Revelation - Chapter 3

 

The Church of Sardis

"That Which Remains".

1700 AD to 1798 AD.

Introduction

This fifth church covers the period from around 1700 AD to 1798 AD.

Step by step we are going through the different Churches. We started out with Ephesus, which had the problem that it had left its first love. We then looked at Smyrna that went thought a great amount of suffering and yet they had no rebuke, Christ talked about what they had done and told them to be faithful, there was no rebuke for Smyrna.

We then looked at Pergamos, a Church that finds itself elevated, and we see the world and the state coming into the Church. Then we looked at Thyatira and we found out that as the world moved into the Church, much of what she held, she lost, she faced the beginning of the reformation.

The name of this fifth church, Sardis, means "that which remains" and this is very important because of the situation of the Church at that time. From Ephesus to Smyrna along to Pergamos we have come all along the cost of the Aegean Sea. We then come to the east and a little south of Thyatira. Now we are moving a little farther east and a little father down, to Sardis. But when you come here to Sardis all of a sudden you come to a large mountain, mount Tmolus which rises 6,700 feet, and as you approach this mountain, up on the side of the mountain about 1500 feet up you find the city of Sardis. This was a Lydian city, built around 1100 BC, and it became the capital of the Lydian empire, it was an extremely wealthy city and really governed that whole part of the world at that time from Lydia.

The route up to Sardis was almost perpendicular, the only way you could get to Sardis was through a narrow passage which was easily guarded and it was considered impregnable, you could not possibly get into it. The problem is that when you think your city is impregnable then you have a tendency to be over confident, and when Cyrus and the Medes came to where Sardis was, the inhabitants saw the army down in the valley but they paid no attention to them, thinking that they were safe in their city.

However, one of Cyrus' soldiers went over that night to the edge of the mountain and studied it trying to figure out how they might get into the city, and whilst he was there he saw some Lydian soldiers talking and laughing, and while they were there, one of the soldiers dropped his helmet, which rolled a way down the embankment, he watched as the soldier came down the embankment through a pathway that they didn't know about, he retrieved his helmet then went back up.

The soldier from the army of Cyrus went back to camp, then taking some soldiers with him they followed the route of the hidden path up the embankment, got into the city and overthrew Sardis. Sardis was over confident, and so often we too can be over confident; Church members say, we have the truth, and there is a danger in being overconfident that we don't bother to study because we think we know enough.

Also most historians will tell you that it was here in Sardis that coin money was invented, so Sardis gave impetus to the world, to its wealth and direction.

Condition

Revelation 3:1 "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."

These seven Spirits are the spirits of God and we know that the stars refer to messengers and it is only when a person has the Spirit of God that He shines, without the Spirit that person is dead, it is God's Spirit that lights up a person's life. And it is Christ that has the seven Spirits and the seven stars.

All four of the Churches that we have looked at so far when it comes to knowing their works and the condition of the Church He has commended them but this one, He condemns, He says you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Something drastic has happened; they have lost their spiritual experience with Christ and they are spiritually no longer alive.

Now the Church age around about 1700AD really lapsed back in to the other age because of several things that happened back then that bought about the condition of the Church there in Sardis. This is the period of time when several things take place that typified the Church of Sardis and what happened as far as the Church age is concerned.

As we read about the Church in Sardis God does not say a word about there being a Jezebel or a Balaam or a Nicolaitan, the reason they are not mentioned is because as far as the Church age is concerned the reformation has cleared all that out, men have stood and preached, men like Luther who had told the people that faith came through Jesus Christ and their commitment to Him, Luther preached the gospel and cleared away all the teachings of Gnosticism. Then along came Calvin, Knox and Zwingle and as the reformation went forward they continued to clear away all the false teachings, they preached the truth and errors were cleared out of the Churches.

But the reformation was tremendously hard on the Catholic Church, the reason it was of course is because Luther, Calvin, Knox and Zwingle and all these men had preached Righteousness by Faith, they had taught the people that Jesus Christ was their redeemer, their mediator, their saviour, that He saved them and not the Church. They also preached the prophecies of God's Word. Luther spoke about Revelation and said that the beast of Revelation 13 was the Papal power, and the preaching of those things pulled the people out of Catholicism by the thousands. Just through the preaching of John Calvin five hundred thousand Christians accepted the reformation; this just gives us an idea of what was happening. Many of these people that were leaving were the intelligence of the country, they were teachers and professors and businessman, these people were coming out and accepting Christ and the reformation and talking their stand. All this that had happened had shaken the Catholic Church right down to the foundations. And because of this they called what was known as the Council of Trent.

The council of Trent was formed to get the Church back on a solid foundation and to meet the problem of the Reformation. This group consisted of Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and Deacons, people that were leaders in the Catholic Church, who said that if the Catholic Church was going to get on a solid foundation it must come back to the word of God and take a stand on the word of God. But there were a group of Cardinals, Archbishops etc. that said no, if the church is going to be on a solid foundation then it has to be built on the Scriptures and tradition, they have to be equal streams of truth. Well, the Council of Trent lasted for seventeen years, and this subject was talked about, argued, debated, and written about back and forth for seventeen years. You find at the end of this time that the Archbishop of Reggio stood up and gave a presentation, and he argued and said if the Church was going to stand on Scripture and Scripture alone the she will have to go back to keeping the Biblical Sabbath, because the keeping of Sunday is based on tradition and not on the Biblical teaching of God's word, and the Council of Trent voted that it would take a stand on Scripture and tradition together.

