A  Bride Prepared      

Who is my Brother?

For the Bride, it is vitally important to understand the absolute necessity to love the people God has called into the Body of Christ.  We are familiar with the story of the lawyer who scrutinized Christ by asking what he must do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25).  Jesus turned the question around by asking the lawyer what the Scriptures said on the matter.  “The lawyer answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”  (Luke 10:27)

Jesus affirmed his answer, but the lawyer wanting to reduce his culpability asked, “Who is my neighbor?”  Jesus’ answer about the good Samaritan astonished the lawyer because it went well beyond those whom the lawyer would have included as neighbors.  He was willing to shun those who did not measure up in his eyes.

For the exact same reason that the lawyer missed the mark, the greater Church of God today is not yet prepared to be the Bride of Christ.  Like the lawyer, too many Church brethren wish to limit the number of those they have to love.  They wish to narrow down the field by disqualifying those that they do not consider to be worthy.  In the same way that the lawyer felt justified in omitting the Samaritans – Church brethren excuse themselves of ignoring certain brethren.  But Jesus points out that to inherit eternal life, we need to be willing to extend Godly love to a brother – to every person – not only those in our group affiliation.  Harsh judgment will come upon contentious brethren.

The prophet Ezekiel issued a dire warning to the end-time Church of God.  Likening the Church to a flock of sheep, Ezekiel wrote the first part of chapter 34 against the shepherds (the ministers) and criticized them for driving away the sheep (the brethren).  But then, Ezekiel described the disunity and condescending disdain between group and  group – and between brethren and brethren.   Then he called the sheep to task for their lack of brotherly love for each other.  “Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: "Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep.  Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a victim; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.  And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.”  (Ezekiel 34:20-23)

Brethren, we had better be preparing now for that time when we who constitute the Bride will be of one Shepherd.  How can we be so busy scattering and dividing when the Spirit of Christ says that He is, “… not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  (2 Peter 3:9)

Chapter 16: A Magnificent Reality