door, and no man can shut it; | 9 Behold, I will make them for thou hast a little strength, of the synagogue of Satan and hast kept my word, and which say they are Jews, and hast not denied my name. are not, but do lie; behold, I have the power to throw any insur mountable obstacles in their way? ¶ A little strength. - Notwithstanding all this church had suffered, it had not been effectually crushed. It had some strength left. It had shown decisive signs of spiritual life, even am he which searcheth the reins and hearts; and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." An open door. In the preceding verse it was said, that Jesus had the key of David; that he opened, and no man could shut; that he shut, and no man could open. After having as-in its worst condition, for it had been serted the possession of this power, faithful,--more so, perhaps, than eithhe then said, "I have set before thee er of the other seven churches. ¶Hast an open door, and no man can shut kept my word. This is the proof of it." The meaning of this is, we what we have said. They had held think, "I will make thy way plain fast the gospel; they had not rebefore thee; I will remove every ob-nounced the word of Christ.¶Hast stacle; I, who alone can do this, will not denied my name. - This is a furdo it in thy behalf." To open a door ther proof of their steadfastness. in the metaphorical sense, is to give From all that is said, we are clearly a man liberty to pursue his proper of the opinion, that this church had vocation without hindrance; to give shown a firmer devotion to Christ free course to him in his pursuits. than any other of the seven. When God took away the obstacles which had prevented the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, it is said, "he had opened the door of faith" to them; Acts xiv. 27. So when Paul met with much success at Ephesus, and was induced thereby to prolong his stay there, he said, "I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost; for a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries;" 1 Cor. xvi. 8, 9. He had opportunity to preach the gospel; and notwithstanding the many adversaries, he met with much success. See, also, 2 Cor. ii. 12. When Paul prayed that a "door of utterance" might be opened to him, Col. iv. 3, he meant that he desired great liberty to preach the gospel. When, therefore, the Son of God promised to the Philadel-“If ye were Abraham's children, ye phian church that he would set before them an open door, and no man could shut it, did it not mean, that he would give them full liberty in their proper Christian duties; that they should have free course and be glorified; and that their enemies should not 9. Synagogue of Satan. - We have once before been called on to notice this phrase. See the notes on ii. 9. A synagogue of Satan signifies a wicked synagogue, a synagogue of adver'saries, the synagogue being put for the worshippers therein. T Which say they are Jews. There were certain persons at Philadelphia who claimed to be pious Jews, and were outwardly very devout. But they were not truly the children of Abraham. They were Jews outwardly, or by descent; but were not Jews in the dignified and noble sense of the expression. John had learned this distinction from his master. During the ministry of Christ certain Jews boasted to him that they were Abraham's seed; but Jesus said in reply, would do the works of Abraham;" John viii. 39. He did not mean to deny that they were the posterity of Abraham; but they were not his children in character. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a wil 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 murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth; because there is no truth in him. When he speak eth a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it;" Idem, 44. Possibly John had these facts in his mind when he wrote the passage in the Apocalypse which we are considering,-"Which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie." Worship before thy feet. I will make them do thee homage. They are now thine oppressors; they persecute thee; they cause thee to be cast into prison; thus proving, by their works, that they are not possessed of true religion, but are in fact the synagogue of Satan. They shall be humbled; and shall come and bow before thee. ¶ Know that I have loved thee. They shall see so many proofs of the protection of Heaven extended out in thy behalf, that when I come in my glory, and they are cast down, they shall see that I have loved thee. 10. The word of my patience. We think the meaning here is, the word in which I have enjoined the duty of patience, illustrated by my example. It was necessary for Christ and his apostles to enjoin the duty of patience on their fainting followers. Jesus said to them, in his memorable discourse concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not a hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh;" Luke xxi. 17-20. The persecution would be so ardent, and the hope of escape from it at the coming of Christ would be so