| The Christian Life | February 1943 |
“A Bride Adorned for Her Husband”
“And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”—Revelation 21:2
OUR Lord in a number of places in the Scriptures is represented as the Bridegroom and the true church as His espoused, waiting for the marriage when, at the end of the Gospel age, she is to become His bride, the Lamb’s wife. (Rev. 21:9) The text of Scripture used as the basis for this article similarly uses the illustration of the bride and the bridegroom to show the glorious union when the Kingdom of God and of His Christ shall take up their abode with the children of men—when God’s Kingdom shall be a glorious reality here upon this now sin-cursed earth.
With reference to the marriage of Christ and His faithful followers, the church of God, let us first consider the invitation that has been extended to her to become the bride of Jesus. It was extended to her by the Heavenly Father Himself. In Psalm 45:10,11,14, we find a reference to this invitation: “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty; for He is thy Lord; and worship thou Him. … She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework.” How does God invite us? First, we must have a desire to know Him and His purpose for us, and then, when we learn something of His character and plan as it is disclosed in His Word, the Bible, we are ready for His invitation, which, in the words of the prophet is: “My son, give Me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways.” (Proverbs 23:26) Thus giving ourselves to Him and being directed by His Word, we learn of the two salvations of His Plan of the Ages—one of restitution for the world of mankind and the other, a salvation to the divine nature in the heavenly home with Jesus, the Husband and Head of the church.
Then He shows us the course we must pursue to become members of this heavenly class. First, we must accept Jesus as our personal Savior, whose death on Calvary’s cross—the just for the unjust; the perfect Man Christ Jesus for the prefect man, Adam, who fell, through disobedience—freed us from the Adamic death penalty. Not until we accept the merit of the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus to release us from the penalty of sin, can we have any clear understanding of His plan of salvation. We realize that, according to the flesh, we are imperfect; but that when the merit of the perfect man Jesus is imputed to us, God no longer considers us as being imperfect. But this imputation of Christ’s merit, bringing justification to life, is ours only on condition that we take the next step of full consecration of all that we have to do the Father’s will. This attitude of full consecration is urged upon us in Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
This presenting of our bodies “a living sacrifice” is to be a daily work all the rest of our lives. The apostle goes on to say in the second verse of this same chapter of Romans, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
In Psalm 45, already quoted in part, the Heavenly Father calls those who will become members of this church class, by the name daughter because they are pictured collectively as one who will become the wife of His Son. He tells her to, “forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house.” He is here referring to Adam’s house, the world in general. She is asked to forget not only the present earthly aims, hopes, and ambitions and instead to set her affections on the heavenly, spiritual things, but also to give up her hope of restitution blessings.
There is always the possibility that having responded to God’s invitation, to forget earthly things, we may forget to forget them. We intend, to be loyal to the Lord and the truth, and to continue active in the divine service. We are confident, perhaps, that nothing could dim our appreciation, but we need to be continually on guard lest the cares of the world, or the appeal of ease or pleasure, take the place of the Lord in our lives. This has happened in the case of many, and can happen to us if we do not continue to watch and pray. We have promised God that we would forget our earthly house with its earthly ties. Let us not forget that promise.
Suppose two friends were carrying on a conversation and then someone should turn on the radio so loud that it drowned out their voices. They would have to stop talking. And that is somewhat the way it is in the case of those friends who have lost their interest in the Truth. The devil had turned on the radio of worldliness and the music representing the allurements, attractions, and honors of the world had drowned out their fellowship with God and the brethren. They forgot to “forget thine own people and thy Father’s house.” The beauty of Christlikeness which the King desired to see developed in them, had faded away.
Raiment of Needlework
Now let us consider the needlework referred to in Psalm 45:14: “She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework.” Each one of this church class is given the robe of Christ’s righteousness. In our Lord’s parable, this robe is also pictured as a wedding garment. It is given to the new creature as a covering, not for the new will, but as a covering for the flesh. And let us not forget that this robe of Christ’s imputed righteousness covers the unavoidable weaknesses of the flesh, but it does not cover any possible sins in our hearts. If in our hearts there is the spirit of pride or hate or rebellion against God, we must not expect to see it covered because of our justification.
On each robe is stamped the pattern of a Christ-like character of love and full obedience to God. Each one of us must embroider the robe according to the pattern. That represents developing in our hearts this Christian character. God can give us instantly in the resurrection, divine bodies, but He leaves to us the development of Christian Character now. It must be slowly developed and that requires, on our part, full cooperation and patience and effort. Sometimes, if we make a wrong stitch, we have to take it out and try again.
