Over time I realized there would never be unity in or among the churches of Jesus Christ, that the so-called ecumenical movement was nothing short of pure bunk. Man’s unity would be nothing short of a repeat of the conspiracy at the tower of Babel, it is against the will of God. This is not to say that unity per se is contrary to God’s will or his design for creation. He and his eternal relationships with all creatures have their own degree of intimacy just as we humans have degrees of unity with all things and creatures, we have a unity of sorts with animals, like dogs and cats, friends and society, family through both marriage and by blood, as well as spiritual matters and spiritual beings.

Just as there are different degrees of intimacy with all things so there is degrees of intimacy among relationships with humans. There are relationships with friends and cousins, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, husbands and wives; each type of relationship has its own requirements of unity and is subject to its particular proprieties of intimacy, trust and sincerity. The highest degree of intimacy is when the proprieties of intimacy, trust and sincerity are striven for by an individual and accomplished in an ethereal way by the profound moving of the Holy Ghost within the spirit of a prospective bride. It is synonymous with the state or quality of conforming to conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals.: “he or she always strives to find the way of acting in the utmost propriety”. But this action is not realized by the will of the person or the person’s own abilities and consciousness to be perfectly astute, but it is actually realized only when the person confides all trust in God to do this within them, it can only be accomplished by simply surrendering all to God who is the only one able to bring this about in a human being. Not even the most astute genius can ever hope to bring about this proprietary intimate, trust and sincerity in a perfect spiritual manner of the heart, mind and body. This is the sole province of the Providential One, Jesus Christ himself. It is as Paul told in the letter to the Philippians:

Philippians Chapter 3
[1] Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
[2] Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
[3] For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
[4] Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
[5] Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
[6] Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
[7] But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
[8] Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
[9] And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
[10] That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
[11] If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
[12] Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
[13] Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
[14] I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
[15] Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
[16] Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
[17] Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
[18] (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
[19] Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
[20] For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
[21] Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

We may have a different relationship with God, for not all relationships with him are standard and equivalent or exactly the same, but they are as diverse as there are people, none being the exact same as any other, according to things like family, personal needs and quality of life, divergence in family situations and upbringing, as well as physical and mental qualities and different social standing, and physical and mental aptitude, all which place demands and special requirements on one’s proprietary intimacy with God, so that no person is “called” to have their life constructed as any other soul that was ever born. An individual’s depth of commitment to closeness, intimacy and oneness may be complete and proven by devotion to truth and undying respect and admiration. Just as love can have degrees that define the reality of our love so unity with God has degrees among His people. Some who have a relationship with him have very little or no degree of commitment to embracing His will. Others are subjected to His perfect love only as it serves their purposes, others to a degree as long as it fits with their likes and dislikes.

Jesus had prayed that His sheep would be one even as He and the Father were one. I knew it was a good hope, even if it was romantic to the max. As the years past so my frustrations mounted. I had come to the conclusion that the unity and love of the Bride of Christ would not manifest itself in the Church in any discernable way. I thought Christ’s body would remain fractured and that the only vision of the unified body would come to me through the beautiful words of the Bible and its prophetic images of heaven which live in hopes of paradise revealed. The only thing that we hopeful Brides would see in the Church would be what we saw through that spiritual veil with the eagle eyes of faith.

The Lord had shown me some thirty or so years ago that He was establishing little “arks” of faith, here and there, hither and yon, quietly but powerfully, and that these “arks” were places where He would shut up His faithful people to protect them against the flood of judgment coming on the earth, as well as the hideous false unity that would be prevalent in the entirety of all the denominations of Christian humanistic churches.

Together these “arks”, actually amounted to the Bride, the Church of brotherly love, as described in Christ’s letter in Revelation, those of the Philadelphia faith where he would make them Rapture-ready in their little havens and homes. Believing this to be an invisible Church, united along the spiritual trade winds of the Holy Ghost, I figured the false unity of ecumenism and the reconciliation of sin cloaked in human love would be the only visible and tangible unity to surface before the coming of the Lord. But that doesn’t mean God will not make a call to Brideship which will unify individual believers in the spirit, though not in perhaps a purely tangible way.

Over the years we were urged to venture out from our ark and go out among the brethren, looking for those who also were “seeking God out of a pure heart”. 2 Tim. 2:22 Hitherto it has not worked out so well.

