THE ABILITY TO TAKE ON CHANGE (*EXTRACT*)
[p. 407] THE ABILITY TO TAKE ON CHANGE (EXTRACT)
Revelation 1: 9 - 20; Revelation 22: 16,17
GA Could we have the full substance of your thought as to verses 16 and 17 of chapter 22?
JT Well, we have the Lord introducing Himself, just Himself As we were saying, it is Himself now; having passed through all the symbolical meanings of the book the Lord comes back to Himself. We are to be reverential about it; He says, “I Jesus” Revelation 22: 16, speaking personally, and the “I” is emphatic, “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. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come” Revelation 22: 16,17. Now the Lord Jesus is speaking first, in the sixteenth verse, and it is as divine that He is speaking thus, and so He says, “I am the root”, that is in itself an assertion of Deity. He is the root and offspring of David, but He is the root of David, which means that He must be God. And then “the bright and morning star”, which is a title that He takes in view of the coming glories of His appearing. And then “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. The Spirit is a divine Person, speaking as a divine Person, but the bride, although so glorious, is a creature. But she is the bride, and what is said in these verses indicates a family that has the nearest place to the Deity. That is what I would say as to verses 16 and 17.
JP Does the root and offspring of David come out in Colossians 1, the Lord as the Son of the Father’s love, His glories in Deity and in manhood being brought before us there?
JT Yes, the Son of the Father’s love. Both divine Persons are implied.
GA Could you aid us in indicating how these two verses will help us in the service of God?
JT Well, to distinguish, as Abigail was able to [p. 408] distinguish certain features, as the word was, “Blessed be thy discernment” 1 Samuel 25: 33; so that in dealing with the service of God and having part in it, we are to have discernment, to have intelligence in it, so that we know how to speak to God, to speak to Christ, to speak of the Spirit, and even to speak to the Spirit, although it is very rare in the Scriptures; it is right, because Numbers 21: 17 says, “Sing unto it”. “Rise up, well! sing unto it”. The “it” is an allusion typically to the Spirit. Therefore, as knowing these things, we know how to speak to the Father, know when to speak to Him, and we know when to speak to the Son and how to speak to Him, and so we may speak to the Spirit as a divine Person, equal with the Father and the Son.
GA You have touched every heart present, I believe, in that remark as to our great desire to know in what way we may speak to the Spirit. Every true heart longs to understand that, in the spirit of reverence, and anything further that you might be free to say as to that, I believe every heart here awaits.
JT Well, He certainly is a divine Person, and He speaks independently as a divine Person, especially in regard to the service of God. He says, “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13: 2). Who could say that but a divine Person, and a divine Person in authority? And so there are other scriptures. But then, what I am speaking of is the type in Numbers 21; the word is, “Rise up, well! sing unto it”. The “it” is the Spirit typically, that is to say, the singing to the Spirit is warranted. We have a hymn that refers to praises for the Spirit:
‘Praises for the Holy Ghost
Sent from heav’n at Pentecost;
‘Tis through Him that now we live,
And the precious truth receive.’(’191:3)
That hymn was changed as used in our meetings. But, anyway, it is right as warranted by Scripture as I said. It [p. 409] is only a question of the Spirit Himself hiding His own glories, because He has taken a lowly place.
PHH I think we have all found a desire in our own hearts at times to speak to the Spirit, but would you make room for such a thing in assembly service?
JT Well, I was just saying that the Spirit is wonderfully lowly in the place He takes in the economy of God; the Father is supreme, but then there are three Persons. The Lord says, “Baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28: 19). That phrase asserts the Deity of all Three, only that Two of Them are taking a lower place than the First, but that is only for economical purposes; it is not at all to weaken in any way the fact that the Three are One and the Three are equal. And when we are in the service of God we know, we are instructed, according to this verse, as to when to speak and how to speak to each Person, if necessary; we know what terms to use, and the Spirit is wonderfully lowly, as we have said. He is said to be sent from heaven. The Lord Jesus is never said to be sent from heaven, as far as I know. The Spirit is said to be sent from heaven, meaning that the Spirit is taking an inferior place publicly, or outwardly, in regard to the divine economy.
EB Would you say that the reference in Ezekiel 37: 9: “Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind” (the alternative word is “spirit”), would have any bearing upon what you are saying?
JT Certainly. The Spirit is there; but He has taken a lowly place, and that is a wonderful thing for us to keep in mind. He has taken a lowly place, and has been here on earth for over 1,900 years in that lowliness. He maintains what is due to God according to what God is in heaven; there is a perfect answer to that in the presence of the Spirit down here, and the Spirit is here in the assembly; and that brings out the greatness of the assembly’s place too, but nevertheless the assembly is never part of the Deity.
JP-sn Do we see this matter coming out in Rebecca? She says to the servant, “Who is the man that is walking in the fields to meet us?” Genesis 24: 65. Would speaking to the Spirit be in that way about Christ Himself? The Spirit as unfolding Christ to us?
JT Well, indeed. In fact the man wonders when he sees the features of Rebecca coming out in what she does, the service she renders. The man, that is, Abraham’s servant, the chief servant of his house, is undoubtedly typical of the Spirit of God, and he wonders at what Rebecca does, showing how the Spirit can take such an attitude, and yet He never changes as regards His Person. God is here by the Spirit according to Ephesians. God is here by the Spirit, for the Spirit is God. In Ephesians 2: 22 it reads, “A habitation of God in [the] Spirit”, not in the Spirit, but in Spirit. It is God; the Spirit there is God.