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THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LAODICEA "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 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. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (Rev. 3:14-22)According to Jesus, the church at Laodicea, an ancient city in Asia Minor, was in a mess . . .Verses 15-16: She couldn’t refresh thirsty souls, like cold waters, nor could she offer any real comfort or cleansing like hot water. She was neither cold nor hot, just lukewarm, which means she was of no use to the Lord. Consequently, He promised to reject her by using the similitude of spewing her out of His mouth.Verse 17: Laodicea was a very prosperous city. She was the banking center of the whole region, she had a medical school that invented medicines for the ears and the eyes, and she produced a special glossy black wool, which was marketed throughout the world. This city had so much wealth and pride that when an earthquake left her with enormous damage in 60 A.D., she refused to accept aid from the Roman government, choosing to rebuild everything herself. Laodicea was a very wealthy, proud, self reliant and self righteous city. The church that the Lord had placed here failed to influence this city for Christ. Instead, the church became influenced and indoctrinated by the city! Just as the city was too proud to receive help in 60 A.D., this church was too proud and too blind to receive spiritual help by 96 A.D.Verse 17: This church was so full of itself that it’s the only one of the seven churches that actually speaks about itself. It’s the only church that says, “I.” Like Babylon the Great in Revelation 18:7, this church is full of itself and feels no sense of spiritual need.Verse 18: Having only material wealth, like the unsaved heathen of the city, this church was told by the Lord to buy some real gold, some “gold tried in the fire,” which is tried and proven faith, according to I Peter 1:7. Rather than being proud of their shiny black wool clothing, the Lord told the people of this church to buy some better clothes, that is the white raiment of righteousness (Rev. 19:8). He also made a near sarcastic reference to their famous eyesalve and its inability to help their spiritual blindness. In helping so many to see physically, these church members had become blind to spiritual things, just like the Pharisees (Mat. 23:16, 24; John 9:40-41).Verses 19-20: This is the only case in all of the letters to the seven churches in which the Lord makes appeals to the individuals within the church (“as many as . . . if any man . . . come in to him . . . he with me”.) The church as a whole body is terminally ill (see Isa. 1:5-6), revival is out of the question, and it’s up to the individuals in the church to face reality and take personal action in order to maintain fellowship with the Lord Jesus.Now, that is the condition of the Laodicean church of the Bible. The Lord’s estimation was that it was wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.As with any other passage in the Bible, any Christian or any church, at any time, can benefit by applying these spiritual truths. That much is pretty well understood and agreed to by most everyone.But what is not so understood is the fact that Laodicea also represents the last days of the church age. If you doubt this, just ask ten members from ten different churches what Laodicea means to them. Although the word "laodicean" is defined in many modern dictionaries, today's professing Christians, BEING Laodiceans themselves, are completely blind to the fact that the word applies to THEM, even fits them "to a T," as they say.We are going to present some arguments in favor of this view because no Christian can properly serve God if he doesn’t understand the age in which he lives (I Chron. 12:32). Simply put, if you plan to obey Romans 12:1-2 by being “not conformed to this world,” then you MUST know what “this world” is. You cannot defend yourself against an enemy if you don’t know him. As the apostle Paul writes in II Corinthians 2:11, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”So, here follow some proofs that the Laodicean church of Revelation 3:14-22 is representative of the church of the last days in which we live. I. THE EVIL BRIDE OF ANTIOCHUS III grant you, this is a peculiar-sounding point, and it is not one of my stronger arguments, yet it is rather interesting and well worth mentioning.The city of Laodicea is named after Laodike, the wife of the Syrian king Antiochius II (261-246 B.C.). Although what I’m about to tell you doesn’t exactly prove anything, it is somewhat instructive, and it should add some weight to the argument as a whole, that is, to Laodicea representing the last days of the church age, the time in which we live.Laodike was a very ambitious woman who was obsessed with having her sons inherit the throne of her husband Antiochus II. All looked well until 252 B.C. when he divorced her and married a wealthy Eqyptian named Berenike, who bore him an heir to the throne. This enraged Laodike, and she set out to win back her husband. By 246 B.C. she