Silas
Beloved of All
Your longing for revival and for the church to be washed and made pure as a bride is a biblical prayer that God delights to answer. I join you in asking the Lord to do this work in you, in your family, and in the church, both near and far, because He desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Scripture says to follow peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord, and that the pure in heart shall see God. It is important to understand what true holiness is. There is a tendency to reduce holiness to outward appearance, to rules about dress or other external standards. That outward view misses the heart of the matter. Jesus taught that what defiles a person comes from within, out of the heart. True holiness is a matter of the heart, a rightness of character before God. We should not reject the call to holiness because others have misused it. We are to aspire to live a pure life that is pleasing to Him.
That purity is beautifully pictured in the relationship of Christ and His church as a bridegroom and His bride. The New Testament presents the church as the bride of Christ, waiting for His coming. In Ephesians 5 we read that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself as a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish. This is that great mystery of Christ and the church. The Holy Spirit has been sent to woo and prepare that bride, much as a servant was sent to bring a bride for the promised son, and the bride He is gathering is already chosen by God and is beautiful in His eyes. The King desires her beauty because He has made her beautiful.
You prayed to be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright, and Revelation tells us that fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. That righteousness is first imputed to us through faith in Jesus Christ, by His one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. And then, out of pure motivation, we walk in the good works which God prepared beforehand for us to do. The bride goes with the bridegroom. He is coming first for His church and then will come with His saints. The hope of His coming is a purifying hope, and everyone who has this hope purifies himself, even as He is pure. We are to be holy as He is holy and pure as He is pure, not by our own rules or strength, for it is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit.
That work of the Spirit is practical. The will of God is your sanctification. By the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the flesh and learn to possess our own lives and bodies in sanctification and honor, set apart for the Lord and, if married, for our spouse alone. Holiness is the root of right character, and righteousness is the fruit seen in right conduct. The root must be there for the fruit to remain. God has delivered us so that we might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness all our days.
You also prayed for the ministry of reconciliation, both vertically with God and horizontally with others. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our trespasses against us, and He has given to us the same ministry. That reconciliation begins at the cross through Jesus, the one mediator between God and humanity, and it extends to unity among believers for which Jesus prayed in John 17. We are called to follow peace with all people while still walking in holiness, to be a holy people, His own possession, called out of darkness into His marvelous light to proclaim His excellencies. The world may not understand or may even oppose a life that seeks purity, but we are to walk in a way that is unblameable before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
So I pray with you that the Lord would shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that He would open the eyes of our understanding, and that we would love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves. May we continue in His word, so we know the truth that sanctifies us, and patiently pursue that holiness without which no one will see the Lord, making ourselves ready as a bride adorned for her husband, crying with the bride, come, Lord Jesus.
Scripture says to follow peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord, and that the pure in heart shall see God. It is important to understand what true holiness is. There is a tendency to reduce holiness to outward appearance, to rules about dress or other external standards. That outward view misses the heart of the matter. Jesus taught that what defiles a person comes from within, out of the heart. True holiness is a matter of the heart, a rightness of character before God. We should not reject the call to holiness because others have misused it. We are to aspire to live a pure life that is pleasing to Him.
That purity is beautifully pictured in the relationship of Christ and His church as a bridegroom and His bride. The New Testament presents the church as the bride of Christ, waiting for His coming. In Ephesians 5 we read that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself as a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish. This is that great mystery of Christ and the church. The Holy Spirit has been sent to woo and prepare that bride, much as a servant was sent to bring a bride for the promised son, and the bride He is gathering is already chosen by God and is beautiful in His eyes. The King desires her beauty because He has made her beautiful.
You prayed to be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright, and Revelation tells us that fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. That righteousness is first imputed to us through faith in Jesus Christ, by His one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. And then, out of pure motivation, we walk in the good works which God prepared beforehand for us to do. The bride goes with the bridegroom. He is coming first for His church and then will come with His saints. The hope of His coming is a purifying hope, and everyone who has this hope purifies himself, even as He is pure. We are to be holy as He is holy and pure as He is pure, not by our own rules or strength, for it is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit.
That work of the Spirit is practical. The will of God is your sanctification. By the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the flesh and learn to possess our own lives and bodies in sanctification and honor, set apart for the Lord and, if married, for our spouse alone. Holiness is the root of right character, and righteousness is the fruit seen in right conduct. The root must be there for the fruit to remain. God has delivered us so that we might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness all our days.
You also prayed for the ministry of reconciliation, both vertically with God and horizontally with others. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our trespasses against us, and He has given to us the same ministry. That reconciliation begins at the cross through Jesus, the one mediator between God and humanity, and it extends to unity among believers for which Jesus prayed in John 17. We are called to follow peace with all people while still walking in holiness, to be a holy people, His own possession, called out of darkness into His marvelous light to proclaim His excellencies. The world may not understand or may even oppose a life that seeks purity, but we are to walk in a way that is unblameable before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
So I pray with you that the Lord would shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that He would open the eyes of our understanding, and that we would love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves. May we continue in His word, so we know the truth that sanctifies us, and patiently pursue that holiness without which no one will see the Lord, making ourselves ready as a bride adorned for her husband, crying with the bride, come, Lord Jesus.
