THE DISPLAY OF GOD'S COMPLETED WORK
THE DISPLAY OF GOD’S COMPLETED WORK
CAC Everyone must feel the exceeding blessedness of what is before us in this chapter. It is the display of the accomplished result of the work of God in His saints. We can hardly contemplate anything more precious or more calculated to affect our hearts. It is the perfect contrast of what was seen in chapter 17, where John was called to contemplate the harlot — the city where every corruption is found, where there is absolutely nothing of God. Here we see the blessed contrast. There, it is a desert: the scene is appropriate to the subject contemplated. Here it is a city where everything is of God and becomes the source of every blessing to men; it is where all the goodness of God is administered to men.
Rem John is called to a new position to view it.
CAC Yes, to a great and high mountain. You cannot contemplate this without being elevated; it cannot be contemplated on the level of the world. Each one of us must seek to get up to this spiritual elevation — the elevation of spirit above everything that is of men.
Ques Why is John chosen to be let into the secret of all this?
CAC I suppose John is the one of “the twelve” who abides to the end; as the Lord said, “If I will that he abide until I come” (John 21: 22). John was left here to see the complete breakdown of all that had been set up by Paul: to see 2 Timothy days, and to give us all this after 2 Timothy days had come in. He was a ‘reserve man’, as someone has said.
It is a great thing that the light of the future should shine on us now — not going back to the beginning and getting [p. 480] exercised about that, but occupied with the future. The point is to see the place the assembly has in that administration of glory: “Having the glory of God” (verse 10). The assembly is being formed for it now, and it raises the question as to how far we are formed now. The Lord brings us together as we are now to give us light and direction for our exercises, so that we may pray along the line the Lord gives us.
Ques Is this the answer to Ephesians 5: 27, “That he might present the assembly to himself glorious”?
CAC I think it is the answer to the prayer in Ephesians 3: 19, that the saints might “be filled even to all fulness of God”. The apostle speaks of the assembly as the shrine of the divine glory: “To him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages. Amen” (verse 21). Here we see the answer to it; we see the assembly filled with the glory of God; formed by the divine nature — a competent vessel to set forth the glory, and to administer all that is of God.
AMH Is it that the response is equal to the revelation? “The holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God”.
CAC I think you get that inside the city. Here, the prominent thought is the administration of it: all that is of God set forth in light and blessing.
Ques So that as the Lord brought in all the fulness of the Godhead — it was pleased to dwell in Him — now there is in preparation a vessel for the maintenance of that and for the final outshining of all that has been revealed?
CAC Yes. There is everything there that is necessary for the setting forth of God. It was all seen in Jesus. It is wonderful that it should be set forth in a vessel formed according to that. The fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily; now it is set forth in a vessel that maintains that, so that it shines forth. It is there in life, so that it is a luminous vessel; the light of God is there.
AMH “The bride, the Lamb’s wife”. Is the wife [p. 481] connected more with the line which you spoke of, she being exercised in His interests here, on the line of Proverbs 31?
CAC Yes.
Ques Is it the true Isaac here — Rebecca became his wife, and he was comforted after his mother’s death?
CAC That is a little the side of what she would be for him as in verse 2, “Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”, in all the heavenly character which suits her for Him; but here it is as in the reference to Proverbs 31, that her husband may be known in the gates. The gates are a very characteristic feature of the city, and the administration makes her husband known. What is emphasised here is that God is known; the whole light of the city is the light in which God is known; God known in the light of redemption — “The lamp thereof is the Lamb” (verse 23) — very beautiful is that!
It is the holy city, not the great city. Babylon was called “the great”. The heavenly city is never called great; it is holy.
Rem Every abomination must be excluded.
CAC The wall has an important place: it suggests the exclusion of what is not of God; it is preservative, it preserves the administration, so that nothing unsuitable enters, “Nothing common, nor that maketh an abomination and a lie, shall at all enter into it; but those only who are written in the book of life of the Lamb” (verse 27). I think every corrupting influence is summed up in that verse. “Nothing common”, I suppose that would suggest things which are the product of the mind of man.
