Page 41 - The Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2009

“TO.. THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA... I KNOW YOUR WORKS. SEE, I HAVE SET
BEFORE YOU AN OPEN DOOR, AND NO ONE CAN SHUT IT; FOR YOU HAVE A LITTLE
STRENGTH, HAVE KEPT MY WORD, AND HAVE NOT DENIED MY NAME...BECAUSE YOU
HAVE KEPT MY COMMAND TO PERSEVERE, I ALSO WILL KEEP YOU FROM THE HOUR

OF TRIAL WHICH SHALL COME UPON THE WHOLE WORLD, TO TEST THOSE WHO
DWELL ON THE EARTH. BEHOLD, I AM COMING QUICKLY! HOLD FAST WHAT YOU
HAVE, THAT NO ONE MAY TAKE YOUR CROWN. HE WHO OVERCOMES, I WILL MAKE

HIM A PILLAR IN THE TEMPLE OF MY GOD, AND HE SHALL GO OUT NO MORE.
I WILL WRITE ON HIM THE NAME OF MY GOD AND THE NAME OF THE CITY OF MY
GOD, THE NEW JERUSALEM, WHICH COMES DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN FROM MY GOD.

AND I WILL WRITE ON HIM MY NEW NAME.”

Rev 3:8-12

Of the seven letters Jesus wrote to His churches forty years after its inception,
only this church at Philadelphia (“brotherly love”) receives not only the promise for
the rapture prior to the hour of testing (the tribulation), but also the promise for the
Bride of Christ. She is promised, The name of My God (the Father), the name of
the city of My God-New Jerusalem, and My new name.” That sounds like wedding
bells to me, especially when you see that New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ:

“THEN I, JOHN, SAW THE HOLY CITY, NEW JERUSALEM, COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN FROM GOD,
PREPARED AS A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER HUSBAND...” (Rev 21:2) "COME, I WILL SHOW YOU THE BRIDE, THE

LAMB'S WIFE." AND HE CARRIED ME AWAY IN THE SPIRIT TO A GREAT AND HIGH MOUNTAIN,
AND SHOWED ME THE GREAT CITY, THE HOLY JERUSALEM, DESCENDING OUT OF HEAVEN FROM GOD,

HAVING THE GLORY OF GOD.” (Rev 21:9-11)

We are also told why Philadelphia is given this dual promise of being raptured by Christ and married to Christ:
Because you have kept My Word, and have not denied My name, and have kept My command to persevere.
Both the rapture and the Bride are rewards for service rendered. They are not gifts of grace received by means
of the new birth. All seven churches Jesus writes to are born-again believers. Five of them He calls to “repent
or else...” Only to Philadelphia is the Bride of Christ promised.

We have further illumination on the Bride of Christ by means of this prophetic glimpse into the future:

“AND I HEARD, AS IT WERE, THE VOICE OF A GREAT MULTITUDE ...SAYING... ‘LET US BE GLAD AND
REJOICE AND GIVE HIM GLORY, FOR THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB HAS COME, AND HIS WIFE HAS MADE

HERSELF READY." AND TO HER IT WAS GRANTED TO BE ARRAYED IN FINE LINEN, CLEAN AND BRIGHT,
FOR THE FINE LINEN IS THE RIGHTEOUS ACTS OF THE SAINTS.’ THEN HE SAID TO ME,

‘WRITE: BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE CALLED TO THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB!’
AND HE SAID TO ME, ‘THESE ARE THE TRUE SAYINGS OF GOD. ‘ “
Rev 19:7-9

Notice it is the “great multitude” in heaven that announces the wedding of the Bride to Christ with the saying,
“Let us (the great multitude) be glad and rejoice for...His wife has made herself ready.” How was she made
ready? By “the righteous acts of the saints.” The Amplified Bible is even more blunt, “(the upright, just, and
godly living, deeds and conduct...) of the saints.”

It is important to note that the Scriptures reveal two different garments for believers. One is the “garments of
salvation-robes of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10). This garment covers members of the Body of Christ. It is
received by washing in the blood of Christ for forgiveness of sins (new birth). However, the second garment is
a wedding gown of fine linen which is the righteous acts (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds and
conduct...) of the saints. This garment clothes the Bride of Christ and comes only by washing in the water of
God’s Word in order to be found a chaste virgin who becomes part of “a glorious church, not having spot or
wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish...”.

Another prophetic glimpse into eternity shows us a distinction between “those who are saved” (the Body of
Christ) and the Bride of Christ as New Jerusalem:

“AND THE NATIONS OF THOSE WHO ARE SAVED SHALL WALK IN ITS LIGHT...AND THEY SHALL BRING THE
GLORY AND THE HONOR OF THE NATIONS INTO IT...BUT THERE SHALL BY NO MEANS ENTER IT ANYTHING

THAT DEFILES...BUT ONLY THOSE WHO ARE WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE.”
Rev. 21:24-27 excerpts