The document provides commentary on Revelation 3:14-22 from three scholars - Barnes, Clarke, and Gill. The main points discussed are: 1) The meaning of Christ being called "the Amen, the faithful and true witness." This refers to his sincerity, truthfulness, and faithfulness as the divine witness. 2) The interpretation of Christ being "the beginning of God's creation." The three views examined are that he caused creation, that he was the first created being, or that he holds primacy/authority over creation as its head. Most scholars viewed the third interpretation as most accurate. 3) Additional background provided on the church in Laodicea and how it represents the

1. REVELATIO 3 14-22 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “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.
1. BAR ES, "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write - See
the notes on Rev_1:20.
These things saith the Amen - Referring, as is the case in every epistle, to some
attribute of the speaker adapted to impress their minds, or to give special force to what
he was about to say to that particular church. Laodicea was characterized by
lukewarmness, and the reference to the fact that he who was about to address them was
the “Amen” - that is, was characterized by the simple earnestness and sincerity denoted
by that word - was eminently suited to make an impression on the minds of such a
people. The word “Amen” means “true,” “certain,” “faithful”; and, as used here, it means
that he to whom it is applied is eminently true and faithful. What he affirms is true; what
he promises or threatens is certain. Himself characterized by sincerity and truth (notes
on 2Co_1:20), he can look with approbation only on the same thing in others: and hence
he looks with displeasure on the lukewarmness which, from its very nature, always
approximates insincerity. This was an attribute, therefore, every way appropriate to be
referred to in addressing a lukewarm church.
The faithful and true witness - This is presenting the idea implied in the word
“Amen” in a more complete form, but substantially the same thing is referred to. He is a
witness for God and his truth, and he can approve of nothing which the God of truth
would not approve. See the notes on Rev_1:5.
The beginning of the creation of God - This expression is a very important one in
regard to the rank and dignity of the Saviour, and, like all similar expressions respecting
him, its meaning has been much controverted. Compare the notes on Col_1:15. The
phrase used here is susceptible, properly, of only one of the following significations,
namely, either:
(a) That he was the beginning of the creation in the sense that he caused the universe
to begin to exist - that is, that he was the author of all things; or.
(b) That he was the first created being; or.
(c) That he holds the primacy over all, and is at the head of the universe.
It is not necessary to examine any other proposed interpretations, for the only other
senses supposed to be conveyed by the words, that he is the beginning of the creation in
the sense I that he rose from the dead as the first-fruits of them that sleep, or that he is
the head of the spiritual creation of God, axe so foreign to the natural meaning of the

2. words as to need no special refutation. As to the three significations suggested above, it
may be observed, that the first one - that he is the author of the creation, and in that
sense the beginning - though expressing a scriptural doctrine Joh_1:3; Eph_3:9;
Col_1:16, is not in accordance with the proper meaning of the word used here - ᅊρχᆱ
archē. The word properly refers to the “commencement” of a thing, not its “authorship,”
and denotes properly primacy in time, and primacy in rank, but not primacy in the sense
of causing anything to exist. The two ideas which run through the word as it is used in
the New Testament are those just suggested. For the former - primacy in regard to time -
that is properly the commencement of a thing, see the following passages where the word
occurs: Mat_19:4, Mat_19:8; Mat_24:8, Mat_24:21; Mar_1:1; Mar_10:6; Mar_13:8,
Mar_13:19; Luk_1:2; Joh_1:1-2; Joh_2:11; Joh_6:64; Joh_8:25, Joh_8:44; Joh_15:27;
Joh_16:4; Act_11:15; 1Jo_1:1; 1Jo_2:7, 1Jo_2:13-14, 1Jo_2:24; 1Jo_3:8, 1Jo_3:11;
2Jo_1:5-6. For the latter signification, primacy of rank or authority, see the following
places: Luk_12:11; Luk_20:20; Rom_8:38; 1Co_15:24; Eph_1:21; Eph_3:10; Eph_6:12;
Col_1:16, Col_1:18; Col_2:10, Col_2:15; Tit_3:1. The word is not, therefore, found in the
sense of authorship, as denoting that one is the beginning of anything in the sense that
he caused it to have an existence. As to the second of the significations suggested, that it
means that he was the first created being, it may be observed:
(a) that this is not a necessary signification of the phrase, since no one can show that
this is the only proper meaning which could be given to the words, and therefore the
phrase cannot be adduced to prove that he is himself a created being. If it were
demonstrated from other sources that Christ was, in fact, a created being, and the first
that God had made, it cannot be denied that this language would appropriately express
that fact. But it cannot be made out from the mere use of the language here; and as the
language is susceptible of other interpretations, it cannot be employed to prove that
Christ is a created being.
(b) Such an interpretation would be at variance with all those passages which speak of
him as uncreated and eternal; which ascribe divine attributes to him; which speak of him
as himself the Creator of all things. Compare Joh_1:1-3; Col_1:16; Heb_1:2,
Heb_1:6,Heb_1:8, Heb_1:10-12. The third signification, therefore, remains, that he is
“the beginning of the creation of God,” in the sense that he is the head or prince of the
creation; that is, that he presides over it so far as the purposes of redemption are to be
accomplished, and so far as is necessary for those purposes. This is:
(1) In accordance with the meaning of the word, Luk_12:11; Luk_20:20, et al. ut
supra; and,
(2) In accordance with the uniform statements respecting the Redeemer, that “all
power is given unto him in heaven and in earth” Mat_28:18; that God has “given
him power over all flesh” Joh_17:2; that all things are “put under his feet” the.
Joh_2:8; 1Co_15:27); that he is exalted over all things, Eph_1:20-22. Having this
rank, it was proper that he should speak with authority to the church at Laodicea.
2. CLARKE, "These things saith the Amen - That is, He who is true or faithful;
from ‫אמן‬ aman, he was tree; immediately interpreted, The faithful and true witness. See
Rev_1:5.
The beginning of the creation of God - That is, the head and governor of all
creatures: the king of the creation. See on Col_1:15 (note). By his titles, here, he prepares

3. them for the humiliating and awful truths which he was about to declare, and the
authority on which the declaration was founded.
3. GILL, "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,.... Of the
city of Laodicea; see Gill on Rev_1:11; there was a church here in the times of the Apostle
Paul; by whom it was founded is not known; mention is made of it in Col_2:1, who was
now the angel, or pastor of it, whether Epaphras, who is there named, or another, is not
certain. According to the Apostolical Constitutions (t), Archippus was ordained bishop of
it by the apostles; see Col_4:16. There was a church here in the second century, for
Sagaris, bishop of it, suffered martyrdom in the times of Antoninus Verus (u); and in the
"fourth" century, this church was famous for two eminent bishops, Theodorus and
Gregory; and in the "fifth" century, it was the metropolitan church of Phrygia, as it was in
the "seventh" century, in which age Tyberius, bishop of this place, was in the sixth synod
at Constantinople (w); but now it is even without inhabitants (x). This church represents
the state of the church, from the end of the spiritual reign of Christ, till the time of his
personal appearing and kingdom, to judge the quick and dead; for after the spiritual
reign is over, professors of religion will sink into a formality, and into a lukewarm frame
of spirit, and into great spiritual sloth and security, Rev_3:15, which will make those
times like the times of Noah and of Lot; and such will be the days of the coming of the
son of man to judge the world. Its name signifies either "the righteousness of the
people"; and so may point at that popular and external righteousness, which the majority
of the professors of religion in this period of time will be boasting of, and trusting in;
being self-sufficient, and self-dependent, when at the same time they will be naked, as
well as poor and blind, Rev_3:17; or it signifies "the judging of the people"; for this
church state, at the end of it, will bring on the general judgment; the Judge will now be at
the door indeed, standing and knocking; and they that are ready to meet the bridegroom,
when he comes, will be admitted into the nuptial chamber, and sit down with him in his
throne, in the thousand years' kingdom, at the close of which will be the second
resurrection, when all the people, small and great, shall be judged, Rev_3:19.
These things saith the Amen; see Isa_65:16; The word "Amen" is the name of a
divine Person with the Jews, and it seems the second Person; for so on those words in
Pro_8:30; "then was I by him as one brought up with him", they observe (y), do not read
"Amon", the word there used, but "Amen"; and, a little after, "Amen", they say, is the
"notaricon", or sign of ‫נאמן‬ ‫מלך‬ ‫,אל‬ "God the faithful King"; they make (z) "Amen" to be one of
the names of the second "Sephira", or number in the Cabalistic tree, by whom the second Person
in the Godhead seems to be designed: and they say (a), that the word "Amen", by gematry (or
numerically) answers to the two names "Jehovah, Adonai". Christ may be so called, because he is
the God of truth, and truth itself; and it may be expressive of his faithfulness, both to God his
Father, and to his people, in whom all the promises he either made, or received, are yea and
amen; and also of the firmness, constancy, and immutability of Christ, in his nature, person, and
offices, in his love, fulness of grace, power, blood, and righteousness; and is very appropriately
assumed by him now, when he was about to give the finishing stroke to all covenant engagements,
and to all promises and prophesies; see Rev_1:18.

4. The faithful and true witnessThe faithful and true witnessThe faithful and true witnessThe faithful and true witness; who as he was in the days of his flesh; see Gill on Rev_1:5; so he
will be at the day of judgment, a swift witness against all ungodly men; and he may the rather take
up this title, not only on that account, but to show that the description he gives of the state and
condition of this church is just, Rev_3:15; and to engage it to take his advice the more readily,
Rev_3:18; and to assure it of the nearness of his coming, Rev_3:20; and to strengthen the faith of
his people, and quicken their hope and expectation of the happiness with him promised,
Rev_3:21; the same character is given to the Logos, or Word of the Lord, by the Targumist in
Jer_42:5, let the Word of the Lord be to us ‫ומהימן‬ ‫קשוט‬ ‫,לסהיך‬ "for a true and faithful witness"; the
very phrase here used,
The beginning of the creation of GodThe beginning of the creation of GodThe beginning of the creation of GodThe beginning of the creation of God; not the first creature that God made, but the first cause of
the creation; the first Parent, producer, and efficient cause of every creature; the author of the
old creation, who made all things out of nothing in the beginning of time; and of the new
creation, the everlasting Father of, everyone that is made a new creature; the Father of the world
to come, or of the new age and Gospel dispensation; the Maker of the new heaven and new earth;
and so a very fit person to be the Judge of the whole world, to summon all nations before him,
and pass the final sentence on them. The phrase is Jewish, and it is a title the Jews give to
Metatron, by whom they sometimes mean the Messiah; so those words in Gen_24:2, and
Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, they paraphrase thus (b),
""and Abraham said unto his servant", this is Metatron, (or the Mediator,) the servant of God,
"the eldest of his house"; for he is ‫מקום‬ ‫של‬ ‫בריותיו‬ ‫,תחלת‬ "the beginning of the creation of God",
who rules over all that he has; for to him the holy blessed God has given the government of all his
hosts.
Christ is the αρχη, "the Prince", or Governor of all creatures,
4. HE RY, "We now come to the last and worst of all the seven Asian churches, the
reverse of the church of Philadelphia; for, as there was nothing reproved in that, here is
nothing commended in this, and yet this was one of the seven golden candlesticks, for a
corrupt church may still be a church. Here we have, as before,
I. The inscription, to whom, and from whom. 1. To whom: To the angel of the church
of Laodicea. This was a once famous city near the river Lycus, had a wall of vast
compass, and three marble theatres, and, like Rome, was built on seven hills. It seems,
the apostle Paul was very instrumental in planting the gospel in this city, from which he
wrote a letter, as he mentions in the epistle to the Colossians, the last chapter, in which

5. he sends salutations to them, Laodicea not being above twenty miles distant from
Colosse. In this city was held a council in the fourth century, but it has been long since
demolished, and lies in its ruins to this day, an awful monument of the wrath of the
Lamb. 2. From whom this message was sent. Here our Lord Jesus styles himself the
Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. (1.) The
Amen, one that is steady and unchangeable in all his purposes and promises, which are
all yea, and all amen. (2.) The faithful and true witness, whose testimony of God to men
ought to be received and fully believed, and whose testimony of men to God will be fully
believed and regarded, and will be a swift but true witness against all indifferent
lukewarm professors. (3.) The beginning of the creation of God, either of the first
creation, and so he is the beginning, that is, the first cause, the Creator, and the Governor
of it; or of the second creation, the church; and so he is the head of that body, the first-
born from the dead, as it is in Rev_1:5, whence these titles are taken. Christ, having
raised up himself by his own divine power, as the head of a new world, raises up dead
souls to be a living temple and church to himself.
5. JAMISO , "Laodiceans — The city was in the southwest of Phrygia, on the river
Lycus, not far from Colosse, and lying between it and Philadelphia. It was destroyed by
an earthquake, a.d. 62, and rebuilt by its wealthy citizens without the help of the state
[Tacitus, Annals, 14.27]. This wealth (arising from the excellence of its wools) led to a
self-satisfied, lukewarm state in spiritual things, as Rev_3:17 describes. See on Col_4:16,
on the Epistle which is thought to have been written to the Laodicean Church by Paul.
The Church in latter times was apparently flourishing; for one of the councils at which
the canon of Scripture was determined was held in Laodicea in a.d. 361. Hardly a
Christian is now to be found on or near its site.
the Amen — (Isa_65:16, Hebrew, “Bless Himself in the God of Amen ... swear by the
God of Amen,” 2Co_1:20). He who not only says, but is, the Truth. The saints used Amen
at the end of prayer, or in assenting to the word of God; but none, save the Son of God,
ever said, “Amen, I say unto you,” for it is the language peculiar to God, who avers by
Himself. The New Testament formula, “Amen. I say unto you,” is equivalent to the Old
Testament formula, “as I live, saith Jehovah.” In John’s Gospel alone He uses (in the
Greek) the double “Amen,” Joh_1:51; Joh_3:3, etc.; in English Version,” Verily, verily.”
The title happily harmonizes with the address. His unchanging faithfulness as “the
Amen” contrasts with Laodicea’s wavering of purpose, “neither hot nor cold” (Rev_3:16).
The angel of Laodicea has with some probability been conjectured to be Archippus, to
whom, thirty years previously, Paul had already given a monition, as needing to be
stirred up to diligence in his ministry. So the Apostolic Constitutions, [8.46], name him
as the first bishop of Laodicea: supposed to be the son of Philemon (Phm_1:2).
faithful and true witness — As “the Amen” expresses the unchangeable truth of His
promises; so “the faithful the true witness,” the truth of His revelations as to the
heavenly things which He has seen and testifies. “Faithful,” that is, trustworthy
(2Ti_2:11, 2Ti_2:13). “True” is here (Greek, “alethinos”) not truth-speaking (Greek,
“alethes”), but “perfectly realizing all that is comprehended in the name Witness”
(1Ti_6:13). Three things are necessary for this: (1) to have seen with His own eyes what
He attests; (2) to be competent to relate it for others; (3) to be willing truthfully to do so.
In Christ all these conditions meet [Trench].
beginning of the creation of God — not he whom God created first, but as in
Col_1:15-18 (see on Col_1:15-18), the Beginner of all creation, its originating instrument.
All creation would not be represented adoring Him, if He were but one of themselves.

6. His being the Creator is a strong guarantee for His faithfulness as “the Witness and
Amen.”
6. PULPIT, "The epistle to the Church in Laodicea. Laodicea, on the Lycus, a tributary of the
Maeander, lay some fifty miles to the south-east of Philadelphia. The modern Turkish
name, Eskihissar,signifies "the old castle." It is situated on the western side of the valley of the
Lycus, on the opposite slopes of which, some six or eight miles distant, were Hierapolis and
Colossae, with which it is associated by St. Paul (Col_4:13, Col_4:16). Named at first Diosopolis,
after its tutelary deity, Zeus, it subsequently became Rheas, and finally received its name from
Antiochus II., in honour of his wife, Laodice. There were several other cities of the same name, from
which it was distinguished by the addition of the words, "on the Lycus." It was a wealthy city, its
trade consisting chiefly in the preparation of woollen materials. It was advantageously situated, too,
on the high road leading from Ephesus into the interior. Though, in common with the other cities of
Asia Minor, visited by earthquakes, it quickly recovered; and it was the proud boast of the
Laodiceans that, unlike Ephesus and Sardis, they required no extraneous assistance to enable
them to regain their former prosperity. This fact undoubtedly explains the temptations to which the
Laodiceans were liable, and the reference in Rev_3:16 to those who were neither cold nor hot, and
that in Rev_3:17 to those who said they were rich and had need of nothing (see
on Rev_3:16, Rev_3:17). The Christian Church there may have been founded by Epaphras, through
whom St. Paul probably learned of the existence of false doctrine there
(Col_2:4, Col_2:8 and Col_1:8), for the Epistle to the Colossians seems to be equally addressed to
the Laodiceans (Col_4:16). The importance of this Church continued for some time, the celebrated
Council of Laodicea being held there in A.D. 361, and a century later its bishop held a prominent
position. But its influence gradually waned, and the Turks pressed hardly upon it; so that at the
present time it is little more than a heap of ruins. The warnings of the Apostles SS. Paul and John, if
heeded at all for a time, were forgotten, and her candlestick was removed.
Rev_3:14
And unto the angel. Those expositors who understand "the angel" of a Church to signify its
chief officer, may with some plausibility argue that at Laodicea it seems almost certain that this was
Archippus. In his Epistle to Philemon, a wealthy convert of Colossae, St. Paul sends greeting to
Archippus (Phm_1:2). If Archippus were the son of philemon, he might very well have been Bishop
of Laodicea at the time of St. John's message. Moreover, the son of a wealthy and influential
Christian, though likely to have been selected as bishop in the neighbouring Church, may have
lacked the zeal necessary for the thorough performance of his work; and would thus incur the
marked rebuke of St. Paul, "Say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in
the Lord, that thou fulfil it" (Col_4:17), which appears immediately after the mention of the
Laodicean Church. The Apostolical Constitutions also assert that Archippus was first Bishop of
Laodicea. Of the Church of the Laodiceans write; or, of the Church in Laodicea ( τῆς ἐν Λαοδικαίᾳ
ἐκκλησίας ). These things saith the Amen. The word "Amen" is here used as a proper name of our
Lord; and this is the only instance of such an application. It signifies the "True One." It is a word
much used in St. John's Gospel, where it appears repeated at the commencement of many
discourses, "Verily, verily." In Isa_65:16 "the God of Amen" ( ðí )) is rendered in the LXX.
by ἀληθινός ; in the Authorized Version by "truth" (cf. the use of the English "very" as an adjective
—"the very one," i.e. the real or true one). The term is peculiarly well adapted to our Lord (who is
the Truth, Joh_14:6), not only as a general name or title, but especially in connexion with this
solemn announcement to the Laodiceans. There was great need of the truth being openly
proclaimed by him who is the Truth to those who, though nominally Christians, were ensnared by
the deceitfulness of riches (Mat_13:22), and were deceiving themselves in the attempt to make the
best of both worlds by their lukewarm Christianity. It was the purpose of this epistle to draw aside
the veil which was hiding the truth from their eyes, and to bring them to a realization of that most

7. difficult of all knowledge—a knowledge of self. The faithful and true Witness—an amplification of
"the Amen." The epithet "faithful" asserts the truthfulness of Christ's work as a Witness; "true"
( ἀληθινός ) signifies "real and complete." He is a faithful Witness because his witness is true; and
he is a true Witness because in him is the complete realization of all the qualifications which
constitute any one really and truly a witness. "Faithful" ( πιστός ) has the passive meaning of "that
which is worthy of faith," not the active meaning of "he who believes something." Trench well points
out that God can only be faithful in the former sense; man may be faithful in beth senses. Christ was
a Witness worthy of faith, since he possessed all the attributes of such a witness. He
(1) had seen what he attested;
(2) was competent to relate and reproduce this information;
(3) was willing to do this faithfully and truly.
The Beginning of the creation of God. There are two ways in which these words might be
understood:
(1) that in which "beginning" is taken in a passive sense, and which would therefore make Christ
the first created thing of all the things which God created;
(2) the active sense, by which Christ is described as the Beginner, the Author, Moving Principle or
Source of all the things which God created. That the latter meaning is the true one is plain from the
whole tenor of Holy Scripture. The Ariaus, attempting to disprove the Divinity of our Lord, quoted
this passage, attributing to it the former sense. But ἀρχή is often used actively, and may well be so
used here—a view which is confirmed by the abundant evidence of our Lord's Divinity found
elsewhere in the Bible, and nowhere more plainly asserted than in the writings of St. John. The self-
reliant Laodiceans are thus directed to place their trust in him who is the Source of all things, rather
than in those created things of which he is the Creator.
7. BARCLAY, “LAODICEA, THE CHURCH CONDEMNED
Laodicea has the grim distinction of being the only Church of which the Risen Christ has nothing
good to say.
In the ancient world there were at least six cities called Laodicea and this one was called
Laodicea on the Lycus to distinguish it from the others. It was founded about 250 B.C. by
Antiochus of Syria and was named after his wife Laodice.
Its importance was due entirely to its position. The road from Ephesus to the east and to Syria
was the most important in Asia. It began at the coast at Ephesus and it had to find a way to climb
up to the central plateau 8,500 feet up. It set out along the valley of the River Maeander until it
reached what were known as the Gates of Phrygia. Beyond this point lay a broad valley where
Lydia, Phrygia and Caria met. The Maeander entered that valley by a narrow, precipitous gorge
through which no road could pass. The road, therefore, detoured through the Lycus valley. In that
valley Laodicea stood.
It was literally astride the great road to the east which went straight through Laodicea, entering by
the Ephesian Gate and leaving by the Syrian Gate. That in itself would have been enough to
make Laodicea one of the great commercial and strategic centres of the ancient world. Originally
Laodicea had been a fortress; but it had the serious handicap that all its water supply had to
come by underground aqueduct from springs no less than six miles away, a perilous situation for
a town besieged. Two other roads passed through the gates of Laodicea, that from Pergamum
and the Hermus Valley to Pisidia and Pamphylia and the coast at Perga and that from eastern

8. Caria to central and west Phrygia.
As Ramsay says: "It only needed peace to make Laodicea a great commercial and financial
centre." That peace came with the dominion of Rome. When the Roman peace gave it its
opportunity it became, as Pliny called it, "a most distinguished city."
Laodicea had certain characteristics which have left their mark on the letter written to it.
(i) It was a great banking and financial centre. When Cicero was travelling in Asia Minor it was at
Laodicea that he cashed his letters of credit. It was one of the wealthiest cities in the world. In
A.D. 61 it was devastated by an earthquake; but so rich and independent were its citizens that
they refused any help from the Roman government and out of their own resources rebuilt their
city. Tacitus writes: "One of the most famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was in that same year
overthrown by an earthquake and without any relief from us recovered itself by its own resources"
(Tacitus: Annals 14: 27). No wonder that Laodicea could boast that it was rich and had amassed
wealth and had need of nothing. It was so wealthy that it did not even need God.
(ii) It was a great centre of clothing manufacture. The sheep which grazed round Laodicea were
famous for their soft, violet-black, glossy wool. It mass-produced cheap outer garments. It was
specially connected with a tunic called the trimita, so much so, indeed, that it was sometimes
called Trimitaria. Laodicea was so proud of the garments it produced that it never realized it was
naked in the sight of God.
(iii) It was a very considerable medical centre. Thirteen miles to the west, between Laodicea and
the Gate of Phrygia, stood the temple of the Carian god Men. At one time that temple was the
social, administrative and commercial centre of the whole area. Until less than a hundred years
ago great markets were regularly held on its site. In particular the temple was the centre of a
medical school which was transferred to Laodicea itself. So famous were its doctors that the
names of some appear on the coins of Laodicea. Two of them were called Zeuxis and Alexander
Philalethes.
This medical school was famous for two things throughout the world, ointment for the ear and
ointment for the eyes. The King James and Revised Standard Versions speak of eye-salve. The
word for salve is kollourion (GSN2854) which literally means a little roll of bread. The reason for
the word is that this famous tephra Phrygia, Phrygian powder, was exported all over the world in
solidified tablet form in the shape of little rolls. Laodicea was so conscious of its medical skill in
the care of the eyes that it never realized that it was spiritually blind.
The words of the Risen Christ arise directly from the prosperity and the skill in which Laodicea
took so much pride and which had in the minds of its citizens, and even of its Church, eliminated
the need for God.
(iv) We add a final fact about Laodicea. It was in an area where there was a very large Jewish
population. So many Jews emigrated here that the Rabbis inveighed against the Jews who
sought the wines and baths of Phrygia. In 62 B.C. Flaccus, the governor of the province, became
alarmed at the amount of currency which the Jews were exporting in payment of the Temple tax
which every male Jew paid and put an embargo on the export of currency. The result was that
twenty pounds weight of gold was seized as contraband in Laodicea and one hundred pounds in
Apameia in Phrygia. That amount of gold would be equal to 15,000 silver drachmae. The Jewish
Temple tax amounted to half a shekel, which was equal to two drachmae. This means that in the
district there were at least 7,500 male Jews. In Hierapolis, six miles away from Laodicea, there
was a "Congregation of Jews" which had power to levy and to retain fines, and an archive office
where Jewish legal documents were specially kept. There can have been few areas where the
Jews were wealthier and more influential.
LAODICEA, THE CLAIMS OF CHRIST

9. Rev. 3:14-22 (continued)
Of all the seven Churches that of Laodicea is most unsparingly condemned. In it there is no
redeeming feature. It is interesting to note that the third century work The Apostolic Constitutions
(8: 46) says that Archippus was the first Bishop of the Church in Laodicea. When Paul was writing
to the neighbouring Church of Colossae, he says sternly: "Say to Archippus, See that you fulfil the
ministry which you have received in the Lord" (Col.4:17). It would seem that Archippus was
somehow failing in his duty. That was thirty years before the Revelation was written; but it may be
that as long ago as that the rot had set in in the Church in Laodicea and an unsatisfactory
ministry had sown the seeds of degeneration.
Like all the letters it begins with a series of great titles of Jesus Christ.
(i) He is the Amen. This is a strange title and may go back to either of two origins.
(a) In Isa.65:16 God is called the God of truth; but in the Hebrew he is called the God of Amen.
Amen is the word which is often put at the end of a solemn statement in order to guarantee its
truth. If God is the God of Amen, he is utterly to be relied upon. This would mean that Jesus
Christ is the One whose promises are true beyond all doubt.
(b) In John's gospel Jesus' statements often begin: "Truly, truly, I say to you" (e.g. Jn.1:51;
Jn.3:3,5,11). The Greek for truly is Amen. It is possible that when Jesus Christ is called the Amen
it is a reminiscence of his own way of speaking. The meaning would be the same, Jesus is one
whose promises can be relied upon.
(ii) He is the witness on whom we can rely and who is true. Trench points out that a witness must
satisfy three essential conditions. (a) He must have seen with his own eyes that of which he tells.
(b) He must be absolutely honest, so that he repeats with accuracy that which he has heard and
seen. (c) He must have the ability to tell what he has to say, so that his witness may make its true
impression on those who hear. Jesus Christ perfectly satisfied these conditions. He can tell of
God, because he came from him. We can rely on his words for he is the Amen. He is able to tell
his message, for never did man speak as he did.
(iii) As the Revised Standard Version has it, he is the beginning of God's creation. This phrase, as
it stands in English, is ambiguous. It could mean, either, that Jesus was the first person to be
created or that he began the process of creation, as Trench put it, "dynamically the beginning." It
is the second meaning which is intended here. The word for beginning is arche (GSN0746). In
early Christian writings we read that Satan is the arche (GSN0746) of death, that is to say, death
takes its origin in him; and that God is the arche (GSN0746) of all things, that is, all things find
their beginning in him.
The connection of the Son with creation is frequently made in the New Testament. John begins
his gospel by saying of the Word: "All things were made through him, and without him was not
anything made that was made" (Jn.1:3). "In him," says Paul, "all things were created"
(Col.1:15,18). The insistence on the Son's part in creation was due to the heretics who explained
sin and disease by saying that the world had been created by a false and inferior god. It is the
Christian insistence that this world is God's creation and that its sin and sorrow are not his fault,
but are caused by the disobedience of men. As the Christian sees it, the God of creation and the
God of redemption are one and the same.
LAODICEA, NEITHER ONE THING NOR ANOTHER
Rev. 3:14-22 (continued)
The condemnation of Laodicea begins with a picture of almost crude vividness; because the

10. Laodiceans are neither cold nor hot, they have about them a kind of nauseating quality, which will
make the Risen Christ vomit them out of his mouth.
The exact meaning of the words is to be noted. Cold is psuchros (GSN5593); and it can mean
cold to the point of freezing. Ecclesiasticus (Sir.43:20) speaks of the cold north wind which makes
the ice congeal upon the waters. Hot is zestos (GSN2200); and it means hot to boiling point.
Tepid is chliaros (GSN5513). Things which are tepid often have a nauseating effect. Hot food and
cold food can both be appetizing, but tepid food will often make the stomach turn. Directly
opposite Laodicea, on the other bank of the Lycus, and in full view, stood Hierapolis, famous for
its hot mineral springs. Often hot mineral springs are nauseating in their taste and make the
person who drinks them want to be physically sick. That is the way in which the Church at
Laodicea affected the Risen Christ. Here is something to make us think:
(i) The one attitude which the Risen Christ unsparingly condemns is indifference. It has been said
that an author can write a good biography if he loves his subject or hates him but not if he is
coldly indifferent. Of all things indifference is the hardest to combat. The problem of modern
evangelism is not hostility to Christianity; it would be better if it were so. The problem is that to so
many Christianity and the Church have ceased to have any relevance and men regard them with
complete indifference. This indifference can be broken down only by the actual demonstration
that Christianity is a power to make life strong and a grace to make life beautiful.
(ii) The one impossible attitude to Christianity is neutrality. Jesus Christ works through men; and
the man who remains completely detached in his attitude to him has by that very fact refused to
undertake the work which is the divine purpose for him. The man who will not submit to Christ has
necessarily resisted him.
(iii) Hard as it may sound, the meaning of this terrible threat of the Risen Christ is that it is better
not even to start on the Christian way than to start and then to drift into a conventional and
meaningless Christianity. The fire must be kept burning. There is an unwritten saying of Jesus:
"He who is near me is near the fire." And the way to "maintain the spiritual glow" (Rom.12:11,
Moffatt) is to live close to Christ.
LAODICEA, THE WEALTH THAT IS POVERTY
Rev. 3:14-22 (continued)
The tragedy of Laodicea was that it was convinced of its own wealth and blind to its own poverty.
Humanly speaking, anyone would say that there was not a more prosperous town in Asia Minor.
Spiritually speaking, the Risen Christ declares that there was not a more poverty-stricken
community. Laodicea prided itself on three things; and each is taken in turn and shown at its true
value.
(i) It prided itself on its financial wealth. It was rich and had acquired wealth and had need of
nothing--so it thought. The Risen Christ advises Laodicea to buy gold refined in the fire. It may be
that gold tried in the fire stands for faith for it is thus that Peter describes faith (1Pet.1:7). Wealth
can do much but there are things that it can never do. It cannot buy happiness nor give a man
health either of body or of mind; it cannot bring comfort in sorrow nor fellowship in loneliness. If all
that a man has to meet life with is wealth, he is poor indeed. But if a man has a faith tried and
refined in the crucible of experience, there is nothing which he cannot face; and he is rich indeed.
(ii) Laodicea prided itself on its clothing trade. The garments made there were famous over all the
world, and the wool of the sheep of Laodicea was a luxury article which all men knew, But, says
the Risen Christ, Laodicea is spiritually naked; if it wants really to be clothed it must come to him.
The Risen Christ speaks of "the shame of the nakedness of Laodicea."
This would mean even more in the ancient world than now. In the ancient world to be stripped

11. naked was the worst humiliation. It was thus that Hanum treated the servants of David
(2Sam.10:4). The threat to Egypt is that Assyria will lead her people naked and barefoot
(Isa.20:4). It was Ezekiel's threat to Israel that her enemies would strip her of her clothes
(Eze.16:37-39; Eze.23:26-29; compare Hos.2:3,9; Mic.1:8,11). God's threat passed on by Nahum
to the disobedient people was: "I will let nations look on your nakedness, and on your kingdoms
shame" (Nah.3:5). On the other hand, to be clothed in fine raiment was the greatest honour.
Pharaoh honoured Joseph by clothing him in vestures of fine linen (Gen.41:42). Daniel is clothed
in purple by Belshazzar (Dn.5:29). The royal apparel is for the man whom the king honours
(Esth.6:6-11). When the prodigal son returns, it is the best robe that is put upon him (Lk.15:22).
Laodicea prides itself on the magnificent garments it produces but spiritually it is naked and
nakedness is shame. The Risen Christ urges it to buy white raiment from him. This may well
stand for the beauties of life and character which only the grace of Christ can give. There is little
point in a man adorning his body, if he has nothing to adorn his soul. Not all the clothes in the
world will beautify a person whose nature is twisted and whose character is ugly.
(iii) Laodicea prided itself on its famous eye-salve; but the facts of the case show that it was blind
to its own poverty and nakedness. Trench says: "The beginning of all true amendment is to see
ourselves as we are." All eye-salves in the ancient world caused the eyes to smart at their first
application, and Laodicea had no wish to see itself as it was.
LAODICEA, LOVE'S CHASTISEMENT
Rev. 3:14-22 (continued)
Rev. 3:19 is one whose teaching runs throughout Scripture. "I rebuke and discipline all those
whom I love." There is a very lovely thing about the way this is put. It is a quotation from
Prov.3:12, but one word is altered. In the Greek of the Septuagint the word for love is agapan
(GSN0025) which indicates the unconquerable attitude of goodwill which nothing can turn to hate;
but it is a word which maybe has more of the head than the heart in it; and in the quotation the
Risen Christ changes agapan (GSN0025) to philein (GSN5368) which is the most tender
affection. We might well paraphrase it: "It is the people who are dearest to me on whom I exercise
the sternest discipline."
Let us first take the word rebuke. The Greek is elegchein (GSN1651) and it describes the kind of
rebuke which compels a man to see the error of his ways. Elegchos (GSN1650) is the
corresponding noun, and Aristotle defines it: "Elegchos (GSN1650) is the proof that a thing
cannot be otherwise than we say." The most vivid example of this kind of rebuke is the way in
which Nathan opened David's eyes to his sin (2Sam.12:1-14). The rebuke of God is not so much
punishment as illumination.
Let us see how the idea of discipline runs through the Bible.
lt is very characteristic of the teaching of Proverbs. "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he
who loves him is diligent to discipline him" (Prov.13:24). "Withhold not correction from the child;
for, if you beat him with a rod he will not die. If you beat him with the rod you will save his life from
Sheol" (Prov.23:13-14). "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Prov.27:6). "The rod and reproof
give wisdom; but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. . . . Discipline your son and he
will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart" (Prov.29:15,17). "Blessed is the man whom
thou dost chasten, O Lord, and whom thou dost teach out of thy law" (Ps.94:12). "Behold, happy
is the man whom God reproves; therefore, despise not the chastening of the Almighty" (Jb.5:17).
"We are chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned along with the world"
(1Cor.11:32). "For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves and chastises every son whom he
receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is testing you as sons; for what son is
there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have
participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (Heb.11:6,8). "He that loveth his son

12. will continue to lay stripes upon him, that he may have joy of him in the end. He that chastiseth
his son shall have profit of him and shall glory of him among his acquaintances" (Ecc.30:1).
It is, in fact, God's final punishment to leave a man alone. "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him
alone" (Hos.4:17). As Trench has it: "The great Master-builder squares and polishes with many
strokes of the chisel and hammer the stones which shall find a place at last in the walls of the
heavenly Jerusalem.... It is the crushed grape, and not the untouched, from which the costly
liquor distils." There is no surer way of allowing a child to end in ruin than to allow him to do as he
likes. It is a fact of life that the best athlete and the finest scholar receive the most demanding
training. The discipline of God is not something which we should resent, but something for which
we should be devoutly thankful.
LAODICEA, THE CHRIST WHO KNOCKS
Rev. 3:14-22 (continued)
In Rev. 3:20 we have one of the most famous pictures of Jesus in the whole New Testament.
"Behold," says the Risen Christ, "I am standing at the door and knocking." This picture has been
derived from two different sources.
(i) It has been taken as a warning that the end is near, and that the Coming of Christ is at hand.
The Christian must be ready to open whenever he hears his Lord knocking (Lk.12:36). When the
signs come, the Christian will know that the last time is near, even at the doors (Mk.13:29;
Matt.24:33). The Christian must live well and live in love because the judge is standing at the
doors (Jas.5:9). It is true that the New Testament uses this picture to express the imminence of
the coming of Christ. If that is the picture here, this phrase contains a warning and tells men to
have a care, for Jesus Christ the Judge and King is at the door.
(ii) We cannot say that that meaning is impossible and yet it does not seem to fit the context, for
the atmosphere of the passage is not so much warning as love. It is much better to take this
saying of Christ as expressing the appeal of the lover of the souls of men. The origin of the
passage is much more likely to be in Solomon's Song when the lover stands at the door of his
beloved and pleads with her to open. "Hark! my beloved is knocking. Open to me, my sister, my
love, my dove, perfect one" (SS.5:2-6). Here is Christ the lover knocking at the door of the hearts
of men. And in this picture we see certain great truths of the Christian religion.
(a) We see the pleading of Christ. He stands at the door of the human heart and knocks. The
unique new fact that Christianity brought into this world is that God is the seeker of men. No other
religion has the vision of a seeking God.
In his book Out of Nazareth Donald Baillie cites three witnesses to the uniqueness of this
conception. Montefiore, the great Jewish scholar, said that the one thing which no Jewish prophet
or Rabbi ever conceived of is the "conception of God actually going out in quest of sinful men,
who were not seeking him, but who were turned away from him." The National Christian Council
of Japan in a document found the distinctive difference of Christianity from all other religions in,
"Man not seeking God, but God taking the initiative in seeking man." St. Bernard away back in the
twelfth century used often to say to his monks that, "However early they might wake and rise for
prayer in their chapel on a cold mid-winter morning or even in the dead of night, they would
always find God awake before them, waiting for them--nay, it was he who had awakened them to
seek his face."
Here is the picture of Christ searching for sinful men who did not want him. Surely love can go no
further than that.
(b) We see the offer of Christ. As the King James Version has it, "I will come in and sup with him."
The word translated "sup" is deipnein (GSN1172) and its corresponding noun is deipnon

13. (GSN1173). The Greeks had three meals in the day. There was akratisma, breakfast, which was
no more than a piece of dried bread dipped in wine. There was ariston (GSN0712), the midday
meal. A man did not go home for it; it was simply a picnic snack eaten by the side of the
pavement, or in some colonnade, or in the city square. There was deipnon (GSN1173); this was
the evening meal; the main meal of the day; people lingered over it, for the day's work was done.
It was the deipnon (GSN1173) that Christ would share with the man who answered his knock, no
hurried meal, but that where people lingered in fellowship. If a man will open the door, Jesus
Christ will come in and linger long with him.
(iii) We see human responsibility. Christ knocks and a man can answer or refuse to answer.
Christ does not break in; he must be invited in. Even on the Emmaus road, "He appeared to be
going further" (Lk.24:28). Holman Hunt was right when in his famous picture The Light of the
World he painted the door of the human heart with no handle on the outside, for it can be opened
only from within. 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." The man who refuses to open is "blindly at strife with his own blessedness." He
is a "miserable conqueror."
Christ pleads and offers; but it is all to no avail if a man will not open the door.
THIS MEANS YOU
Rev. 3:14-22 (continued)
The promise of the Risen Christ is that the victor will sit with him in his own victorious throne. We
will get the picture right if we remember that the eastern throne was more like a couch than a
single seat. The victor in life will share the throne of the victorious Christ.
Every letter finishes with the words: "Let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the
Churches." This saying does two things.
(i) It individualizes the message of the letters. It says to every man: "This means you." So often
we listen to a message which comes through a preacher and apply it to everyone but ourselves.
In our heart of hearts we believe that the stern words cannot possibly be meant for us and that
the promises are too good to be true for us. This phrase says to every one of us: "All these things
are meant for you."
(ii) It generalizes the message of the letters. It means that their message was not confined to the
people in the seven Churches nineteen hundred years ago, but that through them the Spirit is
speaking to every man in every generation. We have set these letters carefully against the local
situations to which they were addressed; but their message is not local and temporary. It is
eternal and in them the Spirit still speaks to us.
8. CHARLES SIMEO , “Rev_3:14-16. 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; I
know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because
thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
WHEREVER the leading truths of Christianity are maintained and professed, there may be said to
be a Church of Christ. But it is too often found, that the angels or ministers of such Churches go on
in the external exercise of their functions, without ever feeling the influence of the truth upon their
own souls, or stimulating their people to high and heavenly attainments. Thus it was with the Church
at Laodicea: the pastor and the flock had shamefully degenerated from their former experience; and
were resting in a state worse than any other of the Churches in Asia; a state wherein their Lord
could see nothing to approve, but every thing to condemn. Having occasion to testify against them
in so severe a manner, our Lord described himself precisely in such terms as the occasion required.