Ques What is the thought in the twelve apostles, and the twelve tribes?
CAC That suggests all the outgoings of the city are first towards the twelve tribes; they are the first to get the gain of the city. It is a great mediatorial system. Then the nations get the blessing through Israel.
[p. 482] What makes it so interesting to me is to see the full result of God’s work. The wall is salvation, of course; it is preservative — there is no opening for the inroads of the enemy. The point is that everything is excluded which is not of God — all the workings of the mind of man. Things were “common” at Corinth, the mind of man was working there; “common” is in contrast to what is of the Spirit.
Then, every element of idolatry — “abomination” — is shut out; that is, everything that does not give God His place; and, thirdly, everything “that maketh ... a lie”: that is in contrast to Christ as the truth. Every element of evil is excluded by the wall.
The thing is to take up the exercise of these things now, so that the formative work may be going on in us, and that we may be in keeping with these things now.
It is very interesting that it is the wall of the city that has foundations, why is that?
AMH Does it suggest divine authority, on which the wall is based?
CAC Quite so, and does it not give the wall a kingdom character?
AMH Do you connect it with Corinthians?
CAC Yes, all the great moral principles are laid down in Romans and Corinthians, and we have to see to it that these foundations are truly laid in our souls.
AMH Is it collective; what the saints together have to maintain?
CAC There is no idea in Scripture of taking things up as isolated individuals. Even Romans reminds us that we are “one body in Christ”. The exhortations in Romans 12 are mostly collective in nature.
AMH Is it not striking that it is so in that epistle, showing that the individual path can only be taken up in the light of “one another”?
CAC In the most individual scripture you find that you cannot get away from the thought of “one another”. “If any one love me” — you cannot find anything much more individual than that — “he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14: 23). Yet in that same section you have the commandment to “love one another”, you have a divine bond at once.
AMH Do these precious stones set out the principles governing the kingdom of God?
CAC Yes, I should think so. It all came out in Christ; but if it is to come out in men, it could not possibly come out in one. The light is broken up and each precious stone shines not by its own light, but reflects its own portion of the light. You can see it a little in the writings of the apostles: Matthew’s presentation of Christ is not like John’s, and so on with others. You see the different character of the light as it comes out in each one; the blessed light of God, which shone perfectly in Christ, is all-coloured, and you must have a company if it is to be dispersed. Twelve is the administration number.
Ques What is the thought of measure?
CAC Everything is up to the measure and in perfect adjustment. We hardly touch anything but what we get it a bit out of square; a good deal of our exercise is connected with getting things square; the truth of God is very great, and we so easily go to one extreme or another. It is a very great exercise, the measuring; and the one with the golden reed is a most important personage. In result, everything is in perfect adjustment. It is a golden reed — all comes up to the divine measure. The measuring should be a great exercise with us; we look at it in reading chapter 11.
AMH It is “a man’s measure”, and it adds, “that is, the angel’s” (verse 17). It is no ordinary man.
CAC Well, the question is, is there something that God can take account of? There is a real product of divine work on the earth now, and so far as that is so, you have the city now, though not complete nor in display. But its principles [p. 484] and characteristics are here now. It is a great thing to have it before our souls and to be exercised as to its having its effect upon us.
AMH Should we not seek to take account of the saints in this way — there are different precious stones, jasper, sardius, and so on?
CAC Yes, saints are not all alike; there is great diversity. Precious stones do not create light, they are not self-luminous; it is really the light of God that is there.
Ques Would it save you from seeking to be like someone else?
CAC Yes. There is a tendency with us to take our measure from the saints we know. The great thing is to be more with God, in the company of Christ. The twelve were diverse naturally and they were diverse spiritually; yet the Lord could set them all together in unity like the twelve stones in the breastplate; each came under His influence. It is thus that we get our right place in relation to Him and to the testimony.
Ques “Each one of the gates, respectively, was of one pearl” (verse 21). What does this mean?
CAC It seems to suggest that the outgoings of the city are characterised by what the assembly is to Christ. The pearl suggests what is attractive to Him. He was the Merchant who sold all that He had to buy the one pearl of great value (Matthew 13: 46). Each several gate is of one pearl. It may be that the consciousness of the beauty of the assembly and its preciousness to Christ will be conveyed in the administration. He says of those of the synagogue of Satan, “I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee” (Revelation 3: 9). If enemies are made to know it, much more so the saints. The witness in the outgoings of the city is what the assembly is to Christ and its unity, which is the product of divine work.
The street — “Pure gold, as transparent glass” — [p. 485] is where all movement is.
AMH Transparency in all movement must be a wonderful thing.
CAC There is no element of alloy, no element of suspicion or distrust. Our minds are made very suspicious; we do not know what people are after, nor their motives. But what a wonderful thought; here is a city, clear as crystal, and the street like transparent glass: the motives of every one are obvious. One would like to get on that line. We can see it in Paul. There is no possibility of questioning his motives, though his enemies did; there is perfect transparency.
AMH It is pure gold, like transparent glass. That supposes self-judgment and also a divine work, does it not? We cannot be transparent naturally.
CAC There is no element of alloy. There is a bit of gold with each of us, but we must see to it that we judge every element of alloy; then there will be no attempt to cover things up; or to appear more favourable than we are; in this way suspicion and distrust would die a natural death. God’s thought is that we should partake of His holiness. He says of Jerusalem, “I will turn my hand upon thee, and will thoroughly purge away thy dross, and take away all thine alloy” (Isaiah 1: 25). There is a lot of “dross” and “alloy” about us, and it has to be purged away. God will put His people through the fire that the pure gold may remain. It is beautiful to see, as one sometimes does, at the end of a saint’s course, the freedom from alloy, the soul in the pure light of God, nothing covered up that was unsuited to God. But it is nice to see it before the end. It is very wonderful to see in a saint the accomplishment of the work of God — to see one who under divine teaching and discipline has learned to judge everything that is of himself, and to cherish nothing but what is of God and of Christ. A wonderful sight that! — but it is what should be before us as a cherished desire and [p. 486] exercise.
AMH Is there a thought of this in “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (verse 9)? He is the One who suffered here for the will of God. She is privileged to share in His sufferings and is thus suited to be the wife of the suffering One, the Lamb’s wife. Then all that has been suffered for is to be displayed. So we may count it a privilege in the present moment to suffer; for all is going to be told out to the glory of God in the future.
CAC You cannot get pure gold without the refining process. It is in the path of suffering you get the refining. He says, “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48: 10).
AMH That makes suffering acceptable even if we are unable to say as the apostle, “I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults ...” (2 Corinthians 12: 10).
CAC The Spirit in Hebrews 12 encourages saints on that line — not to faint under discipline.
AMH The Lord says to Laodicea, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold purified by fire” (Revelation 3: 18). They were not prepared to suffer.
CAC They were not ready to pay the price for the gold.
AMH “I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is its temple” (verse 22).
CAC I suppose that is nearness to God, so that the thought of approach drops. If there had been a temple, there would have been the thought of approach. “Temple” suggests a kind of distance.
“The glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb” (verse 23). The glory of God is diffused through the whole city, but it is concentrated in the Lamb. It will be blessed for the nations when they walk in the light of it. It is God known in the light of redemption — in the light of suffering love. God delights that that light should shine upon men. It is the way in which the glory of God has become known to us — the suffering love of One who could go into the place of death, sacrificing everything for the glory of [p. 487] God. That is the light of the city. There is not only administration but response — the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour unto it. Think of the world here responsive to that bright world above.
AMH “I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel” (Hosea 2: 21, 22). You come back to the glory of God.
CAC Well, it is a worthy result of what God has been working for, the coming here of the Lamb accomplishing redemption, the gift of the Holy Spirit and His work in the saints — the worthy result seen in accomplished bliss, and men on the earth brought into glad response to it all. What a vindication of God in His blessed ways! He will not allow present things to terminate until He has brought in all this.
The sight of it wakens desire and exercise, because it is the work of God that is presented in the city, and we want it to be promoted in us.