Rev 3:14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
The "Laodicean" churches that are around today (the style) are the kind of churches that seem to have a "form" of godliness, but do not embrace the power of the church. In these churches the Bible is seldom taught, alter calls are few, and sinners are rarely converted. This is what the Risen Christ is addressing in this letter. We start with Him reminding us of who He is.
"The Amen"- Isaiah 65:16 in the Hebrew, he is called the God of Amen. The word "amen" at the end of a statement is there to promise truth, it is a form of guarantee that the statement is true. So, if Christ is referring to himself as the "Amen" he is saying He is the one to rely on, where the promises are not to be doubted. The Greek word for truly is Amen.
"the faithful and true witness"- There are three characterics of a reliable, true witness:
1. Must have seen what he is reporting
2. Must be honest and able to repeat the facts accurately.
3. Must be able to communicate the information on who it is to be told to.
Christ is declaring that He has all the facts, is who he says he is, and can be counted on for the accuracy of the statement.
"the beginning of the creation of God;"- "apxnyos" is the Greek word for beginning. It translates as leader, originator. This is not new for us, we know that God is the Alpha and Omega....the beginning and the end. Christ being part of the Holy Trinity is God, all things begin in Him.
John 1:3; "All things were made through him, and without him, was not anything made that was made".
Colo 1:16 - 18: Paul says, "16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning,..."
Doesn't it seem a shame that Christ has to explain to the church who He is, that this church doesn't know, or has forgotten, or is indifferent to Him!
"15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot."
Cold: Greek word, pschros meaning almost freezing. Have you ever heard someone say, "that person is being "cold"?" It means that person is ignoring them, or has nothing to do with the situation, has no emotion concerning the item or person at hand.
Hot: Greek word, zestos meaning almost to the boiling point. The expression, "to be on fire" for Christ is a statement meaning you wanna learn all you can, to talk about Christ and The Word, to be totally committed to Him! An awesome statement for someone to make about you. We should all strive to be that person!
Tepid or lukewarm: Greek word, chliaros, tepid is chilaros. Have you ever had a meal that was suppose to be hot or cold but was not? Think of hot soup or a cold can of soda, the wrong temperature can actually be nauseating. This is what Jesus is talking about. This church is "blah" neither denies or testifies Christ....it is just going through the motions without meaning. This church is so "unemotional" in their worship, works and feelings for The Word that Christ wants to "spew thee out of my mouth.", or just spit them out! The Lacdicea Church is just indifferent to Christ. W. Barkley states that, "indifference can be broken down only by the actual demonstration that Christianity is a power to make life strong and a grace to make life beautiful." What a beautiful statement that is!
This is something we need to search ourselves and determine if we are "lukewarm". If we are, we will be spit from His mouth, this is our warning.
Know that I am an e-mail away if you want to talk.
Blessings on all,
Calabash
Amen! That is a good stuff. I didn't know what exactly "cold" and "hot" meant, so that was very interesting. Plan on meditating on that!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the study.