14. Being about to declare what their inward experience was, as opposed to their outward appearance
and profession, he spake of himself as “the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness,” whose testimony
could not be controverted or questioned: he spake of himself, also, as “the Beginning,” that is, the
Efficient Cause, or Ruler and Governor [Note: ἡἈ ñ ÷ ὴ .], “of the creation of God;” who, having all
things at his disposal, would with irresistible power execute all that his wisdom had decreed, and his
lips had spoken. Such being his perfections, “he could not be deceived, and would not be mocked.”
In all of this we are interested, even as they; being alike bound to submit to his reproofs, and to
dread his displeasure. Bearing in mind, then, what a glorious Being we have for our Judge, let us,
with becoming reverence, consider,
I. His reproof of that lukewarm Church—
Hear his testimony respecting them—
[“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot.” Doubtless there was amongst them “a form of
godliness:” but they were altogether “destitute of its power [Note: 2Ti_3:5.].” They would so far
maintain religion, as to keep up a fair character before men; but not so regard it, as to approve
themselves to God. If only they “had a name to live,” it was all that they felt any concern about
[Note: ver. 1.]. In all the sublimer exercises of piety they were habitually and wilfully deficient. As for
delight in God, and zeal for his glory, they sought not any such attainments. They had fixed for
themselves a far lower standard, which required little, if any, exertion on their part; and beyond that
they had no desire to advance.]
In just accordance with this was the judgment he denounced against them—
[“Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” The terms
here used to express the Saviour’s indignation against them are doubtless strong, and, to our
refined notions, offensive. But they declare precisely the lothing and abhorrence which such
professors excite in the bosom of a holy God. In truth, if we justly viewed the sinfulness of sin, and
estimated with any degree of accuracy its utter malignity, we should feel, that no terms whatever
can be too strong to express its odiousness, and the abhorrence in which it must of necessity be
held by God, not only when it is manifested in a way of gross excesses, but when it appears even in
a way of secret defect.]
From this address to the Church of Laodicea, we shall do well to consider,
II. The instruction which it conveys to us—
We must remember, that in every epistle we are called upon to “hear,” with self-application, “what
the Spirit saith unto the Churches.”
In this reproof, then, we are distinctly taught,
1. That the religion of the world is hateful to God—
[The world, especially the more sober and thoughtful part of it, approves and applauds religion,
when carried to a certain extent. But it is the external part of religion alone that commends itself to
the unregenerate man. That which is really spiritual and heavenly, is rather to him an object of
disgust. A carnal man will say, ‘Cast not off all religion: be not “cold,” and regardless of all sense of
duty to your God: but, on the other hand, lay not religion too much to heart, neither be “hot” after it,
as is the manner of some, who can scarcely speak or think of any thing else. Take a proper medium
between these extremes, being “neither overmuch righteous,” nor “overmuch wicked
[Note: Ecc_7:16-17.].” Avoid equally what has the character of profaneness, and that excessive

15. attention to divine things which borders on enthusiasm. Moderation is that which you must aim at;
even such a moderation, as, whilst it satisfies God, will give no offence to man.’ But what says God
to this? O brethren! far different from this is the standard which God approves; or, rather I should
say, it is the very reverse of this. Lukewarmness is that which God abhors, yea, so abhors it, that
nothing can be so offensive to the stomach of a man, as that is to him. He even declares,]
2. That, in some respects, it is worse than a total want of all religion—
[Beyond all doubt, morality is in itself better than immorality, and an outward respect for religion
better than down-right impiety and profaneness. But still, when our Lord says, “I would thou wert
cold or hot,” he must be understood to say, that, on the whole, either extreme would have been
preferable to the medium they had chosen. And this is true: for,
A mere formal religion is more dishonourable to God than open irreligion; because it is understood
by all the world as intimating, that such a measure of service is, in our opinion, all that God
deserves, and all that he requires; and that not even the love of God, in redeeming our souls by the
blood of his dear Son, merits at our hands any better return than this. The ungodly man’s life never
has any such construction put upon it.
A mere formal religion, also, is more injurious to our fellow-creatures: for it says to every one who
beholds us, This is the way to heaven: this is the precise path, in which, if you walk, you will attain
salvation. An ungodly man’s life conveys no such sentiment to those around him. Nobody looks to
him for a pattern; and therefore nobody is deceived by him: but by the formal or hypocritical
professor the world are stumbled, when they see how little good is effected by religion: and weak
Christians are kept back from aspiring after higher attainments.
A mere formal religion is yet further more fatal to our own souls.—A man without any religion is
open to conviction; and, if convinced of sin, will gladly accept the remedy provided for him in the
Gospel: whereas a lukewarm professor is satisfied with what he has attained, and will not be
persuaded that he needs any further progress.
Thus you perceive that the world and God are at issue upon this point: the world approving of no
religion but that which God hates; and God approving of none but that which the world abhors. God
says, “It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing [Note: Gal_4:18.].” The world, on
the contrary, says, ‘Be as zealously affected in worldly pursuits as you will; but never carry your zeal
into religion: in every thing that relates to God and to your souls, moderation and not zeal must
direct you.’ In confirmation of this, the world says, “Seek to enter in at the strait gate,” and all will be
well: but God warns us to the contrary, saying, “Strive to enter in; for many shall seek, and not be
able [Note: Luk_13:24.].” In a word, the world think it better to have no religion at all, than to be
wholly under its power; and God accounts it better to have none, than such as does not engage and
call into activity all the powers of the soul.]
Let me then entreat you, brethren,
1. To examine the state of your souls before God—
[You find that these persons, who were so reproved, thought themselves “rich and increased with
goods, and in need of nothing [Note: ver. 17.],” Beware lest ye also be led away by a similar
delusion. Try yourselves, not by the world’s standard, but God’s. To what purpose will it be to be
applauded by man, if God condemn? or what need you regard the judgment of man, if God
approve? Look into the Scriptures, and see, Which amongst the prophets did the world approve? or
which amongst the Apostles? or when did they approve even Christ himself? The zeal and piety of
these were objects of offence to the world, and to none more than to the self-righteous Pharisees:
and, if your religion be such as the world approves, you need no other evidence that you are yet in a

16. state offensive to God, and fatal to your souls. God “requires the heart [Note: Pro_23:26.];” and will
be satisfied with nothing less. “A divided heart” he abhors [Note:Hos_10:2.]. See to it, then, that you
give up yourselves to him without reserve; and let nothing under heaven interfere with your duty to
your God.
Yet let me not be mistaken, as recommending enthusiasm. No; brethren, I would be as averse to
enthusiasm as any; and would cry out against it as loudly as any. Enthusiasm consists in following
some conceits of our own, without duly attending to the word of God. Against that I would guard
you, with all my might. But the world condemns all vital and experimental religion as enthusiasm:
and by this device they seek to justify their own supineness. Be not ye, however, kept back by them;
but, in obedience to the written word, and in dependence upon divine grace, endeavour to serve
your God, as God himself is serving you, “with your whole hearts, and with your whole souls
[Note: Jer_32:41.].”]
2. To consider what your feelings will be when “The True and Faithful Witness,” the Judge of
quick and dead, shall call you to his tribunal—
[Will you not then wish that you had “followed the Lord fully?” Will you not then have far different
sentiments about religion, from those which the Christian world at large approve? And will it not be a
matter of deep regret to you, that you feared man more than God, and obeyed man rather than
God? Do but conceive what your feelings will be, when the great “Author and Governor of the
universe” shall execute upon you the judgment threatened, and cast you out, with the abhorrence
which his word has so emphatically declared. Remember, I pray you, it is not gross sin alone that
will bring this judgment upon you: no; it is lukewarmness: yes, though ye have been ever so
observant of outward duties, if your heart have not been in them, ye are not accepted of your God.
To what purpose will any man run, or strive, or fight, if he do not put forth all his strength, and exert
himself to the uttermost to gain the prize? So, then, must ye “be fervent in spirit, while serving the
Lord [Note: Rom_12:11.],” if ever ye would “receive from him the crown of righteousness which
fadeth not away [Note: 2Ti_4:8.].”]
9. PAUL KRETZMA , “The congregation had been in existence at the time when Paul
wrote his letter to the Colossians, for he stated that he had a great conflict also for the Christians at
Laodicea, Col_2:1;Col_4:15-17. Apparently there was even greater reason for apprehension at this
time, to judge from the general tone of this letter. The very introduction places the faithful and true
Christ in strong opposition to the unstable and vacillating Christians of this Phrygian town: And to
the angel of the congregation at Laodicea write: These things says Amen, the Witness faithful and
true, the Beginning of God's creation. It was a sad, almost disagreeable task which devolved upon
the pastor of the Laodicean congregation, especially since the blame for the conditions in that city
fell upon him. It was Amen that was speaking, a word which He Himself explains by stating that He
is the true and faithful Witness, that every word which He utters is the eternal truth, that He does not
recede from His position or change His mind like a vacillating weakling. He Himself is the Beginning
of God's creation, the active Source of God's universe, the Creator of all things, almighty as well as
omniscient, Joh_1:3.
It is a sentence of divine disgust over lukewarm religion which the Lord utters: I know thy works, that
neither cold thou art nor hot; would that cold thou wert or hot; so, because thou art tepid, and
neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit thee out of My mouth. The omniscient Lord, familiar with all
their hearts and minds, knew also all their doings, their attitude toward the Christian faith and all
their customs and habits. They were not cold, they were not outspoken unbelievers, they did not
range themselves on the side of the enemies of the Cross and of the Gospel, they were not of the
party of the blasphemers. But, unfortunately, neither were they warm or hot; they did not possess
that energetic warmth of religious life, of fervent faith and love, they had none of the warm zeal
which breaks forth in holy wrath over the ungodly attitude of their day and age. Even a frank enmity
against the Christian religion is more promising in a person than the luke-warmness and spiritual
indifference which these people showed. It would have been better for them never to have come to

17. the knowledge of the divine doctrine than to have come to this knowledge and not to be filled with
spiritual zeal, 2Pe_2:21. Their attitude fills the Lord with supreme disgust, with unspeakable
loathing; it acts upon Him literally as an emetic, He is constrained to vomit them out of His mouth.
That is the judgment of the Lord upon all such as are not seriously concerned about their
Christianity, that still profess to be Christians, usually from some ulterior motive, and yet will not
oppose the godless ways of the world. They want to mediate between Jehovah and Baal, between
God and the world, between Christ and Belial, between light and darkness, between faith and
unbelief, between righteousness and unrighteousness. Such people the Lord cannot bear, and
unless they change their tactics very decidedly, His disgusted attitude will result in their punishment,
in their being excluded from the blessings of the Kingdom.
The Lord adds a further characterization of lukewarm behavior in the Christian Church: Thou
sayest, Rich I am, and abundance I possess, and of nothing I stand in need, and thou knowest not
that thou art miserable and pitiful and poor and blind and naked. Self-sufficiency, self-satisfaction, is
an attribute of lukewarm Christians. They are convinced of the perfection of their own Christianity
and are careful to let everyone else know of the good opinion which they hold of themselves. They
imagine that they are rich in all spiritual truth and knowledge; they claim that they are filled to satiety
with the old Gospel doctrine, and that no one can teach them anything. See Hos_12:9. The talk
which is heard from Christians of this type in our day often agrees word for word with what is here
recorded. People are turning up their noses in disgust at the old Gospel-truth; the doctrines of the
Catechism are beneath their dignity. But they deceive themselves. They are afflicted with blindness,
and do not know it; they are in need of sympathy, and do not feel it; rich they claim to be, but in
reality are poor beyond conception; they think their eyes have been opened, whereas in reality they
have returned to the spiritual blindness of their state before conversion; they are proud of their dress
of self-righteousness, and do not know that in the sight of God they are bare and naked.
Warningly, therefore, the Lord calls out to them: I advise thee earnestly to buy from Me gold tried by
fire that thou mayest be rich, and white garments to clothe thee, lest the shame of thy nakedness
appear, and salve to anoint thine eyes that thou mayest see. Here the earnest love of the Savior
even for those that do not realize their own defects appears, He, in whom is the Spirit of counsel
and of understanding, is so concerned about their soul's salvation that He earnestly and urgently
advises them to buy from Him wares tried and true. The gold which has been tried by fire is true,
sound faith, 1Pe_1:7, such faith as stands the test of persecutions and tribulations as well as that of
peace and quietness. The white garments that will cover the nakedness of men is that of Christ's
righteousness, which is imputed to everyone that believes. And the salve is the illumination of the
Holy Ghost, which is needed above all to bring men to the knowledge of their real spiritual condition.
These wonderful gifts are not obtained by any man by his own reason or strength; the price which
man pays for them is not one of his own merit. The buying of which the Lord speaks is that which
He brings out in that wonderful passage: "Ho, every one that thirsts, come ye to the waters, and he
that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and
without price. " It is all free, wonderful love and mercy on the part of God.
The Lord follows up His warning with a powerful appeal: As for Me, as many as I love I rebuke and
chasten. Be zealous, then, and repent. Here Christ places His own person and work into the
foreground and emphasizes His disinterested love for even such as have proved themselves
unworthy of His love. It is this love which causes the Lord to be instant in reprimanding, and even in
inflicting painful punishments, His object being to restore the lukewarm to the former loyalty. They
should return to the habit of a true zeal for Him and for His work; they should repent at once and
once for all of their indifference and inconsistency. In this way the Lord at all times lets the
congregation feel the warmth and the eagerness of His love, in order that at least some Christians
be kindled to new spiritual life.
The Lord now adds a very general invitation: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone will
hear My voice and open the door, I shall enter in to him and hold the feast with him and he with Me.
The time of mercy is still at hand, the Gospel is still being preached. The coming of the Lord is near,
however. Many events, many happenings in Church and State are intended to remind us of the fact

18. and of the nearness of His return. Upon US devolves the supreme necessity of hearing His voice, of
heeding the Word of His Gospel and of His will that all men come to the knowledge of the truth. If
we thus heed His knocking and obey His voice, then He will enter into our hearts and make His
abode with us, hold the feast of His everlasting grace with us, feed us with the heavenly manna of
His body, and let us drink of the river of heavenly pleasures forevermore.
He repeats this thought for the sake of emphasis: He that conquers, I shall give him to sit with Me
on My throne, just as I conquered and sat with My Father on His throne. He that has conquered and
overcome, everyone who here in time renounced all those things which are opposed to Christ, will
in yonder world take part in the glory and triumph of Christ, will rule and govern with Him with divine
honor, glory, and bliss, world without end. That is what happened to Christ in His exaltation, and
that is the reward which awaits those that are faithful to the end, to share the throne of God, the
heavenly Father, and of the Lamb which was slain for them. They will enjoy the most intimate, the
most blessed fellowship with God and with Christ to all eternity. And again the call of the Lord,
inviting, appealing, sounds forth: He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
congregations!
Summary
The Lord addresses letters to the congregations at Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea,
commending them wherein they were faithful, but reprimanding all defilement and all luke-
warmness in the strongest terms.
10. W. BURKITT, “This epistle to the Laodiceans is the seventh and last epistle which Christ
commanded St. John at this time to write; most of the churches were found faulty before, but none
like this here. Formality and hypocrisy, coldness and indifferency, in religion, had so for prevailed in
this church, that we find nothing commended in them, nothing good spoken of them, and none of
them exempted from the general charge brought in against them for that lukewarmness and
hypocrisy.
In this epistle now before us, Observe, 1. A description of Christ in his deservedly glorious titles:
thus saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, that is, he that is verity and truth itself, both in
his promises and his threatenings, who is holy, and cannot lie; righteous, and cannot deceive; wise,
and can never be deceived; therefore Christ takes upon him this name here of the faithful and true
Witness, to awaken these drowsy hypocrites, to see and consider that he knows their state and
condition, and will testify and witness against them.
There is no such effectual remedy against hypocrisy, lukewarmness, and indifference in the matters
of religion, as a firm belief of Christ's omnisciency and veracity. The other title given to Christ,
is the beginning of the creation of God; that is, the beginner of the creation of God, the original
and first cause, by which all the creatures of God had their beginning. Christ is not onlyprincipium
principatun, but principium principians; not the passive beginning, or he that first created, but
the active beginning, or he by whom the creation was begun, both the old and new creation.
Now Christ takes upon him this title, to encourage the Laodiceans to come unto him, (according to
the invitation, given Rev_3:18.) to recover them from their formality, seeing he is omnipotent, and
can give a being and beginning to grace in the new creation as he did to nature in the old and first
creation.
Observe, 2. The reproof here given to this church of Laodicea, I know thou art neither hot nor
cold; thou art not for open heresy or infidelity, but likest well a profession of Christianity; you receive
the gospel, and so are not quite cold, but you want zeal to suffer any thing for it, and so are not at all
hot; I see nothing in thee but a lukewarm indifferency, for which I disown thee, nay, disdain thee.

19. Learn hence, 1. That Christ loathes lukewarm persons, who profess Christianity with reserves for
worldly safety. These Laodiceans were neither enemies to Christ, nor true friends, but served God
and gain, Christ and the world, by turns, as occasion served.
Learn, 2. That though God abominates lukewarmness and want of zeal, yet he will not disown those
who have any spark of true zeal, though defective and culpably remiss; he will not quench smoking
flax, but blow it up into a holy flame; but all that have not so much zeal as to prefer Christ before the
world, shall be accounted his enemies, and disowned by him.
11L. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Laodicea—the self-complacent Church
Laodicea is the type of a self-complacent Church. Underneath the condemnation of luke-
warmness there is a yet more heart-searching lesson. Lukewarmness itself is the sure
result of self-complacency; it is absolutely impossible for self-complacent men |o be
other than lukewarm. If we grasp this truth we get below symptoms of a grave and
conspicuous evil in Churches to its very source; we reach the heart and display its hidden
weakness and woe. Perhaps, also, we shall find the way of deliverance; many a man is
lukewarm, and he knows not why. It is his constant morrow and his wonder; he ought to
be earnest, and he feels he is not. To show any who may be conscious of this strange
indifference the real reason of their unimpassioned, powerless piety, to disclose the
secret of the lukewarmness which is their never-forgotten perplexity and their self-
reproach, may suggest to them how they are to be cured. There are two points in the
description of the self-complacency of Laodicea, the simple statement of which bites like
satire; it is the self-complacency, first, of the moneyed man, and, secondly, of the so-
called self-made man. By a strange moral irony the self-complacent man fixes his
attention on what he has of least value, and lets his higher possibilities go unthought of.
The R.V., “I am rich and have gotten riches,” strikes harshly on the ear accustomed to the
older reading, “I am rich and increased with goods”; but it has this merit—it shows us the
self-complacent congratulating himself that he is the author of his own success. Laodicea
“was a town of some consequence in the Roman province of Asia.” “Its trade was
considerable; it lay on the line of a great road.” It is now a ruin, absolute and utter; the
site of its stadium, its gymnasium, and its theatres alone discernible. “North of the town
are many sarcophagi, with their covers lying near them, partly embedded in the ground,
and all having been long since rifled.” “The remains of an aqueduct are there, with stone
barrel-pipes, incrusted with calcareous matter, and some completely closed up.” It is an
awful historic parable—broken buildings, rifled tombs, water-pipes choked with the
earthy matter they conveyed. So may the soul be charged with the dregs of what we allow
to filter through it; so will the soul be rifled which has allowed itself to become a tomb,
the receptacle of dead forms of activity that might have been ennobled with the highest
life. The curse of societies which measure the things of God by a worldly standard—and
where this is not done, self-complacency is impossible—is the inevitable degradation and
ruin which set in. There is no common measure between the surpassing purpose of the
Saviour and the satisfaction men have in what they have attained, and in themselves for
having attained it. “All things are possible to me,” says the believer in Christ; for his faith
goes out to a life, an energy beyond him; it becomes surety for what his eye has not seen.
“All things are possible to me,” says the worldly Christian; for he takes care never to
admit into his purpose anything more than he has already achieved. Where the purpose
is thus debased the thought is narrow, and mind, and heart, and soul are contracted to
the limit of what they hold. So, when the appeal of the gospel is made, there is no

20. response; there is nothing which seems worth a transcendent effort. The man is
lukewarm, there is nothing to fire him in his purpose, no heart in him to be fired. He is
poor for all his wealth. Thus the central thought of the message to Laodicea, when once
we have caught it, dominates all our perception; it recurs to us again and again; its
inevitableness strikes us; we never can forget that the self-complacent man or Church is
and must be lukewarm. In Hogarth’s picture of Bedlam, the most distressing figures are
those of the self-complacent—the Pope with his paper tiara and lathen cross; the
astronomer with paper tube, devoid of lenses, sweeping not the heavens, but the walls of
the madhouse; the naked king, with sceptre and crown of straw. Their misery is seen
upon their faces; even their self-complacency cannot hide it. The heart is hopeless where
the man is self-centred; gladness is as foreign as enthusiasm to him who is full of the
sense of what he has acquired. But out of this same dominating thought comes the hope
of recovery. When we are conscious of lukewarmness, the first thing which occurs to us is
that we ought to be earnest; and we set ourselves to try to be so. We try to arouse the
lukewarm to intensity; we lash them with scorn; we overwhelm them with
demonstrations of their misery, and present them with images of the resolved; “Be
earnest,” we cry to them again and again; “without earnestness there is no possibility of
Christian life.” How vain it all is! The young may be awakened by appeals; but not those
who have come to their lassitude through prosperity, “the rich, and increased with
goods.” One way remains—give them to see the glory of Christ; there is in Him a
sublimity, an augustness, a moral dignity and worth which may thrill the soul with a new
passion, and set the tides of life flowing toward a central splendour. And this is what we
find in the message to Laodicea. First there is presented a stately image of Him who
walks about among the seven golden candlesticks. “These things saith the Amen,” etc.
We feel at once the mystic sublimity of the phrases: an unrevealed grandeur is behind
the form of the man Christ Jesus, arousing our expectation, moving the heart with a
faintly imagining awe. Next, we have a picture of the tender Saviour, one which has
entered into our common Christian speech as few presentations even of Christ have,
luring on the painter to body forth, and the poet to describe what they can never express,
but what we all can feel. “Behold, I stand at the door.” etc. Here, too, is a cure for self-
complacency. The heart can be won by tenderness. And then there is the sublime
promise, so reserved, yet sounding into such depths of suggestion—“He that overcometh,
I will give to him to sit down,” etc. The throne on which Christ is seated is a Divine
throne; but it is also a throne on which are exalted disappointed human hopes. When
Jesus died upon the cross He died in faith of what He had not realised. And then the
triumph came. God “raised him up from the dead and gave Him glory.” Christ’s mission
is accomplished when human souls awaken to a faith and a hope for ever in advance of
all men can attain to on earth, a faith and a hope which are in God. There is a cure for
self-complacency here; and with self-complacency the deathly lukewarmness is gone.
There are some pathetic touches which we should notice before closing this solemn,
heart-searching appeal to the self-complacent. The abrupt change of tone in Rev_3:17;
Rev_18:1-24 is significant. “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and
have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and
poor and blind and naked”—with such an introduction, what words may we not expect to
follow, of warning, censure, doom? They are not spoken. The Lord begins in another
strain—“I counsel thee to buy of Me,” etc. The pathos of all self-complacency, at once its
condemnation and the more than hope of deliverance from it, is this—the delivering
Lord is so nigh. The true riches, the robe of righteousness, the Divine vision, all are for
us; to be bought, as God’s best gifts can only be bought, “without money and without
price.” Some words follow with which we are very familiar, the thought they express
entering so largely into Biblical teaching and human experience. “As many as I love,” etc.

21. One of the suggestions of this utterance is, that with all its self-complacency Laodicea
was profoundly unhappy. The denizens of Bedlam are more than half conscious of their
derangement; the self-satisfied Christian knows how deep is his discontent. Another
suggestion is that of coming tribulation; the knocking at the door of which the next verse
speaks is an intimation that trouble is at hand. Let it come; it will be welcome; anything
will be welcome which can stir this mortal lethargy. The treasures of the Divine
chastisement are not exhausted; and they are treasures of the Divine love. (A.
Mackennal, D. D.)
Laodicea
I. Three aspects of the character of Christ.
1. “The Amen.” This sets forth His immutability.
2. “The faithful and true Witness.”
(1) Christ is a Witness—
(a) In His personal life and death.
(b) By the Holy Spirit in the inspired Word, in the plan of redemption, and in
the organisation of the Church.
(c) In the hearts of individual believers, where He dwells by faith.
(2) Christ, as Witness, in this threefold sense, is faithful and true.
(3) His promised rewards will be faithfully fulfilled, and His threatened penalties
will be strictly carried out.
3. “The beginning of the creation of God.” The Head, Prince, or Potentate.
II. The twofold character of the Laodicean Church.
1. Latitudinarian.
2. Self-deceived.
III. Christ’s appropriate counsel.
1. This counsel is characteristic of our Lord.
(1) Tender and considerate.
(2) Appropriate and definite.
(3) Timely and solemn.
2. This counsel is very suggestive.
(1) “Buy of Me.” In one sense grace cannot be bought. It has been bought—not
with silver and gold, etc. In another sense, if we are not willing to give up the
world and its sinful pleasures for Divine grace, we shall not obtain it.
(2) “Gold tried in the fire.” That which enriches the soul for ever, and will endure
the test of His judgment.
(3) “White raiment” (Rev_19:8).
(4) “Eye-salve.” The illumination of the Holy Spirit.

22. IV. Three proofs of Christ’s loving interest.
1. Discipline.
2. Patient, personal appeals to those who have practically rejected Him.
3. His gracious proffer of the highest honour to him who becomes conqueror in His
name. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
The word of Christ to the congregation at Laodicea
I. Its real character was thoroughly known.
II. Its spiritual indifferentism is divinely abhorrent.
1. Spiritual indifferentism is a most incongruous condition.
2. Spiritual indifferentism is a most incorrigible condition.
III. Its self-deception is terribly alarming.
IV. Its miserable condition need not be hopeless.
1. Recovery is freely offered.
2. Recovery is Divinely urged.
3. Recovery is Divinely rewarded.
(1) The throne of all approving conscience.
(2) The throne of moral rule. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The Church abhorrent to Christ because of the lukewarm temperature of its
spiritual life
I. This church was lukewarm in the temperature of its spiritual life.
1. The language of this verse aptly describes the religious state of many Churches
now.
(1) A lukewarm Church is unique in the world. In every sphere of life, save the
moral, men are red hot.
(2) A lukewarm Church is useless in the world. It cannot make any progress
against a vigilant devil and a wicked world.
(3) A lukewarm Church is an anomaly in the world. The Church is destined to
represent on earth the most energetic and spiritual ministries which exist in the
unseen universe.
(4) A lukewarm Church has much tending to awaken it. It should be awakened
by a study of the lives of the Old and New Testament saints, by the earnest life of
Christ, by the great need of the world, by the transitoriness of life, and by the
quickening influences of the Divine Spirit.
2. That this lukewarm Church was abhorrent to the Divine Being. It is better to be a
sinner than a merely nominal Christian; because the latter brings a greater reproach
upon the name of Christ; because the latter is in the greater peril; and because

23. hypocrisy is a greater sin than profanity.
II. This lukewarm church, sadly deceived, was wisely counselled as to the real condition
of its spiritual life.
1. Sad deception.
(1) The members of this Church imagined that they were rich and had need of
nothing.
(2) The members of this Church imagined that they were prosperous.
(3) The members of this Church imagined that they had attained all possible
excellence.
2. Wise counsel.
(1) This Church was advised to get true wealth.
(2) This Church was advised to get renewed purity.
(3) This Church was advised to get clear vision.
(4) This Church was advised to get Christly merchandise.
3. Disguised love. All the Divine rebukes are for the moral good of souls, and should
lead to repentance and zeal.
III. This church was urgently encouraged to amend its moral condition and to enter
upon a zealous life. The advice of Christ is always encouraging. He will help the most
degraded Church into a new life. Lessons:
1. That a lukewarm Church is abhorrent to the Divine mind.
2. That Christ gives wise counsel to proud souls.
3. That the most valuable things of life are to be had from Christ without money and
without price.
4. Are we possessed of this gold, raiment, eyesalve? (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
These things saith the Amen.—
Christ’s names
The name which the Lord assumes in addressing this Church is threefold, yet one—“the
Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God.” The name
“Amen” as here employed has its root in the Old Testament, where God is called “the
God of truth,” the God of the Verily, the God of Amen—not merely distinguishing Him
from the “lying vanities” of the heathen and the phantom-gods of philosophy, but
bringing into view the absolute truth of His nature and of all His attributes. We cannot
but mark how supremely and absolutely, in assuming this name, Jesus claims to be what
the Jehovah of the Old Testament was. Two successive steps may give us a glimpse of the
meaning of this name as now assumed and worn by the Lord. In the first place, He
Himself is true, and deserves our absolute trust. His compassions are true, His love is
true, His word is true, His smile is true, yea, His very silence is true, even as He said to
His disciples, “If it were not so, I would have told you.” He does not say and unsay; He
does not come and go; He is without variableness or shadow of turning. In the second
place, He is the Amen, the Verily, to all that God has spoken. The ancient promises that

24. had come down through thousands of years unfulfilled are fulfilled in Him, and that not
in the letter merely, but in the inner spirit. The promises that still look to the future are
in Him certain and sure, as hopes. And so with every word that God has spoken, whether
promise or threatening. There is no may be or may not be about them; in Him they are
all Amen. He is their full and sure accomplishment, even as He is the accomplishment of
the past, Besides being the Amen, Jesus is to the Laodiceans “the faithful and true
Witness.” He is the Messenger and Revealer of the Father, who answers all the deep
questions of the conscience and heart, as well as of the intellect, according to the ancient
prophecy—“Behold, I have given Him for a Witness to the people.” “I have manifested
Thy name,” He says to the Father, “unto the men whom Thou gavest me out of the
world.” It is essential to a witness that he have personal knowledge of that which he
reports; and this Witness was in the bosom of the Father, and knows what is in His
heart. As Witness He is “faithful and true.” These two words are like the right hand and
the left. As I conceive, they are not interchangeable; but each conveys its own distinct
and special meaning. Taken together, they mark that He kept back nothing which the
Father delivered unto Him, and that all He said might be relied upon to the last jot and
tittle. Once more the Lord names Himself “the Beginning of the creation of God.” We
trace “the things that are” back and up to Jesus Christ; He is the uncaused cause of their
being, their vital origin, “willing” them into existence; and the “increasing purpose” is
but the gradual unfolding of the thought of His heart. It is the same truth that fills such
words as these: “All things were made by Him,” etc. “In Him (comprehended within the
sphere of His being, power, and will) were all things created,” etc. The grand thought is,
that this glorious universe, whose origin lies back of human imagination, was brought
into being (according to the will of the eternal Father) by our blessed Redeemer’s
creative power, and exists for His sake. (J. Culross, D. D.)
The Amen
The word “Amen” is much more full of meaning than may be supposed, and as a title of
our Lord Jesus Christ it is eminently suggestive. I might have divided my discourse very
fairly under these three heads—asserting, consenting, petitioning. For in each of these
our adorable Lord Jesus Christ is certainly “the Amen.” He asserts the will of God—He
asserts God Himself. God the Son is constantly called the Word; He who asserts,
declares, and testifies God. In the second place, we know that Jesus Christ consents to
the will, design, and purpose of Jehovah. He gives an Amen to the will of God—is, in fact,
the echo, in His life and in His death, of the eternal purposes of the Most High. And,
thirdly, He is “the Amen” in the petitionary sense, for to all our prayers He gives
whatever force and power they have. But we have preferred to divide the discourse
another way.
I. Our Lord is superlatively God’s Amen.
1. Long ere you and I had a being, before this great world started out of nothingness,
God had made every purpose of His eternal counsel to stand fast and firm by the gift
of His dear Son to us. He was then God’s Amen to His eternal purpose.
2. When our Lord actually came upon the earth, He was then God’s Amen to the long
line of prophecies. That babe among the horned oxen, that carpenter’s son, was God’s
declaration that prophesy was the voice of heaven.
3. Christ was God’s Amen to all the Levitical types. Especially when up to the Cross
as to the altar He went as a victim and was laid thereon, then it was that God

25. solemnly put an Amen into what otherwise was but typical and shadowy.
4. Christ is God’s Amen to the majesty of His law. He has not sinned Himself, but He
has the sins of all His people imputed to Him. He has never broken the law, but all
our breaches thereof were laid on Him. The law says He is accursed, for He has sin
upon Him: will the Father consent that His own Beloved shall be made a curse for
us? Hearken and hear the Lord’s Amen. “Awake, O sword, against the man that is My
fellow, saith the Lord.” What, does God the Father say Amen? Can it be? It is even so.
He says, Amen. And what an awful Amen too, when the sweat of blood started from
every pore of His immaculate body.
5. Jesus Christ is very blessedly God’s Amen to all His covenant promises, for is it not
written that “all the promises of God in Him are yea and in Him Amen.”
6. Jesus Christ will be God’s Amen at the conclusion of this dispensation in the
fulness of time.
II. He is our Amen in Himself.
1. He proved Himself to be Amen; the God of truth, sincerity, and faithfulness in His
fulfilment of covenant engagements. “Lo I come! In the volume of the book it is
written of Me: I delight to do Thy will, O God.” From all eternity He declared Himself
to be ready to go through the work, and when the time came He was straightened till
the work was done.
2. He was also “the Amen” in all His teachings. We have already remarked that He
constantly commenced with “Verily, verily I say unto you.” Christ as teacher does not
appeal to tradition, or even to reasoning, but gives Himself as His authority.
3. He is also “the Amen” in all His promises. Sinner, I would comfort thee with this
reflection.
4. Jesus Christ is yea and Amen in all His offices. He was a priest to pardon and
cleanse once; He is Amen as priest still. He was a King to rule and reign for His
people, and to defend them with His mighty arm; He is an Amen King, the same still.
He was a prophet of old to foretell good things to come; His lips are most sweet, and
drop with honey still—He is an Amen Prophet.
5. He is Amen with regard to His person. He is still faithful and true, immutably the
same. Not less than God! Omnipotent, immutable, eternal, omnipresent still! God
over all, blessed for ever. O Jesus, we adore Thee, Thou great Amen. He is the same,
too, as to His manhood. Bone of our bone still; in all our afflictions still afflicted.
III. He is experimentally God’s Amen to every believing soul.
1. He is God’s Amen in us. If you want to know God you must know Christ; if you
want to be sure of the truth of the Bible you must believe Jesus.
2. Jesus Christ is “the Amen” not only in us, but “the Amen” for us. When you pray,
you say Amen. Did you think of Christ? Did you offer your prayer through Him? Did
you ask Him to present it before God? If not, there is no Amen to your prayer.
3. I want that Jesus Christ should be God’s Amen in all our hearts, as to all the good
things of the covenant of grace; I am sure He will be if you receive Him. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Amen

26. What, then, is the meaning of this sacred word? It means truth; it means reality. I want
to bring before you the awfulness of truth—that is, of reality, of sincerity, of guileless
simplicity, both as regards our conduct in the life that now is and as regards the eternal
life of man’s spirit. First, as regards our earthly life. We may each of us spend our lives
either in the world or in God. If we live in God—“if that life which we now live in the flesh
is lived by faith in the Son of God”—then we are living in the world of reality. If we are
living for the world—if we are setting our affections on the things of the earth—we are
living in the midst of fatal delusions and fading shadows. Let a man but once catch a
glimpse of the true light, and he learns utterly to despise the dim rushlights of this
earth’s tinselled stage; let but one ray out of eternity shine down into his heart, and for
him the world and the things of the world shrivel into insignificance. God is the Amen,
and all His laws are eternal: they abide for ever; they are laws not only of reality, not only
of righteousness, but of pleasantness and peace. Earnestly, then, would I invite you all to
base yourselves on the “Amen,” on the solid and ultimate reality of life, by denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present
world. And no less earnestly would I invite you to base your unshaken lives on the Amen
of true religion, without which the house of your life will only be built upon sand. The
Church depends solely on the presence of Christ. Religious partisans show their greatest
zeal always not for God’s eternal verities, but for what is doubtful and questionable and
valueless, and often they pass over the whole essential message and meaning of the
gospel of Christ in order to insist on the grossest misinterpretation of some single text.
But God is the God of Amen, that is, of truth. Let us then look to the basis of our faith
and the basis of our conduct. “Will ye, by hypocrisy in conduct, will ye, by petty unreality
in faith, offer to the God of Truth the unclean sacrifice of a lie?” Reality, sincerity,
holiness—the elementary Christian graces, faith, hope, love—the primary Christian
duties, soberness, temperance, chastity—these are the things and these are the tests of a
true religion; apart from these all else is fringes and phylacteries. (Dean Farrar.)
The Beginning of the creation of God.
The creation of God
The third appellation cannot be limited to the thought of the mere material creation, as if
equivalent to the statement that by the Word were all things made. It would thus fail to
correspond with the two appellations preceding it, which undoubtedly apply to the work
of redemption, while, at the same time, the addition of the words “of God” would be
meaningless or perplexing. Let us add to this that in chap 1:5, immediately after Jesus
has been called the “faithful Witness,” He is described as the “First begotten of the dead,”
and we shay not be able to resist the conviction that the words before us refer primarily
to the new creation, the Christian Church, that redeemed humanity which has its true life
in Christ. (W. Milligan, D. D.)
I know thy works, that thou art neither hot nor cold.—
The condition of the Laodiceans
“I know thy works.” There is to be no dealing with them in the dark, as man is compelled
to do; no drawing of a bow at a venture; the arrow is aimed straight at the mark. He is
about to judge the Laodiceans, and His judgment proceeds on a perfect knowledge of
their condition. “Thy works,” in all that they are and all that they mean and involve, lie

27. open under Mine eye, in the broad, bright sunshine, as they do not lie open even to
thyself. An awful thought! you exclaim. Yes, but also unspeakably precious. It is the
word, not of the detective who has found us out, and who delivers us to the judge, but of
the physician who comprehends our case. His knowledge, His diagnosis, if I may so say,
is the stepping-stone of His grace and help. What the works were is not set forth in detail
in the epistle. It is not mere quantity, so to speak, but quality that is taken into account.
The special region into which the Lord looks is that of the affections. The stress of His
charge is that they were indifferent: “I know thy works, that thou art neither hot nor
cold.” From what follows it is evident that the Laodiceans themselves were quite satisfied
with things as they were, and had no wish for a change. Christian discipleship (rooted in
faith) implies love to Jesus Christ personally. Not merely a true creed, not merely a
virtuous and beautiful life, but the heart’s love. There may be very few on earth who
think our love worth the having; but not so with Jesus, the glorified Redeemer. Man all
over, He desires and seeks our love. Year by year our fellowship with Him ought to
become more close and delightful; year by year our hearts should become more fully His;
and last love should be a greater thing than even first love. In the light of such
considerations let us now look at Christ’s words to Laodicea. “Thou art not cold.” A
Church of Christ should certainly not be that. Yet such Churches exist. They are quite
orthodox; their creed is a model of clearness and Scripturalness; they are examples of
moral propriety; there is not merely good order, but even fine taste and exquisite grace in
their arrangements; yet the temperature is down at freezing-point. Now, the Laodiceans
were not cold. The Lord testifies that concerning them. Neither were they “hot.” The
condition indicated by this word is one of entire devotedness and joyful response to the
love of Him who died for us, and rose again. It is not merely the supreme affection of a
holy soul, rising above all others and commanding them; in some sense it carries in it
and contains all other Divine affections, and is also the sum of all duty—the fulfilling of
all law how the Laodicean Church was not in a condition like this. There was nothing
among them that could be called fervour, or zeal, or self-consecration, or enthusiasm, or
holy passion in the cause of Christ. “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor
hot.” Their condition (for it is a condition, and not a stage in the process of warming) is
described by the word “lukewarm.” Love, zeal, joy, delight in worship, desire for the
salvation of men, and every other Christian affection and emotion, have been cooling
down till they have reached the temperature of indifference. The lukewarmness is shown
in all directions. It is shown in the angel of the Church dealing in pleasant nothings,
instead of the mighty truths of God, or in intellectual and philosophic refinements, in
place of the gospel of grace—accommodating his words to the taste of his hearers, lest he
should lose his popularity and preach them away from the church—it is shown in the
general community, who love to have it so. It is shown in the tone of conversation
common among them, which, instead of being alway with grace, seasoned with salt,
degenerates so readily into gossip, debate, frivolity, uncharitable censure of the absent,
or merest religious gabble, in which the tongue does everything and the heart does
nothing. It is shown in the weekly assembly, in the conscious “distance” from God that is
maintained; in the dislike of spiritual thought, and indeed incapacity for it, and unfitness
to deal with any great and deep questions of Divine truth. It is shown in the lightness
with which they regard abounding iniquity, smiling where once their eyes would have
filled with sudden tears, and they would have withdrawn to pray. It is shown in the
neglect of personal effort for the extension of the gospel, and the transference of the
work to a substitute—a missionary or Bible-woman—paid at the cheapest possible rate,
with the boast of having found the missing link. It is shown in conformity to the world, in
the love of worldly society and amusements, in doing what is religiously fashionable, in
giving the cold shoulder to unapplauded truth, and in avoiding whatever leads to

28. reproach and the cross. It is shown in the practical powerlessness of the creed which they
profess to hold; the most awful and mysterious truths, as one has expressed it, “losing all
the power of truths, and lying bedridden in the dormitory of the soul.” It is unnecessary
to proceed further with an account of this evil estate. It is made up of negations, and
chiefly the negation of all earnestness. Some things indeed there are that evoke feeling in
a lukewarm Church, even to passionateness. Let one, for example, tell plain truth about
wine-bibbing or ballrooms or theatres; or let one whose soul is thrilled with a sense of
Divine mercy, and who longs to be Christ-like, stand up in the church-meeting and
propose united prayer for the revival of religion; or let some Jeremiah with the fire in his
bones stand up, not fearing the face of clay, and speak of eternal things with cries and
anguish and weeping; and instantly you find the very passion of resentment aroused—
though it dare not, for shame’s sake, express itself plainly—against this troubling of
Israel, this breaking of the peace, this molesting of souls, this accusing of the brethren;
while it moves them not to know that the honour of Christ’s name and the salvation of
the perishing are at stake. What is the secret of all this? For beforehand we should
pronounce lukewarmness on the part of saved men an impossibility; and it can never be
regarded otherwise than as most unnatural and even dreadful in a Christian Church.
How does it come to pass? One cause, operating more extensively and with greater force
than is commonly thought, is the endeavour to retain the first joy of conversion without
making progress. The whole and only joy sought after is the joy of forgiveness, to the
neglect of the joy of holiness and new obedience. The consequence is that gradually they
lose the very joy they have, and sink down into a state of heartless apathy. Again, there is
failure in personal, living, realising communion with the Lord Jesus Himself as our
Redeemer. It is the grand lack of to-day. Is it strange that spiritual fervour should
decline? Would it not be a miracle if it continued? It is as if a betrothed should cease to
correspond with her affianced husband; the natural result is the decay of affection.
Another cause, operating very widely and very subtly, is unbelief in the fulness and
power of grace to enable us to live a victorious Christian life. It is quietly taken for
granted that a life of self-consecration and likeness to the Son of God is an impossibility,
and that the very utmost we can expect is a never-ceasing debate (conflict it cannot be
called) between the flesh and the Spirit, with “heaven” somehow at the end. The question
of main interest—apparently never quite settled—is, How to get clear off in the day of
judgment? As for reproducing the life of Christ among men, manifesting it afresh in this
mortal body, and being in some real sense His “gospels” to our age, this is smiled at as a
very simple imagination indeed. Then, next, those who forget how high the Christian
calling is, and who neglect fellowship with God, become blind to the evil of intermingling
the Church and the world in one visible community. For the sake of numbers, or out of
friendship with the world, or to make ourselves seem great, or out of a cruel
charitableness, the flesh is received into church-fellowship, is treated as a Christian, is
taught to use Christian forms of speech, to sing Christian hymns, to pray Christian
prayers, to do Christian acts, to aim at the production of Christian virtues, to sit down
with saints at the Lord’s table and commemorate a love that is not believed in or felt. The
necessary issue in the long run—indeed, the run is not very long—is the repression of
spiritual fervour in the Church and the spread of apathy. Another thing working most
disastrously is the poor, poor conception prevalent in Churches of the tremendous
necessity of salvation. It is first emptied of its significance, and then it is put into the
second rank instead of the first, and then the ardour of the Church inevitably cools, and
they are content and take it as quite a matter of course that there should be no
conversion of sinners to God. Again, there is the spirit of self-pleasing, the love of
comfort and pleasurable sensations, the substitution of taste and culture for godliness,
the cry of the preacher, Move us, move us I which by and by becomes, Tickle us, tickle us!

