He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
The call to hear closes Christ's message to Thyatira, sealing His charge to hold fast what they have till He comes and His promise to the overcomer who keeps His works to the end of power over the nations, of ruling them with a rod of iron as a potter's vessels broken to shivers, and of the gift of the morning star. It belongs to the message Christ came from heaven to give John on the Isle of Patmos as recorded in Revelation 1, 2, and 3, to be heeded and obeyed. Jesus thought the charge important enough to give it to each of the churches over and over, and its sevenfold repetition gives special value and significance to the study of the last book of the Bible.
The seven churches represent seven states of the Christian church from Christ's first advent to His second appearing, with the names of the churches symbolic of the Christian church in different periods of the Christian Era and the number seven indicating completeness. The sixth state represents those who unitedly proclaimed Christ's coming in the autumn of 1844. The Spirit's call to hear is directed to all the churches to the end of time and is in force today, and the messages to the churches in Asia portray the state of things existing in the churches of the religious world today as wheat developing among the tares, with truth standing on its own eternal basis in contrast with error.
The verse calls everyone able to hear, everyone with spiritual hearing, to heed what the Spirit says to the churches and reveals to the churches, but having ears does not mean people will truly listen, since some refuse to receive sacred truth or become wise through it. Hearing means understanding what John saw and using it as Christ designed by giving Revelation close and critical study, because Christ visited John to show what would be in these last days, and Revelation is not too mystical to be understood and taught to students. Heeding the message means holding fast to Christ's teaching and doing His works to the end.
Hearing requires close self-examination and staying wide-awake to see and speak intelligently about what is to be in this last remnant of time, praying for wisdom not to have only a name to live while dead, because Christ weighs the character of those who take His name, supervises every individual, and is acquainted with the thoughts and intents of the heart as well as every word and act, knowing all about each one's religious experience and whom each loves and serves. The charge means all the churches need reformation and need present truth rather than suppositions, vagaries, and spiritualistic ideas that have no scriptural foundation, and by heeding the Spirit they will be prepared for the trying times before them in the last days. Hearing the whole message of Revelation 2 includes understanding losing first love, and means seeking the Lord with all the heart, loving God supremely and neighbor as self, humbling the heart before God, and giving due respect for their works' sake to those who have borne the burden in the heat of the day.
When this hearing is done, God sees it is safe to work with and for His people, and the truth prospers in their hands and goes forth as a lamp that burneth despite little faith. The message to Thyatira shows a church full of zeal and activity whose charities and zeal are endangered by false teachers, and the warning is a present danger today. Those who genuinely heed the revealed message take its burden and invite others to come, becoming laborers together with God, which calls for arousing and far greater earnestness in labor after Christ's example as the true Watchman in constant diligence for His church. This diligent hearing requires establishing progressive work in many places, coming into line and not letting the work of the third angel's message languish while worldly schemes and interests take time and attention, for the Lord keeps and waters His church every moment night and day lest any hurt it and His representatives must reveal the same diligence and zeal, with the promise that faithful self-sacrificing labor will make a little one become a thousand.
The call to hear closes Christ's message to Thyatira, sealing His charge to hold fast what they have till He comes and His promise to the overcomer who keeps His works to the end of power over the nations, of ruling them with a rod of iron as a potter's vessels broken to shivers, and of the gift of the morning star. It belongs to the message Christ came from heaven to give John on the Isle of Patmos as recorded in Revelation 1, 2, and 3, to be heeded and obeyed. Jesus thought the charge important enough to give it to each of the churches over and over, and its sevenfold repetition gives special value and significance to the study of the last book of the Bible.
The seven churches represent seven states of the Christian church from Christ's first advent to His second appearing, with the names of the churches symbolic of the Christian church in different periods of the Christian Era and the number seven indicating completeness. The sixth state represents those who unitedly proclaimed Christ's coming in the autumn of 1844. The Spirit's call to hear is directed to all the churches to the end of time and is in force today, and the messages to the churches in Asia portray the state of things existing in the churches of the religious world today as wheat developing among the tares, with truth standing on its own eternal basis in contrast with error.
The verse calls everyone able to hear, everyone with spiritual hearing, to heed what the Spirit says to the churches and reveals to the churches, but having ears does not mean people will truly listen, since some refuse to receive sacred truth or become wise through it. Hearing means understanding what John saw and using it as Christ designed by giving Revelation close and critical study, because Christ visited John to show what would be in these last days, and Revelation is not too mystical to be understood and taught to students. Heeding the message means holding fast to Christ's teaching and doing His works to the end.
Hearing requires close self-examination and staying wide-awake to see and speak intelligently about what is to be in this last remnant of time, praying for wisdom not to have only a name to live while dead, because Christ weighs the character of those who take His name, supervises every individual, and is acquainted with the thoughts and intents of the heart as well as every word and act, knowing all about each one's religious experience and whom each loves and serves. The charge means all the churches need reformation and need present truth rather than suppositions, vagaries, and spiritualistic ideas that have no scriptural foundation, and by heeding the Spirit they will be prepared for the trying times before them in the last days. Hearing the whole message of Revelation 2 includes understanding losing first love, and means seeking the Lord with all the heart, loving God supremely and neighbor as self, humbling the heart before God, and giving due respect for their works' sake to those who have borne the burden in the heat of the day.
When this hearing is done, God sees it is safe to work with and for His people, and the truth prospers in their hands and goes forth as a lamp that burneth despite little faith. The message to Thyatira shows a church full of zeal and activity whose charities and zeal are endangered by false teachers, and the warning is a present danger today. Those who genuinely heed the revealed message take its burden and invite others to come, becoming laborers together with God, which calls for arousing and far greater earnestness in labor after Christ's example as the true Watchman in constant diligence for His church. This diligent hearing requires establishing progressive work in many places, coming into line and not letting the work of the third angel's message languish while worldly schemes and interests take time and attention, for the Lord keeps and waters His church every moment night and day lest any hurt it and His representatives must reveal the same diligence and zeal, with the promise that faithful self-sacrificing labor will make a little one become a thousand.