Today’s post includes a brief overview of the chapter and a focused look at what it reveals about Jesus (Rev. 1:1) — so our eyes stay fixed on Him.
Chapter Overview: Revelation 7 pauses between the sixth and seventh seals to answer the question, “Who can stand?” (6:17). Before judgment continues, God seals His servants, symbolizing His ownership and protection over them (7:1–3). John hears of 144,000 sealed from the tribes of Israel (7:4–8), then sees a great multitude from every nation standing before the throne and the Lamb, worshiping and declaring that salvation belongs to God (7:9–10). These are those who have come out of great tribulation, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, now serving God and experiencing His presence, provision, and comfort forever (7:14–17).
Seeing Jesus in This Chapter: Revelation 7 shows Jesus as the Lamb who saves, shepherds, and secures His people. Those standing before the throne are there because of Him — they have washed their robes and made them white in His blood (7:14). Salvation belongs not to human effort, but to God and to the Lamb (7:10). And this Lamb is not only Savior — He is also Shepherd. He leads His people, provides for them, and brings them to springs of living water (7:17). In Him, suffering gives way to comfort, hunger to fullness, and sorrow to joy. The Lamb who was slain now reigns, and His people are safe with Him forever, held securely in His presence and care.
🌀 Reflection: Jesus doesn’t just save His people — He keeps them and cares for them. How does that truth give you hope in the middle of difficulty or uncertainty?
💬 Mission Challenge: Encourage someone today with the hope that Jesus is both Savior and Shepherd, and He will never let His people go.
Today’s post includes a brief overview of the chapter and a focused look at what it reveals about Jesus (Rev. 1:1) — so our eyes stay fixed on Him.
Chapter Overview: Revelation 6 shows the Lamb opening the first six seals of the scroll, unleashing a series of judgments on the earth (vv. 1–17). The first four seals reveal riders on horses symbolizing conquest, war, famine, and death — forces allowed by the Lamb to bring judgment on a broken world (vv. 1–8). The fifth seal reveals the souls of martyrs crying out for justice, and they are told to rest until God’s purposes are complete (vv. 9–11). The sixth seal brings cosmic upheaval — earthquakes, darkened skies, and collapsing creation — causing people of every status to hide in fear, recognizing that the day of God’s wrath has come (vv. 12–17).
Seeing Jesus in This Chapter: Revelation 6 reveals Jesus as the sovereign Judge who carries out God’s righteous justice. The Lamb is the One opening the seals, showing that even judgment is under His authority and unfolds according to His will (v. 1). The chaos of conquest, war, famine, and death is not outside His control — it is permitted and directed as part of God’s purposes (vv. 2–8). He hears the cries of His people who have suffered and been killed for their faith, assuring them that justice will come in His perfect timing (vv. 9–11). And when judgment fully breaks in, people recognize that it is not random — it is “the wrath of the Lamb” (v. 16). This is the same Jesus who was slain in love, now revealed as the righteous Judge. His holiness demands justice, and His authority ensures that evil will not have the final word.
🌀 Reflection: The same Jesus who saves is also the One who judges. How does that truth shape the way you view sin, justice, and your need for grace?
💬 Mission Challenge: Turn from any known sin today and thank Jesus for saving you from the judgment you deserve.
Today’s post includes a brief overview of the chapter and a focused look at what it reveals about Jesus (Rev. 1:1) — so our eyes stay fixed on Him.
Chapter Overview: Revelation 5 continues the heavenly scene as a scroll in God’s hand is introduced, but no one is found worthy to open it (vv. 1–4). John weeps until he is told that the Lion of Judah has conquered (v. 5). When he looks, he sees a Lamb standing as though slain, who alone is worthy to take the scroll (vv. 6–7). As the Lamb takes it, heaven erupts in worship — first from the elders and living creatures, then from countless angels, and finally from all creation — declaring His worth because He was slain and has redeemed a people from every nation (vv. 8–13). The scene ends with unified worship of both the One on the throne and the Lamb (v. 14).
Seeing Jesus in This Chapter: Revelation 5 reveals Jesus as the worthy Lamb and conquering King. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David — the promised Messiah who has conquered (v. 5). Yet His victory is not through force, but through sacrifice — He is the Lamb who was slain, standing alive, bearing the marks of His death (v. 6). Because of His death and resurrection, He alone is worthy to take the scroll and carry out God’s redemptive plan for history (v. 7). His blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation, making them a kingdom and priests who will reign with Him (vv. 9–10). Heaven declares His worth in fullness — power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing belong to Him (v. 12). And in the end, all creation joins in worship, showing that Jesus is not only Savior but Lord over all. The Lamb who was slain is the King who reigns.
🌀 Reflection: Jesus is worthy not just because of who He is, but because of what He has done. Does your worship reflect the worth of the Lamb who was slain for you? 💬 Mission Challenge: Worship Jesus today specifically for His sacrifice, and share with someone how His death has changed your life.
Today’s post includes a brief overview of the chapter and a focused look at what it reveals about Jesus (Rev. 1:1) — so our eyes stay fixed on Him.
Chapter Overview: Revelation 4 shifts the scene from earth to heaven as John is called up to see what will take place next (vv. 1–2). At the center of everything is a throne with God seated on it, surrounded by dazzling glory, lightning, and worship (vv. 2–5). Around the throne are twenty-four elders and four living creatures who continually praise God, declaring His holiness and eternal nature (vv. 4–8). Day and night, heaven resounds with worship as all creation honors the One who lives forever, and the elders fall down before Him, casting their crowns and declaring that He alone is worthy because He created all things (vv. 9–11).
Seeing Jesus in This Chapter: While Revelation 4 focuses on the One seated on the throne, it reveals the sovereign rule and worthiness of God that sets the stage for Jesus’ work. The throne reminds us that God reigns over all things — nothing in heaven or on earth is outside His authority (v. 2). He is surrounded by glory, power, and holiness, worshiped without ceasing as “the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come” (v. 8). Every creature and every authority ultimately answers to Him. The worship of heaven centers on His worthiness — He alone deserves glory, honor, and power because He is the Creator and sustainer of all things (v. 11). This chapter prepares us to see that everything that follows — including judgment, redemption, and the return of Christ — flows from the throne of God. And as we move into the next chapter, we will see that Jesus, the Lamb, is the One worthy to carry out God’s purposes.
🌀 Reflection: Heaven is centered on worship of the One on the throne. Is your life centered on Him in the same way?
💬 Mission Challenge: Take time today to worship God for who He is as Creator and King, not just for what He gives.
Today’s post includes a brief overview of the chapter and a focused look at what it reveals about Jesus (Rev. 1:1) — so our eyes stay fixed on Him.
Chapter Overview: Revelation 3 continues Jesus’ messages to the churches, addressing Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (vv. 1–22). Sardis has a reputation for being alive but is spiritually dead, and Jesus calls them to wake up, repent, and return to what they received (vv. 1–3). Philadelphia, though weak and persecuted, is commended for faithfulness and promised an open door and secure place in God’s kingdom (vv. 8–12). Laodicea, however, is rebuked for being lukewarm — self-sufficient in appearance but spiritually poor, blind, and needy — and is called to repent and return to true dependence on Christ (vv. 15–18). Across each message, Jesus calls His people to hear, repent, and overcome, promising eternal life and fellowship to those who remain faithful (vv. 5, 12, 21).
Seeing Jesus in This Chapter: In Revelation 3, Jesus is revealed as the holy and true King who sees clearly, rules completely, and calls His people to real faith. He is the One who has the seven spirits and the seven stars, meaning He has full authority and gives true spiritual life (v. 1). He is the holy and true One who holds the key of David — what He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open (v. 7). He sees beyond appearances, exposing empty reputation in Sardis and lukewarm self-deception in Laodicea, while honoring quiet faithfulness in Philadelphia (vv. 1, 8, 15–17). As the faithful and true witness, His words are trustworthy, even when they confront and correct (v. 14). Yet He is also gracious — loving enough to discipline, calling His people to repentance, and inviting them into fellowship: “I stand at the door and knock” (vv. 19–20). He promises that those who overcome will share in His victory and reign with Him (v. 21). Jesus is not impressed by appearances — He desires true faith, real dependence, and enduring devotion.
🌀 Reflection: Jesus sees what is real, not just what appears to be. Are you relying on reputation or truly walking with Him in faith and dependence?
💬 Mission Challenge: Turn from self-reliance today and intentionally depend on Jesus in one specific area of your life.
Today’s post includes a brief overview of the chapter and a focused look at what it reveals about Jesus (Rev. 1:1) — so our eyes stay fixed on Him.
Chapter Overview Revelation 2 records Jesus’ messages to four churches — Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira — each following a pattern: He knows their condition, speaks truthfully about it, calls them to respond, and promises reward to those who overcome (vv. 1–29). Ephesus is commended for truth and endurance but rebuked for losing their first love and called to repent (vv. 2–5). Smyrna, though suffering and poor, is declared spiritually rich and urged to remain faithful even to death (vv. 9–10). Pergamum is praised for holding fast to Jesus in a hostile place but warned to repent of tolerating false teaching and compromise (vv. 13–16). Thyatira is commended for growing in love and service but rebuked for allowing false teaching and immorality, with a call to hold fast and remain faithful (vv. 19–25).