So, the Catholic Church took that stand. However, they still had another issue to deal with because the Reformers Luther, Knox, Zwingli and others were preaching the prophecies and saying that this system, the Catholic Church was the antichrist, so, the Pope called in two men who were priests, by the names of Ribera and Alcazar, and he said I don't care what you do but get the finger off of us, and those two priests developed two different views of prophecy. Now, if you go back and look at what the reformers were preaching, this was known as the Historical view of prophecy, but these two priests developed two new views, one was called the Preterist view and the other was the Futurist view.

The Preterist view takes the prophecies and puts them all in the past and says they have already been fulfilled with no reference to us today, and some today still follow this view, but it didn't really catch on.

The other priest however developed what was known as the Futurist view and what he said was everything after the 4th chapter of Revelation was in the future. Now after the study of these Churches, we are going to be at the 4th chapter of Revelation, so we need to understand what this Futurist view is, because he said that everything from thereon is in the future and that the Church was going to be raptured away and so it does not have any relevance to you and I, that we don't have to be concerned about it because we are not going to be here.

This idea caught on, and it bought about a movement that was known in history as the Counter Reformation, and it stopped the growth of the Reformation. It was never God's intention that the Reformation would stop in the 1700s, it was God's intention that the Reformation was to continue on, and the scriptures make reference to that here in the Church of Sardis. The reason for looking at all this background information is so that we can understand what killed the Reformation, because when these false teachings began to be preached, people began to have doubts about what they believed and things started to change.

The two Churches that receive no praise are Sardis and Laodicea. We live today in the Laodicea church, and if the Church in Laodicea has no praise then you and I need to take a good close look at ourselves, and ask ourselves some very pointed questions about our relationship with the Lord Jesus and where we stand, because He has no praise for Laodicea, in fact He says the Church of Laodicea makes Him sick. But first let's look at the problem with Sardis.

Revelation 3:2 "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God."

You see as time passed on and these reformers died, others that came up after them did not carry the same burden for the truth that they had, which is just like us today.

The forefathers stood on the word, it was precious in their sight. Do we feel the same way about it? We need to honestly ask ourselves this question, is it a burning passion and power in our life or is it just something we do? You see the reformers preached with a passion and conviction, but the ones that came up after them did not; this is why Christ said; it's ready to die. For I have not found your works perfect before God. It's one thing to profess to be religious - the Pharisees and Scribes appeared to be religious.

Matthew 23:25-28 "25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

You see external religion is not worth anything - if it does not touch our heart, if it does not speak to us, to our soul, then it's strictly on the outside. It's like a white-washed tomb, it has to be real and work in our lives in a special way.

2 Timothy 3:5 "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

When you visit mighty Cathedrals and Churches, all they are now are just museums, and some are graveyards, but they are all dead, not following on from their forefathers, not having the change of heart and the desire to worship Christ as the Reformers before them did. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. No longer do they stand up and say; this is what the word of God says, this is where we stand, we won't be moved, we are not going to compromise, in fact most of them are afraid to say anything.

God says; this is not what I want my people to be, and you and I need to come back. He says be watchful, and if we are not, He will come upon us as a thief. He says, be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. If it could happen back then then it can happen today. People stood so staunchly for the truth in the days of Luther, Knox, Zwingli and Calvin and all those men, but today we are willing to compromise what we believe, or even willing to go contrary to a clear thus saith the Lord, and say it's not that important. Are we watchful, are we strengthening the things that remain?

Matthew 24:4 "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you."

We have to be careful to watch out and make sure that nobody deceives us. Are we spending time in the word of God, or are we too busy to have worship, are we taking time in the morning and in the evening to have worship, or are we to busy? Are we spending time in prayer, are we conversing with the Lord, talking to Him, inviting Him into our lives, asking Him to change us and make us different, are we taking time just to praise Him, this we ought to be doing.

There are a few things that the Church of Sardis did, that you and I also need to be careful of today:

1. Self-righteousness - there will be no such thing as being self-righteous if you are right with the Lord.

2. Self-importance, thinking we have the truth but not acting upon it. We would have nothing if it were not for Jesus, we have nothing to offer.

3. Pride in the possession of a knowledge of truth, which we fail to practice. A knowledge of the truth is of no use if we do not practice it. Our witness is considered nothing if we are not living up to the truth that we have. We must practise what we believe. We cannot say; this is what I believe, but this is how I act - that won't work. It is only as we put them together that people will believe us, and so we have to show and live the truth that we possess. A relationship with Jesus does not promote these things. You and I can have a name but if we are not witnessing then we are dead.

Revelation 3:3 "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."

We have to hold on to the word of God, stay in the word, repent of sins, only by doing so will we be safe, because if you and I don't watch, we will not be ready. Don't let Christ come upon us as a thief in the night, because if He comes upon us a thief then we are lost.

Counsel

Revelation 3:4 "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy."

