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Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
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Today’s message
I open my heart to you: I have traveled across Brazil, visited over a thousand churches, and I carry a burden. I see full temples, but cold hearts. Jesus walks among the churches. He sees beyond what we show. What matters is not our self-image, nor what the street says. What matters is what He says. Laodicea had high self-esteem and a perfect score in the mirror. But Christ made another diagnosis. Today I ask you to stand before the Lord, without makeup. Let the Word light up the areas where we prefer dimness.
The figure of water explains a lot. Hierapolis had hot waters that healed. Colossae had cold waters that refreshed. Laodicea received lukewarm water through an aqueduct, useless. Jesus says: neither hot nor cold. Lukewarm. It is the portrait of a heart that no longer burns, nor awakens thirst in others. The city prided itself on gold, fine wool, and famous eye salve. Christ uses the language of the marketplace: you think you are rich, dressed, and wise, but you are poor, naked, and blind without me.
I want to look at this text from three perspectives
- Diagnosis (15–17): known works, but lukewarmness, self-sufficiency, and spiritual blindness.
- Appeal (18–20): buy from Christ gold, white garments, and eye salve; zeal and repentance; open the door.
- Promise (21–22): communion at the table today and a throne with Him tomorrow; ears attentive to the Spirit.
What matters is not what you think of yourself. What matters is what Jesus says about you.
Notice the order of grace: He loves, therefore He corrects. He knocks, but does not break in. Christ advises before disciplining. And He advises with three very concrete images for those living in Laodicea: true wealth, true covering, true vision. The way is not spiritual cosmetics. It is heart conversion. Zeal is not agitation; it is fire on the altar. Repentance is not remorse; it is a change of mind, direction, and practice.
Jesus' advice to the lukewarm church
- Buy from Him refined gold: living faith, costly, that endures trials.
- Receive white garments: Christ's righteousness covering our shame.
- Anoint your eyes with eye salve: healed vision to discern sin and glory.
- Be earnest and repent: cut off what cools, feed what ignites.
- Open the door: give place to Christ in every area, not just in the courtyard of life.
I pray for a revival: that God warms us again, brings us back to the purity of the gospel. Do not negotiate with lukewarmness. Take seriously the door where Jesus knocks. He promises to enter and dine. Intimate communion now; throne later. What He thinks is what matters. So today, adjust your voice to His: confess where you have grown cold, trade the shine of the showcase for the gold of the fire, dress in white, anoint your eyes. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says.
Did you know
- Laodicea received water through aqueducts; by the time it arrived, it was lukewarm, an image used by Jesus to expose spiritual uselessness.
- Hierapolis was known for its hot springs, and Colossae for cold springs; both served clear purposes, unlike the lukewarmness of Laodicea.
- Laodicea was a banking, textile (fine wool), and medical (Phrygian eye salve) center, the backdrop for gold, white garments, and eye salve in Revelation 3.
Key phrases
- God gave me the privilege of visiting over 1,000 churches of various denominations.
- What matters is not what you think about yourself. What matters is what Jesus says about you.
- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
- Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Translated from the Portuguese original.
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A Alerta Urgente Contra o Esfriamento Espiritual | Hernandes Dias Lopes
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