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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
R E V E L A T I O N.
CHAP. III.
Here we have three more of the epistles of Christ to the churches:
I. To Sardis,
II. To Philadelphia,
III. To Laodicea,
| The Church in Sardis. | A. D. 95. |
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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.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are
ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
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.
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.
6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches.
Here is,
I. The preface, showing,
1. To whom this letter is directed: To the angel of the church of
Sardis, an ancient city of Lydia, on the banks of the mountain
Tmolus, said to have been the chief city of Asia the Less, and the
first city in that part of the world that was converted by the
preaching of John; and, some say, the first that revolted from
Christianity, and one of the first that was laid in its ruins, in which
it still lies, without any church or ministry.
2. By whom this message was sent–the Lord Jesus, who here assumes the
character of him that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven
stars, taken out of
where the seven spirits are said to be before the throne.
(1.) He hath the seven spirits, that is, the Holy Spirit with his
various powers, graces, and operations; for he is personally one,
though efficaciously various, and may be said here to be seven, which
is the number of the churches, and of the angels of the churches, to
show that to every minister, and to every church, there is a
dispensation and measure of the Spirit given for them to profit
withal–a stock of spiritual influence for that minister and church to
improve, both for enlargement and continuance, which measure of the
Spirit is not ordinarily withdrawn from them, till they forfeit it by
misimprovement. Churches have their spiritual stock and fund, as well
as particular believers; and, this epistle being sent to a languishing
ministry and church, they are very fitly put in mind that Christ has
the seven spirits, the Spirit without measure and in perfection, to
whom they may apply themselves for the reviving of his work among them.
(2.) He hath the seven stars, the angels of the churches; they are
disposed of by him, and accountable to him, which should make them
faithful and zealous. He has ministers to employ, and spiritual
influences to communicate to his ministers for the good of his church.
The Holy Spirit usually works by the ministry, and the ministry will be
of no efficacy without the Spirit; the same divine hand holds them
both.
II. The body of this epistle. There is this observable in it, that
whereas in the other epistles Christ begins with commending what is
good in the churches, and then proceeds to tell them what is amiss, in
this (and in the epistle to Laodicea) he begins,
1. With a reproof, and a very severe one: I know thy works, that
thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Hypocrisy, and a
lamentable decay in religion, are the sins charged upon this church, by
one who knew her well, and all her works.
(1.) This church had gained a great reputation; it had a name, and a
very honourable one, for a flourishing church, a name for vital lively
religion, for purity of doctrine, unity among themselves, uniformity in
worship, decency, and order. We read not of any unhappy divisions among
themselves. Every thing appeared well, as to what falls under the
observation of men.
(2.) This church was not really what it was reputed to be. They had a
name to live, but they were dead; there was a form of godliness, but
not the power, a name to live, but not a principle of life. If
there was not a total privation of life, yet there was a great deadness
in their souls and in their services, a great deadness in the spirits
of their ministers, and a great deadness in their ministrations, in
their praying, in their preaching, in their converse, and a great
deadness in the people in hearing, in prayer, and in conversation; what
little life was yet left among them was, in a manner, expiring, ready
to die.
2. Our Lord proceeds to give this degenerate church the best advice:
Be watchful, and strengthen the things, &c.,
v. 2.
(1.) He advises them to be upon their watch. The cause of their sinful
deadness and declension was that they had let down their watch.
Whenever we are off our watch, we lose ground, and therefore must
return to our watchfulness against sin, and Satan, and whatever is
destructive to the life and power of godliness.
(2.) To strengthen the things that remain, and that are ready to die.
Some understand this of persons; there were some few who had retained
their integrity, but they were in danger of declining with the rest. It
is a difficult thing to keep up to the life and power of
godliness ourselves, when we see a universal deadness and
declension prevailing round about us. Or it may be understood of
practices, as it follows: I have not found thy works perfect before
God, not filled up; there is something wanting in them; there is
the shell, but not the kernel; there is the carcase, but not the
soul–the shadow, but not the substance. The inward thing is wanting,
thy works are hollow and empty; prayers are not filled up with holy
desires, alms-deeds not filled up with true charity, sabbaths not
filled up with suitable devotion of soul to God; there are not inward
affections suitable to outward acts and expressions. Now when the
spirit is wanting the form cannot long subsist.
