Will you please turn to the letter to the Ephesians? Ephesians Chapter 3. We read from verse 14 through verse 21.
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man;
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us,
unto Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.
The same book, Chapter 5. We begin with the second part of verse 25.
Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for it;
that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
that He might present the church to Himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Finally, Revelation Chapter 21, verse 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,
having the glory of God.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do want to come and worship Thee this morning. We thank Thee that Thou hast been with us through this week. It is Thy goodness and faithfulness that has brought us to this time.
Lord, we do ask that Thou wilt continue the work that Thou hast begun, and wilt finish the word that Thou hast delivered. We are here. Speak, for Thy servants hear. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
“Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.” These three words—kingdom, power, glory—cover the whole Bible.
Kingdom is the Lord’s. Power is the Lord’s. And glory is the Lord’s. Yet it pleases our God to have us in His kingdom, to give His power to us, and also to allow us to have a share in His glory.
Brothers and sisters, this shows how much God loves us. Hopefully, we will truly be His kingdom; that we will truly be the vessels, the instruments, of His power; and that we may be the manifestation of His glory.
So this has been, and is, our burden before the Lord in this matter of glory. First of all, we find that God is the God of glory. Glory belongs to Him, and to Him alone there is glory.
God alone, all by Himself, has that glory. He will not share it with another. If any dare to rob Him of that glory, immediately you will find the Lord’s hand will come upon him.
This we find even before this world, in the former world, when the archangel tried to usurp the glory of God as God. He was cast out of heaven. The same thing happened on this earth when Adam and Eve tried to make themselves gods. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden.
God is a jealous God. He is a consuming fire. He is One to be feared, to be worshipped.
But thank God, He is also the Father of glory. As Father, He is the source, the spring, the Giver of glory. So there is a certain area of glory that He desires to share with us: even His own life, His divine life; His own image, His own character.
These He wants to share with man whom He has created, together with all the outward manifestation of glory, honour, and power. On the one hand, we dare not—we tremble at the very thought that we should intrude into that exclusive glory of God.
Many today have trodden on this dangerous ground. We should fear Him in reverence. He is God alone. Yet, on the other hand, we should dare to receive all the glory of God—His life, His image, His character. We should dare to receive as much as we can, because this will please our Father.
We mention the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glory of the incarnate Son. It is a glory as of an only begotten from the Father. We find that in our Lord Jesus there is a perfect representation of God the Father. He declares Him. Seeing Him is seeing the Father.
We come to the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What knowledge we have of the glory of God, what knowledge we have of God, is all seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Thank God, we have seen His face, and we are exhorted to continue to behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face.
Our Lord Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. You find that He has a double glory. He has the glory that He had with His Father even before the world was; yet He came out of the outward expression of that glory. He took off the robe of glory and came to this earth to become man.
But as the Son of Man, He pleased the Father in all things. He was the man that God desired. Having accomplished the work that the Father had sent Him to do, He returned to glory. Actually, He returned to a double glory: the glory that He formerly had with His Father, and also glory as the Son of Man.
There is the Lamb standing before the throne of God, as our brother mentioned, receiving from the Father’s hand the scroll—the title deed, the rights to the universe. He is the only One who is able to execute the will and purpose of God, to bring all things into subjection to God the Father.
As we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, we will be transformed from glory to glory according to His image, as by the Lord the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, God called us with glory in view. We shall never be satisfied merely to be saved. We shall pursue that to which God has called us.
Again, we find concerning our glory that there are two different aspects. One aspect is that glory has to come into us. We have to be transformed from glory to glory.
Then, on the other hand, you will find that one day our Leader, our Christ, will lead many sons into glory. Today, the Holy Spirit is working in us to transform us from glory to glory; and in the day to come, we will be able to enter into the glory that God has prepared for His people.
We will become co-heirs with Christ, and rule and reign with Christ. Now, sometimes we think that to rule and reign with Christ means that we will sit on the throne, give orders, and everybody will listen to us and serve us. Brothers and sisters, that is a wrong concept.
