THE BRIDAL CITY

     Heb. 12:22,23 - "But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an enumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect."
     Let us notice the phrase in the text which reads: "The general assembly and church of the firstborn". The advocates of the universal church doctrine read this statement on this wise: "The general assembly; the church of the firstborn". But that is not what this text says, for they omit the word "and", which is a conjunction.  And things which are the same do not need a conjunction to unite them, for they have never been separated. So, let us not evade or avoid the compound and intrinsic nature of the inspired separating element ("and"), much less cast it asunder.
     The "general assembly" and "the church of the firstborn" are two distinct and separate bodies. The Lord is not betrothed to the "general assembly", but He has entered into a marriage contract with His church, and this contract will, in due season (which appears to be short), be consummated. The "general assembly" is the family of God, which He has, in great part, begotten through and by His Bride.
     The Lord said to His Bride, while He was as yet on the earth: "In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself: that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2,3). There would be no need for "many mansions" if all the saved were in the Bride, for one city is sufficient for His Bride; and Christ went away to prepare the Bridal city, a city of incomparable splendor. This city is the home of the "living God", the throne city, and the capital city of all the ages to come. This all glorious city will be the institutional home of the consummate Bride.
     Every Baptist church departing this God hating earth with faith in the promise of the Groom (John 14:2,3) will realize their eternal citizenship in the Bridal city, and they will, through the unending millenniums, sing the nuptial song which expresses the devotion and dedication of the Bride and Groom to each other (Heb. 2:12,13). Every faithful husband and father loves his family, and his children are more precious to him than life. However, the husband has a peculiar love, a love which belongs exclusively to his wife. It is not a question of more or less love, but of kind and manifestation. The manifestation and variance in the husband's or father's love is of equal quality in both directions, and is the basis, or guarantee, of mutual respect in the whole family, even though this respect is different in kind (Eph. 5:28).
    The Groom's respect for His Bride is made inviolable by oath, and in the sense of love and duty, they become one flesh and share an intimacy that is special and peculiar to a faithful marriage. Love and attention will be given by the father unto his whole family, but the time and attention he gives to his faithful and loving bride is conspicuously more than what is shown to his family in general.
     Baptists have been accused of being too churchly. Some people have gone as far as to say: "Baptists worship the church, rather than God". These charges are utterly groundless, for Baptists are not churcholatrists, but like Paul, they are jealous over the church. This great Apostle said to one of the Lord's churches: "I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (II Cor. 11:2). Generally speaking, the fault with Baptists is not loving the church too much, but loving it too little.
   Rev. 21:2 - "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband."
     At this juncture, I will mention a few other things which the Bride of Christ knows about the city which is her future and eternal home.
     1. Jesus the Groom is the light of the city (Rev. 21:23).
     2. The kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into the Bridal city (Rev. 21:24,26). So, the unavoidable conclusion is: All the redeemed are not going to live in the city. The earth is not annihilated in the conflagration at the end of the millennium, but it is eternally purged from the curse of sin. And in this infinite purgation, all finite substance is everlastingly destroyed. God's elect millions shall live in their immortal bodies on the earth, which has been made new by sanctifying fire (II Pet. 3:12,13; Rev. 21:1). The Bridal city will occupy a large part of the renewed earth (Rev. 21:10-27).
     3. The wall of the city has the names of twelve Baptist preachers engraved thereon (Rev. 21:24). The thought may enter some inquisitive reader's mind: "How does the writer know they were Baptist preachers?". This knowledge comes from the fact that they followed the example of their beloved Groom, and they were baptized (not sprinkled) by the first Baptist preacher (Matt. 3:13-17; Luke 7:28-30; Acts 1:22). The indispensable requisite of the Bridegroom in establishing the first Bridal church was: Every charter member of it must have been baptized by John the Baptist, and this Divine criteria was fully satisfied. The first New Testament church was established of the original two or three disciples (Matt. 18:20; Mark 14-20), or it was composed of the twelve whom He named apostles (Luke 6:12), all of whom had been baptized by John the Baptist (Acts 1:21,22). Jesus would not be satisfied with anything less than a Baptist Bride, and neither should any Baptist -in civil matrimony or church relationship.
     The baptism of Jesus superseded that of John the Baptist, for John's baptism reached its terminus with his death. But the baptismal ordinance which Jesus gave unto His church is age long, and it is to be administered by local church authority, and in the name of the sovereign and holy Trinity. Baptists have been accused of churlishness concerning their stand on baptism, but Baptists are not churlish in defense of any of their doctrine. And their courtesy and humility is an incontestable part of their glorious history. However, Baptists are unapologetically dogmatic in contending for the faith which was delivered unto them by their Head and Groom (Jude 3).
     The problem stems from lack on our critics' part to distinguish between churlishness and dogmatism. It is not audacious or churlish to be dogmatic about that which is clearly and irrefutably spelled out in Scripture. New Testament Baptists will not compromise the doctrine which they believe, without doubt, that God has commissioned them to preach. But at the same time, no Holy Spirit led Baptist will, by his own design, make his God given doctrine repulsive to others. Then, too, Baptist hearers need to know and remember that dogmatism and cocksureness are two different things, for cocksureness is permeated with pride and arrogance. Dogmatism, when warranted by the Scriptures, brings gratitude toward God and humbleness in the heart of the saint.
     Another question which our antagonists ask, is: "Will Christ marry each local Baptist church that ever existed?". I will answer the question with a question: "Will all the redeemed families of the earth (thank God, there will be many) be in heaven as they were on earth, or will there be only one family in heaven, that is, the family of God?". Marriage, family ties, and distinction is good for this corrupted earth, but not so in heaven (Matt 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:34,35). On earth, Baptist churches are distinct and autonomous entities, but not so in heaven; for there is only one Groom and one Bride, and one marriage in heaven. Local Baptist churches will lose their ecclesiastical individuality and become part of the consummate and eternal Bride of Christ. The separate Baptist churches are not organized into a heaven-wide Convention or Association, but they become one ecclesiastical or singular body, that is, the Bride of Christ. And they shall live in the gloriously indescribable city which her loving Groom has prepared for her (John 14:2; Rev. 21:18).
     Baptists have never taught that Christ loves His Bride more than He loves His family, for they know God's love is infinite, eternal, and immutable. However, they have correctly and consistently taught that Christ, while on earth, spent the far greater part of His time with His beloved church. And they know with absolute certainty that He has been faithful to the promise of His age long presence with His churches during their earthly pilgrimage (Matt. 28:20). This may not be a prototype of the relationship of Christ to His church in the eternal ages, but, seeing that Christ and His church are going to live without any prolonged hiatus in the Bridal city, the inevitable conclusion is: He, as when on earth, will be with His Bride more than with the family of God. Nevertheless, perfect and eternal harmony will prevail, for jealousy shall never enter heaven's boundless and eternal domain.