(3.) To recollect themselves, and remember how they have received
and heard
(v. 3);
not only to remember what they had received and heard, what messages
they had received from God, what tokens of his mercy and favour towards
them, what sermons they had heard, but how they had received and heard,
what impressions the mercies of God had made upon their souls at first,
what affections they felt working under their word and ordinances, the
love of their espousals, the kindness of their youth, how welcome the
gospel and the grace of God were to them when they first received them.
Where is the blessedness they then spoke of?
(4.) To hold fast what they had received, that they might not lose all,
and repent sincerely that they had lost so much of the life of
religion, and had run the risk of losing all.
3. Christ enforces his counsel with a dreadful threatening in case it
should be despised: I will come unto thee as a thief, and thou shalt
not know the hour,
v. 3.
Observe,
(1.) When Christ leaves a people as to his gracious presence, he comes
to them in judgment; and his judicial presence will be very dreadful to
those who have sinned away his gracious presence.
(2.) His judicial approach to a dead declining people will be
surprising; their deadness will keep them in security, and, as it
procures an angry visit from Christ to them, it will prevent their
discerning it and preparing for it.
(3.) Such a visit from Christ will be to their loss; he will come as a
thief, to strip them of their remaining enjoyments and mercies, not by
fraud, but in justice and righteousness, taking the forfeiture they
have made of all to him.
4. Our blessed Lord does not leave this sinful people without some
comfort and encouragement: In the midst of judgment he remembers
mercy
(v. 4),
and here
(1.) He makes honourable mention of the faithful remnant in Sardis,
though but small: Thou hast a few names in Sardis which have not
defiled their garments; they had not given into the prevailing
corruptions and pollution of the day and place in which they lived. God
takes notice of the smallest number of those who abide with him; and
the fewer they are the more precious in his sight.
(2.) He makes a very gracious promise to them: They shall walk with
me in white, for they are worthy–in the stola, the white
robes of justification, and adoption, and comfort, or in the white
robes of honour and glory in the other world. They shall walk with
Christ in the pleasant walks of the heavenly paradise; and what
delightful converse will there be between Christ and them when they
thus walk together! This is an honour proper and suitable to their
integrity, which their fidelity has prepared them for, and which it is
no way unbecoming Christ to confer upon them, though it is not a legal
but a gospel worthiness that is ascribed to them, not merit but
meetness. Those who walk with Christ in the clean garments of real
practical holiness here, and keep themselves unspotted from the world,
shall walk with Christ in the white robes of honour and glory in the
other world: this is a suitable reward.
III. We now come to the conclusion of this epistle, in which, as
before, we have,
1. A great reward promised to the conquering Christian
(v. 5),
and it is very much the same with what has been already mentioned:
He that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment. The purity
of grace shall be rewarded with the perfect purity of glory. Holiness,
when perfected, shall be its own reward; glory is the perfection of
grace, differing not in kind, but in degree. Now to this is added
another promise very suitable to the case: I will not blot his name
out of the book of life, but will confess his name before my Father,
and before his angels. Observe,
(1.) Christ has his book of life, a register and roll of all who shall
inherit eternal life.
[1.] The book of eternal election.
[2.] The book of remembrance of all those who have lived to God, and
have kept up the life and power of godliness in evil times.
(2.) Christ will not blot the names of his chosen and faithful ones out
of this book of life; men may be enrolled in the registers of the
church, as baptized, as making a profession, as having a name to live,
and that name may come to be blotted out of the roll, when it appears
that it was but a name, a name to live, without spiritual life; such
often lose the very name before they die, they are left of God to blot
out their own names by their gross and open wickedness. But the names
of those that overcome shall never be blotted out.
(3.) Christ will produce this book of life, and confess the names of
the faithful who stand there, before God, and all the angels; he will
do this as their Judge, when the books shall be opened; he will do this
as their captain and head, leading them with him triumphantly to
heaven, presenting them to the Father: Behold me, and the children
that thou hast given me. How great will this honour and reward
be!
2. The demand of universal attention finishes the message. Every word
from God deserves attention from men; that which may seem more
particularly directed to one body of men has something in it
instructive to all.
| The Church in Philadelphia. | A. D. 95. |
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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;
8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open
door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength,
and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
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.
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will
keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all
the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
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.
