Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

• Revelation 3:1-22

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Revelation 3:1-6 ‘Message to Sardis’: “The capital city of Lydia, an Asian province in western Asia Minor situated on the east bank of the Pactolus River about 50 miles east of Smyrna. It had once been the capital of the ancient Lydian Empire, but it was passed successively to the Persians, the Greeks, and finally the Romans. It became an important Christian city, but in time the church was evidently affected by the complacency of the city itself and its reliance on its past glory. By the end of the first century A.D., Sardis was already viewed as a dying city with a dying church.
“John wrote to the assembly that ‘you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead’ (3:1). The church was like ‘whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones’ (Matthew 23:27). The apostle urges the people to wake up ‘and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die’ (Revelation 3:2). They were to repent or Christ ‘will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you’ (verse 3). Some in the congregation had not ‘soiled their garments’ and will be rewarded to walk with Christ ‘in white, for they are worthy’ (verse 4).
“Because some had not dirtied themselves with sin, they were ’worthy’ (Greek, axios) and had shown themselves to be spiritually responsible in their walk as followers of the Lamb; or, they possessed character that was fitting for heaven. There may have been many ‘professors’ among the congregation who were not ‘possessors’ of Christ as their Savior. Jesus then promises that the overcomers will be clothed in white garments (not soiled clothes) and their names will not be erased from the book of life. They will be confessed someday in glory before God the Father (verse 5). To ‘not erase’ is understood as the literary figure of speech called litotes, in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of a contrary statement. Coming by way of a denial of the opposite, ‘this is an understatement to express emphatically the assurance that the overcomer’s name will be retained in the book of life” (Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 261).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

Revelation 3:1 ‘feeling or being right with God’: “It appears that too many Christians want to enjoy the thrill of feeling right but are not willing to endure the inconvenience of being right. So the divorce between theory and practice becomes permanent in fact, though in word the union ls declared to be eternal. Truth sits forsaken and grieves till her professed followers come home for a brief visit, but she sees them depart again when the bills become due. They protest great and undying love for her but they will not let their love cost them anything.
“Could this be the condition our Lord had in mind when He said, ‘Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead’ (Revelation 3:1)? What can the effect be upon the spectators who live day after day among professed Christians who habitually ignore the commandments of Christ and live after their own private notions of Christianity? Will they not conclude that the whole thing is false? Will they not be forced to believe that the faith of Christ is an unreal and visionary thing which they are fully justified in rejecting?
“Certainly the non-Christian is not too much to be blamed if he turns disgustedly away from the invitation of the gospel after he has been exposed for a while to the inconsistencies of those of his acquaintances who profess to follow Christ. The deadening effect of religious make-believe on the human mind is beyond all describing.
“In that great and terrible day when the deeds of men are searched into by the penetrating eyes of the Judge of all the earth, what will we answer when we are charged with inconsistency and moral fraud? And at whose door will lie the blame for the millions of lost men who while they lived on earth were sickened and revolted by the religious travesty they knew as Christianity?”

• A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous

Revelation 3:3 ‘come upon you as a thief’: “Here the reference is not to Christ’s Second Coming (cf. 16:15; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10), but to His sudden and unexpected coming to His unrepentant, dead church to inflict harm and destruction. Cf. 2:5.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Revelation 3:4 ‘who have not defiled their garments’: “Defiled means ‘to smear, to pollute,’ or ‘to

