A letter to us.
… what encouragement and warnings would he include?
Ephesus?
Smyrna?
Pergamum and Thyatira?
Sardis
… Everyone knew how good the church at Sardis was.
“But you are dead”.
- Rev 3:2 … their deeds remain unfinished.
Not everyone in Sardis is like this. - Rev 3:4 … people who have not soiled their clothes
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is a weak… vulnerable church
… God will protect them from the hour of trial
They must still hold on…. so that no one will take their crown.
… a pillar in the temple.
Laodicea
…He knows them and they make him want to puke.
Rev 3:17. “You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
God … offers them truth wealth
… white clothes from God
… ointment to put on their eyes so they can see.
NT treasure
… treasure in clay jays (2 cor 4:7)
… a priceless pearl (Mat 13:44ff)
… gold refined by fire 1 Peter 1:6-7
… what God is offering is where the real wealth is found.
White clothes
… purity or cleanliness that comes from God.
Eye ointment
… see things from God’s perspective
Rev 3:19 …he is only rebuking them because he loves them
For us today
How we can be like Sardis?
We live in an age where it seems to matter more if we are giving out the right appearance rather than if we are doing anything.
… how people speak of their churches.
What evidence is there that shows our concern for obedience?
…what areas of our lives as God’s people might we be likely to start dying?
How can we be like Laodicea?
We are wealthy Christians who can easily look for our security as God’s people in our wealth we have amassed
… rather than be people whose greatest treasure is the gospel and who are seeking transformed by the gospel.
So what should we do?
Repent… change the way we live.
Which do you view as a more pressing, more urgent activity—reading or watching the news, or reading and studying the Bible?
If you only had time to do one thing or the other, and your choices were between taking the time to pray and checking your email, which would you view as the more pressing activity?
If you could choose between two things—a lottery ticket that was guaranteed to win a billion dollars or an empty bank account with the assurance that God would provide for you and meet your needs if you trust him—which would you choose?
Which would you choose—to have your hopes and dreams realized in the Australian political scene by seeing all your candidates elected and all your political issues dealt with the way you want them handled or the opportunity to identify yourself as an alien and a stranger for whom this world is not home?