8 I have known thy works; lo, I have set before thee a door -- opened, and no one is able to shut it, because thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name;
for a door to me hath been opened -- great and effectual -- and withstanders `are' many.
praying at the same time also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the secret of the Christ, because of which also I have been bound,
and having come and gathered together the assembly, they declared as many things as God did with them, and that He did open to the nations a door of faith;
I did manifest Thy name to the men whom Thou hast given to me out of the world; Thine they were, and to me Thou hast given them, and Thy word they have kept;
I have known thy works, that neither cold art thou nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot.
`Because thou didst keep the word of my endurance, I also will keep thee from the hour of the trial that is about to come upon all the world, to try those dwelling upon the earth.
I have known thy works, and where thou dost dwell -- where the throne of the Adversary `is' -- and thou dost hold fast my name, and thou didst not deny my faith, even in the days in which Antipas `was' my faithful witness, who was put to death beside you, where the Adversary doth dwell.
I have known thy works, and thy labour, and thy endurance, and that thou art not able to bear evil ones, and that thou hast tried those saying themselves to be apostles and are not, and hast found them liars,
And to the messenger of the assembly in Sardis write: These things saith he who is having the Seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I have known thy works, and that thou hast the name that thou dost live, and thou art dead;
Lest I become satiated, and have denied, And have said, `Who `is' Jehovah?' And lest I be poor, and have stolen, And have laid hold of the name of my God.
Who is the liar, except he who is denying that Jesus is the Christ? this one is the antichrist who is denying the Father and the Son; every one who is denying the Son, neither hath he the Father, `he who is confessing the Son hath the Father also.'
the good strife I have striven, the course I have finished, the faith I have kept,
For all things I have strength, in Christ's strengthening me;
Concerning this thing thrice the Lord did I call upon, that it might depart from me, and He said to me, `Sufficient for thee is My grace, for My power in infirmity is perfected;' most gladly, therefore, will I rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of the Christ may rest on me: wherefore I am well pleased in infirmities, in damages, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses -- for Christ; for whenever I am infirm, then I am powerful;
`The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, did glorify His child Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, he having given judgment to release `him', and ye the Holy and Righteous One did deny, and desired a man -- a murderer -- to be granted to you,
`Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord; if me they did persecute, you also they will persecute; if my word they did keep, yours also they will keep;
he who is having my commands, and is keeping them, that one it is who is loving me, and he who is loving me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.' Judas saith to him, (not the Iscariot), `Sir, what hath come to pass, that to us thou are about to manifest thyself, and not to the world?' Jesus answered and said to him, `If any one may love me, my word he will keep, and my Father will love him, and unto him we will come, and abode with him we will make; he who is not loving me, my words doth not keep; and the word that ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
And he denied before all, saying, `I have not known what thou sayest.' And he having gone forth to the porch, another female saw him, and saith to those there, `And this one was with Jesus of Nazareth;' and again did he deny with an oath -- `I have not known the man.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Revelation 3
Commentary on Revelation 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
Here we have three more of the epistles of Christ to the churches:
Rev 3:1-6
Here is,
Rev 3:7-13
We have now come to the sixth letter, sent to one of the Asian churches, where observe,
Rev 3:14-22
We now come to the last and worst of all the seven Asian churches, the reverse of the church of Philadelphia; for, as there was nothing reproved in that, here is nothing commended in this, and yet this was one of the seven golden candlesticks, for a corrupt church may still be a church. Here we have, as before,