Revelation 3:1–22

With Sardis, again, both characters are mentioned. He has the "seven Spirits of God" — the perfection of spiritual discernment. So He is well able to look past the good reputation and the outward show, and to see spiritual death. He has "the seven stars," so He can keep even a few in Sardis alive.

The seven Spirits of God refer to the Holy Spirit of God, seen in His many perfections and in the ways He works. And this is not so much within the church as towards the world... It is the Spirit expressed in full quality and power, to carry out God's will on earth.

Christ also has the seven stars. They are His, though the words no longer say, as at Ephesus, that they are in His right hand. In practice man has seized them for himself.

All the stars belong to Him. He is the One Who meets and makes up for all that His church lacks. If Sardis, with all its failures, would only look at Him walking among the churches, it would find that every failure and weakness is provided for in Him and by Him. Then its light would shine more and more.

Wherever "angel" is not used of a heavenly being or a human messenger, it stands for the mystical representative of someone not actually seen... The angel represents the assembly. It stands above all for those Christ looks to for the state of His assembly in His sight — those who are near Him and in communion with Him, or who carry responsibility for the assembly through the working of His Spirit in them for His service.

There is none of the gross evil and corruption seen in Thyatira. But here, for the first time, the Lord finds nothing to praise... It was not shocking wickedness, but respectable death. The form was kept, the heart was gone. Christ was owned in word and ignored in deed. Creeds were correct, conduct was proper, life had gone.

Mere profession may make a name before people, who only look at the outside. It is not life before Christ, who reads the heart.

The works are general, and "knowing" them simply states that nothing escapes the Lord's notice, that He is aware of the whole condition of His people. Then, as the result of His examination — for He walks among the seven golden lampstands — He gives His verdict, His infallible verdict... And this state of things also represents Protestantism as it was after the days of Luther; and, remember, as it will be found until the coming of the Lord.

We must not think we can escape the edge of that word by saying we are not in Sardis. It applies to us one by one as well as together. It may be true of some of us that we have a name to live but are dead.

The words "be watchful" really mean become watchful. This shows that at the time they were not watching at all, for, as we have seen, it was a time of spiritual death. Because they had not watched, the things that remained were drooping and ready to die. These things had once been channels of energy, full of life. Now they were fading for lack of spiritual power. The forms of life were still there, but they were only forms. The life that first produced them had faded, if it had not gone altogether.

Since the whole condition was one of death, the Church's spiritual representatives had to rouse themselves. They were told to watch because of that state, and they were to stay watchful from then on. Watching and praying go together (Mark 13:33) in the light of the Lord's return. Praying and watching go together in keeping up the Christian conflict (Eph. 6:18).

The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) was still there, though small in measure and weak in expression. Whatever life and grace remained, they were to build up, cherish and strengthen. Hold fast to whatever is of God, all the more as practical religion dies out in these Christian lands. The call was never more needed than now. The sword and the trowel are always in demand, but the wise and careful use of the trowel is what the Church badly needs.

Exposing and condemning what is wrong is of small value. Get the truth, buy it, don't sell it, be it. Get it, keep it, let it shape you, and show it. The Christian is called to that... But there are always smouldering embers of life in Protestantism that may be fanned into a flame, as in times of revival, here and there.

"I have not found your works perfect (pepleromena) before God." (Rev. 3:2) English readers should know that the word translated "perfect" here is not the same word used in the three passages we looked at earlier. It is usually translated "fulfilled" — "finished" — "accomplished." Its use about the works of the church of Sardis teaches us a solemn lesson that searches the heart. There was a name to live, but the works were not finished under the direct eye of God. Nothing is more dangerous to a Christian than to have "a name." It is a real snare of the devil.

The Lord had not found their works complete. Something was failing, something was missing. There was much of man in them. Christ had not found them complete before His God. The problem was not corruption or superstition. It lay in the character and the motive of the works. There was activity, but not the kind that matched Christ's own relationship with God on earth. They were not Christian enough.

God does not lower His standard because of the decline in the spiritual condition of the professing mass. The works He looks for are still measured by His perfect standard. The love was not perfect in Ephesus; the works were not perfect in Sardis.

The works of faith and of obedience were not complete — that is, they were not filled up. The public fight with Rome almost crowded out the soul's practical dealings with God. Personal godliness and Church life were at their lowest point... The Reformers put nearly all their effort into one great struggle: to win back for themselves, their children and the generations after them the truth of justification by faith. Even that truth is not set out in their writings in its full scriptural measure.

To remember "how" they had received and heard would bring back the earnest state of soul in which they first received the truth. It would also open their eyes to the deadness they had now sunk into... To "hold fast" would encourage them to cling to the great truths they were letting slip without realising it. To "repent" would involve self-judgment for their low spiritual condition and poor walk.

The call to "remember" here is in the light of what God had recovered for them... the gospel, the Word of God, and liberty of conscience. Judgment is always according to the measure of responsibility. That measure is greater or smaller depending on what God has given and where He has placed a person. They had both "received" and "heard"... The truths recovered and the gospel heard to the joy of thousands were fading from memory and conscience. So came the command to "keep" and "repent" — to keep what they had, and to repent of the poor use they had made of their blessings.

The Lord must judge the church not by a lifeless system, but by the resources it has in Christ the Head. He recalls the church to these two great points — grace received, truth heard.

After conflict, Christians come out into the light of truth. Then comes the danger of thinking they may now take a rest and go to sleep. They have the form of truth and think that is enough. This is the danger when the Spirit works a revival or recovery... But then comes the call to "remember" — remember what? "How you received and heard, and" — give up? — no, "hold fast, and repent."

When He comes, He raises the dead saints and changes the living ones. That is not "the day of the Lord," and Scripture never calls it that... Scripture never pictures the Lord coming like a thief by night except when judgment is clearly in view, as to Sardis (Rev. 3:3). In 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 the Spirit brings in the comparison of the thief when He speaks of the day of the Lord coming upon the world. He does not use it of the saints, who wait for Christ and are not in darkness, so that the day should overtake them as a thief.

He calls them to remember the past. Have they declined in conduct from those early days when the truth was first received? Then He recalls them to watchfulness. Let them not only look back, but look on, for He is coming. Are they in a state suited for His coming? If not, His coming would mean judgment rather than blessing. In the day of Sardis the professing church had ceased to watch, and was falling fast into darkness and deadness. Having appealed to the world for its patronage and power, the professing church had become like the world, and is in danger of sharing the world's judgment.

