The Lord presents Himself to Laodicea in a way that utterly condemns the condition of the church, and yet is of the greatest encouragement to the overcomer. He is “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.” As the Amen, He is the One in whom all the promises of God have been taken up and affirmed in all their bearings, to bring to pass every good and overthrow every wrong, and eternally glorify God in so doing. As the Faithful Witness, He was ever loyal to the One who sent Him. He loved the Father and came to do the Father’s will. Whatever the cost to Himself, He never deviated from that will and never flinched from carrying it out. He is the beginning of the creation of God, which, in all its vast extent, will be marked by the will of God.
In the perfection of His way as the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God, He eclipsed all others. He was fairer than the children of men. And yet alas! He who should have been exclusively before the church as the One beyond compare is the very One who is excluded by the church of the Laodiceans and treated with callous indifference. The church was set to shine for Christ, to bear witness to the grace of God, and to exhibit the qualities of the new creation. Alas! it has failed in all its responsibilities. It should have shone for Christ, in a dark world, by pointing to Him as the One in whom all the promises of God have their complete fulfillment—that He is the “Yea” and the “Amen,” and that every blessing that God has for man is found in Him. Then, indeed, the church was set in the world to be a faithful and true witness to the grace of God. Alas! so far from being a witness to grace, in the last stage of her history the great mass are strangers to grace and even opposed to God.
Lastly, the church should have been the “firstfruits of His creatures,” exhibiting the fruits of new creation — “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (James 1:1818Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18); Gal. 5:22-23; 6:1522But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22‑23)
15For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. (Galatians 6:15)). How little are these new creation fruits to be found in the professing Christian circle! Is not Christendom marked by hatred, misery and war, rather than love, joy and peace? Alas! is it not true that nothing on the face of the whole earth is so diametrically opposed to God as unconverted Christendom?
Thus we learn, in the way Christ presents Himself to the church of Laodicea, the way in which the church should have represented Christ before the world.
Indifference to Christ
So absolutely has the church failed in its witness for Christ that, in the last stage, the Lord can find nothing to commend. All He finds is a state that is utterly nauseous to Him. He says, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot.” The Lord sees a condition that has neither the coldness of death, as in Sardis, nor the warmth of devotion, as in Philadelphia. There is that which, in His sight, is more hopeless to man and more dishonoring to Himself than the coldness of death, for the Lord can say, “I would thou wert cold or hot.” He sums up this condition, in its last phase, in the solemn words, “Thou art lukewarm.” What is this but indifference to Christ, and what is always linked with indifference but toleration of evil? In the last phase of Christendom there are those who take the name of Christ and make a profession of Christianity, but when tested by the great question, “What think ye of Christ?” are found to be utterly indifferent to Him.
The improvement of man, the uplifting of the masses, the betterment of social conditions will deeply interest them, but the glad tidings concerning Christ, the interests of Christ, and the people of Christ awaken within them but a languid interest, and to Christ, Himself, they are wholly indifferent. As long as people are sincere, charitable and respectable, the Laodicean cares not what they believe concerning Christ. His deity may be denied and His perfect Manhood defamed; the Laodicean is quite indifferent. The atonement may be set aside, the inspired words of Christ denied, the coming of Christ made a matter for scoffing, and yet all is of the utmost indifference to the “broad-minded,” easy-going, lukewarm Laodicean.
Such a condition is absolutely nauseous to Christ. The Lord expresses His abhorrence by warning this church that the end will be their complete rejection as a church. He says, “I will spew thee out of My mouth.”
Self-Satisfaction
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.”
“Buy of Me”
Having exposed their terrible condition the Lord gives them counsel. He says, “I counsel thee to buy of Me” — words which show their need of Christ and that there is no blessing apart from Christ. They must come to Christ for true riches. What grace that invites, not simply sinners confessed, but these self-occupied, self-satisfied professors to come to Himself! Does it not blessedly set forth the attitude of grace that Christ still takes toward the Christless profession? They profess to have riches, so the Lord, taking them up on their own ground, invites them to come and buy. The only cost will be the letting go of their own self-righteousness, for, after all, the positive blessings that the Lord has to dispense are without money and without price.
They are invited to buy “gold tried in the fire,” speaking of divine righteousness secured through the judgment of the cross; “white raiment,” speaking of practical righteousness, that, so clothed, the shame of their nakedness does not appear. Their lack of practical righteousness before men was a solemn proof of their lack of divine righteousness before God. “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:1520). Further, they need the eye salve that they may see, speaking of the anointing of the Spirit that enables us to see our need of Christ, as well as the perfection of His person and work to meet our need and to supply us with true wealth and suitability to the glory of God.
The Rebuke of Love
The Lord, however, is not content with speaking to the consciences of these lukewarm Laodiceans. He will seek to reach the heart of any true believer that may still be found in Laodicea. He says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” The church had long since left first love, but the Lord never left His first love for the church. No longer can He speak of their love, yet He can still speak of His love. It is not, however, the love of complacency, but a love that has to act in rebuke.
The Knock at the Door
Further, the Lord lingers in grace at their door. He speaks to the conscience; He appeals to the heart; He stands at the door; He knocks at the door. There is the call to repentance, but there is no expectation that the mass will repent, for this last appeal is only to the 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.”
Such is the last stage of the church’s history on earth. That which was set to bear witness for Christ on earth becomes a witness to its own wretchedness and shuts Christ outside its door. In the condition of Laodicea, do we not see the full result of the first departure in Ephesus? The beginning of all departure was leaving first love to Christ; the end, total indifference to Christ in a church that is well content to have Christ outside its door. The last stage of Christendom, that with calm indifference shuts the door on Christ, seems almost worse in its callousness than the last stage of Judaism that, in its hostility, nailed Christ to a cross.
Even as Christ lingered over corrupt Judaism with tears, so He waits outside the door of Christendom with infinite patience, if perchance there is “any man” in the Christian profession that will open the door to Him. For the mass there is no hope; it is about to be spewed out of His mouth, but until that solemn act of final rejection comes to pass, there is this loving invitation held out to the individual who will listen to the voice of Christ. If there is one whose conscience has been reached by the Lord’s exposure of Christendom, who has been aroused by His warnings, who has listened to His counsel and been touched by His love, let that one but open the door and, even at this last stage, Christ will come in to him and sup with him, and he shall sup with Christ. What is this but the sweet communion of first love? Does it not prove that in the last stage of the church’s history on earth, when judgment is about to fall upon the great mass of the profession, it is possible for the individual to be brought back to first love? The Lord does not speak of any recovery of public witness to Himself, but of secret communion with Himself.
To the Overcomer
To the overcomer there is the promise of sitting with Christ on His throne, even as Christ also has sat down with the Father in His throne. The one who overcomes the indifference of Laodicea and opens the door to Christ, in the day when the great mass have closed the door upon Christ, will enjoy, not only secret communion with Christ, in the day of His rejection, but will be associated with Christ in display in the day of His glory. Christ overcame a world that rejected the Father and has sat down on His Father’s throne; the one who overcomes a world that has rejected Christ will sit down with Christ on His throne.
The address closes with the appeal to the one with the hearing ear. It is well for us to pay heed to what the Spirit says to the church of Laodicea, for does it not set forth a condition that may develop even among the Philadelphians? But for the grace of God, the very light and privileges that are given may lead to Laodicean self-complacency. May we have the needed grace to hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches.
H. Smith