The Apocalypse

The Visions of John in Patmos:

By Edward Dennett

Chapter 3

REVELATION 3.

(5) SARDIS.¹ (vv. 1-6.)

THE peculiarity of the last four assemblies is, it will be remembered, that while they follow one another, as to their development, they all continue until the coming of the Lord. They do not displace one another (we speak of their prophetic aspects) as Smyrna displaces Ephesus, and Pergamos Smyrna; but, though coming successively on the scene, they will all abide to the close of the dispensation. Sardis thus came into existence after Thyatira, and this gives at once the clue to its identification. If the state in Thyatira produced by Jezebel represents the Popery of the Middle Ages, Sardis, in the state of its angel, sets forth Protestantism. But we must still enquire, Of what period?

The mighty movement called into being by the Holy Spirit through Luther and his co-workers, whether in their own or other lands, was the origin of Protestantism. In his days the teaching of Jezebel had full play, and, with the exception of those who sighed and mourned in secret over the corruptions everywhere prevalent, was generally accepted. The children of God were in full association with the world, and would have thought it a strange thing to refrain from "eating things offered to idols." Separation from evil, save on the part of the persecuted remnant, was wholly unknown.

It was in the midst of this state of things that Luther, a vessel chosen and prepared of God for His service, appeared; and he had the privilege of recalling the people of God to the all-sufficiency of the Scriptures, and to the fundamental truth of justification by faith. It seemed, at the outset, the dawn of a new day, and souls on every hand drank in the blessed truths, which he and his coadjutors proclaimed, as the weary earth drinks in the fertilizing showers of heaven. Having their soul-thirst thus satisfied, they were strengthened to break off from their necks the yoke of Rome. Thousands joined in the movement — some, alas! from political motives — and Protestantism became a power in the world.

But the energy of the Spirit of God as thus displayed (for that it was His work few can doubt) soon ceased, was speedily lost amid the worldly and human activities that sought to avail themselves of His blessed work for their own selfish ends; and then the Reformation sank down into the expression of antagonism to Rome, using its new light and truth as the battle-axe of its conflicts. This was Sardis. Not the Reformation in its pristine energy, but the Reformation as it became after its life and power had evaporated.* And this is Sardis, developing ever sadder and more corrupt elements until the end.

*The proof of this is seen in verses 2 and 3, where the angel is exhorted to strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die, etc.

In view of this explanation the character of the Lord's presentation to the angel is very significant: "These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars." (v. 1.) The church on earth is the habitation of God through the Spirit, and is the sphere, therefore, of His operations and power. But, as we have seen, Sardis² presents no sign of His activity; and it is just because of this that the Lord presents Himself as possessing the plenary power (seven is the perfect number) of the Holy Ghost in His ministrations. The church may thus fail; but Christ (and this is for the comfort of His people amid decay, corruption, and death) never fails; and hence, whatever the state of the church, He still has at His disposal all the Spirit's power. This is an immense principle for the sustainment of the saints, constituting indeed their resource in all times. At Pentecost, for example, the Spirit wrought without let or hindrance, and the consequence was power in testimony, the energy of the "first love," and the perfect fellowship of the saints. Contemplating all this, and contrasting it with what is now seen, we might become utterly despondent unless we were reminded, as here, that there is as much power available today for faith as then — that Christ still has the "seven Spirits of God" at His sovereign disposal. Blessed consolation!

He has also the "seven stars." It is not now said, as to Ephesus, that He holds them in His right hand; that is, that He upholds them by power; but they still belong to Him, and He would have them both owning His authority and also counting upon Him for the supply of their need in His service. The more broken the state of things the more He would have those who might take the place of leaders amongst the saints connect every thing with, as well as derive every thing from, Himself. When there are no visible sustainments for those in responsibility it is the more important (though this be ever so) to lean wholly on Christ.

The condition of the angel of the assembly is described in one short, sad, and pregnant sentence: "I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." (v. 1.) The works are general; and "knowing" these is merely the statement that nothing escapes the Lord's notice, that He is cognisant of all the condition of His people; and then, as the result of His investigation (for He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks), He gives His verdict — His infallible verdict. And what is it? A name to live, but a name that belies its actual condition; for He says, "Thou art dead." Such was the state of the angel of Sardis — the actual, existent Sardis — as it presented itself to the eyes (and His eyes are as a flame of fire) of Christ. And this state of things represents also Protestantism as it was after the days of Luther; and, be it remembered, as it will be found until the coming of the Lord.

What then are the present applications of these solemn words? Three at least may be noted, and to these special attention is invited. First, then, there is the obvious one to the Protestantism of this and other lands. And when we speak of Protestantism, we do not speak, let it be noted, of individual congregations, but of Protestantism as a whole, as it presents itself in the world. Is its condition otherwise than here given? Even the most superficial observer must admit its truth, and even that it is now worse than here stated. All the evangelistic movements of the day, all the meetings and conferences for the promotion of the spiritual life, are outside of the recognized organisations of Protestantism, and cannot therefore be pleaded in mitigation of this verdict. In Protestantism itself rationalism, political zeal and activity, worldlinesss in its manifold forms, are its vital forces; but where is there the sign of the activity of the Holy Spirit? No; spiritual stagnation — yea, death — everywhere characterizes it, even while boasting of its glorious traditions and of having a name to live. That there are here and there congregations of another order, ministered to by devoted men, we gladly admit; but this fact in no wise alters the general condition of Protestantism.³ A second application, as in the case of Ephesus (and Sardis was a single assembly in John's day), may be made to individual churches or gatherings; that is, if there is an assembly anywhere corresponding in its spiritual condition with the description here given, then this letter, with its searching statements and warnings, should be seriously weighed in the presence of God. Lastly, if there is an individual — a professor — who has a name to live amongst Christians, and who yet is spiritually dead, he also would do well to ponder this divine communication.