So Christ does not say that everything in Sardis is lost, He says there are a few who have walked with Him in white and they are worthy. These were those who stood for what God's word said they stood by the word and would not let teachings that were contrary to Scripture take them away from God's word, which is why we need to make sure that we are reading it and spending time in it and as we read and ask for the Spirits guidance. God will open up His word to us, but we have to have an open heart and be willing to let the Spirit of God guide and lead us, we need to be willing to walk with Him as He leads us, we cannot say, well I understand what that says but it's so hard for me to change, and yes, it is hard for us to change unless we ask Christ by His Spirit to do it for us. It may be hard but you and I need to surrender to the Holy Spirit and let it do its work in our lives.

Remember how you received and heard, get back into the Scripture. Hold Fast in what it says and repent. If you have believed and have left the Word of God and accepted something different from what the Bible says then you have to get back and stand on the Word of God, God is calling people to do that today.

Promise

Revelation 3:5 "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."

What a marvellous promise – to him who overcomes, and you and I by the surrendering of our lives to the Holy Spirit day by day must be changed. Clothed in white garments, I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but confess his name before my Father and before His Angels. What a privilege to have Jesus say; Father, this is My servant, they have followed Me, they obey Me, they have given their life to Me. How wonderful to have Christ confess your name before His Father. And if He confesses our name then our name is entered in the book of life, our name is written down in glory. Amen. We don't have to be in doubt about that, if we have accepted Jesus and given our heart to Him then our name is written down in glory.

Luke 10:19-20 "19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

Revelation 2:5 "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

He who overcomes will be clothed in white garments.

Revelation 7:13-14 "13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

White represents purity, but it's not our righteousness, it's His.

Isaiah 61:10 "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."

Only Christ can cloth us, this is not something that you and I have of our own, it's the garment that Christ gives us, the robe of righteousness, He puts that robe on us and covers us and our sins are seen no more, that is what Jesus does for us. But I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Lamentations 3:58 "O LORD, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life."

You see it's His righteousness, not ours, that counts.

Isaiah 64:6 "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

Our righteousness is as filthy rags, He is the one that is worthy, and you and I are counted worthy because of Him, it's His integrity that counts, He is the only one that can stand before His Father and say I pled my blood on behalf of this person.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

This talks about you and me and what our part is - when it comes to salvation, that is totally and completely of God, you and I can't add one thing to it in any way shape or form. When it comes to our responsibility it's very simple - submit, obey and follow Him, He is our righteousness, He is our salvation.

Revelation 3:6 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

The Church of Sardis, those that had a name that were living but were spiritually dead. Let us not be found like this.

The Church of Philadelphia

The Church of "Brotherly Love".

1798 AD – 1844 AD.

Introduction

This sixth church covers the period from around 1798 AD to 1844 AD.

The name of this sixth church means "brotherly love". This Church or this city, Philadelphia, was named after Attalus Philadelphus, his brother was the king of Lydia and there was a very strong bond of loyalty and love between these two brothers, and that's the reason this city was called Philadelphia, because it was named after this man and the brotherly love between him and his brother. This is the only Church other than Smyrna for which there is no reproof - God does not say of this Church that it was doing anything wrong, He commends them, and this is what has to happen to the Church of Laodicea, they have to come back to the experience of this Church, and so it's very important that we see what is taking place here at this Church of brotherly love.

Identification

Revelation 3:7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;"

We have traced where these Churches are along the coast of Asia Minor, along the Aegean sea, until we got to Pergamos, and then we went East to Thyatira and then to Sardis and if you then go 28 miles further South East you come to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. This city was strategically located, because it actually controlled a very narrow pass by which all the trade, the mail and commerce came. There were officials in Philadelphia that controlled this pass and officiated who went in and out of the city. Of all the cities that we have looked at, this one has constant problems with earthquakes; this place has been destroyed time and time again, in fact history records how these people would live in tents because they were afraid of the aftershocks that took place after these earthquakes, and that's the reason it speaks of pillars in verse 12, these huge pillars were looked on as something that was solid and could not be moved, so these pillars had great significance as far as these people were concerned, they understood what Christ was talking about when He spoke about the Church and the people being pillars.

Can you understand what Christ is saying here? The Philadelphia church understood very well what Jesus meant by saying He was the one that shutteth, and no man openeth - you see this was the pass they controlled, as we have seen.

Now what is the key of David? Does Christ have this key?

Isaiah 22:22-23 "22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house."

Isaiah 9:6-7 "6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

Condition

Revelation 3:8 "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name."

Interesting, He says I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it, but you have a little strength. There's a reason for that, you have kept my word, and hast not denied my name. We need to look at some information about the Church age around 1800 AD to 1900 AD and remember these dates just give us an idea of when it was because they overlap one another.

Now we need to understand what is happening here with this particular Church at this time in Church history. We talked about the reformation in Sardis and how the Counter Reformation had come in and had actually bought the reformation to a stop and the influence that it had upon the world at that time. Not only was the Counter Reformation taking place and people had lost their ferver and their witness, they had lost what they had learned in the Reformation and they now as a body, as a movement were dead. They were no longer witnessing and going out and standing up for what they believed, all that had come to an end, their Churches had become stagnant and there was now not much happening in them, the people were no longer following God.

