The Church in Laodicea | Pastor Daniel Ethridge | Liberty Live Church

I'm so glad you're joining us on this rainy Sunday morning. You're so excited to be a church, aren't you? (congregation applauding) I'm so excited for what God has for you. And y'all gotta help me out this hour 'cause I'm already preached out from last hour. But I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet. I'm excited for the word that God has for us. And next Sunday, we begin our journey called more. We've been working on a documentary on the history of the church for the better part of a year now. And if you don't know it, you're sitting here this morning because 126 years of the faithfulness of God's people. And I can't wait to get to tell you some of the story. And I'm so excited for people who have never heard about the journey to hear the story and to learn about all that God's done in and through this church. And it's just the beginning. So next Sunday, we're gonna show you some of that documentary, the documentary in its entirety will be released online later. But we're gonna show you some of that documentary. Pastor Grant is gonna share the new seven year vision for the church. And I'm telling you, you don't wanna miss it. For the next eight weeks, you need to prioritize being here.

And if it's within your power, you need to be in the room to experience all that God has for you. God has more and He has more for your life and He has more for our church. So we're gonna go on the journey together. It's hard to believe we're just a few weeks away from Candy Palooza. And I love this time of year. I just can't believe it got here so fast. I don't know what's happening. This year is flying by. But we love for the kids to come, family-friendly costumes to get to dress up, get way more candy than any of these kids would ever possibly need. And most importantly, hear about Jesus. And so we want you to invite your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, all the kids, you know, in your life on October the 25th. Tell them to dress up wear their favorite costume. And in the meantime, I really wanna encourage us, especially this campus, we need to be donating candy, bringing in bags of candy, donating it, so that we can give out all the candy that morning to the kids. And so we'd love for you over the next few weeks to be bringing in candy for the kids. And that'll really help us getting ready for Candy Palooza. Are you all awake this hour?

Good. Continuing the series, seven letters to the churches. We're in Revelation chapter five. I want you to turn, excuse me, chapter three, Revelation chapter three. I want you to turn your bibles there. It is the final letter to the churches. Pastor Grant showed you this over the last few weeks. But when John got this revelation on all of Patmos, Jesus Christ gave him seven letters to seven literal physical churches of their day. And every one of those letters were written to them, but listen, they were written for us. They're written to them, but they were written for us today. We are on the final letter, the letter to Laodicea, the letter to Laodicea, Revelation chapter three. We're gonna start reading in verse 14. I want you to follow along with me. Right to the angel of the church in Laodicea, thus says the amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God's creation. Now pause. If you took all seven letters, you could do an entire series just on who Jesus says he is before he speaks to every church. Every single letter he prefaces by saying, "This is who I am, this is who the Lord is."

And I made you some good homework for somebody is to take these letters to go back through and list out who does Jesus say that he is and to study who Jesus is. I mean, don't you know, he's the same yesterday, today and forever. Having you heard that the word says that every prayer finds its yes and amen in Jesus. That means what you're praying for today is wrapped up in who he is. And I'd love for you to go study who Jesus says that he is. You could have done a whole series on that, but we're looking specifically at the letters to each church. Look at this in verse 15. I know your works, Jesus says, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were colder hot. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth. It's a strong word from the Lord. For you say, I'm rich. I've become wealthy and need nothing. And you don't realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. White clothes so that you may be dressed in your shameful nakiness not be exposed and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent. See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne just as I also conquered and sat down with my

father on his throne. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the spirit says to the churches. Let's pray together. Holy Spirit, we need you. And God, we're desperate for you to open our eyes to see what we cannot see. We need you to open our ears to what we do not know. God, we need you to speak like only you can. I pray you would speak so loudly and clearly that none of us can deny that it's you. I'm asking you to do what only you can do. God, I pray as I always pray that my preaching would not rest in the clever or cunning words of men, but in power and in demonstration of the Spirit of God so that our faith might rest in your spirit. I pray that you would give me the passion to preach as a dying man to dying men. And I pray that before you let us leave this place, we could say with all genuineness and sincerity that we're right with you. Do it only you can do for your namesake and your gory. In Jesus' name we pray, everybody said, amen. Amen. Of all the letters, perhaps this letter is the most clear and the most blunt. He gives them no accommodation, no accolade, no encouragement. With some of the other churches he says, hey, you're doing this right, but you need to get this right. Or he says, I know this good about you, but you need to. And he doesn't do that in this letter. This letter is strictly a rebuke. And if God will give me the clarity to do it, I want to preach to you just very simply what is written here in this letter. I think there doesn't need to be a lot of expounding on what he says because I think it is very clear. But it applies to them so specifically that I think a lot of us miss it. Laodicea was positioned between two trade routes in Rome. It made it an extremely affluent and successful place. They had business. They had hospitals. They had commerce more than almost all the other places in Asia Minor. In fact, they are probably the wealthiest people of their day. And we're going to go through some of the things that he rebukes them on. But you have to see this. There was a problem. And that problem was that their wealth and affluence had made them complacent. And it kept them from being effective for the cause of Christ. If I can say this with clarity, I'm not afraid that liberty is going to run out of money and we're not going to be able to pay the bills. I'm not afraid that we're going to have to close our doors. I'm not afraid that people are going to stop coming on Sunday mornings. What I'm most afraid of for our church, and I want to speak so bluntly and directly to you today, what I'm most afraid of for our church is that we would be so comfortable, so complacent, so successful in the eyes of the world and in our own eyes, that we would miss that we are