We come now to exhortations and warnings: "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 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." (vv. 2, 3.) The words "be watchful" really mean become so, showing that at this time they were not watchful; for, as has been seen, it was a time of spiritual death. And the consequence of not having been watchful was that the things which remained were drooping and ready to die. These had formerly been channels of energy, instinct with life, but now were languishing from lack of spiritual energy; forms of life still remaining, but only forms, now that the life which had called them into existence had waned if not departed. The ground of this exhortation is found in the succeeding clause, "I have not found thy works perfect before God."⁴ There were, therefore, activities still sustained in Sardis; and it is often the case that activities, which have been really called forth by a genuine work of the Holy Spirit, will be carried on, and sometimes with increased zeal, long after the power that evoked them has ceased. It was and is so in Sardis, as may be seen in its various societies, with their multiform organizations, for the accomplishment of religious and philanthropic ends. But the Lord had examined the nature of these "works," and His sentence is that they are not "complete before my God." Before man they might appear as worthy of all commendation; before God they were deficient, lacking in the essential element of good works; for, inasmuch as they were not produced by the energy of the Spirit, they were not Christian, but indeed dead works. It is the motive that determines the character of all our activities, and the motive is never Christ unless the Holy Ghost is their power.

Having exposed the real condition of Sardis, the method of restoration is next indicated. They were, in the first place, to remember how they had received and heard; that is, they were to call to mind the source of all the blessings they had "received," that it was nothing but grace which had bestowed upon them such unspeakable privileges (compare 1 Cor. 4:7); and they were to measure themselves by the standard of the truth they had "heard" at the outset. This exhortation contains a most interesting principle. The responsibility of this assembly is seen to be according to the light it had actually received. (Compare Matthew 11:21-24.) Sardis therefore, and consequently the Sardis of today, is judged by the light it received at the Reformation; viz., by the truth of the all-sufficiency of the Scriptures, and by the doctrine of justification by faith. Could it, can it, stand the test? Why, it is in the heart of Protestantism that the full inspiration of the Scriptures is being everywhere denied, and that the dogma of justification by faith is treated as a relic of an ignorant age. Sardis would indeed do well to ponder upon these words of the Lord which point out the measure of her responsibility.⁵ The Lord thus calls upon her to hold fast, not to let slip, and to repent, to humble herself before God, as she contrasts her present with her former condition, that there, in the true spirit of self-judgment, and owning her sad declension and fall, she might seek grace for revival and recovery.⁶

Space is thus given for repentance. Should she, however, not avail herself of it, then the Lord would in His wisdom deal with her according to her deserts. The reader will remember once again that it is not Christians the Lord will judge in this way, but the church as His vessel of testimony, as His responsible light-bearer amid the darkness of this world. And what is the judgment denounced? It is that the Lord will treat the church — Sardis — even as the world, if she does not repent. This will be understood if we turn for a moment to 1 Thess. 5. Writing to the saints, the apostle says, "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. … But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." (vv. 2, 4.) In the previous chapter he had explained to the saints that they would be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, before the day of the Lord, commencing with His appearing, would be introduced. It is on the world, therefore, that the day of the Lord will come as a thief; and now Sardis is warned that, unless she repents, the Lord will come upon her in like manner. She will thus be treated as the world. It is, indeed, on Christendom, whatever its ultimate form after the church is caught away, that the day of the Lord will burst with special judgments; and it will be too at the very moment when those within its sphere are beginning to say, Peace and safety; that sudden destruction will come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. — Such will be the doom of that which, having a name to live, was yet dead.

As in Thyatira so also here a remnant is distinguished. "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." (v. 4.) "Names" in this place. is used for persons, but as showing the Lord's intimate knowledge of them, and perhaps, at the same time, betokening the smallness of their number. The word "even" should be omitted, for the surprise is rather that there were not more separate ones in the midst of that which had rebelled against the corruptions of Thyatira. Not defiling their garments will mean that they had been kept untainted by the evils around. James thus speaks of keeping oneself unspotted from the world (James 1:27); here it would not only be from the world, but also from the contaminations within the sphere of God's professing people. How precious this faithful remnant were to the heart of the Lord is seen from His promise concerning them: "They shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." Maintaining holiness of walk and conduct while in the sphere of responsibility,. their distinguishing recompense should have a conspicuous relationship to the moral separation then maintained. The practical holiness of their walk here should have its fruition in walking with Christ in white — the expressed reward for their fidelity. And He is pleased to add, "for they are worthy" — made worthy indeed by His own preserving power, but having this worthiness imputed to them by His own grace and love. (Compare Luke 21:36.)

Three distinct promises are made to the overcomer. To overcome in Sardis would be to remember how they had received and heard, and to hold fast and repent, and to acquire the condition of those who had not defiled their garments. This is seen from the character of the promises. First, he should "be clothed in white raiment." The correspondence between this promise and that to the faithful remnant unmistakably shows that the overcomer would be brought into that class. On four different occasions white robes or raiment are mentioned in this book. The multitude, that no man can number, who have come out of the great tribulation, are said to have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This is what may be termed judicial cleansing.⁷ (Rev. 7) To the martyrs that were seen under the altar white robes are given (Rev. 6:9-11), and here perhaps as a token of the Lord's approbation. In Revelation 4 and Revelation 19 the elders and the Lamb's wife are seen clothed in white raiment; and in the latter case we have the Holy Spirit's own interpretation in the words, "The fine linen [clean and white] is the righteousness of saints," or the righteousnesses of saints. This gives the clue to the white raiment of our passage. inasmuch as the promise refers to a future heavenly condition. The Lord thus promises that the fruit of overcoming should be manifested and enjoyed in heaven; that every act of faithfulness to Him which led to separation from unholiness here, should have its future appropriate recompense in an eternal display in His own presence.