First off, what kind of secure and real friendship, or fellowship can one have if there is no agreement about devotion and submission to the Holy Ghost – or, to faithfully acting on giving Christ the preeminence in all things? What kind of a ‘pure heart’ does a Christian have in these last days if he does not strive to walk in the Spirit and refuses to be satisfied just to live off the fat of the Spirit’s blessings without obedience to His will, or entering into the sufferings of Christ? What unity with Christ can there be if one has faith in the world, which God has told us is his outright enemy?  “You adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4

As the Bible puts it; “If we live in the Spirit we should walk in the Spirit”. 

Unity of Bride with Christ:
One Mind, One Purpose, One Accord

The unity of the Bride will be founded on the same specific concerns or passions of ministry, namely: The love of the Bride for Christ and the love of Christ for His Bride. That Bride is the Church and the open invitation she issues to anyone along the highways and byways of life who would wish to be Christ’s espoused wife. (See Scriptures – Matthew 22:1-14 & Luke 14:16-24)

People will never love God just because it is mandated by law. This was proven for all time under the nation of Israel by their failure to live by the Law which He tendered to His people. We have only come to love God because He loved us first, not because it was done by our care or ability to follow the perfect Law of God. God made love irresistible for those who have received a love of the truth because He sent His only begotten son, that whosoever would believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Because of His love within us, we can now love one another in Truth. (Rev. 19:9)

Ministries of brideship will be more likely to be small because of this. Wanting and creating a large church can even be a self defeating proposition because a large church will always tend to love itself more than Christ and by inclination becomes a competitor of its Lord and at odds with the very reason for existence. The letter to Ephesians makes it clear that Christ will have no other suitor competing with Him for our love. If there is a spiritual paramour in our heart, even if narcissistic, we have betrayed our one and only love. Our candlestick may be removed from the house of God’s love, which is called Church. To love self, though this is a prime doctrine of the psychological theologies, is nothing but unadulterated covetousness, which we know is idolatry.

The Bride will be pure in its love, its house will be undefiled by other Lords for there is one Lord in the unity of the Spirit. This is part of the vision of the ‘arks’. The arks will be and are floating as homes – churches in the home. Wherever two or three are gathered in His name there He will be also. This truth, when it occurs, and it is occurring, is Church. The body is gathered, unified in Him, because church is where Jesus truly reigns supreme, is feasted upon, is given ear, is preferred above and deferred to in the individual’s heart.

True unity of fellowship is metaphorically pictured in the heavenly form of the Cherubim, those heavenly creatures seen by Ezekiel (Chapters 1 and 10) who worship night and day around the throne of God. The wheel within the wheel and the spirit without is the picture of how Christ is the center of the ring of believers and the Spirit is the guide. The wheel turns and goes wherever the spirit takes it. This is the ideal of a unified body, a body that is one. Christ is at the hub, the ring is a ring of eyes, individual eyes, all coming from their own place on the rim of unity, drawn by praise and submission down the spokes of the wheel to the hub, the inner wheel, that is the gyroscope in the center which gives all union of balance and movement to the body. At the hub to which all eyes flow. It is Christ. It is God. Therein lies the unity of the body – when it comes to the balance point, the center which is Christ – His mind, His thoughts, His ways, which are always higher than ours and perfectly centered on Truth. We can have mutual access to the throne if we follow the proper designated godly path.

Follow the Spirit, come to the Lord Jesus Christ and have access to the Father’s throne. This vision of Ezekiel 1 and 10 is fellowship’s pattern, its circuit its map. Ephesians 2:18 states the access to the throne by way of the relationship of the Godhead in this fashion: “For through Him [Jesus] we have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”  Through Jesus – By the Spirit – To The Father! Nice! [How The Trinity Works] If a body can enter into this formless form of fellowship by love and submission they can do God honor night and day. No part will try to usurp the role of the other; no part will be in competition with another, no part will be jealous of the other. The mouth will not envy the eye, the eye will not steal the ministry of the hand, and the hand will not covet the mission of legs. The Bride will know about and appreciate the miracle that we brothers and sisters, who walk not by sight but in the Spirit, are one body, with one mind, one purpose, and acting in one accord.

