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122 lines
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<p id="Chapter3" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 3
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<p id="Re3_1"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,'1-22');">Rev 3:1-22</a>. THE EPISTLES TO SARDIS, PHILADELPHIA, AND LAODICEA.
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<p><b>1. Sardis</b>—the ancient capital of Lydia, the kingdom of wealthy Croesus, on the river Pactolus. The address to this Church is full of rebuke. It does not seem to have been in vain; for MELITO, bishop of Sardis in the second century, was eminent for piety and learning. He visited Palestine to assure himself and his flock as to the Old Testament canon and wrote an epistle on the subject [EUSEBIUS <i>Ecclesiastical History,</i> 4.26]; he also wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse [EUSEBIUS, <i>Ecclesiastical History,</i> 4.26; JEROME, <i>On Illustrious Men,</i> 24].
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<br><br><b>he that hath the seven Spirits of God</b>—that is, He who hath all the fulness of the Spirit (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',1,4);">Rev 1:4</a> 4:5 5:6, with which compare <a onclick="return mV('Zec',3,9);">Zec 3:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Zec',3,9);">4:10</a>, proving His Godhead). This attribute implies His infinite power by the Spirit to convict of sin and of a hollow profession.
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<br><br><b>and the seven stars</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',1,16,20);">Rev 1:16, 20</a>). His <i>having the seven stars,</i> or presiding ministers, flows, as a consequence, from His <i>having the seven Spirits,</i> or the fulness of the Holy Spirit. The human ministry is the fruit of Christ's sending down the gifts of the Spirit. <i>Stars</i> imply brilliancy and glory; the fulness of the Spirit, and the fulness of brilliant light in Him, form a designed contrast to the formality which He reproves.
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<br><br><b>name...livest...dead</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('1Ti',5,6);">1Ti 5:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Ti',3,5);">2Ti 3:5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Tts',1,16);">Tts 1:16</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Eph',2,1,5);">Eph 2:1, 5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eph',5,14);">5:14</a>). "A name," that is, a reputation. Sardis was famed among the churches for spiritual <i>vitality;</i> yet the Heart-searcher, who seeth not as man seeth, pronounces her <i>dead;</i> how great searchings of heart should her case create among even the best of us! Laodicea deceived herself as to her true state (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,17);">Rev 3:17</a>), but it is not written that she had a high <i>name</i> among the other churches, as Sardis had.
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<p id="Re3_2"><b>2. Be</b>—<i>Greek.</i> "Become," what thou art not, "watchful," or "wakeful," literally, "waking."
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<br><br><b>the things which remain</b>—Strengthen those thy remaining few graces, which, in thy spiritual deadly slumber, are not yet quite extinct [ALFORD]. "The things that remain" can hardly mean "the PERSONS that are not yet dead, but <i>are ready to die</i>"; for <a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,4);">Rev 3:4</a> implies that the "few" faithful ones at Sardis were not "ready to die," but were full of life.
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<br><br><b>are</b>—The two oldest manuscripts read, "were ready," literally, "were about to die," namely, at the time when you "strengthen" them. This implies that "thou art dead," <a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,1);">Rev 3:1</a>, is to be taken with limitation; for those must have some life who are told to <i>strengthen the things that remain.</i>
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<br><br><b>perfect</b>—literally, "filled up in full complement"; Translate, "complete." Weighed in the balance of Him who requires living faith as the motive of works, and found wanting.
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<br><br><b>before God</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "in the sight of God." The three oldest manuscripts, <i>Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic,</i> read, "before (in the sight of) MY God"; Christ's judgment is God the Father's judgment. In the sight of men, Sardis had "a name of living": "so many and so great are the obligations of pastors, that he who would in reality fulfil even a third of them, would be esteemed holy by men, whereas, if content with that alone, he would be sure not to escape hell" [JUAN D'AVILA]. Note: in Sardis and Laodicea alone of the seven we read of no conflict with foes within or without the Church. Not that either had renounced the <i>appearance</i> of opposition to the world; but neither had the faithfulness to witness for God by word and example, so as to "torment them that dwelt on the earth" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',11,10);">Rev 11:10</a>).
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<p id="Re3_3"><b>3. how thou hast received</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Col',2,6);">Col 2:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Th',4,1);">1Th 4:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ti',6,20);">1Ti 6:20</a>). What Sardis is to "remember" is, not <i>how</i> joyfully she had received originally the Gospel message, but how the precious deposit was committed to her originally, so that she could not say, she had not "received and heard" it. The <i>Greek</i> is not aorist (as in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,4);">Rev 2:4</a>, as to Ephesus, "Thou <i>didst leave</i> thy first love"), but "thou hast received" (perfect), and still hast the permanent deposit of doctrine committed to thee. The word "keep" (so the <i>Greek</i> is for <i>English Version,</i> "hold fast") which follows, accords with this sense. "Keep" or observe the commandment which thou hast received and didst hear.
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<br><br><b>heard</b>—<i>Greek</i> aorist, "didst hear," namely, when the Gospel doctrine was committed to thee. TRENCH explains "how," <i>with what demonstration of the Spirit and power</i> from Christ's ambassadors the truth came to you, and how heartily and zealously you at first received it. Similarly BENGEL, "Regard to her former <i>character</i> (<i>how</i> it once stood) ought to guard Sardis against the future <i>hour, whatsoever</i> it shall be, proving fatal to her." But it is not likely that the Spirit repeats the same exhortation virtually to Sardis as to Ephesus.
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<br><br><b>If therefore</b>—seeing thou art so warned, if, nevertheless, etc.
