Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
Parallel Translations
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Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
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But be converted or elles I will come vnto the shortly and will fyght agaynste the with thes wearde of my mouth
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Repent thy selfe, or els I will come vnto thee shortly, and will fight against them with the sworde of my mouth.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Revelation 2:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;
- Revelation 1:16 He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
- Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
- Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lamp stand out of its place, unless you repent.
- Isaiah 11:4 but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
- Revelation 19:15 Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
- Revelation 19:21 The rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, the sword which came out of his mouth. All the birds were filled with their flesh.
- Isaiah 49:2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. He has made me a polished shaft. He has kept me close in his quiver.
- Revelation 2:12 “To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: “He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things:
- Acts 17:30-31 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”
- Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Revelation 2:21-22 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works.
- Revelation 16:9 People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory.
- Revelation 22:7 “Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee…
16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Ver. 16. Or else I will come unto thee] He was in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks before. But when he comes to correct, he comes out of his place, Isa 26:21, and it is a motion that he hath no such mind to, Lam 3:33, it is to do his work, his strange work, Isa 28:21.
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With the sword of my mouth] With fearful threatenings, terrible executions, having vengeance in readiness for the disobedient, 1Co 10:6. Elisha had his sword as well as Jehu and Hazael theirs, 1Ki 19:17. See Hos 6:5; Jer 1:10; Isa 11:4.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Repent; thou that art guilty of conniving at such…
Repent; thou that art guilty of conniving at such things, change thy mind and practice, and let those who have entertained these opinions, and run into those filthy practices, change their hearts and practices;
or else I will come unto thee quickly; I will quickly come against thee, and punish thee: See Poole "Rev 2:5".
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And will fight against them with the sword of my mouth; and fight against them by my word; either convincing them, or pronouncing sentence against them; or, by raising up other teachers, who shall preach my word more faithfully, and whose doctrine shall be like a sword to devour and to destroy them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Repent,.... This is said to those who were truly…
Repent,.... This is said to those who were truly godly in those times, but still retained their communion with these corrupt men, and had not, as yet, separated from then; nor had they protested against these evil doctrines and practices, at least but very coldly, and had too much connived at them; and therefore are called upon to repent of their lukewarmness, negligence, and sinful compliances:
or else I will come unto thee quickly: in a providential way, to rebuke and chastise for such remissness, indifference, and evil communication:
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and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth; of this sword; see Gill on Rev 1:16. And it is observable, that Christ does not say, "I will fight against thee"; the true members of his mystical body, though lax and supine, for Christ does not fight against his people, but for them; but he says, "and will fight against them"; the Balaamites and Nicolaitans, for their idolatry and uncleanness.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain If not, I come to thee - who wilt…
If not, I come to thee - who wilt not wholly escape when I punish them. And will fight with them - Not with the Nicolaitans, who are mentioned only by the by, but the followers of Balaam. With the sword of my mouth - With my just and fierce displeasure. Balaam himself was first withstood by the angel of the Lord with "his sword drawn," Num. xxii, 23, and afterwards "slain with the sword," Num. xxxi, 8.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Will fight against them with the sword…
Verse 16. Will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.] See Clarke on Re 2:12. He now speaks for their edification and salvation; but if they do not repent, he will shortly declare those judgments which shall unavoidably fall upon them.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Rev 2:16-17. Repent, therefore, of these irregularities; or else…
Rev 2:16-17. Repent, therefore, of these irregularities; or else I will come unto thee quickly — In the way of chastisement; and will fight against them — Those corrupt members; with the sword of my mouth — With my word, pronouncing terrible calamities against them, and executing what I have threatened. The word of God is the great engine wherewith Christ fights against, wounds, and overcomes all antichristian powers. He that hath an ear — That is disposed to receive useful instruction; let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches — Let him carefully regard the arguments and warnings given by the Spirit of prophecy. To him that overcometh, and eateth not of these sacrifices, will I give to eat of the hidden manna — He shall be made a partaker of those sacred pleasures which God’s sanctuary above affords, and of which the manna that fell in the wilderness, and was laid up in a golden vessel before the Lord, was only an imperfect type; even the full, glorious, everlasting fruition of God, and those comforts which flow from him. And will give him a while stone — The ancients, on many occasions, gave their votes in judgment by small stones; by black they condemned, by white ones they acquitted. Sometimes also they wrote on small smooth stones. Here may be an allusion to both customs; and the thing principally intended by the white stone is complete victory, and full public absolution. And in the stone a new name written — Eminent honour following thereon. So Jacob, after his victory, gained the name of Israel. Wouldest thou know what thy new name will be? The way to this is plain: overcome. Till then, all thy inquiries are vain. But then thou wilt read it on the white stone.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Repent - See Rev 2:5.
Repent - See Rev 2:5.
Or else I will come unto thee quickly - On the word “quickly,” see the notes on Rev 1:1. The meaning here is, that he would come against them in judgment, or to punish them.
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And will fight against them - Against the Nicolaitanes. He would come against the church for tolerating them, but his opposition would be principally directed against the Nicolaitanes themselves. The church would excite his displeasure by retaining them in its bosom, but it was in its power to save them from destruction. If the church would repent, or if it would separate itself from the evil, then the Saviour would not come against them. If this were not done, they would feel the vengeance of his sword, and be subjected to punishment. The church always suffers when it has offenders in its bosom; it has the power of saving them if it will repent of its own unfaithfulness, and will strive for their conversion.
With the sword of my mouth - notes on Rev 1:16; Rev 2:12. That is, he would give the order, and they would be cut as if by a sword. Precisely in what way it would be done he does not say; but it might be by persecution, or by heavy judgments. To see the force of this, we are to remember the power which Christ has to punish the wicked by a word of his mouth. By a word in the last day he will turn all the wicked into hell.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The three oldest manuscripts read, "Repent, therefore." Not only…
The three oldest manuscripts read, "Repent, therefore." Not only the Nicolaitanes, but the whole Church of Pergamos is called on to repent of not having hated the Nicolaitane teaching and practice. Contrast Paul, Act 20:26.
I will come--I am coming.
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fight against them--Greek, "war with them"; with the Nicolaitanes primarily; but including also chastisement of the whole Church at Pergamos: compare "unto THEE."
with the sword of my mouth--resumed from Rev 1:16, but with an allusion to the drawn sword with which the angel of the Lord confronted Balaam on his way to curse Israel: an earnest of the sword by which he and the seduced Israelites fell at last. The spiritual Balaamites of John's day are to be smitten with the Lord's spiritual sword, the word or "rod of His mouth."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. Thee… them—His visitation would be to the Church…
16. Thee… them—His visitation would be to the Church and its bishops, his fight would be with the sensualists.
Sword of my mouth—The blessed weapon of moral warfare and providential destruction. Observe the threatening corresponds with the sword of the self-assertion in Rev_2:12.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. Repent] The Angel, i.e. the whole body of…
16. Repent] The Angel, i.e. the whole body of the Church represented by him, is bidden to repent: because not only are the Nicolaitans guilty of the sins their doctrine involved, but the whole Church (and more especially its Bishop, if we suppose him to be intended) is more or less guilty, for having extended to them the toleration which the Church of Ephesus was praised for refusing.
against them] Not “against thee:” the mass of the Church is faithful on the whole. But it is implied that if the whole Church does “repent”, and do its duty, these erring members will be reclaimed: and that it will be a loss to the whole Church, if they are not reclaimed but have to be destroyed.