nothing apart from Jesus Christ. It is not just possible, but it is probable that a church could have stadiums full of people and miss the very move of God. I'm afraid that we would think that we could program with strategy and service planning the things that only God can do to change people's lives. And so I think that this letter was written to them, but for us. And I think of all the letters, it applies most clearly and most directly to the He says, "I know your works, "that you are neither cold nor hot." I wish that you were a colder hot. So because you're lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth. I mean, he starts going straight for the jugular. I mean, this is so strong. And a lot of people think it's like hot or cold. Well, cold is bad and hot is good because who doesn't love a hot shower? I mean, come on, somebody. Like, I don't want an ice bath. I want to be in a hot tub. You people are crazy with this ice bath stuff. And go ahead and tell us how ridiculous you are. If you're here and you like an ice bath, you prefer an ice bath, you want to do a polar plunge, cold plunge, that's your... See, you won't even reveal yourself. It's that embarrassing. You know, cold and hot are not bad things. And I want to show it to you. This is something they would have understood. In fact, the book of Colossians, Paul writes something. He says, "I bear him witness that a paphras."

Many people think that a paphras is actually the father of this church because Paul himself never goes there. A paphras has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Herropolis. See, all three of these places were just a few miles apart. And one of the things that connected the people was the water sources. Herropolis had hot springs that people would go through for therapy and for healing. There's still places all around the world today. I grew up near a place called Hot Springs, Arkansas. Come on, somebody, you can go there and get in hot water. And people go there because they think it's therapeutic and healing. There are places in Virginia, North Carolina, all around the world where you can visit a hot spring. And a lot of times you need a heating pad to heal. You need something hot. But other times you need something cold. The people in Laodicea would actually travel about 10 to 12 miles to visit the hot springs in Herropolis. But that's not the only place they would go. Colossae had cold water streams. And if you've ever been in a mountain stream, you know that as soon as you get in, it takes your breath away, it's so cold. And there are cold water springs that the people in Laodicea would visit for the same reason.

It was opposite temperature, but they went there for healing, for cleansing. It was good for their bodies. And we don't like to talk about it, but I mean, doctors say today a cold shower is good for you. There's a reason ice baths and ice plunge is coming back because it's actually good for your system. So hot and cold are good. Laodicea had a unique problem. They decided since they had no water source that they would build aqueducts to bring the water to them. The problem is by the time the water got to the city, it was neither hot nor cold. And Jesus aims at something that was actually embarrassing to their society. They didn't have a good water source. And he says, your physical problem with water is actually a mirror of your spiritual reality. You are so complacent. You are so comfortable that you are ineffective for the kingdom of God. You're not hot, you're not cold, you're nothing. And he says, because you're that, I'll spit you out of my mouth. I will literally throw you up out of my mouth. It's a disgusting visual, this idea of you drinking something and spewing it because it's so distasteful. Have you ever drank apple cider vinegar? I took a shot of apple cider vinegar one time

because I heard that it will help your throat. And I didn't know what I was doing. I shot that thing like I was just gonna swallow it, spew it all over the kitchen. My wife is into oregano drops. And I mean, you drop those down your throat, your toenails are on fire. It's like, and every time I try to do it, I just spit it out. I thought I'd be funny at Christmas and I told Zachary, I said, is this truth clear? I told Zachary while we were at Christmas together. That's my twin brother. I said, Zachary, hey, these drops are so good for you. It really cleanses your throat and stuff, makes your breasts smell good. You ought to take a few. Y'all, I promise you, he did it, threw up all over the kitchen. My mom was so mad at me. (audience laughs) I was just trying to be funny with it, but there's a reality, things can be so distasteful that you spit them out. when I look at the Christianity you're living, it's so distasteful to me, I spew it out. I hope it's never said of us. It reminds me of what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste,

