with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy one of Israel.

Is. xli. 10-15.

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

Is. xli. 17-19.

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,

THIRD DAY

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with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy one of Israel.

Is. xli. 10-15.

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

Is. xli. 17-19.

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will 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 cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

THERE is, I know not what, of peculiar tenderness

that breathes through the whole of the above message to the Philadelphians. It is (as it were) the heritage, for all time, of those who still in every Church answer to the same character, the trembling souls, of little strength but much constancy.

'These things saith He that is holy, He that is true.' Only once in all the messages to the Churches (except in the case of Laodicea where it is used as a reproach) does the Blessed One speak of Himself under this aspect: 'He that is true;' it is as though He said, 'Take courage, fainting one, tossed with many tempests, and not comforted; take courage, thou that art suffering under the desertion of the world, or the faithlessness of friends. I am true, thou hast been faithful to Me hitherto; thou hast kept my faith, tremblingly indeed, and with many fears, but still thou hast kept it; thou hast not denied my name, and I will confess thine before the angels of God. I will never fail thee; in thine hour of temptation I will be with thee; others may forget, but I shall remember thee still.'

And then comes the representation of His power, not

as in some of the other epistles, an image of terror (He which hath the sharp sword with two edges, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire'), but of love and benevolence; 'He that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth.' Who cannot imagine the joy of some poor fugitive, when, hard pressed by his enemies, he perceives open before him a door of refuge, and, drawn within its shelter by a strong and friendly hand, sees it closed upon his pursuers, and himself safe and at rest after his breathless struggle? As such a deliverer does our Redeemer represent Himself here to the trembling soul, pursued by her enemies through a lifetime of conflict and temptation. With this powerful One on her side, with this friend so strong and true, she can feel safe in the midst of all her fears; and though often well-nigh overwhelmed by them, there comes ever and anon a thrill of joy. 'If He be for me who can be against me? He has promised, and He is the truth; if He shutteth me in and hideth me in His tabernacle, none can draw me away; if He openeth the Golden Gate to me, the wandering one, none can shut it against me.' The soul cannot always realize this; too often she is harassed by the suggestions of the Evil One, or the remembrance of her old sins; she knows how poor are her best services, and often begins to doubt if they have ever been offered in sincerity; but then again the words of this message come back to her: 'I know thy works.' 'Yes, I know them far better than thou dost. I know thy struggles