Revelation
Laodicea - continued
When He comes to the world, and His people take their
places with Him as associated with Him in government, then dignities, honours,
rewards of work, will find their place. It will be "Have thou authority over
ten" - "be thou also over five cities." But salvation, righteousness, the
child’s place with the Father, membership of the body of Christ, our
relationship to Christ as His bride, - nay, even our being kings and priests
unto His God and Father, are things which, as they are not gained, so they are
not lost by any work of ours at all. Christ has procured them for us, and grace
bestows them, - grace, and grace alone. When, therefore, the Lord descends from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, is
there discrimination among those in Christ? - of the dead who shall be raised?
of the living who shall be changed? Nay, but the "dead in Christ shall rise
first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air; so shall we be ever with the Lord." Blessed
words! how they pierce and scatter the chilling fogs of legalism, and make the
"blessed hope," not a means of sorest perplexity and doubt, but hope
indeed!
Nor are the passages which these writers build upon in
contradiction with this at all. The promise to the overcomer at Philadelphia is
one of a class which, as the eye runs over them throughout these apocalyptic
addresses, show plainly that they apply more or less to every true believer.
Take the promise to him at Ephesus, and ask, Will any believer not "eat of the
tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God"? Take that to
Smyrna, and ask, Will any "be hurt of the second death"? And so on through the
remainder. Their special significance in relation to the overcomer in the cases
there pointed out is not in the least diminished by their general application
to all believers.
Again, as to the ten virgins, it is a mistake to
suppose that in that character (according to the parable,) Christians are
represented as espoused to Christ at all. Those who go forth to meet the
bridegroom are not the bride; and to make them this, disjoints the parable.
According to the whole tenor of the prophecy in these chapters, the Jewish
people and the earth are in the foreground, and the parable of the virgins only
parenthetically brings in the connection of Christians with these. According to
the common language of the Old-Testament prophets, the Lord is coming to take
His bride; and on His way to do this, His people of the present time are called
up to meet Him and return with Him. So much is implied in the expression in the
Greek. It is thus when He is come to earth that the foolish virgins are
rejected, and cast out of His kingdom altogether. The parable is a parable of
the kingdom; and the kingdom, in all the parables, speaks of earth, not heaven,
and of the whole field of profession. "Virgins," "servants," and the like
titles, merely intimate responsible profession, not necessarily the truth of
it. He was a servant who had laid up his lord’s money in a napkin, and
never really served at all. He was a servant, but a wicked one; and so with
these "foolish" virgins.
Oil they are explicitly stated not to have;
and though their lamps are only represented as "going out," when the cry is
raised, "Behold, the bridegroom!" This is the constant style of these parables,
in which the inner thoughts of the soul are mirrored and exposed, not
dogmatic truth taught. In their own imaginations, the Pharisees were the
"ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance;" not in dogmatic reality.
Moreover, the Lord’s words of rejection, "I know you not," are decisive
from One who "knoweth them that are His," and can never disown them.
No, He cannot spew His own out of His mouth, but must have them with Him out of
the world before the first drops of the storm of judgment fall. Even then it
will be made manifest, before He rejects the public professing body, that they
have on their part rejected Him. Christendom ends in open apostasy. The day of
the Lord will not come except there come a falling away first, and the man of
sin be revealed. Popery, evil as it is, and anti-christian too, is not the last
evil, nor the worst. It is the sinful woman, not the man. It has been revealed
over three hundred years as this, and the day of the Lord is not yet come. The
Antichrist will deny the Father and the Son alike.
How solemn to
contemplate the last end of what began so differently! How above all solemn to
consider that both at the beginning and the end, the sin and failure of the
true people of God it is which initiates and completes the ruin! Who can doubt
that Christians themselves are largely taking up this self-complacent
assumption - "rich, and increased with goods, and in need of nothing"?
Even by some who deem the time of harvest drawing near we are invited to
consider the fact that if the tares are ripening for it, yet the wheat must be
ripening too, and that this means that the present generation of Christians is
spiritually in advance of every other! We are bidden observe the great
awakening of the missionary spirit, the restoration of gifts of healing to the
Church, and so on. Surely we are rich, and increased with goods, if this be our
condition! And is there not a creed, connected very much with the latter claim,
and largely professed among those who naturally take their place as the very
leaders of the Christianity of the day, which comes very near indeed to
Laodicean profession? How could the claim to be rich and increased with goods
be more really made than by those who profess what they will not indeed call
"sinless" and yet do assert for it what ought to be a still loftier title, -
that of "Christian perfection."
