GOOD SOLDIERS OF JESUS CHRIST
[p. 501] GOOD SOLDIERS OF JESUS CHRIST
I have in mind to be brief at this meeting at the end of our series. At the same time I wish to consider the circumstances in which we are found, and to say something that will help in them, help the saints locally and all of us. This book from which I have read is well known to be peculiar, and it is regarded by some as a sealed book; the latter thought is wholly false, for it is not sealed, it is open. We have in it what is called a little opened book, meaning that what is in mind is not very cumbersome, not such as the world would regard as great, but which nevertheless comprises immense moral history. And this is in mind in what has been read, that the brethren may be on moral lines. So that, as we read, we may know how to discern, to judge. The apostle Paul says, “Do ye judge”. That is, we are to judge of what is said and the import of it, and gain in strength in a moral sense, for we are surrounded with immoral conditions; immoral in the sense of infringement of divine rights, and we need certain features, especially wisdom, in dealing with them. At the same time moral power also, so that we are not fearful, we are not afraid when we are in the right, and we have to speak for what is right. And so the Lord says, “Fear not them which kill the body, ... but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”, Matthew 10: 28. And then we have Jehovah’s dealings with Abraham, who is called, the Scripture says, alone; “I called him alone, and blessed him”, Isaiah 51: 2. But He says to him, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward”, Genesis 15: 1. So that God furnishes us in this way as having to encounter what I am speaking of, that is to say the moral conditions, and what may grow out of them too, in the sense of [p. 502] violence. Satan, as has often been remarked, has two weapons; the first is seduction, the other is violence. And so his names are given twofold in this book, and they both imply violence, murder.
It is encouraging to read this chapter in the midst of this book, we may say in the very midst of it, because it speaks of victory. And I am thinking of the word, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory” (1 Corinthians 15: 59), without saying what the particular victory is, but God gives it to us. One of the greatest things for us, in a way, especially in warfare, is the assurance of victory as given to us by God. Now this chapter, as doubtless you have all noticed, speaks of victory, and poetry enters into it. “I saw as a glass sea mingled with fire, and those that had gained the victory over the beast, and over its image, and over the number of its name, standing upon the glass sea, having harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses bondman of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and wonderful are thy works, Lord God Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, O King of nations. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?” It is as if they were saying they are not fearing now, they are not in a slavish fear of God, they love God, and because of their love they are in victory. So it says, “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? [p. 513] for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and do homage before thee; for thy righteousnesses have been made manifest”; or, as it may read, ‘Thy judgments are made manifest’. We see in that last statement, ‘Thy judgments are made manifest’, that judgment is a great feature of the book. And of a great system, it is said that God has judged our judgment (that is the judgment of the saints) upon her, and hence the importance of having a right judgment of all conditions; in fact one sometimes says he has a judgment about everybody that he [p. 503] knows, and certainly a judgment about the systems that are current; and therefore of this one that I allude to, “God has judged your judgment upon her”.
There is therefore the moral side in these matters, and it works out on moral principles, moral judgments as to persons and systems, and one may add nations and religious bodies too, because of the importance of the saints knowing things, and having a right judgment, “Judge ye what I say”. So that it is important that each one of us should have a judgment, first about persons, then about systems, then about nations, and other such things. So that we are conversant with things, as having to do with them even in a judicial sense; we face things and fear not, as the word was to Abraham, “Fear not”. That is to say, face them courageously. It was the one word to Abraham at that time in Genesis 15, and the idea is in the great charge to Joshua, “Be thou strong and very courageous”, Joshua 1: 7. So that we may as well face things as evade them, because things will happen. God has spoken in a prophetic way in the history of the great revival that we are now having part in; what marked the brethren in the early days was prophecy, and that would mean not simply what we call prophetic ministry, but prophetic events, coming events, so that the prophetic map, as we may call it, was opened up to the brethren, and we can thus look into it and weigh what may be geographical or spiritual, whatever it may be, basing all on the outline of the truth in the prophetic scriptures.
Looking into this book, we are furnished at the very outset with certain weapons, and what are particularly in mind are the seven Spirits of God. These have to be understood in their connection; that is, it is a prophetic book, a book of symbols, but the Spirit of God is in mind. And the idea of seven would be to stress the full thought as expressive [p. 504] of power, of power that can be divided and made immediately convenient to us at any time. For the Spirit of God is the Spirit of God; He is a divine Person, but He is indwelling the saints, and thus may detach this or that one, and use him at any time or in any place, according to His pleasure. And therefore the importance of being ready for any service that may be available, and there are many services; but particularly that we may know what is facing us, and what we are facing too, as regards political situations. Not that I am attempting to preach politics, far, far otherwise. It is not our business. Our commonwealth is in heaven, beloved. The word ‘commonwealth’ there means a system of things in which we live and move. “Our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory, according to the working of the power which he has even to subdue all things to himself”. So that you can see how we are furnished, and how we need not be in any sense fearful of circumstances or any attempts to interfere with our life or our services to God.
