Revelation 3 commentary


   
    1-2:[1] And to the messenger of the Called-out in Sardis write These things says HE THAT HAS THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD [2] AND THE SEVEN STARS I know your works that you have a name that you live yet are becoming dead Matthew 8:22, James 2:14-26 Be watching and strengthen the others who are about to die for I have not found your acts having been completed in the sight of God scrTR 3: Remember therefore how you have received and heard and hold fast and repent If therefore you shall not watch I will come on you as a thief and you shall not perceive what hour I arrive upon you[3] 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 4: You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy 5: They that overcome the same shall be clothed in white raiment and I will not blot out their names out of the Book of Life[4] but I will confess their names before my Father and before his angels 6: They that have ears let them hear what the Spirit says to the Called-out 7: And to the messenger of the Called-out in Philadelphia write These things says HE THAT IS HOLY HE THAT IS TRUE HE THAT HAS THE KEY OF DAVID Isaiah 22:17-[22]-25  HE THAT OPENS AND NO ONE SHUTS AND SHUTS AND NO ONE OPENS 8: I know your works perceive [that] I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it that you have a little power and have kept my word and have not dis-owned my name 9: Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not but do lie see [that] I will make them to come and worship before your feet Matthew 19:28-30, 24:13-23, Luke 19:13-19, 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 and to know that I have loved you  10: Because you have kept the word of my patience I also will keep you out [of] the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world[5] to test them that dwell in the land[6] 11: Behold [I] come quickly Hold fast [that] which you have that no one take your [victor’s] wreath crown/prize 12: Them that get the victory will I make pillars in the temple of my God and they shall go no more out and I will write upon them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God which is New Jerusalem which comes down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon them my new name 13: They that have ears let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Called-out 14: And to the messenger of the Called-out of the Laodiceans write These things says THE AMEN[7] THE FAITHFUL AND TRUE MARTYR[8] THE SOURCE OF CREATION  THE GOD 15: I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot I prefer [that] you were [either] cold or hot 16: So then because you are tepid and neither cold nor hot I will spew you out of my mouth[9] 17: Because you say I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and perceive not that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked 18: I counsel you to buy of me gold refined from fire that you may be rich and that you may be clothed [with] white raiment and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear disappear? and anoint your eyes with eye-salve that you may see [clearly] 19: As many as I love I call to account and discipline Psalm 94:12-13, Hebrews 12:4-17 so be zealous [for righteousness] and repent 20: Behold I stand at the door and knock if any hear my voice and open the door I will come in to them and will dine with them and they with me 21: To them that overcome will I grant to sit with me in my throne rule and reign with me even as I also overcame and am set down with rule and reign with my Father in his throne 22: They that hath ears let them hear what the Spirit says to the Called-out


[1] Punctuation, chapter, and verse segmentation was added long after the scriptures were written. They are helpful up to a point but often cloud [or cast misunderstanding upon] the meaning some passages. This commentary has done away with most punctuation, but most verse numbers are left intact except in certain cases like verses :1-2 of Revelation chapter three.
[2] See footnote in Revelation 1:4 of this blog
[3] This can only be a reference to the Rapture and not the 2nd Coming. At the 2nd Coming of Christ, every eye will see him and understand exactly what they are seeing. At the Rapture, many will not. Though the Rapture will not be secret, there will be many who by choice refuse to perceive what has happened. Graves will be opened, the dead raised, and those in Christ who are alive and remain will disappear before the very eyes of many as they are caught up to join the resurrected ones and meet the Lord in the air. Many who are left behind will deny what has taken place. Those who are not “In Christ” [though they profess themselves to be] will be caught by surprise; the day will come upon them as a thief. They will refuse to perceive and accept what has happened, and, to their eternal doom, will embrace the lie 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, 5:1-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:2-12. 
[5] The Bible phrase “the whole world” or “all the world,” could mean the entire earth but does not necessarily mean so. Some examples of only part of the earth being called the “whole world” include:  Luke 2:1, Acts 11:28, 17:6, 19:27, 24:5, Romans 10:18. But Jesus did say a time of trial was coming that would effect the entire world. His wording left no doubt that he was not speaking of region upheaval but clearly global. And he commanded his followers to pray that they would be counted worthy to escape all the terrors that would come as a snare upon those who would not see it coming. Why will they not see it coming? Because they will refuse to believe what is written  Luke 21:33-36.  John Bunyan wrote an awesome allegory about literal truths found in the Bible. What a tragedy that, today, many believe the Bible itself to be an allegory. That would mean John Bunyan wrote an allegory about an allegory—Which he did not. If that had been the case, then understanding the truth of the allegories in Pilgrim’s Progress would be an utter impossibility. Though the Bible features some allegorical illustrations, such as the parable of the sower, these always illustrate literal truths.  Any allegorical [illustrative], symbolic, or figurative speech found in the Bible is also defined within the Bible itself. 
[6] The Great Tribulation Matthew 24:21-22 is a time of trial coming upon the whole earth, and one of its purposes is to test them “that dwell in The Land.” The congregations in Asia were composed of Jews who had been dispersed into Asia Acts 2:5-10, 1 Peter 1:1-2 These understood that the reference [in The Revelation] to “The Land” was a reference to the land of Israel—The Promised Land Psalm 37:3 . The Great Tribulation is called by another name in the Old Testament. Jeremiah, under the direct inspiration of God, called it, “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.” Jeremiah 30:7. Though Christians are called the spiritual “Seed of Abraham,” New Covenant believers are never called “JacobJeremiah 30:10. We would be remiss to overlook the many overtly Jewish aspects of The Revelation. 

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[7] Amen is a Hebrew word meaning: so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled. It was a custom, which passed over from the synagogues to the Christian assemblies, that when they who had read or discoursed, had offered up solemn prayer to God, the others responded Amen, and thus made the substance of what was uttered their own. Jesus is THE AMEN, meaning he stands behind his Word, whether it be his Word about coming again or his Word that says his ears are open to our prayers. If THE AMEN stands behind his Word, that means we can stand on it. 
[8] 24: They said therefore among themselves Let us not rend it but cast lots for it whose it shall be that the scripture might be fulfilled which saith They parted my raiment among them and for my vesture they did cast lots These things therefore the soldiers did
Matthew fills in the gap between what happened during the time the soldiers cast lots for his clothes and what happened next. Darkness covered the land while Jesus hung there suffering for three hours—waiting for the sins of the world to be laid on him.  
(Matthew 27:45-46)
25: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene 26: When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved he saith unto his mother Woman, behold thy son! 27: Then saith he to the disciple Behold thy mother And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home 28: After this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst 29: Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth 30: When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said It is FINISHED Paid! and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost

[9] The Call-out in Laodicea were not “on fire for Jesus,” a condition in which God might have been able to deal with them from his Word and by his SPIRIT to temper any over-zealousness that might have been present [but was not]. Likewise, if their hearts had been cold to the things of God, he may have been able to deal with them to repent of attitudes that led to such coldness. Sadly, that was not the case either. The Called-out in Laodicea just did not care. They were in the precarious position of “straddling the fence….” positioned to not just fall away but to be vehemently cast away—forcefully vomited or spewed—out of God’s mouth.   

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