[532]It is well that we take note here of the apparel of the bride of Christ now entering glory.  “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.” (Revelation 19:8) “The king’s daughter is all glorious within the palace; her clothing is of wrought gold.  She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework.”  (Psalm 45:13,14) Thus in symbolic phrase the Prophet describes her inherent beauty when she is presented faultless before the glorious presence of Jehovah.  It will be impossible for human words to approximate the grandeur and the majesty of that scene.  Before the great white throne of the heavenly Father, bride and Bridegroom will be made one, and the glory of the church will be complete.  There, in the presence of Jehovah, she will have fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore.

  “O that will be a union
    Such as earth has never known. 
  When bride and Bridegroom are made one
    Before the great white throne.”

[533]The members of the body of Christ in glory will be a monument of the grace of God, because thus will be demonstrated the power, as well as the love, of Jehovah in taking insignificant creatures from amongst men and exalting them to the highest place in the universe, next to the Lord Jesus.  Then she will be held forth in the power of Jehovah, exhibited as a crown of glory in his hand, and be used by him to accomplish that which he purposed from the foundation of the world.  As the glorified bride of our heavenly Bridegroom, clothed with honor and immortality, she will possess life everlasting, inherent life; and with her Bridegroom she will minister life and blessing to others.

[534]St. John had a vision of this wonderful royal family of heaven, and in symbolic language he described it as “the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven”. (Revelation 21:1-5) Thus he depicts the approaching kingdom of Messiah.  In vision he saw the faithful followers of Jesus who are still on this side the vail, by faith beholding the approach of this happy time; and he describes them as those who had “gotten the victory over the beast [the devil’s earthly organization], and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name [whose allegiance is wholly to the Lord, and who] stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God [the song taught by the law, which foreshadowed the better things to come], and the song of the Lamb [the song of the clear fulfillment of prophecy and the unfolding of God’s plan, as set forth in the New Testament; they are playing upon their harps and praising Jehovah], saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”  —­Revelation 15:2,3.

Define the word “church”. ¶ 468.

Of what does the church of Christ consist? ¶ 468.

What other name is given to those composing the church? ¶ 468.