And thus I have called attention to the seven Spirits of God. The Godhead is alluded to in Revelation 1. John addresses himself to the assemblies in verse 4. “John to the seven assemblies which are in Asia: Grace to you, and peace, from him who is, and who was, and who is to come”. The address is to the seven assemblies, showing how much the assembly is in mind in this book. They are written to by John; the Lord writes seven letters to the assemblies, showing how great the thought of the assembly is in this book, and the Lord is seen towards the end of the chapter, in the midst of the seven assemblies; that is to say, the seven assemblies are seen before the Lord is spoken of. This shows [p. 505] how distinct the thought is, and how prominent it is, and how it should be in our minds dear brethren, as fortifying us for the conflict into which we have come, because we have come into it; and each one is to be in it intelligently as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We are called to be good ones, meaning that we are not selfish, that we are thinking of Him who has called us into soldierhood.
As I said, the assembly is set out in this book, and then the Lord is seen there, in the midst of it. And so in these verses, as I said, “To the seven assemblies which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ”. That is, the first reference is to God Himself. “Who is” is present, and “who was” is historical, and “who is to come” is prophetical. These are the three aspects in which God is presented to us in this book. And then the seven Spirits which are before his throne, that is to say the Spirit of God in this sevenfold sense is before His throne; it is a question of the throne and the authority of God, and the power to support it in His Spirit. And then “from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth”, and then the Lord Himself comes in for an ascription of praise by the assemblies. “To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen”. I have read all that to keep the subject before us, and especially that the Spirit may be understood. We have many works on the Holy Spirit, many written works, and much ministry too, much current ministry on the Holy Spirit, but it is of the very greatest importance that we should be conversant with the truth of the Holy Spirit.
[p. 506] We should understand too, this sense in which He is seen in this book, that is to say, in a sevenfold character, as if He can be divided in His service, as it were, for He is wonderfully lowly, taking such a lowly place to serve us, having been here for all these centuries, and ready to attend to all matters, and if it be a question of conflict, to attend to all that relates to it; and that we should be in His hands as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Now I stress that, dear brethren, especially to the young ones here. Pardon me for using that well-known phrase, the young ones, as if they are the only ones, but they are in the main what God is relying upon. He is taking away the old ones; He has a right to do so, and on their side they are able to say, “To depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better”. We often say that, perhaps not always truly, or faithfully, but there is no doubt that the Lord is helping the elder brethren to be in liberty of soul, and to carry on and to be examples to the younger, so that the work may go on in the remnant. As we had it today, “Shear-Jashub” means a remnant shall return, and so the remnant will work out in the youth, the young men. “I have written to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you”. That is a word for youth, dear brethren. The word of Scripture is, “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh”. Well, the one that comes is usually the immediate one, the present one, and so I am speaking to you, and urging that each of us should be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and endure hardships; however they may arise, endure them; be patient in them. “Be patient therefore, brethren”, says James, “... for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh”, James 5: 7, 8.
What I am saying is an appeal to the youth in view of the conflict we have come into. I am not saying we are coming into it, we are in it. It is abroad on [p. 507] the earth. Never has there been such a time of infidelity up till now, a direct attack on the truth of God, and the truth of the Scripture, and the truth of redemption, and the truth of the assembly. It is all around, and the apathy with which men regard the truth is appalling, and it is high time for the dear brethren, if they are not in it yet, to be in it, and to be consciously in it, and to be assured that they are not to fear. As I said before, Jehovah said to Abraham, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward”. That is what God is. God is that to us all.
Well now I come to my scripture, that is Revelation 15. The prophet John says, “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God”. A remarkable word: “filled up the wrath of God”. That is to say God is saying He is ready; whatever men may do or think. God is not asleep; and I am using that word designedly, because the word is used as to God in Psalm 78: 65. He “awoke as one out of sleep”. God is not asleep. We know that the blessed Lord Jesus was once literally asleep, and was capable of sleep; He was a real Man, you know, as real as any of us, and we are to speak of Him with reverence, and yet we are to be sure that we are dealing with a real Man. The Lord Jesus is that, and He was asleep on the pillow in the time of storm; the disciples thought that He should be awake, as if He did not know, but He did know. Wherever anything of that kind arises, the truth is that the Lord would say, “I know”. And that is a comforting word in every letter written to the assemblies, that the Lord says, “I know”. Whatever others, or you, or I, or we may think, the Lord says, “I know”; He is assured of everything. And then He is awake too, in the sense [p. 508] of the energy of love; it is a question of the energy of love.
