Jesus was to write his new name on us

JESUS WAS TO WRITE HIS NEW NAME ON US
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Revelation3:12 Him that overcomes will I make a
pillarin the 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 is new
Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my
God: and I will write on him my new name.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Letter To The Church At Philadelphia
Revelation3:7-13
S. Conway
If askedto sum up in a word the main lessonof this letter, I would quote the
saying of our Lord recordedby St. Luke, "Fearnot, little flock." Suchis the
effectof a right reading of this most precious epistle. It is a heart-cheering
word to all such Churches, and to every one of like character. For
Philadelphia was -
I. LITTLE. "Thou hast a little strength" (ver. 8), or rather, "Thou hast small
power." It refers not to her spiritual strength, for that was not small, but

perfectedin her weakness. She was mighty through God who upheld and
sustainedher. Hence the expressionis to be regardedas referring, probably,
to her membership as but few in number, to her wealth as but very small, to
her knowledge andgifts as being but slender, to greatand distinguished men
amongsther as being very rare, to her socialpositionas being quite humble.
Hence she was small in human esteem, one of those "weak things," which,
however, God often chooseswherewithto accomplishhis own purposes. And
many a Church, beloved of the Lord, is like Philadelphia, having only "a little
strength." But also she was -
II. MUCH TRIED. Looking atthis letter, we can gather what some of these
trials were. It seems that:
1. Their place amongstthe people of Godwas denied. We gather this from
what is said as to the assertionof the Jews, who, as at Galatia and everywhere
else, affirmed that they only, the descendants of Abraham, were the Israelof
God: none else had part or lot therein. In ver. 9 emphasis is to be laid on the
word "they" in the sentence, "whichsaythey are Jews." St. Paulwas
perpetually fighting againstthis exclusiveness, andwas for everteaching that
in Christ Jesus there was "neither Jew nor Greek." But all the same, it caused
considerable uneasinessamongstthe early Gentile believers. There was much
to be urged out of the Scriptures in favour of the realdescendants of
Abraham, especiallyif they were also "as touching the Law blameless." They
seemedto many as a privileged order, a spiritual aristocracy, admissioninto
whose circle was indeed to be desired. Hence so many Gentiles submitted to
the rite of circumcision (cf. Epistle to the Galatians, passim). And the taunts of
the Jews atPhiladelphia againstthe Christians, as being not really God's
people at all, was one form of the trials they were called upon to bear. And
still there is many a believer, excommunicatedby man, but not at all so by
God; denied his place in earthly Churches, though it be abundantly his in the
Church of the Firstborn. Catholics have denounced Protestants, and
Protestants one another, and both have retorted, and all have been wrong,

and sinful in being wrong, wheneverthose whom they have denounced have
shown that they did unfeignedly trust and love and obey Christ the Lord. The
cry, "The Church of the Lord, the Church of the Lord are we!" is often raised
by those who have no right to it, and againstthose who have. Thus was it at
Sardis.
2. They had to encounteractive opposition. Endeavours seemto have been
made to shut the door of usefulness which the Lord had openedfor them. His
emphatic declarationthat none should shut that door implies that there had
been those who had tried to do so. And how often since then have dominant
and cruel Churches made the same attempt in regard to communities they did
not like! Witness the persecutions of Vaudois and Waldenses in Switzerland,
of Hussites and others in Bohemia, of Lollards, Protestants, andPuritans in
England, of Covenanters in Scotland, and of Catholics in Ireland, - all has
been, with more or less of difference, the repetition of what was done at
Philadelphia in the days of St. John. And there appears to have been:
3. Attempts to make them apostatize. The meaning of the latter part of ver. 8
is, "Becausethough thou hast but little strength, nevertheless thou hast kept
my word, and hast not denied my Name." Hence we gather - and the tenses of
the verbs used imply it also - that there had been some definite attempt of the
kind we have said. Like as Saul in his persecuting days forcedthe unhappy
Christians who fell into his power "to blaspheme," so similar force had
apparently been used, but, by virtue of Christ's sustaining grace, with no
effect. For, notwithstanding all, they were -
III. FAITHFUL. They kept Christ's word, and did not deny his Name; and
the first was the cause ofthe last. Their history illustrates the value of the
word of Christ. They clung to it, they would not let it go, they had nothing but
this, but this they had and clave to. Twice is it named: "Thouhast kept my
word;" "Thouhast kept the word of my patience." And this latter and fuller

form reveals a further aid to their faith which they found in Christ's word.
"Forthe word of Christ, as the Philadelphians knew it, was not a word calling
them to easyand luxurious and applauded entrance into the kingdom, but to
much tribulation first, and the kingdom with the glory of it afterwards." And
not only as a word which told them at the beginning that patience would be
needed, did it help them; but yet more as the word which revealedChrist their
Lord as the greatExample and Source and Rewarderofpatience; so that,
howeverhard to bear their trials might be, they could turn in thought to their
Lord, and behold him meekly bearing his cross - so much heavier than theirs;
and they had seenhim also sustaining his tried servants againand again, and
they knew that he would do the same for them, and they believed that he
would assuredly reward their patience. Yes, it was the word of his patience to
which they clung, and in the strength of which, though tempted and tried
sorely, they would not deny his Name. And their waymust be our way, their
strength ours, when we are tried. And they were -
IV. GREATLY BLEST. The Lord gave them large reward. To this day the
suffering Smyrna and the much-tried Philadelphia alone remain of these
sevenChurches. Through all manner of vicissitudes the Christian faith has
been upheld by them to this day. But see the recompenses spokenof here.
1. Christ confessesthem, and denies their slanderers. He pronounces for them
and againsttheir foes. Suchis the significance ofthe augustand sublime title
which the Lord here assumes. It tells of the names of the Lord God of Israel.
He was the Holy, the True, the King of Israel, of whom David, with his great
authority opening and shutting according to his will, was the Old Testament
type and representative. "The keyof David" means the powerand authority
of David, and Christ claims to be as he was, and far more, the Representative
of God, and the Possessorofhis authority and power. Now, it was by this
greatand glorious Jehovahthat the Jews at Philadelphia affirmed that the
Church there was disownedand denied. They said, "You have no part in this
God, but we only." But in utter contradictionof this falsehood, he, the Holy

One himself, comes forward, and declares that the persecutedChurch had
part in him, but that they, her slanderers, had not. "Ye Jews sayye are Jews,
but in any realsense ye are not; ye do lie; but this my despised, yet faithful
Church, I have loved her, and I, the Holy, the True, the King of Israel, do now
confess heras she has confessedme." And often and often has the Lord done
the like of this. "When wrong has been done to any of his servants here on
earth, he will redress it in heaven, disallowing and reversing there the
unrighteous decrees ofearth. It was in faith of this that Huss, when the
greatestcouncilwhich Christendom had seenfor one thousand years
delivered his soul to Satan, did himself confidently commend it to the Lord
Jesus Christ; and many a faithful confessorthat at Rome or Madrid has
walkedto the stake, his yellow san benito all painted over with devils, in token
of those with whom his portion should be, has never doubted that his lot
should be with him who retains in his own hands the key of David, who thus
could open for him, though all who visibly representedhere the Church had
shut him out, with extreme malediction, at once from the Church militant
here and the Church triumphant in heaven." And the grim cells of Newgate,
and the bare bleak hedgerows ofour own land, have often been the scenes of
similar revelations to God's persecutedones. Godhas takentheir side, and
pronounced for them as he did for the Church at Philadelphia.
2. Their Lord makes them abundantly useful. "Behold, I have setbefore thee
an open door, and no man can shut it." His Name declaredhis powerto do
this, and here he affirms that he has exercisedthat power on their behalf. By
the "opendoor," usefulness, opportunity of service and of doing much good, is
meant (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Acts 14:27;Colossians 4:3).
Now, this Christ declaredhe had done for them. Perhaps it was by giving
them favour in the sight of the people, or by breaking the hold of heathenism,
arousing a spirit of inquiry, raising up able teachers, giving them entrance
into fresh circles. Fidelity to Christ has given to it a key that will turn the most
difficult lock, and open the most closelyshut door.

3. Their enemies should submit themselves. As Saul the persecutorbecame
Paul the apostle. And againand againout of the ranks of the Church's fiercest
foes have come those who have first surrendered their hearts to her cause and
then their lives to her service (cf. the conversionof Constantine and of Rome
generally). In that this word was literally fulfilled.
4. They should be delivered from the hour of temptation - that dread hour
which was drawing near so swiftly (cf. Psalm 91.). Perhaps they would be
takenhome first, delivered so "from the evil to come." And if not that, raised
in heart, as the martyrs perpetually were, above all fear; or some wondrous
deliverance should be found for them. They knew that hour was coming, and
no doubt they had often shuddered at the prospect. But oh, what joy to be told
by their Lord that he would deliver them!
5. The eternal recompense - the crown. Their Lord was quickly coming; let
them hold on but a little longer, and then this crownshould be theirs. In ver.
12 this crown of recompense is more fully described:
(1) As being made "a pillar in the temple of my God," i.e. they should
perpetually abide there, dwelling in the house of the Lord for ever. Now we
come and go, in fact and in spirit. Not so there. "He shall go no more out." It
is a curious coincidence that amongstthe ruins at Philadelphia there stands to
this day a solitary tall pillar; it strikes the eye of the traveller, and suggests
irresistibly this glorious promise made to the believers who lived there long
ago. An ancient geographersays ofthe place, "It is full of earthquakes, andis
daily shaken, now one part, and now another suffering, so that one wonders
any should have been found to build or inhabit it." Now, to the Christians,
who saw daily in their city the image of their own precarious position, Christ
says, "I will make him who overcomes a pillar in the temple of my God," and
he shall go no more out" - shall not totter and fall as these stone pillars do, but
shall abide stable and sure for ever.

(2) As being identified with:
(a) God. "The Name of my God" Christ will write upon him. It shall be
evident that he belongs to God. "Surely this was the Sonof God" - so spake
they who had crucified the Lord: they could not help seeing the Name of God
written upon him.
(b) "The city of my God." Jews had castthem out, but the God of the true
"holy city" had declaredit theirs, and that their true home was his own city.
There are many of whom we say, "We hope they are going to heaven;" there
are some of whom we say, "We are sure they are," for their identification
with heaven is so complete.
(c) Christ's own Name - that aspectof Christ's love by which the believer
realizes that he is Christ's and Christ is his.
"So, gracious Saviour, on my breast,
May thy dear Name be worn,
A sacredornament and guard
To endless ages borne." S.C.