Now at the same time this is happening something else is going on. Because many of the people through the dark ages were suppressed, they had a very rough time, they had been slaughtered, killed by the hundreds and thousands and now many of these people had forsaken religion, and you have a rise in Europe at this time in what is called intellectualism, and this begins to come to the forefront. There is a man by the name of Thomas Payne who has written a book, and in this book he talks about God, because at that time people believed in God, but he took the scriptures to task, and his book was called the Age of Reason and this book attacked the scriptures and what it had to say. This book began to get ascendancy across Europe and people gave up their belief, and France was the country that led out in this, in fact because of this book France decided to forsake religion completely and it became a Godless country.

They took the Bible, threw it in the streets and said we will no longer believe in the word of God, and they established in the place of it the Age of Reason. And as they threw out the scriptures, they threw out a lot of other things such as morality, and if you were a believer in God you were in danger, in fact they would go out and gather up people who believed in God and take them downtown in Paris and they were guillotined, they killed so many of them that blood ran down the gutters of the streets of Paris, it was a horrible time, but this is what was going on around this time of 1796.

It became so bad that the people who believed in God and were left fled the country, and with them they took the intelligencia of the country, and France suddenly realised that she would have to do something, and so she voted religion back into the country, because they had wrecked the whole country by their Godlessness. This is at the end of the 1700s. So you had religion that was not doing anything, it was basically dead, and this is the reason that it says, I know you are weak; you have little strength, because there is not many of you left. But this was the condition of the church and we need to know this as we move along because we will find certain things that are happening.

All of a sudden, because of the Lord and His moving, things start changing. When France voted back in religion it also started to come back in different parts of the world, and you find by 1804 the British Bible Society was established. And for the first time people begin to have access to the Word of God. Then in 1816 you had the American Bible Society established, and so you find that people once again start to take an interest in the Word of God as they now have access to it. At the same time with this movement of the scriptures, men began to stand up and preach, and this had an effect upon the people. This is where you find in history that foreign missions start up, individuals like Livingston going to Africa, Moffett, Miller, Judson, Carey, Wesley. These men stood up and began to preach the Word of God. Take for example the time of John Wesley - the Churches were basically dead, and they would not even accept what John Wesley preached, in fact when he went back to the home town where his father had been a minister they would not even let him preach in his father's Church, so he went out to the cemetery and stood on his father's grave and preached. Religion had died so much that there was hardly anything there.

But these men preached the word of God, and as they preached the Word it began to grow, and foreign missions began to move around the world, and because of their preaching there was a revival that moved across the face of the earth. God said; I have set before you an open door - go out, witness, tell the people, and they did just that, they went out and preached the word of God.

At this time something else begins to happen. Men like Miller, Wolfe, Kerry, etc. started to study God's Word, and as they did so they studied the prophecies and studied the book of Daniel. As they studied, they reached chapter 8 and verse 14:

Daniel 8:14 "And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

As they were trying to understand this verse, they continued into the 9th chapter, where they found the Angel Gabriel explaining what it meant:

Daniel 9:23-24 "23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. 24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

By putting these verses together, the idea was born that Jesus was going to come back very soon. They believed that the cleansing of the sanctuary meant the cleansing of this earth by fire (we will look at this in more detail later).

So these men preached that Jesus was coming back, and that message moved across America and Europe like a revival that hadn't been seen since the days of the Reformation. This was called the Great Advent Awakening. But out of that movement came a great disappointment, because Jesus did not come back when they thought He would, so they went back to the Bible and started to study again, knowing that it was not God's word that had failed but their understanding and interpretation of it. They then found that Jesus had gone from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place in the sanctuary in Heaven, found in Daniel 7.

Daniel 7:9-10 "9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened."

Here they see the court scene, they see the Ancient of Days coming, they see the judgment books opened.

Right at that time when the judgement is set, you find something happening, and if we don't understand this then we must study about it because it gives us great hope.

Daniel 7:13 "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him."

Here we see Christ coming in before His Father, as our Mediator, High Priest; and He is going to pled our case before the Father, He has moved from the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place, this is the door that He has opened, and you and I as individuals must walk through that door into the most Holy Place because that's where He ministers on our behalf, He is in the Most Holy Place with His Father, that's where we need to come to approach Him, because He is there to make intercession for us to His Father.

So this is very important when He says I open the door, and no man can shut it. If you think He is still in the Holy Place then you are missing an important part of His ministry because this is what is going on in the Most Holy Place. In other words when Christ moved out of the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place then judgment began. Each one of us as individuals must give an answer for what we have done, fortunately we can run and seek Jesus, and He is willing to stand in our place in the judgement, standing there for you and for me.

Revelation 11:18 "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."

This world will be judged, you and I are living in this time, this is happening now in Heaven, that was the door that was opened, and they walked through that door.

John 5:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

Christ says He has the keys, He opens and no one can shut it, He also says He has the keys of life and death.

Revelation 1:18 "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."

Paul says He has opened a door before me.

1 Corinthians 16:9 "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me ..."

And we can walk through that same door that Jesus has opened, we may come to Him as our mediator in Heaven, place our lives in His hands, and He will plead our case on our behalf, He will stand in our place in the judgement, so its most important that we by faith walk through that door.

