WHAT COMES OUT OF HEAVEN
John 3:31-34; Acts 2:1-4; 10:5-16; Revelation 21:9,10
A.M. It will be noticed that these passages refer to who, or what, comes out of heaven. I had an impression on Lord’s Day as to what is in heaven and what is seen in heaven. In the great occasion, we sang a hymn that contained the words,
‘Thy church complete and in Thy beauty dressed’ Hymn 226
People on earth, looking at what is on earth, do not see the church complete, and they certainly do not see her dressed in Christ’s beauty. To see the church in this way you must get the view in heaven. I thought we might speak of what comes out of heaven. What comes out of heaven is characterised by heaven itself.
In John 3 we have the testimony of John the baptist and he speaks about the Lord Jesus. Of course, when we speak of who or what has come out of heaven, every heart would think of the Lord Jesus. He came out of heaven, and John the baptist was a wonderful example to us because his heart was filled with the Lord and he speaks about Him and His greatness. This is in keeping with John’s gospel, the greatness of our Lord Jesus. Referring to the Lord Jesus, John the baptist says, “He who comes out of heaven is above all”. And then he speaks about what He, the Lord, testifies. It says, “and what he has seen and has heard, this he testifies”. The Lord Jesus came out of heaven and testified to what is there – the only time in the history of the earth that One has come out of heaven to the earth to dwell for a time upon the earth. And what did He bring? What came to the earth when Jesus came here? Maybe we could enquire about that. What did He bring to the earth? There was all that He had in His heart, the whole purpose of God. In that wonderful life there was everything that God was looking for in man, both man in responsibility and man according to purpose. All that God looked for was in that life of Christ. Grace and truth subsisted in Him (John 1:17). Righteousness and peace kissed each other in Him (Psalm 85:10). What did He bring? The earth had never seen anything like it before. And the natural mind, the natural man whom we see here, did not receive His testimony. But that is man. The point is, what did Jesus bring in?
In Acts 2 we find the Holy Spirit coming down. He came down out of heaven. The Lord Jesus said, He shall abide with you (John 14:17). Think of that, another divine Person coming down out of heaven. There is no discrepancy between what characterises the Holy Spirit and what characterised the Lord Jesus. There is perfect accord. He has come out of heaven to make His abode with and in believers.
In Acts 10 Peter received this vision – the vessel coming down. What he saw was not just the individual believers but a vessel that was coming down. Scripture always refers to this as a vessel. It came down like a sheet, but it does not say it was a sheet that came down. It was a vessel. There is security in a vessel. It contains what is in it. A vessel came down out of heaven and God had cleansed everything within it. It came down here in order that there should be seen in testimony here what God has wrought.
In Revelation 21 the bride comes down out of heaven. It is the same vessel as Peter saw, but in the character of a bride. She comes down for administration and for display. She is not coming to the earth in that scripture. The assembly is not seen actually coming down to the earth, but she is seen coming out of heaven in full and glorious display, in view of the administration of the world to come. These are a few thoughts that were in mind for this occasion.
R.J.C. It is a very fine subject for our enquiry. These first two verses emphasise “He who comes from above is above all”, and “He who comes out of heaven is above all”. That is stressed here. You began your outline speaking about His greatness, and we would desire to have His greatness before us at the present time, would we not?
A.M. Yes indeed. He is “above all”, therefore there could be nothing which is under Him for the pleasure of God, which is out of keeping with Himself. If He is above all then everything for God’s pleasure must take character from Him. He is the Beginning (Col.1:18).
J.D. There is no cloud in heaven, is there? Everything that comes out of heaven must be cloudless, and that is the view we need to get, do you think? You mentioned the need to have heaven’s view, whether it is of Christ or of the assembly, and we can have a view of them in all their fulness because there is no cloud, do you think?
A.M. Yes, that is right. How often it says in the Scriptures that Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven. There was nothing between Him and heaven. We cannot say anything about what took place on the cross in the hours of darkness, but in the life of Jesus there was no cloud. The heavens were opened on Him at His baptism and in principle they remained open.
W.W.L. The ark of the testimony was covered in a cloth of blue (Num.4:6), which is different from the other tabernacle furniture. It speaks really of the heavenly One, does it not? I was thinking that what was in the ark were the tables of the testimony. Is that a touch of what we have here, what the Lord had in his heart, as seen perfectly in the heavenly Man?
