Revelation 3
McGeeCHAPTER 3THEME: The church in the worldcontinued
Revelation 3:1
CHRIST’S LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN SARDISIn the panorama of church history, Sardis represents the Protestant church during the period between A.D. 1517 and approximately A.D. 1800. It began, I believe, when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses onto the chapel door of the church at Wittenburg, Germany. It is an era which started with the Reformation and takes us into the beginning of the great missionary movement in the history of the church. Sardis was the capital of the great kingdom of Lydia and one of the oldest and most important cities of Asia Minor. It was located inland and built on a small, elevated plateau which rises sharply above the Hermus Valley. On all sides but one the rock walls are smooth, nearly perpendicular and absolutely unscalable. The only access is on the southern side by a very steep and difficult path. One time when I was there, another preacher and I tried to make the climb. He went farther than I did, but we both gave up long before we reached the top. As the civilization and the commerce grew more complex, the high plateau became too small, and a lower city was built chiefly on the west side of the original city. The old city was used as an acropolis. Actually this made it a double city, and it was called by the plural noun Sardeis or Sardis. The plain was well watered by the Pactolus River. It became the center of the carpet industry and was noted for its wealth. Coins were first minted there. Its last prince was the wealthy Croesus who was captured by Cyrus. He was considered the wealthiest man in the world, and everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. Sardis was ruled by the Persians, by Alexander, by Antiochus the Great, and finally by the Romans. It was destroyed by an earthquake during the reign of Tiberius. In our day the ruins of the temple of Cybele and also of the temple of Apollo can still be seen. It is one of the few double temples that you will find in the world. Cybele was known as Diana in Ephesus, but when you get inland, she becomes a nature goddess. She was the goddess of the moon, and Apollo was the god of the sunthey were brother and sister. This was a very corrupt worship, much like the worship of Diana at Ephesus. Extensive excavations have taken place at Sardis. They are rebuilding the gymnasium and also the synagogue. And they have dug up the Roman road that is there. The thing that thrilled me when I looked at that road was that I knew the apostle Paul had walked up and down it. “These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars.” He presents Himself to the church at Sardis as the One having the seven Spirits of God; that is, He is the One who sent the Holy Spirit into the world. As we have seen, Sardis represents the Protestant church. My friend, the church today needs the Spirit of God working in it. We think we need methods, and we have all kinds of Band-Aid courses for believers in which you put on a little Band-Aid, and it will solve all your problems. What we really need to do is to get to the person of Christ whom only the Holy Spirit can make real and living to us. This is the thing Protestantism needs today. Following the dark night of the Dark Ages, the Holy Spirit was still in the world doing His work. He moved in the hearts of men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, and many, many others. “I know thy works.” This is the word of commendation. Remember that the Reformation recovered the doctrine of justification by faith, and this faith produced works. “That thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” Protestantism today, as a whole, has a name that it lives, but it is dead. Many Protestant churches today are just going through the form. They are building all the time, and people are coming, especially on Sunday mornings. But there are not many at the midweek service, when they really ought to come to hear the Word of God. “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” This is a frightful condemnation and is a picture of Protestantism today. We need to recognize that all of the truth was not recovered by the Reformation. For example, I believe that the doctrine of eschatology, prophecy, is just now being developed in our own day.
Revelation 3:2
Let me give you my translation of this verse: Wake up and watch out and establish the things that remain which were about to die, for I have found no works of thine fulfilled (perfected) before my God. This is the second word of condemnation, and it is a word of warning which had particular meaning in Sardis. As I have said, Sardis was located on the top of a mountain. It had one entrance on the southern side which was the only way you could get into the city in the old days. Therefore, all that Sardis had to do was to put a detail at that one place to watch the city. But on two occasions in their history they had been invaded by their enemies because they had felt secure, believing that the hill was impregnable, and the guard went to sleep on the job.
In 549 A.D. the Median soldiers of Cyrus scaled the parapet, and then again in 218 A.D. Antiochus the Great captured Sardis because a Cretan slipped over the walls while the sentries were careless. What the Lord says to this church at Sardis is this: “You wake up and watch out!” This was embarrassing because of the two occasions in their history when they had been caught napping. He says to the church, “Don’t you go to sleep!” Protestantism, as a whole, has turned away from looking for the coming of Jesus Christ, and they have built up these systems that certain things must be fulfilled before He can come. My friend, it is tissue-thin from where we are right now to the coming of Christ for His church. He could come the next moment or tomorrow. Don’t say that I said He is coming tomorrow because I don’t know. It may be a hundred years, but, my friend, His imminent return is what we are to look for. Sardis didn’t know when the enemy was coming, and we don’t know when Christ is comingwe have no way of knowing at all. In view of the fact that the Rapture could take place at any moment, the church is to be alert. The date is not set, nor even the period in which He will come, and the reason for that is that the church is to be constantly on the alert for His coming"Looking for that blessed hope …" (Tit_2:13). You see, anyone can make ready for a fixed hour, but you must always be ready for an unexpected hour. The Lord Jesus is saying to Protestantism that they are constantly to be on the alert. “For I have not found thy works perfect before God.” Protestantism did recover the authority of the Word of God, the total depravity of man, and justification by faith, but there are many other things that they did not recover. The Reformation was not a return to the apostolic church.
