1.
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.
2.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3.
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.
4.
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.
5.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6.
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8.
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.
9.
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.
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
‘The Bride, the Lamb’s wife.’
Revelation 21:9
The Church, the Bride of Christ, is not called into existence simply for itself; it is called into existence for the sake of the Bridegroom. The work of the Bride of Christ: ‘Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.’ A husband and wife ought to be one in thought, in character, in work. And that is the idea, that the Church of Christ should be one in thought, in character, and in work with Jesus Christ. What is Jesus Christ’s character? That should be the character of His Church and the different parts of the Church. What is the thought of Jesus Christ? That should be the thought of the Church, the different parts of the Church.
I. The work of the Bride.—Just think of the love of Jesus Christ for the world! Can we estimate it? Can we picture it? Can we even imagine it? And yet if we are one with Him and His Bride, there ought to be in us that same spirit of love and devotion, that keenness for the work that characterised Him.
II. The position of the Bride.—When you are united to Jesus Christ in the closest of all ties as His bride, think what a claim you have upon Him, think what a claim He has upon you. If you are His bride, what has He a right to expect from you? Loyalty to Himself, nothing coming between. What have you a right to expect from Him? Everything. And yet, unfortunately, what do we see over and over again? Men and women not living up to their rank, not realising their privileges.
III. The ambition of the Bride.—Just as a wife looks up to the husband, so the Church must look up to Jesus Christ. Jesus only! That is the cry of the Church, that is the cry of the Christian. Jesus only!
—Rev. J. E. Watts-Ditchfield.
10.
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,
11.
Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12.
And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13.
On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14.
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15.
And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16.
And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
17.
And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
18.
And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
19.
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
20.
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
21.
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
22.
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
23.
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.
24.
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.
25.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
THE NIGHT PASSED
‘There shall be no night there.’
Revelation 21:25
What does darkness stand for? Of what is it often spoken of as a type?
I. Darkness is the equivalent of uncertainty.—Only when we see no more ‘through a glass darkly,’ but ‘face to face,’ only when the great enigma has been solved, shall we know even as we are known. And that is what St. John meant as he gazed upon the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, into which the kings of the earth had brought their honour and glory. There was no more uncertainty, no more of those trials of doubt and perplexity which beset us here. All was bright and radiant in the light which was no more attended by any shadow, because the shadows had every one been dispelled. ‘There was no night there.’
II. Darkness is suggestive of isolation.—In the night the faces of our fellow-creatures are withdrawn for a while, and all familiar objects are hidden.
III. Darkness is suggestive of weariness.—It is to recruit our weariness that gentle Night steals down and covers us with her mantle of forgetfulness and soothes all our powers to rest. But there will be no scope for this loving office of the night in that blessed home where weariness will be impossible, where work will be pure joy, because the glorified body, in which we hope to serve our God in ways which He will unfold to us there, will have left all weariness behind.
—Rev. W. H. Savile.
26.
And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
27.
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.