PREPAREDNESS
[p. 448] PREPAREDNESS
I have before me to speak about preparedness, and I have selected these two verses to begin with because they show that the work of the Spirit in the assembly has brought about this state in her. She has made herself ready, it is said; not that she is making herself ready, but she has done it. This is in keeping with John’s presentation of the truth, who shows that certain assured results accrue from the Spirit’s work. Whatever may have come in since Pentecost, the work of the Spirit asserts itself at the end. That is, what is required is available. The Lamb’s wife, the marriage time having come, has made herself ready. The work is completed, and the Lord, having this in mind, no doubt by way of contrast, said to Sardis, “I have not found thy works complete before my God”.
They may have appeared to have been complete before men; careful organisation and establishment of state churches and confessions of faith may have seemed to indicate a certain completeness, that certain finished products were there, but the Lord says, “I have not found thy works complete before my God”. It is what is before God that is taken into account, so it all the more enhances what is said here of the Lamb’s wife, that she has made herself ready. The thing is done, and so I would refer for a moment, before turning to other scriptures to elucidate what I have to say, to the fact that in the apostle Paul we have suggestions by the way, so that the saints should be kept on the move in regard to readiness.
Firstly, I would refer to a passage in the first letter to Corinth, the last chapter, in which in speaking of collections, Paul directs that each should lay [p. 449] by at home as God prospered him, “that there may be no collections when I come” 1 Corinthians 16:2; the thing should be all ready. That is, suggestions of that kind check in us our disposition to procrastinate in regard to righteous obligations. They remind us, like signposts, that a great coming is imminent, a coming of One greater than Paul, and that we should be ready. So he says, “that there may be no collections when I come”. It would be a poor thing to be taking up a collection when Paul was present. So the Lord will look for fulfilled obligations when He comes.
In writing to Timothy the apostle refers to his coming: “These things I write to thee”, he says, “but if I delay in order that thou mayest know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house”, 1 Timothy 3:14 - 15. That surely is an important word for us all. And he says further to Timothy, “Till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine”, 1 Timothy 4:13. Not when I come, but till I come. I mention this because they are, as I said, reminders by the way in the great apostle that the saints should be in continuous readiness, and if your behaviour in the house is not right you will not be ready. And if you do not read you will not be ready. “Give attendance”, he says, “to reading”. There is great neglect of reading and hence a very unsuitable state in the saints. Reading here, no doubt, refers to service among the saints, coupled with exhortation and doctrine.
Well now, having mentioned that as regards the apostle, I turn to a scripture that will perhaps lead us to what I want to come to, if the Lord help me, in Colossians and Ephesians. These epistles afford the most delightful areas for ministry, as for the saints, but I want to turn now for the moment to the prophet Hosea, chapter 11. “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt”. I want to show from this prophet how God leads on His people with a view to the great result that He has in mind. God’s leading and education are parallel to our exercises, with a view to readiness, and what I may remark in regard to that is that God announces at the outset what He has in His mind. In Ephesians we read that He has marked us out for adoption beforehand; before the foundation of the world He marked us out, it says, for adoption through Jesus Christ, that we should be before Him holy and without blame. Mark you! “Without blame ... in love ... he has taken us into favour in the Beloved”, Ephesians 1: 4 - 6. That is His thought.
In regard to Israel, in the word to Pharaoh through Moses, he says, “Israel is my son, my firstborn; let my son go that he may serve me”, Exodus 4:22. That was His thought. All His subsequent dealings were to reach this thought. But when the historical side is presented we have the child before the son. “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt”, Hosea 11:1. I am not employing the passage in the way it is used in Matthew, as it refers to Christ there. In the way I speak of it, “out of Egypt have I called my son”, is potential. That is, it implies the possibility that was there. So in calling us out of Egypt God thinks of His ideal. He is not simply resting in what he finds immediately in us. He is resting (and He can only rest permanently thus) in His own ideal. He cannot rest as to us in anything less than that, and in any dealings of His with us, or any ways of ours, He will never be diverted from it. It is the potentiality of the person that God has in His mind, and I need not add that the potentiality that is in the person depends on God Himself, for He can effect, and does effect, beloved, His ideal, all things being possible with Him.
