THE VOICE OF CHRIST

^[p. 120] THE VOICE OF CHRIST

John 3:29; John 5:24 - 29; John 10:3 - 8; John 18:37

JT It is in mind that we might consider together the voice of Christ as in these passages, first the voice of the Bridegroom, then the voice of the Son of God, then the Shepherd’s voice, then His voice which those that seek the truth discern, as in chapter 18: “Every one that is of the truth hears my voice”. What is particularly in mind is the voice of the Bridegroom. The way it appears in this gospel is striking, for it is heard by one who is “sent from God” (chapter 1:6), and it was before John was cast into prison, that is, before the Lord definitely entered upon His service. So that it is obvious that from the very outset the Bridegroom’s voice was to be heard; showing how prominently the marital thought was in the Lord’s mind as become Man, and as entering upon His service. Inasmuch as John’s gospel bears on the last days, as we have often heard, the Bridegroom’s voice is intended to be heard by us peculiarly. The Lord is presently to say, and perhaps has said it in the ministry: “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). To this the Spirit and the bride, answering, say, Come.

So that it would seem as if John’s ministry is particularly calculated to arouse interest in us in this respect, as in others. It is he who, in ministry, brings in “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”. He speaks about the wife, alluding to the assembly as in her faithfulness during the Lord’s absence. The other evangelists, particularly Matthew, speak about the Bridegroom, but the bride is not formally spoken of, although the bride-chamber is. Inasmuch as the synoptic gospels give us the official ministry of Christ, as we may call it — that is, after John is cast into prison — we can see from the very earliest that the idea was there with the Lord; He, as it were, had it uppermost in His mind in ministering,

^[p. 121] either as to Israel or as to the assembly. It is thought, therefore, that we might dwell particularly on the verse in John 3. These remarks will appeal to you, I sure.

CAC Yes, I feel the importance of it for us.

HH Would you say this is a special moment in which we can hear the Bridegroom’s voice?

JT Yes, not simply what is said, although what is said is implied, of course, but the voice, which brings in the personal side; whether it be the Lord speaking, as it were, unofficially, as John presents Him at the beginning, or officially after John the baptist is cast into prison, there was that voice; that is to say, it is a voice discernible. There was something in Christ’s discourses, remarks, or conversations that came to the Baptist’s ears as a personal testimony to His affections for a bride, whoever she might be. The idea of seeking a bride is old. It is well in all these matters to revert back, for truth is cumulative; it is built up from the outset in view of Christ coming in.

So that the idea of seeking a bride is as old as Genesis. Abraham’s servant went to seek one for Isaac; Jacob went to seek one for himself; and in that way faith would understand that there must be something of this in Christ becoming Man. Not only had there been the idea of seeking a bride or a wife of old, but God had formerly regarded Israel as in that relation to Himself. The Old Testament, especially the prophets, abounds with allusions to the divine affections, having in view an answer in the sense of marital relation; all that would be embodied in the incarnation. The primary thought of a wife was not from man, but from God. God thought of one for Adam, and evidently Adam was pleased with the creature, so like himself, brought to him by God, and from that point onwards the idea took root in man. It was part of the divine thought; it was not an afterthought; it was in the divine counsels,

^[p. 122] and in due course came in historically. God said: “It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate” (Genesis 2:18), which He did, and presented her to Adam; and from that point onwards the thought as in man develops particularly in men of faith, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph; then in Moses, David, and Solomon — in fact, the idea increases as we go on in the line of faith; so that it all headed up in Christ as Man, and John the baptist, with the ear of faith, heard the Bridegroom’s voice. He does not say anything about the voice of the bride, but he heard the Bridegroom’s voice.

JCS So, going back to the beginning, to Adam and Eve, the union there is really an indication of what was already in the mind of God in regard to Christ and the assembly?

JT Quite so. Christ is not an afterthought with God: He was in the beginning with God, and when God announced the thought of a helpmate for man, He had Christ in mind. So Eve becomes a striking — and, in a certain sense, the greatest — type of the assembly.

