1And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
On the day of Pentecost Peter said concerning Jesus, Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear (Acts 2:33). Jesus is the One who has the Holy Spirit (see the notes concerning the seven Spirits of God at Revelation 1:4-5). Jesus is the Heir to God’s promises to Abraham. The New Covenant, in which the Holy Spirit is promised (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Isaiah 44:3; Jeremiah 31:31-33), is a restatement and further revelation of God’s promises to Abraham. Jesus is the One who has received and who has given the Holy Spirit to His people. The Lord Jesus also has the seven stars, the angels of the seven churches (see notes at Revelation 1:20). He is the One who knows which people in the church in Sardis have the Holy Spirit (are real believers) and which people in the church do not (are not real believers), and He is the One who has the authority to judge and to discipline in the churches.
Jesus said to the church in Sardis, “thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” Not every church that has activity is alive. Jesus said that the church at Sardis was dead. A church or an individual may “make a name for themselves” in this world but be no different from a corpse in the eyes of God. In verses 4 and 5 Jesus will say more about “names.”
2Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Many Greek manuscripts say, “Be watchful, and keep the things which remain, that you were about to cast away.” The Lord Jesus speaks of “the things which remain.” Even in the dead church at Sardis, there were remains of a better past. Jesus appeals to the people there to embrace the truths that used to give life to their church. He says that He has not found their works “perfect” (Greek: “fulfilled”) before God. A church composed of people who have a religious heritage but who are not believers themselves may continue “having church” and do “good” things, but God is not pleased. Religious works that do not come from true faith in Christ will always remain unacceptable before God.
3Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. 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.
It is likely that many of the people in the church at Sardis were adult children of believing parents. They had heard the Gospel. Hearing is not enough. A person who has heard the word about Christ but treats that word as trivial becomes dull to spiritual truth. If they stay that way, their end is to meet Christ as judge. The warning in Hebrews 3:14 is applicable here: For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end. The author of Hebrews does not mean that by staying faithful to God we earn our salvation. This verse says that if a person leaves the Gospel for some other faith or no faith at all, that person was never “made partaker of Christ” in the first place. Of course, some true believers stumble in their faith; God knows the difference. Paul said that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night (I Thessalonians 5:2). Jesus is warning the people in the church at Sardis that a no-response answer to the Gospel is really a “no” response. Christ speaks to this church like He speaks to unbelievers.
4Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
Even in the spiritually dead church in Sardis, there were a few people who had genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows who they are and doesn’t lump them in with the rest. In this verse and the next He speaks of “names.” The dead church at Sardis had made a “name” for itself (verse 1). God was not impressed. Christ gave honor to the “few names” in Sardis who had stayed faithful to Him.
5He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and 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. 6He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Every true believer in Sardis will be clothed in white raiment, their names will not be blotted out of the book of life, and Jesus will confess their names before His Father and before the angels. This verse is the first of several verses in the book of Revelation (see also 13:8; 17:8; 20:12,15; 21:27) which talk about the book of life. If every true believer’s eternal salvation is sure, what is the purpose of the statement in the negative, “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life” ? We should consider the context of this message to the church at Sardis and the plight and mindset of the few remaining true believers. Jesus has just told them that they are in a dead church. He said that He has not found the works of their church to be acceptable as fruit before God. He said that if something doesn’t change, the church is going to fall to judgment at Christ’s second coming. Surely, the few remaining true believers would be asking themselves, “When our church falls to judgment, will we fall, too?” Jesus gives them the assurance they need. The form of the Greek sentence is also instructive. When He says “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life,” the Greek sentence uses a double negative. The double negative in Greek is a very emphatic “will not,” meaning “no way I would do that!” The salvation of a true believer is not endangered by the deadness of his or her church. But, if we find ourselves in a church like the church at Sardis and there is another church where we could go and grow, it seems that these verses would imply that the best decision would be to become part of the other church.
