LIFE IN THE FACE OF APOSTASY (4)

^[p. 29] LIFE IN THE FACE OF APOSTASY (4)

Revelation 20: 4 - 6; Revelation 22:1 - 5; Revelation 22:14; Revelation 22:16,17

JT We closed our meeting this morning with the thought of the victory which was given to the two witnesses, in that “the spirit of life from God came into them”. They had been called to go up into heaven, and they went up in the presence of their enemies. It was a public victory. The assembly goes up to heaven secretly; our victory will only be apparent when Christ is manifested in glory: then we shall be manifested with Him. All the families who have part in heavenly glory are seen in the passage we have just read in chapter 20: “They lived and reigned with the Christ a thousand years”. It will be remarked that the thought of life comes before that of reigning. To live with Christ is greater than to reign with Him.

“I saw thrones; and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them”. No allusion is made as to whose these thrones were. But it mentions later “the souls of those beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of God; and those who had not done homage to the beast ...”. They all have part in the first resurrection. Those spoken of in the first part of this verse include the assembly, and they are raised before those named in the second part; the latter, who suffered under the beast, are not omitted in the first resurrection. Both the one and the other have part in the first resurrection.

HD'AC Such are blessed and holy. It is more blessed to live with Christ than to reign with Him, did you say?

JT Living with Christ comes before reigning with Him. Reigning indicates having a public place of victory. The fact that they lived and reigned with the Christ a thousand years does not mean that their life will cease after the thousand years. These verses are a ^[p. 30] development of what we have in chapter 11. The two witnesses are called up to heaven; they go up there, but they are not yet seen living and reigning with Christ. To live and reign with Christ a thousand years is the public and victorious manifestation of the saints.

PGB Would you open up a little what it means to live with the Christ?

JT Those who love the Lord Jesus attach value to the word ‘with’. The demoniac in Luke 8, once he was healed, desired “to be with him”; but the Lord sent him away and told him to return to his house and bear witness to all that God had done for him. That is our position now. We are to remain where we have dishonoured God, in order to bear witness to Him. Soon, we shall be with the Lord, to live with Him, and reign with Him.

ThD How are we to understand: “Judgment was given to them”? It says that all judgment is given to the Son.

JT That is the position of the victorious saints. “Do ye not know that we shall judge angels?” 1 Corinthians 6:3 The Lord had said to the apostles, “Ye ... shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” Matthew 19:28. And others are spoken of who will have to administer five cities or ten cities, according to their faithfulness. The present time, the time of the Lord’s absence, is the period of testimony. The millennial dispensation is that of manifestation in public victory, living and reigning with Christ. “Judgment was given to them”. All the glorified saints are in the Lord’s hand, and He disposes of them. This verse is not the eternal state when God will dwell with men, but rather the period when God will manifest publicly the victory of Christ. Each of us will have his own distinction, and the light in us is reflected at the present time; if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.

Rem Six times it says that the period of the reign is a thousand years.

^[p. 31] Rem It is the time appointed by God for the manifestation of the glory of Christ, the grand display of the day to come.

JT It is like the seventh day of this world’s history. “They shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years”. Life will be seen in its full fruitfulness and in all its glory. It speaks in Romans 5 of those who reign in life by One, Jesus Christ. It will be seen then that we all depend on Him for our life. This thought should have the effect of causing us to accept a small place down here, in obscurity and suffering. Peter asked the Lord: “Behold, we have left all things and have followed thee; what then shall happen to us?” The Lord answers: “Every one who has left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit life eternal”, Matthew 19: 27 and 29. We are very slow to accept the fulness of what the Spirit says, when He speaks to us of the glories of the world to come. The period of a thousand years is a fairly long time; it is not eternity, but a fairly long time.

Rem It is the longest period in contrast with a day.

Ques Are the priests only for the thousand years?

JT It is an official kingdom. The idea of priesthood means that they are qualified to take up the things of God and His interests. They are priests of God and of the Christ.

Ques Does that support the thought of the worship of God and of Christ?

JT The idea is rather that God can have confidence in them. The position of Aaron and his sons was to keep the charge of Jehovah. They were to draw near to God; they attended to the law, and it says that the priest’s lips should keep knowledge. The Lord Himself sits as Priest upon His throne, and we shall be thus linked with Him in the millennial reign. It is important to remember that it is a period that surpasses in length ^[p. 32] the life of the oldest man before the flood. It is simply the idea of a time sufficient for what God has in hand. We live in man’s day; that will be the day of “our Lord and of his Christ”. The devil will be set aside for a thousand years; there will be no obstacle, no hindrance to the manifestation by God of the glory of Christ. It says that Satan will be bound for a thousand years (verse 2). In every previous dispensation Satan has had liberty. But in that dispensation he is bound, and God is free to display during a thousand years the great results of the death of Christ.

HD'AC That will be a wonderful period, for Christ will fill the whole scene with His thoughts and the thoughts of God every day. The nations have been fed for a long time on the thoughts of men; but for a thousand years they will have the thoughts of Christ. Now the thoughts of Christ will not pass away.

