THE LAMB’S WIFE
H. Wilkinson
What I had in mind, beloved, to speak about is “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”. The book of the Revelation, as we know, is written in symbolic language; it is a mystery to many, even in professing christendom, maybe to most, but the truth of it and the meaning of it have been opened up to us by the Holy Spirit. It is an interesting book; it covers from time right through to eternity. In the first chapter the One “like the Son of man” who appeared to John said,
“Write therefore what thou hast seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to be after these” (Revelation 1: 19). What we have here is what is “about to be after these”.
This scripture has in view the great day of display, and what is being demonstrated is “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”. I wanted to speak briefly about these two features.
I think it is quite clear that the glory of “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” is being acquired in this time in which we are. What will shine out then will not be something that has been suddenly acquired, but it is being acquired in the time of the Spirit. It suggests the importance of the day we are in, and raises the question whether we understand the true feelings of the Lamb’s wife. We think of the Bridegroom and of the bride, and we think of the assembly occasion in a particular way, for in it the Bridegroom enjoys the affections of the bride, and the bride enjoys the affections of the Bridegroom. All this would be basic to the faithfulness of the Lamb’s wife during the absence
of her Husband.
In Matthew 25 we read of five wise virgins, and the cry goes out, “Behold, the bridegroom; go forth to meet him” (verse 6). Faithful lovers of Jesus would always have that in mind, it would ever be before them, “Behold the bridegroom”. It is something to take hold of, beloved; we should think of the Lord in this way perhaps more than we do. We can appreciate what He is receiving now, “He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53: 11)—He is satisfied with the bride. He speaks Himself in Matthew 13 of what He was seeking, “beautiful pearls”, “and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it” (verse 46). It is wonderful to think of what bridal affections mean to the Bridegroom.
But then I wanted to refer to other scriptures in Revelation in regard to the Lamb’s wife. I think the testing part of the history of the assembly down here is the matter of the Lamb’s wife. It calls for faithfulness in His absence; the Lamb’s wife would feel the absence of the Husband and would be desirous of being faithful to Him in the meantime. That is important, beloved. The harlot says, “I sit a queen, and I am not a widow” (Revelation 18: 7)—she has no feeling for her husband. But the Lamb’s wife is faithful to Him during His absence. As we consider the words to the seven assemblies we may regard some of them as historical, and maybe they are, but I do not think that characteristically they are. I am thinking of the Lamb’s wife involving suffering; and at the present time the Smyrna condition is amongst us. I believe, beloved, it is a suffering time, as perhaps has not been known for many years, maybe hundreds of years; it is not the same kind of suffering that the martyrs suffered, but it is a suffering time. It is a time which calls for faithfulness, when beloved saints are in isolation but going on faithfully with perhaps little in the way of outward fellowship; and then there are the beloved saints of whom we are often reminded in Eastern Europe and in Russia. It is a suffering time and the Smyrna condition is here. But I believe that as we are faithful to the Lord we will characteristically be among those who are marked by the features of the Lamb’s wife.
Then we read the word to Philadelphia and the commendation, “Thou hast ... kept my word, and hast not denied my name”, Revelation 3: 8. That involves the Lord’s authority. His word is what would be current—what has been made known through the dispensation by the Spirit.
We think of divine principles that have been laid out for us, and the Lord’s authority in every local assembly, and both must be maintained. The Lord has His own rights in every local assembly and we should never forget this; no one should interfere with those rights. “Thou hast ... kept my word” would involve faithfulness to Christ. He also says, “Hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown”, and, “I come quickly”. Well, we can thank God for faithful local assemblies.
But there is the other side when we read the word to Laodicea. There it is not the features of the Lamb’s wife; what is said is, “I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing”, Revelation 3: 17. Independence of Christ, beloved, is a serious matter and it is connected with a local assembly, Laodicea. It is affecting that He has to say to it, “Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking” (verse 20).
I trust that we and all the beloved saints may be affected by what is needed at this time—the
need to be faithful to Christ, the need to hold things rightly in every local assembly, and preparedness for suffering. We do enjoy the privilege side when He comes in at the assembly occasion, and this privilege should constantly stir our hearts to think of Him and His coming for His assembly. Readiness for this would cause a quick response to the cry “Behold the bridegroom”. In the meantime let us be faithful to Him and honour His rights in every local assembly, for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Helston
12 June 1979