The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 72

where they are used to bide corruption, and where impurity of motive and of life poiaon all, material ooauty is forgotten in the moral badness, ":Man looketh on the outward appearance; the Lord looketh on the heart." We have, however, a further clue to the reason why Parga.mos was called" Satan's throne." There paganiBm reigned supreme; impure, sensuous, licentious worship was observed. Its tutelary deity was lEsculapius. His grave was a place of refuge. His emblem was the serpent. His name was "Saviour." B.i.B priests performed charms and incantations; crowds resorted to his temple, where lying miracles of healing were alleged to be performed, The eating of things offered to idols would make it impossible for Christians to enter into the social life of the Pergamenes without a compromise with idolatry ; and so fierce was the oppo- sition of the citizens to the Christian faith, that in the early days of the Church, Antipas had to seal his testimony with his blood. Are there not ma.ny of our cities of which our Lord would say, " Satan's throne is there"? 3. This <Jhurch wa, 1./J{/Q,kffling its flOWeT of resistance 'by tolerating mischief within its pale. (Vers.14, 15.) Some held the teaching of Balaam, leading to a compromise with idolatrous rites. Others held the teachmg of the Nicolaitans ; i.e. there were those in the C!hurch who held false doctrine, turning the grace.of God into lasciviousness, and who, by a time-serving policy, ingratiated themselves into the tolerance, if not into the ~ will, of the idolaters, while they did not keep themselves from the lusts of the ffesh. In a word, instead of the Church being and giving a protest against the world, the world was creeping into the Church, and corrupting it. The Church grievously lowers its position when it endures sin within its pale, and when it retains within it those who, while nominally. holding the Christian faith, do not live the Christian life. How can a Church give a bold, unflinching, and powerful testimony for Christ against the world if its own hands are not clean, if it is seen catering for the smiles and pandering to the tastes of those who are "of the earth, earthy "? 4. This lcosemss in discipline and life was the more di.sappcinting because qf its contrast with the past. Time had been when the Church was known for its staunch adhesion to Christ, and for fidelity even unto death (ver, 13). Of Antipas we know nothing more than is named here. No historic roll, save this, refers to him. But Christ never forgets. To be remembered by him is fame enough. But at that time when Antipas was martyred, :the Church itself held fast Christ's Name, and did not deny the faith. So that it is the more saddening to see such a declension. The fact cries aloud to Churches as well as to individuals, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." No prestige of the past can serve for the future or even for the present. It is comparatively useless for Churches to pro- claim a past fidelity unless they can show a present one. Nor is it enough to remain nominally true to Christ's Name and doctrine, if looseness of morality, or if conformity to the world, finds a place within. If •so much of the wooden and earthy is built up into the fabric of the Church, it will have a sore trial by fire. "The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." II. LET US BERHOW THE SAVIOUR APPEARS TO THIS Cm,ROB, AND WHAT BE SAYS TO IT. We have observed before that our Lord shows himself to the Churches accordi~ to what they are. It is remarkably so here. 1. Bow does our Lord h(l'/'e represent him- self I (Ver.12.) As having a sharp. two-edged sword. This indicates! (1) That our Lord has the supreme right of critically judging, not only the state of the whole Church, but of every member in it. No one else has any such right. It belongs to Christ alone, We all stand, even now, before his tribunal. (2) That there is infinite power of discrimination. There is no confusion. Worthy and unworthy members may, perchance, be mixed up in a common fellowship. Christ never confounds one with another. At every moment the two-bladed sword discriminates between the precious anti the vile. (3) The action is as precise as the dis_crimination is severe. The sword ia "sharp." Even of earthly judges it is true that " they bear not the sword in vain." Much more la it true of the Supreme Judge. Let careless onea tremble. "Woe unt.o them that ar,e at ease mZion I" No one can be lost in a crowd. No one can poison a Church of Christ with impunity. Hearts awake to righteousll888 will thank God for this; but it la enough to make careless and incoil.llis~t ~feason tremble; for if ever the hypocrite attempts to pass with the true Israel of God, down will fall the lightning- gleaming sword, and divide infallibly between them! 2. Wnat doe, our Lora, ,ay, (1) He calls on tho Churoh to r&pell,t. (a) On the whole Church. Suppoaing a Churoh !74 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOH!l 11I'HE DIVlNE. tOH. xi. tw29. t64iav'e evil men within its pale, how can it" repent" of that? There is but one way. ' If it be wrong to have them, repentance cannot consist in retaining them. They must lie_ "put ';'way" g Cor.'y.). pis~jpline is !'