revelation 3:10 commentary

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. "Let us not sleep, as others do," writes Paul to the Thessalonians. Nothing can be simpler. To those who have kept his word, Christ promises, I will keep you from the coming hour of trial, which will put those who dwell on the earth to the test. When the Lord is seen in the vision of chapter 1, these are not the ways in which He is described at all "He that hath the key of David.". To the true heart His approval is enough, and sweeter than triumph before the universe. Thank God that He has set before us the open door. Nothing can more demonstrate. how loyally He accepts, and will not speak inconsistently with, the place of man to which He stooped. The statement does not refer directly to the rapture. In short, as long as church responsibility exists here below, these addresses apply, and no longer. God we don't want to go on living in a lie or a fallacy. It is very possible, when the epistles were sent out in the days of John, that no particular emphasis would be laid on "the things that are;" but inasmuch as these things have been going on from that day to the present, we can see the immense force such a phrase thereby acquires. (2.) This seems to be one reason why it pleased God to give the visions of this book on the Lord's day. The angel is a term that suits such a prophetic book as the Revelation. 290. It is a formed and known party of the highest possible pretensions. Thus whether it be the depraving of souls or the forming sects after an earthly mould among those who were heavenly according to Paul, or whether it be the taking them away from the life of Christ, and from walking as He walked and simply putting them under Jewish ordinances, the Fathers, I fear, as a class, fully earned the awful distinction here assigned by the Lord. Here too all is as peculiar as it is suitable to the book on which we enter: "John to the seven churches which are in Asia." See also Showers, pp. Pharaoh honoured Joseph by clothing him in vestures of fine linen ( Genesis 41:42). my beloved is knocking. To him that hath shall be given. It was the deipnon ( G1173) that Christ would share with the man who answered his knock, no hurried meal, but that where people lingered in fellowship. He opens a door of opportunity to his churches; he opens a door of utterance to his ministers; he opens a door of entrance, opens the heart; he opens a door of admission into the visible church, laying down the terms of communion; and he opens the door of admission into the church triumphant, according to the terms of salvation fixed by him. For justification this is manifest; for a rule of life it is not so apparent, but it is just as real a denial of the gospel. In it there is no redeeming feature. [2.] True believers may be likened to those mites in the cheese which eat their way into it, and penetrate into the centre by feeding upon all that lies in their way as they advance. There are so many more to be reached. It is a tremendous pagan celebration originating in Babylon adopted by Rome called Saturnalia. So, it wasn't a complete reformation. Thus the creed commonly called Nicene, which had for its object the assertion of Christ's consubstantial deity, was published at this same time. That it is here called "the hour" of trial does not mean that it will be over in an hour, or even in any relatively short time. Oh, dear child of God, you may be very little in Israel; but if you love the word of God there is a something about you in which God takes delight. I will be glad to share with you and become one with you just open the door.". By keeping the gospel they are prepared for the trial; and the same divine grace that has made them fruitful in times of peace will make them faithful in times of persecution. Daniel sees the "Ancient of days" in one way, and the Son of man in quite another. And why so? We can't really sit back and say, "Look, how many we have got coming here." Humanly speaking, anyone would say that there was not a more prosperous town in Asia Minor. Wicked men envy the people of God their door of liberty, and would be glad to shut it against them. Judas lost his place to Matthias ( Acts 1:25-26). This phrase says to every one of us: "All these things are meant for you.". I must be crushed out of existence before my convictions of the truth of the doctrines of grace in the old-fashioned form can ever be taken from me. We must walk looking to him, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame ( Hebrews 12:1-2). But it is another thing when we hear of the angel of this or that assembly. In the introduction to this letter the Risen Christ is called by three great titles, each of which implies a tremendous claim. under the eye of the directing priest, their confessor. A Church with a positive message is bound to be one to which there will be opposition. The characteristics are general. Show yourself watchful, and strengthen what remains and what is going to die. Our Lord called upon them to be watchful against their enemies, and to be active and earnest in their duties; and to endeavour, in dependence on the grace of the Holy Spirit, to revive and strengthen the faith and spiritual affections of those yet alive to God, though in a declining state. All through the Old Testament God is the Holy One; and now that title is given to the Risen Christ. 1. Above all, if we have but little strength of any kind, let us keep God's word. Thy Word is truth. When he came to Troas, a door was opened to him by the Lord ( 2 Corinthians 2:12). A city with a history like that knew what the Risen Christ was talking about when he said: "Watch!". Sardis, The Faithful Few ( Revelation 3:1-6 Continued). The fire must be kept burning. At the same time there is the most careful guard against the supposition that he was not in the full enjoyment of his own place in Christ. He promised to keep them from the hour of testing. In the beginning was the Word, that the word was with God, all things were made by Him. It was thus that Hanum treated the servants of David ( 2 Samuel 10:4). 