7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
When the prophet Isaiah had a vision of the LORD sitting upon a throne, the angels said, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3). When we see “LORD” capitalized in the Old Testament, it is a translation of the name of God, pronounced “Yahweh” or “Jehovah.” Yahweh is He that is holy. Other “holy” beings are holy only by belonging to God who is holy. In this message to the church at Philadelphia Jesus said that He Himself is “He that is holy.” His words are a claim to Deity. Jesus is Yahweh.
John, to whom the revelation was communicated, wrote in I John 5:20: And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. In this word from his epistle, John spoke of the Father as “him that is true.” When the Lord Jesus identifies Himself as “he that is true,” John understood and we are to understand that the Lord Jesus and the Father are One.
Jesus’ identification of Himself as “he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth” is clearly a reference to words used in Isaiah 22 concerning a man named Eliakim, who would replace a proud man named Shebna as the steward responsible over the house of king Hezekiah: And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 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. (Isaiah 22:20-22). God told the proud Shebna that he would be replaced by Eliakim. God said that He would lay the key of the house of David on the shoulder of Eliakim. The shoulder is the place of authority and responsibility. Eliakim would be kind to God’s people as a father to them. He would have such authority over the house of Hezekiah that he could dispense the blessings of the kingdom at his will.
There are many people in the Old Testament that God used to picture the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Eliakim is one of those people. The only description that God gives of Eliakim is “my servant.” It is significant that in clear prophecies of the coming of the Messiah in the book of Isaiah, the Messiah is called by God “my servant” :
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (Isaiah 42:1)
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6).
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men (Isaiah 52:13-14).
Eliakim was an Old Testament person that God used to picture Christ so that people would know what Christ would be like when He came. The Messiah Jesus has the authority to dispense the blessings of the kingdom of God. He has this authority both as the son of David with right to reign as King and as the faithful chosen servant of Yahweh.
In this verse of the message to the church at Philadelphia, the Lord Jesus introduces Himself as both One with the Father and as the awaited human Messiah.
8I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
As was the case in the message to the church at Smyrna, there is no criticism in Christ’s message to the church at Philadelphia. This message is the only one of the seven messages which makes specific mention of the word of and about Christ (verses 8,10). The believers in Philadelphia had kept His word and had not denied His name. Yet, that success was not of their own strength; they had “a little strength.” Spiritual success comes when a church relies on the strength of God.
What is the open door? Paul used the metaphor of an open door to speak of opportunities given to him by God to communicate the Gospel (I Corinthians 16:9; II Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3). But in the context of the previous verse, it seems more correct to understand this open door as a door of access to the resources of Christ’s kingdom. As Eliakim had the authority to dispense good things from the wealth of the kingdom of Hezekiah, Christ holds the authority to dispense good things from the wealth of the kingdom of God. That wealth would supply everything that the believers in Philadelphia needed to serve the coming King. Surely Jesus’ offer is open to all believers who live in dependence on His strength. The door to the treasure room is open. We only need to ask for what we need to serve Him.
9Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
As in the message to the church at Smyrna, the Lord Jesus speaks of ethnic Jews who have rejected Him as Messiah (see notes at 2:9). We understand here that, as in Smyrna, these Jews were maligning the believers in Philadelphia. The day will come when unbelievers who have antagonized believers will be forced to recognize that they were antagonizing those whom the Lord loved. The word “worship” is here used to mean to bow in a show of honor. This verse contains great irony because the prophet Isaiah said that in the future the nations that had antagonized Israel would bow to them: The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 60:14). Both promises will be fulfilled. The Jews to whom Isaiah prophesied and believers in the churches today, both Jewish and non-Jewish, will, by command of the Lord Jesus, be given vindication and honor from those who have maligned them.
10Because 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.
In the messages to the churches at Ephesus and Thyatira, the Lord Jesus spoke of “thy patience” (2:2,19), but in this verse He speaks of “the word of my patience.” “Patience” here means “endurance.” Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). The believers in Philadelphia have kept the word about Christ’s death; they have endured mistreatment in order to be faithful to the message of His enduring the cross. Because they have kept the word about His death, He will keep them from “the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” The word translated “temptation” here may also be translated “trial” or “testing.” It is clearly used with that meaning in Luke 22:28; Acts 20:19; and Galatians 4:14.
