Chapter Three

Letters to the churches: Sardis (1–6), where there is a call to repentance and a promise of reward; Philadelphia (7–13) with praise for faithfulness and a promise of constant divine providential action; and Laodicea (14–22) with exclusive rebuke for lukewarmness, indicating the possibility of complete forgiveness.

Revelation 3:1. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: Thus says He who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have the name that you are alive, but you are dead. The city of Sardis, the chief city of Lydia, from the religious standpoint was known for the temple and cult of the goddess Cybele. In place of Sardis there now stands a poor Turkish village with insignificant population. In Sardis at the end of the second century lived the famous apologist Melito of Sardis, who wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse. The Lord reminds the Sardians that in his power is the distribution of the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit, and likewise in his power and under his supervision are the bishops of all churches (seven stars), including the bishop of the church of Sardis. The Christians of the Sardian church, by the judgment of God’s court, only bear the name of the living; in reality they are dead—alive in human opinion and dead before the all-knowing God.

Revelation 3:2. Wake up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die; for I have not found your works perfected before My God. Revelation 3:3. Therefore remember what you have received and heard, and keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Revelation 3:4. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. Revelation 3:5. He who overcomes will be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels. Revelation 3:6. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. In view of this, the Lord finds nothing in the Sardians worthy of praise and directly calls them to a change of life. The state of wakefulness, of spiritual vigilance, is the first condition of a change of life. The further words of the text point to the object of this attention: what remains and is about to die. Here by “the rest,” obviously, are meant some good aspects of religious life that were still supported by the Sardian Christians but which also were threatened with the danger of being forgotten and abandoned with the general decline of religious-moral life. The religious-moral state of the Sardian Christians was not entirely hopeless: there was need for the renewal of Christian spirit and Christian zeal through remembrance of the great divinely-revealed Christian religion. In general, the Sardian Christian is required to repent and to change his former unsatisfactory life. Correspondingly, a threat from the Lord is expressed. A Christian fallen into religious indifference and deadness can be awakened only by the threat of the sudden visitation of the Lord (Luke 12:20). But those who have not soiled their clothes (Isa 64:6), that is, the Sardians who have not stained their souls with sins and transgressions, as worthy of reward for their deeds, will walk (with me) with their Lord clothed in white garments. White garments always serve as the symbol of purity, a sign of closeness to God and glorification. The symbol of the book of life is very common in Holy Scripture (Isa 4:3; Rev 20:15) and speaks of divine predestination, according to which the all-knowing God knows all those to whom the Kingdom of God is appointed. The faithful Sardian Christians number among them. Their blessedness will consist in communion with God himself and with his angels (Matt 10:32; Luke 12:8).

Revelation 3:7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: Thus says the Holy One, the True One, the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens: The city of Philadelphia was one of the cities of Lydia. By tradition, the first bishop of Philadelphia was Dimitri, appointed by the holy John. At present Philadelphia bears the Turkish name Allah-Shehr (the City of God) and appears as a Christian city. To this relatively faithful church the Lord addresses a revelation containing exclusively praise and approval. In his address to her, the Lord calls himself holy, thereby pointing to the deepest property of his nature. In close connection with holiness stands truthfulness, speaking of his relation to the world and people. To these two divine properties the Lord adds another and calls himself the one who holds the key of David. Jesus Christ’s possession of the key of David means possession of the key to the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem. This means that Christ possesses complete authority to grant or withhold eternal blessedness of the eternal kingdom. And only the Lord himself can change this verdict; no one else is able to do so.

Revelation 3:8. I know your works; behold, I have set before you an open door, and no one is able to shut it; you have little strength, and yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name. Pointing to his omniscience, the Lord encourages the faithful Philadelphian by indicating an open door. Opening the door is a figurative indication that only through Jesus Christ is it possible for a Christian to attain the Kingdom of God. But for the Philadelphian the door is open not because of his own strength, which he has little of, like every person, but solely by the love and mercy of God; this, in turn, should be expressed in the firm and open ordering of one’s life according to the commandments of the Christian religion.

Revelation 3:9. Behold, I will make those from Satan’s synagogue, those who say they are Jews and are not, but lie – behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. Revelation 3:10. Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing which is coming upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. The Lord encourages the Philadelphian Christians with a strict judgment of those who confess Judaism, calling them a synagogue of Satan, a people condemned for its unbelief, unworthy of the name of Jews as the name of a people chosen by God. The Lord promises that by the power of their piety and the power of the example of their holy life, the Philadelphians will turn their hearts to themselves and to true faith in God. The mercy of God toward the Philadelphians will also be expressed in their deliverance from the trials which in the near future are to befall the whole universe and all who dwell in it. By deliverance, most likely, should be understood the lessening of calamities and deliverance from exclusive persecution. The Philadelphians are praised because they have kept the word of patience (of mine) of God, that is, the words of divine revelation calling all believers to patient expectation of his coming. For this the Lord promises to strengthen them during the coming calamities and to help them endure them without damage to their salvation. According to the testimony of history, this divine promise was fulfilled: the city of Philadelphia to this day continues to remain predominantly a Christian city.

Revelation 3:11. Behold, I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one will seize your crown. Revelation 3:12. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will go out no more; and I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. These predicted trials will come soon as a fearful visitation of the world by God, and therefore the Philadelphian Christians must be especially vigilant in preserving their moral virtues; otherwise the devil may deprive them of the promised reward (crown). Specifically, as a reward the Philadelphian is promised that he as a victor will be a pillar in the temple of God, that is, only the victor will receive the place appointed for him in the Kingdom of God (Matt 25:34), that only he will be as it were a necessary part of this temple. Then, it is said to the Philadelphian, your name will be written on you—the name of God, the name of his city, the name of the new Jerusalem; that is, then you will know how great your Lord God is and how merciful he is to you. This will be obvious also to others, as if it were written on your bright forehead.

Revelation 3:13. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3:14. And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation: The city of Laodicea, in Phrygia, was a rich city and was famous for the fertility of its soil and the fine wool of its sheep. But God’s wrath fell upon Laodicea, and it was completely destroyed by the Turks in 1009. Now from the ancient city only sad ruins remain. To this church, in whose members the Lord finds nothing worthy of praise and approval, he addresses the words: “Thus says the Amen.” The use of this epithet contains a threat or at least a warning that the Laodiceans should not be mistaken about the justice of what will be said further: all this is spoken by he who is the purest truth, unfailing faithfulness.

Revelation 3:15. I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot; oh, if only you were cold or hot! Revelation 3:16. But because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of My mouth. Revelation 3:17. For you say, “I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing”; yet you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. In addressing the Laodicean there is only rebuke and no praise. You are neither cold nor hot—thus begins the rebuke. The words “you are not cold” mean one who, while belonging to the community of Christians, is completely deprived of divine grace. The further words “you are not hot” show that this non-cold Christian is not a true Christian, that much is lacking in him to achieve Christian perfection. The lukewarm one is not a true Christian, neither a hardened pagan nor an overt sinner; he is indifferent to orthodox teaching and to wicked heresies. The lukewarm one is in a state of forgetfulness, self-deception, spiritual sleep, and therefore does not see or feel the danger of his position. In his self-deception and heedlessness the lukewarm one has gone so far as to assert that he is rich and lacks nothing. But he is rich only in the sense of this world; in reality he is wretched, pitiful, and naked. He absolutely has nothing good to cover his sinful soul before the eyes of God.

Revelation 3:18. I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, so that you may become rich, and white garments, so that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness not be revealed, and eye salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Revelation 3:19. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent. The Laodicean must buy from the Lord himself, acquire gold—that is, deserve from God his all-powerful grace and especially love, which is the first and most precious gift of the Holy Spirit. Through this divine grace in the sacrament of repentance is acquired the pure garment of justification; divine grace heals spiritual blindness, as an eye salve heals ordinary eye disease. Though God threatens the Laodicean Christians, he does not deprive them of hope. Those whom he loves he rebukes and disciplines; his love has never abandoned anyone, and for every one there is hope for improvement.

Revelation 3:20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. “Here I stand at the door and knock”—this is an expression of God’s true love for people. The Lord does not constrain human freedom; he gently calls to people either through his revealed word or through the inner movements of human conscience and human heart. Knocking, the Lord waits for the sinner himself to voluntarily and willingly open the door of his heart. The Lord comes now to the person for his blessedness until the end of life; and then the person himself will come to him for the supper of the Kingdom of Heaven after his death.

Revelation 3:21. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. By the throne of God is understood dwelling together with Christ in his Kingdom. The nature and greatness of the reward consists, obviously, in the promise of possible closeness to the Lord God as the source and giver of all good. Jesus Christ was granted by God the Father the most complete glorification of his flesh; so will the Christian also be glorified if he, through repentance and the cross, follows the author of the struggle, Jesus Christ. * * * Norov 141–160. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4, 13, 26 Norov 92–93; Christian Readings 1843, p. 483.