10-15-23 Bible Study Revelation 5

Boyd Thrash

Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Revelation 3:1–22

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Revelation 3:1-22

Last Sunday as we ended,,, I said that I had more information on the "morning star". My Faithlife Study Bible said: the morning star In Rev 22:16,,, refers to Jesus. It is probably an allusion to Numbers 24:17,,, that says: 17 I shall see him, but not now:I shall behold him, but not nigh:There shall come a Star out of Jacob,And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,And shall smite the corners of Moab,And destroy all the children of Sheth.

This scripture is associated with the tribe of Judah and messianic rule. The act of giving the morning star to believers refers to them sharing in the duty of ruling the kingdom with Jesus (compare Daniel 7:27 “The kingdom, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the holy ones of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.’”). And,,, on the new name,,, shared by Bishop Chadwick,,, he said that to understand this passage, we need to go back to Jacob,,, where it says,,, ‘Thou shalt no more be called Jacob, but Israel’ (not Supplanter, but Striver with God),,, said the angel,,, that Jacob had wrestled, openly and manfully, perhaps for the first time in his life. The blessing he won was the blessing of the text. I. It told him that his God thought better of him; that for God,,, no matter what man might say,,,—,,, for God,,, and therefore also for his own consciousness,,,—,,,that mean and unworthy past was gone,,, never more to haunt and to degrade him. And the blessing was not merely negative, repealing his base traditions; it also spoke clearly of the character of his better life. Effort, and even painful, permanently crippling effort, was the condition of his new life. He is to be called the Striver with God; for his highest honour is to have striven successfully, like one to whose life bad habits, evil associations, bloated and long-indulged appetites are clinging. Israel is the name which belonged to him; so much he won in that strange battle with a combatant willing to be overcome. II. As Jacob by overcoming won his new name, so Christ says to all men—for whoever hath an ear is bidden to hear His message to the Churches: ‘To him that overcometh will I give … a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.’ So,,, To him that overcometh is promised the hidden manna, the morning star, to rule the nations with an iron rod, to sit down with his Master in His throne. In company with such gifts, what is it to receive a new name? It was the very turning-point of his existence. Think what multitudes of men and women must long to do better, but find themselves tied and bound in the chain of their own past. With health lost, reputation lost, purity lost, what sort of man is this to aspire to saintship? And if he aspires, plenty of people are ready to tell him how absurd it is. But Christ does not tell him so. He pardons and absolves all that truly repent and undeniably believe His holy gospel. And having pardoned,,, He says, Go in My strength and you shall overcome. And when His strength in you has conquered the bad old habit, the fierce old temptation, then you shall find the effects reaching down to the very root of your being, and working a blessed revolution there. According to the old Hebrew notion, that a change of character should bring a change of name to tell of it, He offers to each man for himself a new name, a new characterisation. III. And what a glorious thought,,, that Christ Himself shall see and observe in me something more really myself than my failures and disgraces; that He shall bid me put away the memory of all the haunting horrors that laugh at my desire for goodness! And this new name is a reality. Jacob is called Israel because he has really striven; it is not a compliment at all, but a fact divinely recognised. —Bishop G. A. CHADWICK. I knew that there was more to what I had than what I shared last week,,, and I wanted to be sure that it was given to you tonight. =============================== This evening we begin in chapter 3:1 as we continue our study. Revelation 3:1–6 (KJV 1900) — 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. -----------------------------------------------------------

The important commercial city of Sardis was located about 30 miles southeast of Thyatira, on an important trade route that ran east and west through the kingdom of Lydia.

Important industries included jewelry, dye, and textiles, which had made the city wealthy.

From a religious standpoint it was a center of pagan worship and site of a temple of Artemis, which ruins still remain (cf. comments on 2:1 regarding another temple of Artemis).

Only a small village called Sart remains on the site of this once-important city.

Archeologists have located the ruins of a Christian church building next to the temple.

In addressing the message to the church Christ described Himself as the One who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, similar to the description in 1:4.

Here Christ said He holds them, speaking of the Holy Spirit in relation to Himself (Isa. 11:2–5; cf. Rev. 5:6).

As in 1:20 the seven stars, representing the pastors of the churches, were also in His hands (cf. 2:1).

The only word of approval is in actuality a word of rebuke as Christ declared that they had a reputation for being alive and apparently were regarded by their contemporaries as an effective church.

Christ quickly stripped away their reputation of being alive by declaring, you are dead. Like the Pharisees, their outer appearance was a facade hiding their lack of life (cf. Matt. 23:27–28). Christ added, I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of My God. They were falling far short of fulfilling their obligations as believers.

The reason for the sad condition in Sardis was that the people were surrounded by the grossest form of idolatry. As Andrew Tait states,

The people of Sardis were idolaters—they worshipped the mother goddess, Cybele. The fragments of the temple that was erected to her honour still remain, and there are two stately columns, with Ionic capitals, which are fully 60 feet high and about 6 1/3 feet in diameter, whose bases are deeply imbedded in the rubbish that has fallen down from the citadel. Her worship was of the most debasing character, and orgies like those of Dionysos were practiced at the festivals held in her honour. Sins of the foulest and darkest impurity were committed on those occasions; and when we think of a small community of Christians rescued from such abominable idolatry, living in the midst of scenes of the grossest depravity, with early associations, and companionships, and connections, all exerting a force in the direction of heathenism, it may be wondered that the few members of the church in Sardis were not drawn away altogether, and swallowed up in the great vortex.1

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3:2a. 3. They were urged to wake up from their spiritual slumber and to strengthen the few evidences of life they still had.

He encouraged them to remember … obey … and repent.

He warned them that if they did not heed this advise,,, He would come on them like a thief, that is, suddenly and unexpectedly.

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Revelation 3:7–13 (KJV 1900) —

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.

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