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with the sword of my mouth] cf. Rev_1:16 note.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Repent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly…
Repent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly (see on ver. 5). Some take "in like manner" with this verse: "In like manner (as Ephesus) repent therefore;" but this is not probable. Repent of having allowed some members to follow the examples of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans. With the sword of my mouth. (comp. Rev_1:16 and Rev_2:12) It is possible that there is here another allusion to Balaam. It was with a drawn sword that the angel of the Lord withstood him, (Num_22:23) and with the sword that he was slain. (Num_31:8 Jos_13:22) Those who follow Balaam in his sin shall follow him in his punishment; and the Church which allows such things will have to suffer along with those who commit them. (comp. 2Th_2:8)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly.
Rev_2:16
Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly.
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The necessity of immediate repentance
I. What that repentance is that is here enjoined. Repentance in Scripture has a threefold acceptation.
1. It is taken for the first act by which the soul turns from sin to God; the first dividing stroke that separates between sin and the heart; the first step and advance that a sinner makes to holiness; the first endeavours and throes of a new birth.
2. It is taken for the whole course of a pious life, comprising the whole actions a man performs from first to last inclusively; from his first turning from a wicked life to the last period of a godly.
3. Repentance is taken for a mans turning to God after the guilt of some particular sin. It differs from the former thus: that the former is from a state of sin: this latter only from a sinful act. No repentance precedes the former, but this supposes a true repentance to have gone before. This repentance, therefore, builds upon the former; and it is that which is here intended.
II. Arguments to engage us in the speedy and immediate exercise of this duty.
I. No man can be secure of the future. Neither, indeed, will men act as if they were ha things that concern this life, for no man willingly defers his pleasures. And did men here well compute the many frailties of nature, and further add the contingencies of chance, how quickly a disease from within, or a blow from without, may tear down the strongest constitution, certainly they would ensure eternity upon something else than a life as uncertain as the air that feeds it.
2. Supposing the allowance of time, yet we cannot be sure of power to repent. It is very possible, that by the insensible encroaches of sin a mans heart may be so hardened as to have neither power nor will to repent, though he has time and opportunity. The longer the heart and sin converse together, the more familiar they will grow; and then, the stronger the familiarity, the harder the separation. A man at first is strong and his sin is weak, and he may easily break the neck of it by a mature repentance; but his own deluding heart tells him that he had better repent hereafter; that is, when, on the contrary, he himself is deplorably weak and his sin invincibly strong.
3. Admitting a man has both time and grace to repent, yet by such delay the work will be incredibly more difficult. The longer a debt lies unpaid, the greater it grows; and not discharged, is quickly multiplied. The sin to be repented of will be the greater, and power and strength to repent by will be less. And though a man escapes death, the utmost effect of his distemper, yet certainly he will find it something to be cut and scarified and lanced and to endure all the tortures of a deferred cure. We find not such fierce expressions of vengeance against any sinner, as the Spirit of God, in Deu_29:20-21, discharges against him that obstinately delayed his repentance.
(1) Because it is the abuse of a remedy. Certainly it cannot but be the highest provocation to see guilt kick at mercy, and presumption take advantage merely from a redundancy of compassion. He that will fight it out, and not surrender, only because he has articles of peace offered to him, deserves to feel the sword of an unmerciful enemy.
(2) The reason why God is exasperated by our delaying this duty is, because it clearly shows that a man does not love it, as a duty, but only intends to use it for an expedient of escape. It is not because it is pleasing to God, grateful to an offended majesty, or because he apprehends a worth and excellency in the thing itself; for then he would set about it immediately: for love is quick and active, and desire hates all delay.
(3) A third reason that Gods displeasure so implacably burns against this sin is, because it is evidently a counterplotting of God, and being wise above the prescribed methods of salvation, to which God makes the immediate dereliction of sin necessary. But he that defers his repentance makes this his principle, to live a sinner and die a penitent. (R. South, D. D.)
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna.--
Christian victory
The Christian life is often compared in Scripture to a warfare. It is not enough to put on the armour and to commence the battle. He that overcometh, and he alone, will receive the salutation, Well done, good and faithful servant. But we are not left to fight without encouragement. As generals before a battle go in front of their troops to stimulate them to valour, so Christ, the Captain of our salvation, leads on the consecrated hosts of His elect.
I. The promise.
1. The promise of the hidden manna. God fed the Israelites in the wilderness with manna. A portion of this was laid by in the ark, and thus was hidden from public view. Christ, speaking of the manna as a type of Himself, said, I am the Bread which came down from heaven. Jesus is the food of our faith, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. He is the food of our love, We love Him because He first loved us. He is the food of our obedience, The love of Christ constraineth us. He is the food of our peace, for when justified by faith, we have peace with God. He is the food of our joy, for if we joy in God it is through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the food of our hope, that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. The manna which sustained the Israelites was evidently the gift of God. And so this hidden manna is from heaven. It is no contrivance of man, no philosophy of human invention. God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. It is spoken of as the hidden manna. Such is the Christians life. Our life is hid with Christ in God. The outward effects of it may be seen, but the inner life is invisible. So is the nourishing of the life. You may see the Christian on his knees, you may hear the words which he utters, but you cannot see the streams of Divine influence which are poured into his spirit; nor hear the sweet whispers of Divine love which fill him with joy; nor comprehend the peace passing all understanding which he is permitted to experience. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. Were this promise merely the reward of final victory, that victory itself would never be gained. We need to eat this manna during our pilgrimage. We cannot live without it. Every act of overcoming will be followed by a verification of the promise, I will give him to eat of the hidden manna. Yet we must look beyond the present life for its full accomplishment. As the manna was hidden in the ark, and that ark was hidden behind the curtain of the holy of holies, so the Christians hope as an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, enters into that which is within the veil. Those joys we cannot yet conjecture; their splendour is too intense.
