As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
19. As many as I love, I rebuke ] The pronoun “I” stands emphatically at the beginning of the sentence as it were, “My way with those I love (the word is a strong one, expressing affection, not simply charity), is to shew them their faults,” not to “prophesy smooth things,” and encourage the self-complacent temper that was destroying the Laodiceans. In every other case, the Lord has noted both the good and the evil in the Church, and generally the good first: here He does nothing but find fault, but He adds in effect, “Do not suppose from this that I do not love you.” The word “rebuke” is more often rendered “reprove:” see e.g. Joh 16:8; Eph 5:11; Eph 5:13: its meaning here is exactly what we express by “working conviction of sin.”
be zealous therefore, and repent ] Shake off thy languid “lukewarm” temper: then thou wilt be able to start on a new life of righteousness.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten – Of course, only on the supposition that they deserve it. The meaning is, that it is a proof of love on his part, if his professed friends go astray, to recall them by admonitions and by trials. So a father calls back his children who are disobedient; and there is no higher proof of his love than when, with great pain to himself, he administers such chastisement as shall save his child. See the sentiment here expressed fully explained in the notes on Heb 12:6. The language is taken from Pro 3:12.
Be zealous therefore, and repent – Be earnest, strenuous, ardent in your purpose to exercise true repentance, and to turn from the error of your ways. Lose no time; spare no labor, that you may obtain such a state of mind that it shall not be necessary to bring upon you the severe discipline which always comes on those who continue lukewarm in religion. The truth taught here is, that when the professed followers of Christ have become lukewarm in his service, they should lose no time in returning to him, anti seeking his favor again. As sure as he has any true love for them, if this is not done he will bring upon them some heavy calamity, alike to rebuke them for their errors, and to recover them to himself.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 3:19-22
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
Divine chastisement
I. In reference to the sinner, what is the object of Divine chastisement? The merciful design is the conviction and conversion of the sinner, his restoration to the image of God. And what are the means employed by the Holy Spirit for this end? Sickness, poverty, bereavements, the ministry of the Word, the faithful admonition of a loving friend, or even a tract offered by the wayside.
II. In regard to the Lords own people, what is His design in afflicting them?
1. To prevent sin in them, He sees the beginning of mischief in the heart, and He nips the sin in the bud.
2. To wean them from this present world.
3. To lead them nearer to Himself.
III. The attitude of the Saviour towards sinners. (H. E. Windle, M. A.)
Christ disclosing His love
The Lord next declares His love to Laodicea. It has really been love all through; but now He speaks the word out–As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. What He has already said, severe and even terrible, has been said in love; and indeed love is the root of His whole dealing with them, love that would get quit of their sin. Now this is a thing that helps to cure lukewarmness. Love is the key that opens the barred door of the sinful heart. And the Saviour discloses His love to the Laodiceans that He may thereby touch them, melt them, restore them. I think there is a lesson here that we need to learn. We come into the presence of Laodicean lukewarmness. We are grieved by it. We are angered even more than we are grieved. We are tempted to denounce it. Ah, but here is a nobler way–to be ourselves loving! Out of Christs love there spring rebuke and chastening. Rebuke is not mere fault-finding, or coming down upon a man, or giving it hot; that is easy enough; commonly it is the outcome of the wrath of man, which worketh not the righteousness of God; and not seldom it is directed against those who do not deserve it. One of the sad things among us, indeed, is this cruel misdirection of censure. To rebuke means to bring sin home convincingly to the judgment and the conscience. To rebuke is a very different thing from fault-finding, and as high above it as heaven is above the earth. Nothing but love can do it–high-purposed, firm, holy love. It means the setting of sin so clearly and fully and convincingly before the mind and conscience, that you carry the person with you, and he is convinced. That is what love tries, and what only love can accomplish. And that is what Christ is doing with the Laodiceans now. He is setting the truth of their condition before their consciences, in holiest and tenderest mercy, that shrinks not from giving pain in order that it may heal. But this were not enough, unless something is done to help the sinner out of his evil estate. For the Lord to have reproved or convinced the Laodiceans would not have been enough. Without conviction there is and can be no conversion; but He could not have stopped short with it, any more than the physician may stop short with telling us our disease. Therefore He adds chastening to rebuke. We must dismiss the ides, of punishment. That does not lie in the word. Punishment is the deed of a judge; chastening is the work of a father. We must start from the realised fact of our sonship in the Divine family. The word chastening brings into view, under the new covenant, the whole process of earthly training for heavenly issues, which God in His wisdom ordains and conducts, and of which suffering forms so large an element. And this is the issue to which the rebuke and chastening of love should lead: Be zealous, and repent. Let the zeal show itself in this line. It is a man taking Gods side against his own sin, and looking to God to deliver him from it. It results, not from the will of the flesh or the will of man, but from Gods work in the conscience. It has its birth in a true apprehension by faith of the mercy of God in Christ. (J. Culross, D. D.)
God afflicts for our good; and what that good is
I. Gods rule.
1. That God chastises His children out of love, and for their good.
(1) Afflictions to them whom God loves are medicinal, and thereby they recover their health by repentance from some spiritual disease.
(2) Afflictions are preservatives to keep them whom God loveth from sin (2Co 12:7).
(3) Afflictions make the fruitless bring forth fruit, beget many virtues, and make Gods graces in us to bloom and bring forth works pleasing unto out Heavenly Father.
(4) Afflictions draw men nearer unto God. The main use of all is for comfort in all our sufferings and crosses whensoever God sends them: for they are signs of our sonship and tokens of His love.
2. That if God spares not those whom He loveth, much less shall His enemies escape punishment.
3. That God rebukes before He chastens.
(1) If this then be Gods manner of dealing, it should behove us not lightly to pass by His warnings.
(2) If God so powerfully warns His creature before He strikes him, how dare we strike our brother before we warn him?
II. Our duty. We must be zealous, and repent.
1. Concerning zeal.
(1) Zeal is the intention and vehemency of all our affections in matters of God and His service. It hath its name of Zew, which is, to burn and boil as water over the fire, and thence may be styled the fervency of our affections. Such a one was Apollos (Act 18:25); and such St. Paul exhorts the Romans to be (Rom 12:11). For as burning is the excess or highest pitch of heat, so is zeal of our affections. But as in our bodies we find aguish burnings as well as the healthful vigour of natural heat; and as Nadab and Abihu offered fire unto God, but not the right and holy fire (Lev 10:1), so are there some counterfeits of zeal, as it were false fires, abominable unto God and odious unto men. The kinds, then, of false zeal may be reduced unto three heads.
(a) Hypocritical zeal, which wants sincerity.
(b) Blind zeal, which wants knowledge.
(c) Turbulent zeal, which wants love and moderation. Thus I have briefly described these false fires, that by the law of contraries we may know who is the true zealot.
(2) But why should this zeal be so needful? Let us therefore now see the reasons.
