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Introduction to Chapter 3

This chapter contains three letters, or epistles, to the Pastors of three of the seven churches of Asia. These churches are Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

It is important to know that the seven churches could not be seven church ages. The reasoning for this is that this would place the Laodicean church as being the last church age in history, this seems to fit considering the wealth of many modern churches in America. Many base their belief of this because of the wealth and careless living of many churches in America, this would certainly apply to many in America. It would certainly seem logical to assume this if Americans were all the Christians in the whole world. But, the Church in Africa, Asia, China, Sudan, Indonesia, Mexico and many other nations is under severe persecution. The are poor, they are not complacent as the Church of Laodicea. It would be impossible to say that these seven churches represent seven church ages from this view. The other point would be to consider how long these ages would have to last since it has been an approximate two thousands years since this was written. The seven stars are symbols of seven pastors, simply because God holds them accountable for the state or condition of each church. Angels are not held accountable for the sins of men. Since each letter is given to the seven pastors who are responsible for allowing these conditions in their churches it leaves us with this question. Who were the seven Pastors over the past approx. two thousand years that is being held responsible for the condition of each one of these churches. It is simply impossible that we could be looking at church ages.

The seven churches could not be the whole Church through symbolism. Many believe because the number seven is one of God’s numbers being holy and meaning a totality, or all that this is the world wide church. Again this cannot mean all the churches of the world. The reason once again is that these letters are given to seven different Pastors. Question? Who could possibly be the Pastors that are over the seven churches of the world?

1: And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
This letter is to the church of Sardis and given to the Pastor, which is just and right, for he alone is held accountable for the condition of the congregation that God has placed in his hands. Though each and every one of us is held accountable for ourselves, Pastors are held accountable for the things that he allows or prohibits in the church.

This letter is from Jesus. In this letter he reminds us that it is he that has the Holy Spirit described here as the seven Spirits of God. By this, that he has the power to give the gift of the Holy Spirit to all that will receive him. Unless Christ sends him, he will not come to us. He reminds the Pastor by the seven stars that he belongs to him. In the previous church messages we saw the seven stars in the hand of Christ. He holds them in his hand the same as he does all believers in order to sustain them and keep them from falling. Here the reminder is that he has purchased the seven stars by his blood and now has ownership. We are not our own.

Now we see the omniscience of Christ as he reminds the church that he knows all things including their works. He knows that the Pastor and the church have a name that they live yet they are dead. It is trespasses and sins that brings death. Paul said to be carnally minded is death. So we see a church that is taken over by carnality and sin.

2: Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Be watchful, in the Gospel Jesus taught the church to watch and pray. Being watchful is simply paying attention to our course in life, making sure that what we do is the right things and that God would approve of them. Jesus goes on to say though you have fallen into carnality and your works are dead in it, remember the things that you have not lost and make them strong. Things such as faith toward God and works that are made perfect by love. For I have found your works have fallen short because they are not in me.

3: Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Jesus asks the Pastor and the church to remember how they had heard about Jesus and how they had received him. Was the Gospel preached to them, did they receive it by faith, then they should hold fast to their faith and repent. If you will not watch over the things that I have trusted you with such as my teachings and my words then I will come as thief when you are not expecting me to come.

This is not in reference to his Second Coming or advent this is the same type of spiritual visitation that would be followed by judgment that was found in Revelation 2:16. In that verse he was going to come and make war with those that held on to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. In this it is because they have become like the secular world in their works.

4: Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
Jesus does not forget those who are faithful to keep themselves in him. He will never forget the labor of love that those in the church remember to keep. They shall walk with me in white for they are worthy. This is to say that they are pure even as he is pure and are worthy to wear a spotless garment that is provided by his blood because they are trusting in him and are obedient to his desires.

5: He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
He that overcometh is he that is born again by the spirit and is kept by the power of God unto salvation. An overcomer is made an overcomer by his faith and obedience to God. He is overcoming the powers of darkness. The same is pure even as he is pure for his blood will prevail for them as well and they will wear a spotless garment as well. He then promises to not blot their name out of the book of life and that he will confess his name before his Father in heaven and before the angels.

God wants those who have overcome to have confidence in him and not to fear their names being removed. In this scripture we also see that an overcomer confesses Jesus before others and is not ashamed of him. Remember when he said that if we were not ashamed that he would confess us before the Father and the angels, but if we were ashamed of him that he would be ashamed of us.

Remember the overcomer who had overcome Satan in Revelation 12: 11: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

6: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Once again he is saying that he is without respect of person and what he has spoken to these churches he is speaking to all that we might know and understand more clearly the things that we ought to take an interest in. To have an ear is to have an interest in spiritual matters. If you have an interest then pay attention to the lessons learned from his messages to the seven churches of Asia.

7: And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
According to the Apostolical Constitutions, Demetrius was the Pastor or angel of this church. It is recorded that he was appointed by the Apostle John. The church of Philadelphia was from the city of Philadelphia the name of which means the city of brotherly love. This church will live up to this title and will be blessed of the Lord.

There were twelve men from this church that were martyred at the same time as Polycarp who was pastor of the church at Smyrna.

"These things saith he that is holy:" this not only describes the character of Jesus who was God, equal to God in holiness and purity the Holy one of Israel. There has never been a man born to woman who has equaled his holiness. All of us must be purified by Jesus, that is, through his blood in order to find life.

The verse goes on to say, "he that is true." Pilate once asked, "what is truth" and never knew the truth for certain, the truth stood right in front of him and he still couldn’t see it. Jesus was the truth and he told his disciples, "I am the way the truth and the life." Jesus is truth itself, he is the sum and substance of all truth and only truth can exist in him.

"He that hath the key of David;" this statement can be viewed in a number of lights seeing as Jesus was born of the house of David which was from the tribe of Judah. That Jesus is the coming King to sit on the throne of David and has all power and authority. Or another thought is that the new covenant promised to its benefactors "the sure mercies of David (Isaiah 55:3)." That Christ is assuring us that he is remembering is word concerning this.

But, what I believe this to mean is simply this. He said that he had the key of David, keys are used to lock or unlock doors. In the next verse we see that he has placed an open door before this church and has unlocked it with the key of David. This represents the power to open the eyes of the Jews who are living in the city of Philadelphia and communities around them. The open door to the Jews and that no man can shut it.

Jesus is able to open the door or shut it and no man can open it. He assures the Pastor of the church of Philadelphia that he has this power. He can bring forth or prevent from souls from being saved, it is all in his hands. Open doors to ministries or close doors to ministries, it is all in His power and authority to do so.

8: I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Since Jesus makes no complaints about the works of this church it is obvious that they are walking with in good works, faith, love, and endurance. Preaching and teaching the Gospel is their addiction.

This "open door" may be an unusual opportunity to preach the Gospel with large groups of people receiving the message and bringing about great success in soul winning for Jesus. So great a door that no one can shut it or stop it.

This is not meant that the church has little spiritual strength because it is seen by the commitment and zeal of this church that they have great strength to do the works that they have. This little strength is to have a little respect, or a voice, among the inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia.

They have kept his word, which means that they have kept the commandments and ordinances that Christ had given to them. They have given themselves to brotherly love, to ordinances such as baptism, the Lord’s Supper and anything else that they feel that they should do for Jesus.

Then Jesus said you have not denied my name. Which means that they have never been ashamed, or done things to bring reproach or to deny their faith in Christ no matter what the adversity may be.

9: Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Jesus when speaking to the leaders of Israel told them that their father was the Devil. In the city of Philadelphia was a synagogue and a number of devout Jews who attended it. The men who came to assemble in this synagogue were of their father the devil, and did his works, and will do them.

They say they are Jews but they are not Jews. They might be Jews in name and nation but they were only Jews outwardly, not inwardly or spiritually. They were wicked carnal mean under the influence of the Devil. They were men who only pretended to be religious and righteous worshippers of God. They saw Jesus as a threat to all that they believed and taught.

Jesus said, "behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet." This is not to mean that they would be forced to worship the Gentile church in Philadelphia, but that they would find Christ as their savior, that Jesus would open their blinded eyes and that they would worship Jesus at the feet of these people in this church. Which means that these converted Jews would come to church in a very contrite and lowly manner to profess the error of their past and to profess their faith in Christ. They will then join the church and partake in all the ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as true believers in him.

Then he said, "and to know that I have loved thee."
Now these born again Jews realize that Jesus loves this church, and the members of it, not only loves them but the Jews as well and sent the Gospel to them so that they too would be ordained unto eternal life. This he would do by giving them a name and place in the Father’s house better than that of sons and daughters.

10: Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
There was a temptation coming upon the known world at that time that would test the hearts of the churches. Whether it was preserved from persecution is questionable because the Romans executed 12 men from this church along with Polycarp during the persecution of the churches in Asia. I believe that the temptation was a temptation to wickedness and evil that was filling and corrupting the churches and nations at that time. Temptation, such as Tares among the wheat who would corrupt and infiltrate God’s house to bring confusion and discord.

11: Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
In this verse Jesus says "behold , I come quickly." This could be be speaking of his return which would be true in God’s time of quickness or it could mean that he was coming quickly in the spirit to bring about and complete his promise of total victory to this faithful church.

Hold fast to what you have that no man take thy crown. The Spiritual walk that this church is taking with Jesus is what they are to hold on to. And by doing so no one can take their crown. What they have is the reason for the crown, if they lose what they have they will lose their crown as well. What is their crown? A crown of life, glory and righteousness which is given to her by the Lord.

12: Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
To him that overcometh Jesus said that he would make a pillar in the temple of my God. Here Christ is calling the Father God. But, he said that he would make the over-comer a pillar in the temple. This is to say in the body of Christ. He that is faithful in little God will make him ruler over much. Jesus is speaking of making these people like pillars in the church. The temple was supported by pillars. This is a promise from Christ that if they remain faithful that these people would become like pillars to support the church. As pillars they would be there to lift up the weak and to strengthen the hearts of the weary. That they would remain upright like a pillar in heart and would be strong. That they, like pillars would become steady, firm and constant in Christ. Then they would remain in the church forever this is a promise of perseverance, that is also promised to all who are truly born again by the Spirit of God.

He then says that he will write the name of his Father, the new city which is New Jerusalem and the new name that Jesus will have when he returns. It may be King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, what ever it is it will be wonderful.

13: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Once again he is saying that he is without respect of person and what he has spoken to these churches he is speaking to all that we might know and understand more clearly the things that we ought to take an interest in. To have an ear is to have an interest in spiritual matters. If you have an interest then pay attention to the lessons learned from his messages to the seven churches of Asia.

14: And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
The next angel or pastor to get a letter from John was Pastor of the Laodicean church. This church was located in the city of Laodicea and is the last church of the seven churches of Asia.

These things saith the Amen, by calling himself "the Amen" Jesus was saying that he is the end of the statement and that what he says is true. He called himself the faithful and true witness.

The reason he could say that he was the faithful and true witness was because he had come forth from the Father out of Heaven to reveal the Father and his will to all of mankind. He came in the flesh, God revealed in him, He was God manifested in the flesh. No man could testify of the things that he was able to tell, simply because they were men and didn’t know the things that Jesus did.

Jesus could say that he was the beginning to the creation of God. Not because he was created, or was the first created, but because he created all things for the Father. He was not an angel nor was he created. Jesus was born of God and was his only begotten son. Therefore he was the beginning of all things created and the end of all things created, simply because nothing can be created without him. This is not to speak of things made by man but things that were by God in his plan for creation.

All of these things spoken to describe the speaker were to identify Jesus as being the speaker.

