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they persevere) shall be laid upon them. God, through Christ, speaks to his adopted daughter, the language of encouragement.

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And,” he adds, "to him that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, &c., even as I have received of my Father. And I will give him the Morning Star."

If it be the reformed Church which is here addressed, and we have every reason to believe that it is, the principal Protestant Church, the head of the reformation, must be chiefly intended, and to the great nation which adopts it is here promised power over the other nations of the earth, and likewise authority in the east. It is here that the morning star which preceded the Sun of Righteousness at his first advent, shone upon the world, and it is from hence that the kings of the east shall come before his second advent, to receive the kingdom prepared for him and his saints.

How delightful is it to a Briton to think that these promises may be made to his native country. God grant that the interpretation may be true! that the Church of England may here be presignified, and that she may never forfeit the glorious distinction! That she may indeed be the daughter of God, who having long cast off all

"agreement with idols, hath become the temple of the living God," and as St. Paul tells the Corinthians', "He will be our God, and we shall be his people; having come out from among the corrupters of the doctrine of Christ, and been separate, and having touched no unclean thing, He will be a Father unto us, and we shall be his sons and daughters, Ouyárepec, saith the Lord Almighty."

The fifth Church addressed is that of Sardis, and to this Church our Saviour speaks in the language of reprobation. "I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest and art dead." "Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God."

It has been observed that in the name Sardis, there may be an allusion to the Sardine stone, called in the Hebrew, Adam, and in Latin, Carnalina. This Church is described as carnal, departed from her first integrity and purity, and having lost her vigilance and attention to duty. Indeed this has been too much the case of more than one of the reformed Churches; but I hope and trust that the persecutions they have undergone, and the wars with which they have been visited,

1 2 Cor. vi. 16. and following verses.

have awakened the rulers of those Churches to listen to the words of their great Lord and Master, and to repent in time. It is a solemn admonition which is addressed to them by Christ, accompanied by a threat, but that is designed as a warning, and let us hope and pray it may operate as such. This kind reproof and affectionate admonition is followed by approbation of some of the members of this cold and carnal Church. "Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments;" that is, who have not become sensual and carnal, "and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy."

"To him that overcometh," is promised that "the same shall be clothed in white raiment ;" that is, of justification, and Christ "will not blot out his name from the book of life, but will confess his name before his Father and before his angels."

That this exhortation may effect its purpose as a warning to reclaim, is the earnest prayer of an unworthy member of one of the Churches here addressed.

We now come to a most important crisis in the ages of the Christian Church, the address to the sixth Church, or that of Philadelphia. Our blessed Saviour here announces himself as "he

that is holy, he that is true;" that is, as the God of his ancient Church-as he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. "I know thy works. Behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." Philadelphia is brotherly love, and the Church here addressed can surely be no other than that of the converted Jews, when Judah and Israel shall again become one people, and Jews and Gentiles be united in the same faith, and in the bands of fraternal love. Christ hath opened the door to their readoption, and no earthly power shall be able to shut it. He hath the key of David their king. He hath unlocked the door to them which has so long been shut. He recognizes their works, acknowledges that they have a little strength, and that they have kept his word, and have not denied, that is, (Hebraically) have confessed his

name.

Every term that is used tends to confirm this interpretation. Our Lord goes on to declare-"Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, (which say they are Jews, but are not, and do lie,) behold I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee."

Here the use of the words synagogue and Jews, as well as of David, just before, plainly refer to God's ancient people, and so do many of the succeeding expressions.

Our Saviour proceeds to promise to this Church, that "because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." This refers, I presume, to some great trial which shall precede the days of the Millenium, and from which his adopted Church should be secured and delivered.

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Behold," adds he, "I come quickly. Hold fast that thou hast, that no man take thy crown." "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in he temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which s New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and my new name."

Here there is a plain allusion to the ancient emple. His new disciples should become a ›illar in it, and should never be removed from it. Here, as in the former address to the Church of Pergamos, where he promises to give to him that vercometh a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which referred to the contruction of the Protestant Church: So here he

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