Biblical Illustrator
Him that overcomethwill I make a pillar in the temple of My God.
Revelation3:12
The Philadelphian conqueror
H. Bonar, D. D.
I. THE CONQUERORIS TO BE A TEMPLE-PILLAR. Notan outside, but
an inside pillar. The interior colonnades or double rows of tall pillars in some
churches and temples are splendid beyond description. They are part of the
vast fabric; not like those who minister there, going out and in, but standing
immovable in their surpassing beauty. Such is the reward of the Philadelphian
conqueror. An everlasting inhabitant and ornament of that sanctuaryof
which we read, "I saw no temple therein," etc. They shall go no more out!
Their home is the innermost shrine in the heaven of heavens. Like Jachinand
Boaz(1 Kings 7:15, 21), there they stand for ever. II THE CONQUEROR IS
TO BE INSCRIBED WITHGLORIOUS NAMES. It is said of Christ that He
has on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, "King of kings and Lord
of lords." It is said of the redeemed in glory that they have their Father's
name written on their foreheads (Revelation14:1); so here on these
Philadelphian pillars are many names to be inscribed, eachof them
unutterably glorious. These inscriptions are written by Christ Himself: "I will
write." He engraves these names upon these temple-pillars, that they may be

eternal witnessesto them in the glorious sanctuary. The inscriptions to be thus
engravenare as follows:
1. The name of my God. This is the name which God proclaimed to Moses, the
name which is the summary of His blessedcharacter, as the God of all grace.
What honour! To be the marble on which Jehovah's name is carved, and from
which it shall blaze forth in the eternaltemple!
2. The name of the city of my God. Other pillars set up on earth by man have
the names of deities, or kings, or warriors, or cities graven upon them. But
this inscription excels allin glory.
3. My new name. This is the new name given by Christ, which no man
knowethsave he who receiveth it.
(H. Bonar, D. D.)
The Christians final triumph
J. W. Cunningham.
I. THE QUALIFICATION INSISTED UPON IN THE TEXT. "Him that
over-cometh."
1. The term evidently implies a struggle and conflict.
2. The term "overcometh" implies daily advancement and success.
3. A third feature of the man who "overcometh" is perseverance. His religion
is not the mere meteor of the moment, extinguished almostas soonas kindled.

He will set his face like a flint againstcorruption; will "resist, evenunto blood,
the contradictionof sinners" againstthe Masterhe loves.
II. THE PROMISES ADDRESSEDIN THE TEXT TO THE VICTORIOUS
SERVANTS OF THE REDEEMER.
1. The successfulChristianshall be "made a pillar in the temple of his God."
In this world the servant of the Redeemermay be a mere outcastin society.
Nevertheless,"he that overcomethshall be made a pillar in the temple of
God." That poor outcast, if a true servant of Christ, shall be stripped of his
rags and wretchedness,and be raisedas a pillar of ornament in the temple of
the Lord. Great will be the changes of the last day: "the first shall be last and
the lastfirst."
2. He "shall go no more out." The sun of his joys shall never go down. The
wellspring of his comforts shall never fail.
3. "I will write on him the name of My God." In this world, it is possible that
the sincere Christian may be perplexed, either by his own doubts of
acceptancewith God or by the suspicions and insinuations of others;but in
heaven his acceptanceand adoption will be no longer a disputable point. He
shall be recognisedby Him who has stamped him with His ownname.
4. "I will write on him the name of the city of My God, which is New
Jerusalem, which comethdown out of heavenfrom my God." Even here it is
"the city not made with hands" which the Christian seeks. And to that city he
shall be exalted in heaven.

5. "I will write upon him My new Name."
(J. W. Cunningham.)
Fidelity rewarded
T. M. Herbert, M. A.
I. IN HEAVEN NOBLE SERVICE. Believers are calledin the epistles, even
while they are on earth, "the temple of God." But how often it is desecrated
and defiled! Here the same image has a more glorious and fitting application
to the perfectlife of heaven. We seemto see the entire company of God's
servants fitly framed togetherinto one vast, living temple; the polished stones
brought from many distant parts. What worship there, where every stone has
a tongue to praise, a heart to feel! But as, in examining a noble pile of
building, the greatwhole distracts you, and you turn from it to look separately
at single parts — a window, or an arch — so let us follow our heavenly guide,
as, leading us through the "temple of His God," He points our attention to one
of its componentparts, bids us observe the functions of a "pillar" in it. It is
the office of a pillar to support, uphold, an edifice, and also to adorn it. A
column, then, is a noble part of any building; noble because ofits important
function — to sustainwithin a small compass the weightof the spreading roof
and arches;and noble also because there canbe joined with this utility beauty
of form and wealth of ornament. Then, too, a pillar is not something
extraneous, introduced into a building for a temporary purpose, and then to
be removed; but it is an essentialpart of it. So the servant whom Christ makes
a pillar in God's temple shall by that appointment become himself an actual
part of heaven itself, bearing its glories up by the unweariedstrength of his
own hands, and adding to its beauty by his holiness and by the bright success
attending all his toils. As a column has no wastedparts, but is so shapedthat
every atom bears its due proportion of the weight, or carries ornament in
keeping with the beauties around it, so you are being moulded, by the Divine
Workman who makes the pillars for that temple, in such wise that your

energies will neither be left latent nor be overstrained, but developed to the
full, and kept in joyous exercise, till you, in your place there, will become a
very part of heaven, its beauty and blessednessaugmentedby the contribution
of your pure delight. Forthe light of God will flash back reflectedfrom the
pillars there.
II. NO LAST HOURS IN HEAVEN. This expressive image of a pillar is often
applied, and justly, to the positions men occupy on earth. For men of high
faculties do often find worthy scope for their powers — fill important posts
with eminent success. The warriorwho saves his country's independence —
what a noble pillar of its fortunes is he! Or the statesman, who develops its
resources,and conducts it to greatness andrenown — how fitly is he calleda
pillar of the state!When the greatabilities needed for such high stations are
employed in filling them, have we not all we covet, namely, noble faculties in
noblest exercise?Well, forgetif you will the failures and disappointments
which attend such careers, yetwill you say that such a lot is comparable to
heaven? Look on a few years. A greatfuneral passes by — the pillar is
broken. Out of his high place he goes, and does not return. Oh, what an
abatement of pride to know that any day the stately column may fall prostrate
in the dust! But he whom Christ makes a pillar in the temple of His God
"shallgo no more out." His strength and beauty will never know decay.
III. SUCH SERVICE IS THE REWARD OF VICTORY HERE. For he whom
Christ makes a pillar there, is "him that overcometh." So that the
temptations, the disappointments, the wretchedweaknesses,allso harassing,
and in such sad contrastto the bright light above, are not hostile to it, but co-
operate towards it. The stability of heaven, so firm and glorious, is to be won
only by patient endurance of earth's changes and earnestconflict with its sins.
So if you want to work for God there, with delightful ease, you must learn by
hard effort here to use your hands skilfully for Him. The workman who does
the hardesttask with greatesteasehas gainedthat dexterity only by years of
strenuous toll. And so the servants who do God's work with joyous ease in
heaven, have all come out of greattribulation, and have by that hard

discipline been schooledinto their glorious proficiency, and only after a long,
fierce conflict did they "overcome."
IV. THE DOUBLE AGENCYSPOKEN OF. "Him that overcometh":the
man must fight and conquer. "I will make him a pillar": like a passive
column, he is fashionedby another's hand. Yes; both are true. We must act;
not because Goddoes not, but because He does. Christ, by the might and skill
of His Divine hand, makes a pillar, not of the man who wishes and dreams,
but of the man who overcomes. The blows of misfortune, which were so hard
to bear and seemedso disastrous, were the strokes ofHis Divine chisel,
educing beauty from deformity. The bitter deprivation of what they prized so
much, and which excited such complaints, was the cutting away of what would
have for everdisfigured God's temple if it had remained.
(T. M. Herbert, M. A.)
A pillar in the temple, the emblem of moral character
J. S. Exell, M. A.
I. HERE IS THE IDEA OF SANCTITY.
II. HERE IS THE IDEA OF STRENGTH. Goduses the goodin the
maintenance of His Church in the world, hence they must give their best
sympathy, talent, and effort in its service. The goodwill be strongerin the
temple above.
III. HERE IS THE IDEA OF PERMANENCE. In this life moral characterin
its higher mood is uncertain in continuance;it is besetby many enemies who
would carry it out of the temple of God; but there it will be eternally amidst
scenes ofdevotion and splendour.

IV. HERE IS THE IDEA OF INSCRIPTION.In heaven moral characterwill
be more God-like; it will be transformed by a vision of the Eternal. Every
man's life has some inscription on it, which is read by the world. Lessons:
1. That the goodare consecratedto Divine uses in life.
2. That the goodare to be morally useful in life. That the goodshould in their
lives exhibit the name of God.
(J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The promises to the victor
A. Maclaren, D. D.
I. THE STEADFAST PILLAR. Now, I take it that the two clauses whichrefer
to this matter are closelyconnected. "Iwill make him a pillar in the temple of
my God, and he shall go no more out." In the secondclause the figure is
dropped; and the point of the metaphor is brought out more clearly. Here it
cannot mean the office of sustaining a building, or pre-eminence above others,
as it naturally lends itself sometimes to mean. Forinstance, the Apostle Paul
speaks ofthe three chief apostles in Jerusalemand says that they "seemedto
be pillars." We cannotconceive ofeven redeemed men sustaining that temple
in the heavens;and also, inasmuch as the promise here is perfectly universal,
and is given to all that overcome. Now, the secondof the two clauses whichare
thus linked togetherseems to me to point to the direction in which we are to
look. "He shall go no more out." A pillar is a natural emblem of stability and
permanence, as poets in many tongues, and in many lands, have felt it to be.
But whilst the generalnotion is that of stability and permanence, do not let us
forgetthat it is permanence and stability in a certaindirection, for the pillar is