Revelation 3:3
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.” The idea is that they were to hold fast to these things because they were about to die. The great truths which were recovered in the Reformation are being lost. For instance, the Protestant church, by and large, has lost the authority of the Word of God. Rather than holding to the doctrine of the total depravity of man, many of our conservative churches are improving and using cosmetics on the carnal nature, thinking that somehow or another you can get up a few little rules and regulations which are going to enable you to live the Christian life. Also, the great doctrine of justification by faith has been pretty much abandoned, and a legalistic message is given that you have to do something in order to be saved. These are the things which characterize Protestantism today; it is very far from its original position. “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” As we have seen, Sardis was built high upon a mountaintop which was impossible to scale except at one point. There is so much erosion of the soil in Turkey that two thousand years agoin the days of Paul and Johnthe mountain was much higher and even more inaccessible than it is today. In spite of that, there were these two occasions when enemy soldiers gained entrance to the city. This was very embarrassing to this citytwo times it was captured because the guard went to sleep. The Lord says to the church at Sardis, “Don’t you go to sleep. Wake up and watch out.” He could come at any moment. The people of Sardis did not know when the enemy was coming, and we do not know when the Lord Jesus is coming.
Revelation 3:4
But thou hast a few names (persons) in Sardis that did not besmirch (defile) their Christian life (garments); and they shall walk with me in white (garments); for they are worthy. In Israel it was never the corporate body of the total national life but always a remnant that was true to God. Here the church is told, “You have a few.” In Luk_12:32 the Lord called His church “little flock.” Protestantism today has its saints who love the Word, who are faithful to Him even in these days, and who stand by the Word of God. They do not engage in sin-defiling activities, nor are they engaged in fleshly activity. Protestantism has produced some great men, and I will mention some, although I am going to leave out a great many. I think of the Reformation leaders: Martin Luther and John Calvin stand out, head and shoulders, above all others. Of course, there was John Knox, a great man of God who did so much for Scotland. Later on, there was John Bunyan, the great Baptist who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, which tells of his own life and how God marvelously saved him. John Wesley was the founder of the Methodist church. God marvelously saved that man and used him in such a way that he is given credit by historians for saving England from the revolution which destroyed France and prevented it from ever becoming a first-rate nation again.
Wesley has been called the greatest Englishman of all. He certainly did more for that country than any other Englishman who has ever lived. Then there was a man like John Moffatt, the Scotchman who went to Africa, and David Livingstone who first opened up that continent. William Carey went to India and later was followed by a sickly young man by the name of Henry Martyn. Finally, I always like to include Titus Coan, who led the greatest revival since Pentecost out in the Hawaiian Islands. Protestantism has had some names who didn’t defile themselves and were true to the Word of God. There are quite a few such men living today, but I wouldn’t dare to begin to name them because of the fact that I would be apt to leave some out who ought to be included. Protestantism has certainly produced some great men of God. Romanism did the same thing, even during the Dark Ages, but that does not mean to commend the system. The system of Romanism and the system of Protestantism, as they are revealed in the great denominations which have departed from the faith, to me are the organizations which will eventually bring in the apostate church because they have departed from the great tenets and doctrines of the Christian faith. Verse Rev_3:5 is a difficult passage of Scripture
Revelation 3:5
“He that overcometh.” The one who overcomes by the blood of Christ, of course, never does it because of his own strength, cleverness, or ability. Now He makes this statement which has caused the difficulty in understanding: “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” It is interesting to note that in the genealogies there are only two books which are identified: (1) “the book of the generations of Adam” (see Gen_5:1)we are all in that book, but it is a book of deathand (2) “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ” (see Mat_1:1). The phrase, “the book of the generation,” is an unusual expression. It occurs only in connection with Adam and then in connection with Christ. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ is the Book of Life. I believe that you get into that book by faith in Christ. This, then, raises the question here: Is it possible for you to be in the Book of Life and then have your name blotted out? Can you lose your salvation? If that is true, then the Lord Jesus should not have said, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (Joh_10:28). Again and again throughout Scripture we have the assurance given to us of our salvation. I would like to give you now an excerpt from Dr. John Walvoord’s book The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which is a very good explanation of what is meant in this verse: Some have indicated that there is no explicit statement here that anybody will have his name blotted out, but rather the promise that his name will not be blotted out because of his faith in Christ. The implication, however, is that such is a possibility. On the basis of this some have considered the book of life not as the roll of those who are saved but rather a list of those for whom Christ died, that is, all humanity who have possessed physical life. As they come to maturity and are faced with the responsibility of accepting or rejecting Christ, their names are blotted out if they fail to receive Jesus Christ as Saviour; whereas those who do accept Christ as Saviour are confirmed in their position in the book of life, and their names are confessed before the Father and the heavenly angels. I think that that is a good, sound interpretation. In Revelation there is a great importance placed on this book (see Rev_13:8; Rev_17:8; Rev_20:12, Rev_20:15; Rev_21:27; Rev_22:19). In these references the thought is that there are those whose names are recorded and those whose names are not recorded in the Book of Life. We will talk about it again, especially when we get to the last reference in the twenty-second chapter. Some have identified the two books in chapter 20, verse Rev_20:12, as the book of profession and the book of reality. They hold that names are erased from the book of profession but not from the book of reality. Others have suggested that all names are placed in the Book of Life at the beginning, but some are removed. A person’s lack of decision for or rejection of Christ causes his name to be removed at the time of death. Both of these views propose serious objections as well as having good points to commend them. I am confident that the whole thought is simply that it was amazing that anyone in Sardis would be saved but that there were some whose names He said would not be blotted out of the Book of Life. He didn’t say that anybody had been blotted out; He just said that even in Sardis there would be some saved. May I say to you, the important thing is whether or not your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I do not believe that after you are saved you would ever be able to lose that salvation.
Revelation 3:6
This, again, is the blood-tipped ear that needs to hear the voice of the Spirit speaking through the Word of God the message of Christ to His church today.
