JUN 30

Revelation 3:14-22
Memorise Revelation 3:19
“Because thou art lukewarm…I will spue thee out of my mouth”

ARE YOU LUKEWARM?

The city of Laodicea had a very unique system to supply their water. Because they were not near any natural water sources, they had to pipe in water through an underground aqueduct. Whilst it may have been a technologically advanced system for their time, and rather innovative, the result was not as good as one might expect. By the time the water from the rivers or natural springs arrived at Laodicea, they were foul, dirty and tepid. It was lukewarm, and neither refreshing nor therapeutic. It was not like the waters from the hot springs of nearby Hierapolis, nor was it the cool refreshing streams of Colossae about 10 miles southeast from them. All they had was the barely useable water from its aqueduct.

It was with such a setting in mind, that the Lord rebuked the spiritual state of the church at Laodicea. Like Sardis, this was also a church which received no commendation whatsoever, for the Lord only had strong words of condemnation against them. The main problem, was their spiritual lukewarmness. This meant that they were spiritually uninterested, apathetic and lackluster in their attitudes. On the one hand, they were not spiritually dead or completely nil (ref. Matthew 24:12), in that they still did call themselves believers, and claimed to worship God. However, they were not hot and zealous for the Lord (ref. Romans 12:11, same root word for ‘hot’ is translated as fervent’.) What they had was a false sense of security in their religiosity. They thought that they were spiritually alright, when in fact they were just superficial, nominal Christians who were probably not saved in the first place! That is why the Lord found them so repulsive, that He wanted only to spit them out of his mouth.

The reason for this lukewarmness is given in verse 17 – it was due to their material riches. Their life was too comfortable, and had need of nothing. In the midst of their opulence they became spiritually complacent, and saw no need for God in their lives. To them, their involvement in church was really a ‘by the way’ sort of thing, and held no value in their lives. To them, the Lord calls them to be zealous and repent. They were to realize the sin of their ways and return to the Lord, for the Lord stands at the door and asks to be welcomed back into the church. In all that they had done, they had rejected the very one whom they claimed to worship. How sad!

Thought: Have I allowed myself to become spiritually lukewarm?
Prayer: Lord, help me always to be fervent in spirit, zealous for Thee!