A.M. That is very good and helpful. It is referred to as the ark of the testimony (Ex.25:22). He was here, and His was a heavenly testimony. When you think of the words of Jesus, and of all that marked Him when He was here, it was a testimony of heaven.
G.B.G. Does “above all” involve that He is superior to all? John the baptist knew that. He says He is “preferred before me”, John 1:15. God preferred Him. John the baptist is on the line of decreasing (John 3:30), and it is good to get into our affections that this One is superior to every other man.
A.M. He is superior in every respect. He is morally superior. Soon He will be seen as officially superior to everything. The whole universe will acknowledge that. In God’s mind that is already settled. He has given Him to be head over all things to the assembly (Eph.1:22). He is superior in every respect. There is no aspect in which the Lord Jesus would be lacking. Absolutely none! It could not be.
S.D. It was touching what you mentioned about this world’s understanding as compared to heaven’s understanding. I was thinking that the heavenly host was stirred in the beginning of Luke (ch.2:13). I suppose that was His incoming as a Babe, but where you have read is the beginning of His public ministry, is it not? So there is more here, in a sense.
A.M. That is right. John does not give us the babe character. There are many aspects of the incarnation. Luke gives us the lowliness and poverty, and in Matthew we see Him as a King, but refused. In John’s gospel the incarnation of the Lord Jesus is presented as the majestic movement of a divine Person coming to the earth. God never had in mind that the earth should be separate from heaven. Christ came to the earth in order to lay the basis on which heaven and earth can be united.
G.B.G. His deity lies behind His being superior to every other. We sometimes sing, ‘Blessèd Man, and yet divine!’, Hymn 147. No one even begins to compare.
A.M. No, it would be impossible. He is superior as to His Person.
J.R.L. Do you know of anyone or of anything that has descended from heaven that has not returned to heaven? Nothing from heaven could be confined to the earth, though the testimony is to be rendered while on the earth. Am I right in saying that?
A.M. I think so. In John 6, to those who said, “This word is hard”, the Lord said, “Does this offend you? If then ye see the Son of man ascending up where he was before?” (vv.60,61). He had come out of heaven and He was going back to heaven. In John’s gospel that was the pathway of Jesus, “he came out from God and was going to God”, John 13:3.
J.R.L. “Whom heaven indeed must receive” (Acts 3:21), but what a wonderful testimony was rendered while Christ was here. There is something therefore to be taken account of in relation to the assembly’s present sojourn here as well.
A.M. He has returned to heaven, but His body is here now. That is the wonder of the mystery (Eph.3:4-6). There is that here which is all of Himself, the sphere in which the Holy Spirit works currently. What is upon the earth at the present time is wonderful. John speaks about what Christ testifies. He does not enlarge on what this testimony involved, but it was a testimony to all that was in the heart of God, every thing. And that was manifested in the life of Jesus.
A.M.B. The testimony was a heavenly one. What comes out of heaven is heavenly. The Lord was seen here in testimony in complete faithfulness to His God and Father and in devotion to Him. His desire was to make that One known as Father.
A.M. Yes, there was a devotedness that had never before been seen on the earth, a self-sacrificing devotedness and faithfulness. Behind it always was His love. Love is characterised by many things. We speak of sacrificial love, we speak of suffering love and I think we could speak of submissive love. The Lord Jesus was marked by all these features in His devotion to the Father’s will. The light of this shone out brightly, but the light appeared in darkness and the darkness did not apprehend it (John 1:5). Nevertheless, the light was still there shining.
J.D. Do you think it is really the declaration of God that comes out of heaven?
A.M. Yes, it is. And so at the end it is a matter of God and man. Divine Persons have wrought in such a way to bring in the light of God in order that man should be secured for God’s pleasure.
T.M. Paul writes, “He that has descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that He might fill all things”, Eph.4:10. And then what He has given, “some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints” (vv.11,12).
A.M. These are gifts that have come from the ascended Man. In Corinthians we see that the Holy Spirit is dividing to each as He pleases (1 Cor.12:11). He does that because He is sovereign. But it is all in the assembly with a view to the edification of the body. Gifts are not exactly given to the body. In the body the members are all equally necessary, but the gifts were given to the assembly for the working out of things here in view of the edification of the body.
