The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

longer will it be necessary to say to men, 'The weaknesses of your fallen flesh will be with
you until death, for although the Lord has graciously covered your sins because of faith in
the Redeemer and the desire to walk in His way, nevertheless there is no escape from the
consequences of sin, there is nothing that will absolutely heal.' When the new
dispensation, represented by this symbolical city and its river of the water of life and the
trees of life with their leaves of healing, is made available to men, it will be the beginning
of the times of restitution spoken by the Lord through the mouth of all the holy Prophets
since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21.) The restitution will affect all the willing and
obedient, not only physically but mentally and morally: the uplift will be individual and
worldwide. This is the very object of providing the river of life, the trees of life, their fruits
and their leaves."
A passage that has been quite generally misunderstood and misapplied, by professed
Christian teachers, thus hindering to a considerable extent a proper understanding of this
glorious vision of the future, is the one contained in verse 17 of this same chapter. The
passage reads:
"And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him
that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."--Ver. 17.
The invitation here given is quite generally construed to have its application in the present
time--the Gospel Age. This, however, is very manifestly incorrect.
The facts of history both past and present teach that there has never been, nor is there at
the present time, such a gracious, universal opportunity to partake of the blessings
purchased by the sacrifice of Christ, and symbolically pictured in this "water of life." It is
only the few comparatively that have heard this gracious invitation--it has been only a
small minority of this few that have understood it. Furthermore, the channel through
which Truth has flowed has been for centuries defiled with error. The message of the
angel, "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people," has been
little understood. Indeed, it was not necessary in order to accomplish the Divine purpose
for this Gospel Age that it should be fully appreciated except by the few. The Scripture
that applies to God's elective purpose for this present Age is: "No man can come to Me
except the Father which hath sent Me draw him." These are the words of Christ Himself.
The Gospel Age is the time when the Father: is drawing out from believers those whom
He would prepare to become the Bride, the Lamb's Wife.
The invitation of the verse under consideration will not be in order until the Bride hath
made herself ready; in other words, until the Divine purpose is complete and the
"Marriage of the Lamb" takes place. These called out ones in this Age have been only
prospectively the Bride. One by one these have been hearing the call, accepting it, and
have been making their calling and election sure. These, until the Bridegroom should
come, have fallen asleep in Christ. This class when complete in the end of this dispensation
will share in the First Resurrection. Then will the Bride be complete, and then will this
Message, "And the Spirit and the Bride say come," be due to be proclaimed.