(a) First, therefore, I will seek no farther than my text, where the want of zeal is reckoned for a sin, a sin to be repented of, Be zealous, and repent: is not that needful, without which all our works are sinful?
(b) It is the ground rule of the whole law of God, and of all the precepts concerning His worship, that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. What else is this but to love Him zealously, to worship Him with the highest pitch of our affections? For He is the sovereign and chiefest good; what love then can suit to Him but the very top and sovereignty of love?
(c) Zeal is that which carries our devotions up to heaven. As wings to a fowl, wheels to a chariot, sails to a ship; so is zeal to the soul of man. Without zeal our devotions can no more ascend than vapours from a still without fire put under it.
2. Repentance is the changing of our course from the old way of sin unto the new way of righteousness: or more briefly, a changing of the course of sin for the course of righteousness. It is called also conversion, turning and returning unto God. I will describe it briefly in five degrees, which are as five steps in a ladder, by which we ascend up to heaven.
(1) The first step is the sight of sin and the punishment due unto it. For how can the soul be possessed with fear and sorrow, except the understanding do first apprehend the danger?–for that which the eye sees not, the heart rues not. The serious penitent must be like the wary factor, he must retire himself, look into his books, and turn over the leaves of his life; he must consider the expense of his time, the employment of his talent, the debt of his sin, and the strictness of his account.
(2) And so he shall ascend unto the next step, which is sorrow for sin. For he that seriously considers how he hath grieved the Spirit of God and endangered his own soul by his sins, cannot but have his spirit grieved with remorse.
(3) The third step up this ladder is the loathing of sin. A surfeit of meats, how dainty and delicate soever, will afterwards make them loathsome.
(4) The fourth step is the leaving off sin. To what purpose doth the physician evacuate ill humours, if the patient still distempers himself with ill diet? What shall it avail a man to endure the lancing, searching, and tending of a wound, if he stay not for the cure?
(5) The fifth and last step is the cleaving unto God with full purpose of heart to walk before Him in newness of life. All the former degrees of repentance were for the putting off of the old man; this is for the putting on of the new.
III. The connection and dependence of these latter words (Be zealous therefore, and repent) upon the former (As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.) Many things might be here observed, but I will name but one, which is this, that repentance is the means to avoid and prevent Gods judgments. For (as Tertullian observes) He that hath decreed to publish by justice, hath promised to grant pardon by repentance. And so Jer 18:7. (J. Mede, B. D.)
The love and the discipline
How soon a Church goes down! How quickly its love and holiness and zeal fade away! One generation often sees its rise, decline, and fall. The soul withers; the eye that looked upward now looks downward; and the once religious man, who did run well, takes the downward path into lukewarmness or death. Yet Jesus leaves him not.
I. The love. The I here is emphatic, and by its prominence Christ presents Himself specially as the lover, the rebuker, the chastener. His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor our ways His ways. He loves where others would hate. He shows His love by chastening where others would show theirs by indulging.
II. The discipline of love. Mark the way in which this love deals with Laodicea. It deals in tenderness, and yet in solemn severity. Instead of letting Laodicea escape, it takes hold of her, as a wise father of his disobedient child, and makes her sensible how much it hates the sin.
1. He reproves by word and deed.
2. What the chastening was we know not: it would be something specially suited to the self-sufficiency and worldliness of the Laodiceans. Perhaps they were stripped of their riches; perhaps visited by sickness and death; laid desolate by grievous sorrow; some long-continued trial, stroke upon stroke, crushing and emptying them. Whatever it may cost, they must be made to feel the evil of their ways.
III. The exhortation of love. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. The word zealous contrasts with lukewarmness, and implies true warmth and fervour. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
Be zealous.
Religious zeal
It is evident that the zeal which is here recommended has religion for its object. Now there are some who are mightily afraid of zeal as connected with religion. A zealous friend–a zealous teacher–a zealous patriot–are characters referred to with expressions of applause. But the moment that zeal mingles with religion, then there is distrust and disapproval. It is curious to observe how differently zeal in matters of religion is spoken of by these persons, and by the Word of God. Christ is hero introduced as rebuking the Church of Laodicea for the want of it, and as commanding them to get that want supplied. But His will, as thus expressed, is not arbitrary. It is founded in the nature and reason of the case. Why, let me ask you, are you zealous for anything whatever? Is it not because that thing, in your opinion, is important to be attained, and because the attainment of it requires energy and effort? Now, can you explain how it is that the same mode of judging and acting should not be adopted in religion? In the first place, is religion destitute of importance, or is it less important than anything else which attracts your notice and interests your attention? Then, in the second place, do you consider religion to be of such easy acquirement that a man may be invested with all its character, and animated by all its spirit, and come to the enjoyment of all its blessings, though he gives himself no great concern about it, and treats it with coldness and indifference? And then, in the third place, if for the reasons now stated, we ought to be zealous in acquiring for ourselves an interest in the grace and blessings of the gospel, the same raisons should constrain us to be zealous also in communicating these to our fellow-men throughout the world. Religion is as important to them as it is to us. Moreover, if you are actuated by zeal in other cases, and feel it to be at once becoming and necessary, we may well require you to vindicate, if you can, a want of zeal or a condemnation of it, in that vocation wherewith you are called as the disciples of Christ. If it be right to cherish and display zeal in the study of literature and philosophy, in promoting the prosperity of your country, in advancing the welfare of your friends, upon what; principle can it be wrong to cherish and display zeal in procuring for religion that ascendancy which it is entitled to hold over the minds and destinies of those for whose everlasting happiness it is intended? If religion be, as it is described in the Bible, and as you yourselves profess to regard it, then not only ought you to be zealous for it, but your zeal for it cannot be too great. Now what is the degree of importance that belongs to religion? Why, it is infinitely important. What! can you be too zealous in seeking after deliverance from the worm that never dies, and from the fire that shall not be quenched? Can you be too zealous in aspiring to that inheritance which is incorruptible, and that crown of glory which fadeth not away? Can you be too zealous in the pursuit of what was purchased at such a costly price as the blood of the incarnate Son of God? (A. Thompson, D. D.)
A coal from the altar
The true zealot, whose fervency is in the spirit, not in show; in substance, not in circumstance; for God, not himself; guided by the Word, not with humours; tempered with charity, not with bitterness: such a mans praise is of God though not of men, such a mans worth cannot be set forth with the tongues of men and of angels.
1. It is good to be zealous in good things, and is it not best in the best? Or is there any better than God, or the kingdom of heaven? Is mean and mediocrity in all excellent arts excluded, and only to be admitted in religion?
2. Consider and reason thus with thyself, canst thou brook a sluggard in thy work, if thou be of any spirit thyself? Do men choose the forwardest deer in the herd, the liveliest colt in the drove? and is the backwardest man fittest for God? Is not all His delight in the quickest and cheerfulest givers and servitors?
3. This zeal is so gracious a favourite with God, that it graces with Him all the rest of His graces. Prayer, if it be frequent, prevaileth much; the zealous witnesses had power to shut and open heaven (chap. 12.).
