Table Of Contents
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
This was written in the 80's before I understood that the KJV is the only reliable English Translation.
REVELATION CHAPTER THREE
Verse 1 : And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
This verse identifies the speaker as “He that hath the seven Spirits of God” which is a reference to the Lord Jesus in Isaiah 11:2 where it says, “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” A study of the number 7 in the Bible shows that it is the number that signifies completeness and perfection, especially “spiritual perfection.” [1] “... [I]n Revelation the phrase “seven Spirits” is used to assure us of the completeness, the fullness and the diversified actions and ministries of the One Holy Spirit ...” [2] Note again the sevenfold Spirit that was prophesied by Isaiah to be upon the Lord Jesus: 1) the spirit of the LORD (Jehovah, I AM), 2) the spirit of wisdom, 3) the spirit of understanding, 4) the spirit of counsel, 5) the spirit of might, 6) the spirit of knowledge, 7) the spirit of the fear of the Lord. Jesus Christ “hath the seven Spirits of God.”
Jesus also has “the seven stars,” or “angels” (i.e. pastors; cf. Revelation 1:20) “in His right hand” (Revelation 2:1). The Lord protects them and He gives them the words that they preach (Mark 13:10-11; Luke 21:15).
Jesus addresses the Pastor of the Church of Sardis thusly, “thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” This Pastor may well have been unsaved. “In the message to ... Sardis, we have the general ... condition of the church after the Reformation. In the message to Thyatira, we have the condition of the church before the Reformation. In Sardis, Protestantism is in power, whereas in Thyatira… the Popacy (Rome) controled.” [3] “The fullness of the Spirit is in Christ; and we can rest assured that whatever state the church may be in (it may have left it’s first love, it may be corrupt, it may be dead) there is in Him ... adequate spiritual power to meet every need, regardless of what that need may be.” [4] The Sardis Period began in 1517. “... [D]uring the Reformation, entire countries became Protestant without being born again. Protestantism was made a state religion ... Thus Sardis became the mother of dead orthodoxy. Her theme song was not ‘Standing on the Promises’ but ‘Sleeping on the Premises’ ...” [5]
There are millions of religious people in the world that claim the name of Christ but are not born again. They depend on church rites, good deeds, the pastor or priest for salvation. (Matthew 7:13-14, John 10:7-11). To these Jesus will one day say: “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). Make sure you know Christ (John 3, Romans 3:23, 6:23: 10:9-11, Luke 16:10-14).
“The Reformation was a definite turning point in the history of Western Christianity. God used Martin Luther and others to open the eyes of the masses, and ... the Word Of God was put into language the common people could understand. Down through the ages, Rome has done her best to keep the Word of God from the ordinary people ...(I John 2:27).” [6]
Verse 2 - 3: Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore, thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Being “watchful” has to do with watching for the Second Coming of Christ (Luke 21:36; Mathew 24:40-44, 25:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:6-10; 1 Peter 4:7). One of the areas of truth the Reformation churches failed to proclaim was the return of Christ. No wonder many of the present-day offspring of the Reformation have ministers who say, “No one can understand the book of Revelation.” These are the ones Jesus is speaking to when He says, “Be watchful ... therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
The Lord told Ephesus, “Remember ... from where thou art fallen and repent” (Revelation 2:5) and here again He says, “Remember ... how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.” Some had “received” Christ, while most had only “heard” about Him, but had not received Him. The group that received needs to “hold fast.” The group that only “heard” needs to “repent.” However, saved folks often need to “repent” also (I John 1:8 - 2:2). One group needs to repent unto salvation and the other unto strengthening “the things which remain, that are ready to die.”
Church members with the characteristics of those in the lost group who are alive at the Rapture will enter the Tribulation along with unbelieving Israel and “that woman Jezebel” unless they repent and receive Christ. This is clear from the Lord’s statement that He “will come on [them] as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (cf. Matthew 24:40-51, I Thessalonians 5:1-10)
Verse 4 : Thou hast a few names even is Sardis that have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.