29. Once more, there is the formation of worldly friendships and the entering into
associations in which it is impossible to preserve the spirit of Christ. The injury done to
piety by such associations and friendships is beyond calculation, both in extent and
depth. Now, in whatever light men may regard this condition (and the world praises it,
for the world loves its own), Christ is displeased and grieved with it. “I would,” He says,
“that thou wert cold or hot.” Wilt thou not be so? That “would” is no unimpassioned
word, as one might say, I should prefer it thus or thus: it is a sigh from the heart of
distressed love; it carries Divine emotion in it, reminding us of that lamentation over
Jerusalem, “I would—and ye would not.” Thus the Lord makes it evident that He has no
pleasure in this half-and-half condition. This is the Lord’s judgment in the case: “I will
spue thee out of My mouth.” No doubt every believing soul in Laodicea would be saved in
the day of the Lord, even though involved in the prevalent lukewarmness. But the
Church would be rejected from being a Church. Lukewarmness unrepented of issues in
rejection. It is in the history of the Church of Laodicea as a spiritual community that the
fulfilment of the Lord’s threatening is to be found; and the outward desolation is to be
regarded only as the visible symbolism of a tremendous spiritual fact. (J. Culross, D. D.)
An earnest warning against lukewarmness
I. The state into which churches are very apt to fall.
1. A Church may fail into a condition far other than that for which it has a repute. It
may be famous for zeal, and yet be lethargic. The address of our Lord begins, “I know
thy works,” as much as to say, “Nobody else knows you. Men think better of you than
you deserve. You do not know yourselves, you think your works to be excellent, but I
know them to be very different.” The public can only read reports, but Jesus sees for
Himself. He knows what is done, and how it is done, and why it is done.
2. The condition described in our text is one of mournful indifference and
carelessness. They were not infidels, yet they were not earnest believers; they did not
oppose the gospel, neither did they defend it; they were not working mischief, neither
were they doing any great good.
3. This condition of indifference is attended with perfect self-complacency. The
people who ought to be mourning are rejoicing, and where they should hang out
signals of distress they are flaunting the banners of triumph. What can a Church
require that we have not in abundance? Yet their spiritual needs are terrible.
Spiritually poor and proud.
4. This Church of Laodicea had fallen into a condition which had chased away its
Lord. “I stand at the door and knock.” That is not the position which our Lord
occupies in reference to a truly flourishing Church. If we are walking aright with
Him, He is in the midst of the Church, dwelling there, and revealing Himself to His
people.
II. The danger of such a state.
1. The great danger is, to be rejected of Christ. “I will spue thee out of My mouth.”
Churches are in Christ’s mouth in several ways, they are used by Him as His
testimony to the world, He speaks to the world through their lives and ministries.
When God is with a people they speak with Divine power to the world, but if we grow
lukewarm Christ says, “Their teachers shall not profit, for I have not sent them,
neither am I with them. Their word shall be as water spilt on the ground, or as the

30. whistling of the wind.” Better far for me to die than to be spued out of Christ’s mouth.
Then He also ceases to plead for such a Church. Mighty are His pleadings for those
He really loves, and countless are the blessings which come in consequence. It will be
an evil day when He casts a Church out of that interceding mouth. Do you not
tremble at such a prospect?
2. Such a Church will be left to its fallen condition, to become wretched—that is to
say, miserable, unhappy, divided, without the presence of God, and so without
delight in the ways of God.
III. The remedies which the Lord employs.
1. Jesus gives a clear discovery as to the Church’s true state. He says to it, “Thou art
lukewarm, thou art wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” I
rejoice to see people willing to know the truth, but most men do not wish to know it,
and this is an ill sign. We shall never get right as long as we are confident that we are
so already. Self-complacency is the death of repentance.
2. Our Lord’s next remedy is gracious counsel. He says, “I counsel thee to buy of Me
gold tried in the fire.”
3. Now comes a third remedy, sharp and cutting, but sent in love, namely rebukes
and chastenings. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.”
4. The best remedy for backsliding Churches is more communion with Christ.
“Behold,” saith He, “I stand at the door and knock.” This text belongs to the Church
of God, not to the unconverted. It is addressed to the Laodicean Church. There is
Christ outside the Church, driven there by her unkindness, but He has not gone far
away: He loves His Church too much to leave her altogether, He longs to come back,
and therefore He waits at the doorpost. He knows that the Church will never be
restored till He comes back, and He desires to bless her, and so He stands waiting
and knocking. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The destiny of a lukewarm Church
I. The complaint.
1. This complaint is made against the Church. We learn from this fact that Churches
do become corrupt; they do decay. Keep, therefore, the Christ of God, who never will
fail, or decay, exalted above the Church in your minds and hearts.
2. This complaint is made by One who can say, “I know.”
3. This complaint is made by One who does know, and cannot misrepresent.
4. This complaint is made by One who does know, and cannot misrepresent, and
who has a right to complain. Just let us see now what is meant by the lukewarmness
complained of. The people had love for Christ, but it was not ardent. The people had
charity among themselves, but it was not fervent. The people received spiritual
blessings, but they did not thirst for them. The people wrought good works, but not
zealously. The people prayed, but not fervently. They gave, but not liberally or
cheerfully. The whole heart was not given to anything in connection with church life.
Perhaps through the neglect of the means of preserving spiritual heat, or by using
unwise means or false means, these people had become lukewarm, or perhaps by
some besetting sin.

31. 5. Now this complaint is based on works. “I know thy works, that thou art neither
cold nor hot.” One would have thought that “the Amen, the true and faithful
Witness,” would have said, “I know thy heart; I know thy spirit.” The complaint is
based on works, and not so much on general conduct as on labours of love. These
were less than since their first profession. Oh, what a striking fact this is in church
life! How thoroughly it reappears before the eye of every pastor.
6. See, the complaint is based on works, and it is made with evident feeling. Christ
could not speak without feeling, far less could He complain without feeling. It is the
want of feeling in the complaints that people make about Churches that so often
distresses one.
II. The threatening. Any food or drink which ought to be either hot or cold is most
unpleasant if lukewarm; and the strong language used here means, “I will reject thee.”
1. This threatening is addressed, not to the individual, but to the Church. Christ
presently turns to the individual, counselling him “to buy of Me gold.” You cannot be
in communion with Christ without being rebuked. Why? Because your faults and
defects are continually coming out, and His love for you is such that He will not let
them pass—He cannot let them pass. If, however, you be merely a nominal disciple,
they will often pass unnoticed, and you will not hear a sound of rebuke from the skies
until the day of final reckoning.
2. “The Amen” rejects the lukewarm Church. He rejects it—how? First, by
withdrawing His Spirit from it because such a Church is not His temple. And
secondly, by not using it for the purposes of His kingdom.
3. Now, observe, in conclusion, that works are expected from a Christian Church,
and the works of the Church show whether it be cold or hot. (S. Martin.)
Laodicea
I. The loving rebuke of the faithful witness. The persons thus described are Christian
people (for their Christianity is presupposed), with very little, though a little, warmth of
affection and glow of Christian love and consecration. Further this defectiveness of
Christian feeling is accompanied with a large amount of self-complacency. Then again,
this deficiency of warmth is worse than absolute zero. “I would thou weft cold or hot.”
Because there is no man more hopeless than a man on whom the power of Christianity
has been brought to bear, and has failed in warming and quickening him. Is that our
condition? Look at the standard of Christian life round about us. Mark how wavering the
line is between the Church and the world; how little upon our side of the line there is of
conspicuous consecration and unworldliness: how entirely in regard of an enormous
mass of professing Christians, the maxims that are common in the world are their
maxims; and the sort of life that the world lives is the sort of life that they live. Look at
your Churches and mark their feebleness, the slow progress of the gospel among them,
the low lives that the bulk of professing Christians are living, and answer the question, is
that the operation of a Divine Spirit that comes to transform and to quicken everything
into His own vivid and flaming life? or is it the operation of our own selfishness and
worldliness, crushing down and hemming in the power that ought to sway us?
II. The causes of this lukewarmness of spiritual life. Of course the tendency to it is in us
all. Take a bar of iron out of the furnace on a winter day, and lay it down in the air, and
there is nothing more wanted. Leave it there, and very soon the white heat will change

32. into livid dulness, and then there will come a scale over it, and in a short time it will be as
cold as the frosty atmosphere around it. And so there is always a refrigerating process
acting upon us, which needs to be counteracted by continual contact with the fiery
furnace of spiritual warmth, or else we are cooled down to the degree of cold around us.
But besides this universally operating cause there are many others which affect us. I find
fault with no man for the earnestness which he flings into his business, but I ask you to
say whether the relative importance of the things seen and unseen is fairly represented
by the relative amount of earnestness with which you and I pursue these respectively.
Then, again, the existence among us, or around us, of a certain widely diffused doubt as
to the truths of Christianity is, illogically enough, a cause for diminished fervour on the
part of the men that do not doubt them. That is foolish, and it is strange, but it is true.
And there is another case, which I name with some hesitation, but which yet seems to me
to be worthy of notice; and that is, the increasing degree to which Christian men are
occupied with what we call, for want of a better name, secular things. I grudge the
political world nothing that it gets of your strength, but I do grudge, for your sakes, as
well as for the Church’s sake, that so often the two forms of activity are supposed by
professing Christians to be incompatible, and that therefore the more important is
neglected, and the less important done.
III. The loving call to deepened earnestness. “Be zealous, therefore.” Lay hold of the
truth that Christ possesses a full store of all that you can want. Meditate on that great
truth and it will kindle a flame of desire and of fruition in your hearts. “Be zealous,
therefore.” And again, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” “Be zealous, therefore.”
That is to say, grasp the great thought of the loving Christ, all whose dealings, even when
His voice assumes severity, and His hand comes armed with a rod, are the outcome and
manifestation of His love; and sink into that love, and that will make your hearts glow.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” “Be zealous, therefore.” Think of the earnest,
patient, long-suffering appeal which the Master makes, bearing with all our weaknesses,
and not suffering His gentle hand to be turned away, though the door has been so long
barred and bolted in His face.
IV. The merciful call to a new beginning. “Repent.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The danger of lukewarmness in religion
The soul of man is endowed with active powers that it cannot be idle: and, if we look
round the world, we see it all alive. What vigorous action, what labour and toil about the
necessaries of life, about riches and honours! But it is quite otherwise in religion. Only a
few act as if they regarded religion as the most important concern of life. For look round
you, the generality are very indifferent about it. They will not Indeed renounce all
religion entirely; they will make some little profession of religion; but it is a matter of
indifferency with them, and they are but little concerned about it; they are lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot. Now such a luke-warmness is an eternal solecism in religion; it
is the most inconsistent thing imaginable: more so than avowed impiety; therefore, says
Christ, “I would thou wert cold or hot”—i.e. “You might be anything more consistently
than what you are. If you looked upon religion as a cheat, and openly rejected the
profession of it, it would not be strange that you should be careless about it and
disregard it in practice. But to own it true, and make a profession of it, and yet be
lukewarm and indifferent about it, this is the most absurd conduct that can be conceived;
for, if it be true, it is certainly the most important and interesting truth in all the world,
and requires the utmost exertion of all your powers.” There are some aggravations

33. peculiar to the lukewarm professor that render him peculiarly odious; as—
1. He adds the sin of a hypocritical profession to his other sins.
2. He adds the guilt of presumption, pride, and self-flattery, imagining he is in a safe
state and in favour with God; whereas he that makes no pretensions to religion has
no such umbrage for this conceit and delusion.
3. He is in the most dangerous condition, as he is not liable to conviction, nor so
likely to be brought to repentance.
4. The honour of God and religion is more injured by the negligent, unconscientious
behaviour of these Laodiceans, than by the vices of those who make no pretensions to
religion; with whom therefore its honour has no connection.
But to be more particular: let us take a view of a lukewarm temper in various attitudes,
or with respect to several objects.
1. Consider who and what God is. He is the original uncreated beauty, the sum total
of all natural and moral perfections, the origin of all the excellences that are scattered
through this glorious universe; He is the supreme good, and the only proper portion
for our immortal spirits. He also sustains the most majestic and endearing relations
to us: our Father, our Preserver and Benefactor, our Lawgiver, and our Judge. Is such
a Being to be put off with heartless, lukewarm services?
2. Is lukewarmness a proper temper towards Jesus Christ? Is this a suitable return
for that love which brought Him down from His native paradise into our wretched
world? Oh, was Christ indifferent about your salvation? Was His love lukewarm
towards you?
3. Is lukewarmness and indifferency a suitable temper with respect to a future state
of happiness or misery?
4. Let us see how this lukewarm temper agrees with the duties of religion. And as I
cannot particularise them all, I shall only mention an instance or two. View a
lukewarm professor in prayer. The words proceed no further than from your tongue:
you do not pour them out from the bottom of your hearts; they have no life or spirit
in them, and you hardly ever reflect upon their meaning. And when you have talked
away to God in this manner, you will have it to pass for a prayer. But surely such
prayers must bring down a curse upon you instead of a blessing: such sacrifices must
be an abomination to the Lord (Pro_15:8). The next instance I shall mention is with
regard to the Word of God. You own it Divine, you profess it the standard of your
religion, and the most excellent book in the world. Now, if this be the case, it is God
that sends you an epistle when you are reading or hearing His Word. How impious
and provoking then must it be to neglect it, to let it lie by you as an antiquated,
useless book, or to read it in a careless, superficial manner, and hear it with an
inattentive, wandering mind! Ye modern Laodiceans, are you not yet struck with
horror at the thought of that insipid, formal, spiritless religion you have hitherto
been contented with?
1. Consider the difficulties and dangers in your way. You must be made new men,
quite other creatures than you now are. And oh! can this work be successfully
performed while you make such faint and feeble efforts?
2. Consider how earnest and active men are in other pursuits. Is religion the only
thing which demands the utmost exertion of all your powers, and alas! is that the
only thing in which you will be dull and inactive? (S. Davies, M. A.)

34. Lukewarmness
I. What is lukewarmness in religion? It is not Christian moderation. There is the popular
and not unfounded prejudice against extremes, a suspicion of too great zeal, too much
enthusiasm. And so in the service and the worship of God people choose a middle course
between those who are “very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts,” and those who turn
their backs upon Him. They would not like to think anything extravagant; and they
prefer to follow public opinion as safest; and then they think they are letting their
moderation be known unto all men. Yet, after all, when we come to scrutinise this spirit,
it is not quite like moderation and sober-mindedness, and the Lord’s carefulness not to
offend the weak. It is much more like worldly-mindedness.
II. What are the causes of lukewarmness?
1. May we not put first, worldly prosperity, the intrusion of something else into the
place which God once occupied, and which God alone ought to occupy in the
affections?
2. Another cause is the frequency of little sins. Evil speaking, untruthfulness and
exaggeration, outbreaks of temper, vanity, self-indulgence, these, freely indulged,
show not only that religion has no real power in the heart, but relax the hold of
conscience, lessen our confidence towards God, and so chill our love.
3. Then, again, we may mention dissipation of mind, occupation in so many pursuits
that little or no time is allowed for undisturbed communion with God in prayer and
meditation. We all find it difficult to keep our attention fixed upon God without
distraction. But how much harder if we allow our hearts to be choked with the
pleasures and cares of this world! And if we cannot find time to think about Him we
certainly shall not have power to love Him first, perhaps not to love Him at all with
anything that deserves the name of love. In other ways this dissipation of mind serves
to produce lukewarmness. If we are too busy to fix our minds upon God we shall
scarcely have time to pay much attention to ourselves. How should we manage that
which requires so much resolution, so much abstraction from worldly things, strict
self-examination? How should we accurately measure our gain and loss since the last
solemn inquiry into our spiritual state? How ascertain where we stand before God?
III. These are some of the causes, and some of the symptoms too—for it is impossible to
keep them distinct—of lukewarmness. Some other symptoms may be mentioned. If you
suffer yourself on every little pretext to shorten, or to omit, your devotions; if you care
more about the fact of going through them than about the manner or the spirit in which
you go through them; if, when you feel not altogether happy in your conscience towards
God and man, you either neglect self-examination, or set about it in a slovenly way; if,
when you have detected a fault in yourself, you are slow at reformation; if you act, day
after day, without once sanctifying your motives and your actions to God; if you never
aim at forming habits of obedience to His commandments; if you never attack any one
particular sin; if you despise little things and daily opportunities; if you delight rather in
thinking of the good you have done than of the good you have left undone, resting on the
past rather than looking forward into the future; if you never care to have God in all your
thoughts, and, by meditation at least, to be a partaker of the sufferings of Christ, then I
fear it must be said of you that you are lukewarm.
IV. Would to God that we could as easily tell the remedy as the disease. Try, then, if ever

35. you feel your love growing cold, your faith less vivid, to quicken them by meditation on
eternal truths, so as to saturate your minds with the conviction of their infinite
importance. Fight against the cause of lukewarmness; against worldliness, self-
indulgence, carelessness, habitual sins, however little they may seem, self-complacency
in the past, the oppression of too many cares. That can be no duty which perils the soul.
(W. Mitchell, M. A.)
Lukewarmness
I. An exposure of some of the disgustful things which are found in lukewarm religion.
1. A lukewarm religion is a direct insult to the Lord Jesus Christ. If I boldly say I do
not believe what He teaches, I have given Him the lie. But if I say to Him, “I believe
what Thou teachest, but I do not think it of sufficient importance for me to disturb
myself about it,” I do in fact more wilfully resist His word; I as much as say to Him,
“If it be true, yet is it a thing which I so despise that I will not give my heart to it.”
2. Bethink you, again, does the Lord Jesus deserve such treatment at your hands?
and may He not well say of such hearts as ours, He would that we were “either cold or
hot”?
3. The lukewarm Christian compromises God before the eyes of the world in all he
does and says. The world sees a man who professes to be going to heaven, but he is
travelling there at a snail’s pace. He professes to believe there is a hell, and yet he has
tearless eyes and never seeks to snatch souls from going into the fire. Let the minister
be as earnest as ever he will about the things of God, the lukewarm Christian
neutralises any effect the minister can produce, because the world will judge the
Church not by the standard of the pulpit so much as by the level of the pew. And thus
they say, “There is no need for us to make so much stir about it; these peculiar
people, these saints, take it remarkably easy; they think it will all be well; no doubt
we do as much as they do, for they do very little.”
4. The Lord hateth lukewarmness, because wherever it is found it is out of place.
There is no spot near to the throne of God where lukewarmness could stand in a
seemly position.
II. Dissuasives against lukewarmness. As Christians, you have to do with solemn
realities; you have to do with eternity, with death, with heaven, with hell, with Christ,
with Satan, with souls, and can you deal with these things with a cold spirit? Suppose you
can, there certainly never was a greater marvel in the world, if you should be able to deal
with them successfully. These things demand the whole man. And the day is coming
when you will think these things worthy of your whole heart. When you and I shall lie
stretched upon our dying beds, I think we shall have to regret, above all other things, our
coldness of heart. Ay, and there will be a time when the things of God will seem yet more
real even than on the dying bed. I refer to the day when we shall stand at the bar of God.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The first stages of spiritual decline
If the Christian’s progress may be likened to a steep and difficult ascent, we may
compare his first beginnings of decline to the slow and doubtful motion of some heavy
substance from which the force is removed which caused it to ascend, while the impetus

36. is not yet gained which will shortly urge it down its headlong, unresisted course. Betwixt
ceasing to mount upwards and beginning to fall back, there is an awful moment of
suspense. Or, to use another illustration, when the tide has risen to its height there is
still-water for a time, before the ebbing waves begin to retire. Just so with the business of
the soul.
I. The signs of lukewarmness in religion.
1. We may first describe the state to which the Lord refers in the message to Laodicea
as a state of great spiritual insensibility.
2. Another symptom of lukewarmness in religion may be discovered in the influence
which the opinions and the example of the world exert upon us. Why not preserve
just so much of religion as will satisfy the meagre demands of a sleepy conscience,
and yet enjoy the pleasures, and pursue with breathless haste the riches, of the
world? The attempt is vain!
3. But, further, that Laodicean spirit which the text describes, betrays itself at length
in a decay of zeal for God. Does it cause you but little sorrow that the Saviour of the
world should still be an outcast from so large and fair a portion of His inheritance?
Have you no bowels of mercies for a perishing world?
II. Some of those circumstances which render this lukewarm state so dangerous to the
soul.
1. The first that strikes us arises from the very nature of spiritual religion. For it is a
contest against a corrupt nature. All the natural aids are on the side of sin: the world
and the flesh are banded in one common cause. So that to lose ground in religion is
not merely to risk our souls by wasting those advantages we have gained, but,
further, it is to arm our enemies; it is to give to them the advantages which we have
lost: for the attractive power of sin increases as we approach it.
2. The danger of this state is increased by the circumstance that there is in it nothing
which at first excites alarm. For it is not a lapse into open sin. It does not amount to a
rejection of the gospel. After all, the lukewarm Christian, compared with the
multitude, is a religious man. And all this serves to soothe and to quiet his
conscience. (J. B. Marsden, M. A.)
The danger of lukewarmness
1. There seems to be more likelihood of repentance, where men are manifestly
wrong, than where there is ever so small ground on which they flatter themselves
that they are right. Conscience in the one case may be awakened more readily by
God’s ordinary dispensations of providence and grace, than in the other, where it is
lulled by the fatal satisfaction of being no worse than the world in general, of being
almost if not quite a Christian.
2. The absolutely cold are in one respect less hardened than the lukewarm. They
have at least usually less familiarity with those means of grace, whose abuse is as sure
to harden the heart as their right use is to melt and refine it.
3. A third reason why the faithful Witness might wish even that we were cold rather
than lukewarm is, that in the latter case we do more signal disparagement to the
grace He dispenses, to the gospel He has revealed. (Canon Girdlestone.)

37. The three stages of religious emotion
I. The hot condition. Some degree of warmth is necessary for the commencement of a
religious experience. In the earliest days, wherever the Word was preached, wherever it
penetrated men’s hearts, there was s rush of spiritual emotion, a glow of inspiration, an
effervescence of feeling, a new, strange joy. This was the token of the Spirit’s presence.
And what was true at first is true still, because religious history is a history of
commencements and recommencements. Science has taught us that heat and motion are
interchangeable, that heat is but a mode or form of motion, and motion but a mode or
form of heat. The heat of the furnace and boiler is turned into the motion of the engine;
the heat produced by the food we eat is turned into the motion of our bodies. The sun’s
heat stored up in the coal measures becomes the motion of a thousand factories. So it is
in the moral world. To start and to keep up motion, right action, zealous effort,
painstaking and fruitful activity, you must have heat within the soul. You know the type
of Christian men whose enthusiasm is always at a glow. It brightens, and sparkles, and
runs over. They thaw you, they warm you, when you come near them. These are the men
who seem to respond to every genuine influence of God’s Spirit. They have built the
house of their faith not merely on the good foundation, but they have been wise, and
built it with a warm, bright exposure as well. The forces of evil and temptation are
strong. You must, therefore, have ardent religious feeling; you must have the action, the
sympathy, the way of looking at and speaking of things that come with such strong
feeling; otherwise the young and trustful, the men full of keen, vigorous life, will be
swept into some of those vortices of evil and be lost.
II. The cold condition. There is, of course, in human nature a continual tendency to cool
down. Like the earth’s surface during the night, our hearts are incessantly raying off
heat. People don’t intend probably to be cold and insensible to the things of God, but
their mental force is run off, and so they grow cold. But then, once coldness comes it
propagates itself, it even justifies itself. Men permanently, steadily cold, men with the
spiritual thermometer standing constantly at zero, take various lines. There is among
those who still profess to be Christians what may be called an orthodox and a heterodox
coldness. Orthodox coldness still preserves the form of its faith, though that faith,
instead of being a living figure, is a mere marble effigy—a corpse. Heterodox coldness
has readjusted its beliefs and considerably modified them. Cold tends to contract most
things, and faith among the rest. When men become cold after this fashion they become
incapable of high belief, the belief that transforms a man and brings him near to God.
They narrow their horizon, and all the stars go out of their sky. Cold men are dangerous
neighbours. They very soon draw off all the heat from us. Let a centre of ice once form in
a pond, and if the water be undisturbed, in a few hours it is frozen over. If we wish to
preserve our heat, we must take care what company we keep. Alas! for that icy chill that
has settled over many a heart that once throbbed kindly and truly in the service of Christ
and of humanity I Some of the cold men look like icebergs. The fact is, they are not
icebergs; they are extinct volcanoes. They once glowed with deep subterranean fires, and
a red-hot stream of energy poured down the mountain-side. Now, there is only a
collection of sulphur and ashes and crusted lava cakes.
III. The lukewarm condition. Lukewarmness is a stage of cooling down. No soul stops
short at this stage. The heart leaps at once into fire and life. But it chills gradually. A
lukewarm man you cannot describe. He is a mere collection of negations. His soul is like
a reservoir or bath, into which streams of hot water and cold are being run at the same
time, and you cannot tell which current is stronger, for they are often about equally

38. strong. A lukewarm man has force, but it never moves him to any definite action. He has
sympathies, but they tend to evaporate. He thinks, on the whole, he is a good, a religious
man, on the side of Christ and of right. Other people are, on the whole, not quite sure
what side he is on. The lukewarm man does not make it a principle to confine his religion
to the four walls of the church, and the two boards of the Bible. He holds that it should
not be so confined. And so he carries a few scraps of it into his daily life. He knows that
prayer should not be an empty form, so he occasionally tries to pray inwardly and
sincerely—that is, when he is neither very tired nor very busy. He has never given way on
a question of principle, except when he was very hard pushed, or it appeared that very
few people were looking on: and he has really often regretted giving way at all. He does
not intend to do it again. A lukewarm man generally does a little Christian work, not, of
course, enough to involve any sacrifice or exhaustion, nor would he take any pains to
provide a substitute for occasional or even frequent absence. It is only genuine workers
who do that. The lukewarm person has made a great many vows in the matter of religion
in the course of his or her life—too many, in fact. It would have been better to have made
fewer and kept some.
IV. Christ’s verdict on these stages of religious emotion. He regards it best to be hot,
next best to be cold, worst of all to be lukewarm. Two or three reasons may be suggested.
1. There is, first, its unreality. Lukewarmness is a sort of imposture or sham. It is
neither one thing nor another; and in a world that is sternly real, things and persons
ought to have a definite character. Lukewarmness is the absence of character. It
perplexes an outsider, and often imposes on a man himself.
2. Then it is useless. It has really no place in the order of things.
3. Further, it is a very impracticable state. You don’t know how to deal with it.
4. Lastly, it is a dangerous state. It is more difficult to treat a man in a low fever than
to treat a man who is sharply unwell. Lukewarmness tends not to get hotter, but to
get colder. There is really more hope for s man who is cold outright. He is not
blinding himself. He is not playing with truths. He knows he is cold. As a rule it is
only when lukewarmness has died down into coldness that a change for the better
comes. A man loses all, or almost all, religious life and interest, and then he starts to
find himself thus dead, and turns in penitence and fear to Christ. (John F. Ewing, M.
A.)
Lukewarmness in religion
I. The temper which our lord reproves in the Church of Laodicea.
1. They are lukewarm who are at no pains to guard against error, and to acquire just
sentiments of religion.
2. They are lukewarm who, from worldly hopes or fears, detain in unrighteousness
the truth they know, and who will not profess it openly.
3. They are lukewarm who give God the body, but withhold from Him the soul.
4. The inactivity of professed Christians is a strong proof that they are lukewarm.
5. Many discover their lukewarmness by the limitations within which they confine
their obedience, or by the weakness of their religious affections, when compared with
their affections to worldly objects.

39. 6. They are lukewarm who are little affected with the advancement or the decay of
religion, or with that which concerns the common welfare of mankind.
II. Why a lukewarm spirit so woefully prevails among many who profess to believe the
religion of Jesus. Lukewarmness prevails through an evil heart of unbelief. Men imagine
that they believe the threatenings of the law and the promises of the gospel, who have
never considered either their interesting nature or their undoubted certainty. Strangers
they must be to holy fervour of spirit who see not the beauty and glory, and who relish
not the pleasures of religion; who talk of treasures in heaven, but view the treasures of
this earth as more desirable; and who fondly cherish a secret hope that God will be less
severe on transgressors than the language of His threatenings supposes. The want of
religious principles, ill-founded and presumptuous hopes, and that lukewarmness which
flows from both, are greatly promoted by bad education and by bad example. The
ordinary commerce of the world completes the ruin which education had begun. The
conversation and manners of those whom the young are taught to love, or whose
superior age and wisdom they respect, completely pervert their ideas, their resolutions,
and their conduct.
III. The folly, guilt, and danger of this lukewarm temper.
1. The lukewarm practically deny the excellence and the importance of religion.
2. A lukewarm religion answers no valuable purpose.
3. The temper and conduct of the lukewarm is peculiarly base and criminal.
(1) It argues the vilest ingratitude.
(2) It indicates hypocrisy.
(3) The man who is lukewarm disgraces the worthy name by which he is called.
4. The lukewarm are not reclaimed without great difficulty, and they are always
waxing worse and worse, whether it is pride, or self-deceit, or gross hypocrisy which
chiefly prevails in their characters.
5. Lukewarmness exposes men to the dreadful effects of God’s vengeance in temporal
judgments, in spiritual plagues, and in eternal destruction. (John Erskine, D. D.)
Lukewarmness
No one can help admiring a straightforward, honourable course, and when the world
says of a man that he is “sitting on the fence,” it is hardly considered as a compliment.
I. The first alarming symptom of the existence of lukewarmness is a growing inattention
to the private duties of religion.
II. Another evidence of the encroachments of lukewarmness is carelessness in attending
public worship.
III. A third symptom of lukewarmness, about which there can be no possible mistake is
an indifference concerning the benevolent enterprises of the day, and scant offerings for
their furtherance. The world has an eagle eye for anything inconsistent, and nothing
disgusts it more than lukewarmness in those who claim to be followers of Christ. (J. N.
Norton, D. D.)

40. Indifference
The besetting sin of that ancient Church of Asia was lukewarmness, half-hearted
indifference. It is the besetting sin among us to-day. “I don’t care,” are words more
commonly spoken among us than, “I don’t believe.” A careless, or idle, or even vicious
boy at school may be reclaimed, but one who takes no interest in his work is a hopeless
case. Look at some of the results of being indifferent about religion.
1. It makes our religion unreal. It is not the love of God which constrains us, but
fashion, or custom. Our religion is like a spurious coin, good enough to look on, but
when tried it does not ring true.
2. Next, indifference makes people ignorant of the teachings of the Church, they are
often unacquainted with the very A B C of Christianity.
3. Again, this lukewarm indifference makes people selfish and idle. The idea of
making any sacrifice for Christ’s sake is not in their thoughts.
4. But above all, this lukewarm indifference leads to a shallow view of sin. (H. J.
Wilmot Buxton, M. A.)
Lukewarmness injurious to others
One lukewarm Christian may do untold harm to a whole Church. Pour a quantity of tepid
water into a vessel that contains boiling water, and immediately the temperature of the
whole will sink. Just so the contact of men who are indifferent with those who are fervid,
deadens their fervour, and tends to reduce them to the same lukewarmness. (G. Bowes.)
9. HAWKER, “(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. (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: (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. (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.
We are here brought acquainted with the Lord’s Epistle to the seventh Church, Laodicea.
We have a certain account of this Church in the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians; for he
thrice makes mention of it, Col_2:1; Col_4:13 and Col_4:15. Its situation was in the
province of Asia. Like all the former, it is occupied at present by the Turks. If, as this
Epistle is placed last in point of order, it be thereby meant to say, its period will be last,
and succeed the Church of Philadelphia; We may generally learn from it, that the
glorious spiritual reign of Christ, during the Philadelphian-state, will be succeeded with
an awful lukewarm, and lifeless condition, under this Laodicean; and afford a striking
display of the Lou’s grace, and their undeservings.

41. The Lord opens this Epistle, as he hath all the foregoing, with ushering in his message
with the proclamations of his sovereignty and power. He here calls himself the Amen, the
faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Now all these are
distinguishing names, belonging only to the Son of God; as God in the first of them, and
as God-Man Mediator in the two last. The Old Testament scripture, Isa_65:16, declares,
that whosoever blesseth himself in the earth, shall bless himself in the Amen; that is, the
God of truth and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by the Amen. that is, the God
of truth. Everyone knows, that is acquainted with the original, that this is the rendering
of it. Now, in the great acts of blessing, or appealing for the confirmation of truth, these
distinguishing acts belong only to God. And hence Christ, when calling himself Amen,
plainly proves his Godhead, But the faithful and true witness, and the beginning of the
creation of God, are features of character which belong to him, as God-Man Mediator.
And by both these, he hath demonstrated his twofold nature, most plainly and blessedly.
If the Reader will turn to Col_1:15, and following verses, and the Poor Man’s
Commentary thereupon; it will supersede the necessity of my enlarging, upon them, in
this place.
Jesus having opened his epistle to the Church of Laodicea with the glories of his names
and authority, next begins to speak on the subject for which he sent the message to the
Church. And, in the description which the Lord hath given of the state of this Church, it
is difficult to know which to admire most, the Lord’s compassion, or their awful
degeneracy. Considered as the last Church which Christ would have upon earth, it is
truly distressing. Most of the former had spots upon them, but this of Laodicea was over-
run with a gangrene. And, what made it, if possible, yet more awful, she is represented as
speaking peace to herself, as needing nothing; while, in Christ’s eye, she was everything
the reverse, and drenched in the deepest poverty. Reader! how oft have I seen in sick
rooms, and dying chambers, deceptions of this kind, both spiritually and bodily. It is
indeed no uncommon thing in life, by reason of this self-deception, for those who have
the spots of death upon them, to be talking of a speedy recovery. And, while every looker-
on, but themselves, beholds death approaching, the poor unconscious man himself
believes it not, till he drops into eternity. And what it is by the body, so is it by the soul!
But, oh! how much more horrible! to behold a sinner without a single work of grace upon
his soul; no sense of sin, no knowledge of salvation, ignorant of the plague of his own
heart, ignorant of the love and grace of God, a stranger to the Person, work,
righteousness, and blood shedding of the Lord Jesus Christ; and, with respect to the
regenerating mercy of God the Spirit, as it concerns himself, he hath not so much as
heard; whether there be any Holy Ghost! Reader! how readest thou? What think you of
these things?
It appears from this message to the Church of the Laodiceans, that, notwithstanding the
great mass, of the people, who professed to be apart in the visible Church, were in this
awful state; and concerning whom Jesus declared, that he would spue them out of his
mouth; yet the Lord had a people among them, for whom he sent this Epistle, and to
whom he gave counsel, to buy of him gold and white raiment, and eye-salve. There is
somewhat very sweet and endearing in this counsel of Jesus, who is the Wonderful
counsellor, and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Isa_9:6;
Col_2:3. It holds forth to my view, so very interesting an account of the wisdom, grace,
and loveliness of Jesus, that I would beg the Reader’s indulgence to dwell a moment
upon it.
By gold tried in the fire, can mean no other than Christ himself. He hath been tried,
indeed, in the fire of every exercise, when for his people he bore the sins and sorrows of
his redeemed, in his own body, on the tree. As the Church’s Surety, he stood exposed to

42. the fire of God’s wrath as a burnt-offering; and all the fiery darts of Satan, which in the
days of his temptation he endured. And, by white raiment, we may well conceive, the
Lord means that spotless robe of righteousness, which on the cross he wrought out, for
the clothing all his people. And by the eye-salve to anoint the eyes of his spiritually blind,
can mean no other than the unction of the Holy Ghost, by which, in regenerating grace,
in the new birth, and in divine teaching, the Church are brought to know all things,
1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27. And it is not the smallest beauty of this scripture, in the counsel of
Christ, that what Jesus calls to buy of him, means without money and without price. It is
all a free gift, free grace, free love. And he that counsels his people thus to buy, gives
them the disposition how to buy; namely, coming to him to receive, not to give. The
precious things Jesus sells are too precious for purchase. If a man would give all the
substance of his house for this love of God in Christ, it would utterly be contemned,
Son_8:7. Moreover: these incalculably great blessings, have all been purchased before,
by Jesus himself, and with no less a price than that of his own blood. So that, as he
bought them for his people, so he counsels them to come and buy of him, in this unusual
way of buying; not only without money, but without anything; neither credit, nor
promise, nor deserving. Was there ever heard of such a free grace market as this?
Reader! Shall you and I take the counsel of this wonderful Counsellor? Shall we seek
Him, as our true riches? Accept his white raiment for our only covering before God, for
acceptance? And shall we bless him, for the Unction of his Holy Spirit, in anointing our
eyes, to behold thereby, our nothingness, and his All-sufficiency? Shall we hesitate to
accept the free gift, and the free grace of God in Christ Jesus? Shall we indeed, be so
proud, as rather to purchase, than receive free, rather come before God in bur rags, than
in the robe of Jesus righteousness? And all this, at a time when we know, and are told,
that Jesus IS too rich to need anything of us; and his only motive for selling in the way he
doth, is to show us, that be needs not us, but that our blessedness he hath in view, and
will thereby promote his own glory in our happiness?
This verse, of Jesus telling his Church of his love, in rebukes and chastenings, comes in
very blessedly after the former; because, whatever exercises the Lord calls his people to,
he will enable them to bear up under: and, having given them gold tried in the fire, and
white raiment, and eye-salve, meaning himself, with all his graces, and gifts, and
righteousness, in the Holy Ghost; afflictions in the world ought not to be regarded.
Indeed, they are so many sweet and precious love-tokens of his favor, Jam_1:2;
Jam_1:12.
I admire the love-calls of Christ; and the method here spoken of, by which Jesus makes
them known to his people. It is a sweet verse indeed, of the Lord Jesus, in which, as we
commonly say, every word tells. The Son of God a Petitioner at the heart of his people.
And the account is ushered in, as it well may, with a behold! A note of admiration, that
Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth, should thus ask an entrance! Moreover: where is
he? He saith, I stand at the door and knock. Marvellous condescension! Jesus stands
without! He that by right of creation, redemption, marriage, purchase, conquests, grace,
might command all gates to open at his approach, is nevertheless an humble suitor, and
stands without. Oh! must not everyone that hears of such grace, or that is conscious of
such unparalleled mercy, be constrained to cry out, with one of old: Come in, thou
blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without, Gen_24:31.
But, observe not only the Redeemer’s posture, but the Redeemer’s method, to gain
admission. He knocks at the door of our heart. And how is this done? Oh! who shall
count over, or sum up, all the love-calls of Christ. By his word, by ordinances, by means
of grace, by afflictions, wants, sicknesses, sorrows, bereaving providences in our friends,
the near prospect, as it should seem, of death to ourselves; the Lord knocks, and knocks

43. again and again, and rings loud peals through all the chambers of our consciences; all
which we totally disregard, hear, but turn from: neither can the Lord, by soothing or by
threatening, by judgments or by mercies, have the least effect upon our stony hearts,
until He himself put in his hand by the hole of the door, opened to his own entrance, and
caused our bowels to be moved for him. So said the Church? of old! And so, blessed be
God, I know, Son_5:2-4. Reader! what saith your heart to these things? Have you known
Jesus at the door? Have you heard his calls? Hath he made you willing in the day of his
power? Psa_110:3.
Let some child of God, that. knows what supping with Jesus means, describe those words
of the Redeemer. For, though I trust I know well what it is; yet, sure I am, angels pare
not competent to describe it. The Holy Ghost hath taught the Church to tell the people
somewhat of it, in her love songs, when she describes Jesus as her Husband, bringing her
into his banqueting house, and his banner over her was love; Son_2:4. but, oh! how far
short all language is, to convey the full meaning of such unequalled joy? Our poor, cold,
and lifeless nature, by reason of that body of sin and death we carry about with us,
renders us but too often insensible to the visits of Jesus. Often he comes, looks in at the
window, shows himself at the lattices of ordinances; and we, alas! sometimes hardly
glance at him, before our thoughts run away to other objects. But, very mire I am, if our
souls were but more alive to the visits of Jesus, we should find that this promise of Jesus
would be often fulfilled, and night by night He would come with such love, and bring of
that love with him, which is better than wine to make the feast with, and in such fulness,
as to be both our company, our food, our bread, and our wine, Son_5:1.
I Must not close our view of this Epistle, before that I have first taken notice of what the
Lord Jesus hath said of his throne, and of his Father’s throne. 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. I pray the Reader to observe the distinction which is here made,
in what is said of these thrones. The throne of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is
the throne of the essential Godhead. Here, on this throne, none but God himself in his
threefold character of Person sits. Nothing created can possibly ascend here. But there is
another throne, namely, the Mediatorial throne. And this belongs to Christ, as God-Man.
And Jesus, having married our nature, and thereby having brought that nature into
union with himself, brings his redeemed into a participation of this throne. Therefore,
Christ saith, To him that overcometh, that is, to everyone truly regenerated by the Holy
Ghost, whom God my Father hath given to me, and whom I have betrothed to myself,
and redeemed by my blood and righteousness; having thus overcome sin and Satan, he
shall sit with me on my Mediatorial throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with my Father in his throne of Godhead.
Reader! Once more, as we close this Chapter, and with it the Lord’s Epistles to the
Churches, we are reminded of the hearing ear. He that hath an ear! Lord, give the
hearing ear, and the seeing eye, that we may hear what the Spirit saith unto the
Churches.
10. SBC, “Lukewarmness.
I. The first alarming symptom of lukewarmness is a growing inattention to the private
duties of religion. And among these are private prayer, the study of the Bible, and self-
examination. The lukewarm Christian begins by omitting his private devotions on the
mornings of his busiest days, or on the nights when he is wearied and worn out in the
service of the world. Next, he contrives to shorten his prayers, and leaves his Bible-
readings for Sundays. Thus little by little lukewarmness takes possession of the soul, and

44. brings forth its shrivelled and sickly fruit.
II. Another evidence of the encroachments of lukewarmness is carelessness in attending
public worship. The single sin of neglecting public worship, if persisted in, will eat out of
the soul every germ of its spiritual life.
III. A third symptom of lukewarmness, about which there can be no possible mistake, is
an indifference concerning the benevolent enterprises of the day and scant offerings for
their furtherance. The disease of lukewarmness is so very prevalent that its presence has
ceased to create alarm, and people are sometimes found who have exalted this sin of
lukewarmness to the rank of a virtue. They admire and praise the zealous man of
business and zealous patriot, but when they speak of the zealous Christian the word
suddenly changes its meaning, and it becomes little better than a sarcasm and a sneer.
The philosopher’s good man is four-square; and cast him where you will, like a die, he
always falls sure and steady. It is only such who can make the world better and happier,
for they give it the advantage of precept and practice both.
J. N. Norton, Golden Truths; p. 113.
References: Rev_3:15.—H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 88;
F. O. Morris, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 148. Rev_3:15, Rev_3:16.—
Preacher’s Monthly, vol, ii., p. 424.
Revelation 3:15
Rev_3:15, Rev_3:19
I. Look at the loving rebuke of the faithful Witness: "Thou art neither cold nor hot." We
are manifestly there in the region of emotion. The metaphor applies to feeling. We talk of
warmth of feeling, ardour of affection, fervour of love, and the like; and the opposite,
cold, expresses obviously the absence of any glow of a true, living emotion. So, then, the
persons thus described are Christian people with very little, though a little, warmth of
affection and glow of Christian love and consecration. (1) This defectiveness of Christian
feeling is accompanied with a large amount of self-complacency. (2) This deficiency of
warmth is worse than absolute zero. If you were cold, at absolute zero, there would be at
least a possibility that when you were brought into contact with the warmth you might
kindle. But you have been brought into contact with the warmth, and this is the effect.
II. Note some plain causes of this lukewarmness of spiritual life. (1) The cares of this
world; the entire absorption of spirit in business. (2) The existence among us or around
us of a certain widely diffused doubt as to the truths of Christianity is, illogically enough,
a cause for diminished fervour on the part of the men that do not doubt them. That is
foolish, and it is strange, but it is true. Beware of unreasonably yielding to the influence
of prevailing unbelief. (3) Another cause is the increasing degree in which Christian men
are occupied with secular things.
III. Note the loving call to Christian earnestness: "Be zealous therefore." The word
"zealous" means literally boiling with heat. We must remember that zeal ought to be a
consequence of knowledge, and that, seeing that we are reasonable creatures, intended
to be guided by our understandings, it is an upsetting of the whole constitution of a
man’s nature if his heart works independently of his head; and the only way in which we
can safely and wholesomely increase our zeal is by increasing our grasp of the truths

45. which feed it.
IV. Observe the merciful call to a new beginning: "Repent." There must be a lowly
consciousness of sin, a clear vision of past shortcomings and abhorrence of these, and
joined to these a resolute act of heart and mind beginning a new course, a change of
purpose and of the current of our being.
A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, April 8th, 1886.
11. MEYER, ““I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK”
Rev_3:14-22
It is better to be cold than lukewarm, for in the latter case all that God’s love can do for
the soul has only produced a moderate result, while if we are cold, our soul has yet to be
tried. The Gospel has a better chance with the openly profane and godless than with
those who have been brought up under its influence and are so far unaffected. The
mischief with men generally is that they do not know themselves, and do not want to
know; and they are equally ignorant of the rich stores of blessedness that Christ waits to
bestow. We think that we abound in gift and grace, when in Christ’s eyes we are most
pitiable. Yet, at this moment, He is standing at the door, laden with the gifts of heaven.
Admit Him, or at least lift the latch of the will, so that He may push the door back and
enter. Do not attempt to deal with the squalor within; He will see to that, and cleanse,
keep, and enrich. Do not try to provide supper; He will bring thee His own flesh and
blood.
Ponder that last beatitude, which promises to all believers that if they share with Him
His age-long conflict against the evil of the world, they shall share His rule and power,
which they shall use with Him for the uplift and blessing of mankind. Complete and
continually renewed self-surrender to Christ will admit into our hearts the royalty and
power of Christ.
11 B. COFFMAN, “LAODICEA
Laodicea is a word which has come to stand for lukewarmness, indifference and compromise.
Some theorists make a big point out of what they affirm to be the meaning of the word: "Its name
designates it as the Church of mob rule, the democratic church, in which everything was swayed
and decided by popular opinion."[55] We are reluctant to accept this, be cause the town was actually
named by its founder Antiochus II (261-246 B.C.) after his wife Laodice.[56] It was situated in the
same general vicinity of the other six cities addressed in this series, on the great Roman road to
Syrian Antioch. It was never much of a fortress, due to the vulnerability of the water supply, "which
came principally by a vulnerable aqueduct from springs six miles away to the north in the direction
of Hieropolis ... Laodicea could hardly stand a determined siege."[57]
Laodicea was a banking center with a great deal of wealth. One of the great industries was that of
wool and woolen garments, featuring a fine quality glossy black wool from Phrygian sheep; another
industry was that of drugs developed in connection with the medical school there. One of the
famous Laodicean remedies was a "Phrygian eye-salve" which was supposed to cure inflammation.
Blaiklock speculated that this probably came from dried mud from one of the numerous hot springs
in the area.[58] This information illuminates the charges which the Lord made against the church of
this city, in his words, "Thou art miserable and poor, and blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17). It is as
though he had said, "You are spiritually bankrupt in spite of all the banks, looms and pharmacies in
the city."

