As God bears testimony in his word to his own dear Son, believe that testimony; accept the Saviour whom he has given, and find immediate salvation: find it to-night. The word for salve is kollourion ( G2854) which literally means a little roll of bread. Yet Smyrna was poor and Philadelphia was small. We have a little strength. In the pagan world devotees of certain gods often wrote the name of their god on their forehead (cf. I do not in the least doubt that God proves Himself faithful in the worst of times. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of [my] God." Truth does not die through being buried. I have no intention to enter at any length on this way of looking at the churches as quite by-gone, and the prophecy as at once flowing on; but I mention it because it seems due to truth to name this as well as the other, according to which "what shall be after these" is when the church condition is no longer applicable at all. Do not be afraid. (ii) He is he who has the seven stars. [Note: See Stanton, pp. No man can shut it. What they did was this they kept the word of God: "Thou hast kept my word, and thou hast not denied my name." Take time by the forelock and honour your God. I will keep you . "It is exemption from the period of time that is promised. He is spoken of as Son of man; and, as we know, this is the quality in which it is given Him to execute every kind of judgment. 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. 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. It has been said that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" and eternal watchfulness is the price of salvation. For the heathen this was an external thing; but this may describe the man who has kept his soul clean so that he can enter into the presence of God and not be ashamed. We agree with Beasley-Murray that it is certainly possible that, "an identical period of trial is referred to in both Revelation 2:10 and Revelation 3:1. and the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but a synagogue of Satan." There the Holy Ghost was the only one competent to minister and effectuate such grace according to the counsels of God, and in the ordering of His love. In the New Testament men used the idea of the Coming of Christ as a warning to the heedless and as a comfort to the oppressed. A greater trial appears now. But here we have visions visions of God's judicial ways visions of what would call for judgment in the ever growing iniquity of man. One can understand their passing through the scene of his power, but to be dwelling there is significant. It has been said that Sardis stood like some gigantic watch-tower, guarding the Hermus valley. In principle it is true of all that are really faithful, but there may be Christians, as we know there are, involved in one or other of the various states which have been described, and which apparently go on to the close. and keeps to it with all its force. "Thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith." Men who deserve praise can bear it, and some of them even need it. The Sardians had forgotten their lesson. See the notes on Luke 2:1. "Why not?" As it is said here, "Because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess." 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. Literally, it is the word of my endurance. "And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest," etc. (ii) The one impossible attitude to Christianity is neutrality. The promise of Jesus is to keep the Church from this horrible trial that is still coming in the future. ", It often happens that, when a great earthquake comes, people meet it with courage and self-possession, but ever. When Talkative came up to gossip with Christian and Hopeful, he chattered away upon all sorts of topics, and they were wearied with him. There was faithfulness, and this very particularly in dealing with the wickedness which Satan sought to bring in at that time. At the same time another way of looking at the book is by taking "the things that are" as already past and gone. Before they begin the Christian is heard, as also the bride after they close. "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos" comes a very different message. It is a formed and known party of the highest possible pretensions. The characteristics are general. Again Croesus was warned, but he failed to see the warning. Verse 2: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and hisleft footon the earth, You shall be offensive to them, or they to you, and you shall soon part company." I want to suggest to you that if you have done this for some time the era has now arrived when you may go forward to somewhat more. They stored it up as bees store away honey, and they were as ready to defend it as bees are to guard their stores. We exist to worship him and enjoy him forever. This gives us, as is obvious and familiar to almost every reader, the threefold division of the book of Revelation. v. 12). It is for discipline that you have to endure. It is the second of these words which is used here. 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). Revelation 3:10 Context. When we are confronted with him, we are confronted with no shadowy outline of the truth but with the truth itself. In A.D. 17 it was destroyed by an earthquake which devasted the area. . Yet it was a wealthy city, situated at the junction of several important roads and trade routes. 