Three men walked briskly through the streets of Ephesus. They didn’t want to be late for the meeting. One of the three would speak that night. He needed no introduction. Beneath his tunic, scars marred his back from the flogging he received in Jerusalem at the hands of the high priest, Sadducees, and religious leaders some years earlier. He had been counted worthy to suffer for his Lord.

   The three men passed the huge theater built into Mt. Pion in the center of the city, which seated up to 50,000 people. They crossed the 70-foot wide marble street, lined with columns that led from the center of town down to the harbor. Passing through the agora and weaving their way through the shoppers that filled the busy marketplace, they took a right turn down a winding street that led to the large homeof one of the wealthier merchants in the church. They arrived on time. The sound of joyful singing drew them inside the house. They reached the door and pushed it open without a knock.

    Inside, smiling saints greeted them with warm embraces and praises to the Lord. Slowly, the three made their way through the packed house into the large room where the church was gathered. They joined in the singing and waved to some familiar faces as they found a place on the floor to sit down. After a few songs and short testimonies, there was a sense in the room that it was time to hear from the man from Galilee.

    He stood up slowly and moved to the front of the room. Turning and facing his audience, he saw a sea of expectant faces. Most of the crowd sat shoulder to shoulder on the floor. Others leaned against the walls or stood in the doorway.
 The aging apostle squinted as he slowly looked around the room. Finally, he cleared his throat and began. 

   ‘Greetings my dear brothers and sisters. It’s so good to be with you tonight. I see that we have many who are here for the first time, as well as a few visitors from out of town. I recognize some of you from the church in Philadelphia. Welcome. For those of you who don’t know me, allow me to introduce myself. I’m John, the son of Zebedee…”

    “What these eyes beheld, in spiritual realms, defies words. Pen and ink cannot describe the spiritual world and reality that I was allowed to see. This was the heavenly sanctuary that Moses saw which became the pattern for the tabernacle. My eyes were fixed on the reality of what the mercy seat in the tabernacle only represented: the throne of God. And I saw the glory of the One who sits on the throne…”

    “There she was: The Bride of Christ; the lady of God—Mrs. God! She was breathtakingly beautiful. A new home had been prepared for her; a new heaven and a new earth. It’s a place without sin, death, mourning, crying or pain. All things have become new. In one sense, she is yet to come. In another sense, she has been in the making throughout the ages. Christ has been building His Church. She has been unfolding on the pages of time throughout the generations. Time will indeed evaporate into eternity, the invisible will be married to the visible, and God will forever dwell among His people. All whom the Son had received from the Father will be assembled together: Christ and the Church, inseparably one!”