‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead."'"[7]
I know what you do; I know that you have a little power; you have followed my teaching and have been faithful to me. I have opened a door in front of you, which no one can close.[12]
Verse 9
Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.[13]
Verse 10
Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.[14]
Verse 11
Look, I am coming soon! Hold tightly to the little strength you have—so that no one will take away your crown.[15]
Verse 12
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.[17]
The Message to Laodicea (3:14–22)
Verse 14
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:'[18]
In Isaiah 65:16 - he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth - the literal translation refers to the God of Amen.[19] The Common English Bible gives the translation as "the God called Amen".[20]
Verse 15
I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.[21]
According to the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary, "cold" must mean "more than negatively cold", i.e. not warm: it must mean "positively, icy cold: never warmed", while "hot" literally means "boiling" or "fervent". They comment that "the lukewarm state (verse 16), if it be the transitional stage to a warmer, is a desirable state (for a little religion, if real, is better than none); but most fatal when, as here, an abiding condition, for it is mistaken for a safe state."[22]
Verse 18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire,
that you may be rich;
and white garments, that you may be clothed,
that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed;
The vision of Christ "standing at the door" may be expressive of the near approach, or sudden coming of Christ to judgment (see James 5:9), and his knocking may signify the notice that will be given of it, by some of the immediate forerunners and signs of his coming; which yet will be observed but by a few, such a general sleepiness will have seized all professors of religion; and particularly may intend the midnight cry, which will, in its issue, rouse them all.[25]
^Elliott, J. K. "Revelations from the apparatus criticus of the Book of Revelation: How Textual
Criticism Can Help Historians." Union Seminary Quarterly Review 63, no. 3-4 (2012): 1-23.
^Claremont Coptic Encyclopaedia, Codex Vaticanus, accessed 29 September 2018