A.G.M. “He who … is of the earth … speaks as of the earth”. John does not say that he who comes from above speaks as the heavenly. The implication is there, but do you think that really John had got this impression of the Lord Jesus? He does not need to say that He is heavenly. He is heavenly. I wondered if this suggests that the believer’s origin is of heaven. Do you think that, to take on these features, we need to be occupied with Christ as the One who has come out of heaven?
A.M. What you say is very important and we should hold to that. Believers are a heavenly people. We may not always behave like it but that is what we are. The work of God in every believer is from heaven. It is a heavenly work. I think John was so filled with the glory of Christ that speaking ‘as of the earth’ was strange to him. We often say that the earth was a strange place to the Lord Jesus. I think as he had Christ before him, it was strange to John. We are a heavenly people. There is something in the heart of every saint which belongs to heaven: it does not belong here.
A.P.G. In 1 Corinthians 15, “such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones” (v.48). That confirms what you are saying. He is the pattern. In that scripture, He is the second Man out of heaven, as we are often reminded, but the second was in the divine thought before the first man.
A.M. Yes, it is an order of man that is heavenly. “The first man … made of dust”, 1 Cor.15:47. God could not find His pleasure in a creature made of dust. “The second man, out of heaven”. And such as that One, such also the heavenly ones. What is heavenly is eternal.
R.G. Verse 33 of our passage says, “He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true”. Can you help us in relation to that?
A.M. It is his own seal: he has set to his seal that God is true. You have received the testimony from Christ; you have a link with the Lord Jesus. Whatever men or even Satan himself may say, you know that God is true because it is sealed in your heart. You do not have to listen to anything else. You do not have to argue. God is true and that is a seal on your affections. I would say for the benefit of all, that if people, maybe unbelievers, want to argue about the truth, do not enter into argument. You have a seal: “God is true”. You believe that and you can be like the man in John 9, “One thing I know” (v.25). He says, I am not entering into your arguments, “One thing I know”. You cannot shake that.
C.J.C. Do we see a witness to that in Stephen in Acts 8, in relation to the view that he had and the testimony that he had?
A.M. It was a testimony of a heavenly man. His face was like the face of an angel. Angels are heavenly beings. They are greater than natural men although in God’s ways they do not have as great a place as men have, but they are heavenly beings. The opposers could not answer Stephen’s testimony. His face was shining. It is a wonderful thing. We had another impression on Lord’s day as to the shining of God’s face. That is how our faces should be also.
In Acts 2 we come into the present dispensation properly, by which I mean the period begun by the coming of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit to come down in relation to the assembly and those who form the assembly required His own movement from heaven. He came out of heaven and the sound filled the house where they were sitting and they “began to speak … as the Spirit gave to them to speak forth”. This was not the language they had been using before as natural men. This was what the Holy Spirit gave them to speak, and people hearing it said they are speaking “the great things of God”. Where do you find “the great things of God”? They are “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him”, 1 Cor.2:9. But the Holy Spirit would communicate them to us. That is what happened in this scripture.
A.M.B. Was there a condition brought about by the coming down of the Spirit and sitting on each one of them, appearing as “parted tongues, as of fire”, such that heavenly things could be received, understood, and appreciated?
A.M. You mean the fire as being applicable to our condition naturally?
A.M.B. Yes. Another feature of what comes down out of heaven is power, seen in the “violent impetuous blowing”. That brought about conditions for receiving the great things spoken by the Spirit.
A.M. Yes. It filled all the house where they were sitting. The power of it – there was not a person in that house unaffected by it; it could not be: the sound filled the house. What went out then was a sound, a testimony in the power of the Holy Spirit; a sound that was broadcast across Jerusalem on that day. It was a sound which began in heaven.
R.J.C. Do you have anything more to say as to what is filled, which is brought out here? There is no mixture or anything like that, is there?
A.M. No, nothing like that at all. I just thought that there could have been nobody in that house who was not aware of what was taking place and upon whom a parted tongue did not sit. It is a tremendous thing.
R.J.C. The house was filled and the vessels were filled.
A.M. Yes, that is right. That thought of being filled occurs frequently in Scripture: God’s house being filled, and vessels filled. This is not a parable, or a story; this actually happened. Men and women like ourselves were sitting in the house and this actually took place. What a moment it was!
G.B.G. Is it a testimony to what the Lord did with these persons – His work with these persons sitting there? It is a testimony to the value and greatness of what He had done.
