CHAPTER
3
Rev 3:1-22
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.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for
I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Sardis was a
big trade city, a wealthy city. Sardis was the ancient capital of Lydia. It's commercial activity attracted merchants from
all parts of Asia. To this day if you were to go there you would find the remains of a vast temple of the multi-breasted Goddess,
Cybele. ("Mother of the gods") The Companion Bible, pg 1887. Comments on Revelation 3:1. Let's see what the Strong's and Thayer's
has to say about Sardis.
Strong's
definition for Sardis:
4554 Sardeis (sar'-dice);plural of uncertain derivation; Sardis, a place in Asia Minor:
KJV--
Sardis.
Thayer's definition:
4554 Sardeis-Sardis = "red ones";
a luxurious city in Asia Minor, the capital of Lydia
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.
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.
There is a lot said in these two
verses. You'll see in verse two Christ is warning His servents in this church to watch and strengthen the knowledge they have.
They have slipped away into the traditions of men. If they don't repent and get back into His word they won't know Him when
He comes. You can see also that there are some that are holding to the truth. But it appears that the biggest part of this
church have already donned their wings to fly into the arms of the false messiah.
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..
The question in this verse is do
you want to listen to the Lord and His words and be clothed in white raiment or do you want to be blotted out? Which is the
second death, "hell"!
6
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Here this comment is use again: "he
that hath an ear" and you should notice whose ear this is to fall on. Peoples of the churches. So let me ask the question;
do you have ears to hear? Or do you have skin over your ears?
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;
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.
Christ has opened the scriptures
to this church. They have the notches in the key that opens the scriptures. And once you have this key no man can take it
from you.
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.
On the first day of the thousand
years that is to come every knee shall bow to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! To understand the first part of this
verse you MUST understand Christ's first parable! If you don't understand what happened in the garden you cannot have that
notch on the key and will not understand a big part of the Bible.
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.
11
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
The church of Philadelphia understands
that they are to watch and understand what the hour of temptation will be. They know that the hour of temptation will come
upon all the world and have no intention of 'flying' away from it. Note: You will notice that in verse 11 that they already
have their crown and that they are to let no one take it from them. It is my opinion that the church of Philadelphia represents
the elect. They have a crown and as long as they do not commit the unforgivable sin no man can take it from them.)
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.
13
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
We have heard the phrase 'he that
hath an ear let him hear' several times so far. As a matter of fact this is the sixth time. Oddly enough it is after the sixth
church. If we look in the Book Biblical Mathematics by Evangelist Ed F. Vallowe for the number sixty six. This number means
Idol Worship. This book goes into great depth about this number on page 189 and 190. I'm not saying that because this is after
the sixth church and the sixth time this phrase is used, that this represents the number sixty six. But it is interesting.
We can see here in several of the churches, they have gone other ways besides the Lord's way. Which is idol worshipping deluxe.
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;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out
of my mouth.
You see here that this church has
the habit of swaying in the wind. Which ever way the wind blows, is the way they go. Their teachers have the habit of saying:
so and so believes this way but old so and so believes that way, instead of 'what saith the Lord'. I hope you are not attending
a church like this.
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:
You see these people have a lot of
material things. But when it comes to God's knowledge, they fall way short. This way of thinking comes from listening to what
man says or some church system instead of what Father gives us. This is no time to be playing church!
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.
In a nice way Christ is telling these
people that He is the way. And if they would listen to His way and repent, they could be rich, clothed, and have eyes to see!
19 As
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
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.
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.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches.
How did Christ overcome? He gave
up His life and tells you to take up your cross and follow Him! He set the example. The question is are you willing and ready
to stand for Him, even unto death? Well what did we learn about the chuches? I learned that basically there are seven churches
that make up all the religions of the world today. I noticed that each of them had some good works and all but two Christ
found somewhat against. I hope your church is like mine and teaches the key of David and about those that say they are Jews
but are not. If you really look you can put names of denominations and/or religions with these churches.
CHAPTER 4
Rev 4:1-11
1 After this I looked,
and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which
said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
In chapters 2 and 3
we see what is going on in the earth in the churches. In chapter 4 we are going to see what is going on at the same time
in heaven.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and,
behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine
stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
You'll notice in verse 2 that John was
in his spiritual body. Because flesh and blood cannot enter into heaven. John is describing what he saw with sybols, precious
stones. Meaning something to be considered as great value, something refined or dearly beloved.
4 And round about the throne were four and
twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads
crowns of gold.
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of
fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
It is not written who the twenty and four elders
are. But it makes good sense to me, that twelve of them could be the twelve sons of Jacob. The other twelve being the twelve
desciples of Christ.
6 And before the throne there was a sea of
glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before
and behind.
What were the four beast full of eyes before
and behind? In Ezek. 1: 4-19 you can read the description of a circular vehicle which had four living creatures around it.
One had the likeness of a man, one of a lion, one of an ox and one of an eagle. If you research these 4 standards
you'll find out that they represent tribes of Israel. Judah being the lion on the east side, Reuben being the ox on the south
side, Ephraim being the face of a man on the west side, Dan being the eagle on the north side. Let's not make anything mystical
about this. When God goes somewhere and carries His stuff (His children and throne) with Him he needs a vehicle. As He did
when he spoke to Ezekiel by the riverside.
7 And the first beast was like a lion, and
the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
These
four beast had standards on their sides and if you look closely you'll see these same standards represented the tribes of
Israel as it is written in Num. 2. If you would like to see a good example of what the tabernacle may have looked like
click here.
8 And the four beasts had each of them six
wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which was, and is, and is to come.
9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne,
who liveth for ever and ever,
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him
that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
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