The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 98

full,"• mean■ made up to the right atandazd her" or "bandit." This !!hows, what fll also of excellence. The works of the Sa.rdie.n plain from ihe OODtext, that seorecy, not Church have been weighed, and found want- Tiolenee, is the poi!J.t of . the aimilitu.de ing before God. "A mi.niater of Christ la (comp. oh. xvi 15: Matt. :ai.v. 4S; Luke very often in highest honour with .men for xii. 39: l Theas. v. 2; 2 Pet. iii. 10). Thou the performance of one-half of his work, ahalt not bow what houn literally, thou while God ia regarding him with displea.sme shalt in flO "'1iH come to krwv, durifff! v,hat for the neglect of the other half." "Before kind of an hour. The negative 18 the my God " ia undoubtedly the true reading, strongest form, ol, µ.f, ( eh. ii. 11; iii 5, 12). whatever may be the oase in eh. ii. 7, The Vill'b is -ywi1tr1t•w, whieh implies ao• Only in the writings of St. John d088 JtlSUS quisition of knowledge ( eh. ii. 28, 24; iii. 9). Christ speak of the Father aa "my God ; " The pronoun is ,rofoi- (John x. 82; xii. 83: and this fa.et is one more link between the xviii. 82; n:L 19 ; and especially Matt. Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse. In xxiv. 42; Luke xii. 39): and "hou:r" is ill this chapter we have five instan~here the aeousative (John iv. 52). and ver. 12 •(oomp. eh. ii. 7 [possibly] and Ver. 4.-But thou hast a few names in John XL 17}. In Matt. xxvii. 46 Christ Sardia. The "but" (Revised V81'11ion) adopts the language of Pa. xxii. I, and muet be added, and the "even" (Autho- addreBSeS the Father as" my God;" and St rued Version) omitted, on conclusive evi- Paul 08811 similar language (Eph. i. 17}. dence. "Names" is here used in th.lrsense The expression, "before God" {t"~'""'"" Toii of persons (Acts i. 15 and oh. xi. 13, where 8£oii}, is specially common in the Apoca- the Revised Version haa "pereous ") : there lypse and in the writings of St. Luke and is no reference to the totally dii!'erent uae of of St. Paul; it does not ooour in either St. "to have a name" in ver. I. Bede remarks, Matthew or St. M!l?k. " He knoweth hie own sheep by name, as he Ver. 3.-Bemember therefore how thou knew Hosea byname.and writeth the names hut received and didat hear ( oomp; eh. ii. 5). of his own in heaven." These few are like Like the Epheeians, the Sardians are re- the few righteous in Sodom. Though they minded of tlie better condition from which consent to abide in the Church, they do not they have receded. They are of those leaven it, nor does their presenoe s&Te it·: " who, when they have heard the Word, "They shall deliver but their own llOnlS by straightway receive it with joy; and they their righteousness" (Ezek:. xiv. H:, ~6, 18, have no root in themselves, but endure for 20). The word for "defile" (,'&oh.l..uv) a while" (Mark iv. 16, 17). The "how," occurs only here, eh. xiv.4, and I Cot. viii. 7. as is shown by the verbs "receive" and Its radical meaning is "to besmear:' and so "hear," refers to the readiDess with whieh "to befoul." That of-"'"'"£"' (John xviii. 28; they aooepted the gospel, rather than to the Titus i. 15; Heb. xiL 15; Jude S) is rather power with whioh it was preached to them. "to stain," which is not neceesarily "to The te11ses are instructive: the aorist ap- befoul" That of ,cowoi',11 (Matt. xv, 11-20: plies to the hearing at some definite period Mark vii.15-23; Acl.B x. 15; xi: 9; ni. in their history : the perfect implies the 1!8; Heb. ix. 13) ia "to make common or permanent resuU of the act of reception. profane;'' In most cases all theae three are Xeep aud repent. Keep what thou didst rendered "defile" in our vrmdon. · These hear. '' Keep" is better than " hold fast," few in Sardis have kept themselves "un- to mark the differenoe between n,p£w (oh. i. spotted from the world'' in whioh they live. 3 ; ii. 26 ; iii. 3, 8, 10, etc.), and 1tpa..,..,., Neither the corruption of heathendom nor (oh. ii. 1, IS, 14:,15, 25; iii. 11, etc.). Here the torpor of a moribund Ohureh has in- again the tenset should be noted: the pre- fected them. Their contact with a dead sent imperative indicates that they are to body has imparted no life to the body and eontinua to keep : the aorist, that they are no defilement to them. There is no need to to repent one,, /or all. We have a similar press the xnetaphor and give a spellial mean- combination of tenses in" Take these things ing to "ga.rments "-whether their souls, or hence at once ; llOlltinue to refrain from their bodies, or their consciences, or their making my Father's houae a house of baptilmal robea. The metaJ>hor iB implied merchandise" (John ii 16; comp. John v. in "putting on the new man" (Eph. iv. 24: 8, 11 ; Acts xii. 8; 1 Cor. xv. 34). " Re- Col iii. JO)," putting on Oluist" (Rom. xiii member" here and in oh. ii. 5 is with equal 14 : Gal. iii 27}, where the word for " put fitness the present imperative : "continue to on" ia 11136.o-e"', "to be clot.bed with." remember." I will come as a thief. The They shall walk with me. In accordance "on thee" &fte1' " come," though well sup- with Christ's high-pries_tly prayer (Job Jl6rted, is probably not genuine. Wherever xviL 24; oomp. Rev. ui 24). In wbia. '1lis figui,e is used in the New Teetament Thi■ ~ptioalexpreaiou(b Aftllro1r) for" in .r the ooming of Obrist, the· word used is w)lite robes" ocetll'I! in t.be ·New Testament l1Mrr,J$o "a tiiief," and not >.p~,, a "rob- onl7 here and John ;s,L ~ and ia another a nL 1-22.J THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 109