EuR Is it like the one pearl of great price? When the Lord felt, as a Man here, the loss of Israel, He likened Himself to a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls. Does that link on?

JT It does in the sense of quality.

JHB Is it not remarkable that a man like John the baptist should have discerned the Lord Jesus to be the Bridegroom, and that he should have such joy in hearing His voice, too, as being that of the Bridegroom?

JT It is remarkable, especially with a man like John, who was not himself a family man, but a man brought up in the deserts — in an austere way. He goes as far as to say, “He that hath the bride”, without saying who she was: it was clear in his mind in principle, at least, that ^[p. 123] the bride existed.

CAC How does this link on with the thought of Jehovah betrothing Israel to Himself in the Old Testament?

JT I suppose that John would in faith gather up all that; so that if Jehovah is characteristically the Bridegroom, if God enters into a relation like that, it must be the final, complete thought, and that thought now took form in Christ here, who is no less than God.

CAC That is what I thought. Those scriptures in the Old Testament would await the incarnation for their coming to maturity.

JT It seems that John the baptist must represent the cumulative thoughts of the Old Testament. He came in on that line: there was no greater than he on that line. If he looks at Christ coming to him as he is baptising, he names Him as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (chapter 1:29). That would be a cumulative thought, embodying the great sacrificial line of truth from Abel downwards, would you say?

CAC Yes, I think so.

JT “The Lamb of God” conveyed a sacrificial thought, and it arose in John’s mind in his seeing Jesus coming to him as he was figuratively administering death. So on the same line I should think that the marital thought running through would be discerned as embodied in Christ, the idea of the Bridegroom, that the Lord is not doleful or in any way disappointed in any circumstance: whatever appeared in Him was going through; He was buoyant in it; there was a certainty that He would overcome in everything.

JCS Would you say that this thought of the bride was constantly in our Lord’s mind and close to His thoughts in all His service here?

JT Yes; as much as it would be in Jacob’s mind as he went to Padan.

CAC Do you think the marital thought takes precedence in the divine mind of the family ^[p. 124] thought?

JT They run together, I should think. I may remark that one has in view the service of God in what has been said so far, and how the worshippers of God are secured; for that is a leading thought in John: the Father seeks worshippers. As to this, the question is of what the worshippers of God have in their minds. What are they built up in? There is creation and generation. The first wife, Eve, was a creation, but in the subsequent wives noted particularly, the idea was family distinction, family equality. I do not know if that is clear, and whether it fits in with your thought: perhaps you will enlarge upon what you have in your mind?

CAC I was thinking that perhaps the family thought has been more in our minds than the marital thought, and whether some adjustment might be needful to bring us more fully into the mind of God.

JT Well, I think the marital thought has not had the place in the service of God that it deserves. We have rightly made much of the family, that is, we are brethren of Christ, God’s sons, and the family idea must take precedence, at least from the standpoint of the Father. Abraham’s thought, that which he caused his servant to swear to, was a question of family equality in the bride. Ultimately, it seems to me, the family is the leading feature, that is, in the eternal state of things. What God has before Him in regard to Himself is sonship, and what Christ has before Him in regard to Himself is brethren; but the marital relation comes in strikingly, as in Revelation 21, and the peculiar felicity attaching to it, and the corresponding influence it exerts in the whole domain, is what, perhaps, has been overlooked — that which is in relation to the voice of the Bridegroom.

JHB Are the two thoughts brought together, the family thought and the marital thought, in Song of Songs 5:1 when the Bridegroom addresses the spouse as “my sister, my spouse”? The “sister” would suppose ^[p. 125] a common father, bringing in the family thought: then the spouse would bring in the marital thought.