46. Particularly noticeable was the wealth of Laodicea. Following the great earthquake which
demolished the place in 60 A.D., they rebuilt at once from their own resources, declining the lavish
gifts offered by the emperor. Scholars who suppose that Laodicea could not have recovered so
quickly as a date in the late 60's for Revelation would indicate that they have failed to take their
great wealth and self-sufficiency into account.
One other significant fact of the environment is that of the hot springs, which when mixed with water
from the colder springs resulted in a lukewarm, nauseous mixture totally unsuitable for drinking
purposes.
Laodicea suffered the same kind of general decline that came to the whole area in subsequent
centuries, finally falling to the Turks in the 14th century. Today, it is called Eski-Sheher, meaning
"old town," the capital of the Turkish province of the same name. The population in 1955 was
122,755.[59]
The church at Laodicea was one of a group of three congregations known to us from the writings of
Paul. He directed that two of his epistles should be sent there (Colossians 4:16). "These were the
Colossian letter and another which has been lost, unless the epistle to the Ephesians is
meant."[60] This church received, along with Sardis, the strongest of our Lord's denunciations, there
being no compliment of any kind extended to them.
[55] J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1900), p. 72.
[56] E. J. Banks, ISBE, p. 1836.
[57] E. M. Blaiklock, op. cit., p. 124.
[58] Ibid., p. 125.
[59] Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1961), Vol. 1, p. 710.
[60] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 487.
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of
God:
The Amen ... This denotes the one in whom verity is personified."[61] There is also the sense of
completeness and finality in it. Before Christ, there was no other; and after him there is no other.
The faithful and true witness ... The faithfulness of Christ is affirmed in this, a truth often
overlooked. As deity, Jesus Christ had no need of faith in the sense of its use today; but "as a man"
he walked in faith, implicitly trusting all that the Father had promised. In the ultimate sense, all
human justification derives from the perfect faith and perfect obedience of Christ.
The beginning of the creation of God ... Plummer pointed out that the words here bear two
possible interpretations:
The two meanings are: (1) that which would make Christ the first created thing of all things God
created, and (2) that which would understand Christ as the Source of all the things God created.[62]
Plummer and many other able scholars declare the second meaning to be the one intended here.
"The words mean, the one from whom creation took its beginning."[63] The agreement
with Colossians 1:16 is probably intended, for the church in Laodicea received Colossians.
[61] Ibid., p. 488.
[62] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 115.
[63] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 488.

47. 12. MACLARE , “LAODICEA
We learn from Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians that there was a very close connection
between that Church and this at Laodicea. It is a probable conjecture that a certain
Archippus, who is spoken of in the former Epistle, was the bishop or pastor of the
Laodicean Church. And if, as seems not unlikely, the ‘angels’ of these Asiatic churches
were the presiding officers of the same, then it is at least within the limits of possibility
that the ‘angel of the Church at Laodicea,’ who received the letter, was Archippus.
The message that was sent to Archippus by Paul was this: ‘Take heed to the ministry
which thou hast received of the Lord, that thou fulfill it.’ And if thirty years had passed,
and then Archippus got this message: ‘Thou art neither cold nor hot,’ you have an
example of how a little negligence in manifest duty on the part of a Christian man may
gradually grow and spread, like a malignant cancer, until it has eaten all the life out of
him, and left him a mere shell. The lesson is for us all.
But whether we see an individual application in these words or no, certainly the ‘angel of
the church’ is spoken of in his character of a representative of the whole Church. So,
then, this Laodicean community had no works. So far had declension gone that even
Christ’s eye could see no sign of the operation of the religious principle in it; and all that
He could say about it was, ‘thou art neither cold nor hot.’
It is very remarkable that the first and the last letters to the seven Churches deal with the
same phase of religious declension, only that the one is in the germ and the other is fully
developed. The Church of Ephesus had still works abundant, receiving and deserving the
warm-hearted commendation of the Master, but they had ‘left their first love.’ The
Church at Laodicea had no works, and in it the disease had sadly, and all but universally,
spread.
Now then, dear friends, I intend, not in the way of rebuke, God knows, but in the way of
earnest remonstrance and appeal to you professing Christians, to draw some lessons
from these solemn words.
I. I pray you to look at that loving rebuke of the faithful Witness: ‘Thou art
neither cold nor hot.’
"We are manifestly there in the region of emotion. The metaphor applies to feeling. We
talk, for instance, about warmth of feeling, ardour of affection, fervour of love, and the
like. And the opposite, cold, expresses obviously the absence of any glow of a true living
emotion.
So, then, the persons thus described are Christian people (for their Christianity is
presupposed), with very little, though a little, warmth of affection and glow of Christian
love and consecration.
Further, this defectiveness of Christian feeling is; accompanied with a large amount of
self-complacency: - ‘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.’ Of course it is so. A numbed limb feels no pain. As cold increases the
sensation of cold, and of everything else, goes away. And a sure mark of defective
religious emotion is absolute unconsciousness on the man’s part that there is anything
the matter with him. All of you that have no sense that the indictment applies to you, by
the very fact show that it applies most especially and most tragically to you. Self-
complacency diagnoses spiritual cold, and is an inevitable and a constantly
accompanying symptom of a deficiency of religious emotion.
Then again, this deficiency of warmth is worse than absolute zero. ‘I would thou wert

48. cold or hot.’ That is no spurt of impatience on the part of the ‘true Witness.’ It is for their
sake that He would they were cold or hot. And why? Because there is no man more
hopeless than a man on whom the power of Christianity has been brought to bear, and
has failed in warming and quickening him. If you were cold, at absolute zero, there
would be at least a possibility that when you were brought in contact with the warmth
you might kindle. But you have been brought in contact with the warmth, and this is the
effect. Then what is to be done with you? There is nothing more that can be brought to
bear on your consciousness to make you anything higher or better than you are, than
what you have already had in operation in your spiritual life. And if it has failed, all God’s
armoury is empty, and He has shot His last bolt, and there is nothing more left. ‘I would
thou wert cold or hot.’
Now, dear friends, is that our condition? I am obliged sadly to say that I believe it is to a
fearful extent the condition of professing Christendom to-day. ‘Neither cold nor hot!’
Look at the standard of Christian life round about us. Let us look into our own hearts.
Let us mark how wavering the line is between the Church and the world; how little upon
our side of the line there is of conspicuous consecration and unworldliness; how entirely
in regard of an enormous mass of professing Christians, the maxims that are common in
the world are their maxims; and the sort of life that the world lives is the sort of life that
they live. ‘Oh! thou that art named the House of Israel,’ as one of the old prophets wailed
out, ‘is the Spirit of the Lord straitened? Are these His doings?’ And so I would say, look
at your churches and mark their feebleness, the slow progress of the gospel among them,
the low lives that the bulk of us professing Christians are living, and answer the question:
Is that the operation of a Divine Spirit that comes to transform and to quicken everything
into His own vivid and flaming life? or is it the operation of our own selfishness and
worldliness, crushing down and hemming in the power that ought to sway us? Brethren!
it is not for me to cast condemnation, but it is for each of us to ask ourselves the
question: Do we not hear the voice of the ‘faithful and true Witness’ saying to us, ‘I know
thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot’?
II. And now will you let me say a word next as to some of the plain causes of
this lukewarmness of spiritual life?
Of course the tendency to it is in us all. Take a bar of iron out of the furnace on a winter
day, and lay it down in the air, and there is nothing more wanted. Leave it there, and
very soon the white heat will change into livid dullness, and then there will come a scale
over it, and in a short time it will be as cold as the frosty atmosphere around it. And so
there is always a refrigerating process acting upon us, which needs to be counteracted by
continual contact with the fiery furnace of spiritual warmth, or else we are cooled down
to the degree of cold around us. But besides this universally operating cause there are
many others which affect us.
Laodicea was a great commercial city, an emporium of trade, which gives especial point
and appropriateness to the loving counsel of the context. ‘I advise thee to buy of Me gold
tried in the fire.’ And Manchester life, with its anxieties, with its perplexities for many of
you, with its diminished profits, and apparently diminishing trade, is a fearful foe to the
warmth and reality of your Christian life. The cares of this world and the riches of this
world are both amongst the thorns which choke the Word and make it unfruitful. I find
fault with no man for the earnestness which he flings into his business, but I ask you to
contrast this entire absorption of spirit, and the willing devotion of hours and strength to
it, with the grudging, and the partial, and the transient devotion of ourselves to the
religious life; and say whether the relative importance of the things seen and unseen is
fairly represented by the relative amount of earnestness with which you and I pursue

49. these respectively.
Then, again, the existence among us, or around us, of a certain widely diffused doubt as
to the truths of Christianity is, illogically enough, a cause for diminished fervor on the
part of the men that do not doubt them. That is foolish, and it is strange, but it is true. It
is very hard for us, when so many people round about us are denying, or at least are
questioning, the verities which we have been taught to believe, to keep the freshness and
the fervor of our devotion to these; just as it is very difficult for a man to keep up the
warmth of his body in the midst of some creeping mist that enwraps everything. So with
us, the presence, in the atmosphere of doubt, depresses the vitality and the vigor of the
Christian Church where it does not intensify its faith, and make it cleave more
desperately to the things that are questioned. Beware, then, of unreasonably yielding so
far to the influence of prevailing unbelief as to make you grasp with a slacker hand the
thing which still you do not say that you doubt.
And there is another case, which I name with some hesitation, but which yet seems to me
to be worthy of notice; and that is, the increasing degree to which Christian men are
occupied with what we call, for want of a better name, secular things. The leaders in the
political world, on both sides, in our great commercial cities, are usually professing
Christians. I am the last man to find fault with any Christian man for casting himself, so
far as his opportunities allow, into the current of political life, if he will take his
Christianity with him, and if he will take care that he does not become a great deal more
interested in elections, and in pulling the strings of a party, and in working for ‘the
cause,’ than he is in working for his Master. I grudge the political world nothing that it
gets of your strength, but I do grudge, for your sakes as well as for the Church’s sake, that
so often the two forms of activity are supposed by professing Christians to be
incompatible, and that therefore the more important is neglected, and the less important
done. Suffer the word of exhortation.
And, in like manner, literature and art, and the ordinary objects of interest on the part of
men who have no religion, are coming to absorb a great deal of our earnestness and our
energy. I would not withdraw one iota of the culture that now prevails largely in the
Christian Church. All that I plead for, dear brethren, is this, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth.’
Go where you like, and fling yourselves into all manner of interests and occupations, only
carry your Master with you. And remember that if you are not salting the world, the
world is putrefying you.
There I think you have some, though it be imperfect, account of the causes which operate
to lower the temperature of the Christian Church in general, and of this Christian
Church, and of you as individual members of it.
III. Now, further, note the loving call here to deepened earnestness.
‘Be zealous, therefore.’ The word translated, and rightly translated, zealous means
literally boiling with heat. It is an exhortation to fervor. Now there is no worse thing in
all this world than for a man to try to work up emotion, nothing which is so sure, sooner
or later, to come to mischief, sure to breed hypocrisy and all manner of evil. If there be
anything that is worse than trying to work up emotion, it is attempting to pretend it. So
when our Master here says to us, ‘Be zealous, therefore,’ we must remember that zeal in a
man ought to be a consequence of knowledge; and that, seeing that we are reasonable
creatures, intended to be guided by our understandings, it is an upsetting of the whole
constitution of a man’s nature if his heart works independently of his head. And the only
way in which we can safely and wholesomely increase our zeal is by increasing our grasp
of the truths which feed it.

50. Thus the exhortation, ‘Be zealous,’ if we come to analyze it, and to look into its basis, is
this - Lay hold upon, and meditate upon, the great truths that will make your heart glow.
Notice that this exhortation is a consequence, ‘Be zealous, therefore,’ and repent.
Therefore, and what precedes? A whole series of considerations - such as these: ‘I
counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire . . . and white raiment . . . and anoint thine
eyes with eye salve.’ It is to say, lay hold of the truth that Christ possesses a full store of
all that you can want. Meditate on that great truth and it will kindle a flame of desire and
of fruition in your hearts. ‘Be zealous, therefore.’ And again, ‘As many as I love I rebuke
and chasten.’ ‘Be zealous, therefore.’ That is to say, grasp the great thought of the loving
Christ, all whose dealings, even when His voice assumes severity, and His hand comes
armed with a rod, are the outcome and manifestation of His love; and sink into that love,
and that will make your hearts glow. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock.’ ‘Be zealous,
therefore.’ Think of the earnest, patient, long-suffering appeal which the Master makes,
bearing with all our weaknesses and our shortcomings, and not suffering His gentle hand
to be turned away, though the door has been so long barred and bolted in His face. And
let these sweet thoughts of a Christ that gives everything, of a Christ all whose dealings
are love, of a Christ who pleads with us through the barred door, and tries to get at us
through the obstacles which ourselves have fastened against Him, let them draw us to
Him, and kindle and keep alight-a brighter flame of consecration and of devotion in our
hearts to Him. ‘Be zealous.’ Feed upon the great truths of the Gospel which kindles zeal.
Brethren, the utmost warmth is reasonable in religion. If Christianity be true, there is no
measure of ardor or of consecration which is beyond the reasonable requirements of the
case. We are told that ‘a sober standard of feeling in matters of religion’ is the great thing
to aim at. So I say. But I would differ, perhaps, with the people that are fond of saying so,
in my definition of sobriety. A sober standard is a standard of feeling in which the feeling
does not outrun the facts on which it is built. Enthusiasm is disproportionate or ignorant
feeling; warmth without light. A sober, reasonable feeling is the emotion which is
correspondent to the truths that evoke it. And will any man tell me that any amount of
earnestness, of flaming consecration, of fiery zeal, is in advance of the great truths that
Christ loves me, and has given Himself for me?
IV. And now, lastly, observe the merciful call to a new beginning: ‘Repent.’
There must be a lowly consciousness of sin, a clear vision of my past shortcomings, an
abhorrence of these, and, joined with that, a resolute act of mind and heart beginning a
new course, a change of purpose and of the current of my being.
Repentance is sorrow for the past, blended with a resolve to paste down the old leaf and
begin a new writing on a new page. Christian men have need of these fresh beginnings,
and of new repentance, even as the patriarch when he came up from Egypt went to the
place where ‘he builded the altar at the first and then offered sacrifice. Do not you be
ashamed, Christian men and women, if you have been living low and inconsistent
Christian lives in the past, to make a new beginning and to break with that past. There
was never any great outburst of life in a Christian Church which was not preceded by a
lowly penitence. And there is never any penitence worth naming which is not preceded
by a recognition, glad, rapturous, confident as self-consciousness, of Christ’s great and
infinite love to me.
Oh! if there is one thing that we want more than another to-day, it is that the fiery Spirit
shall come and baptize all the churches, and us as individual members of them. What
was it that finished the infidelity of the last century? Was it Paley and Butler, with their
demonstrations and their books? No! it was John Wesley and Whitefield. Here is a
solution, full of microscopic germs that will putrefy. Expose it to heat, raise the

51. temperature, and you will kill all the germs, so that you may keep it for a hundred years,
and there will be no putrefaction in it. Get the temperature of the Church up, and all the
evils that are eating out its life will shrivel and drop to the bottom dead. They cannot live
in the heat; cold is their region. So, dear brethren, let us get near to Christ’s love until the
light of it shines in our own faces. Let us get near to Christ’s love until, like coal laid upon
the fire, its fervors penetrate into our substance and change even our blackness into
ruddy flame. Let us get nearer to the love, and then, though the world may laugh and say,
‘He hath a devil and is mad,’ they that see more clearly will say of us: ‘The zeal of Thine
house hath eaten him up,’ and the Father will say even concerning us: ‘This is My
beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.’
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold
nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!
1. BAR ES, "I know thy works - notes on Rev_2:2.
That thou art neither cold nor hot - The word “cold” here would seem to denote
the state where there was no pretension to religion; where everything was utterly lifeless
and dead. The language is obviously figurative, but it is such as is often employed, when
we speak of one as being cold toward another, as having a cold or icy heart, etc. The word
“hot” would denote, of course, the opposite - warm and zealous in their love and service.
The very words that we are constrained to use when speaking on this subject - such
words as ardent (that is, hot or burning); fervid (that is, very hot, burning, boiling) -
show how necessary it is to use such words, and how common it is. The state indicated
here, therefore, would be that in which there was a profession of religion, but no warm-
hearted piety; in which there was not, on the one hand, open and honest opposition to
him, and, on the other, such warm-hearted and honest love as he had a right to look for
among his professed friends; in which there was a profession of that religion which ought
to warm the heart with love, and fill the soul with zeal in the cause of the Redeemer; but
where the only result, in fact, was deadness and indifference to him and his cause.
Among those who made no profession he had reason to expect nothing but coldness;
among those who made a profession he had a right to expect the glow of a warm
affection; but he found nothing but indifference.
I would thou wert cold or hot - That is, I would prefer either of those states to
what now exists. Anything better than this condition, where love is professed, but where
it does not exist; where vows have been assumed which are not fulfilled. Why he would
prefer that they should be “hot” is clear enough; but why would he prefer a state of utter
coldness - a state where there was no profession of real love? To this question the
following answers may be given:
(1) Such a state of open and professed coldness or indifference is more honest. There is
no disguise; no concealment; no pretence. We know where one in this state “may be
found”; we know with whom we are dealing; we know what to expect. Sad as the state is,
it is at least honest; and we are so made that we all prefer such a character to one where

52. professions are made which are never to be realized - to a state of insincerity and
hypocrisy.
(2) Such a state is more honorable. It is a more elevated condition of mind, and marks
a higher character. Of a man who is false to his engagements, who makes professions and
promises never to be realized, we can make nothing. There is essential meanness in such
a character, and there is nothing in it which we can respect. But in the character of the
man who is openly and avowedly opposed to anything; who takes his stand, and is
earnest and zealous in his course, though it be wrong, there are traits which may be,
under a better direction, elements of true greatness and magnanimity. In the character of
Saul of Tarsus there were always the elements of true greatness; in that of Judas Iscariot
there were never. The one was capable of becoming one of the noblest men that has ever
lived on the earth; the other, even under the personal teaching of the Redeemer for
years, was nothing but a traitor - a man of essential meanness.
(3) There is more hope of conversion and salvation in such a case. There could always
have been a ground of hope that Saul would be converted and saved, even when
“breathing out threatening and slaughter”; of Judas, when numbered among the
professed disciples of the Saviour, there was no hope. The most hopeless of all persons,
in regard to salvation, are those who are members of the church without any true
religion; who have made a profession without any evidence of personal piety; who are
content with a name to live. This is so, because:
(a) the essential character of anyone who will allow himself to do this is eminently
unfavorable to true religion. There is a lack of that thorough honesty and sincerity which
is so necessary for true conversion to God. He who is content to profess to be what he
really is not, is riot a man on whom the truths of Christianity are likely to make an
impression.
(b) Such a mall never applies the truth to himself. Truth that is addressed to
impenitent sinners he does not apply to himself, of course; for he does not rank himself
in that class of persons. Truth addressed to hypocrites he will not apply to himself; for no
one, however insincere and hollow he may be, chooses to act on the presumption that he
is himself a hypocrite, or so as to leave others to suppose that he regards himself as such.
The means of grace adapted to save a sinner, as such, he will not use; for he is in the
church, and chooses to regard himself as safe. Efforts made to reclaim him he will resist;
for he will regard it as proof of a meddlesome spirit, and an uncharitable judging in
others, if they consider him to be anything different from what he professes to be. What
right have they to go back of his profession, and assume that he is insincere? As a
consequence, there are probably fewer persons by far converted of those who come into
the church without any religion, than of any other class of persons of similar number;
and the most hopeless of all conditions, in respect to conversion and salvation, is when
one enters the church deceived.
(c) It may be presumed that, for these reasons, God himself will make less direct effort
to convert and save such persons. As there are fewer appeals that can be brought to bear
on them; as there is less in their character that is noble, and that can be depended on in
promoting the salvation of a soul; and as there is special guilt in hypocrisy, it may be
presumed that God will more frequently leave such persons to their chosen course, than
he will those who make no professions of religion. Comp, Psa_109:17-18; Jer_7:16;
Jer_11:14; Jer_14:11; Isa_1:15; Hos_4:17.

53. 2. CLARKE, "Thou art neither cold nor hot - Ye are neither heathens nor
Christians - neither good nor evil - neither led away by false doctrine, nor thoroughly
addicted to that which is true. In a word, they were listless and indifferent, and seemed
to care little whether heathenism or Christianity prevailed. Though they felt little zeal
either for the salvation of their own souls or that of others, yet they had such a general
conviction of the truth and importance of Christianity, that they could not readily give it
up.
I would thou wert cold or hot - That is, ye should be decided; adopt some part or
other, and be in earnest in your attachment to it. If ever the words of Mr. Erskine, in his
Gospel Sonnets, were true, they were true of this Church: -
“To good and evil equal bent,
I’m both a devil and a saint.”
They were too good to go to hell, too bad to go to heaven. Like Ephraim and Judah,
Hos_6:4 : O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for
your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it passeth away. They had
good dispositions which were captivated by evil ones, and they had evil dispositions
which in their turn yielded to those that were good; and the Divine justice and mercy
seem puzzled to know what to do to or with them. This was the state of the Laodicean
Church; and our Lord expresses here in this apparent wish, the same that is expressed by
Epictetus, Ench., chap. 36. ᅡνα σε δει ανθρωπον, η αγαθον, η κακον, ειναι. “Thou oughtest
to be one kind of man, either a good man or a bad man.”
3. GILL, "I know thy works,.... Which were far from being perfect, and not so good as
those of the former church:
that thou art neither cold nor hot; she was not "cold", or without spiritual life, at
least in many of her members, as all men by nature are, and carnal professors be; she
was alive, but not lively: nor was she wholly without spiritual affections and love; to God,
and Christ, to his people, ways, truths, and ordinances; she had love, but the fervency of
it was abated: nor was she without spiritual breathings and desires altogether, as dead
men are; or without the light and knowledge of the Gospel, and a profession of it, and yet
she was not "hot"; her love to God and Christ, and the saints, was not ardent and
flaming; it was not like coals of fire, that give most vehement flame, which many waters
cannot quench the had not fervency of spirit in the service of the Lord; nor was she
zealous for the truths of the Gospel, and for the ordinances of it, and for the house of God
and its discipline; nor did she warmly oppose all sin, and every error and false way,
I would thou wert cold or hot; which must be understood, not absolutely, but
comparatively; and not that it was an indifferent thing to Christ whether she was one or
the other; but he alludes to what is natural among men, it being generally more
agreeable to have anything entirely hot, or entirely cold, than to be neither; and so uses
this phrase to show his detestation of lukewarmness, and that it is better to be ignorant,
and not a professor of religion, than to be a vain and carnal one; Christ desires not
simply that she might be cold, but that she might be sensible of her need of spiritual heat
and fervency.

54. 4. HE RY, "1. The heavy charge drawn up against this church, ministers and people, by
one who knew them better than they knew themselves: Thou art neither cold nor hot,
but worse than either; I would thou wert cold or hot, Rev_3:15. Lukewarmness or
indifference in religion is the worst temper in the world. If religion is a real thing, it is the
most excellent thing, and therefore we should be in good earnest in it; if it is not a real
thing, it is the vilest imposture, and we should be earnest against it. If religion is worth
any thing, it is worth every thing; an indifference here is inexcusable: Why halt you
between two opinions? If God be God, follow him; if Baal (be God), follow him. Here is
no room for neutrality. An open enemy shall have a fairer quarter than a perfidious
neuter; and there is more hope of a heathen than of such. Christ expects that men should
declare themselves in earnest either for him or against him.
5. JAMISO , "neither cold — The antithesis to “hot,” literally, “boiling” (“fervent,”
Act_18:25; Rom_12:11; compare Son_8:6; Luk_24:32), requires that “cold” should here
mean more than negatively cold; it is rather, positively icy cold: having never yet been
warmed. The Laodiceans were in spiritual things cold comparatively, but not cold as the
world outside, and as those who had never belonged to the Church. The lukewarm state,
if it be the transitional stage to a warmer, is a desirable state (for a little religion, if real,
is better than none); but most fatal when, as here, an abiding condition, for it is mistaken
for a safe state (Rev_3:17). This accounts for Christ’s desiring that they were cold rather
than lukewarm. For then there would not be the same “danger of mixed motive and
disregarded principle” [Alford]. Also, there is more hope of the “cold,” that is, those who
are of the world, and not yet warmed by the Gospel call; for, when called, they may
become hot and fervent Christians: such did the once-cold publicans, Zacchaeus and
Matthew, become. But the lukewarm has been brought within reach of the holy fire,
without being heated by it into fervor: having religion enough to lull the conscience in
false security, but not religion enough to save the soul: as Demas, 2Ti_4:10. Such were
the halters between two opinions in Israel (1Ki_18:21; compare 2Ki_17:41; Mat_6:24).
5B. COFFMA , “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou
wert cold or hot.
Two possible meanings of this are intriguing, and either one or both could be correct. Which is the
right turns upon what Jesus meant by "I would thou wert cold or hot." If the Lord's reprimand here is
the rough equivalent to, "You Laodicean Christians are just like the notoriously lukewarm drinking
water in your town," then he meant that the Christians should be either like good cold drinking
water, or like a beneficial hot drink from one of the thermal springs. On the other hand, if the
"lukewarmness" here has reference solely to the spiritual temperature of the people, then he could
have meant that he could prefer them to be cold, "because a lukewarm Christian can do the church
more harm than an outright enemy of the faith."[64] Others have explained the possible meaning
thus, "An honest atheist is more acceptable to the Lord than a self satisfied religious
man."[65] Whatever, exactly, was meant, the principal idea is devastatingly clear. This church had
lost its enthusiasm, zeal, and excitement concerning their holy religion. Through the ages they have
come to stand for the most disgusting thing on earth, a fat, lazy, self-righteous and complacent
church, basking in their own presumed achievements, but wholly unacceptable to the Lord.
[64] John T. Hinds, op. cit., p. 62.
[65] G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., p. 105.

55. 6. PULPIT, "I know thy works; and because they are not what they should be
(Rev_3:16, Rev_3:17), I give thee this admonition, which is nevertheless a warning and a token of
my love (Rev_3:19). That thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. The
lukewarmness of which the Epistle complains was produced by a fallacious sense of security,
begotten of ease and prosperity. In truth those "secure," without care, had become the careless
ones. Active opposition may well be a less deadly evil than careless ease. The persecution of a St.
Paul may be diverted into the zeal of an apostle; but how can any active good be got from that
which is utterly stagnant and without motive power? The man who, by wilful action, increases a
disease, may repent of his deed, and try to recover from the danger to which he has exposed
himself; but he who lives on in careless ignorance of the existence of the malady can never improve
himself until he has awoke to a full knowledge of his own state. Some understand "cold" to mean
"untouched by the power of grace," and "lukewarm" to denote those who, having received the grace
of God, had not allowed it full scope in bringing forth works meet for repentance (Mat_3:8). And just
as there was more hope of the real conversion of the "cold" publicans and harlots, who "went into
heaven" (Mat_21:31) before the self-satisfied, "lukewarm" Pharisees, so there is more hope of an
unconverted sinner than of him who, having once been roused to a sense of God's will, has
relapsed into a state of self satisfied indolence and carelessness. The sentence is not a wish that
the Laodiceans should become hot or cold; it is a regret that they had not been one or the other.
Our Lord is not wishing that any of them may become cold, but resetting that, when he comes to
review their conduct and to pronounce judgment, many of them cannot even plead that they "knew
not the way of righteousness," but belong to that worse class, "which after they had known it, turned
from the holy commandment delivered unto them (2Pe_2:21; see alsoJoh_9:41).
16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot
nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
1. BAR ES, "So then because thou art lukewarm ... I will spue thee out of my
mouth - Referring, perhaps, to the well-known fact that tepid water tends to produce
sickness at the stomach, and an inclination to vomit. The image is intensely strong, and
denotes deep disgust and loathing at the indifference which prevailed in the church at
Laodicea. The idea is, that they would be utterly rejected and cast off as a church - a
threatening of which there has been an abundant fulfillment in subsequent times. It may
be remarked, also, that what was threatened to that church may be expected to occur to
all churches, if they are in the same condition; and that all professing Christians, and
Christian churches, that are lukewarm, have special reason to dread the indignation of
the Saviour.
2. CLARKE, "Because thou art lukewarm - Irresolute and undecided.
I will spue thee out of my mouth - He alludes here to the known effect of tepid
water upon the stomach; it generally produces a nausea. I wilt cast thee off. Thou shalt
have no interest in me. Though thou hast been near to my heart, yet now I must pluck
thee thence, because slothful, careless, and indolent; thou art not in earnest for thy soul.

56. 3. GILL, "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,.... A
lukewarm professor is one that serves God and mammon; that halts between two
opinions, and knows not what religion is best, and cares little for any, yet keeps in a
round of duty, though indifferent to it, and contents himself with it; and is un concerned
about the life and power of godliness, and takes up with the external form of it; and has
no thought about the glory of God, the interest of Christ and truth; and this was too
much the case of this church, at least of a great number of its members; wherefore it was
very loathsome to Christ, hence he threatens:
I will spew thee out of my mouth; this shows how nauseous lukewarmness is to
Christ, insomuch that on account of it he would not own and acknowledge her as his; but
even cast her out, unchurch her, and have no more any such imperfect church state upon
earth, as he afterwards never will, this is the last; nor is there any church state, or any
remains of one in Laodicea; it is indeed quite uninhabited.
4. HE RY, "A severe punishment threatened: I will spue thee out of my mouth. As
lukewarm water turns the stomach, and provokes to a vomit, lukewarm professors turn
the heart of Christ against them. He is sick of them, and cannot long bear them. They
may call their lukewarmness charity, meekness, moderation, and a largeness of soul; it
is nauseous to Christ, and makes those so that allow themselves in it. They shall be
rejected, and finally rejected; for far be it from the holy Jesus to return to that which has
been thus rejected.
4B. COFFMAN, “So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I
will spew thee out of my mouth.
Neither hot nor cold ... The contrast is between the hot medicinal waters of Hieropolis, and the
cold pure waters of Colossae."[66] Thus, the church was providing neither refreshment for the
spiritually weary, nor healing for the spiritually sick.
I will spew thee out of my mouth ... This is a shocking figure, but one of the most expressive in
the New Testament. Strangers entering Laodicea for the first time, when they tried to drink where
the hot spring water and the cold came together, would usually "spew it out."
ENDNOTE:
[66] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 125.
5. JAMISO , "neither cold nor hot — So one oldest manuscript, B, and Vulgate
read. But two oldest manuscripts, Syriac, and Coptic transpose thus, “hot nor cold.” It is
remarkable that the Greek adjectives are in the masculine, agreeing with the angel, not
feminine, agreeing with the Church. The Lord addresses the angel as the embodiment
and representative of the Church. The chief minister is answerable for his flock if he have
not faithfully warned the members of it.
I will — Greek, “I am about to,” “I am ready to”: I have it in my mind: implying
graciously the possibility of the threat not being executed, if only they repent at once. His
dealings towards them will depend on theirs towards Him.

57. spue thee out of my month — reject with righteous loathing, as Canaan spued out
its inhabitants for their abominations. Physicians used lukewarm water to cause
vomiting. Cold and hot drinks were common at feasts, but never lukewarm. There were
hot and cold springs near Laodicea.
5B. VWS, “
Lukewarm (χλιαρόχλιαρόχλιαρόχλιαρόςςςς)
Only here in the New Testament.
Foremost and most numerous among the lost, Dante places those who had been
content to remain neutral in the great contest between good and evil.
“Master, what is this which now I hear?
What folk is this, which seems by pain so vanquished?
And he to me: “This miserable mode
Maintain the melancholy souls of those
Who lived withouten infamy or praise.
Commingled are they with that caitiff choir.
Of angels, who have not rebellious been,
Nor faithful were to God, but were for self.
The heavens expelled them, not to be less fair;
Nor them the nethermore abyss receives,
For glory none the damned would have from them.”
“Inferno,” iii., 33-42.
I will (µέµέµέµέλλωλλωλλωλλω)
I am about or have in mind. Not a declaration of immediate and inexorable doom,
but implying a possibility of the determination being changed.
Spue (ᅚµέᅚµέᅚµέᅚµέσαισαισαισαι)
Only here in the New Testament. Compare Lev_18:28; Lev_20:22.
17 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.
1. BAR ES, "Because thou sayest, I am rich - So far as the language here is

58. concerned, this may refer either to riches literally, or to spiritual riches; that is, to a boast
of having religion enough. Prof. Stuart supposes that it refers to the former, and so do
Wetstein, Vitringa, and others. Doddridge, Rosenmuller, and others, understand it in the
latter sense. There is no doubt that there was much wealth in Laodicea, and that, as a
people, they prided themselves on their riches. See the authorities in Wetstein on
Col_2:1, and Vitringa, p. 160. It is not easy to determine which is the true sense; but may
it not have been that there was an allusion to both, and that, in every respect, they
boasted that they had enough? May it not have been so much the characteristic of that
people to boast of their wealth, that they carried the spirit into everything, and
manifested it even in regard to religion? Is it not true that they who have much of this
world’s goods, when they make a profession of religion, are very apt to suppose that they
are well off in everything, and to feel self-complacent and happy? And is not the
possession of much wealth by an individual Christian, or a Christian church, likely to
produce just the lukewarmness which it is said existed in the church at Laodicea? If we
thus understand it, there will be an accordance with the well-known fact that Laodicea
was distinguished for its riches, and, at the same time, with another fact, so common as
to be almost universal, that the possession of great wealth tends to make a professed
Christian self-complacent and satisfied in every respect; to make him feel that, although
he may not have much religion, yet he is on the whole well off; and to produce, in
religion, a state of just such lukewarmness as the Saviour here says was loathsome and
odious.
And increased with goods - πεπλουτηκα peploutēka - “am enriched.” This is only a
more emphatic and intensive way of saying the same thing. It has no reference to the
kind of riches referred to, but merely denotes the confident manner in which they
affirmed that they were rich.
And have need of nothing - Still an emphatic and intensive way of saying that they
were rich. In all respects their needs were satisfied; they had enough of everything. They
felt, therefore, no stimulus to effort; they sat down in contentment, self-complacency,
and indifference. It is almost unavoidable that those who are rich in this world’s goods
should feel that they have need of nothing. There is no more common illusion among
people than the feeling that if one has wealth he has everything; that there is no want of
his nature which cannot be satisfied with that; and that he may now sit down in
contentment and ease. Hence, the almost universal desire to be rich; hence the common
feeling among those who are rich that there is no occasion for solicitude or care for
anything else. Compare Luk_12:19.
And knowest not - There is no just impression in regard to the real poverty and
wretchedness of your condition.
That thou art wretched - The word “wretched” we now use to denote the actual
consciousness of being miserable, as applicable to one who is sunk into deep distress or
affliction. The word here, however, refers rather, to the condition itself than to the
consciousness of that condition, for it is said that they did not know it. Their state was, in
fact, a miserable state, and was suited to produce actual distress if they had had any just
sense of it, though they thought that it was otherwise.
And miserable - This word has, with us now, a similar signification; but the term
used here - ᅚληινᆵς elēinos - rather means a pitiable state than one actually felt to be so.
The meaning is, that their condition was one that was suited to excite pity or
compassion; not that they were actually miserable. Compare the notes on 1Co_15:19.
And poor - Notwithstanding all their boast of having enough. They really had not
what was necessary to meet the actual needs of their nature, and, therefore, they were

59. poor. Their worldly property could not meet the needs of their souls; and, with all their
pretensions to piety, they had not religion enough to meet the necessities of their nature
when calamities should come, or when death should approach; and they were, therefore,
in the strictest sense of the term, poor.
And blind - That is, in a spiritual respect. They did not see the reality of their
condition; they had no just views of themselves, of the character of God, of the way of
salvation. This seems to be said in connection with the boast which they made in their
own minds - that they had everything; that they wanted nothing. One of the great
blessings of life is clearness of vision, and their boast that they had everything must have
included that; but the speaker here says that they lacked that indispensable thing to
completeness of character and to full enjoyment. With all their boasting, they were
actually blind - and how could one who was in that state say that he “had need of
nothing?”
And naked - Of course, spiritually. Salvation is often represented as a garment
Mat_22:11-12; Rev_6:11; Rev_7:9, Rev_7:13-14; and the declaration here is equivalent to
saying that they had no religion. They had nothing to cover the nakedness of the soul,
and in respect to the real needs of their nature they were like one who had no clothing in
reference to cold, and heat, and storms, and to the shame of nakedness. How could such
an one be regarded as rich? We may learn from this instructive verse:
(1) That people may think themselves to be rich, and yet, in fact, be miserably poor.
They may have the wealth of this world in abundance, and yet have nothing that really
will meet their needs in disappointment, bereavement, sickness, death; the needs of their
never-dying soul; their needs in eternity. What had the “rich fool,” as he is commonly
termed, in the parable, when he came to die? Luk_12:16 ff. What had “Dives,” as he is
commonly termed, to meet the needs of his nature when he went down to hell?
Luk_16:19 ff.
(2) People may have much property, and think that they have all they want, and yet be
wretched. In the sense that their condition is a wretched condition, this is always true;
and in the sense that they are consciously wretched, this may be, and often is, true also.
(3) People may have great property, and yet be miserable. This is true in the sense that
their condition is a pitiable one, and in the sense that they are actually unhappy. There is
no more pitiable condition than that where one has great property, and is self-
complacent and proud, and who has nevertheless no God, no Saviour, no hope of heaven,
and who perhaps that very day may “lift up his eyes in hell, being in torments”; and it
need not be added that there is no greater actual misery in this world than what
sometimes finds its way into the palaces of the rich. He greatly errs who thinks that
misery is confined to the cottages of the poor.
(4) People may be rich, and think they have all that they want, and yet be blind to their
condition. They really have no distinct vision of anything. They have no just views of
God, of themselves, of their duty, of this world, or of the next. In most important respects
they are in a worse condition than the inmates of an asylum for the blind, for they may
have clear views of God and of heaven. Mental darkness is a greater calamity than the
loss of natural vision; and there is many an one who is surrounded by all that affluence
can give, who never yet had one correct view of his own character, of his God, or of the
reality of his condition, and whose condition might have been far better if he had actually
been born blind.
(5) There may be gorgeous robes of adorning, and yet real nakedness. With all the
decorations that wealth can impart, there may be a nakedness of the soul as real as that
of the body would be if, without a rag to cover it, it were exposed to cold, and storm, and
shame. The soul destitute of the robes of salvation, is in a worse condition than the body

