Fathers

Revelation 3

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“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. Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God. Remember 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. Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that didn’t defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. “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: “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. Behold, I give 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. Because 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. I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown. He 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. “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: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because 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; I 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. As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, 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. He 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”

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What the Fathers say

Revelation 3:11

Eastern Fathers

Oecumenius

I am coming quickly, he says, having taken hold of you. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. And what do you hold fast? The genuine love toward the Lord, evidently, in which, having persevered until the end, you will receive the crown of life (James 1:12). For to those who endure, belong the victories.

Commentary on Revelation ↗

Cyprian

For confession [of Christ] does not make one immune from the snares of the devil. Nor does it defend one who is still placed in the world with a perpetual security against worldly temptations and dangers and onsets and attacks. Otherwise we should never have seen afterwards among the confessors the deceptions and debaucheries and adulteries that now with groaning and sorrow we see among some. Whoever that confessor is, he is not greater or better or dearer to God than Solomon. …

Treatise I. On the Unity of the Church 20 ↗

Western Saints

Bede

Behold, I come quickly. Hold fast what you have, etc. Lest you grow weary in enduring. For I will quickly help, lest perhaps, if you fail, another receives the reward decreed for you. Thus, the number of saints, which is fixed with God, cannot be shortened by the treachery of growing tares. If indeed a crown is given to another when lost, the place of him who lost what he held is not vacant.

Commentary on Revelation ↗

Alcuin of York

I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast. The Lord says he will come quickly, so that no one should give up in the struggle. For everything that passes happens quickly. What he tells him to hold fast is the conduct of heavenly life, and he gives the reason, adding, that no other man take thy crown. In this phrase we see that the certain and determined number of the elect is embraced, and we contemplate with an absolutely amazing thought the fact that no one can be added to or subtracted from it.

Commentary On Revelation ↗