Joel 2:12-14 Colossians 1:15–18; 4:12–17 Revelation 3:14–22
The Sermons to the Seven Churches: The Church of Vomit and Vanity (1)
Jane Austen’s novel, “Pride and Prejudice”, provides a valuable lesson in discernment. The central theme revolves around the initial impressions formed by the characters and how these perceptions evolve as their relationships develop. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, takes pride in her ability to judge character swiftly, yet her prejudices cloud her judgement regarding two very different men. Mr Darcy is portrayed as “haughty, reserved, and fastidious”, with manners that, though refined, are not particularly welcoming. In contrast, Mr Wickham is charming and “universally liked”; Elizabeth, despite knowing little about him, is swayed by his flattering behaviour. As the story progresses, Elizabeth realises her mistakes and later admits to her sister Jane that “one has got all the goodness, and the other the appearance of it.”
The church in Laodicea suffered from precisely the same problem. She possessed the appearance of goodness without the goodness itself. Outwardly impressive, inwardly hollow, she received from the Lord not a single word of commendation…only unqualified rebuke.
The city of Laodicea was founded around 250 BC by Antiochus II and named after his wife. It became one of the wealthiest cities in the ancient world, famous for banking, fine black wool textiles, and a medical school renowned for its eye-salve. The irony in Jesus’ words is unmistakable. The church in a city celebrated for wealth is told it is poor. The church in a city clothed in luxury is called naked. The church in a city proud of its healing eye-salve is declared blind.
Positioned at the junction of three major Roman roads, Laodicea flourished as a centre of commerce and culture. Despite a sizeable Jewish population, the message to this church mentions no persecution whatsoever. That silence is striking, especially when set alongside Paul’s sober assertion that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
Many scholars believe that Epaphras, mentioned in Colossians 4:12–13, was the founding or former pastor of the Laodicean church. Paul wrote: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.” A few verses later Paul asked the Colossians to give his greetings to the believers in Laodicea and to Nympha, in whose house the church met, and instructed that his letters be exchanged between Colossae and Laodicea. Though Paul’s letter to the Laodiceans has not been preserved, the fact that Paul wished the letters to these two cities to be exchanged suggests that at that time these churches shared similar strengths, dangers, and temptations.
Church history indicates that Laodicea remained an influential centre in the early centuries, even hosting a major council in the fourth century AD. That fact alone implies that the church did not perish under Christ’s rebuke but responded to it. The council issued directives on worship, discipline, heresy, as well as the biblical canon. Significantly, Paul’s letter to the Laodiceans was not discussed, which means it must have been lost long before the gathering of this council…and that serves to remind us that while God did inspire the authors of Scripture, he also sovereignly preserved only what he knows his Church requires. What God did not preserve; we do not need.
Laodicea was fiercely self-reliant. After yet another a devastating earthquake in the area, this time in AD 60, the city rebuilt itself without imperial aid, an achievement noted with admiration by Tacitus. And yet, sadly, it seems that this same self-sufficiency had seeped into the church. Prosperous, stable, and respected, the congregation lacked spiritual urgency. This was nominal Christianity…comfortable, complacent, and self-referential…where worldly security had smothered living faith.
The parallel with much of Western Christianity is difficult to miss. Churches become inward-looking, risk-averse, and content to preserve comfort rather than pursue mission. And when blessing ceases to flow outward, vitality drains away. The Dead Sea is lifeless precisely because it has no outflow. What flows in, stays in and what was once life-giving, dies. In the same way, the more we keep for ourselves what God gives for all, the less life remains among us…and we will die.
Laodicea’s compromise was not harmless. Left unchallenged, it had cost the church its very identity. Jesus himself declared that he was standing outside, knocking…he was not inside but outside a group of people who claimed to be his church.