Problem

Revelation 3:9 "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee."

So He said these people claimed to be Jews but were not; now when it talks about the word Jew here it is talking about someone who is a true follower of Christ. You see God enters into a covenant with us and with each of His people, and He tells us if you will obey my Commands, hear My voice, walk with Me, I will be your God and you shall be My people. Are we God's people, have we truly given our heart to the Lord.

Galatians 3:29 "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

So if you have accepted Christ and given your heart to Him then you are an Israelite, this is the true Jew, nothing to do with flesh or blood, but this has to do with those who belong to spiritual Israel, they are God's people, and all the promises that He made to Israel of old have been passed on to spiritual Israel, so you and I can receive those promises.

Romans 2:28-29 "28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

So what counts is what we are inwardly, not outwardly, we have to make sure that we enter into this covenant with Him, heirs of the promise, because it says that if we enter into this covenant with the Lord we will be a special treasure to Him, we must walk with Him in the Spirit not in the letter. In other words we have to be willing to Walk the Talk. We cannot say yes I have given my heart to Christ and then not walk with Him act like Him reflect His image. So this means more than just following a belief, while of course this is important we must be a Christian in character as well as in belief, that is part of Walking the Talk.

As a Christian we must be kind, gentle and compassionate, we must love our brothers and sisters. The people in the Church of Philadelphia were the Church of brotherly love; you and I must love one another. This is what God wants us to do because that is what He did and does each and every day, we must aim to be what God desires us to be.

Revelation 3:10 "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."

He promised them because they were faithful, because they persevered, that He would keep them from the hour of trial. We have said before that Christians today are such fair weather Christians, they don't want to face any hard times or consider that there might be any kind of trouble at all. Now God is perfectly able to care and look after us and as it says here because they persevered and kept His Commands that He will keep them from the hour of trial and in Psalm 91 He makes this promise in verse 7.

Psalm 91:7 "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee."

But how can we appreciate, how can we understand, how can we sympathise, how can we enter into our Lords agony and suffering and all that He went through if we have never suffered, how could we possibly understand if we never have hard times and suffering, then how would we ever appreciate what He did. You and I must be willing to enter into the suffering of our Lord, and if it requires that we must pass through trials then we need to bear it, we must try and bear it joyfully, because it only helps us understand what Jesus did for us, He suffered more that anyone of us will ever suffer. Never will we face temptation like He faced, or suffer as He did, but in His kindness and in His mercy He said I will keep you in your hour of trial, He is more than capable of caring for you and for me.

Council

Revelation 3:11 "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."

Now as we have studied these Seven Churches there has been reference in those different Churches regarding His coming back, but when we get to Philadelphia He says He is coming quickly, in other words time is running out. We are now living in the time of the Church of Laodicea at which time He does come back, so, time is running out and He says behold I coming quickly, and we need to understand that the Lord's coming is even at the doors.

There are many things that are happening today that have never happened before in my lifetime, Tsunamis' that kill ¼ million people, earthquakes that kill ¼ million, earthquakes of magnitude 7and above just coming one after another, we now live in a world with very little morals, do we really understand when He says behold I am coming quickly, hang on hold fast don't give up, does this really have the impact on us that it should? Remember a day is like a thousand years for the Lord and a thousand years as a day.

Psalm 90:4 "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."

2 Peter 3:8 "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

We must hang on and get ourselves ready, this is our preparation time that the Lord in His mercy had given us. We must use this time to get ourselves ready to meet Him. We must use this time to spend time with Him, to read His word and understand what He is saying so that the Word of God will grow in us and we will then be able to share His word with others. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. How very sad to have someone else wear your crown.

Think of Esau the oldest, he did not want to follow the Lord, he did not have an interest in spiritual things, and therefore Jacob took is crown. He had every right, he was the oldest son, he had the birth right, the blessings, that was all his and all he had to do was claim it, and yet he didn't, he spurned it and Jacob took his place.

Ruben the eldest son was to be the one that the blessing was to pass to, he was to be the head and yet he didn't follow the Lord and Judah took his place, someone else took his crown.

Saul, the first King, God called him and sent Samuel to anoint him, God told him never will the kingdom pass from you and your household if you will just follow and obey me, but he didn't, and David took his place. David received the promise, and Christ came from that linage when He could have come from Saul's.

Judas one of the twelve, probably the one that had the greatest natural ability of leadership, he lost his crown and Matthias took his place. Is somebody going to take your place, is somebody going to be in the kingdom in your place? It doesn't have to be, we make our own decisions and decide whether we are going to put ourselves on the Lords side and walk and follow Him, the promise is given to us.

Promise

Revelation 3:12 "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."

He who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God - In many of the temples and buildings they would write people's names on the pillars, particular individuals who had donated a large amount of money, or if they were an Emperor or leader they would write their names on pillars in the temple. And here Jesus says: He who overcomes I make a pillar in the temple of my God. Jesus says I will write the name of My God and the City of My God, the New Jerusalem. Jesus will put this name on us and say these belong to Me, these are My people. You and I can belong to Him and have a place there if we so wish, it is a tremendous blessing that He gives to us.

