Seven Angels [part three] ...

So far in our study of the proclamations and work of this second set of seven angels, three messages have been conveyed to the earth.  First, that salvation is come, and it comes on a global scale in the final hours of earth’s history.  Second, that Babylon has fallen has fallen, the lament warns us not to trust our historical greatness because it has been overcome by greed and avarice and is no longer what it once was.  And Third, that our motives and our actions, can reveal if we are willing to trade in our identity as followers of Christ for commercial expediency in the world of the last days.  Should we declare as the third beast wishes accepting the compulsion of our conscience, or should we remain silent yet also having not been willing to have our hearts transformed by the power of Christ, we will have taken on the mark of this beast.  In so doing we forever distance ourselves from Christ and the salvation He alone can offer to us.

These messages are delivered in sequence, in order.  They are delivered AFTER the rise of the third beast.  It is after all the mark of the third beast we are trying to avoid.  So from a timing perspective, it is to us who John writes.  It is to us, who John is trying to reveal Jesus Christ, and our Lord’s plans for our salvation.  If we read the preceding revelations with dread, it is perhaps because we have not yet come to a place in our lives where we are willing to be fully rid of sin.  Perhaps some cherished idea, or current habit, still takes a priority in our hearts.  The way in which we greet these three messages, delivered against the finality of our existence, should help us see what spiritual condition we are in, in these last days.  While there is no such thing as being “ready”, there is the real condition of being in “transformation” by the power of the love of Christ.  Our submission of our will, and our desires, to Christ allows Him to alter them.  He can alter how we think, what we want, and therefore what we do.  This is the basis of salvation, to be saved from the slavery of self-service we have embraced.  The revelations of John of these final events were NOT meant to scare us, but to bring us joy.  If we have faith in the ability of Christ to save us from ourselves, despite our own inability to conceive of how He could do it, we can remain followers of Christ.  Our identity confirmed in the book of Life and records of heaven.

Despite the warning nature of the previous message, what follows next is an event of great joy.  Keep in mind there are 7 angels who have a work in this sequence of events and so far, we have only heard from three of them.  John continues in chapter 14 of his book of Revelations of Jesus Christ in verse 14 saying … “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.”  What follows the emergence of the mark of third beast is a new work of the Son of Man, or Jesus Christ.  In this instance He is situated on a white cloud.  The imagery itself is reminiscent of how He ascended back to heaven on His first coming, and so may represent His second.  John continues in verse 15 … “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”  The fourth angel in this sequence bears a message to Jesus, informing Him that the time has come to reap the harvest of this world.  And so in verse 16 … “And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”

This series of events announced by the proclamation of the fourth angel could be interpreted in 2 ways.  The most likely first interpretation is that the reaping described and performed by Jesus Christ is brought about by His physical return.  It should however be noted that once before the idea of “cleansing” the sanctuary was interpreted as the physical second coming of Christ and caused a great disappointment.  If the reaping described here in this sense, is the second coming, then the Mark of the Beast would have been implemented on a global scale and as such, the only thing left to do is to come back and claim those faithful few who have not taken up this mark by “reaping” the harvest.  However, if this interpretation is correct, the work yet to come of the fifth angel makes a bit less sense.  And the entire sequence of plagues described in the next chapter of Revelation also makes less sequential sense.  Why pour out plagues on a world that has already been destroyed?

The alternative interpretation might be that the “reaping” of the harvest of souls, is more about the work Christ performs in those who refused the mark of the third beast.  Humanity has so long waited to see the work of the transformation of Christ fully completed in our lives while we yet live them.  Successive generations have gone into the grave still under the process of transformation.  Even the apostles never claimed to have seen the work completed in themselves.  Only Enoch appears to have seen it done prior to the grave that we are aware of.  But in these last days of earth’s history, there is to come a declaration of finality, proclaiming let he who is holy be holy still.  We are the farthest things from holy in our current state.  But, if the work of transformation is completed within us, while we are still alive, and prior to His return, He may well create holiness where none existed before.  In this sense, the final “reaping” of this world may occur after the warnings of the mark of the third beast, but prior to its universal implementation.  This may represent the time of the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the world of those who continue to follow Christ.  This may represent the latter rain poured out upon the earth before He returns to take us home.

