The new Jerusalem is not of the earth, it is of Heaven. The Lord Jesus is fashioning an eternal Wife from His own body and blood, not from the body and blood of human beings.

Jesus is God. He cannot take to Himself a human bride. Our humanity serves only as "bare grain" that is sown in Divinity until what no longer is flesh and blood has its rise in the heavenlies. Flesh and blood cannot possibly inherit the Kingdom of God. The first man is of the earth—earthy. The second man is the Lord from Heaven.

The days ahead will be filled with bloodshed. Human resources will fail us. All that flesh and blood have accomplished will be torn down.

What is being fashioned in Heaven will become ever more glorious. Those who are walking in heavenly places in Christ will stand throughout every calamity and shaking no matter what comes to pass on the earth.

While destruction and death are hurling hundreds of thousands of people into the realm of spirits, the saint who lives in the heavenlies will be filled with peace concerning his own life and the life of his loved ones. He understands that God has control over all persons whether they are alive on the earth or are living in the sight of God on another plane of existence. No one has passed into oblivion. The deceased are hidden from our view for a short period of time.

Our strength, our wisdom, our food, our health, our glory, our joy, our peace—all come from God in Heaven. If we look to the perfection of the Church in Heaven, not to our human accomplishments on the earth, we will stand in the dark hour that even now is upon us.

The Church, the new Jerusalem, must be "prepared." One of the misunderstandings of today has to do with the definition of faith. Faith is assumed to be a belief that what the Scriptures promise has already taken place in those who profess belief in Christ, or will take place without any effort on their part.

It is as though the Israelite could sit in Egypt and "by faith" leave Egypt, "by faith" gain the lessons of the wilderness, and "by faith" enter the land of promise; "by faith" meaning maintaining a mental grasp on the statements of the Scriptures.

Faith becomes a sort of magic carpet by which we sail away effortlessly from the bondages of Satan and arrive at the Paradise of God.

It is true, rather that we must make the effort to leave Egypt (the ways and spirit of the world); we must endure the rigors of the wilderness; and we must fight our way into Canaan.

When we first receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are not fit to be the Wife of the Lamb. Even after many years of cross-carrying obedience we still are not fully prepared to be with the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit constantly is preparing us, preparing us, preparing us to walk with Jesus. Every element of our personality must experience the purifying virtue of Jesus if we would be ready to walk with Him who is glorious in holiness.

To be continued.