KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7).

In our last study we shared the precious truth of what it means to personally experience Jesus Christ as the Spiritual Husband of the individual soul. In our consideration of the Bridegroom and the bride we need to remember that first of all these beautiful realities are fulfilled in us personally. Christ is not just in some far-off heaven somewhere; for us He is our hope of glory, and it is CHRIST IN YOU. The body of Christ is now multiplied by thousands, and it is not just one little girl that Christ will receive but a corporate bride composed of a vast multitude of individual members. The point is just this: all that happens to the corporate body must be experienced by each member - it is first and foremost the experience of each member that finally constitutes the experience of the whole. If I do not know Christ PERSONALLY as my Bridegroom, it is impossible for me to be a part of that corporate body which is joined into union with Him.

In this study we will write not of the individual, but of the relationship to Christ of the whole - the many-membered, corporate bride. Let us by all means remember that we are to be perfected in ONE; and in union with all who are joined to the Lord we become the bride-body of Christ.

Back in the Old Testament the nation of Israel is called the wife of Jehovah. In that Old Testament dispensation known as the Law age, during which time God's Kingdom work in the world was executed by the nation of Israel, that nation sustained the relationship to God that a wife sustains to her husband. You will find it in Isa. 54:5 in these endearing words, "For thy Maker is thine husband; Jehovah of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel." Again, "...which My covenant they broke, although I was an HUSBAND unto them, saith Jehovah" (Jer. 31:32).

As a brother has written, It is always hard to tell what is the deciding factor in the choice of a marriage partner, for love is indefinable, and this is no less true in the choice that Jehovah made of the people who were to institute His national bride. He chose them, not because they were a great or a powerful people, nor even because they were a rich and prosperous people, not even because they were a particularly good or righteous people. In fact, the scripture expresses it this way: "The Lord did not set His love upon you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers..." (Deut. 7:7-8).

The account of the ceremony whereby Jehovah God took Israel to be His wife is distinctly portrayed in Exodus, chapter 19. The ceremony was concluded when the Israelites, having observed a period of cleansing and sanctification, beheld Jehovah come down upon mount Sinai in a display of awe-inspiring splendor. The conditions of the marriage contract are clearly stated: "Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation" (Ex. 19: 5-6). Just as the modern bride endorses the marriage contract with the simple words, "I do," so the people of Israel responded to their divine Bridegroom: "All the people answered together and said, All that Jehovah hath spoken WE WILL DO" (Ex. 19:8). For a brief season after their conquest of the promised land of Canaan the children of Israel were faithful as the wife of Jehovah. But after a time we find the unmistakable signs of infidelity showing up. Their heads were turned and their hearts allured by the gods and goddesses of the heathen nations round about, Baal, Milcom, Chemosh and Ashtaroth, the Queen of Heaven. The behavior of Israel became that of an unfaithful wife committing adultery with many lovers. As she spurned the love of her Husband, being joined unto the idols and demon gods of the heathen, her affairs led her deeper and deeper into spiritual adultery and religious whoredoms. Jehovah pleaded with Israel to return unto Him. "Turn, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah, for I AM MARRIED UNTO YOU: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion" (Jer. 3:14).

With words graphic and impassioned Jehovah warned Israel that her treacheries could result in only one thing - divorce - the dissolution of the marriage contract entered into at Sinai. Consider carefully these words of the prophet: "Jehovah said to me in the days of Josiah the king of Judah, have you seen what that faithless and backsliding Israel has done, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the harlot? And I saw, even though Judah knew that for this very cause of committing adultery (idolatry) I, Jehovah, had put faithless Israel away and given her a bill of divorcement; yet her faithless and treacherous sister Judah was not afraid, but she also went and played the harlot ... committing adultery with idols of stones and trees. Surely, as a wife treacherously and faithlessly departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously and faithlessly with Me, O house of Israel, says Jehovah" (Jer. 3: 6-9, 20, Amplified) .

When the Lord came and walked among them, He called them an ADULTEROUS generation, for they had not returned in faithfulness to Jehovah. What a striking thought - Almighty Jehovah God D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D HIS WIFE! He "put her away" and gave her "a bill of divorcement." Through the prophet Hosea He sent her this word: "Plead with your mother, plead, for she is not (no longer) My wife, neither am I her husband" (Hos. 2:20). So it was that God divorced Israel, and in 721 B.C. and A.D. 70 the Lord cast her out of His house - the Land of Palestine - to return no more for long millenniums.