Imagine for a minute the effects upon this world of having a broad spectrum of Christians in every denomination, in every country around the world, in every language, finding themselves with the work of transformation of the perfect love of others completed within them.  No more hidden agendas.  No more attempts to take credit for benevolent actions performed for others.  Motives that are pure.  Actions performed for the joy of loving others without thought of reward or credit.  Imagine too the words of Christ that one day we, His final servants, would perform actions and miracles greater than He did on a global scale before He returns.  This was not idol flattery by Christ to His followers.  It was a promise that one day, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that we would be honored to join with Christ in the mission of the redemption of mankind.  These final actions would indeed “seed” the earth and cause the final harvest to be plentiful.  God does not desire that wicked men and women be lost for all eternity.  These revelations are designed to counter that notion at every turn.  Perhaps the better interpretation of this fourth angel’s work is see a great number of “former” wicked people redeemed at the final hours and brought into the sheepfold of Christ.

Consider also the imagery of the sickle in gathering the wheat of the harvest.  In order be gathered, the wheat must be cut from its roots.  It must be separated from the ground in which it grew up, from the nature of the earth that birthed it.  But as Christ harvests the wheat, He separates it from what it used to know, and then alters it for a greater purpose than it knew before.  We cannot be transformed while we cling to what we once knew, and loved.  We must be separated from the love of self.  We must be transformed for a higher purpose, to serve others and love others.  What we offer of ourselves after our transformation feeds others, not ourselves.  The act of cutting us away from what we once knew might seem frightening at first.  How will we survive being cut away from our roots, from everything we ever knew?  But Christ tells us to trust Him, that in His hands what we will become is greater than anything we ever knew before.  Trusting in Him, despite our fears, or apprehension, is what leads to our transformations in the first place.

Whether the work of the fourth angel is in the announcement of His second coming, or in a great outpouring of transformation that will change the world; the news remains happy to all who retain their identity as followers of Christ.  Hope has not been lost, it has been amplified.  These series of messages and events are not designed to “scare” us into a false submission.  They are presented to enlighten us as to the mission of redemptive love we are to see poured out in our each of our lives, by the transforming power of Jesus Christ.  If the message of the fourth angel heralds the second coming of Christ, so be it, we are to return with Him to be with Him forever.  If the fourth angel describes only a massive harvest of our world of souls that were once lost, to now find Him and entrance into His kingdom, then so much the better.  In the latter version, we find ourselves gathered by Christ for a greater purpose, and throughout eternity we will be overjoyed to find those around us, who are there because the redemptive love of Christ was reflected through us in these final days.  In either version of events, the joy is overwhelming.

John then continues in verse 17 … “And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.”  The fifth angel emerges from heaven also carrying a sharp sickle, apparently there is another harvest yet to come.  John continues in verse 18 … “And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.”  The sixth angel enters the scene, coming from the altar of God, and noted has having power over fire.  He proclaims to the fifth angel that the earth’s clusters are ready for harvest.  They are in fact fully ripe.  John continues in verse 19 … “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. [verse 20] And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

So if the work of the fourth angel was to announce the second coming of Christ, then the work of the fifth and sixth angels could be interpreted as being the destruction of the wicked who remain at the second coming.  First note that the fifth angel emerges with another sickle to perform another harvest.  But in contrast with the wheat who are fitted for a higher purpose, the grapes are ultimately to be “cast” into the great winepress of the wrath of God.  This harvest is not conducted with a spirit of joy and hope, but instead appears to be punitive.  Further the location of the winepress is outside the city, in this version of events perhaps outside the city of heaven.  When the winepress is engaged, it is not wine that springs forth (grape juice), instead it is blood deep enough to stand all the way up to a horse bridle.  By estimation that may be as deep as 5-6 feet.  The area of this product of blood covers a space of 1,600 furlongs or roughly 200 miles.  We do not know if John’s intent was to mean 200 square miles, or 200 miles by some other measurement of width.  But regardless, this a quite a measure of blood.

