Tag: remnant

Categories
Examining Biblical Scripture Watchman on Alert BLOG

The Bride of Christ

Who is the Bride of Christ and where does that phrase come from?

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins

Matthew 25 begins,

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.”

“Afterward the other virgins came along also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

The bridegroom is Jesus, the virgins are brides; but what about men who follow Jesus? Although we are in an age of increased liberalities in society and some are taking those liberalities and applying them to the Gospel, am I advocating marriage between men? Nope. Nor am I proposing women take a  man’s role as groom so that men become brides. Well then, this bridegroom/bride analogy leads us, I think, to a reasonable question: How are men to relate the the bride analogy? Is it important?

The term “Bride of Christ” is a phrase that does not actually appear in the Bible. It suggests that the Church (ie the followers of Jesus) is the bride, since Jesus is the bridegroom, and this supports the Matthew 25 scripture above. The beauty, grace, and surrender of the bride offers a clear relational context to the bridegroom who is the faithful love, friend, protector of his bride. But is it masculine? Doesn’t seem so to me. So I wonder, do men have a problem relating to it?

Some phrases we adopt are not necessarily Biblical; an easy way to avoid assumptions and misdirections is to look up phrases we are keen on to see where they appear — if they appear — in scripture. In the case of the marriage analogy, I raise the question of masculinity because as we walk in the Spirit, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). In other words, gender doesn’t matter to GOD!

Finally, as an afterthought and in the desire to remove human assumption, it is possible that the virgins are a collection of people, both men and women, when Jesus refers to the virgins: innocents. For Jesus does not call these people brides — we have done that. He merely refers to the bridegroom who is coming and the virgins who are waiting. We have filled in the rest. Note however, Revelation 22:17 does seem to refer to the Church as a bride, and so this afterthought is most likely just a diversion.

The Bride is to prepare… for what?

To introduce this concept of “Preparing the Bride” and how I’ve come to the conclusion the emphasis in this Blog needs to shift in that direction, you might like to start here:

https://laruspress.com/preparing-the-bride-from-watchman-on-alert/

and then come back to this post.

This blog is for men and for women who seek to grow, to learn, to discover more about ourselves, our faith and our Jesus. Time does seem to be growing short and so I believe it is time I gear what I write to preparing myself and preparing others for Jesus’ inevitable return.

What do we need to prepare?

  1. total surrender to the Holy Spirit and the Word of GOD
  2. the oil of the Holy Spirit
  3. readiness for where GOD wants our attention and focus
  4. fellowship to help each other as we all prepare
  5. alertness to the truth and a willingness to lay down our assumptions about the Gospel and the Word of GOD.

The Remnant

As we live in the End Times, not knowing when Jesus’ return will be yet living as though it is tomorrow, we are the remnant, the ones who are sold out for Jesus. To walk in the Spirit, without compromise, without fear, without fleshly desires, is our goal. We pray, we praise, we trust GOD.

Come Lord Jesus, come.

Categories
Examining Biblical Scripture

Living in the FULLNESS of GOD

There’s SO MUCH More!

It’s 2020. It’s a new decade. Let’s live it with full vision….

Recently, I was sitting in a Bible School session which my hubby runs. We were investigating Ephesians Chapter 3 (after two previous sessions looked at Ephesians Chapters 1, 2).

The session ran for 80 minutes so I won’t capture it all here. And anyway, it was exploratory and interactive, so the dynamics would be lost. But here in a nutshell is the point Alan led the group to…

We are not tapping into the fullness — in any way, shape or form — of what GOD has for us.

The Powerful Sun

The Jewish/Hebrew people have characteristically given so much innovation, creativity, technology, scientific discover to the world. Some has been for good, some destructive, but all based on genius. Their contribution and award is disproportionate to their relatively tiny population, and yet, they keep investigating, exploring, inventing, creating and giving. That is part of the covenanted promise of GOD to His people of Israel, both historically and currently. 

And we too, as followers of Jesus, have that same inheritance, albeit only through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We aren’t even scraping the surface of the ingenuity and blessing GOD has given to us. And we need to acquire it, now, for these end days and times.

…. “to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of GOD…” (Ephesians 3:19)

The Father has given to us and yet we are not acquiring the fullness. It comes through the Holy Spirit and yet many of us reject the move of the Holy Spirit in these days because they do not see it.

Yet, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

In Genesis, the Father promises to Abraham as many heirs as the stars in the sky. And in Genesis 27, Isaac passes on all the blessing of Abraham and Isaac to Jacob.

We have inherited the blessings of GOD’s people the Jews. We are a part of the heirs of Abraham. We have received the Holy Spirit as we confessed our sins and committed our lives to Jesus. He is our helper, our comforter. Without him, we are not saved. But with him, we can do so much more, discover so much more, understand so much more, invent so much more, contribute so much more than we are currently. 

At the end of the study of Ephesians Chapter 3, I suddenly had an “ah ha” moment. It isn’t provable but it is profound, if it is correct….


Jesus, the head of the church, is waiting for his bride, the church. We are nowhere near ready. What if, he is simply waiting for us… some of us, any of us, to be ready: Clothed in the Spirit and living and working in his power, might, authority, wisdom and gifting… before he can return.

It isn’t by power or might that we learn, grown and give, but by his Spirit. Let us put on the Spirit of Christ then, let us be his bride, clothed in his righteousness but fully surrendered, fully serving, living in the total and complete fullness of GOD.

Hallelujah, come LORD Jesus.

But first, there is so much more we need to receive. Let us be willing to lay down our lives totally and completely, to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, to walk in his way, and to “be filled with all the fullness of GOD.” 

Amen

Categories
Examining Biblical Scripture

A Remnant: Ready to be Reached

A Remnant: Ready to Reach…. 

In many churches all around the world you will find individuals who regularly attend Church meetings, enjoy the fellowship and receive the weekly message. In general they appreciate the ¨leaves¨ of the ¨Church Tree¨ if you will. But at the same time, they feel the need to go deeper.  They have a sense that there is so much more to their faith and have an awakening hunger for Truth. They want to discover the ¨Roots¨ of their faith.  Questioning, seeking, they often feel alone in this quest. Others on a similar journey don’t necessarily share their thoughts out of a fear of rejection or are themselves trying to avoid being seen as questioning of the church leadership and its teachings; after all they are the ones who have attended seminary, right?  Many though, don’t realise that we are in a season where YHVH is restoring ALL things before Yeshua/Jesus returns, as Prophesied by the Prophets of old. (Acts 3:21) He is not tarrying nor is He delayed; what was Prophesied in the Scriptures needs to be fulfilled. All needs to be Restored. We are now living in these Prophetic days. 

Yeshua/Jesus says in John 16:13, ¨But when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into ALL the truth¨. 

This is exactly what is taking place. This is indeed what is being stirred up in the hearts and spirits of men today, who are truly filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of Elohim. Truth is wanting to be revealed.

But mention needs to be made of the fact that if this ¨Truth¨ is being rejected by Believers, then from what spirit does that rejection emanate? I believe the time has come for those with knowledge and understanding of the ¨Roots¨ to have opportunities to share in churches and so reach the Remnant that is ready to receive and to delve deeper, as well as for those hungry to realise that they are not alone.  They are little lights scattered across the earth who, once united, will produce a strong necessary ¨light of Truth¨ in this ever-darkening world, where deception is ever-increasing.  The Remnant is getting ready. Are you?!?     Selah. 

© Toni Duplessis, 2018
Antoinette du Plessis (toni)
Servant of YeHoVaH  and 
Founder of Beit Yehudah-Marbella /House of Judah-Marbella