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====The Church and the World 10====
<p>Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (Matthew 25:34) </p>
<p>At that time the nations of the earth will choose whether to assist the saints or whether to join with Antichrist in persecuting them. The people that assist the saints will be brought into the Kingdom of God. The people that ignore the plight of the saints (the saints being the "brothers" of Christ) will be thrown into everlasting fire. </p>
<p>Notice again that the nations are not saved by receiving the doctrine of the atonement and resurrection but on the basis of how they received Christ in the saints. </p>
<p>The three groups of mankind, the Church, the nations of the saved, and the lost, are portrayed in the Book of Revelation, Chapters 21 and 22. First, the Church. </p>
<p>And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2) </p>
<p>What is the new Jerusalem? The new Jerusalem is the Wife of the Lamb, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the Scripture states: </p>
<p>. . . Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.... and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (Revelation 21:9,10) </p>
<p>The new Jerusalem is a real city, we believe, but it is also a portrayal of the virtues of the Church. It is the Bride, the Lamb's Wife. According to Ephesians 5:31,32 it is the Church that is the Wife of the Lamb. </p>
<p>What significance does the Spirit attach to the descent of the new Jerusalem from the new heaven to rest on a "great and high mountain" of the new earth? </p>
<p>. . . Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3) </p>
<p>The Church, the Wife of the Lamb, is "the tabernacle of God." There is no other tabernacle of God. </p>
<p>In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22) </p>
<p>Where will the tabernacle of God be placed? The Church, the tabernacle of God, will be placed on the earth. It is the light of the world. </p>
<p>The Church will be placed on the earth so that the Presence of God in Christ will be available to the members of the nations of saved people. </p>
<p>. . . Behold, the tabernacle of God [the Church] is with men,... (Revelation 21:3) </p>
<p>With what men? </p>
<p>With the saved peoples of the earth. </p>
<p>What will the Lord do for the nations of saved peoples of the earth when He has come down from Heaven to live among people in Christ—Head and Body? </p>
<p>. . . and he will dwell with them, and they [the nations of the saved] shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3) </p>
<p>Did the Hebrew Prophets proclaim that the God of Heaven would come to earth through His people, and rule and bless the nations? </p>
<p>They did, in many instances. </p>
<p> '''[[The Church and the World 11]]'''</p>