Apply the Lord's words to Sardis to ourselves today. How searching is the call to remember how we have received and heard, and to hold fast and repent! How much precious ministry we have heard over the years! Do we prize and value the truth of God made known to us, and do we hold it fast? Or do we prefer earthly and temporal things above the revelation of Christ and His Word?

In Sardis the "few names" undefiled formed a company in whom the Lord could delight. In principle and in practice they were separate from the evil they grieved over. They walked apart from it. The weight of influence and numbers was with the popular side. The mass had a name in the world. The "few" were unknown, and had no official standing. But the Lord knew each one of them personally — He "calls His own sheep by name."

These "names" here mean people whom the Lord had counted up and knew each one by name. These are the ones "who have not soiled their garments." They had not gone on with the world, now that the professing church had defiled their garments. Sardis may not be charged with the seductions of Balaam or the corruptions of Jezebel. But her mind is set on earthly things, and she glories in her shame. ... What He speaks of here is the spirit of the world filling the heart as an accepted object, and the conformity to the world that follows, so that a person can walk with it.

Not defiling their garments means that they had been kept untainted by the evils around them. James speaks of keeping oneself unstained from the world (James 1:27). Here it would not only be from the world. It would also be from the corruption inside the circle of God's professing people.

The Lord says of such, "They will walk with Me in white." Separation from the world has its blessed outcome in a walk with Christ. Still, the walk is a personal one. The Lord does not say they will know the blessing of that word, "Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them." He says, "they will walk with Me." Whatever their church connections, their practical ways suit the Lord.

The promise is of white robes. Everyone else around me may be spotted, but I have a clean one. I have one on, because I have put on Christ. But what is this distinctive mark? Will not all be white? He says, "They will walk with Me in white." This is His perfect approval of them in the glory. It recognises them as keeping themselves unspotted now in the wilderness.

They had kept their integrity here; they would walk with Him there, in robes made white in the blood of the Lamb. That coming day will be a day of full reward, and of holy companionship with our ever blessed Lord. No thought of personal unworthiness, such as we feel now, will ever cast a shadow across the soul. For the Lord adds in His wonderful grace, "They are worthy." It is grace that reckons it so. Each one of this distinguished and honoured company is in himself worth no more than a "brand plucked out of the fire" — someone rescued from a judgment he deserved.

The overcomer stands in contrast to the assembly at each point. The assembly had become a worldly mass; he had kept himself unstained by the world. So the promise is that he will be clothed in white garments. The assembly had a name to live but was dead; the overcomer really was entitled to a place in "the book of life." So the promise is that his name will not be blotted out. Again, those at Sardis who merely professed faith had a form of godliness but denied its power. The overcomer had truly confessed Christ in the middle of the general apathy.

A few in Sardis had not defiled their garments. They had walked in practical separation from the evils around them. The Lord encourages them with the promise that their walk will have its fitting reward in a day to come. They will be clothed in white in the day of glory. The robes they wear in glory are woven in the path that leads to glory.

In Revelation 4 and Revelation 19 the elders and the Lamb's wife appear clothed in white garments. In Revelation 19 the Holy Spirit gives His own interpretation: "the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." That gives the clue to the white garments of our passage, since the promise points to a future heavenly condition. So the Lord promises that the fruit of overcoming will be shown and enjoyed in heaven.

"The book of life" here is not the same as that of Revelation 13:8. In Revelation 3:5 it is profession, which may or may not be real. The end would show. Some names would stand, others be erased. In chapter 13:8 every name recorded was that of a true believer, because those names were written from the foundation of the world, before human responsibility began. So chapter 3:5 gives the record of Christian profession; chapter 13:8 gives the record of reality.

Under law a name could be blotted out of God's book (Exodus 32:33). Sometimes a person has his name struck off a church register because of his faithfulness to God. But the book of life is a different matter. No name in this book will ever be blotted out, for only the elect are written there. Overcoming, by faith alone, would prove one to be elect of God. This promise is meant for the comfort and encouragement of faith.

How many names held in high honour by Sardis, and written in its registers, would turn out to be mere lifeless professors, while the few names of those who had not defiled their garments were thought little of by Sardis, and even struck off its lists. Even so — whatever men might do — the Lord says, "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life."

Does not this high honour imply that before men the overcomer's name had been of little account, if not laughed at? And does it not show how great the Lord's approval is of one who boldly confesses His name in the middle of a lifeless profession?

It is worth noting that the message, though spoken by "One like a son of man," is also "what the Spirit says." What the Lord says, the Spirit says. The Lord spoke to John from outside him, and the Spirit spoke through him from within, for he was "in the Spirit" at the time. It was all "the word of God." So the unity of the Divine Persons is clear.

It is the Lord's desire that we should listen to the Spirit and so profit by the Lord's words to each Church. Throughout the ages He takes the things of Christ and shows them to us.

This appeal to the individual ear shows the intense longing of the Lord over His saints. His eager desire is that His words of warning, reproof and exhortation might find a way into their hearts and produce a full response to His faithful love… All have ears that can hear, but who has an ear to hear and heed what the Lord has to say?

When a servant whose time of service had ended chose to stay with his master, saying, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," his master pierced his ear to the door post with an awl. From then on his ear belonged to his master: he was to hear that one master only… The Lord said "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" to His hearers, and to each of the seven churches in Asia… showing that the hearer needed spiritual discernment to catch the meaning of what was said.

In the first three churches the call to the hearing ear goes to the whole Church. But in Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea the Lord speaks to the overcomer first, which means there is a remnant of true believers that overcomes… This marks out the position of the remnant in these last four churches as separate from the general body of the church. The call to hear goes especially to the overcomers, for only they will hear the voice of the Lord by His Spirit.

It is not said "to the church," but "to the churches." So the one who has an ear must weigh not only what the Spirit says to his own church, but what He says to all the others. The exhortation is therefore general, and meant for all believers.

We are capable of every evil and corruption found in any phase, or any period, of the Church's history. Whatever time we live in, we do well to pay heed to what the Spirit says to every one of the churches.