Revelation 3:7
CHRIST’S LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIAThe church in Philadelphia represents what I call the revived church, dating from approximately the beginning of the nineteenth century to the Rapture. This is the church that has turned back to the Word of God. Today in Protestantism and also in the Roman Catholic Church, there are multitudes of people who are turning to the Word of God. Mail which I receive from all over the world indicates that there are people wanting to hear the Word of God and who are hungry for it. This period is pictured in the church of Philadelphia. I have visited the city of Philadelphia, and it is today a rather prosperous little Turkish town. It is located in a very beautiful valley that is inland a great distance, about 125-150 miles from the coast. The valley is a very wide one which runs north and south, and the Cogamis River of that valley is a tributary of the Hermus River. The city was built on four or five hills in a picturesque setting. Today it is spread out a great deal, and it is a typical Turkish town. Philadelphia is in an area that is subject to earthquakes. The great population that was in that area left primarily because of earthquakes and, of course, because of warfare. When Tamerlane and the other great pagan leaders came out of the East, it was a time when all those who were left were slaughtered. Therefore, today no descendants of the original population are there. However, this city has had continuous habitation from its very beginning. This city was like a Greek island out in Lydia, out in the Anatolian country, an area which the Greeks considered to be heathen and paganthe Greek word for it was barbarian. In fact, anyone who was not a Greek was considered a barbarian in those days. The Lydian language was spoken there at first, but by the time of the apostles, the Greek language had taken over, and it was a typical Greek colony. This was the outpost of Greek culture in a truly Asiatic and Anatolian atmosphere. It was called a “little Athens” because of the fact that it was in this area and yet was truly Greek. It was a fortress city used to waylay the enemy who would come in to destroy the greater cities like Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamumthose were the three great cities. These other cities were largely fortress cities where garrisons were stationed either to stop the enemy or delay him as he marched toward the western coast. Philadelphia is in a country where erosion is at work; the soil is quite alluvial, but it is very fertile soil. Beautiful laurel trees, many flowersI noticed that they are growing just about everything that is imaginable. It was particularly celebrated for its excellent wine. Great vineyards covered the surrounding hills, and the head of Bacchus was imprinted on their coins. The city did not get its name, as so many seem to think, from the Bible. Actually, the city got its name because of the love that Attalus II had for his brother Eumenes who was king of Pergamum. Attalus had a great love and loyalty for his brother, and because of that it is called “the city of brotherly love.” In A.D. 17 a great earthquake struck this city and totally destroyed it. The same earthquake totally destroyed Sardis and many other Lydian cities throughout that area. Tiberius, the emperor at that time, allocated a vast sum of money for the rebuilding of these cities, and they were then restored. This is the one church besides Smyrna for which our Lord had no word of condemnation. Why? Because it had turned to the Word of God. It is interesting concerning the two churches which He did not condemn that the places are still in existence, although the churches have disappeared. However, in Philadelphia there is something quite interesting about which I would like to tell you. First of all, there are the remains of a Byzantine church, which reveals that Christianity was active there up until the twelfth or thirteenth century.
The people who are caretakers of that area today must be Christians. Although I could not converse with them, they very graciously brought me a pitcher of water and a dipper on the very warm day I was there. The man and his wife who brought it were all smiles. I couldn’t talk to them, and they couldn’t talk to me, but I felt that we did communicate something of Christian love. The remains of that Byzantine church are still there, but that is not the pillar that is mentioned in verse Rev_3:12, although many believe that it is, and that is where the guides take the tours. However, before my first trip there, I had seen a picture of a big amphitheater in Adam’s Biblical Backgrounds; so I told my guide that I wanted to go up there on the side of the hill. The amphitheater was no longer there, but there was a Turkish coffee shop where my guide talked to a man. He said that there had been an amphitheater but it was totally destroyed except for one pillar. I have a picture of that pillar which is hidden away under the trees. Why did the Turkish government get rid of that amphitheater?
I’ll tell you why: The Seljuk Turks brutally killed the Christians in Philadelphia, and they wanted to get rid of every vestige of that old civilization. Today they would rather that you and I forget about it. Philadelphia is the place where Christian and Saracen fought during the Crusades, and in 1922 Turkey and Greece fought in Philadelphia. There are apparently a few Christians there today, as I have suggested, but they are under cover because they would be severely persecuted. The church of Philadelphia continued into the thirteenth century. This church was in a very strategic area to be a missionary church, and that is actually what it was. I have labeled it the revived church because it returned to the Word of God and began to teach the Word of God. This represents something that I think we see in Protestantism today. It began back in the last century and has gained since then, so that Bible teaching is not something that is new, by any means, but it has certainly become rather popular today. We feel very definitely that our Bible-teaching radio program has come in on the crest of a wave of interest in the Word of God. “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write.” The angel is the human messenger, the pastor, of the church. This is the Lord’s method in all of these churches. “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.” In each of these messages, the Lord always draws something from that vision of Himself as the glorified Christ, our Great High Priest, in chapter 1. Here He reminds them that He is holy. He was holy at His birth, He was holy at His death, and He is holy today in His present priestly office. He was so called at His birth when the angel said to Mary, “…therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luk_1:35, italics mine). And in His death He was holy. We are told in Act_2:27: “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (italics mine).
He was holy in His death and in His resurrection. What a marvelous thing this is! He is also holy today in His high priestly office. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Heb_7:26, italics mine). “He that is true.” Joh_14:6 tells us, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life….” True means “genuine” with an added note of perfection and completeness. Moses did not give the true bread; Christ is the true Bread (see Joh_6:32-35). “He that hath the key of David.” This is different from the keys of hades and death which we saw in chapter 1, verse Rev_1:18. This speaks of His regal claims as the Ruler of this universe. “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luk_1:32-33). He will sit on the throne of David in the Millennium, but today He is sovereign, sitting at His Father’s right hand, waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool. “He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.” He is the One today who is able to open and to close, and because of that He is a comfort to us (see Mat_28:18-20).
