The nearer we come to the Bridegroom, the better are we prepared for Him. "She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework" (Psalm 45:1414She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. (Psalm 45:14)). The cry, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him" (Matt. 25:66And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. (Matthew 25:6)), awoke the slumbering virgins. A great reviving of souls, and recovery of truth, followed from this cry; and surely to testify of Him until He comes, must characterize the bride as she apprehends the advent of the Bridegroom. Affection is kindled as the hope of seeing Him increases; and as the heart is fixed on the bright and morning star, the more do we drop the things of the night, and are really with trimmed lamps coming forth to meet Him.
Much light and truth, we know, have been vouchsafed consequent on this cry; but the end and object of the cry must not be lost sight of on account of anything, however great, conferred in connection with it. The cry has produced the revival. It occupies the heart with its true Object and the One who not only satisfies it, but, as He is its Object, furnishes it with grace to be more fully so. If the cry then be overlooked for some of the great truths restored to those who have answered to the cry, the result would be as if one were occupied with a fine flower, or the great branch of a tree, severed from its root. Light and truth would then monopolize the place of the Person of our Lord. If the beauty of our apparel were to preoccupy us, it would be with us as with Israel in another day, when the very riches of the country diverted their hearts from the Lord, the Giver. The testimony now can never be any other than that for which the Holy Spirit was sent: "He shall testify of Me." "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." The wise virgins had oil in their vessels; but whatever the measure of love to Christ in their hearts, they were inactive—they were apparently in a dead state. They might assert that their hearts were awake, yet as to walk and ways they were asleep. "At midnight," in the deepest darkness, unexpectedly, there was a cry made, "Behold, the bridegroom." This cry turned the heart on the Lord—the only true Object for it—and then the lamps were trimmed. Everything was changed. There was a zealous activity to be "ready" for the Lord.
Now, coincident with this awakening, was an opening of the Word and the counsels of God, not to supersede this revived hope, but to help it on in a perfectly divine way. Knowledge does not give heart, but it helps the heart, because it instructs it in the best way to suit the One it seeks. As the heart of the saint is set on the Lord, it is of the greatest interest to him to learn that the oil in their vessels was the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. This great fact stands at the head of all truth for the believer, and if not held in simple and assured faith, no item of the truth is in power in the soul. Then our acceptance is, "As He is, so are we in this world," truth so utterly lost in man's theology, that even to this day few have fully laid hold of it in faith.
Following on this great truth came its companion, the nature of our relationship to Christ; He is the Head of the Church, and we the members, all baptized by one Spirit into one body, for we "have been all made to drink into one Spirit." One was the ministry of the gospel, the other the ministry of the Church. Though each is distinct from the other, the truth of the presence of the Holy Spirit is essential to the understanding of either. Neither has been apprehended by Christians who do not believe that the Holy Spirit has been sent down from heaven. Hence the first important truth in connection with the coming of the Lord was the fact that the Holy Spirit was here. The effort of the enemy was to divert the minds of those awakened to the coming of the Lord, from it to the gift of the Spirit, praying for Him to come, in fact denying His presence, which plainly was unbelief in the Word of God; and hence those who fell into this delusion, becoming more and more ensnared and entangled by the enemy, surrendered every truth, while those who believed the Word, not only enjoyed forgiveness of sins, but were sealed by the Holy Spirit, and then began to understand and seek the nature of their relationship to Christ, and how they were to be fit for Him as His bride at His coming. The blessedness of greeting Him has been too much supplanted by the great truths which God has been pleased to unfold in order that, knowing our calling, we might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Paul teaches us the nature of our relationship to Christ in a double way—what the Church is to Him, and what He is to the Church. John dwells on His love to us, so that our love is drawn out to Him; still, with each apostle, the coming of the Lord is the hope and goal. When Paul speaks of the Lord's completed desire for the Church, it is "That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Eph. 5:2727That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27). When it 'is the acme of blessing to the saints, it is "The Lord Himself 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 Thess. 4:16, 1716For the Lord himself 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: 17Then 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). It is the great aim and incentive to His service to present them as a chaste virgin to Christ. When grace worked with power, they "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven" (1 Thess. 1:9, 109For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9‑10)).
