I don’t know whether this is necessarily applicable, but the thought crossed my mind. How many of us wear some kind of a name plate or some kind of a name tag to identify ourselves? How many of us have taken an indelible marker [a permanent marker] and written the name and address of a child on their clothing to identify them as the owner? Or, perhaps, we have sewn name labels onto the child’s clothing. How do we identify the child that belongs to that clothing? With a different name, a wrong address? No! We put on their name, and we put on their address. They can be identified by name, as far as who the clothing belongs to, and they can also be located because their address is there. I think the imagery here is just spectacular! As a faithful child of God, it is spectacular to think about having His “Name” on us, and having our “new address” on the label as well! Wow!! [i.e. My name is “Christian” or “child of God”; my address is “heaven.”] That’s what the Lord promises to those Christians there in the church in Philadelphia.

The Lord closes out here in verse 13, as He does in all of the letters, with an admonition. He only has commendation for them. By comparison, the number of promises that the Lord gives to this church here in Philadelphia are more than any of the other seven churches, including the church in Smyrna. So, even though they are doing very well in their work, and even though the Lord has no words of rebuke or condemnation for them, their work is not done! It’s not time to relax and “rest on their laurels,” so to speak. He ends there with that admonition—“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

There is a responsibility that I [John Phillis] have as a minister of the Gospel to preach, to teach, to present the Gospel, to speak words of exhortation, to speak words of encouragement, and so on. There is a responsibility that each of you have as well, as members of the Body of Christ. The teaching and the preaching is not “vested in the clergy” in the church of Christ as it is in denominations. No, each one of us has a responsibility to share the Gospel with others. But those who are on the receiving end have a responsibility as well. Yes, we have the responsibility to present the information in a loving and caring manner, and of being faithful to the Word of God as we present it. But those who are the hearers also have a responsibility of hearing and of accepting and of believing. That’s what the Lord’s admonition here is: “He who has an ear, let him hear.” The information is there. Listen to what the Spirit has to say.

Keep in mind that this letter to the church in Philadelphia was part of the overall epistle that would be delivered and circulated among all of these churches in Asia Minor, as well as, no doubt, other congregations of the Lords’ people. But it was addressed specifically to the seven churches. So the admonition is: Here is what the Spirit has to say about your situation. Give an ear to that, but moreover, give an ear to everything that the Spirit has to say! And we have that responsibility as well! We have the responsibility to listen, to accept, and to believe.

LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN LAODICEA (verses 14-22)

Introduction to the City of Laodicea

For several weeks, we’ve been looking at what the Lord has to say to the seven churches that were in Asia Minor in the latter part of the 1^st Century. We’ve looked at what He had to say to the “loveless church” in Ephesus; what He had to say to the “persecuted church” in Smyrna; what He had to say to the “compromising church” in Pergamos; what He had to say to the “corrupt church” in Thyatira; to the “dead or dying church” in Sardis; and to the “faithful church” in Philadelphia. That brings us now to what the Lord has to say to the “Lukewarm church” in Laodicea.

Laodicea was a city located about 40 miles southeast of Philadelphia, and about ten miles west of Colosse. As we’ve been looking at these seven churches of Asia, we’ve been trying to picture them and where we are. Look in the back of your Bible, where there is, no doubt, a map which will indicate where these seven churches of Asia are. Laodicea will be the southern most, and inland most, of those seven churches.

Laodicea was named by Antiochus, the King of Syria, who founded the city. He named the city after his wife, whose name was Laodice.

Laodicea was a wealthy city. It flourished under Roman rule. It had actually become a very prominent banking center, and was recognized as such here in the latter part of the 1^st Century. It was also known for manufacturing. One of the principal products of manufacture was a cloth that was woven from wool. This was black wool Because the sheep in that region were typically black, their wool was black. This was a very popular cloth for garment making.

It was known for something else as well. It had a flourishing medical school. In addition to a medical center and medical school, they also had developed a type of eye salve using “Phrygian powder.” This powder was also manufactured.

So Laodicea was known in a material sense, or secular sense, as a banking center, as a manufacturing center, and as a medical center. Keep these things in mind, because as we look at the text, we are going to see how the Lord will use these things that the city was well-known for, or famous for, as He will rebuke the church there.