Today’s passage: Revelation 3:14-22
Helpful thoughts:
- The final letter to the seven churches, to Laodicea.
- Jesus’ description of the church in Laodicea is the opposite of what He saw in the church at Smyrna (2:9).
- The church in Laodicea did not receive this warning from Jesus because He hated them, but because He loved them (Verse 19).
- Christ offers close relationship and fellowship to those who open the door to Him.
- He is the master of the house, it is only right to open the door to the master and wrong to leave Him outside!
- This illustration is given to the church. It can be applied on an individual basis, but also for the church as a whole. The church in Laodicea were meeting in Jesus’ name yet Jesus was kept outside the church. This was a shocking warning!
Questions to consider:
- What does it mean to be “lukewarm” as a Christian?
- What is the naturally tendency of our heart, to desire what the church in Smyrna was facing or to have the worldly riches and acceptance the church in Laodicea had? How might our desire for one over the other help us to better define what it means to be “lukewarm”?
- When we compare God’s love for us in Romans 5:8 and here in Revelation 3:19, how is God’s love shown to be consistent? What does God’s love save us from? What does God’s love save us to?