Revelation
Philadelphia.
The Revival of the Word of Christ, and
the Brotherhood of Christians
(Rev. iii. 7 - 13.)
WE come now to a phase of the Church’s history of the
deepest interest and of the greatest possible importance to us. How great it
must be to realize a condition which the Lord can commend and only commend! For
in this address to Philadelphia there is no word of reproof throughout.
Warning there is, and of this we shall have to take special note; but reproof
there is none! How blessed a condition to be in, when the "Holy" and the "True"
can smile upon us thus with not a cloud to obscure His love! It should be, of
course, the condition of Christians always; and sweet it is to remember that
thus, all through the ages of its course, when as a phase of its history
Philadelphia yet was not, the Church had its Philadelphians nevertheless.
Manifestly it had when John was instructed to write this epistle; and if the
general character of things around, even in an apostle’s days, did not
answer to this, only the greater would be the Lord’s approbation of the
few who were thus faithful. Overcomers they are whom He is commending; and the
adverse condition of things around can never, let us mark it well, be really
adverse to the overcoming. They furnish, rather, some of the conditions of it.
If we have but the spirit of the overcomer, all the evil, whether in the world
or in the Church itself, will only make us this the more.
Before we
take up the details of the address before us, let us seek to get hold of the
character of the church in Philadelphia. And for this we must remember in the
first place what we have seen to be represented by that in Sardis. Sardis
undoubtedly stands for the national churches of the Reformation, in which
masses of peoples, Christianized externally, not truly, possessed a "name to
live," and yet were "dead." Among these, indeed, though few comparatively, were
those not only living, but faithful, - men who walked in spirit apart, and did
not defile their garments; - men of whom their Lord says, "They shall walk with
Me in white, for they are worthy." Yet their presence did not alter the general
character of that in which they were - in it, but not of it.
Sardis,
then, is the world, Christianized as far as possible to be still the world,
with Christians scattered through it. Philadelphia stands with its principle of
"brotherly love," in essential contrast with it as that in which the
brotherhood of saints is found and recognized. It represents the movement of
the Spirit, therefore, to recover the true Church, lost amid the confusion of
Sardis, uniting the members of Christ together in one, outside the mere
profession. This, if once fairly considered, will be evident. It is not meant,
however, by this that this movement has any proportionate success as might seem
thus assured. It is one of our strange and sorrowful yet familiar experiences,
that Christians can grieve, limit, quench, the Spirit in its action, and all
the history of the Church that we have been examining is the reiterated
assurance of this. Moreover, in the address to Philadelphia itself we have a
very impressive warning to the same effect.
It has been already said,
and is plain enough in it, that the Lord’s message in this case contains
no rebuke, but the sweetest possible sanction and encouragement. Not that there
is Pentecostal energy or blessing indeed. "Thou hast a little strength"
negatives such a thought, if we were disposed to entertain it. Still this is
commendation, and not blame, and blame there is none. On this very account
there seems a difficulty, which presses for solution. For the final blessing is
assured, in this as every other of these epistles, to the overcomer: "Him that
overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no
more out." And here the reference is plainly to such pillars as Jachin ("He
shall establish") and Boaz ("In which is strength") in the temple of old, and
on the other hand to the "little strength" before ascribed to Philadelphia. He
who has little strength becomes in the end a pillar of strength, and the true
Philadelphian (it is inferred here,) is in fact the overcomer. Philadelphia is
but the company of such.
But then it returns upon us with double force,
what can be this overcoming? For in every case beside, but one, throughout
these churches, it is plain that the overcoming is of things inside the church:
in Ephesus, the failure of first love; in Pergamos, the settling in the world;
in Thyatira, the doctrines and deeds of Jezebel; in Sardis, defilement with the
dead; in Laodicea, the lukewarm condition. In Smyrna, indeed, though there is a
Judaizing party there, yet the direct promise seems to refer more to the
threatening of death from without, although it cannot be denied that the
Judaized Christianity found easier escape from this, and Satan’s open
violence might therefore well drive many (it can hardly be doubted, did,) into
his secret snare. But in Philadelphia, rich with the Lord’s approval,
yet with no such front of persecution to endure, it does require answer, -
Where, then, the overcoming? By which, moreover, every true Philadelphian seems
as much to be characterized as every Smyrnean was. Not every Ephesian was this,
still less every one at Pergamos, or Thyatira, or Sardis, or Laodicea. The
Philadelphian was such, as he overcame. But what peril then, or difficulty, or
opposition? The answer is only one; the question admits no other.
There
is nothing but commendation in the address, - that is, no blame. But there is
warning, and in this warning is pointed out the danger that threatens. It is
the only danger pointed out, and therefore clearly makes known to us what is to
be overcome. The warning word is, "Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man
take thy crown." Here, then, must be the overcoming. The danger is, of letting
slip the Philadelphian character. And it is a real and pressing danger, - so
pressing, that upon the mastery of it all blessing is suspended. It is the
point of peril.
