Victory Through Laodicea

In studying the message to Laodicea, one may gain the impression that this church has been rejected by the Lord and that it is extremely dangerous to be part of this people, because the Faithful Witness expresses no praise whatsoever for His followers. But we should not rush to such conclusions.

The second and third chapters of the book of Revelation describe the entire Christian era, from the end of the first century A.D. to our own day. In this prophecy, Jesus briefly set forth what God’s people would face and how the Lord views it all.

Knowing what temptations we would experience at the end of earth’s history and how they would affect us, Christ established the path to victory and symbolically described it in the message to Laodicea. Living in this time, we can understand that the reality and power of this message are highly relevant in our day. It very clearly identifies the general condition of the church and of each one of us individually, and we are given a way out that works. Everyone who responds to God’s call will receive precisely what the Faithful Witness offers us to buy.

Salvation and victory outside Laodicea are excluded. We would not dare to claim that Laodicea symbolizes only one denomination, because we understand that God’s children are scattered throughout the world and are found in every church. This message is also addressed to them. The Lord desires to have a personal relationship with each of His sons and daughters, wherever they may presently be.

But the book of Revelation also contains a call to God’s children who are in Babylon: they are to come out of her and become part of God’s people, who possess distinctive truths and the fullness of light.

A person who believes in Christ as his Savior but at the same time unknowingly breaks God’s commandments and instructions will never become the overcomer of whom Jesus speaks in the message to Laodicea. The Lord will reveal to each person his duty and his sin before God’s seal is placed upon the foreheads of the overcomers.

The Lord has also provided for the spiritual growth described in the message to Laodicea, which cannot be changed or bypassed. Every overcomer will pass through acquaintance with Christ, through discipleship, through the stage of success, and through the dark night of the soul. Each of us will be lukewarm and, in some respect, will feel quite rich, increased with goods, and in need of nothing. Although this will happen differently for each person, every one of us will experience the necessary disappointment in our lukewarm condition. This disappointment will come from the Lord through the crises of faith that He permits in the lives of His disciples.

The Lord permits all kinds of problems to arise in our lives, problems that will uncover those secret depths of our hearts of which, in peaceful times, we were not even aware.

It is very unpleasant to discover that you are lukewarm and at the same time wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Yet this very realization helps me ask the question: What should I do in this situation? Jesus has counsel for me that I should not only hear but also put into practice in my life.

As I pass through all the stages of faith, I travel this path specifically through Laodicea, experiencing together with everyone else the delights of the lukewarm condition that satisfy us but do not please the Lord.

The Faithful Witness directs His message to me personally, calling me in particular to reconsider my Christian life and enter into a close personal relationship with the Deity.

I did not devise this plan, and it is not for me to change it, but I am able to understand the meaning of all its symbols and how to apply them in practice. Symbols that have not been explained or understood do not obligate me to anything or place upon me responsibility for disobedience to God’s expectations. Therefore, many readers of this message calmly set it aside as unnecessary and continue to luxuriate in their lukewarm condition. But this lack of understanding will not make me an overcomer, and in the end I will be spued out of God’s mouth and perish with the rest of the world.

The essence of the message to Laodicea comes down to this: if I do not become an overcomer, I will be a loser and will forfeit the right to Eternal life.

When God offers me all the fullness of Himself, all His time, and everything necessary for victory, I will have no excuse for my lack of knowledge or my ignorance.

If I do not allow God to write His law of love in my heart and to love through me all my neighbors and enemies, then of what victory should I dream?

But the path to this victory lies through every stage of faith, through the darkness of disappointment in myself, in my desires and values, and even in God’s silence.

Faith manifests itself and comes alive not where God speaks, but where the Lord tests me through my trust in His words and promises written in the Bible. My faithfulness is also tested through obedience to the light I have received. I am not the one who turns it on, but I live in it.

I know many Christians who understand victory as a test of faithfulness in keeping the commandments. This too is part of the plan of victory, but it is important to remember that such obedience is acceptable only in the right spirit of love. If God’s agape is not in my heart, my obedience will be formal.

This picture was very clearly manifested in the lives of the Pharisees in Christ’s day. They considered themselves guardians of the law and zealous keepers of all the commandments. They developed their system of worship and obedience so meticulously that they missed what mattered most in the law: faith and love. They did not recognize the Savior and, accordingly, accepted nothing that He offered them for their salvation.

They did not need the righteousness of Christ; their own righteousness suited them very well. In such a state of mind, there can be no question of wisdom. Yet in the eyes of the people, they were regarded as righteous and as examples to follow. If someone said that he was a Pharisee, in the eyes of the people it sounded like ‘an overcomer.’

But God has His own view of victory. He accepts only the righteousness of Christ, which is symbolized by white raiment.

What has changed in our day and age? Only the form of self-righteousness. It is customary among us to regard the Pharisees as apostates and the very word as a term of reproach. Yet for some reason we do not want to see the Pharisaical spirit within ourselves, much less condemn it. This is why the Lord offers us eyesalve to buy from Him.

We have invented beautiful names for modern Pharisees and are proud when we are called by those names, but the essence remains the same—unbelief and self-satisfaction.

And how can I be rich without Heavenly gold? I invent various kinds of ministry and missionary activity for myself and then amaze everyone with my successes and God’s blessings in that sphere. But the Lord calls me into a relationship with Him and waits for me to understand this and, while continuing to do God’s works, to accept God’s plan of transformation and victory for myself.

The conduct of Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus showed that leaving the lukewarm condition was possible even in those days. Their subsequent lives were filled with Heavenly riches, and they ended them as overcomers.

God’s plan for Laodicea is fundamental, faithful, correct, unchangeable, and irreplaceable. It invites Laodiceans themselves to take the next steps and continue their spiritual growth toward victory. In this message, the Lord offers us a relationship with the Deity at every level of our spiritual growth.

1. Please read Jeremiah 17:9; Proverbs 28:13; Job 23:10; Malachi 3:3; 1 Peter 1:7; John 14:23; Romans 13:14; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 3:14; James 1:12.

2. What other Bible verses came to your mind?

3. What did you understand?

4. Why is victory impossible outside Laodicea?

5. Are you ready to accept God’s evaluation of your heart, even if it proves unpleasant to you?

6. Why does the Faithful Witness address His people so strictly and uncompromisingly?

7. Are you trying to hide from yourself the problems of the heart that the Lord desires to reveal to you?

8. Why does God permit crises of faith in the lives of His children?

9. How can you repeat the mistakes of the Pharisees in your religious life?

10. Can outward obedience conceal an inward absence of love?

11. In what matters do you especially need Heavenly eyesalve?

12. Is it possible to replace a living relationship with Christ with religious activity?

13. Do you believe that the Lord is able to bring the work He began in you to a victorious end?

14. How seriously do you take the warning about being spued out of the Lord’s mouth?