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Revelation 3:11: Hold on.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” NIV

I was talking with a friend recently. We were reflecting out loud about how, when you grasp a liberating Bible truth (or it grips you), you have to fight to hold on to it. Today you might lie stretched beneath the warmth of its healing glow; but tomorrow it just might seem that bit more hazy. Today you really feel its power; tomorrow, maybe not quite so much, even though it is still true.

I have had moments of such startling insight that I’ve thought, ‘I’ll never be the same again.’ But I have found, to my dismay, that I can too easily go back to old ways.

It is a fight all the way, as the book of Revelation shows

‘But the sobering fact remains: the war is not over yet. Accordingly, the victory of faith does not consist only in coming to faith, but also in staying in the faith, persevering and growing in the faith.’ Henri Blocher: ‘Multiplying Churches’, p.50.

‘’The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’’ (John 10:10).

Because of the existence of this ‘’thief’’ you have to ‘’Hold on to what you have, so that no-one will take your crown’’ (3:11) Constant vigilance will be required this side of the end, because your pocket could easily be picked.

A well-known slogan from several years ago said, ‘Watch out, there’s a thief about!’ All the good things God has given you could be at risk.

Revelation 3:7-13: Reversal.

‘To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars – I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” NIV

‘As in the letter to Smyrna, we have here an inclination that the synagogue community was using its civic status to block the advance of the message about Israel’s Messiah, Jesus, a message so very Jewish and yet so challenging to Jewish people…We should imagine a Jewish community of several thousand, with its own buildings and community life, and a church of probably two or three dozen at most, holding on to the highly improbable, and extremely risky, claim that the God of Israel had raised Jesus from the dead.’ Tom Wright.

The church was ridiculously outnumbered then, but in the Bible, David defeats Goliath with a sling and a stone, time after time. The Sovereign Lord specialises in great reversals:

‘’…I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you’’ (9b).

The Jews thought the Gentiles would bow before them ultimately, but here it’s the other way round. The false Jews (see Romans 2:28,29) will ‘’fall down’’ before the church ( which is composed of true Jews, and Gentiles). It’s a great reversal envisaged.

Consider this: these believers had ‘’little strength’’ (8), but Jesus says that if anyone is an overcomer, he or she will be made ‘’a pillar in the temple of my God’’(12). It feels like a contradiction in terms, but it’s true. The weak will be able to say that they are strong.

Philadelphia had experienced a devastating earthquake around AD 17. The city had needed a re-build. Massive structures had come tumbling down. You can imagine great pillars shaking and cracking and falling. But these Christian ‘’pillars’’ will not be like that. Strengthened by Jesus, they will be strong and sturdy, and triply secure, you might say (12). God’s Name will be written on them because they are God’s people; the name of God’s city will be upon them because they are citizens of His Kingdom; and the Name of Christ will be on them because they belong to Him.

Even when we seem to be in the (dangerous) hands of men, let us remember we are always in the Hands of God.

PRAYER: ‘In weakness be my strength, O mighty Saviour.’’

Revelation 3:7-13: Open doors.

‘To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:  These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars – I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” NIV

A person may be ever so weak in themselves; they have ‘’little strength’’ (8). But if Jesus opens up a door of service, they will be helped to make the most of it by his power. Once they go through that ‘’door’’ no amount of opposition will be able to shut it. Nor will the enemy be able to get through that door if the Lord locks it shut against him. It will be like the door in the ark which God closed. (See 1 Corinthians 16:8,9: open doors do not necessarily preclude opposition). Another way to understand this open door idea is proposed however. The ‘’Jews’’ (9) had locked the believers out of the synagogue, but Jesus had opened wide the Kingdom to them.

‘It is marvellous how much Christ can make of our poor lives, if only we yield to him…a life, once a mere block of stone, but now inscribed with his own mystic handwriting and engraving!’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.637.

Revelation 3:1-6: Reputation and reality.

‘To the angel of the church in Sardis write:These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits  of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.⁴ Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. ⁶ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” NIV

There is often a difference between reputation and reality, and Jesus knows what the difference is. He knows how great the gulf is between the two.

There must be many well-taught churches in the west (3a). But the question for us, as for Sardis, is ‘what are we doing with all we know?’ Are we obeying the truth? Is it leading us to repentance? Have we started out on good works but not completed them? Bible-teaching per se is not a mark of a live church, but Bible-living is. The call goes out to be doers of the Word and not just hearers (James 1:22-25).

‘Of what use was the fig tree to abate his (Jesus’) hunger, when it bore leaves but no fruit? Amid all this disappointing formalism, there were a few live souls who fulfilled their works and did not defile their robes.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.637.