In the church of Sardis the remnant is called "a few names"; in Laodicea there is an "if" as to one. But even if there is a single hearing ear, if there is one to open the door, that one is assured of the high privilege, the immense favour, of sharing a meal with Christ… When the shared witness of the church has sunk to its very lowest point, Christ rewards individual faithfulness with intimate fellowship with His own heart.

The Lord presents Himself to this assembly in a way that is quite different from His approach to all the other churches of Asia. To Ephesus He comes as the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. To Smyrna He speaks as "the first and the last, who died and came to life"... In these presentations what the Lord has stands out most. But in His presentation to Philadelphia what stands out is what He is in His own blessed Person — "the holy one, the true one." What He is in Himself is always greater and more precious than what He has.

Here, then, we have Christ in personal character — what He is in Himself. He is the holy, He is the true. Others may be holy and true in a limited degree, so saying that much hardly gives the force of the words "the holy, the true." He is both in His own Person, and always the embodiment of holiness and truth. In themselves these are divine attributes... People and things are called holy and true, but no created being has the essential moral glory of being The Holy One and The True One. As used in our text they are really divine titles.

This word is not always the true as opposed to the false. Very often it means the substantial as opposed to the shadowy outline. So in Hebrews 8:2 we have the "true tabernacle," which our great High Priest entered. That implies that the tabernacle in the wilderness was only an earthly copy of what had a most real existence in heaven. So too Christ is called "the true light" (John 1:9), though John the Baptist was also "a burning and shining lamp" (John 5:35).

Here is His own Person judging according to the truth. He reveals Himself in a way that works in practice. He insists on what is genuine. He no longer allows a mere acknowledgment of truth that is not carried out. He will have moral reality.

In these words and in those that follow the reference is to Isaiah 22:22. Shebna is removed from office and disgraced. Then the prophet announced the appointment of Eliakim to the administration of the royal authority. In depth and fullness the terms of the prophecy are Messianic. They go far beyond what happened in the days of Hezekiah. Isaiah's announcement and the words here are almost the same, and both imply administrative authority: Isaiah's in connection with royalty in Judah, and this one in connection with grace to the Church. The "key" as a symbol means undisputed right to enter and exercise all needful authority.

We also find Him arranging things in favour of the church. If He opens a door, no one can shut it. If He shuts a door, no one can open it. So there are two things. He is the holy and the true to those who trust in Him. And He also has, not the display of power here, but the key of power... Let all the power of man or Satan do their worst. If I am resting in Christ, who is perfectly true, and He has opened a door, neither man nor devil can shut it.

Holiness will not do without the truth, nor the truth without holiness. The absence of either is not of the Spirit of God.

The Lord presents Himself as having the key of David. So they ought not to look to the power of the world, nor to man; for if He had the key, that was the very thing they wanted. Human energy might be at work all around — Jezebel, false prophets, and the rest. But there was this blessed One, the Holy and the True. They were weak, so they needed Him all the more. They had so little strength that perhaps they could not even open the door; but He says He had opened it for them. He had brought them into a large place where there was no bondage or constraint... They valued Christ. They wanted to know more of Him, and He knew their heart.

We gather from this that wherever the condition described here is found, the Lord opens a door for His servants. It is a door for His testimony and service. He will keep it open, whatever hostile efforts men make to close it. It is not a door standing open, but one that the Lord has opened. It was so in the Lord's own service among Israel. To the outward eye He had only a little strength. He was crucified in weakness. He lived by every word that came out of the mouth of God. He did not deny His Father's name. Men were full of cunning, malice, and hostility, yet there was always an open door before Him. To Him the doorkeeper opened, and so it is now for all who have the moral marks given here. So we never need to be anxious about open doors for service. Our only concern should be to be in a fit state for His use. Then a door will always open, even though there are many adversaries.

First, the Lord says, "You have but little power." This church is not marked by any display of power that would attract the notice of the world. ... The world delights in a strong man; God delights to carry out His work through weak vessels... Their wisdom, then, is not to claim power they do not have, nor to covet gifts that have passed away. Instead they own their true condition — they have only a little strength. So they find the support of the Lord, the One who has all power, who holds the key, and whom no one can resist.

Yet the very expression "a little strength" assumes they had some strength. That is more than could be said of Sardis or Laodicea... Philadelphia has only a little strength. But it is enough to rise above the deadness of Sardis and the self-sufficiency of Laodicea. In doing so it had the Lord's approval.

Not simply the Word as a whole, however true that may be of the Philadelphians, but Christ's word... His word covers the whole circle of Christian truth... Further, "keeping" the word implies that it is treasured in the heart and obeyed in the life. The Lord does not say you have expounded or taught the word, though that may be true. He puts the emphasis on the great fact that His word is kept. Those with little strength may have little gift. But something far more valuable in the Lord's eyes can mark them — obedience to His word.

The Word and the Name go together... All the heresies that have come into the world have always had their root in the abuse of the name of Christ... The great assault of Satan is against the Person of Christ, and your safeguard is holding fast that name.

No one need look for great attainments, in themselves or in others, for Philadelphia is marked by "little strength." But there is the keeping of Christ's word and not denying His name. May these features mark each one of us. To be governed by these marks is to be Philadelphian in character. But to claim the name of Philadelphia is the sure road to the state of Laodicea. Any assumption on our part is fatal to true spiritual progress.

The synagogue of Satan, as already said, is the return to Jewish principles. It puts people under law. It restores the priestly ranks and ceremonies that suited an earthly religion like Judaism, but are out of place in a heavenly religion like Christianity. Paul condemns this pouring of new wine into old wineskins as destructive to the truth entrusted to him.

In their ignorance, these teachers give up the true Christian position. They claim to be the spiritual Israel. They take Jewish promises and Jewish hopes for themselves, and they would put the consciences of Christians under the bondage of Jewish law-keeping. So they are really doing Satan's work.

We noted before that Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only two of the seven churches the Lord does not rebuke. Now we notice that both had to face the same religious opposition. Those who are the synagogue of Satan, falsely claiming to be Jews, reappear. In Paul's day Satan was already dressing up as an angel of light. It is nothing new for him to wear religious clothes.

Judaism, set aside by God, is now one of Satan's best weapons and most subtle snares. Great Babylon has built her whole structure on this foundation. With the rituals, the priestly caste and the law-keeping of an earlier time, she has pushed out what belongs to Christianity: its simplicity and open speech, its equal priesthood and completed sacrifice, its free grace and full salvation.

