Chapter 3
Verses 1-6 Read the Bible verses.
Jesus talks to the church at Sardis.
Sardis was the capital of ancient Lydia. Lydia was known for it purple dye. Purple was used for kings and the rich.
During the early days of Christianity, Sardis was the center of Christianity in that area.
Jesus said to this church, “You have a name that you are a church that is ‘alive’, and serving the Lord with energy, but you are ‘dead’. You are no longer excited about the things of the Lord.”
Jesus said, “Wake up! Make yourself strong, and excited–you are about to die spiritually. Your interest in the Lord is not what it should be.”
“Remember what you have received, and what you have heard—keep it, and repent.”
“If you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know what hour that will be.”
Jesus said these same words in Matthew 24:43,44
Jesus is telling them that it is not enough for them to have been an “on fire” church long ago. It is important that they stay “on fire” for the Lord now—all the time. Christians can not get lazy or relaxed or go to sleep—we have to keep watching all the time. We do not know when Christ will return and we need to be ready at any time.
Jesus said, “There are a few people who have kept their “robes” clean. They are the ones who will walk with Me in robes of white. They are worthy.”
Christian must keep their “robes” clean. They must keep their lives clean. They must keep their thoughts clean. They must keep right attitudes.
He who overcomes sin and temptation and stays true to Christ will have a robe of righteousness. His name will be in the Book of Life. Jesus will say his name before his Father and before the angels.
Verses 7- 13 Read the Bible verses.
Jesus talks to the church in Philadelphia.
The word Philadelphia means “brotherly love”. This city was about 38 miles from Sardis.
Most of the people worshipped a god of wine called Dionysus.
Jesus said, “He who is holy has the key of David.” The “key of David” is like we use the words “key of the city”. The person who holds the “key of the city” is the person who has power and authority in the city.
The city of David was Jerusalem. In the future, there will be a “new Jerusalem” coming down from heaven. It will be the time that Jesus is king of the earth. True believers will be leaders in that “new Jerusalem”.
There are several places in the Bible where it says that those who stay faithful to God will some day be leaders over nations in the new heaven and new earth that will be made. Rev.1:6, Rev. 5:10, Rev. 20:6
The person who has “the key” has the power to open and shut—he has the power to open and shut—he has the power to decide what happens.
In the spirit, we have been given power. Doors of opportunity for the work of God can open to us in the name of Jesus. Floodgates of enemy activity against the work of God can be shut in the name of Jesus.
Jesus said to this church, “ I have give an open door of opportunity for you to work for the Lord. You are weak, but you have kept my word.
You have been true to my name.”
Jesus said, “Those people who say they are Jews but are not—I will make them respect you. They will know that I love you.”
“Because you have stayed true to me, I will keep you from the “hour of testing”. That hour is about to come upon the whole world. That time will test those who live on the earth.”
Matthew 24:14-21 and I Thessalonians 4:17 says that Jesus will take those who are true believers to heaven before the “great tribulation” or the “wrath of God” begins.
There will be many terrible things that will happen on earth. The first of the terrible things will be bad enough, but the last part of the terrible things will be so awful!
There are different ideas as to when the “rapture” the “catching away of the bride” will happen.
Some who study the Bible say it will happen before any of the terrible things start to happen.
Some think that the believers will go through the first part of the terrible things and then the believers will be caught up to heaven.
Jesus said, “I am coming quickly. Hold onto your faith. Don’t let go of your faith. You don’t want to lose your crown in heaven.”
To the one who overcomes and has victory, “ I will make him a pillar (a strong post) in the temple of my God.”
“He will stay in the temple forever and never leave. I will write God’s name upon him and the name of the city of my God.”
The “city of my God” is the new Jerusalem that will come down out of heaven when Jesus comes to rule the earth.
Verses 14-22 Read the Bible verses.
Jesus speaks to the church at Laodicea.
Laodicea was under Roman rule. It was a rich city. It was known for its banking businesses. It was known for the wool cloth made there and for medicines, especially eye salve.
Jesus said, “I know what you do. I know that you are neither hot or cold. I wish you were either hot or cold. But you are lukewarm. I will spit you out of my mouth.”
A lukewarm drink is not very good. People usually like their drink hot or cold.
Jesus is trying to get these people to see how they are as Christians.
They are not really excited about Jesus. But they are not really joining the sinful people either. They are in the middle.
Jesus said that he would rather they really loved Him and served Him with all their heart —or just stop pretending.
They wanted to hang onto salvation, but they were not making Jesus “Lord” of their life.
There are many Christians today that are doing the same thing. They want salvation. But they want to run their own life. They do not want to make Jesus “Lord” and walk obeying his teachings.
Several of the churches Jesus already talked to had problems with sexual sins. They wanted salvation, but they did not want Jesus to tell them how to live their personal lives.
There is a saying, “Jesus is Lord of all or he is not Lord at all.”
Jesus can not just be Lord of your salvation but stay out of other parts of your life. If you do not let Jesus into every corner of your life, then he is not Lord.
If you are ruling your life—you are Lord.
Jesus said, “You think you are rich and do not need anything.”
These people were rich—with money and things of this world.
Jesus said, “But you are poor and naked and blind.”
They lived in a town that was known for rich cloth and medicine for the eyes. But Jesus said they were naked and blind.
Jesus was talking about their spirits. Because they were so “lukewarm”, —spiritually they were poor, naked and blind.
They were weak spiritually. They had become so far away from God that they were about to stop being Christians completely.
Jesus was trying to get them to see what had happened to them spiritually. He said, “You need to come to me and buy gold made pure in the fire so you can be rich. You need to come to me to get white robes so you can cover yourself. You need to come to me to get eye salve so you can see.”
Those who are close to Jesus are rich in spirit. They are covered with his righteousness. They can see clearly the truth and what is important.
Jesus said, “Those I love, I correct. Repent! Come close to me again.”
Jesus is a good “Father”, when he sees we are going the wrong way, he warns us, the Holy Spirit “puts his finger” on the thing that is wrong in our life and he says “fix it”, make it right.
Jesus said, “I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If you will hear me, and open the door, I will come in and sup (eat and visit) with you and you with me.”
Jesus wants to come into our lives. He knocks at our heart’s door. If we let him come in, he will live in our hearts and be with us every day.
To the person who overcomes sin, Jesus will let him sit with him on his throne when he comes to rule the earth.