THE LAST DAYS
[p. 209] THE LAST DAYS
I have read these two scriptures because I think it must affect every heart to think that our Lord presents Himself in a distinct aspect. That is what you get in the epistles to the seven churches. How departed they must have been when it was necessary to come before them in a special aspect! He tells us the aspect in which He will be up to the close. There is immense grace in it. His aspect ought to be known to each of us. It is properly the history of the soul in its journey homewards. I ought to know Him in a distinct aspect, but I cannot know Him unless I am near Him. Certainly He is always thinking of me, as He says, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”. He has gone all the way; He is at the top, and He can say: I have travelled all the road, I know every circumstance, I have the grace suited for every circumstance; as you are near Me, you shall know it, you shall find I am that to you. So you are supported in it. He was thus with the disciples in the ship in the storm, and in the special aspect suited for them; but they were not affected by His aspect; He was asleep, and they were in fear. They awoke Him, and He hushed the storm, and there was a great calm. It is a great thing to have seen the Lord in a distinct aspect.
Independency is acting without Him. Thyatira (Romanism) is independency; the Head set aside, and the bringing in of a new vicar: while maintaining outward unity, Christ did not get His place. Now I read this verse 7 that we might see two things; if I look at Philadelphia I see He is the Holy and the True, and He has the key of David. That is, character and power. I behold Him in that aspect and I [p. 210] progress. In verse 11 there is another thing: “Behold I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown”. There is the terrible power of opposition to deprive us of the very best thing we have. We often forget the relentless nature of the foe. If you look at the history of God’s people it surprises you. Six hundred thousand left Egypt, only two got into the land! Why? Because of the unceasing, unremitting opposition of the foe. He never ceases his opposition to us, as here on earth for Christ; and if we are not true to Him, we cannot maintain the wonderful character that belongs to us as heavenly men. If you are not good at school, the house of God, you are not good at home, the body of Christ. This is the school-room, this is the actual scene of all the trial; here we are prepared; here we are on probation, in a certain way.
It is an immense cheer to be looking at the Lord in the aspect He presents Himself to Philadelphia. He is holy, He is true, He has the key of David; then as to the enemy, He says, Take care that no one takes your crown! Why does He say that? Because of the adversary. How many have I seen drop off! A person does not give up what he begins with; it is not the bottom round of the ladder that the enemy seeks to deprive us of, but the top. If you want to dislodge a man from a ladder, you would strike his hands. It is what you have your hands on that the enemy attacks. Therefore the word is, “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no one take thy crown”. What you would like to be now, you shall be by-and-by. What would you like to be? A pillar in the temple. We have to suffer now. The moment you lay hold of a truth, what will be the consequence? The enemy will come; and what will you do? Hold fast what you have. Let Satan have what he wants to hold you by, something of this world; give it to him, and he will not trouble you. You cannot get into the kingdom of God without much tribulation. “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”. If you give up the thing by which Satan can act upon you, you have done with it. I say, is that what you are going to hold me by? Well, then, have it: I give it up. We are not sensible at times that the possession of fresh truth necessarily awakens a new energy of the enemy. Go from Egypt to Canaan, and see what you have to encounter and where you are. In Egypt, Pharaoh is against you; in the wilderness Amalek; outside the wilderness, Balaam; in the land, the seven nations. If you turn back in the wilderness you go to Egypt; if you turn from God in Canaan, you go to Babylon; not to the world of judgment, but to the world of luxury.
Thank God, I have this aspect of the Lord as He presents Himself to Philadelphia; I am looking at Him who gives me character and power. Why did I read the other aspect? Because it is preservative. “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”. It is more what He is personally, not what He is conferring; He stands as it were like a pillar, “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God”. When I look at Him in that aspect, I say, there are terrible times coming, a terrible energy at work. In this aspect He preserves me.
The last four churches go down to the end. The history is simple enough. In Thyatira they gave up the Head, and put a man in the place of Christ, and consequently the Holy Spirit was denied. In Sardis (Protestantism) they got back to the Saviour, but not to the church. In Philadelphia it is: “Thou hast kept my word and hast not denied my name”. I am perfectly certain the Laodicean wave is rising around. How am I preserved? By the aspect of that blessed One. My eye rests upon Him, He is “the Amen,
the faithful and true witness”, the One who set forth God here; who glorified God here; the heavenly colour came out in every step and movement down here: now He has gone up into glory, that He may demonstrate it further by His members here. Oh, that all the members might come out in that beautiful heavenly colour which He Himself displayed! He can give it if the heart is in company with Himself. What sustains me? I am not looking at the waters around me but at Himself, “the faithful and true witness”. What is the consequence? As the heart is taken up with Him in this aspect, I get the effect of it and am thus preserved from the invasion, which is, such a confidence in man’s resources in Christian things, that Christ is outside.