JT That helps: that is to say, we are in a position of ascending love in the service of God — descending love and ascending love; but then we are also in a position of horizontal affections, so to say: that is, affection between equals, One in the position of a Bridegroom, and the other in the position of a bride; and the grouping of these affections, involving such richness, not only of thought but of feeling, seems to me to be needed for the service of God, to enhance it and make it all that the heart of God seeks.

FI Do you mean that the marital side in our assembly service goes on in a horizontal way, while the family side is the ascending idea?

JT Yes, only I should not like to make all that goes on in the introduction to the service of God horizontal, because we have to do with the Lord as partaking of His supper; and there it is descending love and ascending love. But we go on to the thought of companionship with Christ, He being then on our side; hence a change of ground in the service. What is needed is that brethren should see that we are to be made worshippers; that we are to be constituted worshippers, and that we should see what it is that constitutes us worshippers. We are to be rich enough in intelligence and feeling to answer to any given requirement in the service of God: as the point is reached according to the order that governs it, we are equal to it. So that much is held in abeyance in our souls until we reach a certain point, and then we are ready for what is required, the Spirit acting in us according to it.

FI Do you mean that this would be governed by entering into the marital relation?

JT Well, the marital idea is one of the elements we are to have before us. If I am like John the baptist, I shall hear the voice of the Bridegroom; that affects and forms me, and I am ready for that on the great ^[p. 126] occasion when it is reached. So we have, for instance, “a king who made a wedding feast for his son” (Matthew 22:2): I want to be ready for that. I do not simply get ready as I arrive there: I must come in the wedding garment; it is a question of state, how I am built up.

JCS Do you think that the voice of the Bridegroom, with the feelings produced by it, is suggestive of the quality of the voice rather than what is said?

JT What is said may enter into it, but it is the voice, and I am being built up as to that, ready for it. I am alluding now to the elements that enter into the constitution of worshippers, what they are, and how they are built up.

RSC It is a subject which causes joy, for in Revelation 19:7 the cry comes: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come”.

JT Exactly: they were built up for that; they had thought of it, so they are ready for the great occasion. So if a king makes a wedding feast for his son, guests are invited: we are to be ready for that, because the king comes in to see the guests.

JAP Is what you have in mind the realisation of union?

JT That does enter into it; quite so. It gives us a known fixed relation with Christ.

WDP I suppose the bride at the present time should be able to recognise the voice of the Bridegroom. In Song of Songs 2:8 the bride says, “The voice of my beloved!”: she recognises his voice. Is it not important that the bride today should recognise the voice of the Bridegroom?

JT Yes, it is; and it is necessary for worshippers to understand it. What is in mind in what we are speaking of is the service of God, and John quotes the Lord Himself as introducing the idea of worshippers. We want to know and understand what constitutes a worshipper, because it is a question of what I know ^[p. 127] of God: what He has in His mind — Christ in His marital relation, as we see in the parable referred to, is in His mind; so that I am built up in this and other wonderful thoughts, and when a great assembly occasion arrives, I am ready for it: I am ready for any part of the service as its time arrives.

AWGT In that connection does the thought of friendship help at all? John the baptist spoke of himself as “the friend of the bridegroom”.

JT It does help; it is a word John used peculiarly, meaning that I am with the Lord, as it were, in the sense of secret understanding.

EuR Does Ezekiel help as to the people of the land coming in to worship in the set feasts? Would the Lord’s supper be one of the “set feasts”? And would we come in as “the people of the land”, knowing what we are there for, and how to comport ourselves (Ezekiel 46:9)?