God says, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him”. He referred to the freshness that marked the early movements of the people; and may I inquire, especially from young people here, as to how much [p. 451] of that spiritual freshness comes under God’s eye in you? He not only loves you because of what you are in His ideal, in His purpose, but He loves you because of what you are now, as born of Him, and starting out in your spiritual career.
The apostle Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, says, “We were willing to have imparted unto you ... our own souls because you were dear unto us”, 1 Thessalonians 2:8. The Thessalonians presented the freshness of the child. They were a lovely company. The apostle had been with them three weeks. He had been eighteen months with the Corinthians, and they became somewhat naughty for a while. The potentiality I have spoken of was there, however, thank God! because he calls them “babes in Christ”, 1 Corinthians 3:1. They were carnal, but still babes in Christ. He does not speak to the Thessalonians thus; they were young believers, but they were growing. He says, The assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father. What dignity! Believers of a few weeks, but, oh, how they developed and exhibited that loveliness of childhood — energy and freshness. Indeed he says, “Ye became our imitators and of the Lord” 1 Thessalonians 1:6; and further, “ye had become beloved of us”, 1 Thessalonians 2:8.
You may say, Well, I never follow men. That is not true of any of us. Young believers, normally, follow those through whom the light comes to them. But if the vessel through whom the light is given is spiritual, he will direct his converts to the true Model. “Ye became followers of us”, the apostle says, “and of the Lord”. You may think it should be that they became followers of the Lord and of the apostle, but that would be declension. They became followers of Paul, the one through whom the light came to them, and then of the Lord. The line is upward. If it were the other way it would be declension. Many have started out right, following the Lord, but they quickly turned aside and followed others.
[p. 452] Indeed, it is the snare of young people to become followers of men, as you will find in the epistle of John. In writing to the grades in the family, there is more said by the apostle to the “little children”, than is said to the young men and the fathers, and the burden of what he has to say to them is to beware of antichrists. It is all well if you are following those who love the Lord. They will soon put you into touch with the Lord. They have no pride in your following them. They delight to aid you to follow Christ, but the antichrists are the dangerous ones. There are many of them, John says, even now.
Well now, the Thessalonians did not follow them. They followed their spiritual father, and the apostle says, “We were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear to us”, 1 Thessalonians 2:8. Further, “for what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming”, 1 Thessalonians 2:19. This is a blessed reflection of what appeared in the wilderness with Israel. You recall how it is said of Jehovah that He nursed them in the desert for forty years. Indeed He calls their attention to it Himself in Deuteronomy. He had borne them as a man bears his own son during all those years in the desert. They were nurtured, their murmurings were borne with; they were carried as a father carries his own son, and so the apostle says, “We were gentle among you as a nurse cherishes her own children”, 1 Thessalonians 2:7. They were lovely children; as I said, they exhibited the freshness and vigour of spiritual childhood; but, although children, in that way, they had God’s Son before them. He says, “Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven”, 1 Thessalonians 1:9. They had the Ideal, and they were waiting for Him.
And then He says, “I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms”, Hosea 11:3. We who are parents [p. 453] know what that means; how we delight when the little ones begin to toddle along with the support we can give them in their arms. And then He says, “I drew them with cords of a Man”, Hosea 11:4. You see there is progress. Who is that Man, beloved? Have you come to know Him? I believe the Man comes to light in the wilderness journey, at the waters of Marah. It says, the Lord showed Moses a tree. He had not seen it before. Many of us have not seen it, but when death is rolled in upon us, the necessity for it arises, and we see the Man. The wood is shown to Moses, and, as shown to him, it is cast into the waters. It is the Man who died for me; as the apostle says, “who loved me and gave himself for me” Galatians 2:20 — am I not to follow Him? I am drawn by the cords of a Man. So that in the first instance God, as it were, held them by their arms, and now the Lord Jesus, typically, comes into view as the One who died in love. Note: The apostle says, “who loved me”. You may ask, Why do you say that? It is because you wish to disregard the present love of Christ? No, it is because I wish you to know that the Lord knew and loved you two thousand years ago. That is what I mean by it. He says, He loved me. Think of that! Think of the Lord Jesus loving Saul of Tarsus when He gave Himself. “Who loved me”, he says, “and gave himself for me”.
