The Preparation of the Bride
Message Four
The Bride—the Goal of the Lord’s Recovery
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture Reading:
Eph. 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
S.S. 8:13-14 O you who dwell in the gardens, My companions listen for your voice; Let me hear it. Make haste, my beloved, And be like a gazelle or a young hart Upon the mountains of spices.
I. The process of becoming holy in nature is the process of our organic salvation, beautifying us to be Christ’s beautiful, holy, and glorious bride—Eph. 5:25-27: (Monday)
A. Ephesians 5:25-27 reveals God’s full salvation, presenting Christ to us in three stages—Eph. 5:25-27.
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B. The beauty of the bride comes from the Christ who is wrought into the church and shines out from the church, so that He may be shown forth through the church—Isa. 43:7, Eph. 3:21. (Tuesday)
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II. The Lord’s major work in the recovery is the Lord’s real work, which is to prepare us to be His glorious bride; the church is beautified through the process of being made holy, this is by Christ as the life-giving Spirit, cleansing us by the washing of water in His word—Eph. 5:26-27: (Wednesday, Thursday)
A. Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the speaking Spirit; all that He speaks is the word that washes us; this refers not to Logos but to Rhema, the word that the Lord speaks to us now—Matt. 4:4, John 6:63, Rev. 2:7, 22:17a; cf. Isa. 6:9-10, Matt. 13:14-15, Acts 28:25-31.
B. The indwelling Christ as the life-giving Spirit constantly speaks a timely, present, and living word, metabolically washing away the old and replacing it with the new, producing an inner transformation—Eph. 5:26-27.
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III. Ephesians 5:27 reveals that the church as Christ’s bride will eventually become the glorious church, the church that shows forth God, “not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish”—Eph. 5:27. (Friday)
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IV. Ephesians 5:26-27 corresponds to Song of Songs 8:13-14; both reveal that through the Lord’s speaking to us, we are prepared to be His glorious bride, longing for His second coming—Eph. 5:26-27, Song of Songs 8:13-14: (Saturday)
A. Our life is based on the Lord’s word; our work is based on the Lord’s commandment; without the Lord’s word, there is no revelation, light, or personal knowledge concerning Christ as our King, our Lord, our Head, and our Husband; the entire life of a believer is tied to the Lord’s speaking—Rev. 2:7.
B. ”Come, Lord Jesus!” is the last prayer in the Bible; the entire Bible ends with our longing for the Lord’s coming again being expressed as a prayer—Rev. 22:20.
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Eph. 5:25-27 …[Christ] loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
S. S. 8:13-14 O you who dwell in the gardens, my companions listen for your voice; let me hear it. Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
Word of Appetizer
How do we become the beautiful, holy and glorious brides for Christ?
The process of dispositional sanctification is the process of our organic salvation as our beautification to become the beautiful, holy, and glorious bride for Christ. The church is being beautified through the process of sanctification by Christ as the life-giving Spirit cleansing us by the washing of the water in His word. Through such a washing process we are saturated with Christ and beautified by Christ to be His holy, beautiful, God-expressing bride, a bride without blemish or imperfection.
Spiritual Burden
The Lord’s primary work in the recovery is His genuine work to prepare us to be His glorious bride; apart from the continual, dispositional sanctification spoken of in Ephesians 5:26, there is no way for the bride to be prepared and, hence, no way for Revelation 19:7-9 to be fulfilled.
We must be beautified by Christ as the life-giving, speaking Spirit in our spirit; through the Lord’s speaking within us as the life-giving Spirit, we are becoming His glorious church.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The process of dispositional sanctification is the process of our organic salvation as our beautification to become the beautiful, holy, and glorious bride for Christ.
The Lord’s primary work in the recovery is His genuine work to prepare us to be His glorious bride; apart from the continual, dispositional sanctification spoken of in Ephesians 5:26, there is no way for the bride to be prepared and, hence, no way for Revelation 19:7-9 to be fulfilled.
