IDENTIFICATION IN GOD'S WORLD
IDENTIFICATION IN GOD’S WORLD
Revelation 7:9 - 15 (first clause), Revelation 14:1 - 3, Revelation 20:4
What is in mind at this time is to speak about identification in God’s world. These scriptures furnish a basis, a three-fold testimony to the point in mind. The book is indeed marked by testimony to the certainty that believers in Christ shall be identified in that world. The Lord Jesus Himself spoke of “that world and the resurrection (Luke 20:35)”. He said that those who share in it neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels, Luke 20:36; they are the sons of God, being sons, as He says, of the resurrection. This instruction in no way precludes the idea of identification of those who belong to Christ in “that world”.
What I hope to show is that they will be identified by certain moral features that marked them in this world in the days of their responsibility, but taking on a permanent form in a spiritual sense, still carrying the identification of the persons with it. The Lord says to His disciples, as they gloried in speaking to Him of the power that wrought in them through the ministry, “in this rejoice not, ... but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens”, (Luke 10:20). He mentions only their names. The epistle to the Hebrews speaks of “the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven”, Hebrews 12:33. Again the allusion is to a register of names, as we may say, a Who is who book in heaven. Each will answer to his name, and have his own distinguishing feature in life, and not only in life, but in family dignity, for each is a firstborn. This could only be said of the divine family. In no other family is every member a firstborn. Hence, dear brethren, our family status above is mutually equal.
What I have in mind now is not the family status,
[p. 125] but the moral features that mark the children of God here in the sphere of responsibility, carried forward into the day of glory, for we read of “the liberty of the glory of the children of God”, (Romans 8:21). I propose to speak of them, of their traits, in classes. It is a question of the class to which each here may belong. As children of God, and as sons of God, we are all of the same family, but from the moral side there are classifications, and these classifications arise from what each has been in the sphere of his responsibility. To what class do I belong? To illustrate what I am saying, the apostle Paul speaks of certain who “shall be saved, but so as through the fire”, (1 Corinthians 3:15). They will be a class in a sense — not one to aspire to, certainly, although everyone so saved is a testimony to God’s sovereign mercy, and the saving value of the blood of Jesus. It is pitiable, however, that one shall appear in that world in that class, for he has no works to glorify him there — they are all burnt up. His building in the structure of God professedly is of no value at all, on the contrary, wood, hay, stubble, only fit to be removed, or destroyed by fire; but as heaven claims him eternally, there is no change as to the person himself in that: “he shall be saved, but so as through the fire (1 Corinthians 3:15)”. We read in this book of Revelation of those who die in the Lord after a certain time. “Blessed the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow with them”, Revelation 14:13. They are not saved so as through fire, their works stand.
Now, these are the ones that I have in mind as a class, and in what I am saying no doubt the dear brethren will not be passing the thoughts on to others, but each, including the speaker, taking them to himself so as to understand where one is in the divine classifications in God’s world. As I said, there can be no question about us as to our family status, even the one whose works are burnt up has that; but in the clearance account — that is, on entry into “that world” there must be a clearing of accounts — this matter of works must arise. So the elder in our first scripture is of a class well versed in the works of God through His people - for indeed, eldership is made to depend on moral qualifications — they are a class by themselves, the twenty-four elders. One would greatly desire to be amongst them, I mean from the moral side; it is not a question of the family side, as I understand it. These elders are conversant with the whole testimony of God, and consequently they are qualified for their service. They sit round the throne in this book; they have thrones; they have crowns; they know what to say; they know what to do and when to do it.
