Mark Pavlot
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Joined: 07/03/2010 Location: United States
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Posted: 07/13/2010 at 8:18pm
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HIS BRIDE, THE OVERCOMERS By Seeley Kinne By Seeley Kinne
HIS BRIDE, THE OVERCOMERS
By Seeley Kinne In
each dispensation, according to revelation as then given, the Lord
provided a way to attain perfection (growth into spiritual maturity).
Also, there were “representative” men who were examples of what the Lord
required.
“Enoch walked with God.” Genesis 5:22a
“Noah
was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with
God.” Genesis 6:9b
“The Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him,
I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be you perfect.” Genesis
17:1b
“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job;
and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and
eschewed evil.” Job 1:1
The Scriptures show that Jesus required
perfection (growth into spiritual maturity).
“Be you therefore
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew
5:48
The word “perfect” refers to our being spiritually mature.
Paul also testified to this, and to the faithful assistance that God
will render to all who seek to fulfill His will.
“And the very
God of peace sanctify you wholly.” I Thessalonians 5:23a
Experimental
blessings gained in one dispensation move into the following age, where
they are enlarged and enjoyed. For example, Abraham became the father
of all those who are “justified by faith” (Romans 4:8-16). The
patriarchal period required a perfect walk with God. The dispensation of
Law required the same, with additional ceremonial and moral obedience
and sanctity. The Spirit dispensation requires a higher sanctity, along
with an obedience to the leadings and workings of the Holy Spirit.
We
are living in “the time of restoration” (Ephesians 1:10-11). Our
privileges of experience are the highest ever known, since the
attainments of the past increase, in the present. Healing, health,
holiness, a walk with God, and a life in the Spirit are ours, bequeathed
to us by past dispensational grants. All these are by way of
restoration and are given us in a higher degree than formerly. And yet
other “new” dispensational privileges, are being added as our
inheritance in Christ.
Jesus Christ is taking from among men a
“Bride” to Himself. This is a great condescension. For the Christ to
take upon Himself the nature and form of man was certainly very
humbling. But to take a Bride company from among men and then live
through eternity with this Bride, in close association and fellowship,
is beyond the comprehension of finite creatures.
A common
teaching is that all classes of believers, regardless of their lack in
attainment, will be part of the “Bride of Christ.” His Kingdom is
altogether different and apart from the earth realm in which man is
found. How entirely unreasonable then, to suppose that Jesus Christ
would consider and accept as His Bride, immature Christians, who have
never sighted, entered, or operated on this higher spiritual plane. The
conduct of affairs in His Kingdom will be on this high Spirit plane.
We
cannot sow in the realm of the natural and reap in the realm of the
Spiritual. “Like begets like” is an inherent law. “Do men gather grapes
of thorns, or figs of thistles” (Matthew 7:16b)?
“Let us be glad
and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is
come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that
she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen
is the righteousness of saints. And he saith to me, Write, Blessed are
they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he says to
me, These are the true sayings of God.” Revelation 19:7-9
“His
wife has made herself ready.” The Lord is seeking out and qualifying a
Bride. A clear vision and a practical understanding of the state and
experience which is the divine standard for this calling is essential,
if one is to enter this high calling. We must know and attain to God's
requirements.
In past ages, to prepare a bride as a queen for
her intended King, there were elaborate, prolonged schooling and various
preparations that were required of her. Such an occasion is recited in
Esther 2:8-13. See further Psalm 45:13-14.
Insight into the
character and nature of Jesus Christ will help us to understand the
characteristics He expects to find within His Bride. Certainly He will
require her to be of like character with Himself. This speaks of our
becoming an overcomer, by which we rise up into a state of union with
Him, fully prepared to become His Bride.
“Learn of Me, for I am
meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.” Matthew
11:29b
The rest of God that is described in Hebrews 4:1-10 is
the result of our having ceased from all independent, self-activity.
Jesus lived in this state of rest from the works of man. It was this
perfect state of union with His Father which enabled Him to say:
“Verily,
verily, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He
sees the Father do: for what things soever He does, these also does the
Son likewise.” John 5:19b
“When you have lifted up the Son of
man, then shall you know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself;
but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things. And He that sent
Me is with Me: the Father has not left Me alone; for I do always those
things that please Him.” John 8:28-29
“Believe you not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak to you I
speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwells in Me, He does the
works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else
believe Me for the very works' sake.” John 14:10-11
The
Father's indwelling of the Son was the foundation of their union. Jesus
prayed that His disciples also should be brought into this oneness.
