One Wife

Dear Brethren,

Who is going to marry Jesus Christ at his return?  We believe that it is you and me.  We know that it is all the Brethren who are led by God's Holy Spirit.   It is the Greater Spiritual Community which will be the "Wife of Jesus Christ".

The problem with this scenario is that many of the brethren who "know" that they are going to be the bride of Christ,  won't have anything to do with one another.  The wife of Revelation 19:7 is not a loose federation of divided brethren.  The Spirit that is held in common by those comprising the "Wife of Christ" is the strongest bond that exists.  Jesus is not going to return to an estranged people who will not have anything to do with each other. 

Are we doing what we are supposed to be doing?  Another way to ask that same question is this:  What must the wife be doing to make herself ready for the marriage of the Lamb?  She will be ready!  We are certainly not ready nowWe must heal the breach, or die trying.  The will of God is perfectly clear:  "That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another." (1 Corinthians 12:25)  In this verse, the body, is the Body of Christ, and the "one for another" referred to are all those who have God’s Holy Spirit in their minds - leading them in God's way.

Our hearts must be receptive.  God demands that we must be a part of building close relationships across Church lines.  Brethren, we will not be prepared for the wedding until we truly seek to remove obstacles between ourselves and all of God's people.  How do we bind up the wounds of those who are afraid of being hurt again?  Who's responsibility is it to apply the healing balm?  The answer is that it is every Christian's duty, before God, to seek out others.  "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men."  (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

Christ is unified.  We all know that.  But, do we know this - the Body of Christ - His true brethren, are not divided?  That most certainly means that those brethren who are to make up the Bride of Christ cannot be divided.  If a member cuts off all fellowship from his former brethren - that is division - plain and simple.  One or the other is going to miss out on that precious opportunity - the wedding supper!  We cannot seek to save ourselves while saying in effect, "I don't care if others make it into God's Kingdom or not."

There are members who are not following the lead of God's Holy Spirit in their personal lives.  The scriptures are clear - we are not to fellowship or socialize with them.   There are ministers who have disfellowshipped brethren, not for sin or heresy, but for their own personal political purposes.  They are no longer ministers of Jesus Christ if they persist in that un-Godly conduct.  Within the Body of Christ, serious personal sin, ministerial abuse, and doctrinal heresy cannot be condoned.  Are we mature enough as Christians to be able to discern between conduct which ought not be taught by the leadership, and that which is truly Christian?  "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no not to eat."  (1 Corinthians 5:11)

Just before He died, Jesus Christ told the apostles to love one another.  Again, everybody knows that!  All the corporate groups would say that they uphold this principle.  But they do not!  Have various Church leaders chosen a mistakenly narrow viewpoint in determining who to include in the "one another," that they are to love?  Do these leaders teach their congregations to have a closed circle of contact?  It is indeed an arrogant attitude of self-exaltation that is willing to sacrifice others for self-aggrandizement, justification and vindication of self.

How many organizations would say that their group is God’s favorite – who are pleasing God the most?  Brethren, are we blind to the divisiveness of that kind of rationale?  Without the words actually being spoken, members are being taught by the attitude and behavior of leadership that there are lesser brethren who just don't measure up.  Their message is clear, avoid mixing with brethren from other groups.

Can we be so foolish as to come to the conclusion that we have been released from the commandment to love one another?  Do we make void the commandment of God by loving only the people in our own group?  Everyone with the proper reverence for God's way of life will be including all the Brethren in their personal fellowship.  There are no exclusions in the following verse.  "Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name."  (Malachi 3:16)

Those groups that are betting that God will choose only the members of their organization to go to the place of safety and be the wife of Christ do not understand the mind of Christ.  When we consider the meaning of 1 Corinthians 12:24, we learn that the mind of Christ is exactly the opposite of what is commonly in practice in the various Churches of God today!  "For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked," because,  God hath set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it hath pleased him."

How much longer do we have to get our act together?  Jesus Christ is going to look each of us in the eye and ask, "When did you, not your leader, reach out to your brother and sister?"  "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."  (Philippians 2:3 )

Soon, the brethren who are led by God's Holy Spirit will be together in mind, attitude, and spiritual community.  This does not mean one earthly organization or group.  It will be a miracle when it happens.  The lines must be crossed - the barriers will come down.  Jesus will have only One Wife.

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