A Cocktail of Blessing and Judgment Part 3: The Means of Grace at Laodicea
The light of the gospel had not been removed or allowed to go out at the Church of Laodicea (cf. Revelation 2:5). She could still be represented by a ‘lamp stand’ with a bright light or ‘star’ (Revelation 1:20). She is still the object of the Lord’s devoted attention (Revelation 1:10-14). The Church at Laodicea had a ‘preacher’. This is the best way to understand the word ‘angel’ or ‘messenger’. The ‘messenger’ was the person who would receive Christ’s letter (Revelation 3:14) and proclaim its corporate message to the Church. The Christians were obviously still meeting together in such a way that this letter could be read to everybody. In material terms, it seems that the Church at Laodicea was fairly affluent. They were rich. They had no sense of being in need (Rev 3:17). They may have celebrated this as a measure of God’s blessing and favour. In contemporary terms, they would probably be the kind of Church with modern buildings and technology, a high proportion of graduates and w...