The One Who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars
Revelation 3:1
JOURNEY / REVELATION
TO THE
CONQUERORS
Sardis and PhiladelphiaRevelation 3:1–13
"Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one will shut." Who held that key before Jesus?
How each letter opens
Revelation 3:1, 7
from the seven spirits before His throne
Revelation 1:4He held seven stars in His right hand
Revelation 1:16The Holy One, the True One, Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens
Revelation 3:7I have the keys of Death and of Hades
Revelation 1:18When Jesus says "I am coming"
Ephesus
2:5I am coming to you, and I will move your lampstand out of its place
Pergamum
2:16I am coming to you soon, and I will make war with them
Thyatira
2:25Hold fast to what you have until I come
Sardis
3:3I will come like a thief, and you will never know what hour I will come upon you
Philadelphia
3:11I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have
The hour
3:10the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole inhabited world
They had a name for being alive. What did Jesus see?
Revelation 3:1–3
1 To the angel of the church in Sardis write: The One Who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says these things: I know your works — that you have a name for being alive, and you are dead. 2 Watch out! and bolster up the things that remain, which were about to die, for I haven't found your works complete before My God. 3 Remember the way you received it and heard it — and keep it, and repent. If you don't watch out, I will come like a thief, and you will never know what hour I will come upon you.
"You have a name for being alive, and you are dead"
- 01
The One with the seven spirits speaks to a dead church: "I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live." (3:1; Ezekiel 37:14)
- 02
"I haven't found your works complete before My God." (3:2)
- 03
"Watch out! and bolster up the things that remain." (3:2)
- 04
"Remember the way you received it and heard it — and keep it, and repent." (3:3)
"I will come like a thief… upon you." Who is He coming to, and when?
Behind 3:3: Jesus on the Mount of Olives
Matthew 24:34, 42–44
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. … 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Behind 3:3 and 3:20: the watching servants and the thief
Luke 12:35–37, 39–40
35 Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. … 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
"I will come like a thief… upon you"
- 01
The thief, the watching, and the hour are Jesus' own words, about "this generation." (Matthew 24:34, 42–44)
- 02
"If you don't watch out, I will come like a thief": a coming upon Sardis. (3:3)
- 03
In Luke 12 the thief and the knock are one paragraph. Sardis gets the thief; Laodicea gets the knock. (3:3, 20)
- 04
"Behold! I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who is watchful and keeps his garments." (16:15)
Revelation 3:4–5
4 But you have a few names in Sardis that didn't soil their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. 5 He who conquers will be clothed like this, in white garments, and I will never wipe his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Behind 3:4–5: the high priest's garments
Zechariah 3:3–5
3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, "Remove the filthy garments from him." And to him he said, "Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." 5 … So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.
"They will walk with Me in white"
- 01
"A few names in Sardis that didn't soil their garments." (3:4)
- 02
Joshua the high priest stood in filthy garments, and the LORD clothed him with pure ones. (Zechariah 3:3–5)
- 03
"He who conquers will be clothed like this, in white garments." (3:5)
- 04
"I will never wipe his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father." (3:5)
Philadelphia had a little power. Who holds the key?
Revelation 3:7–8
7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: The Holy One, the True One, Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens, says these things: 8 I know your works. Behold! I have put an open door before you, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have a little power, and that you kept My word and didn't deny My Name.
Behind 3:7: the key taken from the steward of the house
Isaiah 22:15, 20–23, 25
15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, "Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: … 20 In that day I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. … 25 In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall.
"Who has the key of David"
I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him
Isaiah 22:21clothed in a robe reaching to His feet, with a golden sash around His chest
Revelation 1:13the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut
Isaiah 22:22Who opens and no one will shut… an open door before you, which no one is able to shut
Revelation 3:7–8I will give him your crown
Isaiah 22:21 (Greek)in order that no one takes your crown
Revelation 3:11a peg in a secure place… will give way, and it will be cut down and fall
Isaiah 22:23, 25a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will never go outside again
Revelation 3:12Revelation 3:9
9 Behold! — I am giving you those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews but are not, but are liars — Behold! I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.
"Bow down at your feet." Who bows, and why?
Behind 3:9: the nations bow to Zion
Isaiah 60:14; 49:23
60:14 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 49:23 … With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for Me shall not be put to shame.
"They will know that I have loved you"
Because you are precious in My eyes, and honored, and I love you
Isaiah 43:4they will know that I have loved you
Revelation 3:9Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you… may your mother's sons bow down to you
Genesis 27:29I will make them come and bow down at your feet
Revelation 3:9I will bless those who bless you… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed
Genesis 12:3I will write on him the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God
Revelation 3:12"Who say they are Jews but are not, but are liars"
- 01
Isaiah promised that Israel's enemies would bow at Zion's feet. (Isaiah 60:14; 49:23)
- 02
In 3:9 those who say they are Jews bow at the church's feet.
- 03
"They will know that I have loved you": the LORD's word to Israel, in Ezekiel's sentence, "they will know that I am." (Isaiah 43:4; Ezekiel 37:28)
- 04
Jesus' people are Israel. (2:9; 3:9)
Revelation 3:10–11
10 Because you kept My word about endurance, I will also keep you out of the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole inhabited world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, in order that no one takes your crown.
Behind 3:10: "about to come on the whole inhabited world"
Acts 11:28
28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).
"I will also keep you out of the hour of testing"
- 01
"Because you kept My word… I will also keep you." (3:10)
- 02
"I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one." (John 17:15)
- 03
The hour is "about to come," and "I am coming soon." (3:10–11)
- 04
Agabus said a famine was about to come on the whole world, and it came under Claudius. (Acts 11:28)
Revelation 3:12–13
12 I will make him who conquers a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will never go outside again; and I will write on him the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My own new Name. 13 Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
"I will make him who conquers a pillar"
- 01
Solomon's pillars in the temple had names: Jachin and Boaz. (1 Kings 7:21)
- 02
James, Cephas, and John "seemed to be pillars." (Galatians 2:9)
- 03
The conqueror bears three names: God's, the city's, and Christ's new Name. (3:12)
- 04
The new Jerusalem is named in a letter to a living church, eighteen chapters before it comes down. (3:12; 21:2)
- 05
Endurance, a crown, the sanctuary: "the crown shall be for those who endure... in the house of the Lord." (3:10–12; Zechariah 6:14, Greek)
"WHO HAS THE KEY OF DAVID"
"Who opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens." (3:7)
To Sardis: "If you don't watch out, I will come like a thief." (3:3)
To Philadelphia: "I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have." (3:11)
"A pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will never go outside again." (3:12)