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Guarding Against the Peril of Laodicea

(Overcomer Wu)

“... And do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel you to buy fiom Me gold refined by fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested, and eyesalve to anoint your eyes that you may see.” --Revelation 3:17b- 18

Back in the days when the church life was depicted by the church in Philadelphia -- when the Lord's Word and the Lord's Name were held dearly and uncompromisingly with the highest regard as the paragons of the church, when brotherly love was the hallmark of Christian life -- no one would have ever considered the possibility of the church degrading into the condition of the church in Laodicea. But as the years unfold, the serpent has somehow slithered into the church and instilled its deadly paralyzing venom to render the saints into a state of lukewarmness. The venom of Laodicea began to take effect gradually and almost imperceptibly until suddenly, without warning and announcement, the church is faced with the stone-cold reality (or should I say instead: the lukewarm reality) of Laodicea. Being found in such perilous times as these, we need to heed the Lord's counsel in guarding against the peril of Laodicea, if by the Lord's mercy we are still unaffected; or in combating the degradation, if we are already infected.

Let us humbly seek the Lord's counsel in His epistle to the church in Laodicea. Although the epistle to the church in Laodicea was written over nineteen centuries ago, it is as pertinent today as it was then. In fact, it is 'even more pertinent to our age than to any other age, because we are indeed living in the last days, which is the era when the peril of Laodicea find its fulfillment in its prophetic bearing. May the Lord grant us much light in His Word accompanied by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

I. The Making of Laodicea

Since the epistles to the seven churches in Revelations two and three depicts prophetically the progression (or degression in most cases) of the church in history in chronological order, we should note that the church in Laodicea emanates from the church in Philadelphia. We can say that both the church in Philadelphia and the church in Laodicea have the same position. It is how they used or abused their blessed position that distinguishes the one from the other. In fact, the church in Laodicea had a good recovered standing inherited from the church in Philadelphia to start off with. Both Philadelphia and Laodicea had an "open door" to the kingdom of Christ and of God. The saints in Philadelphia had an abundant. entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but the majority of the saints in Laodicea after having entered in through the gates of the kingdom, have build another enclosure to keep the Lord outside of the church. For this reason, the Lord was outside the door of the church; He then have to turn to each individual's heart knocking asking if anyone will let Him in – those who do are the overcomers: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev.3:20).

What characterizes Philadelphia is “brotherly love,” which is what the word Philadelphia itself means, but what characterizes Laodicea is lukewarmness caused by various factors that we will see later. Laodicea is the Philadelphia that had lost her crown – this was what the Lord had warned the church in Philadelphia to guard against in Revelations 3:11. The reason why Laodicea became the way she was was because of her backsliding into lukewarmness. The Lord sternly warned the saints in Philadelphia to "holdfast what you have that no one take your crown" (Rev. 3:11). The decline of Laodicea was brought about by her not holding fast the Lord's Word and His Name, which was the prevailing practice of the church in Philadelphia as we're told in 3:8b. Therefore, Laodicea needed the Lord as the "Amen", which means not only affirmation and agreement, but also firm and stedfast. They needed to be firm and stedfast in holding on to their goodly heritage of the Lord's Word and the Lord's Name. In appearance and position, Philadelphia and Laodicea may be the same, but in nature there is a radical difference between the two which I will point in the ensuing paragraphs.

A. A Heart Departure.

There is no greater blindness than for a person to be incognizant of the fact that he is in a desperately pitiful condition. There is still hope for a person who is poor and in darkness but who realizes his own tragedy; however, for a person to be wretchedly poor and miserably blind yet denying his true state is indeed hopelessly blind. The Spirit is still speaking to the churches today. And the overcomers are those who are willing to lend an ear to hear the Spirit's prognosis on the churches' condition and remorsefully accept the rebuke and discipline of the Lord and repent. Spiritually speaking, at the heart of every problem is a problem of the heart. 'Me Lord was disgusted with the children of Israel because "They always go astray in heart" (Heb 3: 10). In speaking about the characteristic perils and problems of the last days, the Lord Jesus said on Mount Olive, "... the love of many shall grow cold' (Matt 24:12). The heart of the problem is that the heart of the saints have strayed from and grown lukewarm toward the Lord. We all need to return to the Lord as our First Love.