“They are worthy” only because He is worthy (Revelation 5:9); they will walk with Him in white because they “have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14, cf. I John 1:7, Hebrews 9:14, Zechariah 3:1-5). After their salvation they continued in their “first love” and did not defile their garments as many shameful Christians do. There were “a few” in Sardis that hungered for and feed upon the Word of God (I Peter 2:2, Job 23:12); that longed to see others come to Christ (Jude 22-23); that “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17); that love to do the will of God (I Peter 1:16, I Thessalonians 4:3, Psalm 40:8, Matthew 6:10).
Verse 5: He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in whit raiment; and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.
This “white raiment” is “the righteousness of the saints” which will be given to the bride of Christ, the fully assembled Church (Revelation 19:6-9)
Jesus says to all, “He that overcometh, ... I will not blot his name out of the book of life.” What security! Whoever is saved by “faith” in Jesus having overcome by “the blood of the Lamb” (1 John 4:4, 5:4-5; 1 Corinthians 15:56-57; Revelation 12:11) will never have his name boltted out of “the Lamb’s book of life” which is Heaven’s reservation list (Revelation 21:27).
God completed “the book of life” “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 17:8), because God is omniscient. The Bible says believers are “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ …” (1 Peter 1:2). “… He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ …” (Ephesians 1:4-5).
God is “not willing that any should perish” (II Peter 3:9) and He has not predestinated anyone to Hell. Such Calvinistic language is not found in the Bible. The only predestining He does is that of believers “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). God knew all that would freely receive Christ Jesus “from the beginning” and chosen them to salvation “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13), and He also knew all that would reject Him since “before the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Belief of the Truth is the one and only condition for salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:12; John 1:12, 3:15-16, 36; Ephesians 2:8). It was God’s plan that all mankind live with Him forever. Hell was not made for people, but rather, the “everlasting fire” was “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). But when one rejects God’s love and payment for sin, “but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1).
The Lord Jesus also promised the overcomer thusly, “I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” In Luke Jesus said, “Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God; but he that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven. (Luke 12:9-10). Jesus informs us further that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to “reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement: of sin because they believe not on Me; of righteousness because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgement, because the prince of this world [Satan] is judged” (John 16:8-11). Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is calling Him a liar (unbelief) when He reproves us. “… And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is Truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. … He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:6-7, 10-12) These who have the witness in themselves Jesus will confess their names before the Father and before the angels of God.
Verse 6: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Let’s pay attention to what the holy Spirit says!
Verse 7: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man openeth.”
The sixth letter is written to the Church of Philadelphia and historically covers the years from about 1730 to 1900. The period began with “The Great Awakening” of spiritual revival and missions work. The period is marked by great Baptist preachers such as John Gill (1697-1771), Morgan Edwards (1722-1795), Isaac Backus (1724-1806), George Liele (1750-1820), John Leland (1754-1841), William Carey (1761-1834), Christmas Evans (1766-1838), Luther Rice (1783-1836), Adoniram Judson (1788-1850), J. M. Cramp (1796-1881), J. R. Graves (1820-1893), John Broadus (1827-1895), Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) and J. M. Carroll (1858-1931). Some notable Protestant preachers of the time were John Wesley 1703-1791), Jonathon Edwards (1703-1758), George Whitefield (1714-1770), Charles Finney (1792-1875) , D. L. Moody (1837-1899), and C.I. Scofield (1843-1921). These men and others were greatly used of God to bring multitudes to Christ on both sides of the Atlantic and in Asia. It was a time of great missionary endeavors. Christ had opened the door for all mankind to hear the Gospel.
Jesus says that He is “holy” and “true”. Jesus Christ is the only man that ever lived that never sinned. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin” (I John 3:5, cf. I Peter 2:22, Hebrews 4:15, 7:26, Acts 3:14). Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by [Him]” (John 14:6). “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, cf. I Timothy 2:5, Matthew 1:21).