4. Zeal is the richest evidence of faith, and the clearest demonstration of the Spirit. Yea, but by what means shall a Christian attain this fire, and maintain it when he hath gotten it? Say not in thine heart, What Prometheus shall ascend into heaven and fetch it thence? Thou mayest fetch it thence by thine own prayer. Sermons are bellows ordained for this purpose. But here methinks I hear the lukewarm worldling of our times fume and chafe, and ask what needs all this ado for zeal, as if all Gods people were not zealous enough. Such as think they are, or can be zealous enough, need no other conviction to be poor, blind, naked, wretched, and pitiful Laodiceans. Fire is ever climbing and aspiring higher; zeal is ever aiming at that which is before; carried toward perfection; thinking meanly of that which is past, and already attained. What would you have us to do? We profess, keep our church, hear sermons, as Christians ought to do. Affectionate friendship and service is not only for public show upon festival days, but for domestical, ordinary, and private use; to such holiday and church retainers, God may well say, Let us have some of this zeal at home and apart. (A. Wood.)
Religious zeal
I. Our zeal for religion should be real and conscientious. There is a zeal of sympathy, which is awakened and kept alive by the zeal of others with whom we happen to come in contact. Be renewed in the spirit of your minds, that religion may appear to you in all its genuine excellence, and that it may hold that place in your regard to which it is justly entitled. Meditate seriously on the interest which you personally have in all that it requires you to believe, and in all that it commands you to do. Think of its necessity to the redemption and well-being of every one of the human race.
II. Our zeal for religion must be intelligent, or accompanied with knowledge.
III. There must be prudence in the exercise and manifestation of our religious zeal. Prudence does not damp nor discourage our zeal. It only prevents us from giving those expressions to it which, on the one hand, would be attended with no benefit, and, on the other, might involve us in difficulties and embarrassments.
IV. Our zeal for religion must always consist with moral integrity. It never can be allowable for us to do what is morally wrong, whatever be the advantageous consequences that are to follow it. And least of all, one should suppose, can such a proceeding be allowable, when we are striving to advance the interests of religion.
V. Our religious zeal must be under the government of charity. Our zeal being awakened to care for men, charity comes in to soften that aspect of sternness and severity, which it might otherwise assume, and to mould it into a form more consonant to the nature and circumstances of those for whom it is to labour, as well as to the spirit and precepts of that religion which it is desirous to propagate.
VI. Our zeal must be in proportion to the value and importance of the objects which excite it, and to the exigencies in which these may happen to be placed. Every system has certain leading principles and properties of which it cannot be divested, while there are other subordinate principles and properties, which appear, neither in themselves nor in their relations, to be necessary to its existence, and to its ultimate purpose. And so is it with Christianity. Being a plan of Divine contrivance, all that is to be found in it, must be considered as important and useful; but it is evident that there are some things more important and useful than others. And this being the case, it follows, of course, that whether we be cherishing Christianity in ourselves, or pressing it on the attention of others, our zeal must not operate with equal ardour upon every subject, but bear some sort of proportion to the real or the relative importance which they possess–the most important receiving its highest, and the less important its lower measure of warmth and energy (A. Thomson, D. D.)
The nature, importance, and right exercise of Christian zeal
I. Its nature.
II. Its importance. Zeal is an appropriate quality of the spiritual life–the genial heat of the new nature, immediately subservient to its continuance and support, and operating to maintain its powers in their proper capacity for action. In nature, heat is the most active of all the elements. It is the prime agent which the Author of nature employs for promoting the subsistence and well-being of the universe. Animal and vegetable life have an immediate dependence on it; nor could nature itself, according to its apparent constitution and laws, subsist without it. To the effects of heat in nature, those of zeal in religion are directly analagous. How incapable of exertion, how indisposed to motion, how listless and insensible are men found, when their spirits are benumbed with cold affection! But under the influence of that kindly warmth which the Spirit of God imparts, how quickly do they revive, and become pliant and active! While zeal is thus necessary to the effectual performance of the Christians work, it contributes also, as an effectual qualification, to render his service acceptable.
III. Rightly exercised.
1. On right objects–objects which are intrinsically good, and which are of suitable importance, Should the furnace be heated seven times more than usual for no worthier purpose than the burning of a straw?
2. Zeal must also be exercised with a right mind.
(1) Zeal must be exercised with knowledge. Perhaps there is nothing that is either more unseemly in itself or more mischievous in its consequences than zeal without knowledge. Such a zeal, considered in its exercise, may be compared to a ship, driving with full sail before the wind, without either compass or pilot–threatening the safety of everything that comes in her way, and in danger of driving at last upon some rock or shoal that shall cause her destruction.
(2) Zeal must be exercised with sincerity. The concern which is expressed for religion must be real–the genuine result of principle and feeling–not affected, merely to cover sinister designs, to second views of worldly interest, to minister to secret pride–to the selfish vain-glorious desire of applause and estimation.
(3) Genuine zeal must be exercised with impartiality–with an equal regard to the attainment of its object–whether it has respect to ourselves or to others. The zeal of too many is chiefly occupied abroad, in detecting and exposing the sins of others.
(4) Zeal must be exercised with kind affection. (T. Fleming, D. D.)
Christian zeal
1. True Christian zeal includes knowledge. It is not a blind impulse of feeling, an ignorant and infuriated passion, but a holy intelligent principle.
2. True Christian zeal includes indignation. The simple effusions of the heart in the way of grief on account of sin do not come up to the idea of zeal. It is grief and indignation at sin roused to the very utmost.
3. True Christian zeal includes ardent desire. The immediate object of this zeal is the declarative glory of God. It is a holy indignation at sin, because this evil throws a dark shade over Gods glory. It is an ardent and passionate concern that God may be glorified.
4. Christian fortitude and magnanimity are also branches of this temper. The person that is truly zealous is not easily intimidated.
5. True Christian zeal is an active and useful principle. It grasps with the greatest eagerness every means which may be subservient to the attainment of its object. (R. Culbertson.)
Christian zeal
I. The nature of Christian zeal.
II. The source of Christian zeal. Christian zeal is zeal for Christ; it has Him for its ultimate source, as well as its ultimate end. Christian enthusiasm is really the state of inspiration by God.
III. The sphere of Christian zeal. True zeal is of course zeal for God and for good.
IV. The qualities which should characterise Christian zeal.
1. True Christian zeal is intelligent. There is light in it as well as heat.
2. It is prudent. Plans warily, and works calmly.
3. It is loving and sympathetic.
4. It is patient and persevering. Not a fitful impulse, but a steady flame. Based on principle, it is the habit of the Christians life.
V. The motives which sustain Christian zeal.
1. Love to the Redeemer.
2. The salvation of the world.
3. The prosperity of our own souls.
What a protection zeal is against the coldness of the world–what a defence against temptation–what a preservative against moral deterioration–what a suitable preparation for the holy activities of heaven! (G. Jordan, M. A.)