If following the first interpretation that the fourth angel heralds the second coming, then the work of the fifth and sixth angel may be a fulfillment of the promise of God, that those who take the mark of the beast will drink the wine of the wrath of God from the cup of His indignation.  This imagery described here is certainly to be seen as the winepress that creates the blood drink to be given to those who took the mark of the third beast.  In any event the destruction of the wicked will occur at the second coming so this series of events could support that interpretation of the revelation.

Another interpretation might be found in what occurs to those “Christians” who claim the name of Christ but who have no love for others within them.  The division between the wheat and the tares will become more apparent at the end of days.  While the transformation is poured out and completed in those who submit their lives to Christ.  It is fully rejected by those who do not wish it to occur in themselves, choosing rather to retain sins, than give them all away.  These keep the name “Christian” but reflect no love of Christ through them at all.  For love of others is not inherent, because no transformation has taken place, only the love of self is evident in their lives.  These “Christians” will be genuinely surprised at the return of their Lord, expecting fully to partake of His kingdom, without ever having known how it works beforehand.  They go as far as to work miracles in the name of Christ, but have never visited the sick, met the needs of the needy, or seen to those in prison.  In His commission for us to love others, Christ did not limit us to love only our own families, or other “deserving” peoples.  Instead He intended us to love those who did NOT deserve our love.  We were to love our enemies, not just those who love us.

Perhaps the winepress of the wrath of God has been reserved to stamp out of these purported Christians, the results of the love of self.  Perhaps what is revealed from the engagement of the winepress is the blood of those who have been hurt and abused by those who bore the name of Christ.  Throughout history, those who truly love others as Christ loves, have been systemically killed by others who carried the name of Christ, but knew nothing of His love.  Purported “Christians” in every denomination have by omission, or direct negative action, seen those who truly loved, put to death for their dissent with the majority.  The Catholic church of the dark ages is not unique in this.  Puritans were no less forgiving in earlier ages.  And our modern churches are content to watch the suffering in the world around them and do nothing to relieve it.  We give our money, but not our time, or personal energy.  We would prefer to buy ourselves free time, while others actually engage in ministry using our means.  Modern Christians are all eager to enact laws of “morality”, and attempt to compel the conscience of those with dissenting beliefs.  In so doing they align with the beast and the dragon behind him.  As this course will end in only one outcome, the same one it has always followed, the death of those who would dissent.

Perhaps what is seen emerging from the winepress of this harvest is the produce of blood that is inevitable when sin is embraced, when love of self, triumphs over transformation offered by Christ.   If the work of the fourth angels heralds not the second coming, but rather the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit and transformation of all who will yet hear before it is too late, then the work of the fifth and sixth angel must begin after the probation of God has expired in our world.  The time to decide must have ended as now the choices of the wicked are to be allowed to fall upon them.  The mark of the third beast is in full universal effect.  No more will the protective hand of God, keep the wicked from bearing all the consequences of their own evil actions.  Instead the winepress will engage, and the blood resulting from the deeds of the wicked will be seen, mixed with that of their own. 

Every attempt at avoiding this fate has been made in this series of revelations and the work of these angels.  But as in the days of Noah, evil will not be permitted to go on indefinitely.  It will come to an end, if not of choices to find the salvation offered by Christ, then by the final edict that time has expired by a God who will not see us live in torture forever.  The work of the seventh angel begins in chapter 20 of this book.  We will study its description in more detail later, however it centers around the millennia between the second coming of Christ, and the last great judgment and end of evil that occurs after that final thousand years.  What occurs next is the final seven last plagues that are poured out upon the earth.  The sequence of these events is important to the understanding and interpretations we can gather from what is presented here by John.

