"REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WHICH GOD GAVE TO HIM"
“[p. 199] REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WHICH GOD GAVE TO HIM”
JT It is hoped that consideration of this scripture may lead to a better understanding in all of us of the need of the book of Revelation and the object of it; how the brotherly spirit is introduced in this part of the chapter, and how the Lord asserts Himself in speaking to John in His sovereign rights, particularly as bearing on the present time. It is hoped the brethren will be free to speak their minds as to what has been read, and particularly that we may be together in the brotherly spirit and at the same time in the sense of victory which the chapter indicates is achieved by the Lord.
Rem I suppose it is good to take note of verse 3, “Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written in it”.
JT You are calling attention to verse 3 because of the blessedness it speaks of I suppose. It says, “Blessed is he that reads ... for the time is near”. That is, there is a premium put on the reading of the book. It is sometimes called a sealed book and so the need for looking into it carefully and getting all that is in it in order to have the premium, the blessedness. The Lord clearly chose a trustworthy one to employ in the delivering of the matter, that is John, the apostle John, but here the brother John, we may call him, and also we may say, the prophet John, and more than all, the bondman John, Christ’s bondman.
Ques We get in Ephesians 1: 9, “Having made known to us the mystery of his will”. Does Revelation outline an important part of that mystery?
JT Well, I would read it in the light of the remarks of the Lord Himself recorded in Mark 13: 32,
“[p. 200] Of that day or of that hour no one knows, neither the angels who are in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father. Take heed, watch and pray, for ye do not know when the time is; it is as a man gone out of the country, having left his house and given to his bond-men the authority, and to each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper that he should watch. Watch therefore, for ye do not know when the master of the house comes: evening, or midnight, or cockcrow, or morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. But what I say to you, I say to all, Watch”. I should say that is a word that enters into this book. It is called “Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to shew to his bondmen what must shortly take place”. That is, it is a revelation. It is not the Son using His own divine knowledge but receiving a revelation, and then as it is said, “He signified it, sending by his angel, to his bondman John”. That is a special one. “Who testified the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, all things that he saw”. So that we are in the presence there of a revelation given to Christ Himself by the Father, by God. “Which God gave to him”, and bondmen being employed, especially John, showing they are wholly subservient and available to the Lord in what is to be disclosed. So John takes the place of brother, not asserting his authority but just his brotherly relation and attitude. “I John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, in Jesus”. That is he is one of us. The Lord had already intimated in mystery that if He willed He might keep John to the end, so it is that John’s testimony enters into this book peculiarly as running on to the end.
JTtr Do you link authority in Mark 13 with this testimony?
JT The authority given to His bondmen in [p. 201] Mark 13: 34, is a general allusion to the place the apostles had, in view of the Lord’s departure.
Rem It is interesting that the words you quoted from Mark 13, are the last recorded words of the Lord in that gospel.
JT It shows the importance of them, and the Lord taking the place of not knowing, not that He did not know divinely being God, but He says no one knows of that day or that hour — no one knows, “nor the Son, but the Father”. The Lord takes that lowly place, and then the authority is given to His bondmen. If we were to read the beginning of the Acts we would take it the authority was given to His apostles, which is true, but they are called bondmen, therefore the thought applies at any time; where there are such bondmen there is authority.
JTtr Is it with us today?
JT I think so, on moral grounds. The idea of bondmanship spiritually exists, not ecclesiastical authority under the head of bishops and so on. It is bondmen of Christ. So even the angel who is used to give the instruction says in the last chapter, verse 6, “And the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets has sent his angel to shew to his bondmen the things which must soon come to pass. And behold I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book”. And then John says, “And I, John, was he who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to do homage before the feet of the angel who shewed me these things. And he says to me, See thou do it not. I am thy fellow-bondman, and the fellow-bondman of thy brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Do homage to God”. So that the angel himself is brought into the bondmanship. The whole position therefore is on that footing. But what is in mind now is that we might see John as he [p. 202] presents himself, and what is to be noted is the frequency of persons being identified, as John, and the angel, and the Lord Jesus Himself, as if we are all to be reminded of identification. The saints should be identified and identifiable. We have already noted in the book of Acts that the Spirit sat upon each of them there, Acts 2: 3. It is seen there as the Spirit came in; therefore, we are identified spiritually.
Rem The bondman would be in accord with the position.
JT That is the idea, and worked out in a man who can say he is fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience in Jesus. He is sharing everything with the saints.
Ques We would distinguish between the ecclesiastical position and moral authority?
JT Quite so. The gospel of Mark is particularly on moral grounds. It begins with the Lord introduced immediately “Beginning of the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, Son of God; as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way. Voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. There came John baptising in the wilderness, and preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins”, Mark 1: 1 - 4. Then we are told how John was clothed. “And John was clothed in camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and ate locusts and wild honey”. And then there is his preaching. So that the matter is urgent and introduced urgently and briefly, so that it should become effective, and the same would apply here. We have an introduction by John himself in verses 4 - 6 and then an ascription to the Lord, and God Himself introduced in verse 8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, he who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”, God Himself [p. 203] being pleased to introduce Himself in the almightiness of Deity, and yet apparently inclusive of the Lord Jesus. Matters are clearly and plainly stated for us that we might face the situation now, and begin with a companion like John sharing in the tribulations that exist. “Fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, in Jesus”.
Ques Is the brotherly spirit necessary for the carrying of the position through?
JT I should think so, if we are to stay in it. The three terms, tribulation and kingdom and patience, are grouped together as one thing necessary to carrying through the whole matter.
Rem “A brother is born for adversity”, Proverbs 17: 17.
JT Quite so. John is that brother and his qualifications are he is loved by Jesus. He trusted His mother to him. John is the model for us as one amongst us — a loved person, loved by the Lord and reliable accordingly, and one of us, a fellow-partaker with the saints.
Rem Would you encourage us who are younger to take up books like these — Revelation, Daniel etc.?
JT I should say so, because I hardly know of any other book with a premium attached to reading it. There are good books written to help us, and the Spirit of God is ready to help us, and the premium is attached to reading this book, the book itself.
The apostle manifests the fears and apprehensions that are common to us all. He was a great apostle and yet was afraid in these circumstances and had to be set up again. The Lord touched him. “He laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not”. The Lord asserts His supremacy, what He is according to what He says, “I am the first [p. 206] and the last, and the living one: and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades”. These are His acquirements and it is to be noticed that John saw Him amongst the candlesticks. It is not Christ in heaven, but amongst the candlesticks, what He is down here moving amongst them. John represents change of circumstances and in them we are apt to be distressed; what terrible experiences the saints have gone through. Even John was afraid by what he saw, but the Lord says, “Fear not”. That is the first point we are to lay hold of — how John went through this in the presence of the circumstances and found relief in the Lord’s presence and touch. He presents Himself in a vision according to what He is by acquirement. It is according to what He is divinely too, for He is introduced earlier as the Alpha and the Omega; He who is and was and is to come, refers to what He is divinely, but His acquirements are in view too.
HPW Is it encouraging to see “John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, in Jesus”, that character of man is the one who became in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. If we want to get spiritual manifestations, this is the way to get them.
JT That is a good way of presenting it. I hope we will all take it in. “I became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”. How many are not, especially in days when double wages are paid on the Lord’s Day, and so many are ensnared by this instead of being in the Spirit.
Rem There are three things mentioned in verse 4, and the one you have drawn attention to, verse 8, “who is, and who was, and who is to come”. Does this help us to understand?
JT Quite so. The Lord is presented to us divinely there, but when we come to the vision, John says, “And I turned back to see the voice which spoke with me”. The voice said, “What thou seest [p. 210] write in a book, and send to the seven assemblies”.
And John turned back, “and having turned, I saw seven golden lamps”. He saw certain other things too, but the position in the seven golden lamps is what we should notice particularly.
HPW I was thinking that I am sure all of us greatly desire to know what it is to be in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and get spiritual manifestations, and what you draw attention to is helpful. “Your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, in Jesus”. I wondered whether all these things coupled together have to have a place with us all. The fact is that the brethren may have to face further tribulation, and the kingdom and patience go alongside of that to help us.
JT Exactly. What may come may be gathered up from the prophetic word, and this whole book tells us what is to happen, what is to happen particularly in Christendom. John is telling us he is a brother. He goes through this experience with the Lord, falling at His feet as dead, in verse 17 — “When I saw him I fell at his feet as dead”. That is he is like all of us, capable of being affected by happenings and by appearances, but in this case it is how the Lord appears. He is appearing in a new way, and that is because the circumstances had changed among the saints in the seven assemblies. It is because of this the Lord takes on a new garb; He is not seen as the Jesus of the gospel, He is seen in different garb and habiliments. The Lord comes in from time to time. He is seen here in the midst of the seven lamps, hence He visits the assemblies, and He is sure to come in in relation to conditions. John is to understand. Therefore, having fallen at His feet as dead he is like ourselves, liable to be affected. We are all liable to be affected thus. But it is a question of how the Lord is to be known here, how He meets us. “He laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the living one; and I became dead, and behold I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades”. So John is thus set up in the presence of the situation in confidence, made to live with Christ, the “living one”, afresh. The idea of life is introduced in this book. It is introduced afresh, not as in John and the epistle to the Romans, but He is alive to the ages of ages and He is in control of all that is adverse. So we are set up to go through the position that is indicated. Then there is what each one is to do. With John it was to write what he saw — not to teach or preach — and the order in which he should write. God has blessed us with writings and it is important we should know their value and read them, read them accordingly in the order in which they are written. The Lord gives the order in which this book is to be written.
HPW Whilst the Lord is the first and the last in the widest possible sense as He appears to John, our brother and fellow-partaker in tribulation and kingdom and patience, He says virtually ‘I have started with you and will finish with you’. The Lord in any presentation to us would encourage us.
JT Just so. If it be discipline, He says, I am going through it with you, notwithstanding the need for discipline; not that it was discipline here. The Lord acts in the most gracious way with John. He says I have other work for you to do and I am going to tell you how to do it. In chapter 10 we have an additional thought to this. The Lord is seen there placing His right foot on the sea and His left on the earth, and He “cried with a loud voice as a lion roars”. Then He has a little book in His hand, a little opened book, and John is to take this little book, according to a later verse, and eat it up. He says in verse 9, “And I went to the angel, saying to him to give me the little book. And he says to me, Take and eat it up [p. 207] and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey ... And it was said to me, Thou must prophesy again as to peoples and nations and tongues and many kings”. Now this is additional to what you were saying. The service is to go on, but something has happened that shows it is needful to bring home to him what is involved in the ministry. The little book contained what was needed and John is to eat it up, and as eating it he is to prophesy again. The servant taken up is to continue. The Lord may have to discipline him and put him through various exercises, but the service is to go on. “Thou must prophesy again”. That is most encouraging for us in the service. The Lord sees what is needed and will put us through it, but the service goes on.
Rem The further prophesyings are richer than the first.
JT If we had only time to go through it we should see that what the brethren have been through in these countries has come about as illustrative of what the little book contains. It contains certain things that caused bitterness to the prophet. We can say what we have been through was needful sooner or later so that the testimony should continue.
A M. Paul had the sentence of death in himself. He went through terrible experiences after he wrote 1 Corinthians and in the second epistle he tells us about them.
JT Very good. He had been down to the gates of death.
Ques What is in mind as to the little book?
JT It is a little book. I would take it not to be a great deal. It is not like a great history, showing how God can say a great deal in a little. The history of Christendom can be said in a few words, but the judgment of God and the government of God are in what is said.
JSE [p. 208] We may look in an objective way at the movements of the testimony, but the reality of this has to be faced and felt in one’s spirit.
JT The Lord would help us to see that what brethren have been through especially in these countries — I cannot say I have been through it except in sympathy — was needed and needed not for our own sakes but for the testimony. The Lord says You must prophesy again. You have had good meetings here and they have not continued, but you will have them again.
Rem You have told us of the bitter, can you tell us of the sweet?
JT It is a question of the little book thus presented, the terribleness that would be, and yet the sweetness of the word of God. This book is to be read. There is blessedness in reading it but if we love the people of God we cannot but feel the things that they must go through. Now this glorious showing of the Lord Himself and all that is involved in it is what we should take account of too, and be ready in the light of it to do what is next to be done — to do the next thing.
Ques Is it comely to fall at His feet as dead or is it weakness? The glory of Christ would give us to feel our human position.
JT Quite so. You would not like to say much, but the Lord laid His right hand on His servant. We are dealing with bondmen and it is a question of each saint being that. This shows how the Lord’s servants are treated tenderly and set up again so that the work may continue, and the next thing is to write. Each is to find out what his work is to be. The Lord would touch us. We are working under orders as it were, as the Levites were under Eleazar, Numbers 3: 32. The Lord is our Superintendent, and the Spirit too, to tell us how to do the work.
[p. 209] Ques The Lord laid His hand on John and also held the stars in His hand; is there any correspondence?
JT Yes; He is holding them and later on He has them. But this first chapter is that we should all be at work and get our work from the Lord and do it. “Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently”, Jeremiah 48: 10. The Lord wants us to work according to His order. We are to be characterised by the fact that He that does the work is God, John 14: 10.
JTtr When does the Lord present Himself to us as to John?
JT It is a question of levitical order and enters into the book of the Acts. Peter is working according to levitical order. Levites’ work is heavy work according to what is stated in Numbers but the apostles knew what to do. Peter begins and is preaching standing up with the eleven, not by himself, that is, recognising that all the others were in the same service. We are not working independently. We are all in it and the Lord is over it, and it is for each one to fill his own place. I do not suppose any one of us would be an acceptable servant unless we go through something like this. We have here what John went through.
Rem In the whole of scripture great servants have to go through experiences before they proceed.
JT They all had to go through it and so have we.
Ques What we are speaking of follows the Lord’s appearing amongst the assemblies here. Would there be anything like it for us unless we have a judgment as to what is ecclesiastical?
JT John heard a voice behind him telling him what to do. “Write therefore what thou hast seen”. And he is told what to do with it. “What thou seest write in a book, and send to the seven assemblies”, and their names are given. And then it says he turned to see the voice. He wanted to see the Person whose voice it was, but the voice was the first point, then he saw the Lord, a Person like the Son of man in the midst of the seven lamps, and then we are told how He was clothed. This is John’s experience given so that we might understand how the Lord serves His servants and cares for them and sets them up in life. It is not John as he was in the gospels, or the time of the gospels, it is some time after. Changes have come about, and there is some writing to be done and the Lord tells him how to do it. It is to be written in a certain order. The work is done at the Lord’s direction whatever it be.
JTtr The Lord addresses the assemblies in various ways.
JT It brings out the thought of the Lord’s surveillance of all that is done. It is all under His eye. He walks in the midst we are told elsewhere. The Lord is expected to come to this city according to the state of things here, or to London, or New York, and we are to be ready to face the consequences. As to what is there we are to be ready to meet it.
Ques Why is it not the Son of God here?
JT All judgment is in the hand of the Son of man. The Father judges no man, we are told. The Lord takes it on, judgment is involved but the judgment is not imminent, there is prolonged care and patience of the Lord towards the saints. The Lord speaks to Thyatira as Son of God, meaning He is over the house, and Thyatira is entrenching on the rights of the Son of God in the house. Judgment is not direct but threatened. “Her children will I kill with death”. But the Lord is patient and we are to be too. And when the Lord comes to Birmingham, something will happen if things are not right. The [p. 211] Lord puts it on the brethren to adjust it. He says, “I know thy works”. He speaks of the good first, and then He says, “But I have against thee that thou permittest the woman Jezebel”. That is a serious matter. The Lord is coming to this town and if there is want of love amongst the brethren He will tell us. It may be by the ministry meeting. So those who minister ought to know the current state. The Lord is with them. He says, “Behold, I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age”, Matthew 28: 20. He is with us so that we may say the right thing in meetings for ministry, and say it well.
AM In verse 16 there is a sharp two-edged sword, is that used in ministry?
JT I should think so. Therefore the importance of ministry meetings. Ministry in a prophetic sense has a sharp edge to it and is intended to have it, and God gives us gifts for that purpose. This is an additional thing — the book of Revelation is additional to what is in the epistles, and the Lord is in a new attitude, an attitude of surveillance. As Samuel went round in a circuit in his day, so the Lord does now and He is armed with means of dealing with conditions, whatever they may be, so that these ministry meetings become a great weapon in the Lord’s hand in dealing with conditions in the local gatherings.
Ques Would not the prophetic word expose the whole issue of things?
JT Quite so. The book of Revelation is an addition. It does not nullify anything said. It meets changed conditions in the assemblies. The Lord is not abolishing the system set up in heaven. That stands and is to be used, yet there are these additional things so that the brethren may see to bring about changes to themselves, that we may use what is in the system set up. It is a great encouragement that there [p. 212] is all this set up for us, so that we might continue, for a great thing has happened and we should take note of it and see why it has happened. The work should go on and be accelerated for worse things are coming, and how are we going to face them?
Rem In referring to chapter 10, the way the Lord is presented has a bearing upon us at the present moment. Should we know Him in that connection?
JT Well, it is a further thought really. It is additional to what we have in chapter 1. It is another presentation of the Lord and has a political bearing, that is the earth and sea, involving the Navy and the Army, and how the Lord will deal with them. We have to wait for that, He has not taken it up yet. What we have now is not so much political but ecclesiastical, and the means He has at hand to deal with things now.
JSE Is that why the symbol of the stars is used?
JT Quite so, they are the angels of the seven assemblies. They are a mysterious element of responsibility as obligations are put on them.