Seeing Jesus in This Chapter: In Revelation 2, Jesus is revealed as the Lord of His church who knows, searches, and rules over His people. He walks among the churches and holds them in His hand, meaning He is present, attentive, and sovereign over them (v. 1). He declares again and again, “I know” — He sees their works, their suffering, their faithfulness, and their sin (vv. 2, 9, 13, 19). He is the One who died and came to life, giving hope to those who suffer and face death (v. 8). He speaks with the authority of the sharp two-edged sword, confronting false teaching and calling His people to repentance (vv. 12, 16). His eyes are like fire, searching hearts and minds, and He judges rightly according to what is true (vv. 18, 23). Yet He is also gracious — giving time to repent and calling His people to endure, promising life, victory, and fellowship with Him to those who remain faithful (vv. 7, 10, 17, 26–28). Jesus is not distant from His church — He is present, holy, and actively leading His people toward faithfulness.
🌀 Reflection: Jesus sees both what is right and what is lacking in His people. Where might He be calling you to repent or remain faithful today?
💬 Mission Challenge: Examine your life before the Lord today and take one step of obedience in response to what He reveals.
Today’s post includes a brief overview of the chapter and a focused look at what it reveals about Jesus (Rev. 1:1) — so our eyes stay fixed on Him.
Chapter Overview: Revelation opens as “the revelation of Jesus Christ” — a message from God, given to Jesus, delivered through John to the church (vv. 1–2). It promises blessing to those who hear and obey because “the time is near” (v. 3). John greets the churches with grace and peace and points to Jesus, who loves us, freed us from our sins, and made us a kingdom of priests (vv. 4–6). The chapter announces that Jesus is coming again in glory (vv. 7–8) and then records John’s vision of the risen Christ — standing among His churches in power and authority (vv. 12–16). When John falls in fear, Jesus reassures him and declares His victory over death, commissioning him to write what he sees (vv. 17–20).
Seeing Jesus in This Chapter: Revelation 1 shows us Jesus not in humility, but in glory and authority. He is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth (v. 5). He is the One who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, making us a kingdom and priests to God (vv. 5–6). He is the coming King who will return with the clouds, and every eye will see Him — both those who trust Him and those who rejected Him (v. 7). As the Son of Man, He stands among His churches — present, watchful, and sovereign — holding His people securely and knowing their true condition (vv. 12–13, 16). His blazing eyes see all, His voice carries authority, and His word brings both judgment and truth (vv. 14–16). Yet this same glorious Jesus comforts His people, saying, “Fear not.” He is the eternal One — “the first and the last” — who died and now lives forever (vv. 17–18). Because He has conquered death and holds its keys, His people can live with confidence, endurance, and hope.
🌀 Reflection: Seeing Jesus in His glory reminds us that He is not only Savior but King. How does that truth shape the way you face fear, uncertainty, or suffering today?
💬 Mission Challenge: Worship Jesus as your risen King today, and share that hope with someone who needs it.
We’re back in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming, where we’re taking a verse-by-verse approach to see what the book truly reveals—Jesus Christ Himself. As always, I’m joined by Jamie Harrison, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to walk through this study together. Today, we’ll be moving out of the letters from Jesus to the churches and into the rest of the Revelation of Jesus Christ with Revelation 4:
4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”[1]
Keith Harris: Greetings, sojourners. We have a lot to dive into today, and frankly I am excited. I’m beside myself — and also beside Jamie. Jamie, talk to us about Revelation 4. Yes, yes — threw you off with that.
Jamie Harrison: Yes, yes you did. So we have here — just to get started — to remind you the timeline of Revelation from this point forward. So we finished the seven letters to the churches, and from here on out we have to understand that the timeline is what John saw next. So does this mean historically this is what did happen or will happen, or whatever is happening right now? No. It’s just what John saw next.
Keith: So does it mean it’s not?
Jamie: No — it’s just what John saw next.
And so it starts by[2], “After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door.” And we learned just a couple of weeks back that Jesus is the one who opens doors. So Jesus opens this door, and the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet — now we know that that first voice he heard was Jesus way back in chapter 1, verse 10 — and he speaks to him again in a voice sounding like a trumpet. And he says, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
And so again, what John saw next — this is what’s going to take place after this. After what? We don’t know. We have no idea. But what we do know is what’s going to take place next — right, at some point.
And so just to hit real quick on the trumpet deal — because of what’s coming up in Revelation — the idea of a trumpet in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, would have been something that was used to signal a warning. Like a warning that maybe there was an enemy approaching and a war was about to happen. Sometimes they would blow a trumpet to signify that the Lord had delivered a message, and then they would deliver the message.
Keith: And so I know those are both really negative sounds, and this isn’t necessarily one of those, but it kind of makes me think about in today’s time like a tornado siren or the sound your phone makes when an emergency alert comes through. And again, I’m not saying that it’s exactly that — those are very negative in our minds — but they get your attention.
You know, when you hear those, stop what you’re doing. Listen.
Jamie: That’s right. And so that’s the idea here. And again, in every single letter that we read — all seven letters — it was “For those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
And so here again Jesus is saying — voice like a trumpet — you better listen. I’m trying to tell you.
And so immediately John is in the Spirit, and there’s a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it. So he is taken to the throne room, which is pretty awesome — somewhere that I look forward to seeing one day, whatever that’s going to look like. Jesus will be there. I’ll be there. It’s going to be pretty awesome.
And so what we do know is that from here on out the focal point of the book of Revelation is the throne room. Every time something happens we’re going to be taken back to the throne room. Something will happen — we’ll be taken back to the throne room.
Fourteen times in chapters 4 or 5 — fourteen times in just chapters 4 and 5 — the throne room is talked about. In the rest of the book of Revelation, forty-six times the throne room is mentioned, with God the Father of course being the one sitting on the throne.
And so again, just to help you understand that: what is the setting of the rest of this book of Revelation? It’s the throne room. It’s centered around the Godhead.
Keith: And one thing, just as you were describing that — you know a lot of times in literature or movies, if you’ve got a king and a battle is going to be waged, the throne room is kind of like that last resort, like a place of safety. But we also know the throne room is at risk.
None of those times in the book of Revelation is the Godhead in the throne room hiding. Nothing’s — there’s no catapult of hell, so to speak, in danger of reaching them. God is so high and lifted up and unapproachable.
And so God — this is a place of safety and security beyond our greatest fears. God’s in no danger whatsoever. And so in that case, even despite worldly danger, that tells us the things in here that frighten us — we’re safe in the arms of Christ.
Jamie: And so John goes into a description of what he sees. And again, so many times in Revelation we get descriptions of things, and it’s just the best John could do to describe what he saw. I think some of these things he probably didn’t have words for, and so this is the best thing he could compare it to.
And so he tells us that the one seated on the throne — verse 3 — had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone, and a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.
And so the jasper and carnelian stone of course were in the breastplate of the high priest back in Exodus 28 — you can see that. Jasper being a crystal-clear gem, diamond-looking, reflects all — refracts all — the colors of the spectrum in wonder. It’s brilliant.
So just think about that for a second — refracting all of these colors of the spectrum in this brilliance is what it looks like to him.
Keith: So more shiny and shining than the shiniest, brightest thing we can come up with.
Jamie: That’s right. And carnelian stone — or sardius stone — which is a fiery, bright ruby-looking red stone. So you put all that together, and so far that’s the description we have of what he sees when he looks at God.
And then you get this rainbow that has the appearance of an emerald — of course an emerald being like this cool green hue — dominates the rainbow that he sees that is surrounding the throne.
And remember that a rainbow back in Genesis is the sign of God’s faithfulness to keep His word and His promise that He gave to us then. And so I want to just kind of stop there for a minute and point out that what he’s seeing here is God’s glory. He is seeing the glory of God and describing it the best way that he possibly can.
But you have this rainbow that surrounds the throne. It’s not a half rainbow like we see — this is the full rainbow. This is the complete promise of God. This is the complete fulfillment. This is His mercy even in judgment. This is all of these things completed around Him.
And I’ve got Keith who’s going to read this cool deal from the Jesus Storybook Bible. And if you want to kind of talk about it and then read it.
Keith: Yeah. The Jesus Storybook Bible is not a translation of the Bible, but it’s where Sally Lloyd-Jones has tried to communicate through all the parts of the Bible to children who God is in Christ. And so this is from the chapter on the flood.