Our Lord Jesus on earth corrected His disciples. That is the concept of glory that man has. But the concept of glory that God has is this: you are able to serve. The more you are able to serve, the more glorious you are. This is the time in which we are learning that lesson.
In the days to come, when we enter into glory, there we will truly begin to serve God’s purpose according to His glory. So, brothers and sisters, that is as far as we have shared together.
Now this morning we would like to share on the glorious church—the church. When we are talking about transformation, it is really an individual, personal matter. In other words, every child of God must learn to grow into sonship.
This is a personal thing. Not even the one who loves you can substitute for you. It is a personal life experience. You have to be willing to accept the cross. You have to be willing to have your flesh crucified. You have to be willing to have your outward man broken.
This is in order that the glory of the Lord in your spirit may take possession of your soul. Remember, our soul is created by God. He gives us a personality: the faculties of thinking, thought, emotion, love, desire, likes and dislikes, and will. These are created by God.
But unfortunately, our soul is polluted and corrupted because self—the old “I”—is seated in that soul. It uses the faculties of the soul to express its ugly self. So the soul is not to be destroyed; the soul needs to be saved.
Just as our spirit needs to be revived, our soul needs to be saved. The saving of our soul simply means that it has to be transformed. What is transformation? Transformation is that self is unseated, and Christ is seated in your soul.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit today with each one of us. May I put it this way? This is the most essential work, the principal work, of the Holy Spirit in us today. He is here to transform us, to deliver us from our self-life, and to enable us to have Christ seated in our hearts.
Then our mind may be the mind of Christ, our emotion may express the love of Christ, and our will may say, “Not my will, but God’s will be done.” Brothers and sisters, when such things happen, there is a glory there.
You know, whenever you have your own way, outwardly you may think that it is glory, but actually it is shame. Whenever you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow the Lord, people may look at it as shame and reproach. But there within you is a glory. The Spirit of glory is upon you.
You find peace. You find joy. You find the presence of the Lord. Dear brothers and sisters, it is only when we are being transformed that we are glorified and mature into sons.
Transformation from glory to glory is personal, but we know that God’s purpose for us—His purpose in Christ Jesus, even before the foundation of the world—is more than something personal.
It is true that He will lead many sons into glory. When you think of the word many, you find many individuals, many sons. In Hebrews Chapter 2, He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are one; and He is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Our Lord Jesus and His brethren. When you think of brethren, you are thinking in a plural number—many brothers and sisters. You are brothers because you are either male brothers or female brothers. The life that links you is the life of Christ, the Son.
You also find in Hebrews Chapter 3 that if we continue firmly in the confidence and faith of our Lord Jesus, then we will be His companions. Our Lord Jesus needs companions. He is not all alone by Himself; He wants those who will accompany Him. When you think of companions, He wants many companions.
Again, it is personal. But the Scripture tells us that what God purposed for His Son, even before the foundation of the world, is more than brethren, companions, and many sons. It is a bride, a helpmeet.
Christ is so rich. The riches of Christ are unsearchable. No one person can contain all the riches of Christ. He needs a body. He needs a corporate body to make up that vessel, to contain all the riches of Christ and to manifest all His glory.
Now, it is true that personally we may be able to possess something of His riches. We may be able to manifest something of His glory. But for His riches to be in fullness, it has to be corporate: a body made up of many members, and yet one body.
For all His glory, the glory of the Lord, to be manifested in fullness, it takes a corporate body to do that. So, even before the foundation of the world, the Father loved His Son. He wanted to give to His Son the best.
Of all the creation that He has given to His Son as His inheritance, the best gift He has for His Son is that bride, that helpmeet. He wants His Son to have a helpmeet.
He said, “It is not good that man should be alone.” He needs a counterpart, one like Him, that she may be His helpmeet. Now this is the ultimate purpose of God.
When God created man, He had that in view. That is the reason why you find that God created man in His image and according to His likeness. This had never been done before.
When God created, He spoke the word and it was done. It was all done by His power, just the word of His power. Not even when He created angels did He create them in His image. But why was it that when He created man—and man alone—He created him in His image and according to His likeness?