Philadelphia represents the Spirit of God working in
living energy to deliver from that which is engulfing the people of God in a
flood of worldliness. Alliance with the world is the forfeiture of Christian
position practically, and of enjoyed privilege. So the Word of God definitely
declares. The unequal yoke, - the yoke with unbelievers, - must be refused, or
the unclean thing forbids the Lord Almighty to be to His people the Father that
He is (2 Cor. vi. 17, i 8). Separation from the world is not any the more
schism because this has been falsely called the Church; nor will "the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," its moral
characteristics, be purged out by the adoption of the Christian name. Thus the
state religions are directly accountable for the divisions which have always
marked them from the beginning of their history. Every revival tends to break
them up. Where there is none, there we find continual gravitation to a lower
level, which no orthodoxy of the creed can really avert.
The work of
the Spirit, then, will necessarily bring about dissent from the national
church. And it will be found that, at their beginnings at least, such movements
have been very largely marked by a new fervency of spirit, a zeal and
earnestness which have made their first generations men of power. The movement,
purified by the opposition it has necessarily to endure, discovers and brings
together the most spiritual. Consciences are exercised, the Word is felt and
opened, Christ’s presence becomes more necessary and more real, the
fellowship of saints is valued. In a word, the character of the movement
manifests itself as Philadelphian. It is the voice and person of Christ which
are here controlling, and he who is thus controlled is upon a path of unlimited
progress and unspeakable blessing. The clue-line is in his hand which will lead
him out of all entanglements, from truth to truth, from strength to strength.
There is but one condition here, and that is, manifestly, that he "holds fast"
the clue-line. If he drops this, progress is at an end, his path becomes
devious. Alas! is it a rare thing for those who have begun in the Spirit to be
made perfect by the flesh?
Asshur went out from Babylon, - so far,
well; but only to found Nineveh, Babylon’s rival and counterpart. And
this is the history of much that was spiritual in its beginning, and since has
grown great. At first there was simplicity and faith, and Christ the Leader of
true pilgrims. Now they are but conservators of a tradition of the past, and
their glory is a golden age gone from them. They are often in this case earnest
in holding fast, but not to a living Leader: they have dropped the clue of
progress, and lost their crown to others. No wonder, then, at the emphasis laid
upon this warning in the epistle.
This, then, is, in brief, what
Philadelphia is. The application in particular may and will be differently made
according to what we are and where we are ourselves; and we have special need
of care to test ourselves truly by it. For to test ourselves is surely the use
that we are called to make of so solemn and yet so blessed a word as this is.
We are bound to ask, Are we such as keep Christ’s word and do not deny His
name, and who keep also the word of His patience? Blessed, thrice blessed for
us if we are!
Let us look, then, with something like suited care, into
the details of the Saviour’s message. It has been often observed, and is
evidently true, that the person of the Lord is more prominent in this address
than in any of the others. It is a beautiful testimony that He is being Himself
sought after with a new earnestness, to which He with a full heart responds.
And the character in which He displays Himself is that of holiness and truth;
for there is no way of nearness to Him but by separation from the evil that He
hates, and being formed by the truth which He reveals. The Word is separative
and formative. The mark of its reception is, the abandonment of all iniquity,
marked as such, not by the common conscience of men, but by the Word itself.
This is the sign of entrance into the sanctuary - of the presence of the Lord
realized, when in His light we see light.
Absolute truthfulness is rare
indeed. The penalties attending it are so many, often to be escaped by so
slight a swerving from the strict path, - a path often so lonely and without
sympathy, and so barren as it might seem in its isolation. Even to Christians,
Christ often appears to have deserted it. And then after all to break down
there! and what so likely as to break down? In this way we may connive at
self-deception; for what do all these reasonings amount to, but that the path
is to be a path of faith to us now as it ever was, and difficulties are to be
as ever the test of faith?
Here, then, is conscience challenged as we
enter on this address to Philadelphia. Have we indeed the "courage of our
convictions"? or, perhaps, have we the courage to expose ourselves to possible
conviction?
And note that the " holy" goes before the "true." There may
be "truth," or "genuineness," as the word means, where after all holiness is
not maintained. Satan succeeds by some puzzle for the mind in diverting many
from a true issue. Authority may be pressed and bowed to as from God, and the
soul awed into subjection to what it dares not approach near enough to
recognize in its true character. Conscience may act, but blindfold, at the
bidding of another than its "one Master." With Him, on the other hand, the
"holiness" it is that guarantees the "truth." He who thus declares Himself
invites after all to no path of uselessness: He has the key of David, is Ruler
over the kingdom absolutely, opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one
opens; and to those whom He addresses, pledges an open door, plainly for
service, as the whole tenor here implies, and as the apostle three times over
uses the expression (i Cor.xvi.9; 2 Cor.ii. 12; Col.iv.3). Who could be in
Christ’s company without finding on the one hand His rejection, on the
other how human hearts recognize their Lord? Here is no contradiction, but what
every page of the gospels bears witness of to us.