You can understand the pleasure in the mind of this elder as he looks at the vast multitude of the redeemed that no one can number. He cannot, as it were, let the opportunity pass of calling attention to them, and so it will be in God’s world. God loves to call attention to the fruit of His own works, at the same time accrediting those to whom He calls attention; even as the Lord Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee says to Simon, “Seest thou this woman?” (Luke 7:44). What pleasure He had in calling attention to her? Then again, Mary of Bethany, as she was censured by Judas, the Lord says, “Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this”, (John 12:7). The clearing period in that world will be full of such remarks. It is well to face it, as to what will be said of each of us. Under what head will each be classified? It is in our hands now to determine. Divine counsel, of course, determines the place of each in the family. All the saints are being brought to glory and each will have his distinction and place, the brethren of Christ too, the members of the body also — the organism. It is not left to each to determine his place there. It is a question of infinite wisdom. Only divine skill could devise such a thing as the assembly viewed as an organism: it is the masterpiece of God in [p. 127] creation; it is all His own work, but then, from the moral side, as related to the judgment seat of Christ, it is in our hands as to what class we are in.
The elder, in chapter 7, representing the divine side worked out in man, says to John. “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?” A double question — “What are these? ... and whence came they?” We have identification of persons and, as you might say, their localities. Hence, “what?” or “who?” and “whence?” “Whence came they?” The elder has much in mind; he does not say all that he could say about them. The Spirit of God had already said of them that they were “standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches in their hands. And they cry with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb”, verses 9, 10. The Holy Spirit tells us that, but the elder does not say everything. He says enough. The Lord could have said much more about Mary of Bethany than He said, and much more about the woman in Simon’s house, but He said enough for His purpose. So here the elder says, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?” Why did John not ask about this wonderful company? The elder calls his attention to them — at least he calls his attention to them so as to bring out who they were and whence they came. That is an appealing matter, and, dear brethren, when heaven calls out, whoever may do it in that day, what shall we have that can be mentioned? It may be that there are those here of whom it can hardly be said that they “have washed their robes, and have made them white”. These people went the whole way in their appropriation of the blood of Christ, and they had palms, we are told: “palm branches in their hands. And they cry with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb”. They would not [p. 128] accredit anything to themselves, but heaven accredits them. They are ascribing salvation to God, for in truth, that is how the matter stands, but yet there is the idea of saving ourselves, as Peter says, “Save yourselves from this untoward (or perverse) generation”, (Acts 2:40). If anyone here is in any association marked by perverseness, save yourself from it. It is in your hands to do it. God alone can save you from eternal ruin, but it is in your hands, the Spirit working in you, to save yourself from a perverse generation, and moreover to work out your own salvation. Not exactly your salvation from eternal ruin, but your present salvation, from the world and from the power of Satan too, to work it out. “It is God”, says the apostle, “which worketh in you”, (Philippians 2:13), but the working out is your matter.
These have used the blood of the Lamb as available to wash their robes and make them white. Each of them would look at his robe and see whether there was anything still needed, and make a full appropriation, in his conscience and intelligence, of the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin. They had done that, and they were victorious. They knew it, and they ascribe salvation to God, and we are told of them, that they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. I cannot go into all that is said of them right down to the end of the chapter, but only point out this, that they are worthy of heaven’s interest; heaven, through the elder, calling the prophet John’s attention to them that he might know them. They belong to a class. There are a great multitude and “they who come out”, we are told, “of the great tribulation”; not simply a tribulation, but the one — terrible experience, but coming out victoriously, a great triumph. We are on the fringe of it. The Lord Jesus has promised the saints of this dispensation to keep them out of the great tribulation, but these white-robed saints under our notice come through it. They [p. 129] come out of it, we are told, a great crowd, showing that, after the Lord Jesus comes for us, there will be another gospel effecting great results. He “shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”(1 Thessalonians 4:16,17) — after that there will proceed another gospel. Things will be done quickly — an angel is seen flying, having the everlasting glad tidings to announce to all on earth. Revelation 14:6; and there will be great results. Chapter 7 speaks of a great number of saved. They come out, having washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and they are before God, before His throne and serve Him day and night in His temple. How pleased heaven is with them! They are a class by themselves, secured through the gospel that is to come, but the same traits are to be seen in them as in us. It may be that there is someone here who has not washed his robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. If so, I would urge you to do it.
