What is the "Bride of Christ"?

if you would open up your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 the specific question I want to take up this morning is who is the Bride of Christ and that is something that you hear discussed a lot you'll hear people talk about it and a lot of the with many things that go on within Christendom there's a lot of things that are said about the Bible that are not accurate and what we want to do is we want to understand what the Bible has to say on the subject so if you would look with me at Ephesians chapter 5 in verse 31 for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh this is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the church well I thank you for this time thank you for your word use this time for your glory and everything that occurs here today please you in Jesus name we pray amen now what Ephesians 5 verses 31 and 32 do verse 31 is clearly talking about marriage it's talking about a man leaving his father and mother and being joined unto his wife and then verse 32 says this is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ in the church and so what Ephesians 5 does is it uses the husband wife relationship as a metaphor as a symbol for the relationship between Christ and the church but if you notice it doesn't use the word bride what I would suggest you you can decide this for yourself my suggestion is that it is the best practice to use words the way the Bible uses them sometimes people take Bible words and then attribute a different meaning to them and what I would suggest you is just better to let scripture define its terms and then to use those terms appropriately so what you'll notice in Ephesians 5 is it never uses the term bride and there's never a time where Paul describes the Church of today as the Bride of Christ instead get with me Matthew 25 and I want to spend some time just understanding from the scriptures how scripture would have us to think about this issue now Before we jump into Matthew 25 let me give you if you will just a basic overview of time in in Genesis 1 the Bible begins it's very first verse in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth now it's interesting that in Genesis 1:1 God decided to sum up creation in that fashion he didn't say God created the universe and all living things didn't say created heaven and earth and humans and plants and animals God chose to describe it as in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth what I would suggest to you is that basic distinction heaven and earth is the way to understand the rest of the Bible so as you think about God's plan for the earth in Genesis 3 man Ravel's obviously Satan tempts Eve Adam and Eve eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as a result of that they sinned and we're in the state we find ourselves in today before Satan led that rebellion on earth he first rebelled in heaven and he got many of the angelic authorities to follow him so as of Genesis 3 the basic problem that God the Father faced was there is a rebellion in heaven and there's a rebellion on earth I would suggest to you that the rest of the bible is about how god is going to resolve those two rebellions the way that God is going to resolve the rebellion on earth is that he formed a specific group of people he called out Abram renamed him Abraham formed from him the nation of Israel and the nation of Israel ultimately will receive an earthly kingdom of a thousand years within an eternal kingdom with Jesus Christ as its head on the new earth that solves the problem of how the earth is going to be reconciled to God well what about heaven the way that God reconciles heaven to himself is different what God does to reconcile heaven to himself is that today during the dispensation of grace what God is doing is he places believers into the body of Christ the body of Christ is the Church of today at the catching up what people commonly call the rapture God will take the church to heaven he will give us spiritual bodies capable of functioning in the heavens and the body of Christ is what God is using to replace the fallen angels that rebelled so if you have that background what it tells you is God's ultimate plan for this universe is to bring everything under the headship of Jesus Christ but there's two components to it there's an earthly component that involves Israel and then there's a heavenly component that is addressed by the body of Christ the Church of today so now go with me to Matthew 25 Matthew 25 then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom now in Matthew 25 obviously we're reading about information that is prior to the cross it's prior to the revelation given to Paul and this parable is the parable sometimes called the parable of the ten virgins and they're going forth to meet the bridegroom and one notice then verse six and at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him and then if you would just skip forward to verse 13 watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh now just for the sake of time I didn't read all thirteen verses there but here's what's going on in the parable of the ten virgins the ten virgins are waiting for the bridegroom to come when you read verse 13 it specifically tells you who the bridegroom is who's the bridegroom the bridegroom is Jesus Christ and the parable of the ten virgins is a parable about kingdoms Saints looking for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ so let me just do this if I could if you see the chart as it is notice what happens to this section right here it disappeared and the reason why we have two versions of the chart is that