‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Revelation 3:7-22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

⁸ ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹ Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. ¹³ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

¹⁵ ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, ¹⁸ I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ¹⁹ Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Again today as we look at the messages to the churches in Revelation, we look not so much at what was said to these particular churches about their situation and circumstances, but rather how what the Spirit said then, applies to us now.  The text says:  ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’  What are the characteristics of the church that the Spirit offers no criticism or conviction? They have a little power, but have kept His word and not denied His name. There are many today who want to operate in great power. They want to do the works that Jesus did; they want miracles signs and wonders to be demonstrated in their midst, but do they keep His word?  Mark 16:15-20 says: He said to them,  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.  Miracles, signs and wonders are not meant to show our great power to the world, they are meant to confirm the word of God. It’s not our great power that accomplishes anything. It is our weakness, our little power. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, God says:  “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”  It is not our great faith which will move mountains. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says:  “Truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”  It is our small faith in the greatness of God that makes nothing impossible.

The text says:  ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”  Perhaps this is the most applicable message to the church today. Indeed, much of the church is rich and wealthy in material things. They have beautiful buildings and furnishings, state of the art media and entertainment systems and multi-million dollar budgets. Yet, many who attend or follow these churches are lukewarm.  They are content and comfortable being entertained and being told about the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we could become members of the church. He suffered and died to reconcile us to the Father; that we would know Him as Abba, Daddy.  To the first church in the text, the Spirit says: Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut.  To the lukewarm church He says:  Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.  The doorway to heaven, to the very presence of God is open and no one can shut it. It was opened when in Matthew 27:50-51, it says:  Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.  John 19:30 tells us what Jesus cried out, when the door to heaven was opened: “It is finished!”   The door that Jesus knocks on is not the door to heaven, it is the door to the heart of every individual person.  The text says:  ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’   Our overcoming is already accomplished in the finished work of the cross. We need only to open our hearts to believe and receive Christ and the Holy Spirit into our lives. Hebrews 4:14-16 says:  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  If we will open the door of our heart to receive Christ, we can go boldly, by grace, to the very throne of the Father, Abba God, and receive all that we need.

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’   Amen. Yes Lord, I open the door of my heart to You. I believe and I receive the finished work of the cross in my life.  Amen.