JT The thoughts of Christ will be disseminated by means of the saints. The epistle to the Ephesians says that the assembly increases “to a holy temple in the Lord” Ephesians 2:21. Thus the thoughts of Christ will be seen in an intelligible and intelligent way by means of the members of His body. But if I do not lay hold on that now, how shall I be able to display it then?

HD'AC If instead of seeking to have the thoughts of Christ, I read the newspapers for example, I shall be incapable of any administration whatever.

JT You view this question very practically, Mr. C. It is a question of understanding the thoughts of God; the elders can explain them. The saints in the millennial day will be used to interpret the thoughts of God to the nations. How sad it would be if someone came to you for an explanation, and you answered: I do not know! There is nothing of that with the elders; they always know. Those named in the first part of verse 4 are qualified to receive judgment. If we understood better what is soon going to be manifested, we should judge ourselves and our whole life would be changed.

OT “They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and they that turn the many to righteousness as the stars, for ever and ever”, Daniel 12: 3. Will that be the portion of the saints at that moment?

JT That is a little different from what we have here. It is a question of the wise, a class of which we spoke a little yesterday evening, those who understand the psalms entitled “Instruction”, while here it speaks of those who have been “beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of God”.

Rem In Daniel 7, no one is seen sitting upon the thrones. But here it says who they are who are sitting upon them.

JT I believe it is high time to prepare for the great display. How shall we shine in that display? Each one of us will be able to consider the Lord Jesus, and say: It is my joy to live in association with Him. Then there is another thing: it speaks of those who had not done homage to the beast nor to his image, and who had not received the mark on their forehead and hand. These things are mentioned as being in their favour.

Rem Our measure of faithfulness in the present day will be our measure in the glory.

JT Just so.

Rem The Lord will honour His own in the measure in which they honour Him today.

PGB Why does the beast put his mark on their forehead and on their hand?

JT The one who has the mark on his forehead shows that he is devoted intelligently to the thing. The mark on the hand indicates that he is going to do all he can in relation to this thing.

HD'AC At the present time, everything in the world is preparing for the coming of the great man of tomorrow, whom everyone is awaiting, except the saints.

Rem You mean the antichrist.

JT He will be great according to this world. We ^[p. 34] understand how eager the enemy will be to have those beheaded who do not acknowledge him. But it is remarkable to see how God will set aside all that is opposed to the manifestation of the glory of Christ. Satan will be bound, and the rest of the dead will not live until the thousand years are completed. There will be a great influence that will restrain evil. “They shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years”. They will be persons in sympathy with all those who are on earth. In chapter 16: 8, 9, it speaks of a great heat that burns men, but in chapter 20 the priests are sympathetic persons.

Chapter 22 shows, under the symbol of a river, how life will prevail in the day to come (verses 1, 2). Life is continuous, in the river which represents the influence of life. It is very touching to think that we ourselves shall be used in this blessed service. It is very practical. There will be perfect order: there will be a street, only one street. Life will prevail; the influence of the river will extend everywhere. Never defiled, it will be bright as crystal. The effect of all this should be to make us transparent in our relations with one another. We are tested as to the way we behave the one to the other now.

Rem The river is already flowing now (”out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” John 7:38).

Rem The twelve fruits of the tree point to abundance and variety.

JT And the leaves of the tree are for healing of the nations: they go to the ends of the earth in the service of God. “And no curse shall be any more; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face; and his name is on their foreheads. And night shall not be any more, and no need of a lamp, and light of the sun; for the Lord God shall shine upon them, and they shall reign to the ages of ages”. We pass from the millennial reign to the ages of ages.

^[p. 35] Ques Can it be said that all the holy principles of the millennium enter into eternity?

JT The thing is continuous “to the ages of ages”. We read in chapter 21: “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”. That is what the assembly is to be eternally, “adorned for her husband”. In verse 10, John was carried away in the Spirit and set on a great and high mountain, and he was shown the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God. That is the bride, the Lamb’s wife, the wife of the One who suffered (verse 9), while what she is eternally is indicated at the beginning of this chapter 21, “a bride adorned for her husband”.

Rem She is not pointed out as “the Lamb’s wife” at the beginning of the chapter.

JT The thought of the Lamb’s wife is not carried into eternity; it is simply a matter of what is millennial. The expression “for her husband” indicates the eternal relation. In her millennial glory, “the Lamb’s wife” is the great vessel of light for all.

ThD In the gospel it says that “he will ... make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them” Luke 12:37. Here “his servants shall serve him”.

JT It is to indicate the greatness of the vessel of administration, what God will be for the universe. For that, God needs servants. There will be no unfaithfulness in the service: “His servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face; and his name is on their foreheads”. Verse 17 brings out the beauty of the golden chain that encircles this book: “He that will, let him take the water of life freely”. The water of life is at the disposal of all.

Rem Verses 18 and 19 have a very solemn voice to the modernists. Many things have been added to and taken from what God has written.

^[p. 36] Rem You extend that to the whole of Scripture, do you not?

JT It says in Proverbs 30, “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar” Proverbs 30:6, and all liars have their part without.