"in the temple of my God." And whilst there are ideas of dignity and grace
attaching to the metaphor of the pillar, the underlying meaning of it is
substantially that the individual souls of redeemedmen shall be themselves
parts, and collectivelyshallconstitute the temple of God in the heavens. The
specialpoint in which that perfection and transcendence are expressedhere is
to be kept prominent. "He shall go no more out." Permanence, and stability,
and uninterruptedness in the communion and consciousnessofan indwelling
God, is a main element in the glory and blessedness ofthat future life.
Stability in any fashion comes as a blessedhope to us, who know the cause of
constantchange, and are tossing on the unquiet waters of life. Sometimes the
bay is filled with flashing waters that leap in the sunshine; sometimes, when
the tide is out, there is only a long stretchof grey and cozy mud. It shall not be
always so. Like lands on the equator, where the difference between
midsummer and midwinter is scarcelyperceptible, either in length of day or
in degree of temperature, that future will be a calm continuance, a uniformity
which is not monotony, and a stability which does not exclude progress. "He
shall go no more out." Eternalglory and unbroken communion is the blessed
promise to the victor who is made by Christ "a pillar in the temple of my
God."
II. Now, secondly, notice THE THREEFOLD INSCRIPTION. The writing of
a name implies ownership and visibility. So the first of the triple inscriptions
declares that the victor shall be conspicuouslyGod's. "I will write upon him
the name of my God." There may possibly be an allusion to the golden plate
which flamed in the front of the High Priest's mitre, and on which was written
the unspokenname of Jehovah. How do we possessone another? How do we
belong to God? How does God belong to us? There is but one way by which a
spirit can possessa spirit — by love; which leads to self-surrender and to
practicalobedience. And if — as a man writes his name in his books, as a
farmer brands on his sheep and oxen the marks that express his ownership —
on the redeemedthere is written the name of God, that means, whateverelse
it may mean, perfect love, perfect self-surrender, perfect obedience. Thatis
the perfecting of the Christian relationship which is begun here on earth. In
the preceding letter to Sardis we were told that the victor's name should not
"be blotted out of the book of life." Here the same thought is suggestedby a

converse metaphor. The name of the victor is written on the rolls of the city;
and the name of the city is stamped on the foreheadof the victor. That is to
say, the affinity which even here and now has knit men who believe in Jesus
Christ to an invisible order, where is their true mother-city and metropolis,
will then be uncontradicted by any inconsistencies, unobscuredby the
necessaryabsorptionin daily duties and transient aims and interests which
often veils to others, and renders less consciousto ourselves, our true
belonging to the city beyond the sea. The last of the triple inscriptions declares
that the victor shall be conspicuouslyChrist's. "I will write upon him My new
name." What is that new name? It is an expressionfor the sum of the new
revelations of what He is, which will flood the souls of the redeemed when they
pass from earth. That new name will not obliterate the old one — God forbid!
It will do awaywith the ancient, earth-begun relationof dependence and faith
and obedience. "Jesus Christis the same...forever";and His name in the
heavens, as upon earth, is Jesus the Saviour. That new name no man fully
knows, evenwhen he has entered on its possession, andcarries it on his
forehead;for the infinite Christ, who is the manifestation of the infinite God,
can never be comprehended, much less exhausted, even by the united
perceptions of a redeemed universe, but for ever and ever more and more will
well out from Him. His name shall last as long as the sun, and blaze when the
sun himself is dead.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(12) Will I make a pillar.—A pillar, and an unshaken one. There may be
reference to the frequent earthquakes which had shakendown buildings in

their city. Those who overcome will prove real supports to the greatChristian
temple. (Comp. Galatians 2:9.)
Write upon him.—Or, grave upon it. On the sides of the four marble pillars
which survive as ruins of Philadelphia inscriptions are to be found. The
writing would be the name of God, the name of the heavenly Jerusalemand
(omit the repetition, “I will write upon him”) the new, unknown name of
Christ Himself. The allusion is to the goldenfrontlet inscribed with the name
of Jehovah. (Comp. Revelation 22:4.) He will reflectthe likeness ofGod; and
not only so, he will bear the tokens—now seenin all clearness—ofhis
heavenly citizenship (Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 12:22-23). And a further
promise implies that in the day of the last triumph, as there will be new
revealings of Christ’s power, there will be unfolded to the faithful and
victorious new and higher possibilities of purity. Thus does Scripture refuse to
recognise anyfinality which is not a beginning as well as an end—a landing-
stage in the greatlaw of continuity. (See Revelation2:17; Revelation19:12.)
MacLaren's Expositions
Revelation
VI. - THE VICTOR’S LIFE-NAMES
Revelation3:12.
The eyes which were as a flame of fire saw nothing to blame in the
Philadelphian Church, and the lips out of which came the two-edgedsword
that cuts through all hypocrisy to the discerning of the thoughts and intents of
the heart, spoke only eulogium- ‘Thou hast kept My word, and hast not
denied My name.’ But howevermature and advancedmay be Christian
experience, it is never lifted above the possibility of temptation; so, with

praise, there came warning of an approaching hour which would try the
mettle of this unblamed Church. Christ’s rewardfor faithfulness is not
immunity from, but strength in, trial and conflict. As long as we are in the
world there will be forces warring againstus; and we shall have to fight our
worstselves and the tendencies which tempt us to prefer the visible to the
unseen, and the presentto the future. So the Church which had no rebuke
receivedthe solemninjunction: ‘Hold fast that thou hast; let no man take thy
crown.’There is always needof struggle, evenfor the most mature, if we
would keepwhat we have. The treasure will be filched from slack hands; the
crownwill be strickenfrom a slumbering head. So it is not inappropriate that
the promise to this Church should be couchedin the usual terms, ‘to him that
overcometh,’and the conclusionto be drawn is the solemnand simple one
that the Christian life is always a conflict, even to the end.
The promise containedin my text presents practically but a twofold aspectof
that future blessedness;the one expressedin the clause, ‘I will make him a
pillar’; the other expressedin the clauses referring to the writing upon him of
certain names. I need not do more than againcall attention to the fact that
here, as always, Jesus Christrepresents Himself as not only allocating the
position and determining the condition, but as shaping, and moulding, and
enriching the characters ofthe redeemed, and ask you to ponder the question.
What in Him does that assumption involve?
Passing on, then, to the considerationof these two promises more closely, let
us deal with them singly. There is, first, the steadfastpillar; there is, second,
the threefold inscription.
I. The steadfastpillar.

Now I take it that the two clauses whichrefer to this matter are closely
connected. ‘I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go
no more out.’ In the secondclause the figure is dropped, and the point of the
metaphor is brought out more clearly. The stately column in the temples, with
which these Philadelphian Christians, dwelling in the midst of the glories of
Greek architecture, were familiar, might be, and often has been, employed as
a symbol of many things. Here it cannotmean the office of sustaining a
building, or pre-eminence above others, as it naturally lends itself sometimes
to mean. For instance, the Apostle Paul speaks ofthe three chief apostles in
Jerusalem, and says that they ‘seemedto be pillars’; by which pre-eminence
and the office of maintaining the Church are implied. But that obviously
cannot be the specialapplicationof the figure here, inasmuch as we cannot
conceive ofeven redeemed men sustaining that temple in the heavens, and also
inasmuch as the promise here is perfectly universal, and is given to all that
overcome - that is to say, to all the redeemed. We must, therefore, look in
some other direction. Now, the secondof the two clauses whichare thus linked
togetherseems to me to point in the direction in which we are to look. ‘He
shall go no more out.’ A pillar is a natural emblem of stability and
permanence, as poets in many tongues and in many lands have felt it to be. I
remember one of our own quaint English writers who speaks ofmen who are
bottomed on the basis of a firm faith, mounting up with the clearshaft of a
shining life, and having their persevering tops garlanded about, according to
God’s promise, ‘I will give thee a crownof life.’ That idea of stability, of
permanence, of fixedness, is the one that is prominent in the metaphor here.
But whilst the generalnotion is that of stability and permanence, do not let us
forgetthat it is permanence and stability in a certaindirection, for the pillar is
‘in the temple of My God.’ Now I would recallto you the fact that in other
parts of Scripture we find the presentrelation of Christian men to God set
forth under a similar metaphor: ‘Ye are the temple of the living God’; or
again, ‘In whom ye are builded for a habitation of God through the Spirit’; or
again, in that greatword which is the foundation of all such symbols, ‘We will
come and make our abode with Him.’ So that the individual believer and the
community of all such are, even here and now, the dwelling-place of God. And

whilst there are ideas of dignity and grace attaching to the metaphor of the
pillar, the underlying meaning of it is substantially that the individual souls of
redeemedmen shall be themselves parts of, and collectivelyshall constitute,
the temple of God in the heavens.
This book of the Apocalypse has severalpoints of view in regard to that great
symbol. It speaks,forinstance, of there being no temple therein,’ by which is
meant the cessationof all material and external worships such as belong to
earth. It speaks also ofGod and the Lamb as themselves being ‘the Temple
thereof.’ And here we have the converse idea that not only may we think of
the redeemedcommunity as dwelling in Godand Christ, but of God and
Christ as dwelling in the redeemedcommunity. The promise, then, is of a
thrilling consciousnessthat Godis in us, a deeperrealization of His presence,
a fuller communication of His grace, a closertouch of Him, far beyond
anything that we canconceive of on earth, and yet being the continuation and
the completionof the earthly experiences ofthose in whom God dwells by
their faith, their love, and their obedience. We have nothing to say about the
new capacities forconsciousnessofGod which may come to redeemed souls
when the veils of flesh and sense, andthe absorption in the presentdrop away.
"We have nothing to say, because we know nothing about the new
manifestations and more intimate touches which may correspondto these new
capacities.There are vibrations of sounds too rapid or too slow for our ears as
at present organized to catch. But whether these be too shrill or too deep to be
heard, if the earwere more sensitive there would be sound where there is
silence, and music in the waste places. So with new organs, with new
capacities,there will be a new and a deeper sense ofthe presence ofGod; and
utterances of His lips too profound to be caughtby us now, or too clearand
high to be apprehended by our limited sense, willthen thunder into melody
and with clearnotes sound His praises. There are rays of light in the
spectrum, at both ends of it, as yet not perceptible to human eyes; but then
‘we shall, in Thy light, see light ‘flaming higher and deeper than we can do
now. We dwell in God here if we dwell in Christ, and we dwell in Christ if He
dwell in us, by faith and love. But in the heavens the indwelling shall be more
perfect, and transcend all that we know now.

The specialpoint in regardto which that perfectionis expressedhere is to be
kept prominent. ‘He shall go no more out.’ Permanence, and stability, and
uninterruptedness in the communion and consciousness ofan indwelling God,
is a main element in the glory and blessednessofthat future life. Stability in
any fashion comes as a blessedhope to us, who know the curse of constant
change, and are tossing on the unquiet waters of life. It is blessedto think of a
regionwhere the sealof permanence will be seton all delights, and our
blessednesswill be like the bush in the desert, burning and yet not consumed.
But the highest form of that blessednessis the thought of stable,
uninterrupted, permanent communion with God and consciousnessofHis
dwelling in us. The contrastforces itself upon us betweenthat equable and
unvarying communion and the ups and downs of the most uniform Christian
life here - to-day thrilling in every nerve with the sense of God, to-morrow
dead and careless. Sometimesthe bay is filled with flashing waters that leap in
the sunshine; sometimes, when the tide is out, there is only a long stretch of
grey and oozy mud. It shall not be always so. Like lands on the equator, where
the difference betweenmidsummer and midwinter is scarcelyperceptible,
either in length of day or in degree oftemperature, that future will be a calm
continuance, a uniformity which is not monotony, and a stability which does
not exclude progress.
I cannot but bring into contrastwith that greatpromise he shall go no more
out ‘an incident in the gospels. Christand the Twelve were in the upper room,
and He poured out His heart to them, and their hearts burned within them.
But they went out to the Mount of Olives ‘- He to Gethsemane and to Calvary;
Judas to betray and Peterto deny; all to toil and suffer, and sometimes to
waverin their faith. ‘He shall go no more out.’ Eternalglory and unbroken
communion is the blessedpromise to the victor who is made by Christ ‘a
pillar in the temple of My God.’
II. Now, secondly, notice the threefold inscription.