The work of this second set of seven angels begins AFTER the rise of the third beast.  What happens AFTER the work of the fifth and sixth angels are the final seven last plagues.  Perhaps it makes more sense then, that the work of the fourth angel described here is more about the transformations completed in our lives, than about the second coming of Christ.  If taken in context, and in sequence with what follows in chapter 15, this interpretation seems to make more sense.  However as stated before, in either interpretation, the news for those who have retained their identity as followers of Christ, the news is good either way.  The relevancy and immediacy with which we should take these final messages cannot be understated.  For we live now in a world where compulsion of the conscience is considered acceptable, even by those who carry the name of Christ, let alone by those who oppose Him.  Given the time in which we live, the messages and works of these angels could not be more relevant to us.  Our salvation is here.  Our Babylon has fallen.  And our world is nearly ready to enact a mark of the third beast, intended to deny us commerce if we do not submit and declare against Christ.  This is the time in which we live.  It is not intended to be a time of fear, but rather one of hope.

Our salvation is here.  This is the great hope we should center our attention upon.  Submission to Christ is our key to finding perfection in the here and now.  A transformation of how we love others, is to see reflected in us, His perfect love.  We, the broken tools of His mission, are to be used to help point others to Him, and see salvation spread across our world.  As we love others without limit, or precondition, or restraint, there can be no other result.  This is the message of hope and the revelation John offered to those of us who live in our day.

And the revelations were not completed yet …

 

Messages to the Church Revealed (Laodicea) ...

The last church to receive a revelation of the nature of Christ and a special message from the author of Christianity was to be Laodicea.  Historically the city of Laodicea was along a major trade route in the Roman Empire and was one of only a few cities declared to be a “free” city by the Roman Emperor.  The wealth of its residents was so great that even after an earthquake had destroyed the city, the residents declined imperial funding and rebuilt the city themselves with their own means.  Traveling merchants were common visitors to the region and the residents seem to have amassed a good degree of wealth trading with them on a regular basis.  The city had a thriving medical school, and enough means to have an interest in the arts.  Paul mentions the church at Laodicea in his writings to the Colossians, and even a letter he had for them which appears to be lost in antiquity.  So perhaps the church of Laodicea was thought to be the jewel of the Christian church, located in a place of commerce where wealth would offer means to fund the ministry throughout the world.  Sound familiar?

Jesus begins His message through John in Revelations chapter 3 and verse 14 saying … “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;”  He begins his message with a reference to the end of all things, “the Amen”.  The end of our salvation is to be Jesus Christ alone.  He begins by reminding us that all things are asked in His name.  Our final state will be determined by what we ask for from Jesus Christ.  He proceeds to identify Himself as “the faithful and true witness”.  The Word of God can only be properly understood by the faithful and true witness to it, Jesus Christ.  The Word, absent Christ, can never be fully comprehended or understood.  The life of Christ shows us the depth of love and care of the Father.  It was a living example of what His Word was to reveal to us.  When Christ is removed from scripture, false interpretations are possible, as was the case with the Pharisees who reasoned it was “work” to show love and healing to those in need on the Sabbath day.  The author of Love did not see it this way and so began their quest to eliminate these radical ideas brought by the Messiah Himself.  But the witness remained faithful and true in the form of Jesus Christ.

Lastly, Christ identifies Himself was being “the beginning of the creation of God”.  Strange that the sequence begins with the ending of all things, followed by the middle, and concludes with our Genesis.  But how relevant to the church of today, that the revelation we need most of Jesus Christ, is one of being our Creator.  How many a modern believer has succumbed to the ideas of evolution, relegating the story of our Genesis to mere allegory, without scientific fact.  How many forsake the idea of our God having the power to create, and worse, the power to re-create by His sheer will and command.  This central tenet tears at the fabric of our very salvation, for if we are to be remade, it must be by the power of a God who is able to create and re-create in the first place.  If all our God did was offer a spark of life that evolved dinosaurs into primates into man, then what hope do we have, that is He is able to will us into the creations He intended us to be.  Our enemy attacks our origins because he understands this very well.  Satan wishes no finer achievement than to eliminate the hope of re-creation out of the capabilities of our God.  So he attacks the ideas of the story of our Genesis, followed by a full assault on the literality and accuracy of the Bible itself, to which Jesus Christ is the faithful and true witness.  The war our enemy wages is to cause us to set aside the Bible as accurate, and the idea that our God is our creator.  Should he win, he robs us of hope, and the only way to see our salvation fulfilled.  So to the Laodiceans, and to us, Christ reminds us, and reveals to us, that He is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, and the beginning of the creation of God.