So first He gives us a white stone, and on that stone is a special name that He has given just for us, which is to do with our character, but more than that He puts on us the name of the city, He puts upon us His name and says these are my people, I care for them and they belong to me, and we are to be a pillar in the temple of God. All these are promises that He gives to us as individuals. We hope that each one of us will be there to walk through the door as He opens it, and we pray that we will continue obeying Him, giving our hearts to Him, following Him day by day as He leads us into the kingdom.

Now is the time when we need to be preparing our hearts to meet God.

Revelation 3:13 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

The Church of Laodicea

"Judging of the People".

1844 AD - Second Coming of Jesus.

Introduction

This sixth and final church covers the period from around 1844 AD to the second coming of Jesus, so it is the church period in which we are living today.

Here we come to the last of the seven Churches, the Church of Laodicea. And we have looked at these personal letters that Jesus wrote to each one of the Churches, in which He told them about their condition, their problems and the solutions to these problems. He then gave them promises.

As we looked at the Church of Philadelphia we see that this Church possessed what Laodicea needs, and if Laodicea can acquire what Philadelphia has then Jesus will come back. The problem is, it does not say it will. And so this last Church is a Church that should be a wakeup call to us, because what we must not do is take for granted that we will make it, because Jesus gives a very stern, stern rebuke to this Church, in fact the hardest rebuke of the seven is given to the Church of Laodicea.

Laodicea comes from two Greek words; "lao" meaing "people" and "dicea" meaning "judging", so "judging of the people". We are living in the time when the judgment is going on up in Heaven, and we will be looking at some things concerning Laodicea, we need to consider these things very carefully, because if we are facing the judgment then we need Christ to represent us, we need Him to stand in our place and interceding on our behalf, this is absolutely vital if we are going to make it into the Kingdom.

Laodicea was about forty miles South East of Philadelphia. There was a road that opened from Ephesus and Pergamos that enabled people to travel through to Syria and Arabia and those parts of the world. The road from Ephesus to Syria in the east was the most important highway in Asia. It began at the coast at Ephesus and climbed up the 8,500 foot central plateau. It followed the valley of the River Meander until it reached what was known as the Gates of Phrygia.

Now Laodicea was a very, very wealthy city, the city was named after Antiochus' wife, (she poisoned him later, it is not known why, but she did). The population of the city was largely made up of Syrians and Jews, these were people who had been bought out of Babylon, so at the time that John was writing this the population of Jews was about 75 hundred this was just counting men not women and children. Today there is not much left there, it sits out on the plains, there was very fertile farming land all around it, but all that is left there today is the ruins of a couple of theatres and a stadium and that is really all that is left of Laodicea, it has been taken away, it's candlestick has been moved out of its place.

But as stated it was a very wealthy city, wealthy enough that in 60 A.D. when it was destroyed by an earthquake and the Emperor offered to help them rebuild they refused, they said they would build it on their own, and there's a little connection here because you will find that as we look at it this Church is very, very self-sufficient, it does not need help from anybody, not even the Lord. The city was a very modern city, they had hot water piped to all the homes via aqueducts; the water was very high in mineral content, in fact 7 or 8 miles from Laodicea is Hierapolis and there is where the great source of water came from and it was so heavy in minerals that it would form formations even on the falls so that you could see it for several miles away and it looked like white statues all over.

Archaeology shows Laodicea had an aqueduct that carried water from hot mineral springs some five miles south, which would have become tepid before entering the city. The water was hard, and was virtually undrinkable, it tasted vile and you would want to spit it out of your mouth it would make you sick. The imagery of the Laodicean aqueduct suggests not that "hot" is good and "cold" is bad, but that both hot and cold water are useful, whereas lukewarm water is useless.

Also in the town of Laodicea they had a garment industry and there they would make a black cloth that came from black sheep that were there, the texture was soft and very similar to silk and it was very expensive and sought after. In Laodicea they also had a school of medicine, also a school to the god Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. Also they had an eye salve that they sold a Fijian eye salve, and all these things that Laodicea had is what Christ makes reference to that the people would know and relate to.

Identification

Revelation 3:14 "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;"

This is the only place in Scripture where you will find that the Amen is applied to Christ. Amen is used many times in Scripture but this is the only time it is put there as a name. The meaning of the word "Amen" means "so be it", that's what it implies, and as Christ is giving the message, He is saying this is it, this is the way it is; so be it. Also when we pray we say Amen which means the prayer is finished, and Christ is telling them here that these messages to the seven Churches are finished. He is saying He is the Amen, the first and the last, the faithful and true witness, and that you and I need to listen very carefully to what He has to say.

Jesus is the beginning of the creation of God. Now there are some people that misunderstand this verse. This verse is saying Jesus is the beginning, the Creator, the One who makes things, the One who began the work of creation. There are some that will take this verse and say that Jesus is not divine, that He was the first created being, that it does not mean that He is the Creator.

John 1:3 "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

People will often take this verse to say that Jesus is the first created being, but this is not what the verse means, and once again we must remember that men wrote the Bible and although it was written under the inspiration of God, man interprets it, and this is why we always need to take the whole of the Bible, comparing Scripture with Scripture. We know this verse cannot mean that Jesus was created, because of the many, many verses that tell us He was begotten, and that Angels and man were created - there is a big, big difference between created and begotten.

