“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:22).
There came a day when seven churches stood before the Judge of all things, Jesus Christ. There was no need for them to present their case or testify because the Judge knew all of the true facts about them, and He had summoned them to appear before Him. It’s important to understand that Jesus loved these churches, and His grace was going forth to try to bring them to the place where they were pleasing to Him and the Father.
In every church, Jesus knew their works: He knew what was happening, dismissing what they said about themselves. Jesus knew the good, the bad, and the ugly about each church and each individual in that church. There were commendations and condemnations in His judgments; Christ gave them clear commands as to what they were to keep on doing and what must immediately cease. He was plain about dealing with evildoers in the church, and about the lukewarmness of Laodicea making Him sick. “True and righteous are His judgments.”
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
This exhortation from our Lord covered two areas: the existing conditions that were pleasing and should continue, and the ones that were displeasing to the Lord and needed to be corrected. And then the rewards that He promised to “Him who overcomes.” The Spirit of the Lord said everything that needed to be said to those seven churches to bring them to a place of commendation and eternal reward. Then, it was up to them to “…Not only be hearers, but doers of His word” To be overcomers!
Commentaries abound concerning these seven churches, with much explanation about the situation and context of each church. Some say that those words only applied to those specific churches and nothing else. Others say they apply to seven church ages, the last being the Laodicean age, of where we presently are. Still others say that they represent seven conditions which appear in all the churches throughout the ages.
This one thing I know for certain: The Holy Spirit has spoken to the church through the Scriptures, all we need to know. The church of God doesn’t need any new revelation or word from God.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy” 3:16-17).
The Bible contains the fullness of God’s revelation of Himself to man. Written by many different men of God over a period of many years, it is one book with perfect continuity, written under the inspiration of God.
“…No prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, these prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
When a believer is sitting under the teaching of a so-called preacher, teacher, or pastor, and they do not stay true to the Scriptures, or even worse, teach their hearers they need to “unhitch” from the Old Testament or the Bible altogether, that believer needs to run to the nearest exit and never return.
There is or was a movement that began to teach that everything in the Scriptures needed to be taught in context. I know very little about that except something I read. It was about a very familiar promise God had given to Israel in a particular situation. The writer made the point that the church couldn’t lay claim to the promise because it was given to Israel only. With all due respect, they miss a very important truth.
The revelation of God and Jesus in the Bible is just that: it reveals their unchanging nature, heart and mind in dealing with their chosen people, whether it be Israel or the church. When you read in the Old Testament about rebellious Israel, you will also read of God’s amazing grace and patience with them. In times of chastisement and judgment, God made some great promises to restore them. That same God is the God and Father of the church of God in Christ Jesus.
The unchanging character, nature, heart and mind of God came into full view when Jesus Christ appeared. He is the image of the invisible God; it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him; Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature. And forever will the love of God for the world remain indelibly inscribed in the wounds in Jesus’ glorious body.
“God…in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world…. We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it” (Hebrews 1:1-2, 2:1).
Every child of God has been given a set of spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit has said. God has given His chosen people a complete book to listen and to learn everything He wants them to know about Him and His Son. In Genesis, God reveals in the beginning how all things came to be; in Revelation, He reveals the end of this present age and the beginning of the ages to come.
To His chosen ones, the most important truth in the Bible is His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. How He left His home in glory and came to earth as a baby, born of a virgin. Jesus was sent to earth by His Father because God so loved the world. It was the Father’s good pleasure to lay on Him the iniquity of the world, and to bruise Him so that sinners could be set free from the bondage of sin and the fear of death. Jesus accomplished this in His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.
When Jesus sat down at the right hand of God as Lord, He had the power to grant eternal life to all who should call upon His name; and those who do are born again. And this is wonderful, but every new babe in Christ, and all of God’s elect who are looking and waiting for Jesus’ return, must realize they need to hear and take heed to the full counsel of God.
Here’s what I mean: God is holy; there is no sin or darkness in Him. His children are called to be holy: separated from this world and the love of it. In our great salvation, we must walk in fear and trembling before our holy God lest we drift. Not a fear of now being cast into Hell but a fear of grieving and quenching the very heart of God who loves us and keeps us.
In the New Testament, there are many sins and issues addressed, but I want to mainly focus on two. The first is immorality: adultery, fornication, and greed. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”:
“…Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints…for this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Ephesians 5:3-5).
The second issue is the specific command Jesus gave to His church before He was crucified: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
This commandment calls the members of Christ’s body to love each other as He loved us. A member may have faith, they may give themselves to helping in community projects, they may be active in the leadership of the church; but if they don’t have love for their brothers and sisters in the body, all of their other works are worthless.
“He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:10-11).
We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of ourselves to God. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Brother Bill Oldham