The revelation continues in verse 15 … “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. [verse 16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”  Again Christ reveals that He has an active knowledge of the goings on in the church belonging to Him in Laodicea.  And His assessment is that this church is neither dead nor alive in Him, but somewhere in the middle; in mediocrity.  The condition is not hopeless, but it is far from where He intended the church to be.  His preference would have been to be either cold, or hot.  It is the state of mediocrity that appears to cause Him to want to spue us out of His mouth.  He explains the reason behind this state of the church in verse 17 … “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”  Ouch.  There it is.  The reason behind our condition is that commerce has blinded us to our true spiritual state.

We, like the Laodiceans who preceded us, live in a vibrant free economy.  We trade, and conduct commerce, and have a higher standard of living in this world than in any that preceded us.  We have the most modern medicine.  We have the ability for leisure and an interest in the arts.  We are made rich by our trading with merchants from around the world.  We mint our own currency and trade it for low cost imports for the value added skills and innovations we bring to the world.  In so doing, our employment makes us see ourselves as wealthy and in need of nothing.  And we carry this attitude into the church; for we are rich with the printed word of God at our disposal.  The availability of the Bible has never been so prevalent as it is today.  It is printed in nearly every language, in multiple versions, accessible online, and taught in a wide variety of denominations each with a particular view on how it is to be interpreted.  Our latest gospel of success, teaches us that the favor of God is available to us in this world, in this life, through the acquisition of material blessings, God is longing to give us.  In short, we have determined to serve both God and our lifestyle of success.  We labor for our “survival” and define the term according to our means.  We then also “go to church” and attempt to “serve God” as we are able, allowing for the fact that we must work in order to eat and fund the ministry.  We consider ourselves the jewel of the Christian church, able to fund with our means, the ministry that must be spread into all the world before He returns.

But this is not the reality in which our God sees us.  He reveals to us that our true state is one that begins with wretchedness.  Our modern medicine has not prevented our degeneration, nor has our modern Christian teachings prevented us from becoming truly wretched before our God.  We have too often abandoned the salvation of Jesus Christ that begins with our full submission and dependence on Him alone, with a trust in ourselves and our will power, and our Biblical knowledge and doctrines.  We have determined to partner with God to enact our salvation, doing our best first, and trusting Him to make up the difference.  We believe our own actions must happen “ahead” of the transformation He offers.  We believe our salvation depends first upon us, and is only made up for, by Christ who bridges the difference in our self-made-holiness and our God.  In so doing we turn ourselves away from His Holy Spirit and real reform, choosing to continue wrestling with our sins, and our desires to sin.  In this we have become wretched creatures completely unaware of our true state of being.

We fail to see that we are miserable in this state of constantly fighting within ourselves the losing battle of wanting to sin all the time.  Our lives are spent in misery and guilt over what our hands find to do, in spite of the knowledge they should not.  We struggle and lose against sin over and over again, knowing we should not sin, yet choosing to do so, again and again.  We have no joy in our Christianity, for we are not living the life of freedom, but still stuck in the mire of what we know we should be doing.  This state of misery is made worse for us, because we have not the time to see it corrected.  We must get back to work, in order to “survive”.  Our American dream is founded in the idea that we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, work hard, and reap the rewards of success.  We bring these ideas into the church and believe if we but work harder on ourselves, we will become better people.  But like the alcoholic that remains an alcoholic all of his life, we reject the fundamental healing Christ would bring to us.  We reject His longing to see the desire for sin itself, removed from who we are.  So we remain in misery and deceive ourselves as to our true condition.