how shall its saltiness be restored? It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out, trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people lie to lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. My fear is that we all show up here, thousands of us, over 10,000 on Sunday mornings. We all show up here, we pack into stadiums and into rooms, then we get to work the next morning, nobody knows the difference. Ineffective for the cause of Christ. What good is it? If you play religious games, but you do not live as the salt of the earth, I love salt. Salt's good on everything. It's good on a watermelon. Come on, people know, it's good on a watermelon, it's good on french fries. Why are y'all having potatoes without salt? Pour the salt on it. It's good on a salad. You know salt is good on a cookie? I'm telling you, it's the sweet and sour. The sweet and salty combined. There's something that makes it sweeter when you have the hit,

you better put it on your sourdough, salt is good. But in their day, it was more than for taste. Salt was to preserve, to bring purity, meat that had not been preserved with salt, had all kind of disease in it. And I'm telling you, you're meant to be the salt of the earth. By the way you live, it should change the world around you. And he says, what good is salt if it's lost its taste? Well, you're meant to be the light of the world. I love how the Apostle Paul in Colossians, he says, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. See, you thought being salty was something else. We need to bring back being salty for Jesus, okay? Season with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each. What if the way you talked breathed life into your relationships, into your home, into your workplace, into your school? There's something about when you talk, it brings life and purity. Philippians says it like this, Philippians chapter two, do all things without grumbling or disputing. We might have the altar call right there. I mean, who can say this? Do all things without grumbling or disputing. Listen, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without bluish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

That's what Jesus said, you to be the light of the world. You're meant to push back darkness. You're meant to preserve society. You're meant to bring life and healing. You're meant to make an impact on the world around you. That's why you ought to vote next month or right now, 'cause early voting's open. You ought to be voting. I mean, both my grandfather's thought for me to be able to speak into society and government. Why would I sit out of that? More than that, I have an obligation because of the spirit of God living inside of me to do what I can to preserve holiness and righteousness and justice in the world. Why would I sit out on that? But if you're gonna go to the booth and all of you ought to, you better back up your vote by living a life of holiness and purity. Because beyond the voting booth, we're supposed to live lives that make a difference. I'm telling you, this letter's written to us. And what would Hampton Roads look like if we actually lived out what we believed? And Jesus says, you're not hot, you're not cold, and because you're lukewarm and you're ineffective, I'll spew you out of my mouth. What a rebuke. But there's a reason why they have that condition.

Jesus gives them the exact cause. Look at this, you say, I'm rich, I become wealthy and need nothing, and you don't realize that you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I'm asking you, do you know your need for God? Well, your day would tell you if you knew your need for God. How much time do you spend seeking Him? Can you go throughout your day without Him? Before you make five phone calls, talk to everybody, spread the gossip of the family, how much time do you spend in prayer, asking God to move and work? Could you live your life the rest of your life without God? need God. And I'm telling you, if you think you don't need him, now you'll spend the eternity separated from him. And this society was so affluent, had what they thought they needed, and they said, "We don't need nothing." But more than saying they don't need anything from any other society, they'd actually gotten to the point where they thought they didn't need Jesus. It reminds me of Isaiah's rebuke to the Jewish people in Isaiah 64. All of us have become like one who is unclean. And all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. We all shrivel up like a leaf and like the wind, our sins sweep us away. He's not just saying righteous acts are bad. That's not what he says. He says, "Because you've lost the heart of seeking God, and continued with your religious action, your religious actions are disgusting to the Lord." And we come in here Sunday after Sunday. Sit in our chairs, our assigned seats, like good Southern baddest. You sit in your same chair every week, go back to the same patterns of sin that you've been walking in for decades, and you think the judgment of God is not coming. And I'm telling you, our religious activity is disgusting apart from a realization that we are desperate for Jesus. So if you come here seeking Him, falling upon His mercy and His grace, begging Him for forgiveness and righteousness and