Zeal
When a man dies in England, his friends often say of him, in praise of his diligence, energy, and concentration: Well, he lived simply to carry through that important line of railway; or–His only object was to extort from the Government a more scientific education for the people; or–He devoted himself to the cause of Free Trade; or–He was a martyr to his exertions in behalf of Protection. It was his one idea; it grew with his growth; he could think of nothing else; he spared neither time nor expense to advance ever so little his favourite cause, and the interest he had wedded; it was his monomania. He did his work in his day, and he did it well, because he was heart and soul in it; and the world is in debt to him for it. Now, why should it not be said of us: Well, he is gone. He was a man of one idea: he cared for nothing but that Gods kingdom should come, and His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. He was eaten up with this; waking or sleeping it was always upon him; nothing daunted him; he spared neither time nor expense for his hobby, and when neither time nor money were at his disposal, he besieged heaven with prayers. He took no interest in anything else; it was meat and drink to him, and it quite mastered him; and now he is gone. Yes! he is gone; but whereas the other man left behind him his railway and his cheap bread, our friend has taken all his love and pains and prayers away with him to the judgment-seat of Jesus; and what they have done for him there, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor mans heart conceived.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. As many as I love] So it was the love he still had to them that induced him thus to reprehend and thus to counsel them.
Be zealous] Be in earnest, to get your souls saved, They had no zeal; this was their bane. He now stirs them up to diligence in the use of the means of grace and repentance for their past sins and remissness.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I rebuke and chasten; elegcw kai paideuw the words may be translated, I convince and instruct, or deal with them as children; but it also signifies to chasten, and is so translated, 1Co 11:32; Heb 12:7; we translate it learn, 1Ti 1:20. By these words Christ lets this angel know, that although he had in this epistle dealt smartly with him, yet he had done it from a principle of love, as a father to a child, Heb 12:7.
Be zealous therefore, and repent; he adviseth him therefore to quit himself of his luke warmness, and to recover a warmth and zeal for God, repenting of his former coldness and negligence in his duty.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. (Job 5:17;Pro 3:11; Pro 3:12;Heb 12:5; Heb 12:6.)So in the case of Manasseh (2Ch33:11-13).
As manyAll. “Hescourgeth every son whom He receiveth. And shalt thou be anexception? If excepted from suffering the scourge, thou art exceptedfrom the number of the sons” [AUGUSTINE].This is an encouragement to Laodicea not to despair, but to regardthe rebuke as a token for good, if she profit by it.
I loveGreek,“philo,” the love of gratuitous affection,independent of any grounds for esteem in the object loved. But in thecase of Philadelphia (Re 3:9),”I have loved thee” (Greek, “egapesa“)with the love of esteem, founded on the judgment. Compare thenote in my English Gnomon of BENGEL,Joh 21:15-17.
I rebukeThe “I”in the Greek stands first in the sentence emphatically. I inMy dealings, so altogether unlike man’s, in the case of all whom Ilove, rebuke. The Greek, “elencho,” isthe same verb as in Joh 16:8,”(the Holy Ghost) will convince (rebuke unto conviction)the world of sin.”
chasten“chastise.”The Greek, “paideu,” which in classical Greekmeans to instruct, in the New Testament means to instructby chastisement (Heb 12:5;Heb 12:6). David was rebukedunto conviction, when he cried, “I have sinned against theLord”; the chastening followed when his child was takenfrom him (2Sa 12:13; 2Sa 12:14).In the divine chastening, the sinner at one and the same timewinces under the rod and learns righteousness.
be zealoushabitually.Present tense in the Greek, of a lifelong course of zeal.The opposite of “lukewarm.” The Greek byalliteration marks this: Laodicea had not been “hot”(Greek, “zestos“), she is therefore urged to”be zealous” (Greek, “zeleue“):both are derived from the same verb, Greek, “zeo,“”to boil.”
repentGreekaorist: of an act to be once for all done, and done atonce.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
As many as I love I rebuke and chasten,…. The persons the objects of Christ’s love here intended are not angels, but the sons of men; and these not all of them, yet many of them, even all who are his own by his Father’s gift and his own purchase; and who are called his church, and sometimes represented as such who love him and obey his commands: the instances of his love to them are many; as his suretyship engagements for them, his assumption of their nature, dying in their room and stead, paying their debts, procuring their peace and pardon, bringing in a righteousness for them, purchasing their persons, his intercession for them, preparations in heaven, supplies of grace, and frequent visits in a kind and familiar manner; and as for the nature of his love, it is free and sovereign, everlasting and immutable, and it is matchless and inconceivable, it is strong and affectionate, and as his Father loved him; and such are rebuked by Christ, not in a way of wrath, but in a tender manner, in order to bring them under a conviction of their sin and of their duty, and of their folly in trusting in, or loving any creature more than himself, and of all their wrong ways; and they are chastened by him, not in a vindictive, but in a fatherly way, which is instructive and teaching to them, and for their good. This seems to refer to some afflictions which Christ was about to bring upon this church, by some means or another, to awaken her out of her sloth and security, and which would be in love to her, and the end be to rouse her zeal and bring her to repentance. Some think this respects the Gog and Magog army, which will encompass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; but that will not be till after the thousand years’ reign, and besides will be no affliction to them; rather it designs the unchurching them, signified by spewing them out of his mouth, Re 3:16;
be zealous, therefore, and repent; zeal was what was wanting in this church; which is nothing else than hot, fervent, and ardent love, love in a flame; whereas she was neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, Christ would have her be “zealous” for God; for his cause and interest, for his Gospel, ordinances, and the discipline of his house, and against everything that is evil; against all false worship, all errors in doctrine, all sin and iniquity; and to be zealous of good works, and in the worship of God, both private and public: and “repent”; in an evangelical way, of her lukewarnmess, remissness, and supineness; of her pride, arrogance, and vain boastings of herself; and of her self-sufficience, self-dependence, and self-confidence.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Free rendering of Pr 3:12 (in Heb 12:6), but with (indefinite relative plural) for (definite relative singular), with instead of and with the first person for (the Lord chastens, from , child, training a child) and with (reprove) added.
Be zealous (). Present active imperative of , in good sense (from , , to boil), in opposition to their lukewarmness, here only in N.T. (elsewhere ), “keep on being zealous.”
Repent (). Ingressive first aorist active imperative of .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
As many as I love. In the Greek order I stands first as emphatic. Rebuke [] . See on Joh 3:20. Rev., reprove.
Chasten [] . See on Luk 23:16.
Be zealous [] . The verb is akin to zestov hot in verse 16, on which see note.