Christian perfection is of course the
very summit - the ne plus ultra of Christianity. Higher than this no one
can hope to go: with such a condition God Himself must be completely satisfied.
As Christ is, (so they apply it,) so are they in this world. Perfect knowledge,
perfect wisdom, they do not suppose they have, but "perfect love" is the term
which exactly fits and describes their condition. They perfectly obey the
divine law, and for a large class there remains in them no corruption of nature
even, although many would not go as far as that. There are many grades of the
doctrine, and correspondingly it affects very distinct classes of Christian
profession. Its wide acceptance is a very noticeable thing in these days, an
unmistakable sign of the times.
For the term "perfection," and that as
applied to Christians, there is scripture, of course. The devil, in deceiving
the people of God, will always, if he can, use scripture to accomplish his
object. But the term there does not mean what in the dialect of the
"higher life" it is made to mean. Take one of the strongest texts used, "Be ye
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" - the context shows
decisively what is meant. We speak of a thing as perfect which has all its
parts, without at all regarding the finish of its parts. So the Lord tells us
that as children we must resemble our Father, and for this exhibit all the
features of our Father’s character. We must not only love those who love
us, but as He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends His
rain on the just and on the unjust, we must exhibit this feature of His
character also: "Love your enemies, and pray for them which despitefully use
you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in
heaven." (Matt. V. 45.)
"Perfection" is also used for the mature
Christian condition, as a glance at the margin of Heb. v. 14 will show. The
term there - "of full age" - is in the margin rendered "perfect," just as in I
Cor. xiv. 20, "be men" is in the margin rendered "be perfect," or "of a ripe
age." It is used thus with two applications: in Hebrews, Christianity itself is
perfection, or maturity, in contrast with Judaism, which was a state of
childhood. But again, among Christians there are those perfect, or mature, in
contrast with being babes; and the apostle Paul, in the third of Philippians,
in which he disclaims having attained, or being already perfect, as a
consummation which he would not reach 'til with Christ in glory, classes
himself immediately after among those who had in another sense "attained:" "Let
us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded."
There are many
texts which I cannot now go through; but this should prevent the catching at a
word, as people are prone to do. Plenty about perfection there is, no doubt, in
Scripture; but if we set up any standard short of walking as Christ walked, we
are really lowering it. If, on the other hand, we can measure ourselves with
Christ, and yet feel no rebuke, we must be indeed inordinately, if not
incredibly, self-complacent. Mischief is wrought in two ways by the
idea.
In the first place, sin must be palliated, excused, covered by
misleading names. Lust is called temptation, and sometimes even daring
dishonour done to Christ Himself by the insinuation that He too was in like
manner tempted. So people quote, "He was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin," as if it meant that He had such inward desires, only
restrained them, so that there was no positive outbreak. This, the actual
blasphemy of Irving and Thomas, in milder and less pronounced forms infects
many in the present day. The text they quote in the common version favours
these views too much. And the Revised Version unhappily perpetuates the error.
There is properly, as any one may see by the italics (Heb. v. 15), no word in
the original representing "yet." "He was tempted in all points, like as we are,
apart from sin" is the true rendering. You must not imply sin in any way in the
Holy One of God. Sin it is that produces lust, as the seventh of Romans
decisively teaches, as on the other hand lust, again, brings forth the positive
outward sin. He had neither; no inward incitement as no sin in act, and herein
was our total opposite, who, as Scripture assures us, "in many things offend,
all." (Jas.iii.2.)
But again, the character of holiness is sadly
spoiled by this perfectionism. in the lips of many, "holiness" means
"perfection," and nothing else, and so does "sanctification." And yet in fact
holiness itself is marred and perverted by this claim as made. It becomes
self-occupation, self-assertion. "Seraphic" men are held up to admiration. And
how much of Christ really do you find in the experience so largely boasted of
by those who advocate the doctrine? It may be in words - is it in reality,
"not I, but Christ liveth in me"? or is it in fact a glorified, transfigured,
but very self-conscious I, that lives and reigns throughout them? They do not
see that, as the natural life in a state of health does not engross or claim
the attention, - as the heart’s pulsation, or the lung’s work is not
furthered, but disturbed, by thinking of it, - as the man in hospital it is who
talks of his good days, because they are scarce, and as the dyspeptic it is who
"feels" his stomach, - so this aim at a self-conscious holiness produces but a
poor, degenerate, sickly Christianity at best. Is it far off from that which
says, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knows
not that it is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked?
