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Typical Teaching - Part II
The picture is very plain that this is
exactly what the Church has done concerning her Head, Christ. In the beginning
of the history of the Church, there were no denominations, there were no heads
over bodies of people. There were the twelve apostles at the very first; but
they surely did not organize the people into sects. The Apostle Paul assumed
his place as the Apostle to the Gentiles, and champion of the Gospel of Grace
which was revealed only to him; but neither he, nor those who worked with him,
organized the believers. They ordained elders in each assembly; but we do not
read of any denomination as we have today. The believers were one, and acted
like it. They were all taught the same Truth in the beginning. They were all saved
through faith in Jesus Christ, baptized in water, and filled with the Holy
Spirit.
Only when men began to teach differently from what
these early apostles taught, do we find any divisions among the believers. Just
as Paul feared, Satan has spoken lies to men and they have mistaken his voice
for that of the Spirit. In turn, they have led thousands of believers in the
wrong path. The Holy Spirit is not able to direct them in the right way. They
are taught that a certain denomination has the Truth, and that all others are
wrong. That is why there is so much confusion in Christendom today. That is why
some denominations have departed entirely from teaching salvation. The decline
has been gradual, but it has been steady. Many believers are coming out of denominations
today, because they are not satisfied. They seek more light on the Word of God,
and a deeper experience, than that which they have had. Thank God for this
thirst! The Bride of Christ will be entirely yielded to the Lord and His will.
She will be like Him in her spiritual life. She will know His Voice above all
others. She will submit to the Word of God. She will seek His good above her
own. This also is pictured in type, in Proverbs 31:10-31. Read these verses,
and think of them as pertaining to Christ and His Bride.
Genesis twenty-four, also, gives us a wonderful type
of the Bride and her obedience to the will of God. We will not give an
exposition on the whole chapter, but will give the high points. First of all,
Abraham represents God the Father. Isaac is a type of Christ. Eliezer, the
servant, pictures the work of the Holy Spirit. Abraham com- manded the servant
to - "Go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son
Isaac." The wife was to be related to Abraham's family. This refers to the
family of God; and, of course, the Bride of Christ will come from among His
great family.
The servant had the responsibility of finding a
suitable wife for Isaac. The Holy Spirit, today, is searching the Church for
the willing ones who hear His Voice and allow Him to lead them to their
Heavenly Isaac. The servant asked guidance to find the right one - Genesis
24:12-14. Rebekah, the daughter of Abraham's brother, came; and she immediately
did what Eliezer had requested. This shows her willing- ness to serve. As the
story unfolds, we can see the beautiful purpose of God for the Church.
The Holy Spirit calls us to a deeper walk with the
Lord. He tells us of Christ who is waiting for a Bride. He puts jewels upon us.
These jewels which Rebekah received, picture the gifts of the Spirit. We also
note her willingness to go immediately with this man. Her family tried to
persuade them to wait. How true this is in the life of a believer who hears the
high calling, and is ready to go all the way immediately. Her family called her
and said, "Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go." She
let no one stand in her way. This is the spirit of the overcomer of this day.
He is ready to go on the long journey, and be ready to meet Christ in the air.
Rebekah had to ride upon camels for that long journey, but she had the servant
to show her the way. She had the comforts of a nurse to go with her. All of
this is significant. The camels represent all the providences which take us on
to Heaven. They are the trials, the difficulties - anything that will make us
overcomers. They are the "all things" of Romans 8:28. The ones who
say, "I will go," have the purpose in their hearts to go all the way,
in spite of the trials. They have the Word of God to comfort them and encourage
them. They know that the Holy Spirit is up ahead, directing their paths to
their Heavenly Isaac.
Did all the daughters marry Isaac? Did the whole
family accompany her? These are the questions which I would like to ask you
concerning the Church today. Do all believers eagerly follow the Lord? Do all
believers surrender their lives to the Lord, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead
them? Do all believers have the living hope that Christ will be their
Bridegroom? You might try asking your religious friends and associates these
questions. "Many are called, but few are chosen." All believers have
the same opportunity to heed this call, and yield to the Holy Spirit. But will
they? God is no respecter of persons. This truth is in the Scriptures for all
to read and believe. However, it seems that only a few ever come into the
fullness of this teaching.
All believers do not overcome. When difficulty comes
their way, they seek the easiest way out. When some tragedy befalls them, they
blame God instead of asking Him to make it work good for them. When they want
guidance, they usually go everywhere instead of to the throne of grace. When
they hear the message of being filled with the Holy Spirit, they begin to
squirm and wiggle and try to find ways to leave. Do not try to tell me that all
believers are the same in their love and devotion for the Lord. All believers
are in the Body of Christ; but, as to experience, there is a great difference.