The Lord Jesus says that a time of testing is going to come upon all the inhabited world. He was speaking of the years of tribulation that will be described beginning in chapter 4 of this book. He said that He personally would keep the believers in Philadelphia from that time of trouble. The preposition “from” (“keep thee from”) means “out of.” The believers are to be kept out of the coming time of tribulation. Jesus did not say that He would keep them “through” the time. He said that He would keep them “out of the hour.” In John 12:27, Jesus said, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” The expression “from this hour” that He used before His death is exactly the same expression that He used in Revelation 3:10. Jesus did not ask to be saved out of that hour. He went through that hour. But in His message to the believers in Philadelphia, He promised that He would keep them out of the hour of testing that will come upon the inhabitants of the earth. Because of their keeping the word of Christ’s death for them, Christ would keep them out of that hour.
Each of the messages to the churches ends with the statement, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” The word to the believers in Philadelphia is a word to every church throughout all time. There were surely varying degrees of faithfulness among the believers in Philadelphia, but all were accepted. There are also varying degrees of faithfulness among Christ’s sheep in the churches today, but every sheep that belongs to Him has an absolutely faithful Shepherd. Every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will be kept by Him out of the hour of testing that is going to come upon the people of the earth. Every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will be taken to be with Christ before the Tribulation begins.
11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
A crown is an external adornment. It is not the same as salvation. It is a reward for faithfulness in service to the Lord.
12Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
The most repeated words in this verse are “my God.” They are the words of the Son of Man, God’s anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. After His resurrection Jesus said to Mary, go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God (John 20:17). Jesus did not say to Mary, “our Father” or “our God.” His Sonship is different from our sonship. In His humanity, Jesus speaks of “my God.” But He is both the Son of Man and the Son of God.
The believers in the church at Philadelphia had not denied the name of Christ (verse 8). He will write upon them the name of God, the name of the new Jerusalem, and His own new name as the Son of Man. Writing the name shows belonging and possession. Every true believer will forever belong to the Lord God and to His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. We will have an eternal home. We will have an address, the new Jerusalem. Revelation 21:22 says that there will be no physical temple in the new Jerusalem: “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” The Lord God Himself is the temple. We will be pillars and “go no more out.” We will always be near Him.
What is the new name of the Lord Jesus? At His second coming, He has a name that only He knows: “His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself” (Revelation 19:12). But at that time He will still have the name “Jesus”: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11). He will always be Jesus. But his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6). He will always be Jesus, but He will be highly exalted. The Lord Jesus will write His wonderful new name on each true believer in Him.
13He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
The words of the message to the church at Philadelphia are also for every true believer today.
14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Paul said concerning Christ, For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us (II Corinthians 1:20). The Lord Jesus introduces His message to the church at Laodicea by referring to Himself as “the Amen.” In Him all of God’s promises are fulfilled and shown to be true. Jesus also calls Himself “the faithful and true witness.” Revelation 1:2,9; 12:17; 19:10; and 20:4 speak of the witness of Jesus Christ. Jesus faithfully spoke the words that were given to Him by His Father: For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand (John 3:34-35).
Jesus also called Himself “the beginning of the creation of God.” There are two other occurrences of this Greek word “beginning” in the book of Revelation (21:6; 22:13). In both cases the Lord Jesus speaks of Himself as “the beginning and the end.” He is the One who initiates and the One who concludes. When Jesus called Himself “the beginning of the creation of God,” He was saying that He is the initiator of the creation of God: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3). The Laodiceans were neighbors of the Colossians and there was communication between the two churches (Colossians 2:1; 4:13,15,16). Paul said to the Colossians concerning the Lord Jesus, For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him (Colossians 1:16). The Lord Jesus gave the same declaration to the Laodiceans.
Jesus is the One who brings to fulfillment the promises of God, He is the One who faithfully communicated the word of God, and He is the initiator of creation. By using these descriptions of Himself in His introduction to the message to the church at Laodicea, the Lord Jesus made clear that the Laodicean church could not function independently of Him.