When did this Church age begin? Well this comes at a time where it's clear from what the Scriptures say that this is the Church that will exist when Jesus returns. When we study the Bible and particularly prophecy (especially the 2,300 days which is explaned in our Daniel and Revelation studies) we see that it would have been around the 1900's that the Church of Laodicea started to come into existnce.

We are living in an age of secularism. What a contrast to Philadelphia. We have moved into secularism, where all people seem to be concerned about these days is what they can have materialistically, who has the most things, etc. and God is far removed from the lives of most people today.

Condition

Revelation 3:15 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot."

Jesus again says I have seen your works, I have looked at them and Laodicea is not lacking in works, there is plenty of works there, but Jesus says I wish that you were cold or hot, but you are neither.

Most translators and Bibles scholars will say that cold means that you don't know the Lord and that you are living out in the world not knowing Christ, you are cold, you are lost, no relationship with the Lord, they take hot to mean that you're on fire for the Lord and doing works, this is how they apply hot and cold. But these letters were written for the Church not people outside. It maybe that is God saying I wish you were uncomfortable, that you were uncomfortably cold or hot and that you would get out of this lukewarmness. Either way this was the problem with the Church, it was comfortable, and this is what we see in the majority of Churches today.

Whereas in third world countries where they have nothing, they will come for miles and sit all day to hear the word of God, how many of us will do that? Very few, we are comfortable, and we like it this way, this is the way we are and this is why Jesus said I wish you were uncomfortable, I wish you were cold or hot. Remember the water from the aqueduct in Laodicea, by the time it reached Laodicea it was just lukewarm and lukewarm water is not as useful as hot or cold, you don't want to drink it, and it does not clean like hot water does, hot and cold water are useful but not so lukewarm.

Matthew 7:21-23 "21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

So just because we may go to Church and say Lord, Lord doesn't make us right with God. Here they say they have done many wonderful works in the name of Jesus, and Jesus say's – I know your works, I am aware of what you do; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness, I don't recognise you, I don't know who you are.

These to me are the most frightening words in all of Scripture; you see there has to be something more than just works. The Church today is comfortable, we have entered into an age where the Church people of today think they have to be entertained, they can't seem to come for the purpose of worship if it's not entertaining then it's not worth going. And so we have Church after Church after Church where everything is just a big show, a production because people come to be entertained and not to study the word of God. And this is what is being said to the Church of Laodicea because they are lukewarm.

Revelation 3:16 "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

Because we are neither cold nor hot it makes God sick, just like we don't like to drink lukewarm water, Christ cannot do with a lukewarm Church it makes Him sick. So if you and I are just comfortable and not really doing anything then we need to take a good close look at ourselves, in order that we are not vomited out of the mouth of God. Like the lukewarm water that flowed from Hierapolis down to Laodicea, if you drank it you would want to spew it out of your mouth. You see it was fine hot or really cold, but because of the salt content lukewarm would make you vomit. And this is how Christ feels because His last day Church have let the cares of this world come into their lives.

Jesus talks about this in the parable of the sower.

Mark 4:19 "And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."

You see the world came into the Church and it choked out the word and the people became unfruitful, we have trouble witnessing and speaking about Jesus because people don't want to know, they are too caught up in their busy materialistic lives.

Colossians 2:1-2 "1 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; 2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;"

What does he say the Church needs – love, knowledge, and most of all, to be Christ centred.

Colossians 2:6-10 "6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:"

Problem

Revelation 3:17 "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:"

There is certainly something wrong with this Church because it says I am rich, I have become wealthy and have need of nothing that is their perception of themselves, they think they are in good shape, but Christ's perception is just the opposite, He says they are poor blind and naked.

Here is the problem, they are all this, they are wealthy, they have need of nothing, but their biggest problem is because of all this wealth they have become blind, spiritually blind in that they don't realise their greatest need – that of Christ. And this is the spiritual condition of the Church, spiritually they are bankrupt. And only Christ can take care of that, but the problem is you can't take care of something you don't know you need.

Each one of us needs to be on our knees asking that God will open our eyes and that we will see our need. What does Christ need to do to get our attention? Maybe it takes natural disasters, maybe it takes more than reading that we have to repent and change our ways, maybe it takes the loss of something or having a hard time, what will get our attention.

Jesus says I stand at the door and knock and if anyone will hear my voice, but our problem is not only are we blind but we are also deaf, we don't see, we don't hear, we don't know our need.

Isaiah 1:6 "From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment."

From the top of the head to the souls of the feet nothing but bruises and sores, we're a mess, and we don't know that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked, this is what the Church of Laodicea is, and if ever there was a time in which this verse rightly fits its today.

Matthew 25:1-10 "1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut."

All ten of them slumbered and slept all ten of them not just five and when the cry came that the Bridegroom was coming they all got up and shook themselves and trimmed their lamps. Are we making sure that our vessels are full of the oil from the Holy Spirit, or are we too busy thinking that we don't need anything, increased with goods and have need of nothing, and when the Bridegroom shows up will we say, oh, not enough oil?