The second promise, "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life," bears also a very marked relation to the condition of things in which the overcomer had been found. That which had characterized Sardis was having a name to live while it was dead. How many dead names, names of dead professors, therefore must have been on its registers; and every one of these would finally be erased. In God's book of life (see Phil. 4:3; Rev. 13:8; Rev. 17:8; Rev. 20:15) there will be no erasures; but when profession is included, enrolled, it is otherwise, and it is this which the Lord signifies by this promise. There may be another meaning. When godly believers, in their desire to be found in obedience to their Lord, are compelled to stand apart from the prevailing religious corruptions, they incur the hostility of that which claims to be the church, and their names are taken off from human registers. But the Lord would sustain the hearts of His faithful ones in their trials by the assurance that their names should not be blotted out of the book of life.

There is yet more; for He adds, "I will confess his name before my Father, and before His angels." What an honour! but one, too, publicly conferred upon the overcomer. There is nothing a soldier more ardently covets than to have his name mentioned by his commander in the despatches which announce a victory to the Queen and her government. But what is such a mark of distinction compared with this bestowed by the Lord upon those who have fought the good fight, finished their course, and kept the faith! He confesses the names of all such in the audience of His Father and of His angels. This, if an unspeakable honour, is none the less overwhelming grace. It may seem now a small and even a despicable thing for a saint to maintain the place of separation from evil, and to successfully resist all the seductions with which he is plied to fall in with the habits and practices around in the sphere of profession; but when the name of such an one is uttered by the Lord before the Father, and before all the heavenly host, there is not one in all that countless throng that will not esteem this token of approbation as the highest honour that could be possessed. May every believer who reads these words be stirred up to seek grace to be accounted an overcomer.

The epistle closes, as in Thyatira, with the proclamation to him that hath an ear-proof of the intense yearning of the Lord over His people, and of His ardent desire that His words may find entrance into, and beget a full response from, their hearts.

(6) PHILADELPHIA. (vv. 7-13.)

After Sardis comes Philadelphia; but it must be again borne in mind that, if the last four assemblies successively appear, they yet all go on concurrently to the close; that, unlike the second, third, and fourth, which displace their predecessors, these four continue, after they have come upon the scene, until the coming of the Lord. There is, moreover, a great contrast to be noted between Sardis and Philadelphia. If Sardis is Protestantism, of which there can be little doubt, it is not Protestantism, as has been previously pointed out, in its pristine energy, when the Spirit of God wrought mightily through chosen vessels, and produced what has been called the Reformation; but it is rather what Protestantism became, sunk into, after the energy of the Holy Ghost had ceased, when its life and power had crystallized into rites, forms, and organizations. Philadelphia, on the other hand, is presented to us in all its freshness and beauty, and hence elicits from the Lord nothing but commendation and promised blessing. The Lord's eye and heart are both refreshed and gratified by this assembly.⁸ Another thing should be observed. Both Thyatira and Sardis are intensely ecclesiastical, present themselves in the world as public church organisations; whereas Philadelphia and, in a measure, Laodicea, are more moral states and conditions. This will be seen more fully afterwards; only it will help to the interpretation if this is remembered.

Coming to the letter to the angel of this assembly, we have, first of all, after the address, as in the others, the characters in which the Lord is presented: "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." (v. 7.) The difference in this presentation from those already considered is at once perceived. Here it is what He is in Himself, moral character, as might be said, exhibiting, it is true, what the Lord is, but indicating also what this exhibition should produce in His people, if rather we may not say His requirements from those who would, in an evil day, meet His mind and receive His approbation. As another has written, "It is His personal character, what He is intrinsically, holy and true, what the Word displays and requires, and what the Word of God is in itself — moral character and faithfulness. Indeed, this last word includes all-faithfulness to God within and without, according to what is revealed, and faithful to make good all He has declared." And it should not be forgotten that this presentation of Himself is abiding, and, as such; declaring to the saints of today that nothing which does not answer to Him as the holy and the true can command His approval. "There must be what suits His nature, and faithful consistency with that Word which He will certainly make good."

Together with this He possesses "the key of David"; that is, as is plain from the scripture whence this figure is taken (Isaiah 22:22), the power of administration. Outwardly He does not interfere, and to unbelief He might appear as utterly unconcerned as to the confusion and tumult around, as He did to His disciples, when sleeping in the boat while the storm was raging. But He never surrenders His prerogative; He possesses the key of government, and it is He, therefore, and He alone, "that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." What a consolation! It might seem to be human instrumentalities alone that often close the door; if so to sight, they are but carrying out His will, though they themselves may be acting in the flesh. The servant should not, therefore, attempt to open a closed door; while, on the other hand, if the Lord has opened it, he may peacefully rest in the assurance that none can shut it.

Having called attention to Himself and to His administrative power, the Lord then addresses the angel of the assembly: "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." (v. 8.) Inverting the order, we may, first, dwell on the characteristics of this assembly, as they form, in fact, the ground of the announced open door.

