River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-04-22

- our OWL dDpdIGl,
l(RASI2R. RUSSElLJ only let US be call
cd by Thy name,
10 take away our reproach." isaiah
Al lie said In part:
Many Of the Old Testament prophe-
cies are highly figurative Doubtless
they had some measure of application
at the time they were written, but
we have Apostolic authority for con
Guiding that they were intended for
Spiritual Israel. q Peter 1:12.) Our
Lord and the Apostles quoted contin-
ually from the prophecies and invaria-
bly, applied the lesson to the Gospel
Age. Hence we are abundantly JUST
fed in assuming that our text is APP
plicablc to the present Its peculiar
expression, lin that Day." is usual
throughout Scripture in referring to
the close of this Gospel Age, with it's
trouble and confusion incident to the
Inauguration Of the Millennium.
Throughout the Scriptures a woman
IL a symbol Of the Church-a pure wo-
man Of pure Church, a corrupt wom-
an of false Church. Our Lord COM
pared the true Church in the end of
this Age to company of virgins-part
wise and part foolish-and likens Him
self to the Bridegroom, who had come
lit the end Of the Age to receive His
espoused Church to Himself in glory.
John the Baptist pictured the matter
after the same figure, saying, He that
hath the Bride is the bridegroom"
and St Paul amplifies the thought, de
claring, Il have espoused you 1.-The con-
secrated church, as q chaste virgin
unto one husband, which is Christ"
John 80; > Corinthians 11:2) Here,
lis in the parable Of the Ten Virgins,
the Jewish marriage is set forth as the
type of the union between Christ and
the Church--a very different figure
from modern marriage customs.
With the Jews in olden time, when
q betrothal took place, legal aud bind
ing documents were signed by or for
the contracting parties, but no actual
marriage occurred for about year.
During that period it was required
that the espouSed be as faithful to her
espousal as IS now expected of any
true wife. We see the harmony be
tween the Jewish marriage custom and
the Lords dealings with the Church.
No one is espoused to out Lord who
has not entered into a formal and def
mite contract with Him. On our Lords
part the contract Is the great and pre-
l.ious promises of Scripture, assuring
the espoused that If faithful, she shall
he joint heir with her Lord in His Mill
lennial Kingdom. On the Church's
part the contract is our covenant of
conservation, faithfulness to our Re
deemer even unto death.
The interim between our personal ac-
ceptance of the Lords gracious prom
Uses and our death corresponds i'll a
measure to qhe betrothal period of the
Jewish maiden; but the more exact
fulflment of the figure is found in the
history of the Church as a whole. Our
Lords virgin Church was eSp0uSed to
Him at PentecoSt, and has been await
inc the coming Of the Bridegroom and
her resurrection change to glory, honor
and immortality-the marriage, the
union-for nearly nineteen centuries.
The Bride In Kingdom Glory.
In His last Message to the Church,
recorded in the Revelation, our Lord
continues to picture the Church as a
betrothed virgin. unmarried, but under
strictest obligations to purity and faith
fulness down to the end of this Gospel
Age. where she is represented as max
ING herself ready for the Bridegrooms
coming and for the marriage. To be
ready she must have on the wedding
garment, and it must be without spot
or wrinkle or any such thing" Ephe-
slams 5:27) That robe represents the
imputed righteousness of Christ, which
covers her every unintentiOnal blemish
and imperfection; and any spot or
wrinkle upon this robe would be q
cause of such grief to the betrothed
one that the stain would be removed
and the wrinkle pressed out by the
gracious arrangement made therefor
by the Heavenly Bridegroom; for He
presented the robe and gave directions
bv which it might be kept "unspotted
from the world"
The Revelation shows that with her
resurrection change in the end of this
Age the ''espoused virgin" Church will
he no more. She will have passed into
the more exalted state of the Bride