“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:6
For the fifth time in Revelation we hear familiar words – “He who has an ear, let him hear whatthe Spirit says to the churches”. Beginning with Thyatira the Lord moves this exhortation to hear to the end of His letter. This is the pattern He uses in Sardis as well. Ito the first three
churches the Lord said listen to my words. After you do go out
and obey them. By doing this you will live the life of an overcomer
and will be rewarded in heaven. But when we get to Thyatira and
Sardis, churches engulfed in sin and deadness to God, the Lord
commands them to hear after He tells them of the rewards of the
Overcomer, It is as if they must first concentrate on the consequences
of their behavior in eternity. Living for the Lord is not easy in this life.
If they need motivation to make this decision to accept the Lord and
to live for Him, God gives it to them first. They are to keep the end in mind.
As we think of the words of the Lord think of who these two churches are listening to. Thyatira and Sardis did not end up as sin-filled, dead churches by accident. Along the way, their attention turned to the world. Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly”. Satan uses the the ungodly to try and influence Christ’s followers. He tries to confuse us about God’s words. He does the same to Eve in the garden of Eden. He challenges us. “Did God say?” He wants us to doubt (not hear) the word of God. Satan did the same to Christ when He misquoted Scripture to make it appear that an action God called sinful would actually be acceptable to Him. The two churches of Sardis and Thyatira had begun to listen to the counsel of the ungodly around them. They decided that God could not communicate clearly, He surely did not mean literally what He said. What the world told them sounded right. They decided they could make God’s word “fit” the culture, they could be friends with the world. Instead of “hearing” what God said they placated the world. They tried to be neutral by watering down God’s message – God’s truth should not offend anyone, should it?. James 4;4 tells us the consequences of that approach. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
The story is told of journalist Nicholas Kristof’s interview with President Jimmy Carter. He published this in the New York Times opinion section. In his article, “President Carter, Am I a Christian?” Kristof wrote he askes President Carter several questions. He
asked, “President Carter, what about someone like me, whose faith is in the Sermon on the Mount, who aspires to follow Jesus’
teachings, but is skeptical that he was born of a virgin, walked on water, multiplied loaves and fishes or had a physical resurrection? Am I a Christian, President Carter?” Kristof’s point was that he could deny what the Bible says about the deity of Christ but still approve of His teaching. Therefore he must be a Christian. This is the way of the ungodly. Deny the God of the Bible but live “morally. That is the belief Thyatira and Sardis accepted.
What can we learn? Seven times in Revelation 2 and 3 Christ says to His church, “hear what the Spirit says to the churches”. God’s word speaks to His children. God is a clear communicator. He means what He says.
If we are to live Godly in this age, if we are to live the life of an overcomer, we must hear God’s word. Our message is not friendship with the world, but “Thus says the Lord”.