Rev 13:10, If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. 
	We have spent a number of weeks looking at the vision of Christ that should be in the minds, and hearts of each Christian. It is as we see Him as the Victor and as the Lamb of God that we can truly offer unto Him the honor and praise that He deserves. 
It is as the Church so reveres Him …that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless… as we read in Eph 5:26+27. This is in order that we would not, in any measure, detract from His nobility and glory. It is in this manner that the Church shows forth the …perseverance and the faith of the saints, through the midst of the greatest persecution and tribulation of which we read in this morning’s passage.  
	Let us see the true picture of the Bride that is before us in this Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is most appropriate as He will be seen fully in union with those whom He has purchased unto God with His blood. This is the key, after all to the true vision of Christ. Union and Intimacy. He is seen only in the reality of intimate unity. Consider that He cannot be separated from the Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John 14:9+10, Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, 'Show us the Father'? "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 initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. To see Him is to see the entirety of God. 
As well, He cannot be seen except in union with His Bride, His Church. John 17:20-23, "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. 
It is that unity which brings forth His gloriousness and His Majesty. It is the Church who completes the full picture of the Victor, the Lamb of God Who was slain. Without the abiding presence of Christ, the Church cannot function. Without the union of the Church, Christ cannot be Savior and Lord. It is not that we give Him those characteristics or dimensions, but that we are the completed representation of all that He has accomplished. 
	The great lie of this age is individualism. Everything is centered on me, myself, and I. It is a matter of who I am in the great scheme of things, my place and my purpose in life. This lie is the very destruction of marriage and family. When I am the focus, when my needs and my desires take the precedence in all my relationships, then I am free to do whatever I want to do to find fulfillment in myself. The constant mantra of my rights, my place, my satisfaction, my self-attainment, and my self-fulfillment has torn apart the fabric of God’s Heart in His creation of the institution of marriage. Marriage is a union of two into one whole being. It is the setting aside of individual goals and rights and desires for the sake of the united heart that overcomes all obstacles. This is by virtue of becoming the expression of selfless love, one to the other.   
We are not created for ourselves. We will never find satisfaction in ourselves, in our self-realization, in our self-actualization. We will only find our true and honest and eternal joy as we are joined, heart, mind, soul, and spirit to Christ. And, in gloriousness beyond our ability of comprehension, it is also true of Him. Christ never stands Alone. He is always seen, in completion, in the God-head and in His marriage bond with His Church. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. It is Christ, as He indwells us always, by Whom we overcome all the adversity of this age. We are never, ever separated from Him in our lives as our source of everything. 
Look at the picture of this vital and blessed union as presented to us in Rev 19:6-9. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,  "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." 
Notice that the heavenly hosts are to be witness of the presentation of the Bridegroom and His Bride. The Bride is prepared to be presented with her husband, clothed in fine linen, bright and clean. Earlier in this book of Revelation, we read about the saints washing their garments in the blood of the Lamb. Our preparation is all set in Him. It is His doing in the establishment of His good work in our lives. We are washed and prepared by His loving hand of operation, accomplishing all that is required for us, in His Honor, to be presented unto the entirety of the creation as His Bride. We will be seen in His glory, clothed in His Righteousness, and resplendent in His salvation. 
As well, observe what precedes the presentation of the Bridegroom with His Beloved Bride. "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." The angelic hosts and the elders, the voice of a great multitude proclaim the glory of God. This is no small thing. There is rejoicing in the heavenly hosts as the marriage is proclaimed. There is gladness which fills the entire arena of God’s glory. There is the proclamation of the fact that He reigns and the Hallelujah chorus rings forth to fill the entire atmosphere of the heavenly realm. God’s very nature is on display before all creation as the Bridegroom claims the Bride whom He loved even to the death of Himself for her sake. This is the culmination of the immensity of God’s eternal plan and purpose in the giving of His Son for you and me. He gave Himself unto death for any who will join themselves to the call of God’s so freely offered salvation. 
