THE GREATNESS OF THE ASSEMBLY
J A Gardiner
I would like to say something, beloved, about the greatness of the assembly and her knowledge of what is suitable to Christ. No matter what the occasion, she knows exactly what is suitable to Him. I have been impressed with this, that she “has made herself ready”. You might have thought that some reference might be made to the Spirit as helping her to get ready, but that is not mentioned here. The marriage of the Lamb is a very august situation. The Lamb is very prominent in Revelation, and our hearts are moved with holy emotion as we think of Christ as the Lamb, and of what He has endured in His sufferings. He is going to take away the sin of the world in this book. There is a great challenge as to who would be worthy to open the book in chapter 5, and no one is found able to do it; but the elders know who can, because they have experience and they know that the Lion which is of the tribe of Judah is able to do it. John felt it very much; he was weeping, and they said, “Do not weep. Behold, the lion which is of the tribe of Juda…has overcome so as to open the book”, Rev.5:5. Then John saw the throne in the midst in heaven and in the midst of the throne there was “a Lamb standing, as slain”, Rev.5:6. How affecting that is, beloved; that is the Lord Jesus. In kingly power, He is going to exercise His authority in opening the book and cleansing this whole world. It is very wonderful that that will happen, and we should have our spirits raised in the appreciation of what He is about to do.
Now this book is full of immense numbers, and it would be encouraging for us to think about them, because we are so accustomed to smallness and littleness. When the book is to be opened, there is a great response from the living creatures and the elders; there are “ten thousands of ten thousands”, Rev.5:11. Think of that! If you multiply that you get something like a hundred million. That is immense; that what is going to be in heaven before the Lord’s appearing, before the marriage of the Lamb takes place. Then “thousands of thousands”; that is millions. Can we apprehend the immensity of that? In chapter 7, you get a Gentile company that cannot be numbered (v.9). Think of the greatness of the population of heaven, the immensity of it. It is no longer “where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”, Matt.18:20. You come to chapter 14 and there are a hundred and forty-four thousand standing on mount Zion (v.1). When you come to measure the assembly, and if you measure it in miles, it is something like 1,150 by 1,150 by 1,150 miles. That is a cube composed of persons; and that is not all there will be, there is going to be much more. You begin to understand the immensity of the families that have the Father’s impress upon them. The assembly is the first of all the families, and I have a place in it, and you have a place in it, beloved. It should lift our spirits to consider the greatness of it, because we are members of the body of Christ, “the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all”, Eph.1:23.
So we should be greatly cheered, and yet almost in awe as we consider the immensity of the numbers, and the fact that the assembly is the first family. Then Revelation goes on to touch on the day of presentation; that is the marriage of the Lamb, when He is going to “present the assembly to himself glorious, having no spot, or wrinkle, or any of such things”, Eph.5:27. She has made herself ready; she knows what is suitable. It is “given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure”. There is nothing dull or drab about the assembly. Think of the brilliance, the purity, the shining that marks these persons. That is Christianity, beloved. Paul says, “I count myself happy, king Agrippa”, Acts 26:2. There was the brightness and shine of fine linen there, “that not only thou, but all who have heard me this day, should become such as I also am, except these bonds”, Acts 26:29. That is a touch of fine linen, “fine linen, bright and pure; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints”. Now “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready”. I think that it relates to fulfilled responsibility and bears on our local meetings. We should ask ourselves; do we know what is suitable for the local assembly? Are we aware of the elevation that is proper to the assembly? As a divine Person, the Holy Spirit of God dwells in the assembly, and consequently how we move, what we say, how we dress, our whole being is to be affected by the greatness of the place that we have in the assembly as members of the body of Christ.
In chapter 21, she is in her dress. At the beginning of the chapter she is “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (v.2); that is after a thousand years. She is not jaded, she is not worn; she comes down out of the heaven from God. We should think about her being in heaven with God. Mr Darby’s hymn says, ‘There no stranger-God shall meet thee – Stranger thou in courts above!”, (Hymn 76). Surely not! The door is open in heaven in chapter 4, and then the invitation to John is, “Come up here” (v.1). That invitation stands. Immediately he became in the Spirit and he is caught up to heaven. Heaven is a very interesting place. I am sure we would all like to know more about it and what proceeds in it. Our brother has been speaking about how what is earthly jades us, and we lose our sharpness and shine, and consequently we need to have our feet washed. But here after a thousand years, the holy city is fresh and vital, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”. The Spirit of God would raise our thoughts and apprehension about the greatness of what the assembly is in her links with Christ, and our place in relation to it as members of the body of Christ. The Head is in heaven but the body is here; the Lord Jesus calls it “me” to Saul of Tarsus, “why dost thou persecute me?” Acts 9:4.
Now in verses 9 through to 14 of chapter 21, the assembly is seen “coming down out of the heaven from God” as a responsible vessel, but in verses 1 to 4 it is new Jerusalem. I think “new Jerusalem” stands related to an area of things where responsibility will not pertain. It has often been said that there is no reference to the Lamb in the early part of chapter 21 because the mediatorial situation is not in view, it is God who is all in all; but in this section it is mediatorial. Think of the place the assembly has nearest to deity as united to Christ, think of her creature perfection. She has made herself ready; she comes down in divine administration, and she is a help-mate suitable to her Head. She is radiant; she has the glory of God. That is the fulness of the revelation of God, and the glory of God is the manifestation of His love. She is coming down in the enjoyment and blessedness of the divine nature. That is what the numeral twelve has in mind; that she is going to do things for God. It is a very wonderful consideration, and we do well to drink into the blessedness of it and to seek to grow in our appreciation of what is suitable to Christ in a refined way, so that righteousness and holiness are with us, not in a demanding way but in appreciation of what we find in Him.
There is much more; the tree of life, the fruits, every month yielding its fruits, and then “the leaves of the tree for healing of the nations”, Rev.22:2. The assembly has to do with all these things. Much will have to be done at the commencement of the thousand years of Christ’s reign. The nations will all come under the benign influence of Christ and the assembly. May we be under that influence increasingly, and may we move in the elevation and dignity that is proper to it, for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Aberdeen
12 March 2013