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Ekklēsia: Bride or Body?

Ekklēsia: Bride or Body?

Bible commentaries and Biblical writers frequently
refer to both the church of the Gospels and the Church
of the Epistles as the bride of Christ, thus making the
two usages synonymous. Thus the relationship of Christ
to the church of the Gospels and to the church of the
book of Revelation in contrast to the Church of the
Epistles has not been properly understood. The Word of
God separates these two bodies with the bride of Christ
being the church of the Gospels and the Body of Christ
being the Church of the Epistles.

But before we begin a study of the significance of
the two churches, let’s examine what we mean by the
word “church.”

When we see a building with a steeple on it, we point
to it and say, “That is a church.” This is one usage—a
building. Another current usage of “church” is a group
of people who gather for religious ritual. We also refer
to various denominations such as the Methodist, Presbyterian
or Roman Catholic as churches. Another usage
of the word “church” is a group of people who are born
again of God’s Spirit. The meaning of “church” varies
with its context.

The Greek word for our English word “church” is
ekklēsia, meaning “the called-out.” People may be called
out for various reasons; for example, if a group of people
decided they were going bowling and then gathered at
the bowling alley, they would be an ekklēsia because
they are called out to bowl. In Acts 19 a mob is called a
church, an ekklēsia. Why? Because a mob is composed
of a group of people who have gathered for a specific
purpose.

Acts 19:23-32:
And the same time there arose no small stir about
that way.

For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith,
which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no
small gain unto the craftsmen;

Whom he called together with the workmen of like
occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft
we have our wealth.

Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus,
but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath
persuaded and turned away much people, saying that
they be no gods, which are made with hands:

So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set
at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess
Diana should be despised, and her magnificence
should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world
worshippeth.

And when they heard these sayings [of Demetrius],
they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great
is Diana of the Ephesians.

And the whole city was filled with confusion: and
having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia,
Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with
one accord into the theatre.

And when Paul would have entered in unto the people,
the disciples suffered him not.

And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his
friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would
not adventure himself into the theatre.

Some therefore cried one thing, and some another:
for the assembly [ekklēsia, the church] was confused;
and the more part knew not wherefore they were
come together.

A large company of silversmiths under Demetrius were
stirred up for fear that their comfortable income was being
diminished by Paul’s coming to town. Paul preached the
greatness of God’s Word which is against the usage of
medals, amulets and charms to represent God and His
blessings. Although the mob wasn’t certain what the
real issue was, Demetrius had emotionally incited them
against Paul. One group cried one thing and some another
because the church, the assembly, the ekklēsia was confused.
“And the more part knew not wherefore they were
come together.” This is a mob—following along with
the confused assemblage. The word “assembly” in Acts
19 is ekklēsia, church, the called–out.

The ekklēsia or the called-out of Israel, the bride of
Christ, covers the time span of the Gospels. Jesus Christ
came unto Israel, His own people. This era of the ekklēsia
of the bride is called the Kingdom of Heaven
because the king from heaven was on earth.

Before we go further, it is necessary to clarify the
difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom
of God. The Kingdom of God has no beginning
and no ending. The Kingdom of God spans all existence.
However, under this all-expansive Kingdom of God are
several periods, one of which is the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Kingdom of Heaven period is for the called-out of
Israel, the church of Israel, which is the bride of Christ.
Each time the Kingdom of Heaven is referred to, the
personal presence of the King Himself upon earth is
designated.

The word “kingdom” is made up of two words: king
and dom, dom meaning “reign or supremacy.” Therefore,
“kingdom” means “the rulership of a king.” There cannot
be a kingdom without a king. Great Britain can speak
of itself as a kingdom because of the reign of a king or
a queen. Citizens of the United States of America cannot
speak of their land as a kingdom for there is no monarch.
While Jesus Christ was on earth, it was His reign.
During His reign He called out those people of Israel
who believed in Him as the Messiah. Not only did Jesus
Himself minister to the people of Israel, but He also
sent the twelve apostles to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. When Jesus sent out the seventy, He directed
them also to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He
told them not to go unto the Gentiles because Jesus had
come unto God’s own, Israel, and called out from Israel
those who were to make up the bride. Jesus Christ was
the Bridegroom. The church, the called-out of Israel,
was called the bride while the Bridegroom was on the
earth.