A.M. Yes, it was what He had done in them, the product of His own work. There was something there that the Lord Himself had done which was so precious. If we read the previous chapter, we find that the Lord had gone up and these dear disciples remained. The Lord’s work was in them. They had not yet been given the power for the word to go out; they remained in subjection. They had instincts as to what was right, what needed to be done, but they waited on the Lord. There was continual prayer, and then heaven acts.
G.B.G. The Holy Spirit abode upon Christ as a blessed Man here. This is not the same as that, but it does say, “it sat upon each one of them”. It is very attractive.
A.M. Yes, that is what I was thinking. I do not know whether it was only the one hundred and twenty who were present, but the Spirit appeared as “parted tongues, as of fire”,. The word parted suggests from one source, and as parted it sat upon each one of them. Every single person there had to do with the Holy Spirit.
J.D. Do you think the fact that it “filled all the house” would relate to the way that the Spirit is in the assembly in a complete way?
A.M. Yes. “God gives not the Spirit by measure”, John 3:34. And as the Spirit has come down, He is in the assembly. We as individuals have measure. No one could encompass a divine Person completely, but in amazing grace He takes His place with us and in us, but He is completely in the assembly. It is His abode.
C.J.C. It was a tremendous revelation and confirmation to these souls there.
A.M. Yes. In Luke the Lord said “do ye remain in the city till ye be clothed with power from on high” (ch.24:49). What did that mean to the disciples? How would that take place? Here you have the confirmation of the Lord’s own words, and their love for Him. The Holy Spirit – He who came down upon Christ as we have already mentioned – actually came down and filled the house in which they were sitting and rested upon them.
C.J.C. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
A.M. All filled; yes, that is right. The believer has in him what is greater than himself.
A.D.M. Does the way this verse is put show the great accumulation of divine feelings in heaven? It was an impetuous blowing, and it came suddenly as though things were pent up in heaven. I think it is the continuation of the celebration of Christ having gone back into heaven, and now a new chapter is about to open in the history of the testimony.
A.M. I like your expression as to pent-up feelings. You see it with Cornelius: “While Peter was yet speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were hearing the word”, Acts 10:44. He did not wait for Peter to finish; He fell upon them. It suggests the pent-up feelings that this blessed divine Person should be consciously among the saints to bring about all that God had purposed in man. Wonderful thing!
J.R.L. Is it important to remember that the house was filled by virtue of the persons in it? A lot is made of buildings in our day, but it was because of the persons who were there in the house, who were representative of the assembly and who were filled with the Holy Spirit, that the house was filled. He fills our hearts, does He not?
A.M. Yes, God has sent out the Spirit of His Son in our hearts (Gal.4:6). I do not suppose we hear any more of this house – the physical building.
J.R.L. The physical building is not what matters; it is the persons who were there. We hear much about them subsequently in the Acts.
A.M. Yes, in fact they form the house. They are the house of God. The physical building has no relevance. It is the persons, and in that sense the house expanded.
W.W.L. At the end of chapter 2, "the Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved” (v.47). We come into what already exists.
A.M. Yes, it is good to point that out. Something had already come into being here. The Holy Spirit came down and a vessel came into being – the assembly. There was with the disciples what the Lord had formed, of course, and you could say there were the stones, there was the material. David accumulated very much material for the house of God (1 Chron.29:1-5). Solomon built the house. The material has been accumulated by the Lord, and here it is united together. One thing to remember is that the incoming of the Holy Spirit involves a uniting power for believers. That was a great feature in the history of what we call the recovery to the truth. The very beginning of what took place nearly two hundred years ago was that there were believers, and not just one but a number, who realised from the Scriptures that if I have received the gift of the Holy Spirit then I am united to Christ. And if you and I are both united to Christ, then we are united together. That is the unity of the Spirit; so that there is a Head to whom we are united, and every believer who is united to Him forms His body on earth.
J.D. It has been said that what is described in Acts 2 was distinct: “the day of Pentecost was now accomplishing”. How does this differ from a believer asking today for the gift of the Holy Spirit?
A.M. This was the Holy Spirit personally coming down. As we said, He is completely in the assembly. If a believer asks for the gift of the Holy Spirit, he receives for himself the gift of One who is already here. I think that is important. The Holy Spirit is already here, and the assembly is already here. These are current matters, and we can enter into the good of them. We cannot do anything without the power of the Holy Spirit. He does not come from heaven again; He has already come; He is here.
