The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

As throughout the preceding six stages of the Church's history, so in the seventh--that of
Laodicea--God has provided those who would minister to the needs of the true saints.
Amongst these there have been some whose usefulness has been specially recognized. But
these specially called ones, while faithful even unto death, are not to be regarded as
infallible in all their utterances. None of these as individuals are specially referred to in the
message as the "angel" of Laodicea. They are mentioned, as all of His other faithful ones
are mentioned, in the words: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." Such faithful ones
are not Laodiceans, although living in the Laodicean period. It would be proper to call
them Philadelphians, in the sense that they possess the Philadelphian spirit of brotherly
love--the spirit that has always, and will always characterize the overcomers. Such faithful
servants, and those who emulate their example in following Christ, while in the Laodicean
period, are not of Laodicea; even as they are in the world, though not of the world.
If the Common Version rendering, "the Church of the Laodiceans," instead of "the Church
of Laodicea," is the correct one (and it is supported by many manuscripts), then we have a
further support for applying the messenger of the Laodiceans to a rejected clergy class
instead of a faithful minister outside of Laodicea. Furthermore, there seems also to be
another special significance attached to the words as distinguished from the other
messages, as noted by learned commentators of the Philadelphian period who accepted
this translation as correct. The Laodicean Church is not the Church in Laodicea, as in the
other cases, but the Church of the Laodiceans. One has said that "it would seem as if the
Church in its proper character of an elect company, had quite faded from view, and the
world had now become the Church. The confessing body is hardly distinguished from any
other body." The derivation of the word Laodicea, of itself supports this thought. There is a
very general agreement as to the significance of the word. Mr. Russell gives the meaning
as that of "a tried or judged people." Mr. Taylor, another writer on the Revelation, defines
the word as "the people judging." Mr. Seiss thus refers to the significance of the word
Laodiceans:
"It is Laodicean, i.e., conformed to the popular judgment and will--the extreme opposite of
Nicolaitan. Instead of a Church of domineering clericals, it is the Church of the
domineering mob, in which nothing may be safely preached, except that which the people
are pleased to hear in which the teachings of the pulpit are fashioned to the tastes of the
pew, and the feelings of the individual override the enactments of legitimate authority."
"These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation
of God; I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My
mouth."--Rev. 3:14-16.
We learn from history that the name Laodicea was given to the city where the last of the
seven Churches was located, by Antiochus II, after his enlargement of it, in honor of his
wife Laodice, and that it is a compound of two words--laos, "people," and dike. Mr. Grant
observes: