Revelation 3

Revelation 3:1

E. To Sardis (3:1-6) 3:1 Sardis means those escaping or renovation. The Lord reveals Himself as the One who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. It is in the power of the Holy Spirit that He controls the churches and their messengers. Sardis was a church of lifeless profession. It had a reputation as a Christian assembly, but for the most part, it simply went through a formal, dull routine. It did not overflow with spiritual life. It did not sparkle with the supernatural. 3:2, 3 The Lord called it to a new zeal and a new endeavor to strengthen what little there remained for Him, for even that was showing signs of dying. The people had often started projects for God but had never brought them to completion. Christ warned them to hold fast the sacred deposit of truth and to repent of their lifelessness. Unless they awoke, He would come unexpectedly and deal with them in judgment. 3:4 There was a remnant even in Sardis which had not lost its Christian testimony. These believers who had not defiled their garments with worldliness would walk with Christ in white. 3:5 They were the overcomers, whose righteous acts marked them as true believers. Their white garments speak of the righteousness of their lives. Because they were manifestly true Christians, their names would not be blotted out of the Book of Life. Some think that the Book of Life contains the names of all who have been given physical life. According to this view, those who show by their lives that they have been truly born again will not be removed from the book whereas, by implication, all others will. Others see the book as a register of those who have spiritual life. They are promised that their names will not be blotted out, that is, that they will never lose their salvation. According to this view, the fact that some names will not be blotted out does not require that others will. Because of the consistent teaching of the Scriptures that salvation is by grace, not by works, and because of the clear statements that the true believer is eternally secure (Joh_3:16; Joh_5:24; Joh_10:27-29), verse 5 cannot imply the possibility of a child of God ever being lost. Our Lord adds the promise that He will confess the names of the over comers before His Father and the angels of heaven. 3:6 Again men are called to hear this solemn warning against having a religious profession without ever having been born again. The assembly at Sardis is often taken as a picture of the Post-Reformation period when the church became formal, ritualistic, worldly, and political. The Protestant state churches of Europe and the American colonies were leaders in this drift.

Revelation 3:7

F. To Philadelphia (3:7-13) 3:7 Philadelphia means love for the brethren. To this church the Lord appears as He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, who shuts and no one opens.In other words, He has administrative power and uncontestable control: The open door which Jewish synagogue and pagan cults were powerless to shut is the God-given opportunity to preach Christ to all who will hear. The key of David is an Old Testament allusion to the absolute sovereignty of God in opening doors and shutting mouths. See Isa_22:22. 3:8 The assembly at Philadelphia received only words of praise from the Lord. The saints had been faithful. They had been zealous for good works. In their own human weakness, they had trusted in the Lord. As a result, they had been able to preserve the truth by living it out in their lives. They had not denied Christ’s name. Therefore, He would set before them an open door of opportunity that no one would be able to shut. 3:9 Those self-styled Jews who had opposed them so bitterly would be humbled before these simple believers. Those who claimed to be God’s chosen people, though actually a synagogue of Satan, would be forced to admit that the despised Christians were actually the chosen flock. 3:10 Because the Philadelphians had maintained God’s truth by living it before men, the Lord would keep them from the hour of trial which is to come upon all who dwell on the earth. This is a promise of exemption from the Tribulation Period described in chapters 6-19. Note that they will be kept from the hour of trial, that is, from the whole time period. Also they will be kept out of that period (Greek, ek), not through it. Those who dwell on the earth is a technical term, meaning those who make this earth their home, men of the world who have their portion in this life (Psa_17:14 b). 3:11 Christ’s coming is held before the saints as a motive to steadfast endurance. They should not let anyone rob them of the victor’s crown when it is so near at hand. 3:12 The overcomer will be made a pillar in the inner sanctuary of God. Whatever else this may mean, it certainly carries the thought of strength, honor, and permanent security. He shall never leave this place of safety and joy. The overcomer will have three names written on him: the name of … God, the name of the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from … God, and the new name of the Lord Jesus. He will thus be identified as belonging to all three. 3:13 He who has an ear should listen to this message from the Spirit to the churches. The church of Philadelphia is often taken as a symbol of the great evangelical awakening in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the recovery of the truth concerning the church and Christ’s coming, and the worldwide missionary outreach. While evangelical Christians enjoyed a real measure of recovery during this period, yet Satan made a determined effort to leaven the church with legalism, ritualism, and rationalism.

Revelation 3:14

G. To Laodicea (3:14-22) 3:14 The name Laodicea means either the people ruling or the judgment of the people. The Lord Jesus speaks of Himself as the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God. As the Amen, He is the embodiment of faithfulness and truth, and the One who guarantees and fulfills the promises of God. He is also the originator of the creation of God, both material and spiritual. The expression, the Beginning of the creation of God does not mean that He was the first Person to be created; He was never created. Rather, it means that He began all creation. It does not say that He had a beginning, but that He is the Beginning. He is the origin of the creation of God. And He is pre-eminent over all creation. 3:15-17 The church at Laodicea was neither cold nor hot. It was sickeningly lukewarm. The Lord would have preferred it to have been extreme in its indifference or its zeal. But noit was lukewarm enough to deceive people into thinking that it was a church of God, and so disgustingly lukewarm about divine things as to nauseate the Most High. Furthermore, the church was characterized by pride, ignorance, self-sufficiency, and complacency. 3:18 The people were counseled to buy from the Lord gold refined in the fire. This may mean divine righteousness, which is bought without money or price (Isa_55:1) but received as a gift through faith in the Lord Jesus. Or it may mean genuine faith, which when tested in the fire, results in praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1Pe_1:7). Also the people were counseled to buy white garments, that is, practical righteousness in everyday life. And they should anoint their eyes with eye salve, that is, gain true spiritual vision through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. This counsel was especially appropriate, since Laodicea was known as a center for banking, textiles, and medicinesespecially eye salve. 3:19 The Lord’s love for the church is seen in the fact that He rebukes and chastens it. If He did not care, He would not bother. With lingering tenderness, He calls on this nominal church to be zealous and repent. 3:20 In the closing verses, we have what Scofield calls the place and attitude of Christ at the end of the church age. He is outside the professing church, politely knocking and inviting individuals (no longer the mass of the people) to leave the apostate church in order to have fellowship with Him. Trench comments: Every man is lord of the house of his own heart; it is his fortress; he must open the gates of it. He has the mournful prerogative and privilege of refusing to open. But if he refuses, he is blindly at strife with his own blessedness, a miserable conqueror. 3:21 The overcomer is promised that he will share the glory of Christ’s throne and reign with Him over the millennial earth. Those who follow Him in humility, rejection, and suffering will also follow Him in glory. 3:22 Then for the last time, the hearer is solemnly advised to listen to the voice of the Spirit. Whatever interpretation we take of the book of Revelation, it is undeniable that the church of Laodicea presents a vivid picture of the age in which we live. Luxury-living abounds on every hand while souls are dying for want of the gospel. Christians are wearing crowns instead of bearing a cross. We become more emotionally stirred over sports, politics, or television than we do over Christ. There is little sense of spiritual need, little longing for true revival. We give the best of our lives to the business world, then turn over the remnants of a wasted career to the Savior.

We cater to our bodies which in a few short years will return to dust. We accumulate instead of forsake, lay up treasures on earth instead of in heaven. The general attitude is, Nothing too good for the people of God. If I don’t pamper myself, who will? Let’s get ahead in the world and give our spare evenings to the Lord. This is our condition on the eve of Christ’s Return.