Revelation 3:15-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 3:15

I know thy works; and because they are not what they should be ( Revelation 3:16 , Revelation 3:17 ), I give thee this admonition, which is nevertheless a warning and a token of my love ( Revelation 3:19 ). That thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. The lukewarmness of which the Epistle complains was produced by a fallacious sense of security, begotten of ease and prosperity. In truth those "secure," without care, had become the careless ones. Active opposition... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 3:16

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. The distaste and nausea produced by lukewarm food, which the stomach naturally rejects with loathing, are used as a figure in which to express the abhorrence of Christ for those who lacked zeal in his service (cf. Le 18:28 and 20:22, "That the land spue not you out also"). But the sentence is not irrevocable; there is still hope of averting it: ΄έλλω σε ἐμέσαι , "I am about to spue thee," i.e. ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Revelation 3:15

I know thy works - notes on Revelation 2:2.That thou art neither cold nor hot - The word “cold” here would seem to denote the state where there was no pretension to religion; where everything was utterly lifeless and dead. The language is obviously figurative, but it is such as is often employed, when we speak of one as being cold toward another, as having a cold or icy heart, etc. The word “hot” would denote, of course, the opposite - warm and zealous in their love and service. The very words... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Revelation 3:16

So then because thou art lukewarm ... I will spue thee out of my mouth - Referring, perhaps, to the well-known fact that tepid water tends to produce sickness at the stomach, and an inclination to vomit. The image is intensely strong, and denotes deep disgust and loathing at the indifference which prevailed in the church at Laodicea. The idea is, that they would be utterly rejected and cast off as a church - a threatening of which there has been an abundant fulfillment in subsequent times. It... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Revelation 3:14-16

Revelation 3:14-16. And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write Laodicea lay south of Philadelphia in the way to return to Ephesus: for the seven churches lay in a kind of circular form, so that the natural progress was from Ephesus to Smyrna, and so forward in the order in which the cities are here addressed, which probably was the order in which St. John used to visit them. “That there was a flourishing church at Laodicea, in the primitive times of Christianity, is evident,... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Revelation 3:14-22

Letter to Laodicea (3:14-22)Laodicea was an important commercial, educational and administrative centre whose citizens were secure and prosperous, lacking nothing. Sadly, the spirit of self-satisfaction among the people at large was found equally in the church. This church has no accusation of idolatry or immorality brought against it, yet it receives the strongest condemnation of all seven.The Laodiceans not only thought they had all they needed, but they believed their prosperity had resulted... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Revelation 3:16

lukewarm. Greek. chliaros. Only here. will = am about to. spue. Greek. emeo. Only here. Occurs: Isaiah 19:14 (Septuagint) read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Revelation 3:15

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot.Two possible meanings of this are intriguing, and either one or both could be correct. Which is the right turns upon what Jesus meant by "I would thou wert cold or hot." If the Lord's reprimand here is the rough equivalent to, "You Laodicean Christians are just like the notoriously lukewarm drinking water in your town," then he meant that the Christians should be either like good cold drinking water, or... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Revelation 3:16

So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.Neither hot nor cold ... The contrast is between the hot medicinal waters of Hieropolis, and the cold pure waters of Colossae."[66] Thus, the church was providing neither refreshment for the spiritually weary, nor healing for the spiritually sick.I will spew thee out of my mouth ... This is a shocking figure, but one of the most expressive in the New Testament. Strangers entering Laodicea for the first... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Revelation 3:15

Revelation 3:15. I would thou wert cold or hot.— This is not to be understood absolutely, but comparatively; as when our Saviour says, If any one come to me and hateth not his father, &c. the meaning is, not that a Christian should absolutely hate his father, but that he should love Christ above him, or any worldlyconsideration. So here Christ does not approve of coldness in religious matters absolutely; but declares that lukewarmness therein is a worse disposition than absolute coldness:... read more

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