“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
As in the other six churches, Jesus appeals to the volition of the Laodicean church.
He who has an ear
Jesus closes His challenge to the Laodicean church with a redundant plea; He makes the same appeal seven times to each of the seven churches. The Lord will bless churches that respond positively to His challenge. He makes this application never again in the book of Revelation.
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches
If churches respond to Jesus’ desire for fellowship, they can expect Jesus to bless them as He has all the churches of history. It is one thing to listen to Jesus, and it is another to respond to what He says.
Note that this is not what the apostle John says to the churches but what the “Spirit” says to the churches.
PRINCIPLE:
Churches not only need to listen to what the Spirit says to them, but they must also respond to what He says.
APPLICATION:
It is not enough to listen to the Holy Spirit’s challenge to churches; they must hear and apply truth to their situations. In other words, they must understand and apply God’s principles to their experience.
Since these commands come from Jesus personally communicated through the Holy Spirit, pastors should note all seven messages to these churches. Is your church in danger of losing your “first love” (Re 2:10), caving to pressure (Re 2:10), defecting doctrinally (Re 2:14-15), developing moral problems (Re 2:20), becoming temporally dead in a spiritual sense (Re 3:1-2), in danger of losing your crown (Re 3:11) or growing cold spiritually (Re 3:15-16)?
1 Pe. 4:17, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
Pastor Richison, I’ve been a “Christian” since childhood, but was reborn only about 8 years ago. I was a lost, sinnig Christian for over 80 percent of my life. This church that I attend just celebrated 25 years since their first Sunday service. I saw pictures of a lot of “charter” members. They had joy and excitement in their expressions. Those very same folks today appear to be listless, inactive “bumps on a log”. Granted most of them are getting on in years (I’m considered a “young-un” at 57). My fear/concern is that the church has become inaffective in reaching the poor and lost community He placed us in. Anyway, I have been trying to obtain understanding about the seven churches in Revelation and comparitivly the church I serve. I’ve taken notes throughout your exposition of chapt. 2 and 3, and may have to read it again. In any case, THANK YOU for all of your efforts for the Christian truth. It is certainly a lot for our finite minds to understand the Glory of God. Does the Bible say anything about the Christian of age and how to revitalize them? Asking for prayers, Gregg in NM (I’ve never been much of a speller, but I’m a good auto mechanic.)
Gregg, there is no explicit passage of which you speak. However, there is the example of Caleb who at 80 years of age took on a big task and said "Give me that mountain."