The Message to Sardis

Revelation 3 "To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
"This is the message from the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know what you are doing; I know that you have the reputation of being alive, even though you are dead! ²So wake up, and strengthen what you still have before it dies completely. For I find that what you have done is not yet perfect in the sight of my God. ³Remember, then, what you were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn from your sins. If you do not wake up, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not even know the time when I will come. ⁴But a few of you there in Sardis have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so. ⁵Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will not remove their names from the book of the living. In the presence of my Father and of his angels I will declare openly that they belong to me.
⁶"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!

The Message to Philadelphia

⁷"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
"This is the message from the one who is holy and true. He has the key that belonged to David, and when he opens a door, no one can close it, and when he closes it, no one can open it. ⁸I know what you do; I know that you have a little power; you have followed my teaching and have been faithful to me. I have opened a door in front of you, which no one can close. ⁹Listen! As for that group that belongs to Satan, those liars who claim that they are Jews but are not, I will make them come and bow down at your feet. They will all know that I love you. ¹⁰Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you safe from the time of trouble which is coming upon the world to test all the people on earth. ¹¹I am coming soon. Keep safe what you have, so that no one will rob you of your victory prize. ¹²I will make those who are victorious pillars in the temple of my God, and they will never 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 will come down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on them my new name.
¹³"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!

The Message to Laodicea

¹⁴"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
"This is the message from the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the origin of all that God has created. ¹⁵I know what you have done; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth! ¹⁷You say, 'I am rich and well off; I have all I need.' But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked, and blind. ¹⁸I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes, so that you may see. ¹⁹I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins. ²⁰Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if any hear my voice and open the door, I will come into their house and eat with them, and they will eat with me. ²¹To those who win the victory I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, just as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his throne.
²²"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!"

Nehemiah Overcomes Opposition to His Work

Nehemiah 4 When Sanballat heard that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he became furious and began to ridicule us. ²In front of his companions and the Samaritan troops he said, "What do these miserable Jews think they're doing? Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day? Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble?"
³Tobiah was standing there beside him, and he added, "What kind of wall could they ever build? Even a fox could knock it down!"
⁴I prayed, "Hear how they make fun of us, O God! Let their ridicule fall on their own heads. Let them be robbed of everything they have, and let them be taken as prisoners to a foreign land. ⁵Don't forgive the evil they do and don't forget their sins, for they have insulted us who are building."
⁶So we went on rebuilding the wall, and soon it was half its full height, because the people were eager to work.
⁷Sanballat, Tobiah, and the people of Arabia, Ammon, and Ashdod heard that we were making progress in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and that the gaps in the wall were being closed, and they became very angry. ⁸So they all plotted together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion, ⁹but we prayed to our God and kept men on guard against them day and night.
¹⁰The people of Judah had a song they sang:
"We grow weak carrying burdens;
There's so much rubble to take away.
How can we build the wall today?"
¹¹Our enemies thought we would not see them or know what was happening until they were already upon us, killing us and putting an end to our work. ¹²But time after time Jews who were living among our enemies came to warn us of the plans our enemies were making against us. ¹³So I armed the people with swords, spears, and bows, and stationed them by clans behind the wall, wherever it was still unfinished.
¹⁴I saw that the people were worried, so I said to them and to their leaders and officials, "Don't be afraid of our enemies. Remember how great and terrifying the Lord is, and fight for your relatives, your children, your wives, and your homes." ¹⁵Our enemies heard that we had found out what they were plotting, and they realized that God had defeated their plans. Then all of us went back to rebuilding the wall.
¹⁶From then on half of my men worked and half stood guard, wearing coats of armor and armed with spears, shields, and bows. And our leaders gave their full support to the people ¹⁷who were rebuilding the wall. Even those who carried building materials worked with one hand and kept a weapon in the other, ¹⁸and everyone who was building kept a sword strapped to their waist. The man who was to sound the alarm on the bugle stayed with me. ¹⁹I told the people and their officials and leaders, "The work is spread out over such a distance that we are widely separated from one another on the wall. ²⁰If you hear the bugle, gather around me. Our God will fight for us." ²¹So every day, from dawn until the stars came out at night, half of us worked on the wall, while the other half stood guard with spears.
²²During this time I told the men in charge that they and all their helpers had to stay in Jerusalem at night, so that we could guard the city at night as well as work in the daytime. ²³I didn't take off my clothes even at night, neither did any of my companions nor my servants nor my bodyguards. And we all kept our weapons at hand.

God the Ruler of the World

Psalm 98 Sing a new song to the LORD;
he has done wonderful things!
By his own power and holy strength
he has won the victory.
²The LORD announced his victory;
he made his saving power known to the nations.
³He kept his promise to the people of Israel
with loyalty and constant love for them.
All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God.

⁴Sing for joy to the LORD, all the earth;
praise him with songs and shouts of joy!
⁵Sing praises to the LORD!
Play music on the harps!
⁶Blow trumpets and horns,
and shout for joy to the LORD, our king.

⁷Roar, sea, and every creature in you;
sing, earth, and all who live on you!
⁸Clap your hands, you rivers;
you hills, sing together with joy before the LORD,
⁹because he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the peoples of the world
with justice and fairness.