"I counsel thee," says the Lord to Laodicea here - " I counsel thee to buy of
Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that
thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear; and
anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see."
Three things
are here which they are exhorted to "buy." So wealthy are they, the Lord will
not talk of giving to them. And indeed it would be a happy thing for them to
exchange their riches for them, - false glitter for true gold. This is the
first thing: gold. A frequent symbol this is, we know, in Scripture, and pure
gold (as here, "tried in the fire,") for what is divine. In the ark of the
testimony, and in the furniture of the holy places generally, gold covered all.
The apostle, I believe, gives us the exact meaning, when he speaks of the
golden cherubim as the "cherubim of glory, shadowing the mercy-seat. This
"glory" is the display of what God is. God glorifies Himself when He shines
out in the blessed reality of what He is; and Christ is the true ark in which
two materials are found together - gold and shittimwood. The radiance of
divine glory is the gold; the shittim-wood, the precious verity of
manhood.
Can we not see why to Laodicea "gold tried in the fire" is the
first requisite? Their riches were but paper money, manufactured out of the
rags of self-righteousness, and of merely conventional, not intrinsic value.
Christ was what they lacked: divine glory in the only face in which it shines
un-dimmed. This is the power of Christianity, its essence and its power alike,
and this is what their false, pretentious Christianity lacked so terribly:
occupation with Christ, - discernment of what and where all that is true and
valuable in Christianity is to be found. To know where this is, is to have it.
Faith that finds this treasure is welcome to its enjoyment. To be without it,
is to be poor indeed.
The next thing is, "white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." This is,
no doubt, practical righteousness of life and walk. There is a connection
between this and the former, which when we have their meaning becomes evident
enough. Unless you have the divine glory in the face of Jesus shining for your
soul, you will find no ability to live and walk aright. The "white" is the
full, undivided ray of light; and God is light. How is our life to be the
reflection of this, except as "God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness," is shining in our hearts,"to give out the light of the knowledge of
the glory of Christ in the face of Jesus Christ" Leviticus must precede
Numbers ever. We must go in to see God in the sanctuary before we can possibly
come out and walk with Him in the world.
Finally, we have here, "and
anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see." Thus there was utter
blindness, - the condition of the Pharisees over again. They did not realize
it. They said, "We see," and thus their "sin remained." For the consciously
blind, there is with Christ effectual healing; but they, alas! needed not the
physician.
These characters, taken in their full extent, reveal a state
which is assuredly not Christian. We must not, however, on this account
suppose, as some have done, that Laodicea thus represents merely the
unbelievers among the Christian profession. Of Sardis it is distinctly said,
"Thou hast a name to live, and thou art dead," and yet there are owned among
them those who are not only alive, but "have not defiled their garments." This
shows that we must beware of ascribing the characteristics of the mass to all
the individuals in it. It is a state of things as to which all found in
association with it have the gravest responsibility; but to say it is only to
be applied to the unconverted is to deprive the warning given of all its power.
It is to enable every consciously converted man to wash his hands of the
responsibility. Whereas all around us, not only are the signs of Laodiceanism
growing continually more manifest, but the infection also of Christians with
its spirit. And here again also it is apparent how Philadelphia may open the
way to Laodicea itself.
Philadelphia proclaims the brotherhood of
Christians, seeks the true Church, insists upon the evil of division, and
the mainten.ince of individual conscience in consistency with the recognition
of the one body of Christ in all its members. Laodicea - Satan’s
counterfeit - proclaims also that the church is one, that union is strength, in
order to bring about a grand confederacy in which truth shall be sacrificed for
company’s sake, and the power conferred by numbers. To the eyes of men,
Laodicea becomes thus only the true carrying out of the Philadelphian idea, -
itself a better and grander Philadelphia. Here Christ may in the very name of
Christ be put outside. the door, - a development of principles which are far
and wide leavening men’s minds, and preparing the way for the dark and
dread apostasy in which the dispensation is announced of God to end.
Confederacy is, politically and socially, a character of the times. In
mercantile affairs of every kind, companies are getting to be more and more
every where the rule. The strength realized by union is here well recognized.
