--- title: "Revelation 3 - Study King James Bible with burkitts expository notes with practical observations on the nt" description: "Read Revelation 3 with burkitts expository notes with practical observations on the nt commentary. 1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3" --- [ Read](/kjv/revelation/3)[ Commentary](/study/revelation/3)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/revelation/3) Audio 1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 12 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. 13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 14 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; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 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: 18 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. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 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. 21 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. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. [Revelation 2](/study/revelation/2) [Revelation 4](/study/revelation/4) ## Commentary To verse 1 This chapter began the fifth epistle which Christ wrote and directed to the church at Sardis. In which observe, 1. The glorious description given of our Lord Jesus Christ, namely, that he **has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars;** that is, according to some, he hath the Holy Spirit of God proceeding from him as from the Father: and because he had power to send the Holy Ghost, together with the Father, he is therefore said to have the seven spirits of God; so the Holy Ghost is called, because of the perfection and variety of his gifts and graces, influences and operations. Others by the seven Spirits understand created angels; and the seven Spirits being joined with seven Stars, intimate according to these, that Christ is the Lord of angels and ministers, he upholds his ministers, and has angels always at hand to defend his members. Observe, 2. This church's partial opinion of herself; in her own and others' esteem, she was alive; thou hast a repute for an excellent church, thy profession causes many to think and speak well of thee: **Thou hast a name that thou livest.** Observe, 3. Christ's impartial judgment concerning her, as one that knew her better than either others did, or herself could know her: thou sayest thou art dead or dying, thyself and others are deceived concerning thee. Learn hence, 1. That it is possible for a professing people to be alive in their own and others' esteem, and yet to be dead or dying in God's account; at the same time that they make a splendid and glorious profession of religion, they may be under the reign and power of hypocrisy. Learn hence, 2. That no religious pretences, no fair shows, can possibly hide a person's or a people's hypocrisy from God's eye: thou sayest that thou art thus, but I know thee better than others do, or thou canst know thyself; thou hast a name to live, but thou art dead. Observe, 4. The counsel given by Christ to this languid and languishing church. 1. To be watchful; to shake off her drowsiness and formality; no reformation can be expected, if due consideration, watchfulness, and care, be not exercised. 2. To strengthen the things that are ready to die; that is, blow up every spark of grace which lodges under the ashes of much corruption, and keep it from going quite out. Spirituals are to be succoured and strengthened, if once they grow languishing and dying, lest they grow quite dead. 3. To remember what they had received and heard from Christ's apostles and ministers: **to hold fast** the truths received, and **to repent** of what is evil, and to reform what has been done amiss; intimating, that it is the duty of Christians to remember those truths which they have heard and received, and also to hold fast what they have heard and received: and that renewed repentance is the duty of Christians, as well as initial repentance. Observe, 5. The complaint which Christ brings in against the church of Sardis, **I have not found thy works perfect before God;** not full, says the original, that is, not filled up with that sincerity and zeal which God requires: a man may be full of good works, and yet his prayer not full, but vain and empty; sincerity is the fulness or filling up of all duties: it is not common frailty, but the want of sincerity and soundness, zeal and seriousness, which Christ complains of. Observe, 6. The danger threatened to security and slothfulness, **If thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief;** that is, I will surprise thee with my judgments in the midst of thy security, as a thief does persons when they are asleep, and least expect him; the expression plainly intimates, both the suddenness of the judgment, and the severity of the judgment threatened. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3","name":"Revelation 3 - Study King James Bible with burkitts expository notes with practical observations on the nt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Revelation 3 with burkitts expository notes with practical observations on the nt commentary. 1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt","name":"burkitts expository notes with practical observations on the nt"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation","name":"Revelation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/burkitts-expository-notes-with-practical-observations-on-the-nt/revelation/3","name":"3"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```