The beauty and glory of the wedding-attire of the bride of Christ is not of her own doing, but of her husband’s.  He has so designed the church that in spite of the deficiencies of those composing the church, it will, in that day, be seen as “a glorious church.”  We would do well to consider why and how this could be so. 

     First, the church owes its existence to Christ.   The passage in Eph. 5 declares that Christ “gave himself for it” (v. 25b).  He purchased the materials that compose the church (the redeemed) with His own blood (Acts 20:28).  Had Christ not shed His blood at Calvary, the church would be non-existent.  Under another figure, He is the church’s builder (Matt. 16:18; Heb. 8:2).  The church’s glory is a reflection of the glory of its builder.

     Second, the glory of the church is seen in its head, Jesus Christ.  The Lord’s church has no mere human, or council of men, as its head.  As Paul wrote in Col. 1:18: “He is the head of the body, the church…that in all things he might have the preeminence.” 

     Third, the glory of the church is evident in the church’s foundation.  “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). 

     Fourth, the church is glorious because of its glorious purpose.  Paul wrote of its purpose when he said, “Unto him (Christ) be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end” (Eph. 3:21).  Through Christ, the redeemed glorify God as the people reconciled to God “in one body by the cross” (Eph. 2:16).  Returning to Eph. 5, Christ is both the “head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body” (v. 23).  The purpose of the church is to exist in this world as that body of people called out of the world to show forth the good news of salvation in Christ. 

     While the church is commonly vilified in the world, its glory will one day be evident.  Among the closing visions of John on the Isle of Patmos is that of “the bride, the Lamb’s (Christ’s) wife” (Rev. 21:9).  She is portrayed as a city, “the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God…” (21:10b-11a).  A city is identified most of all by its inhabitants.  The mansions in which we shall dwell (John 14:1-4) will be glorious, but also what we suffer for Christ’s sake personally is “ not worthy to b e compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). 

     Those who shall partake of this glory are identified as those who are first sanctified and cleansed of sin “with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26).  Have you surrendered yourself to Christ, and been added by the Lord to His glorious church?  (Read Acts 2:36-47)                                

It is helpful to know our boundaries so that we do not spend our efforts in attempting things that cannot be accomplished.

• God’s eternal purpose cannot be overthrown.  (Acts 5:39)
• One cannot bear good fruit without Christ (John 15:5).
• No person can keep his sins hidden forever (1 Timothy 5:24).
• No person can live after the flesh and please God (Romans 8:8).
• A person cannot love God and not love his brother in Christ (1 John 4:20).
• A person cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
• No one can take anything out of this world (1 Timothy 6:7).
• After dying lost, one cannot be saved (Luke 16:26).
• One cannot make God be a liar (Romans 3:4).
• One cannot enter into heaven by any door but Christ (John 10:1-9).
• One cannot enter in after the door is closed (Luke 13:25-27)
• One cannot avoid reaping what he has sown (Galatians 6:7-8).
• One cannot be justified by the law of Moses (Galatians 3:11, Galatians 5:4).
• One cannot be saved by animal sacrifices (Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 10:4-12).
• One cannot escape death or the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
• A Christian who is faithful till death cannot lose his reward (Matthew 10:42; 1 Cor. 15:58).

–Brent Smith, House to House;Heart to Heart

Two Choices
What would you do?….you make the choice. Don’t look for a punch line, there isn’t one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

‘When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?’ The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. ‘I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.’

Then he told the following story: Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, ‘Do you think they’ll let me play?’ I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, ‘We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.’ Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, ‘Shay, run to first! Run to first!’ Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, ‘Run to second, run to second!’ Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, ‘Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay’ Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, ‘Run to third! Shay, run to third!’ As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, ‘Shay, run home! Run home!’

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team ‘That day’, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, ‘the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world’.

Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it’s least fortunate amongst them.

• The Famous Cousin’s Camp
• The Well
• The Swiming Pool Baptistry
• Fixin’ This Old House
• My Neighbor’s House
• The Flagpole
• What’s That Smell
• Night Sights and Sounds
• The Fall
• The Convenience Store
• We’re All Different
• The Killdeer
• Duckweed, and Other Green Stuff

• What It Means To “Wait For His Son from Heaven.”
• What Kind of Foundation Do You Have?
• Why Do You Believe?
• Give Your All For The Lord
• Our Citizenship Is In Heaven
• The God of All Comfort
• I’ll Put Jesus FIRST in My Life!