“The first thing Noah did was to thank God for rescuing them, just as He had promised. “And the first thing God did was to make another promise. ‘I won’t ever destroy the world again.’ And like a warrior who puts away his bow at the end of a great battle. God said, ‘See, I have hung up my bow in the clouds.’ “And there, in the clouds – just where the storm meets the sun – was a beautiful bow made of light. “It was a new beginning in God’s world. “It wasn’t long before everything went wrong again, but God wasn’t surprised; He knew this would happen. That’s why, before the beginning of time, He had another plan – a better plan. A plan not to destroy the world but to rescue it – a plan to one day send His own Son, the Rescuer. “God’s strong anger against hate and sadness and death would come down once more – but not on His people, or His world. No, God’s war bow was not pointing down at His people. “It was pointing up, into the heart of Heaven.”[3]
Jamie: So again, that rainbow signifying that promise — Jesus took the wrath for us so that we could be saved. And this is what we are seeing in the throne room — His complete promise, His glory.
So again, that rainbow signifying that promise — Jesus took the wrath for us so that we could be saved. And this is what we are seeing in the throne room: His complete promise, His glory.
And I want to read a little excerpt from a book by Paul David Tripp called Do You Believe? This is from pages 69 and 70. I think that covers us on copyright stuff. Is that accurate?
Keith: Yes. And then write this stuff — we’re quoting it.
Jamie: This is quotation marks.
“Glory is not a thing like a shoe, a steak, a candle, or a cottage. Those are particular physical things that can be carefully described by words so that you would immediately have an accurate picture in your mind of what is being talked about. One could draw a picture or take a photograph of a shoe, and you could see it and know what it was, but glory is not like that. No single picture could ever capture glory. Glory simply cannot be photographed. Glory is not so much a thing as it is a description of a thing. Glory is not a part of God; it is all that God is. Every aspect of who God is and every part of what God does is glorious. But that’s not even enough of a description of God’s glory. Not only is He glorious in every way, but His glory is glorious. “Scripture does, however, put the hugeness of the glory of God into the smallness of human language so that we can at least get some sense of what it’s like. For example, the prophet Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 40, stretches human language in order to give us a little glimpse of God’s glory. ‘Who has measured the water in the hollow of his hand?’ Imagine how much water you could hold in the palm of your hand, then consider that God could hold all of the liquid in the universe in His hand and not spill a drop! ‘Who has…weighed the mountains in scales? … Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket [to God]. … He spreads [the heavens] like a tent to dwell in’ (Isa. 40:12, 15, 22). Isaiah is employing incalculably huge word pictures to help us to have even a twinge of understanding of how glorious God is. Yet even these very picturesque and helpful descriptions fall miserably short of capturing the awesome glory of God. “We cannot gain a full understanding of the glory of God from a few passages, because the reason glory is glory is because it lives above and beyond that kind of description and definition. You can say for sure that God is glorious, because your Bible declares He is, but you cannot accurately and fully describe in words the glory that Scripture declares. Perhaps the only workable path 9into some understanding of the grandeur of the glory of God is to read the entire Word of God again and again, looking for divine glory. Why? Because the glory of God isn’t hidden in His Word; no, His glory is so grand that it splashes across every page of His book.”[4]
Keith: One thing’s for sure — there’s awe in everything John writes. Like, this is John, good friend to Jesus on earth. And he’s not saying, “Hey, that’s my buddy.” That’s my God. That’s the throne. That’s — it’s amazing, glorious.
And again, there’s nothing we can say that’s going to do it justice.
Jamie: That’s right. And you can go to Revelation 21:9–27 and look at New Jerusalem. That’s what heaven will be — what it will look like. And it talks about God’s glory and how glorious it is.
But again, it’s something that is indescribable — or undescribable? Is that the — it’s both of them.
Keith: It’s both of them.
Jamie: Yes, it is. I wasn’t sure if that was even a word until just then. So John moves on and he says in verse 4:
“Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes with golden crowns on their heads.”
And these twenty-four elders throw a lot of people off. You know — who are they? What are they? What do they represent? Are they really twenty-four people?
And the answer is: we don’t know. Because it doesn’t tell us.
You know, I can tell you that in Revelation 21:12–14 the Bible talks about the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. And it could be that these twenty-four elders are literally those people. It could be that they’re representation of those people. It could be that they represent the fact that every human being — despite race, despite ethnicity, despite whatever you want to fill in the blank with — will be in heaven if they have a relationship with Christ.
It could represent that — so to speak — the complete church.
Keith: It could be representatives from the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: If you’ve got that many “could be’s,” then we need to look at what can we know for sure.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: That’s the big deal with the study of Revelation — or any sort of prophetic book like this. We want to find our favorite preacher guys or writers to tell us definitively, because we get comfort from it.
I get comfort from having a God who’s so big that He doesn’t need me to know everything. That kind of tells me in some cases — if you’ve got something that’s completely explainable by the mind of man, some dude made it up, right?
And this is so otherworldly that, like Jamie said, John’s doing the best he can.
Jamie: The absolute best he can.
And now on that thought, we do know in Daniel chapter 7 and verse 9 where God sits down on His throne, and you look around — there’s other empty thrones around Him in Daniel. And now when John sees them, there are twenty-four people sitting on them.
Keith: So what was empty is, at this point, going to be full.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: Now full with who?
Jamie: Again, we don’t know. And I think that’s okay.
Keith: Well — and well, I know that’s okay.
When you look at this, the point of them — just like when you see angels in Scripture — they’re very quick to say, “Hey, don’t worship me. I worship the One worthy of worship.”
Their whole everything is to say, “Look — look to the throne. Look to Jesus.” They’re not in any sense saying, “Hey, we’ve arrived. Look at how good we are.” They lay their crowns down. They are continually in worship of the One.
So who the twenty-four are — they would say very clearly, “We point to Him.”
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: And so I think that’s enough for me.
Jamie: And when we see them, we see that they lay their crowns down before the throne.
Keith: That’s exactly right — which the only reason we know they have crowns is because it tells us they have them.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: And then it tells us they lay them down.
Jamie: That’s right.
And so it goes on from there in verse 5: flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne.
And this reminds me of Exodus 19 and Exodus 20 where God speaks through the thunder right before He gives the laws and punishments. So kind of another idea of God speaking here.
Flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder come from the throne. And then if you look further in Revelation — Revelation 8:5, 11:19, and 16:18 — that lightning and thunder is a sign of the fury of the judgment to come.
So it’s kind of like God is about to speak, or God is speaking through this to help us understand, to get ready for the fact that His judgment is coming. His judgment is going to be complete, and it is going to be furious.
And we’ll get there in a few chapters. But it is — it’s intense, I think may be the best word I can think of.
And it goes on — same verse, verse 5 — seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And we know that to be the Holy Spirit, as we’ve talked about before.
Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne.
And notice he says “something like a sea of glass.” So is it a sea of glass? No, it’s not. It’s something like that — meaning that it’s some type of crystal-clear pavement that’s around God’s throne that looks like some kind of glistening sea.
A lot of the commentaries that you read say that this is a symbol of God’s holiness. And I’m — you know — I’ll go with those guys. They’re a lot smarter than me.
But we do know that Revelation 15:2 and 21:1 say there’s no sea in heaven. So it’s not a literal sea, but it is some type of idea of His holiness and that it’s around His throne.
But again, I think it just goes to the fact that there are these things that are indescribable that John’s doing the best he can to describe.
Keith: Well, and employing language that we use — and again this is an English translation of the Greek — but that’s the language we use when we don’t know how to describe something. We use similes.
And he says, “as it were a sea of glass like crystal.” He’s literally trying to describe this.
But again he keeps making a beeline back to the throne, back to God, back to the praises — because a lot of the stuff that we very easily get caught up on are trappings, wall hangings, adornments, decorations. Jesus is the main thing.
Jamie: That’s exactly right. And so he goes on again in verse 6 to talk about four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back, and they’re around the throne on each side. And that’s kind of a freaky—
Keith: Yeah.
Jamie: —I wouldn’t think about these as Precious Moments cherubim. And then he describes the four living creatures. And now remember, before we go into this, that we’ve already got the rainbow surrounding the throne, which is going to be your Noahic covenant.
And now here we go. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
Now if you’ve got your Bible with us, turn to Genesis 9 — going almost all the way back to the beginning here — Genesis chapter 9. And we look at verses 8 through 11 and it says:
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
And you notice every single thing that is listed here is exactly who these four living creatures appear to be in Revelation. So it tells us in Revelation that one looked like a lion, and this covenant is with the beast of the earth — or the wildlife of the earth. In Revelation it says one looks like a calf. Well here you have that — it tells us livestock or cattle. And in Revelation it says the face of a man. Well it tells us that with you, Noah, and your descendants after you — that’s man. And then you have like a flying eagle, and it tells us with the birds or the fowl.
And so it appears as though these four living creatures would be representative of this Noahic covenant. In other words, His promises that He is not going to flood the earth again. In fact, He’s going to send His Son to die on a cross, to be raised again three days later so that we could be saved.
And so all of this again going back to Jesus — every bit of it. Did you have something you wanted to add there?
