Revelation 3

This devotional is written by Matt Coombs.

To the church in Sardis
‘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.

To the church in Philadelphia
7 ‘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.

To the church in Laodicea
14 ‘To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 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. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Here we have the last three letters written to the churches. Firstly, to Sardis that had fallen asleep. Secondly, to Philadelphia who had endured patiently and Laodicea who had a lukewarm faith.

As we all know, tea or coffee is best served hot or ice cold. It’s the extreme temperatures that make the drink good. As a fairly new dad, the tea that I often make ends up left on the side for slightly too long and ends up being neither hot nor cold but lukewarm and I don’t need to tell you - it’s disgusting!

Jesus has little time for tepid tea, nor tepid Christians.

The Laodiceans had become lukewarm, they were not extreme, passionate, or wild in their faith. They had become wealthy and comfortable and exchanged their radical lives of Christian service for easy Christianity. They had gone from sharing their faith, and doing things that extend the kingdom, and had settled for a lot less.
Has your Christianity become comfortable? Is the Kingdom of God a priority in your life? Do you need the Holy Spirit to heat things up?

Holy Spirit, you are like fire - come and breathe on us again. Blow on the embers of our faith and create in us a passion and fire for you and your kingdom. Help us to let go of comforts and put our trust in you again. Move us out of our comfort zones to serve others for your glory. Amen.  

Thanks to Chris Palmer and his book ‘Letters from Jesus: Studies from the Seven Churches in Revelation’ (2019) for the content that went into this devotional.