Bride or Harlot Church? (Part II of II)
This is second and final part of the Bride or Harlot Church series about the two churches. This post is about the true church, the bride of Christ dwelling in the wilderness.
While the harlot in Revelation 17 represents the false Church, the true church also has a representation found in Revelation 12. While the church is primarily Gentile she is grafted into Israel. This woman is full of glory in the heavenly places but she is hidden in a wilderness on the Earth. She is not highly visible like the harlot who is seated on the seven mountains.
The Bride of Yeshua Walks With a Hiddenness
The Bride of Yeshua walks with a hiddenness. The highly visible, entertainment/performance oriented, bill board promotion, program structured, mega ministry is NOT the Bride of Christ. The Bride of Christ does not grow through a quality business plan. How can these things be the building blocks of the church? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are reflected in the pathos of the harlot church. The Kingdom of God is not advanced through this world system. The early church built no buildings, published no books, distributed no bibles, yet they grew exponentially. The early church had no bible schools, discipleship programs, or leadership development tracts, yet they had quality men of God capable of serving the church. Today we see more money than ever poured into ministry objectives. There are more buildings, bible schools, discipleship programs, television ministries, books, bibles, conferences, television stations, planes, buses, boats, and trucks than ever before. Yet with all this the church is not growing but going backwards. But there is a group of called out ones who are hidden in the wilderness. She is built with heavenly material. The woman in revelation has the glory of the sun and the moon. She is full of glory, and like the moon, she reflects the Son.
The harlot in Revelation 17 is covered in fine clothing and gold jewelry. The woman in the wilderness is not. The Apostle Peter wrote some very practical instructions to wives. Those instructions actually tell us what the Bride of Christ should look like. Notice too, she is not to dress like the harlot in Revelation. Peter wrote, “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your ADORNMENT MUST NOT BE merely external—braiding the hair, and WEARING GOLD JEWELRY, or PUTTING ON DRESSES; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God” (I Peter 3:1-4 NASB). The traits of the church include chaste and respectful behavior which goes beyond words; complete submission to Yeshua; and a lack of external adornment as a means of drawing attention to herself. Lastly, the church is adorned with “a gentle (meek) and quiet spirit,” within the “hidden man of the heart”. It is very rare to find an assembly made of such imperishable traits, but these are the traits of the woman in the wilderness. Quite the opposite of the harlot church!
The Bride Becomes Like Her Bridegroom
The bride becomes like her Bridegroom. As the church progresses in His image, she will look nothing like the world. Yeshua withdrew Himself when they sought to make Him king (see John 6:15). In a like manner, the church will not be seduced to rule in Babylon. The more she looks like Yeshua, the more the world will despise her. While the harlot church is gaining respect and influence, the bride of Yeshua is like the following description of her Lord: “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (cf Isaiah 53:2,3).
Outwardly she appears poor and foolish. In reality, “The King’s daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is interwoven with gold” (Psalm 45:13 NASB). The bride of Yeshua knows that His kingdom is not of this world. She is like Moses, “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:26, 27).
THE WOMAN FLED INTO THE WILDERNESS
The true church who is the Bride of Messiah, will be found in the wilderness. This is what was meant by the words in Revelation; “Then THE WOMAN FLED INTO THE WILDERNESS where SHE HAD A PLACE PREPARED BY GOD, so that THERE SHE WOULD BE NOURISHED for one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Revelation 12:6 NASB). This is a place prepared by Yahweh just for her. It is a place where she “would be nourished.”
Yahweh spoke of how He would do a work in His people in the wilderness. He spoke to both Israel and the church through Hosea, saying, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her. Then I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt” (Hosea 2:14,15). He is not calling His church to the seven mountains, but to the wilderness. There He will speak kindly to her. In the wilderness she will find vineyards and become fruitful. She will drink the new wine of His love. Her hope will be found in “the valley of Achor (trouble)”. This season into which the Bride of Christ is entering involves trouble, affliction, a valley and the wilderness. But it is here that she will find her Lord. In this place she will sing as in the days of her youth “as in the day when she came from the land of Egypt.” The church will know the Lord as she did when she was born on the day of Pentecost. The older saints will return to their first love, knowing the joy they knew when they were first saved. Why? Because just as she was brought out of Egypt, she is now delivered from Babylon. Once this work is done, the Son will return for His Bride. It will be said, “Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved” (Song of Songs 8:5)
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More post by Nick Conner
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The Apostles, The Early Church and The Name of Yeshua
Bride or Harlot Church? (Part I of II)
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