PRAYER: Lord help us not to fall into the Sardis trap; we want to live what we believe.

Revelation 3:1a: The ‘write’ stuff.

‘To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” NIV

I opened my Bible this morning, expecting to write about the letter to the Sardis church, but that will have to wait! I got no further than the opening words:

‘’To the angel of the church in Sardis write…’’ (see also 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:7,14).

Here’s the thought: a letter from you to someone could turn out to be a letter from Jesus. As you walk with the Lord, if you feel His prompting to write a note, or an email, or to drop someone a card, do it. Take a little bit of time to ask Him what you are to write. He will show you. Looking back on 40 years of ministry, I can call to mind just one or two special notes which came my way at the right time. Letters especially are often kept and treasured; the same with cards. Let me assure you it’s worth the effort. It can be an important part of your discipleship. Here is a powerful ministry most Christians can exercise. It’s also a skill we can grow in.

God has worked wonderfully through letters. Think how many there are in the Bible!

PRAYER: Lord, if you want to use me to write words of encouragement and help to someone this week, please show me who, and what to put down on paper.

Revelation 2:19-29: It takes more than busyness.

^“19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.²⁰ Nevertheless, I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. ²² So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.²⁴ Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, “I will not impose any other burden on you,²⁵ except to hold on to what you have until I come.”²⁶ To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations – ²⁷ that one “will rule them with an iron sceptre and will dash them to pieces like pottery” – just as I have received authority from my Father. ²⁸ I will also give that one the morning star. ²⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” NIV

Recently, I had to proof read an article about our church, written for the Annual Parish Magazine. As I read, even though I am immersed in the church’s life, I was tempted to feel amazed at how much is going on in our little congregation. But that rosy emotion was tempered by reading these letters (good timing!). Busyness is not everything (19; see verse 9). We once again find ourselves looking at a morally compromised church – compromised through false teaching (20). ‘’Jezebel’’ may have been the actual name of the self-proclaimed ‘’prophetess’’ who wielded a malign influence, or it may be symbolic. It’s a name, like ‘’Balaam’’ (14), resonant with Old Testament meaning (1 Kings 16:31; 21:25; 2 Kings 9:22).

Thyatira was not as well known as some of the other towns where we find the seven churches, but it was a thriving commercial centre (Acts 16:14). In those times, each business had its own god, and in order to be successful in that business you had to worship that god. So the Christian business-men of Thyatira were under great pressure to conform, because their livelihoods were at stake. Taking part in idol worship tended to also involve immorality. Having sex with temple prostitutes was part and parcel of the ‘worship’ offered in such places. Perhaps ‘’Jezebel’’ was saying that as idols are nothing, it’s okay to get involved with this stuff.

But it wasn’t; it isn’t! Jesus, with His ‘x-ray vision’, sees everything, and we must not think we can sin high-handedly and get away with it (18, 22,23). (By the way, Thyatira was noted for its smelting work in copper and ‘’bronze’’. The local god in the area was the patron deity of the bronze trade, and he appeared on the local coinage, together with the emperor).

Once again though, there are promises to the overcomers: that they will share in Christ’s reign (27; see Psalm 2:9), and be given ‘’the morning star’’ (28). According to chapter 22:16 this is Christ Himself. So this seems to be a promise of greater intimacy with Jesus.

Revelation 2:12-17: Danger.

 ‘To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³ I know where you live – where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city – where Satan lives.¹⁴ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: there are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. ¹⁵ Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.¹⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.NIV

‘Being willing to die for the faith is no substitute for living for the faith’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.848.

Pergamum was a dangerous place for a Christian to find him/herself in the 1^st century AD. Whereas Ephesus was the most important city in the province of Asia, Pergamum was its capital. So it was the residence of the Roman governor. He had the authority to put people to death – he had the power of the sword in other words. ‘’Antipas’’ was one Christian who paid the ultimate price for his faith. Jesus accords him a great honour by giving him a name applied to Himself in (1:5): ‘‘ Faithful witness.’’ Even at such an ominous time this church had remained loyal to Jesus. It’s not surprising, though, that Christians saw Rome as the instrument of ‘’Satan’’ (13). So much persecution came from that direction. However, Jesus here reminds the church that He has a more powerful sword than the governor’s (12; see 1:16, 2:16). He has the final authority over life and death.

But although this was a faithful church it was by no means perfect. It had some members who tolerated false teaching. Tom Hale says:

‘Their sin was the opposite of the Ephesian church’s sin. On the one hand, the Ephesian Christians did not tolerate false teaching; they were very strict and pure. But they had lost their love. On the other hand, the Pergamum Christians had not lost their love, they had lost their purity.’ ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.966.

