Rev 21:9-12 Who Shows Us The Bride, Part 2

[Study Aired July 20, 2025]

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 21:12  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:

We paused our last study with the promise to give you the scriptures which demonstrate with the spirit and power (1Co 2:4) that we are now being judged and being crucified with Christ daily. As such, the angel with the seven last plagues which shows us this revelation of Jesus Christ signifies the church and the body of Christ. If these verses are true then judgment begins with us, and we are the first to be judged in this present time, and we are the first to die with Christ in this present age. Having been judged in this age, we will be raised up in “the resurrection of life” at the first resurrection at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of “our Lord and His Christ”(Rev 11:15).

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the [first] resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: Krisis, judgment, the great white throne judgment].

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Therefore, the great white throne judgment will not be judging us, and the lake of fire which is the second death will not hurt nor have power over us:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The great white throne judgment/lake of fire is the second death:

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Here are just a few of the verses which make the point that the Lord’s elect are dying in this age and are being judged in this age:

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized [Aorist tense] into Jesus Christ were baptized [Aorist tense] into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with [Aorist tense] him by baptism into death: that like as Christ [the firstfruit] was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we [“a kind of firstfruits”, Jas 1:18] also should walk in newness of life.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits [Rev 14:4] of his creatures.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This angel with one of the seven vials full of the wrath of God is you and me. This angel is the body of Christ and the church, which is His body. It is we who are given to show these things, “this mystery, to every man… in his own order.” It is you and me who are made aware that we must “read, hear, and keep” the things in this revelation:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Knowing that this revelation is “the revelation of Jesus Christ” within each of us is what is called “the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God.”

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

This secret was “hid in God… from the beginning… to the intent that now by the church might be known the manifold wisdom of God… who will have all men to be saved” (1Ti 2:4).

That is what this angel is revealing to us:

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Our “fellow servant and our brothers that have the testimony of Jesus” signify “His body the church” (Col 1:24).

What does this angel, the body of Christ, show us?

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 only “in the spirit” that we can see “that great city, the holy Jerusalem.” ‘Carried me away in the spirit’ and “showed me that great city’ are both in the aorist tense indicating that these things are ongoing. If we are this angel, God’s elect, and if we are fellowservants who keep the sayings of this prophecy, how are we carried away in the spirit, and how are we given to carry others away in the spirit to see these same things? To answer that question, it will help to know one of the Biblical definitions of what is the spirit. What is the spirit with which you and I are “carried away” and what is the spirit with which we, signified by this angel, carry others  away in the spirit? This is how that is accomplished by the spirit:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

There it is. It is the Word of God which carries His elect away to a great and high mountain, and it is only from that “great and high mountain” that we are given to see that great city, the holy Jerusalem.

Our next logical question should be, “what is this great and high mountain”.

Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

Dan 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

It is “the mountain of the Lord’s house” which smites the image on its feet and destroys that image. Where is this “house of the Lord?” Where is that mountain which destroys the image of our old man and becomes a kingdom which fills our whole earth? While there is indeed a dispensational application to these prophecies, if we do not first apply these prophecies inwardly while in these clay vessels, then we will not be given part in their dispensational application as resurrected spirits ruling with Christ over the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15). Here is the only place we will ever find “that great and high mountain and that great city, the holy Jerusalem.”

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is [first] within you.

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end [of this age], to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

There it is; “the great and high mountain”, the only place from which we are shown “that great city, the holy Jerusalem.” It is “the mountain of the Lord’s house” within all who abide in His Words in this age. What is that house? Once again we are forced by the Word of God to acknowledge that “the kingdom of God is within us”, and this revelation of Jesus Christ first takes place within us.

What are we to see within those who make up and comprise the holy Jerusalem?

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;

It is by “the glory of God: and her light like a stone most precious, clear as a crystal” that we see within “the mountain of the house of God”. What then is this “glory of God?”

Joh 12:20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:
Joh 12:21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
Joh 12:22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
Joh 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

“Certain Greeks” wanted to see Jesus, and Jesus’ answer was “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.” How is this answer related to the request of these Helenistic Jews to “see Jesus?” What Christ is telling Andrew and Philip is that the only way to really ‘see’ Him is in His glorified body as Paul made clear:

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

How would that be done? There is only one way to be glorified and “have the glory of God” as the bride of the Lamb. What is it that glorifies any man? Here it is for any and all who can receive it:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto [glorified] life eternal.

