The road from Ephesus to the east and to Syria was the most important in Asia. In Revelation 3:11 there is promise and warning combined. In the ancient world a king kept a register of his citizens. Directly opposite Laodicea, on the other bank of the Lycus, and in full view, stood Hierapolis, famous for its hot mineral springs. oikoymenes, the inhabited earth), not just a local area. At the Persian court the king's most trusted favourites were given the privilege of walking in the royal gardens with the king and were called "The Companions of the Garden." Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. "He that believeth hath everlasting life," for "this is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." which is about to come . (iii) As the Revised Standard Version has it, he is the beginning of God's creation. I have gone into the churches on the Continent, and I have seen gold and silver plate in the sacristy, understood to be worth one or two or three millions of money. Thus we must read the text and translate it. Thus grace is always equal to every difficulty. So, Jesus is here laying claim to that prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 22:22 . We so believe it, as to treat it as a matter of fact, valuable for everyday use; this is the surest way to keep in, even to the end. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein.". All eye-salves in the ancient world caused the eyes to smart at their first application, and Laodicea had no wish to see itself as it was. We exist to worship him and enjoy him forever. 4. 1. He is going therefore to show unto His "bondmen" a term that would suit not only Christians now, but those who might be in another relationship after we have been taken away from the world. And why so? But there is much more here. God gives a revelation of Jesus; and Jesus passes it on to His angel, or rather by His angel to His servant John; and then John at last sends it to other servants. But those who loved the Lord showed their love then not so much by intelligence in His ways, as by unsparing and habitual self-denial. Flaccus, the governor of the province, became alarmed at the amount of currency which the Jews were exporting in payment of the Temple tax which every male Jew paid and put an embargo on the export of currency. Christ is to be acknowledged as the author of all the liberty and opportunity his churches enjoy. Revelation 3:10-11 New King James Version 10 Because you have kept [ a]My command to persevere,I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come uponthe whole world, to test those who dwellon the earth. They dragged down the Christian from his own heavenly associations to that of a spurious Jew. Let there be at least individual even if unvalued faithfulness to the Lord Jesus. [Note: See Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, pp. Hence, evidently, there is a comprehensive term employed with divine wisdom, "to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." "Hark! And the same spirit of unbelief which let in the mischief keeps it in, decrying the true application of the two-edged sword now as then. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. Take no notice of anything I say if it cannot be supported by the word of divine truth. Moffatt translates it: "Though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force." ], What if some in the church did not keep the word of Christs perseverance? That peace came with the dominion of Rome. The ground of such a thought lies in the fact that the introduction to Sardis indicates the Lord beginning again a new state of things. Habits grow upon him until he can no longer break them. There the word of God had been kept away, because the clergy and the word of God can never go together thoroughly. Like all the letters it begins with a series of great titles of Jesus Christ. And all of the enemies of God we are just going to subdue when we are manifested finally as the sons of God before the world. Nor is it that I have any doubt that it is a great sin to wipe off all public recognition of God in the world. cit., p. 119. The reference of the voice behind is exclusively to the seven churches. Esau lost his place to Jacob ( Genesis 25:34; Genesis 27:36). Be students of God's word and adherents of it. I do not of course affirm this; but naturally as the apostles were departing to be with the Lord, Satan would endeavour to furnish instruments nothing loth to claim succession. I shut and no man can open. We have a little strength. Out in the villages, or in the crowded city hearts await you. And I don't feel that I have this great obligation to share the Gospel to the Jews. Hezekiah had a faithful steward called Eliakim, who was over all his house and who alone could admit to the presence of the king. 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. If we have but little strength, we mean to let the times and the spirits go where they like, we shall keep to the Holy Spirit and to his eternal teachings. He will reward them at his return (10-11). At the same time there is the most careful guard against the supposition that he was not in the full enjoyment of his own place in Christ. On this pillar shall be recorded all the services the believer did to the church of God, how he asserted her rights, enlarged her borders, maintained her purity and honour; this will be a greater name than Asiaticus, or Africanus; a soldier under God in the wars of the church. Furthermore, the promise of Luke 21:17 is explanatory of what is meant here. This was a new kind of evil altogether. When a man committed a crime against the state, or when he died, his name was erased from that register. Whichever picture is behind this, the sense is that the faithful ones will wear the unmistakable badge of God. He is a "miserable conqueror.". It is another and a remarkable difference. In order to defend themselves on a religions footing, men fall back on a system of ordinances and of the law. All intimates