We have seen from the epistle to the church in Ephesus that the cause and the origination of any decline in the church is due to a heart departure from our First Love, Christ Jesus. This was what brought about the stepwise regression from the church in Ephesus to the church in Sardis (with the church in Smyrna exempted). Then the church in Philadelphia was the recovered church because it was a church of brotherly love, which is not possible without an earnest love for the Lord. The Lord said in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." And in the immediate previous chapter the Lord Jesus explicitly gave them one commandment: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (Jn 13:34). Furthermore, 1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen.” Therefore, that the church in Philadelphia truly loved the Lord is clearly evidenced by their love for the brethren/the saints. Finally and tragically, the church in Laodicea fell again with the same fundamental problem of the heart not properly aligned in loving and pursuing the Lord. Professedly, the Lord Jesus may still be the object of our love, but the intensity of our love for the Him has greatly diminished to the point of being intolerable to Him.

The lukewarm condition of the church in Laodicea was so intolerable to the Lord that He wanted to vomit them out of His mouth. The Lord must have felt the same way He felt in regard to the children of Israel in the wilderness which is expressed in these words: "Wherefore I was disgusted with this generation, and I said, They always go astray in heart; and they have not known My ways;" (Heb 3:10). As a result, the majority of those children of Israel in the wilderness were strewned in the wilderness and failed to to enter into God's rest. "Now these things happened to them as types, and were written for our admonition, unto whom the ends of the ages have come" (I Cor. 10:11). In Hebrews 5:11, the author identified one of the problems with the immature Hebrew believers as characterized by "dull of hearing". "Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." (Heb 3:7-8a). Today, die Lord is still issuing the call: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev 3:22).

B. Being Wretched.

The Lord characterized the state of the church..in Laodicea as "wretched'. 'Me same Greek word for wretched is also found in Romans 7:24 where Paul said, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver mefrom the body of this death?" By the use of this expression here, Paul had in mind the picture of a form of cruel capital punishment employed by the Romans for a condemned murderer -- to chain the very dead body of the man he killed to the back of his own body. As the decay of the dead body sets in, it will eventually spread to the murderer's body. He will then die from the slow deterioration of his body like being consumed with gangrene. From the context of Romans seven, it is clear that the dead body refers to the flesh. 'Me Laodiceans are wretched because they are still carrying that dead putrefying body around by living in their flesh. One of the manifestations of living in the flesh is the exhibition of personal agendas and opinions that are contrary to the Scriptural truths. The profane babbling and the opinion of the laity have spreaded death into the church like gangrene (2 Tim 2:16-17). 2 Timothy 2:18 continues by saying, "Who concerning the truth have misaimed." This indicates that the prevailing teachings or practice of the church in Laodicea have assassinated the truth of God's Word. Thus, it is crucially important that we always check our teachings and practice according to God's Word, which is our Constitution to avoid having our church ever falling into the condition of the church in Laodicea. It is not that we like to argue about our teachings or doctrines. It is merely a healthy practice of constantly checking our teachings and practice according to the pattern and the standards set forth in God's Word. Much like all the bills, laws and practices of the land in US are constantly being challenged to see whether they are constitutional or not by the various levels of the court. And the Bible even commended those who practice such things as we see in Acts 17 with the saints in Berea.

Concerning the saints in Berea it was said: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Act 17:11). Rather than being rebuke for their questioning and checking to see if the teachings of the great apostle Paul was Scriptural or not, they were commended to be “more noble.” Anyone who holds the concept that they dare not question the teaching and the leading to practice certain things by some well-experienced and well-renown brothers are bound to suffer shipwreck in their faith, because someday they will find that they have been misled by their gullible attitude of being a yes-man to these brothers without verifying for themselves whether they are truthfully based or not according to God's Word. Perhaps they thoughts that these brothers have been very helpful and Scriptural in their teachings in the past, they could not possibly go wrong now. Yet our church history shows that this is simply not the case because we are all humans and are prone to error every now and then in spite of how long we have been walking with the Lord or how mature we are in the Lord. Even the apostle Paul made mistakes in compromising the truth by attempting to keep the rite of the Nazarites, which Paul knew was an ordinance already abolished by Christ on the cross (Eph 2:15), in Acts 21:26-36. The Lord was not pleased at all with this compromise of the apostle Paul; hence, he allowed him to be arrested before he had a chance to complete his rite of the Nazarite.