The Lord can subdue such as far as He sees fit. He can expose their true character, for He says, "I will make them of the synagogue of Satan." Despite their religious display, He will show them up as nothing but a Satanic imitation of the Jewish system. On the other hand, the Lord will make them acknowledge what is according to Himself.

We have translated the Greek word proskuneo as "do homage." In Greek it covers every act of reverence, from a simple bow to someone higher up to the worship of God Himself. The reader can decide what kind of homage is meant by asking who receives it and who gives it.

In their religious pride and pretensions, they scorned and despised the Lord's devoted Assembly, but Christ here promises that He would display to their adversaries how much He loved them.

We see how readily He speaks as the One who loves when He finds devotion to Himself in the Philadelphian church (Rev. 3:9). The one sentence that stands out in His words to them is "I have loved you." Others are to know that soon. Philadelphia knew it when He spoke, and it was their choicest treasure.

But the Lord will compel the recognition of His own testimony. I do not say when, where, or how; but as surely as He lives, will the Lord vindicate the truth He has given, and the testimony He has raised up for His name.

Revelation 1:9 shows what "the word of My patience" means. John calls himself "your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." The whole present time is the time of Christ's patience. He waits at the right hand of God until His enemies are made His footstool. He has taught His people this, and given the word that directs the path, spirit and conduct of the one who waits. They wait with Christ according to the word of His patience.

The Lord can say, "You have kept the word of My patience." His patience is the patient waiting for the moment when He will assert His rights and come out as King of kings and Lord of lords. In the meantime it involves the refusal to interfere in the course of this world. If we keep the word of His patience, we shall accept the place of a stranger with a rejected Christ, and refuse to claim our rights in this world.

The wording of the promise disposes of the theory some hold that the Church, or part of it, must pass through the coming Tribulation to purge itself of its unfaithfulness. No, the guarantee is, "I also will keep you out of the hour of trial" — not brought through it, or kept in it, but complete exemption from it. Lot and Noah were preserved through the tribulations of their own day. Abraham and Enoch were kept out of those same seasons of trial. It is these last two who picture the Church.

The language could not be stronger. It reads, "I will keep you out of the hour of temptation" — the Greek word ek means "out of." The trial is worldwide, so no one can escape by fleeing from one part of the earth to another. The only way to be kept out of the hour of trial is to be taken out of time altogether.

The question is whether Scripture is clear that both of these methods hold good. Some are to be exempted from the hour of trial coming on the whole world. Others are to be kept not out of it, but through it. I have no doubt that both are true, and that God's word teaches both plainly.

This expression appears often in the book of Revelation. It does not simply mean those who live in the world. Read the various passages where this unusual term appears, and it becomes clear that "the earth-dwellers" stand in contrast to those whose citizenship is in heaven. They claim to be Christians, yet they refuse the heavenly calling. Their earthly-mindedness and worldly ways prove that they really belong to this world.

These words clearly reach much farther than the church at Philadelphia as it then existed, or any other single church. The hour of temptation has not yet come, and Philadelphia and its church were forgotten ages ago. I do not deny that there was a partial fulfilment at Philadelphia. But I am sure there is a promise here for the last days, for those who have kept the word of the patience of Jesus.

He reminded them that a time was coming when evil would be on display everywhere, almost unchecked. But they would be kept out of it, because they were keeping the word of His patience. In this way He supported and comforted their hearts then and there. When that season of fiery trial came, they would already have found their eternal joy in His own presence.

"I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown" (verse 11). This is a precious word. The Lord spoke of coming like a thief even to Sardis. Sardis had taken the world as its mistress, and let the unclean govern in place of the Lord. Here He comes as one who has a crown to give. The Lord Himself coming to meet us is the jewel He has given us to keep.

We are not to suppose that anything else must take place before the Rapture. We are to look for Christ to come at any moment, certainly not for the tribulation.

"Hold fast what you have." The characteristic possessions of Philadelphia were Christ's WORD, Christ's NAME, Christ's PATIENCE, and Christ's COMING. They had to keep them. Death, desertion, and compromise may thin the company and reduce it to a small, feeble few. But all the more need to "hold fast," and on no account surrender one bit of the truth… It is not the start, but the end, that decides fitness to wear the crown. Let go the truth and you lose the crown.

In the five churches before this one — Smyrna may be the exception — overcoming means separation from the evil in each church's own sphere of responsibility, or being kept from it. In Laodicea it means getting out of one state into another; in a word, gaining what is lacking. But overcoming in Philadelphia is simply keeping — keeping what they already have.

The crown speaks of reward. Reward is an entirely different thing from eternal life. Eternal life is the free gift of God, and none who have it will ever lose it, or perish. But we may lose our crown, and be ashamed before Him at His coming.

All God's family are recognised as crowned like kings — "we will reign with Him" — so all have the marks of royalty alike. But there is something more: the wreath of victory. I may be an overcomer by faith in Christ, and yet be without a victor's wreath.

Do not trifle with it. Do not suppose that you hold it on a lease that never runs out, or that you have insurance to protect you from the traps Satan is setting for you… "Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown." The crown will be there, the crown is sure; but it does not follow that the same soul will have it. The people may change, but the crown will be given. For the Lord will set aside the proud and lift up the humble. He can gather those who seem far off — the very people who will be found faithful when He comes to receive us to Himself.

Slackness or giving up in the Christian race may in effect forfeit a crown of reward, with another overtaking us and passing us because we lack devotion to the Lord.

For many a crown has been lost, and many a crown will be lost, if the Lord delays. Yet the one who holds fast will find Christ's arms underneath him, Christ's hands upon his hands. He will not only keep, he will be kept. In the might of Christ's victory he will stand. The crown he is given he will cast before the Giver as a trophy of His own conquest, and the fruit of His grace.

The question may arise: if the Lord has nothing to condemn in Philadelphia, what is there to overcome? The overcomer is clearly one who overcomes every effort of the enemy. The enemy works to make him give up the truth that has been revived, and to move him from the place of separation that the truth demands. In a word, the overcomer is one who "holds fast."

His progress is not marked by distinguished achievements, but he struggles on. He holds fast with a tight and tightening grip on Christ's Word, Name, patience, and coming. Life itself may be surrendered, but not the things which make up the crown of his testimony.

