Revelation 2:16 Repent; or else I will come to you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. The book which is the grand interpreter of man's inward nature and relations makes repeated references to the sacred power of names. In the biblical view, to give anything a name is to perform an act of religion. What is it? It is to apply to some individual object, having God for its maker, that sign by which it shall be known, separated from other things, and called: and surely that ought to be done reverently, as in the presence of Him from whom all things came, and to whom all things are known. When we rise to the plane of human life, this same sanctity of names becomes more evident yet. Because then they come to stand not only for individual existences, but for conscious beings. They mark off soul from soul, among the infinite ranks and gradations of the immortal family, on earth and in heaven, that no man can number. If we ascend still higher, from the human to the Divine, the power of names is more signally manifested yet. Him whom no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor hand touched, we yet know by His wonderful and Almighty name — our God. It is striking that the Scriptures everywhere speak of the "name" of the Lord as of the Lord Himself. His name is His glory, His presence, His power, His wisdom, His person — and it is the only outward sign, or bond, of personal communication between Him and us who are allowed to make no image of Him. How impressive, too, that when His great manifestation is to be made in humanity, it is declared that the eternal Word is made flesh. That is the uttered Divinity — the God pronounced, communicated to man, through the Incarnation. After the Redeemer appeared, the universal command to Christendom was that its prayers should be lifted to the Father "in the name" of Christ. So we arrive at the point of the text: "To him that overcometh," saith that Faithful and True Witness, the First and the Last, "will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." The spiritual truth which the veil of figure covers can hardly be mistaken. He that overcometh — every victorious soul prevailing by faith and by righteousness in the long and patient battle of life — shall have secret satisfactions springing up in his heart, known only between himself and his Lord. They will not consist in outward applauses, in visible successes, in any worldly compensations whatever. The chief of them all will be the silent assurances of His personal affection, who is the purest, highest, holiest. The token of His favour will be the inestimable good. So much light does advancing excellence always cast on old forms of truth, a deeper life ever illuminating even familiar oracles, that the very name of the Christ shall have a new meaning. It shall be a new name. It shall have a personal charm and preciousness to each several believer. None shall know it as he knoweth it that receiveth it. I. THE STRICT AND PRIVATE INDIVIDUALITY OF ALL REAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. Sooner or later some monitory Providence comes and searches us, and shows that the path to God's right hand is in great part a lonely one. II. A second characteristic of that true inward life which the text implies is that ITS REWARDS ARE NOT SUCH AS CAN BE DESCRIBED BEFOREHAND. No man knoweth them saving he that receiveth them. They remain to come out and be felt unexpectedly in their place. The very result the religion of Christ undertakes to achieve in men's hearts is disinterested devotion. Virtue under pay is no longer virtue. Faith is not hired. Why, even in all the loftier and purer human relationships, affection scorns the calculations of self-interest. There is not a tie of holy friendship on earth but feels itself insulted by the suggestion of a price. III. CHRISTIAN PIETY IS TO BE PRIZED FOR ITS SECRET INTRINSIC QUALITY, RATHER THAN FOR ITS QUOTABLE RESULTS. No man knoweth it like him that hath it. Its hidden testimonies are worth more than its public demonstrations. Being religious for effect spoils the effect — like being honest for effect, or humble for effect, or affectionate or chaste for effect. It runs straight to a base hypocrisy, and not only abolishes its own influence, but begets a general scepticism of sincerity which blights every high interest, and unsettles virtue itself. Faith must dwell in her own sanctuary, see by her own light, feed on her own secret and immortal manna, be content with her own joy, cling to the white stone with the ineffable name, and wait for her spiritual justification and victory. To selfish, earth-bound hearts no secrets are revealed. No tokens of personal remembrance, no signs of secret favour come from the Master. IV. It has been applied all along as a chief doctrine lying at the very heart of this passage, as it lies at the heart of the gospel itself, that THE SPECIAL CHARACTER AND PRIVILEGE OF THE CHRISTIAN REST IN A PERSONAL AND CONSCIOUS UNION BETWEEN HIM AND HIS LIVING REDEEMER. (Bp. F. D. Huntington.) Parallel Verses KJV: Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. |
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