A Baptist Bride
To take the position that all saved persons will be a part of
Christ’s Bride is the equivalent of saying, that one church
is as good as another, and that all will receive equal honor at
the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Beloved, this is just not so. If
this be true, then one might as well be a Catholic, or a member
of one of the many other organizations which call themselves New
Testament churches, but which, in fact, came into being fifteen,
or sixteen hundred years too late to be able to make claim to New
Testament authority. As the writer of the article from which I
have quoted rightly declares, all of the saved will be with the
Lord in glory, and will be present at the wedding supper, but all
will not be a part of the Bride, nor have the special honor which
will be accorded to the Bride of our Blessed Lord.
Jesus Established The Church
This Day-of-Pentecost origin of the church is too ridiculous to
merit consideration here. Jesus said that He — not the Holy
Spirit — would build His church (Mt. 16:17-18). See Luke
6:12-16 where Jesus, after all night prayer, called His disciples
to Him, and out of them, chose twelve whom He named apostles. See
I Cor. 12:28, where it is stated that the apostles were set in
the church first. Time nor space will permit a full discussion of
these things here; however there are too many evidences of the
fact that Christ set up the church while He was on earth to need
discussion here.
The Baptist Name
Although Baptists have been called by various names since the
days of the origin of the New Testament church, I believe that
the name Baptist, itself, as relating to the church, is
scriptural. John was called “Baptist” in the New
Testament. He was sent from God to prepare the material of which
Jesus would set up His church.
I believe that the one true church which Jesus set up was a
missionary Baptist church. We realize that today the name
“Baptist” is used promiscuously by many groups which
bear little likeness to the new Testament church in doctrine,
practice, organization, etc., etc. True missionary Baptists today
preach the same doctrines, have the same kind of organization,
hold to the same ordinances, have the same kind of government,
and recognize Jesus the one only true Head of the New Testament
church (Eph. 1:22-23).
The church is also called His body. Now a church, according to
the Greek New Testament can only be a visible assembly. Also the
word “body” (Greek: soma), which is used many, many
times to indicate the church, means a visible, organized body. It
cannot be invisible, nor universal. Jesus used the human body to
picture the structure of His church. The word is used 18 times in
I Cor. 12, and every time has to do with the church.
The Bride of Christ
The Bride of Christ will be composed of the aggregation of all
true New Testament churches — of
course, minus any unsaved who are members. I believe these true
New Testament churches are true missionary Baptist churches. As
to independent churches, we know that all New Testament churches
were independent. There were no Conventions, nor General
Organizations.
Two Opposing Positions
There are two common ob-jections raised pertaining to our claim
of a Baptist Bride:
1. Opponents will raise the questions as to
Paul’s words concerning Christ’s Bride, the church, as
given in Eph. 4:4 and 5:22-21.
In considering these scriptures, keep in mind that he is speaking
to a local church; and truly there is
only one church (one kind of church, as set up by our Lord). Also
he speaks of the church in an in-
stitutional sense, as we might say, “the home, the
school,” etc., without reference to any particular local
home, or church, or school.
As to Eph. 5:22-32, church is used in the same institutional
sense.
2. The second objection raised by opponents of
the Baptist Bride position is, that the impurities, and
disobedience of many of these churches, would disqualify them;
hence the Bride will have to be made up of all saved people.
This, too, I must deny, for Eph. 5:25-27 tells us: “Husbands
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave
himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, but holy, and
without blemish.”
So, my friends, when the Bride is presented to Jesus, the
Bridegroom, she will have been cleansed and made acceptable to
Him.
Other Evidences
Mat. 22:1-14 is an irrefut-able reference, for it is quite
obvious that this parable has to do with the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And, beloved, there were
“guests” at this wedding. Surely we never heard of a
happy wedding occasion, such as this, with only the Bride and
Groom present. Again, John 3:29 says, “He that hath the
bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom; which
standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the
bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is
fulfilled.”
It is easy to see that the friend of the bridegroom here is John,
but he was not a part of the Bride.
I also urge you to read carefully Psalms 45:8-17. Without doubt,
this is a picture of the happy occasion of the marriage, and
glorious reception. Verse 14 says: “She shall be brought
unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her
companions that follow here shall be brought unto thee.”
There is one other scripture which I shall mention here, which is
usually referred to by the anti-Baptist Bride group — also
by those who teach of an invisible, universal church, and that
everyone who is save is in the church, the body of Christ. This
is Heb. 12:22-23, where, in contrast with the law, we are told of
that to which we come.
“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to
the spirits of just men made perfect.”
Now it is quite obvious to those who know anything about the
Greek rendering of this, that “general assembly,” and
“church of the firstborn” are entirely two different
things. The word used for “general assembly” is
panaqurei, and means “the assembly of an entire
people.” This evidently refers to all of the saved of all
ages. However church, in “church of the firstborn,” is
ekklesia, and means “assembly.” It is the word used for
“church” throughout the New Testament. The
“general assembly,” and “church of the
firstborn” cannot be one, and the same.
Dear friends, I must stand upon the proposition, that the church
that Jesus built while He was here on earth was an old time
missionary Baptist church, and that the aggregation of such
churches will constitute the Bride of Christ. All who are
born-again will be there, but only the Bride will have the place
of highest honor. The Bride and the Bridegroom will not be alone
at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9); the saved of all
ages will be there. And what a time of glory it will be!
Hallelujah!
There are so-called churches today which believe and preach
salvation by works; the New Testament churches preached salvation
by grace, through faith, and that unto good works (Eph. 2:8-10,
Phil. 3:5).
There are so-called churches today which believe and preach
baptismal regeneration; the New
Testament church preached the new birth by the Spirit of God.
They made disciples, then baptized them.
There are so-called churches today which believe and preach
sprinkling or pouring for baptism; the New Testament churches
preached and practiced the only mode that can in any way be
called baptism; that is immersion in water.
There are so-called churches today which believe and preach
church government by a select few; the New Testament churches
practiced authority and rule by the church, believing in the
autonomy given the church.
There are many so-called churches today which believe and preach
that a group must belong to, or be affiliated with some
convention, or other organization; the New Testament churches
believed in the absolute independence of every local body of
Christ, and recognized no head except Jesus, the Founder of the
church (Eph. 2:23; Col. 1:18).
There are many so-called churches today which believe, preach,
and practice “open communion” that is, let any
Christian come and participate in that church’s observance
of the Lord’s Supper; the New Testament churches observed
the Lord’s Supper as a local church ordinance.
Limited time and space prevent our going on and on with this list
of differences in the practice of many so-called churches, and
that of old time New Testament Baptist churches today. But we
stand upon the Book. In the light of these things, I must say
that we believe in a true Baptist Bride. And we believe that the
bride will have the place of honor. Otherwise, one church is as
scriptural as another, and that is not so. All believers are
saved, but all are not in the Bride of Christ.
By M. H. Hall