-II iml)etative feature in a Church's life. · Without 1t,:any hurch imperils its very existence. ·(b) On the false ones to repent. The guilt· of a hypocrite within the Ohutch is, OOJtllf"is pari'bus, greater than that of the worldly without the Church, beeiluse committed under the cloak of religion. (2} He warns (ver. 16). "I will fight against them with the sword of 111y mouth.'' "Hegin at my sanctuary" (cf. Ezek. ix. 6; 1 Pet. iv. 17). (3) In spite of difficulty, our Lord expects men to conquer. "To him that overc,:,meth." Difficult, indef!!}, it would be. To resist evil anywhere in the world is hard enough. To reelst it wh~re Satan's throne is, is harder still. To conquer it when it is poisoning the Oh'tlteh i~ th.e very hardest of all Yet Christ expects this, ',The conquest of difficulty is ihe world's _glory ; and shall the Church do otherwise ,than delight therein? 1 For no forms of evil can be so strong as to overmatch 'the power with which he will supply us. ( 4) For the victor there is a gloriollll promise ( ver. 17). (a,) The " hidden manna." If the believer will shun the idol-feasts, aud renounce the luxurious banquets in which the ungodly revel, he shall- hereaftet feed on richer' food, even the·" hidden manri11." What is this? ·Surely the Lord Jesus Christ himself. But does not the Christlan feed on him here? Yea, indeed. Ent so much interferes with the enjoyment.'. Who can enjoy a feast, however rich, with unalloyed ·deliglrt, when the· songs of revelr7 and lewdness, and the cries of woe, and sin, are soundm1fin th~ e&l"II, or whil~ _earth's l~I!urit;r and ~orruption are e'\"er be~or~ our eyes? . eUJoyment of spintual food 1s mued with alloy. But there 1s a feast provided for us Here. our out of sight;· Whoever 'rese™s himself wholly for Christ's service here is one of those for .whom .the hidden feast is reserved. (b) The" white stone." Al;llong some; white stones we're symbolic of happy days; with others, signs of acquittal; in the'C>lympic games, white stones with the victor's name were given to the victor. \. A white·. stone was 'thus often a mark of honour mnong the heathen, But from none of these heathen · customs 'dd we get our. conceptions of our Lord's meaning ·here. The . pass~e' ·wHl Interpret itself, This white stone is (o:) a token between the victor and Christ; '(13) a token between him and Christ al011e; (-,) a token which it was a privilege and honour to possess; (B) a token the privilege and honour of which were :read in the name inscrilre,l upon it. Surely with thes11 data we can, by comparing Scripture ;vith Scrip- ture, easily see what that secret token may be in · heaven, between Christ and the believer, which shall certify to 'him· hiil special privilege and honour. "I will gi've to him •. ; upon the stone ••• a new name written, which no one knoweth but 'h'e that recei:veth ·it" (cf. eh; iii; 12). The new name is Christ's own new ttame-Jews. No one 'knows the meaning of this Name but the victor. None but saved ·ones can possibly read i~ ; They can read it fully when they, have overcome. And' even ,.tli'en··tt· ·wm require an eternity to understand it; for as the'salvation grows from :ni:o'te to tnor~, so will it'ever expound the meaning of the great;'the infinite N.ame. :,l'htls as his life as a Christian on earth was a secret between him and his Lord, when in the 'midst of ·the struggle ;'so shall tt still be a secret between him aad his'Lord when, having ,overcome, 'he is perfected in lteaven. Note: In the presence o'f 'this letter, so solemn and yet' ~o 'gracious, let 1111 remember: (1) Tha.t each memberjp, ea.eh Church is distinctly and person·!IJly responsible to the Lord Jesus Christ.. With him alone our account stands. '(2) Each one stands as it were between these two alterri!ltives-betweeil tl:ie 'two-edged sword of jndgm~nt, and the white stone of honour. The one discovers, divides; ji,ldgi,,a, avenges, pierces; ~he other is an eternal love-token betvieen the Saviour and the saved. (8) If theril has been hitherto any unreality in our confession~ or any·impurity in heart and life, ot< any compromise with the world, let ns heed1 the Wb~s," Repent,:· or else I ''rill fi$ht against ·thee." In one hand Christ .holds tlie sw~td, the sha.11' edge r,f which we muat feel' except we repent. In the other he ~ld); the gem, fiash,itlg' at1d i;J0.1;1~ng wilili tJlf br~~ti1ess and wh~teriei:s of th,e star,:ana says{" I~ tho~ wilfleave . thfaliis and cleave ~o me, that spark.ling d1amond of purest lustt~ 1s thine,a love-token ~ for Jtlll"'between thee and~-" · •• :·;: • . ' - I - . · ' · ' ·· \1 · · ' ' ·'