Keith: No, just a thought — or take away. I thought of a phrase from Scripture. I don’t have the address right off the top of my head, but it says, “The whole earth is full of His glory.” He’s not going to flood in wrath anymore, but instead with His glory.
And we’ve already said that it’s incalculable, indescribable. But at this point we just see Him better. Again, if you can look in Revelation 4 and go back and see ties to Genesis, there’s a reason God does that — and it’s to show us He’s got this.
He knows what He’s doing. He’s not saying stuff by accident. He’s got a definite plan that has already been fulfilled and victorious while we’re waiting for it to pan out. He’s 100% sure on it. He sat down, right?
If we’re looking at creation — seventh day is a day of rest. We’re reading about Revelation wondering what’s going to happen this day, that day, this year, that year. God’s already said it and sat down.It’s finished.
Jamie: And I think on that note it’s cool to point out — which I feel like this is related here — but in the temple, the Holy of Holies, all of these things that they built in the Old Testament and performed sacrifices in… what’s the one piece of furniture that wasn’t there?
Keith: Nothing to sit on — except for the mercy seat.
Jamie: That’s right. There’s no chair for the priest — the high priest — because those sacrifices were never ending. They continued on and on and on. But once Jesus raises again three days later, what does He do?
Keith: Sits down.
Jamie: Sits down.
Keith: Well, I know this doesn’t directly tie, but thinking about who’s sitting on those twenty-four thrones — we ain’t got to worry about it. We don’t need to be looking for a place to sit down. It’s occupied.
Jamie: That’s accurate. And so what are these four living creatures doing while they’re in heaven? Verse 8 says each of the four living creatures has six wings. They’re covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop saying:
Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop, saying,
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God, the Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is to come.
Keith: And that’s the address I was looking for earlier — Isaiah 6. That’s what the angels there are saying in the throne room.
And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Jamie: And to what Keith spoke about earlier, the next couple of verses say that whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne — the One who lives forever and ever — which we know is day and night, they never stop saying it.
It says the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne and worship the One who lives forever and ever. And they cast their crowns before the throne and say:
10 …the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say,
11 Our Lord and God,
you are worthy to receive
glory and honor and power,
because you have created all things,
and by your will
they exist and were created.
And so I think it’s just awesome to think about heaven for a second, right? This throne room — you’ve got these four living creatures constantly crying out to the Lord. You’ve got these twenty-four elders constantly crying out to the Lord and worshiping the Lord and praising the Lord. And His glory and His brilliance is there, and this rainbow is there. Just how awesome it’s going to be if we have a relationship with Him.
Keith: And again that’s the kicker. When we look at these things, a lot of time is spent in the world today — more “Christian” books written on the end times than any other particular subject — because people want to know what Jesus says cannot be known. He doesn’t know the day or the hour. And if Jesus isn’t read in on it, there’s not a soul on the earth who’s going to be like, “You know…”
Because here’s the thing: what we can know is Jesus is worthy. Jesus is God. And when we see these descriptions we should be moved, at the very least, to be like Isaiah in his vision of the throne room:
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
When we look at these we need to be moved to worship. It should drive us to our faces. It should drive us toward His throne. It should drive us — for all the things that we think we have that are of worth, which is nothing comparable to a crown of an elder with a throne around His throne — to focus on the worthiness of Him.
When we move forward in Revelation that is a consistent theme: the glory of God on full display. Him being God, being all powerful, not being in danger. War being made against Him and Him being able to fell all the forces of evil with a word. It’s not going to be a battle. It’s not going to be a fight. We’ve got a toothless lion seeking to devour and destroy. But as we’ll see next week, seated on the throne—
Jamie: —Is the Lion.
And I want to just say this before we close out, kind of to piggyback on what Keith said. I think it’s important to note that these elders and these living creatures aren’t worshiping God because of what He did for them. They’re not worshiping Him because of what He can offer. They’re not worshiping Him because He filled their bank accounts up or He did this or did that or whatever. A lot of times as believers — I’m not going to say a lot of times — sometimes we get caught up in that. “Well, God blessed me with this,” or “God’s given me that.” But we worship Him because He is who He is.
Keith: And the Bible does describe being thankful and grateful in our worship to Him for what He’s done — yes. But if He had done nothing for us, He’s still worthy.
Earlier we mentioned Philippians 2 — that because Jesus is who He is and He’s done what He’s done, God has bestowed on Him the name that is above every name.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
These are people who didn’t want Jesus, don’t want to fool with Him, aren’t bowing in worship — they’re bowing in submission and subjection because He is the King. And when it’s time to bow, you bow.
So whether it be like the elders casting their crowns before the throne, or those under the earth bowing in subjection — Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God. He lives forever and ever. He is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. He created everything. It’s by His will they exist. It’s by His will that we were created. By the word of His power that it’s all held together.
And He is thrice holy. Holy, holy, holy.
How will you stand — or kneel — in response to the King?
We’re back in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming, where we’re taking a verse-by-verse approach to see what the book truly reveals—Jesus Christ Himself. As always, I’m joined by Jamie Harrison, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to walk through this study together. Today, we’ll be looking at the last of Jesus’s letters to the churches, this time turning to the church in Laodicea. This week’s passage is Revelation 3:14-22:
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”[1]
Keith Harris: Welcome to this week’s Refresh & Restore Bible study. We are in our The King Is Coming study of the book of Revelation, and today we’re closing out the section on Jesus’s letters to the churches with what’s probably the best known of those — Jesus’s letter to the church in Laodicea.
Today, just as we have been recently, we are here with Jamie Harrison. Hey, Jamie.
Jamie Harrison: Hey Keith. Good to be here with you today doing this Bible study. I feel as though we’ve never left.
Keith: Well, sometimes it can just feel like we’ve recorded two or three of these right in a row.
Jamie: Again, it can feel just like that.
Keith: Sometimes it is that. Before we get into too much banter, let’s dive into the letter to Laodicea. What have you got for us today?
Jamie: Hopefully the Bible has stuff for us and not me.
Keith: Amen. Amen.
Jamie: So the letter to Laodicea — Laodicea, Laodicea — yes, yes — is the toughest letter of all the seven letters to the churches. With Sardis, which was a tough letter — you have Him saying, you know, Jesus says that you’re dead, right? You’re living on a reputation, but you’re dead. But He even gives them a little bit of praise where He says, “Hey, you’ve got some who are still keeping My word.” But with this letter to Laodicea, there is none of that right there. There is no praise at all.
Keith: There’s opportunity, that’s right — but no praise. And for context — we talked about this a little while ago — for context, the church in Laodicea and the church of the Colossians, thirty years prior to this, twenty years prior to this, Paul talked about them in unison. That, you know, you read this person’s letter, y’all read this one. He talked about them well. But here we are a generation or so later, and Jesus says a lot of tough stuff to them.
Jamie: And so, of course, the letter starts off just as the other ones have — with that salutation of “Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea,” which again, the angel — the pastor. And then He gives attributes of Himself. “Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation.” So you get the idea here. The Amen is certainty. Veracity. Christ has the final word, so to speak. The faithful and true witness — He is completely trustworthy. He’s a perfectly accurate witness to the truth of God, so to speak. And the originator of God’s creation — so there’s this heresy that was going on in Laodicea and Colossae that Christ was a created being. And you can look back at Colossians 1:15–19 for that.
Keith: And heresy — that’s a word that means it has been clearly established and understood to be not biblical. And it’s really and truthfully meant to be not biblical — to throw people off, right? And so I just wanted to clarify that. It’s not a word we hear often, because we live in a very permissive society where some people — even pastors — will have sort of a laissez-faire, hands-off, anything-goes attitude. Jesus especially didn’t when He came to the church at Colossae, because He corrected that, like Jamie’s about to do here.
Jamie: And so the originator of God’s creation is — I’ve been here since the beginning. I’m not a created being. I was here at the beginning. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And even back in Genesis — it’s “Let us make man.” It’s plural. We were here from the beginning. We created the heavens and the earth. We did those things. And so Jesus corrects this: I’ve been here from the beginning, and what I’m about to say is truth — and has always been — and it is the final word. So He jumps right into it and He says: “I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot.” So in all these letters, you’ll notice that Jesus is personal with these churches. He points out different things that would have been personal to them. Last week we talked about the church in Philadelphia and the earthquakes they had — and being called pillars, something that would not fall apart when the earthquake hits. So it’s very personal to them. And here He gets personal right off the bat. He says, “I know that you’re neither cold nor hot.” What you need to know about Laodicea is that they didn’t have a water source there. They had all of their water piped in through underground aqueducts. And as you can imagine, by the time the water got to them, it was very lukewarm. It wasn’t cold, it wasn’t hot — but in fact, it was dirty and lukewarm.
Keith: In lots of places at the time — if you think about it in the context of the era in which this was written, where this church existed — if they had hot springs, they were renowned for that. People would come to those hot springs. If they had cool, clear water, people would come from miles around to get some of this cool, clear water. But by the time it got to them, it wasn’t either of the valuable water sources, right?
