounting itself rich without having Christ as the riches of the soul by faith. Therefore He counsels them to buy of Him true and approved righteousness, clothing for their moral nakedness, and what gave spiritual sight; for they were, as respects what Christ is and gives before God, poor, naked, and miserable, and specially so. This is Christ's judgment of their pretended acquisitions according to man. However, as long as the assembly subsists, Christ continues to deal in grace, stands at the door and knocks, presses reception of Himself in the closest way on the conscience. If any one, still in what He was going to spue out, heard His voice and opened, He would give him admission to be with Him, and a part in the kingdom.

We come now to the solemn close of these addresses, the Lord's last word to the churches; and it is very striking that we come to that close here, just after that epistle to Philadelphia , in which we have seen recognized a certain real return of heart to Christ, and a true revival by His Word and Spirit. Now, there are, on the contrary, prostration and collapse: and the most serious thing is that these are the infallible signs of the failure on the part of Philadelphia itself. Laodicea springs out of Philadelphia . The blessing there leads to the judgment here. In the states of the professing church which these addresses have already pictured, there is not only historical succession, but development. Even Protestantism sprang out of the bosom of Romanism, as Philadelphia out of Protestantism. In neither case is the one absorbed into the other, however. Romanism continues, outside the Reformation. The signs of a remnant are unmistakable in Philadelphia . Moreover, "overcomers" are implied in each case until the coming of the Lord. In Thyatira, thus, they are exhorted to "hold fast till I come; and he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations." In Sardis , ‘‘ If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief." In Philadelphia , "I come quickly." In this way, Protestantism, springing out of Romanism, runs henceforth side by side with it to the end. Philadelphia springs out of Protestantism, and similarly accompanies it. And so Laodicca, we may conclude, springs out of Philadelphia , and runs its course parallel with the rest. But there is more positive proof. For if in Sardis there has been the absolute coldness of death, in Philadelphia, the glow of revival, in Laodicea there is the fatal lukewarmness which shows at once the effect (and the limited effect) of one upon another. And this is why the cold of Sardis itself is preferable to the lukewarmness of Laodicea . All God's grace has been spent in vain upon it. Laodicea gives us, then, the failure of Protestantism, as Thyatira of that which assumes to be the Catholic Church. It is the complete failure of Christendom the second time; and now, in the full light of an open Bible, and after repeated intervention of God in wide-spread and protracted revival and blessing. The full end of patience has at last been reached, and the time to display also the results of the divine work, which no failure or opposition of man can in any wise hinder. But before entering upon the details of this address to Laodicea , let us inquire as to the name itself. It was given to the city by Antiochus 11., after his enlargement of it, in honour of his wife Laodice, and is a compound of two words - laos , "people," and dike. "Dike" is given by the dictionaries as having the three meanings, closely connected together, (i) of "manner, custom, usage;" (2) of "right;" (3) of "requirement," and so "vengeance," punitive justice. We have thus three possible meanings: "custom of the people," "people's right," "judgment of the people." And these three things have equally plain and solemn connection with one another. For it is indeed the "people's custom" that is here unfolded. If under popery it is rather the usurpation of the leaders that is the question, in Protestantism, with its open Bible, the people are tested as never before. The earliest ages of Christianity, dependent upon the toilsome labour of copyists for the multiplication of copies of the Word, had in no wise the privileges of which the Reformation, with its providentially furnished printing press, at once came into possession. Hence, also, responsibilities as great, and brought home to the door of every man. People may still be ignorant, but it is now assuredly a willing ignorance. They may still seek to cast responsibility upon others, and blindly follow still leaders as blind, but this has necessarily now another character from what it had before. Hence it is the people who are now being manifested,- their way which is being made apparent; and judgment, however delayed, must at last follow with proportional energy. Thus two significant applications of this word " Laodicea " are made evident. But again, and connected with this, there is a feature of the last days which Scripture puts prominently forward, - the self-assertion which indeed on man's part has never been lacking, but which NOW pervades, in a manner not before seen, the masses of the population. That Protestantism has favoured this, is one of the reproaches of the Romanists. And it is undeniably true that in one sense it has favoured it. The breaking of ecclesiastical yokes, - the yoke of a tyranny more prostrating than any other, - with that awaking of the mind of man which is ever found where the light of the Word of God has penetrated, - has produced a state of things in which, if Christ's yoke be not accepted, man's will will assuredly assert itself as never before.

