Volume 1

7.    Also to    the angel of the ecclesia in Philadelphia write; These things saith the holy one,    the
true one,    he having the key of    the David, opening and no one shutteth, and he shuts and    no
one openeth:    8. I have observed thy works; behold, I have placed before thee a door
which hath been opened, and no one is able to shut it; because thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
9.    Behold,    I give up out of the    synagogue of the Satan them who say that they are Jews,    yet

A name is representative of a person. It is a word or term by which an individual is designated. That which is inherited or bestowed at birth, indicates the relationship and attributes of flesh and blood to certain specialties. John Smith, by proving that he is the heir at law of the deceased William Smith, may inherit his estate; but in relation to “the life of the Lamb slain,” there is nothing in the name “John Smith” that gives him any claim upon it.

It is promised to him who shares in “the victory,” that he shall, not only “be clothed” with incorruption, and “his name” remain perpet¬ually inscribed among the deathless; but that his name shall be hon¬orably mentioned in the august presence of the Eternal Majesty of the Universe, and before his angelic hosts. This promise to the undefiled, whether in Sardis or elsewhere, at that time or in previous and after ages and generations, reads in the English Version, “I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” The word in the ori¬ginal is emphatic.

The life of the book is peculiar. It is “the life of the Lamb slain.” The present life is hereditary and natural. It comes to us based upon the sympathies of flesh, which “profits nothing” in relation to that which is “the Lamb’s.” He gave his life as a price for the purchase of life for many brethren—Matt. 20 : 28. It is therefore styled “the life of the Lamb slain;” and a right to it is predicated on a “justification unto life” which results to a believer from the obedience of faith, or doing the commandments of God—Rev. 22 : 14.

Even the few names in Sardis had to save themselves by their per¬severance, upon the principle that “he who perseveres to the end shall be saved.” Hence, the Spirit saith, “the victor, he shall be clothed in white garments.” This is positive.

Belief of the gospel of the kingdom and immersion, while they are indispensable to worthiness, do not alone constitute men “worthy.” The constituents of the Angel-Presbytery had all believed the gospel and been immersed, yet they were pronounced by the Spirit “dead.” This faith and obedience gave them an orthodox standing among con¬temporary Christians, who supposed that they were enjoying spiritual life; but the Spirit, who sees not as men see, declared that they were unworthy of his favor, because “their works were not perfected in the sight of the Deity.” They were in the case of a man w

The reader is requested to refer to what has been already written on the clothing of the constituents of the symbolic “Son of Man” at page 169, under the caption of “Clothed to the Feet," in illustration of the promise of the Spirit to the few undefiled in Sardis. To walk with him in white robes is to be the subject of a union with the Spirit such as obtains now between Jesus and the same. Jesus now walks with the Spirit; for “whithersoever the Spirit goeth" he. as tin- preeminent of the Cherubim, also goes- Ezek. I : 12, 20. Hence, as this obtains with  

CHAPTER 3.
Epistles to the Three Angel-Stars of the Ecclesias in
Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
SECTION 1.
TO THE ANGEL OF THE ECCLESIA IN SARDIS.
1    Also to the    angel of the ecclesia    in Sardis write; These things saith he having the Seven Spirits of the
Deity and    the Seven Stars: 1    have known thy works, that thou hast the name that thou livest, but
thou art dead.
2    Become thou vigilant, and strengthen the things remaining which are about to die: for I have not found

The Morning Star is also promised to him that overcomes,—“1 will give to him the Morning Star,” saith the Spirit. To appreciate the importance and value of this great promise we must know what is sig¬nified by the phrase.

While the Jezebel, or clerical party, which had obtained a footing in the Thyatiran ecclesia, was denounced by the Spirit, and threatened with great tribulation and death; “the Rest in Thyatira” were encour¬aged to perseverance in their opposition to the clergy by exceeding great and precious promises.