“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
Revelation 3:21
The Lord ends the letter to the Laodiceans the same way He does the other six churches.
To him The Lord speaks to the ones who are attentive to and who obey His counsel. There are only a few, but there are always some, who listen and respond by complying with the Lord’s command, “Follow me”.
Who overcomes Scripture defines very clearly who the overcomers are. I John 5:4–5 says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
While there are a few who are overcomers in the Laodicean church, the Lord wants His words to be heard by the indifferent and lukewarm as well. They do not have to stay the way they are. They too can overcome.
I The Lord Himself sees and takes action on the part of the overcomer.
Will grant The One who has been granted all authority authorizes this action. It cannot, will not be overruled by another. To sit with Me on My throne What an unbelievable invitation! Laodicea is the worst of the seven churches, and yet the Lord promises the highest of all honors to them. They may sit on the Lord’s throne and rule with Him. We think back to John and James when they sent their mother to ask Jesus if they could sit on His right and left in the Kingdom. This was the the highest honor she could think of. The Lord said He could not grant that, it was His Father’s to grant. Yet here, He grants to overcomers in a church that is dancing with the devil the right to sit as co-ruler on His throne. This reminds us of Paul’s statement to overcomers, “Do you not know that we shall judge angels?” and the Lord’s words to His disciples in
Matthew 19, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me (overcomers) will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
As I also overcame Christ reminds us He is the example. He overcame – was super victorious in His life on earth. We can do that also by following His example. This shows us that we overcome just as He did. He overcame the world, sin, the devil, and then ascended, and sat with His Father on His throne. If we are to overcome we must fight the same fight against the same enemies as the Lord did but in His strength
And sat down with My Father on His throne Here we see the second throne mentioned in this passage. This throne belongs to Almighty God. There are only two who can occupy this throne – God Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ. No human can ever hold this position or assume this honor – only God Himself and His Son, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. They alone are pre-eminent.
What can we learn? The Church at Laodicea was at the lowest point of Christian character. No heresies or false teachings are mentioned in the church but that was not because it revered the truth. It did not have sufficient life to care. No conspicuous sins are mentioned but it suffered from something more deadly, it was proud of itself. It played church. It felt it achieved all that God wanted of it. He is ready to spew this church out of his mouth. Their behavior makes Him sick. Yet He is ready and willing to restore them if they repent and turn back to Him. Abiding with Him leads to sitting with Himon His throne.
We live in the Laodicean age. The battle to love the Lord with all that we are is fiercer than ever before. Satan throws all the trinkets and toys the world can offer at us to dull our senses to love and serve the Lord. Satan tells us to use our time on our phones and computers. Just give God a few minutes of “quality time”. As we listen to his lies, our time with the Lord dwindles to a hurried prayer before a meal and an hour in church on Sunday. With no evidence to support us, we proudly think we are the overcomers. We think the Lord looks at us with joy. This letter and the Lord’s warnings
and admonitions are to us. We live in a dangerous age. We cannot afford to love the world that is at war with our Savior. Examine ourselves!