ONE MIND
The one mind is that mind expressed in Philippians chapter 2:5-7. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: … (who) made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant.”  We are servants, willing to cast off our reputation and become the greatest among all. “And whosoever of you shall be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” (Mark 10:44)

Without this mind – this overriding attitude and pre-determination to be a servant – a saint will not be able to enter into the beauty of the Bride’s unity. The parable says that there will be two people side by side in one bed; one will be taken the other left. One will be in the body (where the body is there will the eagles be gathered) because that one wanted to serve the body of Christ. The one left behind will be looking only to be served, to get, to receive, like a leech sucking out the blood of the body that unfaithful servant will only take and never want to give. Those selfish ones will see the others as objects for their gratification and use. The others will see them as living souls, as people who necessitate a relationship of love. People of the Bride will and may even be in separate churches and fellowships. It could be. I see a vision where the temporal bodies may be detached and yet the spiritual body of Christ may still be joined in the unity of the Spirit. It could happen that it will never be made clearly and manifestly known to our five senses. Maybe the ‘arks’ and the individual isolated saints will be unified in purpose having the same mind because they are traveling the same path, plowing over the same waters of adventure, journeying over deserts and mountains of faith to the same destination of Brideship, sailing on a boat toward the same destination, yet never in the same galley or together, though on the same watch.

ONE PURPOSE
Paul declared that He was dedicated to presenting every man perfect before Christ, this was his ultimate purpose, his final goal for all the sheep which God gave him to feed.

“I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Col 1:25-28

Paul knew it had to do with the mystery of Christ in us. This is a mystery that can only be understood by pure experience. How can God live in us? This, however, is the real hope of glory. If that which is perfect can live in us and prevail in us, then we can be perfect, as long as we live in Christ’s life. We need to be willing to live His life, walk with Him and follow after His hopes. We must be willing to banish our own hopes, ambitions, fears, desires, and such, to throw them into the sea of oblivion. This is the essence of the Bride’s perfection, that the Bride would be perfectly submitted to her espoused husband, want to live His life with Him. There is no excuse not to trust His benevolence because He loves her perfectly. She can rely on Him totally, without reservation. What He wants is the very best and He has promised to give her all things. The phrase, “Christ in you” simply means we are one together with Him. We are purely one. This is why Paul can declare that he sees his duty as presenting every man perfect before God:

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
   Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Col. 1:27-28

He saw it as His duty to strive in behalf of each one of the sheep in his care, so they could be presented perfect before God, as one with Christ. This ought to be the ultimate aim of every worthy pastor, especially in this last days when the pastor worth his salt will be trying to make each saint rapture-ready and perfect in the sight of God as a candidate for the Bride of Christ.

Their common purpose is to pick up that which is “lacking in the body of Christ” to glorify Christ and further his cause. She hopes to gather people together for the pilgrimage to another city, one made without hands, the heavenly Mount Zion, where salvation and hope wait for them in perfect eternal peace. We should not be striving to be good citizens of the political powers of this world, but to be citizens of heaven and Bride’s to be.

As warriors, the common denominator will be the complete reliance on the Holy Ghost and His gifts, the steadfast wearing of the armor of God with prayer, and the skillful and potent wielding of the Sword of the Spirit. The singular purpose of each mind and soul? To win her husband’s undying love and affection. Take the time to look upon Proverbs 31 with the eyes of a Bride to be schooled in the Bride’s allegiance and devotion for Christ.

This will all be done, is being done in this hour by those wives-to-be who have no guile in their mouths and hope to follow Him wheresoever He goes for all eternity. They are doing it now, with one accord, though, in the same moment, not in the same space or mutual knowledge. God is drawing people out of the ever-increasing darkness into the light of the Son of the living God. As a lighthouse on a rocky shore they are beaming light into darkness. The days of excuses, “I have bought some land and need to check it out, or otherwise I would hear your call to the marriage celebration”, or “I have opened a new business, or bought a team of oxen and need to test them, otherwise I would heed your invitation” – are gone. The Bride-to-be will stand alone in the light.

