A Church Without Blemish
Now, beloved, as we have been talking about a lamb without blemish and a Christ without blemish, we next notice that we are to have a church without blemish, for the reader is perfectly familiar with the fact that the Church is the Bride, the Lamb's wife, and as truly as the Bridegroom is to be without blemish at once we will notice that He would expect His Bride to be like Himself.
Therefore we have the wonderful statement in the 5th chapter of Ephesians in the 25th, 26th, and 27th verses. One of the most remarkable statements in some respects that are found in the writings of the great apostle. Here it is: "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 or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish." Here the reader will see that not only the lamb was without blemish and Christ was without blemish, but in this last quotation we see that the Church, the Lamb's wife, is to be without blemish. It is perfectly natural for the bridegroom to desire a bride that is as pure and holy as himself, and who could blame him? For any man that is worthy to be called a man wants a wife that is pure and holy and clean and spotless. He also wants a wife that will love him perfectly. This he has a right to demand. And while that is true of the husband it is also true of the bride; she also desires a husband that is as pure and as holy and clean and spotless as she herself. And this she has a perfect right to demand.
Now we know that the Church has such a Bridegroom in the person of Jesus Christ, but if we are to take the American church as the Bride of Christ, we see a great difference between the Bride and the Bridegroom. For the great bulk of the members of the American church are holiness rejecters, and sad to say, many of them are sin accepters. They are ashamed to dance before the Lord, but are not ashamed to dance before the Devil. They would be ashamed to shout in the church, but are not ashamed to shout for baseball. Often they are so busy with the ballroom and euchre parties that they have neglected the night of prayers, and so you can get ten out on a Wednesday night to pray and five hundred out on Thursday night to eat doughnuts. So we see that while the Bridegroom is away preparing a mansion for His Bride, that the Bride has gone to flirting with another man, which to be real plain, the Church of Jesus Christ has yoked up with the world, but we remember the text says that the Bride was to be a glorious Bride. She is to be without spot, that means that she has no defect or blemish in her moral character. When He said, "She is to be holy," that means she is to be delivered from all sin both actual and inbred, and then He said she is to be without wrinkle. Wrinkle refers to age, and the Bride of Christ will never grow old, for there are no old people in heaven. Our souls will always be young, and one of the divine writers said that we are to be as fair as the sun and as clear as the moon and as terrible as an army with banners, and he said of this beautiful Bride that she looketh forth as the morning. If she is as clear as the sun, there will be nothing below the board, but the life of His Bride will be open and above board, she is not only to be as clear as the sun but as fair as the moon. The moon borrows her light and glory from the sun of the solar system, and the Bride of Christ receives her light and glory from the Sun of righteousness. We used to sing, "The moon shines bright, and the stars give good light," and always denotes a courtship, and we used to say that a boy that can take a young lady to church on Sunday night down a beautiful sandy road on a moonlight night and not make love to her is an awfully poor excuse for a man. And we find Christ wonderfully in love with His Bride, so much so that we read He suffered without the gate that He might sanctify and make the Church holy in order that He might present her to Himself, a glorious Bride.
Robinson, Reuben A. (Bud). The Collected Works of 'Uncle Bud' Robinson (Kindle Locations 3436-3464). Jawbone Digital. Kindle Edition.
Now, beloved, as we have been talking about a lamb without blemish and a Christ without blemish, we next notice that we are to have a church without blemish, for the reader is perfectly familiar with the fact that the Church is the Bride, the Lamb's wife, and as truly as the Bridegroom is to be without blemish at once we will notice that He would expect His Bride to be like Himself.
Therefore we have the wonderful statement in the 5th chapter of Ephesians in the 25th, 26th, and 27th verses. One of the most remarkable statements in some respects that are found in the writings of the great apostle. Here it is: "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 or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish." Here the reader will see that not only the lamb was without blemish and Christ was without blemish, but in this last quotation we see that the Church, the Lamb's wife, is to be without blemish. It is perfectly natural for the bridegroom to desire a bride that is as pure and holy as himself, and who could blame him? For any man that is worthy to be called a man wants a wife that is pure and holy and clean and spotless. He also wants a wife that will love him perfectly. This he has a right to demand. And while that is true of the husband it is also true of the bride; she also desires a husband that is as pure and as holy and clean and spotless as she herself. And this she has a perfect right to demand.
Now we know that the Church has such a Bridegroom in the person of Jesus Christ, but if we are to take the American church as the Bride of Christ, we see a great difference between the Bride and the Bridegroom. For the great bulk of the members of the American church are holiness rejecters, and sad to say, many of them are sin accepters. They are ashamed to dance before the Lord, but are not ashamed to dance before the Devil. They would be ashamed to shout in the church, but are not ashamed to shout for baseball. Often they are so busy with the ballroom and euchre parties that they have neglected the night of prayers, and so you can get ten out on a Wednesday night to pray and five hundred out on Thursday night to eat doughnuts. So we see that while the Bridegroom is away preparing a mansion for His Bride, that the Bride has gone to flirting with another man, which to be real plain, the Church of Jesus Christ has yoked up with the world, but we remember the text says that the Bride was to be a glorious Bride. She is to be without spot, that means that she has no defect or blemish in her moral character. When He said, "She is to be holy," that means she is to be delivered from all sin both actual and inbred, and then He said she is to be without wrinkle. Wrinkle refers to age, and the Bride of Christ will never grow old, for there are no old people in heaven. Our souls will always be young, and one of the divine writers said that we are to be as fair as the sun and as clear as the moon and as terrible as an army with banners, and he said of this beautiful Bride that she looketh forth as the morning. If she is as clear as the sun, there will be nothing below the board, but the life of His Bride will be open and above board, she is not only to be as clear as the sun but as fair as the moon. The moon borrows her light and glory from the sun of the solar system, and the Bride of Christ receives her light and glory from the Sun of righteousness. We used to sing, "The moon shines bright, and the stars give good light," and always denotes a courtship, and we used to say that a boy that can take a young lady to church on Sunday night down a beautiful sandy road on a moonlight night and not make love to her is an awfully poor excuse for a man. And we find Christ wonderfully in love with His Bride, so much so that we read He suffered without the gate that He might sanctify and make the Church holy in order that He might present her to Himself, a glorious Bride.
Robinson, Reuben A. (Bud). The Collected Works of 'Uncle Bud' Robinson (Kindle Locations 3436-3464). Jawbone Digital. Kindle Edition.
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