In the rise of the popular element, combination is not merely an advantage; it
is an imperative necessity. By its means alone can the poor man make his voice
be heard upon nearer equality of terms with the capitalist, the labourer with
his employer. Yet here the true individuality which God would have, - the
individuality of conscience with which alone real uprightness of conduct can be
maintained, - has to be lost and give way to the will of the majority.
No power can be attained by the body at large thus except by ruinous
self-sacrifice on the part of its members. It must have unity, the unity of a
machine, or nothing can be effected; but for this, heart and conscience must be
leveled down to wood and iron. It is essential that freedom of individual
action there should be none; and thus there is no tyranny so great as the
tyranny often here exercised, - no more ruthless treading down of the most
sacred and personal rights than with those in whose mouths the cry of
"People’s rights!" is oftenest and loudest.
Religious associations
may seem often in their laxity as opposite to this as can be, and yet the
laxity itself be as contrary to God, and bind me as much to His dishonour. What
seems the largest liberality may thus be the very spirit of disobedience, and
to this it is that every thing in the present day is tending. Satan can press
upon us the evil of division just there where division is not an evil, but a
right and godly separation from evil; and he can point out good to be
accomplished, to make us little careful as to the means by which it is proposed
to accomplish it. A united Christian church which should become so by making it
a matter of indifference whether Christ were God or only the highest kind of
man would certainly be his greatest achievement. The startling thing today is,
that men considered evangelical can accept associations of this kind; and the
platform upon which they stand widens continually: what would have been
liberality a short time since is now narrowness. The world moves; but the
unbending word of God which moves not, against this it will dash itself only to
its destruction.
Amid this concourse and confederacy of men, communion
with God becomes continually more restricted: "Behold, I stand at the door, and
knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with Me." This door is plainly individual, - not of
the church, but of the heart. But then it is as plain that the church-door is
shut against Him; not that He has shut it, or Himself spewed the church out of
His mouth. He is still lingering in His love, - still saying, "As many as I
love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous, therefore, and repent." But they do not
repent. He is as when at Nazareth in the days of His earthly ministry (rejected
by those who should have known Him best,) it is written of Him, "And He could
there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hand upon a few sick folk, and
healed them." He could not do what He would; He would do what He could: "And He
marveled at their unbelief; and He went round about the villages, teaching." So
here, rejected by the body at large, He tries one door after another, in this
solemn pause before the end. He would not judge in the mass; so He tries in
detail. And if any heart responds, - for all seem to have shut Him out, but He
will not take it yet as final, - then He will come in there, and sup: that soul
shall yet to its everlasting joy entertain its Lord.
But the time
hastens, and the nearness of the end is shown by the closing promise to the
overcomer:
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father on His throne."
He speaks, as He appears to the apostle, as Son of Man here. It is His kingdom
as Son of Man He is about to take: that special throne from which as with a rod
of iron He will break in pieces all opposition, and bring every thing into
subjection to God. For it is His to do this. He has laid the foundation in the
work of the cross: His hands shall finish it. All judgment is His, because He
is the Son of Man. And judgment itself now is the only work left for mercy to
accomplish. So there comes - most terrible of all wrath, the wrath of the Lamb,
- the wrath of love itself: the wrath of Him who has been watching all these
patient centuries the oppression of the meek, in whose ears have been the cries
of the fallen in the terrible strife; He of whom the wicked hath said in his
heart, He will not require it; yet who beholdeth mischief and spite to requite
it with His hand; to whom the poor committeth himself, who is the Helper of the
fatherless. HE now riseth up. "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing
of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord: I will set him in safety from
him that puffeth at him."
In a word, the present day of grace is in
this promise marked as just at its end. And with this the Church, as the vessel
of the testimony of that grace, is being removed from the earth. The "present
things" at which we have been looking are just over. The Christian dispensation
has run its course. The saints removed to heaven, the rest that are left are
but reprobate, and fall soon into utter apostasy. Then comes the earth’s
great trial-time, the time of Jacob’s trouble, out of which yet he shall
be delivered; the heading up of unbelief in gigantic forms of evil, dimly (and
but dimly) now looming up amid the shadows of the horizon. Beyond it yet the
glory of a brighter day, when the redeemed of the Lord shall come with singing
unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head; when a King shall
reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment; and a MAN shall be
as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of
water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea.
Sweeter than all and brighter the joy above, when in the mansions
of the Father’s house that promise shall be fulfilled, "I will come again,
and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
F.W.G.
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