15: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
"I know thy works" Is a reminder that Christ knows all and nothing escapes his eyes. Because of their works which are far from being perfect it is easy to see that they are not neither cold or hot. Jesus says that it is his will that they would be one or the other, but not both.

16: So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
A lukewarm profession is one that serves both God and mammon. It tries to live between two opinions and is not committed completely to Christ. Much the same as an Agnostic who doesn’t commit to believing in God because he cannot prove that there is one, but afraid to say that there isn’t a God for fear that he does exist. So being caught between two opinions one to serve God the other to serve materialism and worldly gain, they are paralyzed in a spiritual sense. Because they profess him he calls them the church, but in works they deny him and the probability that any of them had ever been born again by the Spirit. The reasoning behind this thought is that there cannot be a rebirth with having made a decision to a total surrender to God.

This is why he says that he will spew them out of his mouth. They are not yet in Christ, had they been he would have swallowed and they would have entered into him. He will spew them out of his mouth as a person who takes a drink of something that taste bad. Without swallowing they spew it out of their mouth to keep from swallowing it, this is what is meant by this scripture. Some teach that he vomits them but this is not the case.

17: Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
They were rich in worldly goods and because of this they believed that God’s blessing was on them. But riches bring vanity and pride and have a tendency to cause men to forget God. They not only knew that they were rich but they had become like a center of society for the region. Great men of the earth visited this city at that time because of its attraction to wealth and success. The so-called church of that city were vain enough to boast of their wealth and to say that they didn’t have need for anything else, they had it all.

But Jesus saw them for what they really were. They were wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked, because they did not have Jesus. If they were to totally commit to Jesus and be willing to separate themselves from the material things if need be. Then Christ could come into their hearts to save them. They were poor because they did not have Jesus who is the greatest treasure given to man from our heavenly Father. They were blind because they could not see the need for Jesus, and were naked because they were not clothed with his righteousness that is a gift from God at the rebirth of the spirit.

18: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Jesus is counselor and his advise to these people who are standing between two opinions is to come to him to buy gold that has been tried in the fire. This has the same meaning as the scripture in Isaiah.

Isa:55:1: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

The wine and the milk that they are asked to buy are the same as the gold that is tried in the fire. It is speaking of Christ who is our gold and he has been tried in the fire and has and will always stand. If we have him our soul is rich, we receive a garment of righteousness because of his imputed righteousness and he washes us with his blood so that we are clean. He is our covering and our life is hid in Christ so that the nakedness of our souls is not seen. The Gospel and the anointing of the Holy Spirit are the eye salve that will open the eyes of the blind that they may see. No man can receive anything except it be revealed to him by the Father. Christ is telling them that they need to go ahead and make a full, wholehearted decision to surrender to him so that they can be born again by the Spirit of God.

19: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
The assumption to believe that Christ only loves the church would be a tragic mistake seeing as God so loved that world that he gave his only begotten son. He loves everyone but he chastens the church. This is the reason that he chastens them with his words is because they claim or profess to be his. This gives him legal right to chastise them as his own.

He tells them to become zealous and repent. True repentance, not only from dead works but to turn from their indecision and serve him completely with their whole heart.

20: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
For Christ to be standing at the door rather than being inside of the heart is very revealing and is a confirmation that these people of Laodicea were not born again nor had been. If they would allow Jesus to come in then he would be able to have communion with them and them with him.

21: To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
All of the promises to the over-comer in these seven churches are common promises to those that are born again and are trusting in Jesus for righteousness and to work in them. To sit with Jesus is not a promise with respect to person but is to all of his believers who have truly surrendered their lives to him. He has promised in the four Gospels that we would reign and rule with him.

22: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Once again he is saying that he is without respect of person and what he has spoken to these churches he is speaking to all that we might know and understand more clearly the things that we ought to take an interest in. To have an ear is to have an interest in spiritual matters. If you have an interest then pay attention to the lessons learned from his messages to the seven churches of Asia.

God Bless You
Tommie Spurgeon

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