2. The promise of the white stone. At a time when houses of public entertainment were less common, private hospitality was the more necessary. When one person was received kindly by another, or contract of friendship was entered into, the tessera was given. It was so named from its shape, being four-sided; it was sometimes of wood, sometimes of stone; it was divided into two by the contracting parties; each wrote his own name on half of the tessera; then they exchanged pieces, and therefore the name or device on the piece of the tessera which each received was the name the other person had written upon it, and which no one else knew but him who received it. It was carefully prized, and entitled the bearer to protection and hospitality. Plautus, in one of his plays, refers to this custom. Hanno inquires of a stranger where he may find Agorastoclcs, and discovers to his surprise that he is addressing the object of his search. If so, he says, compare, if you please, this hospitable tessera; here it is; I have it with me. Agorastocles replies, It is the exact counterpart; I have the other part at home. Hanno responds, O my friend, I rejoice to meet thee; thy father was my friend, my guest; I divided with him this hospitable tessera. Therefore, said Agorastocles, thou shalt have a home with me, for I reverence hospitality. Beautiful illustration of gospel truth! The Saviour visits the sinners heart, and being received as a guest, bestows the white stone, the token of His unchanging love. He who chooses the sinners heart as His banqueting chamber, spreads there His choicest gifts--His exceeding great and precious promises, His finished sacrifice, His human sympathy, His perfect example, His pure precepts, His all-prevailing intercession, the various developments of His infinite love. He enrols our name among His friends. He makes an everlasting covenant with us, ordered in all things and sure. He promises never to leave nor forsake us. He tells us we shall never perish. He gives us the tessera, the white stone! Is not this the witness of the Spirit, the earnest of the promised possession? Does not His voice in our heart echo to His voice in the written Word? On this white stone is inscribed a new name. The part of the tessera which each of the contracting parties received contained the name of the other. And therefore the new name on the white stone which he that overcometh receives is that of Him who gives it. By the unbeliever God is known Power, as Majesty, as Justice. The Christian alone knows Him as Love. He was once Ruler--now He is Friend; He was once Judge--now He is Father. Do you know God by His new name? Do you so know Him as to wish no longer to hide from Him, but to hide in Him, as the only home in which you can be Bale and happy? Then, everywhere, in every city and every village, on the desert and on the ocean, in the solitude of secrecy and in the solitude of a crowd, in the bustle of business and in the sick chamber, a Friend is at hand who will always recognise the white stone He gave us as a token of His love. We have only to present it to claim the fulfilment of His promise. What Divine entertainment we shall receive! What safety from peril! What succour in difficulty! What comfort in trouble! What white raiment! What heavenly food! What exalted fellowship! What secure repose! A day is coming when we must leave the homes of earth, however endeared, and embrace for the last time the friends united to us as our own souls. What kind roof will receive us? What loving friend will welcome us? We shall not have left our best treasure behind! No! we shall carry the white stone with us; and looking for no inferior abode, shall advance at once right up to the palace of the Great King. We present the tessera; the new name is legible upon it; the angelic guards recognise the symbol; the everlasting gates lift up their heads; and the voice of Jesus Himself invites us to enter!
II. The condition annexed. A great war is being waged. It is not merely between the Church as a whole and the powers of darkness as a whole; it is not merely an affair of strategy between two vast armies, wherein skilful manoeuvres determine the issue, many on either side never coming into actual combat; but it is also a duel, for every Christian has to fight hand to hand with the enemy. God, as our Creator and Redeemer, justly demands our obedience and love. Whatever interferes with these claims is an enemy summoning us to battle. The world, the flesh, and the devil, draw up their battalions in imposing array. If we would possess the promise, we must overcome them. A mere profession of religion is of no avail. We must devote ourselves entirely and unreservedly to this great daily battle of life. It is a warfare until death. While we are in the body it will be always true, We wrestle. The oldest Christian cannot lay aside his weapons. The whole of the way, up to the very gate of heaven, is beset with foes, and we must fight to the last if we would overcome and enter in. Ah, it is no soft flowery meadow along which we may languidly stroll, but a rough, craggy cliff that we must climb. To him that overcometh! It is no smooth, placid stream along which we may dreamily float, but a tempestuous ocean we must stem. To him that overcometh! It is no lazy lolling in a cushioned chariot that bears us on without fatigue and peril, but plodding painfully in heavy marching order up the long and weary and beleagured road of self-sacrifice. To him that overcometh! It is not a time of listless repose, of careless mirth, as if no danger threatened, no foe were near. We fight in good company. The truly wise of all ages are on our side. We have the assured hope of victory. (Newman Hall, LL. D.)
The manna and the stone
In Pergamos there were two houses, which represented the two forces that made life a battle to the Christian. One was the Church of Christ and the other was the temple of idolatry. When a man left that gorgeous temple in the great square he left everything that appealed to ease and pride and ambition. When he entered the poor little church in the back lane, he entered into conflict with his heart and with the world. That single renunciation of the sweets and successes of life was but the beginning of the strife. In the Church itself were some who taught that the Christian need not break with his former life in choosing Christ. The promise in the text corresponds to that temptation. Let these worshippers of the Christ keep from the meats of the idol shrine, and they shall feast on the best in the house of God. Let them refuse to be votaries of the foul altar, and they shall be very priests of the holy of holies. Let them forego the society of the heathen, and they shall be the close and particular friends of Him who is the visible Divinity of the heavenly sanctuary.
I. A provision peculiar to the sanctuary is promised to him that overcometh. Let us be loyal to Jesus now, as we see Him not, and at the end of the brief trial we shall come face to face with Him. He shall look on us with joy. He shall lead us forward, and name us to all heaven. He of whom we have had so many thoughts, and to whom we have winged so many words, shall be a real and close presence. And that hidden manna, laid bare thus to our adoring gaze, is no mere feast for our eyes, but true food for our soul. That near and constant companionship with Jesus shall cheer and strengthen and exalt our life. In new knowledge of Him, in new love, in new likeness, we shall receive Him ever anew and ever more fully. How poor, then, how altogether past and perished, are the joys for which we almost bartered the rich provision of the eternal sanctuary! Our gracious Lord does not, after all, make us wait for the prize until the fight is won. He brings to us, even in the stress of the struggle, a foretaste of the feast. He makes our poor, fainting heart a sanctuary, and turns our faith into a sacred ark for the manna. We have Him in us, and heaven with Him. So we have food of which the world knows nothing.
II. A dignity peculiar to the sanctuary is promised to him that overcometh. To have a right to enter the holiest, and to look on its secrets, meant, indeed, no less than to be High Priest. No other had the privilege of lifting the veil. This was an honour so great that it was solitary. He who was called of God to this dignity wore on his heart a symbol of it. This was the mystic Urim and Thummim--the light and the perfection. Like the glory over the ark, it was the symbol of Jehovah Himself--the Infinite in purity and in loveliness. This diamond was likely the one stone of its kind known to Israel, for the gem so named as on the breastplate was assuredly a commoner jewel. This unique stone was white with the very splendour of its shining, and it was given to Aaron as the badge of his dignity. With that upon his heart he had assurance of access to the very glory of God. Such was the dignity promised to those who kept their feet from the threshold of the heathen temple. Let them care nothing for the social standing which would be theirs as worshippers of the idol, and instead they shall have the loftiest rank in the home of God. Theirs to go to the inmost, holiest spot, and to have the foremost favour, and do the foremost service. And to us, tried by the like seductions, is the same cheer sent. If we, after all, do cling to the Lover of our soul, He shall at once put into our hand the mystic stone which means so much. Now, even as we war, is the priests badge hung on the soldiers breastplate. The Urim of old was but a dead stone, and it lay but on the breast. It was but an outward symbol of God. This white stone is lustrous with the very Light, which is God, and it is hidden within the breast itself. The upshining of faith, the far-darting beams of hope, and the outspreading glow of love are glories born of Gods own glory. A Divine nature begins at the centre of the human nature, and as the Christian obeys it, it grows.