60. without raiment; for how can it bear the storms of wrath that shall beat upon it forever,
and the shame of its exposure in the last dread day?
2. CLARKE, "I am rich - Thou supposest thyself to be in a safe state, perfectly sure of
final salvation, because thou hast begun well, and laid the right foundation. It was this
most deceitful conviction that cut the nerves of their spiritual diligence; they rested in
what they had already received, and seemed to think that once in grace must be still in
grace.
Thou art wretched - Ταλαιπωρος· Most wretched. “The word signifies,” according to
Mintert, “being worn out and fatigued with grievous labors, as they who labor in a stone
quarry, or are condemned to the mines.” So, instead of being children of God, as they
supposed, and infallible heirs of the kingdom, they were, in the sight of God, in the
condition of the most abject slaves.
And miserable - ᆍ ελεεινος· Most deplorable, to be pitied by all men.
And poor - Having no spiritual riches, no holiness of heart. Rich and poor are
sometimes used by the rabbins to express the righteous and the wicked.
And blind - The eyes of thy understanding being darkened, so that thou dost not see
thy state.
And naked - Without the image of God, not clothed with holiness and purity. A more
deplorable state in spiritual things can scarcely be imagined than that of this Church.
And it is the true picture of many Churches, and of innumerable individuals.
3. GILL, "Because thou sayest, I am rich,.... In worldly goods, which occasioned
her lukewarmness, as riches often do, and her vanity, pride, and arrogance, afterwards
expressed. Laodicea was a very rich city, and so will be this church state, through the
accession of kings and princes, and great men of the earth unto it, in the former period:
riches seldom do any good to the churches of Christ, they did not in Constantine's time;
and it seems that even at the close of the spiritual reign of Christ they will be of bad
consequence, since they will usher in the Laodicean church state: or her meaning is, that
she was rich in spiritual things; not in grace, but in external gifts, which still remained,
upon the very great pouring forth of the Spirit in the last church state; and in good
works, on which she too much trusted for salvation, placing her righteousness in them:
she is one whom the Jews (c) call ‫בתורה‬ ‫,עשיר‬ "rich in the law":
and increased with goodsand increased with goodsand increased with goodsand increased with goods: with outward peace and prosperity, with much natural and divine light
and knowledge, with the purity of Gospel ordinances, even beyond the former church state in her
own imagination:
and have need of nothingand have need of nothingand have need of nothingand have need of nothing: contenting herself with these external things: true believers, as
considered in Christ, stand in need of nothing indeed, they are complete in him, and have

61. everything in him; but, as considered in themselves, they are daily in need of daily food for their
souls, as for their bodies, of fresh light and life, strength and comfort, and of new supplies of
grace; wherefore this church shows great ignorance of herself, as well as great pride and
arrogance to express herself in this manner:
and knowest not that thou art wretchedand knowest not that thou art wretchedand knowest not that thou art wretchedand knowest not that thou art wretched; as all men are in a state of nature and unregeneracy;
which may be the case of many professors, and they be ignorant of it; as to be under a sentence of
wrath, obnoxious to the curses of the law, in danger of hell and destruction, lost and undone, and
unable to extricate themselves out of such a state: true believers account themselves wretched, as
the Apostle Paul did, on account of indwelling sin, and the plague of their own hearts, which the
members of this church, the greater part of them, were ignorant of:
and miserableand miserableand miserableand miserable; a miserable man is one that is attended with outward afflictions, but this was not
the case of this church; and with spiritual poverty, blindness, and nakedness, and this was her
case; some persons neither know their misery, nor their need of mercy:
and poorand poorand poorand poor; not in purse, nor in spirit, nor with respect to outward afflictions, nor as to her church
state, but in a spiritual sense; one whom the Jews call a (d) ‫בתורה‬ ‫,רש‬ "poor in the law"; as such
may be said to be who have nothing to eat that is fit to eat; nothing to wear but rags, and have no
money to buy either; who are in debt, and not able to pay, nor to help themselves on any account;
and this may be the case of professors, and yet not known and considered by them:
and blindand blindand blindand blind; natural men are blind as to a saving knowledge of God in Christ, as to the way of
salvation by Christ, as to the plague of their own hearts, as to the work of the Spirit of God upon
the soul, and as to the truths of the Gospel, in the power of them; but here it regards blindness
with respect to her church state, and its imperfection:
and nakedand nakedand nakedand naked; sin has stripped man of his moral clothing; man's own righteousness will not cover his
nakedness; and whoever is destitute of the righteousness of Christ is a naked person,
4. HE RY, "We have one cause of this indifference and inconsistency in religion
assigned, and that is self-conceitedness or self-delusion. They thought they were very
well already, and therefore they were very indifferent whether they grew better or no:
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, etc., Rev_3:17. Here observe,

62. What a difference there was between the thoughts they had of themselves and the
thoughts that Christ had of them. (1.) The high thoughts they had of themselves: Thou
sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, rich, and
growing richer, and increased to such a degree as to be above all want or possibility of
wanting. Perhaps they were well provided for as to their bodies, and this made them
overlook the necessities of their souls. Or they thought themselves well furnished in their
souls: they had learning, and they took it for religion; they had gifts, and they took them
for grace; they had wit, and they took it for true wisdom; they had ordinances, and they
took up with them instead of the God of ordinances. How careful should we be not to put
the cheat upon our own souls! Doubtless there are many in hell that once thought
themselves to be in the way to heaven. Let us daily beg of God that we may not be left to
flatter and deceive ourselves in the concerns of our souls. (2.) The mean thoughts that
Christ had of them; and he was not mistaken. He knew, though they knew not, that they
were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Their state was
wretched in itself, and such as called for pity and compassion from others: though they
were proud of themselves, they were pitied by all who knew their case. For, [1.] They
were poor, really poor, when they said and thought they were rich; they had no provision
for their souls to live upon; their souls were starving in the midst of their abundance;
they were vastly in debt to the justice of God, and had nothing to pay off the least part of
the debt. [2.] They were blind; they could not see their state, nor their way, nor their
danger; they could not see into themselves; they could not look before them; they were
blind, and yet they thought they saw; the very light that was in them was darkness, and
then how great must that darkness be! They could not see Christ, though evidently set
forth, and crucified, before their eyes. They could not see God by faith, though always
present in them. They could not see death, though it was just before them. They could
not look into eternity, though they stood upon the very brink of it continually. [3.] They
were naked, without clothing and without house and harbour for their souls. They were
without clothing, had neither the garment of justification nor that of sanctification. Their
nakedness both of guilt and pollution had no covering. They lay always exposed to sin
and shame. Their righteousnesses were but filthy rags; they were rags, and would not
cover them, filthy rags, and would defile them. And they were naked, without house or
harbour, for they were without God, and he has been the dwelling-place of his people in
all ages; in him alone the soul of man can find rest, and safety, and all suitable
accommodations. The riches of the body will not enrich the soul; the sight of the body
will not enlighten the soul; the most convenient house for the body will not afford rest
nor safety to the soul. The soul is a different thing from the body, and must have
accommodation suitable to its nature, or else in the midst of bodily prosperity it will be
wretched and miserable.
5. JAMISO , "Self-sufficiency is the fatal danger of a lukewarm state (see on
Rev_3:15).
thou sayest — virtually and mentally, if not in so many words.
increased with goods — Greek, “have become enriched,” implying self-praise in
self-acquired riches. The Lord alludes to Hos_12:8. The riches on which they prided
themselves were spiritual riches; though, doubtless, their spiritual self-sufficiency (“I
have need of nothing”) was much fostered by their worldly wealth; as, on the other hand,
poverty of spirit is fostered by poverty in respect to worldly riches.
knowest not that thou — in particular above all others. The “THOU” in the Greek is
emphatic.

63. art wretched — Greek, “art the wretched one.”
miserable — So one oldest manuscripts reads. But two oldest manuscripts prefix
“the.” Translate, “the pitiable”; “the one especially to be pitied.” How different Christ’s
estimate of men, from their own estimate of themselves, “I have need of nothing!”
blind — whereas Laodicea boasted of a deeper than common insight into divine
things. They were not absolutely blind, else eye-salve would have been of no avail to
them; but short-sighted.
5B. COFFMA , “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need
of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind
and naked:
How strange that God's people in such a place were destitute of spiritual graces. There was plenty
of money, but they were poor; there was plenty of the finest clothing on earth, but they were naked;
there was healing for many in the medical school, but they were blind. This is a sad commentary
upon the way things are today with many Christians who live in the affluent society, with plenty of
everything except that alone which can prevent their being like the Laodiceans, miserable and poor
and blind and naked.
And knowest not ... The worst thing about their condition was their total ignorance of the true
nature of it. They had evidently mistaken "the good life" for the righteous life. They boasted of their
riches and professed to need nothing whatever; and yet they were the neediest of all. May all
Christians pray that they may not be self-deceived concerning their own spiritual condition. What
can be done for the hypocrite who does not know he is a hypocrite, for the spiritual beggar who is
dreaming that he is rich, or for the naked sojourner who images that he is fully clothed?
6. W. BURKITT, “Observe here, 1. This church's partial opinion of herself, her vanity and vain-
glorious ostentation, accompanied with self-esteem: she said she had need of nothing.
Observe, 2. That this boasting and vain-glorious ostentation did very probably spring from, and was
occasioned by, this church's worldly prosperity: thou sayest, I am rich, and increased in
goods. We are apt to mistake the warm sun for God's blessing, and to apprehend when we are
great that we are gracious; and because rich in goods, conclude ourselves rich in grace: but, alas!
God lifts up the light of his common providence upon thousands whom he does not lift up the light of
his reconciled countenance upon.
Observe, 3. Christ's impartial judgment concerning this church of Laodicea, Thou sayest, thou art
rich, and needest nothing: but I say, thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked.
Behold here, How some have little or no grace, who yet conceit they have much grace; as some
reckon their temporal, so there are others that value their spiritual, estate, at many thousands
beyond what it really is, and when upon a just balance of account they are worth nothing. Ah,
miserable souls! empty and guilty, poor and pennyless in spirituals, wanting every thing, but
especially a sight and sense of their poverty and wants.
Observe, 4. The counsel given by Christ to this church, very suitable to her condition: What pinches
more than poverty? here is gold to enrich us. What shames us more than nakedness? here is a
promise of raiment to clothe and cover us. What afflicts and grieves us more than blindness? here is
eye-salve to anoint us.
But observe the order of the words, 1. Christ says not, I commanded thee, but, I counsel thee. O

64. infinite condescension! the Lord Jesus does not always command like a king, but sometimes
counsels like a friend; he counsels us by his Spirit, he counsels us by his ministers, he counsels us
by our own consciences.
2. Christ's counsel is to buy; that is, earnestly to desire, and sincerely to endeavour, the procuring
such spiritual blessings as we want: we buy with our prayers, our tears, our endeavours.
3. The blessings offered, tried gold, that will bear the touchstone, that faith and holiness which will
give thee boldness in judgment. White raiment, or the merits of the Mediator, which covers our
shame and nakedness out of the sight of God. And eye-salve, or the grace of spiritual illumination,
whereby we see the want and worth of these spiritual blessings.
7. CHARLES SIMEO , "Rev_3:17-18. 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 eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
ONE would imagine that a person lukewarm in the concerns of religion must, of necessity, be filled
with some good measure of diffidence and fear. But the very reverse of this is found true: for
experience proves that self-sufficiency and self-conceit are the invariable attendants of
lukewarmness: in fact, they spring out of it naturally, as fruit from the root: for lukewarmness
prevents self-examination; and a want of self-examination begets security. The lukewarm person,
feeling that he has within himself a sufficiency for all that he is inclined to do, easily persuades
himself that he has also a sufficiency for all that he is bound to do: and under this delusion he rests
satisfied with himself, without looking out for any foreign aid. Now, this is a most fatal error; and if
not removed, it will deprive us of all that Christ himself has purchased for us. That I may remove it
from your minds, I will shew,
I. What mistaken views this people had of their state before God—
“They thought that they were rich, and increased with goods, and in need of nothing”—
[This is the state of the Christian Church generally: I mean of that more respectable part of it which
values itself on the avoiding of all extremes. Moral persons, who have a respect for religion, will
readily enough acknowledge that they are not so good as they ought to be; but they have no
conception of the vast extent of their depravity. Like persons possessed of earthly property, they
feel a certain degree of self-congratulation, that they are “rich, and increased with goods, and in
need of nothing.” Their wisdom is sufficient to guide them in the way to heaven.
Theirrighteousness is sufficient to recommend them to the Divine favour. Their strength is sufficient
to fulfil their duties, whenever they shall address themselves to the performance of them. This was
the state of man in Paradise; and they suppose it to be so still. They are unconscious that their
locks are cut; and therefore, in encountering their enemies, are under no apprehension of a defeat.
It is possible, indeed, that they may not express these things in words, (though the Laodiceans
scrupled not to affirm it;) but it is invariably the language of their hearts: and in proof that these are
the sentiments of their hearts, we may appeal to their daily experience. See whether, under a
consciousness of their great wants, they are crying to God for the relief of them: if they be not, then
is it clear that they feel not the urgency of their wants, or the extent of their necessities. And if any
man in the universe were to manifest the same insensibility to his earthly wants, and the same
indifference about obtaining a supply of them, we should all conclude, either that he was not so poor

65. as he professed himself to be, or that he had means of supplying his wants which were hid from us.]
But, in the midst of all this self-sufficiency, they were indeed in the most destitute condition—
[The force of the original is peculiarly strong: it marks these persons as pre-eminently to be pitied.
Respecting every such deluded sinner it may be said, Here is the man most truly “wretched,” most
eminently “miserable [Note: See the article prefixed to these two words: “That wretched one,” “That
miserable one.”].” And, in truth, there is perhaps no other person in the universe so miserable as he.
The man who lives in all manner of iniquity is doubtless a “a wretched and miserable” being: but the
man who fancies himself rich in all good, whilst he is altogether destitute, is in a worse condition
than he; because he holds fast his delusions, from which the other is free; and despises the
remedy, which the other may, in due season, be prevailed upon to apply.
But the grounds of this assertion are here detailed: whilst he, in his own conceit, is “in need of
nothing,” he is in reality “poor, and blind, and naked.” He is “poor:” for, whatever he may possess of
intellectual or moral good, he has no more of spiritual good than Satan himself. He has no real love
to God; no real delight in him; no real desire after him: no real wish to please and honour him.
Whatever he may have which may resemble these, it is but a shadow: it has no substance; it has no
root; it has no real existence: and in giving himself credit for it, he only deceives his own soul. He is
also “blind.” Whatever capacity he may have in reference to earthly things, he has no “spiritual
discernment:” he has no just sense of the evil of sin, of the beauty of holiness, of the blessedness of
serving God. He has no idea of the loveliness of Christ, who is said to be “altogether lovely.” In a
word, he sees nothing as God sees it: and because “he says that he sees,” his guilt is the deeper,
and his misery the more intense [Note: Joh_9:40-41.]. He is “naked” too, having nothing to hide his
deformity from the eyes of a holy God: for “all his righteousnesses are as filthy rags
[Note: Isa_64:6.].” He may, like our first parents, attempt to cover his nakedness with fig-leaves; but
they will not suffice: for “the bed is shorter than he can stretch himself on, and the covering narrower
than he can wrap himself in [Note: Isa_28:20.].” This is, indeed, the state of unregenerate men,
especially of those who “have the form of godliness without the power.”]
But let us now fix our attention on,
II. The counsel given them by our blessed Lord—
In our blessed Lord there is a fulness treasured up for sinful man; and he invites all to come, and
receive out of it according to their necessities.
Are we poor? He offers us “gold, to enrich us”—
[What is this “gold,” but the grace of Christ; and especially the grace of faith, which unites us to him,
and puts us into possession of all “his unsearchable riches?” This is gold indeed; and has, in cases
without number, evinced its sterling worth, having endured the trial of the hottest furnaces which it
has been in the power of man to kindle [Note: 1Pe_1:7.]. See the long catalogue of saints recorded
in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews; see what they thought of it; and how it enriched them.
Moses found it amply to compensate for the loss of “all the treasures of Egypt [Note: Heb_11:24-
26.]:” and multitudes of others found it more effectual for their advancement than all powers in the
universe could have been [Note: Heb_11:33-35.]. By this the poorest man is elevated to a state of
honour and happiness inconceivable; even to peace with God on earth, and to all the glory and
blessedness of heaven.]
Are we naked? He offers us “white raiment to cover us”—
[This raiment is the unspotted robe of “Christ’s righteousness, which shall be unto all and upon all

66. them that believe in him [Note: Rom_3:22.].” This the Lord Jesus Christ wrought out on purpose for
us, by his own obedience unto death: and every soul that is clothed with that robe is so covered,
that “not a spot or blemish [Note: Eph_5:27.]” can be found in him; no, not by the all-seeing eye of
God himself [Note: Num_23:21.]. It was for this very end that the Lord Jesus Christ became
incarnate and died upon the cross: “He was the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that
believeth [Note: Rom_10:4.]:” and every sinner in the universe, who trusts in Him, may claim him
under that endearing name, “The Lord our righteousness [Note: Jer_23:6.].”]
Are we blind? He offers us “eye-salve, to anoint our eyes, that we may see”—
[This “eye-salve” is no other than the Holy Ghost himself, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will give to all
who call upon him [Note: Luk_11:13.]. It is the office of the blessed Spirit of God “to open our eyes,
and to turn us from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” And whoever has
received “the unction of that Holy One, is enabled to discern the things of the Spirit, which before he
could not see [Note: 1Co_2:9-12]; yea, he is enabled, as the Scripture expresses it, to “know and
understand all things [Note: 1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27.].”]
These things, indeed, he tells us to “buy of him”—
[But what have we to pay? If, indeed, we are “poor, and blind, and naked,” what can we give him in
return for such invaluable blessings as are here offered us? Were it required that we should present
to him any thing to merit these blessings, we might well sit down in despair. But the terms
prescribed by him are exactly suited to our state: we are to “buy of him without money and without
price [Note: Isa_55:1.]” Not but that we are called to make some sacrifices, if we will indeed enjoy
his blessings. We must give up our pride, and self-sufficiency, and self-conceit, yea, and all other
“lusts, whether of the flesh or spirit,” that are hateful in his sight. In other words, we must put off the
filthy rags of our own righteousness, if we would possess the unspotted robe of his righteousness;
and put far from us all conceit of our own wealth and wisdom, in order to receive the full benefit of
his gold and eye-salve. And who will not gladly pay this price? It is the price which the beggar pays
for the alms tendered to him: he opens his mouth to ask for it, and stretches out his hands to
receive it.]
And now, my brethren, I entreat you,
1. Be sensible of your wants—
[Whether ye be sensible of your need of these things or not, ye do really need them; and your
misery is so much the greater, if ye think ye need them not. What would you yourselves think of a
poor maniac who should fancy himself a king? Would you envy him his self-delusion? Just such
deluded creatures are ye, whilst you are insensible to your real condition, as poor, and blind, and
naked. Moreover, whilst ye continue under this delusion, there is no hope whatever of your ever
receiving the blessings which Christ has so freely offered you. It was not the proud self-applauding
Pharisee, but the poor self-condemning Publican, that obtained mercy of the Lord: and it is written
for the admonition of all future ages, that, in like manner, “he who exalteth himself shall be abased;
and he only who humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
2. Comply, in all things, with the counsel given you—
[Go to Christ to obtain them. Think not to find them in. any other: but say, “Lord, to whom should we
go? Thou alone hast the words of eternal life.” And be willing to receive them upon his terms.
Dream not of bringing to him any thing as a compensation for them, or as a warrant for your
application to him. All your warrant is poverty; and your price is your sins, which you are tocast on
him, to be forgiven; and to cast from you, to be mortified and subdued. And remember whose
counsel this is: it is the counsel of “the Faithful and True Witness,” who knows all your necessities,

67. and who alone can relieve them. It is the counsel of him who is called, “The Wonderful Counsellor,
the Mighty God [Note: Isa_9:6.].” “Listen not then to flesh and blood,” nor suffer any one to make
you hesitate one moment: but go to him with all your wants, and receive at his hands all the
blessings of grace and glory.]
3. Enlarge your expectations to the full extent of God’s promises—
[Say not in your hearts, that this is too great, or that is too small to expect at his hands. There is no
greater sin than “limiting the Holy One of Israel.” He bids you “open your mouth wide, that he may fill
it:” and the more enlarged your expectations are, the more abundant will be his gifts. The fact is,
that as there is not a want in you, for which there is not a suitable supply in him, so neither is there
any thing in him which shall not be made over to you, if only ye will believe in him. Only come to
receive out of his fulness, and he will give to you his grace, his peace, his righteousness, his glory.
All shall be yours, the very instant that ye are Christ’s.” Only come to him empty, and ye shall be
filled: and the more empty ye come, the more shall ye be filled, and the more will he be glorified.]
18 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.
1. BAR ES, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire - Pure gold; such
as has been subjected to the action of heat to purify it from dross. See the notes on
1Pe_1:7. Gold here is emblematic of religion - as being the most precious of the metals,
and the most valued by human beings. They professed to be rich, but were not; and he
counsels them to obtain from him what would make them truly rich.
That thou mayest be rich - In the true and proper sense of the word. With true
religion; with the favor and friendship of the Redeemer, they would have all that they
really needed, and would never be in want.
And white raiment - The emblem of purity and salvation. See the notes on Rev_3:4.
This is said in reference to the fact Rev_3:17 that they were then naked.
That thou mayest be clothed - With the garments of salvation. This refers, also, to
true religion, meaning that what the Redeemer furnishes will answer the same purpose
in respect to the soul which clothing does in reference to the body. Of course it cannot be
understood literally, nor should the language be pressed too closely, as if there was too

68. strict a resemblance.
And that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear - We clothe the body as
well for decency as for protection against cold, and storm, and heat. The soul is to be
clothed that the “shame” of its sinfulness may not be exhibited, and that it may not be
offensive and repellent in the sight.
And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve - In allusion to the fact that they were blind,
Rev_3:17. The word “eye-salve” - κολλούριον kollourion - occurs no where else in the New
Testament. It is a diminutive from κολλύρα kollura - collyra - a coarse bread or cake, and
means properly a small cake or cracknel. It is applied to eye-salve as resembling such a
cake, and refers to a medicament prepared for sore or weak eyes. It was compounded of
various substances supposed to have a healing quality. See Wetstein, in loco. The
reference here is to a spiritual healing - meaning that, ill respect to their spiritual vision,
what he would furnish would produce the same effect as the collyrium or eye-salve would
in diseased eyes. The idea is, that the grace of the gospel enables people who were before
blind to see clearly the character of God, the beauty of the way of salvation, the loveliness
of the person and work of Christ, etc. See the notes on Eph_1:18.
2. CLARKE, "I counsel thee - O fallen and deceived soul, hear Jesus! Thy case is not
hopeless. Buy of me.
Gold tried in the fire - Come and receive from me, without money and without
price, faith that shall stand in every trial: so gold tried in the fire is here understood. But
it may mean pure and undefiled religion, or that grace or Divine influence which
produces it, which is more valuable to the soul than the purest gold to the body. They
had before imaginary riches; this alone can make them truly rich.
White raiment - Holiness of heart and life.
Anoint thine eyes - Pray for, that ye may receive, the enlightening influences of my
Spirit, that ye may be convinced of your true state, and see where your help lies.
3. GILL, "I counsel thee,.... Christ is a Counsellor, and is every way fit to be one, for
he is the all wise God, the Ancient of days, and the Father of his people, and, as Mediator,
the Wisdom of God; and he was concerned in the council of peace from everlasting; and
when he was here on earth he gave counsel in person, and now he gives it by his Spirit,
and by his word and ministers; and the substance of it is, to come to him for grace, life,
and salvation; for pardon, peace, and righteousness; for spiritual light and knowledge,
and every supply of grace; and his advice is always wholesome, good, and suitable, is
hearty, sincere, and faithful, and is freely given, and is wise and prudent; and, being
taken, infallibly succeeds; the counsel here given follows:
to buy of me gold tried in the fire; by which is meant either a more pure and
glorious state of the church, such as was in the former period, or greater; or a larger
measure of light and knowledge in the Gospel, which is better than fine gold; or some
particular graces, and a comfortable exercise of them, as fervent love and strong faith,
which is much more precious than gold; or rather, all spiritual riches in general, which
are in Christ, and are unsearchable, solid, substantial and satisfying; are lasting and

69. durable, precious, excellent, and incorruptible: and the buying of this gold is not to be
understood in a proper sense, by giving a valuable consideration for it, for no such is to
be given, but in an improper sense; it is a buying without money and without price;
Christ and his grace are given freely; Christ of whom it is to be had and of him only, does
not sell it, but he gives it to those that come to him for it, and desire to have it, and are
willing to part with all, so they may but enjoy it; for that it is to be understood in such a
sense, is clear from the character of the persons who are advised to buy, who were poor,
or beggars, Rev_3:17; the end of it is,
that thou mayest be rich; for though this church was rich, yet not in spirituals; and
though she was rich in her own conceit, yet not really so: persons are not to be accounted
truly rich who have only this world's goods; none are rich but those who have an interest
in Christ and his grace; and they who are poor in this world, and yet have grace, are
really rich: the next thing advised to is,
and white raiment; that is, and buy white raiment, by which some understand the
heavenly glory, robes of immortality, a being clothed upon with the house which is from
heaven; this may be compared to raiment, for it is a glory, an immortality, an
incorruption to be put on; and fitly enough to white raiment, for the purity and
spotlessness of it; and being clothed with this, no nakedness, or shame of it will appear;
and this is to be had from Christ, and in the same way as gold is to be bought of him; the
design of this advice may be to quicken the desires of the church after heavenly things;
though it rather seems to respect something suitable to her in this present state:
wherefore others think that by it are meant good works, holiness of life and conversation;
but these are never called white raiment, but even rags, yea, filthy ones, in the best; and
whatever cover they may be from nakedness in the sight of men, they are no cover from
it in the sight of God, nor do they preserve from shame and blushing: rather then by it is
meant the righteousness of Christ, which may be compared to raiment; it is upon the
saints, and is put upon them as such; it covers as a garment does, protects from injuries,
keeps warm, beautifies and adorns, as raiment does; and it may be compared to white
raiment for its purity and perfection; now this is to be bought of Christ, it is to be had of
him, and is to be had of him freely, without money and without price; it is a free gift of
grace; and even faith itself, which receives it, is the gift of God: the ends of giving this
advice are,
that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not
appear; the soul may be naked when the body is well clothed; and notwithstanding a
man's moral righteousness, he may not be clothed; they, and they only are clothed, who
have on the righteousness of Christ; nakedness arises from want of, righteousness, which
is only covered by the righteousness of Christ; and from hence also springs shame, which
Christ's righteousness hides:
and anoint thine eyes with eye salve; by which may be meant the word of God,
particularly the Gospel; and anointing with it is making use of it for the gaining of light
and knowledge: all without this divine revelation are in darkness, and such who reject
the authority of it go astray; the Scriptures are the only directory, and rule of faith and
practice; the law is a means of enlightening persons to see their sin and misery, and the
danger they are in; and the Gospel is a light, whereby is beheld the glory of Christ, of his
person and office, of his grace and righteousness, and of salvation by him; and this is the
Gospel of Christ, and is to be had of him freely, even the saving knowledge of it. The Jews
have adopted the very Greek word here used into their language, and apply it to the law;

70. says R. Chija (e), speaking of the law,
"Nyel tyrwlyq, "it is a salve for the eye", a plaster for a wound, &c. it is a salve for the
eyes, as is written Psa_19:8.
or else the illumination of the Spirit is meant, by which the eyes of the understanding
being enlightened, men see themselves, the impurity of their hearts and nature, the
imperfection of their righteousness, their impotency to all that is spiritually good, and
that they are lost and undone in themselves; and by which they see Christ and salvation
by him, that it is in him, and in no other, and that it is full and suitable, and for the chief
of sinners, and that it is all of free grace, and that they have an interest in it; by this they
have light into the doctrines of the Gospel, and have some glimpse of the glories of
another world; and this is to be had of Christ, who gives his Spirit freely, and an
understanding to know spiritual things: and the end of the advice is,
that thou mayest see; who, notwithstanding the conceit she had of herself, was blind;
persons may have much human prudence, much knowledge in things moral, yea, in
things evangelical, notionally, and yet be blind as to true spiritual light and experience;
they only see spiritually and savingly who have the Spirit of God,
4. HE RY, "We have good counsel given by Christ to this sinful people, and that is that
they drop their vain and false opinion they had of themselves, and endeavour to be that
really which they would seem to be: I counsel thee to buy of me, etc., Rev_3:18. Observe,
(1.) Our Lord Jesus Christ continues to give good counsel to those who have cast his
counsels behind their backs. (2.) The condition of sinners in never desperate, while they
enjoy the gracious calls and counsels of Christ. (3.) Our blessed Lord, the counsellor,
always gives the best advice, and that which is most suitable to the sinner's case; as here,
[1.] These people were poor; Christ counsels them to buy of him gold tried in the fire,
that they might be rich. He lets them know where they might have true riches and how
they might have them. First, Where they might have them - from himself; he sends them
not to the streams of Pactolus, nor to the mines of Potosi, but invites them to himself, the
pearl of price. Secondly, And how must they have this true gold from him? They must
buy it. This seems to be unsaying all again. How can those that are poor buy gold? Just as
they may buy of Christ wine and milk, that is, without money and without price,
Isa_55:1. Something indeed must be parted with, but it is nothing of a valuable
consideration, it is only to make room for receiving true riches. “Part with sin and self-
sufficiency, and come to Christ with a sense of your poverty and emptiness, that you may
be filled with his hidden treasure.” [2.] These people were naked; Christ tells them where
they might have clothing, and such as would cover the shame of their nakedness. This
they must receive from Christ; and they must only put off their filthy rags that they might
put on the white raiment which he had purchased and provided for them - his own
imputed righteousness for justification and the garments of holiness and sanctification.
[3.] They were blind; and he counsels them to buy of him eye-salve, that they might see,
to give up their own wisdom and reason, which are but blindness in the things of God,
and resign themselves to his word and Spirit, and their eyes shall be opened to see their
way and their end, their duty and their true interest; a new and glorious scene would
then open itself to their souls; a new world furnished with the most beautiful and
excellent objects, and this light would be marvellous to those who were but just now
delivered from the powers of darkness. This is the wise and good counsel Christ gives to
careless souls; and, if they follow it, he will judge himself bound in honour to make it

71. effectual.
5. JAMISO , "Gentle and loving irony. Take My advice, thou who fanciest thyself in
need of nothing. Not only art thou not in need of nothing, but art in need of the
commonest necessaries of existence. He graciously stoops to their modes of thought and
speech: Thou art a people ready to listen to any counsel as to how to buy to advantage;
then, listen to My counsel (for I am “Counselor,” Isa_9:6), buy of ME” (in whom,
according to Paul’s Epistle written to the neighboring Colosse and intended for the
Laodicean Church also, Col_2:1, Col_2:3; Col_4:16, are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge). “Buy” does not imply that we can, by any work or merit of
ours, purchase God’s free gift; nay the very purchase money consists in the renunciation
of all self-righteousness, such as Laodicea had (Rev_3:17). “Buy” at the cost of thine own
self-sufficiency (so Paul, Phi_3:7, Phi_3:8); and the giving up of all things, however dear
to us, that would prevent our receiving Christ’s salvation as a free gift, for example, self
and worldly desires. Compare Isa_55:1, “Buy ... without money and price.”
of me — the source of “unsearchable riches” (Eph_3:8). Laodicea was a city of
extensive money transactions [Cicero].
gold tried in, etc. — literally, “fired (and fresh) from the fire,” that is, just fresh from
the furnace which has proved its purity, and retaining its bright gloss. Sterling spiritual
wealth, as contrasted with its counterfeit, in which Laodicea boasted itself. Having
bought this gold she will be no longer poor (Rev_3:17).
mayest be rich — Greek, “mayest be enriched.”
white raiment — “garments.” Laodicea’s wools were famous. Christ offers infinitely
whiter raiment. As “gold tried in the fire” expresses faith tested by fiery trials: so “white
raiment,” Christ’s righteousness imputed to the believer in justification and imparted in
sanctification.
appear — Greek, “be manifested,” namely, at the last day, when everyone without the
wedding garment shall be discovered. To strip one, is in the East the image of putting to
open shame. So also to clothe one with fine apparel is the image of doing him honor.
Man can discover his shame, God alone can cover it, so that his nakedness shall not be
manifested at last (Col_3:10-14). Blessed is he whose sin is so covered. The hypocrite’s
shame may be manifested now; it must be so at last.
anoint ... with eye-salve — The oldest manuscripts read, “(buy of Me) eye-salve
(collyrium, a roll of ointment), to anoint thine eyes.” Christ has for Laodicea an ointment
far more precious than all the costly unguents of the East. The eye is here the conscience
or inner light of the mind. According as it is sound and “single” (Greek, “haplous,”
“simple”), or otherwise, the man sees aright spiritually, or does not. The Holy Spirit’s
unction, like the ancient eye-salve’s, first smarts with conviction of sin, then heals. He
opens our eyes first to ourselves in our wretchedness, then to the Savior in His
preciousness. Trench notices that the most sunken churches of the seven, namely, Sardis
and Laodicea, are the ones in which alone are specified no opponents from without, nor
heresies from within. The Church owes much to God’s overruling Providence which has
made so often internal and external foes, in spite of themselves, to promote His cause by
calling forth her energies in contending for the faith once delivered to the saints. Peace is
dearly bought at the cost of spiritual stagnation, where there is not interest enough felt in
religion to contend about it at all.

72. 5B. VWS, “I counsel (συµβουλεύσυµβουλεύσυµβουλεύσυµβουλεύωωωω)
With a certain irony. Though He might command, yet He advises those who are, in
their own estimation, supplied with everything.
To buy
Compare Isa_4:1; Mat_13:44, Mat_13:46. Those who think themselves rich, and yet
have just been called beggars by the Lord, are advised by Him to buy. The irony,
however, covers a sincere and gracious invitation. The goods of Christ are freely given,
yet they have their price - renunciation of self and of the world.
Gold (χρυσίχρυσίχρυσίχρυσίονονονον)
Often of gold money or ornaments. So 1Pe_1:18; Act_3:6; 1Pe_3:3. Also of native
gold and gold which has been smelted and wrought (Heb_9:4). There may very properly
be a reference to the extensive money transactions of Laodicea.
Tried in the fire (πεπυρωµέπεπυρωµέπεπυρωµέπεπυρωµένοννοννοννον ᅚᅚᅚᅚκκκκ πορᆵπορᆵπορᆵπορᆵςςςς)
The verb means to burn, to be on fire: in the perfect passive, as here, kindled, made
to glow; thence melted by fire, and so refined. Rev., refined by, fire. By fire is, literally,
out of the fire (ᅚκ; see on Rev_2:7).
White raiment
Rev., garments. See on Rev_3:4.
Mayest be clothed (περιβάλᇽπεριβάλᇽπεριβάλᇽπεριβάλᇽ)
Rev., more literally, mayest clothe thyself. See on Rev_3:5.
Do not appear (µᆱ φανερωθሀµᆱ φανερωθሀµᆱ φανερωθሀµᆱ φανερωθሀ)
Rev., more literally, be not made manifest. See on Joh_21:1. Stripping and exposure
is a frequent method of putting to open shame. See 2Sa_10:4; Isa_20:4; Isa_47:2-3;
Eze_16:37. Compare also Mat_22:11-13; Col_3:10-14.
Anoint thine eyes with eye-salve (κολλούκολλούκολλούκολλούριονριονριονριον ᅞᅞᅞᅞγχρισονγχρισονγχρισονγχρισον τοᆷτοᆷτοᆷτοᆷςςςς ᆆφθαλµούᆆφθαλµούᆆφθαλµούᆆφθαλµούς σους σους σους σου)
The correct reading is ᅞγχρισαι, the infinitive, to anoint, instead of the imperative. So
Rev., eye-salve to anoint thine eyes. Κολλούριον, of which the Latin collyrium is a
transcript, is a diminutive of κολλύρα a roll of coarse bread. See 1Ki_14:3, Sept.; A.V.,
cracknels. Here applied to a roll or stick of ointment for the eyes. Horace, describing his
Brundisian journey, relates how, at one point, he was troubled with inflamed eyes, and
anointed them with black eye-salve (nigra collyria. Sat., i., v., 30). Juvenal, describing a
superstitious woman, says: “If the corner of her eye itches when rubbed, she consults her
horoscope before calling for salve” (collyria; vi., 577). The figure sets forth the spiritual
anointing by which the spiritual vision is purged. Compare Augustine, “Confessions,”
vii., 7, 8. “Through my own swelling was I separated from Thee; yea, my pride-swollen
face closed up mine eyes.... It was pleasing in Thy sight to reform my deformities; and by
inward goads didst Thou rouse me, that I should be ill at ease until Thou wert manifested
to my inward sight. Thus, by the secret hand of Thy medicining, was my swelling abated,
and the troubled and bedimmed eyesight of my mind, by the smarting anointings of
healthful sorrows, was from day to day healed.” Compare 1Jo_2:20, 1Jo_2:27.

73. 6. COFFMA , "I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become
rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy
nakedness be not made manifest; and eye-salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.
It is evident that the lack of the Laodiceans was precisely in those areas where they fancied they
were the strongest. The allusion to Laodicean wealth, their garment industry, and their "Phrygian
eye-salve" is evident.
Buy of me gold refined by fire ... This is a metaphor of true fidelity in Christ Jesus, as suggested
by 1 Peter 1:7; but the expression, "Buy of me" is particularly interesting. "the of me is
emphatic,"[67]indicating that the true wealth is procurable only from the Son of God. Neither the
banks of Laodicea nor the gold mines of Pangaeus can supply the blessed "riches in Christ" without
which all mankind is miserable and poor and blind and naked. Furthermore, the very fact of a
purchase being required in this command raises the question of what shall be tendered in order to
receive the gold refined by fire? Lenski quoted Isaiah 55:1 in this context:
Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and
eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1).
Lenski's comment on this is: "Buy for nothing! This is the strange wonderful gospel buying."[68] With
due deference, how ever, to the respected Lenski, the riches in Christ are not avail able "for
nothing," but without money, there being a world of difference in the two propositions. The very thing
wrong at Laodicea was that they were proposing to enjoy true riches of Christ for nothing. The same
is true of a great deal of the current religious world around us today. Among the things that "in a
sense" must be exchanged for the true riches are an obedient faith in Jesus Christ. However, it is
only "in a sense" that such may be called "buying." There is no quid pro quo that may be tendered in
order to receive salvation; and it was probably this that Lenski intended.
And white garments that thou mayest be clothed ... Like the buying, above, this represents
something which to some degree, at least, must be provided by the wearer, Christ, of course, being
the only source. The apostles commanded that one should keep himself "unspotted from the world"
(James 1:27). White garments of righteousness are supplied by the Lord to the baptized believer;
but there is no promise of any such thing to the believer or unbeliever who will not be baptized.
Thus, people are here commanded to "buy" white garments.
And eye-salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see ... This demanded purchase, like the
others, may not be had for money; but that does not mean that it is available upon any other terms
than the one laid down in Scripture. "The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes"
(Psalms 19:8). The only eye-salve, therefore, that will do spiritual blindness any good is the word of
the Lord; and it was precisely this that the Laodiceans needed. How could they "buy it"? Through
study and attention given to the word of God. Is this "for nothing"? Indeed no; but it is without
money.
[67] Ibid., p. 127.
[68] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Revelation (Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg
Publishing House, 1943), p. 158.
7. MACLARE , “FLIMSY GARMENTS
Isa_59:6; Rev_3:18
The force of these words of the prophet is very obvious. He has been pouring out swift,
indignant denunciation on the evil-doers in Israel; and, says he, ‘they hatch cockatrice’s
eggs and spin spiders’ webs,’ pointing, as I suppose, to the patient perseverance, worthy
of a better cause, which bad men will exercise in working out their plans. Then with a

74. flash of bitter irony, led on by his imagination to say more than he had meant, he adds
this scathing parenthesis, as if he said, ‘Yes, they spin spiders’ webs, elaborate toil and
creeping contrivance, and what comes of it all! The flimsy foul thing is swept away by
God’s besom sooner or later. A web indeed! but they will never make a garment out of it.
It looks like cloth, but it is useless.’ That is the old lesson that all sin is profitless and
comes to nothing.
I venture to connect with that strongly figurative declaration of the essential futility of
godless living, our second text, in which Jesus uses a similar figure to express one aspect
of His gifts to the believing soul. He is ready to clothe it, so that ‘being clothed, it will not
be found naked.’
I. Sin clothes no man even here.
Notice in passing what a hint there is of the toil and trouble that men are so willing to
take in a wrong course. Hatching and spinning both suggest protracted, sedulous labour.
And then the issue of it all is- nothing.
Take the plainest illustrations of this truth first-the breach of common laws of morality,
the indulgence, for instance, in dissipation. A man gets a certain coarse delight out of it,
but what does he get besides? A weakened body, a tyrannous craving, ruined prospects,
oftenest poverty and shame, the loss of self-respect and love; of moral excellences, of
tastes for what is better. He is not a beast, and he cannot live for pure animalism without
injuring himself.
Then take actual breaches of human laws. How seldom these ‘pay,’ even in the lowest
sense. Thieves are always poor. The same experience of futility dogs all coarse and
palpable breaches of morality. It is always true that ‘He that breaketh a hedge, a serpent
shall bite him.’
The reasons are not far to seek. This is, on the whole, God’s world, a world of retribution.
Things are, on the whole, on the side of goodness. God is in the world, and that is an
element not to be left out in the calculation. Society is on the side of goodness to a large
extent. The constitution of a man’s own soul, which God made, works in the same
direction. Young men who are trembling on the verge of youthful yieldings to passion,
are tempted to fancy that they can sow sin and not reap suffering or harm. Would that
they settled it in their thoughts that he who fires a fuse must expect an explosion!
But the same rule applies to every godless form of life. Take our Manchester temptation,
money or success in business. Take ambition. Take culture, literary fame. Take love and
friendship. What do they all come to, if godless? I do not point to the many failures, but
suppose success: would that make you a happy man? If you won what you wanted, would
it be enough? What ‘garments’ for your conscience, for your sense of sin, for your infinite
longings would success in any godless course provide? You would have what you wanted,
and what would it bring with it? Cares and troubles and swift satiety, and not seldom
incapacity to enjoy what you had won with so much toil. If you gained the prize, you
would find clinging to it something that you did not bargain for, and that took most of
the dazzle away from it.
II. The rags are all stripped off some day.
Death is a becoming naked as to the body, and as to all the occupations that terminate
with bodily life. It necessarily involves the loss of possessions, the cessation of activities,
the stripping off of self-deceptions, and exposure to the gaze of the Judge, without
defence. The godless soul will ‘be found naked’ and ashamed. All ‘works of darkness,’
laden with rich blossom or juicy fruit though they have seemed to be, will then be seen to

75. be in tragic truth ‘fruitless.’ A life’s spinning and weaving, and not a rag to cover the
toiler after all! Is that ‘productive labour’?
III. Christ will clothe you.
‘White raiment.’ Pure character. Covering before the Judge. Festal robe of Victory.
‘Buy’-how? By giving up self.
Revelation 3:18
CHRIST'S COUNSEL TO A LUKEWARM CHURCH
After the scathing exposure of the religious condition of this Laodicean Church its
members might have expected something sterner than ‘counsel.’ There is a world of love
and pity, with a dash of irony, in the use of that softened expression. He does not
willingly threaten, and He never scolds; but He rather speaks to men’s hearts and their
reason, and comes to them as a friend, than addresses Himself to their fears.
Whether there be any truth or not in the old idea that these letters to the seven churches
are so arranged as, when taken in sequence, to present a fore-glimpse of the successive
conditions of the Church till the second coming of our Lord, it is at least a noteworthy
fact that the last of them in order is the lowest in spiritual state. That church was
‘lukewarm’; neither cold ‘- untouched by the warmth of the Spirit of Christ at all - ‘nor
hot’ - adequately inflamed thereby.
That is the worst sort of people to get at, and it is no want of charity to say that Laodicea
is repeated in a thousand congregations, and that Laodiceans are prevalent in every
congregation. All our Christian communities are hampered by a mass of loose adherents
with no warmth of consecration, no glow of affection, no fervor of enthusiasm; and they
bring down the temperature, as snow-covered mountains over which the wind blows
make the thermometer drop on the plains. It is not for me to diagnose individual
conditions, but it is for me to take note of widespread characteristics and strongly
running currents; and it is for you to settle whether the characteristics are yours or not.
So I deal with Christ’s advice to a lukewarm church, and I hope to do it in the spirit of the
Master who counseled, and neither scolded nor threatened.
I. Now I observe that the first need of the lukewarm church is to open its
eyes to see facts.
I take it that the order in which the points of this counsel are given is not intended to be
the order in which they are obeyed. I dare say there is no thought of sequence in the
succession of the clauses. But if there is, I think that a little consideration will show us
that that which comes last in mention is to be first in fulfilment.
Observe that the text falls into two distinct parts, and that the counsel to buy does not
extend- need, and it is ordinarily read as if it did - to the last item in our Lord’s advice.
These Laodiceans are bid to ‘buy of Him’ ‘gold’ and ‘raiment,’ but they are bid to use the
‘eye salve’ that they ‘may see.’ No doubt, whatever is meant by that ‘eye salve’ comes
from Him, as does everything else. But my point is that these people are supposed
already to possess it, and that they are bid to employ it. And, taking that point of view, I
think we can come to the understanding of what is meant.