He will be as much marked by power in the day of glory as he is by contentedly dependent weakness in God's present ways of grace. To be a pillar in the temple of My God is as truly a figure for the day of glory as the synagogue of Satan is a figure now. For literally there is no temple in the new Jerusalem. It is the one of little strength now made clearly strong in that day and in God's blessed presence.

We cannot help thinking of those two pillars in the temple of Solomon. One was named Jachin and the other Boaz. The names are meaningful, and they show what alone can make a pillar anywhere: Jachin means "He establishes," and Boaz means "in Him is strength." If only we always remembered this! The strength is not in His creatures, but in Himself.

"Never shall he go out of it" is His answer to the place they had been in here. The time of testimony goes on here today, along with the holy privilege of drawing near as priests. But then the idea of testimony in a scene of reproach will have ceased forever. He will go out no more at all. He will remain in the sunshine of eternal love, by the Son's eternal decree and for God's eternal pleasure.

There is the administration of the throne, and the city is where the throne is set. The city is the vessel of rule in that radiant scene, and all government will flow out from it. The Lord's word here promises the devoted heart a place of rank and honour, which shows how small the distinctions people chase so eagerly today really are.

"The name of my God" is the expression of all that God is as revealed in Christ and unfolded in His word. "The name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem" is the display of God's glory in the church in her glorified condition. "And my new name" is given, for here the overcomer had not denied the name of Christ.

To write one's name on a person is a figure implying appropriation or adoption.

"And My new name." How beautifully touching this is at the end of such a wonderful message, where He speaks of His God four times over. He had undertaken to do the will of His God, and God raised Him to the highest place because of that work. God had highly exalted Him, giving Him a name above every name. That name is new. It belongs to the new resurrection world, where all His renown shines out. He would not withhold even this from them, but writes upon them His new name.

Here a notable change takes place. The call to hear begins to follow the promise, instead of coming before it. The reason is that a remnant is now formed… The Lord from now on puts the promise first. It seems there is no longer any use in expecting the church as a whole to receive it. The address is to the overcomer, and so the overcomer comes before the call to hear. In the three earlier churches the call to hear comes first. There the Lord is still dealing with the general conscience of the church. That is given up now.

In the last four churches the call to hear comes after the words of cheer to the overcomers. From this we gather that none but overcomers hear the voice of the Spirit.

Notice: the Spirit does not say "to the Church," to the one Church being addressed, but "to the Churches." The hearing ear in every assembly was to heed what the Lord had to say to each assembly. So the Spirit's word to each single assembly is described as spoken "to the Churches." It was for the concern and exercise of heart of all, not just for the local assembly spoken to.

There may be nothing to condemn in this Church. Still, the Philadelphians must hear what the Spirit has to say to the other Churches as well as to themselves. If they are to have the mind of the Lord, they must heed the message of the Lord to each of the Churches. Listening to what the Spirit says in one assembly does not release anyone from the duty to hear and act on His ministry and administration in other assemblies.

The address closes with the appeal to the individual who has an ear to hear. "Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." The Lord addresses the Church. The Spirit then applies the Lord's words in power to the individual with the opened ear.

They are not told to "hear the church," as church officials say; nor are they told to name themselves after this assembly or that. They are to hear what the Spirit says to all the assemblies… A true soul in any of these assemblies can take in what the Spirit says to his own assembly. But the one who has an ear to hear is seen as able to take in what the Spirit says to all. He is in communion with God about the state of all the assemblies. He is not only living by the Spirit, but also walking by the Spirit; for the attentive ear and obedience go together.

One of the things that the little strength secures is to keep hearing the voice of the Spirit until the Lord comes. That is a great blessing… That voice was to them, and that voice is to us. Whatever else we may forget, may we remember the Lord's words: "I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have."

To Laodicea the Lord presents Himself in a threefold way. All the promises of God are amen in Him. That is, they are firm and carried through to completion in Him. But He Himself is also "the Amen." He takes it as a title. It reminds us of the way Jehovah speaks of Himself twice in Isaiah 65:16 as "the God of truth," or word for word, "the God of Amen." The Jehovah in whom everything is made sure is the Jesus of the New Testament. And it is striking that the word "truly," so often on His lips, is really the word Amen.

As the Amen, He is the One in whom God has taken up and confirmed all His promises. They reach in every direction: to bring about every good, to overthrow every wrong, and to glorify God forever in doing it. As the Faithful Witness, He was always loyal to the One who sent Him. He loved the Father and came to do the Father's will. Whatever it cost Him, He never turned aside from that will and never shrank back from carrying it out.

He alone is "the faithful and true witness." This is exactly what the church should have been, but was not. So He has to take that place Himself. It was so before, when He was here on earth in grace. Now He must take it up again in judicial power and glory. It is hard to imagine a sharper rebuke to people whose whole duty was to be faithful and true witnesses.

The church should have walked consistently apart from the world. In its own measure that walk would have confirmed the truth of the heavenly calling and borne witness to it. Sadly, the professing church has given up the heavenly calling. It has settled down on earth and become the world. Instead of confirming, it has become the denial of the truth of God.

He is the "beginning" of all things, always, in Himself. He is that, come what may... What the church lacks, He is in Himself — "the beginning of the creation of God," the beginning of all things. Christ is what answers to the original idea in God's mind before all things. The Greek word arche means the beginning in theory and the end in practice. The main thought in building a house is to have a roof; but in practice the roof is the last thing made. The word "principle" comes nearest to the sense, though it does not give the whole idea.

Christ is not, and I think could not be, called ktisma [a created thing], for this would take away from the Creator. He is called the firstborn of all creation and also the beginning of the creation of God.

He announces Himself with this: "The Beginning of the creation of God." The old creation, spoiled by sin, is passing away. Its history is almost finished. God pronounced its judgment long ago at the cross. In Christ risen from the dead everything begins that God owns as truly His. It was first and always in His thought, and the ruin of the old only made way for it.

Laodicean teaching has man as the beginning — if it does not go further back to the ape, or even to protoplasm. And its end is man, man made into a god. If Christ comes in at all, it is as an example, an encouragement and a helper to man in his climb up the road of progress.