strong, that Jesus feared his disciples would become 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 : impatient. Paul said to the Thessa lonians, that he gloried in them, "for their patience and faith in all their persecutions and tribulations;" 2 Epis. i. 4. And again, "The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ;" Idem, iii. 5. See also Jas. v. 7, 8. Hour of temptation. This was to be the reward of their patience; and it was certainly a very natural one. They were to be pre served from the hour, or season, of temptation. Their severest trials, perhaps, had not then fallen upon them. But Jesus promised them help to bear them safely through. The troubles to which he referred were doubtless those that were to attend his coming. ¶ All the world. — The troubles were to come on all the world, to try them that dwelt on the earth. The word here (oikoumene) signified the inhabited world, the Roman empire; to try them that dwelt in the earth, or land to which the judgment was confined. was not a judgment in the immortal state; but here on the earth. It was a judgment simultaneous with the coming of Christ; and it was said it would "try them that dwelt upon the earth." This 11. Behold, I come quickly. - This shows that the troubles mentioned in the preceding verse were the troubles attending the coming of the Lord Jesus. The invariable language which our Lord used concerning his coming showed that it was near when he was on the earth. It was still nearer when the Apocalypse was written. Again and again, we are told in that book, it was to transpire quickly See i. 1, 3, and the notes on those passages. See also xxii. 6, 7, 10, 12, 20. How unwise do those hold that fast which thou hast, | which is new Jerusalem, which 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, appear who are still looking for the second coming of Christ. Hold that fast. Be tenacious of thy good name, of thy patience, faith, and love. Part not from them. Thy crown. -These are thy crown, -thy virtues, thy regard for my word, thy love of my cause, these things cover thee with glory and honor, and are a crown upon thy head. Hold fast, that no man take thy crown. See the notes on the phrase "crown of life," ii. 10. 12. Overcometh. We have before proved that this is in the style of John. See the notes on iii. 5, and other places. ¶ A pillar in the temple of my God. This was the reward of the faithful, not a far distant reward in the future world; but a reward in this world; he shall be a pillar in the temple of my God. To be a pillar is to be a support and an ornament, for a pillar supports and ornaments the building. We read that "the church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth;" 1 Tim. iii. 15. That men are made pillars in the temple of God in the present life, who can deny? James, Cephas and John were said to be pillars; Gal. ii. 9. ¶ He shall go no more out. - For the pillar is a fixture, and cannot be taken away without great detriment to the building. I will write upon him. That is, I will inscribe upon the pillar the name of the city of my God. And this city is the New Jerusalem. Not the old Jerusalem, the earthly city; but the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city, the spiritual city, the city which John saw coming down from God out of cometh down out of heaven froin 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. 14 And unto the angel of the heaven; Rev. xxi. 2. When we come to consider chaps. xxi. and xxii., we shall have occasion to contemplate a very full description of the New Jerusalem, to which the revelator merely refers in the passage now before us. ¶ My new name. - This figure of the new name is borrowed from Isa. Ixii. 2, and hath been before mentioned, Rev. ii. 17. 13. He that hath an ear. - - See the remarks on Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17. EPISTLE TO THE CHURCH IN LAODICEA. 14. Laodiceans. - This is the only place in which the Laodiceans, or their city, is mentioned in the Apocalypse; but we find mention made of them repeatedly in Paul's epistle to the Colossians. He seemed to have an earnest regard for them, mingled with no small degree of anxiety. "For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words;" Col. ii. 1-4. See also Col. iv. 13, 15, 16. Laodicea was situated on the confines of Phrygia and Lydia. Previous to assuming the name here given, it had borne others It was long an inconsiderable place but increased toward the time of Augustus Cæsar; and though an in church of the Laodiceans write; the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God ; These things saith the Amen, quently as a witness, and his preaching is represented as the bearing of testimony, or bearing record. This is to be reckoned among the instances which show a similarity between the land town, it grew more potent than the cities on the coast, and became one of the largest towns in Phrygia, as its present ruins prove. It was terribly ravaged in the wars between the Turks and Romans, and after-style of the Apocalypse and that wards by the Tartars. It