'But he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as a vessel of the potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father." "And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." It was literally astride the great road to the east which went straight through Laodicea, entering by the Ephesian Gate and leaving by the Syrian Gate. (iv) Repeatedly the New Testament urges the Christian to be on the watch for the coming of his Lord. But for all that the voice of the Christian is at once heard and so much the more remarkably, because it is one of the few exceptional ripples which cross the ordinary current of the book at the end as well as at the beginning. Even the once great citadel was now only an ancient monument on the hill top. Simultaneously with this of course there was the introduction of all kinds of compromise with the world. Login Register. At the same time they fatally compromised Christ by alliance with the world, and there followed the practical return to the world out of which grace had taken the church in order to union with Christ in glory. Another instance of favour that Christ promises to this church is persevering grace in the most trying times (Revelation 3:10; Revelation 3:10), and this as the reward of their past fidelity. The Book is our ultimatum. That which had produced the mighty results was no longer active, nor could be. But why should you not receive it? Impossible to believe that e.g. It is not at all however a question of a place of shelter, but of complete removal from the period that is filled by the great trouble or trial that will come upon the habitable world. It was Jesus' promise that, if a man confessed him before men, he would confess him before his Father; and if a man denied him before men, he would deny him before his Father ( Matthew 10:32-33; Luke 12:8-9). Ephesus does not, nor Smyrna, nor Pergamos: the only semblance of it is in threats of present judgment. To use that door of opportunity is at once our privilege and our responsibility. But no: it is confessed to John by Jesus as the word of God and His own testimony. Overstreet, pp. The state of the church in Ephesus has the same generality. Two other roads passed through the gates of Laodicea, that from Pergamum and the Hermus Valley to Pisidia and Pamphylia and the coast at Perga and that from eastern Caria to central and west Phrygia. The terrible thing about sin is that it can take the loveliest things and turn them into ugliness. "The time is at hand." It was on the edge of a great plain called the Katakekaumene ( G2618) , which means the Burned Land. He who overcomes will be thus clothed in white raiment and I will not wipe his name out of the Book of Life, but I will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels. He "ought himself also so to walk even as he (Christ) walked." Clarke's Revelation 3:10 Bible Commentary The word of my patience - The doctrine which has exposed you to so much trouble and persecution, and required so much patience and magnanimity to bear up under its attendant trials. Isaiah heard God say of this faithful Eliakim: "and I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open" ( Isaiah 22:22). (1.) "I rebuke and discipline all those whom I love." [1.] There is an open door before you which no man can shut. The reference of the voice behind is exclusively to the seven churches. Did He thus walk? Our last point was to be A WORD OF PROMISE; for, according to the tenth verse, it is written, "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." We eat our way into the word of God, we live upon what we learn, tunnelling through the truth with receptive minds. Thank God that He has set before us the open door. PHILADELPHIA--The church with opportunity. (i) It may be the door of missionary opportunity. (ii) The Risen Christ says: "Repent!" Did He not look with exceeding satisfaction in His grace upon that servant who felt and answered to His own feelings about His people? The Jews claimed they were the people of Gods kingdom and tried to shut the Gentiles out. They had an intense delight in it. If you have little talent, it is a pity you have not more; but still it is for your praise if you quit yourselves like men, and stand fast in the faith. There is a very lovely thing about the way this is put. Revelation 10:1 I saw (1) another strong angel coming down out of heaven, (2) clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; 1. Wealth can do much but there are things that it can never do. First, their Jewish antagonists would eventually have to acknowledge that the Christians were the true followers of God (cf. In Philadelphia the tremors went on for years; Strabo describes it as a "city full of earthquakes. The truth is too great for us ever to absorb it all, but daily and hourly we live upon it. And next week as we get into chapters four and five. There are some to whom he early opens the gate of usefulness, because he sees in them a spirit that will bear the temptation of success; but in many other cases it is questionable whether they could bear promotion, and therefore the Lord permits them to be tried in different ways until he sees that they are found faithful, and then he puts them into his service, and gives them an opportunity of bearing witness for him. It began at the coast at Ephesus and it had to find a way to climb up to the central plateau 8,500 feet up. The man whose walk with God is close on earth will enter into a nearer companionship with him when the end of life comes. What can be wider than to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God? No man knows the day and the hour when for him eternity will invade time. It is quite true that, in the literal sense, Jesus Christ did not come back to those who were so warned and exhorted. He who is first is necessarily God; and He who is first, being God, must certainly be last. The terrible accusation against the Church at Sardis is that, although it has a reputation for life, it is, in fact, spiritually dead. Nobody cares a button about him. So often we listen to a message which comes through a preacher and apply it to everyone but ourselves. "Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman (perhaps 'thy wife') Jezebel." The beginning of the third chapter introduces the protestant state of things. But there is more also. This has nothing to do with His presence for us; but after our own delight and thanksgiving have gone forth towards Jesus, the testimony to others most suitably follows the song of praise that had, I may say, involuntarily burst forth at His name. Because you say, I am rich and I have acquired riches, and I need nothing, and are quite unaware that it is you who are the wretched and the pitiable one, the poor and the blind and the naked one, I advise you to buy from me gold that has been refined by fire that you may be rich, white raiment that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be openly displayed, and eye-salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. The King James and Revised Standard Versions speak of eye-salve. There is an unwritten saying of Jesus: "He who is near me is near the fire." He that receives it shall live, but without it there is no spiritual life. The Romanists are in general too ignorant to know what is or is not in the Bible. We are soon going to be entering into the Lent season which was borrowed from the Babylonian system. Next, we may be sure that they loved the word of God. What He is is the main point. Laodicea prides itself on the magnificent garments it produces but spiritually it is naked and nakedness is shame. Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Spurgeon Collection" by: Tony Capoccia Bible Bulletin Board Box 314 Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022 Websites: and Email: Online since 1986. When they reached the top they found the battlements completely unguarded. But what He is in heaven is exactly what is not given here. "The last day is a secret," says Augustine, "that every day may be watched." At the same time it is useless to blink the fact: energetic as he was and used of God largely, he was far behind in the understanding both of the church and of the gospel. Read full chapter. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire." Temptation waits for our unguarded moments and then attacks. It is to that terrible time that John refers. In Revelation 3:4 there shines through the darkness a ray of hope. It is nothing special. Solomon made shields of gold, which were borne before the king when he went into the house of the Lord; but Rehoboam took away the shields of gold, and put shields of brass in their place. If so, they will receive a reward for it, according to the grace of God. It is very possible, when the epistles were sent out in the days of John, that no particular emphasis would be laid on "the things that are;" but inasmuch as these things have been going on from that day to the present, we can see the immense force such a phrase thereby acquires. By implication, this deliverance will coincide with Christs return mentioned in the very next verse: I will come soon (Revelation 3:11). It is a fact of life that the best athlete and the finest scholar receive the most demanding training. He can tell of God, because he came from him. As Trench has it: "Every man is lord of the house of his own heart; it is his fortress; he must open the gates of it," and he has "the mournful prerogative and privilege of refusing to open." Sardis was a city of degeneration. And this is seen to be the occasion of the letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. He will reward them at his return (10-11). (i) He is he who has the seven Spirits of God. The reason is as solemn as it is instructive. There were a few futile attempts at rebellion; but Cyrus followed a deliberate policy. A straggling few may reckon themselves to be the majority when they stand alone with God, for HE counts for more than all the myriads of the earth put together. Beale believed that this "hour" probably refers to the end of the churchs present experience of tribulation, just before Christs second coming. The Greek is elegchein ( G1651) and it describes the kind of rebuke which compels a man to see the error of his ways. Zechariah has a vision of the day when all men of all nations and languages shall turn to Jerusalem, "they shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you"' ( Zechariah 8:22-23). Besides, God's word is a supporting thing, and he who quits it leaves his chief helper. The word that cometh out of Christ's mouth is the daily manna of our heavenly life, and it behoves every Christian, however feeble or however strong, to keep the word of God with all his might against all comers, since it is his life. 3:10 + is correct [that the church will be guarded and preserved during God's testing of earth-dwellers during the Tribulation], then one is left with the colossal problem of reconciling the fact that multitudes of believers will die under the fierce persecution of Antichrist during the Tribulation and yet God supposedly will preserve His people physically through the Tribulation."Keith H. Essex, "The Rapture and the Book of Revelation," in . Verse Revelation 3:10. Read commentary on this popular Bible verse and understand the real meaning behind God's Word using John Gill's Exposition of the Bible. 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. This promise is a reversal of all that the Jews had expected; they had expected that all nations would kneel before them; but the day was to come when they with all nations would kneel before Christ. The mind of man sends forth pure water and impure, and it is hard to discern between the two; but from the heart of God there wells up, undiluted and unmingled, a stream of living truth which is more for man's benefit than all else out of heaven. Particular care is taken here to show it to us. I am coming quickly. (a) In the cities of Asia Minor, and in Philadelphia, when a priest died after a lifetime of faithfulness, men honoured him, by erecting a new pillar in the temple in which he had served and by inscribing his name and the name of his father upon it. Peter warns his people that they will give account for their deeds to him who comes to judge the living and the dead ( 1 Peter 4:5). The hour of temptation A time of sore and peculiar trial which might have proved too much for their strength. The discipline of God is not something which we should resent, but something for which we should be devoutly thankful. It was rich and had acquired wealth and had need of nothing--so it thought. It is a sweeping intimation of the very same way in which the Lord threatens to come on the world. After the death of Alexander there were many claimants for the power. I know thy works: behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it ( Revelation 3:8 ): That to me is exciting. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their garments and they will walk with me in white raiment, because they are worthy. Precious souls are there, and our happy service is to help these then, if we can, to a better knowledge of His grace, not, of course, to make light of their being where they are, or of their doing what they do, yet in the fullest love to feel about them as the Lord does. A threefold glory of Christ appears: what is personal; what is relative; and finally, what is official. It is dark. This gospel should be carefully kept by all that enjoy it; they must keep up to the faith, and practice, and worship prescribed in the gospel. Go out of the place saying, "I believe it." I warrant you if you get faith into your soul, and the word becomes your joy and comfort, you will never let it go. Which shall come upon all the world - The phrase used here - all the world - may either denote the whole world; or the whole Roman empire; or a large district of country; or the land of Judaea. Now, I shall speak for myself and for you, and I know that we can bear witness that this promise is true. Possibly you have not much strength as to influence: your sphere may be very narrow, and your power in it very slight. Christ is revealed now, not only in the all-discerning power of moral judgment, but also judicially prepared to act against evil "His feet like fine brass." Sardis was still a wealthy city. Though few and small and weak your bands. It was not yet a question of coming out from the public body. There is the most careful exclusion of His heavenly position from the relationships of the Lord Jesus that are here brought before us. But the man who says, "I am going straight for glory, and if anybody is in my way so much the worse for him, for I am bound to take the right road;" such a man will find a pretty clear track. This remark it may be well to add, because a Christian might say "As I am a gentleman, I must walk like one, and still better now that I have Christ." His having the seven Spirits of God was distinct from the Ephesian picture; nor is anything at all similar in the description of the Lord Jesus given before. The figure of the thief can be employed only for the world or the worldly-minded. Help us purchase electrical generators for churches. This prepares us for the true meaning of the remarkable chancre in the Apocalypse as compared with the rest of the New Testament. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna." We have intervention on every side. The word of Jehovah was sent to Jehovah's people. Whatever novelty comes up, keep to the word of Jesus! Men's scheme was a mistake, their flight foolish. He promised to keep them from the hour of testing. 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. There is little point in a man adorning his body, if he has nothing to adorn his soul. The real meaning is that the promise is to those who have practised the same kind of endurance as Jesus displayed in his earthly life. They were not ashamed of revealed truth, but, on the contrary, they took it for their possession, their heritage, their treasure, their all. "It is full time," says Paul, "to wake from sleep" ( Romans 13:11). , , , , , the word of my patience, I also will keep thee, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. Come, brother, you did not reckon that such usefulness would ever fall to your lot; did you? "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right land, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands." ], Fifth, Jesus Christ will identify with His faithful people. I will also keep thee from the hour of trial Norris' Commentary on the Book of Revelation, Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible. The things that he saw were the glory of Christ in relation to this book, as described in the first chapter, on which we have already touched. We will also release more in depth conversations on specific passages of scripture as the Father leads. "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him" ( Proverbs 13:24). 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. A Jew in God's sense of the term was not one who could claim racial descent from Abraham but one of any nation who had made the same venture of faith as he had ( Romans 9:6-9). Let me hear each one of you say, "I am not going to take any corners, or twists, or windabouts; but, straight away, what God bids me to do I am going to do; what he bids me believe I am going to believe; and if there is anything to be suffered for it, all right. Nothing can more demonstrate. He crossed the Halys, engaged in battle and was routed. Believe it when circumstances seem to make it questionable; believe it when your own heart fails you; believe it when your sin and corruption rise within you like a fountain of foul waters: thus shall you give glory to the God of truth. (b) Some scholars think that what is here promised is fixity of moral character. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: (1) he who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars, says this: I know your deeds, that you have a (2) name that you are alive, but you are dead. What injures, and finally ruins, is invariably from within, not from without. We just went through one, the celebration of Christmas on December 25th. (iv) Apart from all these things, for any man the door of prayer is always open. He did not like spiritual conversation, neither do any of the breed. - NLTSB. Truth is the jewel for which all believers must be ready to die. Victory lies before you. Revelation 3:3 So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If we hear of the Apocalyptic angel of fire, we readily understand this; and if we hear of the angel of Jesus Christ as of Jehovah elsewhere, we find no insuperable difficulty. Prison Life Rpg How To Get Off Death Row, Campo Semantico Di Aria, Dragon Fruit King Legacy, Articles R
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