Jesus warned repeatedly of the danger of fruitlessness caused by worldly preoccupation. In Matthew 13:22 he said, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Divided loyalties always end the same way: God is crowded out, and self takes centre stage. Materialism, covetousness, and selective obedience slowly drain spiritual life, leaving only the shell of faith. That was Laodicea’s condition.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus reserved his severest warnings not for pagans, but for those who claimed to belong to God. When the Church adopts the values of the world while claiming the language of faith, hypocrisy becomes inevitable. Jesus does not overlook such duplicity. He confronts it. His Church is meant to display his character, not contradict it.
Thus Jesus introduced himself to Laodicea as “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.” To call himself the Amen is to claim final authority. “Amen” means “let it be so,” or “this is true.” Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 1:20: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in (Jesus). That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” In Jesus, every promise of God is fulfilled. What he says is unalterably true and what he judges is unavoidably final.
Jesus is not merely truthful; he is the one to whom all truth points. Everything begins with him and ends with him. That is why he so often declared, “Amen, amen, (sometimes translated as “truly, truly”) I say to you…” All truth begins and ends in Jesus.
And if Jesus alone is the truth, then everything that rivals him is exposed as false. The world’s wisdom is vanity. Its philosophies are hollow. Its promises are empty. Its riches deceitful. Jesus alone is the Amen, solid, final, and immovable.
Unless the Laodicean church repented…unless it abandoned its lukewarm, comfortable, self-satisfied religion…unless it loosened its grip on what the world prized and unless it sought first the kingdom of God…Jesus would spit or spew or vomit them out. The language is intentionally revolting. Lukewarm faith is not merely disappointing to Jesus; it is nauseating. It turns the stomach of heaven. Human vanity produces divine vomit.
This warning carries weight because Jesus is also “the faithful and true witness.” He spoke truthfully, and he spoke faithfully, at immense cost to himself. In Gethsemane we see the true price of faithfulness. The Son of God recoiled before the cup of suffering, pleading that it might pass, yet he submitted completely to the will of his Father. Truth was not cheap for Jesus. It was written in his blood.
How shocking, then, to realise why Laodicea faced no persecution. The church was hiding the truth. It bore no witness to Jesus. Silence was safe. Compromise was comfortable because faithfulness was costly. And yet, while no witness meant no opposition, it also meant no power, no fruit, no blessing, and no life. Lukewarm Christianity is not merely ineffective; it is grotesque; it is nauseating. It is faith reduced to vanity, religion drained of reality.
Jesus is also “the beginning of God’s creation.” In Colossians 1:15–18 Paul declared: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
If Jesus is the origin of all things, then he possesses unrivalled authority. He is preeminent. There is no rival throne, and therefore there can be no divided allegiance. The King of kings addressed Laodicea, not as a consultant offering advice, but as the Owner confronting what belongs to him.
He came to those who bore his name yet refused to bear his reproach. The Creator stood outside a community that thought he was inside. The Amen would have nothing to do with vanity. He was nauseated…not by open rebellion, mind you…but by respectable indifference.
Like Wickham, Laodicea looked virtuous at a distance. Up close, the goodness evaporated. Appearance had replaced reality.
Dearest beloved brothers and sisters, we must not read this letter as something safely locked in the past. We confess Jesus’s name. We gather as his church. But does our faith taste like living water or does it make heaven retch? Is our Christianity real, or is it nothing more than polished vanity? Are we alive or are we just congratulating ourselves for merely keeping up appearances? The truth will emerge, either through our own confession now, or through his divine exposure later.
Where does Jesus stand at our door? Is he inside or outside? Dare we ask him? What we do next determines whether we feast with him…or are vomited out.
We are about to enter a season known as Lent, starting this week Wednesday. Whatever your opinion may be regarding the Christian calendar, Lent is a good time for us to ask God to search us and to do a deep cleaning work in us.
So, would you join us in crying out for God the Holy Spirit to show us our hearts as God sees them and to then grant us the honesty and the humility to truly repent so that we might be restored and revived.
Shall we pray?
© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026