	We continue to see the revered position of the Bride, in union with her Husband, as we read in Rev 21:9-11. And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. 
There are several key aspects to this picture of the Bride, the Beloved Church of Jesus Christ. One is that the Bride is described as having the glory of God. This glory is not about her. It is about her Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. The reason that it surrounds and emanates forth from her is that God is indwelling her. Therefore, as she is seen, His Glory is evidenced in her countenance and is her radiance of beauty. It is the Glory of God that she receives by virtue of her complete union with Christ. 
	This is also the reality of her brilliance as a very costly stone. There is a crystal-clearness about her that gives the full and perfect reflection of the One Who indwells her. She is regarded with the reverence that is due unto Her Beloved Bridegroom, Who gave Himself for her. It is at the cost of His life that she has been purchased and that is a cost beyond any estimation. The heavenly hosts regard her in that light of the immense price that the Son paid to bring her unto Himself. Her value to God is inestimable as to all that He accomplished in washing her with His purity of righteousness and holiness and justification and redemption. 
This is no mere picture of royalty, clothed in all earthly splendor and majesty. This is the very worshipful estimation of the Only and Almighty Deity. Heaven regards the Church, the Bride, not as God, but in her rightful place as the so Beloved of God. He took upon Himself, flesh and blood, and submitted Himself to all that was justly and absolutely required in order to fully pay the righteous price of her deliverance and salvation. That sets her, sets us, His Church, completely apart from every other living thing in all of creation. Again, this is not for our glory. It is the pinnacle of His Glory and His Worship and His Praise and His Adoration, for all that He has done.      
	This becomes ever clearer as we discover in Rev 21:22-27, as the description of the city of God, the Church, His Bride is continued. And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. 
It is in this passage that we see the indwelling glory of God that emanates forth from the Bride. Again, it is not hers, but the glory of God, set in Jesus Christ, that is so fully seen in her. We have, again, this picture of the complete union of Christ with His Church. One is not seen without the other. There is no separation. There are no individual purposes. All is set in the harmonious and perfect revelation of singleness of heart and intention. 
	Again, we see this unity of the expression of the heart of God’s Beloved in evidence in Rev 22:1-5. And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever. 
This passage is filled with the unity and the blessing of man in perfect relationship with Our Redeemer. This is a pastoral representation, brimming with refreshment and life and healing and peace and serenity and calmness and security in the brilliance of Jesus Christ. 
Note that we will see God’s face. This was not possible apart from Jesus Christ. God had to hide Moses in the shadow of His hand so as not to incinerate Him by His Majesty and His Holiness as He passed by Him. But here, as His Bride, we will be in God’s immediate presence with no fear or dread centered in our unworthiness or sinfulness. We will see His face and live. We will directly serve Him. We will have His name on our foreheads, showing the entire universe of God’s creation that we belong absolutely and forever to Him. We are married to Him because He so loves us and cleanses us and cherishes us, as we do Him.    
	Again, we see this intimate union as we read at the end of this Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Rev 22:12-17, "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. As Christ is proclaimed, both the Spirit and the Church, in union, encourage those who will accept the salvation of God in Jesus Christ to “Come!” to Him.
	This has ever been the call of God to man. Both the Spirit and Christ beckon to freely come to Him. This has been God’s call throughout history. Isa 55:1, "Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David. Matt 11:28, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. John 6:37, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
	Then in John 6:44, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:65, And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father." And in John 7:37+38, Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" God has constantly been calling for us to come to Him. 
	As we read, the Spirit and the Church, Christ’s Bride are of joined voices to urge any who will respond to come to Christ. As well, the Church calls for Christ, her Bridegroom to return quickly to claim her unto Himself. And Christ will respond to His Beloved Bride as recorded in Rev 22:20+21. He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
	The common call of the Church and of Christ is to Come to God. In that encouragement, let us ever draw nearer and nearer to Christ, our Husband, with hearts that seek only for His glory to be proclaimed on earth as it is in heaven. So be it! 
Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is 1 Peter 4:7-10. The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Amen.