JT It does help: those holy convocations were intended to build up Israel in what was pleasing to God, and what His heart was set for. One important requirement is that “he that cometh in by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate ... he shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go out straight before him”. Our brother has referred to Jehovah entering into the marital thought with Israel: He says, “I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown” (Jeremiah 2:2). He never forgot that; it was a very precious thing to Him that they came after Him in the wilderness. Now in the land the males were to go up three times in the year to appear before Him: there were seven feasts really, but three are singled out. The males here allude to the intelligence side of the position: they were to go up, not empty, but full; they were never to appear before God empty. What can that mean, but that they were full of divine ^[p. 128] thoughts, what God is? I believe that as reaching Jerusalem, the very sight of it enamoured the hearts of the true worshippers. But think of what it was to Jehovah’s eye as He saw them come up to Jerusalem! All that entered into every year. What years God had! Each had its seven feasts, which would mean the whole spiritual year filled out; but then there were three special ones (Deuteronomy 16), and, assuming that the spiritual thought entered into these feasts, what occasions they were for God as He saw His beloved people approaching Jerusalem with Him in their hearts! That was the thought: it was fresh at the beginning; it waned, alas! as we know; Isaiah 1 shows that what the feasts became caused Jehovah to abominate them.

Jehovah applies the marital thought to Jerusalem in Ezekiel. Jeremiah speaks of what the love of Israel’s espousals was at the beginning; but Ezekiel 16 speaks of what Jerusalem was to God, how He found her, clothed her, beautified her, and said that she was to be His. She failed Him, but still that was what was in His mind. So that, in becoming Man, clearly enough the Lord Jesus embodied all these thoughts; John had no doubt about the relationship either, for he says: “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom”; he would have had no thought of the Bridegroom, if he had been uncertain that the bride was to be there.

CAC How far does the thought of worship come in as between the bride and the Bridegroom?

JT We had yesterday morning a little word on Psalm 45 which seemed to fit in at a particular time in the service. It is, as you will know, one of the Maschils, and a “song of loves” too, that is, a song into which love enters. The writer is stirred up in his soul about the King, and says great things about Him; but then he proceeds to say: “upon thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir”, suggesting a complete thought as to her. The psalm requires that: the writer ^[p. 129] was a worshipper, and hence he had that thought in his heart. He sees the “queen”, which is the full thought — abstractly, of course; but it is there, and she is on the King’s right. But then, what is the history of the queen? What elementary thoughts led to this full feminine result? Well, the next term is not that suggesting a bride, but a daughter, the family thought: “Hearken, daughter”; and then the psalmist says, “forget thine own people and thy father’s house: and the king will desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him”. I refer to that because it brings in just what you suggest, that is, the worshipful idea as existent, between the King and those who form the assembly. If we apply “the queen” to the assembly, we see her history in those of whom she is formed: each one forgets her own people and her father’s house, she denies natural feelings; and the King sees beauty in her accordingly. Then, “She shall be brought unto the king”; He desires her: He desires her beauty. She is brought to the King in raiment of needlework, and she is “all glorious within”, that is, inside, in the King’s abode or palace. So it seems to me that that psalm fits in, and John the baptist undoubtedly would know it; and it enters into the fibre of a worshipper, the wonderful thought of the marital relation, whether between Christ as the Messiah and Israel; or between Christ, as we know Him, and the assembly. What peculiar lustre there is in the relations and affections that go with it!

CAC Would there be any kind of link with the thought that the Son is to be honoured equally with the Father? Would that connect?

JT The Father and the Son have to be equally honoured; according to Matthew’s gospel, Christ calls the assembly His — “my assembly”; but in the Corinthian epistles it is God’s assembly right through; even if it be that in which the Lord’s supper is celebrated, it is God’s assembly. But then Christ honours the ^[p. 130] Father in it. The service beginning with the Supper leads to this. The Father honours the Son also in the assembly: so we have in parable a king making a wedding feast for his son (Matthew 22). All this shows what elements enter into the constitution of worshippers, how rich our thoughts are to be as we sit down in assembly.

CAC It gives very great expansion and variety to the possibilities of affection and worship when we come together.

JCS You were saying that the marital thought has been to some extent lost to the service of God, and that the restoration of it to its proper place in the service of God would result in more worship to the Father?

JT Yes. All these things are in the divine mind, whether in the mind of the Father, the Son, or of the Spirit, they are there: We must not be ignorant of them, nor ignorant of any divine desire or requirement.