This is how Christ is glorifying us:

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious [glorified] church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

It is “the washing of water by the Word” which cleanses and makes the bride of Christ glorious and glorified. What does that Word tell us will bring us glory?

Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Joh 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Joh 12:28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

How did God go about glorifying Christ? Here again is how He and we are glorified. This is how the holy Jerusalem is glorious within us.

Joh 13:30 He then [Judas] having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.
Joh 13:31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
Joh 13:32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

We always come back to the same Biblical definition of glory and being glorified, and that definition is always the same.

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

There is only one thing which will cause us to “suffer with and be reproached for the name of Christ” and that is to remain faithful to Him and His doctrine:

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Christ has given us His doctrine, and it is the act of being faithful to His doctrine which will cause us to be hated and persecuted of all men:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Matthew 13:21 tells us that tribulation and persecution arises “because of the Word”.  John 17:14 warns us that the world will hate us because Christ “has given [us] His Word” and Matthew 10:22 assures us that we will be hated of all men “for [Christ’s] name sake”.

‘Christ’s name’s sake’ is just another way of saying “persecution arising because of [His] word”, because of His doctrine. It is that persecution and tribulation which tries our faith which to our heavenly Father is so precious, so pure and as clear as glass”, and so ‘glorious’.

Now we can much better understand this, our Lord’s statement:

Joh 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

It is a rare person indeed who sees what this “glory of God” is and desires to attain to this glorified state. That is the very meaning of “having the glory of God…. being a stone most precious and being clear as crystal”.

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; [Glorious… having the glory of God]

It is the very fact that so few are given to appreciate this precious, rare and clear “glory of God”, which serves as “a wall great and high.”

This “high wall” is nothing but the very mind and ways of God, which walls out and closes the gates on the natural carnal minds of the masses of humanity who will just naturally choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil over “the way of the tree of life.” So we are told:

Rev 21:12 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:

This is what is signified by “a wall great and high”.

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

It is God’s thoughts and His ways which form the “great and high wall” which surrounds the holy Jerusalem and makes us the bride… most precious… the Lamb’s wife. It is “the mind of Christ”, God’s ways that are so much higher than the ways of our natural man. It is Christ’s mind and His ways in His bride which also comprise the glory that is seen within that great city, which ‘city’ we are.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

This ‘glory’, this crystal clear glory was not available to anyone until after Christ was glorified:

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast [signifying the events leading up to the great white throne judgment], Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) [Aorist tense, Had not yet been crucified and resurrected, which continues to take place within His body the church]

If Christ has taken up His residence in us then we, too, are ‘being glorified.’ Christ was ‘glorified’ through dying for our sins and our afflictions. We fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church, by enduring His persecutions and afflictions in our own bodies “because as He is so are we in this world.”

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Our sufferings and afflictions are as much “for His body’s sake, which is the church” as the sufferings of Christ Himself because:

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.

We just read in 1Peter 4:17 that “the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” and now Paul tells us that our sufferings and afflictions are just as much for the church which is His body as the afflictions of Christ Himself… because as He is so are we in this world (1Jo 4:17).

The use here of the number twelve signifies to us that we are part of the very foundations of this great city, which will one day have within it all the glory of the spiritual Gentiles who now think of themselves as Jews, when they are not but do lie.

Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

We have seen in our study on the twelve thousand which are from each of the twelve tribes of Israel in Revelation chapters 7 and 14, that those 144,000 are just one more symbol of those who are the Christ of Christ. The same is true for these twelve gates, entering into this holy city. Here is the URL to our study on the spiritual significance of the number 12:

Numbers: Twelve/

These twelve gates to the New Jerusalem are merely one more symbol of those to whom this entire prophecy is addressed. They are the elect of God, through whom all men of all time will come to our Lord and His Father.

Eph 3:8  Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Here it is stated a clearly as it can be stated.

Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Rev 3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The only pillars in the tabernacle of Moses were five pillars located at the door of the tabernacle, and another four pillars at the door of the holy of holies through which all men will come to God:

Exo 26:32 And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.
Exo 26:37 And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

Ours is the greatest calling that can be given to mankind. This city with its twelve gates are those who have ”the name of the city of God, which is new Jerusalem” written upon them, and as the 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, we will also be the pillars through whom all mankind will be shown the mercy which we have been shown. Being a pillar in the temple of God is the same as being one of the twelve gates to “the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from my God.” It is through these pillars and these gates that all men will be saved:

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy [12 gates] they also may obtain mercy.