We have now come to the sixth letter, sent to one of the Asian
churches, where observe,
I. The inscription, showing,
1. For whom it was more immediately designed: The angel of the
church of Philadelphia; this also was a city in Asia Minor, seated
upon the borders of Mysia and Lydia, and had its name from that
brotherly love for which it was eminent. We can hardly suppose that
this name was given to it after it received the Christian religion, and
that it was so called from that Christian affection that all believers
have, and should have, one for another, as the children of one Father
and the brethren of Christ; but rather that it was its ancient name, on
account of the love and kindness which the citizens had and showed to
each other as a civil fraternity. This was an excellent spirit, and,
when sanctified by the grace of the gospel, would render them an
excellent church, as indeed they were, for here is no one fault found
with this church, and yet, doubtless, there were faults in it of common
infirmity; but love covers such faults.
2. By whom this letter was signed; even by the same Jesus who is alone
the universal head of all the churches; and here observe by what title
he chooses to represent himself to this church: He that is holy, he
that is true, he that hath the key of David, &c. You have his
personal character: He that is holy and he that is true,
holy in his nature, and therefore he cannot but be true to his word,
for he hath spoken in his holiness; and you have also his political
character: He hath the key of David, he openeth, and no man
shutteth; he hath the key of the house of David, the key of
government and authority in and over the church. Observe,
(1.) The acts of his government.
[1.] He opens. He opens a door of opportunity to his churches; he opens
a door of utterance to his ministers; he opens a door of entrance,
opens the heart; he opens a door of admission into the visible church,
laying down the terms of communion; and he opens the door of admission
into the church triumphant, according to the terms of salvation fixed
by him.
[2.] He shuts the door. When he pleases, he shuts the door of
opportunity and the door of utterance, and leaves obstinate sinners
shut up in the hardness of their hearts; he shuts the door of
church-fellowship against unbelievers and profane persons; and he shuts
the door of heaven against the foolish virgins who have slept away
their day of grace, and against the workers of iniquity, how vain and
confident soever they may be.
(2.) The way and manner in which he performs these acts, and that is
absolute sovereignty, independent upon the will of men, and
irresistible by the power of men: He openeth, and no man shutteth;
he shutteth, and no man openeth; he works to will and to do, and,
when he works, none can hinder. These were proper characters for him,
when speaking to a church that had endeavoured to be conformed to
Christ in holiness and truth, and that had enjoyed a wide door of
liberty and opportunity under his care and government.
II. The subject-matter of this epistle, where,
1. Christ puts them in mind of what he had done for them: I have set
before thee an open door, and no man can shut it,
v. 8.
I have set it open, and kept it open, though there be many adversaries.
Learn here,
(1.) Christ is to be acknowledged as the author of all the liberty and
opportunity his churches enjoy.
(2.) He takes notice and keeps account, how long he has preserved their
spiritual liberties and privileges for them.
(3.) Wicked men envy the people of God their door of liberty, and would
be glad to shut it against them.
(4.) If we do not provoke Christ to shut this door against us, men
cannot do it.
2. This church is commended: Thou hast a little strength, and hast
kept my word, and hast not denied my name,
v. 8.
In this there seems to be couched a gentle reproof: “Thou hast a
little strength, a little grace, which, though it be not
proportionate to the wide door of opportunity which I have opened to
thee, yet is true grace, and has kept thee faithful.” True grace,
though weak, has the divine approbation; but, though Christ accepts a
little strength, yet believers should not rest satisfied in a little,
but should strive to grow in grace, to be strong in faith, giving
glory to God. True grace, though weak, will do more than the
greatest gifts or highest degrees of common grace, for it will enable
the Christian to keep the word of Christ, and not to deny his name.
Obedience, fidelity, and a free confession of the name of Christ, are
the fruits of true grace, and are pleasing to Christ as such.
3. Here is a promise of the great favour God would bestow on this
church,
This favour consists in two things:–
(1.) Christ would make this church’s enemies subject to her.
[1.] Those enemies are described to be such as said they were
Jews, but lied in saying so–pretended to be the only and peculiar
people of God, but were really the synagogue of Satan.
Assemblies that worship God in spirit and in truth are the
Israel of God; assemblies that either worship false gods, or the true
God in a false manner, are the synagogues of Satan: though they may
profess to be the only people of God, their profession is a lie.