But what happened to the Bridegroom? He was nailed
to the cross. When the King of the Kingdom was crucified,
the church as the bride was interrupted because the
Bridegroom was dead. As previously noted, God 
promised that there would be no end to the Kingdom of
Heaven, but man killed the King.* What happened to
God’s promise? God promised that when the King came
He would build the church and the gates of hell would
not prevail against it. But when the King was crucified,
the Bridegroom was dead, and it appeared that the Kingdom
had been defeated. However, this is not so, for the
church of the bride is yet to be fulfilled in the future.
The same church referred to in Revelation is again the
church of the bride, just as it was in the Gospels.†

With the death of the King, the Kingdom of Heaven
was interrupted; but God raised Jesus Christ from the
dead and He is coming back to earth. When Jesus Christ
returns He will not be born in a stable and laid in a
manger. He is not coming to be mocked and nailed to a
cross. Man is not going to spit in His face and press a
crown of thorns on His head. When Jesus Christ comes
again, He is coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The Kingdom of the church of Israel is being held in
abeyance until these events come to pass. Then the bride
and the Bridegroom will be together again, and the “gates
of hell shall not prevail against it [the Kingdom of Heaven].”
It will then again be in effect. But in the meantime,
while the Bridegroom is gone, a different arrangement
has been made. The next verse of Ephesians 1 explains
what the Church with Christ as the head is.

Ephesians 1:23:
Which [the Church] is his body, the fulness of him
that filleth all in all.

While the Bridegroom is absent, the members of the
Church make up the Body of Christ. In this Church of
the Body, there is only one Head and that is the Lord
Jesus Christ.

The Church of the Body, which in this administration
of Grace is the Church of Grace, is also called the
Church of God.** Jesus came to fulfill the law and to
make the Church of Grace available. When all things
were ready, the Church of Grace was founded and the
new birth was made available. From the day of Pentecost
until the return of Christ everyone who is born again
by God’s Spirit is a member of the Church of Grace,
the Body of Christ. The membership of this Church of
the Body consists of all those called out from among
both Jew and Gentile. Therefore, any Jew or Gentile
who confesses Jesus Christ as his Lord and believes
that God raised Him from the dead becomes a member
of the Body of Christ.

Although believers on Pentecost received the new
birth, the power from on high, they could not explain
nor comprehend the fullness of the miracle which had
occurred, just as I cannot explain electricity although I
enjoy the utilization of it. On the day of Pentecost, and
for a period of time following, the believers benefited
from the new birth and the power from the Holy Spirit,
but they could not explain what they had. Finally, years
later, the revelation to explain the gift that came on Pentecost
was given to the Apostle Paul. To Paul was revealed
the greatest mystery the world has ever known—the mystery
of the Body of Christ, which is His Church.

To discover when the mystery was revealed to Paul,
let us check Romans 16 and Ephesians 3.

Romans 16:25, 26:
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according
to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery, which
was kept secret since the world began,

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of
the prophets [not the Old Testament prophets, but
the post–Pentecost prophets who are members of
the Church, the Body], according to the commandment
of the everlasting God, made known to all
nations for the obedience of faith.

Ephesians 3:2-5:
If ye have heard of the dispensation [or the administration]
of the grace of God which is given me to
you-ward:

How that by revelation he made known unto me the
mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Which in other ages was not made known unto the
sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

The founding of the Church of the Body was not made
known in other ages; thus the prophets of the Old Testament
did not know about the Church of Grace; neither
did the people living at the time of the Gospels. But it is
“now [lately] revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit.”

Once the timing of the revelation of the mystery is
clear, the essential question remains: What is the mystery?

Ephesians 3:6:
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the
same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ
by the gospel.

It was no mystery that the Gentiles would be blessed
under Abraham’s and David’s ministries and during
Israel’s reign. Examples of the Gentiles’ being blessed
are scattered throughout the Old Testament. But the Old
Testament does not give the slightest inkling that the
Gentiles would ever be fellowheirs or joint-heirs, “of
the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ
by the gospel.” The revelation of the Gentiles being
fellowheirs in Christ was, to say the least, revolutionary
news.

Ephesians 3:7, 8:
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the
gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual
working of his power.
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is
this grace given, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

The word “unsearchable” can be translated “untrackable.”
The mystery of the riches of God’s grace to the
Gentiles could literally not be tracked in the Word of God
from the Old Testament through the Gospels. That the
Gentiles should be fellowheirs and of the same Body was
a secret, hidden from the beginning of the world.

Ephesians 3:9:
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of
the mystery, which from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God, who created all things. . . .