We have done with the metaphor of the pillar altogether. We are not to think
of anything so incongruous as a pillar stamped with writing, a monstrosity in
Grecianarchitecture. But it is the man himself on whom Christ is to write the
threefold name. The writing of a name implies ownership and visibility.
So the first of the triple inscriptions declares that the victor shall be
conspicuouslyGod’s. ‘I will write upon him the name of My God.’ There may
possibly be an allusion to the goldenplate which flamed in the front of the
high priest’s mitre, and on which was written the unspoken name of Jehovah.
But whether that be so or no, the underlying ideas are these two which I have
already referred to - complete ownership, and that manifested in the very
front of the character.
How do we possessone another? How do we belong to God? How does God
belong to us? There is but one way by which a spirit can possessa spirit - by
love, which leads to self-surrender and to practicalobedience. And if - as a
man writes his name in his books, as a farmer brands on his sheep and oxen
the marks that express his ownership - on the redeemedthere is written the
name of God, that means, whateverelse it may mean, perfect love, perfect self
-surrender, perfect obedience, that the whole nature shall be owned, and
know itself owned, and be glad to be owned, by God. That is the perfecting of
the Christian relationship which is begun here on earth. And if we here yield
ourselves to Godand depart from that foolishand always frustrated attempt
to be our own masters and owners, so escaping the misery and burden of self -
hood, and entering into the liberty of the children of God, we shall reachthat
blessedstate in which there will be no murmuring and incipient rebellions, no
disturbance of our inward submission, no breachin our active obedience, no
holding back of anything that we have or are; but we shall be wholly God’s -
that is, wholly possessorsofourselves, and blessedthereby. ‘He that loveth his
life shall lose it; and he that losethhis life, the same shall find it.’ And that

Name will be stamped on us that every eye that looks, whoeverthey may be,
shall know ‘whose we are and whom we serve.’
The secondinscription declares that the victor conspicuouslybelongs to the
City. Our time will not allow of my entering at all upon the many questions
that gatherround that representationof ‘the New Jerusalemwhichcometh
down out of heaven.’ I must content myself with simply pointing to the
possible allusion here to the promise in the preceding letter to Sardis. There
we were told that the victor’s name should not ‘be blotted out of the Book of
Life’; and that Book ofLife suggestedthe idea of the burgess-rollof the city,
as well as the registerof those that truly live. Here the same thought is
suggestedby a converse metaphor. The name of the victor is written on the
rolls of the city, and the name of the city is stamped on the forehead of the
victor. That is to say, the affinity which, even here and now, has knit men who
believe in Jesus Christ to an invisible order, where is their true mother-city
and metropolis, will then be uncontradicted by any inconsistencies,
unobscured by the necessaryabsorptionin daily duties and transient aims and
interests, which often veils to others, and renders less conscious to ourselves,
our true belonging to the city beyond the sea. The name of the city shall be
stamped upon the victor. That, again, is the perfecting and the continuation of
the centralheart of the Christian life here, the consciousnessthat we are come
to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and belong to another
order of things than the visible and material around us.
The lastof the triple inscriptions declares thatthe victor shall be
conspicuouslyChrist’s. ‘I will write upon him My new name.’ All the three
inscriptions link themselves, not with earlier, but with later parts of this most
artistically constructedbook of the Revelation;and in a subsequent portion of
it we readof a new name of Christ’s, which no man knoweth save Himself.
"What is that new name? It is an expressionfor the sum of the new
revelations of what He is, which will flood the souls of the redeemed when they
pass from earth. That new name will not obliterate the old one - God forbid!

It will not do awaywith the ancient, earth-begun relation of dependence and
faith and obedience. ‘Jesus Christis the same . . . for ever’: and His name in
the heavens, as upon earth, is Jesus the Saviour. But there are abysses in Him
which no man moving amidst the incipiencies and imperfections of this
infantile life of earth can understand. Not until we possess canwe know the
depths of wisdom and knowledge,and of all other blessedtreasures whichare
storedin Him. Here we touch but the fringe of His greatglory; yonder we
shall penetrate to its central flame.
That new name no man fully knows, even when he has entered on its
possessionandcarries it on his forehead;for the infinite Christ, who is the
manifestation of the infinite God, cannever be comprehended, much less
exhausted, even by the united perceptions of a redeemeduniverse; but for
ever and ever, more and more will well out from Him. His name shall last as
long as the sun, and blaze when the sun himself is dead.
‘I will write upon him My new name’ was said to a church, and while the
eulogium was, ‘Thou hast not denied My name.’ If we are to pierce the heart
and the glory there, we must begin on its edges here. If the name is to be on
our foreheads then, we must bear in our body the marks of the Lord Jesus -
the brand of ownership impressed on the slave’s palm. In the strength of the
name we canovercome;and if we overcome. His name will hereafterblaze on
our foreheads - the tokenthat we are completely His for ever, and the pledge
that we shall be growinglymade like unto Him.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
3:7-13 The same Lord Jesus has the key of government and authority in and
over the church. He opens a door of opportunity to his churches;he opens a
door of utterance to his ministers; he opens a door of entrance, opens the
heart. He shuts the door of heaven againstthe foolish, who sleepawaytheir
day of grace;and againstthe workers of iniquity, how vain and confident
soeverthey may be. The church in Philadelphia is commended; yet with a

gentle reproof. Although Christ accepts a little strength, yet believers must not
rest satisfiedin a little, but strive to grow in grace, to be strong in faith, giving
glory to God. Christ can discoverthis his favour to his people, so that their
enemies shall be forced to acknowledge it. This, by the grace ofChrist, will
softentheir enemies, and make them desire to be admitted into communion
with his people. Christ promises preserving grace in the most trying times, as
the rewardof pastfaithfulness; To him that hath shall be given. Those who
keepthe gospelin a time of peace, shallbe kept by Christ in an hour of
temptation; and the same Divine grace that has made them fruitful in times of
peace, will make them faithful in times of persecution. Christ promises a
glorious reward to the victorious believer. He shall be a monumental pillar in
the temple of God; a monument of the free and powerful grace ofGod; a
monument that shall never be defacedor removed. On this pillar shall be
written the new name of Christ; by this will appear, under whom the believer
fought the goodfight, and came off victorious.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Him that overcometh- See the notes on Revelation2:7.
Will make a pillar in the temple of my God - See the introductory remarks to
this epistle. The promised reward of faithfulness here is, that he who was
victorious would be honored as if he were a pillar or column in the temple of
God. Such a pillar or column was partly for ornament, and partly for
support; and the idea here is, that in that temple he would contribute to its
beauty and the justness of its proportions, and would see the same time be
honored as if he were a pillar which was necessaryfor the support of the
temple. It is not uncommon in the New Testamentto representthe church as a
temple, and Christians as parts of it. See 1 Corinthians 3:16-17;1 Corinthians
6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:5.
And he shall go no more out - He shall be permanent as a part of that spiritual
temple. The idea of "going out" does not properly belong to a pillar; but the
speakerhere has in his mind the man, though representedas a column. The
description of some parts would be applicable more directly to a pillar; in

others more properly to a man. Compare John 6:37; John 10:28-29;1 John
2:19, for an illustration of the sentiment here. The main truth here is, that if
we reach heaven, our happiness will be secure forever. We shall have the most
absolute certainty that the welfare of the soul will no more be perilled; that we
shall never be in danger of falling into temptation; that no artful foe shall ever
have powerto alienate our affections from God; that we shall never die.
Though we may change our place, and may roam from world to world until
we shall have surveyed all the wonders of creation, yet we shall never "go out
of the temple of God." Compare the notes on John 14:2. When we reachthe
heavenly world our conflicts will be over, our doubts at an end. As soonas we
cross the threshold we shall be greetedwith the assurance, "he shallgo no
more out forever." That is to be our eternal abode, and whatever of joy, or
felicity, or glory, that bright world can furnish, is to be ours. Happy moment I
when, emerging from a world of danger and of doubt, the soul shall settle
down into the calmness and peace ofthat state where there is the assurance of
God himself that that world of bliss is to be its eternal abode!
And I will write upon him the name of my God - Consideredas a pillar or
column in the temple. The name of God would be conspicuouslyrecordedon
it to show that he belongedto God. The allusionis to a public edifice, on the
columns of which the names of distinguished and honored persons were
recorded;that is, where there is a public testimonial of the respectin which
one whose name was thus recordedwas held. The honor thus conferredon
him "who should overcome" wouldbe as greatas if the name of that God
whom he served, and whose favorand friendship he enjoyed, were inscribed
on him in some conspicuous manner. The meaning is, that he would be known
and recognizedas belonging to God; the God of the Redeemerhimself -
indicated by the phrase, "the name of my God."
And the name of the city of my God - That is, indicating that he belongs to
that city, or that the New Jerusalemis the city of his habitation. The idea
would seem to be, that in this world, and in. all worlds wherever he goes and

whereverhe abides, he will be recognizedas belonging to that holy city; as
enjoying the rights and immunities of such a citizen.
Which is New Jerusalem- Jerusalemwas the place where the temple was
reared, and where the worship of God was celebrated. It thus came to be
synonymous with the church - the dwelling-place of God on earth.
Which comethdown out of heaven from my God - See this explained in the
notes on Revelation21:2 ff. Of course this must be a figurative representation,
but the idea is plain. It is:
(1) that the church is, in accordancewithsettled Scripture language,
representedas a city - the abode of God on earth.
(2) that is, instead of being built here, or having an earthly origin, it has its
origin in heaven.
It is as if it had been constructedthere, and then sent down to earth ready
formed. The type, the form, the whole structure is heavenly. It is a departure
from all proper laws of interpretation to explain this literally, as if a city
should be actually let down from heaven; and equally so to infer from this
passage, andthe others of similar import in this book, that a city will be
literally rearedfor the residence ofthe saints. If the passage proves anything
on either of these points, it is, that a greatand splendid city, such as that
describedin Revelation21, will literally come down from heavens. But who
can believe that? Such an interpretation, however, is by no means necessary.
The comparisonof the church with a beautiful city, and the fact that it has its
origin in heaven, is all that is fairly implied in the passage.