And so love is greatly stressed in the Scriptures, and particularly in one chapter, in 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter enlarges on what love is, as over against other things. Faith, hope, love; these are three things grouped together. “The greater of these is love”. Not the greatest, but the greater; that is to say, in that form, two elements are set over against one, and that one is love; it is the greater. They are the three greatest things, we might say, but “the greater of these is love”; that is, the other two taken together are less than love. And so if a man has not love, he is nothing. Whatever he may do, or give, or be in his own mind, he is nothing if he has not love. It is a very humbling thing that it is so, that if we have not love, we have not anything at all. That is the chapter that I have alluded to; it is a love chapter, and it is a chapter to stress what I am saying. So the word is here, “I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass”. Now I ask you, dear brethren, to weigh the things that are mentioned here, the specific things that are mentioned, and that these men that are alluded to are persons that have gotten the victory over them, things which are all hostile. “A sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass”. I need not enlarge on the idea of glass, it conveys the idea of transparency, which is one of the first features that are proper to christianity, that we are transparent, that we are bold in telling the truth, and in working out the truth in our lives, and in having to encounter these elements of the beast,
as it says here, “the beast, and ... his image, and ... his mark, and ... the number of his name”. Take all these elements; take them one by one, or combine them, the saints alluded to here have gotten the victory over the whole thing, the whole matter. That is indeed what I mean to stress, and to leave the whole thing in your minds, and in your hearts, too, dear brethren, as to what our part is in it. That is we are to be strong and very courageous. “Stand still”, as Moses said, “and see the salvation of Jehovah”, and do not give way. We may oft-times defend right things, and condemn wrong things, and yet fail to maintain the judgment we have arrived at.
Now I venture to bring forward John himself in this book, the beloved apostle; he is not called that here, he is just a prophet here, he is never called an apostle in this book; he is a prophet. But in the first case we find him falling down as dead in the presence of the Lord Jesus, and it was right; the Lord did not reprove him for that, it was reverential. He saw the wonders in which He appears in the first chapter, and he fell down before the Lord as dead. The Lord did not reprove him for that. But in chapter 19: 10, he falls down to worship an angel; he is full of courage, and is used of God to assert victory for the saints, yet he falls down to worship an angel. That is to say, he fails in that in which he has overcome; and the angel himself before whom he fell has to reprove him; so that, dear brethren, we may defend things and condemn what is not right, and yet we may give way to the very thing we are condemning. And so it is, that in this chapter which I allude to. John falls down to worship an angel; that is to say, he is idolatrous. Think of that, that such a man as he, and such a vessel is used in this book; for the book is given to John. It is given to Christ by the Father, but the Lord gives it to John; “he ... signified it ... unto his servant John”. And [p. 510] John is found, as I said, in this wrong attitude for the moment, showing how easily we may give way; after having succeeded victoriously in maintaining what is right, we may momentarily give way to what is wrong, even the very thing that we have been condemning. I warn the dear brethren as to this, to stand firm in what is right. As Paul said, whatever you think of us, you do what is right. So the point is to be right in what we are dealing with, and not to give way, even for a moment. And so in the last chapter of the book we have the same thing. John falls down to worship the angel; he is again idolatrous. You can understand that it is very far from me to say anything against a great servant like John, but it is written for our learning. How easily we may give way for a moment, and do great damage in giving way when at first we hold firmly to the right. So that John is seen twice over in this book as idolatrous, and has to be reproved for it. But when he falls down before the Lord there is no reproof, he is in the presence of a divine Person. That is the great difference here, dear brethren, the difference between an angel and a divine Person; the worship of angels is idolatry, but not the worship of a divine Person. We are to worship God, we are to worship Christ, and I might add that the Spirit too is included in the subject of worship. We are to maintain in our souls a right estimate of the blessed Spirit of God, especially in the way in which He is seen in this book, in the sevenfold manner, the seven Spirits of God.