stain,’ and garments refers to character. There were a few whose character was still godly (cf. Jude 23). in white. The white garments of all the redeemed (c£ 6:11; 7:9, 13;19:8, 14), speak of holiness and purity. Such white robes are reserved for Christ (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:3), holy angels (Matt. 28:3; Mark 16:5), and the glorified church (19:8, 14). In the ancient world, white robes were commonly worn at festivals and celebrations.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Revelation 3:7-13 ‘Message to Philadelphia’: “Like Sardis, Philadelphia (meaning ‘brotherly love’) was a city and province of Lydia. It was about 28 miles southeast of Sardis. It was founded by Attalus II (Philadelphus), who reigned as king of Pergamum from 159 to 138 B.C. The city was a center for the wine industry, and its chief deity was Dionysus, who in Greek mythology is the god of wine (the Roman Bacchus). The church here is described as a faithful church that stood at the gateway of a great opportunity (3:7-I3). The ‘open door’ meant access to God and service to Him (3:8). Thus, Philadelphia, the ideal church, is often described as the ‘church of the open door,’ in contrast to the ‘closed door’ at Laodicea. Satan was working through the Jewish synagogue in the city to fight against the truth, but someday the Jews would bow before the believers (verse 9). It is not certain if that prophecy happened within the time of the ancient church, or if this is a broad description of when the Jews in the future will acknowledge the truth about their Lord, Jesus Christ.
“Because this church ‘kept the word of My perseverance,’ Christ will keep them from the hour of testing that will fall on the ‘whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth’ (verse 10). When John says the testing ‘is about to come’ he uses the Greek word mello, which carries the thought ‘it is inevitable, with certainty.’ It serves to express in general a settled futurity that will absolutely come about. Some scholars believe this is referring to the period of Roman persecution against the church that would begin about this time and continue for hundreds of years. But because these short letters are addressed to all the churches, the messages could be applicable even to the end of the church age. Thus the ‘test’ could be a reference to the far-distant Tribulation, or the Day of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:1-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12), at which time believers will be kept from (Greek, ek, ‘out from’ as in ‘exit’) this event through the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
“Christ promises to come ‘quickly’ (Greek, tachu), meaning that when He comes, He will do so with swiftness, all at once, with rapidity, at a rapid rare, and without a warning (at any moment). He will give a reward, a crown to those who ‘hold fast’ in their conviction and their walk (Revelation 3:11). This speedy arrival will include the rapture of the church, which happens in the blink of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52) and with a shout and the voice of the archangel (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
“The overcomer will also reign with Christ in the millennial kingdom. The Lord Jesus says the overcomer will be called (metaphorically ‘a pillar in the temple of My God’ (Revelation 3:12). He will have a special name written upon him, ‘the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem,’ which in the future will ‘come down out of heaven from My God’ (verse 12). These believers will be especially honored both in the kingdom reign of Christ and in the eternal new Jerusalem. They will be forever marked for their faithfulness under great earthly persecution and stress. ‘Further, the promise is given, “He shall go no more out.”  This seems to mean that they will no longer be exposed to the temptations and trials of this present life and will have their permanent residence in the very presence of God’ (Walvoord, Revelation, p. 89).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

Revelation 3:8 ‘a good church’: “The Philadelphian church was not great, but it was good. It was not powerful, but it was faithful. The Lord does not blame us for having little strength but for having little love, little faith, little zeal, and little consecration. The Philadelphian saints, like a limpet, which has but little strength, stuck firmly to the rock, and they are commended for it.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Revelation 3:10 ‘keep you from the hour of trial’: “Christ’s description—an event still future that for a short time severely tests the whole world—must refer to the time of tribulation, the seven-year period before Christ’s earthly kingdom is consummated, featuring the unleashing of divine wrath in judgments expressed as seals, trumpets, and bowls. This period is described in detail throughout chapters. 6-19. The latter half is called ‘the Great Tribulation’ (7:14; Matt. 24:21) and is identified as to time in 11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; 13:5. The verb ‘to keep’ is followed by a preposition whose normal meaning is ‘from’ or ‘out of’—this phrase, ‘keep … from’ supports the pretribulational Rapture of the church. This period is the same as Daniel’s seventieth week and ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Revelation 3:11 ‘non-winners’: “Some of you have never won a prize in your life. Oh, maybe you were quartermaster in your Boy Scout troop or in charge of sodas at the homeroom Christmas party, but that’s about it. You’ve never won much. You’ve watched the Mark McGwires of this world carry home the trophies and walk away with the ribbons. All you have are ‘almosts’ and ‘what ifs.’
“If that hits home, then you’ll cherish this promise: ‘When Christ, the Chief Shepherd, comes, you will get a glorious crown that will never lose its beauty’ (1 Peter 5:4).
“Your day is coming. What the world has overlooked, your Father has remembered, and sooner than you can imagine, you will be blessed by him.”