In the opinion of the Laodicean, they have come to the conclusion that they were quite rich, and confident that they know the Lord's will and the Lord's way. Yet the Lord said the very opposite is true of them. They needed to come to the Lord as the “True faithful and true Witness” to give an honest and precise assessment of their true condition and reject all other human ideas and opinions on how to build the church and edify the saints.

C. Falling Away From the Beginning of the Creation of God.

To the church in Laodicea, the Lord is also the "Beginning of the creation of God'. This title of the Lord speaks of Him as the source and the origination of God's work. The the church in Laodicea needing the Lord as the Beginning of the creation of God reveals the deep-seated problem of their works not originating with Christ. It was in connection with their works that the Lord said of the Laodicean,"you are neither hot nor cold" (Rev 3:15). This is a clear indication that their works were initiated, promoted, and sustained by their own good religious flesh, and not having its source in Christ; therefore, it inevitably will run out of steam and resulting in the damage of the saints characterized by lukewarmness, because the energy is drawn from a depleting fleshly source. Lukewarmness also implies the functions of the various gifts, which each member of the Body of Christ has in one form or another, given to the Body of Christ being put into desuetude or are dismissed as being unimportant.

To be lukewarm is also to go about our business, even the church's business, and be totally indifferent to Person of the Lord. The problem with the church in Laodicea is that they consider themselves to be so rich in spiritual resources that they wholly relied upon their own fleshly effort and energy to accomplish the Lord's work, and were not dependent upon the guidance and supply of the Spirit. Instead of living by the law of the Spirit of life, they have devised their own laws and methodologies to follow in the building of the church. Instead of giving heed to the speaking of the Spirit, they have opted for their own speaking, opinion and judgment – this is exactly what “dicea” the 2nd half of the word Laodicea in Greek (dike) means. Unlike the healthy attitude Paul demonstrated in Phillipians 3:12-13: "Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue .... Brothers, I do not yet reckon myself to have laid hold", the Laodiceans considered themselves to have already obtained and been perfected, yet in fact they were still far from perfect and that whatever they decide to do could not be wrong. Perfection precludes the possibility of progression. Therefore, not surprisingly many of them are in a state of stunted growth in their spiritual life. They consider themselves to be so self-sufficient and independent from the Lord that they even left the Lord outside the door of the church (Rev. 3:20).

Although later the Lord did give Paul the assurance to declare, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7), it was at the very last days of Paul's life on earth, for he said in the previous verse, "For I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand." Other than towards the end of our life on earth, it is very unhealthy for a brother/sister to reckon himself as having already attained to the goal for which he was called by the Lord. Because the moment he is convinced in himself that he is perfected, he ceases to advance in his spiritual life. Such assurance of one's own perfection is usually a self-deception. Christ is unsearchably rich; we can never exhaust His riches... certainly not in our short transient life on this earth. Any degree of maturity we have in Christ is really just a relative maturity, for it will even take eternity for us to gain Christ to the uttermost. Therefore, the Lord will never allow a brother to possess the unhealthy knowledge that he has already obtained while his appointed time on this earth is not near expiration; and any premature conviction of one's perfection is deceptive, if not outright detrimental to his spiritual progress and growth. The Laodiceans reckoned themselves to be so perfected that they thought that they "have need of nothing", but in the Lord's eyes, to which all things are open and naked, they were in wretched poverty and in naked misery.