Repent. See on Mt 3:2; Mt 20:29.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “As many as I love,” (ego hosous ean philo) “As many as I love,” in a filial or brotherly manner; and in church capacity, Eph 5:25.
a) “I rebuke,” (elegchon) “I rebuke;- This is the first and only one of the seven churches that he did not commend for anything, but struck with direct and immediate shocking threats as if to awake an overgrown lazy slumbering child, 1Ti 5:20; Tit 1:13; Tit 2:15.
b) “And chasten,” (kai paideuo) “And I chasten” or discipline as a child is disciplined by a loving mother or father, for their good always, Heb 12:6-8.
2) “Be zealous therefore,” (zeleue oun) “Be hot therefore,” or be fervent, Tit 2:14; Gal 4:18.
3) “And repent,” (kai metanoeson) “And turn or repent,” as a church or congregation. This is a call to confession because of church sins tolerated or embraced by the church in Laodicea, especially sins of complacency, indifference, slothfulness, etc., 2Co 7:10; Act 17:30; Luk 13:5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(19) I rebuke and chasten.The first word is that used in the work of the Holy Spirit (Joh. 16:8), and signifies to bring conviction; it is not empty censure. The second word signifies to educate by means of correction. The pronoun is emphatic, I, and calls attention to the fidelity of Christs love in comparison with the weak partiality seen in human love. (Comp. Heb. 12:6.)
Be zealous.Or, be in a constant zealous state; and now, once for all, repent.
(2) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.It is difficult not to see an allusion in this image to Son. 5:2-6. Perhaps, also, the memory of the first night spent by St. John with his Master and Friend (Joh. 1:39) may have been strong in his mind. Indeed, the life of Christ on earth teems with illustrations which may well have suggested the image (Luk. 10:38; Luk. 19:5-6; Luk. 22:11-13; Luk. 24:29-30).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. As many as I love Imperfect as Laodicea’s character was, she was still Christian. She was not on a level with the paganism around her. She was still a witness for Christ, maintaining his name, holding fast his gospel, and retaining a candlestick for a richer supply of oil and a purer blaze. Even the form of religion is better than nothing, since it may stand as a future vehicle of the coming spirit and power.
We here, too, may see that there is a state of faulty sonship, of imperfect justification, in which, though the name be not blotted out of the “book of life,” yet it beams but dimly on the divine page, and is in great danger of disappearing. The divine Father still recognises his son, but treats him with rebuke, displeasure, and discipline. Not every sin after justification forfeits the sonship. Nay, there are higher and lower grades of Christian life. This Mr. Wesley well and fully shows in his sermon on “Sin in Believers.” The true test is, Does justifying faith remain, even in spite of short-comings?
And it follows from all this, that if there is a lower grade of Christian life, like that of Sardis and Laodicea, so there is a higher, like that of Smyrna and Philadelphia. In the case of Smyrna the approval is complete; not a blame is imputed, not a shadow is cast between the approving face of the Lord and that beloved Church. There is, then, a state of complete acceptance with Christ, of perfect justification, in which the Lord finds no fault, and bestows the blessed testimony of his unqualified approval. The acceptance is as perfect as it was at the moment when first our sins were swept away, and we were justified from all sin. And now sanctification, holiness, or what is sometimes called entire sanctification, is the power, through the Spirit, of retaining with more or less permanence that state of complete acceptance, without a cloud between the soul and Christ. This implies, not an absolute sinlessness on our part, as tried by absolute law, but a perfect approval on Christ’s part, according to the standard of gospel grace. The law still stands immutable; but if there come a condemnation for our shortcomings from the absolute law, there comes, also, a constant flow of love and pardon from the grace of Christ, which neutralizes that condemnation. Yet the law still stands to condemn our positive sins, and to separate us utterly from the love of Christ and consign us to hell, upon our apostasy from the faith.
Bengel notes the different Greek terms for love addressed to the Philadelphians, ( ,) and to the Laodiceans, ( ,) on which see our note, Joh 21:15-17. The former is the love of estimation and approval, the latter of mere graciousness, the former being the more honouring to its object. Yet as addressed by Peter to his Lord, the latter was the tenderer and deeper term.
I rebuke and chasten He does not cast off for every shortcoming, nor blot out his justification for every sin, so long as faith and sonship remain. Nay, the author of the Book of Hebrews, quoting this same passage from Proverbs, adds, that the being unrebuked by God is proof that we are not his legitimate children. Heb 12:5-6.
Rebuke Rather, convince; make the fault so clear that the offender cannot but see it.
Chasten Apply the severe corrective, perhaps the rod, where the rebuke fails.
Zealous The zeal of conviction by the rebuke; leading to the repent, in view or in consequence of the chasten.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘As many as I love, I reprove and punish for their own good. Be zealous therefore and repent (have a change of heart and mind).’
(See Pro 3:11-12 for the idea of chastening, cited in Heb 12:3-9). The word for love is philo meaning great affection. Jesus wishes the Laodiceans to know that His heart reaches out to them, that His love is not dependent on their deserts. As God as Redeemer says in Isa 43:3 ‘you are precious in my sight and I have loved you’, while in Deu 7:8 Israel are reminded that they were not loved and chosen because of anything in themselves, but because God had set His love upon them. Indeed He drew them ‘with the cords of a man, with bands of love’ (Hos 11:4).
His reproof and chastening are proof of that love. In the Old Testament God told His people, ‘And you will consider in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you, and you will keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and fear Him’ (Deu 8:5-6). Thus when the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews were discouraged at the tribulation they faced, the writer told them ‘For whom the Lord loves, He chastens’ (Heb 11:6 quoted from Pro 3:11-12), and, ‘If you endure chastening God deals with you as sons, for what son is there whom his father does not chasten?’ (Heb 12:7). This suggests that Jesus is expecting tribulation for the church at Laodicea and is thus preparing them for the trials that lie ahead, and explaining its purpose so that they may benefit from it. It is because He loves them that they will be chastened.
‘Be zealous therefore and repent’. This ‘change of heart and mind’ is only demanded of four churches, one of them because of the heresy in their midst (Pergamum), one because they have lost their first love (Ephesus), and the other two (Sardis and Laodicea) because of the failure of the whole church as a result of their lax state. Refusal to hear means the lampstand being removed from it place (Ephesus), an attack with the sword of His mouth against the offenders (Pergamum), and the arrival of Jesus as a thief to catch them unprepared by His coming (Sardis). To the church of Laodicea He gives similar warning of His coming.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 3:19 . emphatically prefixed. The Lord, who alone is the true witness (Rev 3:14 ), and, at the same time, the one from whom the true gold can be obtained (Rev 3:18 ), appears as witness against those whom he loves, since through his and he wishes to make them zealous unto repentance ( . . ), and thus participant of his eternal blessings.
. Concerning the after the relative in N. T. diction, cf. my note on 1Jn 3:20 . Grot. says incorrectly: “ , not absolutely, but relatively; i.e., those whom I have not altogether determined, because of their long-continued sins, to cast away and harden.” Upon a similar misunderstanding rests the remark of Vitringa, that the kind address is directed only to the better part of the church. On the contrary, the entire church is still an object of the seeking love of the Lord.