Some go "all the way," and never turn aside or back. There are
differences in the spirituality of believers. Some are babes in Christ, and
they never grow. Others become mature saints of God, able to hold the victory
for themselves and others. Some grow up into Christ in all things. Others are
indifferent, and feel that going to meetings on Sunday is sufficient.
The Bride of Christ will have intimate knowledge of
her Lord and Savior. She will know Him, even as Paul expresses in Philippians
3:10. She will experience His joys and sorrows. She will understand His vicarious
work of Redemption. She will sympathize with Him in His rejection, and rejoice
with Him in His victory over His enemies. She will say, "Amen," to
all His judgments. In other words, the Bride of Christ will surely be as close
to Him as the most intimate of earthly marriages. We can see that many
believers are not in this class.
"So Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus into his
house royal ... And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained
grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the
royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti" - Esther
2:16,17.
This story is another type of the Bride of Christ. The
first queen, Vashti, had fallen out of favor with the king because of her
disobedience and lack of submission to her husband. She is a wonderful figure
of the professed church of our day. She is the false church who claims to be
the wife of Christ, but in reality does not hold Him as her Head.
Of course, Christ is as displeased with the false
church as Ahasuerus was with Vashti, and more so. There was another queen,
however, who did please the king; and we read that he loved her "above all
the women." This maiden was not even of the same nationality; but her
beauty and manner touched the king's heart, and he claimed her as his own. This
is exactly Christ's estimation of His spiritual Bride. She will please Him in
every way. Her inner beauty will win His heart; and He will crown her with the
honor of reigning with Him.
Notice that Ahasuerus loved Esther above all the
others, and this can be said of Christ's love for His Bride. Now, I can hear
someone say, "Christ loved all humanity; there is no difference." As
the Savior of the whole world, I will agree with this. He loves all sinners,
and all who turn to Him for salvation. This is redeeming love. I am speaking of
connubial love. There is a great difference between compassion and love. We can
have compassion for an animal which is in need. We feel sorrow and pity for the
person who is in the gutter and cannot get out. I have a love for my wife that
is different from the love I feel for others. We love all of God's people; and
yet we can also love some with a deeper love than others. Is this different
from God's feelings? I think not, for our capacity for love came from God.
Esther pleased the king, because she had had the best
of treatment from one who knew the king. This is typical of the work of the
Holy Spirit in our lives. Hegai, the keeper of the women, is like Eliezer of
Abraham's time. The Holy Spirit knows the mind of the Lord, and He knows what
will please the King. He will work in us, if we cooperate, and will give us the
kind of beauty that touches the heart of Christ. He will instruct us as to the
likes and dislikes of the Lord. But we must put ourselves in His hands. He will
teach us how to act in Christ's Presence. He will be no stranger, when we see
Him face to face. All the faults that would cause Christ to turn His eyes from
us will be corrected, if we let the Holy Spirit have control of us; then we
will surely be "holy and without blemish" - Ephesians 5:27.
Ruth, in her attitude, is typical of the spirit of the
Bride of Christ. She was willing to live with her mother-in-law, and to take
her husband's people as her own. She was willing to glean in the fields of
Boaz, never hoping that he would notice her. But her attitude caused Boaz to
notice her, and her desire for God brought her into his presence. This is the
attitude that the Apostle Paul displayed in going after the spiritual riches of
Christ. He forsook all other things, and followed Him. He wanted to apprehend
everything that there was for him to lay hold of.
We must have this same spirit, if we ever hope to have
the best that Christ offers. We must count all of our own natural attainments
and goodness as refuse, and follow Christ. We should have the attitude that if
we never are in the forefront it will be all right, as long as we win Christ.
Some people have such a conceited opinion of themselves and their abilities, that
they never get out of God's way. They always put themselves forward, even when
God is not pleased. They are not willing to be quiet, to sit in a corner, and
wait for the Lord to call for them. They cannot begin to think that perhaps God
can use someone else besides them. The Bride will have a humble spirit
concerning herself, but an exalted opinion of Christ.
The Song of Solomon is a wonderful love story, all of
Christ and His Bride. There is really no reason for this Song to be in the
Scriptures, unless we see that it is symbolic and spiritual. Solomon represents
Christ in wooing the Shulamite. She represents the Bride who loves the Lord
with all her heart, and yet has much to learn about Him. It is a thrilling
account of their courtship. Their love for each other is clearly seen, and they
are not ashamed of their feelings for each other. At first she declares,
"My Beloved is mine, and I am His" - 2:16. Afterward, however, she
says, "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine" - 6:3. And later,
"I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me" - 7:10.