In the New Testament we come to one of the grandest titles given the Lord's people throughout all generations - the BRIDE OF CHRIST. The question follows: Are the Old Testament "wife of Jehovah" and the New Testament "bride of Christ" one and the same? In the New Testament we see one of the most remarkable things. According to the Eastern customs, if a young man had acquired sufficient means to make it possible for him to provide a marriage dowry, then the father called in a man who was a close and trusted friend of the family to act as a deputy or go-between for him and his son. This go-between was called "The Friend of the Bridegroom." This man was fully informed as to the dowry the young man was willing to pay for his bride. He then went to the home of the young woman and negotiated with a deputy of the bride's family. There must be consent for the hand of the young woman and agreement on the dowry. When these were agreed upon, the deputies arose and their congratulations were exchanged, and they all drank together as a seal of the covenant thus entered into. Then this "Friend of the Bridegroom" continued to act on behalf of the bridegroom until the wedding was completed. When finally the bridegroom had "taken" his bride and escorted her into his own home for the marriage feast, THEN was the joy of the "Friend of the Bridegroom" fulfilled (Jn. 3:29).

In John 3:28-29 we find John the Baptist making it very clear that he was not a member of the bride of Christ. Consider carefully and reverently his words: "Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom: but THE FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice: THIS MY JOY THEREFORE IS FULFILLED." Now John the Baptist, an Old Testament prophet, who, according to our Lord's own estimation was the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets, walks out of the Old Testament and delivers the last message of that dispensation, and he says this: "I'm not the Bridegroom; and not only that, I'm not part of the bride - I'm just a 'friend,' the 'Friend of the Bridegroom' " - that's the best that this man, who was the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, could say concerning himself. It is perfectly clear that he never thought of himself as part of the bride at all.

It was to the church which is His body that Paul wrote, "I have ESPOUSED YOU TO ONE HUSBAND, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (II Cor. 11:2). I am confident that anyone who is of sane mind and sound judgment will agree that there is a vast universe of difference between an UNFAITHFUL, DIVORCED WIFE and a CHASTE, ESPOUSED VIRGIN. And Israel was an unfaithful wife, while in the New Testament the church is presented as a chaste virgin to be the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was to the members of the church that Paul addressed these meaningful words: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved THE CHURCH, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it (as a bride) to Himself a GLORIOUS CHURCH, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing...for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto HIS WIFE, and they two shall be ONE FLESH. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning CHRIST AND THE CHURCH" (Eph. 5:25-27, 31-32).

Under the law of Jehovah, Israel, once divorced and having been joined unto the heathen gods, it was impossible to return to her first husband, Jehovah, again. This law is stated in the simplest of terms. "When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and when she departs out of his house, she goes and marries another man, and if the latter (second) husband dislikes her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house; or if the last husband dies, who took her as his wife, then the former husband, who sent her away, MAY NOT TAKE HER AGAIN TO BE HIS WIFE ... for that is an abomination unto the Lord" (Deut. 4:1-4, Amplified). Israel was indeed married to another husband after Jehovah put her away. Of the ten-tribed house of Israel the Lord said, "Ephraim is JOINED to idols" (Hos. 4:17), in the same sense that Paul spoke of when he said, "He that is JOINED unto the Lord is one spirit" (I Cor. 6:17). And of both Israel and Judah it was said, "Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in ISREAL and in JERUSALEM; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath MARRIED THE DAUGHTER OF A STRANGE GOD" (Mal. 2:11). Thus, under the terms of the law, it was not possible for her to return and be married again to her first husband - Jehovah.

Strange - in spite of this law - the Lord still loved the children of Israel dearly, and still wanted them for His wife, and promised to bring her back into a marriage relationship with Him. "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me Ishi (my husband); and shalt call Me no more Baali... and I will BETROTH THEE UNTO ME FOREVER; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto Me in FAITHFULNESS: and thou shalt know Jehovah" (Hos. 2:14-16, 19-20).

Let us not look at these statements as mere facts or reading matter, but diligently search the scripture and seek God in humility and reverence for understanding. It is a strange saying - but considering Jehovah's own law concerning divorce and remarriage to the same woman that was divorced after she was joined to another the only way Israel could be married again to her first husband was FOR THAT FIRST HUSBAND TO DIE! "For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband" (Rom. 7:2). It thus becomes crystal clear that the restoration of Israel as the wife of Jehovah, spoken of by Hosea, could only come about by the death of Him who wrote her the bill of divorcement! If the husband should die, then the wife was free to marry whosoever she pleased.