“As
You have sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the
world ... That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in
You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that
You have sent Me.” John 17:18, 21
The Father and Son, by the
Holy Spirit, seeks complete control of the whole man, physical, soul,
and spirit. Nothing less than a union such as this “divine indwelling”
and “co-working” could satisfy God. This alone will constitute an
acceptable Bride for Christ.
“Treat one another with the same
spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus. Though He was divine by
nature, He did not set store upon equality with God, but emptied Himself
by taking the nature of a servant: born in human guise and appearing in
human form, He humbly stooped in His obedience even to die, and to die
on the cross.” Philippians 2:1-8 Moffatt
If He, the “Worthy
One,” so deeply humbled Himself, how lowly a place is our due?
Jesus
humbled Himself and allowed these who accused Him as a blasphemer to
spit on Him, smite Him, scourge Him, and crown Him with thorns. He
allowed them to falsely bow as they decked Him with royal robes, and to
nail Him to the cross between criminals. Although holy and undefiled, He
took the defenseless attitude of a lamb, and became the victim for our
sins.
The whole attitude of Jesus was entirely unselfish. “The
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” He never
did a selfish act. Never were the works of the flesh manifested in His
life. Let no one imagine that an intimate association with Christ is
possible without being saved to the uttermost.
“These are they
which follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among
men, being the first-fruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth
was found no guile, for they are without fault before the Throne of
God.” Revelation 14:4b
“To him that overcomes will I grant to
sit with Me in My Throne.” Revelation 3:21a
To “overcome” means
to experience victory, to master. The absence of a qualifying or
modifying word means that we are to overcome in all ways, and in
everything.
“Now thanks be to God, which always causes us to
triumph in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2:14a
This complete overcoming
describes the way to a seat with Christ in His Throne. Therefore, it is
important to have a clear understanding of what it is to overcome, and
the means and methods by which it is accomplished. Chapters two and
three of the book of Revelation describe several phases of overcoming.
The Church at Ephesus was commended, but with one serious reproof:
“You
have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you are
fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” Revelation 2:4b-5a
A
return to their first love and first works was their only means of
overcoming. Today, there are those who make a great showing outwardly,
but have lost their original passionate love for Jesus, and the control
of the Holy Spirit over their lives. If in any way, we are among these,
return and restoration must be our first step, if we are to become
overcomers.
The Churches at Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira, also
had much for which to be commended, but the Lord saw that there was
among them the doctrines of Balaam, Jezebel, and Nicolaitanism. It is
vain to think of being overcomers while linked with these false
doctrines. Notice that Jesus is speaking in Revelation 2:24, to those
who have not known the depths of Satan. They are admonished to “hold
fast” and a promise is given them.
“And he that overcomes, and
keeps My works to the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”
Revelation 2:26
In the Church at Sardis were those who were due
for judgment. Their names would be blotted out (Revelation 3:5). If the
Church at Philadelphia held out, they would get the crown. Verse 12
speaks of the Bride of Christ.
The Laodicean Church which was
rich and in need of nothing, in their own eyes, was “wretched, blind,
miserable and naked” in the Lord's estimation. They were spiritually
blind and needed heaven's eye salve, the Spirit of revelation. They
thought earthly treasure was great riches, but of the “gold of faith,”
the coin of the heavenly kingdom, they possessed little. To be
spiritually naked, while outwardly clad in satin is a terrible
deception. The Lord told them to buy of Him white raiment which speaks
of spiritual garments.
It was this high estimate of their
condition which caused them to settle into a self-satisfied carnal
sleep. They became lukewarm which is to the Lord, a sickening condition.
Many who are busy with valid responsibilities are spiritually lukewarm
and lacking in godliness.
If we do not heed His warning to buy
of Him “gold tried in the fire,” we too will be found of Him with only a
pile of good works. That which appears to be gold to us may be only a
stack of straw to be burned. Although straw and gold are the same color,
gold is purified through refining fires, whereas straw is consumed.
In
order to become His Bride, we must awake and overcome lest we find
ourselves to have fallen short of His calling.
__________________ MarkPavlot.OCM@gmail.com
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