Hear Me and Obey

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

This Scripture has been used to show that Jesus is knocking at the hearts of an unbeliever. But astonishingly, Jesus is speaking to Christians, specifically to the church of Laodicea. In John’s Revelation, Jesus speaks to seven churches in Asia. These churches metaphorically can be understood to be the actual church, representation of types of churches or representations of individuals.

What did Jesus say to the church of Laodicea? He said they were lukewarm. They were neither hot nor cold toward Him. (Revelation 3:15) They were so distasteful to the Lord, He would vomit them out of His mouth. (Revelation 3:16) The Laodiceans were so blind, they thought they were rich and needed nothing, but they were “... wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked...” (Revelation 3:17) They were looking with their natural eyes at their condition. Riches and other things the world holds up as valuable are not the same as riches in God’s kingdom.

Verse 17 of that chapter is interesting. “Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked...” (Revelation 3:17) The verse is incomplete in thought but is continued in the next verse. But before continuing, notice that it looks like a there is an exception following with the phrase “because you say...” In other words, because you are believing what you are saying. Along with that phrase is another phrase that implies there is an exception following, “...and do not know...” Is the Lord making an exception because they are deceived and not intentionally and willfully sinning?

In the following verse, Jesus in His mercy offers the Laodicean church a way to redemption. The reason He is doing this is because they are blind and are saying they are rich, have goods and don’t need anything. (verse 17) They are looking with natural eyes and have believed that their natural riches mean God’s favor and blessing. Today there are brothers and sisters in Christ who are richly blessed in this world and mistakenly relate that to spiritual riches. Worldy riches have nothing to do with spiritual riches. Think about the brethren who are poor. They have surrendered their lives to Jesus, yet their worldly possessions are meager. Their poverty is to them nothing compared to the peace, love and joy they have in their lives. They are content and depend on the Lord for their provision. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you that a rich man will with great difficulty enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 19:23) Monetary riches may come to a person through hard work, smart investments, smart money management, inheritance and even from following God’s financial principles. It’s reaping for doing the right thing. But monetary riches can trap a person into spiritual slackness, dependance and confidence on those riches instead of dependance on the Lord. Riches can confuse a person into thinking that abundance means God is pleased with them. While it is true that the Lord abundantly blesses, it’s not necessarily monetary. The Lord promises an abundant life, not abundant money. “The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

In verse 19 of Revelation, Jesus says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; therefore be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:19) Jesus loves the errant brethren because they are deceived. But He offers them a way to forgiveness and that is repentance. He loves the Laodicean (church or individual) and disciplines and corrects them so that they may repent. “I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness does not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see.” (Revelation 3:18)

The gold Jesus refers to is what is most valuable in God’s kingdom. It’s not the gold that we treasure here on earth, that metal we find on this earth as valuable. It’s true and tested faith that has undergone and has been proven in trials and tribulation. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you by the power of God, having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time; in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little while, if need be, grieving in manifold temptations; so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” (1Peter 1:3-7).

Jesus tells the Laodicean to buy white clothing. “And I heard as the sound of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of strong thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.” (Revelation 19:6-8) The white clothing that Jesus is telling them to buy is the righteousness of Jesus that will be given to the saints for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The Laodicean (church or individual) is told to surrender to Jesus, surrender their worldly riches and their lives. We can see that their dependence hasn’t been Jesus. They were proud of their worldly riches by what they proclaimed. They were not denying Jesus verbally but were confessing their dependence on their riches.

There is another requirement Jesus demands of the Laodicean, “...anoint your eyes with eye salve...” In his prayer for the Ephesians, Paul writes, “Therefore I also, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love to all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us, the ones believing according to the working of His mighty strength which He worked in Christ in raising Him from the dead, and He seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this world, but also in the coming age.” (Ephesians 1:15-21) In other words, Paul was praying that that their spiritual eyes be opened so they would understand how great a salvation had been given by the sacrifice of Jesus, Who is now glorified in heaven. It’s when we treasure our salvation that we begin to understand how great that salvation is and when we place greater value in it rather than the things of this world.

In our Scripture of study, Jesus speaks to the Laodiceans, Christians who have been deceived, who are worldly and who depend on their riches rather than the Lord.  The Lord, ever merciful counsels them on what to do. He says, hear Me and open the door, simply put, hear me and obey. When the Laodicean (church or individual) opens the door and obeys, He will indwell through the Holy Spirit (“...I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.”  They will be at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, dressed in the robe of righteousness.

Concluding, we can surmise through these Scriptures that the Lord is merciful, that He loves the sinner and that He is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish. But we also know that He is just and that disobedience, will bring us to destruction. Jesus has laid out the way to His righteousness. There is only one way and that is total surrender to Him regardless of worldly wealth and abundance.

Let us pray:

Father God, Your Word is laid up for me. It teaches me what is truly valuable in Your kingdom. It teaches me Your way. It teaches me Your Truth. Open my eyes that I may know and understand what Truth is. Help me to come to know and understand the great excellence of redemption and the enormous significance of Who Jesus was on earth and is now and forever. Help me to understand that surrendering to Jesus was not a one-time commitment, but a lifetime of daily yielding to Your will and purposes in every area of my life. I know that I cannot do it in my own strength. Be the strength that I need Lord. Be the Help that I need when I am weak. Be my wisdom when I am clueless. Lead me when I can’t see the way. You know where the traps and pitfalls are my Lord. You know my weaknesses and tendency to failure. But I know my Lord that with You all things are possible. I know that with You, I can fully surrender and obey You. I love You Lord. Help me to obey You in all things. In the Name of Jesus I pray, amen.