Go out and buy for yourselves - When it comes to this part there is nothing that anybody can do for you, no one else can save you, not your spouse or Church member, you have to go and obtain this for yourselves, and it comes without money and without price, but you have to go out and buy, and the problem here with these virgins isn't that they didn't go to buy, they went to buy, but they left it too late as verse 10 tells us.

You see this is not talking about people who don't know the Lord, this is talking about Church members who had the opportunity, but who never put the effort in thinking they would leave it until a few more signs had been fulfilled, but it was then to late, the Bridegroom came (to them like a thief in the night) and the door was shut. The door that was opened in Philadelphia is now shut in Laodicea. And although we read in verse 11 they came saying, Lord, Lord, open to us, He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Why did He not know these five, they had done works they were waiting, but, they were not like Him in character, they had not taken time to know Him to reflect His image and therefore He did not know them.

Counsel

Revelation 3:18 "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."

Here Christ takes care of this problem of being blind and poor and naked, He says buy of me gold that has been refined in the fire, do we know what this gold is, its not literal gold but spiritual gold. There are three things that are spiritual gold: God's word the Bible is gold and we have to spend time in the scriptures, because the other two things that are gold are dependent upon us spending time in and knowing the scriptures, we find the second part of our spiritual gold in.

Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

So, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When we spend time in God's word and we study the prophecies and we see how we can trust God's word we develop faith and it begins to grow and become part of our lives, if we don't have faith we will not make it into the Kingdom.

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

If we don't have faith we can't please God, that's very clear. God wants to be loved and trusted, and without this faith and trust we will never make it through the times ahead. The third thing that is gold is love.

Love and faith work together, and if we don't have love for the Lord, love for our brothers and sisters and the people of the world then we are in jeopardy, we have to love one another that is absolutely required. So, the only way we can get this gold is by spending time in the word and in prayer, asking God for that love, it does not come easy and it is not a natural thing for us to have, love for our loved ones and friends maybe but not for those who may even be unkind to us, this is God's love and we must obtain it.

We must be daily drawing near to Him, works won't get us to the kingdom. Sometimes we are so caught up in numbers and how many came to the meetings, how many were baptised, etc. this then becomes works and this is part of what Laodicea is caught up in numbers, works, materialism, and God is saying you think you are rich but you are poor, spiritually poor and that's our condition.

If we are to have the gold, we must have a desire for God's word, we must have faith and love if it's going to be what it should be. This is clearly taught in 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13 "1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

Secondly Christ supplies our need by giving us the garment of His righteousness, and people will say yes but our garments are as filthy rags, is this what Jesus is saying here, NO, He says you are worse than that, you are naked, and you need to take a good look at yourself and be ashamed that you don't even have righteousness that is like filthy rags, you're walking around naked, you don't have anything at all, you are poor, blind and naked, and He says if we don't come to Him to be covered by His righteousness then He will not be able to save us.

Revelation 3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."

Zealous means enthusiastic, eager, fervent, keen, earnest, stop playing around, repent, change.

Be rich, have faith and love, spend time with the Lord.

Galatians 5:6 "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."

James 2:5 "Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?"

Revelation 19:8 "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."

We need to take note of this text where it says to her (the Church) was granted, that means we don't have it of ourselves, it was given to her (to us), the righteousness of Jesus that covers your life and mine.

Isaiah 61:10 "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."

And if we don't have this then we are running around unclothed and naked. Only His righteousness can cover our lives.

1 Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Unless we have Christ in our life we will not understand these things because they are spiritually discerned and we won't understand what God is doing until we understand the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that's what opens our eyes.

Romans 3:24 "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"

When we see the love and grace of our Lord toward us then our eyes begin to open.

Romans 5:9-11 "9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."

Grace is the Source – Eye Salve – When we understand grace our eyes get opened up and we can see and understand.

Blood is the Means – White Raiment – We wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb, and the blood of the Lamb makes them white.

Faith is the Method – Gold.

Promise

Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

And this is the solution to the problem; Christ is offering us the solution but the problem is we don't see it. This is the problem of the Church of Laodicea, because Christ is on the outside, and that where the problem is, He needs to be in, but He's out, and He is knocking at the door asking for entrance, and He won't force Himself, we have to invite Him in, if anyone hears My voice. He is calling out, but it's up to us to open the door and let Him into our lives, to change us and make us different, to become acquainted with Him so that down at the end of time He won't say I don't know you, I've never dwelt with you, I've never had a meal with you, I don't know you. He's knocking at the door saying let me in, we need to invite Him in, we must not wait, because time is short.

There is a famous painting of Christ standing at the door knocking. When you look closely at the picture you see that there is no handle on the outside of the door. Christ will not force Himself in, only we can open the door to Him. He is patiently waiting, wanting so much to be in our lives, but the choice is ours.

Revelation 3:21 "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

What a wonderful promise - if we will just let Him in He will let us come to His home and sit with Him - what a marvellous opportunity to sit with Christ on His throne. Thrones in the orient were large enough for more than one person to sit on, one on the left and one on the right.

And so Jesus has written to the Churches of Asia minor and He said to them all:

Revelation 3:22 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

We pray that the Church of Laodicea will hear, listen and accept His invitation, before it's too late.

 

Revelation - Chapter 4

 

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