11/22/25 To the one, Listen

Revelation 2:26-28 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— ²⁷ that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. ²⁸ I will also give that one the morning star. ²⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.(same phrase used for next month final portion and in all 7 addresses.)

Whoever has ears is mentioned 14x in NT. That seems a bit significant due to the prevalence of the usage. Jesus uses this phrase as he addresses all seven churches in the book of Revelation. This seems pretty evident straight forward & easy to understand, so let’s dig deeper. Are all the NT uses of this phrase used for the same purpose, in the same context, no. In the book of Revelation they are however. 8/14 of the NT mentions occur in the book of Revelation. Here Jesus seemingly speaking in a similar manner to when he would repeat certain words in the gospels, such as verily, verily being used, to create emphasis on what is going to be said. Further the deeper significance is the breadth of the address, because here he is drawing the attention of darn near everyone. Do you have ears, then listen to what I am saying, is essentially this portion of the phrasing.

Jesus places the advice here to every portion of his audience in addressing the seven churches pay attention to these words I have said, but guess what, the vision John was given & raised into the heavenlies by the Spirit was written and given to us all. This is why it is important for all of us to consume the book of Revelation & gain the blessing in it detailed in Revelation 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

But this audience is not for everyone. Let’s be honest there is a huge shift in the body of those who consider themselves as Christians in the priority they place the teachings of Christ in their respective lives. We move from those who attend church twice a year and know OF Jesus but do not really know Jesus who call themselves Christians to those who are so zealous that they are kinda odd in their practices & ideology. In order to properly explain this to this vast understanding of an audience let me address it this way.

If you are allegiant, then listen. The Master, the King, has spoken and he has done so to you and I. Do you have ears, do you put value in what the Savior of the world who bore your sins has to say, then this means you. Let me say then if you do not think it applies to you it would not apply to you because of the mis-prioritization of who it is who is addressing you. Let’s look at why this is so very important.

If you followed the series earlier this year on the Potter, the Clay, the Hand and the vessel then you know exactly why. If you did not let me capsulize this. The supreme deity had a vison of your soul, made your soul, and in the right time saw to it you were ready to move from the spiritual creation to the physical. He formed you in your mommas womb as if you were the physical clay of a potter at the wheel & he was creating something that could be used for something special, or something common. What you as a vessel are used for is up to you however, let me explain why. As a vessel, you are made to hold something. While you could be on the shelf looking good that is a common purpose, but when you hold something you move to the special purpose, because the Potter equipped you to hold himself, in way of the Holy Spirit, but you can only hold that when you give Him absolute control by the Hand who created you. This would be Jesus. The very one speaking in these verses in the book of Revelation. The special purpose can only come by being endowed by the Holy Spirit operating in his power by his leading which means you as a vessel have submitted all control & understanding to the power of the Spirit.

This means if you really want to understand what you are capable of as a human being, that transcends the physical you can only live that by recognizing you are indeed a creation with the potential for dynamically more but only in the hands & leading of the Creator & you place high priority on what the Creator wants as opposed to what you want.

If your value in this is among those who believe in the existence of Jesus your value is misplaced on what the life you have been given for can be. If you are a follower of Jesus even when he leads you to the gates of hell, then you know that as his vessel the path is not going to be easy, or fun, but he is going to pass you through this because your allegiance is to him. For those who have a verbal commitment & not a physical commitment, through a heart driven commitment in other words your commitment is lukewarm at best, then you do not apply to this because in truth you are not part of him and he does not know who you are. While you are his creation, you are not born again truly it would seem, and he will spit you out which is in the final church Jesus addresses in Revelation 3.

To those who have ears is a very broad term, it applies to everyone but the real question is are we listening. The lack of reading from the Bible closes some of the avenues in which the Creator speaks off, but not all avenues. Remember Holy Spirit speaks also. Here through the authority of the word the Spirit spoke through John and while this letter was not written to us, it was used for us.

Many seasons go by in life where we want to hear from the Lord why we are undertaking what we are, for as long as we are, and how to get out of it; but I ask are we listening? Are we more into the news, the cost of goods, politics, entertainment, more into or jobs, more into our relationships than we should be and are we listening?