“Those who accept salvation on the terms on which it is offered them constitute the church, those who reject it constitute the world; good men and angels belong to the one, wicked men and angels to the other; the head of the first is Christ, and the head of the last, Satan (A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines edited by William Smith and Henry Wace).”

The nobleman in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John is a figure of the Church of Christ – “And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him”. The Church of Christ, by accepting salvation, believes the word that Jesus speaks to them.

Wicked men and angels are not a figure of the Church of Christ; they are the antitype – they do not believe the word that Jesus speaks to them.

The Church of Christ accepts the Word of Jesus and give him glory; in doing this they are glorified and blessed by the word of Jesus. The wicked men and angels, seeking their own glory, are disobedient; they do not receive glory (Pro. 25:27), only judgment.