was a place of consequence at the time of the writing of the Apocalypse. The Christians there were represented as being infected with pride, and also as having lost the love that they ought to bear to Christ. It is probable that the prosperity of their city, and the increase of its wealth, had lifted them up. The site is now utterly desolate. Not a trace of a house, church or mosque. Angel of the church. See the notes on ii. 1, 8, 12, 18; iii. 1, 7. ¶ The Amen. - The word amen imports truth and certainty. Hence, the phrase, ❝verily, verily, I say unto you," which we meet with so frequently in the gospels, (where the Greek for verily is Amen,) signifies, truly, -a solemn affirmation of the truth of the declaration. As a substantive, the word occurs with the article but once, "the Amen," viz., in the verse before us. We suspect that in some Greek copies it is also preserved in Rev. i. 18, as Schmidt, in his Greek Concordance, gives the article as being found in that place. The amen signifies, the true, the certain. See Spear's Titles of Christ, under that word. ¶ The faithful and This is the exact sense of the amen, and follows in apposition. The amen, i. e., the faithful and true. Witness. Jesus was preeminently a witness, and so he often described himself. The evangelist John called the Baptist a witness; John i. 8, 15, 32, 34. Jesus is described himself as a witness; John iii. 11, 44; iv. 44; v. 31, 32, 33, 36, 37; vii. 7; viii. 13, 14, 18; x. 25; xiii. 21; xv. 26, 27; xviii. 23, 37. This is abundantly sufficient to show the style of John. He speaks of Christ very fre true. 1 of the undisputed writings of John. 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 In the Gospel, Jesus is called "the in the strong consciousness of the word;" in the Epistle he is called rectitude of his cause, called aloud "the word of life;" in the Apocalypse unto them to decide between God and "the word of God;" xix. 13. Jesus Baal. "How long halt ye between was the head of the creation. Paul two opinions? if the Lord be God, fol expresses the same idea "Who is low him: but if Baal, then follow him. the image of the invisite God, the And the people answered him not a first-born of every creature for by word;" 1 Kings xviii. 21. Their him were all things created, that are state of uncertainty was peculiarly in heaven, and that are in earth, vis- puzzling and disagreeable to the ible and invisible, whether they be prophet of the true God. So in the thrones, or dominions, or principali-case before us, the Son of God says, ties, or powers: all things were cre- "I would thou wert cold or hot." ated by him and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist;" Col. i. 15-17. There are evidently two senses in which Jesus is the "beginning of the creation of God." 1st. He was the firstborn of every creature; Col. i. 15. 2d. He was the prince or chief of the creation. Both ideas seem to have been combined in the character of Jesus, in the mind of John, and also of Paul. John preserved the trait in his three works, viz., the Apocalypse, the Epistle, and the Gospel. 16. Spue thee out of my mouth. The figure is expressive, as any man's sensibilities will testify. Because they were lukewarm, i. e., neither cold nor hot, the Son of God could not endure them. We see, then, the standard of love which Christ required. He asked for a fervent love. If any man loved father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children, houses, lands, or his own life even, more than Christ, he was not fit, in that age, to be his disciple. When the church at Ephesus lost their first love, they 15. I know thy works. This was were regarded as a fallen people, and said to all the seven churches. ¶ Nei-were called on, as such, to repent. ther cold nor hot They had not for- They probably did repent. The saken Christ, neither were they very church at Laodicea had committed warm in his defence. Their state the same sin-they had left their seems to have caused a perplexity in first love; they had become lukethe mind of the Son of God. If they warm. Such a state the Lord Jesus had been either cold or hot, he would could not endure. He showed signs have known more directly what judg- of displeasure. When a people of ment to have pronounced; and hence old were driven from their land in he says, "I would thou wert cold or consequence of their wickedness, the hot." I would there were something land was said to spue them out; more decisive in thy case The state Lev. xviii. 28; and so when the Laoof the church at Laodicea seems to diceans were driven from the special have been somewhat analogous to presence of the Son of man, in consethat of the children of Israel in the quence of their indifference, he was time of the prophet Elijah. They said to spue them out of his mouth. seemed to have become bewildered by the influence of idolatry, as practised by Ahab and his powerful but iniquitous spouse, Jezebel. Elijah, 17. I am rich. - People ofttimes glory in their earthly riches. This was the case with Ephraim of old; and perhaps the revelator had his eye |