Now I come again to chapter 14 to show another group. These are numbered, the others are not; they are said to be “a great multitude, which no man could number”. In chapter 14 we have the number stated — a hundred and forty and four thousand, we are told, and they “follow the Lamb”. I have been speaking of saving ourselves from a perverse, generation; from associations that are not of God. It is incumbent upon every Christian to withdraw from iniquity and purge himself from vessels to dishonour, so that he may be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. It is incumbent, in the most urgent way, on everyone here to see that he does this. The time is short and the Lord is demanding it.
[p. 130] In this chapter we have a measured company, as I said — very divisible, and they follow the Lamb. It is not now a question of washing their robes, that is assumed, but this passage goes further. It is a question of being with the Lamb — in our times, to be with Christ as separate from evil. They are said to be “bought from the earth”, which, of course, involves redemption, but they are “from the earth”. They are bought for God, and it is said, as to the moral side, “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God (Revelation 14:4,5)”. Now this has a very direct application to the present time, and what is stated enters into the classification that I have been speaking of. These form a class, they are on a higher level than those in chapter 7, for they are very divisible, implying that they understand love. They understand divine order; they understand how to hold themselves in relation to each other; they are free from rivalry of each other; they are like Nathaniel; he is their prototype in the sense that he was “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile”, (John 1:47).
What guile there is, what dark counsels are current in the world! Each of us knows in his own heart the tendency to guile. These have not any. They are bought from the earth and from among men. They are first — fruits to God. They belong to the same period as the great multitude do, only they are now intelligently and affectionately, as I may say, with Christ, as also with one another. For a hundred and forty-four thousand, as I said, denotes that we are truly with one another in affection; that the Lord can call upon any one of us to serve, and that one is ready to so do without any sense of superiority to others. He is just one of the number that is under the Lord’s hand, he loves the Lord, and [p. 131] he loves his brethren. He is for the Lord, he is with the Lord, and will say to any of his fellows. It is the Lord’s work, you do it, or I will. It is only one work and mount Zion is the great centre of it. “Here will I dwell”, says God, “for I have desired it”, (Psalm 132:14). It is the place of divine satisfaction and pleasure, hence love must be there. We cannot be pleasing to God without it. This is a voice to us, for if I “have not love, I am nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2)”. Be it the most learned man in this city today, he is nothing if he has not love. That is what scripture says. It is a very sweeping statement, and ought to be faced. The Lord Jesus says, “By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves”, (John 13:35). How can an organisation of men, of whom some are unconverted, perhaps infidels, perhaps those that deny the authority of scripture, or deny the deity of Christ; how can there be love in such a fellowship? The Lord never thought of classifying such people amongst His disciples. “Love amongst yourselves” involves reality among us. The Lord spoke of “love amongst yourselves” as Judas had gone out, John 13:35. “Love amongst yourselves” requires that we should withdraw from associations where love cannot operate.
This one hundred and forty-four thousand symbolically refers to persons who, under the Lord’s hand, were lovable, being of those who love, so that He can proceed with the great thoughts of God in relation to mount Zion. As the assembly today is the centre on earth of divine operations, so in that day, mount Zion and Jerusalem will be the great centre, and these one hundred and forty-four thousand — a symbolical number — are persons under the Lord’s hand who, as subjects of the divine work, are seen with Him on mount Zion. They are intelligent as well as having love. There is a song being sung above and they listen to it. They are not part of the assembly; they are on the earth, on [p. 132] mount Zion, but they have corresponding traits to those who form the assembly. What they have, we have, or ought to have, and the Lord would suggest to us that we should not be without these traits if we want to be in classifications that are honourable in that day. It says, “I heard a voice out of the heaven as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of great thunder. And the voice which I heard was as of harp-singers harping with their harps”. The word “harp” is striking here: it is a sort of representative musical instrument of heaven. In fact, there is no musical instrument mentioned other than the harp in heaven, I understand. It is a stringed instrument spoken of in the Old Testament, and in the use of it the vocal powers are free to join in with the music of the harpers. This was a new song. Think of the vastness of the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder! This describes what John heard: the voice of “harp-singers, harping with their harps”. Applying this in a natural sense, how can we listen to the harpers harping with their harps here, or hear that voice of many waters, with the voice of thunder in our ears? The Spirit of God is impressing us with the magnitude of the thing. What a voice! What a song! Heaven has its own sounds, and if it designs to use these in relation to music, who can question it? The music is discerned, notwithstanding. It is a heavenly matter, the singers are there, and those on mount Zion are near enough to heaven to hear, and they value what is sung. It is said, “they sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, who were bought from the earth”.