III. A communion peculiar to the sanctuary is promised to him that overcometh. The Urim of the High Priest was sacred because of the sacred purpose to which it was put as a symbol of God. But it was made yet holier by a more personal connection with Him. It is supposed, at least, that graven on the flashing stone were the four sacred letters which express the thrice holy name of Jehovah. So intimately did the Jews associate the word with the person that they forbore to utter it. It stood for all of God which He had made known to men. To see it was to see, through it, the Invisible One. When the priest, therefore, found the name written on the stone, he understood that God was to be his, and to be with him. As if from the midst of very glory the Glorious One was to draw near to him. Whenever in secret he laid bare the hidden name his spirit was hushed by the Holy Presence. He heard a gentle yet majestic voice whose words he felt as very love and very truth. He let his own heart answer, and knew that his thoughts were pulsing in an ear close and quick. Such a solemn and yet blessed fellowship was the peculiar privilege of the priest. It is promised also to those who shall let the friendships of earth go rather than belie their friendship with Jesus. To them, indeed, an intimacy even nearer and dearer still is here prefigured. In the white stone which they wear is set a new word for God. He is to let them know what none else has learned as to what He is. By the lips of Jesus He is to unveil His heart in a special way to them. This third hidden thing, like the other two, is a boon of which we may have the firstfruits now. Like those Christians of Pergamos we take on us the name of Christ. Let us but hold it fast, as they did, in spite of every temptation to deny our faith, and we shall in that very loyalty attain a special communion with our Lord, and receive a special name for God. Heaven will but make this name the dearer and the deeper a secret between the soul and its God. (D. Burns.)
The spiritual warfare, and the Divine promise
I. The spiritual warfare.
1. We must overcome the evil that is within ourselves. The best of men have spoken with sorrow of the state of their own hearts. In many things we all offend. If we say we have no sin, etc. Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me? etc. The Christian Church has always recognised the same mournful truth. The Te Deum Laudamus is the greatest Christian hymn. It is a lofty song of faith, hope, and triumph; but a trembling undertone of sadness runs through its joyous praise. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin. O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us. The reason why good men see and feel the evil within them is that they are good men. The Spirit of God dwells in them and His light reveals the soul to itself. The holier we are, the more shall we feel our own imperfections. But it is not enough to feel and bewail the evil; we should also overcome it. The human heart resembles a garden. If rightly cared for, it will grow flowers of greatest beauty and trees abundant in fruit; hut if neglected, it will put forth noxious weeds and worthless thorns and briars.
2. We must overcome the opposition of the world. The Christians at Ephesus fought against error, and overcame it, and hence the praise given to them. There are two ways in which you may attempt to overcome error. First, you may make direct war against it; you may use arguments, and show that it is error and not truth, a phantom and not any real thing whatsoever. Your mind is the bow, your arguments are the arrows; the bow may be strong, and the arrows sharp and well aimed; but what matters it? They can do but little harm to the phantom. The second method of opposing error is the establishment of positive truth. When the fire of the glowworm begins to pale and the birds stir among the branches and the dawn opens in the east, the ghost in a great play is made to vanish from the sight. The spirit of the world is also to be overcome. There is nothing more difficult to overcome than this. A man may reason against false doctrines and confute their teachers; and he may have courage, and defy persecution in all its forms. But this spirit is subtle, silent, and penetrating. Living within the circle of its influence, we can hardly escape its effects. It is like an impure atmosphere; if you breathe it at all, you must inhale the poison.
3. We have to overcome the influence of the Wicked One. Deceit, fraud, guile, malice, and all the serpent qualities are ascribed to him; and of him it may be said, Dust shall be the serpents meat. This evil spirit is called the Tempter. He showed our Saviour all the kingdoms of the world, and said, Worship me, and this power and glory shall be Thine. He is ever revealing such things to men. True, they are only phantom kingdoms which he paints before the imagination; but then they appear most real at the time. The question we have to decide is, Shall we fall down before the Tempter like the first Adam, or overcome with the Second Man, the Lord from heaven?
II. The Divine promise.
1. Christ strengthens and supports the soul in its conflict with evil. Let the experience of the apostles illustrate this. In their outward circumstances they had all the elements of unhappiness and misery. But a greater Power was for them than that by which they were opposed. The promised and mysterious Presence followed them through all the trials, temptations, and sorrows of life. They fought, overcame, and received the crown of victory. In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. We should mark their experience at the time of their great conflict. The world frowned, but heaven smiled upon their spirit. They were not only able to withstand the enemy, but they had peace, joy, and consolation in the midst of the strife. The peace of God--a plentiful stream from the fountain of all blessedness--flowed into their hearts.
2. The strength which Christ gives is known only to the soul who receives it. It is hidden manna. Nature has her open secrets. They are exposed to the gaze of all, but all have not the power to behold them--open and yet secret. This applies to the spiritual life. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. The Divine energy that braces the mind and heart for noble deeds; the peace which results from perfect reconciliation to God; the consolation imparted to the soul by His Spirit these are the open secrets of religion. They are open and clear as daylight. But from the unbelieving, from the proud, from the worldly, and from the disobedient they are concealed. Being unfelt they must be unknown, for they are revealed to the heart rather than to the intellect. (T. Jones.)
The laurels of a victorious life
I. Divine sustentation.
1. His doctrines are bread to the intellect.
2. His fellowship is bread to the heart.
3. His Spirit is bread to the whole life.
II. Divine distinction.
1. The sign of distinction. A white stone. He will have full admission into all the honours of eternity.
2. The character of the distinction. (Homilist.)
Moral conquest and its destiny
I. The victory. The life of the good is a stern moral conflict, pervading every sphere of life--the home, the mart, the shop, etc. It is impossible to go where the strife is not. In this way character is tested and developed, and our attachment to Christ revealed.
1. Moral conquest is required, not an indolent evasion of the strife.
2. Moral conquest is required, not a cowardly retreat in the conflict of life.
3. Moral conquest is required, not an easy method of attaining the dignity of the future life.
II. The repast.
1. This repast is in sublime contrast to any other that can be provided.
2. It is concealed from the unsanctified gaze of men.
3. It will give eternal satisfaction to all who shall partake of it.
III. The revelation.
1. The Christian victor will enter upon the highest method of moral life.
2. The Christian victor will enjoy the most complete revelation of God
Lessons:
1. Learn to fight the good fight of faith.
2. Persevere unto victory.
3. Take courage from this glimpse of your reward. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The rewards of the conquering Christian
I. The text is addressed to him that overcometh.
1. The man to whom this description can be applied must certainly be one who knows that he has spiritual enemies assailing him. He must have discovered that he has interests at stake, which the world, the flesh, and the devil unite in opposing. The idea of a victory necessarily presupposes a contest.
