Revelation 5:1-14
Chapters 4 and 5 are paired together as the introduction to the prophesy being revealed to John. Chapter 4 sets the scene with John seeing God, the creator and ruler of the world and Great King of the Ekklesia. He is seated on His throne of glory and government surrounded by holy ones, both beasts and members of the Ekklesia who sing His praise. In Chapter 5 we see that God sets His counsels and decrees before John in the form of a document sealed with seven seals by God. All God’s plans for His creation are in the document. He alone has authority over it and is ready to execute what is in it. Only God knows what is in it. An angel calls for one who is worthy to take the document, break the seals and open it. Noone can be found. John is upset at this. I have seen many interpretations of the cause of his sorrow, including curiosity thwarted, which don’t make sense to me. I believe his sorrow is that no-one in all creation is good enough to receive God’s mighty gift. Such a tragedy that none of us are worthy of our Holy God. It is interesting that one of the members of the Ekklesia comforts him. There is one who is worthy and that is Jesus. He alone has proved Himself worthy to open the seals and look inside.
It is interesting to note that this document’s contents are only known to God. This is supported by Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:36 when He states that only God knows when His day of judgement will come, and in John 8:28 when Jesus states that what He speaks has been taught to Him by God. Until the lamb is worthy to take the document, He does not know God’s plans for creation.
When John sees Jesus, He is portrayed as the sacrificial lamb and described in terms that identify Him as the mediator between God and man – the Root of David, the Lion of Judah (v5). Of course this is backed up by Jesus’ own words in John 14:16 when He tells His disciples that He will intercede on their behalf and ask God to send the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 7:25 reminds us that Jesus intercedes on our behalf with God. Here in the throne room of God, John sees the proof of what the Apostles have been teaching the Ekklesia.
It is good to remember that when we feel despair because we will never be good enough to enter God’s presence we can have hope in John’s witness of Jesus standing in our place and being worthy.
I found it interesting that John was comforted by one of the elders, a fellow believer, who knew Jesus was righteous. This is a good reminder that individual members of the Ekklesia can know more about God than those who seek to lead and set themselves up as experts on God. When we get together to talk about our faith and following Jesus, we can often gain valuable insights from our fellow travellers because each person has a unique relationship with God and a valuable insight to share that can be so helpful at times.
The praise of the elders and beasts of the lamb is a good reminder that we must never forget to praise Jesus as well as God, because they have the same nature. In other words, Jesus is worthy of the highest praise we give God. Some people praise only God and leave Jesus out, and others give all their praise to Jesus and forget God. But even Jesus put God in a higher place then Himself (John 14:28). The example of the throne room shows us to worship both God and Jesus. It is interesting to note that Praise is important, but it is also accompanied by prayer (the incense of the prayers of the Ekklesia). The two go together. If your praise lacks prayer, then change that and add prayer. If your prayer lacks praise, then change that and add praise. This is our act of worship to God and to Jesus.

Revelation 4:1-11
In the previous chapters, John received messages to send to the faithful in several cities. Now he experiences another vision. At the outset of the vision John sees a door open into heaven. Here we can understand that whatever happens on earth is first planned in heaven. When God chooses to give us a vision of the future, He makes the choice to reveal to us what He wishes us to have revealed. We are given no more or no less than He chooses. We must receive what God reveals to us and must accept that there may well be questions unanswered and more to understand than He has given us. It is not our place to imagine further, to second guess God or to pretend to more knowledge than God has chosen to give us. This is not about us putting on pious looks and portraying ourselves as being “super spiritual”. It is about us humbling ourselves before God and accepting whatever messages He chooses to give us.
John did not demand to be given this vision of heaven. God chose to give it to him. He also prepared John for the vision by pouring out the Holy Spirit on him so that he was “in the spirit” and fully prepared to receive the prophesy Jesus had for him to receive.
When John saw the throne room he saw that the throne was occupied. This throne was God’s throne. This is the throne of glory, the throne that rules over all creation. No throne is greater than the throne of glory. The stones around the throne emphasised God’s glorious perfection and His justice. The 24 elders represent the Ekklesia, the bride of Jesus. Behind the throne were four mighty beasts that sang constant worship to God. This worship was participated in by the 24 elders. All were praising God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They proclaimed that only God was worthy to receive glory, honour and praise. They declared through their worship that God was the creator of all things. God preserves and sustains all things. God makes the choice to create all things according to His will. This can be summarised as saying that God’s will is the ultimate power in the universe and His will is to be done. This is an important acknowledgement to make before moving on into further study of Revelation. It is the reminder of the importance of subjecting ourselves to Jesus, of choosing to take our crosses and follow Jesus, of choosing to become less so that He can become more in our lives. This is the true life in Jesus.