Revelation 3:8
I know thy works: behold, I have given thee a door opened, which none can shut, for thou hast a little strength [Gr.: dunamin], and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name.This is the verse that we have taken as the maxim for our “Thru the Bible” radio program. We began with it at the first, and it means a great deal to us. The church at Philadelphia was the one which was true to the Word of God. In our day the church which it represents could not be called the Protestant church or the Roman Catholic church or any other church. Actually, it represents all churches the world overregardless of their labelswhich still remain true to the Word of God. The Lord commends the Philadelphian church on seven counts:
- “I know thy works.” The Lord Jesus is looking for fruit; He is looking for works in the lives of believers. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph_2:8-10). My friend, there is something wrong with your faith if it doesn’t produce works. Good, old, practical, camel-kneed James was a great man of prayer who said, “…shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (Jas_2:18). “Works” are not works of law but works of faith. Calvin said, “Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is not alone.” Saving faith produces works.
- “Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” This could be a door to the joy of the Lord or to a knowledge of the Scriptures. I personally believe that it is a door to the knowledge of the Scriptures, which means that if He opens the door, He intends for you to move in because He will open a door of opportunity for witnessing and for proclaiming the Word of God. I believe that both go together.
- “For thou hast a little strength [dunamin].” Dunamin is the Greek word from which we get our English word dynamite. He says, “You have a little power.” This was a humble group of believers which did not have impressive numbers, buildings, or programs. I get a little weary today hearing every Christian group making reports. Even here at “Thru the Bible” we like to tell you how many radio stations our broadcast is heard on. My, how we like to talk about those things! My friend, that type of thing is not worth anything.
We like to talk about the hundreds of letters we receive from those who have accepted Christthat’s nothing. The important thing is whether or not we are getting out the Word of God. He will do the counting. God has His own computer which is registering all this, and He tells us that we had better not. The apostle Paul said, “I don’t even judge myself” (see 1Co_4:3). Why not?
In effect he is saying, “I may report too many converts. I may speak ’evangelistically’ and give you a wrong figure. I may look at this a little differently than God does. I need to wait until I get into His presence for the accurate rendering of it.” 4. “And hast kept my word.” In a day when there was a denial of the inspiration of the Scriptures, this church believed the Bible to be the authoritative, inspired Word of God. A twentieth-century theologian, of course of the liberal ranks, stated that no intelligent person could believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible. Well, that sure puts me in a bad light! I am, therefore, not an intelligent person because I do believe in the inspiration of the Biblethat is, if his definition is right, but I do not think he is right even about that. 5. “And hast not denied my name.” In a day when the deity of Christ is blatantly denied by seminary and pulpit, here is a group of believers who have remained true to Him by proclaiming the God-man and His substitutionary death for sinners. This church in Philadelphia has been labeled many things. Some have called it the missionary church; some have called it the serving church; some have called it a live churchall of these are accurate. I personally like to call it the revived church or the Bible-believing church; it is the Bible church. The thing that the Lord Jesus emphasizes is this: “Thou …hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” In that day of unbelief and skepticism, the Lord Jesus is commending this church because it has kept His Word. This is the church that got out the Word of God and, as far as we know, this church lasted longer than any other of the seven churches mentioned here. Until the thirteenth century, it had a continuous existence.
It was destroyed by the Seljuk Turks when they came in and brutally murdered all the believers who were left in this church. It was also a missionary church. It is the belief now that the fact that Christianity penetrated into India as early as it did was because this church had sent out missionaries.
Revelation 3:9
Let me give you my translation: Behold I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them that they shall come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. The remnant of Israel which was being saved had left the synagogue by this time. They had given up the Law as a means of salvation and sanctification. Those who continued in the synagogue were now in a false religion. As Paul makes it clear, “…For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Rom_9:6)they were no longer true Jews. He considered the true Israelite to be the one who had turned to Christ. Ignatius, according to Trench and reported by Vincent, refers to a logical situation where converts from Judaism preached the faith they once despised. By the way, the Roman Empire used Jews for the purpose of colonizing. They would send a regular colony of them into a foreign area, as they did into this section, and this is the reason there were so many Jews there. 6. “Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” The Lord Jesus says here that He will make the enemies of the Philadelphian church to know that He loves this church. This is His sixth point of commendation.
Revelation 3:10
Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I, also, will keep you out of (from) the hour of the trial, which is (about) to come upon the whole inhabited world to test (try) them that dwell upon the earth. 7. This last commendation is that this church kept the Word of Christ in patience. This is evidently the patient waiting for the coming of Christ for His own (see 2Th_3:5). It has been in the present century that the doctrines of eschatology have been developed more than in all previous centuries combined. During the past forty years, there has been a revival of interest, both in Europe and in America, in fact, all over the world, relative to the second coming of Christ. Even the liberals talk about it now and then. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience.” I believe that God today is still patient with a world that has rejected His Word. It is not like it was back in the days of Noah. They didn’t have the written Word of God, yet God judged them; they did have a man bringing the message to them. But today we do have the Word of God. There is a Gideon Bible in practically every hotel and motel room throughout the world. In the different countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa, I find that the Word of God has penetrated all of these areas. The Philadelphian church is the church that believed in the Word of God. “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Christ’s final word of encouragement to His church is that it will not pass through the Great Tribulation. The church is to be removed from the world (see 1Th_4:13-18), which is its comfort and hope (see Tit_2:13). Such is the patient waiting of the church “…who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb_6:12). The church is not anticipating the Great Tribulation with all of its judgment (see Joh_5:24; Rev_13:1-8, Rev_13:11-17), but rather it is looking for Him to come. “The hour of temptation” is definitely a reference to the Great Tribulationit’s worldwide. After the preliminaries are put down in chapters 4-5, in chapters 6-19 you have presented the Great Tribulation period. This is the period that He says is coming upon all the world to test those that are upon the earth. “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation.” He says that He will keep them not only from that awful holocaust that is coming on this earth, that period of judgment, but