I must digress for a moment. Turn to Psalm 73. I look at this psalm because it is a great thing to see what is the effect of being in His presence. I cannot be there but without a spot. I do not say He is not always with me, but I could not be in His presence with a spot. In His presence I am in the holiest. There are two conditions of His presence, holiness and glory. Heaven is a place, that I find in Ephesians. In Hebrews I find the holiest; in Corinthians glory; heaven in Ephesians. The tabernacle was brought down to be the companion of Israel in their travels. What a wonderful thing to have the presence of God as I walk down here! They did not come to the place until they got to Canaan, but they had the presence of God all along the road. In Hebrews we are come to “the holiest of all”. We can never lose our place there, but we are not always enjoying it. What is the effect of being in His presence? I see four distinct effects that flow from His presence in Psalm 73. At first, the Psalmist is occupied with everything in relation to himself; but in the sanctuary he is occupied with everything in relation to God. It is entirely God there. What does he say about himself then? “I was as a beast before thee”. You are very unhappy, then? Not at all. I never am so sure that I am an object to God: “Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand”. I never was so happy; “continually with thee”. Then verse 25. God is my Object: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee”. But this is a digression.
I just add a few words more as to the effect of His company. The idea in Christendom is that a priest is to come between us and God. The true idea of the priesthood of Christ is that He has gone up to the top; the priest is there; He is there for us, He has entered “into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us”. He says, as it were, I know the whole road, and I will support you. I am not looking so much for help, as for the effect of His company. Peter and the other disciples left their ship, their fish, and everything, for His company. What foolish people, some might have said, to leave all for the company of that poor Man! Did you ever find out that company is better than property? Mark the words of that same man, Peter: “Lo, we have left all and followed thee!” Yes, says the Lord, you have done very well by it: “Manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting”.
How often one has longed to know something more of His company! How one has felt, if I but knew Him as Mary did in another day! Martha gets instruction; we all get that, for He neglects none of us; but she did not get His company; company is what solaces the heart.
I do not dwell more upon that, but I would just call your attention to another aspect in which He presents Himself: “I Jesus have sent mine angel to [p. 214] testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star”, Revelation 22: 16. That is not at this minute only, but when this book was closed. When John’s ministry came to an end, the Lord could come from that hour. He was “the bright and morning star” eighteen hundred years ago. What is the effect upon the bride of this aspect of Christ? She says, “Come!” Who is the bride? It is not an individual, evidently; it is characteristic. It is all saints, though all may not be up to it. “The morning star” is spoken of in Thyatira; “bright” is added here. Now the bride is the one who really has a heart for Him. It is not that the coming of the Lord is to settle everything. You ought to be settled for it. Can you bid a person to come if you are not ready for him? No doubt we shall all be carried out of this scene, but we shall receive what we have done in it. You do not desire a person to come if you are not fit for him. It is the Holy Spirit, who is here to testify for Christ, who says, “Come”, and the bride, the one whose heart is set upon Him, whose company is the solace of her life, for her heart is toward Him, she says, “Come”. How can this be after all those terrible scenes in chapters 2 and 3? That is the blessed thing. The Lord will have a company to meet Him, to delight in His presence. It is true of all saints, therefore the energy goes out to awaken all: “Let him that heareth say, Come”. I am looking for Him to come, and I am looking for others to say, “Come”. Like a faithful wife, I say, He is coming home, we must have all in order today. The bride casts her eye round to have everything in readiness for His coming. “The bright and morning star” produces that effect. If I see one not saying, “Come”, I say, You say “Come”, too. Then I become evangelical, desiring every one to be ready for Him.
[p. 215] The Lord grant that our hearts, in the midst of confusion and dissensions around, may know Himself in a distinct aspect, and may so rest upon Him in the aspect in which His grace presents Himself to us, that we may know the practical effect of it. It is an immense comfort.