We’re about to conclude our look at the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, as we finish thinking about the letter to Laodicea. Over the past two days, we saw how the Laodicean church was useless because they were self-reliant. In applying this, the focus yesterday was on self-reliance in ministry. Today, we begin with… Continue reading The letter to Laodicea – Part Three (Rev 3:14-22)

We’re looking at the last of the seven letters in Revelation 3 – the one to Laodicea. Yesterday, we saw that Jesus called them “lukewarm.” This wasn’t a measure of spiritual temperature, meaning they were half-hearted (although they may well have been). Being “lukewarm” meant they were useless. Hot is good (as in, hot coffee,… Continue reading The letter to Laodicea – Part Two (Rev 3:14-22)

The letter to Laodicea is, I think, the most famous of the seven. Probably because of its vivid imagery (Jesus spewing lukewarm water out of his mouth) and the famous verse “Behold, I stand at the door and knock!” But I also think it’s the most misunderstood. Particularly when it comes to this idea of being… Continue reading The letter to Laodicea – Part One (Rev 3:14-22)

Last Friday we began reading the letter to Philadelphia in Revelation chapter 3. We saw that they’d been faithful, despite persecution from the local Jewish community which had rejected Jesus as Messiah. Although they were shut out of the synagogue, the door to God’s kingdom was open to them, courtesy of the new palace keyholder,… Continue reading The letter to Philadelphia – Part Two (3:7-13)

We’re up to letter six today, written to the church at Philadelphia (Rev 3:7-13). It’s most similar to the letter to Smyrna: the church is small, yet faithful, despite Jewish opposition. They’ve already suffered for their faith. Let’s take a look at the letter now. 3:7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are… Continue reading The letter to Philadelphia – Part One (3:7-13)

The fifth letter, to Sardis, is the most negative of the seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor. The church in Sardis appears to be even further down the road of compromise than those at Pergamum and Thyatira. There is no mention of any persecution – or threat of persecution. And this leads most commentators to… Continue reading The Letter to Sardis – (Rev 3:1-6)