PREPARING THE BODY FOR ETERNITY

In other studies we have presented the end goal of God's eternal purpose was to have a vast family for the Father, to have a perfected bride for the Son and to have a completed temple for the Holy Spirit. The Son will have a Kingdom that will never pass away or be destroyed and He will sit as perfected ruler of all the works of God's hands. God will have a man ruling over His creation. That ruler, who was perfected as a man, is the Lord Jesus Christ.

All that is set in stone and will not change. God has ordained it and He will bring it to pass. It is reasonable that The Father will, without question, have a great family of saved children. It is very logical that the Holy Spirit will have a completed temple. The great work that we are addressing in this paper is the perfecting of the bride. We know by faith and confidence in the working of God that the bride will surely be perfected. She will be unique in that she will be the crowning example of the grace of God fulfilled within the life of believers. We also see the completed work in the scriptures. Rev. 21 & 22 is the revelation of the perfected bride. Here she is seen as a city that is pure gold and transparent as crystal clear glass. She is completely filled with the glory of God and her brilliance was like a stone of crystal clear jasper. Every thing about the city, which is the bride, the wife of the Lamb, will stand up to the standard and perfection of a gold measuring rod. Twelve kinds of precious stones glorify the twelve foundations of the bride. Each foundation stone is a revelation of how she is prepared. This city, which is the bride, will appear to be illuminating the nations of the new earth. The light will seem to be coming from her but the real source of the light is the Lamb, Himself. The Lamb and His wife have become one. He is in her and she is in Him. Her glory is the glory of God.

ISA 4:5 then the \Lord\ will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. In the New Jerusalem there will always be day because the glory of God will be a continual light in the city, which is the bride. However outside the city there will be day and night. REV 7:14 And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. REV 7:15 "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. REV 7:16 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; REV 7:17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes. " In the eternal realms there will be a cloud by day and a flaming fire by night over the perfected bride, the city of God. There will be a canopy of glory surrounding the city. We could say this city is clothed with the glory something like the first Eve had.

From the nations of the New Earth, the bride will appear to be like the sun in brightness and glory. Her real beauty will be hidden from the realms outside the sanctuary of God. There will be a cloud over the city to hide it from the nations of the New Earth.

There is no temple in the New Jerusalem. REV 21:22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. REV 21:23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp {is} the Lamb. While there is no temple in the New Jerusalem, there is a temple in the realm where those who come out of the great tribulation dwell. The exact place is before the throne. Those who overcome will sit on the throne but these are before the throne. The reason is because they weren't ready to be caught up as the first fruits before the tribulation began. He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

REV 3:21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Since the overcomers will sit on the throne in the New Jerusalem, which is the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle of God, this group must be in the Holy Place. Since there are three places in the Tabernacle of God and this group in chapter 7 are not in the New Jerusalem or on the New Earth, they must be in the New Heaven. REV 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer {any} sea. REV 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

When Jesus was crucified, the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was torn from top to bottom making an opening between the two. However, there are still two places in the sanctuary of God. Those who stand before the throne serve Him day and night in His temple. Since there is no temple in the New Jerusalem, these have to be standing in the New Heaven. REV 11:18 "And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time {came} for the dead to be judged, and {the time} to give their reward to Thy bond-servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth." REV 11:19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. REV 15:5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, REV 15:6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean {and} bright, and girded around their breasts with golden girdles. REV 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished. REV 16:1 And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth." It is clear there is a temple in heaven.

ISA 65:17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. ISA 66:21 "I will also take some of them for priests {and} for Levites," says the \Lord\. ISA 66:22 #"For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me," declares the \Lord\, "So your offspring and your name will endure. 2PE 3:7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 2PE 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

REV 21:24 And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. REV 21:25 And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; REV 21:26 and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;

The purpose of using all these scriptures in this study is to show that in the eternal Tabernacle of God there will be three places. (1) The New Earth (2) The New Heaven (3) The New Jerusalem. The New earth will be for the nations of those who are saved. The New Heaven will be for the Old Testament saints and the tribulation saints. The New Jerusalem will be for the Bondservants and the bride. They may not be two groups. The bride may be the bondservants. We see the New Jerusalem is the bride, the wife of the Lamb. However, in REV 22:3 And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, ( The New Jerusalem) and His bond-servants shall serve Him; REV 22:4 and they shall see His face, ( The bondservants) and His name {shall be} on their foreheads. REV 22:5 And there shall no longer be {any} night; and they ( The bondservants) shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; ( the bondservants) and they shall reign forever and ever. It says some of the same things concerning the bride as it says concerning the bondservants. It is entirely possible that the bondservants now, are also the bride in eternity.