The mercy of God upon all who come up at the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death will come through us as those twelve gates and those nine pillars, is made clear in the very next verse.

Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

We are compelled to exclaim with the apostle:

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

In our next study, if the Lord, wills we will look into the following verses:

Rev 21:13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Rev 21:15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
Rev 21:16 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.

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”Light from Darkness”

December 27, 2017

Since the beginning of all of creation, God the Father has proclaimed and has wanted us to know there is a purpose to the separation of His creation. Indeed, He has started all creation with telling us there are two opposing forces in it.

We often refer to these forces as good and bad, old versus new, day and night, life and death, but the Truth is that they are only seen this way from our perspective. The Lord see things in a whole other light, and He tells us so in scripture.

Our study today is going to cover these “opposing forces”, and we are going to do so from the concept of light and darkness. While this study will briefly scratch the surface of this topic, I hope it can be used as a springboard to open our hearts and minds to who we are to the world, and to each other, now in this age in which we live.

From the beginning

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

While these verses may be familiar to us, there is a lot being said “from the beginning” from which we can learn and grow.

As many of you know, I am currently in school and during my studies I have had to take a “physical science” course which covers physics, chemistry and earth sciences.

During the study of this course material, I ventured out to the internet to cover some of the topics that were being talked about in the course, and I realized that science, as a whole, is “discovering” more and more about just how connected we all are versus not being very connected.

If the darkness and light are both alike to the Lord, but physically they are so different, then how should we consider light and darkness? More than that, how should we view all of the categories I mentioned before of good and bad, old and new, life and death?

Before we really get started, I think it is incumbent upon me to say this study is about much more than light and darkness.

Right after being told that the light and darkness are alike to the Lord, we read these miraculous words in the ESV version/translation:

Psa 139:13  For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
Psa 139:14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psa 139:15  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Psa 139:16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psa 139:17  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

It is easy to read these words, as wonderful as they are, and only apply them to ourselves. Obviously, this is David speaking and recording these words, but if I can apply them to myself while they have been written by David, them I can assume, with time, that they apply to all of humanity when they come to read and apply them to themselves the way I am doing now.

If you are wondering why I call them miraculous and wonderful, it is because the Lord knows me, formed me from the womb, and has always known who I am and who I will become. Here I sit blessed, speaking before you all, and the Lord has put us all together.

Now, extend this concept to the whole of humanity, and the miracle of the creation of everyone and everything starts to come to light, pun intended.

It is out of darkness that the Lord calls light, and it all happened by the Lord “speaking” it into existence. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” What powerful words those are!

My question today is, are these words of creation only meant for us? Is the light that comes forth out of darkness only meant for a select few or is it meant for everyone?

In the physical sense, they were meant for all of creation, because all of creation came about because of them. So, why or how are they meant any differently for all of humanity when it comes to our spiritual connection to the creator of the universe and all the things contained in the universe?

Again, this is all about perception. It is also about time and timing. What do I mean?

Psa 18:28 (ESV)  For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa 9:2  The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Mat 10:27  What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

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.

Joh 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Joh 9:5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Jesus said as long as He is in the world He is the light of the world. Then we read in John 9 that we are the light of the world. So, which is it? We know that Jesus is in us, and we are in Him, so it must mean that Jesus is in us, being the light.

Jesus had this to say about who He is:

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

This verse comes from the following set of verses. Listen to the context of where it is Jesus explains to us who He is. This is from the ESV translation again:

Joh 14:1  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Joh 14:2  In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Joh 14:4  And you know the way to where I am going.”
Joh 14:5  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
Joh 14:6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Joh 14:7  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip is going to ask Jesus one of the most common questions we all ask ourselves at some point in our lives. Philip says “show us the Father” but in its own way, this is asking for God to show Himself to us.

Joh 14:8  Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Joh 14:9  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Joh 14:10  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Joh 14:11  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Joh 14:12  “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

Here we are then, back to “words”. “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority” is something we all must come to understand because it is the essence of who we are and how it is we are the light of the world.

Being the light of the world, out of where were we pulled? Well, it is out of the darkness of course. If we were pulled out of the darkness, so, too, are others pulled out of the darkness into His marvelous light.

We were pulled out of darkness with those now infamous words, “And God said, Let there be.” And, God said, “Let there be …. Light”.

