The fifth church addressed is that of Sardis, one of the most famous of the seven cities to which these Epistles are sent, the capital in former days of the great kingdom of Lydia, Croesus' kingdom, largely engaged in commercial enterprises, and distinguished for a magnificent temple of the goddess... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:1. First, as in each previous case, we have a description of Him from whom the message comes, HE THAT HATH THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD AND THE SEVEN STARS (cp. Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:16). The description is different from that of chap Revelation 2:1, where the Lord is described as ‘h... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:2. BECOME WATCHFUL. Sardis had failed to ‘watch,' the very sin into which spiritual pride is sure to fall. Therefore must she first of all awake, discover what her temptation is, and put herself on her guard against the foe. AND STABLISH THE THINGS THAT REMAIN WHICH WERE READY TO DIE;... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:3. The exhortation to Sardis is to remember, not the simple fact that she had received, but how she had done so, AFTER WHAT MANNER THOU HAST RECEIVED, the earnestness, the faithfulness, and the zeal which had marked the first stages of her spiritual life. The change of tense in the next... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:4. Sardis was not wholly given over to evil, and the Lord does not less mark and approve the good than condemn the evil that was in her. BUT THOU HAST A FEW NAMES IN SARDIS WHICH DID NOT DEFILE THEIR GARMENTS. It is impossible to miss the play upon the word ‘names' as compared with ‘th... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:5. HE THAT OVERCOMETH SHALL THUS BE CLOTHED IN WHITE GARMENTS. He shall be clothed about, shall be wrapped round and round with the glistering glory of Revelation 3:4. AND I WILL IN NO WISE BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE. The ‘book of life' is a book conceived of as a regist... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:6. The usual call, with which the four last Epistles close.... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:7. The sixth church addressed is that of Philadelphia, a city of Asia Minor, of which it is unnecessary to say more than that it possessed considerable importance, without attaining to the rank of the other cities mentioned in these Chapter s. To this church the Lord is introduced in te... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:8. The contents of the Epistle begin in the usual manner, and then proceed, the first sentence being parenthetical, BEHOLD, I HAVE GIVEN BEFORE THEE AN OPEN DOOR, AND NO ONE CAN SHUT IT. The translation of the original thus offered cannot be said to be idiomatic; but, when the inspired... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:9. The two parts of this verse each beginning with ‘Behold' must be taken together, for the second ‘behold' is the repetition of the first. Those referred to are described as in chap. Revelation 2:9 (see note there). Commentators generally imagine that we have here a promise of the conv... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:10. BECAUSE THOU DIDST KEEP THE WORD OF MY PATIENCE. The reference is neither to any precepts of Christ concerning patience, nor to any accounts given us of the patience of Christ Himself, but simply to Christ's ‘word,' which cannot be kept without much patient endurance on the part of... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:11. I COME QUICKLY. Comp. chap. Revelation 2:25 and Revelation 3:3, in both of which the general, rather than any special, coming of the Lord had been spoken of. He was to ‘come' in the first, to ‘come as a thief' in the second; now He ‘comes quickly.' THAT NO ONE TAKE THY CROWN, that... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:12. We have now the promise to him that overcometh, which is divided into three parts, not two. (1) HIM WILL I MAKE A PILLAR IN THE TEMPLE OF MY GOD. He shall not merely be a living stone in the temple, but something much more beautiful and glorious. It may be doubted if the idea of sta... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:13. The usual call at the close of the second group of the seven Epistles.... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:14. The seventh church addressed is that or Laodicea, an important and wealthy city not very far from Philadelphia. The chief interest of Laodicea, apart from that lent to it by the fact that it was one of the seven cities addressed in the Apocalypse, arises from its connection with the... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:15. The contents of the Epistle now begin. THAT THOU ART NEITHER COLD NOR HOT: I would thou wert cold or hot. The latter words throw light upon the interpretation of the former, for they show that we cannot well understand by ‘cold' either the state of a heart simply untouched by the Go... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:16. Hence the emphatic threatening of this verse. For the figure comp. Leviticus 18:28; Leviticus 20:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:17. This verse is sometimes connected with the preceding, as giving a further statement of the reason why the Lord would deal with the church at Laodicea according to His threatening. But it is more natural to connect it with Revelation 3:18, and to regard it as containing the ground of... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:18. The counsel follows. I COUNSEL THEE TO BUY OF ME GOLD REFINED OUT OF FIRE, not that gold which cannot stand the fire of the great day, but the true gold of My kingdom, purified by being burnt in the furnace of trial, that thus thou MAYEST BE RICH; AND WHITE GARMENTS, that thou mayes... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:19. AS MANY AS I LOVE I CONVICT AND CHASTEN. The ‘I' before ‘convict' is very emphatic, ‘I, who though I was rich became poor, who bought true riches by suffering and death,' For the force of ‘convict' comp. note on John 16:8. BE ZEALOUS THEREFORE, AND REPENT. ‘Be zealous' comes first... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:20. BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR. The figure is not intended to convey to the church the thought of the Lord's constant presence, but rather the assurance that He has taken up a new position, that He is at hand for judgment, and that He will immediately admit His people to the full enjoy... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:21. HE THAT OVERCOMETH, TO HIM WILL I GRANT TO SIT DOWN ALONG WITH ME IN MY THRONE, etc. This promise is the highest of all that we have met in the seven Epistles. The throne of Jesus is the throne of God, ‘I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one;' ‘Father, that w... [ Continue Reading ]
Revelation 3:22. The Epistle closes with the usual call of the Spirit to the churches. We have considered the Epistles to the seven churches separately; but, before leaving the subject, it may be well to make a few remarks upon them as a whole. That they are intended to be thus looked at is allowed... [ Continue Reading ]