THE
TWO GARMENTS OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
by David
M. Green
INTRODUCTION.
This topic is just about as controversial as any topic in the Bible.
Any time that you teach the truth on a subject, there will always be
multitudes of opinions. Let me just say that the Lord will have His
bride and it will be a Baptist bride. I trust the Lord will bless His
word as we look at this subject.
I. THE ROBES OF SALVATION
"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful
in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh
himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her
jewels."(Isaiah 61:10)
This is the first garment the bride must have. Notice the words
"“he hath clothed me." Friends, it is God that puts this
garment on. Salvation is of the Lord! Without salvation, there is no
hope of even entering heaven. In and of ourselves, we have no
righteousness.
"And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him,
saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said,
Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with change of raiment." (Zecheriah 3:4).
Another evidence of the change in raiment that the Lord gives us at
salvation.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians
2:8-10).
Salvation is all of grace...from the start to finish, there is no work
that we could possibly do!
These robes belong to everyone who is saved. Notice:
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar
the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the
testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying,
How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto
every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet
for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their
brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." (Revelation
6:9-11).
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude,which no man
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and
worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and
thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for
ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,
What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation
7:9~14)
All the Lord's saints will be clothed in the garments of salvation.
This includes anyone from Adam until the end of the human race who has
been saved by the grace of God. Old Testament saints and New Testament
saints will be clothed in these white robes. Men like Daniel, Abraham,
Isaac, Peter, James, John, Tertullian, CH Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards,
etc. will all be there clothed in these white robes. Not one person in
heaven will be without them.
However,
there will be another garment which will be different from the garment
of salvation. All who possess this garment (robe of righteousness) will
also possess the robes of salvation, but not everyone who has the robes
of salvation will have the robes of righteousness. As a matter of fact,
there will be very few who have the robes of righteousness.
II. THE ROBES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
" 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. And
to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."” (Revelation
19:7-8).
This is a different garment than the garment of salvation. In fact,
most writers will agree that righteousness there is a plural word and
the literal meaning of it is "the righteous acts of the saints." The
balance of man's responsibility and God's sovereignty is seen in the
words "she hath made herself ready" and "to her it was
granted."
Paul also said something similar:
" But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly
than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me."” (I Corinthians 15:10).
It is by the grace of God that we are able to do anything for the Lord.
However, to take away the human responsibility side of it is to strip
the Christian of any responsibility of living righteously in this
present world. Notice what Elder Milburn Cockrell wrote:
"The bridegroom does not dress the bride-to-be. Rather the bride prepares herself for the marriage ceremony and puts on her own attire." He goes on to quote A.T. Robertson as writing “The righteous acts of the saints (ta dikaiomata ton hagion). This gives explanation of the bridal dress and explains why there is a work for the Bride as well as for Christ.”We are all righteous through Christ! That's a fact that cannot be denied. However, Revelation 19:8 is more than that! The Bible teaches there will be a reward for faithfulness!
Baptism into the Lord's church is necessary to
serve the Lord properly. The Lord started His church while on the
earth, and all saved people need to be baptized into His kind of church
(known today by the name Baptist.)
But this is not the only righteous act necessary. However, the fact is
the word "righteousness of the saints is plural." Baptism is a
righteous act. It is the first one after salvation, but it is not the
last.
III.
WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE CHURCHES IN REVELATION
The church in Sardis:
"Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled
their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are
worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment;
and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will
confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." (Revelation
3:4-5)
The casual reader may come to the conclusion that both verses are
speaking of the same garment. However, let us look at this more
closely:
Here we read of the two garments of the bride. One is the righteous
acts of the saints (specific to the bride). The other is for all the
saved of the earth.
Notice that in verse 4 the words there: "Thou hast a few
names which have not defiled their garments; and they shall
walk with me in white: for they are worthy." These
garments are limited to a "faithful few" in the church at Sardis.
I agree with what Elder Milburn Cockrell wrote in his book Here
Comes The Bride!:
"What is said to this local New Testament church in the first century can be applied to all New Testament Baptist churches across the centuries. In the Sardis church some of the members had kept themselves from the general contamination of their day. Because of their faithfulness to Christ they would at a future day walk with Christ in white..."
"There were only a few faithful saints in the church at Sardis who had not defiled their garments whom the Lord pronounced as worthy to walk with Him in white on His glorious wedding day. Those Baptists who are not faithful to the Lord's church in attendance, stewardship, service, and holiness cannot expect to be in the Lord's bride. If they are saved they will certainly be blessed and happy as guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb, but they will not be among those who are numbered as His bride."
CONCLUSION.
I
trust this article is used by the Lord to reveal His truth on the
subject. Every man has a need of salvation, and after salvation we
have the desire to serve the Lord in His church. The bride's desire
is to the Lord. How we ought to be looking for His return!
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely."(Revelation
22:17).