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<br><br><b>come on thee as a thief</b>—in special judgment on thee as a Church, with the same stealthiness and as unexpectedly as shall be My visible second coming. As <i>the thief</i> gives no notice of his approach. Christ applies the language which in its fullest sense describes His second coming, to describe His coming in special judgments on churches and states (as Jerusalem, <a onclick="return mV('Mat',24,'4-28');">Mat 24:4-28</a>) these special judgments being anticipatory earnests of that great last coming. "The last day is hidden from us, that every day may be observed by us" [AUGUSTINE]. Twice Christ in the days of His flesh spake the same words (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',24,42,43);">Mat 24:42-43</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',12,39,40);">Luk 12:39-40</a>); and so deeply had His words been engraven on the minds of the apostles that they are often repeated in their writings (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',16,15);">Rev 16:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Th',5,2,4,6);">1Th 5:2, 4, 6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Pe',3,10);">2Pe 3:10</a>). The Greek proverb was that "the feet of the avenging deities are shod with wool," expressing the noiseless approach of the divine judgments, and their possible nearness at the moment when they were supposed the farthest off [TRENCH].
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<p id="Re3_4"><b>4.</b> The three oldest manuscripts prefix "but," or "nevertheless" (notwithstanding thy spiritual deadness), and omit "even."
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<br><br><b>names</b>—persons <i>named</i> in the book of life (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,5);">Rev 3:5</a>) known by name by the Lord as His own. These had the reality corresponding to their name; not a mere <i>name</i> among men as <i>living,</i> while really <i>dead</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,1);">Rev 3:1</a>). The gracious Lord does not overlook any exceptional cases of real saints in the midst of unreal professors.
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<br><br><b>not defiled their garments</b>—namely, the garments of their Christian profession, of which baptism is the initiatory seal, whence the candidates for baptism used in the ancient Church to be arrayed in white. Compare also <a onclick="return mV('Eph',5,27);">Eph 5:27</a>, as to the spotlessness of the Church when she shall be presented to Christ; and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',19,8);">Rev 19:8</a>, as to the "fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints," in which it shall be granted to her to be arrayed; and "the wedding garment." Meanwhile she is not to sully her Christian profession with any defilement of flesh or spirit, but to "keep her garments." For no defilement shall enter the heavenly city. Not that any keep themselves here wholly free from defilement; but, as compared with hollow professors, the godly <i>keep themselves unspotted from the world;</i> and when they do contract it, they wash it away, so as to have their "robes white in the blood of the Lamb" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',7,14);">Rev 7:14</a>). The <i>Greek</i> is not "to stain" (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>miainein</i>"), but to "defile," or besmear (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>molunein</i>"), <a onclick="return mV('Sgs',5,3);">Sgs 5:3</a>.
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<br><br><b>they shall walk with me in white</b>—The promised reward accords with the character of those to be rewarded: keeping their <i>garments undefiled</i> and white through the blood of the Lamb now, they shall <i>walk with Him in while</i> hereafter. On "with me," compare the very same words, <a onclick="return mV('Luk',23,43);">Luk 23:43</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',17,24);">Jhn 17:24</a>. "Walk" implies spiritual life, for only the living walk; also liberty, for it is only the free who walk at large. The grace and dignity of flowing long garments is seen to best advantage when the person "walks": so the graces of the saint's manifested character shall appear fully when he <i>shall serve</i> the Lord perfectly hereafter (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,3);">Rev 22:3</a>).
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<br><br><b>they are worthy</b>—with the worthiness (not their own, but that) which Christ has put on them (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',7,14);">Rev 7:14</a>). <a onclick="return mV('Eze',16,14);">Eze 16:14</a>, "perfect through MY comeliness which I had put upon thee." Grace is glory in the bud. "The <i>worthiness</i> here denotes a congruity between the saint's <i>state of grace</i> on earth, and that of <i>glory,</i> which the Lord has appointed for them, about to be estimated by the law itself of grace" [VITRINGA]. Contrast <a onclick="return mV('Act',13,46);">Act 13:46</a>.
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<p id="Re3_5"><b>5. white</b>—not a dull white, but glittering, dazzling white [GROTIUS]. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Mat',13,43);">Mat 13:43</a>. The body transfigured into the likeness of Christ's body, and emitting beams of light reflected from Him, is probably the "white raiment" promised here.
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<br><br><b>the same</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "THIS man"; he and he alone. So one oldest manuscript reads. But two oldest manuscripts, and most of the ancient versions, "shall THUS be clothed," etc.
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<br><br><b>raiment</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "garments." "He that overcometh" shall receive the same reward as they who "have not defiled their garments" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,4);">Rev 3:4</a>); therefore the two are identical.
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<br><br><b>I will not</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "I will not by any means."
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<br><br><b>blot out...name out of...book of life</b>—of the heavenly city. A register was kept in ancient cities of their citizens: the names of the dead were of course erased. So those who have a <i>name that they live and are dead</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,1);">Rev 3:1</a>), are blotted out of God's roll of the heavenly citizens and heirs of eternal <i>life;</i> not that in God's electing decree they ever were in His book of life. But, according to human conceptions, those who had a high name for piety would be supposed to be in it, and were, in respect to privileges, actually among those in the way of salvation; but these privileges, and the fact that they once might have been saved, shall be of no avail to them. As to the <i>book of life,</i> compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',13,8);">Rev 13:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,8);">17:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,12,15);">20:12, 15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,27);">21:27</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Exd',32,32);">Exd 32:32</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',69,28);">Psa 69:28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Dan',12,1);">Dan 12:1</a>. In the sense of the "call," many are enrolled among the <i>called</i> to salvation, who shall not be found among <i>the chosen</i> at last. The pale of salvation is wider than that of election. Election is fixed. Salvation is open to all and is pending (humanly speaking) in the case of those mentioned here. But <a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,15);">Rev 20:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,27);">21:27</a>, exhibit the book of the elect alone in the narrower sense, after the erasure of the others.
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<br><br><b>before...before</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "in the presence of." Compare the same promise of Christ's confessing before His Father those who confessed Him, <a onclick="return mV('Mat',10,32,33);">Mat 10:32-33</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',12,8,9);">Luk 12:8-9</a>. He omits "in heaven" after "My Father," because there is, now that He is in heaven, no contrast between the Father <i>in heaven</i> and the Son <i>on earth.</i> He now sets His seal from heaven upon many of His words uttered on earth [TRENCH]. An undesigned coincidence, proving that these epistles are, as they profess, in their words, as well as substance, Christ's own addresses; not even tinged with the color of John's style, such as it appears in his Gospel and Epistles. The coincidence is mainly with the three other Gospels, and not with John's, which makes the coincidence more markedly undesigned. So also the clause, "He that hath an ear, let him hear," is not repeated from John's Gospel, but from the Lord's own words in the three synoptic Gospels (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',11,15);">Mat 11:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',13,9);">13:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mar',4,9, 23);">Mar 4:9, 23</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mar',7,16);">7:16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',8,8);">Luk 8:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',14,35);">14:35</a>).
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<p id="Re3_6"><b>6.</b> (See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev002.html#Re2_7">Rev 2:7</a>.)
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<p id="Re3_7"><b>7. Philadelphia</b>—in Lydia, twenty-eight miles southeast of Sardis, built by Attalus Philadelphus, king of Pergamos, who died A.D. 138. It was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius [TACITUS, <i>Annals,</i> 2.47]. The connection of this Church with Jews there causes the address to it to have an Old Testament coloring in the images employed. It and Smyrna alone of the seven receive unmixed praise.
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<br><br><b>he that is holy</b>—as in the Old Testament, "<i>the Holy One</i> of Israel." Thus Jesus and the God of the Old Testament are one. None but God is absolutely holy (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>hagios,</i>" separate from evil and perfectly hating it). In contrast to "the synagogue of Satan" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,9);">Rev 3:9</a>).
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<br><br><b>true</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>alethinos</i>": "VERY God," as distinguished from the false gods and from all those who <i>say that they are</i> what <i>they are not</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,9);">Rev 3:9</a>): real, genuine. Furthermore, He <i>perfectly</i> realizes all that is involved in the names, GOD, <i>Light</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',1,9);">Jhn 1:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Jo',2,8);">1Jo 2:8</a>), <i>Bread</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',6,32);">Jhn 6:32</a>), the <i>Vine</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',15,1);">Jhn 15:1</a>); as distinguished from all typical, partial, and imperfect realizations of the idea. His nature answers to His name (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',17,3);">Jhn 17:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Th',1,9);">1Th 1:9</a>). The <i>Greek,</i> "<i>alethes,</i>" on the other hand, is "truth-speaking," "truth-loving" (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',3,33);">Jhn 3:33</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Tts',1,2);">Tts 1:2</a>).
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<br><br><b>he that hath the key of David</b>—the antitype of Eliakim, to whom the "key," the emblem of authority "over the house of David," was transferred from Shebna, who was removed from the office of chamberlain or treasurer, as unworthy of it. Christ, the Heir of the throne of David, shall supplant all the less worthy stewards who have abused their trust in God's spiritual house, and "shall reign over the house of Jacob," literal and spiritual (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',1,32, 33);">Luk 1:32-33</a>), "for ever," "as a Son over His own house" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',3,'2-6');">Hbr 3:2-6</a>). It rests with Christ to open or shut the heavenly palace, deciding who is, and who is not, to be admitted: as He also opens, or shuts, the prison, <i>having the keys of hell</i> (<i>the grave</i>) <i>and death</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',1,18);">Rev 1:18</a>). The power of the keys was given to Peter and the other apostles, only when, and in so far as, Christ made him and them infallible. Whatever degrees of this power may have been committed to ministers, the supreme power belongs to Christ alone. Thus Peter rightly opened the Gospel door to the Gentiles (<a onclick="return mV('Act',10,'1-48');">Act 10:1-48</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Act', 11,17,18);">11:17-18</a>; especially <a onclick="return mV('Act',14,27);">Act 14:27</a>, end). But he wrongly tried to shut the door in part again (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',2,'11-18');">Gal 2:11-18</a>). Eliakim had "the key of the house of David laid upon his shoulder": Christ, as the antitypical David, Himself has the key of the supreme "government upon His shoulder." His attribute here, as in the former addresses, accords with His promise. Though "the synagogue of Satan," false "Jews" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,9);">Rev 3:9</a>) try to "shut" the "door" which I "set open before thee"; "no man can shut it" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,8);">Rev 3:8</a>).
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<br><br><b>shutteth</b>—So <i>Vulgate</i> and <i>Syriac Versions</i> read. But the four oldest manuscripts read, "shall shut"; so <i>Coptic Version</i> and ORIGEN.
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<br><br><b>and no man openeth</b>—Two oldest manuscripts, B, <i>Aleph,</i> <i>Coptic Version,</i> and ORIGEN read, "shall open." Two oldest manuscripts, A, C, and <i>Vulgate Version</i> support <i>English Version</i> reading.
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<p id="Re3_8"><b>8. I have set</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "given": it is My gracious <i>gift</i> to thee.
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<br><br><b>open door</b>—for evangelization; a door of spiritual usefulness. The <i>opening of a door</i> by Him to the Philadelphian Church accords with the previous assignation to Him of "the key of David."
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<br><br><b>and</b>—The three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, and ORIGEN read, "<i>which</i> no man can shut."
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<br><br><b>for</b>—"because."
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<br><br><b>a little</b>—This gives the idea that Christ says, He sets before Philadelphia an open door because she has <i>some little</i> strength; whereas the sense rather is, He does so because she has "<i>but little</i> strength": being consciously weak herself, she is the fitter object for God's power to rest on [so AQUINAS], that so the Lord Christ may have all the glory.