The pointed sentence "I know" occurs seven times, addressed to the angel of each assembly. So seven times over, a divine attribute is affirmed of our Lord: omniscience, the knowledge of everything. To weak Philadelphia this is a truth full of strength: the Lord knows in full what man does not know. To Laodicea in its lukewarmness, with its show and boast and wealth, the thought of that all-seeing eye searching the depths of the heart must be unbearable.

The first and most terrible characteristic of the Laodiceans is indifference to Christ. As regards Christ they are neither "cold nor hot." They do not hate Christ, as the worldly unbeliever does. They do not love Him with the jealous love of the true Christian. They see no beauty in His Person; they put no value on His work. In the "church" of the Laodiceans, you may think what you like about the Person and work of Christ. You may hold what you like and say what you like. It is all a matter of indifference.

There is not the gross corruption of Thyatira, nor the hopeless deadness of Sardis. There is something even more offensive to Christ. They turn His name into a means of self-exaltation, instead of loving it. There is activity in the name of Christ, plenty of works, plenty of self-satisfaction — but heartless indifference to His Person.

Had it been cold — an active position taken up — or hot — showing some spiritual activity — then the Lord could have done something with it. But an undecided, neutral position towards Christ and the truth is so hateful that it must go at once.

We have had the cold state in Sardis: death is cold enough. We have had in Philadelphia the Lord reviving things — something we may call heat. Now the mixture of these two things produces the lukewarmness He speaks of. The heat has only enough effect to change the cold into lukewarm — nothing more. There has been the effect of the truth — the truth must always have effect, God's word never returns to Him empty.

We do not agree with those who say that Laodicea's lukewarm condition springs out of the Philadelphian state of the Church. We take it that the legalism of Thyatira, the moral numbness of Sardis, and the rejection of the truth and position of Philadelphia, along with other causes, combine to produce the Laodicean condition of that church — absolute indifference to Christ.

Lukewarmness characterises the last state of profession in the assembly. It is nauseous to Christ; He will spew it out of His mouth. It was not mere lack of power, it was lack of heart — the worst of all ills. This threat is peremptory, not conditional.

Being neutral in principle and practice, they were half-hearted towards Christ. Nothing breeds neutrality faster than a position that is outwardly right, if self-judgment is not kept up with godly sincerity. The more a person stands at the front of the battle, carrying the responsible testimony of God, and the more he puts His grace and truth into words for others, the greater the danger. If his walk does not match the light, sooner or later he lapses back into neutrality, or even into active hostility.

"I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot" (verse 15). This is broad indifference. Ignorance is not what does this deadly damage. The damage comes from a heart that stays indifferent to the truth after hearing all of it. Such a person does not want the truth. He feels the sacrifice, and the separation from the world, that must follow if he really obeys it. We ought to be patient wherever ignorance is unwilling. But indifference to truth is quite another thing. It is hateful in the Lord's sight.

Being neutral in principle and practice, they were half-hearted toward Christ. Nothing produces neutrality more easily than a position that is outwardly true, when self-judgment is not kept up with godly sincerity. Think of someone standing at the front of the battle, holding the responsible testimony of God. The more His grace and truth come out in his words to others, the more it matters whether he also walks according to the light. If he does not, sooner or later he slides back into neutrality, if not into active hostility.

Christ looks at the lukewarmness with utter disgust. Because "you are neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of My mouth." Moderation is the cry of men. They want everything in respectable measure — the form of religion without any power. Christ hates this. He would rather have them dead, cold — He would then know what to do with them — if not burning hot. The so-called happy medium gives Him no pleasure. Nothing keeps me from tasting grace like having a fine outside. If I only gain a place and a good reputation for myself, and God is not glorified, I have no taste of mercy in my own soul.

The Lord cannot put up with lukewarmness. What Laodicea did not have was heart for Christ. The great thing for you and me to have is affection for Christ. That is what He values above everything — affection for Himself. That was lacking, so came the blunt threat of being spat out of His mouth.

There is neither burning zeal for His word, nor outright rejection of Christ and the Bible. Instead there is a sickening, lukewarm condition that is repulsive to the Spirit of God. Lukewarm water is itself something that makes you vomit, and this is the picture the Lord uses here.

This is the last phase of the professing Christian body. It is just about to be spat out as something Christ finds unbearably sickening. To man's eye it may look very respectable; but to the heart of Christ its condition is deeply repulsive.

He does not say when He will do it; but the decree has gone out from His lips, and will never be recalled. It means that He will reject the assembly totally and for ever as His public witness, His responsible light-bearer in the world. That is its primary application. But every believer can learn from it, for instruction and warning: nothing, no state or condition, displeases Christ like lukewarmness or indifference.

He warns the church of what is coming on it — of positive judgment. But until that judgment falls, He goes on working in His own grace. Now He reaches people one by one, for the church is given up. "If anyone opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me"; he will have his portion at my table.

Philadelphia has not a word to say for itself. Laodicea has. In fact, in almost every respect these two churches stand out in sharp contrast. "You say." The Church was not only self-satisfied; here we also have its proud boast... The city could boast of its material wealth, and the Church boasted of its riches just as much. It had added to that wealth as well: "I have prospered." There is no doubt that the Church in Laodicea had influence, numbers, gifts, showy achievements, learning, and other attractive qualities. It was proud to have them. Sadly, these things came at the cost of spiritual life and of true, warm love for Christ, and gained that way they can only count as a curse.

There is plenty of knowledge if not of truth; for there is a great difference between the two. They are rich, and increased with goods. Where did they get them? They were never given in the grace of God, but borrowed or stolen. They were truths that others had got fresh from God's word. Here they use these truths to lift up man. So the truths never touch the conscience, and they leave Christ out... There is nothing new you can tell them: they know it already.

The Church was left here to witness for Christ. It has fallen so low that it not only stops witnessing for Christ; it starts witnessing to itself. The Church stops speaking of Christ and talks about the Church. The Assembly gets all the attention, and Christ counts for little. The Assembly seeks to attract to herself and not Christ. It takes the place of Christ by claiming to be the vessel of riches and grace. Christ is outside, and yet it can say, "I have need of nothing." ... In their own estimation the Laodiceans needed nothing; in the sight of the Lord they needed everything.