also from the hour of temptation. Therefore, this is to my judgment a complete deliverance. When he says, “keep thee from the hour,” I have translated it, “keep thee out of the hour of trial.” By any stretch of the imagination, you could not say that this church is going through the Great Tribulation period. I believe that the period of the Philadelphian church continues right on through to the rapture of the church. This is the church which will go out at the time of the Rapture. The church of Laodicea, as we shall see, is an organization which will continue on in the world, although the Lord gives a marvelous invitation to it, and many even in that Laodicean church will turn to Christ and be taken out at the time of the Rapture. But there is a church that goes through the Great Tribulation period, and that is the apostate church, the church of Laodicea. What we have here, therefore, is the coming of Christ to take His own out of the world and His promise to the church of Philadelphia that it will not go through that particular period that is coming on the earth. I would like to give here another quotation from Dr. John Walvoord’s book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ: If the rapture had occurred in the first century preceding the tribulation which the book of Revelation describes, they were assured of deliverance. By contrast, those sealed out of the twelve tribes of Israel in Rev_7:4 clearly go through the time of trouble. This implies the rapture of the church before the time of trouble referred to as the great tribulation. Such a promise of deliverance to them would seemingly have been impossible if the rapture of the church were delayed until the end of the tribulation prior to the second coming of Christ and the establishment of the kingdom. Christ says to the church
Revelation 3:11
“Behold, I come quickly.” “Quickly” does not mean soon. Rather, it has the idea of suddenness and an air of expectation; that is, He will come at a time they know not. It does not mean He is coming immediately, but His coming will be sudden. This is the promise that is the hope of the church. Actually, the church is not looking for the Great Tribulation period. Nowhere are you told that you are to gird up your loins, grit your teeth, and clench your fists because the Great Tribulation is coming and you are certainly going through it! He never said that, but “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit_2:13). Let me say again that the Philadelphian church represents the revived church, the church that has returned to the Word of God. It is this church that is to be raptured, His true church, and I do not think you can put them in any denomination or any local church. They are scattered throughout the world today, and you will find some of them belonging to some very funny organizations. I don’t understand that, but that is apparently none of my business; that is something they will have to straighten out with the Lord.
Revelation 3:12
There are two pillars in Philadelphia today. One is that of the Byzantine church, which I do not think is the reference here. But there is also a pillar on the side of the hill, hidden among those cedar and laurel trees. That pillar is all that remains of the city of John’s day. “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.” The church down here was destroyed, but the permanent pillar is up yonder. “And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” This is the passport and visa of the believer which will enable him, as a citizen of heaven, to pass freely upon this earth or anywhere in God’s universe. He is a pillar to “go no more out,” but with God’s passport he is to go everywhere. Although this is paradoxical, it is all wonderfully and blessedly true. “I will write upon him my new name.” This is His name. We do not have a new name; rather, He is saying that He has a new name for Himself that He will give to us. This new name is a personal relationship we will have with Him.
Revelation 3:13
The Lord has a message that He gives to each one of these churches. It applied to that local church, but it also applies to us today.
Revelation 3:14
CHRIST’S LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN LAODICEAThe letter of Christ to the church in Laodicea is the last of these seven letters. Sir William Ramsay calls Laodicea “the city of compromise.” This city was founded by Antiochus II (261-246 B.C.). It had a Seleucid foundation. Seleucus was one of the generals of Alexander who took Syria. Lysimachus took Asia Minor, but apparently Seleucus moved over into his territory and took some of his ground, including this city. Laodicea was about forty miles east and inland from Ephesus on the Lycus River, which flows into the Maeander River. It is located at what is known as the “Gate of Phrygia.” Out of the oriental East, the great camel caravans came down through the Gate of Phrygia and through Laodicea. This road came out of the East and went to Ephesus, to Miletus, and also up to what is called Izmir today but was Smyrna in that day. Laodicea was in a spectacular place, a great valley. Today its ruins are largely covered up with the growth of what looks like wild oats. Its name means “justice of the people.” It was named for Laodice, the wife of Antiochus. Although there were several cities which bore this name, this was the most famous one of all. Between Laodicea and going on up to the Phrygian mountains, there was in this valley a great Anatolian temple of the Phrygian god, Men Karou. This was the primitive god of that area. The temple was the very center of all society, administration, trade, and religion. There was a great market there, and strangers came from everywhere to trade. I suppose that the large market in Istanbul today is very similar to it. Laodicea was a place of great wealth, of commerce, and of Greek culture. It was a place of science and of literature. It boasted an excellent medical school which, again, was very primitive and actually very heathen. Here is where they developed what was known in the Roman world as Phrygian powder, a salve for the ears and the eyes. Laodicea was also a center of industry with extensive banking operations. Cicero held court here. It is said that he brought notes here to be cashed in this city. Jupiter, or Zeus, was the object of worship in Laodicea. The city was finally abandoned because of earthquakes. The very impressive ruins of two Roman theaters, a large stadium, and three early Christian churches are still there. The city itself has not been excavated. In other words, these ruins which I have mentioned protrude through all the debris and wild growth that is there. I have heard that there is an American foundation which has set aside two to three million dollars to excavate Laodicea. I would love to join that excavation for it would be very worthwhile. Laodicea was a place of great commerce where they made clothing. As you stand on the ruins of Laodicea, you can look around at the nearby hills and see where Colosse is located and also Hierapolis, where there are springs. The greatest ruins are not in Colosse or Laodicea but in Hierapolis. The hills have a very funny color. The people took the clay from those hills, put it with a spikenard, and made it into a salve for the eyes and ears. This salve was shipped all over the Roman Empire.
Today the chemical analysis reveals that there is nothing healing in that clay at all, but somebody made good money at it in that day. We like to think we are civilized today, but there is a lot of medicine on the market that won’t do you a bit of good; yet we are buying it just as fast as we can because of high-pressure advertising. We had better not criticize these people too muchbut the Lord Jesus did. He is going to tell them that they had better get the real eye salve that will open their eyes. And to the messenger of the church in Laodicea write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. This is the only place in Scripture where Amen is a proper name, and it is the name of Christ. In Isa_65:16 it should read, “the God of the amen.” In Isa_7:9 the word believe is amen. In 2Co_1:20 we read, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” The Lord Jesus is the Amen. He has the last word. He is the Alpha and the Omega.
