Laodicea / Revelation 3:14-22
Well, church, it is good to see you this week. I am so glad you are here. If I haven’t met you yet, my name is Shay Sumlin. I’m one of the teaching pastors here at The Well, and I have the privilege this week of tying into the sixth church in our series on the seven churches that Jesus wrote letters to in the book of Revelation. We’ve covered five of those letters so far, and we have a couple of weeks left before we wrap this up.
All throughout this series, walking through these seven churches has had a profound impact on my life. Christ’s words have been such an incredible measuring tool and inventory on my own heart, my own life, my witness for Christ, my love for Christ, and my devotion to Him. We want to take Christ’s words to these churches as they apply to us, even two thousand years later, and see our lives transformed. I hope this has been a beneficial series for you.
One of the things you’ve probably noticed is that for every single church Jesus addresses, so much of His letter connects to the characteristics of the city that church was in. The culture of the city led to attitudes and actions that the church either adopted for God’s glory or for their own, prompting Jesus’ commendations or condemnations. When it comes to the physical backdrop of the city as it pertains to the letter, there is none more powerful than the one we are going to look at this week: the church of Laodicea. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 3, and we will pick up in verse 14.
The Self-Made City
Laodicea was a fascinating city in its day. It was so renowned in modern-day Turkey that even today, the largest archaeological excavations in the entire country are happening right now in Laodicea. These excavations are affirming things we’ve known to be true about Christ’s words, adding incredible color to the very words Jesus spoke to this church two thousand years ago.
What put this city on the map very early on in the first century was that it was known as a “throne city.” A significant family lived in Laodicea by the name of Zeno. This family had such strong ties with Rome that Rome elevated Zeno to the kingship of Cilicia. He did so well there that three years later, he was elevated to the larger territory of Pontus. The family of Zeno began to rule all over Asia Minor. Because of the great success and influence of this ruler and his family, Laodicea was granted the status of a throne city—a city where royalty came from. The residents took incredible pride in that identity.
At its peak in the first century, Laodicea grew to about 120,000 people. It was the largest of the tri-city area of Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. It was situated on a major trade route, with all kinds of commerce flowing through on its way to Ephesus. Because of that trade, the city took on a wealthy, affluent identity. Their ingenuity, innovation, and industrialization were cutting-edge.
In 26 AD, this pride was tested. The Roman government wanted to select a city to build a temple to the emperor Tiberius. Laodicea competed with ten other cities for the honor. It was like the Olympics, with cities flaunting their assets, hoping the committee would choose them. Unfortunately, Laodicea was not picked. Smyrna was selected instead. When Laodicea asked Rome why they weren’t chosen, Rome’s response was that they had “insufficient resources.”
You can imagine the chip that put on their shoulder. They hated the idea that Rome viewed them as lacking. That chip was so large that thirty years later, when a catastrophic earthquake leveled Laodicea in 60 AD, Rome offered government-subsidized aid to rebuild the city. Do you know what Laodicea said to Rome? “No thanks. We’ve got sufficient funds to take care of it ourselves. We don’t need your help.” They denied Rome’s money. That would be like a major American city today turning down federal disaster relief and saying, “We’re good. We have everything we need.” Nobody does that. But Laodicea did.
From that point forward, Laodicea made a commitment: We will never depend on anybody. We are going to be a self-made city. They pressed the gas pedal down, worked harder, innovated, and prospered.
Wealth, Wool, Water, and Wellness
Soon, the city became world-renowned for several specific commodities. First was their incredible wealth. Laodicea became a leading banking center. They created their own exchange center and minted their own currency. Immense wealth flowed into the city.
Second, they became famous for their clothing. They bred sheep that produced a rare, glossy black wool, which they turned into designer garments you couldn’t get anywhere else in the world. They were famous for their designer coats. It became a major fashion and textile center, much like the garment district of New York City.
Third, they were famous for their medical school, particularly for ophthalmology and treatments for the human eye. They crushed Phrygian stone into a powder known as collyrium, which was used as an eye salve to treat eye diseases and blindness. A famous ophthalmologist from their school, Demosthenes, wrote a treatise on the eye that was used from the first century all the way through the Middle Ages.
Finally, Laodicea was known for its inventive water supply. The city sat on a high, flat plateau and had no natural water source. Their greatest struggle became their greatest engineering feat. They built a massive aqueduct system. Water was piped in from two surrounding sources. To the south, cold water came from the snow-capped Mount Cadmus near Colossae. To the north, across the valley in Hierapolis, they tapped into famous hot springs with mineral-rich travertine pools.
Laodicea engineered aqueducts to bring hot water from Hierapolis and cold water from Colossae straight into the city. In fact, excavations reveal that many homes in Laodicea had indoor plumbing, an extreme luxury in the ancient world.
