37.What will Christ present to Himself?

A glorious Church, a Church without any spot, a Church without any wrinkle, a Church having no blemish of any kind whatever, a Church that is holy and blameless.

The Church of today in not in unity and filled with the Glory of Christ; in fact, it is divided into many competing factions.

The Church of today is full of spots.

The Church of today is full of wrinkles.

The Church of today is full of blemishes of all kinds.

The Church of today is neither holy nor blameless.

If such a discrepancy exists between what the Scripture states and what actually is a fact, we know that one of two events will take place: (1) the Lord Jesus will not present the Church of today to Himself; or (2) the Lord Jesus will purify the Church of today so He can present it to Himself. Which is it going to be?

It is our opinion, and we think it is based on the Scriptures, that the Lord Jesus will bring His Church to the perfection that the Word teaches. It is not the way of God to begin a work and leave it unfinished. We have several passages that teach us that Christ is both the Author and the Finisher of our salvation.

The authority and power that flow from the cross of Calvary perform a work in preparing the Bride of the Lamb. The gifts and ministries that flow from the ascended Christ also have a part to play in bringing us to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

John, Chapter 17 tells us that the Glory of God will bring the Body of Christ into the unity of the Godhead. There are other passages that indicate it will be the sufferings of the great tribulation that will finally purify the Church so it will be prepared to be received by Christ.

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning (Isaiah 4:4).

Sufferings make us worthy of the Kingdom of God. We must suffer in order to enter the Kingdom of God.

So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer (II Thessalonians 1:4,5).

Notice in the above passage that our sufferings are the judgment of God on us in advance of the Day of Judgment that will fall upon the world. The judgments that come on us are chastening and purifying us so we will not be condemned with the world; so we may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which we are suffering.

We find the same concept of early judgment falling on the saints, in the fourth chapter of I Peter. Such early judgment is necessary if we have any hope of becoming the Wife of the Lamb without blemish of any kind.

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin (I Peter 4:1).

How is the Wife of the Lamb chastened and prepared for His coming? By suffering in the flesh.

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:16,17).

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby (Hebrews 12:11).

The Scriptures are clear that suffering cleanses our personality. Christ Himself learned obedience to the Father through the things He suffered.

It appears, from the seventh chapter of the Book of Revelation that the great tribulation will produce a cleansed company of worshipers:

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of [the] great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

Three brave young Israelites were bound and cast into the fiery furnace. They walked from the fire freely, having suffered no harm, because the flames had burned only their bondages.

First will come the latter, harvest rain in order to bring both the wheat and the tares to full stature. Then the burning sun of persecution and tribulation will harden the mature stalks so they can be harvested.

It is neither scriptural nor reasonable to state that the Church of today is ready to be received by the Lord. But before Jesus returns, the Church will be made ready, according to the Word of God.

Back to Study the Book of Ephesians

Back to Chapter Five......