He is the One who is going to fulfill all the promises of God, and He lets the Laodiceans know this because this is the church that has rejected the deity of Christ. The word Amen is the only thing that He draws out of the vision of Himself that we had in the first chapter. “The faithful and true witness.” This reveals that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the One who will reveal all and tell all. This is the day when it is very difficult to hear the truth. We certainly don’t get it through the news media or from the government. Both our educational institutions and the military are great brain-washing institutions. Whom can you believe? Well, there is One who is the faithful and true witness even in the days of apostasy. You cannot believe the church in many instances today; the liberal church has no message for this hour. “The beginning of the creation of God” means that He is the Creator. We live in a day when the myth of evolution, the evolutionary hypothesis, is that which is accepted. A college professor, a friend of mine, who has accepted the evolutionary hypothesis, said to me, “I want facts. I want science.” I said, “Wait a minute. There are not but two explanations for the origin of this universe in which you and I live. One is speculation, because nobody was there to see it and nobody is able to come up with the answer.
The other is revelationwhat the Word of God has to say. Very frankly, the difference between you and me is that you accept speculation and I accept revelation. As far as I am concerned, I feel that I am on more solid ground because I have the testimony of the One who did the creating, and He ought to know something about it.” The Lord Jesus is “the beginning of the creation of God.”
Revelation 3:15
With the other churches, when the Lord Jesus said, “I know thy works,” He meant good works; He was commending them for good works. But the Lord Jesus has no word of commendation for this church. All is condemnation here. Even the “works” here are not good works; they are evil works. “That thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” This had a background and a local meaning for the people in that day. Being down in the valley, they had difficulty getting water in Laodicea. As I stood there in the ruins, I looked south toward the Phrygian mountains, some of which are very high. I was there around the first of June, and there was still an abundance of snow on top of those mountains. The Laodiceans built an aqueduct to bring that cold water down from the mountains. When it left the mountains, it was ice cold, but by the time it made that trip all the way down the mountains to Laodicea, it was lukewarm. And lukewarm water is not very good. Down in the valley where the Lycus River joins the Maeander River, there are hot springs. The springs are so hot that steam is produced. The Turkish government has capped it and is using it today, and I understand they intend to develop its use even more because it is there in abundance. It is the hottest water you can imagine; a lot of it is just steam. However, when they would take this hot water up to Laodicea, by the time it got there, it was no longer hotit had become lukewarm water. When the Lord Jesus said to the Laodicean church, “You are neither cold nor hot,” they knew exactly what He was talking about. They had been drinking lukewarm water for years. Water left the mountains ice cold, and it left the springs steaming hot, but when they got it, both were lukewarm, and it was sickening. We like to put a little ice in our water, and many folk drink hot water, but lukewarm water is just not good, my friend. The Lord Jesus said that this church was neither cold nor hot and He would spew it out of His mouth. A cold church actually means a church that has denied every cardinal doctrine of the faith. It is given over to formality and is carrying on in active opposition to the Word of God and the gospel of Christ. You find today in liberalism that they are in active opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hot speaks of those with real spiritual fervor and passion like the Christians in Ephesus, although they were even then getting away from their best love. Oh, the Spirit of God had brought them to a high pitch in their personal relationship to Christ! But the Laodicean church was neither hot nor coldjust lukewarm. Between those positions of hot and cold, you have this lukewarm state. I would say that this is a picture of many, many churches today in the great denominations that have departed from the faith. Many churchesboth in and out of these denominationsattempt to maintain a middle-of-the-road position. They do not want to come out flatfootedly for the Word of God and for the great doctrines of the Christian faith. And at the same time, they do not want to be known as a liberal church.
So they play footsie with both groups. I have broken fellowship with quite a few men who are extremists in both directions, some extreme fundamentalists and some extreme liberals. And many of these men attempt to play both sides of the street. That is a condition that is impossible. This is the thing that makes the Lord Jesus sick. He very frankly says that He will spew them out of His mouth. To my judgment this middle-of-the-road position is the worst kind of hypocrisy there is. “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (v. Rev_3:1). “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2Ti_3:5). In its beginning Protestantism assumed the position of believing all the great doctrines of the Christian faith. The creeds of all the great historic denominations are wonderful creeds. The Westminster Confession of Faith is unparalleled in my estimation, but it is now largely repudiated by the church that owned it for years. The Heidelberg Catechism is a marvelous confession, but who is following it? Who believes these wonderful creeds in our day? The churches have a form of godliness but are denying the power thereof. They have a name that they live, but they are dead. They are neither hot nor coldthey are lukewarm. This is the condition of the church today, and unfortunately, it is the condition of a great many so-called fundamental, conservative churches. Thank God that there are many who do not come under this classification. But the thing that is absolutely startling and frightening and fearful is that He says, “I will spue thee out of my mouth.” In other words, “I will vomit you out of my mouth.” Does that sound to you like the church which He’s going to rapture, to whom He says, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Joh_14:2-3)? I don’t think so. That is the church He draws to Himself, but here is a church He just vomits out because it is lukewarm.
Lukewarm water makes you sick at your stomach. I am of the opinion that if He spoke to a lot of churches today, He would say, “You make Me sick at My stomach. You’re professed Christians. You say you love Me. You say it, but you don’t mean it.” This is a heart-searching message for this hour because we are living in the time of the Laodicean church and of the Philadelphian church. Both of them are side by side, and there is a great bifurcation in Christianity today. It is not in denominations, and it is not Romanism and Protestantism. The great bifurcation consists of those who believe the Word of God and follow it, love it, obey it, and those who reject it. That is the line of division today.
