The Bride of Christ 

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

Several biblical symbols represent the church. Among them is the church's calling as the holy, radiant, spotless Bride of Christ, the Lamb of God. Many times women in scripture picture the attributes of the church as that Bride. None is flawless, but each is beloved. Even so, the church, the Bride of the Lamb, though not without flaw, is dearly loved of our Lord. 

After the death of his wife Sarah, Abraham sent his servant to hand Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor, Abraham’s brother.  The purpose of the journey was to acquire a bride for Abraham’s son Issac.  

The servant asked God for a specific sign to guide his choice of the intended bride.  “Then he said, "O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.  Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, 'Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink'--let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master."  (Genesis 24:12-14 NKJV) 

Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah, the daughter of Nabor came to the well.  When the servant asked her for water, she fulfilled the request by offering to water the camels as well.  “Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.” (Genesis 24:16 NKJV) 

We see Rebekah demonstrating several qualities of a mature Christian:  beauty, purity, servanthood, and hospitality. 

▪ beauty:  We are to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.  (1 Chronicles 16:29, 2 Chronicles 20:21, Psalm 29:2, and Psalm 96:9) Pretty is superficial.  Beauty emanates from within, from holiness. 

▪ purity: “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8 NKJV) It is in purity of heart that we can discern the heart and hand of God.    

 ▪ servanthood: “But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all" (Mark 9:34-35 NKJV).  We are called to serve not to be served.  Everything we do for the Lord has value in the Kingdom of God.  God’s blessings are on those who clean the toilets the same as on those who stand in the pulpit. 

▪ hospitality: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:2 NKJV).  Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”(Matthew 11:28 NKJV). We, too, are to offer rest and comfort to those in need 

Rachel was the beloved wife of the patriarch Jacob.  Her Hebrew name, Rochel, is numerically equivalent to the phrase “and there was light.”  In her features and in her demeanor was light; she illuminated the lives of those in her presence. 

Like Rachel, we are to bring light into the darkness of our age. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16). 

The story of Leah, the first wife of the patriarch Jacob, begins in Genesis 29:16: “Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.  Leah's eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. Now Jacob loved Rachel”. 

Scriptures tell us, “When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren” (Genesis 29:31 NKJV).  Jacob’s sons became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.  Leah was the mother of six of those tribes. 

Through the life of Leah, God teaches that the joy and blessing of the Lord can be ours, not necessarily, because of our circumstances.  In truth, the joy and the blessing of the Lord can be often ours, in spite, of our circumstances.  The blessings on Leah’s life include eternal blessings for those choosing to walk with the Lord. Leah is an ancestress of Jesus. 

Who prepares the Bride? 

 
   "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." (Revelation 19:7-8) 

 
  The Bride must make herself ready. Righteousness has been bestowed upon the Bride.  It is only through cooperation with the Holy Spirit that we are able make ourselves ready by walking in that righteousness and bringing righteousness into our surroundings.  Our righteousness is possible only through the grace of God, but we are to grow in grace and knowledge and determine to become more Christ-like in our walk. 

 
   Romans 3:10 reminds us that left to our own devices, "There is none righteous, no, not one”.  If none are righteous, how can we possibly prepare ourselves for our Bridegroom? 

 
   Matthew 19:26 declares: "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. "The preparation of the Bride involves the Bride's living, moving and having our being in the Holy Spirit of God (Acts 17:28). 

 
   The preparation of Queen Esther exemplifies this process. "Now the young woman pleased him (the king), and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of women." (Esther 2:9.) 

 
   The seven maidservants represent the Holy Spirit, the seven ministries or spirits of God as detailed in Isaiah 11:2: His presence, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and reverence for holiness. 

 
   As symbols of God's Holy Spirit, the maidservants become the provision needed by Esther in her preparation to become the bride of the king. 

 
 

   Just as cooperation with the seven maidservants was necessary for the preparation of Esther, the preparation of the Bride of the Lamb of God is a cooperative relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Bride.  As we cooperate more fully with the Holy Spirit who indwells us, as we learn more and more to live and move and have our being in Him, we become more and more the glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27.) 

 
   May we desire to be dressed in the fine linen which symbolizes the righteous acts of the saints. 
  May we prepare ourselves for our Bridegroom.

 Moving Upward toward Civility Updated Again

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

           

            (I first published this piece in November 2013.  I published it again in February 2017. I am updating it once more.)