Jamie: Meaning it wasn’t useful, right? And so, of course, the people that live there — you know, you get used to it after a while. I guess your stomach builds up a tolerance to it, whatever the case may be. I don’t know how that works. I’m not a doctor or scientist by any stretch of the imagination or anything like that. But what we do know is that especially with visitors — when they would come to the city — if they would take a drink of the water, they would immediately puke it out. Because of the lukewarmness, because of the dirt and stuff that was in it, it would cause an immediate reaction from the body to puke. Or throw up. Or spit out. Whatever you want to say. And so don’t get lost in the fact that Jesus is being very personal with this church. “Hey, you guys are like this water. You’re not useful.” And because you’re not useful, He goes on in verse 16: “Because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am going to vomit you — or spit you — or puke you — whatever you want to call it — out of My mouth.” So again — very, very personal. You guys are not useful to Me. You are something that needs to be thrown up and gotten rid of.
Keith: And the tense of that word in Greek is almost like a snapshot — like a Polaroid. He’s wanting them to get this picture, get this image, and realize — you know, sometimes when we see a spit take or something like that, we might find it humorous in today’s time. But if you’re the one who’s taking something into your mouth that is not what you wanted, not what you were going for — it’s not a pleasant experience. You want to expel it. You don’t want to deal with it. It’s an instantaneous reaction. And Jesus is saying, the way y’all are right now — this is what it will be if it continues. That’s a big deal.
Jamie: And again, He identified Himself as the originator of God’s creation. So this is the Creator of the world saying to you —
Keith: “You’re useless.”
Jamie: Right. And so as we move forward here — a couple more things about Laodicea that will help us put this in context and make sense. They were a very, very wealthy city. They trusted in themselves a lot because of this wealth — as oftentimes happens. And they had three main industries. One of those industries was banking. One of those industries was wool. And one of those industries was medicine. Specifically salve for eyes. Very specifically, they had created this tablet and they would crush it up and put it on the eyes and supposedly it would help you with stuff. And I’m sure it did. I don’t know. I didn’t live back then. But I’m sure it worked to some extent.
Keith: I mean, if you’re famous for something — it’s not like they could go to a market and buy it back then. If people are coming to buy it —
Jamie: Must have worked, right? And so with the wool — obviously you think garments. Banking — you think money. And so again, Jesus being very, very personal with this church, as He goes forward He says in verse 17: “For you say, ‘I am rich. I have become wealthy and need nothing.’” So He gives one side of the coin. You’re rich. I need nothing. I’ve got everything I need. here’s your banking industry. And then He turns around and gives the spiritual counterpart to that. He says, “But you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” So He’s going to hit every single industry on this one. You’re poor. You’re blind. And you’re naked.
Keith: And rather than being respected, people are going to pity you. And you just can’t see it.
Jamie: That’s right. And so He goes forward to say: “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich.” And I think back to 1 Peter 1:5–7 there, that tells us that fire proves the purity of gold. We know that. But what Peter tells us there in chapter 1 is that it proves the character of our faith. So what is Jesus saying here? “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich.” In other words — you live for Me. You have a relationship with Me. You do the things that I’ve called you to do and asked you to do. And when you’re put through the fire of testing, through the fire of trials, through the fire of persecution — you’ll come out on the other side and be with Me for eternity.
Keith: Versus thinking you’re fine by yourself.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: And I mean, that’s the case. You think about it — pure gold. He’s giving something of higher value. If you’re in a banking industry, that’s something you’re going to understand. Hey, you’ve got gold — sure. But this is pure, refined gold. This is a higher carat weight, so to speak. So He’s basically saying, “You think you’ve got all this — but I’ve got the real thing.”
Jamie: And think about right now — the time that we live in. January of 2025. Think about the inflation that’s been going on the last few years and how much everything costs. You know how much it’s worth, right? So I think of — just say me personally — financially, every month my wife and I get a check from the school where we work. We know how much we’re going to get paid. We have a budget. We pay the bills. We have X amount for food and things like that. When this inflation hit — it wasn’t the case anymore. All of a sudden, I talked to a lot of people during these last couple of years who have been like, “Man, with the interest rates going up, with the food prices going up, the gas prices going up — I just don’t know what to do. I can’t afford to live anymore. What am I supposed to do?” And it reminds me of this letter. You get to the point where you’re comfortable and you depend on yourself to pay the bills, to get the food that you need — instead of, even when times are good, knowing where it comes from.
Keith: “I am rich. I have prospered. I need nothing.” You get a shift in verb tenses there. “I am currently rich because I have prospered in the past.” And essentially when we get to that point — and it’s much more difficult to seek Christ when things are going well, because you forget how needy you are. And they did.
Jamie: And I think back to — you know — whoever the richest person in the world is right now. I don’t know who it is today. It seems to change from day to day.
Keith: Not us.
Jamie: Definitely not us. But the fact is — according to the Word — you can be the richest man in the world and have nothing if you don’t have Jesus. I think of that song: “I’d rather have Jesus than anything.” You know, “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold.” That’s it. And so that’s the idea that Jesus is getting at here. And so He goes on to say, “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed.” Now He’s hitting that second industry — that wool industry. Those garments. They had very nice clothes. Because of the wool they produced, the dark wool, the dyed garments. So they thought, “Look at how clothed I am. Look at how nice I look. Look at me. Look at me.” You watch some of those award shows — I don’t think anybody watches anymore — and they come in with their dresses and suits. “Who are you wearing?”
Keith: Walmart.
Jamie: That’s right. Walmart. Whichever one’s on sale. Amazon. China. We don’t care. Just something cheap. But their idea was: “Look at me.” And Jesus says, “But you need to ask Me for white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed.” In other words — you don’t even realize you’re naked. I think back to Adam and Eve in Genesis. They didn’t realize they were naked. They were clothed with God’s righteousness in the beginning. They were pure. Without sin. That’s that idea of white. Then in Genesis 3 they sin, and the shame forces them to go get itchy, scratchy leaves and put them on to cover themselves up because their nakedness has been exposed. It’s the exact same idea. Isaiah 20:1–4 gives that same idea of shame for nakedness. Ezekiel 23:29 — two immoral sisters. Revelation 16:15 — another example you can look at.
Keith: There’s something John and I were talking about a couple of weeks ago. It kind of reminds me of Hebrews 4:12–13. You know, a lot of times we talk about the Word of God being living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing even soul and spirit, joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. A lot of times we talk about that as being the written Word of God. But we were looking at it the other day — in the direct context of Hebrews 4, it’s not talking about the written word. It’s talking about Jesus — the Word. And so He’s already told them in this letter — and again, I never put it together like this — He is the beginning of God’s creation, the originator of it. He’s the Word that was spoken in which everything is made. Everything is held together by the word of His power. And now the church at Laodicea is laid before Him — their sin being naked and exposed, like Hebrews 4:13. He knows the thoughts and intentions of their heart. They need to listen to Him. Because they’re in danger.
Jamie: Yeah. That’s right. And so He tells them — you need these white clothes that come from Me. In Revelation 19:8 it says — this is talking about the church, the bride of Christ: “She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure, for the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.” These believers — the church — the bride of Christ — will be dressed with God’s grace, with God’s righteousness when we get to heaven and spend eternity with Him. So what do they need? They need His grace. And what do we need now? His grace. And so He goes from there and He’s going to hit that third industry. He says not only do you need white garments, but you need ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. So He’s hitting this church hard. You guys sell all this stuff. You think it’s awesome because it fixes your eyes and you’re not blind anymore and you can see better. But no — you’re blind. Even with yourself. You’re blind. He says you need ointment that can only come from Me. In 2 Peter 1:5–9 it says: “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and short-sighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.” So you talk about a direct correlation here. The Word literally says that if you don’t have these things, you’re blind and short-sighted and you’ve forgotten that you’ve been cleansed from your sins.
Keith: Twenty, thirty years ago everything was fine. But now things were fine for so long they forgot. They needed the Lord.
Jamie: And so then He doubles down here — I don’t know if “doubles down” is the right word — but in verse 19 He says: “As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline.” Okay, so in other words — look guys, I know I’m coming down hard on you. I’m speaking the truth to you. But it’s because I love you. It’s because I love you. Now hear that. Because some people will listen to this and say, “Look, there’s God. He’s such a dictator. All He does is bash people.” And I’ve told on this podcast before — my vision of God when I was growing up was a dude sitting on a throne with a pitchfork waiting to throw me into hell the first time I messed up. And then if I got saved and messed up, I had to get saved again and again and again and again and again and again and again — because He was going to throw me into hell every time that I sinned. And He was waiting for it. Like He was literally sitting — you know how you picture a guy crouched down in a video game and he’s waiting on you to come around the corner and then he pounces on you? That’s how I pictured God.
Keith: Like He’s trying to keep you from some fulfillment you were going to get.