Revelation 3:17
Thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and thou dost not know that thou art the wretched one and miserable (the object of pity) and poor and blind and naked. “Because thou sayest, I am rich.” The city of Laodicea was a rich city. I suppose that Laodicea and Sardis were probably two of the richest cities in that entire area at that particular time. “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” They believed that the dollar was the answer to every problem of life. After World War II that was the assumption that the American government was run on. All we did was dole out dollars all over the world, thinking that we would buy friends, make peace, and settle the problems of the world. Very frankly, I believe that our nation has probably complicated the world more than anything else. We thought that all we had to do was to allocate money and we would solve the problems of the world. My friend, riches never solved any problem.
This church in Laodicea tried it: “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.“The Laodicean church made its boast of material possessions. Conversely, the church in Smyrna was poor in material things. It was the church of slaves and poor folk. There were not many rich and not many noble in the early church. Paul writes in 1Co_1:26, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” The present-day church boasts of large membership, prominent people, huge attendance, generous giving, and ornate buildings. A phenomenal growth in Protestant congregations, 242,000 in 1970 to 78,900,152 in 1980 (according to the World Christian Encyclopedia) would indicate the possibility of a church on fire for God. And there are other indications: Wealth beyond the wildest dreams of our forefathers; mass evangelistic meetings attended by tens of thousands; and use of other mass media such as radio and literature increasing constantly. Worldly wealth is the measuring rod for the modern church. Spiritual values have been lost sight of or are entirely ignored. The church as a whole is not only rich in earthly goods, but also it actually is in the business of accumulating wealth. People are urged to make their wills in favor of so-called Christian organizations. Some radio and television programs and other professed Christian works are operated as promotional schemes to raise money to provide luxurious care for the promoters. My friend, you ought to check how the money you give to Christian work is being spent. When you write your will, I hope you will leave money for Christian work, but you ought to make sure that after you are gone, it is going to be spent for that which you intended. On the spiritual side of the ledger, the Laodicean church is “the wretched one.” It is worse off than any of the seven churches. It is to be pitied because it is spiritually poverty-stricken. In it is no study of the Word, no love of Christ, and no witnessing of His saving grace; yet it is blind to its own true condition. It lacks the covering of the robe of righteousness. A pastor in Arlington, Virginia, put this in his church bulletin some years ago. It is an “Open Letter to Jane Ordinary” Dear Jane: I am writing to help you shake this feeling of uselessness that has overtaken you. Several times you’ve said that you don’t see how Christ can possibly use you. The church must bear part of the responsibility for making you feel as you do. I have in mind the success-story mentality of the church. Our church periodicals tell the story of John J. Moneybags who uses his influential position to witness for Christ. At the church youth banquet, we have a testimony from All-American football star, Ox Kickoffsky, who commands the respect of his teammates when he witnesses for Christ. We are led to think that if you don’t have the leverage of stardom or a big position in the business world, you might as well keep your mouth shut. Nobody cares what Christ has done for you. We’ve forgotten an elementary fact about Christian witness, something that should encourage you: God has chosen what the world calls foolish to shame the wise. He has chosen what the world calls weak to shame the strong. He has chosen things of little strength and of small repute, yes, and even things which have no real existence to explode the pretensions of the things that are, that no man may boast in the presence of God. When Jesus Christ chose His disciples, He didn’t choose Olympic champs or Roman senators. He chose simple people like you. Some were fishermen, one was a political extremist, another was a publican, a nobody in that society. But these men turned the Roman world upside down for Christ. How did they do it? Through their popularity? They had none. Their position? They had none. Their power was the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Jane, don’t forget that we still need the ordinary in the hands of Christ to turn the world upside down. In the church today we sing: The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is His new creation by water and the word: From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride; With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died. “The Church’s One Foundation” Samuel J. Stone Yet the inscription on the cathedral in Lubeck, Germany, is still true: Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us: Ye call Me Master and obey Me not. Ye call Me Light and see Me not. Ye call Me Way and walk Me not. Ye call Me Life and choose Me not. Ye call Me Wise and follow Me not. Ye call Me Fair and love Me not. Ye call Me Rich and ask Me not. Ye call Me Eternal and seek Me not. Ye call Me Noble and serve Me not. Ye call Me Gracious and trust Me not. Ye call Me Might and honor Me not. Ye call Me Just and fear Me not. If I condemn you, blame Me not. This is the church in Laodicea. This is the church that Stanley High spoke of when he said: The church has failed to tell me that I am a sinner. The church has failed to deal with me as a lost individual. The church has failed to offer me salvation in Jesus Christ alone. The church has failed to tell me of the horrible consequences of sin, the certainty of hell, and the fact that Jesus Christ alone can save. We need more of the last judgment and less of the Golden Rule, more of the living God and the living devil as well, more of a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. The church must bring me not a message of cultivation but of rebirth. I might fail that kind of church, but that kind of church will not fail me. My friend, we are living in the Laodicean period today, and the church is failing to witness to the saving grace of God.
Revelation 3:18
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich"this is the precious blood of Christ. “And white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear"this speaks of the righteousness of Christ. “And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see"this speaks of the Holy Spirit who opens the eyes of believers today. This admonition was very meaningful to the church at Laodicea. Sir William Ramsay has this very helpful comment in his excellent book, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia: The Laodicean Church must also learn that it is blind, but yet not incurably blind. It is suffering from disease, and needs medical treatment. But the physicians of its famous medical school can do nothing for it. The tabloids which they prescribe, and which are now used all over the civilized world, to reduce to powder and smear on the eyes, will be useless for this kind of ophthalmia. The Laodiceans must buy the tabloid from the Author himself, at the price of suffering and steadfastness.
