Jesus led us to each of the seven churches end with a very important phrase. Revelation 3:22, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches". Although the letters to the churches were to actual congregations in [...]

To every one of the seven churches of Revelation Jesus makes a special promise. Believers in Philadelphia are made a pillar in the temple of God. Ephesus would eat from the Tree of Life. Smyrna receives a crown of life. to Laodicea Jesus says, [...]

In the book of Revelation Jesus emphasizes what he says elsewhere in scripture: a sheep wanders off, Jesus goes after it and brings it back to the flock. A son leaves home, but the spirit of God draws him back to his father. What Jesus wants is for [...]

When you consider the seven churches of Revelation represent different periods of history, the church of Laodicea would represent the church today. Laodicea means a people judged, and here we are living in the time of earth's final judgment. Jesus [...]

Jesus message to the church of Laodicea is not for the faint of heart: "Your lukewarm, I'll vomit you out of my mouth". But Jesus also offered Laodicea the solution they desperately needed: faith that works by love, the righteousness of [...]

Back in the first century A.D., there was a medical school in Laodicea, one of the seven churches of Revelation. One of its first graduates was an ophthalmologist and a popularized cell that was produced and sold by the merchants of the city. Jesus [...]

When snake handler Lawrence Van Sertima was bitten by a Taipan, one of the deadliest snakes on the planet, life-saving anti-venom was flown to Miami from San Diego, California, on a flight accompanied by two fighter jets. That's because Mr. Van [...]

If you want to know what God is really like, you only have to read, in the book of Acts Paul is the prisoner of the Roman Governor Felix, who historians describe as an absolute scoundrel. In fact, Felix tried to bribe Paul, the Bible says Paul [...]

The very first of the Ten Commandments given by God on mount Sinai says, "You shall have no other Gods before me" - Exodus 20:3. False Gods take on many forms, but let's consider this: the Bible is very clear that in the beginning God [...]

People were shocked by reports that a 12-story beachfront building in Miami, Florida just collapsed early one morning in June of 2021. Almost 100 people died in that terrible tragedy. Now, when I said the building just collapsed, that's true but [...]

The more funerals I attend, the more I'm impressed by the wonderful truth that death is not the end for the one who has faith in Jesus. Imagine life being just this. Imagine losing a loved one and having absolutely no hope you'll see them again. [...]

Aren't you glad God doesn't always give you what you pray for? The prophet Elijah became so discouraged as he fled from the wrath of the wicked queen Jezebel, that he requested for himself that he might die (1st kings 19:4). It's a good thing God [...]

Jesus spent a lot of time talking about the fatherly love of God. "For God so loved the world". "The Father himself loves you". "God sent not a Son under the world to condemn the world". "Take therefore no thought [...]

A young men recently told me he couldn't be used by God, because he'd made some pretty serious mistakes over the years. So, let's understand something about God: he called Israel into being and Saul failed, David failed, Solomon really failed, [...]

It's a great story in the Old Testament, it's just three verses long, story about a man who had God's urging gave food to a hundred or so men. It wasn't nearly enough food for a group that large, but he did so at God's urging, and "They did [...]

In days of old, long before plat maps and surveyors with theodolites, the boundaries of land might have been marked with stones. Landmarks, it's easy to see how the dishonest or mean-spirited might manipulate a system like that. Which is why God [...]

The devil knows how to manipulate people. A few decades ago women began objecting to the objectification of women, and as a result more enlightened attitudes brought a degree of change to society. It's fascinating then, that every so often you'll [...]

There are places people give offerings of food and so forth to idols. People have shrines in their homes or in their front yard sometimes, shrines they believe will bring the blessing of God, or of the gods. That you don't have to have a graven [...]

A man who helped a stranded motorist on Belle Isle in Detroit in 1908 broke his jaw when the crank on her car kicked back, worse still he later died as a result. The founder of Cadillac motor said, "The Cadillac car will kill no more men if we [...]