• Max Lucado, When Christ Comes

Revelation 3:14-22 ‘Message to Laodicea’: “Laodicea was a city in the fertile Lycus Valley in the province of Phrygia. It was about 40 miles east of Ephesus and some ten miles west of Colossae. It was a prosperous city founded by the Grecian Seleucid family around 261-247 B.C. The city was completely destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 65, and was later rebuilt and served as a prosperous retirement center for wealthy Romans.
“Christ presents Himself to this congregation as ‘the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God’ (verse I4). The word ‘amen’ means ‘truly,’ or the fact that something is firmly established and certain. Jesus is the witness for God and His truth. He is the ‘beginning’ (Greek, arche), a higher order than anything God has created. This does not mean that the Son of God was created, for He has always existed. Rather, it means that as the God-Man come in human flesh, He is the ultimate Being of all creation.
“The Laodicean church was lukewarm, neither hot nor cold (verse 15). Therefore, it was useless for the Lord’s service. The ‘mild’ testimony the church had for the truth would be rejected by Christ (verse 16). In relation to the wealth of the city, the people also considered themselves as wealthy, though they were poor spiritually (verse 17). Christ urged them to draw from Him true spiritual riches and to clothe themselves in ‘white garments’ that reflected true righteousness and repentance (verses 18-19).
“Verse 20 records the well-known words of Christ, ‘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.’ Is this an invitation for those who are lost to turn to Christ for salvation, or is this an appeal for wayward believers to restore their relationship with Christ? Either way, Christ is pictured as being locked outside and knocking on the door of the church to seek admission. The words seem to be potentially applicable to either situation. If Jesus was referring to redemption, the words form ‘the simplest explanation of the plan of salvation encompassed in so brief a statement within the [confines] of God’s Word’ (Tim LaHaye, Revelation Unveiled, p. 65). The Lord Jesus does not force Himself upon believers. He does not ‘employ force to find admission to the heart. If admitted, he comes and dwells with us; if rejected, he turns quietly away—perhaps to return and knock again, perhaps never to come back’ (Barnes, Revelation, p. 103).
“The Lord promises fellowship to those who open the door. And to the overcomer, He promises the right to sit with Him on His millennial throne, just as He ‘sat down with My Father on His throne’ (verse 21). At His ascension Christ entered the heavenly throne room and was told by God the Father, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet’ (Psalm 110:1). The Lord will someday cause the scepter of His Son, the Messiah, to go forth from Zion, by which He will ’rule in the midst of [His] enemies’ (verse 2). The promise to believers here is that they will join Him in the administration of that glorious kingdom rule.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

Revelation 3:16 ‘lukewarm?’: “As tepid water makes one’s stomach heave, so lukewarm religious profession is nauseous to the Almighty. He could better endure either the coldness of apathy or the warmth of enthusiasm, but the one who is lukewarm in religion moves him to the deepest loathing. Did Jesus Christ think salvation so important that he came from heaven to earth to work it out? Did he think the gospel so worthy that he spent his life proclaiming it? Did he think redemption so valuable that he shed his own precious blood to complete it? Then, if I profess to believe these truths and yet am indifferent to them, do I not insult Christ by insinuating that there was no need for him to be in such dead earnest?”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Revelation 3:17 ‘not the best judge of their condition’: “These words were spoken not to the outside world but to the church of Laodicea. They were thought to be in a fine spiritual condition; they had a singularly high opinion of themselves. Yet they were actually lukewarm because they imagined themselves rich when they were poor. The Laodiceans did not know their own spiritual state; they took for granted that everything was sound. They had judged the surface of the matter and never looked below the topsoil. But ‘the faithful and true witness’(3:14) makes them see the naked truth. What a change from the distorting glass of self-flattery to the clear mirror of truth! Is this not much better than a delusive belief that all is safe? It is infinitely better to be uneasy and to get right than to be perfectly serene and to be wrong. Many a house is built on sand and only waits until the floods and winds come.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Revelation 3:18 ‘practical application’: “He just said that they were ‘wretched’ and ‘poor’ (3:17). How can they buy? Surely this suggests those blessed tree-grace terms that are only met within the market of divine love: ‘Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without cost’ (Is 55:1). It anyone has backslidden, let him come to Christ and buy. Does someone have a religion that he received from mother, father, Sunday school teacher, or friends? It is worth nothing. All true grace must be bought from Christ on tree-grace terms. He says, ‘I advise you to buy from me.’ Buy what? Everything! The articles he speaks of are entire monopolies in his hands. No one else can sell ‘gold refined in the fire,’ or ‘white clothes so that you maybe dressed,’ or ‘ointment … so that you may see.’ The whole stock of grace is vested in the person and offices of Jesus Christ”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Revelation 3:20 ‘I stand at the door and knock’: “Rather than allowing for the common interpretation of Christ’s knocking on a person’s heart, the context demands that Christ was seeking to enter this church that bore His name, but lacked a single true believer. This poignant letter was His knocking. If one member would recognize his spiritual bankruptcy and respond in saving faith, He would enter the church.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Revelation 2-3 ‘Summary of The Seven Churches of Revelation’:   The following table from: John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