"You are the wretched one and the miserable one," besides being "poor, and blind, and naked." The definite article — the word "the" — adds a lot to the point and force of the Lord's judgment of Laodicea. "The wretched" and "the miserable," or "pitiable" — misery gathered into one place, and the one object of pity above all others. They were poor, having none of the true riches. They were blind to their own state and to the Lord's glory. They were naked, having no divine righteousness.

"You say, I am rich... and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched" — there we see the Pharisee, pleased with himself and blind to his real condition. There is no true feeling, no genuine self-judgment. Leaven not only puffs up; it also makes you numb.

To the outward eye, trouble and poverty marked them... The Lord, who sees everything, saw it very differently. His surprising verdict was, "but you are rich." That is the exact opposite of what He says later to Laodicea, which claimed to be rich and in His eyes was miserably poor... All through the church's history, times of poverty and trouble have gone together with spiritual riches, and times of wealth and ease with spiritual poverty. It is the same today.

Every man and woman on earth is dependent, not self-sufficient. Some have not discovered it, and others are too proud to own it... It is not easy to confess the truth. It cuts clean across our natural pride, and discovering it is bitter. But it is the way to blessing, and it is better to confess the unpleasant truth than to hug the pleasant lie.

Laodicea's three main features were their poverty, their nakedness, and their blindness. These are the very things the Lord, ever gracious, offers to meet here. He might have commanded, but no, He counsels, "buy from Me gold refined by fire." Your right to come and buy is your need and poverty.

He says, "I counsel you to buy from Me." These words show their need of Christ, and that there is no blessing apart from Christ. They must come to Christ for true riches. What grace! He invites not only sinners who have confessed their sin, but these self-occupied, self-satisfied people who only profess faith, to come to Himself.

The first great need of the Laodicean is to have a personal transaction with Christ. That is the thought behind buying. When Christ invites us to come and buy, it is "without money and without price." This reveals the secret of the Laodicean condition. They are indifferent to Christ and full of themselves, because they have never come to know Christ personally.

The first part of the payment is to own your need, your fall, your utter poverty. You must admit that the world and pride have dimmed and blurred your eye, till you mistake error for truth.

They had been boasting in their riches, of which gold is the symbol, but their imagined wealth had not yet faced the fire. When their "goods" went up in smoke, their proud claims would perish. Fire only refines true gold, while it burns up all the showy human things that glitter. They needed a righteousness that came from God.

The gold refined by fire speaks of the righteousness of God. That righteousness is available to every sinner through the death of Christ. The sinner who believes in Christ stands before God a justified man, as clear from sins and judgment as the risen Christ.

If the gold speaks of the righteous condition in which the believer appears before God, then the white garments speak of practical righteousness in the believer's life before men (Rev. 19:8). Being clothed in white means that before men we put on the beautiful character of Christ. We show something of His lowliness and meekness, His grace and gentleness, His patience and forbearance, His holiness and sanctification.

Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together so that the shame of their nakedness would not show. Yet how useless they found them when they had to stand before God. He gave them a garment that truly covered them. So this church at Laodicea was clothing itself with works and boasting of its success, while the Lord sees it as naked.

For all their boasted scholarship and learning, the great mass of those who profess Christianity completely lack spiritual discernment. That discernment belongs to the simplest believer in Christ through the Spirit. The Apostle John can say to young believers, "the anointing that you received from Him abides in you... His anointing teaches you about everything" (1 John 2:27).

Once again, in our day, the Lord appeals from His place outside to the spiritually blind among those who profess Christianity. He says, "Anoint your eyes with salve, so that you may see" (Revelation 3:18).

The Lord does not stop at speaking to the consciences of these lukewarm Laodiceans. He will also seek to reach the heart of any true believer still left in Laodicea. He says, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent." The Church had long since left its first love. But the Lord never left His first love for the Church. No longer can He speak of their love, yet He can still speak of His love. It is not a love that is simply pleased with them. It is a love that has to act in rebuke.

The Laodiceans seem to have felt themselves safe from both rebuke and discipline. But if we are not touched by the Lord's rebuke, we will not truly know His love... Am I going to assume that the Lord's warning is not aimed at me?

Does this principle apply to people who claim faith but are not converted? We turn to Proverbs, and there we read, "My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights." (Prov. 3:11-12.) Here the Lord is clearly speaking to someone in a known relationship, as the words "my son" show... The words "As many as I love" remove any doubt. "As many" marks out a distinct class. "As I love" marks out a special relationship to that class — the Lord's own people.

The Lord had just been speaking with unusual severity. The circumstances called for it... But Christians, then and now, were to know that the Lord's rebukes, and His still more severe discipline, were the fruit of love. They were not the unpredictable treatment a human parent might give. "So be zealous and repent." The Lord would rouse them out of the numbness and dullness they had sunk into.

The church as a whole is not called upon to repent. On it the sentence is not conditional, but absolute: "I will spit you out of my mouth." But grace is always open to each person. And the Lord never stops being faithful to His own people, however far they may have sunk into the coldness or carelessness of the religious profession around them. These saints were real, yet they had caught the lukewarmness that Christ found so sickening. They needed discipline to wake their consciences to the sad state they had fallen into.

The discipline falls on "as many as I love," so that it may stir them to zeal and repentance. A zealous person is someone stirred to warm desire — the very opposite of lukewarmness. Repentance is the opposite of the self-satisfaction which marks the haughty. The spirit of Laodicea is very strong in our day, so it is right for us to pay much attention to these solemn words of our Lord.

The Lord is dealing with His people. He keeps putting something before them to humble their thoughts about themselves. He does not tell them to do or try something new. He calls on them "to repent." He does not ask them to stretch their wings for some greater flight in the future. He asks them to see where they are and to confess their failure. But a shallow, self-satisfied heart finds this tiresome.

The Lord threatens to reject this church (v. 16). Before He carries that out, He takes a place outside: "Behold, I stand at the door." In this way He disowns the whole body of people who claim the name of Christ. The Lord both knocks and speaks. What a rich display of grace in the worst of circumstances! The Lord does not order them to buy (v. 18), and He does not force His way in. In the one case He advises; in the other He knocks.

These words show that the Lord has taken a place outside the church of Laodicea. That is a solemn thing. Its wretched moral state forced Him to take this position. On the other hand, it is just as true that Laodicea has shut its door on Christ. They have shut Him out and left Him outside.

