Revelation Chapter 3:1-13/Commentary

Revelation Chapter 3:1-13

3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write”: The city of Sardis was the capital of ancient Lydia and was located thirty-miles SE of Thyatira. Here five important roads join, making it one of the world’s great trading centers. “Sardis is best remembered as the birthplace of modern money because here the first coins were minted” (Harkrider p. 46).

3:1 “He who has the seven Spirits of God”: Compare with Revelation 5:6.

Like the Father, Jesus possesses the same Omniscience, He sees all and sees the complete and total reality of each congregation.

3:1 “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead”: Here there appears to have been no threat from the Jews or the Gentiles. “Sardis was a very ‘peaceful’ church. It enjoyed peace, but it was the peace of the cemetery!” (Hendriksen p. 73). The church here became like the culture that surrounded them (Romans 12:1-2). McGuiggan notes, “It was a city of tremendous past reputation. But it was more; it was a city that spelled ‘failure’, a city whose history was marked by the ruin of great kings and the downfall of great military strength. It was the city whose name was almost synonymous with pretension unjustified, promise unfulfilled, and appearance without reality, confidence that heralded ruin. Reputed an impregnable fortress, it had repeatedly fallen short of its reputation, and ruined those who trusted in it” (p.

63).

3:2 “Wake up”: Like the congregation in this city, the city itself had been very confident of its security. Sardis was built on a smooth, almost perpendicular rock hill that arose to a height of 1500 feet above the Hermus Valley, inaccessible from three sides and easily defended from the fourth, it seemed like an impregnable city. Sardis had been a place of tremendous wealth, Croesus, the richest king in history had ruled here, yet the tendency was to become soft and weak. In 549 B.C. and 218 B.C. the city was taken by surprise. “Tradition says that a soldier found a crevice in the rock hill up which he led a band of soldiers to the summit, taking the city by surprise” (Hailey p. 143). “They found the battlements completely unguarded because the Lydian king never thought

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anyone could find a way up the side of the steep cliffs” (Harkrider p. 47). Twice the city of Sardis had been conquered because it was too lazy to watch.

“Solon, the wisest of the Greeks, came on a visit to Sardis. He was shown the wealth, the splendor, the magnificence and the luxury. He saw the blind confidence of Croesus and his people that nothing could end this splendor; but he also saw that the seeds of softness, of flabbiness and of inevitable degeneration were being sown. And it was then that Solon uttered his famous saying to Crosesus: ‘Call no man happy until he is dead’” (Barclay p. 143).

3:2 “Strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die”: The things that remain could be either deeds or people. “The lamp on the stand is beginning to burn more and more dimly. Soon the tiny flame will have been completely extinguished” (Hendriksen p. 74). See Ephesians 5:14.

3:2 “For I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God”: “This church may have been strong in the beginning, but it had been quick to waver and falter under the weight of its own inability to persevere” (Hailey p.

145).

3:2 “In the sight of My God”: Sardis may have seemed like a wonderful church in the sight of men, but it was dead in God’s sight. “The world has superficial standards that may give a church a reputation of being alive” (Harkrider p. 74).

“Once a church has a good reputation in the public eye, it is possible to mechanically continue in the same activities but lose the original motivation that made it great. The incentive to good works can shift from a desire to serve and please God to simply a desire to maintain the good public face that the church has come to enjoy” (Gregg p. 73). It is easy to have great plans and goals, it is another thing to actually do the follow through and accomplish such things.

3:2 “So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent”: That is, keep on remembering. Remember the enthusiasm and thrill with which they first heard the message and the good news of the gospel. The way to repentance is to keep God’s commands. Compare with 2 Timothy 1:13.

Note the word “repent”: “Every man must realize that Christianity is neither drifting nor procrastination, but decision” (Barclay p. 152).

3:2 “Keep it”: That is, never stop keeping the commands of the gospel. “Here is a warning against what we might call ‘spasmodic Christianity’. Too many of us are Christian one day and un-Christian the next. Too many of us are capable of the greatest nobility at one moment, and the greatest lapse into meanness and disloyalty the next. Too many of us are capable sometimes of an almost sacrificial kindness, and sometimes of an almost brutal selfishness. The command of the Risen Christ is that consistently and continuously, day in and day out” (Barclay p. 152).