That, I think, is seen at Marah. Can I not accept the discipline of God (that which His government rolls in upon me) in order that I may be brought into conformity to Christ, when I see that He loved me and gave Himself for me? Why did He give Himself for me? He wanted to have me. How have me — a naughty child? No, He wanted to have me a companion in sonship. He had no less thought than that for Saul of Tarsus and for me. If He loved me and gave Himself for me, it was that He [p. 454] might make a companion out of me; that there should be no disparity whatever between Him and me, so that I stand by His side in perfect correspondence. “I drew them”, God says, “with cords of a Man”. I think it is like the seventh of Romans. The Deliverer is the Husband. “Who shall deliver me?” “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord”, Romans 7:24 - 25. That is to say, the Man to whom I am to live — “that ye should be to another” Romans 7:4 — is the One who has delivered me. He has delivered me to have me in entire correspondence with Himself.
Let us then, beloved, not despise the discipline of the Lord. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth”, Hebrews 12:6. Mark that! It is, “whom he receiveth”. The receiving time has to come. Not only am I purposed for sonship, but I am received. The prodigal was received. As drawn I follow, and I am disciplined in love, so that I may be wholly fit in holiness, for the presence of God. And so Israel pursues the desert way. One could dwell on many things, but in result we have the prophetic reference: “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her Beloved?” Song of Songs 8:5 You see the feminine is introduced. Christ had become endeared to Israel, typically, in the wilderness. Like Moses, He keeps on and keeps on until we lean on Him. You learn to lean on Christ and now it is a question of coming up from the wilderness. Moses typifies the Lord in that way and so in Deuteronomy, as it were, he lets go her arm. When the presence of the Spirit of God is known in the soul definitely you can walk by yourself. Moses intimates plainly that he is not going to keep her arm until she goes in. She goes in herself, as it were. She goes in in the power of the Spirit. “As many are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”, Romans 8:14. It is not now Moses, the man of authority — withal, the man of love, but the man of authority.
[p. 455] When I reach sonship, beloved, it is not authority, but love. Of course, Christ is still leading, but it is as Joshua, not Moses; besides, the ark goes before, and so we are attracted in.
After Numbers 21 the Spirit, typically, marks the state of the believer, and it is in this connection he enters into Canaan.
“And see the Spirit’s power
Has ope’d the heavenly door,
Has brought me to that favoured hour”. (74:5)
Let me ask as to whether you have come to this? Whether you have come to know the Holy Spirit dwelling in you as a blessed living Person; withal the Spirit of God’s Son? Here it is not Moses’ arm exactly. I am not saying that the support of Christ is not continuous. I am speaking of a feature of the truth that is essential to us if we are to enter into Canaan. God says, “I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt” Jeremiah 31:32; but they were not taken by the hand and led into Canaan. They went in after the ark. That is to say, we go in by attraction, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And now I come to Colossians. God says, “Out of Egypt have I called my son”, Matthew 2:15 but the thought that God had in His mind in regard to the son was to bring him in and plant him in the mountain of His inheritance, in the place that He had prepared for Himself to dwell in. Hence, in entering into Canaan a certain dignity and maturity are in evidence; the Spirit is recognised as in the believer and giving character to him. Thus he enters in, at the same time, giving Christ His place as Head. In Deuteronomy Moses says, “Ye are the sons of Jehovah your God”, Deuteronomy 14:1. That is what you are. He sets them up in the dignity of the position before God; they are in the full light of the divine thought. In Deuteronomy Moses, as it were, says, Now you are going in, and I wish to set before you the manners that are becoming to you as in God’s land; and, more than that, I wish you to know the kind of food you are to eat. If I am to be in the presence of God, the kind of food that I eat is a most important feature. So in Deuteronomy 14 he prescribed the food. And there was to be no disfigurement of the countenance: the countenance upon which God looks. “Let me see thy countenance”, says the Bridegroom, Song of Songs 2:14. There is to be no disfigurement of the countenance into which He looks. Then the food you eat is to be such as will produce a wholly healthful appearance in the countenance, and for that I just for a moment dwell on Daniel. This is for the young people. He “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s meat”, Daniel 1:5.