“Jesus is the One who has the key of David (Isaiah 22:22). Jesus is also the One who holds the keys of hell and of death (v. 1:18). Jesus gave to Peter the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:17-19), and Peter used those keys to open the Kingdom of Heaven to the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). He again used the keys to open the door of salvation by grace to the Gentiles…(Acts 10). Peter (and others who gave us God’s Word, the Bible) left these doors open; therefore the keys of the kingdom are mentioned no more. (The door) does not need to be opened in these modern days by a pope, a priest…a preacher nor an evangelist. The door is open to ‘whosoever will.’“[7] (I Corinthians 2:13, John 16:8-11, Nehemiah 9:20, I John 2:27)
Verse 8: “I know thy works; behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut is; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My name.”
Jesus set before Philadelphia “an open door”. He said: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). This “open door” speaks of missionary service (Acts 14:27, I Corinthians 16:8-9).
This church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship” (Acts 2:42). They are the Church of Brotherly Love. They loved one another and they loved fallen and lost mankind. They keep the Lord’s Word and “earnestly contend for the faith” (Jude 3). They do not deny the Lord Jesus Christ’s holy name.
They are few in number and have only “a little strength,” because “straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads unto life and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14).
Verse 9: “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”
To Christ rejecting Jews the Lord Jesus said: “ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh, of his own; for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). This holds true of all false religion. The devil is the father of all false religion; and all false religion kills spiritually. It is only by the blood of Christ that we are saved (Genesis 3:7, 15, 21). All religions that rejects this or add to it are “of the synagogue of Satan,” their father.
Those of false religions will be forced to admit that Jesus is the only way to salvation at the Great White Throne of God, but it will be to late for them then. Jesus “will make them to come and worship before thy feet [the feet of believers].” Believers will have already bowed the knee to Jesus so we will be standing when God makes them worship Jesus before our feet.
Verse 10: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
Because the great Philadelphia Church kept the Word of God, telling people of Christ’s love, “teaching [all nations] to observe all things whatsoever [Jesus] commanded” (Matthew 28:20) the Lord will keep them from “the hour of temptation [the Great Tribulation] which shall come upon all the world.” Just as the false professors of Thyatira and Sardis (Revelation 2:22, 3:3) will go into the Great Tribulation, the true ones of Philadelphia will not. “In the Greek, the word ‘from’ is ‘ek,’ meaning ‘out of.’ God promises to keep … believers out of, not through (preservation), but out of (evacuation), the Tribulations.” [8]
Verse 11: “Behold, I come quickly; hold fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
When Jesus comes for His Church it will be suddenly “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (I Corinthians 15:51). There will be no time to do anything for God then! The rewards will have already been determined (Revelation 22:12).
Verse 12: “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God; and I will write upon him My new name.”
The city of Philadelphia was plagued with earthquakes. The symbolism of the pillar here signifies stability, strength, and security. The pillar reminds us of Solomon’s Temple which had two pillars with the names Jachin (meaning: “It shall be established) and Boaz (meaning: “In it is strength”). The pillar also reminds us of Peters description of born again believers who have come to Christ “as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood” (I Peter 2:4-5). The Temple of God in the New Jerusalem will be God Himself (Revelation 21:22) and believers (Ephesians 2:20-22). Christians are spiritual pillars in God’s Temple.
Problems such as the earthquakes that troubled Philadelphia will not trouble those in the New Jerusalem and they “shall go no more out.” “True believers are pushed around by the worldly element in local assemblies. [They] are many times pushed out of the local church. But thanks be unto God, true believers and true preachers will not be pushed out of that holy temple in the New Jerusalem.” [9] “He [the believer] shall go no more out” and “there shall in no way enter into it anything that defileth … but they who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).
We will look at the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city that Jesus went to prepare for us at His ascension, when we get to chapter 21 (cf. John 14:1-3, Hebrews 12:22-24).
What a privilege to be the property of God! To have His name, and the name of His city and the name of His Son written on us shows that we are His.
Verse 13: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Verse 14: And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These thins saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
Laodicea means “people’s rights” which well describes the worldly social and political agenda of the greater part of Christendom in these last days. The worldly Laoidicean characteristics will dominate Christendom till Jesus comes back again (II Timothy 3:1-5; II Peter 2:1-3; II Thessalonians 2:1) and will dominate the false Church of the Tribulation.