76. No doubt the exhortation, ‘anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see,’ may be
so extended as to refer to the general condition of spiritual blindness which attaches to
humanity, apart from the illuminating and sight-giving work of Jesus Christ. That true
Light, which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, has a threefold office as
the result of all the parts of which there comes to our darkened eyes the vision of the
things that are. He reveals the objects to see; He gives the light by which we see them;
and He gives us eyes to see with. He shows us God, immortality, duty, men’s condition,
men’s hopes, and He takes from us the cataract which obscures, the shortsightedness
which prevents us from beholding things that are far off and the obliquity of vision which
forbids us to look steadily and straight at the things .which it is worth our while to
behold. ‘For judgment am I come into the world,’ said He, ‘that they which see not might
see.’ And it is possible that the general illuminating influence of Christ’s mission and
work, and especially the illuminating power of His Spirit dwelling in men’s spirits, may
be included in the thoughts of the eye salve with which we are to anoint our eyes as,
whence context seems to me rather to narrow the age of the meaning of this part of our
Lord’s counsel. For these Laodiceans had the conceit of their own sufficing wealth, of
their own prosperous religious condition, and were blind as bats to the real facts that
they were miserable and poor and naked.’ Therefore our Lord says: Anoint thine eyes
with eye salve, that thou mayest see - recognize your true state; do not live in this dream
that you are satisfactorily united to Myself, when all the while the thread of connection is
so slender that it is all but snapped. Behold Me as I am, and the things that I reveal to
you as they are; and then you will see yourselves as you are.’
So, then, there comes out of this exhortation this thought, that a symptom constantly
accompanying the lukewarm condition is absolute unconsciousness of it. In all regions
the worse a man is the less he knows it. It is the good people that know themselves to be
bad; the bad ones, when they think about themselves, conceit themselves to be good. It is
the men in the van of the march that feel the prick of the impulse to press farther: the
laggards are quite content to stop in the rear. The higher a man climbs, in any science, or
in the practice of any virtue, the more clearly he sees the unsealed peaks above him. The
frost-bitten limb is quite comfortable. It is when life begins to come back into it that it
tingles and aches. And so these Laodiceans were like the Jewish hero of old, who
prostituted his strength, and let them shear away his locks while his lazy head lay in the
harlot’s lap: he went out ‘to shake himself’ as of old times, and knew not that the Spirit of
God had departed from him. So, brethren, the man in this audience who most needs to
be roused and startled into a sense of his tepid religionism is the man that least suspects
the need, and would be most surprised if a more infallible and penetrating voice than
mine were to come and say to him, ‘Thou - thou art the man.’ ‘Anoint thine eyes with eye
salve, that thou mayest see’; and let the light, which Christ pours upon unseen things,
pour itself revealing into your hearts, that you may no longer dream of yourselves as
‘rich, and increased with goods, and having need of nothing’; but may know that you are
poor and blind and naked.
Another thought suggested by this part of the counsel is that the blind man must himself
rub in the eye salve. Nobody else can do it for him. True! it comes, like every other good
thing, from the Christ in the heavens; and, as I have already said, if we will attach specific
meanings to every part of a metaphor, that ‘eye salve’ may be the influence of the Divine
Spirit who convicts men of sin. But whatever it is, you have to apply it to your own eyes.
Translate that into plain English, and it is just this, by the light of the knowledge of God
and duty and human nature, which comes rushing in a flood of illumination from the
central sun of Christ’s mission and character, test yourselves. Our forefathers made too
much of self-examination as a Christian duty, and pursued it often for mistaken

77. purposes. But this generation makes far too light of it. Whilst I would not say to anybody,
‘Poke into the dark places of your own hearts in order to find out whether you are
Christian people or not,’ for that will only come to diffidence and despair, I would say,
‘Do not be a stranger to yourselves, but judge yourselves rigidly, by the standard of God’s
Word, of Christ’s example, and in all your search, ask Him to give you that ‘candle of the
Lord,’ which will shine into the dustiest corners and the darkest of our hearts, and reveal
to us, if we truly wish it, all the cobwebs and unconsidered litter and rubbish, if not
venomous creatures, that are gathered there. Apply the eye salve; it will be keen, it will
bite; welcome the smart, and be sure that anything is good for you which takes away the
veil that self-complacency casts over your true condition, and lets the light of God into
the cellars and dark places of your souls.
II. The second need of the lukewarm church is the true wealth which Christ
gives.
‘I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire.’ Now there may be many different ways
of putting the thought that is conveyed here, but I think the deepest truth of human
nature is that the only wealth for a man is the possession of God. And so instead of, as
many commentators do, suggesting interpretations which seem to me to be inadequate, I
think we go to the root of the matter when we find the meaning of the wealth which
Christ counsels us to buy of Him in the possession of God Himself, who is our true
treasure and durable riches.
That wealth alone makes us paupers truly rich. For there is nothing else that satisfies a
man’s craving and supplies a man’s needs. ‘He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied
with silver, nor he that loveth abundance, with increase’; but if we have the gold of God,
we are rich to all intents of bliss; and if we have Him not, if we are ‘for ever roaming with
a hungry heart,’ and though we may have a large balance at our bankers, and much
wealth in our coffers, and ‘houses full of silver and gold,’ we are poor indeed.
That wealth has immunity from all accidents. No possession is truly mine of which any
outward contingency or circumstance can deprive me. But this wealth, the wealth of a
heart enriched with the possession of God, whom it knows, loves, trusts, and obeys, this
wealth is incorporated with a man’s very being, and enters into the substance of his
nature; and so nothing can deprive him of it. That which moth or rust can corrupt; that
which thieves can break through and steal; that which is at the mercy of the accidents of
a commercial community or of the fluctuations of trade; that is no wealth for a man.
Only something which passes into me, and becomes so interwoven with my being as is
the dye with the wool, is truly wealth for me. And such wealth is God.
The only possession which we can take with us when our nerveless hands drop all other
goods, and our hearts are untwined from all other loves, is this durable riches. ‘Shrouds
have no pockets,’ as the grim proverb has it. But the man that has God for his portion
carries all his riches with him into the darkness, whilst of the man that made creatures
his treasure it is written: ‘His glory shall not descend after him.’ Therefore, dear
brethren, let us all listen to that counsel, and buy of Jesus gold that is tried in the fire.
III. The third need of a lukewarm church is the raiment that Christ gives.
The wealth which He bids us buy of Him belongs mostly to our inward life; the raiment
which He proffers us to wear, as is natural to the figure, applies mainly to our outward
lives, and signifies the dress of our spirits as these are presented to the world.
I need not remind you of how frequently this metaphor is employed throughout the
Scriptures, both in the Old and the New Testament - from the vision granted to one of
the prophets, in which he saw the high priest standing before God, clothed in filthy

78. garments, which were taken off him by angel hands, and he draped in pure and shining
vestures - down to our Lord’s parable of the man that had not on the wedding garment;
and Paul’s references to putting off and putting on the old and the new man with his
deeds. Nor need I dwell upon the great frequency with which, in this book of the
Revelation, the same figure occurs. But the sum and substance of the whole thing is just
this, that we can get from Jesus Christ characters that are pure and radiant with the
loveliness and the candour of His own perfect righteousness. Mark that here we are not
bidden to put on the garment, but to take it from His hands. True, having taken it, we are
to put it on, and that implies daily effort. So my text puts this counsel in its place in the
whole perspective of a combined Christian truth, and suggests the combination of faith
which receives, and of effort which puts on, the garment that Christ gives. No thread of it
is woven in our own looms, nor have we the making of the vesture, but we have the
wearing of it.
There is nothing in the world vainer than effort after righteousness which is not based on
faith. There is nothing more abnormal and divergent from the true spirit of the New
Testament than faith, so-called, which is not accompanied with daily effort. On the one
hand we must be contented to receive; on the other hand we must be earnest to
appropriate. ‘Buy of Me gold,’ and then we are rich. ‘Buy of Me raiment,’ and then - listen
to the voice that says, Put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man of God
created in righteousness and holiness of truth.’
IV. Lastly, all supply of these needs is to be bought.
‘Buy of Me.’ There is nothing in that counsel contradictory to the great truth that ‘the gift
of God is eternal life.’ That buying is explained by the great gospel invitation, long
centuries before the gospel - ‘Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, . . . buy,
and eat, . . . without money and without price.’ It is explained by our Lord’s twin parables
of the treasure hid in a field, which, when a man had found, he went and sold all that he
had and bought the field; and of the pearl of great price which, when the merchantman
searching had discovered, he went and sold all that he had that he might possess the one.
For what is all that we have? Self! and we have to give away self that we may buy the
riches and the robes. The only thing that is needed is to get rid, once and for all, of that
conceit that we have anything that we can offer as the equivalent for what we desire. He
that has opened his eyes, and sees himself as he is, poor and naked, and so comes to sue
in forma pauperis, and abandons all trust in self, he is the man who buys of Christ the
gold and the vesture. If we will thus rightly estimate ourselves, and estimating ourselves,
have not only the negative side of faith, which is self-distrust, but the positive, which is
absolute reliance on Him, we shall not ask in vain. He counsels us to buy, and if we take
His advice and come, saying, ‘Nothing in my hand I bring,’ He will not stultify Himself by
refusing to give us what He has bid us ask. ‘What things were given to me; those I
counted loss for Christ. Yea! doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.’ If we, with opened eyes, go to Him thus, we
shall come away from Him enriched and clothed, and say, ‘My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; He hath covered me with
the robe of righteousness.’

79. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So
be earnest and repent.
1. BAR ES, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten - Of course, only on the
supposition that they deserve it. The meaning is, that it is a proof of love on his part, if
his professed friends go astray, to recall them by admonitions and by trials. So a father
calls back his children who are disobedient; and there is no higher proof of his love than
when, with great pain to himself, he administers such chastisement as shall save his
child. See the sentiment here expressed fully explained in the notes on Heb_12:6. The
language is taken from Pro_3:12.
Be zealous therefore, and repent - Be earnest, strenuous, ardent in your purpose
to exercise true repentance, and to turn from the error of your ways. Lose no time; spare
no labor, that you may obtain such a state of mind that it shall not be necessary to bring
upon you the severe discipline which always comes on those who continue lukewarm in
religion. The truth taught here is, that when the professed followers of Christ have
become lukewarm in his service, they should lose no time in returning to him, anti
seeking his favor again. As sure as he has any true love for them, if this is not done he
will bring upon them some heavy calamity, alike to rebuke them for their errors, and to
recover them to himself.
2. CLARKE, "As many as I love - So it was the love he still had to them that induced
him thus to reprehend and thus to counsel them.
Be zealous - Be in earnest, to get your souls saved, They had no zeal; this was their
bane. He now stirs them up to diligence in the use of the means of grace and repentance
for their past sins and remissness.
3. GILL, "As many as I love I rebuke and chasten,.... The persons the objects of
Christ's love here intended are not angels, but the sons of men; and these not all of them,
yet many of them, even all who are his own by his Father's gift and his own purchase;
and who are called his church, and sometimes represented as such who love him and
obey his commands: the instances of his love to them are many; as his suretyship
engagements for them, his assumption of their nature, dying in their room and stead,
paying their debts, procuring their peace and pardon, bringing in a righteousness for
them, purchasing their persons, his intercession for them, preparations in heaven,
supplies of grace, and frequent visits in a kind and familiar manner; and as for the nature
of his love, it is free and sovereign, everlasting and immutable, and it is matchless and
inconceivable, it is strong and affectionate, and as his Father loved him; and such are
rebuked by Christ, not in a way of wrath, but in a tender manner, in order to bring them
under a conviction of their sin and of their duty, and of their folly in trusting in, or loving

80. any creature more than himself, and of all their wrong ways; and they are chastened by
him, not in a vindictive, but in a fatherly way, which is instructive and teaching to them,
and for their good. This seems to refer to some afflictions which Christ was about to
bring upon this church, by some means or another, to awaken her out of her sloth and
security, and which would be in love to her, and the end be to rouse her zeal and bring
her to repentance. Some think this respects the Gog and Magog army, which will
encompass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; but that will not be till after the
thousand years' reign, and besides will be no affliction to them; rather it designs the
unchurching them, signified by spewing them out of his mouth, Rev_3:16,
be zealous, therefore, and repent; zeal was what was wanting in this church; which
is nothing else than hot, fervent, and ardent love, love in a flame; whereas she was
neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, Christ would have her be "zealous" for God; for his
cause and interest, for his Gospel, ordinances, and the discipline of his house, and
against everything that is evil; against all false worship, all errors in doctrine, all sin and
iniquity; and to be zealous of good works, and in the worship of God, both private and
public: and "repent"; in an evangelical way, of her lukewarnmess, remissness, and
supineness; of her pride, arrogance, and vain boastings of herself; and of her self-
sufficience, self-dependence, and self-confidence.
4. HE RY, " Here is added great and gracious encouragement to this sinful people to
take the admonition and advice well that Christ had given them, Rev_3:19, Rev_3:20.
He tells them, (1.) It was given them in true and tender affection: “Whom I love, I rebuke
and chasten. You may think I have given you hard words and severe reproofs; it is all out
of love to your souls. I would not have thus openly rebuked and corrected your sinful
lukewarmness and vain confidence, if I had not been a lover of your souls; had I hated
you, I would have let you alone, to go on in sin till it had been your ruin.” Sinners ought
to take the rebukes of God's word and rod as tokens of his good-will to their souls, and
should accordingly repent in good earnest, and turn to him that smites them; better are
the frowns and wounds of a friend than the flattering smiles of an enemy.
5. JAMISO , "(Job_5:17; Pro_3:11, Pro_3:12; Heb_12:5, Heb_12:6.) So in the case of
Manasseh (2Ch_33:11-13).
As many — All. “He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. And shalt thou be an
exception? If excepted from suffering the scourge, thou art excepted from the number of
the sons” [Augustine]. This is an encouragement to Laodicea not to despair, but to regard
the rebuke as a token for good, if she profit by it.
I love — Greek, “philo,” the love of gratuitous affection, independent of any grounds
for esteem in the object loved. But in the case of Philadelphia (Rev_3:9), “I have loved
thee” (Greek, “egapesa”) with the love of esteem, founded on the judgment. Compare the
note in my English Gnomon of Bengel, Joh_21:15-17.
I rebuke — The “I” in the Greek stands first in the sentence emphatically. I in My
dealings, so altogether unlike man’s, in the case of all whom I love, rebuke. The Greek,
“elencho,” is the same verb as in Joh_16:8, “(the Holy Ghost) will convince (rebuke unto
conviction) the world of sin.”
chasten — “chastise.” The Greek, “paideu,” which in classical Greek means to instruct,
in the New Testament means to instruct by chastisement (Heb_12:5, Heb_12:6). David

81. was rebuked unto conviction, when he cried, “I have sinned against the Lord”; the
chastening followed when his child was taken from him (2Sa_12:13, 2Sa_12:14). In the
divine chastening, the sinner at one and the same time winces under the rod and learns
righteousness.
be zealous — habitually. Present tense in the Greek, of a lifelong course of zeal. The
opposite of “lukewarm.” The Greek by alliteration marks this: Laodicea had not been
“hot” (Greek, “zestos”), she is therefore urged to “be zealous” (Greek, “zeleue”): both are
derived from the same verb, Greek, “zeo,” “to boil.”
repent — Greek aorist: of an act to be once for all done, and done at once.
5B. SBC, “I. Look at the loving rebuke of the faithful Witness: "Thou art neither cold nor
hot." We are manifestly there in the region of emotion. The metaphor applies to feeling.
We talk of warmth of feeling, ardour of affection, fervour of love, and the like; and the
opposite, cold, expresses obviously the absence of any glow of a true, living emotion. So,
then, the persons thus described are Christian people with very little, though a little,
warmth of affection and glow of Christian love and consecration. (1) This defectiveness of
Christian feeling is accompanied with a large amount of self-complacency. (2) This
deficiency of warmth is worse than absolute zero. If you were cold, at absolute zero, there
would be at least a possibility that when you were brought into contact with the warmth
you might kindle. But you have been brought into contact with the warmth, and this is
the effect.
II. Note some plain causes of this lukewarmness of spiritual life. (1) The cares of this
world; the entire absorption of spirit in business. (2) The existence among us or around
us of a certain widely diffused doubt as to the truths of Christianity is, illogically enough,
a cause for diminished fervour on the part of the men that do not doubt them. That is
foolish, and it is strange, but it is true. Beware of unreasonably yielding to the influence
of prevailing unbelief. (3) Another cause is the increasing degree in which Christian men
are occupied with secular things.
III. Note the loving call to Christian earnestness: "Be zealous therefore." The word
"zealous" means literally boiling with heat. We must remember that zeal ought to be a
consequence of knowledge, and that, seeing that we are reasonable creatures, intended
to be guided by our understandings, it is an upsetting of the whole constitution of a
man’s nature if his heart works independently of his head; and the only way in which we
can safely and wholesomely increase our zeal is by increasing our grasp of the truths
which feed it.
IV. Observe the merciful call to a new beginning: "Repent." There must be a lowly
consciousness of sin, a clear vision of past shortcomings and abhorrence of these, and
joined to these a resolute act of heart and mind beginning a new course, a change of
purpose and of the current of our being.
A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, April 8th, 1886.
6. COFFMA , “As many as I love, I reprove and chasten; be zealous therefore, and
repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
For full discussion of the doctrine of chastening, see in my Commentary on Hebrews, pp. 317-319.
There is nothing like this in the whole New Testament; it could be in tended for all the churches, but

82. Laodicea's being the last one caused it to be incorporated here with the letter to that church. A literal
translation is: "See, I have taken my stand upon your threshold, and I am continually
knocking."[69] Many have commented upon this matchless verse which is honored in the music and
art of the world. Morgan paraphrased the meaning thus:
He waits for man. He is not waiting for a committee to pass a resolution. If any man hear my voice, I
will come to him ... I will be his guest, "I will sup with him." He shall be my guest, "and he with me." I
will sit at the table which his love provides, and satisfy my heart. He shall sit at the table which my
love provides, and satisfy his heart.[70]
"This promise has a eucharistic flavor about it. The mention of a supper with Christ pictures the last
supper in the upper room, and the subsequent occasions when it was re-enacted as the continuing
symbol of Christ's continuing presence."[71] "This is one of the greatest gospel texts in the New
Testament and should be quoted frequently in both public evangelism and in personal work."[72]
Certainly, one of the applications of this verse is that of referring it to the Lord's Supper. This sacred
institution, observed without interruption throughout the Christian era, enables every Christian to
"eat with the Lord" in every observance of it. We agree with Caird who considered this reference
imperative.
[69] Merrill C. Tenney, Interpreting Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1957), p. 67.
[70] G. Campbell Morgan, The Letters of Our Lord (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell
Company, n.d.), p. 104.
[71] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 58.
[72] Ralph Earle, op. cit., p. 527.
7. CHARLES SIMEO , "Rev_3:19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous
therefore, and repent.
IN the epistles to the seven Churches of Asia, there is an exceedingly rich variety of instruction, that
is quite as applicable to us at this day as ever it was to the Church to whom it was first delivered. It
is probable that some in Laodicea would regard the menace which was sent them in this epistle as
a prelude to their utter destruction. They could not conceive that the Lord Jesus, who had
threatened to “spue them out of his mouth” with the utmost indignation and abhorrence, could
entertain, in reference to them, any other sentiment than that of irreversible displeasure: and thus
they were tempted to sit down in utter despair. But our blessed Lord assured them, that these very
menaces were expressions of his love and pledges of his favourable acceptance, if only they would
comply with the directions which he here gave them. But the words I have read contain, not only a
particular instruction to them but a truth of universal and unalterable importance to the Church in all
ages. We here see,
I. How the Lord Jesus Christ acts towards the objects of his love—
God not unfrequently gives to his enemies all that their hearts can desire. Are they anxious for
wealth, and honour, and power, or for an increase of their families? and do they further desire a
freedom from trouble, both in life and death? All this is bestowed upon them with so bountiful a
hand, that they bless themselves as the happiest and most favoured of mankind [Note:Psa_73:3-
5; Psa_73:7; Psa_73:12.]. Yea, to such a degree does this often obtain, that the most eminent
saints are stumbled at it [Note: Job_21:7-13. Jer_12:1-2.]. But towards those whom he loves, he, for
the most part, acts very differently: them “he rebukes and chastens.”
1. By the declarations of his word—

83. [“The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword
[Note: Heb_4:12.]:” “yea, it is as a fire, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces
[Note: Jer_23:29.]:” and when it comes with power to the soul, not the proudest sinner in the
universe can withstand it. When but four words were written upon the wall of the room where
Belshazzar was feasting, “the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against
another [Note: Dan_5:5-6.]!” And how it wrought upon the murderers of our Lord on the day of
Pentecost, you well know: for three thousand of them cried out with one voice, “Men and brethren,
what shall we do?” Doubtless, the terror inspired by this is often exceedingly appalling: but yet it is
sent in love, “to convince men of their sin,” and to bring them to repentance: and the deeper the
wound that is inflicted by it, the greater evidence there is that God has sent it in love to the soul
— — —]
2. By the dispensations of his providence—
[It often happens, that men withstand the word of God, till they are visited with some afflictive
providence: and not unfrequently repeated strokes of the rod are necessary, before they will hear
and receive instruction from it [Note: Mic_6:9.]. And these dispensations are thought by many to be
tokens of God’s wrath. But, indeed, they are rather indications of his love: they are paternal
chastisements, sent for our profit, that we may be humbled by them, and quickened, and “made
partakers of his holiness.” It was for this end that many of the Corinthian Church were
[Note:Heb_12:5-11.] visited with pains and sickness: “they were chastened of the Lord, that they
might not be condemned with the world [Note: 1Co_11:30-32.].” And how beneficially these
afflictions operate, may be seen in Ephraim of old: “Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself
thus: Thou hast chastised me; and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn
thou me, and I shall be turned: for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I
repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even
confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth [Note: Jer_31:18-19.].” God then adds, “Is
not Ephraim my dear son [Note: Jer_31:20.]?” Had God felt no regard for Ephraim, he would have
said, “Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more [Note: Isa_1:5.]:” but,
feeling towards him the affections of a Father, he says rather, “I will correct thee in measure, and
will not leave thee altogether unpunished [Note: Jer_30:11. with Psa_89:30-33.].”]
This truth established, we may see,
II. How they in return should demean themselves towards him—
Two things in particular were blamed in the Laodicean Church, namely, lukewarmness and self-
sufficiency: and against these especially he directs them to strive, by the daily exercise of zeal and
penitence. The same direction is proper for all whom he has chosen in Christ Jesus to be the
objects of his love:
1. Be zealous—
[It is not sufficient to perform a mere round of duties, and to abstain from gross sins. Religion is
every thing, or it is nothing: it requires all the powers of the soul: and, if any of our faculties be
alienated from God, or exercised only in a lukewarm way, the service, whatever it may be, will not
be accepted. “In every good thing we should be zealously affected [Note: Gal_4:18.];” and “be
fervent in spirit, when we serve the Lord [Note: Rom_12:11.].” It was thus that Phinehas
[Note: Num_25:13.], and Elijah [Note: 1Ki_19:10.], and Paul [Note: Act_20:24.], and all the saints,
served God in the days of old. As for our blessed Lord “the zeal of God’s house even consumed him
[Note: Joh_2:17.].” And we also ought to be “a peculiar people, zealous of good works
[Note: Tit_2:14.].” Nor must it be in one thing only that we are to display our zeal. It is possible
enough that in one particular line we may exert ourselves with the greatest ardour; and yet be far
from having our hearts right with God. We must “have respect to all God’s commandments,” and
serve him “without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” In public and in private we must be alike

84. earnest in all our duties: and under “the constraining influence of the love of Christ, we must live
altogether unto Him who died for us, and rose again [Note: 2Co_5:14-15.].”]
2. Repent—
[This is necessary for every child of man. There is no one so pure, but that he may increase in
purity; nor so holy, but that he may grow in holiness; nor so heavenly, but that he may be more
entirely devoted to his God. Of lukewarmness especially, and of the entire habit of mind connected
with it, it becomes us to repent. Indeed, whatever be the sin that more easily besets us, thatwe
should search out with peculiar care, and for that should we in an especial manner humble
ourselves before God. Every day of our lives we should “be sowing in tears, if we would reap in joy.”
It is not the person who occasionally feels some remorse, but “he who goes on his way weeping,
bearing a precious seed-basket, and scattering this seed from it every step he takes; he it is that
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him [Note: Psa_126:5-6. See
the margin.].”]
This subject clearly teaches us,
1. What to do under the prevailing influence of corruption—
Pray to God that he would chastise you with scourges or scorpions, rather than suffer you to
continue under the power of sin: and if God see fit to put you into the furnace, be more anxious to
obtain the sanctifying benefits of the affliction, than to have it removed — — —]
2. What to do under the Divine rebukes—
[Receive them as the chastisements of a father, “neither despising them, nor fainting under them
[Note: Pro_3:11-12.]:” and take occasion from them to “humble yourselves under His mighty hand.”
Whatever be your sufferings, remember that they are far “less than your iniquities deserve.” By
these God designs to “purge away your iniquities [Note: Isa_27:9.]:” and, if they are attended with
this effect, you will have reason to adore him for them, more than for any exemption from trouble
that could possibly be vouchsafed unto you: for so, at least, speaks an inspired Apostle: “Blessed is
the man that endureth temptation: for, when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the
Lord hath promised to them that love him [Note: Jam_1:12.].”]
20 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.

85. 1. BAR ES, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock - Intimating that, though
they had erred, the way of repentance and hope was not closed against them. He was still
willing to be gracious, though their conduct had been such as to be loathsome, Rev_3:16.
To see the real force of this language, we must remember how disgusting and offensive
their conduct had been to him. And yet he was willing, notwithstanding this, to receive
them to his favor; nay more, he stood and pled with them that he might be received with
the hospitality that would be shown to a friend or stranger. The language here is so plain
that it scarcely needs explanation. It is taken from an act when we approach a dwelling,
and, by a well-understood sign - knocking - announce our presence, and ask for
admission. The act of knocking implies two things:
(a) That we desire admittance; and,
(b) That we recognize the right of him who dwells in the house to open the door to us
or not, as he shall please.
We would not obtrude upon him; we would not force his door; and if, after we are sure
that we are heard, we are not admitted, we turn quietly away. Both of these things are
implied here by the language used by the Saviour when he approaches man as
represented under the image of knocking at the door: that he desires to be admitted to
our friendship; and that he recognizes our freedom in the matter. He does not obtrude
himself upon us, nor does he 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. The language used here, also, may be
understood as applicable to all persons, and to all the methods by which the Saviour
seeks to come into the heart of a sinner. It would properly refer to anything which would
announce his presence: his word; his Spirit; the solemn events of his providence; the
invitations of his gospel. In these and in other methods he comes to man; and the
manner in which these invitations ought to be estimated would be seen by supposing
that he came to us personally and solicited our friendship, and proposed to be our
Redeemer. It may be added here, that this expression proves that the attempt at
reconciliation begins with the Saviour. It is not that the sinner goes out to meet him, or
to seek for him; it is that the Saviour presents himself at the door of the heart, as if he
were desirous to enjoy the friendship of man. This is in accordance with the uniform
language of the New Testament, that “God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten
Son”; that “Christ came to seek and to save the lost”; that the Saviour says, “Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,” etc. Salvation, in the Scriptures, is never
represented as originated by man.
If any man hear my voice - Perhaps referring to a custom then prevailing, that he
who knocked spake, in order to let it be known who it was. This might be demanded in
the night Luk_11:5, or when there was apprehension of danger, and it may have been the
custom when John wrote. The language here, in accordance with the uniform usage in
the Scriptures (compare Isa_55:1; Joh_7:37; Rev_22:17), is universal, and proves that
the invitations of the gospel are made, and are to be made, not to a part only, but fully
and freely to all people; for, although this originally had reference to the members of the
church in Laodicea, yet the language chosen seems to have been of design so universal
(ᅚάν τις ean tis) as to be applicable to every human being; and anyone, of any age and in
any land, would be authorized to apply this to himself, and, under the protection of this
invitation, to come to the Saviour, and to plead this promise as one that fairly included
himself. It may be observed further, that this also recognizes the freedom of man. It is
submitted to him whether he will hear the voice of the Redeemer or not; and whether he
will open the door and admit him or not. He speaks loud enough, and distinctly enough,
to be heard, but he does not force the door if it is not voluntarily opened.

86. And open the door - As one would when a stranger or friend stood and knocked.
The meaning here is simply, if anyone will admit me; that is, receive me as a friend. The
act of receiving him is as voluntary on our part as it is when we rise and open the door to
one who knocks. It may be added:
(1) That this is an easy thing. Nothing is more easy than to open the door when one
knocks; and so everywhere in the Scriptures it is represented as an easy thing, if
the heart is willing, to secure the salvation of the soul.
(2) This is a reasonable thing.
We invite him who knocks at the door to come in. We always assume, unless there is
reason to suspect the contrary, that he applies for peaceful and friendly purposes. We
deem it the height of rudeness to let one stand and knock long; or to let him go away with
no friendly invitation to enter our dwelling. Yet how different does the sinner treat the
Saviour! How long does he suffer him to knock at the door of his heart, with no invitation
to enter - no act of common civility such as that with which he would greet even a
stranger! And with how much coolness and indifference does he see him turn away -
perhaps to come back no more, and with no desire that he ever should return!
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me - This is an
image denoting intimacy and friendship. Supper, with the ancients, was the principal
social meal; and the idea here is, that between the Saviour and those who would receive
him there would be the intimacy which subsists between those who sit down to a friendly
meal together. In all countries and times, to eat together, to break bread together, has
been the symbol of friendship, and this the Saviour promises here. The truths, then,
which are taught in this verse, are:
(1) That the invitation of the gospel is made to all - “if any man hear my voice”;
(2) That the movement toward reconciliation and friendship is originated by the
Saviour - “behold, I stand at the door and knock”;
(3) That there is a recognition of our own free agency in religion - “if any man will hear
my voice, and open the door”;
(4) The ease of the terms of salvation, represented by “hearing his voice,” and
“opening the door”; and,
(5) The blessedness of thus admitting him, arising from his friendship - “I will sup
with him, and he with me.” What friend can man have who would confer so many
benefits on him as the Lord Jesus Christ? Who is there that he should so gladly
welcome to his bosom?
2. CLARKE, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock - There are many sayings of
this kind among the ancient rabbins; thus in Shir Hashirim Rabba, fol. 25, 1: “God said
to the Israelites, My children, open to me one door of repentance, even so wide as the eye
of a needle, and I will open to you doors through which calves and horned cattle may
pass.”
In Sohar Levit, fol. 8, col. 32, it is said: “If a man conceal his sin, and do not open it
before the holy King, although he ask mercy, yet the door of repentance shall not be
opened to him. But if he open it before the holy blessed God, God spares him, and mercy
prevails over wrath; and when he laments, although all the doors were shut, yet they
shall be opened to him, and his prayer shall be heard.”
Christ stands - waits long, at the door of the sinner’s heart; he knocks - uses

87. judgments, mercies, reproofs, exhortations, etc., to induce sinners to repent and turn to
him; he lifts up his voice - calls loudly by his word, ministers, and Spirit.
If any man hear - If the sinner will seriously consider his state, and attend to the
voice of his Lord.
And open the door - This must be his own act, receiving power for this purpose
from his offended Lord, who will not break open the door; he will make no forcible entry.
I will come in to him - I will manifest myself to him, heal all his backslidings,
pardon all his iniquities, and love him freely.
Will sup with him - Hold communion with him, feed him with the bread of life.
And he with me - I will bring him at last to dwell with me in everlasting glory.
3. GILL, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock,.... The phrase of standing at the
door may be expressive of the near approach, or sudden coming of Christ to judgment,
see Jam_5:9; and his knocking may signify the notice that will be given of it, by some of
the immediate forerunners and signs of his coming; which yet will be observed but by a
few, such a general sleepiness will have seized all professors of religion; and particularly
may intend the midnight cry, which will, in its issue, rouse them all:
if any man hear my voice; in the appearances of things and providences in the world:
and open the door; or show a readiness for the coming of Christ, look and wait for it,
and be like such that will receive him with a welcome:
I will come unto him, and sup with him, and he with me; to and among these
will Christ appear when he comes in person; and these being like wise virgins, ready,
having his grace in their hearts, and his righteousness upon them, he will take them at
once into the marriage chamber, and shut the door upon the rest; when they shall enjoy
a thousand years communion with him in person here on earth; when the Lamb on the
throne will feed them with the fruit of the tree of life, and lead them to fountains of living
water, and his tabernacle shall be among them.
4. HE RY, "If they would comply with his admonitions, he was ready to make them
good to their souls: Behold, I stand at the door and knock, etc., Rev_3:20. Here observe,
[1.] Christ is graciously pleased by his word and Spirit to come to the door of the heart of
sinners; he draws near to them in a way of mercy, ready to make them a kind visit. [2.]
He finds this door shut against him; the heart of man is by nature shut up against Christ
by ignorance, unbelief, sinful prejudices. [3.] When he finds the heart shut, he does not
immediately withdraw, but he waits to be gracious, even till his head be filled with the
dew. [4.] He uses all proper means to awaken sinners, and to cause them to open to him:
he calls by his word, he knocks by the impulses of his Spirit upon their conscience. [5.]
Those who open to him shall enjoy his presence, to their great comfort and advantage.
He will sup with them; he will accept of what is good in them; he will eat his pleasant
fruit; and he will bring the best part of the entertainment with him. If what he finds
would make but a poor feast, what he brings will make up the deficiency: he will give
fresh supplies of graces and comforts, and thereby stir up fresh actings of faith, and love,
and delight; and in all this Christ and his repenting people will enjoy pleasant
communion with each other. Alas! what do careless obstinate sinners lose by refusing to

88. open the door of the heart to Christ!
5. JAMISO , "stand — waiting in wonderful condescension and long-suffering.
knock — (Son_5:2). This is a further manifestation of His loving desire for the
sinner’s salvation. He who is Himself “the Door,” and who bids us “knock” that it may be
“opened unto” us, is first Himself to knock at the door of our hearts. If He did not knock
first, we should never come to knock at His door. Compare Son_5:4-6, which is plainly
alluded to here; the Spirit thus in Revelation sealing the canonicity of that mystical book.
The spiritual state of the bride there, between waking and sleeping, slow to open the
door to her divine lover, answers to that of the lukewarm Laodicea here. “Love in regard
to men emptied (humbled) God; for He does not remain in His place and call to Himself
the servant whom He loved, but He comes down Himself to seek him, and He who is all-
rich arrives at the lodging of the pauper, and with His own voice intimates His yearning
love, and seeks a similar return, and withdraws not when disowned, and is not impatient
at insult, and when persecuted still waits at the doors” [Nicolaus Cabasilas in Trench].
my voice — He appeals to the sinner not only with His hand (His providences)
knocking, but with His voice (His word read or heard; or rather, His Spirit inwardly
applying to man’s spirit the lessons to be drawn from His providence and His word). If
we refuse to answer to His knocking at our door now, He will refuse to hear our knocking
at His door hereafter. In respect to His second coming also, He is even now at the door,
and we know not how soon He may knock: therefore we should always be ready to open
to Him immediately.
if any man hear — for man is not compelled by irresistible force: Christ knocks, but
does not break open the door, though the violent take heaven by the force of prayer
(Mat_11:12): whosoever does hear, does so not of himself, but by the drawings of God’s
grace (Joh_6:44): repentance is Christ’s gift (Act_5:31). He draws, not drags. The Sun of
righteousness, like the natural sun, the moment that the door is opened, pours in His
light, which could not previously find an entrance. Compare Hilary on Psa_118:19.
I will come in to him — as I did to Zacchaeus.
sup with him, and he with me — Delightful reciprocity! Compare “dwelleth in me,
and I in Him,” Joh_6:56. Whereas, ordinarily, the admitted guest sups with the
admitter, here the divine guest becomes Himself the host, for He is the bread of life, and
the Giver of the marriage feast. Here again He alludes to the imagery of Son_4:16, where
the Bride invites Him to eat pleasant fruits, even as He had first prepared a feast for her,
“His fruit was sweet to my taste.” Compare the same interchange, Joh_21:9-13, the feast
being made up of the viands that Jesus brought, and those which the disciples brought.
The consummation of this blessed intercommunion shall be at the Marriage Supper of
the Lamb, of which the Lord’s Supper is the earnest and foretaste.
5B. VWS, “I stand at the door and knock
Compare Son_5:2, Κρούω I knock was regarded as a less classical word than κόπτω.
Κρούω is to knock with the knuckles, to rap; κόπτω, with a heavy blow; ψοφεሏν of the
knocking of some one within the door, warning one without to withdraw when the door
is opened. Compare Jam_5:9. “He at whose door we ought to stand (for He is the Door,
who, as such, has bidden us to knock), is content that the whole relation between Him
and us should be reversed, and, instead of our standing at His door, condescends
Himself to stand at ours” (Trench). The Greeks had a word θυραυλεሏν for a lover waiting

89. at the door of his beloved. Trench cites a passage from Nicolaus Cabasilas, a Greek divine
of the fourteenth century: “Love for men emptied God (Phi_2:7). For He doth not abide
in His place and summon to Himself the servant whom He loved; but goes Himself and
seeks him; and He who is rich comes to the dwelling of the poor, and discloses His love,
and seeks an equal return; nor does He withdraw from him who repels Him, nor is He
disgusted at his insolence; but, pursuing him, remains sitting at his doors, and that He
may show him the one who loves him, He does all things, and sorrowing, bears and dies.”
My voice
Christ not only knocks but speaks. “The voice very often will interpret and make
intelligible the purpose of the knock” (Trench).
Hear - open the door
No irresistible grace.
Will sup (δειπνήδειπνήδειπνήδειπνήσωσωσωσω)
See on Luk_14:12. For the image, compare Son_5:2-6; Son_4:16; Son_2:3. Christ is
the Bread of Life, and invites to the great feast. See Mat_8:11; Mat_25:1 sqq. The
consummation will be at the marriage-supper of the Lamb (Mar_14:25; Rev_19:7-9).
He with me
It is characteristic of John to note the sayings of Christ which express the reciprocal
relations of Himself and His followers. See Joh_6:56; Joh_10:38; Joh_14:20; Joh_15:4,
Joh_15:5; Joh_17:21, Joh_17:26. Compare Joh_14:23.
5C. SBC, “Christ at the Door.
Consider, in the first place, the account which Christ gives of His dealings with men: He
stands at the door and knocks; in the second place, the promise which He makes to such
as yield to His solicitation: "I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me."
I. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Then the heart is by nature closed against
God. On no other supposition could it be needful that Christ should knock for admission.
When we turn from considering men as members of society to considering them as
creatures of God, then it is we may bring them all under one verdict and pronounce the
corruption of our nature total and universal. Here it is that there is no difference, for the
virtuous and the vicious are equally at enmity with God, equally void of love to God,
equally indisposed to the service of God. When we try men by their love of God, by their
willingness to submit to Him, by their desire to please Him, there is no difference
whatsoever; all must be equally brought under the description, "The carnal mind is
enmity against God." This truth it is which we derive from the words of our text; it is a
truth that the heart of every one is naturally barred against God, so that although it may
readily be opened at the touch of friendship or at the call of distress, yet does it
obstinately exclude that Creator and Benefactor who alone can fill its mighty capacities.
And if the Church thus shows the natural condition of the heart, it shows with equal
accuracy by what kind of means Christ strives to gain the entrance which is wickedly
denied. Observe, no sort of violence is used. There is nothing like forcing the door. Christ
knocks, but when He has knocked, it still rests with man to determine whether he will
obey the summons and let in the Guest.
II. Consider briefly the promise of the text. If men would deal candidly with others and
with themselves, many would have to confess that they see little of what is pleasant in the
account which Scripture gives of the joys and enjoyments of redeemed men in glory.