And I will write upon him my new name - See the notes on Revelation2:17.
The reward, therefore, promised here is, that he who, by persevering fidelity,
showedthat he was a real friend of the Saviour, would be honored with a
permanent abode in the holy city of his habitation, In the church redeemed
and triumphant he would have a perpetual dwelling; and wherever he should
be, there would be given him sure pledges that he belongedto him, and was
recognizedas a citizen of the heavenly world. To no higher honor could any
man aspire; and yet that is an honor to which the most humble and lowly may
attain by faith in the Sonof God.
The Epistle to the Church at Laodicea
The contents of the epistle to the church at Laodicea Revelation3:14-22 are as
follows:
(1) The usual salutation to the angelof the church, Revelation3:14,
continued...
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
12. pillar in the temple—In one sense there shall be "no temple" in the
heavenly city because there shall be no distinction of things into sacredand
secular, for all things and persons shallbe holy to the Lord. The city shall be
all one greattemple, in which the saints shall be not merely stones, as m the
spiritual temple now on earth, but all eminent as pillars: immovably firm
(unlike Philadelphia, the city which was so often shakenby earthquakes,
Strabo [12 and 13]), like the colossalpillars before Solomon's temple, Boaz
(that is, "In it is strength")and Jachin ("It shall be established"):only that
those pillars were outside, these shall be within the temple.

my God—(See on[2681]Re2:7).
go no more out—The Greek is stronger, never more at all. As the electangels
are beyond the possibility of falling, being now under (as the Schoolmensay)
"the blessednecessityof goodness," so shallthe saints be. The door shall be
once for all shut, as well to shut safelyin for ever the elect, as to shut out the
lost (Mt 25:10; Joh 8:35; compare Isa 22:23, the type, Eliakim). They shall be
priests for ever unto God (Re 1:6). "Who would not yearn for that city out of
which no friend departs, and into which no enemy enters?" [Augustine in
Trench].
write upon him the name of my God—as belonging to God in a peculiar sense
(Re 7:3; 9:4; 14:1; and especiallyRe 22:4), therefore secure. As the name of
Jehovah("Holiness to the Lord") was on the golden plate on the high priest's
forehead(Ex 28:36-38);so the saints in their heavenly royal priesthood shall
bear His name openly, as consecratedto Him. Compare the caricature of this
in the brand on the foreheadof the beast's followers (Re 13:16, 17), and on the
harlot (Re 17:5; compare Re 20:4).
name of the city of my God—as one of its citizens (Re 21:2, 3, 10, which is
briefly alluded to by anticipation here). The full description of the city forms
the appropriate close ofthe book. The saint's citizenship is now hidden, but
then it shall be manifested: he shall have the right to enter in through the
gates into the city (Re 22:14). This was the city which Abraham lookedfor.
new—Greek,"kaine."Notthe old Jerusalem, once called"the holy city," but
having forfeited the name. Greek, "nea," wouldexpress that it had recently
come into existence;but Greek, "kaine,"that which is new and different,
superseding the worn-out old Jerusalemand its polity. "John, in the Gospel,
applies to the old city the Greek name Hierosolyma. But in the Apocalypse,

always, to the heavenly city the Hebrew name, Hierousalem. The Hebrew
name is the original and holier one: the Greek, the recent and more secular
and political one" [Bengel].
my new name—at present incommunicable and only knownto God: to be
hereafterrevealedand made the believer's own in union with God in Christ.
Christ's name written on him denotes he shall be wholly Christ's. New also
relates to Christ, who shall assume a new character(answering to His "new
name") entering with His saints on a kingdom—not that which He had with
the Fatherbefore the worlds, but that earned by His humiliation as Son of
man. Gibbon, the infidel [Decline and Fall, ch. 64], gives an unwilling
testimony to the fulfilment of the prophecy as to Philadelphia from a temporal
point of view, Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is
still erect,—a columnin a scene ofruins—a pleasing example that the paths of
honor and safety may sometimes be the same."
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Him that overcomethwill I make a pillar in the temple of my God: though by
the temple of God in this place some understand the church of Christ on
earth, where those always were, and are, and always shallbe, most famous,
who have overcome temptations best, from the world, the flesh, and the devil;
yet, considering that all the promises before made to those who overcome are
of another life, it seems best rather to interpret this so, that God would make
such a one of fame and renown in heaven, greatin the kingdom of heaven,
Matthew 5:19, to sit upon a throne there, Matthew 19:28. He shall have a
higher degree in glory, (for stars differ from one another in glory, 1
Corinthians 15:41), pillars being not only for support, but ornament, and
principal parts in buildings.
And he shall go no more out; he shall have an eternalinheritance, of which he
shall not be dispossessed.

And I will write upon him the name of my God; as men use, upon pillars and
monuments erectedfor their own use and honour, to write their names; so I
will peculiarly own, and challenge sucha one for myself.
And the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem;and I will write
upon him: This man is an inhabitant of the new Jerusalem.
And I will write upon him my new name; I will glorify him with that glory of
which myself was made partaker, upon my ascensionaftermy resurrection,
John 17:22,24.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
He that overcometh,.... In the hour of temptation, in this period of time; that
stands his ground then, sustains the shock of the beast, with courage and
intrepidity, and overcomes him:
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God; by which is meant not the church
triumphant, though such will have a place, and an abiding one there; but the
church militant, so calledin allusion to the temple at Jerusalem, for its author,
matter, situation, strength, solidity, magnificence, and stateliness, andfor its
holiness;and may be said to be the temple of God, because it is of his building,
and is the place where he dwells, and is worshipped; and the temple of
Christ's God, as he is man and Mediator, through whom all worship is given
to God in it; and those who are overcomers by the grace and strength of
Christ are made pillars by him here, in allusion to the two pillars, Jachinand
Boaz, in Solomon's temple; that is, they become very ornamental in the
church, they are made honourable members of it; they come in at the right
door into it, and fill up their places, and all relative duties in it, and walk
becoming their profession;and, like pillars, are a support to it, to the interest
of the church, the truths of the Gospel, and to weak and poor saints; and, as

pillars, they are upright in heart and conversation, and are steady, firm, and
constant:
and he shall go no more out; out of the church, the temple of the Lord, but
shall abide in it unto death: it is a promise of perseveranceboth in the grace of
God, and in a professionofreligion; there shall not be such instances of
apostasyas now,
And I will write upon him the name of my God; in allusion to inscriptions of
names on pillars; the sense is, that it should be manifest that such are
interestedin God, as their covenantGod and Father, in like manner as he is
the Godand Father of Christ; and this should be as plain and as evident as an
inscription on a pillar, or as if it was written upon their foreheads, as the high
priest had on his foreheadwritten, "holiness to the Lord"; and indeed it will
be by their holiness that it will so clearlyappear that God is their covenant
God; for in this church state, or spiritual reign of Christ, holiness unto the
Lord shall be upon the bells of the horses:
and the name of the city of my God; which is new Jerusalem, in allusion to
"JehovahShammah"; meaning the Gospelchurch in the latter day glory; and
the sense is, that such shall be manifestly citizens of this city, in this new and
glorious state of the church, and shall enjoy all the privileges of it, which at
this time especiallywill be many and great. This will not be the new Jerusalem
church state, or the thousand years'reign of Christ in person, for in that there
will be no temple, as in this; but it will have the name, and some appearance
of it; it will bear some resemblance to it, and be a pledge of it:
which cometh down out of heaven, from my God; as it is before called new
Jerusalem, in distinction from the old, so here it is saidto come down from
heaven, or to be the heavenly Jerusalem, in distinction from the earthly one.

The inhabitants of it will be born from above, and be called with an heavenly
calling, and their conversationwill be in heaven, and all the glory of this
church will come from God,
And I will write upon him my new name; either the name of "Jehovah" our
righteousness;or rather the name of King of kings, and Lord of lords,
Revelation19:16;which Christ will now acquire, or at leastthis will now be
made more manifest upon the destruction of antichrist, in this church state;in
which conquest he will make all his people sharers, and they shall now more
openly appearto be kings, and to reign with him in his spiritual kingdom.
Geneva Study Bible
{9} Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he
shall go no more out: {10} and I will write upon him the name of my God, and
the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comethdown
out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
(9) The conclusionwhich contains a promise, and a commandment.
(10) That is, the new man shall be called after his father, mother, and his head
Christ.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Revelation3:12. As in all the epistles, so here, the concluding promise to the
“victor” (cf. Revelation3:11) proceeds to the time of eternal glory after the
coming of the Lord. This is, besides, especiallyindicatedhere by the
expressionτ. καιν. Ἰερους., κ.τ.λ. The incorrectreference to “the Church
militant,”[1501]or “the Church militant and triumphant,”[1502]causes the

most perverted interpretations of individual points. Thus N. de Lyra
interprets, by understanding ἘΝ Τ. ΝΑῷ Τ. Θ. Μ. and Τ. ΠΌΛΕΩς Τ. Θ. Μ.
of the Church militant, and the ΠΟΙΉΣΩ ΑὐΤ. ΣΤΎΛΟΝ, recalling
Galatians 2:9 : “Brave and powerful in faith, not only for himself, but also for
comforting and sustaining others;” and remarks on ἜΞΩΟὐ ΜῊ ἘΞΈΛΘῌ
ἜΤΙ, “by apostasy, not by excommunication;” on ΓΡ. ΈΠʼ ΑὐΤ. Τ. ὌΝ Τ. Θ.
Μ., “forthey [viz., bishops] representin the Church the person of God;” on
ΚΑΤΑΒ. ἙΚ Τ. ΟὐΡ.:“Forthe Church militant is ruled and directed by the
Holy Spirit;” and on Τ. ὌΝ, Μ. ΤῸ ΚΑΙΝΌΝ:“As the Lord himself at the
circumcisionwas calledJesus, and afterwards Christ, so believers are first
calleddisciples of Jesus, andthen[1503]Christians.[1504]Similar distortions
occurin Grot.,[1505]Wetst.,[1506]etc. The correctreference to the future
glory[1507]is not in any way, as with Beng., to be so limited that the first
promise ποιήσω αὐτ. στύλον ἐν τ. ναῷ τ. θ. μ. is fulfilled alreadyat the time of
Revelation7:15, and before that of ch. 19, on the ground that there will be no
temple in the new Jerusalem.[1508]Forif it be saidthat in the new Jerusalem
there will be no specialplace for the worship and revelation of God, as God
himself will be immediately near all the blessed, this does not prevent, that,
according to an idea of an entirely different kind, but of essentiallythe same
meaning, the entire community of perfectedbelievers is contemplatedas the
temple of God, in which individuals may appear as pillars. This is only a
transfer of the figure of the temporal to that of the heavenly communion of
saints;[1509]while the figure contains a significantfeature, founded neither
upon Isaiah 22:23,[1510]nor 1 Kings 7:15 sqq.,[1511]in that[1512]by being
compared not to foundation-stones, but to the pillars of the temple,[1513]they
are representedin their immutable firmness (κ. ἔξω, κ.τ.λ.)and glorious
adornment. Incorrectly, Eichh.:[1514]“The friends of the King, having more
intimate accessto him, who are admitted to his counsels, maybe called
columns.”
καὶ ἔξω οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃ ἔτι. The subject is not ὁ στύλος,[1515]but ὁ
νικῶν.[1516]Thereforethe remark on ἐξέλθῃ is in no wise necessary, that the
verb as intransitive expresses the[1517]senseofa passive.[1518]He who once,