Jamie: That’s right. And instead it says: Look — as bad as you guys are — I want to puke you out of My mouth. But in verse 19: “As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline.” So He doubles down on the rebuke. He doubles down on the discipline. But He explains why. It’s because I love you. It’s because I care about you. It’s because I want you to spend eternity with Me. And then He tells them what to do: “So be zealous and repent.” So if you notice, that repent word keeps coming up over and over and over and over in this study.
Keith: The whole Bible, really.
Jamie: And so I think before we move on, it’s imperative to say here — Look guys. And I heard a guy say this one time and it freaked me out when he said it, but now I understand it. He said, “It doesn’t matter what you do. God loves you.” And I was like, whoa. Hold on just a minute. That’s not true. But here’s what he meant. No matter what we’ve done — if we repent, confess Jesus as Lord, believe in our heart beyond a shadow of a doubt that He was raised from the dead — then we’ll be saved. No matter what we’ve done. No matter how bad it is. There’s not much that shocks me anymore being a middle school principal. I hear lots and lots of stories and things that have happened to kids — and things that just make you stare at the wall at night. Keep you up. But all of that stuff I’ve heard that’s been done — if those people ask for forgiveness, Jesus will forgive them.
Keith: And just as it was with the church at Laodicea — He knows the heart. It’s more than words. It’s more than religion. This is genuinely looking at the love God has. And even when it seems like He’s excitable here in His wrath and judgment — He wants to puke them from His mouth — He’s tempered by His love. And they need to get excitable. They need to warm up. They need to be heated — heated to repentance. He’s not saying this trying to scare people into some words. He’s not trying to get an emotional response. He’s trying to remind people that the God who loves them has made a way for them in Jesus. And that if they don’t respond in faith, they’re going to get what He’s promised. It’s not a threat. It’s a reality. He is the way.
Jamie: And that brings the question up that a lot of people ask: “If God is so loving, then why do people go to hell?” If God is so loving — all these things. Here’s the fact: If God didn’t love us, He would not be as patient as He is with us. Everything we’re about to read for the rest of this book of Revelation could happen real quick and in a hurry. Why hasn’t it happened yet? Because He’s still giving us a chance to repent. Right? And so to go along with verse 19 there — “be zealous and repent” — Hebrews 12:5–6 says: “My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.” In other words, the Lord is going to discipline us to get us where we need to be. Sometimes we will go through times of trial. We will go through things in our lives where you go, “Lord, where are You in all this?” But we’re going to grow through it if we remain faithful to Him. We’re going to draw closer to Him through it if we remain faithful. And so the idea there is — repent.
Keith: Sounds kind of silly in the context, but I watched a clip yesterday from an old video where Mr. Rogers — sweater, cardigan, PBS Mr. Rogers — was sitting and listening and talking to a group of parents way back when. Had to be at least the ’80s. As they’re sitting there talking, he’s asking these parents, you know, “Are there some times when you’re raising your kids that you disciplined in a way that you wish you hadn’t?” And these parents are sharing with Mr. Rogers. And you’re expecting him — because he’s always this chill, calm, caring presence — I mean, he epitomizes care in my mind. But he described a time when his boys were young — one who was very boisterous — and there’d be times when he would be so angry at the kid because of something he had done or was doing. But rather than responding in kind in his discipline, he just wrapped his arms around the kid and hugged him up. And I remember sitting there thinking — first off, I can’t imagine Mr. Rogers getting angry in the first place. He literally said he was furious. So I’m like, wow. That’s kind of scary. I think I would be frightened by angry Mr. Rogers. But what he said — just as Jamie was talking about the love and the discipline that comes with the love of God — he said he wrapped his arms around his son because his son’s arms weren’t enough. And so we can’t course-correct on our own. We’re not going to repent if left to our own devices. Left to our own — period. God wraps us up in His love. And sometimes that love He wraps us up in is discipline. But it’s because our arms aren’t enough. His are. And so when you look at this — again, like Jamie said — we get the image of God as this dictator who’s trying to keep us from the fun we want to have or the life we think would be fulfilling. He didn’t have to tell them they were lukewarm. He didn’t have to tell them He wanted to puke them from His mouth. He didn’t have to make Adam and Eve better clothing to cover their shame. He didn’t have to expel them from the garden and let them live. But in love — He did. It’s so important to see there that yes, He’s telling you to repent. Yes, that means you’ve done wrong. He’s telling you out of a heart of love. Because He knows what works best. And He’s trying to keep you from hurting yourself — and others.
Jamie: So the end of this letter here — verse 20 — says: “See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.” And I don’t think there’s much more intimate of a setting than to eat with somebody. It’s a pretty cool thought. You think of the marriage supper of the Lamb and that we’ll all be sitting with Jesus eating that meal together. So that’s the idea. He is standing at the door of this church — which is us believers. He’s knocking. He’s not banging. He’s not forcing the door open. He’s just knocking. And if we’ll open that door, then He’ll come in and we can have a relationship with Him. And guys — that’s powerful. It’s very, very powerful. And again He goes to: “To the one who conquers I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne.” In other words — we’ll spend eternity with Him if we conquer. 1 John 5:4–5 — we keep going back to that — who is the one who conquers? It’s the one who is saved. The one who has a relationship with Him. And of course the letter ends the same way the rest have: “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” And I think what the Spirit seems to be saying to the churches is: One — if you don’t know Me, it’s time. Two — if you do know Me but you’ve become spiritually lukewarm, spiritually cold, spiritually distant — then it’s time to get right. It’s time to respond. Big John preached again last Sunday — January 5, 2025 — if you want to go back and look at that. His point was every member of the body has a function. Even the appendix has a function — because if it bursts, the whole body goes away. So whether you think you’re the appendix or the kidney — we all have to be doing our job as Christ has called us to do. The idea I get through these seven letters is this: What I think being a Christian is, and what Jesus says being a Christian is, might be two different things. So I need to step back and reflect. What has Jesus called me to do? What am I missing because I’m not listening? And again — if I don’t know Jesus — that’s where we have to start.
Keith: Yeah. And the idea here — and we’re not trying to be cheesy.
Jamie: I’m not a big cheese guy anyway.
Keith: Not trying to do some invitation where music’s playing softly and somebody’s saying—
Jamie: “I surrender all…”
Keith: Definitely not that. But here’s the deal. We’ve got to be clear on the invitation. And I think, you know, out of all the letters to the churches, the church at Ephesus was meant to be written first. The church at Laodicea was meant to be written last. The idea is — He has offered this invitation. He wants to eat with you. He wants to dwell with you. He wants you to confess Him as Lord. It is His desire that all people be saved — but not at the expense of His holiness. He says it’s His desire that all should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. He is the faithful and true witness. He is God. And as He offers this — He’s knocking. Not forcing Himself upon you. As one of my FCA kiddos said a while back — “Jesus is a gentleman.” He’s not forcing Himself on anybody. As He stands there at the door and knocks and you hear His voice — understand this: Nothing Jamie and I say in teaching has any lasting power. It’s the Bible that we point you to. If you’ve heard the Bible read here today — If you read it written — You’ve heard His voice. Are you going to open to Him?
And ultimately, as we go through the rest of this book, you can get caught up in end-times stuff. You can seek to have your questions answered. Know who the 144,000 are. When the millennium is. When this is. When that is. But ultimately — if you look for the Revelation and you miss Jesus — Then you had an ear. You had the opportunity to hear. And you left the door closed.
Sojourner — it’s up to you. Jesus is knocking. Are you going to open?
We’re back in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming, where we’re taking a verse-by-verse approach to see what the book truly reveals—Jesus Christ Himself. As always, I’m joined by Jamie Harrison, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to walk through this study together. Today, we’ll be looking at another of Jesus’s letters to the churches, this time turning to the church in Philadelphia. This week’s passage is Revelation 3:7–13:
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.8 “ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’[1]
Keith Harris: Greetings, Sojourners, We’re excited to dive into this letter today. How excited are we?
Jamie Harrison: I am almost as excited as you are. Almost. Almost.
Keith: Too many cups of coffee.
Jamie: Too many cups of coffee — and that’s T-W-O, actually number three. I had one before I got here. This is not good.
Keith: Well, I’m glad you’re excited. Since you’re excited, why don’t you filter that excitement into Revelation 3 — the letter to Philadelphia.
Jamie: This letter — this letter is… it’s a little deep. It’s a little controversial. There’s one particular verse in here that’s the only one I ever hear quoted when people say Jesus is going to come back before the tribulation. It’s always this one.
But I want to say up front — Keith and I have made very clear from the get-go that these kinds of controversial things are not our focus. Our focus is: What does the Bible say about Jesus?
Keith: And we’ve said this at least once every episode. We don’t have the answers to all the popular questions. We’re not seeking to. What we try to do is what I would call good, practical, healthy Bible interpretation — where the clear things are important and the important things are clear. And that which is less clear? That’s above our pay grade. So we’re going to tell you — to the best of our ability — what the Bible says, and do what Nehemiah 8:8 says:
“They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.”
That’s what we’re going for — to point people to Jesus. And if something cannot be known, we’ll tell you that. And then we’ll move on.