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3:3 “If you do not wake up”: The Christians in Sardis have a choice.

3:3 “I will come like a thief”: According to historians, this city was renown for robbers and thieves. “Robber bands hid in the hills and so coming as a thief would be especially significant” (McGuiggan p. 65). See Matthew 24:43.

3:3 “And you will not know at what hour I will come to you”: God does give the congregation a warning here, but no future warnings will be given. “Men in the spiritual stupor which characterized this congregation were in no condition to determine the hour; they could not read the handwriting on the wall. Churches in the torpor of death are always blind to their own condition” (Hailey p. 146).

3:4 “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments”: Though Jesus addresses the entire congregation, He also judges each individual one by one. Even in this congregation we find a remnant (Genesis 18:25; 1 Kings 19; Romans 11:1ff). “Not soiled their garments”: That is, who had not compromised with the world (James 1:26-27; Jude 23).

Soiling the garments includes more than just sins of omission, but also getting involved in the works of the flesh.

3:4 “And they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy”: Walking with Jesus indicates fellowship, and the color white denotes purity, joyfulness and festivity (Ecclesiastes 9:8-9). “To walk in white may refer to the Roman custom that on the day of military triumph a cavalcade of nobles, all in white marched through the streets of Rome” (Harkrider p. 50). “They are worthy”: “Does not mean they have merited anything. It means their conduct reflected their profession” (McGuiggan p. 66).

3:5 “And I will not erase his name from the book of life”: Clearly, a Christian can lose their salvation.

Calvinists attempt to ignore the clear meaning of the above passage by arguing: 1. That the Book of Life is not a list of the redeemed, but rather contains the names of all people living at a given time. Removal of one’s name from the book would thus signify physical death but not damnation, yet this clearly contradicts Revelation 20:15. 2. The second argument is that this warning is hypothetical, meaning that no one will ever have their name removed, but such an argument accuses Jesus of giving empty threats.

3:5 “And I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels”: Matthew 10:32; Luke 12:8-9. “Jesus Christ is forever true to the man who is true to Him” (Barclay p. 156).

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Message to Philadelphia 3:7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write”: This city was located twenty-eight miles SE of Sardis, and had been founded with the intention of being a center for the spread of the Greek language and cultures in Lydia and Phyrgia. It was founded by colonists from Pergamum under the reign of Attalus the Second, who ruled in Pergamum from 159-138 B.C. Philadephos is the Greek word for one who loves his brother. Such was the love of Attalus for his brother Eumenes that he was called Philadephos, and it was after him that Philadelphia was named.

3:8 “He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David”: Jesus is here described as “holy” as Jehovah is termed in the Old Testament (Isaiah 6:3; 43:15). “True”: Real or genuine, as opposed to that which is shadowy and unreal. True, dependable, “is used to declare an attribute of the Lord in opposition to them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie (3:9)” (Hailey p. 149). In contrast to the unbelieving Jews who claimed to be the holy nation of Israel but that Jesus was not the Messiah, Jesus is the holy one and He is the genuine Messiah.

3:8 “Who has the key of David”: This identifies Him with the rule and throne promised to David’s seed (2 Samuel 7:12ff; Luke 1:32-33; Isaiah 22:22). Note that Jesus has this authority presently!

3:8 “Who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this”: Jesus claims the supreme power (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:2022; 1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 1:5,18). “The Jews of that day may have claimed the power to shut the doors of the synagogue to all who confessed the name of Christ and to clear the terms by which all were admitted into the fold; but it is Jesus who opens what none other can shut and who shuts what none other can open” (Hailey p. 150).

This would have a special meaning to those in this city for Philadelphia had been established as a border town, with the purpose of spreading the Greek language and culture to the surrounding region. The idea here may include a door of opportunity to spread the gospel (1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3; Acts 14:27).

3:8 “Because you have little power”: Though this congregation was small in number or wealth, such did not matter. With God on our side we have more power than we can ever use. Seeing that this congregation was very faithful, the term “little power” does not refer to spiritual strength but rather, “little material resources” or little power from a human point of view. Therefore, small resources do not inherently stand in the way of reaching the lost. Compare with Ephesians 3:2; 2 Corinthians 9:8-11; Hebrews 11:34.