WSS Is it suggestive that in John 4 the Lord speaks to the woman in regard to the Father seeking worshippers, and God being worshipped — to one who was being adjusted in regard to the marital relationship?

JT That is very interesting. The Lord raises the question of her husband: a significant matter.

HH Is not the principle governing worship, that approach to God is equal to the revelation made, both brought about by the Lord Jesus, hence the result is worship in spirit and in truth? The High Priest of our confession, as in Hebrews, takes up our side, and thus the response in the saints is commensurate with the revelation and declaration of the Father?

JT That helps much. It is remarkable how the servants in the Old Testament, those who had to do with the service of God particularly, are seen as in the marital relation. Jethro, a gentile, brings Moses’ wife to him just before the people pitched before the mount, in view of the service of God: they were to serve God at that mountain. They were just about to pitch before the mountain, and a gentile brings Zipporah to ^[p. 131] Moses at that point (Exodus 18). There is not much to say about her, but she is there: the mind of the mediator, as seen entering on the service of God in chapter 19, would be affected by her presence.

Then we come to David, the great minister of song in the service of God. Abigail comes before him, not as Zipporah before Moses, for there is nothing much to say about Zipporah personally; but she was Moses’ wife: that is made very plain, for three times she is referred to as Moses’ wife. That is the point there, that the worshipper has that idea in his mind. As to David, Samuel had died, and David encounters Nabal. With regard to Abigail, it is not a question of a young person, a virgin, but of a person already in the marital relation. She is said to have a good understanding: that is, now it is not simply the idea of a wife, but the real concrete thought; that is needed in these matters. She has good understanding and a beautiful countenance, and is one who knows how to say to divine matters; and as complete adjustment takes place — that is, her husband is dead — she is free to “be married to another”. So it is with us: as the husband is dead, all this comes about — we are free from the law of the husband, to be married to another, “who has been raised up from among the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:3,4) — a most important part of our make-up, as worshippers of God.

JHK Would you say we get help as to this great matter as we commit ourselves to it? In Matthew 22 the thought of bondmanship comes in: the king commanded his bondmen on the occasion of the marriage of his son. The same idea is seen in the Father’s house in Luke 15; the Father says to the bondmen: “Bring forth the best robe”. Do we need to commit ourselves to this great line of truth, as we have, through grace, committed ourselves to worship in God’s house?

JT You mean that bondmanship means committing oneself to the service required. The idea begins ^[p. 132] with Christ in the types: the Hebrew bondman committed himself thoroughly for service. It is a question of love — love goes the whole way.

Rem It seems from Matthew 22 that it is God’s own matter that there should be this wedding feast for His Son.

JT And that the guests should be suitably attired, that we should have on the wedding garments as essential to this great matter; for the king came in to see the guests as thinking of his son. It is God honouring His Son, and you do not want to be behind in that!

WBH Is what you are now saying covered by the scripture in John 4:24: “they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth”?

JT Just so: that is on our side; but then there is what is in the Father’s heart — the knowledge of what is in His heart. The worshippers must understand what God is seeking. It is said sometimes that He is seeking worship, but Scripture says rather that He is seeking worshippers. Such know Him and what is in His mind. All these thoughts about marriage from Adam downward, which have been, and are, in the divine mind, are embodied in Christ as Man; and John heard that voice, and furnishes, in this respect a lead for us. So true worshippers have the same sensibility and thought as they approach God. Of course, there are many other thoughts, but let us not forget this thought, because it is of the most felicitous character. In the gospel of John, the Lord is spoken of as attending an ordinary marriage; but it was more than that; the Lord undoubtedly had in mind what we are speaking about. He made it more than an ordinary wedding could be. The wine He furnished, suggesting spiritual stimulation, enters into our subject.

Ques Is the point reached in Isaiah 61 — the bridegroom decked with the priestly turban? Is that the point reached in your mind? Has that the service of God in view?