Yet here was their constant problem: by the time the cold water from Mount Cadmus reached Laodicea, it was no longer cold. By the time the hot water from Hierapolis arrived, it was no longer hot. It was lukewarm. Furthermore, the water was heavily contaminated with lime deposits and sheep dung from the hillsides. If you drank it, it made you violently sick.
Laodicea was a self-sufficient, self-made culture. In many ways, it mirrors modern Western culture: an independent spirit, driven by hard work, determined to depend on no one, completely sufficient to achieve our version of the dream. That entrepreneurial drive is fine in a commercial marketplace. But what happens when the church of Jesus Christ adopts that exact same spirit?
A church in a wealthy, connected city has an extraordinary opportunity. With immense resources and infrastructure at a global crossroads, a healthy church can leverage everything for the advance of the gospel. But what happens when an unhealthy church turns those resources inward? What happens when a church becomes so content with its affluence, comfort, and self-sufficiency that it legitimately believes it does not need Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit to do its ministry? That is the church of Laodicea.
The True Witness and the Tepid Church
Look at verse 14:
Revelation 3:14 (NASB)
’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:
These titles stress the supreme faithfulness and authority of Jesus over His church. Drawing from the prophecies of Isaiah 65, Jesus is presented as the God of truth, the “Amen”—the definitive, unwavering reality.
This language echoes what Paul wrote to the neighboring church in Colossae, a letter the Laodiceans would have read:
Colossians 1:15-16 (NASB)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, [both] in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Jesus reveals His absolute sufficiency and faithfulness against the backdrop of this church’s unfaithfulness and complete insufficiency.
Unlike Philadelphia, where Jesus had nothing negative to say, to Laodicea He offers not a single commendation. Look at verse 15:
Revelation 3:15-16 (NASB)
’I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ’So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
Those are jarring words. When Jesus says, “I want to vomit you out of My mouth,” you know something is deeply wrong.
This passage contains one of the most misinterpreted verses in the church. Many of us grew up hearing youth pastors say: “Jesus wants you on fire! You need to get hot for Jesus! Quit being lukewarm!” That sounds passionate, but it misses the historical context. Notice Jesus did not just say, “I wish you were hot.” He said, “I wish you were cold or hot.”
I have never heard a preacher say, “You need to get ice-cold for Jesus! Put on a parka for Jesus!” Why would Jesus say He wishes they were cold? Because in their region, hot water from Hierapolis brought healing, and cold water from Colossae brought refreshment. Both were useful. But lukewarm water was completely useless and stomach-turning.
Nobody walks into a coffee shop and orders a lukewarm latte. You want it piping hot or over ice. Tepid water is useless. Jesus is saying, “Your deeds, your nominal relationship with Me, is just like your city’s water supply. You bring no refreshment; you bring no healing. You are spiritually useless, and you make Me want to spew you out of My mouth.”
The Greek word used here is emeo, from which we get our word emetic—a substance that induces violent vomiting.
When I was in college, I lived in a house with nine guys. One of my closest friends and roommates was legally blind. He was fiercely independent and mapped out the house so he wouldn’t need help. One day, it was just the two of us at home. I was in the bathroom, and he yelled from the kitchen, “Hey, Shay, do you have any bread?” I told him I did, up on my shelf in the pantry. Because I was tall, my shelf was near the top. He reached up, but accidentally grabbed a loaf from an abandoned top shelf that hadn’t been touched in two years. Three minutes later, I heard violent retching from the kitchen. I ran out, and there was mold everywhere—there were more green trees on that bread than in the Amazon rainforest. It was an instant emetic.
As graphic as that is, that is how Jesus responds to nominal, self-satisfied Christianity. When He has shed His blood to redeem us for the greatest treasure in the universe, and we treat Him like trivial background decoration, it turns His stomach.
The Illusion of Self-Sufficiency
Why does Jesus use such strong language? Verse 17 exposes their core deception:
Revelation 3:17 (NASB)
’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,
This church echoed the exact words their city said to Rome: “We’re good. We have everything covered. Thank You, Jesus, but no thank You.” They viewed themselves as entirely self-sufficient.
Yet Jesus shatters their self-delusion. In their own eyes, they were rich, thriving, and in need of nothing. In Christ’s eyes, they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
Consider the profound irony:
- They lived in a world-famous banking center, yet spiritually they were bankrupt.
- They lived in a city renowned for healing eye salve, yet spiritually they were stone-blind.
- They lived in a textile hub famous for designer black garments, yet spiritually they were walking around unclothed in total shame.
Jesus is not condemning wealth, medicine, or clothing in themselves. He is condemning the church’s reliance upon them, their worship of them, and their self-sufficiency in them. They were choosing comfort over Christ.