We read in Genesis 1 how the beginning came to be. Now, let us compare that, under the guidance of the Spirit of God, to how John describes the beginning.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Life, light and the Word. Death cannot comprehend life, but life comes forth from death. The Word of God came to us, so who are the “us” of whom I speak?

Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Joh 10:37  If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

It is the Word of God that came to us, in His timing now we are the group called “us”, but in time that group will include everyone.

See, the Word of God is powerful. I submit to you all now that all words are very powerful. “God said” is a very powerful action.

My speaking with you today is done with the use of words, which create in us reactions called thoughts. These thoughts then cause reactions within us which often cause actions to come out of us.

If I say a kind word to you, and you are receptive to this through the filter of your thoughts, then a physical and chemical reaction happens to you. You feel pleasure from these kind words.

Likewise, if I speak hateful or mean words to you, you might become very angry and act out of this anger. Your blood might start “to boil”. Indeed, words are very powerful. They are the tool from which all of creation was made, and they create today still. Words come from thoughts and create thoughts.

Isa 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The world in which we live has just gone through the Christmas holiday. Just the word “Christmas” is VERY powerful. It causes thoughts, good or bad (from our perspective) to happen within us based on what that means to us.

Likewise, the world in which we all live has many words that cause us to think certain things or to follow certain trains of thoughts. Words literally create all sorts of things WITHIN us, and the Lord is causing it all.

White, black or brown, male or female, smarter or dumber, old or young, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, American, Chinese, European, etc., all cause us to think certain things. These words box us into a certain category of thinking and into a certain way to think.

These groups or categories cause us to label one another as separate from each other instead of the Truth that we are all connected to one another.

It is in the ways that we are alike that create in us a strong connection to one another. The world today uses “diversity” to show why it is we are important, but the most important thing we can be is one with Christ. We need unity in the Oneness that we have with the Lord.

A husband and wife are intimate, therefore they see more similarities than differences in their goals, desires and wants. Parents have children and know that they have come forth from them, therefore an immediate bond is made.

We are gathered here today in meeting of likeminded belief because we have a connection through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we feel and know of the things that are common to us.

This connection happens because we are able to look past the outward appearance of things and realize there is much more to each of us than what can be seen, and the common thread connecting us all is the Lord.

The reason I chose this topic is to talk about how we are not only connected because we “are the light of the world” but because we have all come from the common state and place of darkness.

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

We have been called out of darkness into light, but is that the only purpose to be called from darkness simply to be in light, or is there something more to this “being the light” thing?

Remember, Jesus walked and talked and ate with sinners and publicans. He was never, while He walked this earth in the flesh, around converted Christians. Yet, He loved them VERY much. He was elevated because He was the Light of the world. He was humbled by it.

He certainly HATED their sin, but He loved them individually. He knew who they would be and did not only see them as they were currently. He knew when He healed the blind and lame or fed the poor and hungry, that they would still get hungry again and would remain spiritually blind – most of them anyway.

Yet, He still stayed around them and walked among them. Why did He do this? Among the reasons He did this we find this explanation:

1Th 5:1  But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
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.
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

We are sober in the Word. We have the armor of God to protect us from the wiles of that old serpent. We must walk our walk as a solider of Jesus Christ, knowing that some with whom we are in contact now will also be called out from darkness NOW, into this marvelous Light in which we now walk. We also know the rest will come into the light later.

We have hope that remains within us. That is what separates “us” from “them”.

We press forward toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Jesus Christ, forgetting the past and moving forward.

I have often asked, “when is it that you are awake that it is not “today”? It is always “today”, which also happens to be that day of the Lord that the Lord has made.

That is not to say that those in darkness will appreciate that we have this knowledge and simply want to live it themselves. They that are in darkness will not appreciate that we simply want to share this light by being doers of the word and not only hearers.

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Act 26:15  And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
Act 26:16  But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Act 26:17  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

In order to receive forgiveness of sins, one must be turned from darkness to light. How does that happen?

Have you ever walked into a bright room or turned on the bathroom light and immediately knocked your head back while swiftly closing your eyes to the sudden brightness that the light causes to happen to your eyeballs? Yeah, that is what the light does to darkness.

When you are in darkness and it is all you have known, there is no way to compare what light is from darkness. Light is literally not a concept of something that can be understood by those who are in darkness UNTIL light is shown to them.

How does that happen? Well, we are right back to words and specifically the Word of God.