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3:8 “And have kept My word, and have not denied My name”: Through various trials these Christians had remained faithful, which included remaining faithful to what Jesus taught. The keeping of God’s word is a test of our love (John 14:23; Luke 10:16). Thus to compromise God’s word is to deny Jesus.

3:9 “Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie”: These were physical Jews, but they were not Jews in the real and spiritual sense, compare with John 8:39-44; Matthew 3:7-8; Romans 2:17-29. Prior to A.D. 70, the principal persecution against Christians came from the Sanhedrin and synagogues of the Jews. “How blunt. And no less true today. No one is serving the Jew’s best interests who does not confront him (kindly and plainly) with his spiritual state. Apart from Jesus there is no hope” (McGuiggan p. 68).

3:9 “I will make them come and bow down and worship at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you” This does not mean that all these Jews will be converted, but rather that at the Judgment they will be forced to acknowledged that Jesus is God and they will worship at our feet in the sense that God’s people will reign with Christ (Revelation 3:21; Philippians 2:9-10; Isaiah 60:14), and these unbelieving Jews will be forced to acknowledge that these Christians are the true servants of God. 3:10 “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance”: “This probably means the gospel of the cross in which the Lord’s patient suffering is set forth” (Hendriksen p. 75).

3:10 “I also will keep you from the hour of testing”: The term “hour” means a period or season of trial. Does this mean that God would exempt these Christians from future trials? In the very next verse Jesus exhorts these Christians to “hold fast” which seems to indicate that they would encounter future trials. Notice that divine protection and human exertion are to go hand in hand.

Premillennialists interpret the above verse as meaning that if the Great Tribulation happens, then these Christians would be raptured prior to this event, yet even the verses they seek to twist, to come up with the rapture, do not support this theory (1 Thess. 4:16-5:3). Others feel that this hour of testing coming upon the whole world took place during the years 68-70 A.D., with the civil wars that followed Nero’s death and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Others argue that the universal testing in these verses denotes a time period that involved far more than the destruction of Jerusalem that primarily affected Judea.

The synagogue of Satan and all other unbelievers had no protection from these events, but God promised to sustain His people.

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3:11 “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have”: There is a coming of Christ here that is obviously not the Second Coming, this coming was “quickly” to this generation in the first century. “Hold fast what you have”: That is, their little power, the open door, His Word, and steadfast endurance. They could not rest upon their past faithfulness.

3:11 “So that no one will take your crown”: Compare with 2:10.

3:12 “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God”: “A pillar is something permanent. They will obtain the one thing which David desired (Psalm 27:4)” (Hendriksen p. 75). Often the New Testament speaks of the church in the terms of a temple (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Timothy 3:15) and Christians as composing that temple (1 Peter 2:5), yet this verse seems to be pointing towards our reward in eternity when we are a pillar, or permanent feature in the New Jerusalem. The word pillar suggests that Christians are an important part of heaven.

3:12 “And he will not go out from it anymore”: Serious earthquakes had hit the city of Philadelphia in the past and the citizens had been frequently driven out of their city by quakes. When some quakes hit the people would flee the city and head out to open country. The picture here may been that of settled security and serenity. Barclay notes, “In A.D. 17 there came a great earthquake, which destroyed Sardis, and ten other cities. Strabo describes Philadelphia as a ‘city full of earthquakes’” (p. 159).

3:12 “And I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem”: To have this new name written upon them was an indication to whom he belonged (Exodus 28:36-38). “The writing of this name is itself symbolical and denotes in a majestic way that the victory belongs to God” (Harkrider p. 55). The name of the New Jerusalem identifies the victorious Christian as a citizen of heaven (Revelation 21:4; 22:14).

3:12 “Which comes down out of heaven from My God”: (Revelation 21:2).

That is, the origin of this city is God, in contrast to the cities and kingdoms of this world. It is the city made without hands whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10). The expression “coming down” does not mean that this city will exist on the earth in the future, for the earth will be destroyed at the Second Coming (2 Peter 3:9-11).

3:12 “And My new name”: See Hebrews 1:4.

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