We live in the fullness of the Laodicean attitude of God's church, so everyone alive now has strong Laodicean tendencies, and assuming otherwise is the kind of presumption Psalm 19:13 warns against. Laodiceanism is taking Christ for granted instead of seeking a deep, lasting relationship with Him (John 17:3). Christ wants a bride who cannot get enough of Him, and He expects the love and zeal He showed in suffering torture and crucifixion to be returned. Herbert Armstrong is the example of a non-Laodicean: he constantly sought God's presence, praying thirty or forty short prayers daily for help with decisions, counseling, and preparing articles and sermons. Laodiceans who will not rouse themselves to open the door to Christ at every opportunity will be rescued by Him through the fire of tribulation as a last attempt. A simple daily test measures how far Laodiceanism has infected us: at day's end, ask how much time was spent communicating with God and Christ, and how much time They were absent from our thoughts (Psalm 10:4). The remedy for any shortfall is to repent and zealously build the relationship by increasing contact, using the many opportunities in the day for self-examination and for walking and talking with God. Praying without ceasing is the answer to Laodicean tendencies, and it reflects the relationship needed to escape the Tribulation (Luke 21:36) and to sit with Christ eternally (Revelation 3:21).

The Laodiceans declined slowly over about forty years, from the faithful church Paul addressed in the 50s to a church Christ was ready to vomit out of His mouth by the 90s. Laodicea was a sister church to Colossae, ten miles away, and Hierapolis lay six miles north. All three were evangelized by Epaphras and shared leaders, false teachers, and social surroundings, so Paul's warnings to the Colossians reveal what happened at Laodicea. Paul feared that plausible-sounding teachers, with a ring of truth, would derail them at a narrow angle until they drifted far from the mystery of God. Colossians 2 warns against demon-inspired philosophy, asceticism, angel worship, and mysticism, and calls the believers to walk in Christ, who is everything. Chapters 3 and 4 then demand putting off sin and putting on Christ's character. The Laodiceans took the first half seriously and swore off the pagan and ascetic extras. Over the years, though, they dropped the godly works of moral growth and practiced the remaining ones without zeal or love for Christ. Surrounded by Laodicea's wealth and prosperity, their relationship with Him withered. They convinced themselves that Christ had done everything for them and that they were assured of the Kingdom whatever they did. They thought they were rich and lacking nothing, yet they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, and they could not see it. Their condition resembles no-works Protestantism, with its eternal security and its rejection of works, repentance, and commandment-keeping. The same attitude is alluring today. Laodiceans need to repent and rely on Christ while also growing in Him through effort.

Laodiceans are compared to the third soil in the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:14), those who hear the word but are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures so that their fruit never matures. Christ's warning in Luke 8:18, that whoever lacks will lose even what he thinks he has, fits them. In Revelation 3:14-19 they believe they are rich and need nothing, yet are lukewarm, wretched, poor, blind, and naked. They thought they had God's Spirit and understanding, but it proves to be only a presumption that is taken away. Christ's vomiting them out of His mouth means they are no longer abiding in Him (John 15), which is why their fruit stops short of maturity. Yet Christ stands outside knocking (Revelation 3:20) and calls them to buy refined gold, white clothing representing repentance, and eye salve. If anyone hears His voice, repents, and opens the door, He will come in, share a meal, and work with that person again. He disciplines those He loves, but He does not compromise with sin. The Laodicean condition, like the five foolish virgins who lacked oil, shows that not all in the churches will be in the first resurrection. Many Laodiceans likely did repent and return. The lesson is to listen intently and take heed how we hear, lest we merely profess Christ's name and be found counterfeit at His coming.

In the biblical history of Israel, the sound of the trumpet often signified an immediate warning of imminent war, death, and destruction, heralding severe punishment for the people's disobedience. Jeremiah 4:19-22 expresses deep anguish over the alarm of war, with destruction upon destruction cried out as the land is plundered, reflecting God's judgment on a foolish people who do not know Him and are wise only in doing evil. Jeremiah 6:1-8 calls for the children of Benjamin to flee Jerusalem as disaster looms from the north, with God commanding war against the city for its oppression and wickedness, warning that without instruction, Jerusalem will be made desolate. Further, Jeremiah 6:9-10 portrays God's intent to thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel, lamenting their uncircumcised ears and rejection of His word, which has become a reproach to them. Jeremiah 6:11-17 reveals God's fury poured out on all, from children to the aged, due to widespread covetousness and false dealings, with the people refusing to walk in the old paths or listen to the trumpet's warning, thus facing inevitable punishment. Zephaniah 1:14-18 describes the great day of the Lord as a time of wrath, distress, and devastation, with the trumpet sounding alarm against fortified cities, bringing distress upon men for their sins against the Lord, as neither silver nor gold can deliver them from His jealousy and wrath. Zephaniah 2:1-3 urges the undesirable nation to gather and seek the Lord in humility before His fierce anger comes, hoping to be hidden in the day of His anger. Ezekiel 33:1-5 emphasizes the role of the watchman who blows the trumpet to warn of the sword; those who hear but do not heed the warning bear their own blood, while those who take warning save their lives, underscoring the personal responsibility of Israel to respond to God's call to repentance amidst impending punishment.