Assuredly faith will
still be necessary, and a judgment by results will be often much mistaken. If
we wait for these to authenticate our course to us, we must in the meanwhile
walk doubtfully, and not in faith. These words are an assurance rather to those
who may be pursuing what to sense seems doubtful enough as to its issue. He
affirms it to them. If they have the character here, - if they are with the
Holy and the True, - holy with the Holy, true with the True, - then precisely
because of this assurance, they need not ask, Will this be fulfilled - is it
being fulfilled to us? Our eyes must be upon the path and the Leader. Success,
where it seems fullest, must yet be tested rather by the future than the
present - rather by eternity than time; and he who follows it most will be most
distracted by other voices than His who speaks here. What tempter lures indeed
the servants of Christ like this? For how many does success, rather than the
Word of God, sanction their measures, while alluring them into direct
opposition to the Word! If even gained in true obedience, how often does the
flattery of great achievement unbalance a soul which adversity could only
school to more endurance! These things are but common-places 0! experience; and
in view of them, we need not wonder if God has, in general, been sparing in
measuring out to His people great success.
And yet finally the success
is great indeed, as it is certain to those who conform to the rule laid down as
of old to Joshua: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but
thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written there. in: for then thou shalt make thy way
prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success." Alas! how much oftener is
this thought to be insured by a supple and worldly wisdom than by a close and
undeviating adherence to the Word of God!
The Lord now gives here, as
elsewhere, what He approves in them: "For thou hast a little strength, and hast
kept My word, and hast not denied My name."
A little strength He marks
and approves; yet it is but a little. No Pentecostal energy revived, no faith
that can move mountains, shall we find here. The "day of small things," in the
Christian as in the Jewish history, is not at its beginning, but at its close.
It is a great mistake to confound the day of Ezra with the day of David. And
although it may be said, and truly, that eternal life and the power of the
Spirit know no decrepitude, yet our day and generation leave their imprint on
us. They should not; we are not blameless in it; yet they do. Still "a little
strength" is here approval.
And how is this marked? Surely in what
follows, - "Thou hast kept My word, and not denied My name." It is not in gifts
restored to the Church, as some claim now; it is not in ecclesiastical
position, nor in numbers, nor in place among men ; - in none of these things is
there strength before God, but in obedience and devotedness. We have seen in
Thyatira Jezebel’s word claimed as inspired and authoritative; we have
seen, too, in Sardis, a separation from and refusal of such claim: yet the
Church, though no longer inspired, teaches still. There is, as men say, an open
Bible, (blessed be God for it!) and with this, a certain necessary diffusion of
light. The Reformation creeds insist upon the fundamental truths of the gospel,
and these have been sealed by the lives and deaths of the martyrs. At the
first, also, these creeds are in harmony with the convictions of those who
subscribe them, although very soon dissent has to be embodied in a separate
creed. Then a strife of creeds begins which has shamed and reproached
Protestantism,- which has added schism to schism and sect to sect.
For
the creed in Protestantism, - the pretension to catholicity, as in Rome, being
gone, - means sectarianism. Who that has the thought of Christ’s Church
would undertake to frame a confession or constitution for it? Hence all such
things now are local, and professedly for a part only. It is a fencing off of a
greater or less number from the rest. If you cannot agree, you are at best
dismissed to go elsewhere, and find or make a party for yourself.
But
he who will keep Christ’s word can bind himself to none, - must preserve
his individuality of conscience, subject to one Master only; as much so as if
there were no other Christians but himself on earth: and in a true walk with
God, the knowledge of Himself, acquaintance with His Word increases with each
step of the way. The light brightens to the perfect day, and in this
brightening light we are called to walk, true to it, and to Him whose light it
is. An immense thing it is, in a day like this, to be keeping, with an
exercised heart, the word of Christ! Not a word here and there; not following
it until the cost may be too much; but through honour and dishonour, through
evil report and good report. For is there right obedience any where, when there
is not in our purpose obedience every where? Can He whom we serve accept a
compromise to His own dishonour, when we really tell Him we will do this, but
not that, at His bidding? Solemn questions these, which may His grace keep
ringing in our ears, until they wake up only harmonies of joy and peace within
our souls, and not self-accusation.
Let us understand that keeping
Christ’s word means, if it mean any thing, honest subjection to the whole
of it: to that of which we may not even perceive the importance, as if we did;
calling nothing little which He enjoins - of what has equal authority with the
weightiest to emphasize it for us. Herein is often the truest test of a right
spirit in us, when we obey not in uncertainty, but in darkness; and go out upon
His leading, not knowing where.
We have need to remember, too, that our
own contrary wills are often the most effectual hinderances to receiving what
is really Christ’s word. How solemn it is to think that of the mass of
things in which we differ from each other as Christians, this contrariety must
needs account for very much the larger part. The Lord’s words are plain
enough, and universally applicable, that "if any one will do God’s will,
he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." It is due to Him to own
that as the blessed Spirit of God could not lead into contradictory beliefs,
these differences must be of us, and not of Him. But then, found as they are in
so many whom we must esteem as godly men, what a warning they give us of how
much that is not of God, - of real insubjection - may be found even in such. So
far as we have indeed whole-heartedly followed Him, who can doubt that He has
led us right? But then how little really unreserved following of Him there must
be after all!
Continued in part two
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