THE BRIDE IN UNISON WITH THE SPIRIT
THE BRIDE IN UNISON WITH THE SPIRIT
JT We have John’s word at the end (the assemblies are mentioned just before in verse 16): “Amen; come, Lord Jesus” It might be the Spirit of prophecy or John himself. Then the last verse is a sort of benediction. We have feeling in the book, expressed in different persons. “And he shewed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of its street, and of the river, on this side and on that side, [the] tree of life, producing twelve fruits, in each month yielding its fruit; and the leaves of the tree for healing of the nations. 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. And he said to me, These words [are] faithful and true; and [the] Lord God of the spirits of the prophets has sent his angel to shew to his bondmen the things which must soon come to pass” (verses 1 - 6).
Then in verse 8 John made a great blunder, because we are always in danger of natural feeling, when we should be under the control of the Holy Spirit. He does it twice; and we need to be on the watch all the time lest we be found doing such a thing, especially in the presence of great persons, and personality is seen in the book; chapter 1 is illustrative of what we are saying; “John to the seven assemblies which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is, and who was, and who is to come ... . To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood”.
And then, “Behold, he comes with the clouds, and every eye shall see him” and then, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, he who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”. Then there is something that John says, and then we have verse 17, and then we have verse 20 as to the seven stars, and so forth; it is one thing after another through the book; and finally in chapter 22 we have this ejaculation “Amen”, the acknowledgment of all these things.
God is seen in a peculiar attitude; it says, “Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him” (Revelation 1:1), as if God signified the revelation He conferred on the Lord Himself. So that in the midst of these great personages, He is the greatest, the only One to be honoured. Yet John also is honoured, as saying something to the assemblies, something of distinction. One is very liable to fail in the presence of great personages and dishonour the Lord, who is the only One to be worshipped. On such occasions as we have had at Glasgow, Sydney and Auckland, one has to be sure that one is saying what is just right. One of the greatest burdens to be carried is in verses 18 and 19 of chapter 22, where nothing is to be added or taken away in those who minister. So in Revelation 1, “When I saw him I fell at his feet as dead” (verse 17); John was in a weak position there, but the Lord does not reproach him; He says, “Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the living one: and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades”. The Lord brings in the thought of death, and John “fell at his feet as dead”, and the Lord speaks of His own death, and sets John up, telling him what to write and the order in which he is to do it.
Ques Had you something as to the bride, as specially suited to be with Christ?
JT She is allowed to speak in the same voice [p. 215] and the same words as a divine Person; no one else is honoured in this way, for the bride is allowed to speak and to use the same words as the Spirit; a most remarkable thing, as if she is allowed the distinction of speaking with the Spirit, one word. Here we have the antitype of Genesis 1:27, the “male and female”, in “I Jesus”, the Man, and the woman, the bride, answering “Come”; but it is the Spirit and the bride together saying the same thing that is so wonderful. It is a present thought, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come”, as if the Spirit is concerned about it now, not leaving it till the last moment. It is “he says”, then “the Spirit and the bride say”, the present being characteristic of John. “The bright and morning star” is like the promise of the coming day; the sun follows the morning star. The Bible gives us intelligence as to that, as in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse sheweth the work of his hands. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech and there are no words, yet their voice is heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their language to the extremity of the world. In them hath he set a tent for the sun, And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; he rejoiceth as a strong man to run the race. His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof” (Psalm 19:1 - 6); it is as if she understands what He was going to do next. This is a nice thought to have in our minds all day, the assembly speaking to Him and using the same words as the Spirit. You get early suggestions in Romans 8 and Galatians 4 of this, but they are nothing like this here. It is the Spirit alone in Galatians 4:6, but in Romans 8:15 we cry by the Spirit, as if we are on the way on the individual line, and we are learning what the Spirit would do. We [p. 216] cannot do much here in the Pacific as to assembly service, and outside on the isles and on the ship they are mostly unbelievers; there is a Christian at Suva, and perhaps there is some work of God in China, Japan, India, and Russia.