Well now, in what I am speaking of in chapter 15, it says “they sing”. I am reading about overcoming. They have overcome all these elements, and we are in the very midst of all these elements. I am not going to speak in any unseemly way, I am not going to give any reason or cause for the enemy to speak reproachfully of what I am saying, dear brethren; but I am seeking now to give you the truth,
[p. 511] in a concealed, or I might say limited way, but yet to give it that you should have it before you and be ready for any emergency that might arise, to be strong and very courageous. And so the result is in verse 3, “they sing the song of Moses”. That is to say, the brethren have a song — It is not the Marseillaise, it is not any such thing, not any party matter at all; it is the song of Moses. “They sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb”. That is to say, Moses is recognised according to his mediatorial position in the service of God, and they sing his song; it was a song of victory, possibly Exodus 15, I suppose, but they sing it; and then the song of the Lamb. How wonderfully honoured he was as associated with the Lamb. That is what God would do for us; the assembly has the nearest place to Christ, the nearest place to God in the whole universe. So you see with Moses how he is honoured in that same sense, as with the Lamb; that his song is sung with the song of the Lamb. And so it is “the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb”. And the song is this, “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints”. That is, all this is attributed to God; He is the King of saints. Or it may be the King of nations, but He is the King of saints anyway, which is a very suggestive thing for us all, because I am speaking to saints. I am not speaking to unconverted people, I am here to speak to the saints, and I am speaking to them in the sense that God is the King of saints. So that we are subject to God, but still we have a song — These persons alluded to have a song, and it is a song of victory, it is the song of Moses, and it is the song of the Lamb.
And so it goes on in verse 4, “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify they name? for thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and worship before thee”. Notice how the worship of God is brought in; it is insisted on because that is the idea of the book; it is a book of insistence on what is right; and this is quite right here, and insisted on as right, that “all nations shall come and worship before thee”. Now as I said John failed in this very thing, and we are all apt to fail in this very thing. If he did, we are all apt to fail in a thing we have condemned, we are apt to fall in with it even for a moment, and do damage. But here there is nothing of that. It says, “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest”. That is to say God is glorified by the song here, because His judgments are made manifest. As I said at the beginning, it is so important that we should have a right judgment of everything. And that if God’s judgments are made manifest, to stand by them; if it means conflict, stand by them; if we need to suffer, stand by them. They are the judgments of God; they go through; they go through into the lake of fire too. But here it is the seven last plagues of God that are aimed against western Europe, and inclusive of Australasia too, because Australasia is just the outcome of Europe, and the seven last plagues of God are aimed against the renunciation of christianity. It is an awful thing, what is coming in. It is all around us, not only here, but in Europe and America, it is all around; the renunciation of the truth of christianity. So that in one moment the Lord will take away His own, and then the whole matter will be just a shell of wickedness.
Now you may say, I am speaking strongly, and perhaps you say there is no need for it, but there is need for it, because God would have us to stand up about things, for His rights, and His services. And so here the thing is asserted to be right, for it says,
“For thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest”. The thing is manifest, and therefore it is a question of standing up for these judgments of God, whatever they may be, and so the victory. That is the victory of these people — dear people they are — that are alluded to here. It says, “I saw ... a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast”. We may say blessed be their name, because they are sufferers, and the Lamb is a Sufferer. The very title, Lamb, is related to suffering. And the song of the Lamb, was the song of a Sufferer. And so, dear brethren, I am just, as it were, calling upon you to stand up for the truth. I cannot very well do better than this tonight. I am just about to leave this city, and this country shortly, and I would seek to leave with and impress on the brethren the importance of standing up for what is right; whatever others may do, as Paul says, you do what is right.
And so the end is in verse 7, that “one of the four beasts” (or living creatures) “gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled”. That is to say, the temple is closed until these terrible things happen; the service of God will be resumed in another world altogether; “that world and the resurrection”. But the temple is seen as closed. I believe that is what is in mind; it is a prophetic matter, and the temple of God will be closed until these matters are fulfilled; and then God will take up other threads of service in what is called the millennial world; that world and the resurrection. God will do that; in the meantime He is continuing, and His temple is still open; we have [p. 514] part in it; we are indeed ourselves, as christians, part of the temple of God. Paul says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” So that the temple is still open, but it will soon be closed, and that terrible shell of wickedness left in western Europe, to say nothing about the East. I am speaking now about the West because it is a question of the renunciation of christianity. That is what is coming, as Paul says to the Thessalonians, that the coming of the Lord will not be until there be an apostasy, and then the man of sin shall appear. That is all imminent, dear brethren; the Lord may come now, at any time and take us to be with Him. But then all this will happen. Is it not worth while to have it in mind and be ready for it? So that while the temple of God remains open, as it is open yet, be present in it, continue on in the service of God, and do what you can in His service, in the gospel and otherwise.
So I leave all this, dear brethren, with you in the Lord’s name, that there may be a fulfilment of it in the youth, according to John’s letter to the young men, “I write to you, young men”, and then he says, “I have written to you”, as if he said, I write to you today, but I wrote to you before. And it may be that things have come to us and we have forgotten them, and they have to be repeated; and that is how graciously John carries on with the young men. “I have written to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, nor the things in the world ... because all that is in the world ... is not of the Father”. So that we are set up in that way by John’s exhortations, and then as I said, we have the warning of him even falling into idolatry, if even for a moment, after all his steadfastness and faithfulness in insisting on right in these wonderful pages of the book of Revelation.