in the sense above indicated, is made a victor in the temple of God, henceforth
shall no more go forth, either voluntarily (viz., by a fall), or under constraint.
ΚΑῚ ΓΡΆΨΩ ἘΠʼ ΑΥΤῸΝ ΤῸ ὌΝΟΜΑΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ ΜΟΥ. Cf. in general
Tr. Bara bathra, p. 75, Revelation2 :[1519] “R. Samuel … says that R.
Jochanansaidthat three are calledby the name of God; e.g., the
righteous,[1520]the Messiah,[1521]and Jerusalem.[1522]
ἘΠʼ ΑὐΤΌΝ, viz., upon the victor,[1523]notupon the pillar.[1524]Areth.
says more accurately:ἘΠῚ ΤῸΝ ΝΟΗΤῸΝ ΣΤΎΛΟΝ[onthe mental pillar];
yet here the ΑὐΤΌΝ is entirely identical with the preceding object (ΠΟΙΉΣΩ)
ΑὐΤΌΝ. If the question be askedas to where the inscription is to be regarded
as written, the answeris to be given otherwise than Revelation2:17, and
according to Revelation14:1, Revelation22:4 (cf. Revelation17:5, Revelation
7:3): “upon the forehead.” Since the ΝΑΌς is mentioned, the thought is closely
connectedtherewith of the inscription upon the high priest’s[1525]diadem,
eht .tf .Μ .Θ .Τ ΑΜΟΝὌ ῸΤ ybsa erom eht,oot ,taht dna [6251];‫ליהוה‬ ‫קרש‬
holy name ‫]7251[הוהי‬is meant.[1528]At all events,[1529]the holy and blessed
state of belonging to God is expressed.
So, too, the name of the city of God—whichis arbitrarily tracedto a breast-
shield of the wearer, insteadof the names of the twelve tribes[1530]—
designates the right of citizenship in the new Jerusalem.[1531]The name
“city” need not, however, be derived from Ezekiel48:35,[1532]—althoughthe
description (Revelation21:3 sqq.) is applicable as an expositionof that
significant designation,—butJohn himself calls the city of God Ἡ ΚΑΙΝῊ
ἹΕΡΟΥΣΑΛΉΜ.
Ἡ ΚΑΤΑΒΑΊΝΟΥΣΑ, Κ.Τ.Λ. The constructionas Revelation1:5. The
meaning of the expressionis elucidatedby ch. 21. Falselyrationalizing, not

only Grot.: “It has been procured by the wonderful kindness of God,” but
even Calov.:[1533]“It has God as its author.”
Κ. Τ. ὌΝΟΜΆΜΟΥ ΤῸ ΚΑΙΝῸΝ. Not the name mentioned in Revelation
19:16,[1534]but that meant in Revelation19:12.[1535]But he who bears the
new name of the Lord is thereby designatedas eternally belonging to the Lord
as though with the Lord’s own signature. If, however, the name of the Lord in
this sense and significance canbe placedalongside of that of God and the new
Jerusalem, the Lord must verily be the one that in Revelation3:7 he professes
to be; in that also he says of himself ΠΟΙΉΣΩ, ΓΡΆΨΩ, he proclaims himself
as one who is to be recognizedas the eternal King of the kingdom of heaven.
[1501]N. de Lyra, Areth., Grot., Wetst., Schöttg., etc.
[1502]Vitr., C. a Lap., Stern, etc.
[1503]Acts 11.
[1504]The Jesuit C. a Lap. (cf. the brethren of his order, Rib. Vieg.) thinks
that, according to “the new name” which the Lord receivedat his
circumcision, the victors will be called “Jesuani”or“Jesuits.”
[1505]οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃ: “Will not be compelled againto flee as under Nero.” τ.
ὄν. τ. πολ. τ. θεμ.: “This name is the Catholic Church, viz., as it was free and
flourishing under the Christian emperors.”

[1506]στυλ., in opposition to the earthquakes whichwere frequent at
Philadelphia. Cf. Revelation3:1.
[1507]Calov., Beng., Eichh., Heinr., Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebrard,
Klief.
[1508]Revelation21:22.
[1509]Cf. 1 Corinthians 3:16 sqq.; Ephesians 2:19 sqq.; 1 Peter2:5 sqq.
[1510]Eichh., Ew.
[1511]Grot., Vitr., Züll.
[1512]Cf. De Wette, etc.
[1513]Galatians 2:9.
[1514]Cf. Revelation3:8.
[1515]Eich., Ebr.
[1516]Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb., Klief.

[1517]Vitr., Eichh., Ew.
[1518]Possiblyἐκβάλλεσθαι. Cf. Mark 4:21; Genesis 43:18;Matthew 8:12;
Matthew 9:33. Syr.
[1519]In Wetst.
[1520]Isaiah43:7.
[1521]Jeremiah23:6.
[1522]Ezekiel48:35.
[1523]Vitr., Calov., Schöttg., Eichh., Heinr., Ewald, Züll., Hengstenb.,
Ebrard.
[1524]Grot., De Wette.
[1525]Cf.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Revelation3:12. The reward of steadfastnesshere is a stable relation to God
and absolute (trebly verified) assuranceofeternal life, permanence ἐν τῷ ναῷ
(verbally inconsistentwith Revelation21:22)τοῦ θεοῦ μου (four times in this

verse). From Strabo (xii. 868[905]ἥ τε φιλαδελφία … οὐδὲ τοὺς τοίχους ἔχει
πιστούς, ἀλλὰ καθʼἡμέραν τρόποντινὰ σαλεύονται καὶ διΐστανται:xiii. 936
B., πόλις φιλ. σεισμῶν πλήρής· οὐ γὰρ διαλείπουσινοἱ τοῖχοι διϊστάμενοι, καὶ
ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλο μέρος τῆς πόλεως κακοπαθῶν, κ.τ.λ.)we learnthat the city was
liable to frequent and severe earthquakes, one of which had produced such
ruin a while ago (Tac Ann. ii. 47) that the citizens had to be exempted from
Imperial taxation and assistedto repair their buildings. These local
circumstances (cf. Juv. vi. 411;Dio Cass. lxviii. 25; Renan, 335)lend colourto
this promise, which would also appeal to citizens of a city whose numerous
festivals and temples are said to have won for it the sobriquet of “a miniature
Athens” (E. Bi. 3692). The promise is alluded to in Ep. Lugd., where God’s
grace is said to have “delivered the weak and setthem up as στύλους ἑδραίους
able by means of their patience to stand all angry onsets of the evil one,” and
Attalus of Pergamos is termed a στύλον καὶ ἑδραίωμα ofthe localChristians.
Permanent communion with God is further expressedin terms of the
widespreadethnic belief that to be ignorant of a god’s name meant inability to
worship him, whereas to know that name implied the power of entering into
fellowship with him. “Justas writing a name on temple-walls puts the owner
of the name in continual union with the deity of the temple, so for early man
the knowledge,invocationand vain repetition of the deity’s name constitutes
in itself an actual, if mystic, union with the deity named” (Jevons’Introd.
Hist. Religion, 1896,p. 245;cf. Jastrow, p. 173). καὶ γράψω, κ.τ.λ.,
inscriptions upon pillars being a common feature of Oriental architecture, cf.
Cooke’sNorthSemitic Inscriptions, p. 266, names on pillars; also
Reitzenstein’s Poimandres, 20. The provincial priest of the Imperial cultus
erectedhis statue in the temple at the close ofhis year’s official reign,
inscribing on it his ownname and his father’s, his place of birth and year of
office. Hence some of the mysterious imagery of this verse, applied to
Christians as priests of God in the next world. This is more probable than to
suspectan allusion to what was written on the high priest’s forehead(Exodus
28:36, cf. Revelation7:3; Revelation14:1; Revelation17:5; Revelation22:4).
Pillars were also, ofcourse, sculptured now and then in human shape. For the
first (a) of the three names, cf. Baba Bathra, 75, 2: R. Samuel ait R. Jochanan
dixisse tres appellari nomine Dei, justos (Isaiah 43:7), Messiam(Jeremiah
23:6), Hierosolyma (Ezekiel48:35); also Targ. Jerus. on Exod. xxviii. 30,

quisquis memorat illud nomen sanctum [i.e., τετραγράμματον]in hora
necessitatis, eripitur, et occulta reteguntur. Where a name was equivalent in
one sense to personality and character, to have a divine name conferredon
one or revealedto one was equivalent to being endowedwith divine power.
The divine “hidden name” (Asc. Isa. i. 7 Jewish:“as the Lord liveth whose
name has not been sentinto this world,” cf. Revelation8:7) was (according to
En. lxix. 14f.)known to Michael, and had talismanic powerover dæmons.
Perhaps an allusion to this also underlies the apocalyptic promise, the
talismanic metaphor implying that God grants to the victorious Christian
inviolable safety againstevil spirits (cf. Romans 8:38-39). The second(b) name
denotes (cf. Isaiah56:5, Ezekiel48:35)that the bearerbelongs not merely to
God but to the heavenly city and societyof God. Since rabbinic speculation
was sure that Abraham had the privilege of knowing the mysterious new
name for Jerusalemin the next world, John claims this for the average and
honest Christian. On the connexionbetweenthe divine name and the temple,
see 3Ma 2:9; 3Ma 2:14, Jdt 9:8, etc. The third (c) “my own new name”
(Revelation19:12)is reflectedin Asc. Isa. ix. 5 (the Son of God, et nomen eius
non potes audire donec de carne exibis); it denotes some esoteric,
incommunicable, pre-existent (LXX of Psalm71:17, En. lxix. 26, cf. R. J. 249,
344)title, the knowledge ofwhich meant powerto invoke and obtain help
from its bearer. The whole imagery (as in Revelation2:17, Revelation19:12)
is drawn from the primitive superstition that God’s name. like a man’s name,
must be kept secret, lestif known it might be used to the disadvantage of the
bearer (Frazer’s Golden Bough, 2nd ed. i. 443 f.). The close tie betweenthe
name and the personalityin ancientlife lent the former a secretvirtue.
Especiallyin Egyptian and in Roman belief, to learn a god’s name meant to
share his power, and often “the art of the magicianconsistedin obtaining
from the gods a revelationof their sacrednames”. The point made by the
prophet here is that the Christian God bestows freelyupon his people the
privilege of invoking his aid successfully, and of entering into his secret
nature; also, perhaps, of security in the mysterious future across death. See
the famous ch. 125. of E. B. D. where the successive doors will not allow Nu to
pass till he tells them their names (cf. chapters cxli. f.). Ignatius tells the
Philadelphians (obviously referring to this passage, adPhil. 6) that people
unsound upon the truth of Jesus Christ are to him στῆλαι καὶ τάφοι νεκρῶν,