D. The Desperate Lack of God's Word.

Let us examine another crucial implication associated with the Lord as the Beginning of the creation of God to the Laodicean. As the source and origin of God's creation, both the new and the old creation, all things have been created through Him as the procreating agent or the regenerating instrument (Col. 1:16-18, Heb.1:2). But how did all things come into being through Him ? 'Me answer is found in John 1:1-3. When John 1:3 says, "All things came into being through Him .... this is spoken in the context of Him as the Word in verse one: "In the beginning was the Word.” In the record of Genesis chapter one, we see that all things came into being through God's speaking -- the Word. Hebrew 1:2 also confirms this. In brief, the “Beginning of the creation of God” points to the Word that was in the beginning with God. The Laodiceans are so full of their own opinions and ideas, even good ideas on how to build up the church and with good intentions; however, they tragically neglected the life-giving Word of God. They have forfeited their heritage from the Philadelphian saints of faithfully keeping the Lord's Word. The Lord as the Beginning of the creation of God to the Laodiceans implies that their great lack was the Word of God. Wherever human words abound, God's Word shall diminish. The secret of recoverying from the wretched condition of being poor, blind, and naked is to be infused and saturated with the Word of God.

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." The Hebrew word translated perish could also be translated to “make naked.” Therefore, the condition of Laodicea being described as naked implies that they had no vision, and they were in fact explicitly characterized as being "blind". It is interesting to note that this same Hebrew word is also used in Exodus 32:25 translated naked. By reading the context of this verse in Exodus, we realized that the children of Israel had worshipped the golden calf which they asked Aaron to make for them. Therefore, this word naked describes the abominable condition of idolatry. From this word study, we are solemnly warned that a real danger in the Laodicean-era of the church life is idolatry. Surely, we are not so blatantly gullible as to be led into worshipping some kind of statue. But very subtly, even unintentionally, we may have idolized a certain spiritual individual to be god. Such a one has been so idolized that his words are considered to be infallible, so that there is no need to check for their Scriptural basis. In fact, the erring ones would quote his words far more than the Word of God. Needless to say, the Lord is greatly displeased with this situation just as He was with the children of Israel for worshipping the molten calf.

The Laodiceans are blinded because they have their eyes fixed on someone other than Christ Himself. And they also have their minds set on their human ideas, traditions, concepts, and even experiences, rather than the pure unadulterated Word of God. Today, the Lord has issued the challenge and the call, "Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me" (Exo.32:26). May we be the faithful few, the Levi of today, to come out and stand on the Lord's side. It certainly is not easy for us to take this stand, because the Lord may require us to unsheath our sword and slay (figuratively speaking) which in practicality is to reject our own dear brothers, our companions, and our neighbors' best intentions and ideas that does not originate from God's Word and that resulted in the idolatry of uplifting some human's best ideas and messages above those of God's Word (Exo32:27). Are we willing to pay this ultimate price? Oftentimes, we declare that we are absolutely for the Lord and that perhaps non-vocally we assert ourselves to be the staunchest followers of Christ. Maybe like Peter we have told the Lord that even if everyone else forsake Him, we shall still follow on. Well, herein lies the real acid test: are we now willing to take a stand for the Lord, or do we suddenly shift our loyalty away from the Lord because we refuse to break with tradition and the opinions of some of our life-long companions or we refuse to lose a good position with an accompanying fame in order to stand for the Lord and His Truths?

The second half of Proverbs 29:18 gives us the solution for the lack of vision "But he that keeps the law, happy is he". We know that the law is an Old Testament term for the Scripture, the Word of God. We can be healed of our blindness (Psa 119:105,130) and covered of our nakedness (Psa. 119:22) by our returning to the pure Word of God. The Laodiceans have neglected such a fundamental and foundational element that they needed to come back to know the Lord as the Beginning of the creation of God, for in the beginning was the Word.