J.D. You referred to Acts 10 where Peter was speaking and the Holy Spirit fell upon all those that were hearing the word. Does the believer always have to ask for the Spirit?
A.M. There are different aspects to that. If a believer fully and wholeheartedly puts his faith in the work of the Lord Jesus, God from His side seals him with the Holy Spirit. That is God’s side. But for me to enter into the good of that, to prove the power of the Holy Spirit, I have to be conscious of having received Him. What would you say?
J.D. I think it would be normal to ask. I do not think it would necessarily be a long time after being converted. However, we could not rule out God acting of His own accord as a heart-knowing God to grant the Holy Spirit, do you think?
A.M. We have to remember that we are speaking about divine Persons. The Holy Spirit Himself is sovereign. What could the thief upon the cross say as to the Holy Spirit? But God is able to grant to a soul, even on the point of death, what he needs in resource and for eternity. It is a good thing to ask for the Spirit.
J.D. As you say, the exercise then is the receiving of the Spirit.
A.M. Yes, exactly. A further exercise is, what effect does that have in me? If I were to tell you I have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, then you would be entitled to say to me, ‘I should be able to see in you love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control’ (Gal.5:22,23).
R.J.C. Would we see an example of this in Acts 3, where the man was found “walking, and leaping, and praising God” (v.8)? If there is to be what is suitable in giving praise to God, is it essential for the power of the Holy Spirit to be operating?
A.M. That is right. Paul says we “worship by the Spirit of God”, Phil.3:3. That man in Acts 3 had power that was not derived from nature, and he was praising God. The highest effect of the Holy Spirit’s power is that the service of God proceeds. Is that not what God looked for right from the outset?
A.G.M. The realisation that you have the Holy Spirit produces in the believer desires after Christ, and also we find that we want to be maintained in these desires. The apostle says, “using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit”, Eph.4:3. The unity of the Spirit cannot be broken, but my enjoyment of it may be.
A.M. Indeed. The Holy Spirit, as you say, produces desires after Christ, and these are desires which He would satisfy. The question has been asked, what is the difference between the Holy Spirit’s sovereign work in new birth and His work as indwelling a believer? It seems to me very simply that in new birth the Holy Spirit produces a sense of need. Paul says, “if indeed they might feel after him”, Acts.17:27. The Holy Spirit first creates a sense of need, but the Holy Spirit as received results in satisfaction in a believer.
W.W.L. Going back to your first scripture, John the baptist says, “no one receives His testimony”, and then he speaks about “He that has received his testimony”. How does receiving His testimony come about? It must be by the Spirit’s operations.
A.M. It must be. “He that has received His testimony”: I think John the apostle is writing particularly in the context of the Jew. The nation did not receive His testimony, but then there were some who did. They came out from Israel. In Acts they are brought into what is greater than Israel: the company in Acts 1 formed the nucleus of the assembly, which is greater than Israel. They had received His testimony. Then in Acts 10 we find this great testimony regarding the Gentiles: “What God has cleansed, do not thou make common”. It has all been brought into a vessel.
J.R.L. Peter, when referring to this incident in Acts 15, makes the comment “the heart-knowing God bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit” (v.8). Does that show how God takes account of and observes His own work that has been sovereignly wrought by the Spirit initially, and as He takes account of what is proceeding in a person’s heart He confirms that, being pleased to give the gift of the Holy Spirit?
A.M. Yes, that is good, He is “the heart-knowing God”; that is distinctive of God. It is a divine attribute: no man can claim that glory. You can understand too that He gives the Holy Spirit to those that obey Him (Acts 5:32). Obeying from the heart is not just an outward form of obedience (see Rom.6:17). He is “the heart-knowing God”. He knows the sense of need we have and the desire to obey, to do what is right, so He is ready to give the Holy Spirit, as the Lord says (Luke 11:13).
J.R.L. I was interested in the additional comment that “the heart-knowing God bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit”, as if God is concerned that there should be a present testimony in power. They were to be witnesses filled with the Holy Spirit and serviceable in His interests here in the absence of Christ.
A.M. Yes. So that the witness was first in the apostles, but it continues. We are to be witnesses.