Somebody observed that this was a compromised church, in danger of losing its cutting edge. The ‘’teaching of the Nicolaitans’’ (15) was probably similar to the ‘’teaching of Balaam’’ (14; see Numbers 25:1-3; 31:15, 16). Balaam persuaded Israel to compromise with their unbelieving neighbours, disobey God, and indulge in promiscuous sex.Bad believing leads to bad behaving, and this erroneous teaching resulted in sexual immorality. We have to take heed that we do not tolerate error. Heresy is a noxious root leading to an ugly flower. Jesus’ response tells us all we need to know (16). ‘His word will cut through the half-hearted spirituality that is happy to face both ways at once.’ Tom Wright.

But the letter ends on a high note. There seems to be some evidence that in this city a ‘’white stone’’ was given to those invited to a feast or ceremony. It bore the name of the one invited, and he/she presented it as proof that they were meant to be there. Those who remain faithful to Jesus have a free invitation to feast on ‘’the hidden manna’’ in heaven (17), which is surely the crucified Christ Himself (John 6:48-51).

PRAYER: Lord, help me to deeply know that truth matters, and not to play fast and loose with it.

Revelation 2:8-11: Death and resurrection.

 ‘To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.” NIV

Out of all the 7 cities mentioned in these 7 letters, Smyrna is the only one still in existence today. All the others lie in ruins. It is now the modern Turkish City of Izmir, about 40 miles north of ancient Ephesus (which, in the time John wrote, was the most important city in Asia). Smyrna itself had undergone a kind of death and resurrection, being rebuilt after destruction. In the face of persecution, when we know we may lose our lives for Jesus, it is important to remember that He ‘’died and came to life again’’ (8). So will we, if we die in Him. Polycarp, a famous martyr and citizen of Smyrna, had learned about Jesus from the apostle John. He in turn influenced Irenaeus, one of the great early church leaders. These words surely must have encouraged this dear old man, Polycarp, as he prepared for his own martyrdom. He was given the opportunity to renounce Christ and live, but he would not.

Another fascinating feature of Smyrna is that it ‘was thought of as a city with a crown, due to the way its splendid architecture used the natural advantages of a steep hill to good effect’ (Tom Wright: ‘Revelation for everyone’, p.18).

Most of the populace of Smyrna worshipped the emperor as a god, and a big temple had been built in his honour in the city. But the Christians would not bow down to him, and as a result they suffered economic privation. Their shops and houses were looted. But in the ‘upside-down Kingdom’ there are apparent contradictions that hold true (9): ‘Now let the poor say, ‘’I am rich.’’ ‘

The Jews of Smyrna also hated the Christians and slandered them (9b). They were servants of Satan whose very name means ‘slanderer.’

The letter envisages a short period of intense persecution which lay just ahead for the Smyrnan Christians (10). The ‘’ten days’’ is probably not literal, but represents a short period of time. Reading this verse, I am reminded of what C.S Lewis said about there being two equal and opposite traps we can fall into regarding the devils: one is to believe in them too much, and attribute too much to them; but the other is to believe in them too little, and not recognise the reality of the battle we are in. However, the devil is always ‘God’s devil’. He is on a long leash, but he is on a leash. He can do nothing without God permitting it. The Lord is always in control.

There is something more to fear than dying; it is undergoing ‘’the second death’’ and being spiritually lost for all eternity.

Revelation 2:1-7: X-Ray vision.

‘To the angelof the church in Ephesus write:These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.⁴ Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favour: you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” NIV

In the first chapter, John says of Jesus that ‘’his eyes were like a blazing fire’’ (14b). One preacher explained these words by declaring that Jesus has ‘x-ray vision’. He is all-knowing. Twice in this letter to Ephesus He says, ‘’I know’’ (2). He knows everything there is to know about a local church, and He can strategically direct the call to repentance to just where it needs to land (4,5). Whenever we hear this call it is essential that we should respond rightly (5b). A church’s light can go out. Someone said that the local church is never more than one generation away from extinction

It’s sobering to think that a church can have many good qualities; as a congregation we may be busy, busy, busy. Yet at the same time we can lose our heart (4). Does this probing verse refer to love for God or for people? From what I can see commentators differ. But why shouldn’t it mean both? After all, the two are indissolubly linked. If something goes awry with our love for God it will have a detrimental effect on our love for people.

We should always remember that without love we are ‘’nothing’’ (1 Corinthians 13).

PRAYER: Lord, I ask that love for you and for others will be our church’s heartbeat.