Audio Download

Rev 21:23-27 The Lamb’s Wife is Those Who are Written in the Lamb’s Book of Life

[Study Aired August 1, 2025]

Rev 21:23 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.
Rev 21:24 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.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 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.

Introduction

When we read in our last study that “I saw no temple therein”, what are we being told? What we are being told is that the symbolism of the temple will then have been fulfilled. Christ is now dwelling with men, because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

This verse, Revelation 21:22, is not a contradiction of these verses:

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Revelation 21:22 complements 1Corinthians 3:16 and 2Corinthians 6:16 and confirms these verses of scripture:

Joh 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

“As [Christ] is so are we in this world.”  Christ is of His Head, His Father, just as we, “The bride, the Lamb’s wife… New Jerusalem”, are of our head, Christ:

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

We are told that the invisible things of God are understood being clearly seen by the things that are made:

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they [Trinitarians?] are without excuse:

“The head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man and the head of Christ is God… so they are without excuse.”

That all being true it is therefore in the creation account that we can plainly see His eternal power and Godhead… the head of Christ is “God the Father” just as Adam was the head of Eve. The phrase, “God the Father” appears twelve times in the New Testament, and it is always in association with “the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the Father.”

Gal 1:3  Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

2Jn 1:3  Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Not one of the twelve entries for the phrase ‘God the Father’ includes the holy spirit as a person who is part of the God head, which we are to  understand by the things that are made.

In Luke 3 we are told that Adam is “the son of God.”

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Eve comes out of Adam and is called ‘Adam.’

Gen 2:21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Christ came out “of God.”

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

All things are “of God… the Father” but all things come “by… one Lord Jesus Christ. All of us are by Christ, yet all men are “of the woman.”

1Co 11:11  Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
1Co 11:12  For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

All men are “by the woman” just as all things are “by… one Lord Jesus Christ.”

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

That brings us back to how “the invisible things of God… even His eternal power and Godhead are understood by the things that are made” because Eve, who is ‘of Adam’, is yet called “the mother of all living.”

Gen 3:20  And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

What all of this shows us is that “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” is also to become “the mother of all living” who will come up through the great tribulation of the great white throne judgment and wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. So those who are Christ’s are His Bride, His wife, the mother of all of His children. Those who are in Christ are  “Jerusalem above [which is] the mother of us all.” “The bride, the Lamb’s wife” has now been pronounced to be the fulfillment of the symbolism of the temple into which all who come to God must enter. “There is no temple therein” simply because “the Lord God almighty and the Lamb [therein ] are the temple of it.” So the following verse now applies to the Lamb’s wife, the New Jerusalem.

Rev 15:8 And the temple [the Lamb’s wife] was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

If you and I are the temple of God, then it is only so because “the spirit of God dwells in us.” That is what you and I are being told when we read:

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

If we are “the bride the Lamb’s wife, the holy Jerusalem”, then it is not adding to what is written to say “there is no temple therein” because “Christ and His Father within us are the temple thereof.” That is just as true here and now as it will be at the great white throne judgment where the Lamb’s wife will begin to bring forth fruit in the form of all men who have ever lived.

Rev 21:23  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.

Rev 21:9  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.
Rev 21:10  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,
Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

Rev 21:24  And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings [who have ruled and reigned with Christ a thousand years] of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

These are the words of our Lord and they “will not pass away.” These words will be just as applicable to all men who are cast into the lake of fire as they apply to us now in our own “fiery trials.” The only difference is that those who are not granted to have part in the first resurrection will not become “the mother of all living’, and they will never be called “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” His ‘children’, yes; His wife, no. We will be the city with the twelve gates through which all men of all time must pass as they are dragged through us to Christ and His and our Father.

To the natural man it seems impossible to say ‘as the children of Christ, we are the church of Christ’; we are the “manchild… who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron” (Rev 12:5); and we are the church which is His body (Col 1:24), and we are “Jerusalem above, the mother of us all” (Gal 4:26). To the natural man it is pure foolishness to say we are the “four beasts and the four and twenty elders” which are in the midst of the throne and round about the throne (Rev 4:4-6, Rev 5:8-10), and at the same time we are Christ’s children, we are also His brothers, His sisters, His mother, and at the same time we are His wife! How is any of this possible? This is no problem at all in the spirit:

Mat 12:47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
Mat 12:48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
Mat 12:49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mat 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

If we go on to say we are the angel who shows us these things and we are the seven churches and we are the hundred and forty four thousand, it just sounds impossible for one very precious “pearl of great price” to be all of these things. It is all true only if we are in Christ in this present time.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. [That “blessed and holy… first resurrection, (Rev 20:6)]

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

To add to the confusion of the natural man, we must also confess that before we were Christ’s wife we were first the Ephesians who had “lost [our] first love; we were the church of Smyrna with “they that say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan; the church of Pergamos “where Satan dwells among you.” As the church at Pergamos we first ‘held the doctrine of Balaam’, [and we] ate things offered to idols and committed spiritual fornication, all while lording it over the Lord’s flock as we also ‘held to the doctrine of the Nicholaitans.’   As the church of Thyatira we first allowed that woman Jezebel to seduce us and to cause us to commit fornication.   These things must all be seen as being within our own flesh, and they must first be burned out of us and develop within us “the patience and faith of the saints.” As the church of Sardis we must first come to see ourselves as spiritually dead, and as Laodicea we must also acknowledge that even as we have been all these terrible things we still think of ourselves as being “rich and increased with goods”, while totally unaware of the fact that in reality we are spiritually “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev 3:17). All of this must be “read, heard, and kept”, before we are granted to become “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”, through whom all men will be brought to Christ.