2. The language before us must imply, therefore, that the man to whom these blessings are promised is contending with the enemies by whom he finds himself surrounded. It describes the Christian, not as the friend of the world, but the determined opposer of its corrupt maxims and customs; not as the obedient slave of the prince of darkness, but his decided foe. It is this habitual conflict with evil which constitutes the great difference between the servant of God and the man of the world. It is this which testifies that our understandings are enlightened, that our conscience is on the side of God, that our affections have been touched by His grace, and a principle of a new and spiritual life communicated to our souls. But we must not stop here.
3. The texts leads us to infer that the Christian is actually overcoming his enemies. The world is gradually losing its power over him; Satan is bruised underneath his feet; and as for his lusts, they are one by one weakened and subdued. Oh what a blessed victory is this! Who does not long to share in its honours and inherit its rewards? But these rewards are not easily attained, neither is this victory easily won. No mortal power can achieve it. The victory must be ascribed to God. It is He who gives us at first a disposition to struggle with our adversaries; it is He who crowns that struggle with success.
II. But though the victory is the Lords, He often condescends to speak of it as attained by the Christian himself; and He promises him in the text a gracious and rich reward.
1. One of the blessings comprehended in this promise is pardon. But a mere acquittal, precious as it is to us, is too poor a gift for the Captain of our salvation to bestow.
2. He adds to it the blessing of adoption. God Himself is not ashamed to be called his God, and prepares for His long lost but now recovered son a never ending feast of joy.
3. Hence spiritual provision is another blessing included in this promise. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
The hidden manna
I. There is a victory to be gained.
1. We must overcome Satan. He was not afraid to assail our blessed Lord. We have times of special darkness and assault.
2. There is a victory over ourselves; over the evil of our own hearts; over the corruption of our own natures.
3. You must overcome false doctrines. You must resist all unscriptural opinions.
4. If there is any easily-besetting sin, any marked peculiarity of your condition which has a tendency to evil, it must be overcome. Is there constitutional temperament which is unfavourable to virtue? Bring your body into subjection.
5. Lastly, there is victory over the world; and in two forms of it--first, as intimidating, and second, as persecuting. Men and women are victors on earth as they adhere to the truth, as they practise virtue, and do the will of God, and are conformed to the image and example of the Lord Jesus.
II. The privileges that accompany the conquest that is gained.
1. Here is the hidden manna; that is the first thing. It is the scorer hidden knowledge and experience of the efficacy, power, and satisfaction of the truth and doctrine of the Lord Jesus. Let the believer eat and be satisfied; satisfied in the love of God, in the grace of Christ, and in the communion of the Holy Spirit.
2. And I will give him a white stone. This indicates absolution from all sin and the forgiveness of all iniquity. There is forgiveness in the court of heaven, and in the court of our own consciences.
3. Lastly, it is said that in the stone there shall be a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. We may take a person to be a hypocrite and a castaway, when God sees him to be His child. No one knows but God and ourselves. Judge not others; judge yourself. (James Stratten.)
A white stone.
A white stone
I. Victory. There is before my minds eye a vision of the ancient Olympic games. Vast amphitheatre, with seats rising tier on tier, crowded with eager and excited spectators. Sweet perfume drops through the canopy which shelters from the burning sun, and clouds of dust rise from the chariot-wheels, from the glowing hoofs of the horses, and from the swift feet of those who run. By and by I hear a mighty shout that almost rends the welkin, as the plaudits of the thousands echo round the scene; and presently a man steps forward who has won the race, or slain the lion, or killed the gladiator, to receive from the emperors own hand a crown of laurel leaves which fades by the very heat of the head that wears it. I notice also that the emperor gives him a pure white stone, with his name written on it. He is now entitled, on presentation of that white stone ticket, to be fed at the countrys expense, and to be feted and honoured well-nigh wheresoever he goes. Now, the Christian life is a race; the Christian experience is a conflict. Rise to the battle now. Go on to victory, and to thy reward.
II. Purity. I see now an ancient tribunal where the judges sit. There are lictors bearing the fasces--a bundle of sticks with an axe-head bound up amongst them, the symbol of justice and of punishment. I see the jurors in their places; I listen to the progress of the trial; and when all the witnesses have been heard, and the prisoner has made his own defence, I notice that into the ballot-box are cast some little stones. Some are white, others black; but, thank God, the white stones predominate, and the foreman of the jury having counted them, declares that the prisoner is not guilty and should be dismissed. So in this place of sin, with all the enticements of evil, there were some who retained their purity and spotlessness--some who, like Joseph, fled at the tempters voice; some who, like Daniel, could not forget the Lord their God; some who, like the holy children, would rather blaze in the furnace than bow before the image. To such the token of innocence was given. How is it with thee?
III. Novelty. I remember to have seen one of Dores celebrated pictures--The entry of Christ into Jerusalem--shortly after it was painted, when the colours were ell bright and beautiful; and though I much admired the drawing, I was particularly struck with the colouring. Everything seemed so fresh and new; of course it was in a new frame, and the very faces of the people |earned lighted up with a new joy as they beheld their King. It is possible that the colours have faded before this, but this I know--that Christs triumphal entry into the sinners heart brings glorious sunshine, new joys, new hopes, new songs, new desires, new everything.
1. The new name is the name of adoption.
2. Then there is the new name of espousal, for we are married unto Him, and He to us.
3. There Is the new name, too, of promotion for those who overcome. It were a grand thing to be a private in Christs army, to belong to the rank and file of the Lords elect; but when He says, Come up higher, and I will exalt thee, for thou hast exalted Me, it is better still; and this He does so often as we fight His battles well, and every victory leads to some fresh reward.
4. The new name that we shall get at last is the name of glorification. Worms now, we shall be angels then; sinful creatures at present, sons of the living God and brighter than the seraphs shall we then appear.
IV. Secrecy. The name He gives is unknown, except to those who receive it. The world cannot understand us, or our joys, or our sorrows. These are spiritual things, and must be spiritually discerned.
V. Charity. Everything that we have is Gods good gift. If we cat of hidden manna, it is because He gives us to eat thereof, and if we have the earnest of the Spirit it is because He gives us the pure white stone. Some think there is a reference here to a stone called the tessera hospitalis. My heart is open to Christ; heaven is open to me. I am His property and He my possession; He holds me in His mighty hand, and I retain my hold on Him with such faith as He gives me. (J. A. Spurgeon.)
The white stone
With this white stone may the saints comfort themselves against all the black coals wherewith the world seeks to besmear them. (J. Trapp.)
