Work Shop The First fruits of the Bride

Have you ever noticed the emphasis placed on David’s "mighty men"? It is remarkable that of all the various vocations pursued by the Jews, one of the principal distinctions was between David’s outstanding fighters and then the remainder of Israel . This emphasis on war persists in the New Testament with the exhortation to "fight the good fight of faith" and to "put on the whole armor of God." There is Zion , who comprise the warriors, and then Jerusalem .

One of the most deadening of the "grace" teachings is that because we are saved by grace and not our own efforts, we all shall receive the same reward; all have the same standing in the Kingdom of God Kingdom of God. This is not true. There are some for whom places at the right hand and left hand of Jesus Christ have been prepared. We know there shall be some who will be saved as by fire. There are the greatest and the least in the Kingdom of God Kingdom of God, according to the Lord Jesus. We realize that some reap Christ thirty-fold, some sixty, and some a hundred. There were the multitude, the seventy, the twelve, and finally the three on the Mount of Transfiguration. The second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation imply a division between the victorious saints and the remainder of the churches of Asia .

Predestination is not inevitability. If we do not diligently use the Kingdom talents we have been given, whether ten, or five, or one, what we have been given will be removed from us and given to another, and we shall be thrown into the outer darkness. This is what God has stated clearly.

Primary Scriptures

And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. (Judges 7:7)

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. (Rev 3:4)

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) (Rev 19:7-8)

I saw the Holy City , the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (Rev 21:3)

Essential Points of Emphasis

There is Old and New Testament evidence that the Christian Church will be divided temporarily into two segments, a militant remnant who will govern with the Lord during the thousand-year Kingdom Age, and then the balance of the Church who will descend together with the militant remnant as the new Jerusalem, the holy city.

Suggested References

The Church Within the Churches; Preparing to Appear with Christ; The Tabernacle of David

Follow up Activities

Answer Review Questions for this topic. 22

List additional Scriptures which support this concept.

Summarize this topic in your own words in one paragraph.

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