The Seven Churches of Revelation
Commendation	Criticism	Instruction	Promise
Ephesus (2:1-7)
Rejects evil, perseveres, has patience	Love for Christ no longer fervent	Do the works you did at first	The tree of life
Smyrna (2:8-11)
Gracefully bears suffering	None	Be faithful until death	The crown of life
Pergamos (2:12-17)
Keeps the faith of Christ	Tolerated immorality, idolatry, and heresies	Repent	Hidden manna and a stone with a new name
Thyatira
Love, service, faith, patience is greater than at first	Tolerates cult of idolatry and immorality	Judgment coming; keep the faith	Rule over nations and receive morning star
Sardis (3:1-6)
Some have kept the faith	A dead church	Repent; strengthen what remains	Faithful honored and clothed in white
Philadelphia (3:7-13)
Perseveres in the faith	None	Keep the faith	A place in God’s presence, a new name, and the New Jerusalem
Laodicea (3:14-22)
None	Indifferent	Be zealous and repent	Share Christ’s throne
The MacArthur Bible Handbook, by John MacArthur (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003) 519. © 2003 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Coffee and Revelation – Introduction
Coffee and Revelation – Part 19, Revelation 3:1-6
Coffee and Revelation – Part 20, Revelation 3:7-13
Coffea and Revelation – Part 21, Revelation 3:14-22

My Thoughts

In taking a detour, as I seem to do often, I went to my favorite map application.  In the USA, there are towns or cities named for five of these seven churches.  I found no Pergamum (or Pergamos) and no Laodicea, although a church was named that.  Why did this detour pop into my head?  I have flown in and out of Philadelphia a lot.  I have seen the Liberty Bell.  And I lived near Sardis Lake, outside the town of Sardis, MS (downstream of the large lake made for flood control).  I lived even closer to the lake when I went to college.  I have been to a couple of the Smyrna towns.  But it is odd that of these seven churches, only two did not have criticisms against them.  The two are Philadelphia and Smyrna.  Now Philadelphia is called, by some Pittsburghers, Filthadelphia, and any city that would “boo” Santa Claus is probably a city that God would find something within it to criticize, but we must not equate these churches to these cities.  Some of the churches were praised for persevering persecution from people in the city.  These are the churches that Jesus is dictating letters to, not the cities, and we do not have to be a church named Laodicea to be lukewarm.  Lukewarm churches are around us by the hundreds and thousands.  We must not focus on the name for the good reasons or the bad.

In these three letters in Revelation 3, Sardis is a dead church, but even in our dead churches today, there is a chance of having some people who have not lost the faith.  The church is asked to strengthen those who are faithful and for the rest… Just like Pergamum, they are instructed to repent.  It is odd.  I recently received a comment that God shows mercy when I spoke of repentance.  Indeed, God loves us and He shows mercy.  He loved us while we were yet sinners, but He expects us to model ourselves after Jesus and when we realize that we do not have the power to accomplish that on our own, we must call upon Christ within us to affect that repentance.