15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
The works of those in the church at Laodicea showed that the people in the church were neither cold nor hot. What did the Lord Jesus mean when He said, “I would thou wert cold or hot” ? Would He ever want anyone to be cold? The earlier message to the church at Sardis can help us here. At Sardis, the church as a whole was dead. Most of the people in the church probably were not believers at all. Jesus warned them that He would come upon them as a thief (verse 3). But there were also a few faithful believers in the church at Sardis. Jesus said that they would walk with Him in white (verse 4). In Sardis cold was cold, hot was hot, and the readers of His message would know who was who. But in Laodicea, the unbelievers thought they were okay with God and the believers had lost their fervor for the Lord. By works, no one was cold and no one was hot. Everyone seemed the same. There was no separation between lost and saved. They were not ready to receive with discernment a message from God.
The Lord Jesus said that He was about to spew the church as a whole out of His mouth. It was disgusting to Him. But He will not forget His own in the church. He knows who they are and will speak to them in the coming statements. Christ told the believers in Ephesus that if they did not repent He would end the church’s opportunity to be a lightbearer for Him (2:5). A spewing of the church of Laodicea out of His mouth seems to be a more sudden and intense form of the same judgment.
17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
In these words of the Lord Jesus there is both a rebuke and an invitation. As we read in 2:9, the church at Smyrna was materially poor but spiritually rich. The church at Laodicea was materially rich but spiritually poor. In Christ’s eyes they were spiritually “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” But in their own eyes they had everything and needed nothing. They were proud of themselves. Yet the Lord Jesus graciously invited them to become spiritually rich. Of course, the Laodiceans had nothing to pay for the pure gold, white raiment, and eyesalve that they needed. God did not want their money. His invitation to buy is like that in Isaiah 55:1: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Only God’s grace can give us that which is truly valuable. But only a person who recognizes his or her need will come.
Probably most of the people in the Laodicean church were not believers at all. But did these words of Jesus also have application for the true believers? Is it possible for a true believer in Christ to be spiritually blind? After listing ingredients needed for spiritual growth, Peter said, But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins (II Peter 1:9). It is possible for a genuine believer to regress spiritually. A true believer has eternal life and blessing but in this life continually needs treasure from the Lord, cleanness of raiment, and clear spiritual vision.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
The words “as many as I love,” are very instructive. First, “as many as” may not include everyone. Second, the word “love” that Jesus used is not the verb agapao, as He used in John 3:16 concerning God’s love for the world, but instead the verb fileo. In the New Testament fileo is never used of God’s love for unbelievers. For example, it is used in John 5:20 concerning the love of the Father for the Son, in John 16:27 concerning the Father’s love for the disciples, and in John 20:2 concerning Jesus’ love for the disciple John. Jesus says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” His words are like those of Proverbs 3:12: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. (Thus, Jesus again here declares Himself to be Jehovah, the Lord God.) Hebrews 12:7-8 makes clear that God’s discipline is for His children only. There were, then, some true believers in the church at Laodicea, and Jesus says that He will take action to get them out of sin.
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.
Now Jesus gives a second invitation. It is an invitation to those who hear His voice. He said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice.” It is an invitation to leave lukewarmness and to have fellowship (the evening meal) with Him personally. The door is the door of the church in Laodicea. Jesus is on the outside because the church felt no need for Him. If anyone hears His voice and allows Him in, Jesus will come in from the outside and go to that person for One-to-one fellowship.
What a wonderful offer! Unfortunately, today also in many churches there is a lukewarmness like that in Laodicea. Many people who belong to or participate in churches have never really put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Some true believers have grown spiritually dull and don’t have personal fellowship with Christ. Jesus doesn’t break down the door of a church and muscle His way in. He warns and invites unbelievers to salvation, He disciplines those who are God’s children, and He offers One-to-one fellowship to each person who hears His voice.
21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will reign with Him in His kingdom. Because the victorious Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, He sits with the Father on His sovereign throne of Deity. Because the Lord Jesus is the Son of Man, we may sit with Him on His Messianic throne in His kingdom. In this verse is a beautiful picture of Christ as the Mediator between God and man.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.