F O O T H O L D
READING
95 ARE YOU LISTENING?
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PRAY Help me Lord, to obey
you and learn the path I should follow.
(Psalm 25:12).
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READ Revelation 3:1-22.
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THINK Does this passage give
you an important or new insight into
yourself? What is it?
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FOCUS Chapters 2 and 3 of
Revelation contain seven letters. These John
was to write in a book (1:11),
and send to seven churches in the
Roman province of Asia. In
these notes, we shall comment upon
just three of them.
SARDIS - WHERE THE BOOKS
WERE COOKED (1-6). Sometimes auditors
discover that a company has
been made to look as if it was making
a profit when in fact it was
bankrupt. That's how it was with the
church at Sardis. Things
looked flourishing - services well
attended, no shortage of
funds, eloquent sermons, and all the
trimmings of success.
'That's a LIVE church', people said.
'That's a DEAD church', said
the all-seeing Lord - and his is the
assessment that matters. But
there were a few faithful believers
left and they were the
church's last hope (2).
PHILADELPHIA - TRADING AT A
PROFIT (7-13). Remember Christ's
parable of the talents? The
man who took the one talent and made
nine more by trading? The
church at Philadelphia was like that.
They had 'little', but they
made the most of what they had (8).
LAODICEA - THE WORST FAILURE
OF ALL (14-22). The Lord keeps his
strongest condemnation till
last (16). The church at Laodicea was
pleased with itself; it
seemed to have been content to carry on
in a relaxed and respectable
way. But Christ saws that it was
simply not taking him
seriously. It is as if he says, 'I'd rather
you reject me altogether
than treat me as a kind of optional
extra to living . . . ' Can
you see how this same principle might
apply to your life?
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PRAISE Forgive my half-heartedness,
Lord; fill me with such love for you
that I may give you all
there is of me.