A new name written.--
The new name
I. The large hopes which gather round this promise of a new name. Abraham and Jacob, in the Old Testament, received new names from God; Peter and the sons of Zebedee, in the New Testament, received new names from Christ. In the sad latter days of the Jewish monarchy its kings, being deposed by barbarian and pagan conquerors, were reinstated, with new names imposed upon them by the victors. In all these cases the imposition of the new name implies authority and ownership on the part of the giver; and generally a relationship to the giver, with new offices, functions, and powers on the part of the receiver. And so when Christ from the heavens declares that He will rename the conqueror, He asserts on the one hand His own absolute authority over him, and on the other hand His own perfect knowledge of the nature and inmost being of the creature He names. And, still further, He gives a promise of a nature renewed, of new functions committed to the conqueror, of new spheres, mew closeness of approach to Himself, new capacities, and new powers. Can we go any further? Let me just remind you that there are two things that shine out plain and clear in the midst of the darkness and vagueness that surround the future glories of the redeemed. The one is their closer relationship to Jesus Christ; the other is their possession, in the ultimate and perfect state, of a body of which the predicates are incorruption, glory, power, and which is a fit organ for the spirit, even as the present corporeal house in which we dwell is an adequate organ for the animal life, and for that alone.
II. The connection between Christs new name and ours. What is this new name of Christs? Obviously the new name of Jesus is a revelation of His character, nature, and heart; a new manifestation of Himself to the glad eyes of those that loved Him, when they saw Him amidst the darkness and the mists of earth, and so have been honoured to see Him more clearly amidst the radiances of the glories of heaven. Only remember that when we speak of a new name of Christs as being part of the blessedness of the future state to which we may humbly look forward, it is no antiquating of the old name. Nothing will ever make the Cross of Jesus Christ less the centre of the revelation of God than it is to-day. But the new name is the new name of the old Christ. Then what is the inscription of that name upon the conqueror? It is not merely the manifestation of the revealed character of Jesus in new beauty, but it is the manifestation of His ownership of His servants by their transformation into His likeness, which transformation is the consequence of their new vision of Him.
III. The blessed secret of the new name. No man knoweth it save he that receiveth it. Of course not. There is only one way to know the highest things in human experience, and that is by possessing them. Nobody can describe love, sorrow, gladness, So as to awaken a clear conception of them in hearts that have never experienced them. That is eminently true about religion, and it is most of all true about that perfect future state. A chrysalis, lying under ground, would know about as much of what it would be like when it had got its wings and lived upon sweetness and blazed in the sunshine, as a man when he lets his imagination attempt to construct a picture of another life. Death keeps his secret well, and we have to pass his threshold before we know what lies beyond. But more than that. That same blessed mystery lies round about the name of each individual possessor, to all but himself. Just as we shall know Christ perfectly, and bear His new name inscribed upon our foreheads, and yet He has a name which no man knoweth but He Himself, so the mystery of each redeemed soul will still remain impenetrable to others. But it will be a mystery of no painful darkness, nor making any barrier between ourselves and the saints whom we love. Rather it is the guarantee of an infinite variety in the manner of possessing the one name. All the surrounding diamonds that are set about the central blaze shall catch the light on their faces, and from one it will come golden, and from another violet, and another red, and another flashing and pure white. Each glorified spirit shall reveal Christ, and yet the one Christ shall be manifested in infinite variety of forms, and the total summing up of the many reflections will be the image of the whole Lord.
IV. The giving of the new name to the victors. The language of my text involves two things, To him that overcometh lays down the conditions; Will I give lays down the cause of the possession of the new name--that is to say, this renovation of the being, and efflorescence into new knowledges, activities, perfections, and joys is only possible on condition of the earthly life of obedience and service and conquest. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The secret of the new name
The book which is the grand interpreter of mans inward nature and relations makes repeated references to the sacred power of names. In the biblical view, to give anything a name is to perform an act of religion. What is it? It is to apply to some individual object, having God for its maker, that sign by which it shall be known, separated from other things, and called: and surely that ought to be done reverently, as in the presence of Him from whom all things came, and to whom all things are known. When we rise to the plane of human life, this same sanctity of names becomes more evident yet. Because then they come to stand not only for individual existences, but for conscious beings. They mark off soul from soul, among the infinite ranks and gradations of the immortal family, on earth and in heaven, that no man can number. If we ascend still higher, from the human to the Divine, the power of names is more signally manifested yet. Him whom no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor hand touched, we yet know by His wonderful and Almighty name--our God. It is striking that the Scriptures everywhere speak of the name of the Lord as of the Lord Himself. His name is His glory, His presence, His power, His wisdom, His person--and it is the only outward sign, or bond, of personal communication between Him and us who are allowed to make no image of Him. How impressive, too, that when His great manifestation is to be made in humanity, it is declared that the eternal Word is made flesh. That is the uttered Divinity--the God pronounced, communicated to man, through the Incarnation. After the Redeemer appeared, the universal command to Christendom was that its prayers should be lifted to the Father in the name of Christ. So we arrive at the point of the text: To him that overcometh, saith that Faithful and True Witness, the First and the Last, will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. The spiritual truth which the veil of figure covers can hardly be mistaken. He that overcometh--every victorious soul prevailing by faith and by righteousness in the long and patient battle of life--shall have secret satisfactions springing up in his heart, known only between himself and his Lord. They will not consist in outward applauses, in visible successes, in any worldly compensations whatever. The chief of them all will be the silent assurances of His personal affection, who is the purest, highest, holiest. The token of His favour will be the inestimable good. So much light does advancing excellence always cast on old forms of truth, a deeper life ever illuminating even familiar oracles, that the very name of the Christ shall have a new meaning. It shall be a new name. It shall have a personal charm and preciousness to each several believer. None shall know it as he knoweth it that receiveth it.
I. The strict and private individuality of all real religious experience. Sooner or later some monitory Providence comes and searches us, and shows that the path to Gods right hand is in great part a lonely one.
II. A second characteristic of that true inward life which the text implies is that its rewards are not such as can be described beforehand. No man knoweth them saving he that receiveth them. They remain to come out and be felt unexpectedly in their place. The very result the religion of Christ undertakes to achieve in mens hearts is disinterested devotion. Virtue under pay is no longer virtue. Faith is not hired. Why, even in all the loftier and purer human relationships, affection scorns the calculations of self-interest. There is not a tie of holy friendship on earth but feels itself insulted by the suggestion of a price.
III. Christian piety is to be prized for its secret intrinsic quality, rather than for its quotable results. No man knoweth it like him that hath it. Its hidden testimonies are worth more than its public demonstrations. Being religious for effect spoils the effect--like being honest for effect, or humble for effect, or affectionate or chaste for effect. It runs straight to a base hypocrisy, and not only abolishes its own influence, but begets a general scepticism of sincerity which blights every high interest, and unsettles virtue itself. Faith must dwell in her own sanctuary, see by her own light, feed on her own secret and immortal manna, be content with her own joy, cling to the white stone with the ineffable name, and wait for her spiritual justification and victory. To selfish, earth-bound hearts no secrets are revealed. No tokens of personal remembrance, no signs of secret favour come from the Master.
IV. It has been applied all along as a chief doctrine lying at the very heart of this passage, as it lies at the heart of the gospel itself, that the special character and privilege of the Christian rest in a personal and conscious union between him and his living Redeemer. (Bp. F. D. Huntington.)