JT ^[p. 133] Exactly; the priestly turban has the service of God in mind. The connection of priestly headdress with the thought of bridegroom there is remarkable.

ESH Would the joy of the Bridegroom and the bride be entered upon on resurrection ground, that is, after partaking of the Lord’s supper?

JT It fits in there. The service of God is in parts in a sense. The true worshippers are ready for each in its place — they know what to do. They have rich thoughts, only they hold them till the proper time to express them. They are always there, enhanced, of course, by the presence of divine Persons; but they are always there: you do not lose them, even on ordinary week-days; you are cherishing them and adding to them all the time. John has worshippers in mind, how they are built up.

JCS So worshippers are ready for everything suitable in the service. Would you say that the same thought may not always be deeply touched every Lord’s day morning?

JT It is a question of what may be touched, and you are ready for it, you are ready for the great occasion; and therefore, I think chapter 12 gives us an example of one who serves: it was a great occasion, and “Martha served”; that is, she was ready for that occasion. When the Lord entered her house the first time, she could not serve thus, she was not ready; now she is, and Mary is ready too; she also is greater than she was when the Lord entered the house the first time: she has a “pound of ointment of pure nard of great price”; she is ready for the occasion.

EuR In Psalm 45, with reference to the expression: “The king’s daughter is all glorious within”, there is a footnote explaining that it is within the royal apartments. Ought we not to be concerned to know the royal apartments, to be there suitably and in response?

JT Yes. The great full thought is in verse 9: “Upon thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir”. That is the great thought, you might say, in the abstract; but you want to reach it. It is reached in the manner indicated by the subsequent verses.

COB Does the description of the holy city in Revelation 21:2: “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”, show that the marital thought is not to be lost sight of?

JT That passage shows that it is carried through to eternity. The fact that we have the tabernacle of God mentioned immediately after that indicates what would develop out of it, how God would find perfect rest in it, a place of abode in it as “with men”. But her character is as a bride adorned for her husband — what she is to Christ; but then what she may become is the next thing, what she is for God. The loud voice out of heaven says, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men” (verse 3).

EuR Do we get the same idea in Ephesians 3:19: “to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge” — would the marital relation of Christ to the church enter into that? Then, “To him” — that is, God — “be glory in the assembly” (verse 21)?

JT That is a little like it: several thoughts bearing on our subjects are seen there; the first, the Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, meaning Christ dwelling there operatively; that is another great element in our souls; then, “the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge” is a further thing, in which we may rightly include marital affection — all leading up to the great end in that chapter, glory to God “in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”.

Now John 5 goes with all this — the voice of the Son of God. We can see, as we have said, that John the baptist gives us a lead; but in order to bring in living persons, that is, for the assembly, we need the voice of the Son of God, although this is to be distinguished from the voice of the Bridegroom: it is Christ’s voice dealing with death, with those who are dead in a moral ^[p. 135] sense, and then His voice in regard to those who are in the graves, literally dead. Then in chapter 10 it is His voice as gathering us together — the Shepherd’s voice, bringing us into one flock, and the knowledge that exists between Him and us: as the Father knows Him, and He knows the Father; the sheep know Him: how great an element that is in a worshipper!

JHB In our experience, would hearing the voice of the Son of God and the voice of the Shepherd precede our hearing the voice of the Bridegroom?

JT I think so. John the baptist gives us the lead. He belongs to another dispensation, but in him it almost merges into ours according to John the evangelist’s account. But we are to note that the subject of worshippers is immediately introduced in chapter 4; then the subject of life in chapter 5. Then in chapter 10 the subject of the sheep and the Shepherd. These are all constructive things, constructive in regard of many things, but constructive in regard of worshippers. Finally, in chapter 18, in the midst of apostasy, the intense darkness, when the Lord is about to be crucified, there are those who hear His voice, as we alluded to it at the beginning: “Every one that is of the truth hears my voice”. It is a final test on this line as to whether we are of the truth. Why are there so many divisions amongst the people of God? It is because many are not characteristically of the truth.

JHB Would the word to Laodicea come in in connection with chapter 18: “Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking; if any one hear my voice and open the door, I will come in unto him and sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20)?

JT Just so; it is a question of hearing His voice. It is not simply that you hear Him knocking. Many hear the knocking, that is, discipline and the like; but then, do they hear His voice in the knocking? It is the voice that the ^[p. 136] Lord stresses.

JHB We might even hear His voice and not open the door.

JT We might be suffering under discipline, too, and not hear His voice. The personal touch is what the Lord would keep before us in all these matters.

JCS We may not be able to understand all He says, but we should know His voice well.

JT That is the point as to the sheep: they know His voice. They are not concerned to know every other voice: they do not need to — in fact, the Lord says, that they do not know the voice of strangers. They do not need to analyse the other voices at all; but the sheep characteristically know the Shepherd’s voice.

EuR What does that convey: “Every one that is of the truth”?

JT It is a characteristic thought. Pilate goes on to ask, “What is truth?” — a question that is being asked all round; but are there any “of the truth”? They hear the voice of Christ. John stresses this thought right through; it is really a question of the work of God, the spiritual element in man as the fruit of the work of God. It would always refer to Christ, always recognise and correspond with Him.

PS Is this characteristic found in Philadelphia? I was thinking of the way the Lord presents Himself there, and reference is made to the overcomer in connection with the name “new Jerusalem”: would that suggest the marital thought, too?

JT Quite so, meaning that the overcomer in Philadelphia understands these matters, what refers to Christ, and particularly “new Jerusalem”. It is “as a bride adorned for her husband” the city is said to be new.

Ques Does Philadelphia hear the voice of Christ at the present time?

JT Yes; those characteristically of the assembly hear His voice as He announces Himself as “the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come” (Revelation 22:16,17).

^[p. 137] Ques In Revelation 1 we read that John turned back to see the voice which spoke to him: does that indicate how qualified John was to speak of all these matters?

JT Yes. It is as much as to say a voice is a person: he turned to see the voice — a remarkable thing. He turned to see: it was what he saw. What a word this is at this juncture — when the Lord is in the presence of Pilate about to be crucified! All darkness centred there, all falsehood! He asserted a great principle in regard of the truth: “Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice” — not simply, “what I say”, but the personal thing — you discern that voice: you may not understand everything, but the voice of Christ holds you. Ministry is what is alluded to. We have what the Spirit says; but the voice of Jesus, the voice of Christ, is the personal touch: you feel you cannot do without that, it holds you.

GHW John refers to it in his first epistle, does he not, when he says: “he that knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us” (chapter 4:6)?

JT That is the same sort of thing. John deals with all these features of the work of God. They correspond with Christ, abstractly, at least, they recognise Christ.

JCS It is a great thing to discern the Lord’s voice, especially in any circumstances relating to the assembly.

JHB Would it not guard against any tendency to scattering, and correct it, if present?

JT If I know the Lord, I discern His voice. The characteristic of the sheep is that “they know his voice”. “This allegory” that the Lord speaks brings in this peculiar touch, that the sheep know His voice, that they do not know the voice of strangers, but His voice, and they follow Him. It becomes a question of whether I know the Lord’s voice, and if I do, in complicated ^[p. 138] matters I shall be kept right: I may not understand everything, but I know the Shepherd’s voice.

WSS It is very instructive to see these features brought out by John, the writer for the last days, as if to suggest that by these means in such circumstances the worship of God should be carried on.

JT That is what his writings are intended for, to build us up in these features, to make worshippers out of us; as built up in them we understand. The Lord’s voice holds us; so that He prepares us for the final thought: “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify these things to you in the assemblies. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star”. Now it is what He is saying, and the Spirit and bride say “Come”: we are built up for that (Revelation 22:16,17).