The Lord's interest in the state of His people is again declared by the word, often considered in the previous pages, "I know thy works." Nothing escapes His eye; and here indeed, as in the Canticles, He has come into His garden to eat His pleasant fruits. The features mentioned may not seem, at first sight, so greatly attractive; and yet it is these feeble expressions of the power of the Spirit that delight the heart of Christ.

(1) "Thou hast a little strength." Notwithstanding that the Lord has only commendation to give to the angel of Philadelphia, there is no display of power and energy, as in Pentecostal days. The time for this, indeed, had long since passed, and now feebleness, or little power, marked the condition of Philadelphian saints. It was of necessity so (we speak of Philadelphia prophetic rather than the historical assembly), for while it is complete and corporate, it yet, considering its co-existence with Thyatira and Sardis, must have a remnant character. The natural mind, and even godly souls, when uninstructed in the Word, long for the exhibition of power as in days of old; but let all such learn, from this divine communication, that, within the circle of that condition that meets the Lord's mind, there never can be anything else than "a little strength."

(2) "Thou hast kept my word." This is the feature that ever delights the heart of our blessed Lord — and a feature, above all others, that distinguishes moral state. This may be seen from another scripture: "If a man love me, he will keep my word⁹," etc. (John 14:23.) Keeping His word means treasuring it up in the heart so that it moulds, governs, and produces obedience. The term "word," moreover, is very comprehensive: it includes the sum and substance of all the Lord's communications to His people. When therefore He says to the angel of Philadelphia, "Thou hast kept my word," He signifies that His people prized it as their greatest treasure, and that they were individually governed by, and in subjection to it; and that consequently He had His rightful place of supremacy in their hearts and in their service. Would that there were more collective purpose of heart to win the same blessing and the same approval!

(3) "And hast not denied my name." "Name," as is usual in Scripture, is the expression of what Christ is, as revealed to His people, and will include, therefore the truth of His person and work, as well as His authority, as set forth by His full title, "Lord Jesus Christ." It is somewhat remarkable that it should be put in a negative form; but it was, and is, no small thing to find, in the midst of declension, and even surrender of the truths of redemption, if not apostasy, those who were collectively keeping the Lord's word and not denying His name. The remnant in the midst of apostate Israel in the days of Ahab are described in a similar manner, as those who had not bowed the knee to Baal. To borrow another's language: "It seems little; but in universal decline, much pretension and ecclesiastical claim, and many falling away to man's reasonings, keeping the word of Him that is holy and true, and not denying His name is everything."

It is to the angel of this assembly in this condition that the Lord says, "I have set before thee an opened¹⁰ door, and no man can shut it." This implies, as we gather, that wherever the condition here indicated is found, the Lord opens for His servants a door — a door for His testimony and service, and a door which He will keep open, whatever the hostile efforts to close it. It was so in the Lord's own service in the midst of Israel. To the outward eye, He had but little strength; He was crucified in (ek)weakness, He lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. He truly did not deny His Father's name, and there was ever before Him, spite of the craft, malice, and enmity of man, an opened door. To Him the porter opened; and so now to all who, in any measure, possess the moral characteristics here given. We never therefore need to be anxious about open doors for service; our only concern should be to be in the state to be used, and then a door will always be opened, even though there be many adversaries.

Promises follow. The first concerns their ecclesiastical surroundings: "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." (v. 9. Compare Isaiah 60:14.) Who, then, are these claiming to be Jews? There can be little doubt that they are "those who found religion on ordinances and not on Christ," those who are governed by traditions and ecclesiastical usages, and not by the word of God, those who make an "ecclesiastical pretension to a successional God-established religion." Not that these say, in so many words, that they are Jews, but they do in effect, for they distinctly take Jewish ground in their sacerdotal orders, robes, rites, ceremonies, and temples, or "sacred" buildings. And these have always been, when the law permitted, the active persecutors of those who, refusing the old traditions and usages, have sought to be guided alone by the word of God; and, when restrained, they have treated them with contumely and scorn. They claim, through apostolic succession from Peter, who was the Jewish apostle, the apostle of the circumcision, to be the divinely established church; but it is of these the Lord says, they are "of the synagogue of Satan," not exactly are it, but of it; they belong to the synagogue which is morally under Satan's power.

In this day all such as are prominently before the world occupy in the world's eye the place of the church, while those who with a little strength seek to keep the word of Christ, and not deny His name, are, if noticed, despised; but the time is coming when these relative positions will be reversed, and when those who are now exalted by their pretensions shall come and "worship" before the feet of Philadelphia, and know that she has been the object of the Lord's love.

Such comfort does the Lord administer to His true-hearted and afflicted people! It was His own path, contemned by the religious leaders of His people, yea, rejected and crucified. Now He is the exalted One, and they will one day have to bow the knee at the name of Jesus, and with their tongues confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

We have, in the next place, a promise of another sort: "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." (v. 10.) The meaning of "the word of my patience" may be gathered from Rev. 1:9. John describes himself as "your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." The whole of the present interval is the time of Christ's patience, for He waits at the right hand of God until His enemies shall be made His footstool; and He has taught His people this, "and given the word that in teaching directs the path and spirit and conduct of him that waits. They wait with Christ according to the word of His patience." This is a most blessed state of soul, for, unless we remember the character of the present moment, we are tempted to be impatient in the presence of the activities and power of evil; but once call in the thought of Christ quietly waiting, and the fact that the longer He waits the more extended will be the day of grace, our souls being encouraged will find rest in communion with Him. For this reason it was that Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that the Lord would direct their "hearts into the love of God, and into the patience¹¹ of Christ." (2 Thess. 3:5.)