1. Take time by the forelock and honour your God. If anything is to be rescued from the impending ruin of the Church in Sardis the Christians there must wake from their deadly lethargy and watch. Such I believe the promise here to import. It is not known to what trial the speaker refers. Gaping cracks appeared in the walls of the houses. Laodicea has the grim distinction of being the only Church of which the Risen Christ has nothing good to say. Revelation 3:10 Context. We agree with Beasley-Murray that it is certainly possible that, "an identical period of trial is referred to in both Revelation 2:10 and Revelation 3:1. Christ does not break in; he must be invited in. The address to Sardis also, although allusive to that of Ephesus, is nevertheless no less clearly meant to stand contrasted with it. (v) The Christian must be on the watch against false teaching. You go into a post-Christian era when you get to Europe. Keep to the truth, and the modern school will give you a wide berth. They will not be in that hour. Though few and small and weak your bands. We eat our way into the word of God, we live upon what we learn, tunnelling through the truth with receptive minds. They have thought out what they believe; their theology is made out of their own substance, as spiders spin their webs out of their own bowels. He will be as much marked by power in the day of glory, as by contented weakness in the present scene of grace. 71-72; Thomas R. Edgar, "An Exegesis of Rapture Passages," in Issues in Dispensationalism, pp. Remember what Solomon says, "The conies are a feeble folk," but he puts them down as wise people, for they have their habitation in the rocks. God has a task for every man; but it may be that the man proves himself unfit for the task and it is given to another. The Book is our ultimatum. I cannot doubt that this letter contains an apt adumbration, as far as could be there in present facts, of what was found in mediaeval times. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. "As many as I love, I rebuke." Nobody cares a button about him. I am looking forward to the Lord confessing my name before His Father. There is alethes ( G227) , which means "true" in the sense that a true statement is different from a false statement. Would that you were cold or hot! You know it is true that God is doing a wonderful work here and it is exciting to see what God is doing, but we have hardly touched the county. Let us bear our protest: the gold is good enough for us. They have the truth in a measure, but not so as to clear souls from bondage, or bring them distinctly into liberty, peace, and the power of the Spirit. At the same time another way of looking at the book is by taking "the things that are" as already past and gone. Except the common-places of controversy with Protestants, they know little of Scripture. At one time that temple was the social, administrative and commercial centre of the whole area. The people of Philadelphia knew all about taking a new name. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief." This has ever been the chief snare, as it is now. I should not wonder that the kindly words of God's people may be but a rehearsal of that "Well done, good and faithful servant" which will one day sound in their ears; and be a useful rehearsal, too, helping them on their weary way. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, pp. Or perhaps the text may mean that if the temptation shall come you shall be preserved from it. If men would take away from us certain dainties which are sweet but which are not needful, we might be content to let them spoil us of such superfluities; but if they come to take away bread and water from the poor and needy, then we cannot have it. The Lord thenceforth puts the promise first, and this apparently because there is no use longer to expect the church as a whole to receive it. Let us first take the word rebuke. First I would remind you that our text has in it A WORD OF PRAISE. My Lord will revive his buried truth as sure as he is God: the present madness will cease with its own short hour. We say, "Yes, yes; these doctrines are in the Creed;" and we put them up on the top shelf, and by that very act we lay them aside and do not heartily believe in them for ourselves. "I rebuke and discipline all those whom I love." Good men in the dark days of Popery found out the truth, but they only lived, perhaps, in some quiet village, or shut up in a monastery, and the most they could do was to write down what they knew and so keep it. I will also keep thee from the hour of trial Norris' Commentary on the Book of Revelation, Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible. It would rather seem from this that the affliction was some form of persecution as adapted to test the fidelity of those who were affected by it. You read the Gallup Polls and all and it is rather frightening to find out how many ministers do not really believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, do not believe in the virgin birth, do not believe that there is an actual heaven or hell. Wish. All power, all governing might, is in His hands, and the seven stars, that is to say, all the instrumental means by which He acts upon the church. There are many who in the church mock the idea of the Lord returning and interrupting history. ", Come you, then, and search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Christ and let