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Grace & Peace: Revelation #36

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“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. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 3:20–22).

Despite the fact that the church at Laodicea was in a wretched state, the Lord still offers to commune with any who will commune with Him. The invitation is famously stated as though the Lord were knocking at the door of someone’s heart, but there is no mention of a heart in this text at all. The door He is knocking on is the door of a church. If any of the Laodiceans hear His voice—which indicates that He is both knocking and calling—and comes to open the door, the Lord promises to come into “to him” and sup with him, and the table fellowship would be mutual. This is not a salvation text at all—it is a reformation text.

And despite the defeated condition of that particular church, a glorious prospect is held out. That defeated church might have overcomers contained within it. To anyone who overcomes, the Lord will invite him to be seated together with Christ in His throne. This is done according to the same logic that was applied when the Lord overcame in His trial, and was seated together with the Father in His throne. As that Father shared His throne with the Son, so the Son shares His throne with believers who overcome.

The same general invitation is given to them that is given to other churches—if a man has an ear, he should take care to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Here we should note the plural churches. What is said to each church is said—mutatis mutandis—to them all. We make adjustments in application in the different churches, but there is always some application.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #35

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“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 eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev. 3:18–19).

The church at Laodicea was spiritually poor, and the likely reason was that they were not poor at all when it came to material goods. Laodicea was a wealthy city—it was a center for banking, and also had a thriving wool and linen industry. They were also famous for a medical school, and for an eye ointment that was made there out of Phrygian powder.

The Roman historian Tacitus once wrote this about the city’s recovery from a major earthquake in 60 A.D.: “Laodicea arose from the ruins by the strength of her own resources, and with no help from us” (Annals, xiv.27). They were rich, and the church there was an apparent partaker of the general wealth. And this meant in turn that the Christians were tempted to provide a sort of pious echo of that pagan wealth instead of offering a true alternative to it.

And so the Lord challenges them to receive true riches in place of their shadow riches—but He makes a point to use images drawn from their shadow wealth. Buy refined gold from me, gold refined in the fire (banking). Buy white raiment to cover your nakedness (textiles). Anoint your eyes with a spiritual eye salve (medicine). For more on this background, see Storms and Beale.

There were some severe spiritual problems in the six other churches of Asia, but the Lord somehow finds something to commend with them. But not here. This church really was, from front to back, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. And yet . . .

What is the Lord’s response to this wretchedness? He invites them to be zealous in repentance. And He invites them this way because, as He puts it, He loves them. Why did He rebuke and chasten them? “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.”

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #34

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“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” (Rev. 3:17).

The reason why the church at Laodicea was lukewarm was because when it came to riches, they were hot. In short, their wealth made them self-sufficient, and self-sufficiency is what lukewarmness in religion is. The reason the Lord would spew them out of His mouth is because they had said to themselves that they were “rich, and increased with good.” The end result of this was that they had “need of nothing,” which meant they had need of nothing from the Lord. If you don’t need anything, then you don’t need anything from Him.

This is the perennial temptation that comes with wealth, and Scripture warns of this constantly. The Israelites were warned as they came out of the wilderness—where God gave them water from the rock and bread from the sky—that they would be tempted to this self-sufficiency. “And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.” (Deut. 8:17). The rich fool looked out on his need for bigger barns with some complacency (Luke 12:18). Jesus says not to lay up treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy (Matt. 6:19). And Paul tells the rich in this world not to trust in “uncertain riches” (1 Tim. 6:17). In short, the Laodiceans apparently thought that in their case riches would not do what riches always do.

And the apparent lack of need in one area covers over the desperate actual need in another. While they said they had “need of nothing,” what did they in fact need? There is only one thing worse than being wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, and that is to be all five of those things and add to it the sixth misery of not knowing about it.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #33

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“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; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:14–16).

We come now to perhaps the most famous of the seven churches of Asia. This is the lukewarm and tepid church of the Laodiceans, the basis for many sermonic rebukes of lethargic congregations.

The rebuke comes from the Lord, the one giving all these messages to the angels of the respective churches. He identifies Himself here with a series of striking images. Jesus is the ultimate Amen—Amen is one of His names. He is the faithful and true witness (martys), so when we faithfully bear witness to Him, we are bearing faithful and true witness to the faithful and true witness. And then last, He is the arche of the whole creation of God, meaning that He is the integration point of all things. In Christ all things hold together, Paul says, going on to use the same word (Col. 1:17-18). The Lord Jesus is the one in whom the entire cosmos coheres.

The Laodiceans were lukewarm in their works. If they had been cold, it would have been refreshing, and if they had been hot, it would have been comforting. But as it was, they were the room temperature church, the tepid church. Laodicea had to pipe their water in, and Colossae had cold springs about ten miles away. Hierapolis had hot springs, but they were about six miles away. By the time the water got to Laodicea, it was lukewarm and useless for everything except for the apostle John’s metaphor.

Our works are intended as water for the Lord to drink. Cold is good, and hot is good, but tepid works are the kind that the Lord will spit out.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #32

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 3:11–13)

The Lord tells the believers in Philadelphia to hold on tight to what they have, and they are to do so because the Lord is coming “quickly.” This means that the coming referred to had relevance to them, two thousand years ago. The Lord is encouraging them to allow no man to take their crown. The fact that they were in present possession of that crown meant that they were already ruling with Christ. They had a crown they were not to surrender, and were to hold fast to it through the coming trial that would culminate in the Lord’s coming. Comparing this passage with the rest of Revelation we can see that this is the coming of the Lord in judgment on Jerusalem, which was finally destroyed in 70 A.D.

The one who overcomes is going to be given rest from battle. The expression “go no more out” is used to describe Moses at 120 years old, unable to go across the Jordan to the war of conquest (Dt. 31:2). And when David is almost killed in battle and Abishai rescued him (2 Sam. 21:17), the men of David swore that he should “go no more out.” In this case, the battle would have been won, and the saints of Philadelphia are old and honored warriors, overcomers. They have been made pillars in the Temple.

The Temple is referred to again in another way. They have the name of God written on them, and they have the name of the city of God, which is the New Jerusalem, also written on them. They are pillars in that Temple, and are part of city that is built entirely out of living stones. We are being given a glimpse of the theme of the entire book of Revelation, which is the replacement of the old Jerusalem with the New Jerusalem, the replacement of old Israel with new Israel, the replacement of the nation of Israel with the cosmic and ultimate city, the Church.

The Jerusalem above is the mother of us all (Gal. 4:26), the Church. The angel later in Revelation tells John that he will show him the bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev.21:9), and goes on to show him the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10). The New Jerusalem is a perfect cube, which is the shape of the Holy of Holies (1 Kings 6:20). The Christian Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19), and all together we are a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5). The history of the world since Pentecost should be understood as that bride walking down that aisle, the great aisle that comes down from heaven.

The overcomers of Philadelphia (and every overcomer since) have three names written on them. The first is the name of God, the second is the name of the Church, and the Lord’s “new name.” Those who have an ear to listen should make sure they listen.

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