Podcast - Jesus Among the Churches part 2
There's A Man Going 'Round Taking Names • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsSardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea
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Hi and welcome to this episode of Pastor’s Corner. I am Thomas Hogan senior pastor of Amazing Grace Church of the Nazarene in Walla Walla Washington.
In this episode we are going to dive deeper in Revelation chapter three and what Jesus has to say to Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
If you haven’t already I would encourage you to watch the sermon first as that will help you track with what we are going to talk about in this episode.
Let’s start with the Church of Sardis
To the Angel of Sardis
To the Angel of Sardis
The introduction to for this letter is short. Jesus is going to get right into the problems he knows about this church.
Let’s notice what Jesus says
1 ”And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
There is a great deal of discussion about what the seven spirits of God are.
This image was previously seen in Revelation 1:4
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne;
What could this be referring to?
Perhaps is it a reference to the Holy Spirit from
2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
A reference to the power and plentitude of the Holy Spirit.
Scripturally that seems to be the best fit.
For the seven stars Jesus told us previously in chapter 1
20 “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The stars are the angels of the churches and we note that every letter begins with: To the angel of the Church in...
In reference to Jesus this opening presents Him as the one who has sovereign control of the churches and the source of His spiritual power.
It can also show the close relationship between Christ, the holy Spirit, and the churches.
The we come to something Jesus says in verse 3
3 ‘Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
Through out the book of Revelation we are given glimpses of the comings, not just the second coming .
Here in the letter to Sardis it seems that the coming may well be a time for the total collapse of the church.
N.T. Wright says, “Sardis quietly drowns in its own inoffensiveness, unable to believe that its reputation for being alive is no longer deserved.”
There is a wonderful promise in this letter for the one who overcomes.
They will be clothed in a white garment. A symbol of there having been washed by the blood of the lamb and forgiven. Their eternal life secure as their name will be found in the book of life, and Jesus will give testimony to all of heaven on their behalf.
To the Angel of Philadelphia
To the Angel of Philadelphia
This church is the youngest of the seven cities. Philadelphia sat a little more than 30 miles east-south east of Sardis.
Though physically not far away from Sardis, spiritually there was a great deal of distance between them.
Like the letter to Smyrna Jesus has nothing against them.
He says that He is putting something before them
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.
Jesus puts an open door that cannot be closed. This ties with what he said about himself in the opening of the letter
7 “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:
I am also reminded of the report of Barnabas and Paul in Acts 14:27
27 And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
Perhaps it is an open door of opportunity to share the good news with others.
Then Jesus says this to this little church
11 ‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one 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 upon 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.
There is a time coming when it will be obvious that the followers of Christ are the ones who can go through the open door.
The ones who are pillars in the new temple.
Jesus is saying to Philadelphia is a time of trial coming on the whole earth, and like a powerful search light it will reveal who is holding on to Jesus and his promise of a crown and who isn’t.
How are we to understand this coming?
Is it a temporal event. soon to take place in the time of this writing?
Is it a way of describing the days preceding the coming of Jesus?
I understand the intent of Jesus is to the church of Philadelphia, to that time period.
This promise then is for Philadelphia.
The promise of verse 12 is for us also
Remember Revelation 3:12
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 upon 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.
Remember my question: Is is possible?
Because to be honest no one knows for certain.
To the Angel of Laodicea
To the Angel of Laodicea
This church a skewed view of themselves that was not a true reflection of where they were spiritually.
The were saying Revelation 3:17
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,
In response this false view Jesus tells them how to remedy it
18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.
A couple of things come to mind from this verse
The gold Jesus speaks of is the purest gold, refined so that the impurities are burned up.
I thought of 1 Peter 1:7
7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
The white garments
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.
The eye salve
A Phrygian powder for which the medical school of Laodicea seems to have been famous.
Yet the figurative reference is to the restoring of spiritual vision.
This whole tone in the letter though difficult to read at times comes from the love, care, and concern that Jesus has for this chruch.
God the Father does the same thing
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Then also Hebrews 12:11-13
11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
The desire is that they would learn, repent and change their ways.
Then he tells them that he is standing at the door knocking
Look what Jesus desires, to be close to them. The intimacy of sharing a meal together, he wants to be family!
What a wonderful picture!
The fact that Jesus is knocking shows also there is still time.
“The invitation is still to the whole church, but the realization of it is now pictures in at the individual level.”
What is Jesus saying to us Amazing Grace?
Visitor what is Jesus saying to you?
So we did it. We have finished the seven churches.
Next time we will be considering Revelation 4 and 5 and the beautiful picture of worship around the throne of God Almighty.
Thank you for joining me in the Pastor’s Corner.