THE TESTIMONY IN THE LAST DAYS
Revelation 1: 1-5, 9, 10; 3: 1, 2
It is important to consider the character of the testimony to which we are all committed, and what is to mark those who have part in it; and then the way that all three Persons of the Godhead stand in relation to it. All these things come out in the book of the Revelation. “The testimony” is not limited to what is spoken, although verbal testimony is of great importance in Christianity; for when the Spirit came, on the day of Pentecost, His presence was evidenced by verbal testimony to the great things of God. The idea of testimony takes form in the maintenance, in the presence of evil, of God’s service in accordance with divine standards of holiness, liberty and spiritual intelligence. It was typified when God required that His people of old should make Him a sanctuary, that He might dwell among them and that they should serve Him, as it says, “Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them”, Exod 25: 8.
The testimony finds its answer at the present time in the assembly and operates in local companies, where the service of God is actually carried on; and to maintain this year after year, notwithstanding the influences of the world, constitutes a very real testimony. It is the greatest conceivable privilege to have part in such a testimony, and the youngest believer should understand that God is looking to him to take part in it by maintaining all that is due to God in himself, and then in his relations with others.
The second verse of Revelation 1 gives the character of the testimony. John says that he bore record of two things—the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. The first conveys the mind of God and asserts His rights, and that is an important feature in this world, because from the moment that Satan belied the character of God, the truth as to God has been the subject of conflict. Satan said to the woman, “Hath God said”, as though he would inject into the mind a doubt as to God’s trustworthiness. And then he waxed bolder and said, “Ye shall not surely die ... Ye shall be as gods”, suggesting that God was untruthful. Thus he introduced false thoughts as to God, and set before them an ambition to be as God, and that which has developed in the world ever since is just the working out of those two principles. The word of God meets the lie of the devil; the testimony of Jesus Christ meets the suggestion that they should become as gods, for it is the testimony of another man, Jesus Christ; “Jesus” being what He was down here on earth, and “Christ” indicating that He is God’s choice. Therefore, Jesus Christ means Jesus in contrast to every other man, and selected by God because of His moral worth. It is well that we should take account of this double character attaching to the testimony publicly in the world—the word of God on the one hand, and the testimony of Jesus Christ on the other.
There is also the question of those who have part in it, and according to this scripture they have a two-fold character: they are bondmen of God and they are brethren of one another—“I John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, in Jesus”. Now it is a very important matter to accept the position of bondmen, because it means that we are the absolute property of the one to whom we belong. But then if in relation to God we are bondmen, in relation to one another we are brethren. And so John says, “I John your brother ... was in the island called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus”—Jesus indicating the absoluteness of the standard—and One who testified in outward defencelessness but in absolute faithfulness to God. John presents himself as a brother and sharer with the saints in the “tribulation and kingdom and patience, in Jesus”. The reformers overlooked that, for they resorted to arms in order, as they thought, to protect the testimony, but the way to do so according to God is “in Jesus”—in that setting. John presents himself as a brother, and as brethren move together they constitute a great circle of support in the very presence of the pressure which we experience here in the testimony. The whole Godhead stands related to the testimony and to those committed to it; but it finds expression in local companies, and therefore John writes to the seven assemblies, saying, “Grace to you and peace from him who is, and who was, and who is to come”, Rev 1: 4. There is something very majestic about God as “ Him who is”. Men come and go, but God is and moreover, He “is to come”. He is going to have the last word. All this is of great importance in facing the conditions of the last days, when men such as the beast and the false prophet will arise, with great pretentions and cruelty. John would place us in our own faith and consciousness in the presence of God, and then he presents the Spirit of God as “the seven spirits which are before his throne”.
The position is that, first of all, God is brought in—He who is, and who has rights which the throne expresses; but how are these rights to be maintained in testimony here by frail men in the presence of all man’s power, energised by Satan? The answer is, In the seven spirits of God. There is fulness of divine power, fulness of divine perception and light for any contingency; whatever is required to meet the position and maintain the rights of God will be found here in the Spirit. It may be that one reason why the Lord is laying so much stress at the present time on the Person of the Holy Spirit is because He knows that very difficult times will arise in the testimony in the little while that remains to us, and therefore we are to be acquainted personally with the Spirit of God and become assured of His presence with us and His ability to meet every position that arises. God will never be taken by surprise, nor will He ever be in a position to which He is not equal. And so in chapter 4: 5 it says there were seven lamps of fire, which means that in the presence of the Spirit light will be thrown on anything that arises which challenges the rights of God.
It is a great mercy that the authorities have largely recognised conscience, but some combinations of men refuse to do so. The assertion by an individual believer that he has a conscience means that the rights of God are involved, and no combination of men has any title to come between any man and the rights of God. So we have first God in His absolute power, then we have the Spirit, who has come down here with divine resources; and then we have in Jesus the character of those who have part in the testimony—“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness”. Faithfulness is stressed. We know how faithful Jesus was; He never sought His own glory, but always did the will of Him that sent Him. We are to realise that the testimony is to continue as entrusted to us on the same principle of faith as we see in Jesus. Now that is sure to involve suffering, and it is of God that it should. It is a mistake to assume that the Lord will always spare His people suffering, because He has suffered supremely for the rights of God, and the saints are to form the Lamb’s wife. One great thought connected with the wife is that she is in every way suitable to her husband; she shares with him in everything, as we read, “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready”, Rev 19: 7. She is seen as suitable to the occasion, indeed enhancing it, and the raiment that she is given to wear is the righteousnesses of the saints: every time she has suffered for the rights of God, there is an element of clothing formed in which she will be arrayed in the day of Christ’s glory.
In chapter 3 the Lord is presented as having the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. The seven stars represent the element of responsibility in each assembly. If Christians return to first principles and are separate from evil, they can move together and conduct themselves in accord with the truth committed to the assembly, without assuming to be it.
The seven spirits of God would remind us that, however difficult the conditions may be, the Spirit of God in His fulness is still available for the saints. Now Sardis, which refers to Protestantism, has never recognised the place of the Spirit. The reformers never overcame the clerical element, and therefore they never, in a practical way, recognised the Spirit of God, and that is the reason why the Lord says, “I have not found thy works complete before my God”, and, indeed, it will eventuate in apostasy—the giving up of all the truth that it once held. God does not intend that any of His thoughts should fall to the ground; the Spirit of God has come to maintain them, and they will be carried through in those who are available. So the question is, Are we available? If so, we shall be supported in the measure in which the Spirit of God has His place with us. The fulness of light, of power, of wisdom and resource is here in the Spirit; He has come to guide us into all the truth, and if we yield ourselves to Him we shall reach God’s end, as it says, “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. That is what the Spirit is leading to, so that with one united heart we say, “Come, Lord Jesus”.
LONDON
From Words of Truth 1949