What was behind the mind of God as He created man? I believe it was because He had in view that man, whom He created, would one day be joined to His beloved Son: to share His life, to share His responsibility, and to share His glory; to be one with Him.
As husband and wife are made into one flesh, so, brothers and sisters, you cannot make two into one if they are not alike. They have to be the same—of the same life—then they can be joined into one.
When God created man, He had that in view. He wanted to give man to His Son as a special gift: to be His counterpart, to be His helpmeet.
After He created man, He gave man dominion—dominion over all created things: the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and the fishes of the sea. This is an indication that He wants man to have dominion.
If man will join with His beloved Son, who is the Heir of all things, then they will be co-heirs. They will rule and reign with Christ, to serve the will of God and to bring glory to God.
But unfortunately, instead of being obedient to God, man rebelled against God and fell into sin. Again, we say, what is sin? Romans 3:23 says that sin is coming short of the glory of God.
There is the glory of God, and there is glory that God has prepared for man. Yet you find that man missed the mark. Man went the other way—the way of self, developing himself, trying to make himself a god. The result was that he fell into the hand of the devil.
Man lost the hope of glory. To make the story short, God had to send His only begotten Son into this world. How was He going to recover that image which was lost? How was He going to recover the purpose of God? How was He going to recover the gift that God had predetermined to give to His Son?
Brothers and sisters, it is not a simple matter. When God created, He spoke the word and it was done. Even in creating man, He used the earth to form the body of man; He breathed His breath into the nostrils of man, and man became a living soul with a spirit that could communicate with God.
But now that the image was marred and lost, how could God recover man to the image of His Son? How could He recover the gift that was lost? You find that it is a much greater work than creation.
Creation is a tremendous work of God. It demonstrates the power and wisdom of God. But redemption is a much more difficult work. God had to give up His only begotten Son.
God spared not His own Son. His own Son volunteered to do this work. He came to this earth to be the man that God had in His mind. “Behold, the man.”
Here is the man that God had in mind when He first created man: a man after God’s own heart; a man who was obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Through the work He accomplished on Calvary’s cross, He said, “It is finished.”
Because of that, there is a new creation. Brothers and sisters, we often quote that verse in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature:
the old things are passed away;
behold, they are become new.
But all things are of God.
Oftentimes we apply this only to us individually, and that is true. If anyone believes in the Lord Jesus and accepts the finished work of Christ on Calvary’s cross, he is a new creation.
The old things have passed away. All things are new, and all things are of God. That is what God has done for each one of us. Do you know that you are a new creation?
Probably you feel that you are more of the old creation than of the new creation. Do you know that old things have passed away? You may feel that old things still cling very tightly to you. Do you know that all things are new? You may find that there are more old things than new things.
Everything is of God—but is it all of God? When you speak, when you do things, in your relationships and in your life, is it all of God? Experimentally, experientially, it may not be so.
But, brothers and sisters, that does not take away the truth. That does not take away what Christ has done for us on Calvary’s cross. When He said, “It is finished,” it is finished. In other words, the work of redemption in our life is finished.
You are a new creation, totally new. The old is gone. Everything is of God. Brothers and sisters, that is from God’s viewpoint. That is on the ground of the finished work of Christ. It is complete.
Now unfortunately, so far as our condition and experience are concerned, we have to gradually enter into it. To put it more accurately, gradually more must get out of us so that what is in us may fill us. That is transformation. That is a continuous work.
But, brothers and sisters, this is not only individual. We know that when Christ died on the cross, a new creation came upon this old creation.
The apostle John was the only apostle standing at the foot of the cross when Christ was crucified. He stood there. He saw Christ crucified six hours on that tree. He heard the shout of victory: “It is finished.”
He saw Christ die. He saw the Roman soldiers trying to speed up the death of those on the cross, and they discovered that He had already died. So they did not break His legs.
But, just to make sure that He was really dead, a soldier thrust his spear into the side of our Lord Jesus, and out came blood and water. John said, “I saw it. I witnessed it. I testify that this is true.”