. The distinction between the two expressions does not lie in the occurring by means of words, and the by chastisements; [1614] but the designating discipline, i.e., education in general, [1615] may occur as well by , as by perceptible chastisements, as . [1616] The [1617] occurs when the wrong is so placed before the eyes of any one that he must acknowledge it. From Rev 3:15 on, the Lord has exercised his by completely disclosing the faults of the church; yet he expressly says that this, as well as his entire , proceeds from love. It is nowhere said that in this he has already employed, or will employ, what are the proper means of chastisement (blows). On the other hand, to the belongs the advice of Rev 3:18 . Yet this advice contains the express assurance, that, with the Lord, gold, etc., shall not be lacking. Hence not only the relentless , but also the tendering of grace, is a , which testifies to the Lord’s love. But if the Lord thus manifests himself to the “lukewarm” church, it follows that this ( ) has to do what the command expressly says: . The words contain not a hysteron proteron, [1618] but require of the church which is convicted of lukewarmness, an ardent zeal, enkindled by the love manifested by the Lord, and, as the proof of this zeal, a true change of mind. [1619]
[1614] Blows, Luk 23 ; Luk 16:22 . Aret., Grot.
[1615] Act 22:3 ; Act 7:22 ; Tit 2:12 ; 2Ti 2 .
[1616] Cf. Heb 12:6 with Pro 3:12 .
[1617] Cf. Joh 16:8 ; Joh 8:46 ; Joh 3:20 ; 1Co 14:24 .
[1618] De Wette.
[1619] Cf. Grot., Beng., Hengstenb., Ebrard.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2503
EPISTLE TO LAODICEA
Rev 3:19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
IN the epistles to the seven Churches of Asia, there is an exceedingly rich variety of instruction, that is quite as applicable to us at this day as ever it was to the Church to whom it was first delivered. It is probable that some in Laodicea would regard the menace which was sent them in this epistle as a prelude to their utter destruction. They could not conceive that the Lord Jesus, who had threatened to spue them out of his mouth with the utmost indignation and abhorrence, could entertain, in reference to them, any other sentiment than that of irreversible displeasure: and thus they were tempted to sit down in utter despair. But our blessed Lord assured them, that these very menaces were expressions of his love and pledges of his favourable acceptance, if only they would comply with the directions which he here gave them. But the words I have read contain, not only a particular instruction to them but a truth of universal and unalterable importance to the Church in all ages. We here see,
I.
How the Lord Jesus Christ acts towards the objects of his love
God not unfrequently gives to his enemies all that their hearts can desire. Are they anxious for wealth, and honour, and power, or for an increase of their families? and do they further desire a freedom from trouble, both in life and death? All this is bestowed upon them with so bountiful a hand, that they bless themselves as the happiest and most favoured of mankind [Note: Psa 73:3-5; Psa 73:7; Psa 73:12.]. Yea, to such a degree does this often obtain, that the most eminent saints are stumbled at it [Note: Job 21:7-13. Jer 12:1-2.]. But towards those whom he loves, he, for the most part, acts very differently: them he rebukes and chastens.
1.
By the declarations of his word
[The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword [Note: Heb 4:12.]: yea, it is as a fire, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces [Note: Jer 23:29.]: and when it comes with power to the soul, not the proudest sinner in the universe can withstand it. When but four words were written upon the wall of the room where Belshazzar was feasting, the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another [Note: Dan 5:5-6.]! And how it wrought upon the murderers of our Lord on the day of Pentecost, you well know: for three thousand of them cried out with one voice, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Doubtless, the terror inspired by this is often exceedingly appalling: but yet it is sent in love, to convince men of their sin, and to bring them to repentance: and the deeper the wound that is inflicted by it, the greater evidence there is that God has sent it in love to the soul ]
2.
By the dispensations of his providence
[It often happens, that men withstand the word of God, till they are visited with some afflictive providence: and not unfrequently repeated strokes of the rod are necessary, before they will hear and receive instruction from it [Note: Mic 6:9.]. And these dispensations are thought by many to be tokens of Gods wrath. But, indeed, they are rather indications of his love: they are paternal chastisements, sent for our profit, that we may be humbled by them, and quickened, and made partakers of his holiness. It was for this end that many of the Corinthian Church were [Note: Heb 12:5-11.] visited with pains and sickness: they were chastened of the Lord, that they might not be condemned with the world [Note: 1Co 11:30-32.]. And how beneficially these afflictions operate, may be seen in Ephraim of old: Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus: Thou hast chastised me; and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned: for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth [Note: Jer 31:18-19.]. God then adds, Is not Ephraim my dear son [Note: Jer 31:20.]? Had God felt no regard for Ephraim, he would have said, Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more [Note: Isa 1:5.]: but, feeling towards him the affections of a Father, he says rather, I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished [Note: Jer 30:11. with Psa 89:30-33.].]
This truth established, we may see,
II.
How they in return should demean themselves towards him
Two things in particular were blamed in the Laodicean Church, namely, lukewarmness and self-sufficiency: and against these especially he directs them to strive, by the daily exercise of zeal and penitence. The same direction is proper for all whom he has chosen in Christ Jesus to be the objects of his love:
1.
Be zealous
[It is not sufficient to perform a mere round of duties, and to abstain from gross sins. Religion is every thing, or it is nothing: it requires all the powers of the soul: and, if any of our faculties be alienated from God, or exercised only in a lukewarm way, the service, whatever it may be, will not be accepted. In every good thing we should be zealously affected [Note: Gal 4:18.]; and be fervent in spirit, when we serve the Lord [Note: Rom 12:11.]. It was thus that Phinehas [Note: Num 25:13.], and Elijah [Note: 1Ki 19:10.], and Paul [Note: Act 20:24.], and all the saints, served God in the days of old. As for our blessed Lord the zeal of Gods house even consumed him [Note: Joh 2:17.]. And we also ought to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works [Note: Tit 2:14.]. Nor must it be in one thing only that we are to display our zeal. It is possible enough that in one particular line we may exert ourselves with the greatest ardour; and yet be far from having our hearts right with God. We must have respect to all Gods commandments, and serve him without partiality, and without hypocrisy. In public and in private we must be alike earnest in all our duties: and under the constraining influence of the love of Christ, we must live altogether unto Him who died for us, and rose again [Note: 2Co 5:14-15.].]
2.
Repent
[This is necessary for every child of man. There is no one so pure, but that he may increase in purity; nor so holy, but that he may grow in holiness; nor so heavenly, but that he may be more entirely devoted to his God. Of lukewarmness especially, and of the entire habit of mind connected with it, it becomes us to repent. Indeed, whatever be the sin that more easily besets us, that we should search out with peculiar care, and for that should we in an especial manner humble ourselves before God. Every day of our lives we should be sowing in tears, if we would reap in joy. It is not the person who occasionally feels some remorse, but he who goes on his way weeping, bearing a precious seed-basket, and scattering this seed from it every step he takes; he it is that shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him [Note: Psa 126:5-6. See the margin.].]