Laodicea is referred to by Paul in his letter to the Colossians (Colossians 2:1, 4:13-16). It must have been in better spiritual condition when Paul wrote the Colossians around A.D. 60 than at the time of the Lord’s massage here (about A.D. 95). In Jesus’ message to them He has not one good thing to say about them.
The Lord here calls Himself “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.” “[Jesus as the Amen] echoes God’s Word and work. He says ‘Amen’ to all God says and does. [As the ‘true witness’]… Christ is the perfect representative of God … Laban said of a covenant with Jacob, ‘God is witness’ (Genesis 31:50). God sees all and judges all perfectly.” [10] As “the beginning of the creation of God” Jesus Christ is the creator (Colossians 1:15, John 1:3, Hebrews 1:2). The Lord Jesus is “not the first creature that God made, but the first cause of the creation; the first Parent, producer, and efficient cause of every creature; the author of the old creation, who made all things out of nothing in the beginning of time ...'' [11]
Verses 15 - 16: “I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So, then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth.”
The condition of this church makes God so sick that He vomits them out of His mouth. Many of the churches of our day are indifferent to Christ. They do not stand up for Him nor do they put Him down. Rather than standing on the promises they are just sitten on the premises. “The situation is so drastic that whereas parishioners used to quote the verse, ‘Many are called but few are chosen,’ they now think that the new reversed version states ‘Many are cold and a few are frozen.’” [12] Indifference is damning more people today than liquor, dope, and other kinds of sin combined. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3) The putting off receiving Jesus is the sin that damns the soul.
Verses 17 - 18: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”
Here Jesus addresses two groups that “say…, I am rich.” The first group is saved, indifferent, but saved. They are the ones that should “buy…gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich.” In other words, get busy about God’s business so you will be rewarded in heaven and not be “ashamed” before God when Hew comes (1 John 2:28; 2 Tim 2:15). The other group is lost. They need to “buy…without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1) “white raiment” which speaks of salvation.
Both groups of this indifferent church need Christ’s eye salve. The lost “in whom the god of this age hath blinded the minds of them who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (II Corinthians 4:4) need the salve to be saved. Indifferent believers need the salve so they “may be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Laodicea is rich materially but bankrupt spiritually. “The modern church, headed by such councils as the National Council of Churches (NCC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), has established its organizations in the center of the world’s racial, social, and political spheres of life. The mission boards of many churches are using money for social missions that once went overseas to preach the Gospel. The leaders of the modern liberal churches believe the church must be the cure for all the racial, social and political strife found in the world, claiming that this is the mission of the church. But the mission of the church ... is to preach the Gospel of Grace ... (Acts 15:14-15). The wealth of the modern church has been well illustrated by Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, former president of the NCC and also the General Secretary of the WCC. He stated, ‘In view of their favored tax position, with reasonably good management, America’s churches ought to be able to control the whole economy of the nation within the predictable future.” [13]
Verses 19 - 22: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Here we have invitations to the rich lost Laodicians and to all lost people to receive Christ (John 3:16), and for the saved to get right with God (Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:5-11).
God is speaking to everyone, “he that hath an ear.” The promise is that all, rich and poor alike, who overcome by faith in the blood of the Lamb of God (1 John 5:5; Revelation 12:11) and are regenerated or born again into the family of God (Titus 3:5; Matthew 19:28; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 5:4), will inherit everlasting life, and will be rewarded for the labors for Christ.
A perfect example of the Laodicians is the Lord’s lesson to the rich young man of Matthew 19 and to His disciples afterwards. The Bible says:
“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” (Matthew 19:16-29)
Christ was showing that rich young man two essentials for salvation: First, the young man needed to know that Jesus is God and truly is good. Secondly he needed to realize that he was a sinner. The rich young man had lie about keeping all the commandments and clearly demonstrated that he was guilty of breaking the tenth commandment, covetousness. The two essentials for salvation: Realize God’s ability to save us, and our inability to save ourselves.
All who follow Christ “in the regeneration … shall inherit everlasting life” and shall be rewarded for the service they do for God.
E-mail: KJV@LandmarkBibleBaptist.net
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