| Death is the only answer.
What is the question? The question is, how will the Bride of Christ ever be ready for the Bridegroom? How will She ever be made pure and holy, spotless, and undefiled? For two thousand years the true church, the true bride, has had one desire, to make Herself ready for the soon returning King. For two thousand years many different paths have been traveled, but to no avail. One Way and one Way alone remains, proven by the failure of every other path. Luke 22:29 "I appoint a kingdom to you, as My Father appointed to Me." When Jesus spoke these words He was refering to the kingdom in which the first are last and the last are first. He was refering to His statement in Luke 22:27, "I am in your midst as One serving." Why is it that the King of kings and Lord of lords came as One serving? In order to be last so He might be exalted to the highest place at the right hand of the Father! Do we find in these brief statements of Christ the secret to life? I have been a Christian long enough now to realize that it is impossible for me in my human nature to be as one serving for very long before my flesh rebels. I can very easily emphathize with Paul as he wrote in Romans 7:24, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" What do you suppose is the answer? In order for us to rule as a Royal Priesthood in God's Kingdom, in order for us to be a part of the undefiled bride we must be as one serving. In order to be as one serving we must come to the unavoidable conclusion that the flesh must die, that we must be delivered from the body of this death. How are we doing in this? Here is a good test. How do you react when someone disagrees with you on a subject you hold dear? How do you react when someone attempts to bring even minor correction in your life? Does your flesh live? Who/what is leading you? Can you say in all honesty that you are led by the Spirit even half of the time? Matthew 7:13,14 Go in through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are the ones entering in through it. For narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way that leads away into life, and few are the ones finding it. Reckoning ourselves dead with Christ, our flesh having been nailed to the cross, and allowing Christ to be the life in these bodies is the only Way. This is Christ and all He lived and died for. Enter in to His complete work and rise up into newness of life through the narrow Way that He says only few will find. "Ho, all who are thirsty, all who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the gate is narrow that leads to everlasting life. Truly, few are those who find it. Will you be one of these?" |