that they are in great, and no doubt just, dread of Him as a judge. He shall be a monumental pillar in the temple of God; not a pillar to support the temple (heaven needs no such props), but a monument of the free and powerful grace of God, a monument that shall never be defaced nor removed, as many stately pillars erected in honour to the Roman emperors and generals have been. In chapter one, He was known as the faithful and the true witness. [Note: See Stanton, pp. Moses is willing to be wiped out of the book which God has written, if by his sacrifice he can save his people from the consequence of their sin ( Exodus 32:32-33). He taught Bible studies and cared about other men facing death. I am sure Luther is one from whom we may all learn much; whose courage, faithfulness, self-renunciation, and endurance are edifying and instructive. These were proper characters for him, when speaking to a church that had endeavoured to be conformed to Christ in holiness and truth, and that had enjoyed a wide door of liberty and opportunity under his care and government. That does not matter; but it does matter that you be faithful to your Lord. The star is that which acted on the assembly; it professedly was the vessel of light from the Lord for bearing on the condition of the saints of God. There were a few futile attempts at rebellion; but Cyrus followed a deliberate policy. Warriors guard kings, and crowns, and thrones; but the living truth of the living God is infinitely more worthy of our watch. 2. 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. Sardis, Death In Life ( Revelation 3:1-6 Continued). It was not yet a question of coming out from the public body. Heresy is always the product of the searching mind; it is, in fact, the sign of a Church that is alive. Philadelphia, Those Who Keep Are Kept ( Revelation 3:7-13 Continued). This is one of the main sources of confusion on the subject of the Apocalypse to this day. In A.D. 61 it was devastated by an earthquake; but so rich and independent were its citizens that they refused any help from the Roman government and out of their own resources rebuilt their city. To the north of that plain rose the long ridge of Mount Tmolus; from that ridge a series of hills went out like spurs, each forming a narrow plateau. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" ( Proverbs 27:6). In the pagan world devotees of certain gods often wrote the name of their god on their forehead (cf. Antiochus, who became the ruler of the area in which Sardis stood, was at war with a rival called Achaeus who sought refuge in Sardis. What does this mean? So thoroughly does the Lord adhere to topics of the largest and most common import in the letter to the angel of the assembly in Ephesus. The godly remnant of Jews, having to do with a special and most fierce but circumscribed tribulation, have only to flee to the mountains in order to escape till Jesus appears in glory, to the confusion of their foes. There are so many out there who need Jesus Christ. We cannot see the big bells, but it is ours to pull the ropes that are near our hand, and do what God bids us to do, and music will come of it somewhere. 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. Remember what Solomon says, "The conies are a feeble folk," but he puts them down as wise people, for they have their habitation in the rocks. If I am a master, the conduct that might be proper in a servant would not become me. They did it under great disadvantages, but that only helped to increase the weight of praise measured out to them. 62. We call our opponents heterodox, and our zeal for orthodoxy comes to the front; and yet, after all, it may be that we have never exercised a personel faith about those doctrines, so as to think them out for ourselves. (a) This may be a promise of security. A city with a history like that knew what the Risen Christ was talking about when he said: "Watch!". It has been said that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" and eternal watchfulness is the price of salvation. God is testing you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? It is sad. The name Sardis (Sardeis, G4454, in Greek) is really a plural noun, for there were two towns, one on the plateau and one in the valley beneath. 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. If even what belongs to the world be touched, they are in no small agitation about it. If so, some people ought to be very good by this time, for they have had candid friends in plenty. Some taught the gospel very quietly in their own family circle, and so kept it. Their works weren't complete. They came out, but not far enough. Revelation 3:10New International Version. Jesus himself tells of the wicked servant, who took advantage of his master's absence to conduct himself evilly and to whom the master made a sudden return that brought judgment. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. It was not as once. III. He didn't want to become one with the Gentile. This has been always the case. Never but here occurs an address to a certain number of assemblies, particularly one so definite and significant symbolically as seven. It is said of the faithful that they "have not soiled their garments." No, all Christians will experience transformation at the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Strabo describes the scene. Laodicea prided itself on three things; and each is taken in turn and shown at its true value. Solomon named one of these pillars Jachin, meaning establish, and he named the other pillar Boaz, meaning strength (1 Kings 7:13-21). This we find formally and doctrinally in his gospel. 290. 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. Laodicea, The Christ Who Knocks ( Revelation 3:14-22 Continued). Students of God 's word and adherents of it the beginning of God 's creation when man... The gospel very quietly in their own family circle, and so kept it footing. 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