E. Undermining the Headship of Christ.

Although we do not know too much about the real background of the church in Laodicea aside from this little epistle, we may safely infer that its condition was similar to the condition of the church in Colosse because of their close proximity to each other. For this reason, Paul requested in Colossians 4:16 that the saints in Colosse read the letter he sent to Laodicea and vice versa. Furthermore, Paul said in Col. 2:1 that his great struggle was not only on the behalf of the saints in Colosse but also '!for those in Laodicea". I am not attempting to delve into a full-scale comprehensive study of all the problems that existed then in both Colosse and Laodicea, but for the brevity of the paper, we will only concentrate our attention on a few of the major problems that has brought about such a disastrous lukewarm condition into the church. First of all, since the primary theme of the epistle to the Colossians is the supremacy, the all-inclusiveness and the preeminence of Christ, it is an indication that something has been introduced to the church in Laodicea that undermines the headship, the preeminence, and the experience of Christ as our everything.

Colossians 2:18-19a says, "Let no one purposely defraud you of your prize, in humility and worship of angels, standing on things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh, and not holding the Head...” The problem there at Laodicea was that some were teaching a false humility by convincing the saints that they were not worthy to approach the Holy God directly, but that they needed the angels to mediate between them and God. Thus this heretical teaching has usurped the position of Christ in His Body, the church, by shielding the members of the Body from having a direct intimate relation and communion with Christ the Head. Though we do not have any such outrageous teachings among us about worshiping angels as mediators, it is possible that we may fall into a subtle system of hierarchy to control and direct the churches so that the brothers in a locality no longer need to rely upon the Lord for direction and confirmation. We may be told that only certain individuals have the direct line to the throne of God with His message for the whole church and the rest have to listen only to them. And when there become multiple localities associated/affiliated with these individuals, the church in certain localities needed to habitually called up what may be considered essentially a headquarter for instruction to their major decisions and actions. This is a definite sign of a usurpation of the Headship of Christ, both in the relations of the Head to the members of His Body (by encouraging certain decisions of a church to be checked or decided by a central individuals/headquarter) and a usurpation of His administration of the functions and operations of the Body (by their controlling and micro-managing the healthy functioning of the various gifts and members of the church given for the building up of the church; and in the case of multiple churches affiliates, they undermine the local administration and affairs of other local churches – I am of course referring to our church history which we should learn from and not repeat the same mistake).

Furthermore, the second half of Col. 2:19 says, "... the Head, out from whom all the Body, by means of the joints and bands being supplied and knit together, grows with the growth of God." It is by holding the Head that the joints and bands supply and knit the members of the Body together, causing it to grow. What does it mean to practically hold Christ as our Head? I believe this primarily denotes that we have to be sensitive and respond positively to the directions from the Head, which means that we have to have ears to hear His speaking and we need to uphold His Word above everyone else's word. Only by thus holding Christ as our Head will we be worthy of sitting with Him on His throne in the coming millenial kingdom. If we are not holding Christ our Head and joined to Him to Whom all authority in the heavens and on the earth has been given, surely we shall not have any authority in the coming kingdom. Only by our firm adherence today to Christ as the One in the highest authority and with all authority shall we share with the same in His authority in the coming day.

2. The Lord's Counsel

Paul's prayer for the saints in Colosse also applies to the saints in Laodicea, because of the intimacy of fellowship between these two churches. We read Paul's prayer in Colossians 1:9 “... we ... do not cease praying and asking on your behalf, that you amy be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing ...” The spiritual wisdom and understanding are altogether realized and exercised in our mingled spirit, that is, the Spirit of God mingled with our human spirit. Paul's praying particularly for the saints in the matter of spiritual wisdom and understanding indicates that this is their lack. Although they may be occupied with much labor for the church's sake, yet they have neglected the Spirit, Who not only motivates but also imparts the necessary wisdom and understanding for knowing God's will and plan and for the execution of His work. This being their condition, the Lord counseled them to buy from Him "eyesalve" to "anoint" their eyes that they may see.