if you stand right here if you stand in acts 8 so right after the stoning of Stephen and someone were to say draw the timeline of history this is what it would look like and it would look like that because the dispensation of grace was a mystery hitting God according to Ephesians 3:9 that was not revealed or known or understood prior to the time that God revealed it to the Apostle Paul meaning if you stand in acts 8 based upon reading the Old Testament based upon everything you know about the Lord's earthly ministry you have no idea that in the next chapter he's going to save Saul he's going to rename him the Apostle Paul and he's going to give him the revelation of the mystery that information just was not known so let's for the moment let's hide that information and now let's just stand right here so if we're right before the cross and the Lord is during his earthly ministry he is teaching the parables of the kingdom and they're specifically called the parables of the kingdom they're explaining how the kingdom is going to operate and they are explaining how to get into the kingdom now just keep this in mind this chart is not to scale so if you go from here to here you're talking about almost two thousand years but it's just this little amount right but when you stand right here so that would be the Lord Jesus Christ and you look over to hear that whole thing there is from the Lord's birth - right over here is less than it's about 40 years now my point in telling you that is this as you stand right here right before the cross from right before the cross over to acts 8 you're talking about a short period of time so folks right there would be thinking about Daniels 70th week if you read acts 2 when Peter stands up by the power of the Holy Spirit what book does he quote this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel and Joel specifically talked about the last days in other words the way to think about the parables of the kingdom is the parables of the kingdom are instructions for the little flock Luke 12:32 as to what they need to do to make it through Daniels 70th week into the kingdom okay so in Matthew 25 when we see this parable with the ten virgins and they're waiting for the bridegroom it's absolutely clear what's going on it is instructions to the little flock as to how they're supposed to wait for the Lord Jesus Christ so the the bridegroom is unmistakable who is it it's Jesus Christ get with me John chapter 3 if you would John chapter 3 John chapter 3 verse 29 john 3:29 he that hath the bride is the bridegroom well that makes sense but the friend of the bridegroom today we would call that the best man as the terminology we would use but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice notice the last part of the verse this my joy therefore is fulfilled so the person that's speaking there in John 3 29 is John the Baptist and what John the Baptist says there is he says the bridegroom has the bride well we know who the bridegroom is because we just saw that in Matthew 25 the bridegroom is Christ in John 3 29 John describes the friend of the bridegroom the best man if you will and who's the best man according to John 3 29 it's John the Baptist because he says at the end of the verse this my joy therefore is fulfilled so what we've identified so far the bridegroom is Christ that's easy who's the bridegroom the bridegroom is John the Baptist now as you think about this was John the Baptist teaching about the dispensation of grace in the formation of the body of Christ well he couldn't have been it hadn't even been revealed what John the Baptist was doing is he was teaching the gospel of the kingdom the gospel of the kingdom was going to form a believing remnant out of the nation of Israel so let's just pause there for a minute make sure we understand that means when Jesus Christ shows up to Israel Israel is in an apostate in an unbelieving condition does that bring about let me put it this way when he goes into the temple does he say you guys are doing a great job I couldn't be more pleased with how you're handling everything this is terrific or does he create a whip and drive people out of it because they've made his father's house a house of merchandise in other words when he shows up to Israel he doesn't find them in the spiritual condition that they should be and he spends much of his ministry rebuking them for that woe unto you Pharisees okay so what happens is the nation as a whole is in unbelief and what John the Baptist is John the Baptist is the voice of one crying where in the wilderness he's crying in the wilderness because he is standing outside of religious Israel in other words John doesn't go into the temple and they embrace him and they say yes John we're teaching exactly what you're teaching what he's doing is he's protesting it he's standing outside of it and so what Israel does what believing Israel does is they go out to meet him and they're baptized of him in the wilderness my point is what you need to understand about what's going on during the Lord's earthly ministry is he is forming this little flock this believing remnant that stands apart from the apostate leadership of the nation okay now get with me if you would Matthew 9 Matthew chapter 9 Matthew chapter 9 verse 14 then came to him the disciples of John saying why do we and the Pharisees fast often plea means often but thy disciples fast not and Jesus said unto them can the children of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them well we know who the bridegroom is is Jesus Christ but the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast so we know the bridegroom is