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PART I.

SECTION

VIII.

The Address to the Church in Sardis.

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κλησίας γράψου Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἔχων τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα τῇ Θεῖ, καὶ τὰς ἁπλὰ ἀγέρας Οιδά σε τὰ ἔργα, ὅτι ὄνομα ἔχεις, ὅτι ζῆς, καὶ νεκρὸς εἶ. 2 Γίνε χρηορῶν, καὶ σήριξαν τα λοιπά, ἃ μέλλει ἀποθανεῖν· ε γὰρ εύρηκά σε τὰ ἔςα πεπληρωμένα ἐνώπιον τῇ Θε8 με. 3 Μνημόνευε ἔν, πως εἴληφας καὶ ήκεσας, καὶ τηρεῖ, καὶ μελανόήσον" ἐὰν ἂν μὴ χρηβοςήσης, ἥξω ἐπὶ σὲ ὡς κλέπτης, καὶ * μὴ γνώς, ποίαν ὥραν ἥξω ἐπὶ σέ, * Αλλ' ἔχεις ὀλίγα ὀνόματα ἐν Σάρδεσιν. ἢ ἐκ ἐμόλυναν τὰ ἱμάτια αὑτῶν, κα περιποιήσεσι μέλ ἐμὲ ἐν λευκοῖς· ὅτι 5 αξιοί εἰσιν. Ο νικῶν, ὗτος περιβαλεῖται ἐν ἱματίοις λευκοῖς•

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CHAP. iii. VER. 16.

1 And to the angel of
the Church in Sardis
write: Thus saith he
who hath the seven
Spirits of God, and
the seven stars. I
know thy works, that
thou hast a name, that
thou livest, and thou
2 art dead. Be watch-

ful, and strengthen
the things remaining,
which are about to

die; for I have not
found thy works per-

fect before my God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. For if thou shalt not be watchful, I will come upon thee, as a thief; and thou shalt not know at what hour I shall come upon thee. 4 But thou hast a few

names in Sardis, which
have not defiled their
garments; and they
shall walk with me in
white, for they are
worthy. He that over-

1 And unto the angel of the Church in Sardis, write, These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art 2 dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die for I have not found thy

works perfect before 3 God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not

know what hour I will 4 come upon thee. Thou

hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be

καὶ ἐ μὴ ἐξαλείψω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτὸ ἐκ

το βίβλο της ζωής, καὶ ὁμολογήσω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῷ ἐνώπιον

το παλός με, και ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀγγέλων 6 αὐτό. Ὁ ἔχων ες, ἀκεσάτω, τι τὸ πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις.

cometh, the same shall
be clothed in white
raiment; and I will
not blot out his name
from the book of life;
and I will confess his
name before my Fa-

ther, and before his
6 Angels. He that hath

an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith.
unto the churches.

clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his

name before my Father, and before his 6 angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Ver. 1. Sardis.] Sardis, situated on the Pactolus, the ancient seat of Croesus, and of the Lydian kings, was proverbially the seat of Riches. This city had suffered grievously by an earthquake some time before the date of this vision; but, by the bounty of Tiberius Cæsar, had been restored to splendour *. Sardis possessed, from its natural situation, extraordinary means of acquiring riches. But riches are corruptive, and are apt to lead to that supineness in religion, and profligacy in morals, which in this epistle are so severely rebuked.

Sardis is now no more than a village. An ancient Christian church supplies the Turks, who inhabit it, with a mosque. The few Christians (if such they may be called) who still continue there, are represented to have neither Church nor minister.

Ib. The seven Spirits of God.] See note, ch. i. 4.
Ib. The seven Stars.] See note, ch. i. 16.

Ib. Name.] Character or reputation.