We are in fact, poor, blind, and naked.  Our spiritual condition is one of poverty, not one of riches He so longs to give us.  We are blind, in that we do not see what it is like to love others like He loves them.  We are naked in that we do not have His robe of righteousness to cover us, instead trying to knit leaves from our garden to hide our shame, and failings.  We stand naked before our God, because we have refused to take up His covering.  We want our own.  We continue to approach God trying to wear righteousness of our own making, instead of accepting His for ourselves.  We continue to try to reform our actions with an unreformed heart and we fail miserably at it.  But to compound our error, we are blind to our failures.  We hold fast to the ideas of partnering with God, and so offer Him a measure of dependence, but not enough as to see us completely changed.  For while we hold on to the ideas of self-reliance, we hold on to our wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked state.  We deceive ourselves that our financial success is mirrored in our spiritual lives.  It is not.  Our money no more makes us pure, than does our determination to see ourselves made pure.  Only Christ can make us pure, only Christ can change who we have become.

The remedy begins in verse 18 for our state … “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”  Christ likens Himself to a traveling merchant who frequents the city of Laodicea.  He counsels us to buy of Him the commerce that alone is important.  We are to acquire “gold tried in the fire”, or gold that has been made pure by the fire of affliction and trials.  Pure gold is gold without other contaminants.  The gold or currency Christ offers is not mixed with a desire for wealth in this world, but for wealth in the life He offers.  His currency is faith that transforms how we love others.  To be rich is not to be found in the acquisition of partial impurity, but in the pure service of love to others, made possible by a faith that He will re-create us to be who we are supposed to become, instead of who we are.  The white raiment He offers is to give us His righteousness instead of our own.  It is not bridging the difference between our best intentions and actions and our God that He offers, it is the full distance.  As we have no righteousness of our own, He offers us His instead.  Our victories will never be our own, they will be His wrought within us.  We can ONLY be clothed, if we accept His clothing to cover our shame.  Lastly, He offers us eyesalve to anoint our eyes to see truth.  He does not wish us to remain blind to our condition whether as it is, or as it should be.  We are offered His Spirit to bring to life the Word of God within us.  We are offered an end to our self-deception, and our self-reliance, and to be made free by our Creator.  Our eyes are to be opened to the truth of Jesus Christ, this is the beginning of wisdom.  Our reliance on self has kept us blind, but as we rely on Him for our salvation, we begin to see clearly what it means to love others and not ourselves.

As with the six revelations to the churches that preceded Laodicea, the message and intent of our God is ever to see us redeemed and saved.  He again reiterates the reason for His admonitions in verse 19 … “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”  Christ does not reveal the truth of our condition to see us wander into depression.  This by contrast is a message of hope.  It is His so great love for us, that He reminds us, it is the motivation for the hard news of our true spiritual state.  We may endure His rebuke, because it comes with love and with a means of our salvation.  We are to be zealous and repent.  Zealous not in ourselves and in our own strength, as that has just been revealed to be of no value.  We are to be zealous in our submission and dependence on God.  It leaves us free from the burden of judgment, allowing us to live in the joy of loving others.  We do not need to purge others of sin, but instead are free to love them while God enacts the reforms they need in their hearts, and does so likewise with us.  Our repentance deserves our zealous attention.  We cannot repent for others, but we can repent for ourselves.  Thus is the basis for His ministry revealed, we are to love others, and repent for ourselves.

