The Prepared Bride 2 - Revelation 21

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Rev 21:9-11 NIV

There in an axiom in Alegra that is called the Transition Property. It goes like this:
If a = b and b = c, then a = c. Very simple, right? Let's apply this to these verses.

We have determined that the church, the company of those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, is the bride. In the verses above, John is told by an angel that he is going to show him, the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Therefore, John is going to be shown us, the church, the body of believers.

What does he see? John sees the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Let's apply our Transition property and see what we get.

If (a) we are the bride
and (b) John is to shown us,
then (c) John is going to see us, the bride, the church - right? If a = b, and b = c, then a = c!

Again,
if (a) John is to be shown the bride, the wife of the Lamb
and (b) John is shown the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
then (c) the bride is the New Jerusalem! If a = b, and b = c, then a = c!

One more time!
If (a) John was to be shown us, the bride, the church
and (b) he was shown the New Jerusalem
then (c) we are the New Jerusalem!

The New Jerusalem is not a place but a people. It is not a location to which we will travel but it is a people we will become.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Rev 21:1-2 NIV

I addressed this need to be prepared in greater detail in A Prepared Bride 1 - Rev. 19:6-8 .

We are to be prepared. It is we who must do the preparing! It future posts I will be addressing the specifics of this preparation but suffice it to say that this preparation involves the bride clothing herself in righteous acts. The first book after the Gospels is the Acts of the Apostles. It isn't the contemplations of the apostles nor is it the meetings, the seminars or teaching series of the apostles. Though they did teach, I return to James who wrote,

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. James 2:17-18 NIV

Jesus gave this illustration.

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:43-45 NIV

Who we are must and shall be manifested in action! It may be as simple as helping a neighbor unload their groceries or as challenging as uprooting your whole family and moving to a foreign country to teach English as a second language. It could be as mundane as helping out in the nursery at church or as critical as preaching the Gospel to muslins in Saudi Arabia. But you have got to be doing something.

We must stop waiting around for our "ministry"! Truth be told the word "ministry" is the Greek word " diakonua" which means servant. We have even perverted that by using the transliterated word "deacons" as a title or office. In Luke 10:40, it is used of Martha as she is preparing the meal in the kitchen. In Acts 6:1, it signifies the distribution of bread to widows. It does connoted the other aspects of ministry that we recognize as well but first and foremost it means service.

Jesus instructed us,

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matt 20:25-28 NIV

Many of you may not realize that some time ago, Bob Dylan got saved. He produced a number albums (you know, those large, black vinyl discs that were played on a phonograph!) of Christian music. Unfortunately, he received little support from the Christian community. I hope and pray that he is still walking with the Lord! Anyhow, in 1979, he released an album entitled "Slow Train Coming" It is great stuff! A cut from that album is entitled "Gotta Serve Somebody". Here are a few words from that song.

"You may be an ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody."
Copyright © 1979 Special Rider Music

That is the truth - you're gonna have to serve somebody- the devil, the flesh, your resentment or God!

Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Josh 24:14-15 NKJV

Get prepared! Get active! Do something!