90. They have no taste for adoring God and admiring Him in His perfections; and they
cannot, therefore, be alive to the happiness of a state in which praising God will form the
chief business, and knowing God the great delight. But if you have no relish for such
happiness as heaven is to afford, this of itself should make you earnest in obeying
Christ’s summons and throwing open the door, for I do not know a more startling truth,
if we be yet indifferent and impenitent, than that heaven would be no heaven to us, even
if we could get within its precincts. But to those who can feel the worth of the promise in
the text we need not say that there is a communion of intercourse between Christ and the
soul which, if not capable of being described to a stranger, is inestimably precious to
those by whom it is experienced. It is no dream of the enthusiast, it is the statement of
soberness and truth, that Jesus so manifests Himself to those who believe on His name,
and communicates such a sense of His presence, that He may be said to come in to them,
to sup with them, and they with Him.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 3249
The Waiting Saviour.
The Lord Jesus is continually asking for admission into the hearts of all of us. He asks in
various ways and at various times.
I. He comes to us sometimes and showers blessings on our heads. He heaps mercy upon
mercy and privilege upon privilege; He gives us all that makes life joyous and bright; He
gives us the tender love of family and friends; He gives us a bright, happy, peaceful
home; He gives us prosperity in our worldly affairs; sometimes He knocks by sending us
mercies and deliverances, and seeks thus to awaken our gratitude, and seeks thus to
draw forth our love.
II. Or, again, sometimes He knocks by sending us afflictions. He lays His hand upon us;
He sends sickness into our family; He sends us trouble and anxiety in our worldly affairs;
He sends us disappointment and sorrow; He takes from us those who are nearest and
dearest to us on earth; and then, when we are crushed and broken in heart, then, when
we are full of sorrowful and desponding thoughts—then it is that Christ knocks.
III. Again, the Lord knocks by means of warnings. We have most of us had certain
solemn warnings in the course of our lives. Once more, He knocks at sacred seasons and
at sacred services. We never come to church, we never listen to a sermon, we never read
a chapter of God’s word, but then Christ knocks at our hearts, then He calls to us, then
He speaks to us. He bids us give up this and that sin; He bids us clear away those weeds,
those rank, foul, hateful weeds, and open the door of our hearts, and give entrance to the
Lord who died for us on Calvary.
IV. Lastly, consider why Christ knocks; consider what it is that He offers to do for us;
consider why He desires to abide in our hearts. It is because He desires to make those
hearts like Himself; it is because He desires to make them pure, and loving, and faithful,
and true; it is because He desires to make them so completely one with Him that in all
our thoughts, and words, and works we may reflect His glory, His purity, His love.
E. V. Hall, The Waiting Saviour, p. 13.

91. Welcoming Christ.
I. Note Christ’s love at the present time: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." (1) Our
first impression of this adorable figure is of wonder that He should be there at all. He,
the Son of God, who has suffered such unspeakable wrongs for us, comes again in a form
most Divinely fair, and offers Himself as our Guest. He who contains within Himself
infinite treasures of love, who comprehends all creatures within His arms, comes down
to us and stands at our door, as if we alone out of His whole Church required Him with
us. (2) Look on this image of patience. There He stands in the cool evening hour, having
waited till the heat and business of the day be past. He chooses the time when the mind
is most likely to be at leisure, and to be quick to hear. The cares of the day are over; it is
the hour of relaxation. The very solitude of the chamber disposes the mind to serious
thought. Silence has its quiet influence. The spirit of the evening scene is peace. His
footprints are on the threshold, marking His last visit, and no one has heeded them. No
welcome, it is feared, for Him again to-night, waiting patiently till all within be hushed
and His voice be heard.
II. "If any man hear My voice, and open the door." This is the condition of His entering,
the welcome which He asks of us. Two possible states of life are indicated: a man may be
so deaf that he cannot hear, or he may hear and not heed.
III. "I will come in to him," etc. In the whole Bible there is not a touch of Divine love
more tender and penetrating than this. (1) The intimacy of Christ’s love is here so great
that the believer may shrink from it in fear. But this is not God’s intention. Wherever
Jesus enters He takes men as they are. All He asks is a welcome; that is, their faith. (2)
When He sits at meat with you see the perfect interchange and equal communion of your
spirit with His: "I will sup with him, and he with Me." Whatever He gives He gives
Himself; He is all in all to the faithful soul, and the soul is all in all to Him.
C. W. Furse, Sermons at Richmond, p. 164.
6. COFFMA , “He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as
I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.
Plummer, and many others, see two thrones in this passage. "The throne promised is not that which
Christ now occupies with his Father, but his own throne."[73] However, there is only one supreme
throne. "God's throne is Christ's."[74] As we shall see in the next two chapters, Christ is now
completely and gloriously enthroned. The notion of two thrones in this passage must be rejected.
"God knows no other victory, and needs no other victory, than that which is won by the cross of
Christ."[75]
To sit down with me in my throne ... "This promise of sharing the throne is the climax of an
ascending series of glorious promises which carry us from the Garden of Eden to the throne of God
in heaven."[76]
Many do not seem to believe that Christians are now sharing the throne with Christ, but in a sense
they are; despite the fact of this interpretation being merely the type of the glory that shall come
later at the Second Advent (which is also in view here). Howard stated it thus: "Christians reign with
Christ as his agents in proclaiming Christ's authority for man's salvation."[77] Hinds' great summary
of the thought here is:
As Christians are agents through whom men are saved (1 Timothy 4:16), so they are agents
through whom Christ reigns. Hence, they sit with him in his throne, that is, rule with him. It is called
the Father's throne because he gave it to Christ; it is Christ's because he sits upon it; it is the throne
of David, because Christ, a Davidic descendant, sits upon it. Moreover, only one throne is supreme,
that "of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1).[78]

92. [73] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 118.
[74] James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 373.
[75] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 58.
[76] W. Boyd Carpenter, op. cit., p. 551.
[77] G. T. Howard, Revelation (Dallas: Christian Publishing Company, 1966), p. 28.
[78] John T. Hinds, op. cit., p. 65.
7. CHARLES SIMEO , "Rev_3:20. 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.
OUR blessed Lord, in his sermon on the mount, says, “Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Now this is exactly what we might expect of a gracious
God, and more especially of an all-merciful Redeemer. But who would ever imagine that this
process should be inverted; and that, instead of a sinner knocking at the door of heaven in fervent
supplications, the Son of God himself should come and knock at the door of his heart, soliciting
admittance there? Yet this is the representation given us in my text: so infinitely are “God’s ways
higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts.” Let us contemplate this mystery: let us
consider,
I. The marvellous condescension of the Lord Jesus Christ towards our sinful race—
The hearts of men are shut and barred against him—
[“The strong man armed,” even Satan, occupies the souls of men as his palace, and fills them with
all manner of evil; and by his great power “he keeps them in peace,” unconscious of their subjection
to him, and altogether satisfied with their bondage [Note: Luk_11:21.]. When the Lord Jesus Christ
comes to seek admission there, every possible resistance is made to him. The lusts, which have
taken possession of them, bar the door against him. Prejudice and unbelief determine them to
obstruct his entrance; whilst the world, and all its lusts, maintain their post, with a steadfastness that
bids defiance to every effort, save that which is omnipotent — — —]
But he “stands at the door, and knocks”—
[He comes to men in his word, and demands that they yield themselves up to him — — — He
comes also by the secret energy of his Spirit; and warns men of their danger, if they persist in their
rebellion against him — — — He comes also by his providence, to awaken them by terrors, or
soften them by afflictions, if by any means he may prevail upon them to open to him — — — Year
after year does he “stand,” “waiting to be gracious to them,” and importuning them by every kind of
argument to admit him. Of Israel it is said, that “forty years he suffered their manners in the
Wilderness [Note: Act_13:18.].” And many are the years that he has borne with us. The generality
he finds so fast asleep, that not all the thunders of his law can waken them. Some are just roused
from their slumbers: but, averse to receive him, they begin to put him off with frivolous excuses.
Their language is like that of the Church of old; “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my
Beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head
is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. But I have put off my coat; how shall I put
it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them [Note: Son_5:2-3.]?” Still, however, does he
continue knocking with invincible patience: so true is that saying of the prophet, “All the day long I
have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people
[Note: Isa_65:2 and Rom_10:21.].”]

93. What marvellous condescension is this!
[If we were to stand for any length of time imploring mercy from God, and were left without any
answer of peace, it were nothing but what our sins have justly merited; nor could we have the
smallest reason to complain. But that the Lord Jesus Christ should sue in vain for admission into our
hearts, appears incredible; or, at all events, we might expect him, after the first refusal of his
overtures, to say, “They are joined to idols; let them alone:” “My Spirit shall strive with them no
more;” from henceforth I “give them over to their own heart’s lusts, to follow their own imaginations,
till they have “filled up the measure of their iniquities,” and “wrath shall come upon them to the
uttermost.” But, “behold!” yes, well may it be said “Behold;” for His condescension exceeds belief.
Do but reflect, who it is that thus waits upon us: it is the Creator, importuning his guilty and
rebellious creatures: it is the Judge, following the criminal with entreaties to accept of pardon, and to
let his sentence of condemnation be reversed: it is the self-sufficient God, who would be equally
happy and glorious if every child of man were left to perish like the fallen angels, that labours thus to
ingratiate himself with the vilest of mankind, if by any means he may prevail on some of them to
accept at his hands all the blessings both of grace and glory. Say, I pray you, Is not this a
condescension, that surpasses all the powers of language to express, or of imagination adequately
to conceive?]
But this subject will appear more fully in its true light, if we consider,
II. The mercies which he desires to impart unto them—
These are expressed under a familiar and most significant metaphor—
[The metaphor of a guest is not uncommon in the Holy Scriptures. Our Lord said to his Disciples, “If
a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him; and we will come unto him,
and make our abode with him [Note: Joh_14:23.].” And this shall be realized, in the most endearing
manner, to all who open to him: “He will come in to them, and sup with them, and they with him.”
We cannot conceive of any act of friendship that is not comprehended under this term. But how
shall I convey any adequate idea of its import? What sweet manifestations of his love will he impart
to the soul, and what rich communications of his grace! Who can fully explain that declaration of the
Apostle, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ [Note: 1Jn_1:3.]?”
We may think of all the familiarities and endearments that ever were enjoyed, even among the most
attached friends or relatives, and they will fall infinitely short of that blessedness which he will impart
to the believing soul. When he comes in to sup with us, he will, if I may so say, bring his own
provision along with him. What “exceeding great and precious promises” will he set before us, for
our support! What tastes of his love will he give us, when he shall “shed it abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost?” And what foretastes also of his glory will he communicate, when he bids us to
drink of the cup of his salvation!]
Nor is there a person under heaven excluded from this benefit—
[His own word is, “If any man hear.” It matters not how unworthy any man may be: if he had all the
sins of Manasseh himself upon his soul, the mercy here proffered should be imparted to him. We
are told of Manasseh, that he filled Jerusalem itself with the blood of innocents, and made the
people worse than the heathen whom the Lord had destroyed before them: yet, when he humbled
himself, God heard his supplication, and made himself known to him under the endearing character
of Israel’s God [Note: Jer_19:4. 2Ch_33:9; 2Ch_33:12-13.]. We may be sure, therefore, that no
person under heaven shall be excluded from a participation of the grace that is here so freely
offered. All that is required of any man is, to “hear the Saviour’s voice, and open to him.” O that this
were duly considered by us all! Brethren, you are not called upon to merit any thing at the Saviour’s
hands, but only to receive thankfully what he so freely offers. Only be sensible that you have
hitherto excluded him from your hearts, whilst you have given a ready reception to the basest lusts;
be sensible, I say, of this, and now open your hearts to him, and all the blessings of salvation shall

94. be yours, for your present comfort, and for your everlasting possession.]
Address—
1. Those who are yet strangers to the Saviour’s love—
[The generality of men who call themselves Christians would quite revolt at the expression in my
text, and at all the wonders of love contained in it. But, brethren, wherefore is it thus with you? Is it
because there is no truth in these representations? or because ye have never yet sought to
experience them in your souls — — — Would ye but now open your hearts to him, verily, there is
not one amongst you of whom it should not be said, that “Christ is gone to be a guest with a man
that is a sinner [Note: Luk_19:7.].” But if ye refuse his entreaties now, the time will come, when ye
shall cry to him, but not be heard [Note: Pro_1:24-31. Isa_55:6.].]
2. Those who have had some experience of it in their souls—
[Be not satisfied with any measure of intercourse that you have yet enjoyed with your Lord and
Saviour. Ye cannot expect, with Paul, to be caught up into the third heavens: but ye may expect
from the Saviour such an abundance of grace and mercy and peace as shall be a foretaste of
heaven itself. Only cast out, with increasing zeal and diligence, the lusts that have occupied your
heart, sweeping from every corner of it “the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump,” and your feasts
with the Saviour here shall be only a prelude to that richer feast which you shall enjoy above: for all
with whom he has supped on earth shall “sit down with him at the marriage-supper of the Lamb in
heaven” for evermore [Note: Rev_19:9.].]
8. BURKITT, “These words are very expressive of the tender love and gracious condescension
of Christ towards poor sinners; full of heavenly rhetoric, to win and gain their hearts unto himself.
Here observe, That man's heart is Christ's door, that this door of the heart is naturally shut, yea,
locked and barred against Christ by ignorance and infidelity; that, notwithstanding this, Christ
knocks graciously at the door of men's hearts by his word, by his rod, by his Spirit: knocking is a
vehement motion, a reiterated motion, we knock again and again; a gradual motion, first more
gently, then loudly; and it is a finite motion, men will not always continue knocking, but if none
answer, they turn their backs and go their way. All the knocks 0f Christ will cease and end, his Spirit
will not always strive.
Farther observe, Christ doth not only knock, but stands knocking; it denotes the assiduity of Christ
in waiting upon sinners, and his patience in knocking; standing is a waiting posture, it denotes an
earnest desire and patient expectation.
Observe, Though Christ knocks at the door of man's heart, he doth not break it open, he doth not
offer violence to men's wills, and save them against their wills; but the Holy Spirit inclines them to
hear Christ's voice, and enables them to open the door to him, causing them to approve of and
consent to the offer and call of Christ.
Observe, That the door is no sooner open, but Christ comes in, and sups with the sinner:
his coming in denotes our union to him; his supping, our communion with him, imperfect on earth,
complete in heaven; there is a mutual, sweet, and intimate communion between Christ and
believers here on earth; there will be a perfect, complete, and uninterrupted communion with him in
heaven, when they shall ever be with the Lord.

95. 9. MACLARE , “CHRIST AT THE DOOR
Many of us are familiar, I dare say, with the devoutly imaginative rendering of the first
part of these wonderful words, which we owe to the genius of a living painter. In it we see
the fast shut door, with rusted hinges, all overgrown with rank, poisonous weeds, which
tell how long it has been closed. There stands, amid the night dews and the darkness, the
patient Son of man, one hand laid on the door, the other bearing a light, which may
perchance flash through some of its chinks. In His face are love repelled, and pity all but
wasted; in the touch of His hand are gentleness and authority.
But the picture pauses, of course, at the beginning of my text, and its sequel is quite as
wonderful as its first part. ‘I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me.’
What can surpass such words as these? I venture to take this great text, and ask you to
look with me at the three things that lie in it; the suppliant for admission; the door
opened; the entrance, and the feast.
I. Think, then, first of all, of that suppliant for admission.
I suppose that the briefest explanation of my text is sufficient. Who knocks? The exalted
Christ. What is the door? This closed heart of man. What does He desire? Entrance.
What are His knockings and His voice? All providences; all monitions of His Spirit in
man’s spirit and conscience; the direct invitations of His written or spoken word; in
brief, whatsoever sways our hearts to yield to Him and enthrone Him. This is the
meaning, in the fewest possible words, of the great utterance of my text.
Here is a revelation of a universal truth, applying to every man and woman on the face of
the earth; but more especially and manifestly to those of us who live within the sound of
Christ’s gospel and of the written revelations of His grace. True, my text was originally
spoken in reference to the unworthy members of a little church of early believers in Asia
Minor, but it passes far beyond the limits of the lukewarm Laodiceans to whom it was
addressed. And the ‘any man’ which follows is wide enough to warrant us in stretching
out the representation as far as the bounds of humanity extend, and in believing that
wherever there is a closed heart there is a knocking Christ, and that all men are lightened
by that Light which came into the world.
Upon that I do not need to dwell, but I desire to enforce the individual bearing of the
general truth upon our own consciences, and to come to each with this message: The
saying is true about thee, and at the door of thy heart Jesus Christ stands, and there His
gentle, mighty hand is laid, and on it the flashes of His light shine, and through the
chinks of the unopened door of thy heart comes the beseeching voice, Open! Open unto
Me.’ A strange reversal of the attitudes of the great and of the lowly, of the giver and of
the receiver, of the Divine and of the human! Christ once said, Knock and it shall be
opened unto you.’ But He has taken the suppliant’s place, and, standing by the side of
each of us. He beseeches us that we let Him bless us, and enter in for our rest.
So, then, there is here a revelation, not only of a universal truth, but a most tender and
pathetic disclosure of Christ’s yearning love to each of us. What do you call that emotion
which more than anything else desires that a heart should open and let it enter? We call
it love when we find it in one another. Surely it bears the same name when it is sublimed
into all but infinitude, and yet it is as individualizing and specific as it is great and
universal, as it is found in Jesus Christ. If it be true that He wants me, if it be true that in
that great heart of His there are a thought and a wish about His relation to me, and mine
to Him, then, then, each of us is grasped by a love that is like our human love, only
perfected and purified from all its weaknesses.
Now we sometimes feel, I am afraid, as if all that talk about the love which Jesus Christ

96. has to each of us was scarcely a prose fact. There is a woeful lack of belief among us in
the things that we profess to believe most. You are all ready to admit, when I preach it,
that it is true that Jesus Christ loves us. Have you ever tried to realize it, and lay it upon
your hearts, that the sweetness and astoundingness of it may soak into you, and change
your whole being? Oh! listen, not to my poor, rough notes, but to His infinitely sweet and
tender melody of voice, when He says to you, as if your eyes needed to be opened to
perceive it, ‘Behold! I stand at the door and knock.’
There is a revelation in the words, dear friends, of an infinite long-suffering and
patience. The door has long been fastened; you and I have, like some lazy servant,
thought that if we did not answer the knock, the Knocker would go away when He was
weary. But we have miscalculated the elasticity and the unfailingness of that patient
Christ’s lore. Rejected, He abides; spurned, He returns. There are men and women who
all their lives long have known that Jesus Christ coveted their love, and yearned for a
place in their hearts, and have steeled themselves against the knowledge, or frittered it
away by worldliness, or darkened it by sensuality and sin. And they are once more
brought into the presence of that rejected, patient, wooing Lord, who courts them for
their souls, as if they were, which indeed they are, too precious to be lost, as long as there
is a ghost of a chance that they may still listen to His voice. The patient Christ’s
wonderfulness of long-suffering may well bow us all in thankfulness and in penitence.
How often has He tapped or thundered at the door of your heart, dear friends, and how
often have you neglected to open? Is it not of the Lord’s mercies that the rejected or
neglected love is offered you once more? and the voice, so long deadened and deafened
to your ears by the rush of passion, and the hurry of business, and the whispers of self,
yet again appeals to you, as it does even through my poor translation of it.
And then, still further, in that thought of the suppliant waiting for admission there is the
explanation for us all of a great many misunderstood facts in our experience. That
sorrow that darkened your days and made your heart bleed, what was it but Christ’s
hand on the door? Those blessings which pour into your life day by day ‘beseech you, by
the mercies of God, that ye yield yourselves living sacrifices.’ That unrest which dogs the
steps of every man who has not found rest in Christ, what is it but the application of His
hand to the obstinately closed door? The stings of conscience, the movements of the
Spirit, the definite proclamation of His Word, even by such lips as mine, what are they all
except His appeals to us? And this is the deepest meaning of joys and sorrows, of gifts
and losses, of fulfilled and disappointed hopes. This is the meaning of the yearning of
Christless hearts, of the stings of conscience which come to us all. ‘Behold! I stand at the
door and knock.’ If we understood better that all life was guided by Christ, and that
Christ’s guidance of life was guided by His desire that He should find a place in our
hearts, we should less frequently wonder at sorrows, and should better understand our
blessings. /^ The boy Samuel, lying sleeping before the light in the inner sanctuary,
heard the voice of God, and thought it was only the grey-bearded priest that spoke. We
often make the same mistake, and confound the utterances of Christ Himself with the
speech of men. Recognize who it is that pleads with you; and do not fancy that when
Christ speaks it is Eli that is calling; but say, ‘Speak, Lord! for Thy servant heareth.’ ‘Lift
up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory
shall come in.’
II. And that leads me, secondly, to ask you to look at the door opened.
I need not enlarge upon what I have already suggested, the universality of the wide
promise here - ‘If any man open the door’; but what I want rather to notice is that,
according to this representation, ‘the door’ has no handle outside, and is so hinged that it

97. opens from within, outwards. Which, being taken out of metaphor and put into fact,
means this, you are the only being that can open the door for Christ to come in. The
whole responsibility, brother, of accepting or rejecting God’s gracious Word, which
comes to you all in good faith, lies with yourself.
I am not going to plunge into theological puzzles, but I appeal to consciousness. You
know as well as I do - better a great deal, for it is yourself that is in question - that at each
time when your heart and conscience have been brought in contact with the offer of
salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, if you had liked you could have opened the door,
and welcomed His entrance. And you know that nobody and nothing kept it fast except
only yourselves. ‘Ye will not come to Me,’ said Christ, ‘that ye might have life.’ Men^
indeed, do pile up such mountains of rubbish against the door that it cannot be opened,
but it was they that put them there; and they are responsible if the hinges are so rusty
that they will not move, or the doorway is so clogged that there is no room for it to open.
Jesus Christ knocks, but Jesus Christ cannot break the door open. It lies in your hands to
decide whether you will take or whether you will reject that which He brings.
The door is closed, and unless there be a definite act on your parts it will not be opened,
and He will not enter. So we come to this, that to do nothing is to keep your Saviour
outside; and that is the way in which most men that miss Him do miss Him.
I suppose there are very few of us who have ever been conscious of a definite act by
which, if I might adhere to the metaphor, we have laid hold of the door on the Inside,
and held it tight lest it should be opened. But, I fear me, there are many who have sat in
the inner chamber, and heard the gracious hand on the outer panel, and have kept their
hands folded and their feet still, and done nothing. Ah! brethren, to do nothing is to do
the most dreadful of things, for it is to keep the shut door shut in the face of Christ. No
passionate antagonism is needed, no vehement rejection, no intellectual denial of His
truth and His promises. If you want to ruin yourselves, you have simply to do nothing!
All the dismal consequences will necessarily follow.
‘Well,’ you say, ‘but you are talking metaphors; let us come to plain facts. What do you
want me to do? ‘I want you to listen to the message of an infinitely loving Christ who died
on the Cross to bear the sins of the whole world, including you and me; and who now
lives, pleading with each of us from heaven that we will take by simple faith, and keep by
holy obedience, the gift of eternal life which He offers, and He alone can give. The
condition of His entrance is simple trust in Him, as the Saviour of my soul. That is
opening the door, and if you will do that, then, just as when you open the shutters, in
comes the sunshine; just as when you lift the sluice in flows the crystal stream into the
slimy, empty lock, so - I was going to say by gravitation, rather by the diffusive impulse
that belongs to light, which is Christ - He will enter in, wherever He is not shut out by
unbelief and aversion of will.
III. And so that brings me to my last point, viz., the entrance and the feast.
My text is a metaphor, but the declaration that ‘if any man open the door’ Jesus Christ
‘will come in to him,’ is not a metaphor, but is the very heart and centre of the Gospel, ‘I
will come in to him,’ dwell in him, be really incorporated in his being, or inspirited, if I
may so say, in his spirit. Now you may think that that is far too recondite and lofty a
thought to be easily grasped by ordinary people, but its very loftiness should recommend
it to us. I, for my part, believe that there is no more prose fact in the whole world than
the actual dwelling of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is in heaven, in the spirits of the
people that love Him and trust Him. And this is one great part of the Gospel that I have
to preach to you, that into our emptiness He will come with His fullness; that into our

98. sinfulness He will come with His righteousness; that into our death He will come with
His triumphant and immortal life; and He being in us and we in Him, we shall be full
and pure and live for ever, and be blessed with the blessedness of Jesus. So remember
that embedded in the midst of the wonderful metaphor of my text lies the fact, which is
the very centre of the Gospel hope, the dwelling of Jesus Christ in the hearts even of poor
sinful creatures like you and me.
But it comes into view here only as the basis of the subsequent promises, and on these I
can only touch very briefly, ‘I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me.’
Well, that speaks to us in lovely, sympathetic language of a close, familiar, happy
communication between Christ and my poor self, which shall make all life as a feast in
company with Him. We remember who is the mouthpiece of Jesus Christ here. It is the
disciple who knew most of what quietness of blessedness and serenity of adoring
communion there were in leaning on Christ’s breast at supper, casting back his head on
that loving bosom; looking into those deep sad eyes, and asking questions which were
sure of answer. And John, as he wrote down the words ‘I will sup with him, and he with
Me,’ perhaps remembered that upper room where, amidst all the bitter herbs, there was
such strange joy and tranquility. But whether he did or no, may we not take the picture
as suggesting to us the possibilities of loving fellowship, of quiet repose, of absolute
satisfaction of all desires and needs, which will be ours if we open the door of our hearts
by faith and let Jesus Christ come in?
But, note, when He does come He comes as guest. ‘I will sup with him.’ ‘He shall have the
honour of providing that of which I partake.’ Just as upon earth He said to the Samaritan
woman, ‘Give Me to drink,’ or sat at the table, at the modest village feast in Bethany, in
honour of the miracle of a man raised from the dead, and smiled approval of Martha
serving, as of Lazarus sitting at table, and of Mary anointing Him, so the humble viands,
the poor man’s fare that our resources enable us to lay upon His table, are never so small
or poor for Him to delight in. This King feasts in the neatherd’s cottage, and He will even
condescend to turn the cakes. ‘I will sup with Him.’ We cannot bring anything so coarse,
so poor, so unworthy, if a drop or two of love has been sprinkled over it, but that it will
be well-pleasing in His sight, and He Himself will partake thereof. ‘He has gone to be a
guest with a man that is a sinner.’
But more than that, where He is welcomed as guest. He assumes the place of host. ‘I will
sup with him, and he with Me.’ You remember how, after the Resurrection, when the two
disciples, moved to hospitality, implored the unknown Stranger to come in and partake
of their humble fare, He yielded to their importunity, and when they were in the guest
chamber, took His place at the head of the table, and blessed the bread and gave it to
them. You remember how, in the beginning of His miracles, He manifested forth His
glory in this, that, invited as a common guest to the rustic wedding, He provided the
failing wine. And so, wherever a poor man opens his heart and says, ‘Come in,’ and I will
give Thee my ‘best,’ Jesus Christ comes in, and gives the man His best, that the man may
render it back to Him. He owes nothing to any man. He accepts the poorest from each,
and He gives the richest to each. He is Guest and Host, and what He accepts from us is
what He has first given to us.
The promise of my text is fulfilled immediately when the door of the heart is opened, but
it shadows and prophesies a nobler fulfilment in the heavens. Here and now Christ and
we may sit together, but the feast will be like the Passover, eaten with loins girt and
staves in hand, and the Red Sea and wilderness waiting to be trodden. But there comes a
more perfect form of the communion, which finds its parallel in that wonderful scene
when the weary fishers, all of whose success had depended on their obedience to the

99. Master’s direction, discerned at last, through the grey of the morning, who it was that
stood upon the shore, and, struggling to His side, saw there a fire of coals, and fish laid
thereon, and bread, to which they were bidden to add their modest contribution in the
fish that they had caught; and the meal being thus prepared partly by His hand and
partly by theirs, ennobled and filled by Him, His voice says, ‘Come and dine.’ So,
brethren, Christ at the last will bring His servants to His table in His kingdom, and there
their works shall follow them; and He and they shall sit together for ever, and for ever
‘rejoice in the fatness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple.’
I beseech you, listen not to my poor voice, but to His that speaks through it, and when
He knocks do you open, and Christ Himself shall come in. ‘If any man love Me he will
keep My commandments, and My Father will love him, and We will come and make Our
abode with him.’
21 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.
1. BAR ES, "To him that overcometh - See the notes on Rev_2:7.
Will I grant to sit with me in my throne - That is, they will share his honors and
his triumphs. See the notes on Rev_2:26-27; compare the notes on Rom_8:17.
Even as I also overcame - As I gained a victory over the world, and over the power
of the tempter. As the reward of this, he is exalted to the throne of the universe Phi_2:6-
11, and in these honors, achieved by their great and glorious Head, all the redeemed will
share.
And am set down with my Father in his throne - Compare the notes on
Phi_2:6-11. That is, he has dominion over the universe. All things are put under his feet,
and in the strictest unison and with perfect harmony he is united with the Father in
administering the affairs of all worlds. The dominion of the Father is that of the Son -
that of the Son is that of the Father; for they are one. See the notes on Joh_5:19;
compare the Eph_1:20-22 notes; 1Co_15:24-28 notes.
2. CLARKE, "To sit with me in my throne - In every case it is to him that
overcometh, to the conqueror, that the final promise is made. He that conquers not is not
crowned, therefore every promise is here made to him that is faithful unto death. Here is
a most remarkable expression: Jesus has conquered, and is set down with the Father

100. upon the Father’s throne; he who conquers through Christ sits down with Christ upon
his throne: but Christ’s throne and the throne of the Father is the same; and it is on this
same throne that those who are faithful unto death are finally to sit! How astonishing is
this state of exaltation! The dignity and grandeur of it who can conceive?
This is the worst of the seven Churches, and yet the most eminent of all the promises
are made to it, showing that the worst may repent, finally conquer, and attain even to the
highest state of glory.
3. GILL, "To him that overcometh,.... The lukewarmness, and self-confidence, and
security of this state:
will I grant to sit with me in my throne; at the close of this church state, which will
be the last of this kind, consisting of imperfect saints, Christ will descend from heaven
with the souls of all the righteous, and raise their bodies and unite them to them; which,
with the living saints, will make one general assembly and church of the firstborn, all
perfect soul and body; among these he will place his tabernacle, and fix his throne; and
they being all made kings as well as priests to him, shall now reign on earth with him,
and that for the space of a thousand years: and this is the blessing promised the
overcomers in the Laodicean state, that when Christ shall set up his kingdom among
men, and reign gloriously before his ancients, they shall sit on the same throne with him,
or share with him in his kingdom and glory; see Rev_5:10,
even as I also overcame; sin, Satan, the world, death, and hell:
and am set down with my Father in his throne; in heaven, at his right hand;
which is expressive of equality to him, distinction from him, communion with him, and
of the honour and glory he is possessed of; but it is not on this throne that the saints will
sit, only Christ sits on the same throne with the Father in heaven; it is on Christ's throne
on earth, or in his personal reign there, that the saints shall sit down with him; and
which honour they shall all have, all that are more than conquerors through him, and are
made kings by him. And when this reign is over, then will follow the second resurrection,
or the resurrection of the wicked, when will come on the judgment of the people, as
Laodicea signifies; and when these, with the devils, will form themselves into the Gog
and Magog army, and attack the beloved city, the church of glorified saints on earth,
under Christ their King, which will issue in the everlasting destruction of the former; and
thus these seven churches bring us to the end of all things.
4. HE RY, "We now come to the conclusion of this epistle; and here we have as before,
1. The promise made to the overcoming believer. It is here implied, (1.) That though
this church seemed to be wholly overrun and overcome with lukewarmness and self-
confidence, yet it was possible that by the reproofs and counsels of Christ they might be
inspired with fresh zeal and vigour, and might come off conquerors in their spiritual
warfare. (2.) That, if they did so, all former faults should be forgiven, and they should
have a great reward. And what is that reward? They shall sit down with me on my
throne, as I also overcame, and have sat down with my Father on his throne, Rev_3:21.
Here it is intimated, [1.] That Christ himself had met with his temptations and conflicts.
[2.] That he overcame them all, and was more than a conqueror. [3.] That, as the reward

101. of his conflict and victory, he has sat down with God the Father on his throne, possessed
of that glory which he had with the Father from eternity, but which he was pleased very
much to conceal on earth, leaving it as it were in the hands of the Father, as a pledge that
he would fulfil the work of a Saviour before he reassumed that manifestative glory; and,
having done so, then pignus reposcere - he demands the pledge, to appear in his divine
glory equal to the Father. [4.] That those who are conformed to Christ in his trials and
victories shall be conformed to him in his glory; they shall sit down with him on his
throne, on his throne of judgment at the end of the world, on his throne of glory to all
eternity, shining in his beams by virtue of their union with him and relation to him, as
the mystical body of which he is the head.
5. JAMISO , "sit with me in my throne — (Rev_2:26, Rev_2:27; Rev_20:6;
Mat_19:28; Mat_20:23; Joh_17:22, Joh_17:24; 2Ti_2:12). The same whom Christ had
just before threatened to spue out of His mouth, is now offered a seat with Him on His
throne! “The highest place is within reach of the lowest; the faintest spark of grace may
be fanned into the mightiest flame of love” [Trench].
even as I also — Two thrones are here mentioned: (1) His Father’s, upon which He
now sits, and has sat since His ascension, after His victory over death, sin, the world;
upon this none can sit save God, and the God-man Christ Jesus, for it is the
incommunicable prerogative of God alone; (2) the throne which shall be peculiarly His as
the once humbled and then glorified Son of man, to be set up over the whole earth
(heretofore usurped by Satan) at His coming again; in this the victorious saints shall
share (1Co_6:2). The transfigured elect Church shall with Christ judge and reign over the
nations in the flesh, and Israel the foremost of them; ministering blessings to them as
angels were the Lord’s mediators of blessing and administrators of His government in
setting up His throne in Israel at Sinai. This privilege of our high calling belongs
exclusively to the present time while Satan reigns, when alone there is scope for conflict
and for victory (2Ti_2:11, 2Ti_2:12). When Satan shall be bound (Rev_20:4), there shall
be no longer scope for it, for all on earth shall know the Lord from the least to the
greatest. This, the grandest and crowning promise, is placed at the end of all the seven
addresses, to gather all in one. It also forms the link to the next part of the book, where
the Lamb is introduced seated on His Father’s throne (Rev_4:2, Rev_4:3; Rev_5:5,
Rev_5:6). The Eastern throne is broad, admitting others besides him who, as chief,
occupies the center. Trench notices; The order of the promises in the seven epistles
corresponds to that of the unfolding of the kingdom of God its first beginnings on earth
to its consummation in heaven. To the faithful at Ephesus: (1) The tree of life in the
Paradise of God is promised (Rev_2:7), answering to Gen_2:9. (2) Sin entered the world
and death by sin; but to the faithful at Smyrna it is promised, they shall not be hurt by
the second death (Rev_2:11). (3) The promise of the hidden manna (Rev_2:17) to
Pergamos brings us to the Mosaic period, the Church in the wilderness. (4) That to
Thyatira, namely, triumph over the nations (Rev_2:26, Rev_2:27), forms the
consummation of the kingdom in prophetic type, the period of David and Solomon
characterized by this power of the nations. Here there is a division, the seven falling into
two groups, four and three, as often, for example, the Lord’s Prayer, three and four. The
scenery of the last three passes from earth to heaven, the Church contemplated as
triumphant, with its steps from glory to glory. (5) Christ promises to the believer of
Sardis not to blot his name out of the book of life but to confess him before His Father
and the angels at the judgment-day, and clothe him with a glorified body of dazzling
whiteness (Rev_3:4, Rev_3:5). (6) To the faithful at Philadelphia Christ promises they
shall be citizens of the new Jerusalem, fixed as immovable pillars there, where city and

102. temple are one (Rev_3:12); here not only individual salvation is promised to the believer,
as in the case of Sardis, but also privileges in the blessed communion of the Church
triumphant. (7) Lastly, to the faithful of Laodicea is given the crowning promise, not only
the two former blessings, but a seat with Christ on His throne, even as He has sat with
His Father on His Father’s throne (Rev_3:21).
5B. SBC, “The Close of the Year.
I. "He that overcometh." Then there is light shining in and struggling with the darkness—
a conflict year-long and lifelong, which, though it has its defeats, may have its victories
also, which, though its outward aspect is gloomy, may issue in glory, and honour, and
immortality. Years bring us another lesson than the lesson of discouragement. Though
much is taken away, much is also gained—gained by that very loss. The past has become
for us full of rich and precious store: lessons of self-distrust; lessons of charitable
thought; lessons of reliance on God. If we have lost bloom, we have gathered ripeness.
The future has opened and widened before us. It is no longer the book of dark things,
closed and put by till our play is over: the page lies open before us on the desk of life’s
business; though much in it is hidden, much is revealed to our inner sight, which
solemnises us, and stirs us to action. It is no longer the great unknown land talked of as a
dream and a mystery, but we are plying our voyage thither, standing at watch, and
holding the helm. Already we begin to see its tokens float past us, and to scent the gales
which come from its fields. And the present—we have learned to distrust it and to
question its testimony, have become wiser than to encumber by loading ourselves with
its fading flowers; we search for pearls that shall endure.
II. "Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God?" Here, again, as years pass on we want more of Him, a firmer reliance on His work
and His word, to stand among things visible and endure as seeing the invisible. If we
would be gaining this victory, we must labour hard for knowledge and obedience, and
every way for a greater realising of Christ. Our text is not only an implication of the
possibility of victory: it is also a promise to the victor. The Author and Finisher of our
faith Himself proclaims it, Himself offers to the conquerors a prize, and pledges for it His
own word: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne."
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. v., p. 319.
Revelation 3:21
The Christian Conqueror.
This is the last of seven honours set before the Christian conquerors in the epistles to the
seven Churches; and the throne of which this blessing speaks is itself described in St.
John’s next vision. We know what a throne it was which he saw unveil itself before him.
We see at once that this throne means the centre of creation; that the glory of it is as of
One invisible, and, except by His own will, unknowable; and that in that heart and centre
of all things lives One who has suffered, One who has died, One who is and who ever has
remained sinless: the Lamb that had been slain and dieth no more is in the midst of the
throne. Perfect sympathy with pain, perfect deliverance from evil, are there in absolute
life and light; and the Lamb, the Victor-Victim, speaks, and says, "He that overcometh, I
will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame and sat down
with My Father in His throne."

103. I. He that overcometh. When St. John wrote, people, like that faithful martyr Antipas,
were overcoming by their own blood, and the whole Apocalypse shows a world about to
be red with martyrdoms. Yet even then the word "overcoming" is used in these seven
brief letters in connection with trials and difficulties which were not necessarily to end
with them. That was only the supreme method of solving such problems of life as were
otherwise insoluble. There were final conflicts in those days in which the forces of God
and of the world were grappled together in the lives of men; the spirits of light and
darkness incarnated themselves in men’s daily action in forms so violent that he who
meant to give God the victory in his own life could often do it only by giving his own life
over to the death. But if the extremity of the struggle is not now commonly suffered to
work itself out to the same bitter end—with the knowledge of the onlooking world, it
never could be suffered now—yet similar, and sometimes the same, problems have to be
solved in men’s lives still, and still the Christian is called to overcome, and still he can
often be victor only by being first a victim, as the Lamb was; and if he overcomes, his
place is still henceforth the centre of all things. He sits with Him on the throne in true
sympathy with the pain of this world, and also having himself a share in this world’s
deliverance from pain and from all evil.
II. What, then, are these problems which once could only be solved by readiness to die
for the right solution, and which still present themselves for solutions—for solutions on
the rightness or wrongness of which almost all, if not all, about us depends? Such
problems when St. John wrote were all the awful wickedness of the age; the conventional
false worships which were then the cementing of the State and of all society; slavery;
gladiator shows; one vast licentiousness of life. Men and women died freely in combating
such things, for there was that within them which was a perpetual war with the spirit of
these things. Among the problems outside us are such expenses of civilisation still:
licentiousness of life; the classes that are sacrificed to it; the tender age of corruption;
again, the miserable, unclean, indecent abodes which are all that civilised towns and
villages offer, and grudge, to their myriads or their hundreds; again, our submissiveness
to wealth, and our submissiveness to numbers, and our extreme difficulty in the way of
simplicity of life or of speech, and now, even now, the ancient difficulty seeming to begin
again of how to live, and talk, and think Christianly among unbelievers. One who does
his own honest part in healing the world’s sorrow and lightening the world’s burdens,
and is not ashamed to say he does it for Christ—he is the overcoming one who helps to
solve the world’s greatest problems. That is the part which must be greater in the world
to come than it can be now; for we shall not find ourselves able to do these things except
in the spirit of Christ.
Archbishop Tait, Family Churchman, May 23rd, 1883.
6. CHARLES SIMEO , "Rev_3:21. 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.
WE have seen at the close of every epistle a promise to him that overcometh. In truth, we all need
encouragement in our warfare. It is the hope of profit or of honour that produces industry among all
classes of the community: it prompts the philosopher to consume the midnight oil in study; the
merchant to risk his property on the tempestuous ocean; and the soldier to brave the dangers and
fatigues of war. The same principle may well be extended also to spiritual concerns, and animate
the Christian in the pursuits of religion. His reward indeed is infinitely greater than any which this
world can afford, and may therefore justly stimulate him to the most indefatigable exertions. The

104. utmost that the labours of man can attain on earth, is, a royal title, and a temporal kingdom; but the
Christian victor has a crown of glory laid up for him, and a participation of that very kingdom, which
is possessed by Christ himself. The Judge of quick and dead pledges himself to bestow this reward
on all his faithful followers. His words lead us to consider,
I. The Christian’s character—
Every Christian is by profession a soldier; he has enlisted under the banners of Christ; and fights till
he has vanquished all the enemies of his soul—
The world is not able to detain him in bondage—
[As for the pleasures of the world, they have no charms for any person who knows the value of his
own soul. It requires scarcely any more self-denial to renounce them, than for a philosopher to put
away the toys of childhood. A regard for its honours is not so easily overcome. The Christian would
gladly at first retain his reputation among his former acquaintance; and sometimes perhaps makes
undue sacrifices rather than forfeit his good name: but when he finds how impossible it is to be
faithful unto God without incurring the censure of the ungodly, he learns at last to bear “the reproach
of Christ,” and to “rejoice that he is counted worthy to suffer shame for his sake.” The interests of
the world still subject him to many and strong temptations, even after that he has both done and
suffered much for Christ; but when he has weighed both the world and his own soul in the balance
of the sanctuary, he determines to forego every interest rather than endanger his eternal salvation.
Thus he evinces that “he is born of God by overcoming the world [Note: 1Jn_4:4.].”]
The flesh also gradually loses its ascendency over him—
[Our inbred corruption is a more powerful enemy than the world, inasmuch as it is nearer to us, and
ever with us. But the Christian maintains a conflict with it. He never is so perfect in this world but
that he still carries about with him “a body of sin and death.” “The flesh lusts against the Spirit” to
the latest hour of his life; but if any unhallowed appetite arise, he resists it to the uttermost, and will
in no wise yield to its solicitations: or if it betray him into any unworthy conduct, he will mourn over it,
and cry to God for grace and strength to resist it; and will never be at peace, till it is utterly mortified
and subdued. A man’s besetting sin is that which will, for the most part, give him most trouble to the
end of his days. Thus “through the Spirit he mortifies the deeds of the body,” and “crucifies the flesh
with its affections and lusts [Note: Rom_8:13. Gal_5:24.].” True, crucifixion is a lingering death: but
still he has nailed his besetting sin to the cross: and it shall never regain its power, though it will still
continue to pour forth its venom against Christ to the latest hour of our lives.]
Nor can the devil with all his hosts prevail against him—
[Satan is yet a greater adversary to the Christian than even flesh and blood [Note: Eph_6:12]; but
the good soldier will not turn his back. He “girds on the whole armour of God,” and “goes forth in the
strength of the Lord God.” Satan, like Pharaoh, (of whom he was the perfect archetype) casts every
impediment in his way, and multiplies his thoughts of this world, to divert his attention from a better
[Note: Exo_5:6-9.]. When he cannot prevail to keep the Christian from the path of duty, he will
endeavour, like that hardened monarch, to limit him in the prosecution of it
[Note: Exo_8:25; Exo_8:28; Exo_10:11; Exo_10:24.]. When that fails, he will contrive, if possible, to
lead him astray, and to fix his attention on controversy, or politics, or something of inferior concern.
When that will not succeed, he will labour either to “puff him up with pride, and thus bring him into
the condemnation of the devil;” or to cast him down with despondency, and thus cause him to desist
from his purpose. But the Christian repels all his fiery darts, “resists him manfully till he makes him
flee,” and finally “bruises him under his feet” as a vanquished enemy. This accords with the
description given by St. John, “Young men, ye have overcome the wicked one [Note: 1Jn_2:13.].”]

