"Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their
garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy."
--Revelation 3:4
We may understand this to refer to justification. "They shall walk
in white"; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own
justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness
of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made
whiter than the newly-fallen snow.
Again, it refers to joy and gladness: for white robes were
holiday dresses among the Jews. They who have not defiled their
garments shall have their faces always bright; they shall understand
what Solomon meant when he said "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy,
and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Let thy garments be always
white, for God hath accepted thy works." He who is accepted of God
shall wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks in
sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Whence so many doubts, so much
misery, and mourning? It is because so many believers defile their
garments with sin and error, and hence they lose the joy of their
salvation, and the comfortable fellowship of the Lord Jesus, they do
not here below walk in white.
The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne of
God. Those who have not defiled their garments here shall most
certainly walk in white up yonder, where the white-robed hosts sing
perpetual hallelujahs to the Most High. They shall possess joys
inconceivable, happiness beyond a dream, bliss which imagination
knoweth not, blessedness which even the stretch of desire hath not
reached. The "undefiled in the way" shall have all this--not of
merit, nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with Christ in
white, for He has made them "worthy." In His sweet company they shall
drink of the living fountains of waters.