Philadelphia had enjoyed communion with the Lord in keeping the word of His patience; and, as an incentive to perseverance in this path, He ministers the suited promise that He would keep her "from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." This "hour of trial," of which the Lord speaks, is not the unparalleled sorrows of which we read in Matt. 24, concerning which He says, "Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (v. 22.) This is the Jewish tribulation, connected with Antichrist, and confined to Jerusalem and Judea; but the hour of temptation of our scripture (coincident as to time possibly, and even springing from similar causes, inasmuch as the head of the Western Empire and Antichrist will be associated) is to come "upon the whole habitable world." The object of this permitted trial is "to try them that dwell upon the earth." This does not mean the inhabitants of the earth: it is a moral expression to denote those who, as in Philippians 3, mind earthly things, those, in fact, who, having refused God's testimony, have their thoughts, affections, and desires confined to, and bounded by, this present world.

But it is asked, Will not all God's people, the whole church rather, be kept from this hour of trial? Undoubtedly so, for indeed it will not arrive until after the church is caught away to be for ever with the Lord. But the point is, as also in some respects in all the promises to the overcomers, that the needed encouragement for the saints in their special circumstances is thus ministered. The Lord had spoken of the word of His patience which the angel of Philadelphia had kept; and from this we gather, that this assembly existed, or, if we speak of prophetic Philadelphia, does exist, in the presence of a large display of the power of evil; and this called for, and through grace they had exhibited, much patience in intelligent fellowship with their Lord. It was to the saints in these circumstances the Lord gave this promise, wherein He reminded them that the time was coming when there would be an universal and almost unhindered display of evil; but they should be kept out of it, because they were keeping the word of His patience. Thereby He ministered present sustainment and consolation to their hearts, in reminding them that in this future season of fiery trial they would have found their eternal joy in His own presence.

Still further encouragement follows - "Behold,¹² I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." (v. 11) This assembly is surrounded with evil of every kind. Jezebel holds undisputed sway in Thyatira, Sardis has a name to live and is dead, is corporately characterized by lifeless profession; and hence it needs no small fidelity and energy to cleave to the Lord and His truth in such circumstances. There are many seasons, in such a time as the present, when the subtle temptation presents itself, Is it any longer possible to maintain the honour of the Lord and His truth? With all that calls itself Christian in opposition, might it not be better to pursue an individual path? It is to meet this wile of the enemy that the Lord utters these words. He knows and sees the stress of the conflict; and, as beholding it, He would cheer His faithful ones in the prospect of His coming to maintain the struggle, even until their hands, like the hand of Eleazar the son of Dodo, are weary, and cleave to their swords. The force of the words is, "I am coming quickly; hold fast what thou hast until I come, that no man take thy crown," the crown of My approbation and smile. It is as if one saw a shipwrecked sailor clinging to a spar, and cried, "Hold on, I am coming!" Blessed Lord, Thou seest the difficulties of Thine own in keeping Thy word, and not denying Thy name! Thou knowest all their feebleness, and how they are nearly overwhelmed by the rising waters around. Keep them therefore ever in recollection of this word, that Thou art coming quickly, and thus strengthen their faith, and encourage their hearts. Only thus will they be kept from losing their crown.

We have next the promise to the overcomer: "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." (v. 12.) The character of the overcoming in this assembly is specially to be observed. There is no evil indicated to be withstood and overcome; it is not even perseverance in fidelity that is urged upon the saints, even at the cost of a martyr's death, as in Smyrna; but overcoming here is simply maintaining. "Hold that fast which thou hast;" "him that overcometh," that is, in holding fast, "will I make a pillar," etc.

It will also be noticed that the promise to the overcomer has reference to Philadelphia's present condition. Here, it has little strength; the Lord would make the overcomer "a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out" — stability and permanence marking his condition in contrast with feebleness here, and transitoriness. Here, keeping the word of Christ constituted the overcomer's crown, above with Christ, he should have written upon him "the name of my God," the expression of all that God is as revealed in Christ, and unfolded in His word; "and the name of the city of my God, new Jerusalem," the display of God's glory in the church in her glorified condition (see Rev. 21:10); "and my new name," for here the overcomer had not denied the name of Christ. My new name, "the name not known to prophets and Jews, according to the flesh, but which He has taken as dead to this world (where the false assembly settles down), and risen into heavenly glory." It is intimate association with Christ, as shown from the repetition of the word "My," in every variety of His heavenly glory — in His own relationship to God, to the church in her public display in glory as the dwelling-place of God, and in His own personal glorified condition as Man at the right hand of God.

The proclamation, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (v. 13), closes the epistle; and well might we, in the presence of this gracious communication, unite in fervent supplication, both for the hearing ear, and the understanding heart.

(7) LAODICEA. (vv. 14-22.)

Everything which God has entrusted to man in responsibility has utterly failed. Adam in paradise, Noah in the new earth, Israel under law, the priesthood, prophets, and kings — all alike failed in their several positions. The church, alas! is no exception to the general rule; for in Laodicea we behold its final condition as estimated by Him whose eyes, as He walked in the midst of the seven candlesticks, were as a flame of fire. And, again, it should be remembered that the root of the state of this assembly is found in Ephesus — in the loss of her "first love." It was there the decline commenced, and, whatever the gracious interventions of God to recover His people, this decline continued, expressing itself, as we have seen, in various and widely different forms, until at length the limits of divine forbearance are reached, and the Lord declares His unalterable purpose of "spueing" the church, as the vessel of testimony, out of His mouth. He finally rejects, as His witness, that which bears His name on the earth.