ONE ACCORD
The Bride will gather together, ready to be of one accord. The disagreements of how to minister and worship will not matter. In fact the Bride will appreciate the various ways of God and enjoy the differences of administration offered by the Holy Ghost. Where two or three are gathered together there He will be also. In Revelation, the letter to Philadelphia tells of how the Bride will look unloved and deserted; but Christ promises that she will be vindicated in a day to come. For everyone shall know in that day that it was she who He loved. Dwelling in heavenly places by the Spirit, the Bride will be made supernaturally aware of the needs of Christ and His body. Her timing, whether in prayer, in gatherings, in actions, will be uncanny. She will “have it all together”. The Book of Joel declares this is her time, she is now coming out of the closet. (Joel 2:16, Matt. 6:6, Lk. 12:3)

Accord means, together in perfect timing, as if a perfectly drilled and anointed choir trained in heaven. The word presupposes differences of opinion, but differences which are resolved because of love’s grace. Discord has given way to accord.

ONLY in SERVICE
If we are to be part of this singular and focused body of Christ – the Bride without spot or wrinkle – we must have the mind and attitude of Christ. We must be a servant, not demanding that we be served. We must be completely and confidently grounded in the sound doctrine of the Word, armed with the armor of God through constant prayer so that our singular purpose is the victory and honor, Proverbs 31 style, of our husband and Savior Jesus. She will totally rely on the Holy Ghost, His gifts, His power, and “lean not to (her) own understanding.” Prov 3:5  This is the Bride’s sole purpose. And we will do it in full accord with one another. Love must rule. There should be no bickering. All disputes will be settled. “Come out and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing.” 2 Cor 6:17 Does it not make sense that those who come with one mind and with one purpose will find a way to be in complete agreement? Even if it come down to two or three people. For, Jesus boldly declares that where two or three are gathered together there I will be also.

The Bride, though separated by deserts, mountains, borders, seas, governments and language, shall find their unity in hope, faith and love – the slogan of the Holy Ghost, if ever there was one. Together, we will be moved by the Holy Ghost in unison and in perfect timing to sing the praises of Jesus and call attention to His wonderful works unto the children of men. 

One body – with one mind, one purpose, and one accord this we hope to see in the body manifested by the Bride. We do not expect that it will be manifested in large gatherings or churches. The world revival of the past forty years has proven that large churches are not venues that can produce brideship, for their melting pot agendas produce false security among the swarms of believers, produce a false security of Laodicean proportions. Let the Bride be a slave to the unity of the Spirit, not to the needs of politics and worldly hopes in the goodness of Man. She must be extricated from the usual forms of humanism planted by ecumenism, freed from the tyranny of false unity and Laodicean ego, pride and condescending selfishness. We know and hope the vision of brideship, threaded throughout the scriptures will have its day, is now having its day, though small and under the world’s and the Laodicean Church’s radar,  for the time for bridegroom’s return for the bride surely is but a breath away. As the Laodicean churches get stronger the words of Jesus become louder: “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matt. 24:44, Luke. 12:40) The Son of Man shall come at a time you think not.”

Let the Bride serve this cause until the day star break through, ‘til the trumpet sound, ‘til the dead in Christ and we which are alive and remain are caught up together to meet the Lord in the air to be with Him forever.

Marriage of Jesus and Bride
Matthew 14:

[1] And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
[2] The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
[3] And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
[4] Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
[5] But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
[6] And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
[7] But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
[8] Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
[9] Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
[10] So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
[11] And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
[12] And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
[13] Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
[14] For many are called, but few are chosen.

Marriage of Jesus and Bride
Luke 14:

[16] Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
[17] And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
[18] And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
[19] And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
[20] And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
[21] So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
[22] And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
[23] And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
[24] For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

So, we dropped the door to our safe and secure dwelling place, that reassuring “ark” of faith…
which God had set us in, that place in which we were tutored by Him, and we ventured out in the spiritual vitality of hope. We were intrigued that we might be able to issue the full invitation of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb to any listening ear in a spirit of truth, hope, faith and love.

Once again, we sallied forth from our “ark”, which is called Philadelphia. This time offering the sacrifice of praise as we went – just as Noah had done when he first stepped out of his ark; this time hoping that through us the Bride of Christ would be evidently manifest, her words and deeds rising up to God as the scent of Noah’s sacrifice had done more than four millennia before.

Just as Noah’s sacrifice of love had done so we wished that by love, and not just in word, we might be pleasing to God by the pureness of faith.

