The Revelation of Yahshua Christ

Chapter 3 

III “1 And to the messenger of the assembly in Sardeis, write: Thus says He having the seven Spirits of Yahweh and the seven stars, I know your works, that you have a name that you may live, and you are dead. 2 You must be alert and establish the remaining things which were about to die, for I have not found your works completed before My God. 3 Therefore remember how you have received and have heard and keep and repent. Then if you should not be alert, I shall come as a thief, and you may not know what hour I shall come upon you. 4 But you have a few names in Sardeis which have not soiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. 5 He who prevails thusly shall be cloaked in white garments and his name shall not be wiped out of the Book of Life and I shall profess his name before My Father and before His messengers. 6 He having an ear must hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies!

 Sardeis was the capital city of ancient Lydia. It was an important city to the Persians, and held by them throughout the Classical period. The original Lydian cities were all said to have been destroyed by the Persians in the 6^th century BC, and until the time of Alexander the Persians held most of Asia Minor. Sardeis was named after the usually transparent-reddish or transparent-brownish sardion stone, which is called carnelian by the English. This stone was used in the making of jewelry by the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, and in the making of cylinder seals by the Assyrians. It was also widely used by the Romans for signet seals, which may add to the depth of the meaning here, since there is apparently question as to whether these Christians are indeed as sealed, or assured, of their salvation as they seem to think that they are. The color of the stone can vary greatly, from pale orange to near-black, and perhaps that is also why this assembly was picked out for this message. The Christians of Sardeis were not admonished for having committing any absolute wrong, but they were warned that they should stay alert and be sure to fulfill their Christian obligations. It seems that as the Sardian stone has a wide range of colors, the people of assembly at Sardeis had a wide range of attitudes. The Sardians had the Word, but seem not to have acted on it, having the works too. As James warns us in his epistle, “Faith without works is dead”, that is also the message here.

The Book of Life is the Bible, or at least, the Bible that we know is a reflection of the Book of Life. The copy we have is not quite finished since it is the story of the history of our race in the earth and the Law and the Words of our God. Paul tells us that they who keep the Gospel uphold the “Word of Life”, where in his epistle to the Philippians at 2:14-16 he admonished them to “14 Do all things apart from murmuring and disputing, 15 that you would be perfect and with unmixed blood, blameless children of Yahweh in the midst of a race crooked and perverted - among whom you appear as luminaries in the Society, 16 upholding the Word of Life for a boast with me in the day of Christ, that not in vain have I run nor in vain have I labored. ”. The veracity of this interpretation shall be further upheld as we examine the message to the assembly at Philadelphia. John tells us that the apostles touched the “Word of Life”. So it is evident that if Christ is the Word of Life, the Book of Life is His gospel and His profession. He tells us that if we do not deny Him, the He will not deny us before His Father. If we keep His words, then we are written in the Bible – being of the Adamic Race whom the Bible is about and for whom is salvation, and it is also written in us since His Word is also written in our hearts. Christ told the Judaeans that “Truly, truly I say to you, if one would keep My Word, he would not see death for eternity!” (John 8:51) and Christ told the apostles, talking about the lost sheep at John 15:20-21, to “20 Remember the word which I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they have persecuted Me, they shall also persecute you. If they have kept My word, they shall also keep yours. 21 But all these things they shall do to you on account of My Name, because they do not know He who has sent Me.” If you are not of the Adamic race, your name is not in the Book of Life, and it cannot ever be.

“7 And to the messenger of the assembly in Philadelphia, write: Thus says the Holy One, the Truthful One, He having the Key of David, He opening and no one shall close, and closing then no one opens, 8 I know your works. Behold, I gave before you a door having been opened, which no one is able to close it, because you have a little strength and have kept My Word and have not denied My Name. 9 Behold, I shall give those from of the congregation of the Adversary saying for themselves to be Judaeans, and they are not but they are liars, behold: I shall make them that they shall come and they shall worship before your feet and they may know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My Word with patience, I also shall keep you from the hour of trial about to come upon the whole inhabited earth to test those dwelling upon the earth. 11 I come quickly! Hold fast that which you have, that no one may take your reward. 12 He who prevails I shall make him a pillar in the temple of My God that he would no longer go outside, and I shall write upon him the Name of My God and the name of the City of My God, of the new Jerusalem which descends from heaven from My God, and My new Name. 13 He having an ear must hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies!

