|
December 30
The Language of the Spirit and the Bride (4)
And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" — Rev. 22:17.
Read: Rev. 22:17-21 Sing: Ps. 90:7
Our edification should be founded in our knowledge that we should consider the
foundational-prayer-of-New-Year’s-Eve of the bride the way God "hears" it. Then I know in advance by faith that
nothing else will edify. And then there is for that faith afterward also an affirmation of that faith. In
other words: then we find afterwards also, that this consideration indeed "edified" us with a particular
New-Year’s-Eve-edification.
For indeed, this consideration purifies our last prayer of this year. For it teaches me that I actually
have so little of that positivity about which we spoke before: the longing for the Coming. We look back in
a melancholy way at what is past. In other words, we look at what will not "come" again. We look
back at our "dead ones" who will never come back to us. We look back at our never again "coming" year of chances,
our never again "coming" lost money, our never again "coming" past time. We pay so much attention to what has
escaped from between our hands. We look now as lost and also as somewhat pushy children at the door of God’s Palace
and find that the King there in that Palace should now finally show us some sympathy. We will show Him how many
things have escaped from between our fingers and wonder: does He not find that edifying? For does He not very
gladly hear us?
But this last sentence is not true, and exactly that is now the difficulty. "In itself" (our "in ourselves," one
could contemptuously make of it), "in itself" He does not at all "hear us gladly." For we are always something else
than a thing "in itself." For we are in accordance to the commandment, or against it. We are "in accordance" to
God, or we are not. Thus He gladly hears prayer. He only gladly hears us when we show in our praying the
restored humanity with everything that lives in it again, in accordance to the original reality of God’s image, in
as far as that restored, pure humanity is found back in our prayer.
In other words: He asks, He listens, if we positively call out for the positive that is called the coming.
The coming of the Son of Man, the Bridegroom of all.
Is that not purification of prayer?
Oh, now we are ashamed. We were inclined to force Him toward us, that He, for example, would stand at our fresh
grave. We would like to draw Him to our holiday locations, that is, the locations of us wasting time. We so easily
think then, that such a place of pausing, such a place of holidays, indeed is edifying and somewhat sabbath-like,
as long as we connect a Bible text to it and are not considered getting too far away from our role.
But fortunately, things are not so simple, for then they would be so very cheap.
Indeed, He knows of no pausing, and gives no holidays, and has not even any pleasure in entering into our
sabbaths. Even less is He pleased to enter our imitation sabbaths. He says literally to us in His Word that
we have to enter into His Sabbath. In other words, we, on December 31, {1932} 20__, should find
rest in what He finds rest. That is, to rest in the coming, in the movement, in that which is on
the way, which does not escape, but powerfully forces itself upon us with judgment and with grace.
Thus He takes me away from my private little matters, for He comes to "us." He is not Bridegroom
of me "on my own," but Bridegroom of the Church. Only there can I as bride see and serve Him. Thus He
takes me away from "my" tomb or "my" decoration of the tomb, and directs me to God’s "mighty chariotry untold,"
which are "ten thousand thousandfold" and at one time will open up all the graves. With one jolt He will take me
from what is "mine," which I view as "aesthetic," and will transfer me into what belongs to Him: He still has great
pleasure in that Son, who still needs to receive His springtide feast. On New Year’s Eve, I cannot possibly present
a private little matter to Him, except — in the Church. For that community is the bride, and thus she is
for the Bridegroom the only great coming thing. And it is remarkable: with this bride I can only rejoice
in Him. For besides the purification of the brid e, which indeed will be consummated in me as her member, great
joy will come: a feast is coming.
Source: http://www.inhpubl.net/Gold-Frankincense-and-Myrrh.html
We wish all our customers the Lord’s blessings for 2013. The
recording of these meditations coincides with the publication of 366 meditations upon the Bible for
Reformation of Family, Church, and State in bookform in, the Lord Willing, March 2013. An ebook is already
available on our website inhpubl.net and we soon hope to have the complete audio book available as well, both
in English and in Dutch. I, Roelof Janssen of Inheritance Publications, have recorded these meditations as
part of the final editing process of the book. Please remember that this is part of our daily work and that
your support will be much appreciated. Illegal distribution of our materials that hold copyright is a
violation of the eighth commandment.
On the other hand promotion of our work may be a great blessing
for many and glorify God.
May the Lord bless you!
| 
