October 3, 2006
To receive the greatest possible blessing from this Bible study, please take a moment to read the passage.
Prayer:
Almighty God, give us insight that we may learn from—Your written word and the Living Word. Help us to apply Your warnings, Your instructions, and Your promises to our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Introduction:
When my daughters were young and needed correction, I tried to meet that responsibility with love and care. Often, I stood them in a corner or sat them on a chair for quiet time. After the completion of the punishment, I attempted to explain to them the reason for the discipline and preventative measures for future reference.
On one such occasion, I asked Melinda, then about four years old, if she knew why I made her stand in the corner. She promptly replied, “Yes, Mommy. To count spiders.”
Somehow, she missed the point.
At times, God finds it necessary to chastise us as little children. When we read Scripture such as the second and third chapters of Revelation, we realize that He explains why the correction was necessary and what we can do to prevent further discipline. Unfortunately, like Melinda, we miss the point and have to repeat the process.
The Lesson:
Thyatira (2:18-29) means a perfume or sacrifice of labor. Representing the corrupt church, the era historically began in A. D. 500 according to some theologians.
Jesus revealed Himself as the Son of God and the One whose eyes are like fire and feet like brass to the believers at Thyatira. He found them productive, loving, patient, and faithful. However, they allowed Jezebel to teach false doctrine, which lead them into sexual immorality and idolatry.
We find two specific problems with Jezebel’s doctrine. (1) The feminizing of the church— as the church softens the gospel message to make it more appealing, it loses its muscle. How do we feminize the gospel? By taking out the blood of the cross. By making excuses for sin instead of insisting that people repent. By preaching about God’s love, grace, and mercy without mentioning God’s law, judgment, and holiness. By allowing tolerance when God’s word specifies there is only one-way.
In the 1980’s and 90’s, the trend was to encourage men to get in touch with their feminine side. The results—men have become less willing to take their God-given rule as leaders in our communities as well as our churches. Women have become the masculine figure in much of society. Why? Because in God’s economy there must be male and female, masculine and feminine. Science has found this to be true even in plant life. We cannot feminize the church and not anticipate unnatural effects.
(2) In verse 24, Jesus commends those who refrained from learning Satan’s so-called deep secrets. There is a movement sweeping our churches, which encourages “silencing” our minds to connect with God in a deeper manner and to receive a “personal” revelation from Him. Isn’t this Revelation enough? Be ware, oh child of God, “silencing” the mind is a deep secret, but it is not from God.
Jesus understands the difficulty of faithfulness in the face of such obstacles. He places no other burden upon those who have not fallen to these apostasies, but that they remain faithful. To those who have succumbed to the temptation, He commands repentance. Those who overcome will rule the nations and receive the morning star.
Sardis (3:1-6) means prince of joy, yet Jesus calls them dead. It represents the church age of A.D. 1500 – 1700.
Jesus presents Himself as the One who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. He found most of the people in the Sardis church spiritually dead and those alive were about to die. He warned them to watch, to hold fast to what remained, and to repent or He would come like a thief in the night. If they obeyed, Jesus would give them white garments and call them by name to the Father.
Think of it this way: He sits at the right hand of the Father as my advocate saying, “Abba Father, Brenda is mine.” (replace your name for mine.) What encouragement!!
Philadelphia (3:7-13) means brotherly love and is the faithful church. It represents A.D. 1700-1900.
Jesus tells the Philadelphian church that He is holy, true, and holds the key of David. The key of David symbolically represents the covenant God made with King David concerning the heir to the throne. Jesus is the promised Messiah and the righteous heir.
In Jesus’ sight, Philadelphia was perseverant and kept His word and His name. When we speak of or pray in Jesus’ name, we are staking His reputation on it. Jesus found nothing to criticize. He encourages them to stand fast then makes this wonderful promise: Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. (3:10). Sounds like pre-tribulation rapture to me, how about you? Don’t stop there! It gets even better. Jesus promises us a crown. He promises us a place in God’s presence for eternity. And for the grand finale: He will write God’s name on us, the name of His city—the new Jerusalem, and Jesus’ personal new name. If you recall anyone talking about priceless paintings, they mention the signature of the artist as the mark that increases the value. God, our Creator, will mark us with His signature to increase our value—we are His priceless possession.
Note: When Jesus returns to rule the nations for a thousands years, He will have written on His right thigh KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Chapter 19:16). Verses 11-13 of the same chapter reveal that Jesus is called FAITHFUL and TRUE, He will have a new name written on Him that no one knows but Him, and His name is the WORD of GOD.
Laodicea (3:14-22) means just people. In being just, these people became tolerant of all opinions and lukewarm toward the things of God. Laodicea represents the current church age historically.
