Laodicea is Evaluated

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3: 15 – 16

Have you ever bitten down on some grapes, thinking they were seedless, and they were not? What did you do? You spit out the seed and the little pieces of seeds that had gotten chewed up, didn?t you? And you felt a kind of relief when you had gotten rid of those seeds that you weren’t expecting.

In the days of the New Testament, people hadn’t yet learned how to produce seedless grapes or oranges. So when they came to seeds, they were expecting them. But they spit them out just the same. Consequently, the phrase “to spit out” or “to spue out” something became a way of saying you rejected that thing. To spit out something meant to reject it. That is the meaning of what Jesus says to Laodicea.

To those who are indifferent at this time, Christ’s warning is:
“Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3: 16). The figure of spewing out of His mouth means that He cannot offer up your prayers or your expressions of love to God. He cannot endorse your teaching of His Word or your spiritual work in anywise. He cannot present your religious exercises with the request that grace be given you. (6T:408).

Here is the problem. Jesus says our works are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. He says He wishes we were either hot or cold. In other words, if we were hot, he would be happy. If we were cold, He would be able to correct that. But lukewarmness, He cannot abide. This is because both hot works and cold works are natural, but lukewarm works are not. What do I mean?

The flesh is sinful, so the natural thing for the flesh to produce is “what” Sin! When you and I commit sin, we are simply acting according to our natures, which are sinful.

Likewise, when the Spirit lives in us, it is natural for the Spirit to do righteousness. John says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” (1John 3:9). The new life that begins when the Holy Spirit lives in us does not sin, because the Spirit naturally does righteousness. So hot works are the natural result of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. And cold works are the natural result of the flesh. But lukewarm works are not natural either to the flesh or to the Spirit. Therefore, when the flesh, which is sinful, pretends to be good through self-righteousness, such works are hypocritical and unnatural.

Before we consider why Christ rejects lukewarm works so strongly, let’s look in more detail at exactly what lukewarm works really are. And in order to do that, let’s see first what lukewarm works are not.

When Jesus tells us that our works are lukewarm, He is not saying that sometimes our works are hot and sometimes they are cold, so on average they are lukewarm. Some Adventists believe that this is the substance of Jesus accusation against Laodicea. They believe He adds up the total picture of her works ” some hot and some cold ” and the average is only a lukewarm condition.

That is not at all what Jesus is saying. He is saying, “All the time all your works are lukewarm.” It’s not that some are hot and some are cold; everything Laodicea is doing is lukewarm. We need to keep this important point in mind.

Second, some Adventists understand Laodicea’s lukewarmness as a particular point in a process of moving from being hot to being cold. In the early days, they say, our church used to be hot. Our pioneers worked hard and sacrificed themselves and their possessions. But as we became a larger, more popular church, we became lukewarm. Once we were hot, but we are moving toward being cold. Right now, we are sort of in-between, we have cooled off until we are only lukewarm and need revival.

Those who understand Laodicea’s lukewarmness in this way use Revelation 2:4, 5 to support the idea. “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent.” The problem with using Revelation 2:4, 5 is that these verses are from Christ?s message to the church at Ephesus, not Laodicea. Christ doesn’t say to the Laodicean church, “You were once hot, but now have become lukewarm. Be careful, or I will spit you out.” No. Christ says to Laodicea, “You are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm.” Lukewarmness is Laodicea’s chronic condition.

We can’t apply Christ’s message to Ephesus to our condition as Laodicea. It’s true that the pioneers of this movement worked hard and sacrificed themselves. But what about the works they were doing ” were they works of faith (hot works) or works of law (lukewarm works)? The evidence from Seventh-day Adventist history suggests that, like us, some of the early leaders of this church became trapped in a subtle form of legalism ” that is, of lukewarm works.

In 1874, Uriah Smith, editor of The Review and Herald (it is called the Adventist Review today), published a four-month series of articles titled “Leading Doctrines of the Review.” The articles had much to say about the law but nothing about justification by faith, which is the foundation of hot works.

