ACC ~ Revelation 3 v1 - 6

OVERVIEW:

Christ, who as true God gives the Spirit (ANDREW OF CAESAREA), addresses the church at Sardis, where some bear the name of Christian but are empty of good works (VICTORINUS). While one may seem to be alive in bearing the name of Christian, those enslaved to sin are in fact dead (OECUMENIUS). Especially the bishop lacks diligence in the discipline of evildoers, and therefore, although he might seem to be guiltless, he will be regarded as dead unless he strives to enliven those under his care (BEDE). Likewise, there are those who are called Christian but who do not trust Christ and do not hold the correct faith. They too are as though dead, and therefore they are called to repentance of past sins and to the remembrance of the apostolic doctrine (APRINGIUS). If such repentance is not forthcoming, Christ will come to judge suddenly, like a thief. For those who are prepared, judgment will be the end of earthly toil, but for the rest it will be spiritual death (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Yet there are still some, whom Christ knows by name (BEDE), who walk with Christ in the whiteness of the purity of the body (APRINGIUS, OECUMENIUS). Those who conquer by preserving the sanctity of their flesh will be clothed with the resurrection of the flesh (TERTULLIAN) and with the white robe of eternal life (OECUMENIUS). This will occur to those who keep their baptism without blemish (BEDE). Christ will also confess such saints as faithful servants before his Father and before his angels (OECUMENIUS).

3:1a | Write to the Angel of the Church in Sardis

CHRISTIANS IN NAME ONLY ARE IN DANGER OF DEATH. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: This fifth class, group or manner of saint refers to those persons who are negligent and behave in a manner other than what they ought in the world, who are vacuous in works and who are only Christian in name. And therefore he exhorts them so that in some way they might reverse themselves from this dangerous negligence and be saved. “Strengthen,” he says, “that which is in danger of death. I have not found your work perfect before my God.” For it is not sufficient that a tree live but yet not give fruit. Neither is it sufficient that one be called a Christian, confess himself to be a Christian, and yet not do the works of a Christian. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.1.

A BISHOP MUST BE VIGILANT. BEDE: He says that the angel, that is, the bishop, exercises insufficient diligence in the correction of evil people. Nonetheless, he commends him for having some who walk in white garments, and to these the name of “Sardis” corresponds, namely, “precious stone.” … Indeed, you seem to yourself to be alive, but unless you are vigilant in the correction of the wicked, you will be regarded as already among the dead. … Even though he might seem to people to be guiltless, the works of a ruler are not perfect before God if he does not strive to enliven also others. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 3.1-2.

3:1b | The Seven Spirits; the Seven Stars

CHRIST GOVERNS THE ANGELS AND SUPPLIES THE SPIRIT. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: We have said before that the “seven stars” are divine angels. The “seven spirits” are either the self-same angels or they are the energies of the life-giving Spirit. Either way, both are in the hand of Christ, for he governs the former as Lord, and as the ὁμοούσις he is the supplier of the Spirit. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.1.

3:1c | I Know Your Works

IN SINS, ONE IS DEAD; IN FAITH, ONE IS ALIVE. OECUMENIUS: I have discussed above the seven stars which he here calls the “spirits of God.” But now we must listen to what he says concerning those who live in Sardis. “I know your works,” he says, that you possess a name as though you were living a life virtuous in the sight of God, but “you are dead” in sins. For in the holy Scriptures, it is customary that those snared in sins are called “dead,” as, for example, in this passage from the most wise Paul concerning those who have passed from disbelief to faith in Christ: “And you, although dead in trespasses, he made alive together with Christ.” Likewise, the Shepherd says that those who go down into the water of baptism are “dead,” but those who come up are “living.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.1-6.

3:2-3 | Be Vigilant, Remember, Obey and Repent

REPENT OR BE JUDGED. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: He rebukes those idle persons who do not trust in God with the whole mind and keep the right faith only hypocritically. They are Christians in name only. And so they are said to be living, but in fact they are dead. For that reason they are rebuked that they might be vigilant and strengthen what remains of that from which they had fallen. And so he urges them, “Remember what you received and heard, and repent.” He wishes that they remember the apostolic doctrine, and he warns them to preserve that which they received at the beginning of their faith and to repent of their past sins. And so he threatens whomever does not do this, “If you will not be vigilant, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.” The judgment of God will be sudden, and no one knows the secret hour when he intends to come. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.2-3.

LIKE A THIEF. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: “I will come like a thief.” This is reasonably written. For neither the death of any individual nor the common consummation is known to anyone. To those who are prepared, it will be the cessation of toil; however, to those who are unprepared, like a “thief” he will bring on spiritual death. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.3.

3:4 | A Faithful Few

GOD KNOWS HIS SHEEP BY NAME. BEDE: He did not say a “few,” but a “few names.” For he who knew Moses by name calls his own sheep by name and writes the names of his saints in heaven. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 3.4.

WALKING WITH THE LORD. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: Everyone who is not soiled with the filth of sin walks with the Lord in white, and he is made worthy so that he might follow the footsteps of the Lamb. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.4.

SAINTS WALK IN THE PURITY OF THE BODY. OECUMENIUS: By the garments that have not been soiled he means the bodies of the saints, just as the patriarch Jacob said, “He will wash his robe in wine.” And Isaiah said much the same thing: “Why is your garment red as one who treads in the wine press, as of one who has completely trodden [the wine press].” And so the white garment signifies the purity of the body. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.1-6.

3:5 | Clothed in White Robes

THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH IS THE ROBE OF HOPE. TERTULLIAN: We have also in the Scriptures robes mentioned as allegorizing the hope of the flesh. Thus in the Revelation of John it is said, “These are they who have not defiled their clothes with women”—indicating, of course, virgins, and such as have become “eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.” Therefore they shall be “clothed in white raiment,” that is, in the bright beauty of the unwedded flesh. In the Gospel even, “the wedding garment” may be regarded as the sanctity of the flesh. And so, when Isaiah tells us what sort of “fast the Lord has chosen,” he adds a statement about the reward of good works. He says, “Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your garments shall speedily arise,” where he has not thought of cloaks or clothing, but means the rising of flesh, of which he declared the resurrection, after its fall in death. ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 27.

THOSE WHO CONQUER THEIR PASSIONS. OECUMENIUS: “He who conquers” the passions will wear white robes in the age to come, for he has promised in the Gospels that the saints will shine as the sun and the moon. The pure, he says, will be inscribed in the book of the living, for that blessed and eternal life. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.1-6.

WE ARE CALLED TO PRESERVE THE ROBE OF BAPTISM. BEDE: He calls all to the imitation of those who have preserved the silken robe of baptism without blemish. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 3.5.

THE ANGELS BELONG ALSO TO CHRIST. OECUMENIUS: “And I will confess your name before my Father and his angels.” He will confess them as his faithful servants and as house slaves who are well-disposed [toward their master], for indeed also in the Gospels he says that whosoever should confess “me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven.” And that he speaks of the Father and his angels does not suggest that the holy angels are not also his. For at times he speaks of the angels as the Father’s, and at other times he speaks of them as his. For he says in Matthew: “Then the Son of man will send his angels with a loud trumpet sound, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 3.1-6.