Why did he make it so emphatic? Because there is a reason. The blood and water that came out of His side, from His very heart, gave birth to the church—a new creation.
God said, “It is not good that man should be alone. I will give him a counterpart, a helpmeet.” So God brought all the animals before Adam. Adam named every animal, but he could not find his like in any of them.
It is the law of elimination. Everything is eliminated. There is no counterpart. But that does not mean there is no hope. God put Adam to sleep, opened his side, took something out of him, and built for him a woman out of Adam.
When Adam woke up, God brought that woman to him. When Adam looked at her, Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” They were joined together into one.
But in the case of Adam, it was a painless operation. No blood was involved. In the case of our Lord Jesus, it was costly to the utmost. Why? Because sin had already come into God’s world.
In order to atone for sin, Christ had to suffer that painful death of the cross—not only physically. Brothers and sisters, sometimes we think of the cross of our Lord Jesus only in physical terms.
It is true that in physical terms it is almost indescribable. Some have tried to describe something of it. But the physical suffering of Christ on the cross was only the minor part.
How His soul suffered, even unto death. It began in the Garden of Gethsemane. His soul suffered so much: the reproach, the curse, the mocking. All the powers of darkness surrounded Him and attacked Him.
Still, our Lord Jesus knew that the Father was with Him. He could pray to the Father:
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
He had the comfort of the Father with Him. But at twelve o’clock, suddenly there was darkness, and He cried out:
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the suffering of His cross. His spirit was separated from God. The Son of God, who was always with His Father—not only in heaven in eternity, but even in time on earth—was forsaken.
Yet in those short hours, from twelve to three, God used His own hand and crushed Him, because He became the sin offering of the world.
Yes, brothers and sisters, to restore that image was very costly. Out of His side came the last drop of His blood. His heart was broken; water and blood were separated. God used this to build a woman—the church.
The blood atoned for our sins. The water is His life, given to us as new life. So here you find that our Lord Jesus had to come into this world to die in order to build a counterpart, His like, to be His helpmeet.
If you read Ephesians Chapter 5, you find that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for it. We know that Christ loves us. He loves us individually, as though in the whole world you were the only person He loves. He is willing to die for you, even just for you and nobody else. That is true.
But there is a corporate side. Oftentimes we forget that Christ loved the church. He wants to have His counterpart. He wants to have His image recovered. He wants to have someone to be in union with, to share His life, His responsibility, and His glory.
Because His love is tremendous, He gave Himself for it. Christ died for the church in order that the church might be born. Historically, the church was born on the Day of Pentecost. But basically, it came out of the water and blood from the side of our Lord Jesus.
What is the church? The church is a new creation.
The old things are passed away;
behold, they are become new.
But all things are of God.
What is the church? The church is called the Christ. In 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, we find that though there are many members, there is one body; and though there is one body, there are many members. So also is the Christ.
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free;
and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
We are many, and yet we are one; one, and yet many. So also is the Christ.
We read the Bible very carelessly, and oftentimes that is the way we read. Our mind directs our reading, and unconsciously we read: “There are many members, but one body; one body, but many members. So also is the church.”
But the Holy Spirit says, “So also is the Christ.” When you say “Christ,” it refers to Him as a person: the Son of God who came and accomplished the work that God sent Him to do—the Anointed One, the Messiah, the second Man.
But when Scripture uses the Christ, it is Christ in His corporate expression. In other words, it is Christ as the Head and the church as His body. That makes us the Christ.
What does it mean? It means that in the church there is nothing but Christ. If this is so, is not the church a new creation? Old things have passed away, all things are new, and all things are of God.
What is the church? The church is the glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing—holy and without blemish. Why? Because this is what Christ the Head is.
Is He not glorious? We have beheld His glory. Is there any spot in Him, any wrinkle in Him, any other such defect? Is He not the holy and blameless Lamb of God, spotless, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God?
This is what the Head is. This is what Christ is. And this is what the church is. The church is a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish.
