revelation 3:10 commentary

Revelation 3:10 is part of the Letter to the Church of Philadelphia (Rev 3:7-13). A threefold glory of Christ appears: what is personal; what is relative; and finally, what is official. The reason is as solemn as it is instructive. Constant reference is made to the law, Psalms, and prophets, but it is never a mere repetition, as the literalists suppose, of what was found there. If I am a servant, I ought to behave like a servant. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found your works (complete) before God ( Revelation 3:2 ). Here we find Jezebel later. We might well paraphrase it: "It is the people who are dearest to me on whom I exercise the sternest discipline.". This can hardly be denied to Jezebel at least; whilst "the remnant" represents those who, without being Protestants, form a witnessing company apart from popery, yet before the rise of Protestantism. We exist to worship him and enjoy him forever. (b) In the ancient world white robes stood for victory. The Lord help you to keep his word, and then to go in for public testimony. Show yourself watchful, and strengthen what remains and what is going to die. It is only by the grace of God that we can escape the death of sin. There were, I doubt not, some saints true to His name, though it was not the time when they were led or forced into the position of a remnant. At first all addressed the people in His name. So, it wasn't a complete reformation. He who is the first and the last, comprehending all in communicating His mind, which includes everything that can be given to man He it is who here speaks the Lord God, the Eternal. But John saw "in the midst of the [seven] lampstands one like the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot." When he came to Troas, a door was opened to him by the Lord ( 2 Corinthians 2:12). This saying does two things. If so, they will receive a reward for it, according to the grace of God. It is dark. Daniel is clothed in purple by Belshazzar ( Daniel 5:29). (a) This may be a promise of security. There is little point in a man adorning his body, if he has nothing to adorn his soul. "It is full time," says Paul, "to wake from sleep" ( Romans 13:11). The mixture of relations is always wrong; the oversight of them is loss, their denial ruinous. I do not believe it. In Revelation 3:8-9 there is a problem of punctuation. The man who refuses to open is "blindly at strife with his own blessedness." He gave the Christians five promises instead. "And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." (a) We see the pleading of Christ. The address to Sardis also, although allusive to that of Ephesus, is nevertheless no less clearly meant to stand contrasted with it. Laodicea, The Claims Of Christ ( Revelation 3:14-22 Continued). They might be hurt by the first, they would not be by that which follows and is final. This would be in effect to deprive ourselves of the Apocalypse, instead of understanding and gathering its peculiar profit. Undoubtedly the inference is mistaken; still there is no possibility of charging the writer with putting himself forward in the manner in which he has written. But it assumes a somewhat different shape when it becomes a question of assemblies which had not been, so far as we know, sending messengers at all. In Hierapolis, six miles away from Laodicea, there was a "Congregation of Jews" which had power to levy and to retain fines, and an archive office where Jewish legal documents were specially kept. It was under his authority, and indeed by his call, that the famous council sat at Nicea, and the faith of the Trinity was publicly established. ], Fifth, Jesus Christ will identify with His faithful people. They may not know it as a whole, having never read it save (?) There may be three pictures here. It is not to make known what was in Christ before all worlds, but to disclose the great facts in which God was about to maintain the glory of the First-begotten, when He introduced Him into the world. This gives us, as is obvious and familiar to almost every reader, the threefold division of the book of Revelation. If so, some people ought to be very good by this time, for they have had candid friends in plenty. Here is something to make us think: (i) The one attitude which the Risen Christ unsparingly condemns is indifference. It is the same idea again; it is as if the mark of God was upon Israel so that all men may know that they are his people. One cannot make good sense out of Revelation 3:10 otherwise. Oh, that men who have ten talents would not be so anxious to be original in their teaching! The victor in life will share the throne of the victorious Christ. Behold, I have set before you a door which stands open and which no man shuts, because you have a little strength and because you have kept my word, and have not denied my name. In Paul's last address to the elders of Ephesus he warns them that grievous wolves will invade the flock from outside and from inside men will arise to speak perverse things. There is a remnant only that overcome, and the promise is for them. The faithful will share Christ's power at His coming, and be associated with Himself in His kingdom. No such condition appears afterwards. 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 on the earth. Mr. Moody would say, "Make a bee line for heaven." At one time that temple was the social, administrative and commercial centre of the whole area. 2. 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. Keep to the truth, and the modern school will give you a wide berth. (i) The faithful Christian will be a pillar in the Temple of God. This at the same time goes on down to the end, and brings in the Lord's coming; for, it will be observed, the coming of the Lord is not introduced in any of the first three, but from Thyatira it is, because the condition intended goes on to the coming of the Lord. We can hardly suppose that this name was given to it after it received the Christian religion, and that it was so called from that Christian affection that all believers have, and should have, one for another, as the children of one Father and the brethren of Christ; but rather that it was its ancient name, on account of the love and kindness which the citizens had and showed to each other as a civil fraternity. Clearly such a position made it almost impregnable. Verse Revelation 3:10. (i) Watchfulness should be the constant attitude of the Christian life. You know it is true that God is doing a wonderful work here and it is exciting to see what God is doing, but we have hardly touched the county. I say not this of you all, but only of confirmed and faithful ones. He stands at the door of the human heart and knocks. Sir W. M. Ramsay said of Sardis that nowhere was there a greater example of the melancholy contrast between past splendour and present decay. Nevertheless, they will be aware of the next event including the end of the horrible counter attack represented by the sixth trumpet of Revelation 9:13-21 and 11:7-13 that corresponds to Daniel 11:40-43. Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom. [48] Edward A. McDowell, The Meaning and Message of the Book of Revelation (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1951), p. 58. It has two aspects of meaning. (ii) We cannot say that that meaning is impossible and yet it does not seem to fit the context, for the atmosphere of the passage is not so much warning as love. There is not a word about His coming as a thief now, but with joy. Christ puts them in mind of what he had done for them: I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, v. 8. Here two great truths meet us. Believe you God's word, and you have wrought a god-like work. Since the whole Philadelphia church was faithful (Revelation 3:8) Revelation 3:10 is probably not an inducement to remain faithful. 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. It is true that neither of these new names lasted and "Philadelphia" was restored. 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. He will make them pillars in the spiritual temple of God, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:22; cf. Revelation 3:3 So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. "In principle, the same promise would fit the judgment as the great trial for the whole human race. They have now a compact character, and can be spoken of as a synagogue. 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 will not be in that hour. It is a question of faith in God. That God should have chosen John to be the instrument of communicating the closing volume of the New Testament is worthy of our consideration. There is a doctrine known as the manifested sons of God that advocates the super sainthood. This poor creature has no power or influence; he is rather ridiculous than useful. John sees the Son of man with the qualities of the Ancient of days. The warden of Angola prison, Burl Cain, also a believer in Jesus, took the hand of Antonio James and said, 'Antonio, the chariot is here; get ready for the ride. (v) The Christian must be on the watch against false teaching. Let us first take the word rebuke. "These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest." Read commentary on this popular Bible verse and understand the real meaning behind God's Word using John Gill's Exposition of the Bible. 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. Directly opposite Laodicea, on the other bank of the Lycus, and in full view, stood Hierapolis, famous for its hot mineral springs. It is expressly so taught in John's own gospel. The council in Jerusalem expressly exempted the Gentiles from being put under the yoke of law. Good men in the dark days of Popery found out the truth, but they only lived, perhaps, in some quiet village, or shut up in a monastery, and the most they could do was to write down what they knew and so keep it. "For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. But that situation had its perils, and these perils had left their mark more deeply on Philadelphia than on any other city. It is "he that openeth, and no man shall shut." See also Showers, pp. Again there is a double background. When the prodigal son returns, it is the best robe that is put upon him ( Luke 15:22). Laodicea, The Wealth That Is Poverty ( Revelation 3:14-22 Continued). (2.) Thirteen miles to the west, between Laodicea and the Gate of Phrygia, stood the temple of the Carian god Men. It was to her that one day all men would humbly make their submission. What had these Philadelphian believers done that they should be praised? Holman Hunt was right when in his famous picture The Light of the World he painted the door of the human heart with no handle on the outside, for it can be opened only from within. (iii) Sin is the death of all loveliness. "I 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. Philadelphia, The Open Door ( Revelation 3:7-13 Continued). Keep the word of God, and the word of God will keep you. That which had produced the mighty results was no longer active, nor could be. "Hark! I am supposing now a scale which attracts the world's attention. Why, there are great folk among us that never care to believe according to God's word at all. . The unwelcome visitation of a thief would be utterly incongruous if they were enjoying the sweet hope according to His own word, that He is coming for them quickly. 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. Holy is the description of God himself "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts," was the song of the seraphs which Isaiah heard ( Isaiah 6:3). 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. 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." Hence all the fulness of divine light that had come out in Christ's person and work, as well as by the Spirit in the church of God, is necessary to be taken into account in order to give the Apocalypse its just bearing. (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. (ii) The Church at Sardis was untroubled by any attack from the outside, neither by the heathen or by the Jews. In each letter the Lord addresses "the angel." That is what the Philadelphian Church would see, at least in its beginnings, if its members were faithful. The Romanists are in general too ignorant to know what is or is not in the Bible. Through sin the yearning for the highest can become the craving for power; the wish to serve can become the intoxication of ambition; the desire of love can become the passion of lust. I will give to him who overcomes to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and took my seat with my Father in his throne. Each of the triumphant believers will be like a pillar in Gods temple, secure in his presence for ever. Because you say, I am rich, [endowed with great foundations and funds, we're rich.] Truth does not die through being buried. Ephesus was the first presentation of the general public state. 293. Own . The angel, it is needless to say, is not without good reason named in relation to the revelations which God was here giving. Third the endurance of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of his sympathy with us when we are called upon to endure. 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, Blessed and happy shall he be who followeth the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, perfect one" (SS 5:2-6). "Because this period of tribulation will immediately precede the coming of the Lord to earth in power and great glory (cf. 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