105. After having successfully maintained his conflicts, the Christian receives,
II. His reward—
As a view of the recompence that awaits us cannot fail of animating us in our warfare, it will be
proper to contemplate it with care—
Our Lord declares it in terms the most glorious that can be conceived: “The Christian shall reign with
him”—
[Christ is seated in heaven on a throne of glory: but he does not occupy that throne alone; he admits
his victorious followers to a participation of it. Nothing less than this is deemed a sufficient reward
for them. It were an unspeakably great reward, if we were only permitted to behold him upon his
throne; but he assures us that we shall be exalted to sit thereon together with him, and thus to share
both his honour and felicity. Such honour have all his saints; and he, as the arbiter of life and death,
pledges his word, that he himself will bestow this reward upon them. How blessed then must they
be! how poor a recompence would earthly kingdoms be in comparison of this!]
But the comparison which he here institutes, alone can put the promise in its true light—
[Christ was once conflicting with his enemies, just as we are; but he overcame them upon the cross,
triumphed over them in his resurrection, and led them captive in his ascension; and is now set down
at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Let us view him then on his Father’s throne, and we shall
see what glory is reserved for us. Like him, we shall rest from our labours: never harassed either by
sin or sorrow any more. We shall dwell in the immediate presence of him whom we love; no longer
viewing him at a distance, by the eye of faith, through the medium of the word; but beholding him
face to face, seeing him as we are seen, and “knowing him as we are known.” We shall moreover
receive all the happiness of which our natures are capable. He who was once a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief as his constant companion, now enjoys both in body and soul all the
blessedness of the Godhead. In this we shall resemble him as far as any thing finite can resemble
what is infinite. Our capacities of happiness will be enlarged beyond our highest conceptions, and
every one will be as blessed as his capacity will admit of. Nor is Christ’s exaltation merely a
pattern of ours. He is our forerunner; and the exaltation of the Head is a pledge and earnest that all
the members shall in due time be glorified together with him.]
Application—
[If such be the felicity of all Christian soldiers, who will not enlist under the banners of Jesus? Who
will not join himself to the Captain of our salvation, and give up his name to be enrolled among “the
worthies of our David?” Let all of you, my brethren, flock to his standard, “like doves to their
windows.” Gird on your spiritual armour, and go forth to the fight. You have a Commander who can
not only lead you and direct you in the battle, but can shield your heads, and heal your wounds, and
strengthen your arms, and ensure you the victory. Soldiers, “quit yourselves like men; be strong.”
“Fight the good fight of faith,” and trust in him for a successful issue of your conflicts. It is but a little
time that you shall have to engage; and though you go forth only with a sling and a stone, Goliath
shall fall before you. Only go forth in dependence upon your God, and you have nothing to fear. But
O what have you not to hope for? What blessed triumphs! What glorious spoils! What everlasting
shouts of victory! Look at those who have gone before you in the combat; see them on their
thrones, crowned with crowns of righteousness, and shouting with shouts of triumph. Soon, very
soon, shall you be numbered amongst them. Let none of you then turn your backs. “If any man turn
back,” says God, “my soul shall have no pleasure in him [Note: Heb_10:38.].” Fight on a little longer,
and you shall not only be conquerors, but “more than conquerors.” The completest victories that an
earthly hero can gain, will afford him matter for weeping as well as for joy. But your victories shall be
unalloyed with sorrow, and crowned with everlasting gladness. “War then a good warfare,” and fight
till you overcome. So shall you receive your promised recompence, and reign with your God for ever

106. and ever.]
7. BURKITT, “Here our Saviour concludes this epistle, as he did the former, with a promise to
the persevering Christian, To him that overcometh, namely, all the trials and temptations of this
life, and keeps his faith, love, and obedience, entire to the end, I will grant, not in a way of merit,
but of free gift and grace, to sit down with me in my throne, namely, to partake of the same
power, and glory, and kingdom, that I as Mediator do now partake of.
Where observe, Christ here distinguishes between his own throne and his Father's; the former
seems to be his mediatorial,the latter his essential, throne; and he plainly tells us, that as he
obtained his glory by overcoming Satan and the world, so must we; To him that overcometh will I
grant-- even as I also overcame: the way to heaven for Christ and all his members is the same; as
he conquered and finally overcame on earth before he was crowned in heaven, so must they.
8. MACLARE , “THE VICTOR'S SOVEREIGNTY
The Church at Laodicea touched the lowest point of Christian character. It had no
heresies, but that was not because it clung to the truth, but because it had not life enough
to breed even them. It had no conspicuous vices, like some of the other communities. But
it had what was more fatal than many vices - a low temperature of religious life and
feeling, and a high notion of itself. Put these two things together - they generally go
together - and you get the most fatal condition for a Church. It is the condition of a large
part of the so-called ‘Christian world’ to-day, as that very name unconsciously confesses;
for ‘world’ is the substantive, and ‘Christian’ only the adjective, and there is a great deal
more ‘world’ than ‘Christian’ in many so-called ‘Churches.’
Such a Church needed, and received, the sharpest rebuke. A severe disease requires
drastic treatment. But the same necessity which drew forth the sharp rebuke drew forth
also the loftiest of the promises. If the condition of Laodicea was so bad, the struggle to
overcome became proportionately greater, and, consequently, the reward the larger. The
least worthy may rise to the highest position. It was not to the victors over persecution at
Smyrna, or over heresies at Thyatira, nor even to the blameless Church of Philadelphia,
but it was to the faithful in Laodicea, who had kept the fire of their own devotion well
alight amidst the tepid Christianity round them, that this climax of all the seven
promises is given.
In all the others Jesus Christ stands as the bestower of the gift. Here He stands, not only
as the bestower, but as Himself participating in that which He bestows. The words
beggar all exposition, and I have shrunk from taking them as my text. We seem to see in
them, as if looking into some sun with dazzled eyes, radiant forms moving amidst the
brightness, and in the midst of them one like unto the Son of man. But if my words only
dilute and weaken this great promise, they may still help to keep it before your own
minds for a few moments. So I ask you to look with me at the two great things that are
bracketed together in our text; only I venture to reverse the order of consideration, and
think of -
I. The Commander-in-Chiefs conquest and royal repose.
‘I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.’ It seems to me that,

107. wonderful as are all the words of my text, perhaps the most wonderful of them all are
those by which the two halves of the promise are held together - ‘Even as I also.’ The
Captain of the host takes His place in the ranks, and, if I may so say, shoulders His
musket like the poorest private. Christ sets Himself before us as pattern of the struggle,
and as pledge of the victory and reward. Now let me say a word about each of the two
halves of this great thought of our Lord’s identification of Himself with us in our fight,
and identification of us with Him in His victory.
As to the former, I would desire to emphasize, with all the strength that I can, the point
of view from which Jesus Christ Himself, in these final words from the heavens, directed
to all the Churches, looks hack upon His earthly career, and bids us think of it as a true
conflict. You remember how, in the sanctities of the upper room, and ere yet the supreme
moment of the crucifixion had come, our Lord said, when within a day of the Cross and
an hour of Gethsemane, ‘I have overcome the world.’ This is an echo of that never-to be-
forgotten utterance that the aged Apostle had heard when leaning on his Master’s bosom
in the seclusion and silence of that sacred upper chamber. Only here our Lord, looking
back upon the victory, gathers it all up into one as a past thing, and says, ‘I overcame,’ in
those old days long ago.
Brethren, the orthodox Christian is tempted to think of Jesus Christ in such a fashion as
to reduce His conflict on earth to a mere sham fight. Let no supposed theological
necessities induce you to weaken down in your thoughts of Him what He Himself has
told us - that He, too, struggled, and that He, too, overcame. That temptation in the
wilderness, where the necessities of the flesh and the desires of the spirit were utilized by
the Tempter as weapons with which His unmoved obedience and submission were
assailed, was repeated over and over again all through His earthly life. We believe - at
least I believe - that Jesus Christ was in nature sinless, and that temptation found
nothing in Him on which it could lay hold, no fuel or combustible material to which it
could set light. But, notwithstanding, inasmuch as He became partaker of flesh and
blood, and entered into the limitations of humanity, His sinlessness did not involve His
incapacity for being tempted, nor did it involve that His righteousness was not assailed,
nor His submission often tried. We believe - or at least I believe - that He ‘did no sin,
neither was guile found in His mouth.’ But I also reverently listen to Him unveiling, so
far as may need to be unveiled, the depths of His own nature and experience, and I
rejoice to think that He fought the good fight, and Himself was a soldier in the army of
which He is the General. He is the Captain, the Leader, of the long procession of heroes
of the faith; and He is the ‘perfecter’ of it, inasmuch as His own faith was complete and
unbroken.
But I may remind you, too, that from this great word of condescending self-revelation
and identification, we may well learn what a victorious life really is. ‘I overcame’; but
from the world’s point of view He was utterly beaten. He did not gather in many who
would listen to Him or care for His words. He was misunderstood, rejected; lived a life of
poverty; died when a young man, a violent death; was hunted by all the Church
dignitaries of His generation as a blasphemer, spit upon by soldiers, and execrated after
His death. And that is victory, is it? Well, then, we shall have to revise our estimates of
what is a conquering career. If He, the pauper-martyr, if He, the misunderstood
enthusiast, if He conquered, then some of our notions of a victorious life are very far
astray.
Nor need I say a word, I suppose, about the completeness, as well as the reality, of that
victory of His. From heaven He claims in this great word just what He claimed on earth,
over and over again, when He fronted His enemies with, Which of you convinceth Me of

108. sin? ‘and when He declared in the sanctities of His confidence with His friends, ‘I do
always the things that please Him.’ The rest of us partially overcome, and partially are
defeated. He alone bears His shield out of the conflict undinted and unstained. To do the
will of God, to dwell in continual communion with the Father, never to be hindered by
anything that the world can present or my sins can suggest, whether of delightsome or
dreadful, from doing the will of the Father in heaven from the heart - that is victory, and
all else is defeat. And that is what the Captain of our salvation, and only He, did.
Turn for a moment now to the other side of our Lord’s gracious identification of Himself
with us. ‘Even as I also am set down with My Father in His throne.’ That points back, as
the Greek original shows even more distinctly, to the historical fact of the Ascension. It
recalls the great words by which, with full consciousness of what He was doing, Jesus
Christ sealed His own death-warrant in the presence of the Sanhedrim when He said:
‘Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power.’ It carries us
still further back to the psalm which our Lord Himself quoted, and thereby stopped the
mouths of Scribes and Pharisees: ‘The Lord said unto My Lord, sit Thou at My right hand
till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.’ He laid His hand upon that great promise, and
claimed that it was to be fulfilled in His case. And here, stooping from amidst the blaze of
the central royalty of the Universe, He confirms all that He had said before, and declares
that He shares the Throne of God.
Now, of course, the words are intensely figurative and have to be translated as best we
can, even though it may seem to weaken and dilute them, into less concrete and sensible
forms than the figurative representation. But I think we shall not be mistaken if we assert
that, whatever lies in this great statement far beyond our conception in the present, there
lie in it three things - repose, royalty, communion of the most intimate kind with the
Father.
There is repose. You remember how the first martyr saw the opened heavens and the
ascended Christ, in that very hall, probably, in which Christ had said, ‘Henceforth ye
shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power.’ But Stephen, as he declared,
with rapt face smitten by the light into the likeness of an angel’s, saw Him standing at the
right hand. We have to combine these two images, incongruous as they are in prose,
literally, before we reach the conception of the essential characteristic of that royal rest of
Christ’s. For it is a repose that is full of activity. ‘My Father worketh hitherto,’ said He on
earth, ‘and I work.’ And that is true with regard to His unseen and heavenly life. The
verses which are appended to the close of Mark’s gospel draw a picture for us - ‘They
went everywhere preaching the Word ‘: He sat at ‘the right hand of God.’ The two halves
do not fuse together. The Commander is in repose; the soldiers are bearing the brunt of
the fight. Yes! but then there comes the word which links the two halves together. ‘They
went everywhere preaching, the Lord also working with them.’
Christ’s repose indicates, not merely the cessation from, but much rather the completion
of. His work on earth, which culminated on the Cross; which work on earth is the basis of
the still mightier work which He is doing’ in the heavens. So the Apostle Paul sets up a
great ladder, so to speak, which our faith climbs by successive stages, when he says, ‘He
that died - yea, rather that is risen again - who is even at the right hand of God- who also
maketh intercession for us.’ His repose is full of beneficent activity for all that love Him.
Again, there is set forth royalty, participation in Divine dominion. The highly
metaphorical language of our text, and of parallel verses elsewhere, presents this truth in
two forms. Sometimes we read of ‘sitting at the right hand of God’; sometimes, as here,
we read of ‘sitting on the throne.’ The ‘right hand of God’ is everywhere. It is not a local
designation. ‘The right hand of the Lord’ is the instrument of His omnipotence, and to

109. speak of Christ as sitting on the right hand of God is simply to cast into symbolical words
the great thought that He wields the forces of Divinity. When we read of Him as
enthroned on the Throne of God, we have, in like manner, to translate the figure into this
overwhelming and yet most certain truth, that the Man Christ Jesus is exalted to
supreme, universal dominion, and that all the forces of omnipotent Divinity rest in the
hands that still bear, for faith, the prints of the nails.
But again that session of Christ with the Father suggests the thought, about which it
becomes us not to speak, of a communion with the Father - deep, intimate, unbroken,
beyond all that we can conceive or speak. We listen to Him when He says, ‘Glorify Thou
Me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.’ We bow before the
thought that what He asked in that prayer was the lifting of one of ourselves, the
humanity of Jesus, into this inseparable unity with the very glory of God. And then we
catch the wondrous words: ‘Even as I also.’
II. That brings me to the second of the thoughts here, which may be more
briefly disposed of after the preceding exposition, and that is, the private
soldier’s share in the Captain’s victory and rest. ‘I will grant to sit with Me in
My throne, even as I also.’
Now with regard to the former of these, our share in Christ’s triumph and conquest, I
only wish to say one thing, and it is this. I thankfully recognize that to many who do not
share with me in what I believe to be the teaching of Scripture, viz., the belief that Christ
was more than example, their partial belief, as I think it, in Him as the realized ideal, the
living Pattern of how men ought to live, has given strength for far nobler and purer life
than could otherwise have been reached. But, brethren, it seems to me that we want a
great deal more than a pattern, a great deal closer and more intimate union with the
Conqueror than the mere setting forth of the possibility of a perfect life as realized in
Him, ere we can share in His victory. What does it matter to me, after all, except for
stimulus and for rebuke, that Jesus Christ should have lived the life? Nothing. But when
we can link the words in the upper room, ‘I have overcome,’ and the words from heaven,
‘Even as I also overcame,’ with the same Apostle’s words in his epistle, ‘This is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith,’ then we share in the Captain’s victory in an
altogether different manner from that which they do who can see in Him only a pattern
that stimulates and inspires. For if we put our trust in that Saviour, then the very life
which was in Christ Jesus, and which conquered the world in Him, will pass into us; and
the law of the spirit of life in Christ will make us more than conquerors through Him that
loved us.
And then the victory being secured, because Christ lives in us and makes us victorious,
our participation in His throne is secure likewise.
There shall be repose, the cessation of effort, the end of toil. There shall be no more
aching heads, strained muscles, exhausted brains, weary hearts, dragging feet. There will
be no more need for resistance. The helmet will be antiquated, the laurel crown will take
its place. The heavy armour, that rusted the garment over which it was braced, will be
laid aside, and the trailing robes, that will contract no stain from the golden pavements,
will be the attire of the redeemed. We have all had work enough, and weariness enough,
and battles enough, and beatings enough, to make us thankful for the thought that we
shall sit on the throne.
But if it is a rest like His, and if it is to be the rest of royalty, there will be plenty of work
in it; work of the kind that fits us and is blessed. I know not what new elevation, or what
sort of dominion will be granted to those who, instead of the faithfulness of the steward,

110. are called upon to exercise the activity of the Lord over ten cities. I know not, and I care
not; it is enough to know that we shall sit on His throne.
But do not let us forget the last of the thoughts: ‘They shall sit with Me.’ Ah! there you
touch the centre - ‘To depart and to be with Christ, which is far better’; ‘Absent from the
body; present with the Lord.’ We know not how. The lips are locked that might, perhaps,
have spoken; only this we know, that, not as a drop of water is absorbed into the ocean
and loses its individuality, shall we be united to Christ. There will always be the two, or
there would be no blessedness in the two being one; but as close as is compatible with
the sense of being myself, and of His being Himself, will be our fellowship with Him. ‘He
that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.’
Brethren, this generation would be a great deal the better for thinking more often of the
promises and threatenings of Scripture with regard to the future. I believe that no small
portion of the lukewarmness of the modern Laodicea is owing to the comparative neglect
into which, in these days, the Christian teachings on that subject have fallen. I have tried
in these sermons on these seven promises to bring them at least before your thoughts
and hearts. And I beseech you that you would, more than you have done, ‘have respect
unto the recompense of reward,’ and let that future blessedness enter as a subsidiary
motive into your Christian life.
We may gather all these promises together, and even then we have to say, ‘the half hath
not been told us.’ ‘It doth not yet appear what we shall be.’ Symbols and negations, and
these alone, teach us the little that we know about that future; and when we try to
expand and concatenate these, I suppose that our conceptions correspond to the reality
about as closely as would the dreams of a chrysalis as to what it would be when it was a
butterfly. But certainty and clearness are not necessarily united. ‘It doth not yet appear
what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him.’ Take
‘even as I also’ for the key that unlocks all the mysteries of that glorious future. ‘It is
enough for the servant that he be as his Master.’
22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the
Spirit says to the churches.”
1. BAR ES, "He that hath an ear ... - See the notes on Rev_2:7.
This closes the epistolary part of this book, and the “visions” properly commence with
the next chapter. Two remarks may be made in the conclusion of this exposition:
(1) The first relates to the truthfulness of the predictions in these epistles. is an
illustration of that truthfulness, and of the present correspondence of the condition of
those churches with what the Saviour said to John they would be, the following striking
passage may be introduced from Mr. Gibbon. It occurs in his description of the
conquests of the Turks (“Decline and Fall,” iv. 260, 261). “Two Turkish chieftains,

111. Sarukhan and Aidin left their names to their conquests, and their conquests to their
posterity. The captivity or ruin of the seven churches of Asia was consummated; and the
barbarous lords of Ionia and Lydia still trample on the monuments of classic and
Christian antiquity. In the loss of Ephesus, the Christians deplored the fall of the first
angel, the extinction of the first candlestick of the Revelations: the desolation is
complete; and the temple of Diana, or the church of Mary, will equally elude the search
of the curious traveler. The circus and three stately theaters of Laodicea are now
populated with wolves and foxes; Sardis is reduced to a miserable village; the God of
Muhammed, without a rival or a son, is invoked in the mosques of Thyatira and
Pergamos; and the populousness of Smyrna is supported by the foreign trade of Franks
and Armenians. Philadelphia alone has been saved by prophecy or courage. At a distance
from the sea, forgotten by the emperors, encompassed on all sides by the Turks, her
valiant citizens defended their religion and freedom above fourscore years, and at length
capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek colonies and churches
of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect, a column in a scene of ruins; a pleasing example that
the paths of honor and safety may sometimes be the same.”
(2) The second remark relates to the applicability of these important truths to us.
There is perhaps no part of the New Testament more searching than these brief epistles
to the seven churches; and though those to whom they were addressed have long since
passed away, and the churches have long since become extinct; though darkness, error,
and desolation have come over the places where these churches once stood, yet the
principles laid down in these epistles still live, and they are full of admonition to
Christians in all ages and all lands. It is a consideration of as much importance to us as it
was to these churches, that the Saviour now knows our works; that he sees in the church,
and in any individual, all that there is to commend and all that there is to reprove; that
he has power to reward or punish now as he had then; that the same rules in
apportioning rewards and punishments will still be acted on; that he who overcomes the
temptations of the world will find an appropriate reward; that those who live in sin must
meet with the proper recompense, and that those who are lukewarm in his service will be
spurned with unutterable loathing. His rebukes are awful; but his promises are full of
tenderness and kindness. While they who have embraced error, and they who are living
in sin, have occasion to tremble before him, they who are endeavoring to perform their
duty may find in these epistles enough to cheer their hearts, and to animate them with
the hope of final victory, and of the most ample and glorious reward.
2. CLARKE, "He that hath an ear, let him hear - Mr. Wesley has a very judicious
note on the conclusion of this chapter, and particularly on this last verse, He that hath an
ear, etc. “This (counsel) stands in three former letters before the promise, in the four
latter after it; clearly dividing the seven into two parts, the first containing three, the last
four letters. The titles given our Lord in the three former letters peculiarly respect his
power after his resurrection and ascension, particularly over his Church; those in the
four latter, his Divine glory and unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Again, this
word being placed before the promises in the three former letters excludes the false
apostles at Ephesus, the false Jews at Smyrna, and the partakers with the heathens at
Pergamos, from having any share therein. In the four latter, being placed after them, it
leaves the promises immediately joined with Christ’s address to the angel of the Church,
to show that the fulfilling of these was near; whereas the others reach beyond the end of
the world. It should be observed that the overcoming or victory (to which alone these

112. peculiar promises are annexed) is not the ordinary victory obtained by every believer, but
a special victory obtained over great and peculiar temptations, by those that are strong in
faith.”
The latest account we have of the state of the seven Asiatic Churches is in a letter from
the Rev. Henry Lindsay, chaplain to the British embassy at Constantinople, to a member
of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by which society Mr. Lindsay had been solicited
to distribute some copies of the New Testament in modern Greek among the Christians
in Asia Minor.
The following is his communication, dated: - “Constantinople, January 10, 1816.
“When I last wrote to you, I was on the point of setting out on a short excursion into
Asia Minor. Travelling hastily, as I was constrained to do from the circumstances of my
situation, the information I could procure was necessarily superficial and unsatisfactory.
As, however, I distributed the few books of the society which I was able to carry with me,
I think it necessary to give some account of the course I took:
“1. The regular intercourse of England with Smyrna will enable you to procure as
accurate intelligence of its present state as any I can pretend to offer. From the
conversations I had with the Greek bishop and his clergy, as well as various well-
informed individuals, I am led to suppose that, if the population of Smyrna be
estimated at one hundred and forty thousand inhabitants, there are from fifteen to
twenty thousand Greeks, six thousand Armenians, five thousand Catholics, one
hundred and forty Protestants, and eleven thousand Jews.
“2. After Smyrna, the first place I visited was Ephesus, or rather (as the site is not
quite the same) Aiasalick, which consists of about fifteen poor cottages. I found
there but three Christians, two brothers who keep a small shop, and a gardener.
They are all three Greeks, and their ignorance is lamentable indeed. In that place,
which was blessed so long with an apostle’s labors, and those of his zealous
assistants are Christians who have not so much as heard of that apostle, or seem
only to recognize the name of Paul as one in the calendar of their saints. One of
them I found able to read a little, and left with him the New Testament, in ancient
and modern Greek, which he expressed a strong desire to read, and promised me
he would not only study it himself, but lend it to his friends in the neighboring
villages.
“3. My next object was to see Laodicea; in the road to this is Guzel-hisar, a large town,
with one church, and about seven hundred Christians. In conversing with the
priests here, I found them so little acquainted with the Bible, or even the New
Testament in an entire form, that they had no distinct knowledge of the books it
contained beyond the four gospels, but mentioned them indiscriminately with
various idle legends and lives of saints. I have sent thither three copies of the
modern Greek Testament since my return. About three miles from Laodicea is
Denizli, which has been styled (but I am inclined to think erroneously) the ancient
Colosse; it is a considerable town, with about four hundred Christians, Greeks, and
Armenians, each of whom has a church. I regret however to say that here also the
most extravagant tales of miracles, and fabulous accounts of angels, saints, and
relics, had so usurped the place of the Scriptures as to render it very difficult to
separate in their minds Divine truths from human inventions. I felt that here that
unhappy time was come when men should ‘turn away their ears from the truth,
and be turned unto fables.’ I had with me some copies of the gospels in ancient
Greek which I distributed here, as in some other places through which I had
passed. Eski-hisar, close to which are the remains of ancient Laodicea, contains

113. about fifty poor inhabitants, in which number are but two Christians, who live
together in a small mill; unhappily neither could read at all; the copy therefore of
the New Testament, which I intended for this Church, I left with that of Denizli, the
offspring and poor remains of Laodicea and Colosse. The prayers of the mosque
are the only prayers which are heard near the ruins of Laodicea, on which the
threat seems to have been fully executed in its utter rejection as a Church.
“4. I left it for Philadelphia, now Alah-shehr. It was gratifying to find at last some
surviving fruits of early zeal; and here, at least, whatever may be the loss of the
spirit of Christianity, there is still the form of a Christian Church; this has been
kept from the ‘hour of temptation,’ which came upon all the Christian world. There
are here about one thousand Christians, chiefly Greeks, who for the most part
speak only Turkish; there are twenty-five places of public worship, five of which
are large regular churches; to these there is a resident bishop, with twenty inferior
clergy. A copy of the modern Greek Testament was received by the bishop with
great thankfulness.
“5. I quitted Alah-shehr, deeply disappointed at the statement I received there of the
Church of Sardis. I trusted that in its utmost trials it would not have been suffered
to perish utterly, and I heard with surprise that not a vestige of it remained. With
what satisfaction then did I find on the plains of Sardis a small Church
establishment; the few Christians who dwell around modern Sart were anxious to
settle there and erect a church, as they were in the habit of meeting at each other’s
houses for the exercise of religion. From this design they were prohibited by Kar
Osman Oglu, the Turkish governor of the district; and in consequence, about five
years ago they built a church upon the plain, within view of ancient Sardis, and
there they maintain a priest. The place has gradually risen into a little village, now
called Tatar-keny; thither the few Christians of Sart, who amount to seven, and
those in its immediate vicinity, resort for public worship, and form together a
congregation of about forty. There appears then still a remnant, ‘a few names even
in Sardis,’ which have been preserved. I cannot repeat the expressions of gratitude
with which they received a copy of the New Testament in a language with which
they were familiar. Several crowded about the priest to hear it on the spot, and I
left them thus engaged.
“6. Ak-hisar, the ancient Thyatira, is said to contain about thirty thousand inhabitants,
of whom three thousand are Christians, all Greeks except about two hundred
Armenians. There is, however, but one Greek church and one Armenian. The
superior of the Greek Church to whom I presented the Romaic Testament
esteemed it so great a treasure that he earnestly pressed me, if possible, to spare
another, that one might be secured to the Church and free from accidents, while
the other went round among the people for their private reading. I have, therefore,
since my return hither, sent him four copies.
“7. The Church of Pergamos, in respect to numbers, may be said to flourish still in
Bergamo. The town is less than Ak-hisar, but the number of Christians is about as
great, the proportion of Armenians to Greeks nearly the same, and each nation also
has one church. The bishop of the district, who occasionally resides there, was at
that time absent, and I experienced with deep regret that the resident clergy were
totally incapable of estimating the gift I intended them; I therefore delivered the
Testament to the lay vicar of the bishop at his urgent request, he having assured
me that the bishop would highly prize so valuable an acquisition to the Church. He
seemed much pleased that the benighted state of his nation had excited the
attention of strangers.

114. “Thus, sir, I have left at least one copy of the unadulterated word of God at each of the
seven Asiatic Churches of the Apocalypse, and I trust they are not utterly thrown away;
but whoever may plant, it is God only who can give the increase, and from his goodness
we may hope they will in due time bring forth fruit, ‘some thirty, some sixty, and some a
hundred fold.’ “Henry Lindsay.”
In my note on Act_19:24 (note), I have given an account of the celebrated temple of
Diana at Ephesus, to which building, called one of the seven wonders of the world, St.
Paul is supposed to allude in his epistle to this Church, particularly at Eph_3:18 (note),
where I have again given the measurement of this temple.
3. HE RY, " All is closed up with the general demand of attention (Rev_3:22), putting
all to whom these epistles shall come in mind that what is contained in them is not of
private interpretation, not intended for the instruction, reproof, and correction of those
particular churches only, but of all the churches of Christ in all ages and parts of the
world: and as there will be a resemblance in all succeeding churches to these, both in
their graces and sins, so they may expect that God will deal with them as he dealt with
these, which are patterns to all ages what faithful, and fruitful churches may expect to
receive from God, and what those who are unfaithful may expect to suffer from his hand;
yea, that God's dealings with his churches may afford useful instruction to the rest of the
world, to put them upon considering, If judgment begin at the house of God, what shall
the end of those be that do not obey the gospel of Christ? 1Pe_4:17. Thus end the
messages of Christ to the Asian churches, the epistolary part of this book. We now come
to the prophetical part.
4 CHARLES SIMEO , "Rev_3:22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the Churches.
PERHAPS there is not another expression in the whole Scriptures which occurs so frequently as
this. Our blessed Lord, in the days of his flesh, used it very often at the close of his parables: and
here, at the close of every one of the epistles to the seven Churches of Asia, did he repeat it.
Surely this marks its peculiar importance: and, to impress it upon all your minds, I will,
I. Make some general observations arising out of it—
The first thing which strikes us, on reading these words, is, that there must be many who have no
ear to hear the word of God—
[This is an awful truth. Whilst there are some who “will not endure sound doctrine,” there are
multitudes who hear it without being at all affected with it. They even approve of it; but still never
receive it truly into their hearts. On subjects connected with their temporal welfare they would feel
an interest; but on these, which relate to eternity, they are unmoved: they are satisfied with hearing
them; and when they have given them a respectful hearing, they think they have done their duty in
relation to them: “they have ears, and hear not; they have eyes, and see not; they have hearts, but
understand not:” and, during the course of a long life, they either gain but very little insight into the
great mystery of the Gospel, or acknowledge it as a mere theory, without any practical effect upon
their souls.]

115. The next thing which forces itself upon our notice is, that the things spoken to the primitive
Churches, so far as we are in similar circumstances with them, demand precisely the same
attention from us that they did from them—
[I will grant, that, so far as the Scriptures applied solely to the particular circumstances of this or that
particular Church, so far they are applicable to us only in their general tendency, or under
circumstances similar to theirs. But the great mass of the inspired volume related to men as sinners,
who needed mercy from God, and were bound to devote themselves altogether to God: and,
consequently, it is applicable to mankind in all places, and in all ages. Many, if a passage of
Scripture be urged on their attention, will say, that it was proper for the apostolic age, but
inapplicable to us at this time. But men’s duty to God is the same now as ever it was; and the way of
acceptance with God is the same as ever: and therefore this objection is altogether futile, and
unworthy of any serious notice. We are not to expect a new Revelation, suited to our circumstances:
on the contrary, we are enjoined, at the peril of our souls, neither to add to, nor to take from, the
Revelation already given: and the command given, that every one who has an ear should hear what
the Spirit has said to the Churches, shews, that not only were Christians then living to pay attention
to what was spoken to their own individual Church, but that Christians, at every period of the world,
should hear and obey what was spoken to the Churches generally.]
The last thing which I shall mention, as offering itself to our notice from the words before us, is,
that we can never hope to be benefited by the word we hear, unless we receive it as from God, and
as dictated by inspiration from the Holy Spirit—
[It is “the Spirit of the living God that speaketh to the Churches:” and his authority must be regarded
in every part of the written word, and in all that is delivered agreeably to it by those who minister in
the name of God. The hearers of the Gospel are too apt to look at man; and to exalt Paul, or
Apollos, or Cephas, in their estimation, one above another, on account of some peculiarity in their
ministrations; forgetting, that, “whoever plants or waters, it is God alone who gives the increase.”
Provided it be really agreeable to the standard of truth, the word, by whomsoever delivered, should
“be received, not as the word of man, but, as it is indeed, the word of God.” And if, in attending on
the ordinances, this were habitually kept in view, there can be no doubt but that the lighting down of
God’s arm would be more visible amongst us, and that the Holy Ghost would accompany it with far
greater power to the souls of men.]
After these brief remarks, arising out of the words of my text, I will,
II. Draw your attention to one or two things in particular, that are contained in the foregoing
epistles—
The epistles to the seven Churches contain a great variety of matter, applicable to the existing state
of each. In that to Laodicea, there is unqualified reprehension; in those to Smyrna and Philadelphia,
unqualified applause; in the others, a mixture both of praise and blame. To enter into the
peculiarities of those epistles would be altogether foreign to my present purpose. It is my intention to
notice only the things which are spoken indiscriminately to all: and these are two:
1. “I know thy works”—
[This “the Spirit spake” to every one of them, without exception: and therefore we may consider it
as spoken to the Church of God in all ages. And a most solemn truth it is. Almighty God inspects the
ways of every child of man. He knows what we do in our unregenerate state: he knows also what
we do after we become followers of the Lord Jesus. He discerns infallibly the precise quality of all
our actions; how far they accord with the written word; from what principles they flow; for what ends
they are performed. He discerns also the measure of them, how far they correspond with the
professions we make, the obligations we acknowledge, the advantages we enjoy. He sees every
thing which enters into the composition of them; how much of what is pure, and how much of what

116. is selfish and impure. In a word, he “weigheth,” not our actions only, but “our spirits;” and according
to his estimate of them will he judge us in the last day. He will not form his judgment, in any respect,
from the esteem in which we are held by our fellow-men, or from the opinion which we have formed
of ourselves: he will weigh us in the unerring balance of his sanctuary, and will “judge righteous
judgment” respecting every individual of mankind.]
2. “To him that overcometh will I give”—
[This also is repeated to every Church. And it is of infinite importance to every child of man. Every
saint has a conflict to maintain, against the world, the flesh, and the devil: and he must not only fight
a good fight against them, but must continue to do so, even to the end. As, in a race, it is not he
who “runs well for a season,” but he who finishes his course well, that wins the prize; so it is not he
who wars a good warfare for a time, but he who endures to the end, that will be crowned with
victory. There is to be no enemy to which we are to yield; nor any period when we are at liberty to
take our ease. We are never to be weary of well-doing, never to sink under any discouragement,
never to turn our back even for a moment. We must act as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and fight
under his banner to the latest hour of our lives: and then may we be assured that victory, yea, and
the rewards of victory too, shall be ours. “To him that overcometh,” saith our Lord, “will I give to sit
down with me upon my throne; even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father upon his
throne.”]
That these hints may produce their proper effect, I will,
III. Point out the special ends to be answered by bringing them to your remembrance—
Certainly I would wish them to be improved,
1. For your humiliation—
[I will suppose, that, like the members of all the different Churches, you profess to be faithful
followers of Christ. I will also suppose that, in a good measure, you adorn your holy profession. Yet,
when you remember what the heart-searching God has said, “I know thy works;” which of you has
not reason to hang down his head with shame and confusion of face? If it were but a man, who had
been privy to all the workings of our hearts since first we professed to serve God, we should not feel
altogether easy in his presence: for though, by reason of his own imperfections, we might expect
some allowances to be made in our behalf, yet the consciousness of what we were in his eyes
would humble us even in our own, and would tend greatly to stop our mouths before him. Should we
not, then, put our hands on our mouths, and our mouths in the dust, before God, under the
consciousness of our extreme unworthiness in his sight? Let us individually apply to ourselves that
solemn admonition, “I know thy works.” It is addressed to us individually, as much as if we were the
only individual upon earth: and God has noticed us as particularly as if there had been no other
person in the universe for him to notice. I pray you, brethren, bear this in mind; and learn to walk
softly before God, all the days of your life.]
2. For your warning—
[When it is said, “To him that overcometh, will I give,” it is evidently implied, that on this description
of persons exclusively will any reward be conferred. Should not this, then, operate as a solemn
warning to us? When any temptation presents itself to our minds, should we not consider, what will
be the effect, the ultimate and everlasting effect, of our compliance with it? Should we not balance
against each other, the gratifications of sense against the joys of heaven, the sufferings of sense
against the pains of hell, the transitoriness of time against the duration of eternity? When persons,
calling themselves our friends, would dissuade us from an entire surrender of ourselves to God,
should we not bethink ourselves what they can do for us hereafter, or what recompence they can
make us for the loss of heaven? Let this, then, operate on our minds, with all the weight that it

117. deserves; and let us never forget the admonition given here to every child of man, “To him that
overcometh, and to him exclusively, will I give any portion in the realms of bliss.”]
3. For your encouragement—
[See the rewards held forth to all the different Churches; and then say, whether you want
encouragement to persevere? And remember who it is that says, “I will give.” It is no other than the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Judge of quick and dead. The world, it is true, makes promises also: but what
can it give? If it could give you kingdoms, they were but a poor possession, which you must
relinquish in a little time. And as for the mere gratifications of sense, your past experience will tell
you how empty and vanishing they are. But, when Almighty God promises to you the glory and
blessedness of heaven, that may well allure you; for that shall live for ever; and you shall live for
ever to enjoy it. “Have respect then, my brethren, even as Moses had, to the recompence of the
reward,” and “hold fast the rejoicing of your hope steadfast unto the end:” and doubt not but that, in
due season, there shall be given you “a crown of righteousness and glory that fadeth not away.”]
5. COFFMAN, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
For the seventh time this message has been thundered from the gates of heaven, indicating that
these letters to seven ancient churches have a relevance infinitely beyond the circle of the original
recipients. "They are a composite word to the church universal throughout time."[79]
A SUMMARY REGARDING THE SEVEN LETTERS
The background. The discerning student cannot fail to see that Jewish persecution against the
church is active in these letters, in which "the synagogue of Satan" is twice mentioned (Revelation
2:9; 3:9). The casting of Christians into prison at Smyrna is evidently related to this Jewish
opposition. "When the appeals of sophistry failed to draw the Christians back to the religion of their
ancestors, the Jews sought every association possible with the Romans to crush the new sect (Acts
24:14)."[80] At the time Revelation was written, this power of the Jews to enlist Roman authority in
their campaign against the church was drawing to a close; and therein, perhaps, is the explanation
of the "ten days" reference in the letter to Smyrna. Such a deduction as this is disputed; but the fact
cannot be denied that there is a strong Jewish complexion in the opposition cited in these two
chapters. "Therefore, it appears that this was written before the fall of Jerusalem."[81] If Jewish
persecutions were about to end, however, there was yet a greater trial upon the horizon, "the great
trial" coming upon the whole world (Revelation 3:10); and that is best understood as the great
Roman persecutions, already begun under Nero, but due to be intensified and continued.
The throne. There is only one throne of universal power and authority, and that is the throne of God
and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1); and these seven letters show the power of the throne judging,
encouraging, protecting, and guiding the church, reaching a climax in Revelation 3:21, where the
church itself is promised a seat upon it, true in a sense now, but to be followed by greater honors
later. In these letters, "ominous warnings provide a dark background for glowing promises."[82] The
next two chapters will provide a revelation of that great throne in more specific terms, but it is the
same throne (authority) that dominates these letters. In this is seen the unity and logical sequence
of progression in the Apocalypse.
The judgment. This is the theme of Revelation (Revelation 1:7); and the coming of Christ in his
judgment of the churches is evident in all of the seven letters, his infinite knowledge of their affairs
being invariably repeated, "I know thy works." Significantly, however, the judgments threatened are
obviously related to the present time, being contingent in some cases upon the repentance of those
judged; but beyond this, there are undeniable echoes of the Second Advent, as indicated by the
repeated promises of eternal life, variously stated as eating of the hidden manna, receiving the
crown of life, walking with the Lord in white, etc. In this double application of "judgment" both to
things in the present life and to the saints' entry into heaven, the exact pattern of the Saviour's great
Olivet address (Matthew 24, etc.) is followed. Much of Revelation will remain unintelligible unless
this conformity to that pattern is observed. "Each representative church is being judged by the living

118. Lord in anticipation of that climax (the judgment), and the correctives that he seeks to apply are
preparatory for His elevation of the church to His side on the throne."[83]
The dangers. What are the dangers against which these admonitions are designed to warn
Christians? They are the danger of leaving our first love (Ephesus), the fear of suffering (Smyrna),
the toleration of false teaching (Pergamum), allowing leadership to fall into evil hands (Thyatira),
spiritual deadness (Sardis), the danger of not holding fast (Philadelphia), and that of an indifferent
complacency and lukewarmness (Laodicea).
Plan of interpretation. We have rejected the futuristic notion that in the future all these cities are to
be restored and that then these things shall be fulfilled, and also the conception that seven
successive ages of the church are indicated. The seven churches have been understood here as
literal, historical congregations, and that these seven were chosen because of the varied types of
correction needed, thus making the letters applicable to all situations in the future of the church, in
which the specified conditions might occur. Regarding the "seven successive ages" interpretation,
we agree with Wilbur M. Smith who said:
The only aspect of this interpretation that may have some virtue is the interpretation of Laodicea. It
seems that lukewarmness and indifference will mark the church at the end of the age, particularly
indifference to the great doctrines of the faith and unwillingness to defend them.[84]
THE INTRODUCTION AND KEY TO REVELATION
These seven letters are a marvelous introduction to the whole prophecy because: (1) there are just
seven mentioned, corresponding to the seven successive parallel views of history which follow; (2)
each of the seven letters ends with a reference to the "judgment" of Christ upon each church; and
(3) the great and final reward of eternal life appears under various figures in each of them,
corresponding exactly to the culmination of the whole prophecy in the final JUDGMENT and the
awarding of eternal life in the NEW JERUSALEM for the saints. These letters, in a sense, are a
preview of the entire book of Revelation.
[79] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 130.
[80] Beeson, Ulrich R., The Revelation (Little Rock, Arkansas: Ulrich R. Beeson, 1956), p. 42.
[81] Ibid.
[82] Charles M. Laymon, The Book of Revelation (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1960),
p. 72.
[83] Merrill C. Tenney, op. cit., p. 68.
[84] Wilbur M. Smith, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, New Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p.
1063.