Three years later, James White and Uriah Smith held a “Bible Institute” in Battle Creek, Michigan. This was a series of lectures for Adventist ministers, focusing on the Bible. The purpose was to train these pastors to go out and preach the three angels” messages more effectively. These lectures were later published, and once more, there was no mention made of justification by faith. The following year, 1878, Uriah Smith published a 336-page book, Synopsis of Present Truth. Again, this summary of the Adventist message contained no mention of justification by faith or of righteousness by faith. You can see why Christians of other faiths began to accuse Adventists of being legalists as they noted our focus on law and our neglect of righteousness by faith. It was in this context that Ellen White wrote, “We have preached the law until we are as dry as the hills of Gilboah that had neither dew nor rain. We must preach Christ in the law, and there will be sap and nourishment in the preaching.” (Review and Herald, 11 March 1890).

So when Jesus accuses us of being lukewarm, this is what He is talking about ” works of the law, legalism, attempting to obey the law in our own strength in order to be saved, doing good things for the wrong reasons. And He warns us, “Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold not hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)! This lukewarmness will cause Christ to reject us!

Why? Are lukewarm works bad works? Are they the same as works of the flesh (sin)? Not outwardly. Why then, is God so opposed to lukewarm works? Here are four reasons that self-righteousness, works of the law, are so nauseating to Christ that He will have to spit us out if we remain lukewarm.

1. Hypocrisy. In the past studies we saw that our flesh, that is, our fallen human natures, are 100 percent sinful (see Romans 7:18). Therefore, when we try in the flesh to be good, when in our own strength we try to imitate God and His righteousness, that is “hypocrisy”. Paul calls it ?a fair shew in the flesh? (Galatians 6:12). In the Galatian church, the issue was circumcision; for us, the issue could be Sabbath keeping, dress, diet, or any one of many things. But the principle is the same. The flesh is trying to be good and to show others how good it can be.

Matthew 23 is dealing with what Jesus thinks of self-righteousness, works of the law. In this chapter, He is evaluating the Pharisees, who were experts at works of the law. He told the people, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works.” (verses 2, 3). In other words, Jesus recognized the scribes and Pharisees as the authorities in interpreting Moses’ law; they were the experts. The Pharisees were extremely zealous regarding the law of Moses.

Jesus did not argue with the religious leaders regarding the law. They were teaching good things. He even told the people to observe what their leaders told them to do (see verse 3). But He warned the people not to do as their leaders did. Why? The problem was not with the Pharisees’ understanding of the law, but with the motive behind their works. “All their works? Jesus said, ?they do for to be seen of men.” (verse 5). What they were doing was good, but why were they doing it? They were doing it as a way of saying “See how good I am!” They wanted everyone to see. Jesus called them “hypocrites” and “blind guides.” (verses 13 ? 16). “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (verses 27, 28).

This attitude of the Pharisees and scribes may also be our attitude as well. Ellen White tells us:
“We may have flattered ourselves, as did Nicodemus. (Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, so he was a first-class Pharisee), that our life has been upright, that our moral character is correct, and think that we need not humble the heart before God like the common sinner: but when the light from Christ shines into our souls, we shall see how impure we are, we shall discern the selfishness of motive, the enmity against God, that has defiled every act of life. (Steps to Christ, 28, 29).

We all face this problem of self-righteousness in different forms. Satan will encourage the flesh to raise its ugly head wherever possible. Notice Ellen White is dealing in this statement with motive, not with the outward action itself. She says, “We shall discern the selfishness of motive.”

We need to ask ourselves, “Why am I doing the things that I do?” For example, do I go out and work hard giving Bible studies because I want to share God’s truth with others? Or because I want to impress the church? Or because I want to impress God? Or because I think it will help ensure my salvation? Am I performing works of faith or works of the law? That’s the question. What is the source of the works that I do ” the Spirit or the flesh”.

Obviously, we cannot determine another person’s motive for what he or she does. That is why we must never judge each other. We have enough difficulty understanding our own motives. One way to discover if your own motives are selfish is to ask yourself: “When I?m successful in God’s work, do I have a tendency to look down on those who are having failures?” Be warned; this is the flesh trying to tell you how good you are! The flesh doesn’t want to give the Holy Spirit the glory, because the flesh is the enemy of the Spirit.

The first reason, then, that God rejects self-righteousness, or works of the law, is because the motive is all wrong. We may be doing the right things, but for the wrong reasons. The Jews in Jesus’ day were keeping the Sabbath. In fact, they were very strict and had all sorts of rules to make sure they didn’t desecrate God’s holy day. But they kept the Sabbath from selfish motives ” so that they might be saved and so that God would bless them.