The Philadelphia church is promised to be protected from the time of testing.  In a couple of Tim LaHaye’s End Time Bible studies (rather than the Left Behind series), he speaks of this promise being for the faithful at the End Times so that they are lifted up in the Rapture prior to the seven years of tribulation.  Is this all believers?  Is the Rapture limited to those who exemplify the Philadelphians?  To be honest, others may agree with Rev. LaHaye, but there are a variety of opinions on the subject.

And then we have the Laodiceans.  Why is lukewarm so terrible?  I heard about someone going to the grocery store and asking where they could find lukewarm water.  They had checked all the aisles and could not find it.  But joking aside, lukewarm is settling.  We could stay on fire.  The church at Ephesus had lost their fire.  Pergamum and Thyatira were churches that may or may not have been on fire for the wrong things, heresies that they tolerated.  But being on fire for Jesus is a good thing.

Being cold to Jesus is easy for us to tell.  It is not that we fail to believe, although some never had the faith.  They just said they believed to feel like they belonged.  But for some believers, the world (those weeds in the parable) that choke the life out of us.  And we can feel the coldness, the lack of fire.  When we feel the cold and we hear Jesus knocking, we know we need to answer the door.  We know the fire is gone.  But what if you place your spiritual thermometer in the pool of water that is figuratively in your soul and there is a slight warmth, warmer than your fingertips, but if it were soup, you would put it back on the stove a little bit.  That’s why Jesus said he’d spit it out.  Have you ever had broth that was lukewarm?  The fat within the broth has a semi-solid feel to it against the tongue.  Yes, we would spit it out.

But when we feel something that is warmer than cold, we think that is enough warmth from Jesus.  We settle.  Jesus is okay on Sunday morning for an hour, and I really, really do try to stay awake during the sermon – HONEST!!!  But with it being lukewarm, we get accustomed to the minimal heat and Jesus rarely means anything by the time we reach our home after church.

But then, Jesus invites the church to open the door and let Him in.  Is Rev. MacArthur right and Jesus is only talking about churches that light the fire for Jesus once more?  Or is Rev. LaHaye correct in that my favorite verse applies to churches and us as individuals.  Does it apply to us receiving Jesus for the first time or when we have lost that fire? Does it apply to those who need to sit down with Jesus, have a burger and a few laughs, and reach over and relight the flame?

I believe in an answer that I avoided when writing examinations, especially certification exams, the answer of “All of the above.”  I need to often, probably more often than I would like to admit, go to the door, and say Jesus, thank you for gently knocking, as C. S. Lewis says about his prayer life at times, I have been avoiding You all day.  But that first time that I opened the door for Jesus was an eye opener.

And in the introduction to the letters last week, I suggested that maybe all the theologians could be correct.  The letters clearly addressed those specific churches.  The letters may quite easily show the progress and the collapse of each individual church.  And the letters may all pertain to our lives, for the “church” is the body of believers.  It can pertain to us as individuals at different times in our journey of faith.  The path is not always steady uphill.  We can slip.  We can take a detour.  We can repent and start sprinting up the path.  The ones that expect that daily advance, closer to being like Jesus every day, are probably the ones that get the most frustrated.  And as individuals, we might seek a church that is a Smyrna or a Philadelphia, but within us, we have the individual capacity for all seven.  Let us strive to keep our eyes on Jesus and avoid the slips and trips along the way to our eternity with our Savior.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

“Revelation 3, Sardis: 1. If Jesus addressed this ‘wake-up call’ to you, what would he want you to strengthen?
“2. Right now, would Jesus need a fire alarm to wake you up, or would a quiet call do it’? Why?
“Revelation 3, Philadelphia: 1. What open doors has Christ placed before you? How have you taken advantage of the pathways he’s made available to you?
“2. What are some closed doors he’s placed in your career? ln your social life? In your schooling? How have you responded to each of these closed doors?
“3. In what ways are you like the Christians in Philadelphia? Unlike them? Why?
“4. What is the Spirit saying to you now?”
“Revelation 3, Laodicea: 1. If Jesus took your spiritual temperature today, what would he find? Why?
“2. What is Jesus waiting for at the door of your life? Why not let him in?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions for each letter to the churches in this chapter.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.