The Sovereign Rule of Jesus Christ is Addressed to the Church in Laodicea, purely monergistically, for synergism, in the Church, was what Jesus rebuked and threatened to spew out of His mouth!
Revelations 3:14-22
14[†]“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15[†]“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17[†] For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and w white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19[†] Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21[†] The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as e I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
In this passage, the Church of Laodicea was steeped in their surrounding culture, instead of reaching the people in their culture, they became like their surrounding culture, in their self sufficiency, like the city of Laodicea. In fact the city of Laodicea was reliant upon their own riches that the city refused help from Rome after the earthquake in AD60:
REVELATION—NOTE ON 3:14–22 To Laodicea. Damaged by an earthquake in A.D. 60, self-sufficient Laodicea, a commercial center and site of thriving medical and textile industries, declined imperial disaster relief. The city did not see itself as “poor, blind, and naked” (v. 17), nor did the complacent church within it. In this last church alone Jesus finds nothing to commend. Laodicea was famous for its worship of Zeus, who appears on some of the city’s coinage. Today one can still view unexcavated remnants of the city wall, two theaters, a stadium from the time of Vespasian (c. A.D. 79), and a second-century bath and/or gymnasium with adjacent water tower. An aqueduct came from the south toward Laodicea, bringing water rich in minerals. There is evidence of Jewish presence in Laodicea. Twenty pounds of gold were confiscated in the first century B.C. from Jews who intended to send it as a temple tax to Jerusalem (Cicero, For Flaccus 28). Paul was in contact with the church there (Col. 2:1; 4:13–16)." The waters of the nearby Lycus River were muddy and undrinkable, and the waters flowing by aqueduct from hot springs 5 miles (8 km) away were lukewarm when they reached Laodicea. Likewise, Jesus found his church’s tepid indifference repugnant. Cold and hot water represent something positive, for cold water refreshes in the heat, and hot water is a tonic when one is chilly." ESV Notes.
The Churches Lukewarmness sickened Jesus to the point of wanting to throw them up. For their detachment from dependence on Jesus seemingly shut Jesus out of the Church, but in fact, such tepid indifference caused The Sovereignty of Jesus to rule the Church to warn them of impeding judgment of discipline to spew them out of His mouth in disfavor and utter sickened rupugnancy out of Jesus' stomach.
Jesus cannot have fellowship with darkness! He will not share His glory on equaled terms with temples of idols. He will throw you up and spit you out before He will ever have fellowship with darkness, sin, unholiness of the sin of pride, self sufficiency and self righteousness apart from the dependence on Jesus' righteousness. After all, Jesus gave His very own Blood with great anguish and pain, He will not allow the power of His Blood to be mingled with sin, for His shed blood eradicates sin, wickeness, unholiness and death. Treat it not with contempt by refusing to see your need for His cleansing flood in His blood! Stiffen your neck not against its cleansing power, by rejecting the sufficiency in His Blood to cleanse, lest Jesus spew you out of His mouth!
The Church taught doctrines of external rituals that caused the believers to place confidence in their works and efforts, and failed to place full and total confidence in the sufficiency of Jesus' Redemptive work on the cross and His Sovereign Grace in their Sanctification.
Hence, they were content in their own lukewarmness and self made love, independent from reliance on God; the pride of self aggrandizement of boasting in their self sufficiency and good works, they became short sighted to the sufficiency of God's grace to save and sanctify and sought to please themselves rather than God, by failure to trust in the sufficiency and favor of God, in the life of the Church of Laodecia, found only in the sufficiency of Jesus' shed blood and righteousness.
They were ever so steeped in their culture that they became like their culture in their seeker sensitive philosophy and teaching that the Churches effectiveness was diminished to lukewarmness and ineffectiveness; Where there was no Gospel witness to magnify the need for the Cross of Jesus to Save and Sanctify.
Jesus Reminds His Church in Laodicea that He is the Sovereign all sufficient ruler that they need to repent and turn to the Sufficiency of Jesus to rule their hearts for effective Church out reach, steeped only in the Person of Jesus Christ, Alone! For Jesus is the head of the Church, His Bride!
The church of Laodicea became an enemy of the cross of Jesus by their teaching and practices--the worst form of Idolatry and blasphemy is to stare square in the face of Jesus and declare you do not need Him, and have no need for Him to deliver you from sin, just like Judas kiss! Because your blind to your nakededness, poverty, wretchedness to your own sin and need for Christ Jesus to Save and sanctify you from your sin and depravity.
This was the consequence of the church being steeped in its own efforts, programs, and measures of of selfsufficiency acting independent of Jesus Christ, to reach the surrounding culture of its day! Hence, Jesus reminds the Church, His Bride of Laodecia, that He is the only Sovereign that the Church needed to depend on Christ and His teaching of Grace; the Church needed to submit and receive His provisions of Grace for growth, sanctification and pure outreach steeped in the shed Blood of Jesus.
There is no synergism in "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" Jesus is not a poor beggar, knocking on the door of your heart waiting for you to use your will and volition to choose to open the door of your heart to let Him in. For you won't hear his voice, indeed, you will keep the door locked and shut tight to keep Jesus out of your life.
If you are unregenerate and dead to God, you won't hear Him knocking on the door of your heart, for you are spiritually dead to God! Your will is bound by sin and will only choose to keep Jesus out of your life. You need to be made alive to God, in order to hear His voice. You need to be Born-Again by the Holy Spirit; and once quickened and made Spiritually alive to God, then your will and volition will be set free to choose to hear Jesus' voice; your will and volition will be set free to hear His voice; your will and volition will be set free to reach your hand to the door knob and open the door and let Jesus into the fellowship of your new self already quickened and made Alive to God. You can only hear Jesus knocking and hear His voice if you are of His sheep and He is your Shepherd, and if you are chosen and foreloved by God the Father before the foundation of the World, given to the Son out of this world.
The Knocking on the door and the opening of the door is the eager readiness and expectation and anticipation of the church and the Bride of Christ, to the long anticpated and unexpectant arrival of the Husbandmen, Bridegroom-even Jesus Christ, to enter the Chamber of His house with His Bride awaiting Him, or like the servants awaiting the Master of the house to Return. I like the ESV study notes on this:
"Like a loving father, Christ will reprove those whom he loves (cf. Prov. 3:12), calling them to repent before he intervenes in judgment. I stand at the door and knock, not as a homeless transient seeking shelter but as the master of the house, expecting alert servants to respond immediately to his signal and welcome his entrance (Luke 12:35–36; James 5:9). To the one who opens the door, Christ will come in and will eat with him, a picture of close personal fellowship."
Synergism is not seen in this passage, in fact synergism and the pride of self boasting was the prompted cause that was the reason for Jesus to spew them out of His mouth! The Sovereign Grace of Jesus ruling in His Church executing discipline is clearly taught, in a Monergistic means of Grace in the Churches life of Sanctification.
