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In the following commentary, words in CAPS indicate the biblical text, while words in lower case indicate the commentary on that text.

Studies in Revelation

by Dr. John H. Roller

Chapter 3

Verses 14-22

Revelation 3:14

TO THE ANGEL OF THE ASSEMBLY IN LAODICEA (literally, ‘of the Laodiceans’ – meaning that the church represented in this letter isn’t really Christ’s church or God’s church; it’s a church ‘owned and operated’ by its members – a ‘People’s Church’; in fact, the name of its city, Laodicea, literally means ‘the city where the people rule’ – representing the Modern Age, from AD 1914, when World War I broke out, to the present, an era in which the church no longer feels obligated to follow Christ’s commands, but feels free to ‘do its own thing’ – and I want you to notice that this is the last of the series of letters; there will be no ‘eighth’ Church Age – the Modern Age will continue right up until the second coming of Christ; and as we go through the book of Revelation, we will see that almost every series of seven mentioned in the book covers the same time period – from the first coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ; but each one tells that history from a different viewpoint, emphasizing different aspects of each time period) WRITE: ‘THE AMEN (the word “Amen” literally means, “So be it!” or “Yes!” – here, it is used as a “title” for Jesus Christ, based on the idea that all of God’s promises to His people find their fulfillment in Him – see 2 Corinthians 1:19-20), THE FAITHFUL AND TRUE WITNESS (see my comments on Revelation 1:5), THE HEAD (literally, “firstborn” – not in the sense of His coming into being before anything else did, but in the sense of His having authority over everything else, just as the firstborn son in a family would take his father’s place as the “head” of the family when his father died) OF GOD’S CREATION (you would think that since Jesus has the authority to rule over everything in God’s creation, He has the authority to rule over His own church – but that is precisely what is denied in the Modern Age, as His people insist on their own “authority” and, in fact, often deny that there even is such a thing as “God’s creation” since they believe that the world and everything in it originated by chance and evolution), SAYS THESE THINGS:

Revelation 3:15

“I KNOW YOUR WORKS, THAT YOU ARE NEITHER COLD (like refreshing cold iced tea) NOR HOT (like delicious hot coffee). I WISH YOU WERE COLD OR HOT (either one would be good, but it’s necessary to be one or the other; but this is a church that doesn’t want to commit itself or stand for anything particular).

Revelation 3:16

SO, BECAUSE YOU ARE LUKEWARM, AND NEITHER HOT NOR COLD, I WILL VOMIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH. What a ‘graphic’ way of expressing how Jesus feels about a church that is ‘open to anything’ and doesn’t really ‘take a stand’ for Him, one way or another! The Modern Age is characterized by a ‘church’ that has tried to be Christian in name, but remains worldly in character. Jesus is disgusted by that combination.

Revelation 3:17

BECAUSE YOU SAY, ‘I AM RICH, AND HAVE GOTTEN RICHES, AND HAVE NEED OF NOTHING (never has the organized, institutional church been as materially wealthy as it has in the Modern Age; back in the Middle Ages, the Papacy had power – it was able to “pull strings” and “make things happen” in the world – but it didn’t have the sheer monetary “net worth” that is owned by the professing “Christian” community nowadays; and the result is that people trust in, and rely on, their wealth, rather than relying on God to take care of them);’ AND DON’T KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE WRETCHED ONE, MISERABLE, POOR, BLIND, AND NAKED (as seen from a spiritual viewpoint, as opposed to the physical viewpoint that the church is focused on);

Revelation 3:18

I COUNSEL YOU (to each of the other churches, He has said, ‘I command you’ – but He can’t say that to the Modern church, because it doesn’t recognize His authority to give ‘commands’ – so He is reduced to saying, ‘I advise you’) TO BUY FROM ME GOLD REFINED BY FIRE (true, spiritual ‘treasure’), THAT YOU MAY BECOME RICH (instead of merely seeing yourself as rich); AND WHITE GARMENTS (later in the book, we will see that these ‘white garments’ represent ‘the righteous deeds of the believers’), THAT YOU MAY CLOTHE YOURSELF, AND THAT THE SHAME OF YOUR NAKEDNESS MAY NOT BE REVEALED; AND EYE SALVE (the actual city of Laodicea, in the first century, was famous for an eye-salve that had been invented in the city’s medical college and was marketed throughout the known world) TO ANOINT YOUR (spiritual) EYES, THAT YOU MAY SEE (spiritual truth). Is Jesus saying all these things to the Modern church because He hates it? No!

Revelation 3:19

AS MANY AS I LOVE, I REPROVE AND CHASTEN (so the ‘reproving’ and ‘chastening’ that He’s been doing, in these verses, is a sign that He loves us; He wants, ever so much, for us to ‘shape up’ and become the true Christians that He has called us to be). BE ZEALOUS (sincere and eager) THEREFORE, AND REPENT (turn away from your sins, and begin to live the way a Christian ought to live). Notice, though, that the ‘sins’ Jesus is criticizing in this letter are not so much the ‘gross’ sins of idolatry, immorality, apostasy, etc., that were dealt with in the earlier letters – the Modern Age is characterized more by sins of pride, self-sufficiency, and refusal to acknowledge God as Creator and Savior.

Revelation 3:20

BEHOLD (‘Look!’), I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK. IF ANYONE (any individual; this appeal is extended to the entire world, but it must be responded to on an individual basis) HEARS MY VOICE AND OPENS THE DOOR (of his own life), THEN I (operating through the Holy Spirit) WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL DINE (a symbol of intimate fellowship) WITH HIM, AND HE (will dine) WITH ME. So, although Jesus clearly disapproves of the ‘Church of the Laodiceans’ (the Modern Age of the Christian ‘movement’) as a whole, He is constantly willing and ready to fellowship with any individual (or any church) that will receive Him and allow Him to come in.

Revelation 3:21

HE WHO OVERCOMES, I WILL GIVE TO HIM (the right) TO SIT DOWN WITH ME ON MY THRONE (when He returns, which will be right at the end of the Modern Age), AS I ALSO OVERCAME (see John 16:33), AND SAT DOWN WITH MY FATHER ON HIS THRONE.

Revelation 3:22

HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR (see Matthew 11:15, 13:9 and 13:43; Mark 4:9; and Luke 8:8 and 14:35 – this was a ‘favorite’ expression of Jesus’) WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE ASSEMBLIES.”’

Conclusion:

After nearly 2,000 years, the “bottom line” is that any individual who wishes to repent of sin and receive Christ as Savior will have the right to sit beside Him on His throne when He comes; but most of the professing “members” of the organized church throughout the ages have never really made a personal commitment of faith to Him as Lord, and they are not included in the final reward. Today, out of nearly 7,000,000,000 people in the world, fewer than 2,000,000,000 even nominally profess that they follow “the Christian religion.” Billy Graham estimates that maybe as many as 10% of those have actually received Christ as their personal Savior. Perhaps the figure is even lower than that if you count only those who have not only received Him as Savior, but have maintained and continued their faith in Him throughout their lives. We have no way of taking a real “census” of the true Church; but we know from these messages that Christ does. Several times, He said, “I know what you have done.” He stands amidst the “candlesticks” and He knows who His people are and who they aren’t. At the end of the Church Age, when He comes, it will all be sorted out and we will know for sure, then, who was really saved and who was not. Meanwhile, on the basis of Revelation 3:20, any one of us can know, as an individual, about our own personal relationship with Him. I am absolutely confident, on the basis of God’s Word, of my own salvation. How about you?