holiness that only comes from Him, then you'll receive what only He can give. But if you come playing games, trying to save yourself, you'll be lost for all eternity. You can't save yourself. You can't save yourself. We're in desperate need of Jesus. They actually say something here. He quotes them, and this is an actual moment in their history, 8060. Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake. And Rome came to them and said, "We'll rebuild your whole city, and we'll cover the costs." And this is what they said, "We're rich and we need nothing." This is an actual quote from history. And they chose to rebuild their city to prove that they weren't in need of Rome. And Jesus is saying, "You don't think you need me because you don't realize that you're nothing without me." You know how ridiculous it is when somebody walks around cocky, especially a child. They think they're good at a sport or good at something. You're like, "Boy, I could work you over." You ever looked at a kid, they're smouting off or being cocky, and you're like, "Just one guy's going to punch you in the jaw one day, and this can be one of the best things that ever happened for you." Because you think you're somebody, but you're nobody. I can't tell you how much more ridiculous it looks spiritually. When we act like spiritually, we have this pride like we're somebody and like we can do something. We're nothing without Him. John 15, Jesus says, one of my favorite chapters of Scripture, Jesus says in verse 5, "I am the vine, you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I am Him, He it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do, you say it." Nothing. Nothing. And so Jesus offers a cure, and He offers it in Himself. I want you to look at this. I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich. The irony was they had started their own banking, and you can go back and study this in history. They believed that they were one of the most affluent, sophisticated, wealthy systems in the world. They're one of the earliest banking systems in the world, and they thought they had all this gold. He says, "You think you're rich, but you're actually poor, because you don't realize that your wealth means nothing." And He says, "I advise that you buy from me," Jesus says, gold refined in fire. Well, what's He talking about? Peter tells us in 1 Peter, chapter 1, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials. So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus

Christ. I have a question. What in your life right now drives you to the feet of Jesus? I'm not being serious. What is the hardest trial? What is the hardest test? What's the hardest thing that you're facing? And even as I scan this room and look at people's faces, We're going through so much. And what you don't realize is that God has put you through a season of testing to prove that the faith that is in you is pure and real. He's put you through a season of trial. He's put you through a season of hardship so that you can know you have a faith that will truly last. I'm telling you, you ought to have some confidence that you're walking through what you're walking through because God's refining you so that one day when you stand at the feet of Jesus, you'll be whole and made righteous before Him. Some of you are so burdened by what you've been through. You're so frustrated by the trials that you're facing. Jesus says, "No, no, no. I'm producing in you something I couldn't produce in you otherwise." You better think Jesus that He's tested your faith and your faith has turned out to be pure and real. But He doesn't just say that. He says, "Buy from me gold." But then He says, "Look at this, wipe clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed." Now, I like fashion. I'm going to tell you, I really do like, I always have. I like clothes. I like keeping up with trends. And my dad worked at a suit shop, so we like dressing up around our house. And I've always been into that. In this day and time, 40% listened to this. 40% of the wealth in Laodicea was because of one tunic that they sold around the world. 40% of their wealth. That tunic was different than everybody else in the world because they didn't raise white sheep. They raised long-haired black sheep. And you think about all the ancient paintings or statues you've seen,

Greek and Roman statues are all covered in white linen. But Laodicea made pure black linen. And history would tell us that for 100 years, over a century, that black linen was sold around the world. And only the highest, most affluent kings, queens, rulers in society had true black garments from Laodicea. Listen to the rebuke. White clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed. I'm telling you since the very beginning of Scripture, Genesis chapter 3 and 4, people have tried to cover their own shame and their own nakedness with clothes of their own making. And I'm asking you, what have you tried to cover up the sin and shame of your life with that is not working? They had these black garments, and you know, it is hard. It's honestly really hard to get kids to wear what you want them to wear. I have not found out the trick to this, and somebody's got to teach me how to do it. This is Wells. And y'all look at Wells right here. I took this picture of him yesterday. Everybody who's close to us will tell you he is in a phase right now where he wants to be a preacher. And he will not take off that suit jacket. And the problem is, you can't wear this everywhere you go. He's got his Bible in hand. Somebody bought him a Britney Spears mic off Amazon. And he wants to dress up to be a preacher the other day we had Boys Day, and I always take him. We went to Bass Pro Shop together the other day. I'd take him somewhere, we'd spend the day together. And he dressed up like this to go. And when I tell you he wears this all the time, I meet every single day. Wells was getting all dressed up in his stuff. And he said, "I'm a preacher." And I was getting him ready.

And I said, "Are you going to be a preacher like your daddy?" He said, "No, I'm going to be like G Daddy." And I was like, "Come on, bro." I mean, get in line, okay? He loves his G Daddy. But he wears this everywhere. And they want to pick out their own clothes. They want to wear their own stuff half the time. Olive ends up in princess costumes with rain boots on and her hair all done up. And she's dressed herself. Do you know how ridiculous it looks when a kid dresses up? And you can tell they picked this out themselves. Because they don't know how to dress themselves. And I'm telling you one day you're going to stand before God in clothes of your own making. And in that day it'll be too late for him to show you how to be clothed in righteousness and holiness. He says, "I've got white clothes you don't even know about." And then he says, "I have an ointment for your eyes." Well, they had a hospital in that day. They exported the powder to be mixed with water to get rid of eye disease. He said, "You think you have ointment for your eyes? You're blind. He's attacking everything about their culture in a very direct rebuke. But then he says this, this is the most important line I believe in the entire letter. As many as I love, listen, I rebuke and discipline, so be zealous and repent. I mean, my dad used to drive me insane when he got on to me and tried to discipline me. You know what he would say? This is going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you. And I used to think, well, give me that switch and we'll find out what you're... What are you talking about? This is about to hurt me.