had won him back, but within a year he was dead. Though it was never proven, many historians believe Laodike won him back solely for the purpose of the throne and then poisoned him. Berenike and her son were also soon killed by Laodike’s agents.Christian, when you received Christ you divorced this world (Romans 7:1-4), which, as we shall show, is presently a Laodicean world. In essence, you divorced Laodicea. Now, she’s trying to poison you with her philosophies and immoral standards so she and her children can have rule. Will you become her victim, like 90% of the professing Christians you know, or will you recognize her for what she is and keep yourself at a safe distance from her? Romans 12:2. II. THE MEANING OF THE NAMEThe name “Laodicea” literally means “people’s justice” or “people’s rights.” No time in church history better fits such a description than our present day. Over the past century we’ve witnessed our society placing a heavy emphasis on human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, affirmative action rights, equal employment rights, equal housing rights, animal rights, and so on.Only in our time could a man be awarded $5,000,000 for being clumsy enough to spill hot coffee on himself in a restaurant. Only in our time could a demon possessed drug attic be awarded 57,000,000 after endangering the lives of hundreds of people and then getting himself worked-over with a club after resisting arrest. Only in our time have vast numbers of grown women actually fought over such insignificant things as Cabbage Patch dolls. Only in our time have churches had major fights and even splits over such issues as who cooked the best apple pie, the color of the carpet, the color of the wall paint, and the pastor buying toilet tissue without permission. Laodicea is the age of people’s rights. You’d better believe it! III. THIS CHURCH’S PLACEMENT IN THE BIBLEThe seven churches are introduced in Revelation chapter one. Then the Lord addresses each of them in chapters two and three. The last word of chapter three is “churches,” and then we don’t see the words “churches” or “church” again until chapter twenty-two, verse 16. Just as the church age ends one day with the church being caught up to heaven and the tribulation period beginning, we find the church being mentioned last at the end of chapter three, John (a type of the church—his name means "Jehovah hath been gracious") is caught up to heaven in Revelation 4:1 through a door that is opened, and then he sees believers standing before God! They are not on the earth anymore. Meanwhile, preparations are made and the tribulation period gets under way on the earth (chapters 5 through 19).That can be no accident! The church’s placement in Revelation is by design. That being the case, the last church mentioned must serve as a picture of the last days of the church age. IV. THE CHURCH AGE MUST END IN APOSTASY, LIKE LAODICEALaodicea was in apostasy, as the Revelation text reveals. Of seven possibilities, it cannot be accidental that Laodicea’s spiritual condition matches the spiritual condition that the Bible predicts for the church of the last days. The Lord could not have spoken of Philadelphia or Ephesus last and had such a match, but Laodicea’s condition matches perfectly.Notice what other Scriptures say about the last days:“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” (II Ths. 2:3)Does that not match the spiritual condition of the church at Laodicea?“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (II Tim. 3:1-5)Notice the first description of people in the last days: “lovers of their own selves.” Is that not a perfect match for Laodicea’s “people’s rights”? God said people would be self-centered, not Christ-centered, and that fits Laodicea perfectly.“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (II Tim. 4:1-4)The church of the last days will not embrace sound doctrine. Sound familiar? The Laodicean church said that she had need of nothing. Sound doctrine would be included.“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” (II Pet. 3:3-4)He said people would be walking after their own lusts, like Laodicea, who thought only of herself and was not focused on Christ and His return. Holding to the uniformitarian worldview, such people are also ignorant of sound doctrine regarding the judgment and clear evidence of Noah’s flood.Clearly, it is Laodicea who matches the Biblical description of the last day church. Are we to believe that this is just a mere coincidence? V. LAODICEA’S SPIRITUAL CONDITION MATCHES THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF TODAY’S CHURCHESOur last point stressed the fact that the Laodicean church of Revelation matches the Bible’s description of the last day church. In other words, John’s words agree with the words of Peter and Paul. Now the question becomes, do these descriptions, and does Laodicea’s condition in particular, match modern day churches?The answer is an obvious “yes” to any serious observer. As we’ve already seen, the meaning of the name “Laodicea” fits this present age and its churches like a glove, but it is also true that the Lord’s description of the