Before we look down on Laodicea, we must realize that as modern Western believers, we look just like this to 90% of the world. We have comfort, wealth, and opportunity unparalleled in human history. How often do we run to those resources as our functional saviors? How easily we drift into relying on our own bank accounts, our own strategies, and our own efforts rather than the living God. The resources are common graces; the idolatry of our hearts is the problem.
The Great Counselor’s Prescription
Look at how Jesus lovingly counsels them in verse 18:
Revelation 3:18 (NASB)
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.
Jesus takes the three pillars of their local economy and redeems them with gospel truth:
- Instead of trusting in fleeting material wealth, buy from Him pure gold refined by fire—true spiritual wealth found in delighting in Christ through every trial.
- Instead of trusting in designer black garments, receive His white robe of righteousness to cover the shame of your sin.
- Instead of relying on worldly remedies to fix surface problems, receive His spiritual eye salve so your eyes can be opened to eternal realities.
They thought their problems were external and that the solutions were inside them. Jesus says their problem is internal, and the only solution is outside of themselves—in Him.
The Knock at the Door
This brings us to one of the most famous verses in Scripture:
Revelation 3:20 (NASB)
’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.
This verse is frequently used as an evangelistic appeal, picturing Jesus knocking on the door of an unbeliever’s heart. While Jesus certainly invites sinners to salvation, that is not the context here.
Jesus is speaking to His own church.
Jesus is standing outside the deadbolted door of His own congregation. The church is inside holding meetings, running programs, managing budgets, and organizing services, while Jesus is locked outside on the porch.
He knocks and says, “Let Me in. You need My presence. You need My righteousness.” And the church answers through the door, “No thanks, Jesus. We have the budget covered. We have the schedule full. We don’t really have time to pray tonight, but we appreciate You checking in.”
We treat Jesus like a traveling salesman—we might admire His products, but we don’t let Him into the house.
This is one of the most sobering pictures in all of Scripture. I know my own heart. I know how easily I can fill my week with pastoral duties, meetings, preparations, and counseling, and realize at the end of the week that I barely prayed. I can step into hard situations relying on my training rather than the power of the Holy Spirit. I can navigate marriage and parenting through my own wisdom rather than desperate dependence on Christ.
What terrifies me is the danger of that becoming the normal, nominal pattern of our lives—where Jesus is the hood ornament of our car rather than the engine that drives us, the wallpaper of our lives rather than the fire that consumes our hearts.
The Call to Repentance and the Promise of the Throne
What do we do when we find ourselves in lukewarm self-sufficiency? Jesus gives us three clear responses in verse 19:
Revelation 3:19 (NASB)
’Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
First, accept His loving discipline. When God exposes our self-sufficiency, it is not condemnation; it is the discipline of a loving Father pulling His wandering children back to safety.
Second, repent. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of heart, a change of direction, and a transformed life. It means abandoning our functional saviors.
Third, be zealous. Turn your passion away from lesser, worldly pursuits and anchor your zeal entirely in Christ.
Look at the reward He promises to those who overcome:
Revelation 3:21 (NASB)
’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.
To a city obsessed with being a “throne city,” Jesus promises that those who conquer self-sufficiency will sit with Him on His cosmic throne. Jesus chose the eternal presence of the Father over every earthly kingdom. When offered the prestige of this world or the glory of the Father, Jesus chose the Father every time. He offers that same eternal reward to us.
As we close, ask yourself these diagnostic questions:
- How would you assess your spiritual temperature right now? Are you hot, cold, or lukewarm?
- Is Christ, His Word, and His mission your all-satisfying treasure, or are you running to lesser things?
- Is there an urgency in your life that recognizes eternity is real and life is brief?
- Is Jesus truly welcomed into the daily details of your home, your marriage, and your schedule, or has He been locked outside?
Years ago, when my wife and I hit a difficult financial spot, my first instinct was to jump on eBay and sell things. My wife’s first instinct was to get on the floor and pray. One response came from self-reliance; the other came from spiritual dependence.
Scripture reminds us of our true source:
2 Peter 1:3 (NASB)
seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
He has already provided everything we need. We do not need to operate out of self-sufficiency.
This is the temptation of the modern church: pragmatism, corporate models, and programmatic busyness that leave no room for the presence of Christ. But Jesus calls us back to Himself:
Revelation 3:22 (NASB)
‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’’
Let us hear His voice, open the door, and welcome Him into the center of our lives and our church.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for this loving, piercing counsel. We confess how easily our lives resemble Laodicea. We confess that our hope and sufficiency are not found in this world, in our wealth, or in the work of our hands. Our sufficiency is found in the sovereign Creator and Redeemer who has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Stir our hearts to repent of our self-reliance. Help us open the door to Your presence, that the watching world may see that Jesus Christ is our all-satisfying treasure. In His name we pray. Amen.