May God anoint the minds of all who read these words and give understanding of the sublime and awe-inspiring truth I now write. May your heart grasp the wonder and magnitude of the fact that the great and eternal Jehovah God of the Old Testament covenanted to embody and manifest Himself on earth in the person of His Son, thus to walk among men as God in human flesh, with the express purpose to live and DIE THROUGH THIS SON. Oh, the wonder of it! Oh, the mystery of it! This brings us to Calvary, the greatest love story the world has ever witnessed, for there upon that cursed tree, the Saviour, the Redeemer of Israel, the Saviour of the world, Jesus, JEHOVAH-SAVIOUR perfect Almighty Jehovah, yet perfect man, clothed in human flesh, poured out His life-blood, to die and rise again a new creation man, that He might as a new creation man, the last Adam, be married even to her whom He had put away! We feel helpless before a truth so great and eternal. God must teach us these things. Ah, my friend, you find it difficult to believe that it was the mighty God who came and lived and died in Jesus Christ? Hear now but a couple testimonies to this great truth which pours forth from the pages of God's blessed book from the first book of Genesis to the last book of the Revelation. "And ... He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto HIM which died for them, and rose again ... to wit, that G-O-D WAS IN CHRIST, reconciling the world unto Himself" (II Cor. 5:15,19). "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: G-O-DWAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (I Tim. 3:16). Jesus said, "It is not I that doeth the works; but My Father who dwelleth in Me."

Let me make one thing very clear. Israel alone does not constitute the bride of Christ. Those who would separate between Israel and the church do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. The New Testament is unmistakably plain that the TRUE CHURCH I-S the bride of Christ. Each and every statement in the pages of the New Testament concerning the bride of Christ was written to, directed to, addressed to, and sent to THE CHURCH. That is a simple and undeniable fact. When Jesus died and rose again, not only was He lawfully able to take back estranged Israel to be His wife - He was likewise free TO MARRY WHOSOEVER HE WILLED. The mystery of the bride of Christ was revealed to the apostle Paul and he revealed it unto the saints in the church in these words: "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to youward: how that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the GENTILES (nations) should be FELLOW HEIRS, and of the SAME BODY, and PARTAKERS OF HIS PROMISE IN CHRIST by the gospel" (Eph. 3:1-6).

Harken attentively to these words of inspiration: "Now the promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir). He (God) does not say, And to s-e-e-d-s (descendants, heirs), as if referring to many persons; but, And to your Seed (your Descendant, your Heir), obviously referring to ONE INDIVIDUAL, WHO IS NONE OTHER THAN CHRIST, the Messiah ... for IN CHRIST JESUS you are ALL sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ - into a spiritual union and communion with Christ - have put on Christ. There is now no distinction, neither JEW nor GREEK, there is neither SLAVE nor FREE, there is not MALE and FEMALE; for you are ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. And if you belong to CHRIST (are in Him, Who is Abraham's one and only SEED), then YOU ARE ABRAHAM'S OFFSPRING and heirs according to the promise" (Gal. 3:16, 26-29, Amplified) - Men of any nation, who believe in Christ Jesus, become Abraham's seed through faith, and thus become a vital member of the Israel of God. It is furthermore true that all such who by faith are born of the Spirit of God are constituted members of CHRIST'S CHURCH. To be in union with Christ is to be Abraham's seed. To be in union with Christ is to be a member of His church. To be in Christ is to be an Israelite. None can deny it! And it is in union with Christ that both Israelite and Gentile, Jew and Greek, bond and free, male and female are joined together in one body. Can we not see by this that it is IN THE CHURCH that Israel, along with the chosen from every nation under heaven, is again constituted the wife of Jehovah - the BRIDE OF CHRIST. "What God hath joined together, let not man put assunder." "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a NEW CREATURE" (Gal. 6:15). "Therefore if any man be in Christ He is a NEW CREATURE" (II Cor. 5:17).

When Jesus Christ rose from the dead He redeemed man from his unregenerate state and by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost makes him an entirely NEW CREATURE in Christ Jesus. The man or woman in Christ is dead, and his or her life is hid with Christ in God. This clearly explains how it is that the UNFAITHFUL WIFE of the Old Testament is empowered to become the CHASTE VIRGIN of the New, for she is no more the unregenerated seed of Abraham after the flesh, but the REGENERATED SEED OF ABRAHAM IN CHRIST JESUS. And thus it is that the heathen who were without Christ, being ALIENS from the commonwealth of Israel, and STRANGERS from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world, are now in Christ Jesus MADE NIGH by the blood of Christ, for He is our peace who has made both ONE, having reconciled BOTH UNTO GOD IN ONE BODY by the cross; now therefore ye are no more STRANGERS and FOREIGNERS, but FELLOW CITIZENS with the saints, and of the HOUSEHOLD OF GOD (Eph. 2:11-19).

The apostle John was one of the three mighty ones who walked with the Lord in the days of His flesh; he was with Him in the Mount, he lay in His bosom and, above all others, has received the distinctive title as "that disciple whom the Lord loved." It was fitting that the man who had leaned upon the breast of God's Son and heard the inmost beating of His heart should become the depository of His most intimate thought in respect to the course of the church in this age. And such is the case. To him the Lord gave a graphic picture of the development of the bride of Christ over the past two milleniums.

The risen and ascended Lord descended in a vision of glory on the lonely isle of Patmos, and there meeting His startled disciple, gave him a communication concerning the church, commanding him to write it in a scroll and send it to the seven churches in Asia. With wondering eyes John stood transfixed as there came to him one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven plagues and talked with him, saying, "COME HITHER; I will show unto thee the judgment of THE GREAT WHORE that sitteth upon many waters" (Rev. 17:1). As John beheld and pondered the scene abruptly changed and he saw an even greater wonder as the same angel came to him again, and said, "COME HITHER, I will show thee THE BRIDE, the Lamb's wife" (Rev. 21:9).

These words take on new depth of meaning when we understand that in the book of Revelation the word "come" always signifies AN INVITATION TO REVELATION; the whore and the bride are two women; the invitation goes forth to come and see by the Spirit what they mean; and I do not hesitate to tell you that it requires a revelation from God to see either. Of the harlot it is written, "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy" (Rev. 17:3). Of the Bride it is written, "And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God" (Rev. 21:10). Of the harlot it was said, "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Rev. 11:4-5). In contrast of which it was said of the bride: "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Rev. 19:8). The bride is described as, "...the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious" (Rev. 21:10-11).

The church of Christ is called a MYSTERY. She is presented as a virgin. She is called a bride. Finally, she is presented as a city, the New Jerusalem, the city of peace and righteousness and divine order. This scarlet clad woman is called a MYSTERY. She is not a virgin, she is a harlot. She is not a wife, she is the paramour and mistress of the kings of the earth. Finally, she is that great city which is called Babylon, the city of confusion and filthiness and the denial of divine order. As to Babylon, John adds, "When I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I WILL TELL THEE THE MYSTERY OF THE WOMAN ... the seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. The waters are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues...and the woman which thou sawest is that great city (a corporate people), which reigneth over the kings of the earth" (Rev. 17:7).

These prophecies present two broadly contrasted WOMEN, identified with two broadly contrasted CITIES, one reality being in each case, doubly represented, as a WOMAN, and as a CITY; the harlot and Babylon are one; the bride and the heavenly Jerusalem are one. May the Spirit of the living God enlighten the eyes of all who read and give understanding, giving abundantly of the spirit of wisdom and revelation that each may be able to discern and easily differentiate between that VIRGIN CHURCH without spot or wrinkle, which Jesus Christ is preparing for Himself, and that filthy harlot system, full of names of blasphemy, who with her multiplied sects and denominations, seduces the inhabitants of the world with the unspeakable lie that she is, herself, the bride of Christ. One would certainly think that God's people would respond to the invitation to revelation whereby the Spirit says, "COME HITHER, and I will show you," and that they would look with anointed eyes and readily see the difference between the virgin and the harlot, but such is not the case. Would God that all men could now see the hidden mystery of Christ and His bride! Would God that all men could see that this hidden mystery has nothing in common with that tradition-ridden system which all men everywhere believe to be THE CHURCH.

The two women are contrasted in every particular that is mentioned about them; the one is pure as purity itself, "made ready," clothed in heaven's unsullied holiness: the other, foul as corruption could make her, fit only for the burning fires of judgment. The one belongs to the Lamb, who loves her as the bridegroom loves the bride; the other is associated with a wild beast, and with the kings of the earth, who ultimately hate and destroy her. The one is clothed in fine linen, and in another place is said to be clothed with the sun, and crowned with a coronet of stars; that is, robed in divine righteousness, and resplendent with heavenly glory; the other is attired in scarlet and gold, in jewels and pearls, gorgeous indeed but with earthly splendor only, who, being increased with this world's goods and having need of nothing has made herself drunk with the blood of saints and thrust Christ Himself outside her doors. The one is represented as a chaste virgin, espoused to Christ; the other is mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. The one goes in with the Lamb to the marriage supper, amid the glad hallelujahs of celestial realms; the other is stripped, insulted, torn, destroyed, and burned by her illicit lovers. We lose sight of the bride amid the effulgence of heavenly glory and joy, and of the harlot amid the gloom and darkness of the smoke that "rose up to the ages of ages."

It is impossible to find in scripture, a contrast more marked; and the conclusion is irresistible, that whatever the one may represent, the other must prefigure ITS OPPOSITE. They are not two disconnected visions, but a pair - a pair associated, not by likeness, but by contrast. Now the Word of God leaves us in no doubt as to the signification of the emblematic bride, the Lamb's wife, the heavenly Jerusalem. We read, "For the husband is the head of the wife, EVEN AS Christ is the Head of the CHURCH: and He is the saviour of the body. Husbands, love your wives, EVEN AS Christ also loved the CHURCH, and gave Himself for it; 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. This is a great mystery: but I SPEAK CONCERNING CHRIST AND THE CHURCH" (Eph. 5:23-32). The bride of Christ is not old Israel after the flesh, but the church which He is building up of living stones as an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Armed with this understanding, what then must the contrasted symbol, the Babylonian harlot represent? SURELY SOME FALSE AND APOSTATE CHURCH, some church which, while professing to belong to Christ, is in reality given up to fellowship with the world, and linked in closest union with the rulers of the earth realm; a worldly church, which has left her first love, forgotten her heavenly calling, sunk into carnality and sin, and proved shamelessly and glaringly faithless to her Lord. If Babylon is indeed the FALSE CHURCH, then the New Jerusalem bride of Christ must be the TRUE CHURCH; the law of the contrast demands it! Be it observed, that these symbols, a woman and a city, symbolize definite systems, corporate bodies, not merely a multitude of similar, but disconnected individuals. The true church of Christ is a body; its members are united in the closest union to their Head; one life animates them: "Because I live, ye shall live also;" one spirit dwells in them, they are one habitation of God. The link that unites them is, however, a SPIRITUAL one; the body, is consequently invisible AS SUCH. A false church can have no such spiritual link. The bond that unites IT must therefore be carnal, outward, visible; the church represented by Babylon dwells in the earthlies, must be A VISIBLE CHURCH, an earthly organization, and as such capable of being discerned and recognized.

George Hawtin has aptly written: "To see what I am saying you will have to go far beyond the edge of the crowd. You will need to go beyond the circle of that tired old thing men call THE CHURCH. The word 'church' has become sorely desecrated, so much so that the picture of what THE TRUE CHURCH really is has faded away until men can see in the church nothing but million dollar temples standing on street corners or multitudes of people who dwell behind the high walls which they call denominations. But this, my friend, is NOT THE CHURCH. This has nothing to do with His ... body. These denominations are only man made things, little self-appointed Christs who believe that they have the truth and that wisdom will die with them. I do not believe that they are divisions in the church or divisions in the body of Christ. They are something altogether aside from the true church and something different from the body of Christ. The church which Jesus called 'My church' has never had a division in it. It is the habitation of God through the Spirit, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. It is that wonderful habitation Jesus spoke of as 'My Father's house,' saying, 'In My Father's house are many mansions.' The house which the Father is building is the true church, the... body of Christ. This building IS RISING upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ, the first Son, is the corner stone or the cap stone of it. He is the Head of the body, the church, the head stone of the corner. All other stones are living stones, built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus" -end quote.

The New Jerusalem and Babylon are, to use common language, rivals to each other. In the one there is nothing of man, it is all Christ; in the other there is nothing of Christ, it is all man. The one is the expression and the exhibition of the beauty seen in Christ Jesus; it is His fullness. The great lesson for us is that in the TRUE CHURCH there is nothing that is not Christ. This comes home very practically to us for we may decide as to everything by the question: Is it Babylon, or is it the New Jerusalem? Which is it of? Which is it for? Is it for man's interests or Christ's? Babylon is the aggregation or collection, the bringing together of everything that suits and appeals to man, while the New Jerusalem is the exhibition of the divine beauty that was seen in Christ on earth.

What dreadful thoughts and feelings are awakened in the soul by the very sound of the name MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT. It is a terrible name. Babylon is called "the great city," Babylon, "that mighty city." Yes, man always wants something "great," but God does not call His church great. No, another adjective suits her better - "holy." Beware when Christians, especially preachers, tell you of their "great" churches, their "great" programs, their "great" pastors and evangelists, their "great" congregations, their "great" meetings and revivals. Babylon loves greatness, but we read of "the HOLY CITY, NEW JERUSALEM, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." Oh that God's people could realize once and for all that it is "NOT by MIGHT nor by POWER, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6). The might and power here spoken of refer to man's might and power - not to God's. To the natural and not to the supernatural. There are two sources of power. Many "great" church organizations today boast of their "power," "influence," or "popularity" in the world. Their power and influence are derived from the magnificence of their huge church plants, their immense bank accounts, their numerical strength, their grandiose programs to entertain the people and, supposedly, to convert and change the world, and their connection with the "right" people - those with wealth and influence in this present world. Their fine talent, and soothing worship services, their beautiful forms and cherished traditions, all help to make them popular - to give them prestige and power in a world of "religious," "respectable" sinners. It is from such as these that Paul by inspiration has warned us that we must separate ourselves. "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away" (II Tim. 3:5).

I share the following paragraph from the works of George Hawtin, which I feel are of true and anointed confirmation to what I am saying. "By her (Babylon) men and women are being brought to spiritual ruin and desolation as they sit with eyes glued to a screen and their ears tuned to the trash that is presented by sermon and song while their hearts are turned away from the truth. Several times each month I receive at least three computerized letters from the 700 Club... urging me to give more to this great cause. The truth is that never once in all my life have I ever given so much as one cent, and futhermore, I never will. They are part and parcel of the Babylon system; and this I believe is true of practically every T.V. preacher in America and elsewhere. I will not make crowds love me when I set forth these things, but that matters not to me. I care not a straw if every man on earth forsakes me just so long as I proclaim that which God has made clear to be the truth. Listen to them preach and you will soon see that it is a professional show from start to finish, often times engaging professional and unregenerant talent and, if I am not mistaken, unregenerate preachers as well. COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE! Well is she named a HARLOT. She sits as a queen, and says, 'I am no widow.' She is decked in scarlet and purple and precious stones and pearls. In her hand is a 'golden cup' full of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Whenever people are found sitting and watching these actors and performers on T.V. with their idolatrous doctrines of prosperity, their psychology and professionalism by which they hold captive millions who are more interested in a show and prosperity than in walking with Christ, then we may know that these are not the elect of the Lord. These are the foolish virgins who have let the oil of the Spirit drain out of their lives and will be found wanting when Jesus comes. Cut yourself off from this harlot lest her wiles destroy you" -end quote.

The wanton harlot calls herself Christianity, but she is not. She is a corrupt mysterious mixture, a spiritual malformation, the masterpiece of Satan, the corrupter of the truth of God, the destroyer of the souls of men, a trap, a snare, a stumbling block, the darkest blot in the universe of God. It is the corruption of the very best thing, and therefore the very worst of corruptions. It is THE GREAT PRETENDER, the counterfeit and usurper of the holy and glorious bride of Christ. It is worse by far than Judaism; worse by far than all the darkest forms of paganism, because it has higher light and richer privileges, makes the very highest profession, and occupies the very loftiest platform. Finally, it is that awful apostasy for which is reserved the very heaviest judgments of God - the most bitter dregs in the cup of His righteous wrath. True it is, blessed be God! there are a few names even in this harlot system who, through grace, have not defiled their garments. There are some brilliant embers amid the smoldering ashes - precious stones amid the terrible debris. But as to the mass of Christian profession to which the term "the church" applies, nothing can be more appalling, whether we think of its present condition or its future destiny. I doubt that one Christian in a million has anything like an adequate sense of the true character and inevitable doom of that system which surrounds them. If they had it would solemnize their minds, and cause them to feel the urgent need of standing apart in holy separation, from the ways of the harlot system, and in distinct testimony against its spirit and principles. The "thus saith the Lord" to God's people is unmistakably clear: "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her" (Rev. 18:4-8).

We are told that in this, our day, shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins. Virgins are pure and undefiled: not the common run of Christians who have defiled themselves with every lover-idol they can find and have departed from a walk in the Spirit of God and slithered off into the ditch, there to slop and flounder around in error and deception and ignorance and fleshly religious activities of every kind. Virgins are not defiled with women - with organized church systems. They follow the Lamb whithersoever HE GOES, and not human leaders who have set themselves up between Christ and His saints (Rev. 14:4).

These ten virgins took their lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom. Not very many people who name the name of Christ are doing that! Not very many know who or what the Bridegroom is, and therefore do not know where or how to meet Him. Not very many Bible students even suspect that the coming of the Bridegroom is different than the coming of the King or the coming of Christ in other dimensions. Not knowing who or what the Bridegroom is, they therefore cannot know how to go forth to meet Him. Most Christians, unfortunately, are busily preparing themselves to go "UP" to meet the Bridegroom. All their fuss and stir will be in vain. For no one will ever go "UP" to meet Him! There is not one scripture in the entire Bible that speaks of being "caught up" to meet the Bridegroom or to eat the marriage supper in the sky. The preachers have the coming of the Lord all muddled because they cannot with their carnal minds distinguish the difference between the facets of His coming. They know nothing of the distinction between His coming as King and His coming as Bridegroom, and His coming in many other ways and forms. To their unenlightened minds there is but one single coming of Christ where He crashes down through the clouds of earth's atmosphere. Most saints today are not preparing to meet the Bridegroom, but are trying to fix themselves up so that they will be all ready to be whisked away into the clouds instead. But not so with the virgins. They are in the right place at the right time, and all looking for a very blessed event - the coming of Christ as the Bridegroom. And they are spiritually intelligent enough to know that no one will ever go "up" to meet the Bridegroom. But in order to meet the Bridegroom, one must go "out." "Go ye O-U-T to meet Him" (Mat. 25:6). And the only way one may go "out" to meet the Bridegroom is to "come out" from among the world and the flesh and the harlot churches with their idolatries and miserable distortions of truth, to be JOINED UNTO THE LORD in intimacy of fellowship and vital union.

One of the marvels of God's condescending love and mercy is that He comes to us and meets us on our level, right where we are. "He came to His own," John writes (Jn. 1:11). "The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost" (Lk. 19:10). Jesus also invites the weary and heavy laden to "come unto Me, and I will give you rest" (Mat. 11:28). To the spiritually thirsty He calls, "Come unto Me and drink..." (Jn. 7:37). But there also comes a time when those who have been the recipients of God's love and mercy MUST THEN COME TO JESUS - not for bread and fishes, but in order that His will may be done in us and that we may be identified in union with Him.

The reason we must go "out" to meet the Bridegroom is because He is Himself "out." The message of the Gospels is very clear - all things related to Christ took place OUTSIDE of religion. In that day Judaism was the religious system of God's people. But when Jesus came everything concerning Him took place outside of that system. In plain language, Christ had nothing to do with religion - not even that religion which was purportedly based upon the Holy Scriptures (em. ed.). The birth of Christ was apart from the religion of the Lord's people. God did not send the angel Gabriel to king Herod's palace, nor to the company of priests, nor to the members of the Sanhedrin, nor to the leaders of the Pharisees or Sadducees. God sent His messenger to a dusty little town in a despised Province, Nazareth of Galilee. Everything related to His birth was outside Jerusalem, outside the temple, outside the priesthood, outside the scribes and elders and all the religious sects; it had nothing to do with the organized religion of the day, although that religion had originally been founded according to God's Holy Word.

When the Christ child was found He was found outside of religion. He was not found by any priest, nor by any Levite, nor by any scribe, nor by any Pharisee, nor any holy people. We are all familiar with the account of the heavenly star appearing in a pagan country to people who were not even worshippers of Jehovah. But they found the Christ by the star. We know also how the band of heavenly angels appeared to lowly shepherds attending their flocks at night, and how startled and wondering they hurried into Bethlehem to find the new-born Saviour. When the hour arrived many years thence for Jesus' ministry to begin, He was introduced to Israel outside of religion. John the Baptist, as we have mentioned, was the one who announced Christ to the people. This John, though born a priest, departed from the organized priesthood and took up residence in the wilderness. He lived in a wild place and appeared to the cultured as a wild man wearing camel's hair and eating wild honey and locusts. He was not in the temple, he had no altar to offer sacrifices, his ministry was entirely apart from the religious system of the priesthood. This was the pioneer, the forerunner of Christ. Christ was followed outside of religion. Who were those who surrounded Him, who made up the multitudes that thronged the valleys and the mountains? The high priests? The scribes? The Pharisees? The Sadducees? The Essenes? The elders of Israel? NO! They were fishermen, tax gatherers, sinners, unlearned people, the poor and sick and needy, the common people who heard Him gladly and were transformed in mind and heart and body by the wisdom and power of the gracious words which flowed from His anointed lips.

"Then came to Him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Thy disciples fast not?" (Mat. 9:14). The disciples of John came to Jesus and asked such a question because they saw something - they saw Jesus sitting at a feast, not just an ordinary meal, but a feast (Lk. 5:29). Furthermore, they saw Him feasting not with the high priest, the Pharisees, or the scribes, but with the sinners, the publicans. Jesus was feasting with the corrupt tax-gatherers, of all people! This really bothered the religious ones. "Why do we fast and Your disciples FEAST?" they asked. The Lord Jesus did not argue nor reply to John's disciples with a doctrinal dissertation. He said to them, "Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with them?" He answered not with a doctrine, but with a person. He referred to Himself as the Bridegroom! Let all who prize the hope of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus know the difference between religion and the Bridegroom! Like the Pharisees and the disciples of John we have all been so religious. Many of us are still to some extent under religion's influence. We are talking about fasting, baptism, communion, this religious activity and that, while the Lord Jesus is saying, "Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them?" The Lord is not speaking about doctrines or religious rituals, but pointing to Himself as the Bridegroom.

This speaks to the heart. Our Lord prophesied of this our day, and said, "Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom" (Mat. 25:1). It is not our purpose to discuss who was the bride, or who were the five foolish virgins, or the five wise virgins. May our hearts be seized, my beloved, by this one compulsion - to detach ourselves from religion, from present things, from self, from the world, from ALL - to go forth, in the spirit of our minds, in the affections of our hearts, to meet CHRIST THE BRIDEGROOM! It is not a question of going forth from one physical location to another; it is not a matter of soaring away to join Jesus on a cloud; it is not geographical at all, but deeply SPIRITUAL. It is the out-going of the heart to be joined in union with our Head and Lord. It means such a detachment from the world that our one goal, our sole aim, is Christ; we are going forth to meet HIM. We are going out and away from our own preconceived ideas and religious understanding! Out and away from the kingdoms of men! Out from self-will! Out from the traditions of men, and the elders! Out from man's organizations and promotions! Out from the prophets who preach for hire! Out from the shepherds who deceive and fleece the sheep! Out from the healers who heal for gain! Out from the hireling ministry that incessantly cries, "Money, money, money, money!" Out from bondage to the merchandizers, the dove-sellers, the book-vendors, the tape-peddlers (for a price), the religious profiteers, who masquerade as prophets of God! Out from the confusion of Babylon, from man's laws, man's rules, man's heresies, which have no power to set you free! To those blessed ones quickened by the Spirit in this hour THE HEAVENLY BRIDEGROOM COMETH! Go ye O-U-T to meet Him!

No man will ever go out to meet the Bridegroom until the ears of his spirit have been opened to hear the joyful cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom!" I would point out that it is in the original, "Behold, the Bridegroom," not, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh." Many scholars agree that the word "cometh" is an interpolation - an insertion into the manuscript by the scribes. If I tell you the Lord is coming, I am putting all upon that coming, not upon HIMSELF. "The Bridegroom is here!" that is the cry. And it is a very solemn and yet blessed thing, and I am sure I seek to awaken my own soul to the reality of that cry - "He is here!" Suppose someone came to the door and cried, "He is here, go ye out to meet Him;" would we not drop all and go? It means an appointed place of rendezvous. We have no word in our language to express it properly. Let me assure you, precious friend of mine, that that place of appointment with the Bridegroom has to do with an attitude, a mind, a condition, a state of being. Some speak of the Lord's coming because everything here is confusion and trouble. When the Lord comes, say they, He will settle all and solve everything. But I want to settle myself - to here and now be divested of everything that is unsuited to Him, that I may know Him in His coming. The apostle says, "That I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ ... I am jealous over you ... for I have espoused you to one husband." I covet that preparation, to be washed and cleansed and presented to Christ, a part of that glorious church which is without spot or wrinkle or blemish.

I say to all as far as our message can reach: Listen! Do you not hear the cry which rings over the land? Listen! Soon it will swell to a mighty chorus. Listen! High above the cry of battle; high above the deafening roar of the grinding wheels of business; high above the clamorous voices of a pleasure-crazed world; high above the rantings and ravings of the hucksters of religion. Listen! It is the Voice which cries: "Behold the Bridegroom!" The Voice of the Spirit of God is calling you to lift up your eyes to the heavenly hills to behold the Bridegroom who sits in the heavenly places of the glory of God, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, both in this age and that which is to come. Oh, my friend, forsake the bawdy harlot and let us arise and go forth unto the Bridegroom. May tens of thousands of voices re-echo the soul-stirring cry until it passes in its mighty power, from pole to pole, and from the river to the ends of the earth, rousing all the elect of God to abandon all and follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.

Once more I would quote the challenging words of George Hawtin. "With all my heart I believe that the days are few for the people of God to escape from the power of Babylon, but escape they must if they are to avoid being partakers of her sins and receiving of her plagues. There is only one way to escape Babylon's hypnotic power. It is in strict obedience to the command, 'COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE.' This obedience is not difficult. It is very simple, though it demands true consecration. All you have to do is walk out. Leave great Babylon behind, as Abram did in the long ago, and go unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" -end quote. Have you done it? Can you say that you have gone out to meet the Bridegroom? During the past forty years a cry ever increasing in its intensity has been going forth to the true saints of these last days - and, thank God! untold thousands have heard the trumpet call and gone forth to meet Him. Many others think they have come out - perhaps they have physically, but often their mind is still in the clutches of the old traditions. So wrapped in the grave clothes of creed and doctrine and delusion, there is a long process of coming OUT, to where we truly enter into UNION with the Bridegroom, becoming ONE IN HIM; one in His mind, will, nature and purpose.

Each one who is truly virgin towards the Lord will cry with the Shulamite, "Draw me and we will run after Thee" (S. of S. 1:4). We know that we are helpless in ourselves, and He alone can do this. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee," saith the Lord. Each one of the virgins that make up the bride, must be drawn by God's personal dealing and working in the soul; and as each one yields to the Bridegroom's drawing, they will all find themselves in the company of those who go forth to meet the Bridegroom. The Word reads: "Draw ME and WE will run after Thee." The drawing of God is upon each elect member who will make up the bride; His hand is cutting and shaping each living stone for the habitation of the Spirit, which He is building for Himself. It is as each soul is drawn, that all run after Him; it is as He perfects each one, that all come forth in perfection; it is as each one is put into His purifying fires, that the gold in each life comes out pure and shining, and the glory of God shines out from the whole.

Next to Part 30

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