You find in the church nothing but Christ. You cannot find any old things in that new creation. You find that everything is new. You cannot find any touch of man there. You find that it is the exclusive work of God. That is the church.
That is the bride that the Father has given to His Son. Do you not know that He has already given Him that gift?
We are human beings, so limited. But our God is the unlimited God. Our God has no time or space restriction. He is ever-present to every now.
So far as God is concerned, when Christ said, “It is finished,” a new creation came into being, and it is full and complete. That is the church. It is already there.
Well, you do not see it, and I do not see it. But by faith, you have to see it. If you do not see it, you will not be able to pursue to the end.
It is only when we catch a vision of what the church is—as the new creation, as the Christ, as the finished work of God, as something that is already there with God—that it gives us all the encouragement and courage to press on.
Unfortunately, so far as our experience is concerned, we say, “Where is that church?” The more we know the church today, the more we are involved in so-called church activities, the more we are disappointed.
We come to a day when we begin to question whether Christ will ever have His bride. Will He be made a bachelor? Will God’s purpose of love be eternally defeated? Oh, the depravity of man.
Dear brothers and sisters, when we gather together in the name of the Lord and try to build the church, we begin to put in our own flesh, our own opinions, and our own ideas. We bring all the old creation into that new creation.
It does not fit. Dispose of it. Put it to the cross. Otherwise, we are corrupting the work of God. We postpone its appearing. It is all because this old creation is trying to build that new creation.
Today you find that the church is full of spots. Now, what is a spot? In Scripture, it speaks of the expression or manifestation of the flesh. That is us. It is the manifestation of what is of the old creation.
When our flesh—that which is natural, which belongs to the old creation—comes in, even though we may think it is the best, in the sight of God these are spots.
You find both in 1 Peter and Jude mention spots. Some people are among you, even at the love feasts, and there are spots.
Look at church history. When you read the first few chapters of the Book of Acts, what do you see there? A glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish.
Now, what is a wrinkle? A wrinkle is oldness. When the freshness of life is gone, then wrinkles begin to come.
God has it. It is already there. It is not a theory; it is not merely an ideal. It is a fact on the basis of the work of Christ. It is there.
But various spots appeared. You find murmurings. You find cheating, trying to get glory for oneself, and lying to the Spirit of God.
Even in the first century, when you look at the writings of the apostle Paul—how he wrote to the Corinthians! Oh, brothers and sisters, the Corinthian church was full of spots, almost like a leopard.
You read the first letter to the Corinthians and see all these things there. They were divided. Some said, “I am of Paul”; some, “I am of Apollos”; some, “I am of Cephas”; and some said, “I am of Christ,” with a divisive spirit.
Is Christ divided? What is that? That is carnality. That is the flesh. That is the cross.
More than that, you find one brother suing another brother. No one is willing to suffer wrong. You find there is a lack of love there. It is all for self-enjoyment.
They would go to the temple of an idol and eat because an idol is nothing; but they offended the brother whose conscience was weak. There was no love there. Even at the breaking of bread, the rich would eat and drink while the poor remained hungry.
They even had trouble with the doctrine of resurrection—whether there would be resurrection. Oh, spots! Do you know why? Where is the remedy? The cross.
That is why Paul said, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” You need the cross. Oh, I can go on and on. It is there, and you see wrinkles appearing.
You read the seven letters written by the apostle John on the island of Patmos. Even Ephesus, the first church addressed, was the church of first love. Yet what do you find there?
Everything was going on as usual, but that life was not there. The first love was gone. They were carrying on a tradition, going through the motions, doing routine things. Outwardly, everything was all right.
But Christ could not find that love. He needed that love. Wrinkles, and every such thing.
Oh, brothers and sisters, is it not true with us today? We find the church full of spots, full of wrinkles, and all these things. Where is the holiness—separation unto God? Where is that which is without blemish?
It is full of blemishes—the blemishes of the flesh, the life of self. Is there any hope that these spots may be removed and these wrinkles may be straightened? Is there any hope?