Christ again likens Himself to a traveling merchant visiting the city of Laodicea in verse 20 … “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”  This reveals to us, that Christ does not take a passive stance in the work of our salvation.  He is not sitting in His house, waiting for us to find Him.  Instead He is standing right outside the door of our home, knocking to try to get in.  We must open the door, but need go no further to find Him, for He is right there waiting.  He does not kick down our door (despite times when I wish he would).  It is left to us to open it, or ignore it.  The door of our hearts is not much different than the door of our homes.  While Christ remains outside of our home and our hearts, the inside remains unchanged, unaltered, and struggling between what we know to be right, and what we want and do.  This is the condition He proposes to change.  He proposes to bring into harmony our desires with what is right.  He proposes to change what we want, from the inside out, and therefore what we do.  He proposes a level of intimacy with us.  He wishes to eat with us, and we with Him.  We receive of Him the gifts of pure gold or love made pure by faith.  He proposes to offer us His purity in exchange for our corruption, His white raiment for the shame of our nakedness.  He proposes to have us see the truth of who He is, instead of remaining blind to who we are.  And He is actively pursuing us, for no other reason that He loves us just that much.

Then, as if all the previous promises were not enough, the gifts again just begin to boggle the mind as in verse 21 we find … “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”  What must be overcome then?  The desire to serve our lifestyle of success while trying to serve God, the belief in ourselves that we may partner with God to see ourselves saved, the idea that we can craft our own righteousness instead of just accepting His;  all these things must be overcome the same way in which Christ overcame.   Christ was victorious because He ever submitted His own will fully to that of His Father.  Christ did not trust His own humanity or strength, but instead trusted fully the Love of His Father to see Him through this world.  We are to overcome by no other means.  We are to trust to Christ, that He will reform who we have become.  We are to trust to Christ, that He will offer us His gold of love made pure by faith in Him.  That He will clothe us with His righteousness and white raiment.  That He will anoint our eyes that we may see the truth of who He is and stay focused only on Him.  This reliance alone on something outside of ourselves is the same method He used, and the only method that will work for us.  There are no alternatives.  If we are to be saved from ourselves, it will be Christ alone who saves us.

Upon allowing that salvation to take place, we are to be granted the privilege of entering His home, and sitting down at His throne with Him, just as He did with His own Father.  No longer is He standing outside the door of our pitiful homes asking to gain entry to see us saved.  Instead we are brought to His home, to be invited to go into His very throne room, and have a seat with our God of the universe, and of love itself.  This is an elevation for us that we do not deserve.  But then, nothing of our salvation is something we deserve, it is ALL a gift.  We are to see and sit near the very throne of Christ Himself.  For me, I would be happy to curl up under His seat and find the blissful sleep of a child at rest.  It is enough to know you are near Him, and are so safe in His presence.  But it is not merely rest He offers, He offers fellowship, interaction, and a continued intimacy with us we have yet to begin to understand.  Even the very throne of God is not to be restricted from us, we are to be able to enter that room and fellowship with Christ because of the gift and promise He offers to us.  Nothing is withheld from a love so great for each of us.

The final revelation to the church of Christ is concluded in verse 22 … “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”  The Holy Spirit once again joins in the message to us and to the churches in the day of John.  The final time period to which Laodicea belongs is not clear, other than to believe it is the final time period before His returning to us.  Its beginning is unclear, perhaps in the mid 1800’s, but its ending is marked by His return to take us home.  However, the condition our church finds itself in today; is much like the characteristics that marked the church of Laodicea in its time.  We are affluent.  We have modern medicine.  We have the luxury of an interest in the arts.  The conditions that plagued Laodicea plague us today.  It is not our affluence, or medicine, or interest in the arts that is our enemy.  It is our belief that these luxuries somehow make us spiritually ready and spiritually wealthy.  Only a reliance on Christ can do that.  Only He offers us true wealth.  Only He offers us real healing.  Only He can reveal to us the truth of who He is, philosophies and ideologies based in Him exceed any found in the art of our day.  It is Christ alone who remains our hope and our salvation.  This was the common theme throughout all the messages to each of the churches that composed His perfect church.  His admonitions, exhortations, and promises remain all centered on our redemption.  Despite our state, none is without hope, or beyond the reach of His redemption.  We need but accept what He so longs to give us, and we see His salvation re-created in who we are, and who we are to become.

This concluded the first revelations to the church of Jesus Christ in book John relayed.