By David Faust
We live in a fearful, closed-off world where homes, cars, storefronts, and even church buildings have locks and alarms for security reasons. In scary times like these, Jesus’ letters to three churches in Revelation 3 remind God’s people to keep our hearts open for business.
Sardis: Open Your Eyes
“Wake up!” That’s what Christ told the believers in first-century Sardis (Revelation 3:2). Like a bugler playing “Reveille” to wake up soldiers in the morning, the Lord wanted to shake his followers out of slumber.
The church in Sardis had a positive reputation, but it was spiritually lifeless. Revelation 3:1-6 mentions no blatant heresy, no flagrant immorality, no unusual threat of persecution. Satan apparently didn’t need to level an all-out attack on the believers in Sardis. All he had to do was rock their cradle and keep them dozing, napping, and snoozing when they should have been active, doing God’s will.
The Lord wants us to wake up—to open our eyes, repent of our laziness, and recognize our God-given opportunities.
Philadelphia: Look for the Open Door
The Lord had no rebuke for the Christians in Philadelphia. Instead, he encouraged them by saying, “I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut” (Revelation 3:8).
Has someone ever slammed a door in your face? Closed doors can be discouraging. How will you react if you lose your job, a friend or a relative walks away, or your health takes a nosedive? When you drive to a distant city, you don’t expect the traffic signals to stay green all the way. Some lights will be yellow or red. If you must slow down and stop for a while, you don’t have to give up on the journey. Even when it looks like you’re hitting a wall, the Lord often opens doors for faith to grow and the gospel to spread. The apostle Paul faced a lot of opposition, but he said, “A great door for effective work has opened to me” (1 Corinthians 16:9).
Laodicea: Open the Door of Your Heart
In Philadelphia, the believers needed to look for the door God was opening; but in Laodicea the Christians themselves needed to open a door.
In Turkey last year, I visited the site of Laodicea and saw the remains of stone houses, marketplaces, and temples. That same day, our tour bus took us to nearby Hierapolis, where modern visitors still bathe in hot mineral springs, and to the site of first-century Colosse, which has not been excavated. (Our tour of Colosse mainly involved walking across a hilltop covered with thistles.) Nearby, though, the guide showed us a cold-water creek. With hot springs and a cold-water stream nearby, it’s easy to see why Jesus used lukewarm water (neither hot nor cold) to illustrate the apathy of the Laodicean Christians (Revelation 3:15-16).
The Lord finds apathy unappetizing. But instead of writing off his lukewarm followers, he offers a challenging invitation: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). Evidently in Laodicea, Jesus was on the outside, trying to gain entrance to his own church!
The Lord doesn’t force his way in. He knocks. He calls. He invites. He wants to come in and spend time with us at a table of fellowship, but we must open the door.
Personal Challenge:
What door of opportunity has the Lord opened for you in the past? What door is he opening to you now?
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