The Church in the glory, that is to come, will have all the glories of Christ laid open to her. There will be no distinction between Christ and God, for it is " the throne of God and the Lamb." All the glories, all the relations between them, will be open to the Church, for she is with Him there, as His Bride. The earthly people who behold Jehovah in the temple will not know the Lord as Bridegroom in the heavenlies, which is a higher thing.
The Smyrnian Church is recognized as in a position to see the blessedness of this; and thus the character in which Christ comes to her is perfectly spiritual and moral. They were brought into sorrow and humiliation, but they were in a state capable of having sympathy with the mind of Christ. Taste for truth depends upon the state of your own souls. There are some states of soul in which the circumstances connected with Christ take most hold of the soul, and others in which the Person of Christ has most attraction. The caliber of a person's soul may be known by what he most delights in of Christ. The Laodicean state of the Church is met by the promise of sitting on Christ's throne, to those who overcome. Christ speaks of Himself to John as the first and the last; which was dead and is alive again. So here to Smyrna. What was comfort to John would be comfort to them. There is an answer in the Person of Christ to all the circumstances.