He Who Has an Ear, Let Him Hear

“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.

“‘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. 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. 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. 

“’I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” Revelation 3:7-13 ESV

When we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, and our lives are committed to him and to his service, he opens doors of ministry for us, and he gives us divine appointments with certain people, and he makes ways for us to do his will where there seems to be no way, in human terms, anyway. He makes things happen the way in which he wants them to happen in order to accomplish his purposes. And no one and nothing can thwart his purposes, either. If he opens a door it will remain open unless he closes it.

And why is it important to know this? Because Satan is out to get us if we are serving Jesus Christ with our lives. He wants to stop us from doing the will of God, any which way that he can. But no matter what he does, and no matter what people he uses to accomplish his purposes against us, none of it can take place unless God allows it, and he allows it for his purposes, and perhaps just for the reason to test our faith and to make us stronger and more determined in our walks of faith to follow him in obedience.

But Satan is going to whisper things in our ears to try to make us fearful, to try to get us to doubt the sovereignty of God, and to try to get us to believe that he or that other humans can outwit God. And this is not to say that God is not going to allow us to be falsely accused of things we did not do and say or that he is not going to allow us to go through difficult times. For he said that if we follow him with our lives that we are going to be hated and persecuted and mistreated as he was and have people lie about us.

Now this is not to say that every word spoken against us is a lie, either, for we are not perfect people, and we have all made mistakes, and we have all sinned. But we should no longer be walking in sin, making sin our habit, deliberately and habitually doing what we know is against the will of God. But as followers of Christ we should all be walking in fellowship with our Lord in obedience to his commands, living holy lives pleasing to the Lord, doing whatever it is he has called us to do, in his power.

But when that is how we are living, Satan is going to be hot on our trail to try to discourage and/or to frighten us in any way that he can. And that is when we just need to surrender it all over to the Lord and be willing to accept whatever the Lord allows in our lives, believing that God is good and that he has a good purpose for it all, whatever happens. But, if we are the Lord’s servants and messengers, until he is ready to close any doors he has opened for us, those doors will remain open, despite all opposition.

So, when Satan throws his darts at us to try to make us afraid, and to try to get us to back down and to give up, we just have to put up that shield of faith and get out that sword of the Spirit and fight back with the armor of God against the devil’s schemes against us. For we as humans are not all strong people in our natures. But our Lord knows that about us, and he will supply all that we need to combat the enemy’s attacks against us if we will trust him, and if we will depend on him for the strength that we need.

Now, Jesus was speaking to a very specific group of people here when he told them that those of the “synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie,” he would make to come and bow down before the feet of those who are following him with their lives. And they would learn, he said, that he had loved those for whom he had opened doors that no one could shut. Now, can we take this and apply it to our lives? Perhaps. I can certainly see that our Lord may well do that.

And the same may apply with this next part where he promised those who had kept his word about patient endurance that he would keep them from the hour of trial that is to come on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. But this could have just been for this group of people, too. But one thing I have learned about this is that this word “from” can also mean “through,” i.e. “out from within,” which would indicate the Lord keeping us through the hour of trial rather than us escaping the hour of trial.

But the encouragement to all of us is that we are to hold fast to what we have in Christ and to not let the devil get to us to where we get discouraged and we give up hope. And many in this situation might actually desert the Lord, deciding that it is just too hard to follow him with our lives. But we are to be those who conquer the enemy and his threats and his schemes against us and who conquer the flesh and any temptations at all to sin against our Lord. For Jesus died to deliver us out of our slavery to sin.

Jesus died on that cross to free us from our addiction to sin so we will now serve him with our lives, and so we will now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living for the glory of God, in the power of God. And we must never desert that faith. We must never give the devil a foothold in our lives, but we must stay armored up daily so that we can win this battle that Jesus already won for us if we stay the course and don’t give up. And one day we will go to be with him for eternity if we continue in him until then.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

Caution: This link may contain ads