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Monday, January 05, 2009

The bride, the Lamb's wife

In the age to come, the bride is with those who inhabit the New Jerusalem, according to John's writing in Revelation 21:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away...I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;...And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any ...but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Who are these people? Is it not all who are written in the Lamb's book of life?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the age to come, the bride is with those who inhabit the New Jerusalem, according to John's writing in Revelation 21:
The above is your header. My question is: If the Bride is with those who inhabit the New Jerusalem,who are those other than the Bride?
Hoyt D. F. Sparks, SL

R. L. Vaughn said...

I don't know if I follow your question, Bro. Hoyt. Are you saying there are others that are there who are not part of the Bride, or something else?

Thanks.

Unknown said...

RLV,
This could get you in trouble with the die-hard Landmarkers and Baptist-bride groups.
In reality, you are correct in asserting that all who are in the Lamb's book of life are in the bride/city.
Contrast that with who is on the outside.
JLS

Unknown said...

By the way,
this still shows up odd in Firefox.

R. L. Vaughn said...

Brother Jason, I am at a loss as to what to do about Firefox. I just go back and use IE when I want to view this blog. I cannot ever view it correctly on Firefox. I have not changed the blog over to the new version, so perhaps that is all that is needed. But Brother Garrett mentioned that he wasn't having any problem viewing it, so that makes me wonder whether it would be in the blog itself. Maybe it is a certain combination of things on certain computers??

It is frustrating to know that many people using Firefox may not be viewing the blog because of the mess.

If others of you try to view this with Mozilla Firefox and have trouble, I'd appreciate your letting me know.

R. L. Vaughn said...

Brother Hoyt, thinking over your question a little more, perhaps this will answer it.

It seems to me at that point in Revelation 21, there are no longerthose who are "other than the Bride". IOW, that figure of those "other than the bride" is a figure of time. Once this time is consumated into eternity, there are only two groups -- sheep and goats -- and these are separated. No goats are in the vicinity of the New Jerusalem and all that are, are sheep.

Unknown said...

I can't help but recall that Abraham,too, looked for that city.
Hmmm....an unbaptized Chaldean nomad with two wives in the bride? (That said tongue-in-cheek.)

R. L. Vaughn said...

Anything view that puts me inside looking out and the Father of the Faithful outside looking in makes me "nervous".

Anonymous said...

What are we saying here: that when all is said and done, that all of the saved will be in the Bride of Christ???

R. L. Vaughn said...

Anonymous, I am saying that this text says "Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal...And there shall in no wise enter into it any...but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."

All the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem are the bride of Christ in this figure. What do you say it says?