Today’s Reading: Revelation 3

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” – Revelation 3:6

So far we have talked about the loyal church, the suffering church, the compromising church, and the overly tolerant church. If you have not seen yourself in any of these descriptions, perhaps God has a message for you today. There are three more messages to three more lampstand churches — the spiritually dead church, the obedient church, and the indifferent church.

The Church in Sardis had a reputation for being alive based on their actions, but God saw that their actions did not meet His requirements – they were the SPIRITUALLY DEAD CHURCH. They needed to go back to what they believed at first and hold to it firmly. Then they would wake up and be strengthened. They needed to be reminded that we are saved by faith and not by works; that works should be an outflow of our relationship with God, not a performance on which we place our identity.

When we place our confidence in our performance, we start giving ourselves permission to let evil creep in, as the Church in Sardis did. But there were some in the church who had not “soiled their clothes”, and they would walk with God in white because they were worthy of this privilege. Their names would be written in the book of Life forever (3:1-6).

To the OBEDIENT CHURCH in Philadelphia: “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me…Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God — the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.” – Revelation 3:8,10-12

We can be encouraged by the message to the Church in Philadelphia. When we obey the word of God and persevere through even the most difficult of struggles, God will respond in protection over us and lavishly reward us. Jesus will write the name of God on us, as well as His new name. We bear the name of Jesus now when we call ourselves Christian, but a day is coming when the names of our God and our Savior will be forever written on us.

The message to the Church in Laodicea is probably the one we are most familiar with. They are the LUKEWARM and INDIFFERENT CHURCH. They are not completely cold and dead, but neither are they on fire for God. They are like lukewarm water that God will spit out of His mouth. They are rich and think they have everything they need, but they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.

To the lukewarm, God says, “I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.” – Revelation 3:19-21

So where did you find yourself among these church reviews? Do not be discouraged; there is hope! The difference between these 7 messages and job performance reviews is found at the end of each message: “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” God is saying – I’m not asking you to perform based on your own abilities. I’m asking you to enter into my presence and allow my Spirit to fill you. Then listen to the Spirit and pray for understanding of how the Spirit is asking you to live. Soak in the written word of God and allow His Spirit to speak through the scriptures.

As we have discussed over and over again, we can daily position ourselves to hear from God by entering into His presence to worship Him and to be a student of His Word. It is in these times of authentic surrender that we hear from Him and receive strength from Him.

God, that is exactly where I want to be – positioned to hear from you. I want to be filled with Your Spirit so that I can respond minute by minute to your guidance. Lord, I confess the areas in which I have been lacking and thank you that “GRACE” is written in red all over our performance review. Thank you for coming in and sharing this morning coffee together. Open my ears so I can listen to Your Spirit and understand what you are saying to me today. Amen.