Ephesians 5:27 reveals that the church as the bride of Christ will eventually become a glorious church, a God-expressing church, “not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish”.
Ephesians 5:26-27 matches Song of Songs 8:13-14; both reveal that it is by the Lord’s speaking to us that we are prepared to be His glorious bride with the desire for His second coming—“O you who dwell in the gardens, / My companions listen for your voice; / Let me hear it. / Make haste, my beloved, / And be like a gazelle or a young hart / Upon the mountains of spices”.
The Experience of Life
The indwelling Christ as the life-giving Spirit is always speaking an instant, present, living word to metabolically cleanse away the old and replace it with the new, causing an inward transformation. We are now in such a washing process in order that the church may be holy and without blemish.
Whenever He speaks, we realize His presence within us; Christ’s speaking is the very presence of the life-giving Spirit. Whenever we take time to behold the beauty of the Lord in His word by pray-reading and musing upon His word (Eph. 6:17-18; Psa. 119:15), He becomes our beauty, and we are beautified by Him to become the house of His beauty so that He also may be beautified.
Practice and Application
We need to continually behold the beauty of the Lord in the church as the house of His beauty so that we may be transformed from glory to glory, beautified by the Lord, to become His beautiful bride with Him as our diadem of beauty. day by day, morning and evening, we need to come to the Bible and be cleansed by the laver of the water in the word.
We are prepared to be His glorious bride with the desire for His second coming. In the work that we as the lovers of Christ do for Him as our Beloved, we need to maintain our fellowship with Him, always listening to Him.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Sanctifying is by cleansing, cleansing is by washing, washing is by water, and water is in the word (Eph. 5:25-27)
(Please illustrate that Christ’s purpose in loving the church and in giving Himself up for the church was to sanctify her by the washing of the water in the word.)
T2 After the church has come into existence, the church needs the sanctifying (Eph. 5:25-27)
(Please illustrate that the process of sanctification includes saturation, transformation, growth, and building up.)
Day 2
T1 Christ will be both glory and beauty to His elect people (Isa. 28:5; Psa. 27:4)
(Please illustrate that the difference between a crown and a diadem.)
T2 When Christ presents the church to Himself, the church will not be a strong man; she will be a beautiful bride (Eph. 5:26-27)
(Please illustrate that the spots and wrinkles do not affect the function of the church. However, they very much detract from the beauty of the church.)
Day 3
T1 The readiness of the bride involves the work of building corporately (Eph. 5:26; Rev. 19:7)
(Please illustrate that those who make up the bride must not only be mature in life; they must also be built together as the one bride.)
T2 As the life-giving Spirit, the Lord is not silent; He is constantly speaking (Eph. 5:26)
(Please illustrate that His speaking is the living word, the living word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is our wonderful Christ Himself. )
Day 4
T1 Christ sanctifies the church by cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word (Eph. 5:26; John 7:38-39)
(Please illustrate that the washing of the water here is different from the washing of the redeeming blood of Christ.)
T2 In the New Testament two Greek words are used to denote word. One is logos, the other is rhema (John 7:38-39; Rev. 22:17)
(Please illustrate that the difference between these two words.)
Day 5
T1 The beauty of the bride (Rev. 19:8-9)
(Please illustrate that our beauty is not our behavior. Our only beauty is the shining out of Christ from within us.)
T2 On the day of his wedding, a bridegroom cares much more for the beauty of his bride than for her ability (Rev. 19:8-9)
(Please illustrate that in the church life our beauty will eventually be much more important to the Lord than our function.)
Day 6
T1 The union and communion between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as the bride in their bridal love (S. S. 8:13-14)
(Please illustrate that as we are working with Him, we need to maintain our fellowship with Him, always listening to Him.)
T2 The life of the believers hinges totally upon the Lord’s speaking (S. S. 8:13)
(Please illustrate that without the Lord’s words, they will not have any revelation, light, or knowledge.)