This subject clearly teaches us,
1.
What to do under the prevailing influence of corruption
Pray to God that he would chastise you with scourges or scorpions, rather than suffer you to continue under the power of sin: and if God see fit to put you into the furnace, be more anxious to obtain the sanctifying benefits of the affliction, than to have it removed ]
2.
What to do under the Divine rebukes
[Receive them as the chastisements of a father, neither despising them, nor fainting under them [Note: Pro 3:11-12.]: and take occasion from them to humble yourselves under His mighty hand. Whatever be your sufferings, remember that they are far less than your iniquities deserve. By these God designs to purge away your iniquities [Note: Isa 27:9.]: and, if they are attended with this effect, you will have reason to adore him for them, more than for any exemption from trouble that could possibly be vouchsafed unto you: for so, at least, speaks an inspired Apostle: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for, when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him [Note: Jam 1:12.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Ver. 19. As many as I love ] q.d. Think not that I hate you, because I thus chide you. He that escapes reprehension may suspect his adoption. God had one Son without corruption, but none without correction. We must look through the anger of his correction to the sweetness of his loving countenance; as by a rainbow we see the beautiful image of the sun’s light in the midst of a dark and waterish cloud. See more in my Treatise upon this verse, the second edition.
And repent ] So they did in likehhood; for Eusebius commends this Church as greatly flourishing in his time. Oh, the divine rhetoric and omnipotent efficacy of repentance, saith a divine. This is the rainbow, which if God seeth shining in our hearts, he will never drown our souls.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
19 .] Importing that these rich proofs of Christ’s love are only to be sought by such as the Laodiceans in the way of rebuke and chastisement: and reciprocally, as tending not to despair, but to encouragement, that rebuke and chastisement are no signs of rejection from Christ, but of His abiding and pleading love, even to the lukewarm and careless. I (emphatically prefixed: I, for my part: it is one of My ways, which are unlike men’s ways) as many as ( = , the common particle after the relative: see reff.) I love (not as Grot., “non absolute sed comparate, i. e. quos non plane ob diuturna peccata abjicere et objurare constitui:” but in its fullest and most blessed sense. Nor is the assertion addressed, as Vitr., only “ad meliorem ecclesi partem,” but to all, as a gracious call to repentance; as is evident from the words next following), I rebuke and chasten ( , the convincing of sin, producing conviction, is a portion of , the Lord’s chastening: the latter may extend very much wider than the former, even to judgments and personal infliction, which, however they may subserve the purpose of , are not, properly speaking, part of it. “Redargutio sane ad verba, castigatio vero pertinet ad flagella,” Ansbert); be zealous then ( , pres., of a habit of Christian life), and repent (begin that life of zeal by an act, decisive and effective (aor.), of change of purpose. There is not in the words any , as De Wette, but the logical connexion is made plain by the tenses. Dsterd. (following Grot., Beng., Hengstb., Ebrard) is clearly wrong in saying that “the Lord requires of the church a burning zeal, kindled by the love shewn by Him (but where is this in the context?), and as the practical putting forth of this zeal, true change of purpose.” This goes directly against both the grammatical propriety and the facts of the case, in which change of purpose must precede zeal , which is the effectual working in a man’s life of that change of purpose).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 3:19 . The prophet now relents a little; the church has still a chance of righting herself. Such a reproof as he has given in Christ’s name, and the discipline it involves ( , wider than .) are really evidence of affection, not of antipathy or rejection. This is the method of God at least ( , emphatic; “whatever others do”), with whom censure does not mean hostility. , the substitution of this synonym (contrast Heb 12:6 ) for the LXX is remarkable in view of the latter term’s usage in the Apocalypse; the other variation ( . [907] , . [908] [909] , LXX) is probably ornate rather than a duplicate. The love of Christ for his people is mentioned in the Apocalypse only here (with a reminiscence if not a quotation of O.T.), in Rev 1:5 , and in Rev 3:9 (incidentally). In the latter passage, the divine love sustains and safeguards those who are loyal; here it inflicts painful wounds upon the unworthy, to regain their loyalty. (pres.) = a habit, (aor.) = a definite change once for all. The connexion ( ) seems to be: let the foregoing rebuke open your eyes at once to the need of repentance, and also to the fact that it is really love on my part which prompts me thus to expose and to chastise you; such a sense of my loving concern, as well as of your own plight, should kindle an eager heat of indignation (2Co 8:11 , ) gathering into a flame of repentance that will burn up indifference and inconsistency ( cf. Weinel, 188 f.). The urgent need of immediate repentance rests not only on the special character of the temptation to which the local Christians were succumbing (“It is a great grace to find out that we are lukewarm, but we are lost if we do not act with vigour. It is like going to sleep in the snow, almost a pleasant, tingling feeling at the first, and then lost forever,” Faber), but on the fact that this warning was their last chance.
[907] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[908] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[909] Codex Alexandrinus (sc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
love. App-135. This is preceded by Greek. ean (App-118. a). Compare Isa 43:4; &c.
rebuke = convict. Greek. elencho. See Joh 16:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
19.] Importing that these rich proofs of Christs love are only to be sought by such as the Laodiceans in the way of rebuke and chastisement: and reciprocally, as tending not to despair, but to encouragement, that rebuke and chastisement are no signs of rejection from Christ, but of His abiding and pleading love, even to the lukewarm and careless. I (emphatically prefixed: I, for my part: it is one of My ways, which are unlike mens ways)-as many as ( = , the common particle after the relative: see reff.) I love (not as Grot., non absolute sed comparate, i. e. quos non plane ob diuturna peccata abjicere et objurare constitui: but in its fullest and most blessed sense. Nor is the assertion addressed, as Vitr., only ad meliorem ecclesi partem, but to all, as a gracious call to repentance; as is evident from the words next following), I rebuke and chasten (, the convincing of sin, producing conviction, is a portion of , the Lords chastening: the latter may extend very much wider than the former, even to judgments and personal infliction, which, however they may subserve the purpose of , are not, properly speaking, part of it. Redargutio sane ad verba, castigatio vero pertinet ad flagella, Ansbert); be zealous then (, pres., of a habit of Christian life), and repent (begin that life of zeal by an act, decisive and effective (aor.), of change of purpose. There is not in the words any , as De Wette, but the logical connexion is made plain by the tenses. Dsterd. (following Grot., Beng., Hengstb., Ebrard) is clearly wrong in saying that the Lord requires of the church a burning zeal, kindled by the love shewn by Him (but where is this in the context?), and as the practical putting forth of this zeal, true change of purpose. This goes directly against both the grammatical propriety and the facts of the case, in which change of purpose must precede zeal, which is the effectual working in a mans life of that change of purpose).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 3:19. ) In the case of the Philadelphian Church, He (Rev 3:9) (esteemed it): in the case of the Laodicean, He (loves it). The former, with His judgment: the latter, with gratuitous affection [favour]. Comp. Joh 21:15, note. In each passage[56] implies something more than . In the passage quoted from John, the spiritual tie of relationship is of more value than the judgment of Peter. Here, in the Apocalypse, it is a more blessed thing to flourish [be esteemed] in the judgment of the Lord, than to be chastised through mere gratuitous affection.-) Both , Rev 3:15-16, and , are derived from .
