Dear Brethren,
The Bride of Christ is a common theme in the New Testament. Here are a few scriptures that speak to this.
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 11:2
“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”
Revelations 21:8-10
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath 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 unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
Revelation 19:7-9
In fact there is an entire book about the bride of Christ, called the Song of Solomon, which typologically foreshadows our spiritual courtship and marriage to Jesus Christ.
“I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.”
Song Of Solomon 5:1,2
The Tabernacle experience (divine love) is much like the relationship that develops between a man and woman as they fall in love. As the relationship grows deeper their mutual love and attraction intensifies until they cannot bear to be apart and must marry in order to know each other fully. Spiritually speaking, divine love draws us to Jesus in such a way that we cannot bear to live without Him and we must know Him as we are known. A by-product of Heavenly love is that it draws the members of the body of Christ together in the bonds of love too.
The Devil fears the unity that divine love brings more than anything else because a unified body of Christ is a powerful body of Christ.
We read in the book of Acts 4:32,
“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.”
Acts 4:32
Many groups down through the centuries have tried to practice “all things in common” like those believers in the book of Acts, but it has never worked out very well. The reason why these communes have never achieved “all things in common” is because the communal spirit in the book of Acts was not the result of earthy agreement but merely a byproduct of the divine love of the Holy Spirit. First century Christians experienced as a group the spiritual fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles which is divine love. The Tabernacle experience is what gave them one heart and one soul making “having all things in common” not only possible but inevitable.
In the book of Acts three separate and distinct spiritual experiences took place in the new born church. Salvation came on Passover, the infilling of the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, and (I believe) that oneness with God came during the feast of Tabernacles. It is my spiritual sense that the church began to experience Tabernacles beginning with Peter and John at the gate beautiful. As it is written,
“Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God:”
Acts 3:1-9
Peter, like Jesus, demonstrated the power of God because of his “oneness with God” leading to a chain of events that naturally culminated in everyone having all things in common. In fact, Peter became so “one” with Jesus we read,
“Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.”
Acts 5:15
The Tabernacle experience is the final stage of becoming one with God. The chief characteristic of this experience is divine love and through it divine power. Oneness with God will be shared by all those who become the bride of Christ.
We are perfected through a love relationship with Jesus and this love relationship develops through experiencing Him not just reading about Him. Letters between lovers are fine for a while, but as love grows it demands expression. People talk about becoming love sick for one another because they cannot bear to be apart. Likewise, as our love relation grows with Jesus we will long for Him with such intensity that we cannot bear to be away from Him for a moment. This is why the body of Christ will again dwell together and desire to have all things in common, because as we become the manifested sons of God we will not be able to bear being apart from Him in each other. It is only at that point will we be ready to become God’s wife. As it is written,
“For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.”
Isaiah 54:5
The Bride of Christ is a common theme in the New Testament. Here are a few scriptures that speak to this.
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 11:2
“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”
Revelations 21:8-10
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath 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 unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
Revelation 19:7-9
In fact there is an entire book about the bride of Christ, called the Song of Solomon, which typologically foreshadows our spiritual courtship and marriage to Jesus Christ.
“I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.”
Song Of Solomon 5:1,2
The Tabernacle experience (divine love) is much like the relationship that develops between a man and woman as they fall in love. As the relationship grows deeper their mutual love and attraction intensifies until they cannot bear to be apart and must marry in order to know each other fully. Spiritually speaking, divine love draws us to Jesus in such a way that we cannot bear to live without Him and we must know Him as we are known. A by-product of Heavenly love is that it draws the members of the body of Christ together in the bonds of love too.
The Devil fears the unity that divine love brings more than anything else because a unified body of Christ is a powerful body of Christ.
We read in the book of Acts 4:32,
“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.”
Acts 4:32
Many groups down through the centuries have tried to practice “all things in common” like those believers in the book of Acts, but it has never worked out very well. The reason why these communes have never achieved “all things in common” is because the communal spirit in the book of Acts was not the result of earthy agreement but merely a byproduct of the divine love of the Holy Spirit. First century Christians experienced as a group the spiritual fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles which is divine love. The Tabernacle experience is what gave them one heart and one soul making “having all things in common” not only possible but inevitable.
In the book of Acts three separate and distinct spiritual experiences took place in the new born church. Salvation came on Passover, the infilling of the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, and (I believe) that oneness with God came during the feast of Tabernacles. It is my spiritual sense that the church began to experience Tabernacles beginning with Peter and John at the gate beautiful. As it is written,
“Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God:”
Acts 3:1-9
Peter, like Jesus, demonstrated the power of God because of his “oneness with God” leading to a chain of events that naturally culminated in everyone having all things in common. In fact, Peter became so “one” with Jesus we read,
“Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.”
Acts 5:15
The Tabernacle experience is the final stage of becoming one with God. The chief characteristic of this experience is divine love and through it divine power. Oneness with God will be shared by all those who become the bride of Christ.
We are perfected through a love relationship with Jesus and this love relationship develops through experiencing Him not just reading about Him. Letters between lovers are fine for a while, but as love grows it demands expression. People talk about becoming love sick for one another because they cannot bear to be apart. Likewise, as our love relation grows with Jesus we will long for Him with such intensity that we cannot bear to be away from Him for a moment. This is why the body of Christ will again dwell together and desire to have all things in common, because as we become the manifested sons of God we will not be able to bear being apart from Him in each other. It is only at that point will we be ready to become God’s wife. As it is written,
“For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.”
Isaiah 54:5
