Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read
Revelation

Revelationchapter 3

22 verses · BSBRevelation book hub →

A.Sardis: A Name to Live, and Deadvv. 1-6

1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of the One who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead. 2 Wake up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God. 3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you. 4 But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white. 5 Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

B.Philadelphia: An Open Door No One Can Shutvv. 7-13

7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name. 9 Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

C.Laodicea: Lukewarm, With Christ Outside Knockingvv. 14-22

14 To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! 16 So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition
← Back: Revelation 2Continue: Revelation 4 →

Chapter summary

The last three letters, and the sharpest.

Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾

The last three letters, and the sharpest. Sardis gets an epitaph rather than a diagnosis: 'thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead', yet a few names there did not defile their garments, and the overcomer's name shall in no wise be blotted out of the book of life. Philadelphia receives no rebuke: from him that hath the key of David, 'he that openeth and none shall shut' (Isaiah 22), comes a door none can shut: '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' (3:10), which in the house's futurist reading is preservation out of the coming tribulation. Laodicea is neither cold nor hot, thinking itself rich but 'wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.'

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament.

Context

Apocalyptic · John — Revelation overview

  • A. 1–6 Sardis: A Name to Live, and Dead
  • B. 7–13 Philadelphia: An Open Door No One Can Shut
  • C. 14–22 Laodicea: Lukewarm, With Christ Outside Knocking
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
  • Revelation 25 verses
    • Revelation 2:5Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
    • Revelation 2:7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
    • Revelation 2:9I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
    • Revelation 2:10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
    • Revelation 2:26And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
    • Read Revelation 2 →
  • Revelation 13 verses
    • Revelation 1:4John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne,
    • Revelation 1:5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
    • Revelation 1:18the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
    • Read Revelation 1 →
  • Revelation 32 verses
    • Revelation 3:5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
    • Revelation 3:7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
    • Read Revelation 3 →
  • Revelation 212 verses
    • Revelation 21:2I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
    • Revelation 21:27But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
    • Read Revelation 21 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
  • Luke 122 verses
    • Luke 12:8I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.
    • Luke 12:36Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.
    • Read Luke 12 →
  • Revelation 142 verses
    • Revelation 14:1Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
    • Revelation 14:12Here is a call for the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
    • Read Revelation 14 →
  • Revelation 222 verses
  • Revelation 161 verse

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.