464. The Bride

“‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” Rev. 21:9-10.

The new Jerusalem is the bride. The Jerusalem that is above is our mother. We are born from above by the incorruptible seed through the Word of God which lives and abides forever. We have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Heb. 12:22. So we are born as citizens of this city that descends from heaven. See how great God’s wisdom and power are for us who believe!

The city has a great and high wall, and no one can climb over it. Nothing impure can enter in. In the wall there are twelve gates, and each gate is of one pearl. The city is laid out in a square—its length, breadth, and height are equal. In other words, the city is cubic. Bridal Christianity is also cubic—it plumbs the depths because Christ does not want a superficial bride, one who does not understand Him. “But I saw no temple in [the city]; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” Here again we can see the bride’s attitude of mind. She has no need for great, expensive temple-buildings. God and the Lamb will satisfy her for time and eternity. But old fashioned, vain, and religious people want churches, nice churches with high steeples, bell towers, and beautiful stained-glass windows. And that clearly shows what they really worship and admire. But the bride has a completely different mind: her temple is God and the Lamb, in the attic and in the cellar.

The nations of those who are saved shall walk in the light of the city. That is understandable, because those who cannot bear God and the Lamb’s light need to have a dimmer light: they shall walk in the light of the city, the light of the bride.

Now people despise the bride’s light. But how great their astonishment will be in eternity when they have to walk in that light they have despised here on earth. It will be much the same as it will be for the Jews who despised Jesus, but who for all eternity will have to acknowledge Him as Lord to the glory of God the Father. God can turn things around. For whatever they know naturally, in these things they corrupt themselves. Jude 10.

Many other things came forth at this conference, but we have written this much here to show the spiritual direction that was present—the bride.