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<br><br><b>and hast kept</b>—<i>and</i> so, the <i>littleness of thy strength</i> becoming the source of Almighty power to thee, as leading thee to rest wholly on My great power, <i>thou hast kept My word.</i> GROTIUS makes "little strength" to mean that she had a Church <i>small in numbers and external resources:</i> "a little flock poor in worldly goods, and of small account in the eyes of men" [TRENCH]. So ALFORD. I prefer the view given above. The <i>Greek</i> verbs are in the aorist tense: "Thou didst keep...didst not deny My name": alluding to some particular occasion when her faithfulness was put to the test.
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<p id="Re3_9"><b>9. I will make</b>—<i>Greek</i> present, "I make," literally, "I give" (see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev003.html#Re3_8">Rev 3:8</a>). The promise to Philadelphia is larger than that to Smyrna. To Smyrna the promise was that "the synagogue of Satan" should not prevail against the faithful in her: to Philadelphia, that she should even win over some of "the synagogue of Satan" to <i>fall on their faces and confess God is in her of a truth.</i> Translate, "(some) of the synagogue." For until Christ shall come, and <i>all</i> Israel then be saved, there is but "a remnant" being gathered out of the Jews "according to the election of grace." This is an instance of how Christ set before her an "open door," some of her greatest adversaries, the Jews, being brought to the obedience of the faith. Their <i>worshipping before her feet</i> expresses the convert's willingness to take the very lowest place in the Church, doing servile honor to those whom once they persecuted, rather than dwell with the ungodly. So the Philippian jailer before Paul.
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<p id="Re3_10"><b>10. patience</b>—"endurance." "The word of My endurance" is <i>My Gospel word,</i> which teaches <i>patient endurance</i> in expectation of my coming (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',1,9);">Rev 1:9</a>). <i>My endurance</i> is the endurance which I require, and which I practice. Christ Himself now <i>endures, patiently</i> waiting until the usurper be cast out, and all "His enemies be made His footstool." So, too, His Church, for the joy before her of sharing His coming kingdom, <i>endures patiently.</i> Hence, in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,11);">Rev 3:11</a>, follows, "Behold, I come quickly."
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<br><br><b>I also</b>—The reward is in kind: "because thou didst keep," etc. "I also (on My side) will keep thee," etc.
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<br><br><b>from</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "(so as to deliver thee) <i>out of,</i>" not to exempt <i>from</i> temptation.
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<br><br><b>the hour of temptation</b>—the appointed <i>season</i> of affliction and temptation (so in <a onclick="return mV('Deu',4,34);">Deu 4:34</a> the plagues are called "the temptations of Egypt"), literally, "<i>the</i> temptation": the sore temptation which is coming on: the time of great tribulation before Christ's second coming.
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<br><br><b>to try them that dwell upon the earth</b>—those who are of earth, earthy (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',8,13);">Rev 8:13</a>). "Dwell" implies that their home is earth, not heaven. <i>All mankind, except the elect</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',13,8, 14);">Rev 13:8, 14</a>). The temptation brings out the fidelity of those <i>kept</i> by Christ and hardens the unbelieving reprobates (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',9,20,21);">Rev 9:20-21</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',16,11,21);">16:11, 21</a>). The particular persecutions which befell Philadelphia shortly after, were the earnest of the great last tribulation before Christ's coming, to which the Church's attention in all ages is directed.
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<p id="Re3_11"><b>11. Behold</b>—omitted by the three oldest manuscripts and most ancient versions.
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<br><br><b>I come quickly</b>—the great incentive to persevering faithfulness, and the consolation under present trials.
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<br><br><b>that...which thou hast</b>—"The word of my patience," or "endurance" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,10);">Rev 3:10</a>), which He had just commended them for keeping, and which involved with it the attaining of the kingdom; this they would lose if they yielded to the temptation of exchanging consistency and suffering for compromise and ease.
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<br><br><b>that no man take thy crown</b>—which otherwise thou wouldst receive: that no tempter cause thee to lose it: not that the tempter would thus secure it for himself (<a onclick="return mV('Col',2,18);">Col 2:18</a>).
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<p id="Re3_12"><b>12. pillar in the temple</b>—In one sense there shall be "no temple" in the heavenly city because there shall be no distinction of things into sacred and secular, for all things and persons shall be holy to the Lord. The city shall be all one great temple, in which the saints shall be not merely <i>stones,</i> as m the spiritual temple now on earth, but all eminent as <i>pillars:</i> immovably firm (unlike Philadelphia, the city which was so often shaken by earthquakes, STRABO [12 and 13]), like the colossal pillars before Solomon's temple, Boaz (that is, "In it is strength") and Jachin ("It shall be established"): only that those pillars were outside, these shall be within the temple.
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<br><br><b>my God</b>—(See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev002.html#Re2_7">Rev 2:7</a>).
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<br><br><b>go no more out</b>—The <i>Greek</i> is stronger, <i>never more at all.</i> As the elect angels are beyond the possibility of falling, being now under (as the Schoolmen say) "the blessed necessity of goodness," so shall the saints be. The door shall be once for all shut, as well to shut safely in for ever the elect, as to shut out the lost (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',25,10);">Mat 25:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',8,35);">Jhn 8:35</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',22,23);">Isa 22:23</a>, the type, Eliakim). They shall be priests for ever unto God (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',1,6);">Rev 1:6</a>). "Who would not yearn for that city out of which no friend departs, and into which no enemy enters?" [AUGUSTINE in TRENCH].