The anointing of the eyesalve typifies the anointing Spirit. In neglecting the Spirit and in their reliance upon their own wits to carry out the Lord's service, the Laodiceans have walked like the nations -- "in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding" (Eph 4:17b-18a). Thus, they needed the Spirit to impart the authentic spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Furthermore, they are advised to buy "gold refined by fire" that they may be rich and "white garments" that they may be clothed. It is by their dying to themselves (Col 3:3a) and their living to Christ, "in Whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden" (Col 2:3), that they will become rich. Practically, this suggests that in all our undertakings(e.g. in gospel preaching) we should die to our self by not relying on our own humanly devised methodologies and following our own experimental schemes, and we draw all our resources from Christ as our Treasury of wisdom and knowledge. In this way we exercise our living faith to partake of the divine nature embodies in Christ. (Both the living faith and the divine nature are signified by gold.) Also, it is by our living Christ that we put on the white garments, which is the righteous and approved conduct before God. As Christ is lived through us, we very naturally shall "walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing" (Col 1:10).

In short, we have seen that the church in Laodicea became such a degraded church due to several major co-agencies that brought about their apostasy -- a condition so grave that it prompted the Lord's severe warning of their imminent rejection by the Lord vomiting them out of His mouth. We thank the Lord for revealing to us the counteragents to remedy the Laodicean condition. First and foremost, we need to restore our heart back to Christ as our First Love. Only when our heart is right with the Lord, to Whom we are espoused (2 Cor 11:2), do we have any hope of beginning to recover from our degradation. The Lord has prescribed to us the Anointing Spirit as eyesalve that we may be enlighten with spiritual wisdom and understanding. We need to live Christ and exhibit Christ as our white garment, and exercise our faith to partake of the divine refined gold. Then we are admonished to uphold the supremacy of Christ by holding Him as our Head and giving Him the preeminence in all things and above all man.

Finally, we are shown repeatedly the indispensability and the paramount importance of being richly indwelt by the Word of Christ (Col 3:16). The Word of Christ is the sharp two- edged sword that is effective in combating the intrusions of the flesh in the church. And it is the entrance of the Word that gives light to efface the pervading darkness of the Laodicean condition. And it is by our keeping the Lord's Word (Rev 3:8,10) that we will be brought back to the well-approved and healthy state of the church in Philadelphia, whom the Lord has "loved' (Rev 3:9b) so dearly. But even the Lord's rebuke and discipline to the church in Laodicea is out of a His eternal, unchanging love (Rev 3:19).

3. The Lord's Calling

We ought to be the discerning Christians with backbone to uphold the truth and not compromise even under great external pressures from sometimes a seemingly inexorable force from a clear deviation from the truths of God's Word. Unfortunately many saints have failed in this acid test of their faith and of their true commitment to follow the Lord. Because they seek to please men over and above the Lord, they are victimized and tossed by the winds of erroneous teachings. Paul expressed his stalwart unwavering commitment to the Lord by his statement, "If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a slave of Christ” (Gal 1:10b). We need to ask ourselves: Are we walking worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, or have we stooped so low that we strive to please man above the Lord Himself? We all need to have a renewed consecration to the Lord reinforced with steel, so that our knees will not buckle beneath the weight of the persuasive, erring falsehood and human deviations from God's Word among those who undermined the authority of Christ. In reality, the faithful few who are determined to please the Lord at all cost stand head and shoulder above the rest. These overcomers stand unintimidated by the odds and unshaken by the waves of decline, while undaunted in their pursuit toward the Mark (Phi 3:14). The Lord has issued this royal summon to those who would be His daring stalwarts to take a stand against the degradation of the church and be among the privileged in the coming kingdom to sit with Christ on His throne.

I would like to close with two stanzas of this familiar hymn:

Stand up! stand up for Jesus!

The trumpet call obey;

Forth to the mighty conflict

In this His glorious day.

Ye that are men, now serve Him

Against unnumbered foes;

Let courage rise with danger,

And strength to strength oppose.

Stand up! stand up for Jesus!

The strife will not be long;

The day the noise of battle,

The next the victor's song;

To him that overcometh

A crown of life shall be;

He, with the King of glory,

Shall reign eternally.

“As many as I love I rebuke and discipline; be zealous therefore and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” (Rev 3:19-20)

May the Lord safeguard us from all from the perils of Laodicea which pervades most of Christianity today.