Revelationchapter 3
22 verses · John, by tradition · AD 95 or 96 · Revelation
“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.
Introduction
John, by tradition, Revelation, Revelation Overview.
This chapter holds the last three of the seven letters the risen Christ sent through John. Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea were inland cities of Roman Asia, and each church heard all seven letters read. The pattern of the letters goes on, and its gaps matter here. Two of these churches receive no praise as a whole, and one receives no rebuke. Listen for the way each warning and promise answers the life of its city. Listen too for the knock at the door near the end.
Context
- Who
- Three churches whose warnings are built out of their own local history and industry
- What
- The last three of Christ's seven letters, to the churches in Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.
- Where
- Written on Patmos and sent to three cities in the inland valleys of the Roman province of Asia.
- When
- Late in the first century, about AD 95 on the majority view, with a minority dating the book before AD 70.
- Why
- To wake a church that looks alive, to steady a small and faithful one, and to call a self-satisfied one back to Christ.
Historical context
Sardis had been the capital of the fabulously rich Lydian kings, and its citadel sat on a spur of rock people called unassailable. It was taken twice, by the Persians under Cyrus and later by Antiochus III, both times by a climber finding a way up at night while the defenders slept, confident nobody could come that way. "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief" is that story handed back to the city.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
Sardis was also a wool and dyeing town, which gives edge to the promise of a few who "have not defiled their garments" and shall walk in white.
Philadelphia sat in earthquake country. A massive quake in AD 17 flattened it and Sardis, and Philadelphia kept suffering aftershocks so badly that people camped outside the walls rather than sleep under a roof. To that church: "him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." A pillar that never falls, in a city where nothing stayed standing.
Laodicea was rich, a banking center that, after an earthquake around AD 60, rebuilt itself without imperial help, which the Roman historian Tacitus records. It was known for glossy black wool and for a medical school associated with an eye treatment.
And Laodicea had bad water. Its neighbors had the famous hot mineral springs at Hierapolis and cold, fresh streams at Colossae. Laodicea's water was piped in, and it arrived neither hot nor cold, lukewarm and mineral-heavy enough to make you spit it out. Every image in that letter is a Laodicean specialty turned inside out: buy of me gold tried in the fire, white raiment instead of your black cloth, eyesalve that actually works.
Significance
Sardis heard that a good reputation is not the same as being alive. Laodicea, the richest of the seven, heard that it was the poorest, wretched, blind, and naked while thinking itself in need of nothing.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Philadelphia, the smallest and weakest, heard the opposite: an open door no one can shut, and a promise to be kept from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, a line pre-tribulational readers take as removal before it and others take as preservation through it. The ranking these cities used on themselves is not the ranking Jesus used. And the chapter ends with Him outside the door of a church, knocking, asking to come in and eat.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Sardis: A Name to Live, and Dead
a reputation for being alive: Sardis hears from the One who holds the seven stars, and the charge follows: you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead. The letter opens with no word of praise, for the church's name had outrun its life.
Revelation 3:1
“This attribute implies His infinite power by the Spirit to convict of sin and of a hollow profession. and the seven stars-- (Re 1:16, 20). His having the seven stars, or presiding ministers, flows, as a consequence, from His having the seven Spirits, or the fulness of the Holy Spirit. The human ministry is the fruit of Christ's sending down the gifts of the Spirit.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
ConnectionsRevelation 1:4
Revelation 3:2-3
Wake up and strengthen what remains: The command Wake up and strengthen what remains finds a church with something left, and your deeds incomplete places the failure in work left unfinished. The warning I will come like a thief echoes Jesus in Matthew 24:43 and returns at 16:15.