God said, let there be light, and there was light.

Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Mat 12:35  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

1Jn 2:7  (ESV) Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
1Jn 2:8  At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
1Jn 2:9  Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
1Jn 2:10  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
1Jn 2:11  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

What I hope is among the things taken away from this study is that words are very powerful, and words matter. What we do with the words that come forth from our mouth, and also those words which come into our ears, is VERY important.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Heb 4:12 (ESV)  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

2Co 10:5 (ESV)  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

2Co 10:7  Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.

I mentioned earlier that the light will be brought forth from everyone, each in their own timing. What is really profound to me, is that while there is a past we can learn from and a future to look forward to, there is only the present that we live in.

It is always today and it is always the present that we experience. Therefore, we need to realize that we are the light of the world NOW, in this generation in which the Lord has placed us.

We are the light of the world NOW, to our family and friends, peers and colleagues, enemies and fellow soldiers of Christ. Our words must be tempered and obedient to the Word of God so that we can NOW be the sons of God.

We must be as Jesus was and simply speak the Truth of the Word while also realizing that it is not for anyone now but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Mat 15:22  And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Mat 15:23  But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Mat 15:24  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat 15:25  Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

However, that doesn’t mean that the rest of humanity is left out.

Mat 15:26  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
Mat 15:27  And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
Mat 15:28  Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

We are all living in an age which can be very difficult in which to be the light of the world. However, the Lord is with us, and it does help knowing that whatever it is we must endure, it is all for the benefit of those the Lord has placed in our lives.

Whether those around us know it or not, we are sacrificed for them as lambs to the slaughter, but they, too, are sacrificed for us so that we can live now in Jesus Christ.

Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

Rom 11:25  (ESV) Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Rom 11:26  And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
Rom 11:27  “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
Rom 11:28  As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
Rom 11:29  For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Rom 11:30  For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
Rom 11:31  so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
Rom 11:33  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Hi there again, Mike,

It is late here, brother (11 p. m.), and I cannot sleep at the moment, so I have decided to email you and ask for your wise input on a subject if I may.

It is regarding what our attitudes should be toward our natural family. By “natural family”, I do not mean my wife and my children whom I love and cherish every waking day. I mean my natural born siblings, uncles, aunts and grandparents, etc.

I had a big falling out with my brother several years ago now regarding him insulting my wife and then not making amends for it. It’s a long story, so I won’t go into details, but needless to say, the fact that I put my wife before my brother and set firm boundaries has soured the relationship between not only him and me but my other siblings and extended family as well. “Blood is thicker than water” is the line that has been thrown at me from left, right and center, and as the years have passed, I have honestly come to think that my siblings and extended family really are not “family” at all, and I really do not care for them one way or the other. We no longer speak to each other, and recently I saw my brother up here in a restaurant (he must have been up here on holidays as he lives in another state). When I saw him, I simply shrugged my shoulders and kept on walking.

My mother passed away when I was young, and my father is both a pedophile and a violent man, and I ran away from home when I was 14. I have not seen him since, nor do I intend on seeing him again or re-establish contact with him. I forgive him, but at the same time, wisdom dictates to me that my own family’s safety is more important that dredging up the demons of the past where he is concerned.

My father’s parents are quite honestly the most “evil” people I have ever met, my father’s mother especially, and likewise, I have not laid eyes on them for over 18 years.

My mother’s parents were obviously shattered at losing their daughter and have never gotten over it. Instead they have become very bitter people and have barely said a kind word to me since I hit my late teen years. They were invited to my wedding, but declined the invitation and have never shown an interest in our relationship.

I say all of this in an effort to try to be as honest as I can with you, Mike. However my question is: do you think I am being hard-hearted in that I feel I have no connection whatsoever with my natural “blood” relatives? Should I make an effort with them, or do I “let sleeping dogs lie”? I realize it may be hard for you to give specific answers here, but if any scriptures come to mind I would appreciate the input. I honestly feel more connection to yourself (even though we have never physically met) and others of the same Christ-like mind than I ever have with my own “flesh and blood”.

Thank you for reading, Mike. I look forward to your input. Will try and get some sleep now; work tomorrow!

B____

Wow! B____,

What a story! Thank you for sharing it with me.

I am from a broken home, and my very orthodox father taught my four brothers and sister and me to hate our mother, but he always loved all of us, and my grandparents on both sides were exemplary pillars of the community, as far as I have ever heard.

