Revelation

Revelation 3:1-13

“The Unveiling of Jesus”

Vs. 1-6 Those who came who are dead

Vs. 7-13 Those given an open door

Intro

We now move into Jesus’ 5th letter to the church and this one is addressed to Sardis, which means, “escaping ones” or remnant. Sardis was the capital of the region known as Lydia, which was located fifty miles east of Ephesus at a junction of five main roads. The fortress of the city sat atop a fifteen hundred foot plateau and for this reason was thought to be impregnable but history would prove that theory wrong twice as sentries fell asleep while keeping watch. The cites chief god was Artemis who was thought to be able to restore people back from the dead, its chief manufacturing product was that of wool garments and you can see these two things reflected in Jesus words of verse 1 and 4.

The time frame in church history that this fits is 1500-1700 called the reformation. Most often it is called the protestant reformation when in reality Catholics started the reformation. Luther and others were tired of being under the repressive state religions run by corrupt popes, though people followed these brave men out of Roman Catholicism in the end most of the people joined the movement based upon intellectual agreement rather than a personal relationship with Jesus.

The outcome of this was great creeds and confessions but all that was established was formalism that just favored different ceremonies and systems which became denominations that worshiped their system above their savior! Donald G. Barnhouse observes, “There is nothing wrong with the Westminster confession, but if you go throughout Christianity you will find the gospel in a box called a coffin; yes there are believers but all too often dead formal orthodoxy characterizes their devotion!

Vs. 1-6 Those who came who are dead

Vs. 1a Author: As in all of His letters to these Churches Jesus’ identification points to what they need. This reference was already mentioned in 1:4 and traced back to Isa. 9 where the “seven Spirits of God” speak of the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the stars refer to the pastors or messengers. Thus the need of this church was like that of the reformation in that they needed to understand the work of the Holy Spirit and for the leadership of the Church to more fully submit to Him who holds them! As this relates to you and I, Jesus wants control of our hearts as well as His church. Our profession without His complete possession is just mere religion. Even though we may be busy, as was this church and this church age, all of the business apart from the power of the Holy Spirit will never bring life! You see the Holy Spirit is not a program, He is a person and as such we are told in Eph. 4:25-32,

Ten things in our lives that will grieve Him:

Vs. 25 Lying or “exaggerating”
Vs. 27 Giving opportunity to the devil, “compromise”
Vs. 28 Stealing
Vs. 29 Corrupt communication, “anything that does not build up”
Vs. 31 Bitterness
Vs. 31 Wrath
Vs. 31 Anger
Vs. 31 Loud quarreling
Vs. 31 evil speaking
Vs. 32 Not being forgiving

No amount of profession can help this only repentance can!

Vs. 1b Admonition: Jesus said this church had a “name” that they were alive, but were in fact dead. Their reputation from the outside was impressive, they had activity but still they lacked true power. Their name was before men and not God, as such they were more into their results than they were their relationship. Jesus can easily tell the difference between a corpse in a white tux and a servant in a white robe!

Vs. 2-3 Accusation and Appeal:

Vs. 2b Accusation: “I have not found your works perfect before God.” No matter how alive they or others thought they were, Jesus says, they were on their last breaths. The word “perfect” means, “not fulfilled”, that is to say they had not lived up to God’s design and stopped short. This complacency led to compromise and compromise led to corruption and corruption was about to lead them into a casket. The world often views Christians as neither dangerous nor desirable; instead just decent people with a dying witness thus a decaying ministry!

Vs. 3b “Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” This city was well aware of its own history of slumbering sentries so Jesus uses it to remind them of even a greater problem of them falling asleep while guarding the fortress and that is falling asleep while guarding your heart. Our response to the soon return of Jesus serves as a great indicator as to our spiritual condition.

The Bible speaks of three reactions:

Rev. 3:3 Fear “I will come upon you as a thief”: If some one were to break into your house your first reaction would be fear. But why fear? Well because of a lack of recognition! Now, when I come home after work and walk into the house my wife does not run to the closet with the phone to dial 911.

2 Peter 3: 3-4 Indifference: “scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” The second reaction is just indifference and Peter says it is so because of those that are walking according to their own lusts. Now if I came home and said, “Honey I’m home!” And she responded, “So, you’ve been coming home for years and nothing’s changed, I mean what’s the big deal?” I think we would not have a very good relationship.

Rev. 22:20 Anticipation: “Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” Here we see John’s response to Jesus’ words and he says, “So be it, even so, come, Lord Jesus”. Man you can just hear the excitement in those words. I’ve got to tell you that I love coming home to my wife even after 25 years as she makes it my favorite time of the day.

If we are not excited about being in the presence of the Lord and are instead afraid then that might indicate that you don’t know Him, He’s a stranger to you. Or If you are indifferent towards being in His presence then that might indicate there is something that has interrupted or damaged your fellowship with Him! Ok what do we do if that is the case?

Jesus gives us five things to revive the dead:

Vs. 2a Appeal:“Be watchful”: Wake up! That’s always the first step to personal renewal to wake up and recognize that there is something wrong.

Vs. 2b “Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God”: Whatever life there is cultivate it, strengthen it and make it healthy.

Vs. 3a “Remember therefore how you have received and heard”: This is similar counsel that Jesus gave the church at Ephesus. Look back at when there was life and remember how your heart acted like that of a little child’s.

Vs. 3b “Hold fast”: Don’t give up, be consistent, and keep going.

Vs. 3c “Repent”: Tell Him what He already knows and turn from any area that is wrong.

Vs. 4 Approval: There was a remnant that had remained pure as white is the color for righteousness. Jesus says, even in Sardis there were a few that had walked with Him in purity and because of that they are given the promise of walking with Him in the future.

Vs. 5 The “overcomer” is defined for us by John in 1 John 5:5 and it is he who will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Note, the book of life has been written before the foundations of the world, (Rev. 17:8). And the names of those written in it we are told are fellow workers in the gospel (Phil 4:3). I have often wondered since God is not willing that any should perish, that all should have everlasting life, if everyone does not start out with their name in the book of life and rather chose to have it removed. It seems such based upon this verse.

Vs. 7-13 Those given an open door

In Jesus’ 6th letter to His church you will notice not one word of condemnation in the seven verses here. Philadelphia, “love of the brethren” was located 30 miles south east of Sardis and was prone to earthquakes. It was neither an important city nor a large city; its only claim was that it was the gateway to the east. In the eyes of the world it may have had little strength but in the eyes of our Lord He set before it an open door. Historically this would match the evangelical church of 1520 to the present day. During this period of church history such people as Hudson Taylor, William Carry, and Amy Carmichael have carried the gospel around the world. The great challenge of this church is not that there are not any open doors but rather that there are too few people to go through them and far too often the ones that do go through do so in their own strength.

Vs. 7 Author: Since there is no word of correction to this Church Jesus’ description of Himself is meant to encourage them. Perhaps because of their location or the view others had of them they did not think that their work for the Lord mattered much because they were so small and weak. Jesus reveals three things of encouragement based upon His character: “These things says,”

“He who is holy”: Above every other aspect of His character Jesus is holy, in other words He always does right, He is free from any defilement and as such can not do wrong!

“He who is true”: Here the idea is that of right conduct, in other words always does right. It is interesting to see how conduct always seems to follow character. Jesus is perfect in who He is therefore He is perfect in what He does. To the Church little in size He declares that this is not a problem with Him indeed it is an asset.

“He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: This is a reference to Isa. 22:22 where God spoke to Eliakim the High priest about the authority He was going to give him. Hezekiah was the King and the Assyrians were marching upon Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of the city instead of repenting were having an “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die” attitude.

The keys were to the treasury of David and as such he was giving the authority to distribute the provisions as needed. So to this Church Jesus shows Himself with absolute authority to give as He sees fit no matter what their position was in the world’s eyes He saw them as the ones He desired to use. The point is, “We must never let what we don’t have keep us from what we must do!”

Vs. 8 Approval: To this Church of little strength Jesus provides an open door. An open door speaks of an opportunity for ministry and what’s greater still is this door is not only open but can not be shut!

Three things no doubt contributed to their success:

“You have a little strength”: The word little means unimportant and is the same word used by Jesus when He speaks of Zacchaeus. It speaks of how the world sizes up people and things. How did their being little aid in their success? Well it made them totally dependent upon the Lord. Jesus knows that our effectiveness lies in our understanding of our condition, which is weak, so that we can only trust in His strength.

Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 12:10 “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

“Have kept My word”: They consistently centered their lives on obedience to His word.

“Have not denied My name”: They keep Jesus the main thing! Their identity never wavered as it was all about becoming more like Him.

To the Church that is dependent upon Him, only desirous to be like Him and just wants to be known in Him; there will always be an open door of ministry that no one can shut and not even the gates of Hades shall prevail against it, a fact that is brought out in verse 9.

Vs. 9 The first promise Jesus makes to this church is that He will take care of its enemies, as they are not our enemies but His. Nothing can or will be able to thwart His plans or opportunities. This church was up against a false system of worship and Jesus says because you worship Me and are seated with me in heavenly places they are going to come before us and worship at our feet. The world saw this little church and thought because of their size they were unloved by the Lord but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus already told them He alone held the keys, thus where unbelief sees obstacles faith sees opportunities. Since the Lord will take care of all of those who oppose us all we have are opportunities. Jesus promises to strengthen this church, to use this church and now He promises them victory.

Vs. 10-11 Accreditation: Here is another great promise based upon their obedience to persevere trusting in His strength.

Several things to note about this promise:

“I also will keep you from”: The word “from” means “out of” not through. In other words Jesus’ promise to this Church is to keep us out of the trial that will come upon the world to test the world.

“The hour of trial”: The word hour is a word that represents a very specific time period. In other words the promise to take them from the very hour or time period.

“Which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth”: It is very obvious that this is a reference to the great tribulation, which we will see in chapters 6-19.

So in summation this promise is not to bring us through the tribulation, nor is it to be removed out of the trial of the tribulation but rather to be taken from the very time period altogether.

Vs. 11 So what should this church do in light of this promise? Well Jesus tells them “I’m coming quickly”, so hold fast what you have. The crown always refers to rewards and not salvation and so Jesus is saying stay the course you’re on until I come for you!

Vs. 12-13 Accommodation: They are not only promised a crown but to stand in His presence forever. In Solomon’s temple there were two pillars that he was to give names, Jachin, “God establishes,” and Boaz “Strength”. The Lord Himself will write on us His new name and we will never again go out into the world.

Our identity will be established threefold:

Name of My God;

The name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God. And I will write on them my new name.

“The Unveiling of Jesus”

The vision of His Church: (1:19b) “The things, which are”, 3:14-22

“The poverty of a people ruled church”

Vs. 14-17 Neither cold not hot

Vs. 18-22 I stand at the door and knock

This the last of seven letters to the churches which were written to three specific groups:

To the people of that time period that lived in those cities when John was alive.

To people of differing periods in church history, “this one would be around 1900”.

Finally clearly as each of these letters ends Jesus says the same 15 words, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Thus these letters are for each of us.

Laodicea means ruled by the people, which is a fitting name as it is what lies at the heart of their problem. The city of 17,000, located 40 miles southeast of Philadelphia, was made up of a wealthy class of people as it was a banking center made famous by its medical school which produced an eye salve and a very expensive black wool. It had no fortress and as such had learned peace through accommodating all invading armies; thus it compromised to be accepted. It is interesting with Jesus’ words against this church that they are not criticized for false teaching or a lack of morality instead they are chastised for their attitude that they had need of nothing, (verse 17).

Vs. 14-17 Neither cold not hot

Vs. 14 Author: To the Church that had no need of anything and saw itself as wealthy when in reality they were “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked”. Jesus proclaims Himself as “Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:” Overall Jesus’ words serve as a warning for them to realize that it was not what they thought of themselves that mattered but rather how He saw them.

Jesus alone is the:

Amen: The “so be it” or final authority concerning their spiritual health.

Faithful: It is His faithfulness that mattered not what they thought concerning their faithfulness.

True Witness: He is the true witness and they were to be a witness of Him.

The Beginning of the creation of God: He is the “active cause” of creation, Jesus alone knows what creation should be not anyone else.

All of these words of our Lord reveal his character as alone being the sufficient One. There was only one remedy for this church and that was Jesus himself.

Vs. 15-17 Accusation: The town of Laodicea only had one problem that even their wealth had been unable to fix, it was in their water supply. They got their water from some hot springs, which contaminated the water with mineral deposits. They had tried to overcome this through an elaborate system of pipes, which made the water drinkable but also, left it lukewarm.

There is nothing more revolting when you are thirsty than that which is neither hot nor cold! In their service they were indifferent Jesus proclaims, they professed interest in spiritual things but it was only lip service. Paul describes this affection in 2 Tim. 3:5 by saying that they “have a form of godliness but denying its power.” Oh they participated in outward worship but they did so without an inward reality. Theirs was a membership to an organization instead of a relationship to Christ through new birth. As such they had “churchianity” which evaluated their spiritual health upon outward criteria instead of the heart.

Vs. 16 Jesus is honest with this church even though they were not honest with Him. Blessing always begins with honesty, as we can not receive healing from the Lord until we admit the truth about our condition. Spewing them out of His mouth would cause them to recognize their real spiritual health.

The Bible speaks of three temperatures of a person’s spiritual heart:

Heart on fire: Luke 24:32 This is the passage where the two disciples were on the road to Emmaus when the resurrected Jesus met up with them and “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” And after He departed they proclaimed, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

A cold heart: Matt. 24:12 This is that passage of scripture called the “Olivet Discourse” where Jesus explains to His disciples the signs of His 2nd coming and says, “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

A lukewarm heart: Rev. 3:16 This is the passage before us where Jesus uses it to describe a person whose heart has become comfortable and complacent to the point that they no longer see their own need. In the field of science this would be called a “closed system” because no energy can be produced unless something is introduced from the outside. This is why a refrigerator warms when power goes out and why a fire cools when there is no longer fuel to burn. A church must never become a closed system for as He told us in John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Vs. 17 This Church boasted of its self-sufficiency and acted as though it had no need of the Lord. Based upon Jesus’ words concerning their attitude they saw themselves as “rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing”.

This reveals two things about them:

They based their evaluation upon the world’s standards instead of Jesus’.

They felt that they had achieved these standards by self-effort and not the Lord’s blessing.

They were wrong on both accounts as Jesus reveals to them five things about their true spiritual condition:

Wretched: Unfortunate or pitiful. Far from being the spiritual elite that they saw themselves, as they were pitiful.

Miserable: They thought themselves in a state of bliss when in reality they were in a state of misery.

Poor: They said we are wealthy but in truth they were beggars.

Blind: They were so blind that they did not recognize their own condition.

Naked: Like Anderson’s tale of a king’s new clothes they were naked and not clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

The issue here is that they thought the possession of certain things made them right before the Lord.

Vs. 18-22 I stand at the door and knock

Vs. 18 Admonition: Is it not amazing that Jesus “counsels” them instead of commanding them?

In this admonition Jesus reveals three things that they truly needed:

“Gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich”: Gold in scripture symbolizes God’s reward, so instead of seeking earthly treasures they needed to lay up treasures in heaven. This church may have been rich in worldly possessions but it was bankrupt when it came to treasures in heaven. There are two remarkable things about Jesus admonition to “buy from Me”:

That they are admonished to purchase anything from the Lord. In Isa 55:1 the Lord said to Israel, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Just what then is the price since it is not money? Well the price is trust in Him and not in themselves, as the author of Hebrews puts it “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

That which they are to purchase by faith in Him alone must also be “refined in the fire” which is a clear reference to trials that their complacency had sought to avoid. In other words what they needed were rewards which come from walking by faith with the Lord during difficult times. Sanctification is the process by which the Lord allows us to go through difficult situations and circumstances so that we learn to not trust in anything other than Him.

“White garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed”: They were clothed in their own filth rags of self-righteousness, which was like a back wool garment, and they need the righteousness of Christ. For all their wealth, remember Jesus saw them as naked before Him. Whenever our identity is found in something we have or have done we are always naked in His eyes and if we will not clothe ourselves in Christ He will expose our nakedness.

“Anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see”: The lack of Jesus in this church produced a spiritual blindness that had gone on to the extent that they failed to see themselves as they really were. Furthermore based upon verse 20 they didn’t even realize that Jesus was on the outside of the church knocking to come in.

Vs. 19 The motivation of Jesus’ admonition was “love”! It is because of His love that He rebukes and disciplines (trains). Furthermore, since this is a sign of His love towards them they ought to be zealous and repent. The word “zealous” is a Greek word that means warmth of desire; in other words they need to rekindle the fire towards the Lord which was by way of repentance (turning away from anything that kept them from Him and towards Jesus).

Vs. 20-22 Appeal and Announcement: This verse is most often quoted out of its context, as we Christians will recite it for non-believers. Yet the words of Jesus were directed towards the professing Church! The truth is Jesus is on the outside of many hearts today that like the Laodiceans are professing believers. His knock was a desire to come in and have fellowship with them, it is the same heart that will leave the 99 and go after the one. How great is Jesus’ love that the Church that had kept Him on the outside and were blinded to this fact He comes and knocks on its door to gain entrance?

Vs. 21 Jesus’ heart was to take them from the dining room to the throne room and all He asked was that they hear His voice and open the door. So to those who have shut Jesus out you have kept yourself from the presence of the One who loves you.

Vs. 22 In summation: To the seven Churches Jesus;

Ephesus: He speaks leaving our first love as devotion was sacrificed for doctrine.

Smyrna: He speaks of not shrinking from the blessings that can only come through suffering.

Pergamos: He speaks of not compromising on the truth.

Thyatira: He warns of the danger of moral corruption because of false worship.

Sardis: He speaks of being spiritually dead because of intellectual agreement without a personal relationship.

Philadelphia: He encourages them to continue to cling to Him.

Laodicea: He warns against self-sufficiency instead of Christ dependency.