The Baptist Beacon

".. the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready." Rev.19:7

When the Lord walked among men, He set into motion something new to this world (Dan. 2:44). He built this upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (the fulfillment of prophecy), Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20). The gates of hell shall not prevail against this body (Mat. 16:8) because, Praise God, she is spoken for!

As any bride is committed to her bridegroom, so should "The Church" be committed to her bridegroom. It would be absurd for anyone to expect a bridegroom to marry an adulterous bride, just as it would be absurd for us to believe the Lord will marry an adulterous Church as His bride one day after while. The Lord gave Himself for the church, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:25-27) Much is said here. May we touch on a few points together? First we observe some characteristics or expectations of the Lord's bride. The bride is expected to be sanctified and cleansed. We understand that the Bible teaches that a sanctified people, are a separated people. To say this another way, sanctification means to be Godly, not worldly. The Lord expects this of His bride. The Lord means for the bride to be sanctified by the Word. We will be judged by the word one day after while (John 7:48). The more earnest heed should be given to this Word brethren.

The Lord intends to present Himself a glorious or glorified church (Eph 5:27). This is a point to pay close attention to because Romans 8:17 tells us

that those who suffer with Christ shall be "glorified" with Him. The evangelicals of the present day are not teaching the children of God that the Lord's bride will suffer in this life. Perhaps it's because these evangelicals aren't doing any suffering for the Lord's bride. Worldliness is blinding the lost. Worldliness is blinding the Children of God. Worldliness is blinding church members. Most of all, worldliness is blinding preachers.

When a church takes hold of the world, can it then be referred to as spotless? Is the bride not committing fornication with the world? Are we expecting to hide such things from the bridegroom? We must be about our master's business with the mind of the apostle Paul when he states in II Cor. 6:3 that he intended to keep the ministry BLAMELESS. It seems that we have come short on trying to go the extra mile to keep the churches ministry blameless. The trend that seems to be rising is "Forget the past and it will go away." "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch..."(John 15:5-6). This applies to man and church alike. All will be called forth on judgement day. My brethren, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Gal. 6:7). The Bible teaches "Repent" not "Ignore".

Teaching the world to observe the teachings of our Lord does not mean we must become worldly in the process. We are spoken for. The Lord expects certain things of us. We are to reach out to the lost but not to forsake the Lord. Without the Lord we can do nothing and without being "The Church" we have no commission. Remember the Lord, He is our first love. Allow the worldly to pass by with the world, but you remain on the rock of ages, making preparations for the marriage yonder in the air.