Christ we know that the friend of the bridegroom is John the Baptist what we're now learning is we're learning about some folks that are called the children of the bride chamber who are they well it's the Lord's disciples isn't that clear so in verse 14 why do we and the Pharisees fast off thy disciples fast not they're not fasting because the bridegroom is still with them but what's going to happen according to verse 15 the bridegroom is going to be taken away and at that point they'll fast so that the children of the bride chamber in Matthew 9 is a reference to the disciples during the Lord's earthly ministry now again just to be clear those disciples during the Lord's earthly ministry is not the same thing as the body of Christ it's just not they're saved under a different gospel they are part of a different church and they have a different destiny the folks that were saved under the Lords earthly ministry where will they end up for all eternity they'll end up on the new earth but those who are saved during the dispensation of grace where will you spend eternity you'll spend eternity in the new heaven the reason this is so critical is one of the most basic mistakes people make today is they take Matthew to Revelation they take those 27 books the books of the New Testament and they conclude those books are all about the same thing they're all written to the same people they're one unified body of information and they're just not so get with me Galatians 2:7 if you would Galatians chapter 2 verse 7 we could talk about this particular issue for hours but let me just prove the point this way Galatians 2:7 but contrariwise when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me who's the me in that verse has to be Paul the author of Galatians so he had the gospel of the uncircumcision as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter well it's just a state the obvious our uncircumcision and circumcision the same thing well you know that they can't be right what is the prefix son mean not so uncircumcision is not circumcision circumcision is circumcision Peter and Paul had different Gospels now sometimes you know when you say that or when I say that people have an allergic reaction and they think it's it's heresy and what crazy new doctrine is this but what is galatians 2:7 say i mean the text unmistakeably says paul had this gospel Peter had this gospel and it gives them different names they're not the same gospel and by the way if you actually sit down and read what Paul taught and what Peter taught they did not teach the exact same thing in fact that's why there was a conference in Jerusalem in acts 15 so the point just to notice is this Peter and Paul have different Gospels they're going to different people and those people have different destinies so when we read about the children of the bride chamber over here under the kingdom gospel that's not the body of Christ so now get with me revelation 21 Revelation chapter 21 now as we turn to Revelation 21 let me just make this point it was Matthew 25 that described Jesus Christ as the bridegroom in other words it was under the prophetic scriptures of the kingdom program John the Baptist was the friend of the bridegroom doesn't say Paul was there's no verses as Paul was or that anyone in Paul's epistles was it's John the Baptist at the friend of the bridegroom and the children of the bride chamber are disciples during the Lord's earthly ministry well if that's all the case would it make sense that the Bride of Christ was something in here or would it make sense that the Bride of Christ pertains to the kingdom program I mean in other words every piece of evidence you've seen so far suggests that whatever the Bride of Christ is it pertains to the kingdom program not the mystery program now look with me at revelation 21 verse 2 and I John now this is John the Apostle and I John saw in the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven notice prepared as a bride adorned for her husband so the bride in Revelation 21 2 is actually not a group of people what is it it's a city so that's that's weird how do you marry a city that just seems odd well look with me at verse 9 and there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues and talked with me saying come hither I will show thee the bride the Lambs wife now the particular phrase the Bride of Christ never appears in Scripture it just doesn't but the bride the Lambs wife does and is anyone confused about who that is I mean the lamb is clearly Jesus Christ and so this is the closest thing in Scripture to that phrase and it's describing here the bride the Lambs wife now let's just read the last sentence there again come hither I will show thee the bride the Lambs wife in other words in verse nine what the angel says is I'll show you exactly what the bride is so look at verse ten 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 I think it's actually quite easy right I don't think it's actually that complicated though the bride the Lambs wife is unmistakably the New Jerusalem revelation 21 to tells you that revelation 21 9 and 10 tell you that right so that's the answer look with me at Isaiah 62 now while you're turning there let me ask you this question is the body of Christ is the Church of today going to end up in the New Jerusalem you're not going to I want you to get Isaiah's but I'll just quote this to you what Ephesians 1 verse 3 says is this blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places that's a very profound verse and so let me just make a couple observations before we go to Isaiah we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places