My mother had an adulterous affair with the minister of the Pentecostal church we attended, and when I was in the third grade, my parents divorced. My father was the first man in the history of the state of Ohio to get full custody of his children. Sadly for him, he honestly believed that Rom 7:1 forbade him from ever getting married as long as my mother was alive. So he never remarried, and he had six children to raise.

Rom 7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law), how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Rom 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of [her] husband.
Rom 7:3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Dad knew nothing of “the sum of thy word”, and the Lord simply never let him see this verse, even though we read through the entire Bible systematically.

1Co 7:14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
1Co 7:15  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

I will not bore you with the details, but he placed us separately in the homes of his brothers, and my brother just older than me and I ended up with Dad’s sister and her husband. I was ten at that time. The worst thing I ever experienced was my aunt’s husband picking me up by my head and throwing me across the room when his son and I got into an argument.

So you can understand that my brothers and I were never reared together from the third grade on, and I was never very close to any of them for that reason. But we have always been very civil with each other, and I cannot imagine not even speaking to any of them even though most of them have made it clear that they think I am a heretic and at times would not speak to me.

I have a half-sister and a half-brother who are children of the Pentecostal minister with my mother after they married. I never met this half-brother until I graduated from college, but my mother eventually moved to the Atlanta area, and I got to know him. He was always in and out of trouble/jail, and my mother always bailed him out. It took many long painful years for all of us who attempted to help this brother to learn that helping him amounted to nothing less than enabling him to continue his cocaine habit.

I struggled with that because we are to love our enemies (Mat 5:44, Luk 6:27). But my spiritual struggles with false brothers and the fact that we are told to “mark that person and have no company with him” have helped me to understand that there is a time to “have no company” with both physical and spiritual brothers.

My story doesn’t begin to compare to yours, but I just wanted you to know that I, too, have had my struggles with my family. I also will not discuss the scriptures at all with my own older daughter and her husband or my older sons, simply because they all are adamantly opposed to what I see in scripture.

Like you, I am much closer to you than I am to any of my brothers, other than Lonnie, who is also a believer. Here is why that is so.

Mar 3:33  And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
Mar 3:34  And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mar 3:35  For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

“Blood is thicker than water” is not a biblical phrase, but it is a biblical principle when the blood is Christ’s blood and the water is the waters on which the great whore sits. But Christ also did not neglect to prepare for the care of His mother after His death. It seems He was the one who bore the responsibility for her care as on the cross he told John this:

Joh 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Joh 19:27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own [home].

You are right! It is hard to be specific about your personal relations with individuals in your family who I know nothing about, but I can show you what the scriptures say, and as far as your wife is concerned, the scriptures say this:

Mat 19:4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female,
Mat 19:5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Mat 19:6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Your wife should be to you what the church is to Christ. You were absolutely right to place her above the relationships of your physical family.

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

Your wife is the most important person to you in the world next to God Himself. You two should be more important to each other than even your own parents. Your spouse should, in scriptural terms, come before any of your children. It is a sad commentary on how far we are from God that children have become the center of the family, and that many adults live their lives, not to please their mates or their heavenly Father, but to serve and please their own children. This action just reinforces the child’s natural, carnal nature to be totally self-serving and inconsiderate.

Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

We are to be careful that no “root of bitterness” spring up in our hearts and minds toward anyone.

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

The word “many” tells us that most people do fall prey to this temptation to become bitter. But we are at the same time to “look well to the flock, [family] over which the Lord has made us overseers.

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

“All the counsel of God” includes both, “look diligently… lest any root of bitterness spring up,” and it is also “take heed to yourselves and the flock…”

If your father is a known pedophile, then you do not want your children to ever, under any circumstances, to be alone with him for as much as a second. It might be okay for them to meet him under your own supervision, but it would be nothing less than gross negligence to let him spend one minute alone with any of your children if he is indeed a pedophile.

There is a time and place for not seeking out the company of those who seek to destroy us and our Lord.

2Th 3:14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
2Th 3:15  Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish [him] as a brother.

My own daughter and son-in-law and my older sons are not my enemies, but I will do the admonishing, and if that is not acceptable to them, then we will “have no company.”

I hope I have said something which will edify you in some way and give you some guidance and comfort of mind in how you should relate to your physical siblings and your parents and uncles and aunts and cousins. We are to love all men. But that love never comes between us and obeying our heavenly Father.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

God bless you and your wife as you seek to know His mind in all things.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike