3:5. He that overcometh, [the same] THUS.—The test, apparently, was on the question of transubstantiation.
Shall be clothed in white raiment.—“The pictures given of the Heavenly Father represent Him as clothed (Psa. 104:2); and the pictures of our Lord represent Him as clothed. The angels who appeared at the time of our Lord's resurrection are represented as clothed in white. Our Lord said: ‘Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.’ (Rev. 16:15.) The glorified Church is represented, not as taking off the robe of righteousness, but continuing to walk in white raiment, not as now, in a robe of reckoned righteousness, but in a robe of actual righteousness.”—Z. '14-11; Rev. 19:8.
And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life.—“In the book are written the names of all those who have made with the Lord ‘a Covenant by Sacrifice.’ The name of each of these is entered in the Lamb's Book of Life, when he starts to live the new life. If they are faithful, their names will not be blotted out; and they will attain all those glorious things which are promised to those who love Him supremely. (Rev. 3:21.)”—Z. '15-119; Rev. 13:8; Psa. 69:28; Dan. 12:1; Phil. 4:3; Lu. 10:20.
But I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.—“In the end, the overcomers will each [pg 048] be so grandly developed that the Lord will not be ashamed to confess any of them and to say, ‘Here is one of My followers. Here is another. They have walked in My footsteps and have overcome.’ But He will be ashamed of any who are ashamed of Him or of His words. (Luke 9:26.)”—Z. '15-119; Luke 12:8, 9.
3:6. He that hath an ear.—A spiritual ear. “My sheep hear My voice.”—John 10:27.
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.—“Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound.”—Psa. 89:15.
3:7. And [to] BY the angel.—The next messenger to the Church was Martin Luther. “There is considerable similarity between the work begun on Pentecost and that of Luther. The Reformation was, in a sense, the beginning of a new era, a dawning of light where all had been darkness, a new start in the way of Truth.”—Z. '16-347.
Of the church in Philadelphia.—“Philadelphia means brotherly love. This stage of the Church's history began at the Reformation; and there are many still living who possess the characteristics described.” (Z. '16-347.) The exact point of time at which the Philadelphia epoch of the Church began was at midday, October 31, 1517. It was at that hour that Luther nailed his ninety-five theses on the church door at Wittenberg. “Nailing up that paper was the beginning of a great division in the Church; of thrones tumbled into the dust and kings with them; of empires rent asunder; of lands desolated by war; of massacres and horrible outrages against the lives and liberties of men; of thirty years continuous war in Germany; of Paris and the vine-clad valleys of Italy drenched in blood; of fires kindled all over England for the burning of men, women and children; of men hurled headlong from precipices, roasted over slow fires, starving in dungeons, subjected to every form of cruelty—but with all this, the advance of justice, truth and liberty, the beginning of a new era in human affairs.” (Coffin.) “The theses ran through all Germany in fourteen days, for all the world was complaining about the indulgences; and Luther became renowned, because at last somebody had come who took hold of the thing.”—McC.
Write.—Luther wrote the first translation of the Bible into German.
These things saith He that is [holy] TRUE.—The direct reference is to Christ (1 John 5:20); but characteristic of Luther was his great love of truth. When the Papal legate came demanding that he recant, he replied, “I stand by the truth. I will not take it back.”