Ib. That thou livest, and thou art dead.] In the same figurative language, our Lord commanded his

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The

disciples to "let the dead bury their dead *." word vexgos, a dead body, is used in its metaphorical sense; "dead," as Saint Paul expresses it, "in trespasses and sins; alienated from the life of God t." The same metaphor occurs frequently in Scripture. A person living in the defilements of the world, in whom the spiritual life in Christ hath little or no vigour, is said to be "dead while he liveth;" as, on the contrary, of him who meets death in the discharge of his Christian duty, it is pronounced, that "he liveth, though he diet." "The use of this metaphor has been so common with the Jews, that, as "Maimonides informs us, they proverbially say, "Impii etiam viventes vocantur mortui, The wicked "are dead, even while they are alive; for he, saith "Philo, who lives a life of sin, TEbvMXE TOV εudaiμova, "is dead as to a life of happiness: his soul is dead, "and even buried in his lusts and passions. And "because the whole Gentile world lay more especially "under these unhappy circumstances, whence the

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apostle styles them sinners of the Gentiles T, it "was proverbially said by the Jewish doctors, Populi terrarum, i. e. Ethnici, non vivunt, the heathens "do not live**." An attention to this use of the words death, die, dead, &c. in this figurative language of Scripture, will tend to illustrate many passages otherwise obscure. Such are Matt. xxii. 32. iv. 6. Luke i. 79. Rom. vi. 2. viii. 6. 2 Cor. 1. 9, 10. iii. 6. 1 Pet. iv. 6. So likewise in the sequel of

* Matt. viii. 22.

+ Eph. ii. 1, 5. iv. 18.

John xi. 26. Matt. iv. 16. Rom. viii. 6. Eph. v. 14. 1 Tim. v. 6.

1 Pet. iv. 6. 1 John iii. 14. Jude 12.

§ More Nevoch. lib. 1.

¶ Gal. ii. 15.

Leg. Alleg. c. 1..

** Whitby on 1 Pet. iv. 6.

this prophetical book, where it is reasonable to expect that such words will be used in this their acknowledged metaphorical sense, as in this expression of our Lord to the Church of Sardis, which serves as a clue to the rest. For the whole is his prophecy or revelation, given to him, and delivered by him *. We find also that the early writers of the church, who succeeded the apostles, applied these words in the same figurative meaning. In this acceptation Ignatius uses the word death †. In the persecution of the Christians under M. Aurelius, some had denied the faith; these are styled vença, dead; but being afterwards enabled to profess their belief in Jesus, even in the face of torture and of death, they are then said to be restored to life. The passage is expressive, and may be seen at length in Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. i. Tertullian has frequently used the words death and die in this figurative sense: Mortuus es qui non es Christianus ‡. Apostoli de mortuis vivos faciebant, hæretici de vivis mortuos faciunt §.

Ver. 2. Be watchful.] We are exhorted to the same watchfulness, connected with the metaphor explained in the last verse, in many other passages of Scripture. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead," &c. ll

Ver. 3. Remember.] The fault of Sardis was not heresy, or corruption of doctrine: it was negligence and supineness: she knew the will of her Lord, but

* Ch. i. 1.

De Carne Christi, sect. 2.

† Epist. ad Trall. sect. 6..

§ De Præsc. Hæret. sect. 30. See also Cyprian's Epistles 10 & 27, where the same metaphor is used.

Eph. v. 14. Matt. xxv. 13.

did it not. She is therefore called upon to remember the doctrines she had received, and to bring them

into practice. "And what I say unto you, I say "unto all," says our Lord, "watch."

Ib. A thief.] The coming of Christ, to take vengeance on his enemies, is represented to be like the approach of a thief in the night, when men, lulled in security, awake suddenly to see their own ruin. This consideration more especially affects the careless and negligent, such as the Sardians are represented to be. The words of Saint Paul may be applied as the best possible comment on this text: "But "of the times and seasons, Brethren, ye have no need "that I write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say peace "and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon "them, as travail upon a woman with child, and

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they shall not escape: but ye, Brethren, are not in "darkness, that that day should overtake you as a "thief; ye are all the children of the light, and the "children of the day; we are not of the night, nor "of darkness: therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober f."

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Ver. 4. Names.] We observe the same expression used in the same sense to signify Christian persons, Acts i. 15. and again, Rev. xi. 13. They are those who have their names enrolled in the book of their Lord, who claim a citizenship in his new Jerusalem. We learn here, as from other passages of Scripture, that pure members of an impure church

Joel ii. 9. Matt. xxiv. 43. Luke xii. 39, 40.

† 1 Thess. v. 1—7. ↑ See the note below, ver. 5. book of life.

are

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