He who is not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire ( Revelation 20:15); only they who are written in the Lamb's book of life shall enter into blessedness ( Revelation 21:27). Learn here, (1.) (iii) Laodicea prided itself on its famous eye-salve; but the facts of the case show that it was blind to its own poverty and nakedness. I hold one single sentence out of God's word to be of more certainty, and of more power, than all the discoveries of all the learned men of all the ages. Let us weigh a little more these remarkable words. Again there is a double background. To take the position of a Jew thus is to be one of those that say they are such and are not, but are alas! Not the common text, but this is the true order. But he who is faithful will in the end come to a time when he is like a pillar fixed in the Temple of God and goodness has become the constant atmosphere of his life. The patristic party those commonly called "the Fathers" seem to be the leaders of the party here referred to. Laodicea, The Wealth That Is Poverty ( Revelation 3:14-22 Continued). He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches ( Revelation 3:21-22 ). The acts of his government. (Daniel 12:1-13, Matthew 24:1-51, Mark 13:1-37) If so, how rich and full is the promise: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, 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." Nobody cares a button about him. (iii) As the Revised Standard Version has it, he is the beginning of God's creation. They know what they believe and they have no desire to change" If a man does not believe the doctrines of grace, he comes to hear me once, and he says, "I am not going there any more." "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain. When the Turks and Mohammedanism flooded across Asia Minor and every other town had fallen, Philadelphia stood erect. And so the day will come when they will acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah and I pray and long for that day. When he came to Troas, a door was opened to him by the Lord ( 2 Corinthians 2:12). The Church was the Israel of God ( Galatians 6:16). In Jesus is reality. 3:1-6 And to the angel of the Church in Sardis, write: These things says he who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. The Christians were dazzled by the world's power and glory, which was put forth doubtless in protecting, not themselves only, but the public faith of Christendom in that day. Even then Satan was not idle in forming his synagogue "of those that said they were Jews, and are not." Scripture: Revelation 19:1-10 (Commentary helps listed at the end) Bottom line: We worship Jesus Christ because of who he is and what he's done. There may be three pictures here. It may have been some form of persecution, or it may have been some calamity by disease, earthquake, or famine that was to occur. I am inclined to think that the hour of trial embraces the whole Apocalyptic period; that is, not merely the awful time when Satan in a rage is expelled from on high, and when the beast, energised by him, rises to his full head of power, but the previous period of trouble, seduction, and judgment. If I must be the last of the Puritans, I will not be ashamed of it. The Christian does not believe in an inescapable fate; but he does believe in a destiny which he can accept or refuse. I do not speak of justification by faith; for even Luther, as I think, never got thoroughly clear as to the truth of it. Cold is psuchros ( G5593) ; and it can mean cold to the point of freezing. Cheer up, and get to work. Thus the Lord was no longer fighting in defence of His own people, nor was He employing the enemy's hatred and persecution to nip in the bud or prune evil excrescences. There is a general theory abroad that it is quite right and proper to point out to a brother all his imperfections, for it will be a salutary medicine to him, and prevent his being too happy in this vale of tears. We must walk looking to him, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame ( Hebrews 12:1-2). If anything is to be rescued from the impending ruin of the Church in Sardis the Christians there must wake from their deadly lethargy and watch. Never but here occurs an address to a certain number of assemblies, particularly one so definite and significant symbolically as seven. "And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." Your wisdom is not to try to gain keenness of mind that you may emulate the critic, but to lay hold upon God's word, and cling to it, for therein shall be your safety and your victory. Good men have many conflicts, let us minister to their comfort. They were not like that famous church at Corinth, where everybody could teach everybody, but where nobody cared to learn of any one. (ii) The Church at Sardis was untroubled by any attack from the outside, neither by the heathen or by the Jews. It was a centre of the woollen trade; and it was claimed that the art of dyeing wool was actually discovered there. He didn't want to become one with the Gentile. Those men of old time whose influence upon their own age seemed so little, nevertheless prepared the way for those braver spirits who, by-and-by, shone forth like the stars of the morning. John 8:31-59). One can understand their passing through the scene of his power, but to be dwelling there is significant. Then, in Him that held them all in His right hand, and walked in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, we have Christ not merely as holding fast those ideal representatives, but as also taking interest in the assemblies themselves. Revelation 3 - Jesus' Letters to the Churches (Continued) A. There is the most careful exclusion of His heavenly position from the relationships of the Lord Jesus that are here brought before us. No one goes to hades before he dies death being in relation to the body, hades to the separate spirit. Flaccus, the governor of the province, became alarmed at the amount of currency which the Jews were exporting in payment of the Temple tax which every male Jew paid and put an embargo on the export of currency. "Let your garments be always white," said the preacher, "and let not oil be lacking on your head" ( Ecclesiastes 9:8). It is not known to what trial the speaker refers. "The sons of those who oppressed you shall come bending low to you; and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet" ( Isaiah 60:14). For instance, the standard for the Christian is not in anywise the law (which