ἐφʼ οἶς γέγραπται μόνονὀνόματα ἀνθρώπων. The μόνονis emphatic. In the
survival of 2 Peterduring the later conquests which left the other six towns of
the Apocalypse more or less ruined, Gibbon (ch. 64.)irrelevantly finds “a
pleasing example that the paths of honour and safetymay sometimes be the
same”.
[905]Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889
under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[906]. CodexPorphyrianus (sæc. ix.), at St. Petersburg, collatedby
Tischendorf. Its text is deficient for chap. Revelation2:13-16.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
12. Him that overcometh]Lit. He that overcometh, I will make him, as in
Revelation2:26.
a pillar] Used of chief men in the Church in Galatians 2:9, and perhaps 1
Timothy 3:15. All Christians are living-stones in the Temple (Ephesians 2:20
sqq., 1 Peter2:5), all necessaryto its completeness,but some of course filling
in it a more important position than others: and such important position is
indicated by the image of the “pillars” ll.cc. But here the promise is not for
Apostles or their successorsonly, but for all the faithful: the point is not “he
shall be one of the greatand beautiful stones on which the others rest,” but
“he shall be so placed that he cannot be removed while the whole fabric
stands.”
I will write upon him] We repeatedlyhave in this book the image of the divine
Name written on the foreheads of God’s servants:see Revelation7:3,
Revelation14:1, Revelation22:4. Hence the inscribing the name is here
equally appropriate to the figure and the thing signified: probably the

metaphor of the pillar is not dropped, but writing the name on the pillar
means the same as writing it on the man.
the name of my God, and the name of the city] Cf. Isaiah44:5; Jeremiah23:6;
Jeremiah33:16; Ezekiel48:35, for the junction of these two names. The three
names joined here are in a manner those of the Trinity, the Church being
representative of the Spirit. It is probable that passageslike this did much to
suggestthe use of the sign of the Cross on the forehead, both at Baptism and
on other occasionsthat seemedto callfor a professionof faith: and the image
of the “new name” (cf. Revelation2:17)harmonises well with the much later
usage of conferring a name in Baptism.
which cometh down] Revelation21:2;Revelation21:10.
my new name] See on Revelation2:17, and Revelation19:12 there referred to.
Bengel's Gnomen
Revelation3:12. [51] Ναῷ) A recenterror has λαῷ.[52]See App. on this
passage, Ed. ii.
[51] Bengelis silent, indeed, respecting the pillar, both here and in der Erkl.
Offenb. (as S. R. Ernesti admonishes, Bibl. th. Noviss. T. T. p. 708);but I
think that it should not be concealed, that he endeavouredto illustrate the
phrase in den LX. Reden, p. 155, sq., using these words:—Der TempelGottes
ist, das Heiligthum Gottes. In demselben eine Säule abgeben, ist eine sehr
grosse Ehre. Sie gehöret, ganzin jene Welt, und da ist eine immerwährende
Ehre, denn er wird nicht mehr hinauskommen. So lang der Tempel selber
steht, wird auch der Pfeiler darinn stehen. Wann einer in der Welt schon etwa
viel zu bedeuten hat, ist ein Generaloder Gesandter, oder Staats-Minister, auf
welchemein Königreich, als auf einer Säule, ruhet; so kann er über eine Weile

gesturzetund weggethanwerden, dass man kaum weiss, wo erhingekommen
ist. Aber ein Pfeilerin Gottes Tempel komnt nimmer hinaus. (Comp.
Revelation22:5, end. See also Galatians 2:9.)—E. B.
[52] Viz. in the Elzev. Rec. Textof 1624.—E.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 12. - Him that overcomethwill I make a pillar. (For construction, ὁ
νικῶν, ποιήσω αὐτὸν, see on Revelation2:26.)The "overcoming" is a present
continuous process, but will have a termination, and then he who has
faithfully fought the daily battle will be made a pillar, steadfast, immovable.
St. John may be alluding to
(1) the two pillars of Solomon's temple setup in the porch, and called Jachin
(‫יי‬ ‫יִכ‬‫י‬ he will establish)and Boaz(‫ב‬ֹּ‫ע‬ַ‫,ץ‬ in him is strength); see 1 Kings 7:15, 21
and 2 Chronicles 3:17. Both names signify steadfastnessand permanence, and
would serve to render emphatic the superiority in these respects ofthe reward
to come when comparedwith the evanescentnature of present suffering. A
pillar is constantly used as a figure of strength and durability (see Jeremiah
1:18; Galatians 2:9).
(2) A contrastmay be intended betweenthe immovableness of the Christian's
future position and the liability of pillars in the Philadelphian temples to
succumb to the effects of the frequent earthquakes which took place there (see
on ver. 7). Such pillars, moreover, were frequently sculptured in human
shape.
(3) Matthew Henry suggests thata reference may be intended to monumental
pillars bearing inscriptions; the significationbeing "a monumental pillar of
the free and powerful grace of God, never to be defacedor removed; not a

support - heaven needing no such props." But it seems much more likely that
St. John is alluding to the Hebrew temple. In the temple. The temple is ναὸς,
the shrine, the dwelling place of God, not ἱερὸν, the whole extent of the sacred
buildings. The latter word occurs often in St. John's Gospel, but never in the
Apocalypse. The temple in the Revelationis the abode of God, the sacred
shrine into which all may be privileged to enter, both in this world and in the
world to come. Of my God (see note on Revelation3:2; 2:7). And he shall go
no more out. "And out of it he shall in no wise go out more:" such is the full
force of the Greek. The conqueror's period of probation will be over, and he
shall be for ever free from the possibility of falling away. Trenchquotes St.
Augustine: "Quis non desideretillam civi-tatem, unde amicus non exit, quo
inimicus non intrat?" And I will write upon him the name of my God (cf.
Revelation22:4, "His name shall be in their foreheads;" and Revelation9:4,
"Those whichhave not the sealof God in their foreheads;" the former
passagereferring to the electin heaven, the latter distinguishing Christians on
earth from their heathen oppressors). In the passageunder considerationthe
actionis future; it does not refer to holy baptism, but to the sealing of the
faithful upon their entrance into glory - a sealing which shall settle for ever,
and make all things sure. "To write the name upon" anything is a common
figurative expressionin Hebrew to denote taking absolute possessionof, and
making completely one's own. Thus Joab fears that Rabbah may be called
after his name, i.e. lookedupon as his, if David should be absentat the capture
of it (2 Samuel12:28; cf. also Numbers 6:27). The struggling Christian is
encouragedby hearing that a time will come when he will without any doubt
become God's own, incapable of being removed or claimed by other. In the
rabbinical book, 'Bava Bathra,'75. 2, it is noted that there are three
applications of the name of God:
(1) to the just (Isaiah 43:7);
(2) to the Messiah(Jeremiah23:6);

(3) to Jerusalem(Ezekiel48:35).
A reference may be intended to the frontlet of the high priest, upon which was
inscribed, "Holiness to the Lord" (Exodus 28:36). The inscription is threefold:
(1) the name of God;
(2) the name of the new Jerusalem;
(3) the name of Christ.
For God was the Christian maintaining his warfare;to the Church, the new
Jerusalem, was he rendering this service;under Christ, as Captain, was the
fight being accomplished. Again, the victorious Christian was
(1) to belong completely to God;
(2) to possess the citizenship of the new Jerusalem;
(3) to enter into the glory of Christ, which was the new name, that which he
knew not yet.
We canhere trace an analogyto the baptismal formula.

(1) The name of God the Father, whose we are made;
(2) God the Holy Ghost, whose indwelling guides and sustains his Church, the
new Jerusalem;
(3) God the Son, by whose Name we shall enter glory. And the name of the
city of my God, which is new Jerusalem;rather, the city... new Jerusalem(see
RevisedVersion). In Ezekiel48:35 the name given to the city Jerusalemis
JehovahShammah, "the Lord is there;" and in Jeremiah 33:16 Jehovah
Tsidkenu, "the Lord our Righteousness."Eitherof these may be meant; but,
as Alford points out, the holy name itself has already been inscribed. In any
case, the victorious one is to be openly acknowledgeda citizen of the new
Jerusalem. The old Jerusalemwas destroyed, and her citizens scattered;but a
new Jerusalem, ofwhich the true Israelites are the citizens, should reunite the
faithful. It is noticeable that without exception, throughout the Revelation, St.
John uses the Hebraic form of the name Ιερουσαλὴμ, while in the Gospel
Ιεροσόλυμα always occurs. He almost seems to distinguish thus betweenthe
earthly Jerusalemand the heavenly - the home of the true Israel. Which
cometh down out of heaven from my God. "Which comethdown" (ἡ
καταβαίνουσα), a grammaticalanomaly (cf. ver. 11; Revelation2:20 and
Revelation3:12). The name "new Jerusalem" is always coupledin the
Revelationwith the phrase, "coming down from heaven" (see Revelation21:2,
10). The spirituality and holiness of the Church is thus set forth, since its
being is wholly due to God, in its creationand sustenance. And I will write
upon him my new name; and mine own new name (RevisedVersion). This is
not any of the names given in the Revelation, but that referred to in
Revelation19:12, οὐδεὶς οῖδενεἰ μὴ αὐτός, whichno one knew excepthimself.
The passageis a promise that when Christ makes us completely his own by
writing his own new name on us, he will admit us into his full glory, which is
at present incomprehensible to us. Such comprehensionis one of the things
"which shall be hereafter" (Revelation1:19), and which cannotnow be known
to us, "for now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:now I

know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Corinthians
13:12).
Vincent's Word Studies
Pillar (στύλον)
The word occurs, Galatians 2:9;1 Timothy 3:15; Revelation10:1. The
reference here is not to any prominence in the earthly church, as Galatians
2:9, but to blessednessin the future state. The exactmeaning is doubtful.
Some explain, he shall have a fixed and important place in the glorified
church. Compare Matthew 19:28. Others emphasize the idea of stability, and
find a possible localreference to the frequent earthquakes from which
Philadelphia had suffered, and which had shakenits temples. Strabo says:
"And Philadelphia has not even its walls unimpaired, but daily they are
shakenin some way, and gaps are made in them. But the inhabitants continue
to occupy the land notwithstanding their sufferings, and to build new houses."
Others againemphasize the idea of beauty. Compare 1 Peter2:5, where the
saints are describedliving stones.
Temple (ναῷ)
See on Matthew 4:5.
Upon him
The conqueror, not the pillar. Compare Revelation7:3; Revelation9:4;
Revelation14:1; Revelation22:4. Probably with reference to the goldenplate
inscribed with the name of Jehovah, and worn by the High-Priest upon his
forehead(Exodus 28:36, Exodus 28:38). See on Revelation2:17.

New Jerusalem
See Ezekiel48:35. The believer whose brow is adorned with this name has the
freedom of the heavenly city. Even on earth his commonwealthis in heaven
(Philippians 3:20). "Still, his citizenship was latent: he was one of God's
hidden ones;but now he is openly avouched, and has a right to enter in by the
gates to the city" (Trench). The city is called by John, the greatand holy
(Revelation21:10); by Matthew, the holy city (Matthew 4:5); by Paul,
Jerusalemwhich is above (Galatians 4:6); by the writer to the Hebrews, the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem(Hebrews 12:22). Plato calls his
ideal city Callipolis, the fair city ("Republic," vii., 527), and the name
Ouranopolis, heavenly city, was applied to Rome and Byzantium. For new
(καινῆς), see on Matthew 26:29. The new Jerusalemis not a city freshly built
(νέα), but is new (καινὴ) in contrastwith the old, outworn, sinful city. In the
GospelJohn habitually uses the Greek and civil form of the name,
Ἰεροσόλυμα;in Revelation, the Hebrew and more holy appellation,
ἱερουσάλημ.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
TONY GARLAND
Revelation3:12 Open Bible at Rev. 3:12 Listen to Rev. 3:12
overcomes
See. Who is the Overcomer?