Jamie: That’s right. Amen. Let’s go.
So as we get started here, remember the letters are all set up kind of in the same order, for the most part. And here we start off again with our salutation: “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia…” — referring to the pastor of said church. And then Jesus is going to jump straight in and give some attributes about Himself. And He says: “The words of the Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens.” (CSB) So He gives quite a few things about Himself here. And just to briefly dive into each one a little bit: First off, He describes Himself as the Holy One. Please understand — this is Jesus declaring that He is God. Don’t ever be confused about that. Some people will say, “Well, Jesus never said He was God.” Well, first off — He did. And second — here’s one example. When He says He is the Holy One, He is declaring that He has full authority as a member of the Godhead. He is God — and that is exponentially important to understand. Jesus has the same authority that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit do.
Keith: Because we’re not talking about three gods. We’re talking about three persons of the One God. Because it says the Holy One, the True One, clarifying that while Jesus is a member of the Trinity — which is just a word we use to describe this multifaceted God — He is one God, and His name is Jesus.
Jamie: And so He goes from there — He says the Holy One, the True One, like Keith said. Now, the city of Philadelphia — not Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, because that didn’t exist yet.
Keith: That’s accurate.
Jamie: Coincidentally, this city was actually destroyed [once] by an earthquake — but we digress. Philadelphia was called “the Gateway to the East.” They were situated on a main route of the imperial post from Rome to the East. So it was a very important city in terms of traffic — people passing through, mail being delivered — things like that. But along this route, because there were so many travelers, there were also many, many temples to other gods.
Keith: Which was very common — not just in the Roman Empire, but especially in the Roman Empire. They wanted to keep people happy, keep people placated. And one way to do that — especially if you’re trying to gather a lot of people together — is to make it easy for them. So you think about cities today that have mosques and temples and synagogues and churches and this and that. It’s along the same vein — gather the people in, get them for your purpose. And, I mean, that’s what gathers them.
Jamie: That’s right. And so Jesus here — when He says the True One — understand: He’s not fake. He’s not man-made. He’s not a copy. He is God. He’s saying, “I’m not like all these other false gods and temples you see along the way. I am God.” Revelation 6:10 refers to Jesus as the One who is holy and true. In other words — again — He is God. So He is making an emphasis here, so that the church in Philadelphia understands: this is who is speaking.
Keith: And I think it’s 1 John 5:20 that says — specifically about Jesus —
“He is the true God, and eternal life.” (ESV)
So this is consistent — same author as Revelation, by the way. The same John who wrote Revelation also wrote 1 John. So the message is consistent: Jesus is God.
Jamie: So then the third attribute He gives here is: “The One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens.” (CSB) I just want to briefly hit on this. If you look back at Isaiah 22:15–25, you’ll see kind of where this idea — the “key of David” — comes from. And the story that happens in Isaiah 22 is this: Assyria invades Judah, and the Jewish leaders — instead of calling on God to defend them — they call on Egypt to defend them. And one of those leaders was named Shebna… Shebna? Shebna? However you want to say it.
Keith: Just say it fast.
Jamie: Say it fast. Nobody knows.
Keith: Confidence. That’s the key.
Jamie: That’s right — confidence.
So Shebna used his office for personal gain, and so God removes him and puts Eliakim in his place. And gives him the keys of authority — these “keys of David.” Whoever this steward is has control over the distribution of resources. So again, Shebna uses it for personal gain. Eliakim comes in — he’s a very good man, according to the Bible. But even though he’s a good man, we’re told in the story that he will give way — that his shelf will be removed, so to speak — because he’s still just a man, and he’s not able. He’s not able to do what Jesus can.
So when he’s removed, the keys are going to be given to Jesus. Only Jesus can be trusted with our lives. He is the heir to the throne of David. So when He says, “The One who has the key of David,” that’s what He’s referring to. He is, so to speak, over the house. He is the treasurer. He’s in charge of the distribution of resources. In other words — He’s the man, okay? I think that’s the best way to say it. He has the key.
So if you ever hear anybody else say that they have the key of David — they are a liar.
Keith: And in a very real sense — an antichrist. Not the Antichrist, but an antichrist. If the Bible says this is what Jesus has — and they’re not Jesus, or Eliakim from centuries ago — then they’re lying. And they’re dangerous.
Jamie: Very, very dangerous. And I do encourage — as we go through this study — look in the Word. Don’t take our word for it. We’re big on that when we’re teaching or preaching in church. Our pastor, Big John, is always like, “Man, go back to the Word. Don’t just take my word for it — go to the Word.” So again, that was Isaiah 22:15–25 — check it out, read it for yourself.
Keith: Specifically verse 22 is where that key reference is — that Jesus is pretty much quoting word for word.
Jamie: Absolutely.
So what does Jesus do with these keys of David? Well, it tells us: “The One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens.” (CSB) Well, what is He opening and closing? You can look straight to the Bible on this — because again, the Bible is going to tell us what the Bible means. And if you look in Acts 14:27, 1 Corinthians 16:9, 2 Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3–4 — and there are others — but if you look at those, all of them refer to a door being opened for ministry, for the gospel to be spread. So Jesus has the authority — as a full member of the Godhead — to close and open doors. And what doors is He closing and opening? They’re doors to ministry, the spread of the gospel, for you to go and do the works you’ve been placed here to do. Paul talks about this in a couple of his letters — Keith, help me with the exact one — but he wanted to go to a particular country to the East and wasn’t allowed to go.
Keith: Yeah, and at one point in time, he was planning on going to Spain — and we know he didn’t make it there.
Jamie: That’s right. Wanted to go to Rome, but wasn’t allowed to go at that time because the Holy Spirit closed that door. And so that’s the idea we’re looking at here.
So Jesus, once again, is explaining — in three different ways — “I’m part of the Godhead, and I’ve got all authority.” And then He goes on from there and says: “I know your works. Look, I’ve placed before you an open door that no one can close, because you have but little power, yet you’ve kept My Word and have not denied My name.” (CSB) So — you have but little power. He’s opening these doors not because they have wealth, not because they’re a large congregation, not because they have some qualification like X, Y, Z — He opens the door of ministry because of their faith.
Keith: It’s a clear contrast here to [Jesus’s last] letter. If you look back at Matthew 7, Jesus says, “You said you did this in My name, and that in My name — we raised the dead, we prophesied…” And Jesus says, “But I don’t know who you are.” Here, Jesus is saying, “I do know who you are. And I’ve picked you — not because you’re strong in and of yourself — but because I’ve given you a ministry that no one is going to be able to stop.” The contrast is the strength of Jesus that He gives to those He has saved — those He has made alive. That’s what it takes for ministry. It’s not based on your gifting or your ability or your works — because the world will tell you (and a lot of times, even religion will tell you): “Do this, and you earn that.” But Jesus is saying: “You get this because I am this. I used My key. I unlocked the door. They can’t shut it.”
Jamie: That’s right. That’s a huge deal. Very much so.
So He says: “You’ve kept My Word, you’ve not denied My name. Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.” (CSB) So first — you’ve kept My Word and not denied My name. In other words, they’ve survived persecution. They’ve survived trials. These people are stepping out in faith. They’re doing the things the Lord told them to do. They’ve kept His Word. They’ve survived persecution. They’ve survived trials.
Keith: Which, in contrast, obviously means there are some who — because of the persecution and the trials — denied His name. They just walked away from Him. That was a common practice — not just back in ancient times, but even now. If you’re living in a country that is hostile to the gospel, they will absolutely give you the opportunity to renounce that belief — to say, “No, just kidding. Jesus isn’t my Lord. Allah is,” or “Caesar is,” or whoever. And these people — in the midst of that, having the opportunity — said: “No. Jesus. Period.”
Jamie: That’s right. Period. So with this next verse — verse 9 — talking about the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — you can jump back to Revelation 2:9–10 and you get the same kind of idea. They are Jews outwardly, but not inwardly, so to speak. In other words, they’re not who Jesus would want them to be — who God would want them to be. They’re being led by Satan to persecute these believers. Now, if you’re a Jew reading this letter back during this time, you might say, “Are you trying to say I’m part of the synagogue of Satan?” Well — if you’re doing Satan’s work, then that’s what you are.
Keith: It says what it says.
Jamie: That’s right. And He says: “I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.” (CSB) You can also look at Philippians 2:5–11 and Revelation 5:11–13 for similar language.
And then He says: “Because you have kept My command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world, to test those who live on the earth.” (CSB) Then verse 11: “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown.” (CSB) And here’s that verse I mentioned earlier — the one that some people quote when they say Jesus is going to come back before the tribulation. It’s this phrase: “I will keep you from the hour of testing…” Now — when you read that, you might assume that it means He’s going to remove you from the trial, that He’ll take you off the face of the earth and move you to heaven before the trial starts. So I think we have to look at that word “keep.” What does it mean? Is Jesus saying, “I’ll take you out of the Great Tribulation”?