G.B.G. Persons who believe the gospel are receiving the testimony of the Spirit, so there is an affinity with the Spirit in that. You can see how “the heart-knowing God” gives the Spirit to persons who receive the testimony of the Spirit.
A.M. Yes, that helps. The testimony of the Spirit will continue for as long as He remains here. We have heard His speaking, have we not? We have received that testimony. The testimony of God would really be conveyed to a believer by the Holy Spirit.
G.B.G. It is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven (1 Pet.1:12).
A.M. Yes. One result of the glad tidings is that this vessel is seen. It comes down out of heaven and it is taken back up into heaven. It does not actually touch the earth. It is not contaminated by the earth. We need to be kept apart from the earth. We know what it is to ask to be kept away from what is evil, but the earth is more subtle than what is evil. The assembly does not touch it, it is heavenly.
A.M.B. What would you say as to the comment that the heavens were opened? Peter saw that the heavens were opened, and he beholds this vessel descending.
A.M. Peter had not been ministering to himself. He was hungry, but he had not ministered to the flesh. He was praying; he was in touch with heaven. It shows that Peter’s attitude here was appreciated in heaven. Then he saw something that had no relation to what was around at all: the heavens were opened. The assembly is a heavenly vessel, a heavenly entity.
A.M.B. It suggests that there was activity in heaven that this vessel should be seen.
A.M. There is constant activity in heaven. We may not think too much about it. The Lord Jesus is constantly active. He is in heaven and He is speaking to the Father about His own – an amazing thing. There is activity going on in heaven in order that we should be kept and preserved and made suited for our eternal home.
A.M.B. It would be a good thing to ask for the Spirit’s help to have heaven’s view.
A.M. Yes, we must have heaven’s view of ourselves and of one another. We look at the saints, and we love the brethren, and we see features of Christ in one another. It helps, too, to identify what is of heaven in oneself. That could be a test, but there is what is of heaven, the work of God that can be identified, and that is heaven’s view. It is absolutely necessary to have that.
G.J.G. Scripture refers to “a habitation of God in the Spirit”, Eph.2:22. There is that which is characteristically heavenly seen in the saints, do you think?
A.M. Yes, there is. And we get impressions of it as we are together, “a habitation of God in the Spirit”. The Holy Spirit is working in each believer, and by virtue of the Holy Spirit being here, God is here. So the simple soul would say “God is indeed amongst you”, 1 Cor.14:25. He has come to a place (although we cannot speak about the whole assembly in a place) where He can detect that there is the presence of God. The assembly is where God dwells. That is helpful.
W.W.L. Are these the features in one another that we can feed on? “Rise, Peter, slay and eat” would suggest that. We appreciate those that are heavenly, and there are assembly features formed in them. That is what we are to feed on in one another, is it?
A.M. Yes, it is; it is feeding on one another as formed after Christ. You remember that “the children of Israel do not eat of the sinew that is over the joint of the thigh”, Gen.32:32. That would be feeding on a weakness of a brother. It is very easy to feed on a brother’s weakness, and it appeals to the flesh a lot. But what God has done is spoken of: “What God has cleansed, do not thou make common”. Peter was to feed on that.
A.P.G. “Each esteeming the other as more excellent than themselves” (Phil.2:3) is on the same line, is it not? The Philippians were a heavenly company. It is what is of Christ in one another that we esteem and value.
A.M. Exactly. Philippians is a very precious epistle. You would love to hear a Philippian speaking about one of his brethren. There was a brother whom I remember when I was a small boy who always spoke well of his local brethren. We gained a wonderful impression of his locality when we were young. He always spoke well of his local brethren. That is a blessed thing to do. We are in much smaller localities now. I can look around my local meeting and it is not difficult to identify something in every one in which he or she excels me.
T.M. It has been said that the Philippian saints were like a tree that was upside down: their roots were in heaven and the foliage was down here.
A.M. The roots are in heaven: that should be true of all of us. Heaven is where our origin is. The work of God begins up there, from heaven. That is where we should be drawing from. One could say, “All my springs are in thee”, Ps.87:7. That is Zion, relating to God’s purpose. Soon this vessel will be seen, not simply in testimony as it was in the Acts, but in display.
I thought we might get a touch about this in Revelation 21. This is the millennial setting and the assembly is seen in display. The features which are seen in the rest of this chapter and the next, the characteristics of the holy city, are suited entirely to heaven. This is one of the scriptures where we gain our impressions of what is in heaven. It shows how suited she is for divine administration on the earth. She does not come to the earth, but she is a vessel of administration, and her influence is seen on the earth.