was so for the Jew); for us it is Christ Himself, and cannot without loss be anything else. The Book is our ultimatum. None the less is it "the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ," even if it consists not of that which ministers directly to the edification of the Christian in his own position, but indirectly as announcing the doom of such as despise God and do their own will in the face of His revelation. I will make him who overcomes a pillar in the temple of my God and he will go out no more; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, of the new Jerusalem, which is coming down from heaven from my God, and my new name. This is the reason why they were golden. If you feel, "I never can give up the Bible; I never can forsake the truths that I have learnt from it: they are stamped on my heart, they are cut into the very centre of my soul," then you are the man who may safely go forth to publish the truth. "Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; with their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet" ( Isaiah 49:23). (b) The things a man must do lie to his hand. If a disputer can once get you away from the Bible, he can swallow you alive; but if you will keep to Scripture, and handle this weapon, "It is written; it is written," the disputer may be the arch-fiend himself, but he cannot possibly get the victory over you. Yet, alas! The Christian is under continual attack by the powers which seek to seduce him from his loyalty to Christ. I cannot give them up, therefore; and especially because as I read, and the more I read, I perceive these things to be written in the word of God, and therefore I must hold them. If I am a servant, I ought to behave like a servant. God never abandons his search for the faithful few and they are never lost to his sight in the mass of the wicked. It is much better to take this saying of Christ as expressing the appeal of the lover of the souls of men. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, perfect one" (SS 5:2-6). "[50] A secondary meaning applies the text to the final judgment. The Protestant reads the Bible more at liberty, which is a real good and precious boon; but for this very reason, the Protestant incurs no light responsibility. Nevertheless, having become a man in divine grace, He speaks according to that lowly position which He entered here. He is seen upon His glorious throne with the Father in the Eternal Kingdom - the New Jerusalem. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut and none shall open." you have kept the word . The star, as we are told here, so far acted upon the church for good. This phrase, as it stands in English, is ambiguous. The time soon came when the message was not sent to the people directly. Other New Testament passages also teach a pretribulation Rapture (e.g., John 14:3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants." He is forward going to look into the future. All this I have spoken to the people of God, but I am not ignorant that there are some here who do not know God's word, nor love it. This medical school was famous for two things throughout the world, ointment for the ear and ointment for the eyes. "And these things saith the First and the Last, who became dead and lived; I know [thy works, and] thy tribulation, and thy poverty, (but thou art rich!) It was not as once. Thus we must read the text and translate it. (c) He must have the ability to tell what he has to say, so that his witness may make its true impression on those who hear. The white robes may stand for the fact that the faithful will be guests at the banquet of God. Is not this a very serious fact? The Risen Christ is telling the lethargic Sardians to remember the thrill with which they first heard the good news. This favour consists in two things:--. Enoch walked with God on earth and continued to walk with him in the heavenly places. Jesus declares Himself to be all this; yea, more than this "the living one, and I became dead." The word translated "sup" is deipnein ( G1172) and its corresponding noun is deipnon ( G1173) . When the church was seeking the place of public glory, the encouragement to faith was the hidden manna. What a full exemption! All through the Old Testament God is the Holy One; and now that title is given to the Risen Christ. They have thought out what they believe; their theology is made out of their own substance, as spiders spin their webs out of their own bowels. The problem with the Protestant Reformation is that it wasn't complete. Even the once great citadel was now only an ancient monument on the hill top. (3) The Spirit of Counsel: A lifeless dying church or individual needs to heed the counsel of God. Your book matters, let's make it your way! I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in, and will sup with him ( Revelation 3:20 ), Eating supper is a very significant act from a Biblical standpoint, from a cultural standpoint at the time of Christ. This saying does two things. One says to me, "Are you not perplexed about the prevalence of modern thought the new phase of divinity that has come up of late, and the general progress that is being made towards a new theology? Thus, either to dislocate the New absolutely from the Old, or to see no more than a repetition of the Old in the New, is an almost equal error. There is an open door before you which no man can shut. Behind this there is an Old Testament picture. They had shown this in the trials which they had experienced; he promises now, that in return he will keep them in the future trials that shall come upon the world. We shall find it in relation to Christ dealing with church matters in Revelation 3:1-22; we shall find it in His relation to the earth inRevelation 5:1-14; Revelation 5:1-14: but it is always the fulness of the Spirit in governmental power, and not the same Spirit viewed in His unity forming the church into one body. The words of men are trifling in value; it takes a mass of them to come to the value of a farthing; but any one word of the Lord is worth a mint of gold. They have been firm and steadfast in their confession of the faith once delivered unto the saints, and the Lord who gave them the grace to be so will give them yet more grace as the recompense of their fidelity. I cannot but think that this state of things is referred to here: "Thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth." Secondly, Christ can discover this his favour to his people in such a manner that their