2. Unbelief. The second reason self-righteousness is so nauseating to Christ is that in reality it is based on unbelief. Jesus says, “Without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

If you say, “No, God, You’re wrong; I can do something good”, then are you exhibiting belief in Him or unbelief? Clearly, you are exhibiting unbelief. Let me give you some examples.

When, shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus said to the disciples, “All of you will forsake Me this night”. (see Matthew 26: 30 ? 35), did they agree? No. What were they guilty of? Unbelief.

When God showed Peter that the gospel was not only for Jews but for Gentiles also, did Peter agree? No. God had to tell him, “What I have cleansed, don?t ever call unclean.” (see Acts 9-16). God was correcting Peter’s unbelief.

Any time we deny God’s verdict on the flesh, we are exhibiting unbelief. That is exactly what is happening in Laodicea’s reaction to Christ’s message. The True Witness says that we are ?wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked?. What is Laodicea?s response? “I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.? (Revelation 3:17). Who is right? Is Jesus telling the truth about us, or do you believe that He is making a mistake? We may admit with the lips that Jesus is correct, but our temptation is to point to our glowing reports of the works that we do and say, “But our works are so good”.

What did Jesus mean when He told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6)? Was He not saying, “Let me tell you the fact, Nicodemus. Your flesh, your sinful human nature, can never produce righteousness.” We can only have righteousness if we are born from above of the Spirit, and it is Christ’s righteousness, not ours.

No matter how good our works of the law may appear in our sight, we must remember that they are always based on unbelief. Whenever the flesh tries to do something that God has said it cannot do, we are saying, in effect, “God, You are a liar”. And that is unbelief. That is why works of the law are always based on unbelief.

3. Selfishness. Paul says. Love agape “seeketh not her own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). There is no selfishness in agape. Therefore, if we do anything from a selfish motive, we are in opposition to the principle of agape love, the true motivation for all works of faith. Peter came to Jesus once and said, “We have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” (Matthew 19:27). Why did Peter forsake all? Was that a work of the law or a work of faith? His motive was selfish; he believed that Jesus would overthrow the Romans, and he wanted to be one of the top cabinet ministers in the new government. He forsook everything to follow Jesus, but his motive was a selfish one, and thus his sacrifice was a work of the law.

How can we be sure? Because when Jesus came to wash Peter?s feet in the upper room, Peter said, “You will never wash my feet”.

Now, Jesus knew Peter’s heart, so He said, “If I don’t wash your feet, you will have no part in My kingdom.” To Peter, this meant that he would not have part with Jesus.

“Oh”, Peter said, in effect, “in that case, wash not only my feet, but my head and my hands, because I want to have a part with you.”

Works of the law may appear good on the outside, but they are devoid of agape. They are based on selfish motives, and therefore they are as filthy rags to God (see Isaiah 64:6). “Love to God is the very foundation of religion. To engage in His service merely from hope of reward or fear of punishment would avail nothing.” (PP 523).

4. Denying Christ. The final reason that Christ is nauseated by works of the law is because they deny Christ as our righteousness. Paul emphatically told the Galatians, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law.? (Galatians 5:4). What was the problem in the Galatian church? Was it the same problem the Jews were having? No. The Jews wanted salvation entirely by their own works. The Galatian Christians fell for another of Satan’s traps. It was legalism, to be sure, but it was a subtle form of legalism. The Galatians fell for the idea that it isn’t enough to accept Christ as our righteousness. We must also contribute to His righteousness by keeping the law ” in their case, by being circumcised. In other words, the Galatian problem was the idea: “I am saved by faith plus works.”

Ellen White speaks to this issue specifically, “Should faith plus works purchase the gift of salvation for anyone, then the Creator is under obligation to the creature. Here is an opportunity for falsehood to be accepted as truth.” (Faith and Works, 20). This is where the Roman Catholic Church has gone wrong. The Catholic Church teaches that a person is saved by faith plus penance. Ellen White says that if we add works to our faith, we are no different from the Catholics who add penance to confession.

Both imputed righteousness (justification) and imparted righteousness (sanctification) must be all of Christ. The world needs to see not us, but Christ living in us and through us. Only when Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit will we do the works of Christ from the motive of pure agape love. Then the world will be lightened with God?s glory (see Revelation 18). And that is Christ?s real objective in giving the Laodicean message. May it be realized soon!

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