We had a vision for the hope of a tight, though unseen, tangible unity which could be achieved only in the realms of wholly absolute faithful belief among a vortex of unknown and remote  “arks” (churches, fellowships, two or three friends) scattered anonymously and known only to Christ himself and God his Father, around the globe. This we believe have grown during the post World War II epic and have been built and nourished in the loving care of the Holy Spirit. It has been the Spirit who gave these enclaves gifts and faith, endurance and temperance, and built upon their faith a love, not the love of mankind or some half-baked mystic religion, but the true gospel, a composite for the Bride of Christ strong in the spiritual characteristics of virtue, knowledge, brotherly kindness and the capstone of faith itself – love. 2 Peter 1

Preparing them in the confines of an isolation from churchiness for purity’s sake, working since somewhere around the time of the Philadelphia Church’s golden age (circa 1800), through the revivals of the early 1900s in America, and especially in the Holy Spirit and Charismatic revivals which exploded with a celestial bang to create a new light among the churches, a world of floating arks that can be seen only by the telescopic vision of unseen faith.

Those days of the renewal of the Holy Ghost power of the three decades after WWII stand legendary as pillars of the message of the Bride of Christ; spiritual and unexplained by science but undeniable by signs and wonders witnessed by the world and all Mankind, not only among the churches. This era roundly refutes both Man’s claims of sovereignty and power over the Earth as well as the popular messages of Laodicean Christians who had denied or restricted the Spirit of God within its walls.

Since this time the spirit of Laodicea has been hell-bent on corrupting, denying, denigrating or confusing the presence of the Holy Spirit within in composite of the Churches of Jesus Christ. Its first course of action was to deny the call to a godly perfection, to corrupt or entirely usurp the Holy Spirit’s power and to mock the notion of the Bride of Christ, despite the message of the Bride being preached and taught and exhorted in every single of the 66 books of the Bible. The attacks upon the truth of the existence of the will of God and Christ for promoting above all else, Bridal perfection, have only escalated as the church approaches the return of her savior. Gospels of Santy Claus prosperity, of show me the money, of gimme theology, of greedy positive confession, of false unity and ecumenical idolatries, of doctrinal indifference and every assorted humanistic theology masquerading as godly notions of love have been invented and slapped with the brand ‘Christian’. All are designed to muddy the waters, cloud the truth, bury the Bride and God’s promise to save faithful ones that will come to him and give their whole heart and being in an undying expression of continual and eternal concession and love that has saved them from the second death and given to them eternal life.

With drugs and pharmacia, and carefully crafted lies of political gospels and tampering with God’s Word (just to name a few of the tactics of Satan, men and women have sought to seize the wheel of the ship of Christ. It is a mutiny by offering a bounty in this life that sacrifices all eternal riches and reward. It is in opposition to the gospel of the freedom of the Holy Spirit, unswerving faith, righteous love and bridal purity. Not an outright denial but one of careful craft, one that became slightly convoluted, then totally confused, and finally put to utter disrepute. “The Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” 1 Tim. 4:1-2

Today the leaders in the churches define what is right and wrong but social and/or political terms, their guideline for belief is confined to only what their own knowledge and understanding dictates. They wet their finger and put it up to see which way the wind is blowing in social and political terms. Then they mix them together with a lukewarm gospel derived from a raped Word of God to bake a gospel all their own that suits their vision of good and bad. Those lukewarm believers who mingle idolatrous hope in this world with sacred hopes of the Gospel of Christ are doing themselves and no one else any favors.

This is not only the world, but the Church into which we ventured and in which we now speak.

So we expect that the Bride will be manifest, not in political clout, social influence, organizational strength, or continuity of voice within the greater Church. Her strength is small, so we are small, but it is titanium-like strength we hope – we pray.

It is obvious from Revelation’s Letter to the Philadelphia Church that she will be known by her love, both tough love and gentle consolation. It will be done by conceding to his love not by cultivating and doing their own love.

Further – As far as the Bride goes, her love cannot be swayed by worldly devotions to politics or race, nor will she be seduced by the cheap scent of the toilet waters of humanism which have been sold by the Laodicean church to the mass of Christian churches everywhere. The universal humanism which cries with conviction that Man is basically and innately a good and loving being capable of shaping its own destiny without the interference of the God of the bible.