Revelation 3:2
“Be watchful - Ye have lost ground by carelessness and inattention. Awake, and keep awake! Strengthen the things which remain - The convictions and good desires, with any measure of the fear of God and of a tender conscience, which, although still subsisting, are about to perish, because the Holy Spirit, who is the author of them, being repeatedly grieved, is about finally to depart. Thy works perfect - Πεπληρωμενα· Filled up. They performed duties of all kinds, but no duty completely. They were constantly beginning, but never brought any thing to a proper end.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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Revelation 3:2
“The things which remain - In thy soul; knowledge of the truth, good desires, and convictions. Which were ready to die - Wherever pride, indolence, or levity revives, all the fruits of the Spirit are ready to die.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
I will come like a thief: Sardis must Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Greek tense points back to the time the gospel was first received. The warning I will come like a thief falls on a church asleep.
Revelation 3:3
“The word "keep" (so the Greek is for English Version, "hold fast") which follows, accords with this sense. "Keep" or observe the commandment which thou hast received and didst hear. heard--Greek aorist, "didst hear," namely, when the Gospel doctrine was committed to thee.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Revelation 3:3
“Remember therefore how thou hast received - This may refer either to some uniqueness in the manner in which the gospel was conveyed to them - as, By the labors of the apostles, and by the remarkable effusions of the Holy Spirit; or to the ardor and love with which they embraced it; or to the greatness of the favors and privileges conferred on them; or to their own understanding of what the gospel required, when they were converted.”
Revelation 3:4-6
a few people in Sardis: Even in Sardis a few people have not soiled their garments and will walk in white. The overcomer's promise answers the failure: white clothing for soiled garments, a name kept in the Book of Life, a name confessed, echoing Matthew 10:32.
Revelation 3:4
“Thou hast a few names even in Sardis - A few persons, names being put for those who bore them. And as the members of the Church were all enrolled, or their names entered in a book, when admitted into the Church or when baptized, names are here put for the people themselves. See Rev 3:5. Have not defiled their garments - Their souls. The Hebrews considered holiness as the garb of the soul, and evil actions as stains or spots on this garb. So in Shabbath, fol.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
Revelation 3:4
“Yet it was no virtue of his, that they were unspotted; whereas it was his fault that they were but few. Who have not defiled their garments - Either by spotting themselves, or by partaking of other men's sins. They shall walk with me in white - in joy; in perfect holiness; in glory.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 3:4
“Thus in the Revelation of John it is said: "These are they which have not defiled their clothes with women," -indicating, of course, virgins, and such as have become "eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On the Resurrection of the Fleshpatristic
Revelation 3:4
“The Greek is not "to stain" (Greek, "miainein"), but to "defile," or besmear (Greek, "molunein"), So 5:3. they shall walk with me in white--The promised reward accords with the character of those to be rewarded: keeping their garments undefiled and white through the blood of the Lamb now, they shall walk with Him in while hereafter.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Revelation 3:4
“MY LEARNED and eminently pious predecessor, Dr. Gill, is of opinion that the different churches spoken of in the Book of Revelation are types of different states through which the church of God shall pass until it comes into the Philadelphia state, the state of love, in which Jesus Christ shall reign in its midst, and afterwards, as he thinks, shall pass into the state of Laodicea, in which condition it shall be when suddenly the Son of Man shall come to judge the world in righteousness and the people in equity.”
I will never blot out his name: John Wesley reads the promise about the Book of Life against the angel of Sardis, whose name was in danger. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hold that the matter is still open, humanly speaking, for those who hear. The promise to confess his name repeats Matthew 10:32.
Revelation 3:5
“He shall be clothed in white raiment - The colour of victory, joy, and triumph. And I will not blot his name out of the book of life - Like that of the angel of the church at Sardis: but he shall live forever. I will confess his name - As one of my faithful servants and soldiers.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
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Revelation 3:5
“He that overcometh - See the notes on Rev 2:7. The same shall be clothed in white raiment - Whosoever he may be that shall overcome sin and the temptations of this world, shall be admitted to this glorious reward. The promise is made not only to those in Sardis who should be victorious, but to all in every age and every land. The hope that is thus held out before us, is that of appearing with the Redeemer in his kingdom, clad in robes expressive of holiness and joy.”
He who has an ear: Albert Barnes, on verse 5, holds that the promise to Sardis is made to all who overcome in every age and land. The call to hear carries the same reach. Each letter is addressed to one church and heard by all seven.
