The Book of
Revelation 3
22 verses≈ 5 minBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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Where we are
- 1–3Seven churchesChrist among His lampstandsChapter 3
- 4–11Seals & trumpetsThe Lamb opens the scroll
- 12–16The great conflictThe dragon, the beasts, the bowls
- 17–20The King comesBabylon falls; the Lamb wins
- 21–22All things newA new heaven and a new earth
To the Church in Sardis
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of the One who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead.
Wake up and strengthen what remains, which is about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God.
Revelation 3:1–2
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Stylised map · locations approximate
On the map
The road on to Laodicea
The letters follow the road. From Thyatira the messenger turns south to Sardis, about 35 miles, then east up the valley to Philadelphia, and on to Laodicea in the Lycus valley, close to Hierapolis and Colossae. There the circle of seven churches is complete, and the road leads back toward Ephesus. Each church hears its own letter, and all of them hear “what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Jesus
Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life
Revelation 3:4–5
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Reflect
Wake up
Sardis had “a reputation for being alive,” and Christ saw what others could not. His answer was not to give up on them: “Wake up and strengthen what remains.” He tells them how: “Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent.” Is there something God once stirred in you that has grown quiet? What would it look like to strengthen what remains this week?
To the Church in Philadelphia
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
Revelation 3:7
Jesus
I know your deeds. Behold, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.
As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
Revelation 3:11
The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Question
Quick question
Philadelphia was a small church. Christ had no rebuke for it at all.
What does Jesus say He has placed before the church in Philadelphia?
To the Church in Laodicea
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
Revelation 3:14
You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
0:24
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
Those I love I rebuke and discipline.
Revelation 3:19
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.
Revelation 3:20
To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
To the one who overcomes
Whiteboard
Every one of the seven letters ends with a promise to “the one who overcomes.” Read together, they run from the tree of life in Paradise to a seat beside Christ Himself. And the last promise goes to Laodicea, the church that had grown lukewarm: “the right to sit with Me on My throne.”
Pray
Come in
Thank Jesus that He still speaks to His church, with rebuke and with love: “Those I love I rebuke and discipline.” Ask Him to wake you where you have grown sleepy or self-satisfied, and to give you true riches, white garments and eyes that see. Then answer His knock: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Open the door, and welcome Him in.
You’ve experienced
Revelation 3
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A verse to carry with you
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.
Revelation 3:20
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