These form the second class that I had in mind as illustrative of my subject. They are identified in God’s world by their love and devotedness to Christ, by the order and the intelligence that marks them. All these [p. 133] things apply at the present time to those of us who have part in assembly service. It is a time for perfecting it. Such a class as this will have a great place in that world; persons marked by the things I have spoken of, and who can learn such a song as this; although on earth. They can learn a new song, sung in heaven. What a choir above! Do we not aspire to such service? Is it not attractive, so that we should go in for it now, and understand the manner of the service of God, with our David, who is the sweet Psalmist of Israel, whose “instruments” are perfect in the song? There may be some present who have hardly thought of all this. Perhaps the Lord may be speaking to some one in this respect, attracting you by what there is in the divine realm — the realm of faith now, presently to be the realm of sight.
Thirdly, chapter 20 is distinctly a resurrection scene, and not only a resurrection scene, but a heavenly scene. In this book the centre of everything is heaven, as it is today. Although the assembly is here and is the centre of God’s operations, it is heavenly. It is like the great sheet let down from heaven, spoken of in Acts 10. That chapter indicates what the assembly is now, a heavenly vessel on earth for testimony, about to be taken up to heaven. Verse 6 in Revelation 20 depicts a heavenly scene, but what is stressed is resurrection. It is said, “This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy he who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no [p. 137] power; but they shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years”. It is “that world, and the resurrection” (Luke 20:35); the thousand years, that is, what we call the millennium, where all these things I am speaking of will come into display, where our classification will be seen, where one will be over ten cities, and another over five, according to his classification. Here we have three classes of persons under one head — that is,
[p. 134] persons who have part in the first resurrection. The authorised version is somewhat defective as to these classes. The first is, “I saw thrones; and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them”. That is one class, referring undoubtedly to those who form the assembly. Judgment is given them, and they are sitting upon thrones. The epistles to the Corinthians make a great deal of judgment. Viewed thus, I commend them to you at this time. There is great stress laid upon judgment; above all, each of us is to judge himself, for if I do not judge myself, I cannot judge others according to God. It is thus that the assembly is being taught as to judgment. “Know ye not”, says the apostle, “that we shall judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3); and again, “ye also shall sit on twelve thrones”, the Lord says to the disciples, “judging the twelve tribes of Israel”, (Matthew 19:28). Judgment will be a great feature attaching to the assembly in that day. Hence the need for learning it now, and, above all, each should learn to judge himself. A man that rules his own spirit, through self-judgment, is greater than he that takes a city. If he rules his own spirit, he will be in the greatest of all cities — he will be an integral part of the heavenly city as it comes down. He has to learn how to judge — to execute judgment. Thus, the first class here sit on thrones.