A.G.M. Is that why it is spoken of as the holy city? When the word ‘holy’ is added it involves that it is not touching anything of the scene here. The holy city is the administration, but she is not touching the earth. The administration will come down through Christ, down to Israel, and out to the nations. But she is distinctive as the holy city; she is characterised by holiness.
A.M. Yes. Holiness is one of the features that was manifested when Jesus came to earth. It is so obviously ignored today amongst men, but holiness becomes God’s house (Ps.93:5). Without holiness no one shall see the Lord (Heb.12:14). And here we have a vessel that is formed in holiness. This vessel appears here as the bride; she comes out in glorious display: “… having the glory of God. Her shining was like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone”. These are spiritual suggestions; they are not natural things.
A.M.B. John here was carried away in the Spirit. That would fit in with what you have been speaking of as to the Spirit delighting to give us a view of what is heavenly.
A.M. It seems to me that the book of Revelation might have ended at verse 8. In chapter 20 you have the thousand years of the millennium, and it describes Satan being bound. Then there is the great white throne (ch.20:11) and the end of God’s ways in time. In chapter 21 there is the eternal setting. But the book does not close at that point. It is as if the Holy Spirit would say, ‘I will not let you go without a view of what the assembly is and what it will be throughout those thousand years’. This is the vessel that is being formed now. It began with those souls in the house at Pentecost, and appears in finality as this great entity which is described as immense and glorious and holy.
A.M.B. “I will show thee”: the Spirit was delighting to show John this wonderful view of the assembly at the beginning of the dispensation. The Spirit still loves to show the assembly to those who are interested.
A.M. Yes. We have to be amenable to be taken to that high mountain apart, to come apart from the plain. The plain is where man is operating, but come to the high mountain apart. Most of Revelation is occupied with what takes places on the earth but from the viewpoint of heaven. It is not written from the viewpoint of the earth, but from heaven’s viewpoint. Here there is a vessel coming out of heaven and John gets that view from the high mountain.
W.W.L. The assembly is also called the Lamb’s wife. That involves formation in suffering. The fact that the assembly is heavenly involves suffering presently.
A.M. Yes. What is heavenly is only formed as what is natural, relating to the present scene, is subjected to God’s ways involving suffering and discipline. The Lamb’s wife has her part in the suffering. Christ was the suffering Lamb, but she has her part in the suffering.
G.B.G. “Having the glory of God” is a great thing. Is it the shining out of all that God is in His love and attributes?
A.M. Yes, the assembly is a divine formation, entirely divine handiwork. Nothing else was involved. Everything that is to be seen in the holy city is of God. The glory of that city is entirely of God.
J.R.L. She is the product of divine workmanship, which has been wrought principally by the Spirit in this remarkable dispensation.
A.M. Yes, that is good. The Holy Spirit has worked and continues to work in this dispensation. I agree that it is a remarkable dispensation, not just a period of time like Israel’s day. It is a greater day than the millennium will be, in many respects. It is an extraordinary day, when what is being formed is a heavenly vessel which will be for the pleasure of God eternally. No power in heaven or on earth can spoil it or hinder the formation of this vessel, because it is divine workmanship.
J.D. Do you think that the assembly has the capacity to receive everything that has been revealed of God?
A.M. Yes, indeed. She is the full expression of Christ, and Christ is the full expression of everything which has come from God.
Reading in Aberdeen, Scotland
25 November, 2023
Andrew Martin
List of Initials
A.M.B. Alistair M. Brown Linlithgow
C.J.C. Colin J. Cumming Aberdeen
R.J.C. Richard J. Cumming Aberdeen
J.D. James Drummond Aberdeen
S.D. Stewart Duthie Aberdeen
R.G. Rob Gardiner Aberdeen
G.J.G. Graham J. Gaskin Aberdeen
A.P.G. Allan P. Grant Dundee
G.B.G. G. Bruce Grant Dundee
J.R.L. John R. Laurie Brechin
W.W.L. Bill W. Lovie Aberdeen
A.G.M. Alex G. Mair Cullen
T.M. Tony Mair Cullen
A.M. Andrew Martin Buckhurst Hill
A.D.M. Alan D. Munro Grangemouth