They may close their door upon Him, but they cannot close His heart against them. If they thrust Him out in utter indifference, He will wait at their door with perfect patience. He does not knock once or twice and then leave. He can say, "I stand at the door and am knocking." He keeps knocking, and He will go on knocking until the day of grace runs out.

Here in Laodicea the Lord takes a place outside. The church in name only has in practice moved into the position Israel once held. So the Lord takes His stand outside, and He calls to individual souls who are inside: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice." He wants to gain their attention. He wants them to let Him in. He warns the church of what is coming on it — real judgment. But until He carries that judgment out, He still acts in His own blessed grace. That grace now reaches individuals, because He has given up the church.

Notice the order of the response. First comes hearing His voice — His call to repentance. Then comes opening the door. The bride heard His voice, but she had no energy to open the door until it was too late. So hearing His voice is not enough. Many believers hear it and still stay where they are, tied to evil company.

First, "I will come in to him" — not into Laodicea, whose doom is settled. He comes in to the person who, by grace, has opened the door… "I will eat with him." That is, "I will come down to where he is, and share fellowship with him in his things." How wonderful that He should come down so low! But He eats with the one who opened the door for a reason. He wants to lead that person up into the higher blessing of eating with Him, of sharing fellowship with Him in His things, of communion with Himself.

The letters to the first five churches hold no promise that comes true on earth. The letter to Philadelphia holds a promise that comes true as they are caught up from earth. But this last letter holds a promise to enjoy down here — the presence of Christ in close, blessed fellowship.

Here the Lord makes this most solemn and weighty appeal not to the sinner outside, but to the professing Church. Christ is not knocking at the door of the sinner's heart, true as that is too. He is knocking at the door of those inside the professing Church.

Is this how Christ offers Himself as a Saviour to the unconverted? If it is, there is nothing else like it in the Scriptures… To hold this view is also to assume that the unconverted have power of their own. Opening the door goes far beyond simply believing the gospel message.

The Lord's words to Laodicea distinguish them very plainly. These messages present Him as Son of Man. His own throne, therefore, is clearly what belongs to Him as Man, in contrast with the Father's throne, the divine one. It is plain at once that He promises His saints a seat with Him on the first throne, but no one could sit on the other unless He were Himself divine.

The Lord Jesus is not yet seated on His own throne. When He was on earth He had no throne. When He went to heaven, He sat down on His Father's throne... When this promise is fulfilled, He must have left His Father's throne and sat down on His own throne. It is a future thing.

Look at the history of the life of Christ. It was a life of testing and suffering until He reached the cross... Opposition and contempt brought out everything that was in Him. His path grew darker and darker down to the cross. He had to overcome Satan, and He promises others that the one who overcomes will sit with Him on His throne, just as He overcame and sat down with His Father on His throne.

Overcoming here means hearing the voice of Christ and opening the door to Him. This involves judging the condition of Laodicea and separating from it in heart and practice. Everyone who overcomes in this way will sit with Christ on His throne.

Most people have closed the door on Christ. The one who overcomes the indifference of Laodicea and opens the door to Him will enjoy more than secret fellowship with Christ in the day of His rejection. He will also share Christ's place in the open display of the day of His glory. Christ overcame a world that rejected the Father, and He has sat down on His Father's throne. The one who overcomes a world that has rejected Christ will sit down with Christ on His throne.

To sit with Christ on His throne is a distinction of power. As a reward it has a grand, glorious, majestic, dignified character. But it lacks the share of Christ's personal affection that Christ promises to the overcomer in Philadelphia.

Some have supposed that this shows an unusually rich kind of blessing. But this is a mistake. There is no special reward here, for it is the common portion of all believers. Still, here as in the other cases, the promise fits exactly... He had let Christ into his heart and known Him in secret fellowship down here. His reward is a place in Christ's own portion in the kingdom and glory up there. The Father received Christ the overcomer up to His own throne, the mark of the Father's approval and love. In the same way, Christ will receive the overcomer who let Him into his heart up to His own throne, the mark of Christ's approval and love.

We come now to the solemn close of these addresses, the Lord's last word to the churches. It is very striking that we come to that close here, just after that letter to Philadelphia, where we have seen a real return of heart to Christ and a true revival by His Word and Spirit.

The call is to hear the message of the Spirit to the Churches, not just the word to the particular assembly at Laodicea at that time. So it is clear that these messages have been recorded and preserved for the benefit of the whole Church at all times, even for ourselves today.

In these addresses we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit... But while the Spirit speaks to the churches, it is individuals who are called to hear. The Church as a whole is seen as a body deaf to the pleadings or warnings of the Spirit. So the churches are not called upon to hear, but individuals are: "He who has an ear to hear, let him hear." Recovery of the whole body is hopeless. That is why individual responsibility, always of first importance, is pressed harder and more constantly.

Such a message from the Lord "to the one who has an ear" carries unspeakably solemn power. It contradicts the twisted cry "hear the church." It calls on every faithful soul to "hear what the Spirit says to the churches." The church never was a standard of truth — only God's word is... Christ is the truth, and the Spirit is the power that works inwardly and brings it home. But when decay and false teaching set in, the outward professing church ceased to be even a reliable witness.

The call to hear begins to follow the promise, instead of coming before it. The reason is that a remnant is now formed... The Lord from then on puts the promise first, and this apparently because there is no use any longer in expecting the church as a whole to receive it. In the three previous churches the call to hear is first, because the Lord is still dealing with the general conscience of the church. That is given up now.

It is "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." An ear to hear. It is the very lowest qualification. It is not, Can you work? — can you do anything? Israel in the wilderness had no ear, and was overthrown; so will you be also if you have none. God says: Has my word any entrance into your hearts? Have you got blessing from anything I have ever said to you? Here is my challenge to you: "He who has an ear, let him hear."

The address closes with the deeply important call to the one who has an ear, to listen to what the Spirit has to say to the churches. All may not be Laodicean in the full sense, but all are in danger of the Laodicean spirit, and so comes the warning to hear the Spirit's voice. The one who hears will judge every tendency to indifference to Christ, to self-importance and to self-sufficiency. He will take his place apart from what is so soon to be spit out of Christ's mouth. He will make room for Christ to eat with Him in the day of His rejection, while waiting to reign with Him in the day of His glory.