The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Church Within the Churches, #5

And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. (Genesis 24:29,30)

In our day the Holy Spirit has come to the Christian churches. He is bringing glory, blessing, revelation, gifts, ministries, and all other forms of spiritual life and renewal. Like Laban, many churches will welcome the Holy Spirit because of the spiritual treasures He is bringing. The churches that receive the Spirit will be filled with life and will grow in number.

But many do not understand the single-mindedness of the Spirit of God. The Spirit has been charged by God the Father with obtaining a suitable Bride, a complement to His beloved Son. The blessings the Holy Spirit is showering on the churches today are a means to an end. The Spirit has not come to give but to take.

Among the multitude of Christians in the world there is a Bride who is "the only one of her mother." She is not a partaker of the sin and self-seeking of the churches. Her heart belongs to the Lord exclusively. While the majority of believers are excited and occupied with the wondrous works of the Spirit, the Bride quietly is being conducted away by the Spirit.

This does not mean that the members of the Bride cease their labors in the Kingdom or necessarily leave their churches. Rather, it is a spiritual exodus that is taking place.

It is not difficult to observe in the Scriptures the difference between the Bride and the remainder of the family of God.

For example:

There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. 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. (Song of Solomon 6:8,9)

After describing her sisters of lesser attainments, the Bride states:

I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. (Song of Solomon 8:10)

Again:

She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. (Psalms 45:14)

It can be seen in the actions and words of Christ that there indeed are such distinctions in the Kingdom of God. Jesus ministered to the multitudes, sent the seventy on their way, explained the parables to the twelve, and invited three of the twelve to witness the glory of the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus spoke of some who will reap a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.

To deny the uniqueness of the Bride among the household of Israel is to deny the central concept of the Song of Solomon.

To be continued.