Revelation 3:6
“He that hath an ear, let him hear,.... See Gill on Rev 2:7.”
Philadelphia: An Open Door No One Can Shut
Revelation 3:7-8
the key of David: Philadelphia hears from the One who holds the key of David, the image Isaiah 22:22 gives the steward Eliakim. The church has a little strength, yet it is given an open door, which no one can shut, and like Smyrna it receives no charge.
Revelation 3:7
“The holy one, the true one - Two great and glorious names He that hath the key of David - A master of a family, or a prince, has one or more keys, wherewith he can open and shut all the doors of his house or palace. So had David a key, a token of right and sovereignty, which was afterward adjudged to Eliakim, Isaiah xxii, 22.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Revelation 3:7
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia - See the notes on Rev 1:20. These things saith he that is holy - This refers undoubtedly to the Lord Jesus. The appellation holy, or the holy one, is one that befits him, and is not infrequently given to him in the New Testament, Luk 1:35; Act 2:27; Act 3:14. It is not only an appellation appropriate to the Saviour, but well adapted to be employed when he is addressing the churches.”
Revelation 3:7
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,.... Of the city of Philadelphia; see Gill on Rev 1:11; According to the Apostolical Constitutions (m), one Demetrius was ordained bishop of this church by the Apostle John; but this is not to be depended on; nor is it known who this angel was: however, certain it is there was a church in this place in the "second" century, in the times of Ignatius, who wrote an epistle to it, and which then had a bishop or pastor over it, whom he mentions (n), though not his name.”
Revelation 3:7
“None but God is absolutely holy (Greek, "hagios," separate from evil and perfectly hating it). In contrast to "the synagogue of Satan" (Re 3:9). true--Greek, "alethinos": "VERY God," as distinguished from the false gods and from all those who say that they are what they are not (Re 3:9): real, genuine.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
ConnectionsIsaiah 22:22
I have placed before you an open door: The open door is read two ways. Adam Clarke takes it as a door for the word, which no one can shut. John Wesley reads it as the door into the joy of the Lord, open to a church of little strength that has kept His word.
Revelation 3:8
“I have set before thee an open door - I have opened to thee a door to proclaim and diffuse my word; and, notwithstanding there are many adversaries to the spread of my Gospel, yet none of them shall be able to prevent it. Thou hast a little strength - Very little political authority or influence; yet thou hast kept my word - hast kept the true doctrine; and hast not denied my name, by taking shelter in heathenism when Christianity was persecuted.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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Revelation 3:8
“The sixth class is the mode of life of the best election. The habit of saints is set forth; of those, to wit, who are lowly in the world, and unskilled in the Scriptures, and who hold the faith immoveably, and are not at all broken down by any chance, or withdrawn from the faith by any fear. Therefore He says to them:- "I have set before thee an open door, because thou hast kept the word of my patience." In such little strength.”
Victorinus of Pettau · written before 304 · Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed Johnpatristic
Revelation 3:8
“I have given before thee an opened door - To enter into the joy of thy Lord; and, meantime, to go on unhindered in every good work. Thou hast a little strength - But little outward human strength; a little, poor, mean, despicable company. Yet thou hast kept my word - Both in judgment and practice.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 3:8
“I prefer the view given above. The Greek 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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the synagogue of Satan: Those who claim to be Jews but are liars instead are a local hostile party, like those of 2:9. The words bow down at your feet borrow Isaiah 60:14, where nations bow at Zion's feet, and turn them toward a persecuted church.
Revelation 3:9
“I will make--Greek present, "I make," literally, "I give" (see on Re 3:8). 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 fall on their faces and confess God is in her of a truth.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
from the hour of testing: Christ promises, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world. The Greek tereo ek is read two ways, as removal before the hour and as protection through it, and both readings argue from the grammar.