His love for her is manifested, too; and He declares
more than once, how beautiful she is, and that she is the fairest of all the
maidens. We hear Him say, "My dove, My undefiled is but one; she is the
only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The
daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and
they praised her" - 6:9. There were other daughters, there were other
young virgins; but His delight was in this one, and it seemed to Him that there
was no other.
This is deep spiritual love. This is the love that
Christ has for His Bride. She will reciprocate His love. She will wish to
please Him in every thing. She will not be selfish, nor will she seek other loves.
She loves only Him, and He is enough to satisfy every longing of her heart. If
a child of God can sincerely say this, then that one will qualify to be in that
Bride company who will reign with Christ as His Wife. Some Christians would be
embarrassed to even think of such a relationship with Christ. They would rather
be just an acquaintance, or a friend of the Bridegroom or perhaps of the Bride.
If you really love Christ, you will not be ashamed to speak to Him intimately
of your love. You will not draw back when He desires to caress you. This is a
communion that is found only with intimate dealings with the Lord.
He becomes more than a Savior, or the Good Shepherd.
He is more than the Miracle Worker, and the Healer. Mary of Bethany also
pictures the Bride of Christ. She loved Jesus above all else. She sat at His
feet when Martha thought she should be working for Him. Jesus set the record
straight. He would rather have worshipers than workers. He received more
comfort from Mary's adoration, than from Martha's meals. He said that she had
chosen the good part. And, because of Mary's devotion and the time she spent
listening to Him, she understood Him more than anyone else of that time. She
knew more about Him than did the twelve apostles. She knew that He was going to
the Cross, and she anointed Him before His burial.
She learned more than the others, because she spent
some time with Him. No doubt, she was the same one who came to Him in Simon the
Pharisee's house, and washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with her
hair. Jesus told this Pharisee that she loved more, because she realized how
much she had been forgiven. This love for Jesus never waned; it grew and grew.
And we see her, just before He went to the Cross, kneeling at His feet again. This
time though, she did not use tears of repentance, because that milestone had
already been passed. She anointed Him with a fragrant ointment that filled the
house. She was having fellowship with His sufferings and death. She and the
Godhead were aware of what was taking place. Again, she was criticized; and,
again, Jesus defended her.
Can you not see, through these instances, Jesus' love
and care of some more than others? If we pour out our love and substance upon
Him, He will surely return that love. If we are indifferent to Him and to His
feelings, can we be so foolish as to imagine that He will smile upon us? He
will be hurt, and will turn away in sadness. We become too busy with our
activities, to acknowledge Him as we should. We become too occupied with
ourselves, and with our own spiritual beauty and attainment. We forget the One
who made us that way. The Shulamite of the Song of Solomon, at one point, was
so busy putting on perfumes and spices that when she went to let her Lover in
He had gone away - Song of Solomon 5:2-8.
We must give Him first place in our lives. We must not
forsake that preeminent love for Him as our Bridegroom. We must put all other
things aside, and concentrate on making Him happy. We must keep away from
everything that will distract us from that sweet and intimate fellowship. We
must know what is important to Him, and what is not. We must be His always, and
always ready to listen to His Voice. This is a lifetime occupation, and should
have no interruptions. He does not require too much of us. He knows that we are
still frail and unable to give Him every moment of every day. But He
fellowships with us in our hearts and spirits. Our hands may be occupied with
mundane things, but our spirits can be in touch with Him. Our hearts or souls
can be full of His love for us. He will woo us and encourage us to follow Him.
There are other types of this relationship, but we
have given enough for you to think upon now. This is a wonderful truth, and so
neglected in the Church. When we love Christ in this way, we can hardly wait
for Him to return for us. We see nothing else in this world that can compare
with the prospect of being with Christ in Heaven. We will want no activity that
He does not want. We will want no religious fellowship that He does not want.
We will make Him the Head in our lives, and honor Him as our spiritual Husband.
We have not exhausted this study, nor could we. There
are other Scriptures we could bring out; but we believe that enough have been
given for the careful reader. This truth, as well as all truths, must be
spiritually discerned. This is one of the mysteries that the Apostle Paul
speaks of; and we must have a desire to know the Truth, before the Spirit will
give us a revelation. Many people disagree with us, and that is their right.
God does not force people to believe in Him; and we are not trying to force any
teaching upon one who does not want it. We are sure though that there will be
some who will read this booklet and find the answer to the longing in their
hearts. Amen.
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This is the introduction to our article section. We'll have a list of the best articles on different topics here...topics on spiritual maturity and things not generally covered in other Churches/studies.