But those that reside true in Philadelphia, those that are aspiring brides loyally betrothed, are in the position to minister the truth to those on the outs, that there is a marriage supper ready to happen, and they are freely invited to be seated as a friend of Christ’s.

Every prospective bride will have personal knowledge that they have been transformed from being part and parcel of the unrepentant world where the depravity of Man’s appears to have won (according to Jeremiah’s statement of absolutism on the depravity of all humans: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9) They will have been freed from the depraved deception of their own heart. Every prospective bride’s heart will have endured the miracles of the scalpel of Christ the great open-heart surgeon. The only one that can transform by the Spirit a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. A heart that can receive and allow the Word of God to be truly inscribed upon it. This begins with the uncompromising reality that we must be born anew, become a new creation, a completely new creature, new eyes, new mind, new spirit, new heart.

There is no other way that one can become a bride of Christ but to transcend the death of sin by being completely changed. To be changed by the Master’s hand. This is not negotiable, arguable, debatable, or subject to revision – ever. It is universally, eternally true. Love rejoices in the truth, and does not rejoice in iniquity, lies, or any other idolatrous or false idea. The Bride, whoever she is made up of, rejoices in Truth even when it seems that it contradicts our idea of love, or is seemingly harsh or unfriendly, or when it has no advocates, on earth or in the church – but just the Holy Spirit.

The influence and power of the Bride will be exerted exclusively in the spiritual realm. She will not hope for persuading people to change events in worldly matters, no matter how righteous a thing may seem to be, or how it reflects on politically correct or humanistic notions or accepted worldly ‘truths’.

The tight-knit bonds of love which bind together the otherwise unattached members of the Bride can and are not, bound together with carnal and worldly knots, they are not lasting or valid just because they are tied by bloodline, family, living under the same roof, going to the same church, or because we might be engaged in some worldly crusade together, even when it has been supposedly sanctified by a Christian organization and its cause. History itself proves this is true. Those things are means of binding us in the world as one and just as the world and everything in it is temporary so is man’s unity.

Unity Is Not Good In and Of Itself
Only unity of Christ’s building is lasting and secure. Only it can outlast the world. Unity is not in itself valid, only unity in true love is sacred. The Nazis in Germany were unified almost in totality, but it was not a holy unity by any stretch. A street gang in LA may be tightly unified for a most unsavory purpose. Conspiracy by definition requires unity. Businesses unite in full collusion to gain ill-gotten profit. Unity in the Church, if not true, leads to a spiritual holocaust of souls.

There is, however, True Spiritual Unity
True spiritual unity is validated only when we all come to the same will of God in harmony of purpose. It is not a unity of Man, cannot be in any of its varied forms; for as the Scripture clearly exhorts, we are to keep the unity of the Spirit not our own unity, or any self-made or man-made idea of unity.

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
   With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
   Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

We are then taught the real prime talking points
of unity:

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
   One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
   One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph 4:1-6

These, once again, are not debatable or open for discussion or revision over time. These are among the undeniable ‘mysteries’ of our faith. Eternal things. This unity is the unity of the Spirit, not the unity, of which there exists in many forms and ways, of any other thing, but the unity of the Spirit is what is being spoken of here as in the Bible. The Spirit’s unity declares the oneness of some essential things just as God says of himself there is One God, but also meaning it in the sense of oneness as in unity and not only in a numerical sense. For when God revealed Himself as “One” he knew there were three members of the Godhead co-existent, but unified always and in every way, as ONEness, or ONE in mind and purpose – unified in will and hope and if promise.

So – unity and ONE are synonymous in so far as spiritual concepts. So is one body, but many members unified; one Spirit, but with seven united spirits (see Isaiah 11 and Rev 1); there is also One baptism, but three doctrines and expressions; One Lord, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; One faith, but many measures handed out, One hope of our calling, that we may please Him, see Him, dwell in Him and be purified in Him by hope; and One true living God who will unify all things. He chooses to bring many to salvation in Himself that they all may be in Him through and through.

Unity is a grouping and bonding together of a multiplicity of things into one. One singular thing does not call for unity. Only a number of things separate but the same call for unity of them together. Oneness is the perfect existence of multiple things so that they are joined in inseparable co-existence. The unity of the Spirit is always Oneness inseparably, two or more in perfect unison agreed. Like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.