it not be said that you will not come unto him that you might have life. Behold, I will make of them the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee ( Revelation 3:9 ). Like an Israelite? For in Him was life: yea, He was that eternal life which was with the Father before the worlds were. As Trench has it: "Every man is lord of the house of his own heart; it is his fortress; he must open the gates of it," and he has "the mournful prerogative and privilege of refusing to open." Under John's leadership, Grace Community Church's two morning worship services fill the 3,500-seat auditorium to capacity. For centuries it was a free Greek Christian city amidst a pagan people. This was an excellent spirit, and, when sanctified by the grace of the gospel, would render them an excellent church, as indeed they were, for here is no one fault found with this church, and yet, doubtless, there were faults in it of common infirmity; but love covers such faults. Remember, then, how you received and heard the gospel, and keep it, and repent. The Protestant Reformation in Europe is dead. "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church, pp. Nor is this all. The ropes hang down in our belfry, but the glorious chime is aloft. This can hardly be denied to Jezebel at least; whilst "the remnant" represents those who, without being Protestants, form a witnessing company apart from popery, yet before the rise of Protestantism. May we not presume that it is for the express purpose of graciously encouraging His servants as well as to anticipate the doubts and cavils of unbelief? The reason is that a remnant is now formed. The Christian must be ready to open whenever he hears his Lord knocking ( Luke 12:36). He is God. (ii) He is the witness on whom we can rely and who is true. What does it mean? The Lord sets before us an open door of opportunity and no man can shut it. In Revelation 3:8-9 there is a problem of punctuation. For every position we are set in, no matter where it is or what, there is always the gracious power of God as our resource; but it is to sustain the person walking in consonance with the relationship in which God has been pleased to put him. (ii) The Christian must be on the watch against the wiles of the devil ( 1 Peter 5:8). Cheer up, and get to work. To the church at Sardis 1. Nothing is more common among Protestants, than to admit a thing to be perfectly true because it is in the word of God, without the smallest intention or thought of acting upon it. It is in vain therefore to look for a formal obliteration of these co-ordinate conditions, which cannot be till the Lord comes. . A new evil appears. Good men have many conflicts, let us minister to their comfort. 54. Thus we have all sorts of links in the chain. And I don't feel that I have this great obligation to share the Gospel to the Jews. That letters were written to literal congregations from Ephesus to Laodicea seems to be unquestionable; but I cannot doubt that these were chosen, and the addresses so shaped to them as to bring before those who have ears to hear the complete circle of the Lord's testimony here below as long as there should be anything possessed (responsibly if not really) of a church character. Here is a warning against what we might call "spasmodic Christianity." Solomon named one of these pillars Jachin, meaning establish, and he named the other pillar Boaz, meaning strength (1 Kings 7:13-21). (b) It is just possible that there is a reference to the custom of branding a slave with the initials of his owner to show that he belongs to him. Paul says that his converts in their pre-Christian days were dead through trespasses and sins ( Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:5). If the thought of the age happens to be right, well and good; but it is not upon temporary opinion that we rest. And all of the enemies of God we are just going to subdue when we are manifested finally as the sons of God before the world. 58. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. . Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only churches that receive no blame from the Lord, but only praise and encouragement. In this there seems to be couched a gentle reproof: "Thou hast a little strength, a little grace, which, though it be not proportionate to the wide door of opportunity which I have opened to thee, yet is true grace, and has kept thee faithful." The Philadelphian church was not great, but it was good: it was not powerful, but it was faithful. 176-91.]. Revelation 1:1; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 2:16; Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:12; Revelation 22:20; 2 Peter 3:8). These went on diligently, as we learn here. John 12:27). They may have only a little strength; their resources may be small; but, if they are faithful, they will see the dawn of the triumph of Christ. So, Jesus is here laying claim to that prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 22:22 . The A, B, Come and See Revelation A commentary on the Book of Revelation by Elder James Stroud 9781644689851 (Paperback, 2021) Delivery UK delivery is usually within 10 to 12 working days. There the Holy Ghost was the only one competent to minister and effectuate such grace according to the counsels of God, and in the ordering of His love. When Abraham is pleading with God for Sodom, he appeals to God: "To slay the righteous with the wicked, far be that from thee" ( Genesis 18:25). When Talkative came up to gossip with Christian and Hopeful, he chattered away upon all sorts of topics, and they were wearied with him. God means to use you. It is the present imperative and means: "Keep on remembering; never allow yourself to forget." 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