Now, mind you — He’s just commended them. There’s no admonition in this letter, no rebuke. It’s all praise. He just told them, “Great job working through persecution. Great job working through trials.” In other words, as Christians — we’re going to go through these things. The Bible’s clear about that. So again, what does the word “keep” mean? This particular Greek word — and Keith, you can pronounce it better than I can…
Keith: I believe it’s tēreō.
Jamie: Sounds great. We’ll go with that. It means: “To cause to continue, to guard, to watch over, to protect.”
So let’s read that verse with each of those meanings plugged in. “I will also cause you to continue from the hour of testing.” “I will guard you from the hour of testing.” “I will watch over you from the hour of testing.” “I will protect you from the hour of testing.” So when you read it that way, it doesn’t sound like you’re being removed. It sounds like you’re being protected through the hour of testing.
So let’s look back at a couple of places where that same word — keep — is used. First, let’s go to John 15:20–21. This is where Jesus is speaking to His disciples. He says: “Remember the word I spoke to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours.” (CSB) There’s that same word — keep. Verse 21: “But they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they don’t know the One who sent Me.” (CSB) So these two verses say that we’re going to go through persecution — it’s going to happen.
Now jump to John 17:6–19. This is where Jesus is praying for His disciples. And I think it’s important to read this whole section: “I have revealed Your name to the people You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they know that everything You have given Me is from You, because I have given them the words You gave Me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from You. They have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those You have given Me, because they are Yours. Everything I have is Yours, and everything You have is Mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by Your name that You have given Me. I guarded them, and not one of them is lost except the son of destruction…” (CSB)
Keith: — referring to Judas.
Jamie: Right — “so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.” Then He says: “Now I am coming to You, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have My joy completed in them. I have given them Your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one.” (CSB)
Keith: That word protect — same word again: tēreō. That’s the word we’re looking at.
Jamie: Exactly. He says: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify Myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” (CSB) Now, one of the keys to studying the Bible is knowing that the Bible is going to confirm what the Bible says. And if it doesn’t, then it’s probably one of those things that we’re not supposed to know about.
Keith: And when something is only mentioned vaguely, or only mentioned in one place — it depends on how it’s used, whether or not we can be clear about it.
Jamie: Right. So here in Revelation, Jesus says He will “keep” them from the hour of testing. And in John 17, He uses the same word — and He literally says: “I’m not praying that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.” In other words, while they’re going through the tribulation of the world — the persecution — He is protecting them through it, not removing them from it.
Keith: And we’ve been looking at that word keep as a verb — but the noun form of it literally means something like a warden or a guard. It’s related to how we use the phrase “keep an eye on.” And “keep an eye on” doesn’t necessarily mean you rescue someone from everything — it means you make sure they can make it through. If you’re keeping an eye on your kids, you don’t necessarily mow everything down in front of them — even if you want to.
Part of that is them learning how to navigate things, knowing you’re there. As kids grow into adulthood, they’ve got to be able to do things on their own. So, like, if I’m keeping an eye on my kids while they’re cooking, I can’t run over every time they touch the stove knob and slap their hand away. They know I’ve got them — but they’re still learning. And that’s the idea behind this word keep.
Jamie: So I think to kind of finish this out — if you’re still with us (and hopefully you didn’t click off because you disagree with what we just said) — I want to say this: Is Jesus coming back before the Tribulation? Is He coming back halfway through? Is He coming at the end? The answer is: I don’t know. I’m not Him. And He told us that no one knows — only the Father.
Keith: One thing we can definitively say is that He’s not coming back before any tribulation — because we know from the book of Acts, the church has already been going through tribulation. And I think about 1 Peter 5:8–9 — where Peter’s writing to believers who are going through trials and tribulations. He talks about their adversary, the devil, prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour and destroy. And he says: “Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” (ESV)
I hear people in the church today talk about, “Well, what are we going to do when persecution sets in?” If you’re living a godly life in the middle of a secular world, you’ve probably experienced it on some level. But all around the world today — and for the last 2,000 years — there are Christians who’ve faced the choice: “Will you renounce Christ and live, or remain faithful and die?” So we can definitively say — whether or not He comes back before the Great Tribulation — there’s already great tribulation happening in a lot of places.
Jamie: A lot of places. Here in America, we’re kind of shielded from that — or spoiled. That’s a better word.
Keith: Spoiled. Good word.
Jamie: So again — the answer is: We don’t know. Sure, I’m rooting for a pre-tribulation return…, but I also have to look at it objectively and say: If believers at the beginning of the church suffered immense persecution… We could talk all day about the torture techniques used on them. Some of it would blow your mind — might even make you puke. The early church suffered.
Keith: And I love how Shane Viner put it when we discussed this a while back. He said, “I want more than anything for the pre-trib view to be right… but it sure is good news to know that if it’s not — He’s got us.” That’s it. That’s such a beautiful sentiment. Do we want Jesus to come and rescue us beforehand? Absolutely. But we can also look at those who are suffering now around the world and say — “He’s still got them. And He’ll still have us — no matter what the world throws our way.” I’ve heard someone say, “The world’s greatest threat — death — brings the Christian’s greatest reward.”
Jamie: So Jesus goes on from there and says again: “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown. The one who conquers, I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God — the New Jerusalem — which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” (CSB) So here we go — “the one who conquers.” Again, 1 John 5:4–5 tells us the one who conquers is the one who is saved. He says, “I’ll make him a pillar in the temple of My God.” Now, I think it’s interesting — in Philadelphia, they were constantly scared of earthquakes. They were constantly having to evacuate the city. And we mentioned at the beginning that it was actually destroyed by an earthquake in 17 BC. So this language would’ve hit home — when Jesus talks about a pillar. A pillar holds a building up. They had seen buildings collapse — often. So this is personal.
Keith: And ideally, the pillar stays.
Jamie: That’s right. So here Jesus says: “I’ll make you a pillar in the temple of My God.” In other words — this temple will never be destroyed. You will be there forever. And of course, we know this temple isn’t a literal building. Revelation 21:22 tells us that there is no temple in heaven — because Jesus Himself is the temple. We also know that the believers bear His name (Galatians 2:9). He says: “I’ll give you the name of My God, the name of the city of My God — the New Jerusalem — and My new name.” (CSB) Ezekiel 48:35 says the New Jerusalem means: “The LORD is there.” And that’s exactly what we have here in Revelation. The Lord is there. There’s no sun, because He is the light. There’s no temple, because He is the temple. And we will be there forever with Him. Now as far as where it says He’ll write on us His name and His new name — Some people say, “Well, what is that name?” I don’t know. Because He didn’t tell us.
Keith: And if He doesn’t tell us, we’re not supposed to know.
Jamie: That’s right. I can give you a few other verses in Revelation that mention His new name — that’s Revelation 2:17, 3:12, 19:12, and 22:4. Check those out. But again — it doesn’t say what the name is. Who knows? But I know it’s going to be pretty cool — because it comes from Him.
Keith: It’s one of those things like — have you ever tried to explain something to someone, and finally just said, “You had to be there”? Well, this is going to be one of those things. You have to be there — with Him — to know. And that’s good. Because again — we’re talking about a Savior who keeps us through persecution, who gives us perseverance. If we are His, we will be with Him forever. So we don’t have to know everything right now. We can have assurance in this: We know Him. And He knows us.
Jamie: And of course, the last verse: “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” (CSB) Or maybe it says, “has ears.” I don’t know. That’s horrible. There’s some guy in the world without ears right now who’s reading the transcript going, “I don’t think that’s very funny.” Yeah, I apologize to you, sir.
Keith: Most of what comes out in these podcasts starts as writing, but this — oddly enough — is meant to be heard. These conversations — while we joke — the idea here is: Don’t just hear what we said. Hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Not just these churches in Revelation — but to your church as well. If you’re saved, you should be part of a local church. And this letter is written to yours, too. Are you going to be like the churches that Jesus rebuked for their works? Or like the ones who had no works at all? Or are you going to be like this church — where Jesus says: “I know that you have little power — but I’ve given you work to do, and you’ve done it.” This letter is meant to apply to your life. Before Jesus gave any of the future stuff in Revelation, He gave these letters — to deal with the now. So… are you part of the synagogue of Satan? Are you claiming to be part of God’s people, but lying? Or are you bowing at His feet, knowing full well that He loves you — and because He loved you, you love Him? With this letter to the church at Philadelphia — dear Sojourner, this is our plea: Seek to apply this. Do you belong to God?
Has He saved you? Have you confessed Him as Lord, and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead? Because if you haven’t — You’ve got nothing to hold fast to. If you haven’t — There’s no amount of works, no amount of Bible reading, no obsession with prophecy that can save you. Jesus is the True One. And if He has opened the door to you — no one can shut it. That’s good news.
Alright. We have thoroughly enjoyed this. Jamie, thank you for being here.
Jamie: Oh, thank you.
Keith: We’ll see y’all next week with the last of the letters — the letter to the church in Laodicea.
Just Keith Harris 