There is very much of the defiling thing about today, dished out as food, and young people devour it. People will ask you if you have read this book, and that novel, if you have seen this play. They wish to know if you are sophisticated in the affairs of this world. But the Christian is apart from these things. He purposes in his heart not to be defiled by the king’s meat. The devil is the king of this world and he dishes up these filthy things and they produce a constitution wholly unfit for the people of God. Weakness among the saints, I believe, is very largely due to the food that some are eating. The prince of the eunuchs over Daniel had a command and it was urgent he should carry it out, but Daniel, it says, came into “favour and tender love” with him. What a remarkable thing! Think of how God helps us! And Daniel had his way and he had pulse, and his countenance, and those of his fellows, were fairer and fatter than all those that were brought before the king. The question of food is most essential if I am to be prepared to enter into the presence of the Lord; to be ready ...
And so, as I said, I come for a moment to Colossian [p. 457] I will just refer to the second chapter. The apostle says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” Colossians 2:6 — walk in Him. “Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiving”, Colossians 2:7. He speaks about philosophy and vain deceit. These things are to be put away. You do not need them, for, “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”, Colossians 2:9. It is an immense thing to get into our souls that we do not need anything outside of Christ. You do not need anything spiritually outside of Christ. And then he goes on to say, “Ye are complete in him who is the Head of all principality and power”, Colossians 2:10. We are thus independent of all else — the products of man’s mind, active in this world. But now we need to see that we are dignified for the new position over Jordan, and hence he says that we are circumcised in the circumcision of Christ, in the putting off of the body of the flesh — mark you! the totality of it, all that I am, or have been, is obliterated in the circumcision of Christ. I enter the land in that light. I am in correspondence with Christ. His circumcision is mine. I am of His order. I am thus suitably dignified.
And then the apostle says, “Buried with him in baptism”, Colossians 2:12. The type is reversed here because the Spirit of God, I think, has in His mind the thought of dignity — hence He brings in circumcision first. But we are buried with Him in baptism, in which also we are risen with Him — through the faith of the working of God who raised Him from the dead. Further, we are quickened together with Him. That is to say, I am set up positionally in dignity before God, in Christ, through His circumcision, and I have passed out of death into life positionally. Circumcision and baptism are both positional, as I understand, but quickening is more. Quickening is a real thing effected in our souls by the power of God.
[p. 458] We are made to live together with Christ. That is as far as Colossians goes, but, oh, how wonderful it is! We are brought into complete correspondence with Christ through the effectual working of God.
Now I go on to Ephesians. Before I leave the earth, as it were, I am in complete correspondence with Christ positionally and subjectively, and I am thus in the assembly. Well now, when I come to Ephesians I get the full height of the divine thought. It is not only that God has blessed me — He has blessed me with every spiritual blessing — but He has done it in the heavenlies. It is where the things are. Now, beloved, just think of that! not only what the blessings are, but where they are. They are in the heavenlies in Christ, and furthermore, He has marked us out, as I said, for adoption. He has predestinated us for Himself, that we should be holy and without blame in love before Him. And so when we come to the second chapter we read: “God, who is rich in mercy”, Ephesians 2:4. The apostle is going to say great things. God is rich in mercy, he says, and He has great love. Not only love as in Romans, but “for his great love wherewith he loved us”, Ephesians 2:4. I am drawing near to the abode now. I am greeted with great things — with richness in mercy, and greatness of love.
And then he goes on to say, “He has quickened us with the Christ”, Ephesians 2:5. The word ‘together’ should be left out, although it appears in Colossians. He has quickened us with the Christ, and the next thing is, He has raised us up together — not “with the Christ”, but “together”. We go in together, beloved; we are not to be at elbows’ length, you know. The Lord sees that; He sees us coming together. He has raised us up together. That is to say, if you are in the sense of this great love of God, you love the thought that every brother is with you. I should not like to go without the brethren. It says of Timothy, “when he comes with the brethren”.