and the reason we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places is that's where God intends for us to operate the body of Christ was formed as a replacement for Satan and his fallen angels they are going to be expelled from heaven in Revelation 12 you can read about that in Revelation 12 and the body of Christ is going to occupy the positions they formerly occupied that's why God blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places now another implication of that is this I realize there's a lot of teaching within Christendom that says God wants you healthy wealthy and wise right in other words if you just send enough money to the preacher on the TV then God will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing on your life and so if you're sick it's probably because you didn't tithe enough and there's this whole series of teaching that what God will do is you can evaluate your relationship with God by the circumstances of your physical life and if you have a physical problem in life or financial or whatever it is it's because of some spiritual problem in your relationship with God but that's just nonsense that's just total nonsense God did not promise the body of Christ he didn't promise believers today that you wouldn't have physical problems in life and quite honestly you're going to because guess what happens if you don't live until the catching up you're gonna die which is sort of the ultimate health crisis right so God is not going to solve all of your physical problems he's just not but death honestly is just a speed bump isn't it to the Eternity that awaits you now what I'm getting at is this the whole all of this carnal teaching about how God is going to bless the physical circumstances of your life is just nonsense because God has blessed you with all spiritual blessings not physical blessings all spiritual blessings in heavenly places until you get there there can be all kinds of problems in this life I'll just mention this maybe it's stark but Saddam Hussein had human shredding devices you know what a paper shredder is paper shredder is you want to shred a piece of paper into so many small pieces that no one can identify what the paper originally said well he essentially had the equivalent of that for his enemies what was God asleep did God not know that was going on you know that were saved people that experienced that and the reason why that happened is we live on a sin cursed earth and there's just going to be physical problems in life but after you've been in heaven for ten thousand years do the physical problems in life mean much know that they just don't so what I resent you know I resent that when people teach purportedly from the Scriptures God's going to solve the physical or financial or health problems of your life maybe but there no guarantee of that there are saved people that get sick all the time and just have problems in this life you're not promised that those things will go away what you're promised is your eternity future is unmistakeably good you have all spiritual blessings all the problems of life will be resolved between between here and there there's a lot that can go wrong often it does leukemia Isaiah 62 Isaiah chapter 62 for Zions sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burn it so you can see the subject there is Jerusalem where it says for Jerusalem's sake now look with me at verse 6 I have said Watchmen upon thy walls o Jerusalem you see how it's written as if he is addressing Jerusalem he's speaking directly to the city then look with me at verse 12 and they shall call them so then this third person this is someone he's speaking about not two and they shall call them the holy people the redeemed of the Lord and thou this is who he's speaking to thou shalt be called sought-out notice a city not forsaken so who is the Lord speaking to in Isaiah 62 he's speaking to the city you can see that in verse 6 when he says o Jerusalem you can see that in verse 12 when he says thou shalt be called sought out a city not forsaken so Isaiah 62 again is addressed to Jerusalem look at verse 2 and the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all Kings thy glory notice and thou shalt be called by a new name what happens when a bride gets married she gets called by a new name right the thou here is addressed to Jerusalem and the Lord is telling Jerusalem that Jerusalem's going to be called by a new name look with me and keep keep Isaiah 62 but get revelation 3 for a minute Revelation chapter 3 revelation 3 verse 12 him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of my god notice this and the name of the city of my god which is New Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my god and I will write upon him my new name so what's going on here is this it's clear that the Lambs bride is the city of the New Jerusalem and it's clear that Jerusalem will be called by a new name but then what revelation 3 is describing is it's talking about some of the people that are going to inhabit it and what happens is what's written upon them is the name of my god but also the name of the New Jerusalem now look with me at sea look what the first part of verse 12 says him that overcometh will i make a pillar and they shall go no more el what happens is the individual Saints are made pillars there they're affixed there there there cemented if you will to the land were there times in the past where Israel was kicked out of the land there were after the New Jerusalem is set up will they ever be kicked out of the land again no that they won't be go back to Isaiah 62 Isaiah 62 verse 4 thou this is Jerusalem shall no more be termed forsaken neither shall thy land anymore be termed desolate but thou shalt be called hepzibah and thy land Beulah why for the LORD delighteth in thee and thy land shall be married you can see what's going on is God's marrying the land he's not going to ever separate from it again so forsaken becomes hepzibah which means my delight is in her desolate becomes Beulah which means to marry so when you think of the hymns that talk about Beulah land it's about God marrying the land get with me John 2 in Matthew 23 and we're coming back to Isaiah but get John to in Matthew 23 look at John 2 John 2 verse 16 John chapter to verse 16 and said unto them that sold doves take these things hence notice make not my father's house an House of merchandise what the Lord does in John 2 is he rebukes the religious leaders and and says to them you're taking my father's house and making it a house of merchandise contrast that with Matthew 23 Matthew chapter 23 Matthew 23 verse 7 Matthew 23 37 o Jerusalem Jerusalem again Jerusalem is being addressed thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and you would not so he's addressing today's addressing Jerusalem and he's telling them he's basically we're abusing them for their their rebellion now notice what he says in verse 38 behold your house is left unto you desolate do you remember how in John 2 he says make not my father's house a house of merchandise in Matthew 23 he says your house is left unto you desolate here's what's going on when the Temple exists the temple's value is the fact that God dwelled there right it wasn't just the value of the furnishings that were within it or the materials used in building it it was the fact that it was God's presence and so what the Lord says in John 2 is make not my father's house a house of merchandise in other words you're you're tarnishing my father's health with with the way you behave in Matthew 23 what he's saying to them is even worse what he's saying is it's your house because I'm leaving you see the point in John two is his father's house because the father was still there in Matthew 23 is you want to act like this okay it's yours and I'm departing and then what happens the Vails rent what good is the temple if God leaves it nothing my point is are there times on the timeline where what God does to the land as he said that's what you want to do do it isn't there a time in the Old Testament where God gave Israel a bill divorce look of Hosea right but what you're seeing here when it talks about the Lambs bride is there's going to be a time in the future where God's gonna marry the land and he's never gonna depart from it and that's that's the promise get with me Isaiah 62 Isaiah 62 verse 5 for as a young man marrieth a virgin so shall thy sons marry thee the V again is Jerusalem as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride so shall thy God rejoice over thee it couldn't be more clear couldn't what God is saying there is he's going to marry Jerusalem never to separate from it and the sons of Jerusalem are going to be pillars in Jerusalem they're never gonna depart out of the land you recall that what happens in the Old Testament it is as a result of Israel's rebellion they're expelled and carried out of the land right if you think about what what Nebuchadnezzar does when when the southern kingdom when Judah is conquered Babylon comes in they conquer the place and what happens is Israel is carried away captive right they're carried out of the land and it's later on that they return to it well when the New Jerusalem comes down Israel's going to be in the land they're never ever ever going to leave it that's what all these verses are talking about when they talk about the Bride of Christ and they talk about the children of the bride chamber and talk about Jerusalem's sons being made pillars they're never ever ever gonna leave so here's what's going on when people talk about the Bride of Christ and they say the church today is the Bride of Christ there is no verse anywhere that says anything like that I realize Ephesians 5 gives that allegory but if you're gonna use scriptural terms the bridegroom is Christ the friend of the bridegroom is John the Baptist the bride the Lambs wife is New Jerusalem that's just what it is and so what happens is in your Bible study you always need to you know there's a great verse that's used at marriages at weddings what God hath joined let not man put asunder that's true what God hath put asunder let not man join right if God says two things are different is it right to try to make them the same it's not is it well there is a difference between the kingdom church and the body of Christ the body of Christ is worthless all spiritual blessings in heavenly places it has a heavenly inheritance in a heavenly destiny the little flock the kingdom church has an earthly inheritance they're the ones that will be in the New Jerusalem that God will marry that will dwell on the earth that the sons of Jerusalem will dwell in never to depart from amen amen all right let's take a break and then we will resume back at 11 father thank you for your word we thank you you've preserved it for us we pray Lord you would give us hearts to study your word and to believe what you have written that we would set aside man's opinions and man's traditions and we would instead simply believe what you have written for us to believe it's in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray amen

Channel: Columbus Bible Church

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Id: 4Zti30vpm1A

Length: 41min 56sec (2516 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 07 2019