The new name
The white stone has been spoken of as being the symbol of acquittal, of election and choice, of admission to the heavenly banquet; all which may be true. But there is one objection to any such interpretations, namely, that they all are gathered from the circle of heathen associations, whereas the whole Apocalypse moves within the circle of Jewish symbols. So, then, if we doubt as to the force of these and other similar interpretations, have we anything in the Jewish history, especially somewhere about the same period as the manna, which may help us? I think that an explanation which has been sometimes given seems to be commended by very many considerations. There was a precious stone, lustrous and resplendent--for that is the force of the word white here, not a dead white but a brilliant coruscating white--on which there was something written, which no eye but one ever saw, that mysterious seat of revelation and direction known in the Old Testament by the name of Urim and Thummim (that is, lights and perfectnesses), enclosed within the folds of the High Priests breast-plate, which none but the High Priest ever beheld. We may, perhaps, bring that ancient fact into connection with the promise in my text, and then it opens out into a whole world of suggestions with regard to the priestly dignity of the victors, with regard to the gift that is bestowed upon them, a hidden gift worn upon their breasts and containing within it and inscribed upon it the Divine name, unseen by any eye but that of him that bears it.
I. That new name is Christs and ours. It is His first, it becomes ours by communication from Him.
1. I will give him a new name--a deeper, a more inward, a fresh knowledge and revelation of My own character--as eternal love, eternal wisdom, all-sufficient, absolute power, the home and treasure, the joy and righteousness of the whole heart and spirit. The Cross remains for ever the revelation of the love of God, but in heaven we shall learn what we know not here--the full wealth which shall succeed the earnest of the inheritance, and possessing the lustrous glories we shall understand something more of the infinite mercy that has bought them for us. The sun remains the same, but as different as its sphere looks, seen from the comet at its aphelion, away out far beyond the orbits of the planets in the dim regions of that infinite abyss, and seen from the same orb at its perihelion when it circles round close by the burning brightness, so different does that mighty Sun of righteousness look to us now in His eternal self-revelation, by sacrifice and death, from what He will seem in that same self-revelation when we shall stand by His side!
2. On this new revelation of the name of Christ there follows as a consequence assimilation to the name which we possess, transformation into the likeness of Him whom we behold. We cannot know His name without sharing it. If we behold His glory we shall possess it, as the light must enter the eye for vision. The light and the soul which receives will, as it were, act and react. The light beheld transforms. The soul transformed is capable of more light. That again flows in and purifies and beautifies. Thus, in continuous reciprocal energy, the endless process of learning to know an infinite Saviour, and becoming like a perfect Lord goes on with constant approximation, and yet with somewhat ever undisclosed. The gift is not once for all, but is continuous through eternity.
3. Then there is a third idea implied in this promise, if the new name be Christs, and that is possession or consecration. His name is given, that is, His character is revealed. His character is imparted, and further, by the gift He takes as well as gives, He takes us for His even in giving Himself to be ours. The High Priests mitre bore on its front Holiness to the Lord, and one of the last and highest promises of Scripture is cast in the form supplied by the symbol of Aarons office and honour, His servants shall serve Him--in priestly service that is--and they shall see His face. Action and contemplation, so hard to harmonise here, shall blend at last. And His name shall be in their foreheads, the token of His possession, manifest for all eyes to behold. And thus when we behold Him we become like Him, and in the measure which we become like Him we belong to Him, not one step further.
II. This new new is unknown except by its possessor. That, of course, is true in all regions of human experience. Did ever anybody describe a taste so that a man that had not tasted the thing could tell what it was like? Did ever anybody describe an odour so as to do more than awaken the memory of some one who had once had the scent lingering in his nostrils? If we have not known the love of a child, no talking will ever make a man understand what a fathers heart is. Religious experiences are not unlike ordinary human experiences in this matter. It is not possible to communicate them, partly by reason of the imperfection of human language, partly by reason that you need in all departments sympathy and prior knowledge in order to make the descriptions significant at all. And in our earthly life, though your faith and mine, and our joys and our consciousness of Christs love are all weak and tremulous, as we know, still we cannot speak them full out, and if we could there are no ears to hear except the ears of those who are possessors of like precious faith. The law applies to the heavens as well. Not till we get there shall we know. The text seems to imply what is more wonderful still, that though there shall be no isolation in heaven, which is the perfection of society, there may be incommunicable depths of blessed experience even there. Each man standing at his own angle will see his own side of the light; it will be enough and the same for all, and yet different in each. No man knoweth saving he that receiveth. We must possess to understand; we must stand before the throne to apprehend.
III. The condition and the true cause of possessing this new nature. It comes as the reward of victory; it comes as a bestowment from Christ; To him that overcometh will I give. And it seems to me that we have much need of trying to unite these two thoughts more closely together than we generally do. The victory is condition. It is not anything more than a condition. The real cause is Christs bestowment. I believe as thoroughly as any man can in the application of the idea of reward to Christian service, but I believe that this is a secondary idea, and that the primary one is The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. I believe that all outward discipline, and labour, and sorrows, and disappointments, and struggles, the efforts that we make after victory, that all these prepare Christians, and make us capable of receiving the gift. I believe that the gift comes only out of His infinite and undeserved, and God be thanked! inexhaustible forgiving goodness and mercy. The one is, if I may so say, the preparing of the cloth for the dye, and after that you have the application of the colour. No heaven except to the victor. The victor does not fight his way into heaven, but Christ gives it to him. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The new name
1. A new name preaches to us of a new relationship. A child parts with its own name, and takes the name of the family into which it is received as an adopted son or daughter. The Lord God shall call His servants by another name.
2. This new name is the declaration of sanctity. If we are children we should maintain the honour of the family name. Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.
3. Dignity is expressed by a new name Christianity bestows a name of rank and title that is emphatically new--above the human, above the angelic--Divine.
4. Secrecy belongs to this name. A new name which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Our holiest and grandest emotions are those that stifle utterance. They seal the lips, and make us feel how inadequate are all human vehicles to express heavenly and Divine emotions. The pleasures of the worldling lie on the surface. You have seen, it may be, says a writer, an antique Italian painted window, with the bright Italian sunshine glowing through it. It is the special excellence of pictured glass that the light which falls merely on the outside of other pictures, is here interfused throughout the work, illuminating the design, and investing it with a living radiance … Christian faith is a grand cathedral with Divinely pictured windows. Standing without you see no glory, nor can possibly imagine any. Nothing is visible but the merest outline of dusky shapes. Standing within all is clear and defined, every ray of light reveals a harmony of unspeakable splendours. (The London Pulpit.)