Revelation 3:10
“At every one it was very sharp, though short; wherein the great tempter was not idle, chap. ii, 10. Which hour shall come upon the whole earth - The whole Roman empire. It went over the Christians, and over the Jews and heathens; though in a very different manner.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
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Revelation 3:10
“The word of my patience - The doctrine which has exposed you to so much trouble and persecution, and required so much patience and magnanimity to bear up under its attendant trials. The hour of temptation - A time of sore and peculiar trial which might have proved too much for their strength. He who is faithful to the grace of God is often hidden from trials and difficulties which fall without mitigation on those who have been unfaithful in his covenant.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Revelation 3:10
" Also to the angel of the church in Pergamus (mention was made) of Antipas, the very faithful martyr, who was slain where Satan dwelleth. Also to the angel of the church in Philadelphia (it was signified) that he who had not denied the name of the Lord was delivered from the last trial.
Tertullian · written before 220 · Scorpiacepatristic
Revelation 3:10
“My endurance is the endurance which I require, and which I practice. Christ Himself now endures, patiently 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, endures patiently.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Revelation 3:11-13
Hold fast to what you have: I am coming soon, so the church must Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The overcomer becomes a pillar in the temple and bears three names, God's, the city's and Christ's new name, seen in chapters 21 and 22.
Revelation 3:11
“For confession [of Christ] does not make one immune from the snares of the devil. Nor does it defend one who is still placed in the world with a perpetual security against worldly temptations and dangers and onsets and attacks. Otherwise we should never have seen afterwards among the confessors the deceptions and debaucheries and adulteries that now with groaning and sorrow we see among some. Whoever that confessor is, he is not greater or better or dearer to God than Solomon.”
Cyprian · written before 258 · Treatise I. On the Unity of the Church 20patristic
I will make a pillar in the temple: Adam Clarke sees in the pillar the pillars of the temple in Jerusalem, and sets Galatians 2:9 beside them. Matthew Henry reads My new name as the banner of the one who overcomes. Three names are written upon him.
Revelation 3:12
“A pillar in the temple - There is probably all allusion here to the two pillars in the temple of Jerusalem, called Jachin and Boaz, stability and strength. The Church is the temple; Christ is the foundation on which it is built; and his ministers are the Pillars by which, under him, it is adorned and supported. St. Paul has the same allusions, Gal 2:9. I will write upon him the name of my God - That is, I will make him a priest unto myself.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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Revelation 3:12
“And then another part of the inscription is, [2.] The new name of Christ, the Mediator, the Redeemer, the captain of our salvation; by this it will appear under whose banner this conquering believer had enlisted, under whose conduct he acted, by whose example he was encouraged, and under whose influence he fought the good fight, and came off victorious.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
He who has an ear: Here the call to hear the Spirit follows the promise to the one who overcomes. Adam Clarke cites John Wesley, who notes that it comes before the promise in three letters and after it in four. Philadelphia hears no rebuke.
Revelation 3:13
“He that hath an ear, let him hear,.... See Gill on Rev 2:7.”
Laodicea: Lukewarm, With Christ Outside Knocking
the Originator of God’s creation: Laodicea hears from the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, and the Hebrew of Isaiah 65:16 calls God the God of Amen. The Greek arche, rendered the Originator of God’s creation, names Christ the source of creation, as Colossians 1:15-18 does.
Revelation 3:14
“These things saith the Amen - That is, He who is true or faithful; from אמן aman, he was tree; immediately interpreted, The faithful and true witness. See Rev 1:5. The beginning of the creation of God - That is, the head and governor of all creatures: the king of the creation. See on Col 1:15 (note). By his titles, here, he prepares them for the humiliating and awful truths which he was about to declare, and the authority on which the declaration was founded.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Revelation 3:14
“The body of this epistle. There is this observable in it, that whereas in the other epistles Christ begins with commending what is good in the churches, and then proceeds to tell them what is amiss, in this (and in the epistle to Laodicea) he begins, 1.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Revelation 3:14
"Faithful," that is, trustworthy (2Ti 2:11, 13). "True" is here (Greek, "alethinos") not truth-speaking (Greek, "alethes"), but "perfectly realizing all that is comprehended in the name Witness" (1Ti 6:13).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
ConnectionsRevelation 1:5, Revelation 2:1
Revelation 3:15-16
neither cold nor hot: The church is neither cold nor hot, and Christ wishes it were one or the other. Laodicea drew lukewarm water by aqueduct, while Hierapolis had hot springs and Colossae cold water, so the city knew the image.
Revelation 3:15
“Moreover, the seventh association of the Church declares that they are rich men placed in positions of dignity, but believing that they are rich, among whom indeed the Scriptures are discussed in their bedchamber, while the faithful are outside; and they are understood by none, although they boast themselves, and say that they know all things,-endowed with the confidence of learning, but ceasing from its labour. And thus He says:- "That they are neither cold nor hot." That is, neither unbelieving nor believing, for they are all things to all men.”
Victorinus of Pettau · written before 304 · Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed Johnpatristic
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Revelation 3:15
“I know thy works - notes on Rev 2:2. That thou art neither cold nor hot - The word “cold” here would seem to denote the state where there was no pretension to religion; where everything was utterly lifeless and dead. The language is obviously figurative, but it is such as is often employed, when we speak of one as being cold toward another, as having a cold or icy heart, etc. The word “hot” would denote, of course, the opposite - warm and zealous in their love and service.”
Revelation 3:15
“That thou art neither cold - An utter stranger to the things of God, having no care or thought about them. Nor hot - As boiling water: so ought we to be penetrated and heated by the fire of love. O that thou wert - This wish of our Lord plainly implies that he does not work on us irresistibly, as the fire does on the water which it heats.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 3:15
“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 hot and fervent Christians: such did the once-cold publicans, Zaccheus and Matthew, become.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Revelation 3:15
“As lukewarm water turns the stomach, and provokes to a vomit, lukewarm professors turn the heart of Christ against them. He is sick of them, and cannot long bear them. They may call their lukewarmness charity, meekness, moderation, and a largeness of soul; it is nauseous to Christ, and makes those so that allow themselves in it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
vomit you out of My mouth!: Oecumenius reads lukewarm as a believer who received the Spirit at baptism and let the gift go out through neglect. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Greek adjectives are masculine. They agree with the angel, who answers for the church he leads.
Revelation 3:16
“But two oldest manuscripts, Syriac, and Coptic transpose thus, "hot nor cold." It is remarkable that the Greek 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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Revelation 3:17-18
Laodicea claims to be rich and to need nothing, and Christ calls it wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. His counsel answers the city's trades: gold refined by fire for its banks, white garments for its black wool, and salve for its medical school.
Revelation 3:17
“Self-sufficiency is the fatal danger of a lukewarm state (see on Re 3:15). thou sayest--virtually and mentally, if not in so many words. increased with goods--Greek, "have become enriched," implying self-praise in self-acquired riches.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
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Revelation 3:17
“They were without clothing, had neither the garment of justification nor that of sanctification. Their nakedness both of guilt and pollution had no covering. They lay always exposed to sin and shame.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Revelation 3:17
“THESE words were spoken, not to the outside world, but to the Church of Laodicea. They relate to persons who were in a Church state, who had been baptized on confession of their faith in Christ and who were thought to be in a fine spiritual condition. They had a singularly high opinion of themselves and probably considered that of all the seven Churches in Asia, they were the first in power and influence.”
salve to anoint your eyes: Christ counsels three purchases, gold refined by fire, white garments and salve to anoint your eyes. Each answers a lack named in verse 17, for the church was poor, naked and blind.
Revelation 3:18
“I counsel thee - O fallen and deceived soul, hear Jesus! Thy case is not hopeless. Buy of me. Gold tried in the fire - Come and receive from me, without money and without price, faith that shall stand in every trial: so gold tried in the fire is here understood. But it may mean pure and undefiled religion, or that grace or Divine influence which produces it, which is more valuable to the soul than the purest gold to the body.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Revelation 3:18
“Gold purified in the fire - True, living faith, which is purified in the furnace of affliction. And white raiment - True holiness. And eyesalve - Spiritual illumination; the "unction of the Holy One," which teacheth all things.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 3:18
“As "gold tried in the fire" expresses faith tested by fiery trials: so "white raiment," Christ's righteousness imputed to the believer in justification and imparted in sanctification. appear--Greek, "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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
I rebuke and discipline: Those I love, I rebuke and discipline gives the motive of the letter's severity, the love Proverbs 3:12 and Hebrews 12:6 trace from a father. The command follows at once: be earnest and repent.
Revelation 3:19
“He who consoles the sinner with flattering blandishments furnishes the means for sinning and does not check transgressions but nourishes them. But he who rebukes at the same time that he instructs with firmer counsels urges a brother on to salvation. "Whom I love," says the Lord, "I rebuke and chastise." Thus also ought the priest of the Lord not to deceive by pretended submissions but to provide salutary remedies.”
Cyprian · written before 258 · Treatise III. On the Lapsed 14patristic
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Revelation 3:19
“I in My dealings, so altogether unlike man's, in the case of all whom I love, rebuke. The Greek, "elencho," is the same verb as in Joh 16:8, "(the Holy Ghost) will convince (rebuke unto conviction) the world of sin." chasten--"chastise." The Greek, "paideu," which in classical Greek means to instruct, in the New Testament means to instruct by chastisement (Heb 12:5, 6).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
I stand at the door and knock: is spoken to a church, so Christ stands outside a congregation that thinks it needs nothing. The promise is to anyone within it: If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him.
Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock - There are many sayings of this kind among the ancient rabbins; thus in Shir Hashirim Rabba, fol. 25, 1: “God said to the Israelites, My children, open to me one door of repentance, even so wide as the eye of a needle, and I will open to you doors through which calves and horned cattle may pass.” In Sohar Levit, fol. 8, col.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Revelation 3:20
“I stand at the door, and knock - Even at this instant; while he is speaking this word. If any man open - Willingly receive me. I will sup with him - Refreshing him with my graces and gifts, and delighting myself in what I have given.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 3:20
“The promise made to the overcoming believer. It is here implied, (1.) That though this church seemed to be wholly overrun and overcome with lukewarmness and self-confidence, yet it was possible that by the reproofs and counsels of Christ they might be inspired with fresh zeal and vigour, and might come off conquerors in their spiritual warfare.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Revelation 3:21-22
sit with Me on My throne: The last promise grants the overcomer the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father. The Son's own path from victory to the throne is shared with the church, and chapter 4 opens on that throne.
Revelation 3:21
“To him that overcometh - See the notes on Rev 2:7. Will I grant to sit with me in my throne - That is, they will share his honors and his triumphs. See the notes on Rev 2:26-27; compare the notes on Rom 8:17. Even as I also overcame - As I gained a victory over the world, and over the power of the tempter. As the reward of this, he is exalted to the throne of the universe Php 2:6-11, and in these honors, achieved by their great and glorious Head, all the redeemed will share.”
3 more voices on this verse
Revelation 3:21
“I will give him to sit with me on my throne - In unspeakable happiness and glory. Elsewhere, heaven itself is termed the throne of God: but this throne is in heaven.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 3:21
“For to this battle our Lord, as with the trumpet of His Gospel, stimulates us when He says, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth his own soul more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." And again, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed shall ye be, when men shall persecute you, and hate you.”
Cyprian · written before 258 · Epistle XXVpatristic
Revelation 3:21
“The Eastern throne is broad, admitting others besides him who, as chief, occupies the center. 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) The tree of life in the Paradise of God is promised (Re 2:7), answering to Ge 2:9.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
He who has an ear: The seventh call to hear the Spirit closes the letters. John Wesley holds that the one who overcomes wins over great testing, being strong in faith. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown trace the promises up to the throne of the Father.
Revelation 3:22
“He that hath an ear, let him hear - Mr. Wesley has a very judicious note on the conclusion of this chapter, and particularly on this last verse, He that hath an ear, etc. “This (counsel) stands in three former letters before the promise, in the four latter after it; clearly dividing the seven into two parts, the first containing three, the last four letters.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Revelation 3:22
“It should be observed, that the overcoming, or victory, (to which alone these peculiar promises are annexed,) is not the ordinary victory obtained by every believer; but a special victory over great and peculiar temptations, by those that are strong in faith.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: Letters to three real churches whose promises reach every believer who overcomes, in every age and land, as Barnes classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The sevenfold letter pattern, completed | Across chapters 2 and 3 all seven letters open with To the angel of the church and These are the words of. All seven go on with I know, and five of them read I know your deeds. All seven close with the same call to hear and a promise to the one who overcomes. Praise is missing for Sardis and Laodicea, and a charge is missing for Smyrna and Philadelphia.the site's count of the Berean text, the verses of Revelation 3 in the store, translation id 3, the Berean Standard Bible. | Revelation 3:1, Revelation 3:7, Revelation 3:8, Revelation 3:14, Revelation 3:15, Revelation 3:22 |
| Three letters and four | In the first three letters the call to hear comes before the promise, and in the last four it comes after. Adam Clarke, on verse 22, cites John Wesley, who takes this as dividing the seven letters into two groups, three and four.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on Revelation 3:22. | Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:29, Revelation 3:6, Revelation 3:13, Revelation 3:22 |
| The key of David | Verse 7 gives Christ the key of David, who opens and no one shuts. John Wesley traces the words to Isaiah 22:22, where the key of the house of David is given to Eliakim. Ticonius reads the key as royal authority.John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755, on Revelation 3:7. | Revelation 3:7, Revelation 3:8 |
| Three needs and three purchases | Verse 17 calls Laodicea poor, blind and naked, and verse 18 counsels three purchases that answer them. Gold refined by fire answers poverty, white garments answer nakedness, and salve for the eyes answers blindness. John Wesley reads the three as living faith, true holiness and the light the Spirit gives.John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755, on Revelation 3:18. | Revelation 3:17, Revelation 3:18 |
How the chapter is built
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 2 gave four letters, and chapter 3 gives the last three in the same pattern. Verses 1 to 6 are to Sardis, verses 7 to 13 to Philadelphia and verses 14 to 22 to Laodicea. The chapter closes the part of the book that 1:19 calls the things that are. Its last promise, a seat with Christ on His throne, leads into chapter 4, which opens with a door standing open in heaven and a throne.
The readings of verse 10
Verse 10 promises to keep Philadelphia from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world. John Wesley reads the whole world as the Roman empire, where the trial passed over Christians, Jews and pagans alike. Tertullian, in Scorpiace, reads the promise as deliverance from the last trial for the one who had not denied the name. Adam Clarke holds that the faithful are often hidden from trials that fall on the unfaithful. Readers who expect the church to be taken up before the great tribulation, John F. Walvoord among them, read the verse as removal before the hour begins (The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 1966, on 3:10). Others, Robert H. Gundry among them, read it as protection through the hour (The Church and the Tribulation, 1973). Those readings are set out at /featured/the-rapture and /featured/great-tribulation.
The seven churches as a sequence
Charles Spurgeon reports that John Gill read the seven churches as types of the states the church passes through. In that reading Philadelphia is a time of love, and Laodicea the state in which Christ comes to judge. Victorinus of Pettau reads Philadelphia as the sixth class of believers, the lowly who hold the faith, and Laodicea as the seventh, the wealthy who boast of their learning. Albert Barnes, on verse 5, reads the promises as made to every believer in every age and land.
Where to go deeper
The book as a whole has its own page at /book/revelation. The key of verse 7 has a page at /featured/the-key, the door of verses 8 and 20 at /featured/the-door, and the throne of verse 21 at /featured/the-throne. The question verse 5 raises about losing salvation is set out at /featured/eternal-security. The seven churches of Asia, the Book of Life and the promises to the one who overcomes are listed as owed feature pages.
Keep studying
Studies10
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Words12
Trails1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on Revelation 3:5; John Gill, as Charles Spurgeon reports him, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 68, "A Solemn Warning for All Churches" (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1856, on Revelation 3:4 and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John, 304, on Revelation 3:8.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation.