LAST WORDS OF JESUS
[p. 225] LAST WORDS OF JESUS
John 19:28-30; John 19:32-36; Revelation 3: 14 - 22; Revelation 22: 16, 17
I have read these passages with the desire of saying a little on what I might call the last words of Jesus. The last words of people who have passed away have a peculiar significance and are cherished in the thoughts of others; but it does not always follow that the one who has said his last word has passed away. It is certainly not the case with regard to the Lord, but He has nothing more to say.
We have had the last words of Christ here in various connections. In the gospel of John it is in connection with His life and ministry here; in Revelation 3 it is His last word to the church, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”. And the word at the close of Revelation is addressed to whosoever thirsts, “Let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”.
Evidently these are last words, and derive their significance from the circumstances under which they were spoken. I will dwell on these words in their connection. It is His word that endures until the Lord comes again; every word of Jesus is expressive of Himself. In John’s gospel, when they questioned Him as to who He was, His reply was, “Altogether that which I also say to you”. It is of extreme importance to hear what the Lord has to say to us at the present moment, so to speak — His last word.
Now if we take into account that the words of Jesus are the expression of Himself, these last words bring before us the way in which He now presents Himself; and to look at them may be a real benefit to us. The effect should be that our ears being opened to this [p. 226] appeal of the Lord, we should be careful and jealous lest anything should hinder our answering to it. “I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” is a beautiful utterance, but I do not think we ought to be content with beautiful utterances; we want to know the reality and force of that which is spoken — what it is to have Jesus sup with us and we with Him.
We will now consider His last words in John 19. It is plain that they are connected with the close of His pathway on earth. He was on the point of departure, and the word we get in that connection is, “It is finished”. Christ had been here for the will of God, to accomplish redemption. He “was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death ... that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man”. It is perfectly true that man was tested by the presence of the Son of God on His road to the cross; but the real purpose of the coming of the Son of God was to accomplish redemption; there is abundance of witness in the Old Testament to this. In death Christ bore the judgment of God that lay upon man. He became the victim, the Lamb, foreordained before the foundation of the world. What it really meant was that, in Christ, God Himself came to take up the liability under which man lay under His judgment; it had been impossible otherwise for a creature to be saved. You cannot conceive a greater expression of the love of God. In the death of Christ the world system came to an end for God. The apostle Paul says, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”. It is evident from that passage that for God the world system had come to an end in the cross of Christ. The Lord says, “It is finished”. He had come down to accomplish the will of God; and all was finished, but the world had exercised its own judgment on [p. 227] Christ; and, on the other hand, all the world system was judged in the death of Christ. The scarlet, the cedar wood, and the hyssop — all, from the most distinguished to the most contemptible; from the highest to the lowest, was cast into the burning. This world in all its greatness and all its littleness came to an end in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what remained was the blood and the water. “One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water”. It is an amazing expression of divine grace, that in the death of Christ, where the world system came to an end before God, there the blood and the water flowed out — the blood to expiate guilt and the water to cleanse from the contamination of the world. A christian who is clear of the judgment of God by the death of Christ is as liable to death as before, but not as the judgment of God. Death is your servant, to sever you from the world and to take you into the presence of the Lord. “All things are yours, whether ... life, or death”. As to the water, the point is that we become identified in mind with the death of Christ; our minds are in accord with His death. Hence it is we are cleansed from the contamination of the world. If my mind is in accord with the death of Christ with regard to sin, I cease in mind to live in the scene in which sin is dominant. I reckon myself to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. The death of Christ not only provided the blood to expiate, but the water to cleanse. The world system came to an end for God; it is no longer the scene of divine dealings. Most of us here can testify to the efficacy of the blood and water. We are clear of this world’s judgment and of its contamination. Death with Christ is not a thing to be avoided, for there is great gain in the mind of the believer being in accord with that death. Hence it is we have the value of the water.
Now I come to the positive side; and in this [p. 228] connection I read Revelation 3: 14 and 20: “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.... Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”. In the address to this church, the Lord presents Himself in an aspect connected with the world to come. That world is going to supersede the existing world in which man is glorified, and which is characterised by lust and pride. There is a remarkable warning in 2 Kings 21, referring specially to Jerusalem: “And I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down”. So also will it be with this present world system. The fact of its being christianised will not alter this. Whatever the world may appear on the surface; the principles that lie underneath are: “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”; it is a scene where man is glorified. In the world to come there will be no room for the pride and arrogance of man. All that is going to be set aside; that day will be marked by what Christ was when here: He was meek and lowly in heart. When He comes again He comes to give character to everything, and there will be no room for what is not according to Christ.
In the opening of this address the Lord presents Himself in an aspect which does not properly refer to the church, but to the world to come — that is, He is the Amen. What I understand by that is He is the confirmation of all the promises of God, and all the promises of God have reference to the world to come. He is the faithful and true witness, in contrast to Israel and the church. He witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate; and He is the beginning of the creation of God; of all that is created, in which God will rest. Christ is the real outset of it, and He is not [p. 229] only the beginning, but the end; we want to entertain the thought of Christ in that way. I have spoken of the last words of Christ in connection with this world; all He had to say was that the will of God was finished, and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. Now we have Christ introduced in an entirely different light and in the strongest contrast, not as bringing to an end, but as Himself the beginning of the creation of God — the living One, that which He is now. The Lord Jesus presents Himself here in all His greatness with regard to the world to come; the universe of bliss, in which God and not man will be glorified, and in which all things will be put under the feet of the Son of man. He is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. It is wonderful to have Christ presented to us in that light. I wonder if we have all apprehended Him thus? You want to take into account the world to come. Christ is not recognised as the faithful and true witness by this world. He has said, “Now is the judgment of this world”; but He is seen as the faithful and true witness in the world to come, of which He is the blessed Sun of righteousness; it is in connection with that He thus speaks of Himself. But here the Lord is speaking to the church, and this brings before us a terrible consideration, that not only has the world rejected Christ, but the very church that was established in connection with Christ risen has proved unfaithful. The princes of this world crucified the Lord of glory, and the church that was set up here to witness to Him has turned out an unfaithful witness; and what marks it at the close of its history is entire indifference to Christ — the greatest self-possession and self-competency. “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”, and at the same time the greatest indifference to Christ! Take the Rationalist of the present day. He is rich in the sense of knowledge and acquirements, he [p. 230] would possibly tell you that he knows more than the apostles; yet there is total indifference in regard to Christ. Such do not reject His name any more than the Papists — they all pose as part of christendom; but as to Christ personally and to His interests as Bridegroom they are indifferent. Whatever it be, even Scripture itself is maintained to be subject to the investigation of man’s mind. The authority of Scripture is thus undermined, and this is the greatest evil that can be; all this is conveyed in the expression, “rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”.
The last word of Christ to the church is very remarkable. It is surprising that whilst Christ recognises such a state of things as existing, He is content to wait upon it in patience. He will not identify Himself with it, but in patience and grace He waits upon it, and calls attention to Himself: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”. That is wonderful! He who is the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, says He will come in and sup with me, and I with Him. What I understand by it is that He will sympathise with me in my things, and lead me into the communion of His things; and the practical result is that I gain the most blessed intimate acquaintance with Christ Himself. Orthodoxy is not the real answer to the existing state of things; the real answer is Christ Himself, and what we want is attachment of heart to Him, and the sense of His grace and patience in waiting on such a state of things as is depicted here, as prepared to come into anyone who will open the door. When the Lord was upon earth He supped with His disciples; they were all familiar with Him, John even lying in His bosom. We see the expression of this in John 13. There is nothing to be more appreciated than the [p. 231] grace of Christ; not only that He will sympathise in the difficulties and conflict down here, but will lead us into the communion of His things, so that we may enter into the interests of Christ as Bridegroom. We ought to be mourning the absence of the Bridegroom; we ought to be afflicted in His absence; but He knows how to comfort those who are afflicted in the sense of His absence.
Great as Christ is, He attends upon such a state of things as is described here; and if we have opened the door, we know something of His tenderness, sympathy, and consideration on the one hand, and on the other we have understanding of His interests, and this is a great preparation to fidelity to Him down here. It is a great reality, and available to every one of us.
It is not Christ speaking here in the circumstances in which He spoke in John 19, but as the living One, setting Himself forward as He will be in relation to the world to come, when He comes again in glory. Nothing can be more dreadful on the part of His people than indifference to Christ. We want to get rid of anything that stands in the way of our answering to His appeal.
Now just a word or two in regard to the appeal in the last chapter. “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”. In this passage we have the Lord presenting Himself again in relation to the world to come. “The root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” is not the relation in which Christ stands to the present world. “The bright and morning star” — that is the harbinger of the day when the Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in His wings; and though we may get a [p. 232] present gain from all this, it is the aspect in which the Lord stands in relation to the world to come.
The answer is, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come”; that is normal. Then, “Let him that heareth say, Come”. Every right-minded christian wants the Bridegroom to come; all are earnest for the Bridegroom to come and take up that which belongs to Him on earth.
“And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”. It is the last word of Christ, and a lovely word it is. How often has one been affected by that appeal; how many converted by it! It is a most pathetic appeal — to take the very best thing that even Christ Himself can give. He died in order to be able to communicate the gift of living water to man, and His last appeal to man is to take it freely.
The simple impression I desire to make is of the wonderful way Christ is attendant on the present state of things. If it is the last phase of the church’s history on earth, He presents Himself to it in the most extraordinarily gracious way; this comes out in His word to Laodicea and His word here. Ought He not to engage the affections of His people’s hearts? Ought anything to come in between our hearts and Him? He is the One to be the honoured guest in the hearts of His saints, to dwell there. Think of Christ at this moment! He stands at the door, and knocks; it is His last attitude. May every heart be touched by these appeals of Christ, that He may be the supreme delight of our hearts, that we may not care to have any adornment but Christ. We want to be adorned with His graces, and the way to be thus adorned is by having Him dwelling in our hearts by faith. May we be thus adorned in the eye of God and man.