very enemies shall see it, and be forced to acknowledge it. The terrible accusation against the Church at Sardis is that, although it has a reputation for life, it is, in fact, spiritually dead. These were proper characters for him, when speaking to a church that had endeavoured to be conformed to Christ in holiness and truth, and that had enjoyed a wide door of liberty and opportunity under his care and government. It may be, you have little strength of mind; but I hope even then grace enables you to be firm for truth. Philadelphia, Promise And Warning ( Revelation 3:7-13 Continued). The promise of the Risen Christ is that the victor will sit with him in his own victorious throne. It is not that the time is actually come so that we must go through all or any part; but the time is at hand. We Jews are not supposed to go into the house of a Gentile, but the Lord told me to come so that is why I am here." This is not at all the way in which His coming is spoken of for His own. And too many souls overall miss the wonder, inspiration, and comfort gained by those who would endeavor toward . 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Sir W. M. Ramsay said of Sardis that nowhere was there a greater example of the melancholy contrast between past splendour and present decay. In the Spirit he must be, both to shut out every impression from external objects, and to give him an entrance into all that God was about to reveal; but first of all we should recognise the fact that it was on the Lord's day; and next that, before he was shown what was before, he must turn to the voice behind him and learn what the Lord judged of that which bore His name on the earth. It is a grand thing to work your passage to a truth, to mine your way to the golden ore by digging and clearing. The subject-matter of this epistle, where. Satan revives the old Judaizing spirit, at the very time that God re-asserts the true principle of Christian brotherhood, and, above all, makes Christ Himself to be all to His people. The seven Spirits therefore refer, as I believe, to the Holy Ghost acting in the way of government. Let men call you bigot, but never mind, hold you on with all your might, and your Lord will smile upon you. I do not think that we should be so slow as we sometimes are in praising one another. "Withhold not correction from the child; for, if you beat him with a rod he will not die. Not a bit. There is no surer way of allowing a child to end in ruin than to allow him to do as he likes. Those who are holding to the Word of God. It is a new state of things; but when we come to Philadelphia there is far more evidence of all things new. The prayers of the saints will be answered (6:9-11; Matt. It is the second of these words which is used here. Though few and small and weak your bands. The promise to the overcomers that they would go no more out refers to their fixed position as pillars in the temple; and with the two massive pillars in Solomons temple in view, saying that overcoming Christians will be placed in the position of pillars in the temple is the same as saying that these Christians will occupy sure, secure, firmly established positions of strength and power, positions which will be realized when they rule and reign as co-heirs with Christ in the [millennial] kingdom." Revelation 2:9). If that light was ineffectual, if there was evil mixed with it, the state of the assembly would partake of it. He opens. (i) The faithful Christian will be a pillar in the Temple of God. So within the Protestant Reformation, those great persons didn't defile their garments, walking with Him in purity, they are worthy. This we have had already in the Pauline epistles, where the proper sphere of the Christian as a member of Christ's body is treated especially, and indeed only there. "I John, your brother, and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the isle which is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus." Come, brother, you did not reckon that such usefulness would ever fall to your lot; did you? He did originally, as for instance in the ten words, though afterwards in this very particular intervention came in. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and will have my meal with him, and he with me. [Note: Beale, p. The name Sardis (Sardeis, G4454, in Greek) is really a plural noun, for there were two towns, one on the plateau and one in the valley beneath. A threefold glory of Christ appears: what is personal; what is relative; and finally, what is official. In short, it is Christ in His fullest but most general ministerial and ecclesiastical aspect, viewed, of course, according to the tenor of the book. When in A.D. 17 a terrible earthquake devastated their city and Tiberius, the Emperor, dealt kindly with them, remitting taxation and making a generous gift to rebuild it, they in their gratitude, called the city Neocaesarea, the New City of Caesar, and later when Vespasian was kind to them, they called it Flavia, for that was the family name of Vespasian. True grace, though weak, will do more than the greatest gifts or highest degrees of common grace, for it will enable the Christian to keep the word of Christ, and not to deny his name. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." As we have so often seen, the Jews divided time into two ages, the present age which is wholly bad, and the age to come, which is wholly good with in between the terrible time of destruction when judgment will fall upon the world. Since they have honored Him on earth He will acknowledge them in heaven (cf. "Let us keep awake and be sober" ( 1 Thessalonians 5:6). "He that denies me before men," Jesus said, "I will deny before my Father, but if you confess Me before men, I will confess you before my Father which is in heaven." I do not say when, where, or how; but as surely as He lives, will the Lord vindicate the truth He has given, and the testimony He has raised up for His name. (iii) The Christian must be on the watch against temptation "Watch and pray," said Jesus, "that you may not enter into temptation" ( Matthew 26:41). They had but small ability to speak with tongues, or work miracles, or teach the word; but they adhered faithfully to what they had been taught by the apostles of the Lord: they were not brilliant, but they were sound. Let it suffice once for all to hope you will understand me always to speak of the text on the basis of the ancient and best authorities. 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