Let us now consider three rules which will enable us to do this fine needlework. The first one is
Put God First Always
This is what Jesus had in mind in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Also Psalm 16:8, “I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” The Christian does not ask the question, Shall I do God’s will? That has been definitely settled in his mind. But the question that he decides each day is, What is God’s will for me in this experience? He is watching always for things and circumstances which will help him to grow in faith and love and give him more opportunities to witness for the truth and to serve God’s people. The second rule for doing this fine needlework is
Do What You Can
The story is told of a famous instructor who was to come to a certain school for a public examination of the pupils. When the day arrived for this visit, the children came to the school dressed in their best clothes. The parents and special friends were also there as guests. All eyes were on the pupils when the professor arose to ask the questions. He then said, “All of you who have note books and pencils, please hold up your right hand.” One little boy held up his left hand. The teacher noticed it, but thought that he would be patient and give the boy another chance, so he said again, “All of you who have note books and pencils, please hold up your right hand.” Again the boy lifted up his left hand. By this time, the professor lost his patience and pointing his finger straight at the boy, said, “You, the boy in the third row and the end seat, now listen carefully. All of you who have note books and pencils, please hold up your right hand—not your left hand.”
The boy’s face flushed. He glanced around with a frightened look. Then he slowly raised his right arm. It was only a stump. This brought tears to the teacher’s eyes as he beheld the pathetic spectacle. He ran over to the boy and threw his arms around him and said, “Oh, I am so sorry! I did not know that your arm was in that condition. You could not raise your right hand, but you did do what you could. You did raise your left hand.” Oh, how glad we are to read in I Samuel 16:7, “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
Can we draw a lesson from this little story? Some one may wish that he had the ability to stand upon the platform and deliver a flowery, polished oration, where, with ease and eloquence, he could sway the audience to heights of praise and reverence for God. And yet, all that he can do is to get up in a testimony meeting and stumble through a few sentences, which but imperfectly express his love for the Lord and his appreciation of the blessings of the truth. He breaks down in the middle of his testimony, just when he wants to keep composed so that he can tell the brethren of the things which fills his heart with joy. When it comes to public speaking, to use the figure in this illustration, he has only a stump of an arm; but he can hold up his left hand, he can testify, even if it is in a stumbling, halting way. Dear brother and dear sister, are you, doing what you can at the testimony meetings? Are you getting up to testify, and using your opportunities to praise the Lord, even though you know that your testimony is not expressed as nicely as some of the others present can express themselves? And is it not true that “expression deepens impression” and “we learn in the doing”?
Then again there may be a sister who says to herself, “Oh, how I wish I had the time and strength to put out a thousand tracts every day, but I have only a little time and a little strength, so I will not give out any tracts.” The Lord tells us in Luke 16:10, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.” This sister could give a tract to the grocer or to some salesman who comes to her door. The Lord in this text is telling us that if this sister would, use the few opportunities that she has, He would consider it just the same as if she really put out the thousand tracts every day, according to her desire. Are we all making use of every little opportunity we may have to witness for the truth? Are we doing what we can, even if we have but a stump of an arm? You may not be able to address an audience, but, perhaps you can address wrappers or envelopes in which the message of the Kingdom can be sent out.
Oh, let us make use of every opportunity that we can to show the Lord how much we want to serve Him. We may not be able to give a million dollars a week as a donation to carry on the work of the Lord, but if we can put twenty-five cents a week in the collection box, let us do what we can even if it is little. We may want to make big sacrifices for the friends and are not able to do so, but we do have occasions to say kind, gracious words. Let us do what we can along this line also, and avoid using bitter, sarcastic words or giving mean, hateful and unloving expressions. The third rule for doing this fine needlework is to
Trust God to Transform Us
We alone, without God’s aid, could not develop Christian character and make ourselves fit for the kingdom. We must put ourselves into God’s hands by following the instructions He gives us in His Word. When thus we cooperate with Him, and when also, on the other hand, we “resist the devil” (I Peter 5:9), so that our wills are fully responsive to His guidance, then God’s Holy Spirit, as a wonderful transforming power can enter into our hearts and minds and conform us to the divine disposition of love and righteousness. It is only when the trolley arm of the street car contacts the power line and the circuit is completed that the electricity flows into the car and heats it, lights it, and makes it go. And so it must be with us—we must be in touch with Jesus by full consecration, to have His Holy Spirit warm our hearts with love, enlighten our minds with an understanding of His Word, and energize our mortal bodies to do His service. The transformation of the Christian is well illustrated by the poem which tells us of a queen who went to a paper mill, where she saw—
Rags from out the very gutters,
Rags of every shape and hue:
While the squalid children, picking,
Seemed but rags from hair to shoe.What then, rang her eager question,
Can you do with things so vile?
Mould them into perfect whiteness,
Said the master with a smile.
Then he explained to her how, by putting these rags through certain machines, he could change them into paper that would be white and clean. Isaiah declares, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”—Isaiah 64:6
Precious lesson, wrote the master,
Hath my mill thus given me,
Showing how our Christ can gather
Vilest hearts from land or sea;In some heavenly alembic,
Snowy white from crimson bring;
Stamp His name on each, and bear them
To the palace of the King.