We are today a culture of the uncontrolled tongue. News reporting too often becomes a shouting match.  Children have been bullied into suicide by the words of others.  Politics has degenerated into blame shifting and name calling. Comedy seethes with insults and character assassination. Many people go for days and weeks without hearing a kind word.  Incivility is devouring us and serves only to exacerbate the trials of our lives.

            We live in a world that is famished for an uplifting word.  It is time for the family of God to arise, speak up and speak forth words of kindness, life, and solution.   Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32--NKJV)

            While we must exercise our freedom of speech, we must also endeavor to speak the truth in love and to choose our words in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Although the following suggestions would be useful on the national and international level, they are beneficial on the grassroots level as well.  It is at the grassroots that the reformation back to civility must begin. 

        Let's agree together in prayer: “Lord, please send civility to our world, and let it begin with me.  I desire to speak out of Your love rather than out of my fear, low self esteem, anger and disappointment.”

Suggestions for more civility in dialogue:

1.     “Before we get any further into this discussion, let me point out where I agree with you.”

2.    “I appreciate the thought and effort you have put into this.”

3.    “We can disagree and still be friends.”

4.    “I am sure that if we put our heads together, we can come up with a solution that we can agree on.”

5.    “Please go ahead and share your concerns.  Then give me an opportunity to share mine.”

6.    “I have a problem with some of your ideas.  Can you help me to understand your thoughts?”

7.    “Let’s have this discussion over  lunch.”                                                                                                                                                                                   

8.    “Please” and “thank you” are still politically correct phrases.  So is, “It’s good to see you.” 

9.    Nearly everyone responds positively to a sincere smile.

Scripture admonishes us to pray for those in authority over us even if we don’t like their policies:  

     ^“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions,and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” (1Timothy 2:1-3--NKJV).

What a thought:  I am more likely to lead a quiet and peaceable life if I pray for people, including those in authority, than if I complain about them. 

One of my favorite prayer-hymns is “Turn My Heart” by Lynn Deshazo based on Proverbs 21:1, “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” 

Remembering that in His kingdom, we are all called to be kings and priests, we must first sing this song over ourselves.  Cultural transformation must begin with me.

Turn My Heart

By Lynn Deshazo

Turn my heart O Lord
Like rivers of water
Turn my heart O Lord
By Your hand
Till my whole life flows
In the river of Your Spirit
And my name brings honor
To the Lamb.

When we have allowed the Lord to turn our hearts, we can ask Him to turn the hearts of our leaders.  We can pray again with on a few word changes:

We will then be praying for the Lord’s agenda and not our own.

     Our Lord Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:35-37--NKJV)

Insults, insinuations and invective are idle words. Idle words do nothing to change anyone's opinion.  Remember "Insults are the last resort of insecure people with a crumbling position trying to appear confident." (Wisdom Quotes)

     Father God, today I pray Your word over my life and the lives of others around me.  ”Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14--NKJV)

 

Considering the Mark of the Beast 

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

We know we are in the end times or seasons of the Lord.  However, we do not know how close we are to the ending of the end times.  One of the concerns of many in the Body of Christ is, as always, the mark of the beast mentioned in Revelation 13.  Are tattoos the mark of the beast?  What about body piercing and vaccinations?  I don’t know the definitive answers to questions such as these.   

I do know that the enemy cannot sneak in and give a Christian the mark and, thus, condem that person to hell. Ephesians 1:13-14 is one of several scriptures that negate that thought: “in whom also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”  As a friend of mine once said, “The devil cannot sneak up behind you and steal you from Jesus.” 

Two scriptures, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament, when taken together can us some insight into the mark of the beast. 

Deu 6:4-8: “Hear, O, Israel. Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.  And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart. you shall carefully teach them to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” 

“And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Because of this verse, Orthodox Jewish men have, from ancient times unto the present, bound scriptures to their wrists and foreheads in small boxes called phylacteries whenever they enter into morning and evening prayers.   

The phylacteries are reminders that our thoughts guide what we do and where we walk. Proverbs  23:7 “for as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” 

Now, let’s consider Revelation13:15-16: “ And there was given to it (the second beast) to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might both speak, and might cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.  And it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark on their right hand, or in their foreheads.” 

“To receive a mark on their right hand, or in their foreheads.” 

Oh, be careful little mind what you think. 

Oh, be careful little hands what you do. 

Oh, be careful little feet where you walk.