Jesus announces that He is the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, and the Ruler of God’s creation. The Amen is a curious term. The word amen means trustworthy. When used of God it means “Jehovah is the faithful (the Amen)” God. And since God is faithful, His testimonies and precepts are sure, which includes His warnings as well as His promises. When used by men, amen signifies our willingness to submit to the Law and acceptance of the consequences attached to the breach of it. It is the title of Christ because through Him God’s purposes are established. (The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible).
The LORD found nothing to compliment these people on. They were neither hot nor cold. They actually nauseated Jesus to the point that He said He was about to spit them out of His mouth. It is easy to understand why He’d rather have them hot and burning for Him. But He said cold was even better than lukewarm. People who are frigid toward the things of God are easier to convince about their need for Him than those who think they already know Him and don’t. We recognize this in the Laodicean church. They were self-sufficient. Jesus says they thought they were rich and in need of nothing. Yet, He says they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked (v. 17). What a sorry state of existence.
Coupled with repentance, Jesus’ command to them is three-fold:
Ñ Buy refined gold—I Peter 1:7 states, “These [trials] have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. “ Jesus desires us to be rich in faith.
Ñ Buy white garments—I Peter 5:5b reports, “…All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” Humility was not a virtue that the Laodiceans understood. Neither do many Christians today. God instructs us throughout the Bible to walk humbly with Him. This is not an option. How are we to manage that? Isaiah 61:10 reveals, “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” We can walk humbly with God only when we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Ñ Buy salve for your eyes—II Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The answer to spiritual blindness is the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must include repentance and the Law with the mercy and grace of God or we are applying a watered down salve to the eyes of the would-be believer. This formula gives false hope. It is possible to give the full gospel without browbeating. Be inclusive. Let the one to whom you witness know that you struggle with sin and need the “salve” of salvation applied as well.
Conclusion and Challenge:
While studying the Scriptures, two truisms present themselves. (1) Sinners behave like sinners because they are sinners. (2) Jesus expects Christians to act like Christians because they are Christians.
Revelation chapters two and three give us reference to God expectations for us along with instructions, promises, and warnings of the consequences of disobedience.
In reviewing the churches mentioned in Revelation two and three, we discover a deterioration of the church. Ephesus lost her first love. That lose ushered in the persecution of the Smyrnan church. Because of persecution, the Pergamos church learned compromise. Through compromise the Thyatiran church became corrupt. Corruption caused many believers in the Sardis church to die spiritually. The few who remained faithful learned to love one and other in the Philadelphian church. The others learned inappropriate tolerance and grew lukewarm in the Laodicean church, which was worse in Jesus’ sight than the others.
God give us these examples because He love us more than we can comprehend. He desires an intimate relationship with us more than we can fathom. However, He is holy and just. He cannot go against His own nature. He will not tolerate sin in His presence. If we remain in our sinful state, we will be separate from God for eternity. He beckons us to Him through the blood of the Lamb. It is not His desire that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Prayer Requests:
Melinda & Barry and family, Phyllis and husband, Don, John, Ray, salvation for unsaved, April, Tony and Kathy, Carl, revival—In our hearts, in our churches, and in our communities— the families involved in the recent school shootings, our Bible Study, special unspoken needs, and remember me, Brenda Hendricks.
Praise Report:
Wayne and April are expecting their first baby April 2007. Congratulations.
Anita’s Daughter-in-law received a good report from her doctor.
Samantha wrist healed after a long summer of treatments.
Elizabeth is home from the hospital and able to stay in her own home.
Ray and Ginny will be pastoring a church in Brookville. Praise the LORD for answered prayer.
I had the great pleasure of hearing the testimony of one of my loved ones who is now saved. WOO HOO!! God is so good—always, all ways.
We are looking forward to your praise reports. Please keep us informed so we can share the wonderful grace of Jesus.
Next Weeks Study:
Our next Bible Study is October 24, 2006. Read Chapter 4, what does Jesus’ comments to the churches of Asia have to do with us?
Invitation:
Although we have not chosen to be, we are all born into sin because of the fall of man. It sounds hopeless and unfair. But in His infinite wisdom and abundant love, God has provided a choice for us. We can choose to repent of our sinful nature and believe in Jesus Christ. He is faithful and will cleanse us from sin and give us His Holy Spirit to equip us to live for Him. If you’ve made your choice to repent and believe in Jesus, we’d like to hear about it.
If you are free in Christ Jesus, pray for those who remain captive. And tell others, Christians as well as non-believers, what Jesus has done for you. Your testimony will benefit them and help you to strengthen your confidence in Christ’s work in your life and in the future.
If you’d like to participate in our Bible Study, please contact us with your comments, questions, and prayer requests at twosmallfish@verizon.net.
A special reminder: to find out what other readers have to say check out the comment page.
May God grant you safety, reassurance of His love, and the revelation of Jesus Christ.
See you in a twinkling,
Brenda Hendricks.
You turned
my mourning into dancing
You stripped me of my sorrow and clothed me with your joy
I cannot be silent, I will sing Your praises forever. Psalms 30:11&12
(paraphrased by me)