We know that Jesus wasn't born on December 25, but it's nice that society has chosen a day to emphasize some of the nicer things. Time together, sharing with others, enjoying good food, taking time off work, now that reminds me of another day a day [...]

You see it in nature all the time, a small bird chasing away a much bigger bird, a dog frightening off a bear, the weak actually being the strong. As in Congress, as it seems, that's the philosophy of good theology, a faulty Christian believer is [...]

You hope the Uber arrives on time, you're counting on a check to arrive in the mail because you have some pressing financial needs, you're hoping the person you voted for is elected, you hope the doctor is able to find the cause of your knee pain. [...]

What you offer people who are failing spiritually? Jesus spoke to the lukewarm believers in Laodicea, and told them that unless they changed he'd have to spew them out of his mouth. But he didn't leave them without encouragement. He said, "I [...]

God wants you to be rich! He really does, but rich in the right things! Jesus offered the lukewarm, apathetic church of Laodicea a pathway to strong spiritual health, and true riches. He said, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the [...]

Jesus' message to the church of Laodicea was designed to get their attention and yours; he says, "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' and do not know that you are a wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and [...]

We don't often talk together about vomiting, do we? So, let's do that for just a moment. In the message the church of Laodicea, Jesus says, "So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth" - [...]

The research has been cited, again and again, showing that numbers of Christian believers are rapidly declining in the United States; in most Western countries, Christianity doesn't have much further to sink. 140 years ago, German philosopher [...]

Jesus speaks to the church at Laodicea and shares a deep concern; he says, "I know your works, that you are not a cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot," Revelation 3:15. Interesting imagery given the geography of that area [...]

The letters to the seven churches in Revelation were messages to actual congregations, and they also apply to various eras of church history, Ephesus the time period after the death of Jesus, down to Laodicea, the Church of the last days. Laodicea [...]

John Bradshaw : Welcome to "Line Upon Line," brought to you by It Is Written, where we answer your Bible questions. Let me say, as we begin, if you have a Bible question that you'd like us to answer, maybe answer for the benefit of [...]

Jesus makes special promises to each of the seven churches of Revelation. To the church of Philadelphia he says, to the person that overcomes, "I will write upon him my new name". Throughout the Bible there were people given by God a new [...]

In the letters to the seven churches, Jesus says to the church of Philadelphia, "Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown," Revelation 3:11. Hold fast that no one may take your crown. Well, can [...]

The town of Philadelphia in Asia Minor was named in honor of a Pergamon king named Attalus II, Philadelphus who was loyal to his brother, that idea of brotherly love is what led to the naming of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and presumably, the [...]

It's not unusual to read stories about people who pay off their home mortgage more quickly than scheduled. One man spoke about how he cut down his spending, choosing not to eat at restaurants or to buy fast food. He said he was offended by how much [...]

The ancient city of Sardis was located at or near the end of a royal road, which ran 1700 miles away to the palace of king Artaxerxes. That's where Esther lived and Nehemiah. Sardis is famous for the first gold coins ever used. The gold came from [...]

When a British adventurer succeeded in trekking solo across the frozen sea from northern Canada to the North Pole, things got complicated after he lost a ski when he fell through thin ice. Jesus spoke of thin ice when he addressed the church of [...]

If you form the dough into cookies and then dip the tops of them in sugar before you bake them, you'll end up with sugar-coated cookies. Nothing at all healthy about them but people like them and the reason is, and I'm quoting the recipe now is, [...]

Jesus is very direct with the church of Thyatira about their sins, but then he speaks to those who are following him faithfully. He says, "But hold fast what you have till I come", Revelation 2:25. There might be times when you feel your [...]

The longest of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation is the one to Thyatira, in which Jesus states his displeasure with the church, allowing certain sins to go unchecked. Jesus believed it was the church's responsibility to take a stand [...]

When John wrote to the seven churches, paganism was rampant throughout the Roman Empire. Gods such as Apollo, and Diana, and Bacchus, and Neptune were worshiped. Among the ruins of the ancient city of Pergamon is the temple of Trajan, a Roman [...]