NOR will any other creatures either in heaven or in earth receive such marks of special favor as are and ever will be the portion of the beloved Bride of Christ. Although the whole family in heaven and in earth will be blessed through Him, His Wife, co-operating with Him in His work, will alone be His companion, His confidante, His treasure.

The Psalm which constitutes our lesson is supposed to have been composed by the Prophet after his heart had returned to peace with God through assurance of divine forgiveness of his sins. Its opening sentence takes this standpoint. David was the blessed man who had experienced divine forgiveness and covering of his transgression, his sin. He was the man to whom the Lord no longer imputed iniquity and in whose heart was no deception, no secret longing for sin, with merely the restraints of fear, but who had a heart and mind fully turned away from sin and in absolute accord with divine justice and all of its righteous requirements.

Basically the word “spirits” pertains to doctrine, but it is like the word “conversation” in the King James, which we change to “conduct.” Therefore, it is helpful to think of “spirits” as being both the doctrine and the disposition, or character, of the one who is pronouncing the message. The false element professed to be prophets, taking the position that they were speaking the truth. However, the listener had to be cautious. Since John spoke so much about “love” in this epistle, we can add the thought of “conduct” as well. Thus the listener was to test the doctrine of the speaker and observe his character, conversation, and conduct to see if they squared with Scripture and the qualifications of a bona fide Christian. Both the doctrine and the spirit that accompanied the doctrine were to be tested. In fact, testing and careful consideration were essential “because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” We are not to be too trustful of what we hear and of what one professes to be.

Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

The Queen And Her Virgin Companions
Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand [...]

UNDER the symbol of white raiment the Lord throughout His Word represents the righteousness of those whom He accepts as His people. Their righteousness in the future state will be a personal righteousness or holiness; and the guarantee of this is the promise that all who are accounted worthy, as “overcomers” of the world to be joint-heirs with Christ in the heavenly Kingdom, will in the resurrection be granted new, perfect, spiritual bodies, free from sin and impurity of every kind, and fully in harmony with their new wills or characters developed during the trial-time of this present life.

The King James Version properly has a new paragraph here. Song 3:1,2 and 5:2-6 tell of two bedroom scenes. Chapter 3 gives the Little Flock’s attitude when they are awakened, and Chapter 5 contrasts the Great Company’s attitude when they are awakened. The Pastor’s writings furnish many clues and ideas, which, when collated, result in pictures that are tenfold clearer. Details and other truths are revealed in the collation.

That being said, Babylon the great, is a sectarian division, i.e. the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church. It was once a “golden cup” in the hand of the Lord (Jer. 51:7; Rev. 17:4), The True Church was taken over by the Nicolatian spirit (Lording over God’s Heritage–development of the Clergy and Laity classes). But until the Reformation they were the only source of God’s Word. Not that they used it, because they had become “babylon” i.e. confusion. They allowed traditions of man equal weight with God’s Word (you can see that in an article on the Vatican Nativity scene here, though it is an older article it does show that they prefered to harmonize tradition rather and God’s Word).

The loving of one another is qualified: “as I have loved you.” We look to Jesus to see how he loved his disciples. For one thing, he criticized them. The Gospels do not emphasize politeness in the sense of Jesus’ being very careful in everything he said lest he offend. Words, thoughts, and messages were what he presented. We learn from these as well as from what he did NOT do with regard to his disciples. For example, consider how much time he spent in fellowship with them. He had many capabilities and could have gone off and done many other things, but he devoted much time to them. They were always tagging along with him. He fellowshipped with them continuously, trying to make them understand what God’s will was. This verse suggests we should be familiar with Jesus—with his parables, teachings, acts, etc. Sadly, many Christians give little thought to Jesus’ life and ministry, but they spend a great deal of time on other subjects.

None will deny that throughout the Gospel Age there is a large class who have never heard of the only name given under heaven and amongst men whereby they must be saved and who, therefore, have never had an opportunity of becoming members of the Lord’s flock. That they have gone to heaven without a knowledge of the “only name” is unscriptural as well as unreasonable, and that they have gone to eternal torment without an opportunity for salvation is equally unscriptural and unreasonable. That the Lord intends to use the Very Elect Little Flock of this Gospel Age as his kings and priests during the Millennium, to carry his mercy and favor to all of these and to give them an opportunity of becoming members of the human flock to whom he will be pleased to give eternal life, is both reasonable and Scriptural.

What does the “red horse” represent? Usually a horse is a doctrine or message that goes through the earth on a mission. Here is where the writings of the Pastor have proven very valuable, for they show that the color red refers to the Ancient Worthies. The red heifer that was slain in connection with the Tabernacle sacrifices is a picture of the Ancient Worthy class (Num. 19:2-10). As further confirmation, the memory or example of the Ancient Worthies is spoken of in the Book of Hebrews as the “ashes of an [red] heifer” (Heb. 9:13). After the flame of a fire goes out, smoke continues to ascend for a while. In the antitype, sometimes the smoke is favorable, and sometimes, as with mystic Babylon, it is the opposite. The figurative smoke of the burning (destruction) of the mother system will forever be a memorial to future generations; that is, what has happened in past history will forever be etched in memory.