And unto the angel in the church of 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. Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Paul consistently preached that strengthening the church is one of the two great tasks for Christians; the other is spreading the gospel.
Rememberest 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 theif, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
The image of the thief in the night is associated with the return of Christ. Jesus, Paul and Peter all say that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief (Matthew 24; 1 Thessalonians 5; 1 Peter 4), which is to say unexpectedly (see Matthew 24:43). But think about that for a moment... you need to feel safe before you stop watching for the thief. Matthew 24:24 said that there is one who is coming to deceive everyone, 2 Thessalonians 2 states that the deceiver calls himself God, he may even call himself the "Son of God", so anyone who believes him will feel pretty safe, as though they were protected by God. But God says to that deceiver in Ezekiel 28:9, "Wilt thou yet say before Him that slayeth thee, 'I am God'? but thou shalt be a man and no god in the hand of Him that slayeth thee."
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.
This illustrates how every person is judged by his or her own actions, regardless of who they are associated with.
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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
White raiment is seen quite often in the Bible. It is also described as linen robes, which are made from flax. Angels are often described as being in white raiment. But it is not until you get to Revelation that the spiritual symbolism of white raiment is explained. The white raiment is explained in Revelation 19:8, where it says that the bride of Christ is "arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." The word "righteousness" is "dekaioma" which means "lawful acts" or "righteous deeds". So your heavenly covering is made up of your good righteous acts.
To be blotted out of the book of life means that your name is forever erased from that book. It's like you had never existed. Moses asked God not to blot out the children of Israel after they had worshipped the golden calf in Exodus 32:32. I like that David would use this word to proclaim the Lord's forgiveness in the Psalms when he would talk about God blotting out man's transgressions (see Psalm 51).
And to the angel in the church of Philadelphia write;
Philadelphia is the second church that does not receive any warning from Jesus because they are in good standing with their doctrine (the first was Smyrna - see my last post). The words to this church elaborate on that doctrine a bit more. The word Philadelphia means "brotherly love", and brotherly love is what God wants people to display for each other (see Obadiah - it's only 1 chapter long).
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; 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.
The key of David is a key that opens doors of knowledge. Once the knowledge is received, it cannot be taken away. And once the old knowledge is shut out, it cannot be let back in.
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. 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.
The word of patience is that no matter what happens in time - even though heaven and earth should pass away - we wait for the return of the Lord. This is the central message of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. In Matthew 24:23, Jesus plainly says about the tribulation period (also known as the hour of temptation), "then if any man shall say unto you, 'Lo, here is Christ,' or 'there;' believe it not." This is because "he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Matthew 24:13)." So be patient.
Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
"That no man take thy crown" is the same as saying, "don't let anyone take your crown by deceiving you". Satan is the great deceiver and his whole plan is to trick people into turning away from God. This puts one in danger of losing their rewards from God. It's what happened with Adam and Eve, and it's what will be attempted at the end of this age. That's why it is important to listen to the two most emphatic places in the Bible - spoken by The Greatest Authority in the Bible, Jesus, and one of the greatest followers and teachers of scripture, Paul - that both say emphatically "DO NOT BE DECEIVED". Both references I'm talking about put the message very plainly. The first is found in two places which is from the same speech by Jesus; these can be found in Matthew 24:4 and Mark 13:5. The second is found in Paul's letter 2 Thessalonians 2:3. This letter was a follow up to the first letter, because the readers had misunderstood what Paul was saying about the return of Christ (the gathering to Christ). It's very fortunate for us that that happened, so that we also did not misread 1 Thessalonians 4.
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 with My God: and I will write upon him My new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
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; 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.
This last verse is a verse that is used for many different purposes, by many different pastors, to motivate church members to do many different things. What is true is that God loves a cheerful giver, and loves those that love Him (and show that love by acting on it). However, since this prophecy is given on "the day of the Lord" (see Revelation 1:10), I connect the message to what is happening at that time. To me, it has to do with people that decide to not act then. They neither follow the antichrist, who claims to be the Christ at that time, nor do they make a stand for God. To them, they "have all of their bases covered." To them, if they don't take a stand one way or the other, at least they haven't followed the antichrist, and they should get some credit for that. Jesus makes it very plain here that, if one doesn't make a stand for God then, that person is no more accepted than them that follow the antichrist. This is echoed several times in the New Testament in the saying, "whosoever will save his life will lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall save it" (Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; Luke 17:33).
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: 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 annoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
The gold that we are to get is wisdom (see Proverbs 16:16). Here, wisdom about the end of the age is better than gold. It must be tried in the fire because of the number of false teachings that exist relating to the end times. White raiment, as we discussed before, is righteous acts: once you have knowledge of what will happen in the end times, you act accordingly. Rightly. Justly. The eyesalve is to be able to see clearly Who is the Christ. That is Jesus. Once these things are in place, you can act in the way that you are supposed to; you can put on the gospel armour and take your stand (see Ephesians 6).
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and sup with him, and he with Me. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
God does rebuke and chasten His children like any loving father would. He is The Father. He is the pattern that all loving fathers have been built after. Numerous places in the Bible tell us this: Job 5:17, Proverbs 3:11, Hebrews 12. Correction is required to receive proper instruction, to receive wisdom, to receive gold tried in the fire.
This is the summation of the messages to the churches of the end times. If we can live in accordance with the doctrine now, we will be well prepared for when the end comes. We will be able to overcome, as He overcame, through the strength and knowledge provided by Him. God bless.