One other possible interpretation is that the bondservants will sit on the throne in the New Jerusalem while the bride is the New Jerusalem. Some believe the bondservants are not the bride but the bride is His body while the bondservants sit with Him on His throne. Much of this is not that clear. What we are addressing here is the preparation of the bride, which is His body. If there is a higher calling than that, we are not at this time concerned. If we see the perfection of the bride, that will seem like enough change at this time. If we come to the perfection of the bride, then we can talk about bondservants.

One distinction of those who qualify for the New Jerusalem is their name is in the Lambs book of life. REV 21:27 and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, (The New Jerusalem) but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. It is commonly taught that all the saved are written in the Lambs book of life. However, in REV 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is {the book} of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. REV 20:15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The minimum requirement to escape the lake of fire is to have your name written in "the book of life". The minimum requirement to enter into the New Jerusalem is to have your name written in the "Lamb's book of life". According to this scripture there are several different books. ISA 4:3 And it will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy-- everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. LUK 10:20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." Those who are wholly given to the Lamb in every way and those who grow up in all things into Christ and come to full maturity are written in the Lamb's book of life. If only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life are permitted to enter into the city, then they have to be the bride or the bondservants. It is obvious that all who believe and have their sins forgiven are not bondservants. Some have been "saved" but have not grown at all. It is obvious that there are some who have grown but have not come to full maturity. Then we have seen that there are those who will come to full maturity. Does God have a place for these diverse groups? It appears that He does! They will all fit in the Tabernacle of God somewhere. Either on the New Earth or in the New Heaven or in the New Jerusalem.

Since the New Jerusalem is the throne of God, which is headquarters of the Kingdom of God, all those in the New Jerusalem have done the will of God. MAT 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Since there are many who want to be saved but can't be bothered about doing the will of God, they certainly can't enter into the Kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem. Since the New Jerusalem is transparent and as clear as crystal, it is obvious that she has been severely dealt with by God to remove all impurities and opaqueness. Of course most of those who are saved will not submit to such drastic change. If they have escaped from Hell and have their names in the book of life, they may be permitted to inhabit the New Earth. We could call these "saved and satisfied" but don't ask them to change. They can take up their place beside the thief on the cross. He may have escaped Hell but he was not yet prepared to sit on the throne.

We also know from REV 21:7 "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. What is in view here is the New Jerusalem and all that means. REV 3:21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Another requirement to participate in the New Jerusalem is each one must be an "overcomer". However, "overcoming" has different distinctions. REV 2:26 'And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; REV 2:27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received {authority} from My Father; REV 2:28 and I will give him the morning star. The morning star may not seem like much and most people wouldn't know what to do with one. REV 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." This is what it means to win Christ. REV 3:5 'He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels. REV 3:12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. This temple is obviously the Temple, which is God Himself. REV 2:7 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.' REV 22:1 And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, REV 22:2 in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve {kinds of} fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. The Tree of life is in the New Jerusalem which is now called "the paradise of God". REV 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.

REV 2:10 'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. REV 2:11 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.' JAM 1:12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which {the Lord} has promised to those who love Him. REV 2:17 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give {some} of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' This is a picture of the manna that was put in a pot and hid in the ark of the covenant in the Tabernacle of Moses. The ark is in the New Jerusalem and speaks of Jesus Christ. REV 11:19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. The Ark of the Covenant is a person, His name is Jesus. It appears that all who overcome will have access to the New Jerusalem but no all will not be assigned to the same task. In most cases, Jesus Christ, Himself,is the prize in the eternal realms. For example, the Tree of Life is speaking of Jesus and the Hidden Manna is speaking about Jesus. He is the Temple of the New Jerusalem and the overcomer will become a pillar in that temple, which is Jesus.