The new name
The giving of the white stone with the new name is the communication of what God thinks about the man to the man. It is the Divine judgment, the solemn holy doom of the righteous man, the Come, thou blessed, spoken to the individual. In order to see this, we must first understand what is the idea of a name--that is, what is the perfect notion of a name. The true name is one which expresses the character, the nature, the being, the meaning of the person who bears it. It is the mans own symbol--his souls picture, in a word-the sign which belongs to him and to no one else. Who can give a man this, his own name? God alone. For no one but God sees what the man is, or even, seeing what he is, could express in a name-word the sum and harmony of what he sees. To whom is this name given? To him that overcometh. When is it given? When he has overcome. Does God then not know what a man is going to become? As surely as He sees the oak which He put there lying in the heart of the acorn. Why then does He wait till the man has become by overcoming ere He settles what his name shall be? He does not wait; He knows his name from the first. It is only when the man has become his name that God gives him the stone with the name upon it, for then first can he understand what his name signifies. The name is one which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. blot only then has each man his individual relation to God, but each man has his peculiar relation to God. He is to God a peculiar being, made after his own fashion, and that of no one else; for when he is perfected he shall receive the new name which no one else can understand. Hence he can worship God as no man else can worship him--can understand God as no man else can understand Him. This or that man may understand God more, may understand God better than he, but no other man can understand God as he understands Him. As the fir-tree lifts up itself with a far different need from the need of the palm-tree, so does each man stand before God, and lift up a different humanity to the common Father. And for each God has a different response. With every man He has a secret--the secret of the new name. In every man there is a loneliness, an inner chamber of peculiar life into which God only can enter. See, now, what a significance the symbolism of our text assumes. Each of us is a distinct flower or tree in the spiritual garden of God--precious, each for his own sake, in the eyes of Him who is even now making us--each of us watered and shone upon and filled with life, for the sake of his flower, his completed being, which will blossom out of him at last to the glory and pleasure of the great Gardener. For each has within him a secret of the Divinity; each is growing towards the revelation of that secret to himself, and so to the full reception, according to his measure, of the Divine. Every moment that he is true to his true self, some new shine of the white stone breaks on his inward eye, some fresh channel is opened upward for the coming glory of the flower, the conscious offering of his whole being in beauty to the Maker. Each man, then, is in Gods sight of great worth. Life and action, thought and intent, are sacred. And what an end lies before us! To have a consciousness of our own ideal being flashed into us from the thought of God! (George MacDonald, LL. D.)
The third promise to the victors
The Church at Pergamos, to which this promise is addressed, had a sharper struggle than fell to the lot of the two Churches whose epistles precede this. It was set where Satans seat is. The severer the struggle, the nobler the reward.
I. We have the victors food, the manna. That seems, at first sight, a somewhat infelicitous symbol, because manna was wilderness food. But that characteristic is not to be taken into account. Manna, though it fell in the wilderness, came from heaven, and it is the heavenly food that is suggested by the symbol. One moment the din of the battlefield, the next moment the refreshment of the heavenly manna. And the first thing that it plainly suggests to us is the absolute satisfaction of all the hunger of the heart. Here we have to suppress desires, sometimes because they are illegitimate and wrong, sometimes because circumstances sternly forbid their indulgence. There, to desire will be to have, and partly by the rectifying of the appetite, partly by the fulness of the supply, there will be no painful sense of vacuity. Then there is the other plain thing suggested here, that that satisfaction does not dull the edge of appetite or desire. Bodily hunger is fed, is replete, wants nothing more until the lapse of time and digestion have intervened. But it is not so with the loftiest satisfactions. You that know what happy love is know what that means--a satisfaction which never approaches satiety, a hunger which has in it no gnawing. Satisfaction without satiety, food which leaves him blessedly appetised for larger bestowments, belong to the victor. Another thing to be noticed here is what we have already had occasion to point out in the previous promises: I will give him. The victor is seated at the board, and the Prince, as in some earthly banquet to a victorious army, himself moves up and down amongst the tables, and supplies the wants of the guests. Christ Himself bestows upon His servants the sustenance of their spirits in the realm above. But there is more than that. Christ is not only the Giver, but He is Himself the Food. He said, I am the Bread of God that came down from heaven. The man that lives upon the Christ by faith, love, obedience, imitation, communion, aspiration, here on earth, has already the earnest of that feast. If you do not like the earthly form of feeding upon Jesus Christ, which is trusting Him, obeying Him, thinking about Him, you would like less the heavenly form of that feeding upon Him.
II. Note, the victors new name. When we read, I will give Him a stone, on which there is a new name written, we infer that the main suggestion made in that promise is of a change in the self, something new in the personality and the character. What new capacities may be evolved by the mere fact of losing the limitations of the bodily frame; what new points of contact with the new universe; what new analogues of that which we here call our senses, and means of perception of the external world, may be the accompaniments of the disembarrassment from the earthly house of this tabernacle, we dare not dream. But whatsoever be these changes, they are changes that repose upon that which has been in the past. And so the second thought that is suggested by this new name is that these changes are the direct results of the victors course. Both in old times and in the peerage of England you will find names of conquerors, by land or by water, who carry in their designations and transmit to their descendants the memorial of their victories in their very titles. In like manner as a Scipio was called Africanus, as a Jervis became Lord St. Vincent, so the victors new name is the concentration and memorial of the victors conquest. So once more we come to the thought that whatever there may be of change in the future, the main direction of the character remains, and the consolidated issues of the transient deeds of earth remain, and the victors name is the summing up of the victors life.
III. Lastly, note the mystery of both the food and the name. Both symbols point to the one thought, the impossibility of knowing until we possess and experience. That impossibility besets all the noblest, highest, purest, Divinest emotions, and possessions of earth. Poets have sung of love and sorrow from the beginning of time; but men must love to know what it means. Since, then, experience alone admits to the knowledge, how vulgar, how futile, how absolutely destructive of the very purpose which they are intended to subserve, are all the attempts of men to forecast that ineffable glory. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 16. Repent therefore. This may save the sinner, whether…
16. Repent therefore. This may save the sinner, whether an alien, or a church member. To repent one must leave off his sins. I will make war against them. Those who teach and practice these pernicious doctrines. With the sword of my mouth. See 1:16. With all the power of the word of God.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Repent, therefore
Repent, therefore
"So repent"
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If you do not, I
The verb can be supplied from the previous phrase. AT: "If you do not repent, I" (See: Ellipsis)
wage war against them
"fight against them"
with the sword in my mouth
This refers to the sword in Revelation 1:16. Although symbols in apocalyptic language are not normally to be replaced with the item they represent, translators may choose whether or not to show that this as a symbol represents God's word, as the UDB does. This symbol indicates that Christ will defeat his enemies by giving a simple command. AT: "with the sword in my mouth, which is the word of God" (See: Symbolic Language)
Let the one who has an ear listen
Being willing to listen is spoken of as having an ear. See how you translated this in Revelation 2:7. AT: "Let the one who is willing to listen, listen" or "If you are willing, listen" (See: Metaphor)
To the one who conquers
This refers anyone who conquers. See how you translated this in Revelation 2:7. AT: "anyone who resists evil" or "those who do not agree to do evil" (See: Generic Noun Phrases)
translationWords
repent
sword
Holy Spirit
manna
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.