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<br><br><b>write upon him the name of my God</b>—as belonging to God in a peculiar sense (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',7,3);">Rev 7:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',9,4);">9:4</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',14,1);">14:1</a>; and especially <a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,4);">Rev 22:4</a>), therefore secure. As the name of Jehovah ("Holiness to the Lord") was on the golden plate on the high priest's forehead (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',28,'36-38');">Exd 28:36-38</a>); so the saints in their heavenly royal priesthood shall bear His name openly, as consecrated to Him. Compare the caricature of this in the brand on the forehead of the beast's followers (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',13,16,17);">Rev 13:16-17</a>), and on the harlot (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,5);">Rev 17:5</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,4);">Rev 20:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>name of the city of my God</b>—as one of its citizens (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,2,3,10);">Rev 21:2-3, 10</a>, which is briefly alluded to by anticipation here). The full description of the city forms the appropriate close of the book. The saint's citizenship is now hidden, but then it shall be manifested: he shall have <i>the right to enter in through the gates into the city</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,14);">Rev 22:14</a>). This was the city which Abraham <i>looked for.</i>
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<br><br><b>new</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>kaine.</i>" Not the old Jerusalem, once called "the holy city," but having forfeited the name. <i>Greek,</i> "<i>nea,</i>" would express that it had <i>recently come</i> into existence; but <i>Greek,</i> "<i>kaine,</i>" that which is <i>new and different,</i> superseding the worn-out old Jerusalem and its polity. "John, in the Gospel, applies to the old city the <i>Greek</i> name <i>Hierosolyma.</i> But in the Apocalypse, always, to the heavenly city the <i>Hebrew</i> name, <i>Hierousalem.</i> The Hebrew name is the original and holier one: the <i>Greek,</i> the recent and more secular and political one" [BENGEL].
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<br><br><b>my new name</b>—at present incommunicable and only known to God: to be hereafter revealed and made the believer's own in union with God in Christ. Christ's name written on him denotes he shall be <i>wholly Christ's.</i> New also relates to Christ, who shall assume a <i>new</i> character (answering to His "new name") entering with His saints on a kingdom—not that which He had with the Father before the worlds, but that earned by His humiliation as Son of man. GIBBON, the infidel [<i>Decline and Fall,</i> ch. 64], gives an unwilling testimony to the fulfilment of the prophecy as to Philadelphia from a temporal point of view, Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect,—a <i>column</i> in a scene of ruins—a pleasing example that the paths of honor and safety may sometimes be the same."
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<p id="Re3_13"><b>13.</b> (See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev002.html#Re2_7">Rev 2:7</a>).
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<p id="Re3_14"><b>14. Laodiceans</b>—The city was in the southwest of Phrygia, on the river Lycus, not far from Colosse, and lying between it and Philadelphia. It was destroyed by an earthquake, A.D. 62, and rebuilt by its wealthy citizens without the help of the state [TACITUS, <i>Annals,</i> 14.27]. This wealth (arising from the excellence of its wools) led to a self-satisfied, lukewarm state in spiritual things, as <a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,17);">Rev 3:17</a> describes. See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Col/Col004.html#Col4_16">Col 4:16</a>, on the Epistle which is thought to have been written to the Laodicean Church by Paul. The Church in latter times was apparently flourishing; for one of the councils at which the canon of Scripture was determined was held in Laodicea in A.D. 361. Hardly a Christian is now to be found on or near its site.
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<br><br><b>the Amen</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',65,16);">Isa 65:16</a>, <i>Hebrew,</i> "Bless Himself in the God of <i>Amen</i>...swear by the God of <i>Amen,</i>" <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('2Cr',1,20);">2Cr 1:20</a>). He who not only says, but is, <i>the Truth.</i> The saints used <i>Amen</i> at the end of prayer, or in assenting to the word of God; but none, save the Son of God, ever said, "Amen, I say unto you," for it is the language peculiar to God, who avers <i>by Himself.</i> The New Testament formula, "Amen. I say unto you," is equivalent to the Old Testament formula, "<i>as I live,</i> saith Jehovah." In John's Gospel alone He uses (in the <i>Greek</i>) the double "Amen," <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',1,51);">Jhn 1:51</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',3,3);">3:3</a>, etc.; in <i>English Version,</i>" Verily, verily." The title happily harmonizes with the address. His unchanging faithfulness as "the Amen" contrasts with Laodicea's wavering of purpose, "neither hot nor cold" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,16);">Rev 3:16</a>). The angel of Laodicea has with some probability been conjectured to be Archippus, to whom, thirty years previously, Paul had already given a monition, as needing to be stirred up to diligence in his ministry. So the <i>Apostolic Constitutions,</i> [8.46], name him as the first bishop of Laodicea: supposed to be the son of Philemon (<a onclick="return mV('Phm',1,2);">Phm 1:2</a>).
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<br><br><b>faithful and true witness</b>—As "the Amen" expresses the unchangeable truth of His promises; so "the faithful the true witness," the truth of His revelations as to the heavenly things which He has seen and testifies. "Faithful," that is, trustworthy (<a onclick="return mV('2Ti',2,11,13);">2Ti 2:11, 13</a>). "True" is here (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>alethinos</i>") <i>not truth-speaking</i> (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>alethes</i>"), but "perfectly realizing all that is comprehended in the name <i>Witness</i>" (<a onclick="return mV('1Ti',6,13);">1Ti 6:13</a>). Three things are necessary for this: (1) to have seen with His own eyes what He attests; (2) to be competent to relate it for others; (3) to be willing truthfully to do so. In Christ all these conditions meet [TRENCH].
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<br><br><b>beginning of the creation of God</b>—not he whom God created first, but as in <a onclick="return mV('Col',1,'15-18');">Col 1:15-18</a> (see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Col/Col001.html#Col1_15">Col 1:15-18</a>), the <i>Beginner</i> of all creation, its originating instrument. All creation would not be represented adoring Him, if He were but one of themselves. His being the Creator is a strong guarantee for His <i>faithfulness</i> as "the Witness and Amen."
