Here was a church dominated by the flesh, dominated by sin, dominated by unbelief and populated by the unregenerate, a church populated by the unsaved who did not have the life of God in them and, apparently, also populated by a few Christians who were indifferent. So you had the unregenerate and the indifferent. The result was a dead church. Their loyalty and service to Christ were things of the past. Now they were nothing. And they were still dwelling in the past. The important lesson we must learn from this is that we must never keep dwelling in our past and just rest on what has been achieved and accomplished. When something is done, there are yet more things to be done for the Lord. Never think that you have already arrived. You need to keep progressing.
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead:
When God blesses a church so that it reaches a satisfactory measure of growth and success, there comes a time when the church stops growing but remains satisfied just to maintain its status quo and enjoy what it has attained.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God:
Have you become a complacent Christian?
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee:
And how terrible it would be if the Lord Jesus Christ should return when we least expect Him to return, just like a thief in the night, and find our souls in a spiritually impoverished and dead condition! If Christ were to return right now, will He find you in your best state, spiritually healthy and strong, or will He be grieved to find you very weak spiritually, due to your prolonged neglect of His Word?
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy:
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels:
In ancient cities like Sardis, the names of all the citizens who lived in the city were recorded in a book. Their names remained there until death and then they would be blotted or erased out of the book. But ancient records tell us that a person's name could also be blotted out of the book before he died, if he was branded as a social outcast or a criminal. And this means that he was stripped of his citizenship and could no longer enjoy the rights and privileges of being a citizen there.
Christ now gives the wonderful assurance that: If, by being faithful in following Him, they suffered the removal of their names from the book of citizenship in Sardis, then they can be comforted by knowing that there is a Book of Life in which their names are permanently written, and from which they will never be blotted out. And it is a far greater privilege to have one's name written in this book than in any other book or register of citizenship in the world!
But I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels:
What a blessed privilege it is to have your name acknowledged with approval by Christ before God the Father and before all the angelic hosts of heaven.
6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches:
Jesus knows the good works of this church, their labor of love in serving the Lord and seeking His truth through diligent study and their obedience to His commands. This church was ready to receive new light on Bible prophecy and God was faithful and ready to give it, to restore the FULL gospel message and have a church that could take this complete gospel to the world before the second coming of Jesus.
To the first three churches, Jesus has no mention of the second coming, as these are the church periods way back in the first centuries after Christ. But to the final four, He begins to bring into focus His second coming and the nearness and urgency increases with each church.
7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth:
(In claiming possession of the key of David, Jesus means that only He can admit us to the treasure house of the heavenly King. Only He can open to us all the riches of heaven).
8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door:
(Christ is the only one who can grant access to God, Christ has the key of David. He opens the door for the church — his royal household — and allows it to come into the presence of God.)
And no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name:
Very few in numbers, as opposed to the great strength in numbers for Christ in the early days of the Church. (144,000)
9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie:
Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
(They will recognize that the church is composed of the true people of God, rather than the Jews as a nation. The local Jewish community of Philadelphia may claim that the kingdom belongs to the Jewish community. But they “are liars” (3:9). Christ has used the key of David to set an open door before the church, not the synagogue. The door to the synagogue may be closed to the Christian; the door to Christ’s heavenly kingdom is wide open.).
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation:
(Parallel) Ezekiel 9:4 - And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Parallel- Revelation 14:12 ...'Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.'
Which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
The phrase “they that dwell upon the earth” is used in Scripture exclusively within the framework of the Tribulation Period.
(The Greek word for temptation is peirasmos, and its related verb, peirazo. The noun peirasmos means “test, trial” and its related verb peirazo means “to try, make trial of, put to the test to discover what kind of person someone is.”)
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown:
12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out:
And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
'Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing' The Christians of Laodicea were quite wealthy, because the city they lived in was an important center of trade and communication at that time. So wealthy was Laodicea that after the great earthquake of A.D. 17, which destroyed it, the people refused any financial help offered by the Roman government in rebuilding the city, choosing rather to do it entirely by themselves.
For all its wealth, the city actually had poor water - it was insipid and actually induced vomiting. Water was channeled from the south by a 10 km long aqueduct. This water came either from hot springs and was cooled to lukewarm or came from a cooler source and warmed up in the aqueduct on the way. This water seems to reflect the lukewarm attitude of the people there.
Jesus begins to bring His second coming into focus with Thyatira, and then increases the nearness of His coming and by the time we get to the Laodicean church (The Church age we are living now), He says He is standing at the door! In other words, we are living in the very last days, just before the second coming.
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:
The Lord Jesus Christ detests this Laodicean attitude of compromise in His Church, one that seeks easy accommodation and peace at any cost; This church is worse than cold, being lukewarm, and, in this position, she is very offensive to God. Not because the members have done worse things than anyone else. But because of the great light that God has given them, the great Bible truths for our time, which should have caused them to be zealous unto good works, living and sharing these precious truths with the rest of the world.
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:
The Christians there (as in today’s churches) were half-hearted, professing to follow Christ, but at the same time, also wanting to follow the world's pursuits of affluence, appearance and achievements. They wanted to have the best of both worlds and could not really decide where their loyalties ultimately should lie.
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:
(Their material wealth had no eternal benefit, so Jesus commands them to come to Him for true, spiritual riches (see Isaiah 55:1-2).
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent:
(Laodicea represents the church of our day, and it is a church of apostasy. It is busy with the things of the world, and Jesus Christ has no place in it, if this warning isn't heeded and action isn't taken to correct this awful state, then Christ will "spue" them out of His mouth and they will be thrown into the lake of fire, and forever lost.)
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:
(The image of Christ standing outside and knocking may also imply that the Laodiceans have locked him out of their church)
21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious (when persecuted, slain and was resurrected) and sat down with my Father on his throne:
(Christ is waiting outside, hoping the Laodiceans will be open to his correction and change their ways. If they do, He will come in and share a meal with them (3:20). The fellowship meal figures prominently as a symbol of togetherness with Christ in the kingdom (19:9). The Laodiceans must overcome in Christ, and in the same way He overcame. Because Christ conquered, He has been given royal authority – which the church can have as well (3:21).
22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
(If the members of the church repent, they can eat and drink at Christ’s table in His kingdom and sit on thrones of judgment (Luke 22:30).