It is this hopeless, and now irremediable, condition of Laodicea which accounts for the special characters the Lord assumes in His presentation: And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans¹³ write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." (Rev. 3:14.) All these characters express what the church should have been for God in the world; but, having falsified every one of them, and thus become a false witness, the Lord presents Himself as the One in whom they have all been verified and secured. God will have His glory maintained. He will permit His people to have the privilege of making it good; but on their failure, He will Himself vindicate His own name. (1) First, then, Christ is the "Amen." The key to the meaning of this word may be found in 2 Cor. 1, where we read, "For all the promises of God in Him" (the Son of God, Jesus Christ) "are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." (v. 20.) That is, in Him is the affirmation, and in Him is the confirmation, of the truth of all that God has spoken. So here the Lord, as the Amen, presents Himself as "the fulfilment and the verifier of all the promises of God." The church, we repeat, should have been this, but, having forgotten her heavenly calling, and the source of her power and blessing, she has found a home in a scene where the Lord Himself was rejected, and has, in this way, become the denial of, instead of being the Amen to, the promises of God. (2) Connected with being the Amen, Christ is also the faithful and true witness; and He was that both concerning God and man. Here it is probably in the former aspect He is seen, as God's faithful and true witness. This, as before noticed, is, from the very figure of the golden candlestick found in the first chapter, what the church was intended to be in this world. The apostle Paul therefore, writing to the Corinthian assembly, says, "Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ." (2 Cor. 3:3.) But how could an assembly that, in its own estimation, was rich, and increased with goods, and had need of nothing, be the faithful and true witness of Him who, when down here, had not where to lay His head? (3) He was, moreover, "the beginning of the creation of God." Adam, the responsible man, was the beginning of the first creation; but in the cross of Christ the first man came to his end before God, he was for ever judged and set aside, and has been once and for all superseded by the Second Man, the Lord from heaven. As soon as Christ came into the world He was the second Man; but He did not take the place until He was risen from the dead, the Head now of a new race, as well as the Head of His body the church. It is Christ, therefore, as risen and glorified, who is the beginning of the creation of God, and it is to Him in this condition that the church, the church which is His body, is united by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; and hence it is that the church "ought to have displayed the power of the new creation by the Holy Ghost; as if any man is in Christ it is a new creation, where all things are of God." Instead of that, as Laodicea testifies, she has become the expression of her own importance, covetousness, and earthly-mindedness. What an immense consolation then it is, in such a state of things, to look upward and to find that, while everything has slipped from our grasp, to our own shame and confusion of face, God finds the perfect answer to all His own thoughts of grace, and has secured all for His own beloved people, in Christ.

The condition and judgment of Laodicea are now given — "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. So then became thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." (vv. 15, 16.) Though bearing the name of Christ, and presenting itself in the world as the church, such was its moral condition, the principal feature of which was indifference, springing from the want of heart for Christ, and expressing itself in that spurious charity which regards all "religious" beliefs as alike good, provided there be sincerity. There is consequently lukewarmness, no zeal for Christ, and no hatred of sin; but a mild self-complacent toleration of all, and of all things; and connected therewith the substitution of humanity for Christ, and, as a consequence, philanthropy for religion. As has been written long ago, "It would not renounce Christ, would keep up profession, but would sacrifice nothing for Him, it would keep the church's place and credit, yea, claim it largely on many grounds as a body; but spiritual power, in individual association of heart with Christ or trouble for Him, was gone."

Such was the condition of Laodicea as discerned, and infallibly discerned, by Christ; and it was nauseous to Him; He abhorred it, and therefore declares irrevocably that He will spue it out of His mouth. He does not say when He will do so; but the decree has gone forth from His lips, and will never be recalled. Its meaning is, that He will totally, and for ever, reject the assembly as His public witness, His responsible light-bearer in the world. This is its primary application; but surely every individual believer may learn, both for instruction and warning, that nothing, no state or condition, is so displeasing to Christ as lukewarmness or indifference.

The Lord, in the next place, exposes the cause of the condition He condemns, and, though He has pronounced judgment, He indicates the remedy: "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: 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 eye-salve,¹⁴ that thou mayest see." (vv. 17, 18.) As may be gathered from Deut. 8, and other scriptures, the danger in the wilderness for God's people is that of murmuring and unbelief, the danger in the land, when surrounded with blessings, is that of self-sufficiency and self-exaltation. It is into this latter danger that Laodicea has fallen. Possessing all the light of the word of God and familiar with the spiritual blessings which are the church's acknowledged portion, she forgets the source of her wealth, and ascribes all to herself. It is she who is rich and increased with goods, and has need of nothing. In other words, she makes everything of man, and nothing of Christ — save to use His name for her own exaltation. "In Laodicea, all that they professed to have, all that man could estimate the value of, was false and human. I do not mean mere outward riches, but all that could give a larger pretension to wisdom and knowledge and learning, perhaps a pretended fuller view of Christianity itself."

And what, beloved reader, exists today as the counterpart of this description? Nay, what is it that will finally form Laodicea? It is, in one word, rationalism — that rationalism which is current under the name of Broad church theology, and which, daily on the increase, occupies a large place in the Anglican establishment, and has almost completely flooded whole fields of Dissent. For the teachers of this school bend all their efforts to eradicate the distinctive truths of Christianity; to rehabilitate the first man, notwithstanding he has for ever been judicially set aside in the cross of Christ; and they are never weary of proclaiming that the light of reason, of their own minds, is all-sufficient to guide them, both in deciding what is the word of God, and also in their journey through the mazes of this world. It is their perpetual boast that they are enriched with all the accumulated treasures of the science, philosophy, and civilization of the nineteenth century. Yea, truly, according to their own estimate, they have need of nothing!

