1“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write:
“He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says these things:
“I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up and strengthen the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God. 3Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If therefore you won’t watch, I will come as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I will come upon you. 4Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that didn’t defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
7“To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write:
“He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:
8“I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and didn’t deny my name. 9Behold, I make some of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie—behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown. 12He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name. 13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
14“To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write:
“The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, says these things:
15“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. 17Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing,’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 19As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me. 21He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”
God declared that He would make all things new and would allow overcomers to inherit, while the wicked would take part in the lake of fire, the second death. The making of “all things new” must refer to the recreation of the heavens and earth and the reality of our new start in eternity. The titles taken by God, “the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End,” are the titles He took in 1:8 at the conclusion of the Prologue. God calling His words “faithful and true” connects back to Jesus and the title He chose when addressing the church of the Laodiceans in 3:14.
God the Father, “He who sits on the throne,” next offers salvation to all who come. That is the sense of giving freely to those who are thirsty. He then connects back to the letters to the seven churches and extends a promise to those who overcome. They will have a special Father-son relationship with God the Father. This may indicate that believers who fail to overcome, to remain faithful to the end, will not have this special relationship with God the Father in eternity.
The list of those excluded begins with the “cowardly.” This likely indicates those who followed the Antichrist rather than confess Jesus out of fear of suffering. The list that follows is a “vice list” that describes the kind of people excluded from heaven. These are relegated to the lake of fire. One problem with this list is that Christians can be guilty of any or all of them. Since salvation is not by works, but faith in Christ, how does this work? These are looking at character traits, kinds of people. The redeemed of God are no longer these kinds of people. They are immune to the lake of fire, the second death. This should serve as a motivation for each Christian to live for the Lord and not fall into any of these sins.