[56] See footnote, Joh 21:15.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
many: Deu 8:5, 2Sa 7:14, Job 5:17, Psa 6:1, Psa 39:11, Psa 94:10, Pro 3:11, Pro 3:12, Pro 15:10, Pro 15:32, Pro 22:15, Isa 26:16, Jer 2:30, Jer 7:28, Jer 10:24, Jer 30:11, Jer 31:18, Zep 3:2, 1Co 11:32, 2Co 6:9, Heb 12:5-11, Jam 1:12
be: Num 25:11-13, Psa 69:9, Joh 2:17, Rom 12:11, 2Co 7:11, Gal 4:18, Tit 2:14
repent: Rev 2:5, Rev 2:21, Rev 2:22
Reciprocal: Gen 14:12 – who Gen 20:16 – thus Gen 29:25 – wherefore 2Sa 12:14 – the child 2Sa 24:12 – that I may 1Ki 13:21 – thou hast disobeyed 1Ch 4:10 – that it may 1Ch 21:10 – that I may 2Ch 16:12 – diseased 2Ch 20:1 – came against 2Ch 20:37 – the Lord Job 22:4 – reprove Job 33:19 – chastened Job 35:15 – visited Psa 23:3 – restoreth Psa 50:21 – will Psa 73:5 – They are Psa 85:8 – but Psa 94:12 – teachest Psa 119:75 – thou in Psa 141:5 – the righteous Pro 1:23 – my reproof Pro 17:10 – General Pro 19:25 – reprove Pro 27:6 – the wounds Ecc 7:5 – better Son 5:6 – but my Isa 1:25 – And I Isa 37:3 – General Isa 48:10 – I have refined Jer 24:5 – them that are carried away captive Jer 46:28 – will I Eze 3:21 – if thou Hos 5:2 – a rebuker Hos 7:12 – as their Hos 7:15 – bound Jon 4:8 – that God Mic 6:9 – hear Hag 1:9 – Because Mat 16:9 – ye not Mat 25:7 – General Mat 26:74 – saying Mar 4:13 – Know Mar 8:33 – he rebuked Mar 16:14 – and upbraided Luk 1:20 – because Luk 9:55 – and rebuked Joh 11:3 – he Joh 15:2 – and Joh 16:27 – the Father Joh 21:17 – the third Rom 8:28 – we know 1Co 11:30 – many 1Co 16:24 – love 2Co 7:8 – though I made 1Ti 1:20 – that 2Ti 4:2 – reprove Heb 12:6 – whom Rev 2:16 – Repent Rev 3:3 – repent
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
LOVES CHASTENING
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be Zealous, therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:19
Let us think of sickness and suffering in what is undoubtedly one of its most important aspects, as chastisement for sin. However it comes upon us, and whether it comes as the direct result of sin or not, it is always well for poor, erring human beings to remember this aspect of it, and to try to make a real use of it in this capacity.
I. Pain is a great gift of God to a world in dire need.We know something of the necessary part it plays in saving us from physical danger. It very soon teaches the child not to put its fingers into the fire. Reflect for a moment that if it were not for this a mother might return after a few minutes absence from the room to find her infant contentedly watching its hands and arms being rapidly burnt away. But pain so surely teaches the child to regard danger as hateful that it is necessary to cultivate carefully the quality of courage in order that prudence may be balanced and not become cowardice. And in much the same way pain helps us to hate sin. This may not seem the highest way of looking at the matter, but it is a true one, and we must remember that in our imperfection we need appealing to by other motives as well as the highest. Pain does help us to look upon the sin which brings it as an enemy, and that is certainly a step in the right direction, even if it is only an early and elementary step.
II. And, just as care is required in our view of the pain which threatens us, so too there is danger of missing the benefit of that which has actually come upon us.We may take it in such a way that it drives us from God rather than draws us to Him. You remember the words in the Book of the Revelation (Rev 16:11): And they blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not. The more truly penitent we are, the less anxious shall we be to escape our punishment. We shall welcome the opportunity of bearing it in such a manner as to prove our repentance both to ourselves and to God. Most of us have known what it is to long for some such opportunity when we have done some grievous wrong either to God or to man. And it greatly helps us in this right view if we remember that, as a human parent often punishes much against natural inclination, so our Heavenly Father does not chasten us for His pleasure or from lack of love, but for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. The remembrance of the wrong we do to God, in obliging Him to punish us when His desire is to shower only blessings and happiness upon us, should certainly assist us to see our punishment in such a light as will bind us more closely to Him.
III. Remember, then, just as it was not the death of Christ, but His obedience, which pleased God (as St. Bernard said, Ep. cxc., Contra Ablardum), so He only chastens us in order to correct in us what He sees to be wrong, and to improve in us those things in which He sees us to be weak. Just think well over these words: He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities (Mic 7:19). It is by subduing and not overlooking our iniquities that He shows His compassion.
Rev. R. L. Bellamy.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Rev 3:19. As many as I love I convict and chasten. The I before convict is very emphatic,I, who though I was rich became poor, who bought true riches by suffering and death, For the force of convict comp. note on Joh 16:8.
Be zealous therefore, and repent. Be zealous comes first, because it relates to a general change of spirit. Were specifically Christian zeal in view, repentance ought to take precedence. The tenses in the original deserve notice, the first expressing the general habit, the second the decisive act.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here Christ lets the Laodiceans understand, that although he had been sharp with them, in reproving them for their formality and lukewarmness, yet it was upon a merciful design towards them, it proceeded from a principle of love in him; for as many as I love, says Christ, I rebuke and chasten.
Christ does not, therefore, love his children because he corrects them: but he therefore corrects them because he loves them. Name the favourite whom God loved too well to strike; nay, commonly there goes the severest exercises, where there has been the greatest love. Let not then God’s chastenings of us abate our love to him; necessity compels God to correct; nothing is done by rods but what could not be effected without them: Be zealous therefore, and repent.
As if Christ had said, O Laodecea! lay aside thy lukewarm indifferency, and be fervent in my service, repent, and amend your ways, if you would escape your chastening and rebukes, for I had much rather give you the kisses of my lips than the blows of my hand; if then you love not correction, prevent it by zeal and reformation.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 19
This and similar passages, often occurring in the Scriptures, justly afford great comfort to the afflicted and the sorrowful. The view which they present is abundantly confirmed by daily experience, since the almost magic effect of trial and suffering in softening the heart, and opening it to the access of spiritual enjoyments, is very obvious to all who have experienced them.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be {k} zealous therefore, and repent.
(k) Zeal is set against those who are neither hot nor cold.