Verse by Verse Bible Study with Dr. Wayne Barber · The John Ankerberg Show

Nauseating Fence Straddlers | Session 3 Part 1

March 16, 2026·22 min·2 clips

Dr. Wayne Barber reveals why God finds lukewarm Christians in Laodicea nauseating and wants to vomit them out.

1. Verse by Verse Bible Study with the late Dr. Wayne Barber, introduced by John Akerberg, continues a multi-session study of Revelation 3 focused on the church of Laodicea, picking up at verse 19. 2. Dr. Wayne Barber is introduced as the teacher; he is referred to as 'the late Dr. Wayne Barber,' suggesting this is an archival recording. 3. The episode's central question is: what is the peril and the promise for the 'fence straddler' — the person who associates with Christian community and projects faith but does not live it internally? 4. Barber recaps his three prior points: the portrait of the fence straddler (Revelation 3:15 — 'neither cold nor hot'), the problem (verse 16 — lukewarmness that makes Christ nauseated), and the prospects (verse 18 — a purchase price of simply admitting one's need). 5. He uses the term 'mugwump' to describe the fence straddler — a bird that sits on a fence with its mug on one side and its wump on the other, representing someone who comes to church on Sundays and lives like a pagan the rest of the week. 6. Barber revises an earlier interpretation: he no longer reads Revelation 3's letter to Laodicea as addressed to backslidden Christians, but to people who associated with the church without genuine faith, noting that believers don't need to purchase from Christ what they already have. 7. He argues from verse 19 that Jesus uses the Greek word philo — friendship love — rather than agape (unconditional sacrificial love), meaning the statement 'those whom I love, I reprove and discipline' is a precondition for friendship, not a blanket promise. 8. Barber argues this means the Laodicean church attendees who project an image of being God's friends are being told: if you want that friendship to be real, you must accept reproof, discipline, and ultimately repentance. 9. He frames the command 'be zealous therefore and repent' in verse 19 as an ultimatum — imperative mood, no option — to climb down off the fence and make a definitive commitment. 10. Barber draws a parallel to 2 Timothy 3:1-5, where Paul warns that in the last days people will hold 'a form of godliness' while denying its power — which he reads as prophecy of the Laodicean pattern within the church, not just the world. 11. He shares a pastoral illustration about a church that confused an honorary deaconship meant for a deceased deacon with his son — the area's head banker — and no one corrected the error because the entire congregation owed him money. 12. The honorary deacon illustration is used to argue that the current age is characterized by churches and denominations that accommodate religious projection over genuine faith because of social and financial pressure. 13. Barber expresses a view that Laodicea represents the final church age before the return of Christ, noting that Revelation chapters 1-3 address the churches, and chapter 4 shifts to prophecy. 14. He argues that the day of grace is still open — Christ continues knocking on the heart's door in Revelation 3:20 — but uses the perfect tense of the Greek to argue Jesus does not knock once and leave; he knocks persistently. 15. The message in verse 3:20 — 'behold, I stand at the door and knock' — is framed as a promise to those who climb down off the fence: Christ will come in and dine with them, a metaphor for intimate relationship. 16. Barber connects the urgency of the message to an ongoing missions drive, referencing 'little old Roberto and Nicky over there in Spain' who are handling hundreds of responses and 'can't even get to them all.' 17. He distinguishes Christ's current role (Savior knocking) from his return (coming as judge), using this distinction to create urgency around the decision the listener must make. 18. The episode is a solo expository teaching in a traditional evangelical sermon format, delivered with pastoral directness and personal illustrations from Barber's own ministry experience. 19. Evangelical Christians studying the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, or considering the distinction between church attendance and genuine faith, will find this substantive and direct. 20. Listeners seeking critical-historical biblical scholarship, ecumenical perspectives, or discussions of other Christian traditions will find this episode narrowly focused within a conservative evangelical framework.

As heard by us

A direct warning from Laodicea that keeps pressing the church toward repentance.

Wayne Barber reads Revelation 3 as a pointed warning to Laodicea and to anyone content to sit on the fence. He keeps the focus on the church's "neither cold nor hot" rebuke and turns it into a direct call to repent, with the pressure staying on people inside the church rather…

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If you need a plainspoken warning about spiritual lukewarmness, start here.

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