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<p id="Re3_15"><b>15. neither cold</b>—The antithesis to "hot," literally, "boiling" ("fervent," <a onclick="return mV('Act',18,25);">Act 18:25</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rom',12,11);">Rom 12:11</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Sgs',8,6);">Sgs 8:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',24,32);">Luk 24:32</a>), requires that "cold" should here mean more than negatively cold; it is rather, positively <i>icy cold:</i> having never yet been warmed. The Laodiceans were in spiritual things <i>cold</i> comparatively, but not <i>cold</i> as the world outside, and as those who had never belonged to the Church. The lukewarm state, if it be the transitional stage to a warmer, is a desirable state (for a little religion, if real, is better than none); but most fatal when, as here, an abiding condition, for it is mistaken for a safe state (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,17);">Rev 3:17</a>). This accounts for Christ's desiring that they were <i>cold</i> rather than <i>lukewarm.</i> For then there would not be the same "danger of mixed motive and disregarded principle" [ALFORD]. Also, there is more hope of the "cold," that is, those who are of the world, and not yet warmed by the Gospel call; for, when called, they may become <i>hot</i> and fervent Christians: such did the once-<i>cold</i> publicans, Zaccheus and Matthew, become. But the <i>lukewarm</i> has been brought within reach of the holy fire, without being heated by it into <i>fervor:</i> having religion enough to lull the conscience in false security, but not religion enough to save the soul: as Demas, <a onclick="return mV('2Ti',4,10);">2Ti 4:10</a>. Such were the <i>halters between two opinions</i> in Israel (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',18,21);">1Ki 18:21</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',17,41);">2Ki 17:41</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',6,24);">Mat 6:24</a>).
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<p id="Re3_16"><b>16. neither cold nor hot</b>—So one oldest manuscript, B, and <i>Vulgate</i> read. But two oldest manuscripts, <i>Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic</i> transpose thus, "hot nor cold." It is remarkable that the <i>Greek</i> adjectives are in the masculine, agreeing with the angel, not feminine, agreeing with the Church. The Lord addresses the angel as the embodiment and representative of the Church. The chief minister is answerable for his flock if he have not faithfully warned the members of it.
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<br><br><b>I will</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "I am about to," "I am ready to": I have it in my mind: implying graciously the possibility of the threat not being executed, if only they repent at once. His dealings towards them will depend on theirs towards Him.
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<br><br><b>spue thee out of my month</b>—reject with righteous loathing, as Canaan spued out its inhabitants for their abominations. Physicians used <i>lukewarm</i> water to cause <i>vomiting. Cold</i> and <i>hot</i> drinks were common at feasts, but never <i>lukewarm.</i> There were hot and cold springs near Laodicea.
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<p id="Re3_17"><b>17.</b> Self-sufficiency is the fatal danger of a lukewarm state (see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev003.html#Re3_15">Rev 3:15</a>).
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<br><br><b>thou sayest</b>—virtually and mentally, if not in so many words.
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<br><br><b>increased with goods</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "have become enriched," implying self-praise in self-acquired riches. The Lord alludes to <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',12,8);">Hsa 12:8</a>. The riches on which they prided themselves were spiritual riches; though, doubtless, their spiritual self-sufficiency ("I have need of nothing") was much fostered by their worldly wealth; as, on the other hand, <i>poverty of spirit</i> is fostered by <i>poverty</i> in respect to worldly riches.
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<br><br><b>knowest not that thou</b>—in particular above all others. The "THOU" in the <i>Greek</i> is emphatic.
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<br><br><b>art wretched</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "art <i>the</i> wretched one."
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<br><br><b>miserable</b>—So one oldest manuscripts reads. But two oldest manuscripts prefix "the." Translate, "<i>the</i> pitiable"; "the one especially to be pitied." How different Christ's estimate of men, from their own estimate of themselves, "I have need of nothing!"
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<br><br><b>blind</b>—whereas Laodicea boasted of a deeper than common <i>insight</i> into divine things. They were not absolutely <i>blind,</i> else <i>eye-salve</i> would have been of no avail to them; but <i>short-sighted.</i>
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<p id="Re3_18"><b>18.</b> Gentle and loving irony. Take <i>My advice,</i> thou who fanciest thyself in <i>need of nothing.</i> Not only art thou not in need of nothing, but art in need of the commonest necessaries of existence. He graciously stoops to their modes of thought and speech: Thou art a people ready to listen to any <i>counsel</i> as to how to <i>buy</i> to advantage; then, listen to My <i>counsel</i> (for I am "<i>Counsellor,</i>" <a onclick="return mV('Isa',9,6);">Isa 9:6</a>), buy of ME" (<i>in whom,</i> according to Paul's Epistle written to the neighboring Colosse and intended for the Laodicean Church also, <a onclick="return mV('Col',2,1,3);">Col 2:1, 3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Col',4,16);">4:16</a>, <i>are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge</i>). "Buy" does not imply that we can, by any work or merit of ours, <i>purchase</i> God's free gift; nay the very purchase money consists in the renunciation of all self-righteousness, such as Laodicea had (<a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Rev',3,17);">Rev 3:17</a>). "Buy" at the cost of thine own self-sufficiency (so Paul, <a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,7,8);">Phl 3:7-8</a>); and the giving up of all things, however dear to us, that would prevent our <i>receiving</i> Christ's salvation as a <i>free gift,</i> for example, self and worldly desires. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',55,1);">Isa 55:1</a>, "Buy...without money and price."
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<br><br><b>of me</b>—the source of "unsearchable riches" (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',3,8);">Eph 3:8</a>). Laodicea was a city of extensive money transactions [CICERO].
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<br><br><b>gold tried in,</b> etc.—literally, "<i>fired</i> (and fresh) <i>from</i> the fire," that is, just fresh <i>from</i> the furnace which has proved its purity, and retaining its bright gloss. Sterling spiritual wealth, as contrasted with its counterfeit, in which Laodicea boasted itself. Having bought this <i>gold</i> she will be no longer <i>poor</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,17);">Rev 3:17</a>).