I will make him a pillar in the temple
Some have seenthis as an allusion to the pillars in Solomon’s Temple. “The
reference here to Solomon is unmistakable. He it was who built the temple,
and put in its porch those mysterious pillars ‘Jachin [i.e., He shall establish]
and Boaz[i.e., In it is strength]’ (1K. 7:13-22;2Chr. 3:17).”81 Others find the
analogyflawed in this instance:
To find any allusion here . . . to the two monumental pillars, Jachin and Boaz,
which Solomon set up, not in the temple, but in the open vestibule before the
temple (1K. 7:21; 2Chr. 3:15, 17), I must say, appears to me quite beside the
mark; and if there were any question on this point, the words which follow,
“and he shall go no more out,” appear entirely decisive upon this point. These
famous pillars were always without the temple; they would therefore have
served very ill to setforth the blessednessofthe redeemed, who should be
always within it.82
The language has much in common with Temple language elsewherein the
NT which is applied to the body of the believer and the presence ofthe
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. See Temple of the Believer.
Since there is no Temple in the New Jerusalem(Rev. 21:22‣ ), this promise
may be similar to the promise concerning the Millennium made to the
Thyatiran overcomer(Rev. 2:27‣ ) and denote participation in the Millennial
Temple during the Messianic Age.83Some view the entire New Jerusalemas a
“temple.” See New Jerusalem.
The image of the pillar also evokes passageswhere the righteous are
compared to fruitful trees “planted in the house of the Lord” (Ps. 92:12-14),
God’s house being the Temple (John 2:16).
go no more out

This is perhaps the most precious promise among all the promises given the
overcomer. Forthis phrase relates to fellowship with God! The entire message
of Scripture, from Genesis 1 to Revelation22‣ , canbe found within this
pregnant phrase. See Hide and Seek. To the overcomerin Philadelphia is the
promise of the fulfillment of that first love so lacking in Ephesus, to walk once
againin full fellowship with God (Gen. 3:8; 5:24; Rev. 21:3‣ , 22‣ ).
write on him the name of My God
The written name indicates characterand ownership (Num. 6:27; John 1:12).
These will be owned by God and molded according to His character. Theyare
“sons ofGod” (Mat. 5:9; Luke 20:36; John 1:12; Rom. 8:14, 19; Gal. 3:26). In
the Tribulation, the 144,000 Jews have the Father’s name written on their
foreheads (Rev. 14:1‣ ) which identifies whose they are and provides for their
protection (Rev. 7:3‣ ; 9:4‣ ). Here, the name is recordedon all the redeemed
in the eternalstate (Rev. 22:4‣ ).
In the last days, Satan will provide his own imitation of this identification
(Rev. 13:16-17‣ ;17:5‣ ;20:4‣ ). See MasterImitator.
Previously, a new name was written on a stone given to the overcomerat
Pergamos.See commentaryon Revelation2:17.
name of the city of My God
Jerusalemwill have a new name during the Millennium:
The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, andall kings your glory. You shall
be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name. (Isa. 62:2)
At that time Jerusalemshall be calledThe Throne of the LORD, and all the
nations shall be gatheredto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No
more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts. (Jer. 3:17)

“All the way around shall be eighteenthousand cubits; and the name of the
city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.” (Eze. 48:35)
The Lord will name the millennial Jerusalem“The Throne of the LORD” and
“THE LORD IS THERE” indicating the presence ofMessiahJesus who will
rule from the throne of David in the midst of the city.84
Howeverthis name is that of the New Jerusalemand is not said to be new.85
The name is applied to the overcomeras a declarationof his right to
citizenship in the eternalcity (Rev. 21:2‣ ). Citizenship declarednow (Php.
3:20) will be realized there.
This verse may also contain an allusion to an event of Philadelphian history
whereby the city took a new name:
The gratitude of the victims to the emperor is . . . variously attested. . . A huge
pedestalfound at Puteolibears a dedicatoryinscription to Tiberius
surrounded by the names of Asian cities, . . . The name ‘Philadelphea’ [sic] is
fully preserved. Later coins and inscriptions of some of these cities show that
they assumedan imperial name or cognomenabout this time. . .
[Philadelphia] takes the name ‘Neocaesarea’. . . The conceptof Philadelphia
as a new city with a new name to honour the divine emperor whose patronage
had restoredits fortunes has againbeen related to Rev. 3:12‣ .86
city of My God
Earthly Jerusalemhas been chosenby God. He has put His name there (1K.
8:48; 11:13, 36; 14:21;2Chr. 6:6, 38; 12:13;Ps. 132:13;Isa. 49:14-16). Yet for
all its glory, even in the Millennium when it is restored(Isa. 60; (62), the
earthly Jerusalemis not the final destiny of the saints or the abode of God’s
presence. Forat the end of the Millennium there will be a “new heavens and

new earth” (Rev. 21:2‣ ) and a New Jerusalemwhich will be the ultimate
destiny of the saints.
Elsewhere, Jesus also refers to the Father as My God (Mat. 27:46;John 20:17;
cf. Eph. 1:17; Heb. 1:8-9). We are Christ’s and Christ is the Father’s (1Cor.
3:23).
New Jerusalem
New is καινῆς [kainēs], new in quality. The New Jerusalembears little
similarity to the Jerusalemof our time or of the Millennium (Rev. 20:4-6‣ ).
This is not the millennial city, which many Scriptures declare will be restored
to prominence among the nations. It is the eternalabode of the saints:
In Holy Scripture there are two Jerusalems:the one is on earth in the land of
Palestine;the other is ‘above’ in heaven (Gal. 4:25-26;Heb. 12:22). Now the
Old Testamentprophets speak ofa city which, in the coming Kingdom, shall
be reclaimed from Gentile power, rebuilt, restoredto the historic nation of
Israel, and made the religious centerof the world. This Jerusalemcannotbe
the ‘heavenly Jerusalem,’for that city is impeccably holy, the eternaldwelling
of the true God, and has never been defiled or marred by human sin and
rebellion. Any such notion is to the highest degree impossible and absurd. All
predictions of a restoredand rebuilt Jerusalemmust therefore refer to the
historicalcity of David on earth.87
which comes down out of heaven
This is the “Jerusalemabove” (Gal. 4:24), the “heavenly Jerusalem,” the
ultimate goaland destination of all the saints (John 14:2-3; Heb. 13:14).
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general

assemblyand church of the firstborn who are registeredin heaven, to God the
Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect. (Heb. 12:22-23)
She comes downout of heaven as a “bride, the Lamb’s wife”:
Then one of the sevenangels who had the sevenbowls filled with the sevenlast
plagues came to me and talkedwith me, saying, “Come, I will show you the
bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me awayin the Spirit to a greatand
high mountain, and showedme the greatcity, the holy Jerusalem, descending
out of heaven from God. (Rev. 21:9-10‣ )
She is referred to as a bride and wife for this is the final residence of the wife
of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7‣ ).
My new name
New is καινο̃ν[kainon], new in quality. This new name, which denotes a yet
unrevealed aspectof the characterof Jesus (Rev. 3:12‣ ;19:12‣ )will be
written on the overcomer. This recalls the mysterious, but unrevealed name
attending the Angel of the Lord and Son of God throughout Scripture. The
name is hinted at, but never revealed:when Jacobwrestledwith the Angel
and was named Israel(Gen. 32:29); when the Angel announced the birth of
Samsonto his parents (Jdg. 13:6, 18);in the question concerning the Son of
God (Pr. 30:4); and in God’s new name to be written on the overcomer(Rev.
3:12‣ ).
The overcomeris intimately identified with He who overcame (John 16:33).
That the overcomerbears the names of both the Father and the Son is yet
another clearstatementof the deity of Christ—for Godthe Father would
never share ownershipor identity with any non-God.

CHRIS BENFIELD
The Certainty of the Church (12) – Him that overcomethwill I make a pillar
in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name
of my God, and
the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comethdown
out of heaven
from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. As with the others,
Jesus closesthis
letter with words of hope for the future. This world isn’t all there is. We can
rejoice tonight
because the saved share this same certainty.
A. A Stable Position– They will be made a pillar in the temple of God and
they shall go out
no more, (illus. the earthquakes and fleeing they endured being locatedon a
geologicalfault
line). The pillars of a building can’t be removed without the building
collapsing.
 The savedcan’t be removed from the body of Christ. This world is wicked,
but we are
on a firm foundation, never to be removed!
B. A SelectPeople – Jesus will put the name of God, the name of the city, and
the new name
of Christ upon the redeemed. We will be identified as God’s possession. Our
eternal

destination is already determined. Our ticket is already markedand paid in
full, one way! We
shall behold the risen Christ in all His glory. We shall praise His new, glorious
name.
C. A Secure Promise – Jesus spokeofthe New Jerusalem, the city of God,
coming down out
of heaven. If you are savedtonight, that will be your home! Rev.21:2 – And I
John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for
her husband. That glorious city awaits the children of God.
It is there that Jesus will sit upon His throne while we worship and adore Him
for the endless
ages. Thatis home; we have a secure promise of heaven!
We need to be a Philadelphia type church. It ought to be our desire to live,
work, and
worship as they did. If we aren’t carefulwe canbecome like the others. I want
Jesus to be
pleasedwith us! If you need to rededicate your life to Him so that you canbe
like a
Philadelphian, come. If you are lostand desire the promise of heaven, you
certainly need to
come.

ALAN CARR
V. 12 We Are Obliged To Worship - This verse lets them know that there will
be a day when they will be rewarded for their faithfulness and their obedience
to the work of the Lord. What He tells them is designed to strengthen them in
their resolve to continue working for Him and to drive them to their knees in
worship before Him. When we considerwhat He will do for those who honor
Him, it is enough to make us worship His Name!
1. Over What He Will Make Us - (Ill. The ancient city of Philadelphia was
filled with many pagan temples. It was the practice in Philadelphia for citizens
who has servedthe city to be honored by having a pillar with their name
engravedon it placedin one of the pagan temples. To have your name on a
pillar was one of the greatesthonors known to people of that time.)
Jesus tells His people that they will be honored by being made a pillar in His
Temple! This speaks ofour securityin Him! Philadelphia was built on a
geologicalfault, and as a result, there were earthquakes that destroyed the
city. When this happened, the pagan temples fell and had to be rebuild. In
fact, in 17 BC an earthquake destroyedPhiladelphia and many of the people
refused to move back into the city, but rather stayed in the countryside. No
such problems will affectthe Temple of God! His promise is for Strength,
Stability, Steadfastness andSecurity! He is promising to establishHis people
in absolute security in His presence one day!
(Ill. Notice where the emphasis is placed in this verse!It is not on man, but it
is on the Lord! Notice "Will I make". Jesus is the one who will make us a
pillar in the Temple of Our God! One day, if we are saved, we are going home,
where we will spend eternity with our blessedLord!)

Jesus was to write his new name on us

Jesus was to write his new name on us

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Jesus was to write his new name on us

Similar to Jesus was to write his new name on us (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was to write his new name on us