Dangers That Face The Bride

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them.”— Heb. 2:1 (R.V.).

“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Revelation 2:4)

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are destroying our great fields, for the flowers are on the vines.” (2:15).

Introduction…

Most people underestimate their Christian experience. They compare it to something out in the world and then bring that into their Christian experience. They allow the world to define who they really are.

This is why many Christians today in the church are living lives below their potential and in many regards do not differ from the person out in the world. If my life does not differ from the person out in the world, why have I become a Christian?

The question, then, is this. Why did I become a Christian?

And, what difference has it made in my life?

The question dealt with in Song of Songs is what is the Bride of Christ? As we pursue this theme we begin to understand the kind of relationship God has intended for us to have.

The whole purpose of God’s work in my life is to bring me to the place of his intended pleasure. My salvation is not “me-focused” but rather “God-focused.” Everything that is happening in my life is somehow connected to God and my relationship to him. I did not bring God into my life; he brought me into his life. Not to understand this is to misinterpret what is happening in my life.

Theme… The adornment of the Bride is reverence and the acknowledgment and appreciation of that which is sacred.

It is that sacred element that we sometimes overlook. The apostle Paul said it this way, “19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

And…

“16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:16-17).

The reason the bride’s gown is pure white at the marriage ceremony is to illustrate the purity of the relationship. As the Bride of Christ, I need to adorn myself with purity. That means I need to separate myself, most radically, from the world. This is where we have most of our troubles.

At this point we need to understand that the Bride of Christ is facing danger. If we do not understand that we make ourselves vulnerable to the “wiles of the devil.”

So, what is the danger we’re facing?

I think most Christians do not really appreciate the danger that they are facing as the Bride of Christ.

Let me first of all say that it is not the big things that are happening in our life. When we face a catastrophe, our normal reflex is to call out to God. However, when we are facing something small and seemingly insignificant, we assume that we can handle it ourselves.

Let me break this down and show you how it works.

First of all it starts with…

I. Theology of Complacency.

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are destroying our great fields, for the flowers are on the vines.” (2:15).

Notice the phrase, “the little foxes.”

This is where it really begins. The little things in life that we sometimes take for granted and do not realize the burden they are creating in our Christian experience.

We developed a theology of complacency.

According to the dictionary the word “complacency” means, “A feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better.”

Have you ever been at that point of complacency?

Nothing big is going on so you accept things as they are, believing that you have everything in control.

How much damage can a “little fox” do in our life?

After all, we are focused on the big things in life.

Very rarely do we pay attention to these “little foxes” and neither do we pray about them. We assume that that is just a part of life and there is nothing more we can do and we accept the situation.

This is exactly where the devil wants us to be. A theology of complacency says that I am okay as I am right now. I have nothing to worry about in my life.