But what is the estimate of Christ? He says, "Thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked;" and, more than this, He says that Laodicea does not know that she is in this miserable plight. What a difference between the thoughts of Christ and those of this assembly! She claims superior knowledge! He says she is utterly ignorant! She revels in her fancied wealth and possessions! He says that she does not possess one single thing. Which estimate then are we to accept? Remember, dear reader, in answering this question, that the Lord had surveyed this assembly with eyes that were as a flame of fire, testing and penetrating into the real character of everything that met His gaze. Remember, too, that it is He into whose hands all judgment has been committed. Can you doubt then which is the true verdict? When will souls learn that man as man is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked? And this assembly, by its vain self-sufficiency, her self-importance fed with pretended light from human sources, had got "off the ground of Christianity, and on to that of the world or natural man;" and hence her sad and lamentable condition.

Nothing could show out more fully the Lord's tender grace and long-suffering than the counsel He gives to Laodicea under these circumstances. She has turned wholly away from Christ, except in profession; and yet He would fain draw her attention to Himself as her only source of recovery. Let us then look at what He so graciously proffers. There are three things — "Gold tried in the fire'! — a well-known symbol of divine righteousness, which in Christ, as has been remarked by another, is never separated from life; "white raiment," which, as may be seen from Revelation 19, sets forth the righteousnesses of saints, the fruit of the power of the Spirit following upon the possession of, and upon the becoming, God's righteousness in Christ; and the "eye-salve," or unction of the Holy One (1 John 2:20), which is the only source of spiritual perception and intelligence. The exhortation "to buy" these things of Christ will be readily understood in the light of other scriptures. (See Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 25:9-10.) It is simply a figure of grace, buying without money and without price."

Concerning the significance of this counsel of the Lord, we transcribe the following words: "They are the divine gifts and power of Christianity in contrast with what man possesses as man, with that of which he can say, 'Gain to me' — man's conscious possession of that which gives importance and value to man in his own mind. … What was wholly wanting was what was divine and new in man. … They are specifically divine things connected with man's rejection and acceptance in Christ alone, to be had only in Christ and from Christ, and nowhere else; not an improvement of man, but what was divine, found in and obtained from Christ."¹⁵

Down to the end of verse 18, the Lord addresses the angel of Laodicea. In verse 19, in view of the possibility of individual believers being found in this corrupt assembly, He announces a general principle of His dealing with His people, and then, as standing outside, appeals for admittance to anyone who should hear His voice. The principle then is, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." (v. 19) That this principle is applicable to those in relationship with Christ (compare Job 5:17-18; Proverbs 3:11-12; Amos 3:2; Hebrews 12:5-8, etc.) will scarcely be questioned. It lies indeed at the foundation of God's governmental ways with His people in this world, and hence the exhortation, "Be zealous therefore, and repent." The Lord thus warns any of His people, as well as those who were only professors, that His rod was already lifted up, and that, unless there were repentance, He must let it fall for chastening and rebuke. Precisely the same thing is seen in the discipline He exercises at His table. "If," says the apostle, "we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged;" and again, "When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." (1 Cor. 11:31-32.) It is therefore out of the tenderness, out of the love of His own heart, that this warning proceeds. He never afflicts willingly; but if His people continued deaf to His entreaties and appeals, He loves them too well to allow them to pass on unrebuked and without chastening.

In the next verse we have, first, the position which the state of Laodicea has compelled Him to assume: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." The church on earth is God's habitation through the Spirit, and yet we find in this scripture that Christ is constrained by the condition into which it has fallen to be outside.¹⁶ Judgment is not yet executed; He has not yet spued it out of His mouth; but He has taken His place outside. So also we read in the Gospel of Matthew that, immediately on His passing judgment upon the temple, and Judaism, in the words, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate," He "went out, and departed from the temple." (Matt. 23:38; Matt. 24:1.) It is the same with Laodicea; it has become man's house, not God's — a testimony therefore, not to Christ, but to man's own importance and self-sufficiency. In sorrow, and, as we know from the analogous case of the departure of the glory from the temple (Ezekiel 10, 11), reluctantly, the Lord, unable to bear longer, consistently with what He is, with the moral corruption and perversion of the truth, which had become associated on earth with His holy name, will go forth, and for ever take His place outside the professing church. And let it not be overlooked that, even though Laodicea may not, so far, be fully developed,¹⁷ the Lord may act in this manner, even now, in respect of individual assemblies. If one of these falls morally into correspondence with Laodicea the Lord could not sanction it by His presence in the midst, for in such a case the saints could no longer be said to be gathered unto His name.

If, however, the Lord has definitely taken His place outside of Laodicea, He has not abandoned any of His own who, failing to discern that the Lord has departed, may still be inside. Hence He says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Full of long-suffering and grace, He waits upon any who may have been carried away by the seductions around them, lulled to sleep by the atmosphere in which they have been living, and with urgent appeals seeks to arouse them out of their lethargy. He thus stands at the door, the door closed upon Himself, and knocks, if perchance any true-hearted but slothful saint, like the bride in the Canticles (Cant. 5), may respond, Should there be even one such who shall hear His voice and open the door, He says, "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (v. 20.) The order of the possible response is to be observed. There is first hearing His voice — His call to repentance — and then opening the door. Now the bride heard His voice, but lacked the energy to open the door until it was too late. It is not enough, therefore, to hear His voice; many believers, found, alas! in evil associations, do this, but remain where they are; and so it may be with saints in Laodicea, unless, indeed, in His mercy the Lord lays hold of them, as the angels did Lot in Sodom, and compels them to open the door.

