Chapter 3-The Churches Continued...

Sardis- Today, in modern-day society, when we think of a "dead" church, we usually think of a church that has given up. We picture a pastor who is apathetic to the Word of God, and we see the men, women, and children of the church slouching down in their seats as they wait for the 12:00 bell to strike. This is OUR conception of modern-day "dead" churches.

In chapter 3, Jesus explains how the church of Sardis was dead:  ^{1 "}I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ² Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God."
The key thing to look at here is when Jesus says "...strengthen the things that remain, that you are ready to die for..." Sardis was the one church who gave into the temptations of man. The church of Sardis, like Ephesus, was once a thriving and beautiful church. But as people began to trade, ideas traded as well, that's when the church of Sardis became impure in God's eyes. The reason? It began to take in all the pagan religions and their beliefs. Calvanism and Arminianism (one of the refutes of Calvinism). These teachings strayed from God's true words and, in God's eyes, brought the demise to the Church, making the church "dead."


Philadelphia-   In the opening to the letter to Philadelphia, verse 7 says, ^{7 "}These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens." What does this mean. Well, throughout the book of Revelation, if you get one thing from this, remember, this book is the most complex, metaphorical book in the bible. In a litteral sense, and with today's technologies, ANY physical door can be opened. In this verse, John is not writing about a physical door, but rather, the door that Jesus offers. HE is the door. In a sense YOU are the only person who has the key. What is the key? Well, the key is your faithfulness, fidelity, and love of God. It is the repentance of sin for the key to forgiveness that can only be offered by opening the door, and that door is Jesus.
Now, unlike the other churches, Philadelphia is the only church that Jesus said was weak, as written here; 
⁸ "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹ Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you."
The church however, did sin. It brought in the false people of God, the gentiles who claimed to be Jews, and in the end of days, God will open the peoples' eyes and see what they've done and make them repent.


Laodiceans- The final of the 7 churches. Laodiceans is the most hated of all of the churches, here's why: ^{15 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."}
Hey! That doesn't sound so bad? Right? No. Look what the New King James translation says; ¹⁵ I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Jesus, a clean and pure spirit, saying he will VOMIT you out of his mouth. That's when you know you've done something wrong! John goes on to write; ¹⁷ Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. ¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
From this letter we can say two things. 1) The church of Laodiceans can be considered a "dead" church and a church of greed, in which they have perverted God's image and have become a church of hypocracy, not love. And 2) God doesn't hate anything more that "lukewarmness." The definition is not being cold enough to be cold and not being hot enought to be hot. Saying things like "ohh I'll go to church next Sunday" or "i'll skip praying today, i'm tired." Things like that INFURIATE God. And know, that when the end comes, or when we die and we are standing before God and his angels He's going to say, "what have YOU done in your life?" And just know, that saying "Ohh yeah.. I went to church a few times..." Is NOT the right answer.


-----End of Chapter 3-----