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Revelation 3

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The Letter to the Church in Sardis 1–6

1
And to 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 thou art dead. ​
2
Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine perfected before my God. ​
3
Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. ​
4
But thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy. ​
5
He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. ​
6
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.

Message to Philadelphia: The Faithful Church 7–13

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 none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth: ​
8
I know thy works (behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name. ​
9
Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they 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. ​
10
Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. ​
11
I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.
12
He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: 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 mine own new name. ​
13
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.

The Letter to the Church in Laodicea 14–22

14
And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: ​
15
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. ​
16
So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth. ​
17
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked: ​
18
I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see. ​
19
As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. ​
20
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. ​
21
He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. ​
22
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 3

Verse 1

the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars — Both come from the vision of ch.1: 'the seven Spirits which are before his throne' (1:4), and the seven stars in his right hand, which 'are the angels of the seven churches' (1:20). 'A name that thou livest, and art dead' sets a reputation against the Lord's knowledge: 'I know thy works'.

Verse 2

strengthen the things which remain — Sterizo, to make firm, is the word the Lord used to Peter, 'strengthen thy brethren' (Luke 22:32). 'Be watchful' is gregoreo, to keep awake, the word of Matt 24:42 and repeated in v.3. 'Perfect' translates pleroo, to fill up: the works are found unfinished, 'before God'.

Verse 3

I will come on thee as a thief — The Lord's own figure: 'if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched' (Matt 24:43); Paul has 'the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night' (1 Thess 5:2). It returns in Rev 16:15. 'Watch' is the gregoreo of v.2, and 'hold fast' is tereo, to keep, the verb of vv.8 and 10.

Verse 4

a few names even in Sardis — 'Names' (onoma) stands for persons, as in Acts 1:15, 'the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty'. 'Defiled' (moluno) occurs only here, in 1 Cor 8:7 and in Rev 14:4. To 'walk… in white' is to share the white of v.5; the robes of 7:14 are washed and 'made them white in the blood of the Lamb'.

Verse 5

I will not blot out his name out of the book of life — 'Overcometh' (nikao) is in each letter's promise. To be blotted from a book is the language of Ex 32:32–33 and Ps 69:28, 'Let them be blotted out of the book of the living'; Paul speaks of those 'whose names are in the book of life' (Phil 4:3). The Lord promises to confess the name 'before my Father' (cf. Matt 10:32).

Verse 7

the key of David — The words are from Isa 22:22, 'the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut', said of Eliakim, 'my servant' (22:20), after Shebna, who was 'over the house' (22:15). The holder here is the Lord, who has 'the keys of hell and of death' (Rev 1:18). 'True' (alethinos) is real, genuine; it recurs in v.14.

Verse 8

I have set before thee an open door — The verb is didomi, to give: the door is a gift, opened by the one who 'openeth, and no man shutteth' (v.7). Paul uses the same picture for the gospel, 'a great door and effectual is opened unto me' (1 Cor 16:9), and Acts 14:27 says God 'opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles'. The church keeps his word and has 'not denied my name'.

Verse 9

the synagogue of Satan — The phrase is that of 2:9, said of those 'which say they are Jews, and are not'. Paul draws the same line: 'he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly' (Rom 2:28–29). What Isa 60:14 promised to Israel, 'shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet', is given here to this church, with the assurance of Isa 43:4: 'I have loved thee'.

Verse 10

the word of my patience — 'Patience' is hupomone, endurance. 'Keep thee from the hour' uses tereo ek, the same verb and preposition as John 17:15, 'keep them from the evil'. 'Temptation' (peirasmos) is a trial, and 'to try' (peirazo) is its verb; those tried are 'them that dwell upon the earth', a phrase that returns in 11:10 and 13:8.

Verse 12

a pillar in the temple of my God — Stulos is used of James, Cephas and John, 'who seemed to be pillars' (Gal 2:9), and of the church as 'the pillar and ground of the truth' (1 Tim 3:15). 'He shall go no more out' marks permanence. Three names are written on him: God's, the city's (new Jerusalem, 21:2) and the Lord's new name; the redeemed bear 'his name… in their foreheads' (22:4).

Verse 14

the Amen, the faithful and true witness — 'Amen' is the word of 'it is so'; 2 Cor 1:20 says all God's promises are 'in him Amen'. 'Faithful witness' is his title in 1:5, and 'Faithful and True' in 19:11. 'The beginning of the creation of God' echoes Col 1:18, 'who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead'.

Verse 15

neither cold nor hot — 'Hot' is zestos, boiling, from the verb zeo, to be fervent (Rom 12:11, 'fervent in spirit'; Acts 18:25). 'Cold' is psuchros. The Lord does not name a middle as acceptable: he says 'I would thou wert cold or hot', and the works he knows are measured against that fervour.

Verse 16

lukewarm — Chliaros and the verb 'spue' (emeo) each occur only here in the New Testament. Lev 18:28 has the same picture of the land that 'spued out the nations'. 'I will' is mello, 'I am about to', so the rejection is near; yet vv.19–20 follow with rebuke and a knock at the door.

Verse 17

thou sayest, I am rich — The church speaks of itself; the Lord pronounces another verdict. 'Wretched' (talaipōros) is the word of Rom 7:24, 'O wretched man that I am!', and 'miserable' (eleeinos) of 1 Cor 15:19. Smyrna was told the opposite in 2:9, 'poverty, (but thou art rich)'. Hos 12:8 has the same self-assessment: 'Yet I am become rich'.

Verse 18

I counsel thee to buy of me — Isa 55:1 invites the penniless to 'buy… without money and without price'. The three goods match the three charges of v.17: 'gold tried in the fire' (cf. 1 Pet 1:7), 'white raiment' (v.5; 'the righteousness of saints', 19:8), and 'eyesalve' (kollourion), which occurs only here. The 'shame of thy nakedness' is the thing Rev 16:15 warns of.

Verse 19

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten — 'Love' here is phileo, affection, and 'chasten' is paideuo, to train as a child. The line follows Prov 3:12, 'whom the LORD loveth he correcteth', which Heb 12:6 quotes as 'whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth'. 'Be zealous' (zeloo) answers the lukewarmness, and 'repent' is the word of v.3.

Verse 20

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock — The Lord stands and knocks; he does not enter unasked. Luke 12:36 pictures servants waiting 'that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately', and Song 5:2 has 'the voice of my beloved that knocketh'. 'Sup' (deipneo) is to take the evening meal. The promise matches John 14:23, 'we will come unto him, and make our abode with him'.

Verse 21

to sit with me in my throne — Two thrones are named: 'my throne' and 'his throne', the Father's. 'Even as I also overcame' points to John 16:33, 'I have overcome the world'; 'am set down' echoes Ps 110:1, 'Sit thou at my right hand'. Paul's promise is the same: 'If we suffer, we shall also reign with him' (2 Tim 2:12), and Matt 19:28 gives 'twelve thrones'.