"And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” Revelation 21:9-10
It is obvious in the above passage that the city is equivalent to the bride. The bride of Christ consists of every believer who has ever lived. Being part of the bride of Christ one day is not dependent on church records or by who baptized the person who baptized you. If you are saved, then you can rest assured that you will be part of the bride of Christ.
What am I talking about? Well, there’s a teaching out there that says you can’t be part of the bride of Christ unless you are part of a Baptist church. Some say that any independent Baptist church will do, but many go a step further and teach that most churches are not real churches unless they have a pedigree or genealogy that goes all the way back to John the Baptist. They say that the church has to have been started by another church that was a “true church,” going all the way back.
They think that you have to be a baptized member of one of these special churches, and that you have to be baptized by someone who was baptized by someone, going all the way back to John the Baptist. ABA churches and others that subscribe to this doctrine proudly refer to themselves as “Baptist Briders.”
Not only are these people wrong about the bride of Christ, but this man-made doctrine doesn’t get anybody into heaven. It doesn’t get anyone on fire for God, therefore it is unprofitable. James Chapter Two and other scriptures warn us about people who are all talk. Being a part of a church that claims to be superior due to some kind of unbroken succession is not profitable to others when that church isn’t doing the works. Briders love to pontificate about how significant their church is, but show me one Baptist Bride church that’s a soul-winning church!
What do Roman Catholics, Orthodox members, Jews, and Baptist Briders all have in common? They all want to tell you they are the chosen ones based on some kind of spiritual or physical genealogy. We believe that we are the spiritual descendants of great men like Abraham and John the Baptist, and we believe that by faith, but the Bible tells us to avoid genealogies:
“But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” Titus 3:9
Most people don’t subscribe to the extreme position that Baptist Briders take, but unfortunately many are still messed up on the doctrine of the bride of Christ. They will try to say that the bride of Christ only consists of church-age saints, and that only New Testament believers currently make up the bride of Christ.
Is the church the bride today if the wedding is going to happen in the future? No. A bride becomes the bride on the wedding day; therefore, the statement, “The church is the bride of Christ,” is a false statement. The following verse is a prophecy about a future event:
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb IS COME, and his wife hath made herself ready.” Revelation 19:7
When John saw the future heavenly city in the book of Revelation, he not only saw us, but he saw the Old Testament saints, too! Again, the Lamb’s wife will consist of every believer who has ever lived. It has nothing to do with being a Baptist or being part of a particular church.
Being wrong about who makes up the bride of Christ and when the bride becomes the bride is not a deal breaker when looking for a church to attend, but stay away from “brider” churches that over emphasize church history or focus on other unprofitable pursuits. Instead, select a KJV only church based on the preaching and soul winning. Get involved at least as a silent partner, and start doing some real work for the Lord.
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:17-18
Here is the sermon where I debunk the Baptist Bride doctrine.
Hey Pastor. What you wrote doesn't half remind me of "Apostolic Succession" which is a thing in Episcopal churches (e.g. Anglican, Catholic). So like, the Vicar/Reverend/Bishop/Whatever is ordained by one, and that one is ordained by that one, and it goes all the way back to Jesus (allegedly). Except of course that those churches are demonstrably not started at the time of Jesus. Another cult which has "Apostolic Succession" in a form is the Old Apostolic Church in Southern Africa and Europe as they believe their church from the 1900s goes back to Jesus because the Bible mentions Apostles, they call themselves Apostles, how's that for proof! (not to be confused with New Apostolic Reformation in USA, but equally evil and possibly worse)
ReplyDeleteThen again, how does that work with IFB churches? I have questions:
1) If a Pastor today was ordained by a Pastor and therefore is a real Pastor, and that Pastor was ordained by a real Pastor, etc etc - how does that work since IFBs don't teach "Apostolic Succession", at some stage was there a time where people weren't able to be ordained? (e.g. the Middle Ages with Inquisitions?)
2) Also, how does that work in countries where there are no real Pastors, where they all preach a false gospel and use fake Bible per-versions? Do those countries just remain devoid of any preaching since there's nobody to ordain even a real believer to go preach?
I'm not trying to justify looney-bin phoneys like Afshin Yaghtin (aka Fagshin Hachflem) who ordain themselves, but those are 2 valid questions I have.
God bless from afar!