In regard to the second class, the passage tells us that John saw “the souls of those beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of God”. Thirdly, there are those “who had not done homage to the beast nor to his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and hand”. These classifications have present applications. The first one directly applies to ourselves, that is, we are to know how to exercise judgment; we have part in the heavenly city. The second and third are persons who come in later. They belong to the short period which is to succeed our period, which is a very long one. This [p. 135] short period, regarded as critical in God’s ways, when good and evil are brought into peculiar evidence, will bring to light these persons who will suffer peculiarly. This is my last point — the question of suffering. I shall be ashamed in the day of Christ if I have not something in the way of suffering to my account; and normally I believe every saint would feel that way. It is good for us to suffer. “Take thy share in suffering”, says the apostle Paul, (2 Timothy 2:3). The evading of it is to our loss; and so these persons are spoken of as “the souls of those beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of God”. They were beheaded. Why should that be said? There can be no doubt that the allusion is to spiritual intelligence, which the enemy would especially put out of his way. How important it is — particularly in difficult days — to be intelligent! The priest’s turban, or head covering, was ornamented, and upon it were the words “Holiness to the Lord”. It denoted holiness of thought, holiness of understanding — all infinitely perfect in Christ. The saints are said to “have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)”. This implies that each has learned to judge himself as regards his natural mind, not allowing it at all in divine things. It is a curse in divine things. The natural mind does not understand the things of God, 1 Corinthians 2:14. It is a question of holiness — dependent on the renewal of the mind, Romans 12:2. This is by the Holy Spirit, who gives us intelligence in the things of God. I suppose the beheading here implies opposition to that. Persecutions against the people of God usually aim at their leaders — those who are devoted to the testimony and who understand the mind of God; but the word here would be to urge us to that holiness of understanding and thought. The enemy knows its importance and hence beheads these victorious saints. John the baptist was beheaded.
The third class in our passage are persons “which [p. 136] had not worshipped the best, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands”. What a voice that is today! This evil, called the mark of the beast, with which God takes direct issue in the earlier part of this book, is a peculiar feature of modern times. The great impetus given to human intelligence in these times, beginning particularly with the Reformation, and the circulation of ancient literature at that time and later, greatly stimulated the human mind. Giants in human ability have come into evidence and through them an immense variety of inventions, bringing, to a large extent, misery on mankind. It is irony, but it is so. God would have His people possess a judgment of all this; deliverance is really in that — “your judgment”, the Spirit of God says. Revelation 18:20. God is calling upon us to have a judgment of current things. This matter of the mark of the beast is one of the leading factors of the modern world. It is going to be full — blown presently, and these martyrs suffer because they refuse it. Are we to be behind them? — Surely not! They are brought in here lest there should be any question as to their part in the heavenly position. All those who suffer martyrdom in the coming day — the greatest day of persecution — will have their place in the heavenlies, the assembly always having a distinct place there. The assembly never loses her distinction, but still there are other families in heaven as well as the assembly. Do we not rejoice in that? It is a question of the Father’s glory. Of the Father, we are told, “every family in the heavens and on earth is named”, (Ephesians 3:15). I am speaking now of the moral side, they had not done homage to the beast, nor to his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and hand. The passage continues with the statement, “they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years”, verse 4. Then verse 6 says, “Blessed and holy he who has part in the first resurrection: over these the second death has no power; but they shall be priests of God and of the Christ (Revelation 20:6)”. They are serving others. Then again, they “shall reign with him a thousand years”.
That is what I had to say, but in order to clarify the position, I would say that class two will be most glorious; martyrs, you might say, of the first order standing out against what we have to do with now in a diluted form. They will have it in all its intensity, and they will love not their lives unto death. They are triumphant and will live and reign with Christ publicly. The millennial glory of Christ is contemplated: we shall share it with Him. After the judgment-seat of Christ our identity comes out; it will be determined, from these moral traits, and it will be glorious, the traits are glorious; and, dear brethren, it is in our hands now to qualify so that we may have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I could say other things, but I would like to make clear that, in this book, identification is a great feature. Even the heavenly city is identified by certain marks, and what I have said on these three passages will show how we are to be classified, and it is within our range now to qualify by having these traits, so that our part in that day will be glorious, and we shall not be amongst those whose works are burned up.