Thank God, He is working. So you read Ephesians Chapter 5: He not only gave Himself up for the church in order that He might sanctify it, but He is purifying it by the washing of water with the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord is working with His church today. Even in our morning watch, we find that He, the risen Lord, as the great High Priest, is walking among the seven lampstands, trying to purify them.
He is using water with the word to bring them back into the glorious church, to be presented to Him. What is the water there? To be consistent, the water there is life. There is life there.
It is only because there is life there that the word can be spoken to them. You cannot speak to a dead man. So, brothers and sisters, in spite of the fact that the church today is so fallen, full of spots and wrinkles, the life is still there.
The Lord is still speaking to the church. The word of God touches the life in us. Our life responds to His speaking, and when we do, we repent.
So the calling to the church today is to repent. Brothers and sisters, the church needs to repent.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Unfortunately, when you read Revelation Chapters 2 and 3, it seems as if the church as a whole will not repent. Thank God, there will be those who repent.
He that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life.
Dear brothers and sisters, today the calling to the church is the call to repent: to turn around, to repent in dust and ashes, to abhor ourselves, and to allow the Spirit of God and the word, as a two-edged sword, to divide the spirit and the soul.
We need to allow Him to cut the flesh off, to straighten the wrinkles, and to bring us out of tradition into life. Those who respond and repent—brothers and sisters—there you find that which represents the glorious church.
You know, when I was a young Christian, when I read Ephesians Chapter 5, I got so discouraged. I thought the glorious church would never appear. If the glorious church never appeared, Christ could never return, because He comes back to claim His bride.
But if the bride is not ready, how can He come back? There is no hope. So I asked a dear brother, Watchman Nee, “How can these verses be fulfilled? Do we have any hope?”
He simply pointed out to me, “By the principle of overcomers.”
Brothers and sisters, who are the overcomers of the church? They are those who repent. They are those who hear the voice of the Spirit. They are those who see the glory of the Lord and are willing to give up themselves.
They are just normal Christians. They are those who want to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. These are the overcomers of the church. They will be the firstfruits. They will guarantee the harvest.
That is the reason why, if you read the Book of Revelation, you find there are two presentations of the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
The first presentation is in Revelation Chapter 19:
Hallelujah: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and His wife hath made herself ready.
And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure:
for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
This is the first presentation of the bride. Remember, this presentation is before the millennium, before the thousand years when Christ shall rule.
The marriage feast of the Lamb actually lasts through the millennium. I do not know how long that feast lasts, but I think it lasts a thousand years.
Who is this bride that has made herself ready and has received grace to put on that wedding garment? Who? The whole church? No—the overcomers of the church.
Then you find in Revelation Chapter 21 the second presentation of the wife, the bride of the Lamb: the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, full of glory.
Who is that? That is the consummation of all the work of God through Christ Jesus—of the Old Testament and of the New Testament. Everything that is the work of God in Christ Jesus has been gathered together into the glorious church, the bride, the eternal bride of the Lamb.
The twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles. You find the Old Testament and the New Testament. All the work of God has been consummated in that glorious bride of the Lamb.
That is the final, eternal manifestation. Yes, brothers and sisters, this is what God wants. This is the gift, the supreme gift, that God has determined to give to His Son.
Do you want to be a part of it? Do you not know? Do you not think it is your responsibility not to delay it, but to hasten it?
How we need to submit ourselves to the Spirit of God and allow Him to finish the glorious work, not only in each one of us individually, but together.
Finally, there is the New Jerusalem, having the glory of God—the bride of the Lamb. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, when you are there one day, you will be there. What will your feeling be?
So I want to finish with a quotation. It is a poem written by Anne Ross Cousin. She put the words of Samuel Rutherford into a poem. I will just read one verse:
The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory,
But on my King of grace;
Not at the crown He giveth,
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Emmanuel’s land.
Shall we pray?
The Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel’s land. Thine is the glory. We want to give Thee all the glory, because we know that one day Thy glory, O Lord, shall fill the universe. Everything will glorify Thee, and that is what it should be. Glory be to God. In the name of our Lord. Amen.