The wood of the formative spirit-life is to stand “in the midst of the Paradise of the Deity. ” This word paradise is merely a transfer from one language to another,—that is, it is not translated. It is originally, a Persian word, transferred from that tongue to the Hebrew; and from the Hebrew to the Greek; and from the Greek to the English.
To him, then, who “believes the things concerning the Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Anointed;” and has therefore been immersed (Acts 8:12) and thenceforth, “by a patient continuance in well doing, seeks for glory, and honor, and incorruptibility (Rom.
“To him that overcomes,” saith the Spirit, “to him will I give to eat from the Wood of the Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of the Deity.” “Whosoever,” says John, “is begotten of the Deity overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of the Deity”—1 Jno. 5 : 4.
“He that hath an ear, let him hearken to what the Spirit saith to the ecclesias!” These words occur in each of the letters to the Seven Ec- clesias. They are addressed to every one that hath an ear for the truth; to every one of “the servants of the Deity,” for whose instruction the Apocalypse was communicated.
But though fallen from his first estate, the Star-Angel had one redeeming characteristic; namely, that he “hated the works of the Nikolaitanes, which,” says the Spirit, “I also hate.” The word, Nikolaitanes, is used in no other book of the scriptures than this symbolical one of the Apocalypse; and in this, it only occurs twice,—that is, in ch.
But not long after he had written to the Household of the Deity in Ephesus, the things of which he forewarned them began to display themselves. This appears from his second letter to Timothy, in which he says, “This thou knowest, that all they which be in Asia are turned away from me, of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
Thus was the One Body created in Ephesus. It became a light- stand, and the Holy Spirit bestowed through the laying on of Paul’s hands, a light shining from it’s Eldership, the members in particular, for the illumination of the surrounding darkness. We need not here repeat what has been already said about the lightstands and “Stars” on page 161.
CHAPTER 2.
Epistles to the Four Angel-Stars of the Ecclesias in
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira.
TO THE ANGEL OF THE EPHESIAN ECCLESIA.
“I was dead, and behold, 1 am lving for the Aions of the Aions. AMLN This is from the Hebrew ahmain, “faithfulness.” The Eter¬nal Spirit both absolute and incarnate, is “the Amen." In the letter to Laodicea the Spirit speaks, and in speaking, says, “these things saith THE AMEN;” and in this first chapter, the Amen says, “I was dead.” But the Spirit never died; therefore, here it must be understood of the Logos speaking from a body, personal and corporate, with whom he had united in a resurrection thereof from the dead.
“His aspect as the sun shines in his power.” the words fi o^iq avrov , which I have rendered “his aspect,” are expressed in the Eng¬lish version by “his countenance.” In modem style, this is gener¬ally understood of the face. But John certainly did not mean this. He began his description at the hair of the head; and if he had meant the face he would doubtless have referred to it before he passed down to the breasts. What he had reference to, after finishing in detail, was the general external aspect of the whole figure.