Appendix B

Laodicea Is Not Doomed

Serious efforts have been made to convince church members to leave the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church, or at least to withdraw their support and fellowship. The argument is that Philadelphia, not Laodicea, represents the true church that will get ready for Christ’s coming. Joseph Bates is cited as a venerable authority for this view But this dear pioneer was mistaken in this, as he was on some other points as well. Ellen White never lent her endorsement to this idea of his. Her early testimonies about the Laodicean message thoroughly contradict his view (see Testimonies, vol. 1, pages 185-195; Testimonies, vol. 3, pages 252-255).

The idea that Philadelphia, not Laodicea, is the translation church conflicts with the general pattern of the prophetic picture in Revelation. The number seven indicates that the seven churches symbolize the true church through succeeding periods of history from the time of the apostles to the close of probation (Acts of the Apostles, pages 581, 583, 585). The message to Laodicea is “the warning for the last church,” not the next-to-the-last one (Testimonies, vol. 6, page 77). The message does not apply to apostates, but to God’s true people in the last days (Bible Commentary, vol. 7, page 959; Testimonies, vol. 3, pages 252, 253).

The Lord’s intention has always been that the message to Laodicea result in repentance and overcoming on the part of His true people and that it prepare them to receive the latter rain (Testimonies, vol. 1, pages 186, 187). There is no hint in Scripture or the Spirit of Prophecy that the message will ultimately fail; God’s true people will heed “the counsel of the True Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation” (Ibid., pages 187, 188). Nowhere does Ellen White say that God’s true people must leave Laodicea and return to Philadelphia.

It is, of course, true that spiritual applications can be made from all of the messages to the seven churches, appropriate to God’s people in all generations. Human nature is the same the world over and in all generations, so that spiritual principles apply to all. But the messages to the seven churches reveal a progression of victorious overcoming that will enable the last generation finally to reach a maturity of faith and understanding. “The harvest of the earth” will at last be “ripe” (Revelation 14:12-15). Heart acceptance of truths in all the appeals to “the angels of the seven churches” will be necessary for this eventual ripening of the “full corn in the ear … when the fruit is brought forth” (Mark 4:28, 29). But for the last-day church to return to Philadelphia would be to set the clock back to a previous generation and violate the prophetic symbolism. The messages to the six churches have prepared multitudes of believers for death; repentance on the part of Laodicea prepares a people for translation.

The message to Laodicea parallels the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary and the work of Christ in the Most Holy Apartment. The obvious intent of the Revelation symbolism is to relate Laodicea with the time of the “seventh angel” sounding his trumpet during the “time of the dead, that they should be judged” when “the temple of God was opened in Heaven” and the Most Holy Apartment came to view (Revelation 11:15-19).

The message to Philadelphia obviously precedes the antitypical Day of Atonement, fittingly parallel to the “mighty angel’s” work of Revelation 10, which also precedes the final message of the three angels (verse 11). To change the order of the seven churches is as confusing as changing the order of the seven seals or the seven trumpets. God knew what He was about when He gave the visions to John at Patmos, and we dare not tamper with the inspired order of these messages.

Quotations from the message to Philadelphia which Ellen White applies to people in the last days do not require that Laodicea be eliminated from the prophetic succession, any more than her frequent quotations from others of the seven messages require that we “join” Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, or Sardis.

The problem with Laodicea is not with its identity or with its name. Laodicea is not a dirty word—it simply means “judging, vindicating, or justifying, the people.” It is a name appropriate to the realities of the investigative judgment that precedes the second coming. It connotes victory, not defeat.

The name Philadelphia is also significant. It is compounded from phileo, meaning affection, and adelphos, brother. The word phileo denotes a lower level of love than agapé. But “speaking the truth in agapé” and growing “up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” is the experience that will characterize God’s people as they grow in maturity in preparation for Christ’s coming. “The whole body” of the church, the corporate whole of God’s people of all ages, will at last make “increase of the body unto the edifying [building up] of itself in agapé” (compare Ephesians 3:14-19; 4:13-16; Early Writings, pages 55, 56; Christ’s Object Lessons, pages 415, 416).

As noted elsewhere in this book, the expression “I will spue thee out of my mouth” is not an accurate translation of the Greek. Christ did not say that Laodicea must suffer His final rejection, without hope. The Greek is mello se emesai, which means literally, “You make Me sick with nausea,” or “I am so nauseated that I am on the point of vomiting.” But the Verb mello does not require a final action. Christ’s nausea can be healed; it is possible for Laodicea to repent and thus to overcome her terrible lukewarmness.

Read Christ’s letters to the angels of the seven churches at one sitting, consecutively. It will be very evident that they show an historical goal direction oriented toward the return of Christ. Thyatira is pointed forward “till I come.” Sardis is pointed forward to the pre-advent judgment. Philadelphia is told, “I come quickly.” But Laodicea meets Christ “at the door,” and is offered the ultimate honor of sharing with Him His royal authority.

Another internal evidence that Laodicea is the last church is Christ’s introduction of Himself as “the Amen” This is a word that throughout the New Testament expresses finality.

Christ’s message to Laodicea is closely related to the Song of Solomon 5:2, which He quotes (from the LXX version) in Revelation 3:20. This often neglected truth establishes Christ’s Laodicean appeal as that of the Bridegroom to His beloved. Her eventual response is not rejection of the Bridegroom’s love, but repentance and preparation for the “marriage of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:6-9). Thus the promise to the “certain one” of Revelation 3:21 (Greek, tis)is the offer of an intimacy in relationship to Christ that is not matched in any of the offers to the previous six “angels of the seven churches.” “The angel” of the last church is clearly the one whose repentance is unique, and whose overcoming at last presupposes a unique victory and unique honor —that of sharing executive authority with Christ Himself. A higher destiny awaits the Bride than those who are merely “guests” at the wedding. It is difficult not to recognize the relationship between Revelation 3:21 and the glorious victory of the 144,000 (Revelation 7:1-4; 14:1-5; 15:2-4).

Thus it becomes clear that to cancel Laodicea out of the prophetic picture, to consider the True Witness’ appeal to end in failure, is to rob Christ of the honor and vindication He so richly deserves. It violates the fulfillment of the prophecies in Revelation. Cancelling Laodicea and substituting Philadelphia requires the defeat of the True Witness, and the final humiliation of the patient Bridegroom who is still knocking at the door.