181. APOCALYPSE. CHAPTER 3.

1. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

2. Be wakeful, and confirm the things remaining that are about to die; for I have not found thy works full before God.

3. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and take heed, and repent; if, therefore, thou shalt not be wakeful, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know in what hour I will come upon thee.

4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

5. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white garments; and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

6. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith the Holy, the True, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth and no one shutteth, and shutteth and no one openeth:

8. I know thy works; behold, I have given before thee an opened door, and no one is able to shut it; for thou hast some power, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name.

9. Behold, I will give, from the synagogue of Satan, of those saying that they are Jews and they are not, but do lie; behold I will make them to come and worship at thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

10. Because thou hath kept the word of My endurance I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation that is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

11. Behold, I come quickly; hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown.

12. He that overcometh I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and He shall go out thence no more; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

13. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.

14. And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the working of God:

15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; would that thou wert cold or hot.

16. So because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to vomit thee out of My mouth.

17. Because thou sayest, I am rich and have gotten riches, 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 by fire, that thou mayest be enriched; and white garments, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness be not manifest; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.

19. As many as I love I reprove and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent.

20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.

21. He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit with Me in My throne, as I also have overcome and am sitting with My Father in His throne.

22. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

EXPOSITION.

Verses 1-6. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be wakeful, and confirm the things remaining that are about to die; for I have not found thy works full before God. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and take heed, and repent; if, therefore, thou shalt not be wakeful, I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know in what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white garments; and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

1. "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write" signifies those who live a moral but not a spiritual life, because they have little regard for the knowledges of spiritual things and for intelligence and wisdom therefrom n.182; "these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God," signifies the Lord, from whom are all the truths of heaven and of the church (n. 183); "and the seven stars," signifies from whom are all the knowledges of truth and good (n. 184); "I know thy works," signifies the things that are of their life (n. 185); "that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead," signifies the quality of their thought, in that they think themselves to be alive because they are living a moral life, when yet they are dead n. 186.

2. "Be wakeful," signifies that they should acquire for themselves life n. 187; "and confirm the things remaining that are about to die," signifies in order that the things that belong to the moral life may be vivified (n. 188); "for I have not found thy works full before God," signifies that otherwise the Divine is not in the moral life (n. 189).

3. "Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and take heed," signifies recalling to mind and attention what the Lord teaches in the Word n. 190; "and repent," signifies consequent spiritual life (n. 191); "if, therefore, thou shalt not be wakeful," signifies if thou dost not acquire spiritual life (n. 192); "I will come on thee as a thief," signifies the unexpected time of death, when all knowledges procured from the Word that have not acquired spiritual life will be taken away n. 193; "and thou shalt not know in what hour I will come upon thee," signifies ignorance of that time and the state then n. 194.

4. "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments," signifies those who live a moral life from a spiritual origin, by applying the knowledges of truth and good [from the Word] to the uses of their life n. 195; "and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy," signifies their spiritual life which they have by means of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word n. 196. 5."He that overcometh," signifies he that is steadfast even until death (n. 197); "shall be clothed in white garments," signifies intelligence and wisdom according to truths and their reception (n. 198); "and I will not blot his name out of the book of life," signifies that they will be in heaven, because they are fitted for it n. 199; "and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels," signifies that they will be in Divine good and in Divine truth therefrom n. 200.

6. "He that hath an ear let him hear, what the Spirit saith to the churches," signifies that he who understands should hearken to what Divine truth proceeding from the Lord teaches and says to those who are of His church (n. 201).