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<br><br><b>mayest be rich</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "mayest be enriched."
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<br><br><b>white raiment</b>—"garments." Laodicea's wools were famous. Christ offers infinitely whiter raiment. As "gold tried in the fire" expresses <i>faith</i> tested by fiery trials: so "white raiment," <i>Christ's righteousness</i> imputed to the believer in justification and imparted in sanctification.
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<br><br><b>appear</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "be manifested," namely, at the last day, when everyone without the wedding garment shall be discovered. To strip one, is in the East the image of putting to open shame. So also to clothe one with fine apparel is the image of doing him honor. Man can discover his shame, God alone can cover it, so that his nakedness shall not be manifested at last (<a onclick="return mV('Col',3,'10-14');">Col 3:10-14</a>). Blessed is he whose sin is so <i>covered.</i> The hypocrite's shame may be manifested now; it must be so at last.
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<br><br><b>anoint...with eye-salve</b>—The oldest manuscripts read, "(buy of Me) eye-salve (<i>collyrium,</i> a roll of ointment), <i>to anoint</i> thine eyes." Christ has for Laodicea an ointment far more precious than all the costly unguents of the East. The <i>eye</i> is here the conscience or inner light of the mind. According as it is sound and "single" (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>haplous,</i>" "simple"), or otherwise, the man sees aright spiritually, or does not. The Holy Spirit's unction, like the ancient eye-salve's, first smarts with conviction of sin, then heals. He opens our eyes first to ourselves in our wretchedness, then to the Saviour in His preciousness. TRENCH notices that the most sunken churches of the seven, namely, Sardis and Laodicea, are the ones in which alone are specified no opponents from without, nor heresies from within. The Church owes much to God's overruling Providence which has made so often internal and external foes, in spite of themselves, to promote His cause by calling forth her energies in contending for the faith once delivered to the saints. Peace is dearly bought at the cost of spiritual stagnation, where there is not interest enough felt in religion to contend about it at all.
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<p id="Re3_19"><b>19.</b> (<a onclick="return mV('Job',5,17);">Job 5:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Pro',3,11,12);">Pro 3:11-12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,5,6);">Hbr 12:5-6</a>.) So in the case of Manasseh (<a onclick="return mV('2Ch',33,'11-13');">2Ch 33:11-13</a>).
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<br><br><b>As many</b>—All. "He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. And shalt thou be an exception? If excepted from suffering the scourge, thou art excepted from the number of the sons" [AUGUSTINE]. This is an encouragement to Laodicea not to despair, but to regard the rebuke as a token for good, if she profit by it.
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<br><br><b>I love</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>philo,</i>" the love of gratuitous <i>affection,</i> independent of any grounds for esteem in the object loved. But in the case of Philadelphia (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,9);">Rev 3:9</a>), "I have loved thee" (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>egapesa</i>") with the love of <i>esteem,</i> founded on the judgment. Compare the note in my <i>English Gnomon</i> of BENGEL, <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',21,'15-17');">Jhn 21:15-17</a>.
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<br><br><b>I rebuke</b>—The "I" in the <i>Greek</i> stands first in the sentence emphatically. I in My dealings, so altogether unlike man's, in the case of <i>all whom I love, rebuke.</i> The <i>Greek,</i> "<i>elencho,</i>" is the same verb as in <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',16,8);">Jhn 16:8</a>, "(the Holy Ghost) will <i>convince</i> (rebuke unto conviction) the world of sin."
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<br><br><b>chasten</b>—"chastise." The <i>Greek,</i> "<i>paideu,</i>" which in classical <i>Greek</i> means to <i>instruct,</i> in the New Testament means to <i>instruct by chastisement</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,5,6);">Hbr 12:5-6</a>). David was <i>rebuked unto conviction,</i> when he cried, "I have sinned against the Lord"; the <i>chastening</i> followed when his child was taken from him (<a onclick="return mV('2Sa',12,13,14);">2Sa 12:13-14</a>). In the divine <i>chastening,</i> the sinner at one and the same time winces under the rod and learns righteousness.
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<br><br><b>be zealous</b>—habitually. Present tense in the <i>Greek,</i> of a <i>lifelong course of zeal.</i> The opposite of "lukewarm." The <i>Greek</i> by alliteration marks this: Laodicea had not been "hot" (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>zestos</i>"), she is therefore urged to "be zealous" (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>zeleue</i>"): both are derived from the same verb, <i>Greek,</i> "<i>zeo,</i>" "to boil."
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<br><br><b>repent</b>—<i>Greek</i> aorist: of an act to be <i>once for all done,</i> and <i>done at once.</i>
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<p id="Re3_20"><b>20. stand</b>—waiting in wonderful condescension and long-suffering.
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<br><br><b>knock</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Sgs',5,2);">Sgs 5:2</a>). This is a further manifestation of His loving desire for the sinner's salvation. He who is Himself "the Door," and who bids us "knock" that it may be "opened unto" us, is first Himself to knock at the door of our hearts. If He did not knock first, we should never come to knock at His door. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Sgs',5,'4-6');">Sgs 5:4-6</a>, which is plainly alluded to here; the Spirit thus in Revelation sealing the canonicity of that mystical book. The spiritual state of the bride there, between <i>waking</i> and <i>sleeping,</i> slow to open the door to her divine lover, answers to that of the <i>lukewarm</i> Laodicea here. "Love in regard to men emptied (humbled) God; for He does not remain in His place and call to Himself the servant whom He loved, but He comes down Himself to seek him, and He who is all-rich arrives at the lodging of the pauper, and with His own voice intimates His yearning love, and seeks a similar return, and withdraws not when disowned, and is not impatient at insult, and when persecuted still waits at the doors" [NICOLAUS CABASILAS in TRENCH].
