The Church in Sardis. Chap. Revelation 3:1-6 1. _that hath the seven Spirits of God_ See the last note on Revelation 1:4. Though "the Seven Spirits" were mentioned there, we have not yet heard of them as specially belonging to Christ: but this we End in Revelation 3:6. _and the seven stars_ Cf. Rev... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be watchful_ Literally, BECOME WATCHING: "awake and watch."] _the things which remain_ The elements of goodness, or means of goodness, which thou hast not yet lost. Cf. Revelation 2:6, and the first note there. _that are ready_ Read, WHICH WERE READY, i.e., would _have_died, but for the strengthe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Remember_ Cf. Revelation 2:5: but here it is the sound doctrine of the founders of the Church that is the standard to be regained: it does not appear that the former practice of the Church itself furnished such a standard. _hold fast_ Or KEEP: the word is the same as in Revelation 1:3, where see n... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast_ Read, BUT THOU HAST, and omit EVEN. _a few names_ Some understand, from the similar use of the word "names" in Acts 1:15, that at this time it was usual for every Church to keep a register of all its members. 1 Timothy 5:9 seems certainly to imply such a register of office-bearers at le... [ Continue Reading ]
_the same shall be clothed_ Read, SHALL THUS BE CLOTHED. Perhaps the sense is not so much "thus, as I have promised to the holy remnant in Sardis," but "thus as I am now." The colour of Christ's priestly robe (Revelation 1:13) was not stated (and see Pseudo-Barnabas, there quoted) but we are probabl... [ Continue Reading ]
The Church in Philadelphia. 7 13 7. _he that is holy, he that is true_ The same epithets are combined in Revelation 6:10, where _apparently_they belong rather to the Father than the Son. In Mark 1:24; John 6:69 (according to the true reading), Christ is called "the Holy One of God," and God's "Holy... [ Continue Reading ]
_an open door_ Through which thou mayest enter into the Kingdom, into the house of David. _and no man can shut it_ Probably the false Jews mentioned in the next verse denied the title of the Christians in Philadelphia to the privileges of brotherhood whence we may suppose that they were mostly Gent... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will make them of_&c. Literally, I GIVE OF THE &c. The use of "give" in this verse is frequent in Hebrew: here the sentence is unfinished, and is resumed by "I will make them come" &c. below. _the synagogue of Satan_ See on Revelation 2:9. _I will make them to come_&c. An application of Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because … I also_ It would be possible, but hardly in accordance with the usage of this book, to connect this with what goes before, "that I have loved thee, because thou hast kept …, and I will keep thee from.…... [ Continue Reading ]
_hold that fast which thou hast_ See on Revelation 2:6; Revelation 2:25. _that no man take thy crown_ i.e. rob thee of it: the image of a race or other contest for a prize does not seem in harmony with the context, nor with the style of this book.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Him that overcometh_ Lit. HE THAT OVERCOMETH, I WILL MAKE HIM, as in Revelation 2:26. _a pillar_ Used of chief men in the Church in Galatians 2:9, and perhaps 1 Timothy 3:15. All Christians are living-stones in the Temple (Ephesians 2:20 sqq., 1 Peter 2:5), all necessary to its completeness, but so... [ Continue Reading ]
The Church in Laodicea. 14 22 14. _the Amen_ See the last note on Revelation 1:7. Here the name is used, (i) because this is the last of the seven Epistles, that it may confirm the whole: (ii) as synonymous with the title "Faithful and True" that follows: for which see the latter group of reference... [ Continue Reading ]
_neither cold nor hot_ Neither untouched by spiritual life, dead and cold, as an unregenerate heathen would be, nor "fervent (lit. BOILING a cognate word to that here used) in spirit" (Romans 12:11). We might naturally speak (perhaps the Lord does, Matthew 24:12) of those as "cold" who were such as... [ Continue Reading ]
_because thou art lukewarm_ The image is of course taken from the tendency of lukewarm water to excite vomiting. It is _intended_to be an offensive one, interfering with the self-satisfied refinement to which it is addressed. _I will_ Rather, I SHALL SOON, or, I AM LIKELY TO …: the word used does n... [ Continue Reading ]
_I am rich, and increased with goods_ The words in the original are cognate, as it were, "I am rich, and have gotten riches." If there be any distinction of sense between them, the second expresses pride in the riches being his own acquisition, in addition to self-complacency in the enjoyment. For... [ Continue Reading ]
_I counsel thee_ "There is deep irony in this word. One _who has need of nothing_, yet needs counsel on the vital points of self-preservation." _to buy_ Cf. Isaiah 55:1: the counsel to a poor beggar to _buy_is of course meaningless, unless he can buy "without money and without price," or, as the Heb... [ Continue Reading ]
_As many as I love, I rebuke_ The pronoun "I" stands emphatically at the beginning of the sentence as it were, "My way with those I love (the word is a strong one, expressing affection, not simply charity), is to shew them their faults," not to "prophesy smooth things," and encourage the self-compla... [ Continue Reading ]
_I stand at the door, and knock_ The Lord expresses His affection, from which He has intimated that the Laodiceans are not excluded, by this figure of intense and condescending tenderness. It is intended to remind the readers of Song of Solomon 5:2: but the figure of the _lover's_midnight visit is t... [ Continue Reading ]
_To him that overcometh_ The construction is as in Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:12, "He that overcometh, I will give him." For the sense, compare the former of these passages; but the promise of sharing Christ's inheritance (Romans 8:17) is even more fully expressed here. _as I also overcame_ See... [ Continue Reading ]