Revelation 3:5

He that overcometh, the same shall be 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 angels. THE SAME - `THIS man;' he alone. So B; but 'Aleph (') A C, Vulgate, Coptic, Syriac, 'shall THUS be clothed,' etc. WHITE - glittering, dazzling white. Compare Matthew 13:43. The body transfigured into the likeness of Christ's, and emitting light reflected from Him, is probably the "white raiment." RAIMENT - `garments.' "He that overcometh" shall receive the same reward as they who "have not defiled their garments" (Revelation 3:4): the two are identical. I will not...

Verse Revelation 3:5. _I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME_] This may be an allusion to the custom of registering the names of those who were admitted into the Church in a book kept for that purpose, from which custom our _baptismal registers_ in Churches are derived. These are properly _books of life_, as there those who were born unto God were registered; as in the latter those who were born in that parish were enrolled. Or there may be allusions to the _white raiment_ worn by the priests, and the erasing of the name of any priest out of the sacerdotal list who had either sinned, or was found not to be of the seed of Aaron. In _Middoth_, fol. 37, 2: "The great council of Israel sat and judged the priests. If in a priest any vice was found they stripped of his white garments and clothed him in _black_, in which he wrapped himself, went out, and departed. Him in who...

HE THAT OVERCOMETH - See the notes on Revelation 2:7. THE SAME SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE RAIMENT - Whosoever he may be that shall overcome sin and the temptations of this world, shall be admitted to this glorious reward. The promise is made not only to those in Sardis who should be victorious, but to all in every age and every land. The hope that is thus held out before us, is that of appearing with the Redeemer in his kingdom, clad in robes expressive of holiness and joy. AND I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE - The book which contains the names of those who are to live with him forever. The names of his people are thus represented as enrolled in a book which he keeps - a register of those who are to live forever. The phrase “book of life” frequently occu

EXPOSITION REVELATION 3:1 _The epistle to the Church at Sardis. _This Church is one of the two which receives unmixed reproof. Smyrna and Philadelphia receive no blame; Sardis and Laodicea receive no praise. Sardis lies almost due south of Thyatira, on the road to Philadelphia, between the river Hermus and Mount Tmolus. It had been in turn Lydian, Persian, Greek, and Roman, and, like its last Lydian king, Croesus, had been celebrated for its wealth. The auriferous stream Pactolus, in summer almost dry, flowed through its marketplace; but its chief source of wealth was its trade. In A.D. 17 "twelve famous cities of Asia fell by an earthquake in the night … The calamity fell most heavily on the people of Sardis, and it attracted to them the largest share of sympathy. The emperor [Tiberius] promised ten million sesterces (£85,000), and remitted

HE THAT OVERCOMETH,.... The deadness, formality, and imperfection of this church state; gets over these things, and is among the few names in it: THE SAME SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE RAIMENT; the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read, "thus shall he be clothed in white raiment"; he shall have abundance of spiritual peace and joy, great success and prosperity, both inward and outward, in himself, and in the church; and triumph over all his enemies, sin, Satan, the world, death, and every other enemy; and not only be clothed with change of raiment, the pure and spotless righteousness of Christ, but shall enjoy eternal glory and happiness! the allusion seems to be to the custom of the Jewish sanhedrim in judging of priests fit for service l; "they examined the priests concerning their genealogies and blemishes; every priest in whom was found anything faulty in his genea...

ANGELS (_ See Scofield) - (Hebrews 1:4). _...

REVELATION 3:5 ou[twj {B} Instead of ou[twj the Textus Receptus, following ac P 046 and most minuscules, reads ou-toj. A majority of the Committee preferred ou[twj, partly because of superior manuscript evidence (a* (A) C 1006 2344 itgig, ar vg syrph, h copsa, bo arm eth _al_), and partly because ou[twj, seeming to be superfluous, may have therefore been corrected by copyists to ou-toj....

CHAPTER 3 Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea _ 1. Sardis: The reformation period (Revelation 3:1)_ 2. Philadelphia: The faithful remnant (Revelation 3:7) 3. Laodicea: The indifferent and apostate Church (Revelation 3:14) Revelation 3:1 . We have traced briefly the decline during the 1450-1500 years of Church history. The climax is reached in Thyatira, prophetically the Roman abomination and apostasy. In Sardis we see the progress of evil stayed. Roman Catholicism, as already mentioned, is a fixed and unchanging religious system. Rome will yet have for a brief season a startling rev

THE LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT SARDIS. Sardis was a little more than 30 miles SE. of Thyatira: formerly a city of great importance, at this time it had become a town of the second rank. It had been destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 17, and though rebuilt it had not recovered its former glory. REVELATION 3:1. SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD: Revelation 1:4 *. NAME THAT THOU LIVEST: this is the severest condemnation passed upon any of the churches. Revelation 3:2. the things that remain: the church is not entirely lost to hope; there is still the possibility of revival. FOUND NO WORKS: in the case of the other churches there is always something to praise, but Sardis has no record of achievem

_SARDIS_ WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE GREAT ANCIENT KINGDOM OF LYDIA, WHICH WAS OVERTHROWN BY THE PERSIAN CYRUS. IT WAS THE RESIDENCE OF THE RICH KING CROESUS, WHOSE NAME HAS PASSED INTO. PROVERB. OF THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH WE KNOW NOTHING; BUT WE DO KNOW ON THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS, THAT IT "HAD. NAME TO LIVE AND WAS DEAD." THE RAVAGES OF THE SARACENS AND TURKS, AND THE SHOCKS OF EARTHQUAKES HAVE CONVERTED THE ANCIENT CITY INTO. RUIN, WITH ONLY CRUMBLED WALLS TO TELL OF ITS ANCIENT GLORY. THE SEVEN CHURCHES.--At the time when John wrote there were hundreds of churches in existence. On the Asiatic Continent many had been founded in Judea, Syria, and elsewhere, and in the district of which Ephesus was the commercial metropolis, and which was especially designated as _Asia,_ we know that in the last quarter of the first century there were not only the seven churches named, but Colossae, Hierapol...