Laodicean church matches present day churches, not the churches of the past.The church at Laodicea was materially rich, yet spiritually poor. Never in history has this condition been more real than today. I recently found this well illustrated in a Christian booksellers catalog. There were dozens of pages advertising all sorts of study materials in colorful packaging and eye-catching titles. One item in particular caught my eye when the bookseller claimed that it would help the Christian to perform the “daunting task” of reading the Bible through in one year. That’s Laodicea. We are so rich that we expect to see hundreds of books, CDs, and DVD’s paraded before us, page after page, and most of us have the money to purchase any of the material we want, yet we are so spiritually poor that we think it’s a daunting task to read the Bible through in a year.On your way home from church one day, drive through the parking lot of a big denominational church and take a look at the expensive cars and SUVs sitting there. Some of those people paid more for their vehicle than some of you paid for your houses. Materially, they are rich and increased with goods. Even those who aren’t can still feel like they are, thanks to credit cards.Now, walk inside that same church building and see how much real joy you can find, how many “Amens” you can hear during the preaching, and how many open King James Bibles you can see in the laps of grown men. They’re dirt poor, spiritually speaking. They wear the nicest clothes, but they are spiritually naked. They can see the nice building and its elaborate decorations, and they can see every word and picture that is projected onto the large video screen as they have their “contemporary worship”, but they cannot see the need to grow spiritually, support missions, witness, distribute tracts, and street preach.This is Laodicea. This is the rich church period that has everything—everything except the Lord, who happens to be locked outside knocking on the door. VI. THE CHURCHES PRECEDING LAODICEA MATCH PERIODS IN CHURCH HISTORYTake Pergamos, for instance, which means “much marriage.” The Pergamos period runs from about AD 325 to around the year 500. This matches church history perfectly because this period began with Constantine merging professing Christianity with the world. The elements of pagan Rome began slowly creeping into the churches until a period known as the Dark Ages fell upon the world.Philadelphia is another good example. This was the sixth church the Lord addressed. The church at Philadelphia was a good church which proved faithful with God’s word. In fact, the Lord set before this church an “open door,” an opportunity to preach the gospel like none of the others had. This is a perfect match for the Reformation which began in the early 1500’s and ran into the mid 1800’s. The King James Bible was translated during this time. Great preachers like Martin Luther, George Whitfield, John Wesley, John Clark, and Charles Spurgeon preached during this time. America, the home of religious liberty, was founded during this time. Philadelphia means “brotherly love,” and no time in history shows more brotherly love than that which was shown between 1500 and 1850.The churches preceding Laodicea match periods in church history (though we don’t have space to cover each one), so it stands to reason that Laodicea would also correspond to a period of time. VII. GOD’S NUMERICAL DESIGNJesus addressed only seven churches, yet there were far more than seven churches in that region, and a whole lot more than seven in the world. There were churches at Colosse and Hierapolis, both within 10 or 12 miles from Laodicea, yet these churches were not included, and there were churches planted all over Europe at this time. Yet, the Lord addressed only seven. Don’t you find that a little odd?Here’s what I believe happened. The number seven is the number of spiritual perfection in the Bible, so God needed only seven churches to show us His plan. He looked into the future and saw the condition of the vast majority of churches throughout the centuries. He then picked out seven churches that had similar conditions and used those churches to show us church history in advance. (Please read that again.)True Christians have been born of God’s word (I Pet. 1:23), and God’s word is purified seven times (Psa. 12:6-7). So, the Lord’s church goes through seven distinct periods of history with a faithful remnant overcoming each one (“he that overcometh . . .”). That’s why God didn’t address ten churches, three churches, or one hundred churches. His design called for only seven churches. He had a seven point message to preach, so only seven churches were needed. The last point was addressed to the church at Laodicea because that church represents the last days of the church age, the days in which we live.Europe's Black Death was a plague that claimed between 100,000,000 and 200,000,000 lives by its peak in the fourteenth century. Yet, when God's HIStory book is complete, the Black Death will pale in comparison to the spiritual death toll of Laodicea. She's DEADLY, and YOU'LL be dead, if you don't get away from her.