The door being opened ("if any man … open the door"), how rich the blessing realized. First, "I will come in to him" — not into Laodicea; its doom is sealed; but in to him, to him who, by grace, had opened the door. And coming in He will manifest all His grace. "I will sup with him"; that is, "I will come down to where he is, and have fellowship with him in his things." How wondrous His condescension! But if He first will sup with him who has opened the door, it is that He may lead him up into the higher blessedness of supping with Himself, of having fellowship with Him in His things, communion with Himself, the most exalted privilege, though intended for every saint, and the most blissful enjoyment, that any can possess whether in time or in eternity; for it is the realization of our perfect association with Christ.

The promise to the overcomer is of a very different character from that in Philadelphia. It is, "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." (v. 21.) Overcoming here would be hearing the voice of Christ, and opening the door to Him; for this involves a judgment of the Laodicean condition, and separation from it morally. Every one then, thus overcoming, should sit with Christ in His throne. He Himself had overcome (see John 12:31, John 16:33, though this he not all that He overcame), and was set down with His Father in His throne; and, in like manner, the overcomer in Laodicea should sit with Him in His throne. It is promised association with Himself in the public display of glory in the kingdom. Infinite grace surely, and yet a very different character of blessedness from the intimate and heavenly association with Himself promised to the Philadelphian overcomer. Both alike are the aifts of His grace, but the gifts are manifestly in relation to the path and testimony of each while upon the earth, in the scene of the Lord's rejection.

Finally, as in the three previous communications, the proclamation to him that "hath an ear" closes the letter. And this proclamation is still sounded out, with increased energy, among the people of God. Oh! that it might both find and create many an opened ear, that, the hearers rousing themselves from their supineness, and indifference may listen to "what the Spirit saith unto the churches," and that, through grace, they may receive strength to judge all they are connected with by the unerring standard of the living Word; so that, taking their place apart from the evil, they may have the girded loins and the burning lights while awaiting the Lord's return.¹⁸

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1) It should perhaps have been pointed out that, as Thyatira reaches the end, Sardis is a new start, as it were, produced by a new action of the Spirit of God. This new and vigorous movement was soon arrested, and it speedily lapsed into the condition of its angel, having a name to live and yet dead. The issue is, as seen in Laodicea, rationalism, that is infidelity, whereas the close in Thyatira is ritualism. How significant is this twofold issue!

2) We say Sardis; but the reader will remember that it is really the angel, those set to teach and to rule who are addressed. Still it is these that produce the public state. Rationalism, for example, has ever come down from the "teachers" to the people. The remnant in this assembly are those who repelled the influences of the angel, and maintained holiness in life and walk.

3) In evidence of this the "Down-grade" movement may be cited. Its earnest opponent found but few supporters in his own denomination; and some of these finally accepted a compromise which involved the toleration of the very doctrinal errors against which the protest had been made.

4) The true rendering and reading are, "I have not found thy works complete before my God."

5) It is interesting to notice that the responsibility of the individual, at least of the servant, is according to a different standard. If he does not do his Master's will, even though ignorant of it, he will be beaten with few stripes; for since the Master's will is revealed in the Scriptures there is no excuse for ignorance. (Luke 12:48.)

6) As an illustration of the fact that the angel is God's representative in the assembly, it will be noticed that all these exhortations and warnings are given to the angel. While the assembly cannot but be responsible for her state in the individual believers of which she is composed, it is to those who form the teaching body, and to those that have the lead, that the Lord looks for recovery.

7) This interpretation may perhaps be questioned on two grounds; first, that the blood is for the person, for his guilt; and, secondly, that we are never said in Scripture to apply it to ourselves. Since therefore the force of the phrase is, "In the power or the virtue of the blood," it may mean that, being under its efficacy, they washed their robes, maintained purity of walk and life. The reader will weigh this suggestion.

8) It should, however, be noted that the assembly as such does not appear. The address is to the angel all through, whether commendation, promise, or exhortation. It is, therefore, the state of those symbolized by the angel; but we cannot doubt that the assembly is, as it were, behind the angel; that, in other words the states of the angel and of the assembly are identical.

9) It should be "word," and not, as in our translation, "words."

10) So it should be given. It is not a door standing open, but one that the Lord has opened. It would have been closed had He not opened it.

11) "Patient waiting" is a paraphrase; the word is really "patience" or "endurance."

12) The word "behold" should be omitted.

13) As a great deal has been made of the use of this word, it may be mentioned that the correct reading is Laodicea, and not, as in our version, Laodiceans.

14) This should read rather, "And eye-salve to anoint thine eyes." The eye-salve must be "bought" of Christ, equally with the gold and the white raiment.

15) Collected Writings of J. N. D., vol. ii., "Expository".

16) Remembering the candlestick character of the assembly here, this interpretation may perhaps be questioned. But while it is true that He is outside the hearts of those addressed, seeking admittance, it is also to be remembered that Christ is not within Laodicea, for in no sense could it now be said to be God's habitation through the Spirit.

17) In fact, though that which will form Laodicea is plainly seen on every hand, the actual time of its full presentation as Laodicea is not stated, nor when it will be spued out of the Lord's mouth. See Introduction.

18) It is to be particularly observed that there is no allusion to the coming of Christ in this letter. The reason may be that, as stated in the Introduction, while the Lord may morally reject that which will constitute Laodicea at the rapture of the saints, He may not execute His public judgment upon it till after the saints are with Himself, just as Jerusalem was not publicly judged for more than thirty years after Pentecost. He will then let the world see that He has removed His candlestick.