Let us now consider some of these figurative machines at this figurative paper mill, and see how the Lord uses them to transform us into beautiful Christian characters. The name of the first machine is
Full Submission
I Thessalonians 4:3: “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.” Every Christian has to be put through this machine. Hymn 114 well expresses it:
I love Thy will, O God!
Thy blessed, perfect will,
In which this once rebellious heart
Lies satisfied and still.
The hymn goes on to say, “It glorifies my common task.” In what way? Because now whatever we do—even the commonplace routine acts of eating and drinking—we do because we believe that it is God’s will for us. We are careful of just what we eat and how much we eat because now we are ambassadors of the Lord, and therefore desire to be in good mental and physical condition so that we can serve the Lord to the best of our ability. St. Paul voiced this same thought when he said, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Cor. 10:31) If we are in the home or the office or the factory, we will try to do every detail of our work in a way that will reflect glory to our God.
The hymn also says, “It makes each trial blest.” How true! Because of our experiences in this “full submission” machine, our prayer in each trial can be expressed in the words, “I thank Thee, Lord, this is just what I need. What lesson do you want me to learn?” We realize that the Lord overrules all of our affairs so that only those experiences that are for our best spiritual interests can reach us: We also know that we can come to Him “for grace to help in every time of need,” and that through the transforming power of Ibis Holy Spirit we can grow in love and patience, and kindness, and sturdiness of character in these very trials. Thus He “makes each trial blest” and we can “glory in tribulation.” (Rom. 5:3) The next machine in this figurative paper mill is called
Judging Ourselves Honestly
In Jude 21, we read, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.” To do this we need to continually scrutinize our thoughts and words and actions. And we should be honest about it and not try to cover up and excuse ourselves, when we are really at fault.
The story is told of a doctor who had an important case at a hospital. He was especially anxious to make a good showing. The patient had a diseased throat and therefore needed a private nurse. In the middle of the night, the patient suddenly became much worse. The nurse, instead of staying with the patient and trying to drain his throat, became panic-stricken and left the patient, to run for the doctor. The patient died. The doctor was very much provoked with the nurse because she should have known better than to leave a patient at such a critical time. He gave her a black mark which would have prevented her from graduating, although she had only one more day to finish her course. When she went to the doctor and asked him to forgive her and remove the black mark, he asked her, “What excuse have you for what you did?” All she could say was, “None—only please give me another chance.” He looked into her tear-stained face and said, “I think that you have learned your lesson. I will give you another chance.” Today she is a very successful nurse and is the head of a very large hospital force of nurses.
Oh, how often when we judge ourselves honestly, we find ourselves overtaken in a fault. All that we can do is to come to the Lord and tell Him that we have no excuse to offer and ask Him to give us another chance. And He does forgive us, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” (Psa. 103:13) From experiences like these we learn to be humble and to realize our weakness. They make us more watchful and prayerful, and as a result we keep closer to the Lord and thus these stumblings can become stepping stones.
Prayer
Prayer plays a very important part in preparing us for the Kingdom. Jesus tells us in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, that ye not enter into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Likewise, in Romans 12:12 St. Paul writes, “Continuing instant in prayer.” No matter how busy we are, or where we are, we can send short messages to God, thanking Him for blessings as we receive them, asking for guidance when we are in perplexing circumstances, securing strength from Him in temptations, and talking to Him when we need His fellowship.
Meditation and Study
Meditation and study also play an important part because when our minds are filled with thoughts concerning God’s plan and God’s character and when we meditate on the precious promises in His Word, we are able to view the transitory and trifling pleasures of this world from God’s standpoint and with the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:18, can say: “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Now let us note Psalm 119:97, it does not say: “O how I love the radio and the newspaper! They are my meditation all the day.” No, we are not to let those things absorb all our time. On the other hand, it says: “O how I love Thy law! it is my meditation all the day.”
Meetings
The fifth figurative machine that we observe as we look around in God’s character-transforming mill, is meetings. Those who attend the meetings with the motives of (1) learning more about God’s will for us so that it can be done more perfectly, (2) of building up the brethren in faith and love, (3) of glorifying God, and (4) of building up the strength to resist the devil and to gain victories in overcoming the world and the flesh, will find that the meetings play a very important part in enabling us to become conformed to the character-likeness of Jesus Christ.
We know how we like to keep an album of snapshots where we can treasure up memories of happy seasons of fellowship with some who are near and dear to us. God is also keeping such a memory book. He tells us about it in Malachi 3:16: “Then they that feared the Lord spake 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 thought upon His name.” There is one more machine that we want to consider. It is called
Chastening
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” (I Pet. 4:12,13) These experiences are not always pleasant for the flesh, but the New Creature is made sturdier in love and righteousness because of them.
Now is the time when this Christian character is being developed. Now we are being transformed. But soon our course will be completed. The needlework will be finished. Then, in the first resurrection, we will be given perfect celestial bodies of the divine nature. “Thou wilt chew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psa. 16:11) “Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty.” (Isa. 33:17) “So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.”—Psa. 45:11