I don't know what's hurting you. We had a... I think they call them a weeping willow tree in front of our house, and my parents will make you go get the switch, which is like cruel and unusual. And you'd stand out there and you would try to think about which switch to grab and which one was going to hurt the words. And when I was young, I'd always go for the small switch and I didn't realize those are faster and they sting more. As I got older, I started sawing off the whole branch, like swing this, like give this one Jimmy. You know what, I've become a parent and disciplining kids is so hard and it hurts you more than it hurts them. I hate it. I hate every bit of it. I really do. It drives me insane. And my dad would always make us go sit in timeout and I always thought that was for me to think about it and I didn't realize the timeout was for him to cool down. And I'm being serious. You don't discipline kids in unrestrained anger. You just go around swinging your hands and hitting people seriously. It becomes abusive because it's done out of anger and hatred. Some parents need to learn time out so that you can cool down and really think through what's the best way to discipline your child. But here's the thing Jesus says, all those I love, I rebuke and discipline. He gives him the hardest letter and then he says, I love you. And I realize now that I'm a parent that us disciplining is saying, I love you too much to let you ruin your life. I care about you too much to let you live like this. No, I know you can go do whatever you want.

I know you're big enough to make bad decisions, but I care about you. So out of love, I got to discipline you. And I wonder if you've ever experienced not just the discipline of a parent, the discipline of God. There's some people in here, you know what it's like to be caught in your sin and you better thank Jesus because he loves you that much. Hebrews, chapter 12 says, it is for discipline that you have to endure. For God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you're illegitimate children. You're not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who've disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our, you say it, for our good that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. And Jesus comes to write to Laodicea and says the hardest things he could possibly say. Oh, I see your works. You're real good at religious stuff. You're lukewarm and ineffective. Oh, you're impressed by how rich you are. You're poor and wretched and pitiful. You're dressed in your black garments. Well don't you know I could clothe you in white? Instead, your clothe didn't shame. Oh, you have ointment for your eyes. You're spiritually blind. And then he says, and I love you.

I know how messed up you are. I know how much you get it wrong. I know how you keep messing up and I love you. And that's what he's saying to his church today. You can live your life without me. You don't need me. You don't seek me. You don't walk according to my ways. You don't honor me. But I love you. So repent. You think you can save yourself? Or you'll die trying? Or you can come to me and let me save you? And don't you hear the voice of God still calling us today? Come home. I'm here. I'm waiting. I'm for you. You don't have to go to sleep every night in shame. You don't have to live your life regretting the decisions you make. Let me clean you up. Let me purify you. And I think he gives Laodicea the most beautiful call in all of scripture. It's the final thing. See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and can't you still hear him today?

He's here. What are you running from? What are you hiding? Why are you doing this on your own? Why are you carrying this? Give it to Jesus. He's here. Don't you hear his voice still calling? Don't you feel the conviction that he brings? Conviction isn't meant to push you away. It's meant to draw you in. You don't want to live like this. I know how broken you are. Well, come to Jesus. Believe in Jesus. I think one of the most beautiful wordings of this is the Psalmist in Psalm 95. The writer of Hebrews loves it so much that he quotes him multiple times in the book. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. So do you hear him? Come and answer and let him in. Do you sense him? Respond to him. I want every head to be bowed, every eye closed. Nobody looking around. It's the most important moment in the service. It doesn't matter what the person next to you thinks. It doesn't matter if somebody else got the word

from the Lord today. I'm asking, do you hear it? Jesus loves you. And he died to save you. And there is no salvation apart from him. And there is no hope apart from him. This world is broken. It's discouraging. It's so heartbreaking. I know your life's been hard. But Jesus has come so you can have a better life. And not just a better life here on earth. He has something better for you for all of eternity. Jesus is the hope of the world. And so right now, if you hear him, you can respond to him so simply. It's not the words that matter. It's the attitude of your heart. Just say, dear Lord Jesus, I hear you. I hear you. And Jesus, I know I need you. And I'm asking you to save me. To be the Lord and Savior of my life. I'm willing to follow you. And I wanna know you. So would you come and do what only you can do? In Jesus' name we pray, amen. [MUSIC PLAYING]