When He comes to the world, and His people take their places with Him as associated with Him in government, then dignities, honours, rewards of work, will find their place. It will be "Have thou authority over ten" - "be thou also over five cities." But salvation, righteousness, the child's place with the Father, membership of the body of Christ, our relationship to Christ as His bride, - nay, even our being kings and priests unto His God and Father, are things which, as they are not gained, so they are not lost by any work of ours at all. Christ has procured them for us, and grace bestows them, - grace, and grace alone. When, therefore, the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, is there discrimination among those in Christ? - of the dead who shall be raised? of the living who shall be changed? Nay, but the "dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; so shall we be ever with the Lord." Blessed words! how they pierce and scatter the chilling fogs of legalism, and make the "blessed hope," not a means of sorest perplexity and doubt, but hope indeed! Nor are the passages which these writers build upon in contradiction with this at all. The promise to the overcomer at Philadelphia is one of a class which, as the eye runs over them throughout these apocalyptic addresses, show plainly that they apply more or less to every true believer. Take the promise to him at Ephesus , and ask, Will any believer not "eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God"? Take that to Smyrna , and ask, Will any "be hurt of the second death"? And so on through the remainder. Their special significance in relation to the overcomer in the cases there pointed out is not in the least diminished by their general application to all believers. Again, as to the ten virgins, it is a mistake to suppose that in that character (according to the parable,) Christians are represented as espoused to Christ at all. Those who go forth to meet the bridegroom are not the bride; and to make them this, disjoints the parable. According to the whole tenor of the prophecy in these chapters, the Jewish people and the earth are in the foreground, and the parable of the virgins only parenthetically brings in the connection of Christians with these. According to the common language of the Old-Testament prophets, the Lord is coming to take His bride; and on His way to do this, His people of the present time are called up to meet Him and return with Him. So much is implied in the expression in the Greek. It is thus when He is come to earth that the foolish virgins are rejected, and cast out of His kingdom altogether. The parable is a parable of the kingdom; and the kingdom, in all the parables, speaks of earth, not heaven, and of the whole field of profession. "Virgins," "servants," and the like titles, merely intimate responsible profession, not necessarily the truth of it. He was a servant who had laid up his lord's money in a napkin, and never really served at all. He was a servant, but a wicked one; and so with these "foolish" virgins. Oil they are explicitly stated not to have; and though their lamps are only represented as "going out," when the cry is raised, "Behold, the bridegroom!" This is the constant style of these parables, in which the inner thoughts of the soul are mir­rored and exposed, not dogmatic truth taught. In their own imaginations, the Pharisees were the "ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance;" not in dogmatic reality. Moreover, the Lord's words of rejection, "I know you not," are decisive from One who "knoweth them that are His," and can never disown them. No, He cannot spew His own out of His mouth, but must have them with Him out of the world before the first drops of the storm of judgment fall. Even then it will be made manifest, before He rejects the public professing body, that they have on their part rejected Him. Christendom ends in open apostasy. The day of the Lord will not come except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed. Popery, evil as it is, and anti-christian too, is not the last evil, nor the worst. It is the sinful woman, not the man. It has been revealed over three hundred years as this, and the day of the Lord is not yet come. The Antichrist will deny the Father and the Son alike. How solemn to contemplate the last end of what began so differently! How above all solemn to consider that both at the beginning and the end, the sin and failure of the true people of God it is which initiates and completes the ruin! Who can doubt that Christians themselves are largely taking up this self-complacent assumption - "rich, and increased with goods, and in need of nothing"?

Rev. 3:17. — “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art the wretched and the* miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Philadelphia has not a word to say for itself. Laodicea has. In fact, in almost every respect these two churches stand out in sharp contrast. “Thou sayest.” There was not only a self-satisfied condition in the Church, but the proud boast of it is here recorded: “Thou sayest, I am rich.” The city could boast of its material wealth, the Church would equally boast of its riches. It has added, moreover, to its wealth: “Am grown rich.” Without doubt the Church in Laodicea had influence, numbers, gifts, showy attainments, intellectual acquirements, and other attractive qualities, and in the possession of these it prided itself. Alas! these things at the expense of spirituality, of a true and fervent love to Christ, can only be regarded as a curse, and must sooner or later, if not repented of, end in judgment. In their own estimation “they had need of nothing.” They had neither heart for Christ nor desire for His presence. They could boast while immediate judgment was announced (v. 16), and Christ the Church’s life and glory was standing outside (v. 20). The Laodicean condition is the special danger in these days.

What is the Lord’s estimate of its state? What is the sum and character of Laodicean wealth in His eyes? “Thou art the wretched (one) and the miserable (one),” besides being “poor, and blind, and naked.” The definite article (omitted in the Authorised Version) adds considerably to the point and force of the Lord’s judgment of Laodicea. “The wretched” and “The miserable,” or “pitiable,” the concentration of extreme misery, and the subject beyond all others of pity. They were poor, as destitute of true riches; blind to their state and to the Lord’s glory; and naked, as destitute of divine righteousness. ‘There is one other feature to complete the awful picture presented of this Christless Church: “AND KNOWEST NOT.” Its actual condition before the Lord was absolutely unknown to it. Had there been the slightest recognition of its need there would have been hope. All was utter insensibility. Nothing, therefore, remained but loathsome rejection.

(V. 17). There is, however, further condemnation, for, linked with indifference to Christ there is the most arrogant assumption and self-satisfaction. Laodicea says, "I am rich, and increased with goods and have need of nothing." Though indifferent to Christ the Laodicean Church is full of herself and her claims. The Church that was left here to witness for Christ, has fallen to such depths that it not only ceases to witness for Christ, but it commences to witness to itself. The Church ceases to speak of Christ, and talks about the Church. The Assembly is made much of, and Christ is belittled. The Assembly seeks to attract to herself and not Christ. It usurps the place of Christ by claiming to be the vessel of riches and grace. Christ is outside, and yet it can say, "I have need of nothing."

Such then is the condition of the Laodicean Church, indifferent to Christ, self-occupied, and self-satisfied; and yet withal utterly ignorant of its true condition before the Lord. "I know," the Lord can say, but, "Thou knowest not." In their own estimation, the Laodicean had need of nothing, in the sight of the Lord they needed everything, for He has to say, "Thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."