Revelation 3:19
This word zealous means “to be hot.” This is His last message to the church. He says, “Be zealous.” Be hot. Get on fire for God. He is ordering this church to forsake its lukewarm state, and He says, “Repent.” This church needs repentance more than all the others. And the message of repentance is for the contemporary church, but you will not be popular if you preach that, I can assure you. It is not too late even for those in this church to turn to Christ: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Beginning at verse Rev_3:20 is a general invitation which goes out from the Lord Jesus at any time
Revelation 3:20
This is a picture of the Lord Jesus at the heart’s door of the sinner. It is a glorious picture. The English artist, Holman Hunt, attempted to put this concept on canvas. He pictured Christ standing at a door. When he first painted the picture, he invited his artist friends to criticize. One of them said to him, “Holman, you have left off a very important part of the door.
You left off the handle of the door.” Hunt replied, “This door is a picture of the human heart, and the handle of the door is on the inside.” This is the picture of Christ we have in Revelation. He stands at the door and knocks. He will not crash the door. Regardless of what some extremists say on this matter of election, the Lord Jesus has moved heaven and hell to get to the door of your heart, but when He gets there, He will stop and knock. You will have to open the door to let Him in. “I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” This speaks of fellowship, of feeding on the Word of God, and of coming to know Jesus Christ better.
Revelation 3:21
Again, I call attention to the fact that when the Lord Jesus speaks of His relationship with the Father, He always makes it unique. He says, “My Father.” He said, “…I ascend unto my Father …” (Joh_20:17, italics mine)not our Fatherbecause the relationship is always different with Him. The Lord Jesus is preparing us for the next scene that will be coming up when He says, “and am set down with my Father in his throne.” This is the picture that we are going to see in the chapters which follow.
Revelation 3:22
This is a special message from the Lord Jesus to all the churches for which you need the blood-tipped ear to hear. This is the reason that you and I must be very careful in our study of the Word of God, that we not run ahead of the Spirit of God, but that we let Him be our teacher. If you have a blood-tipped ear, He wants you to hear what He has to say. Only the Spirit of God can make the Word of God real to you. This concludes the messages to these seven churches. These are “the things which are,” and they have been very important. I have spent a lot of time with these seven churches because they relate to the period in which we live and to our crowd. If we are a member of His church, we are also a member of His body, a part of that great company, beginning with the Day of Pentecost and coming down to the present hour, who have trusted the Lord Jesus as their Savior. We have seen these seven churches blocked off into very definite periods of time, and they are largely fulfilled. I believe that we are in the period of the last two churches. As we have said before, there is a bifurcation in the organized, visible church today. There is that church, represented by the Laodicean church, which is moving farther and farther into the apostasy, and there is also that church which is staying by the Word of God, the church represented by the Philadelphian church. This is the church which will be raptured. The other church has a tremendous organization, including all the denominations, all those which profess to be Christian churches but which have long since departed from the Word of God and from the person of Christ.
This is the division that exists in the church. One church will be raptured; the other will go into the Great Tribulation period. There has been a message for each of these churches. Personally, I enjoy going through these messages since I have now made several trips to the churches in Turkey, that is, Asia Minor. I have visited the ruins of all seven of these churches at least twice and some of them as many as four or five times. As we have come to each church, I can see the ruins before my eyes, and I can visualize the local situation. The Lord Jesus spoke to that local situation, and He was also blocking off all of church history because these are seven representative churches which cover the complete period of the church while it is here on the earth. And there is also a message in each of these for you and for me today. To the church at Ephesus, there was a warning given that is also for us today. It was a warning of the danger of getting away from the best love, that is, getting away from a personal and loving relationship with Jesus Christ. The real test of any believer, especially those who are attempting to serve Him, is not your little method or mode or system or your dedication or any of the things that are so often emphasized today. The one question is: Do you love Him? Do you love the Lord Jesus? When you love Him, you will be in a right relationship with Him, but when you begin to depart from the person of Christ, it will finally lead to lukewarmness.
The apostate church was guilty of lukewarmness. It may not seem to be too bad, but it is the worst condition that anyone can be in. A great preacher in upper New York state said: “Twenty lukewarm Christians hurt the cause of Christ more than one blatant atheist.” A lukewarm church is a disgrace to Christ. The Lord Jesus told the church in Smyrna not to fear suffering. Believe me, that is one thing that we in the church are frightened of today. We do not want to pay a price for serving the Lord Jesus, and yet that is His method. To the church in Pergamum He said, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam…. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate” (Rev_2:14-15). There is a grave danger in wrong doctrine today, and that was the thing that was wrong in the church in Pergamum. To the church in Thyatira He said, “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols” (Rev_2:20). The “new morality” is a grave danger for many today. Some folk think they can accept Christ and then live on a low plane. You will not get by with it, my friend, if you are His child. In the church in Sardis, the Protestant church, there was the danger of spiritual deadness. He said, “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (v. Rev_3:1). What about your church, brother? Is it alive? Are you alive? Or are you dead in a dead church today? Many folk are in that condition, and yet they talk about holding the historic doctrines of the faith. But, my friend, the glaring defect in Protestantism today is deadness. And that is the worst thing of all. The church in Philadelphia was not in any grave danger. The Lord Jesus does not condemn that church at all, but He does say, “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (v. Rev_3:11). What was it they had? He had commended them because they had kept His Word, We, too, need to be careful about this. As I look back now over the years of my ministry, I see men who started out true to the faith, many of them much stronger men than I was, men who defended the Word of God in a way that I did not in those early days, but they have now departed from the faith. I am amazed at that, but that is a grave danger even in the church in Philadelphia today. Nothing should deter us at all from keeping His Word. To the church in Laodicea the Lord Jesus said, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (v. Rev_3:16). This is the apostate church which professes to be Christian but lacks reality. But even to this church He issues a final call to repentance and an invitation to come to Himself.