All this tremendous glory was designed for the "true believers" who will be joined as one with Jesus Christ. This great glory is not given just on the basis of being born again but on the basis of overcoming and growing up in all things into Christ. Therefore, our thesis is that all those who will inherit these things must be prepared. Those who are "saved", born again, redeemed but luke warm cannot qualify as being part of His body. Therefore they will be vomited out of His body. They have to be "in His body" before they can be vomited out. The branch must be part of the vine before it can be removed from the vine, and cast into the fire, because it didn't bear acceptable fruit. JOH 15:2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every {branch} that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. Those who believe that "born again" is all that is required to participate in the New Jerusalem, haven't searched the scripture.

EPH 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; EPH 5:26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, EPH 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. We generally think about cleansing and washing as that which is inherent in the blood by faith. Our sins are washed away by faith in the blood. This cleansing and washing is by the water of the word of God. Then we should ask: When does the water of the word wash us and cleanse us, when we hear it or when we do it? JAM 1:21 Therefore putting aside all filthiness and {all} that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. JAM 1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James is obviously speaking to believers who had their sins forgiven.

One day there is going to be that glorious presentation when the perfected church, the bride of Christ, will be presented to Him. She will be without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless and without any kind of defect. She will be completely unique, one of a kind and the only one worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In that great day when she is presented to Jesus Christ there will be a great wedding in heaven. REV 19:5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." REV 19:6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. REV 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."REV 19:8 And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright {and} clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. REV 19:9 And he *said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he *said to me, "These are true words of God."

This great multitude that is saying "Let us rejoice" is not the bride but those who have been invited to the wedding and are guests. All these had on the wedding garments but not the garments of the bride. ( MAT 22:11 "But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes,) There may be multitudes of wedding guests but there can only be one bride. The bride made herself ready. In other words there was great preparation that preceded this day. The bridal garment was made out of fine linen, bright and clean. The interpretation is given. The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. The wedding guests may all be, at very least, born again and had the foundations laid in their life and have on white wedding garments but the bride went on to completion or maturity. Her deeds represent her acts of righteousness. This is not religious actions but those things done out of right relationship with Jesus Christ. She acted or functioned under the Headship of Jesus Christ and didn't just do things that sounded good in order to stay busy. As the espoused wife, she submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and functioned as His body. In doing that she prepared herself. Therefore linen garments were given to her.

She didn't just rely on what she believed but she listened to the Head and obeyed His word. She was not just a hearer of the word but she was a doer of His word. Faith is essential to going on into God's purpose but being a doer of righteous acts putting your faith into action. Faith is essential for forgiveness of sins but 1PE 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. The shed blood speaks to us of faith while the sprinkled blood speaks to us of obedience. Because of God's eternal purpose and His tremendous plan for eternity, God is looking for those who will believe and obey His word. To obey His word assumes that we have first heard His word. This is more than reading a verse in the Bible and trying to do it. We can do that without being attached to the Head. If we are attached to the Head, we should hear what the Head is saying.

Most Bible scholars agree that the Song of Solomon is a picture of Jesus Christ and His bride. We can get some insight into this relationship from some parts of this song. For example: SOL 6:8 "There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, And maidens without number; SOL 6:9 {But} my dove, my perfect one, is unique: She is her mother's only { daughter;} She is the pure {child} of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed, The queens and the concubines {also,} and they praised her, {saying,} SOL 6:10 'Who is this that grows like the dawn, As beautiful as the full moon, As pure as the sun, As awesome as an army with banners?' There are sixty queens, there are eighty concubines and so many virgins that they can't be counted. All these are not the bride but they see the bride and call her blessed and praised her and recognized her great beauty and preparation. The queens are those who had position and authority. The concubines are those who had a love relationship occasionally. The virgins are those who are born again and had the foundations laid in their life but went no further. The dove is His perfect one. She is unique (or just one) (a unity). All the rest are plural in number while she is one with Him. Much more could be said but we are just trying to see the preparation of the bride.