John, on the other hand, exemplifies how love begets love; "We love Him because He first loved us." If the Lord goes away to prepare a place for us, it is only that He may come again and receive us to Himself, that where He is, there we may be also. If He looks forward to the brightest day on earth, it is when the bride descends from heaven "adorned for her husband" (Rev. 21:22And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)), when she shall be displayed here in perfect suitability to her Lord. If he speaks of his own service to the saints, at one time it is that he may "not be ashamed before Him at His coming" (1 John 2:2828And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (1 John 2:28)); and at another, that he may not lose a "full reward" (2 John 88Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. (2 John 8)). And when the Church was hopelessly marred and in ruin, one thing preeminently remained for the saints—"I will give him the morning star." Rev. 2:2828And I will give him the morning star. (Revelation 2:28). So that the coming of the Lord is the hope of the Church to the end, a bright, attractive light in the darkness, a beacon and an unfailing cheer in the darkest hour.
But while it imparts the deepest joy to the devoted heart, it at the same time insists on a divine suitability. "Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty" (Psalm 45:10, 1110Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; 11So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. (Psalm 45:10‑11)). The great truths which have been unfolded and to which we have referred, when learned by the Spirit, invest us with this suitability. Is it not then very evident that the present testimony must be greatly characterized by an eager looking-out for His coming, so much so that the book of Revelation closes with the Spirit and the bride inviting Him to come? The Holy Spirit, who is ready to testify of Christ, and who has opened out to us all the great truths respecting us individually and corporately, declares Himself by one very distinct utterance, "Come," in answer to the announcement, "I am... the bright and morning star." Hence the bride—the personal identity of every saint—cannot do otherwise. If she be in the Spirit, she must do so; and openly she must say, "Come," more glad of heart to greet Him than the family of Bethany if they heard He was crossing the road to their house. The more thoroughly she is suited for Him, walking according to His Word, and not denying His name, the more she is in real concord with the Holy Spirit in saying, "Come." The very nature of the invitation promotes in her the affection to repeat it, and to be in every way prepared for His coming, so that by her the testimony would be, as to practical walk, fully maintained, while no part of true service would be overlooked, but attended to the better the more He was expected, like Elijah working indefatigably his last day on earth.
We cannot conceive anything more attractive to the heart than the bride in company with the Holy Spirit inviting the Lord to come. I do not refer to the sense of delight it must impart to the saints, but it is the testimony then set forth that I desire to describe. The Holy Spirit has been sent by Christ to testify of Himself. His testimony must ever remain the same, and the two great marks of it; namely, to reprove the world, and to glorify Christ. "He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you," must ever remain, man and his sphere exposed, but the rejected Lord glorified, and His things revealed.
Now in company with this blessed One in this exclusive service is the bride, taught and led by Him, and in the delight of her heart saying, "Come." It is a most beautiful spectacle, a brilliant testimony, because it is not only that the great moral lines are maintained, but the deep affections of the heart are drawn out in the expectation of greeting the Lord. Surely we want this much in this clay, the simple sense of delight in the anticipation of seeing Him. It is of deep importance that we apprehend the force and value of the Spirit's saying, "Come." He is set on it, and everyone led by Him joins in it. Hence the bride says, "Come." Every saint may not say it, but one is not in his true state if he, led by the Holy Spirit, does not say it. It is important to note that a person says it; all the members of this one person may not be alive to the value of the word, but yet that which is only true is expressed. Consequently, the bride not only says, "Come," but "let him that heareth say, Come." She represents the only true sentiment of every believer, not merely those in this true state; therefore she seeks all around, that everything belonging to Christ may be prepared and ready for His coming. "Let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." There is the eager persistent service that all may be ready and prepared for the Lord.