Revelation 3:14-22
This is the last of the messages to the assemblies. This one is for Laodicea, a very wealthy city with wealthy and trustworthy banks, a prestigious medical school and pharmaceutical industry and a thriving, high-class textile industry. The downside of life in Laodicea is that it was built on the banks of the River Lycus which dried up in Summer. Nearby Hierapolis was renowned for its hot springs. Nearby Colosse was renowed for its crystal clear cold spring water. Laodicea relied on a viaduct that brought a steady water supply to it. This water was lukewarm and often carried disease. I wondered how many of you reading this would find that you go to have a drink of nice cold water, but when finding it is actually lukewarm your first impulse is to spit it out. Not a bad metaphor for Jesus’ message to the Laodiceans.
Another metaphor that comes to mind is that despite the wealth and prosperity, the Laodiceans were very vulnerable because we need water to survive. The textile industry, and to a lesser extent the medical industry, also needed water. How easy it was for Laodicea’s wealth to be destroyed.
Jesus starts the message reminding the people that He is faithful and true but admonishing them that they are lukewarm and He desires to spit them out, just as we desire to spit out lukewarm water.  In their wealth they became complacent. They became caught up in the idea that their money and their possessions protected them from trouble. They had influence and could easily manipulate and control others to keep themselves safe. Of all the messages to the assemblies, this is the one that I believe is most pertinent to Western Christians. We are wealthy and live in stable governments that give us rights we can demand by law. Why do we need God? We can manipulate others, we can use controlling behaviour. We can belong to wealthy churches with great power that can be used to manipulate and control dissenters. We can use community pressure to quiet people are force them out. In Australia we are currently conducting a Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse in Institutions. (Of course this is just one of many enquiries throughout the Western World into the same issue.) Sadly most of those institutions were church run. There was a concerted push by the individual churches to hide the evidence of abuse, even bullying victims and their families and engaging powerful lawyers to oppose the victims in court. This was a case of believing that their wealth was enough. They did not need God. But their wealth took them far from God. This is a great danger we face. The worst church congregations are the wealthy ones. I have been to churches full of complacent middle class people. They are very happy and settled in their wealth and don’t spend a lot of time seeking God in their lives. There is always an undercurrent that “I have money, I can get myself out of trouble”. But just as Laodicea was dependant on a tenuous water supply and therefore vulnerable to complete destruction, so is our wealth. We think we are OK but we are blind. We do not understand or see that we are shamefully naked - wretched, poor, pitiful, blind and naked. We have forgotten that true wealth only lies in God. Just like the Laodiceans, we need some of that medical salve for eyesight to see, but the salve we need is not the famous one produced in Laodicea, it is the one supplied by God.
The Laodicean church made Jesus feel sick and want to spit them out. Is this the effect you have on Him? If you feel you are guilty of being lukewarm then remember. Jesus says in verse 19 that He rebukes those He loves. So if you are lukewarm, allow Jesus to convict you of that. Repent, ask forgiveness, change your attitude, take up your cross and place your eyes firmly on Jesus. Remember true wealth is found only in God.

Revelation 3:7-13
Geographically, Philadelphia, the subject of this message, was close to Sardis. It was an area where there were many and frequent earthquakes and few people lived in the city itself, but lived a farming lifestyle surrounding the city. Because of the constant threat of earthquake, life in Philadelphia was uncertain. A beautiful contrast to the promise of v12 where Jesus promises the one who remains true to Him will be a permanent pillar in God’s temple. Such stability and certainty would have sounded wonderful to the people of Philadelphia with their very uncertain lives.
Verse 7 presents one of the most beautiful insights into the personality of Jesus. Jesus is Holy in nature and therefore True in His promises and actions. He holds the key of David and therefore has authority over all those who are His disciples. So why did Jesus give this wonderful insight into His character? Verse 8 gives an answer. Jesus has found the people of Philadelphia to be true to Jesus and faithful. They have remained steadfast in their faith and have not denied Jesus or allowed false prophets into their midst. Such praise! No other assembly has been praised like this. Jesus knows they are weak yet they have stood firm. Jesus wishes them to remember that He is the one who opens and shuts the doors of opportunity in our lives. A timely reminder for all of us. The doors Jesus opens remain open until He closes them and those He closes remain closed until He opens them. He is letting the people of Philadelphia know that He has opened a door in front of them. I have seen many suggestions as to what that means. Some have suggested it can only refer to evangelism, others have suggested it refers to the door to Heaven. In light of verse 12, I am inclined to see it as the latter. Jesus is aware of how hard the faithful have kept faith in Jesus and He wants to encourage them and let them know that the Jews who are giving them a hard time will eventually have to acknowledge their faithfulness to Jesus and His love for them. Such love and commitment leads them to be worthy of being pillars in God’s temple and to wear the names of God and Jesus as well as the name of the new Jerusalem. This is the honour that awaits those who remain firm in their faith despite their weakness, citizenship in Heaven. What a beautiful message.