Revelation 3:15

Revelation 3:15. The contents of the Epistle now begin. That thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. The latter words throw light upon the interpretation of the former, for they show that we cannot well understand by ‘cold' either the state of a heart simply untouched by the Gospel of love, and occupying thus a merely negative position, or that of one which has relapsed from former zeal for the truth into a condition of indifference. In no circumstances could either of these states be to the Lord an object of desire, for experience shows that there is none out of which it is so difficult to awaken the heart to a proper reception of the Divine message. There must be some positive quality in him who is thus ‘cold.' for the sake of which Jesus can say, ‘I would thou wert cold or hot;' and this being so, it seems only possible to think of ‘coldness' as real attachment to the world, and active opposition to the Church. It may indeed be objected that such a character is wanting in that Christian element which we must suppose to exist in what is ‘cold' before it could be spoken of in the language of this verse; but there is nothing to compel us to think of such an element; and the first words of the exhortation in Revelation 3:19, ‘Be zealous,' may with perfect propriety be referred to that natural disposition which, although not in itself Christian, is always the ground upon which the true Christian character is reared. ‘Hot,' again, can only express warm Christian zeal. The church at Laodicea was neither ‘cold' nor ‘hot.' It had received the truth outwardly, but no deep impression had been made upon it. Its members were not zealous for the truth, but neither were they zealous against it. It was lukewarm, destitute of enthusiasm for anything whether good or evil. Had it been ‘hot,' it would have been all that Jesus wished. Had it been ‘cold,' it would at least have possessed those elements of natural character which might be turned to a satisfactory issue. As it was, nothing could be made of it.