Philadelphia means brotherly love, and this assembly was not criticized by Yahweh, which is certainly why this assembly was chosen for this message, for the meaning of its name, just as Smurna was chosen for a similar message. That is also the significance of the Key of David. In order to find where the key fits, one must know the door it unlocks. Yahshua said in John Chapter 10 that “1 Truly, truly I say to you, he not entering through the door into the pen of the sheep, but going up from another place, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he entering through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” So we see that the Key of David opens the door to the sheepfold the right way, and anyone else who comes in, who does not belong to the Shepherd, is a thief and a robber. No one is able to close the door to the sheep: the true message of the covenants of God which are exclusively with His people Israel are there for any one of the sheep to enter into, if perhaps they have the strength to do so and do not deny His Name. For those who stand strong, their enemies will one day be forced to acknowledge that they are indeed the true Children of Yahweh. We are also assured that if we keep His Words, we shall be spared the wrath that is to come upon the evildoers.

John 13:34-35: “34 I give to you a new commandment: that you should love one another; just as I have loved you that you also should love one another. 35 By this they shall all know that you are My students, if you would have love for one another.” [This was never so explicit in the Old Testament Law.]

John 15:12-14: “12 This is My commandment: that you love one another just as I have loved you. 13 A greater love than this no one has: that one would lay down his life on behalf of his friends. 14 You are My friends if you would do the things which I command you.”

The New Jerusalem which descends from heaven is discussed at length in the closing chapters of the Revelation. That the name of God is ultimately written on the heads of Christians is also discussed in these chapters. Brotherly love (hence Philadelphia) and a recognition of the Anointed People of Israel (hence Smurna) are of the utmost importance to Christians, and this message to the seven assemblies makes that absolutely clear.

“14 And to the messenger of the assembly in Laodikeia, write: Thus says the Sure One, the Faithful and Truthful Witness, the Beginning of the creation of Yahweh, 15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would be obliged you were cold or hot! 16 So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth! 17 Because you say that ‘I am rich’ and ‘I have become wealthy’ and ‘I have need of nothing’, and you do not know that you are miserable and pitiful and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire in order that you would be wealthy, and white garments in order that you would be cloaked and the shame of your nakedness not be manifest, and eye-salve to anoint your eyes in order that you may see. 19 I as many as I should love I censure and I discipline, therefore be zealous and repent! 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If one should hear My voice and open the door, then I shall enter in to him and I shall dine with him and he with Me. 21 He who prevails I shall give to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also have prevailed and I have sat with My Father on His throne. 22 He having an ear must hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies!”

Laodikeia is literally “righteous people”, from the Greek words laos and dikaios. Yet it may be shown that dikaios was understood in the Greek mind as being that which is deemed righteous by man, as opposed to another word, hosios, which denoted that which was deemed righteous by the gods, or rather by God. Thayer alludes to this distinction, but Liddell & Scott mention it explicitly in their entry at hosios. Therefore the word may be interpreted here as denoting a self-righteous people, and thus the message fits the name of the assembly. The people are neither hot nor cold: they know the Gospel of God and claim to be Christians, but they care not for His will or His works. They sought and counted upon their material wealth, while they were really destitute of the treasures that matter most – those stored up in heaven. This is exactly the opposite condition we find among the assembly at Smurna which was not criticized by Yahshua.

Therefore the Laodikeians are admonished to trade in their worldly riches for the heavenly, to purchase white garments from Yahshua. It is apparent that this message more than any of the others describes the condition of today's modern evangelical churches. While they profess Christ with their lips, in actuality their justification is of themselves because they do not follow His commandments. They seek worldly riches, and therefore they are naked and poor. They also admit all sorts of beasts into their congregations – people who are not involved in the covenants which Yahweh made with Israel, and therefore they are pitiful and blind. They need what Smurna has: ointment in order to anoint their eyes that they may see, which is the knowledge of the meaning and obligations of the covenants!