Rev 21:23  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.

Another way of understanding what we are being told in this verse was given us by our Lord when talking to His disciples just before His apprehension and His glorification. Here is how He told us that the glory of God and the Lamb would be within those who are espoused to Him as a chaste virgin:

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Our primary approach to these words is to see these words as “I in you.”  When we apply these words presently and internally, their outward and future application take care of themselves. Here is what this knowledge produces within us:

Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

That is the ‘is’ and present application of “for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof”. Here is Christ revealing to us that we are this “city on a great and high mountain”:

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill [Greek: oros – mountain] cannot be hid.

The Greek word translated ‘hill’ in this verse is the same word translated ‘mountain’ in this verse:

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain [Greek: oros], and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

This Greek word ‘oros’ appears in the New Testament 65 times. 62 of those 65 entries are some form of the word ‘mountain’. 28 entries are translated ‘mountain’; 21 ‘mount’ and 13 ‘mountains’. Only three times is this Greek word ‘oros’ translated as ‘hill’. In Matthew 5:14, Christ is telling us that we are “that great city, on a great and high mountain, which cannot be hid.“

Rev 21:10 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,

It is nothing less than denying our Lord when we put our light under a bushel, or try to hide the fact that we are “a city on a mountain.” Christ goes as far as to tell us that just as the world did not know who He was, neither will they recognize who we are.

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

The apostle named Judas asked Christ how this is accomplished, and this is His answer:

Joh 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Joh 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

It is Christ’s Words, which are really His Father’s Words, which, if they are in us, put Christ and His Father, with their light and with their glory, within us. That is how the light and glory of God and the Lamb, are within us, as that great city, which is the wife of the Lamb.

Rev 21:24 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.

Here is a verse which graphically demonstrates both the inward and the outward application of these words. “The nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it” because:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is [the King of the world, (Mat 28:18)], so are we in this world.

Christ is “the light of the world”, but he tells us that “as He is so are we in this world.”

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Therefore if He is that light that lightens the great city, which city we are, then we too, must be “the light of the world”. Is that so? If we “do not walk in darkness, then there is no night in us as that “city of New Jerusalem… a mountain great and high.”

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill [Greek: oros, mountain] cannot be hid.

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain [Greek: oros], and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

There is no night in the holy Jerusalem, the Lamb’s wife, because “the spirit of God dwells in us, and the glory of God and the Lamb are the light thereof.”

1Th 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

“The gates of it need not be shut at all by day” for this reason:

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Remember, this city, which city we are (Rev 21:2, 9-20), is “lighted by the glory of God and of the Lamb… who are both the temple of this city”.

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

If “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it”, then there will be no way in which any evil or any darkness could possibly slip through the gates of this city. Here is how we know this to be the case:

1Ti 6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

We may have thought that this verse is speaking only of the Father, but Christ makes clear that the word ‘man’ does not mean those who love and obey God. Rather, it means unrighteous and ungodly men:

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

“The glory and the honor of the nations” is the subduing of “every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Every thought is a “nation” which, when it is “brought into captivity… to the obedience of Christ”, is “the honor of the nations” which will then become an integral part of the great high wall and the foursquare character of this “city of God” which wants nothing but to please her husband.

Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

All of this must happen as a necessary part of being prepared to enter into that great city. Christ continues with this very theme:

Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

That is how we are prepared by our Lord to enter this city and become “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

Rev 21:27 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.

The fact that the only people who can enter into this “New Jerusalem… the bride, the Lamb’s wife” are “they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life”, proves that those who comprise this ‘city’ are those who were given a part in that “blessed and holy first resurrection.”

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh [in this present time, not in the great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death], the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Rev 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. [No one who is cast into the lake of fire was found written in the book of life]

Those who come up in the resurrection of judgment, also called the great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/second death, will “come up through [the] great tribulation” of that judgment (Rev 7:14), but it will never be said of them that their names were written in the book of life. Read it again:

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Our old man must die in this present age and be left behind with the rest of the world, if we are granted to enter into that city. It is only by acknowledging that we are “marred vessels of clay” in the Potter’s hand, that we have defiled the temple of God, and our old man must therefore be destroyed via the wrath of God upon our own ungodliness and unrighteousness, so that we ourselves, our new man, will be saved “yet though as by fire.”

1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

Dying in order to live, and enduring the fire to avoid the lake of fire, is foolishness to the natural man. Let all of us “become a fool that we may be wise.” Only then will we be granted to “bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.”

Let’s read these last two verses again so we can remember just how special we are to our husband, The Lamb:

Rev 21:26 And they [We, “the kings of the earth… for a thousand years] shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27  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.

In our next study, if the Lord wills, we will cover these verses of the very last chapter of this “revelation of Jesus Christ” within each of our lives.

Rev 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.