[p. 459] The question was raised in my mind the other day, in coming here (a lot of brethren were coming together) whether I should go alone and be quiet and this word came to me, “When he comes with the brethren”, 1 Corinthians 16:11 - 12. You know Caleb and Joshua had the light of the land for forty years, but they went in with the brethren. They had to bear much from them, but I can understand that neither Caleb or Joshua would wish one lost. I often think of Paul in the ship; it says, “God has granted to thee all those that sail with thee”, Acts 27:24. Paul would value that; indeed every spiritual person thinks of the brethren. I do not wish to reach the end alone. One has assurance of the preservation of those who sail with us now. It is, of course, “far better” to go to be with Christ, but there is peculiar satisfaction in being allowed to continue with the brethren until the end. The apostle says, “I know that I shall remain and abide along with you all”, Philippians 1:25.
In Ephesians 2 we are further told that God had raised us up together, and then He has made us to sit down together. It is all the result of the great love of God to us. We love one another now through grace and walk together; soon we shall be made to sit down together literally in the heavenlies in Christ. That is to say, our dignity then is assured. One should not have the same desire in regard to heaven did not one know that one should, be there in entire suitability to the place. Circumcision brings to an end forever all the shame of past history, all that I am, and all that I have done are gone in circumcision. But that is negative. What I am positively is that I am quickened with Christ and made to sit down in the heavenlies in Christ, but not alone. I am made to sit down with the saints. I apprehend that the passage includes the whole work of God from Pentecost to the coming of the Lord.
Well, now, in regard to preparedness, Revelation [p. 460] is the great result of the work of God, for it includes all, it is retrospective. One great feature of the book of Revelation is that it is retrospective. That is to say, it gathers up everything from Abel to the coming of the Lord; not only from Pentecost, but from Abel. Every bit of the work of God has a place in the Revelation. And so the assembly comes in at the end of the nineteenth chapter as the wife. “Let us rejoice and be glad”. I do not know whether we have participated in that yet. One almost hears the music. Here the false bride is destroyed; she is put out of the way, and there is joy in heaven. “Hallelujah!” One almost hears the sound, the note of mirth, as it is announced. “Let us be glad, and rejoice ... for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready”. What a blank there would be did she not appear now! It is not Ephesians 2 now. It is what she has done. That is to say, it is the practical working out of the truth in our souls. Have we come to it, beloved brethren? The marriage of the Lamb has come, the time of it, and there is no bustling about now, giving up this and that, throwing off filthy garments and evil associations. “His wife hath made herself ready”.
If there be any one here linked up with unbelievers, or linked up with any evil association of any kind, break it off! “The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in”, Malachi 3:1. The thing will be sudden. How about it? Where shall I be found? God says, “I will dwell among them and walk among them”, 2 Corinthians 6:16. It is all well to go to the meeting where you realise the dwelling of God, but what about the walking? Can God go with you? If not, then do not go that way. God would love to walk with you. “I will walk among them”, He says. God would have you walk in the paths of righteousness. In these we realise His presence with us.
[p. 461] And so there is no bustle here. “His wife hath made herself ready”. And the readiness being there, “It was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure”.
I suppose the clothing here would refer to some special distinction, as at court robes indicate distinction and rank, and not every one could have a robe like this because it is said to be fine linen, bright and pure. It is not “white”, but “bright”. That is to say, there is a certain sheen on linen, and it is granted to her that she should have that. It is a question of the purity of the wifely garments. Bridal garments are probably more gorgeous, but this is what is suited to the Lamb. And what is that robe composed of? There has never been a robe like it. The fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. Think of the righteousnesses of millions of saints all divinely put together, woven according to the finest art and device, so as to cover her. “The righteousnesses of the saints” — every little bit of righteousness. The Lord Jesus, you know, loved it. He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, and how He loves it as He sees it in all its varied perfections exhibited in one saint after another, from the twelve apostles to the end. He sees it woven together and made to fit His wife. And “it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. The fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints”.
Well, beloved brethren, there is that one word that I wish especially to remain with us. That is to say, the word “PREPAREDNESS”. Be ready! As the Lord said, “Be ye also ready”, Matthew 24:44.