[2.] Their subjection to the church is described: They shall worship
at thy feet; not pay a religious and divine honour to the church
itself, nor to the ministry of it, but shall be convinced that they
have been in the wrong, that this church is in the right and is beloved
of Christ, and they shall desire to be taken into communion with her
and that they may worship the same God after the same manner. How shall
this great change be wrought? By the power of God upon the hearts of
his enemies, and by signal discoveries of his peculiar favour to his
church: They shall know that I have loved thee. Observe,
First, The greatest honour and happiness any church can enjoy
consist in the peculiar love and favour of Christ. Secondly,
Christ can discover this his favour to his people in such a manner that
their very enemies shall see it, and be forced to acknowledge it.
Thirdly, This will, by the grace of Christ, soften the hearts of
their enemies, and make them desirous to be admitted into communion
with them.
(2.) Another instance of favour that Christ promises to this church is
persevering grace in the most trying times
(v. 10),
and this as the reward of their past fidelity. To him that hath
shall be given. Here observe,
[1.] The gospel of Christ is the word of his patience. It is the fruit
of the patience of God to a sinful world; it sets before men the
exemplary patience of Christ in all his sufferings for men; it calls
those that receive it to the exercise of patience in conformity to
Christ.
[2.] This gospel should be carefully kept by all that enjoy it; they
must keep up to the faith, and practice, and worship prescribed in the
gospel.
[3.] After a day of patience we must expect an hour of temptation; a
day of gospel peace and liberty is a day of God’s patience, and it is
seldom so well improved as it should be and therefore it is often
followed by an hour of trial and temptation.
[4.] Sometimes the trial is more general and universal; it comes upon
all the world, and, when it is so general, it is usually the shorter.
[5.] Those who keep the gospel in a time of peace shall be kept by
Christ in an hour of temptation. By keeping the gospel they are
prepared for the trial; and the same divine grace that has made them
fruitful in times of peace will make them faithful in times of
persecution.
4. Christ calls the church to that duty which he before promised he
would enable her to do, and that is, to persevere, to hold fast that
which she had.
(1.) The duty itself: “Hold fast that which thou hast, that
faith, that truth, that strength of grace, that zeal, that love to the
brethren; thou hast been possessed of this excellent treasure, hold it
fast.”
(2.) The motives, taken from the speedy appearance of Christ:
“Behold, I come quickly. See, I am just a coming to relieve them
under the trial, to reward their fidelity, and to punish those who fall
away; they shall lose that crown which they once seemed to have a right
to, which they hoped for, and pleased themselves with the thoughts of.
The persevering Christian shall win the prize from backsliding
professors, who once stood fair for it.”
III. The conclusion of this epistle,
Here,
1. After his usual manner, our Saviour promises a glorious reward to
the victorious believer, in two things:–
(1.) He shall be a monumental pillar in the temple of God; not a
pillar to support the temple (heaven needs no such props), but a
monument of the free and powerful grace of God, a monument that shall
never be defaced nor removed, as many stately pillars erected in honour
to the Roman emperors and generals have been.
(2.) On this monumental pillar there shall be an honourable
inscription, as in those cases is usual.
[1.] The name of God, in whose cause he engaged, whom he served,
and for whom he suffered in this warfare; and the name of the city
of God, the church of God, the new Jerusalem, which came down
from heaven. On this pillar shall be recorded all the services the
believer did to the church of God, how he asserted her rights, enlarged
her borders, maintained her purity and honour; this will be a greater
name than Asiaticus, or Africanus; a soldier under God in
the wars of the church. And then another part of the inscription is,
[2.] The new name of Christ, the Mediator, the Redeemer, the
captain of our salvation; by this it will appear under whose banner
this conquering believer had enlisted, under whose conduct he acted, by
whose example he was encouraged, and under whose influence he fought
the good fight, and came off victorious.
2. The epistle is closed up with the demand of attention: He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,
how Christ loves and values his faithful people, how he commends, and
how he will crown their fidelity.
| The Church in Laodicea. | A. D. 95. |
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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 eye-salve, 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 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 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
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.
II. The subject-matter, in which observe,
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,
v. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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, &c.,
Here observe, 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.
4. 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, &c.,
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. lv. 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 effectual.
5. Here is added great and gracious encouragement to this sinful people
to take the admonition and advice well that Christ had given them,
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.
(2.) 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,
&c.,
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 open the door of
the heart to Christ!
III. 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,
v. 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 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.
2. All is closed up with the general demand of attention
(v. 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?
1 Pet. iv. 17.
Thus end the messages of Christ to the Asian churches, the epistolary
part of this book. We now come to the prophetical part.
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