Revelation 3 and References

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.

Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief,and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty),save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.

The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Fine linen, bright and clean was given her to wear.”(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; those he imprisons cannot be released.

I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirit of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 

                                                                                                                   

I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;they will lick the dust at your feet.Then you will know that I am the Lord;those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. Terror and pit and snare await you,people of the earth.

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near,except to hold on to what you have until I come.’ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz. Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the one true God;whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the one true God. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes. I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Ephraim boasts, “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.”

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;and you who have no money,come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent,“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking:“Open to me, my sister, my darling,my dove, my flawless one.My head is drenched with dew,my hair with the dampness of the night.” It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.