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<br><br><b>my voice</b>—He appeals to the sinner not only with His hand (His providences) <i>knocking,</i> but with His <i>voice</i> (His word read or heard; or rather, His Spirit inwardly applying to man's spirit the lessons to be drawn from His providence and His word). If we refuse to answer to His knocking at our door now, He will refuse to hear our knocking at His door hereafter. In respect to His second coming also, He is even now <i>at the door,</i> and we know not how soon He may <i>knock:</i> therefore we should always be ready to <i>open to Him immediately.</i>
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<br><br><b>if any man hear</b>—for man is not compelled by irresistible force: Christ <i>knocks,</i> but does not break open the door, though the violent take heaven by the force of prayer (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',11,12);">Mat 11:12</a>): whosoever does hear, does so not of himself, but by the <i>drawings</i> of God's grace (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',6,44);">Jhn 6:44</a>): <i>repentance</i> is Christ's gift (<a onclick="return mV('Act',5,31);">Act 5:31</a>). He <i>draws,</i> not drags. The Sun of righteousness, like the natural sun, the moment that <i>the door</i> is opened, pours in His light, which could not previously find an entrance. Compare HILARY on Psalm 118:19.
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<br><br><b>I will come in to him</b>—as I did to Zaccheus.
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<br><br><b>sup with him, and he with me</b>—Delightful reciprocity! Compare "dwelleth in me, and I in Him," <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',6,56);">Jhn 6:56</a>. Whereas, ordinarily, the admitted guest sups with the admitter, here the divine guest becomes Himself the host, for He is the bread of life, and the Giver of the marriage feast. Here again He alludes to the imagery of <a onclick="return mV('Sgs',4,16);">Sgs 4:16</a>, where the Bride invites Him to <i>eat pleasant fruits,</i> even as He had first prepared a feast for her, "His fruit was sweet to my taste." Compare the same interchange, <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',21,'9-13');">Jhn 21:9-13</a>, the feast being made up of the viands that Jesus brought, and those which the disciples brought. The consummation of this blessed intercommunion shall be at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, of which the Lord's Supper is the earnest and foretaste.
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<p id="Re3_21"><b>21. sit with me in my throne</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,26,27);">Rev 2:26-27</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,6);">20:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',19,28);">Mat 19:28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',20,23);">20:23</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',17,22,24);">Jhn 17:22, 24</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Ti',2,12);">2Ti 2:12</a>). The same whom Christ had just before threatened to <i>spue out of His mouth,</i> is now offered <i>a seat with Him on His throne!</i> "The highest place is within reach of the lowest; the faintest spark of grace may be fanned into the mightiest flame of love" [TRENCH].
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<br><br><b>even as I also</b>—Two thrones are here mentioned: (1) His Father's, upon which He now sits, and has sat since His ascension, after His victory over death, sin, the world; upon this none can sit save God, and the God-man Christ Jesus, for it is the incommunicable prerogative of God alone; (2) the throne which shall be peculiarly <i>His</i> as the once humbled and then glorified <i>Son of man,</i> to be set up over the whole earth (heretofore usurped by Satan) at His coming again; in this the <i>victorious</i> saints shall share (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',6,2);">1Cr 6:2</a>). The transfigured elect Church shall with Christ judge and reign over the nations in the flesh, and Israel the foremost of them; ministering blessings to them as angels were the Lord's mediators of blessing and administrators of His government in setting up His throne in Israel at Sinai. This privilege of our high calling belongs exclusively to the present time while Satan reigns, when alone there is scope for conflict and for <i>victory</i> (<a onclick="return mV('2Ti',2,11,12);">2Ti 2:11-12</a>). When Satan shall be bound (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,4);">Rev 20:4</a>), there shall be no longer scope for it, for all on earth shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest. This, the grandest and crowning promise, is placed at the end of all the seven addresses, to gather all in one. It also forms the link to the next part of the book, where the Lamb is introduced seated <i>on His Father's throne</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',4,2,3);">Rev 4:2-3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',5,5,6);">5:5-6</a>). The Eastern throne is broad, admitting others besides him who, as chief, occupies the center. TRENCH notices; The order of the promises in the seven epistles corresponds to that of the unfolding of the kingdom of God its first beginnings on earth to its consummation in heaven. To the faithful at Ephesus: (1) <i>The tree of life in the Paradise of God</i> is promised (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,7);">Rev 2:7</a>), answering to <a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,9);">Gen 2:9</a>. (2) Sin entered the world and death by sin; but to the faithful at Smyrna it is promised, they <i>shall not be hurt by the second death</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,11);">Rev 2:11</a>). (3) The promise of the <i>hidden manna</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,17);">Rev 2:17</a>) to Pergamos brings us to the Mosaic period, the Church in the wilderness. (4) That to Thyatira, namely, triumph <i>over the nations</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,26,27);">Rev 2:26-27</a>, forms the consummation of the kingdom in prophetic type, the period of David and Solomon characterized by this <i>power of the nations.</i> Here there is a division, the seven falling into two groups, <i>four</i> and three, as often, for example, the Lord's Prayer, three and four. The scenery of the last three passes from earth to heaven, the Church contemplated as triumphant, with its steps from glory to glory. (5) Christ promises to the believer of Sardis not to blot his name out of the book of life but to confess him before His Father and the angels at the judgment-day, and clothe him with a glorified body of dazzling whiteness (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,4,5);">Rev 3:4-5</a>). (6) To the faithful at Philadelphia Christ promises they shall be citizens of the new Jerusalem, fixed as immovable pillars there, where city and temple are one (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,12);">Rev 3:12</a>); here not only individual salvation is promised to the believer, as in the case of Sardis, but also privileges in the blessed communion of the Church triumphant. (7) Lastly, to the faithful of Laodicea is given the crowning promise, not only the two former blessings, but a seat with Christ on His throne, even as He has sat with His Father on His Father's throne (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,21);">Rev 3:21</a>).
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