The revelation was made known “to make all men
see what is the fellowship of the mystery.” The word
“fellowship” in the Greek text is the word “administra-
tion.” The “fellowship of the mystery” is literally the
“administration of the church of grace.”

Colossians 1:26, 27:
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and
from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints:

To whom God would make known what is the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The mystery, so important that it was kept secret since
the foundation of the world, is that all born-again believers,
Jews and Gentiles, would be fellow-heirs of
Christ and that Christ would be in every one of them.
Imagine that! When Jesus Christ was here upon earth,
He could only be at one place at one time. But after He
ascended into heaven, and God had given the power of
the holy spirit on the day of Pentecost, then Christ could
be in every born-again believer. Wherever a believer is,
there Christ is present. Had the devil known this mystery
he would never have crucified Jesus. Through Jesus’
death, resurrection and ascension, power hitherto unknown
in history was made available. The devil was
totally unaware of God’s plan, as told in I Corinthians.

I Corinthians 2:7, 8:
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even
the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the
world unto our glory:

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for
had they known it, they would not have crucified the
Lord of glory.

The devil as ruling prince would much rather have had
Jesus Christ personally present on earth than to have
thousands of believers with Christ in them scattered
across the world. By crucifying the Lord of Glory, Satan
brought an unsolvable problem to himself.

Obviously the devil was not the only one who was
ignorant of the intentions of God. Many men before the
time of the Church of Grace tried to find out about this
period. Peter told of the Old Testament prophets’ quests.

I Peter 1:10, 11:
Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace
that should come unto you:

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit
of Christ which was in them did signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and
the glory that should follow.

The literal translation according to usage of verse 11
reads: “Searching out unto the time of the spirit which
was upon them did signify of Christ when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that
should follow.”

These Old Testament prophets diligently searched The
Word for the time lapse between the Gospels and the
book of Revelation, between the suffering of Christ and
His glory. But this period of grace could not be found
because it was completely hidden.

The period of grace is indicated by Jesus’ reading of
Isaiah 61 which is recorded in Luke.

Luke 4:16:
And he [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been
brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into
the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for
to read.

A wise and interesting tradition in the synagogues at
the time was that whenever a man read from the Word
of God, he always stood to show respect for the sacred
scrolls and to show that he was reading, not just talking
on his own. When a person finished reading the Word of
God and began teaching or discussing, the man sat down.
When a man sat, listeners were not certain that the man
ministering to them was giving The Word; but when the
minister was standing and reading, the congregation knew
that they were hearing the Word of God. This is why
Jesus stood to read.

Luke 4:17:
And there was delivered unto him the book [scroll]
of the prophet Esaias [Isaiah]. And when he had
opened the book, he found the place where it was
written.

How thoroughly Jesus must have studied the scroll of
Isaiah! Although He did not have the help of chapters
and verses or center references, He “opened the book
[and], he found the place where it was written.”

There is a story told of a man who said that he did
not have to study the Bible to learn its message for him.
All he had to do to find God’s guidance each morning
was to flip through the Bible and, while covering his
eyes, place his finger on a verse. The verse on which
his finger landed was his guidance for the day. An interesting
guidance was given to this man one morning as
he casually flipped to a page in the New Testament. He
placed his finger on a verse, opened his eyes, and read,
“And Judas went and hanged himself.” The man was
dissatisfied with this guidance, so he flipped to another
page, and this time read, “Go and do thou likewise.”
Shocked, the man gave his method a third try only to
read, “That which thou doest, do quickly.”

In contrast to this fellow, Jesus found the place where
it was written; He deliberately located the Scripture he
needed at that particular time. Jesus was prepared, as
Luke 4 demonstrates.

Luke 4:18-21:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath
sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance
to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the
minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that
were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

And he began to say unto them, This day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Jesus stopped reading with the phrase, “to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord,” and sat down saying, “This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Compare
Luke 4 with Isaiah 61 from which Jesus read.

Isaiah 61:2:
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the
day of vengeance of our God....

Isaiah says, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the
Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God,” but Jesus
never read the last eight words. Why did He stop in the
middle of the phrase? Had Jesus read the words “the
day of vengeance of our God,” and then said, “This day
is this scripture fulfilled,” Jesus would have been in error.
Jesus could not say, “This day is the day of vengeance
of our God fulfilled in your ears,” because the day of
vengeance had not yet come. The “day of vengeance of
our God” will be fulfilled with the prophecy of Revelation
when Christ will return as King of Kings and Lord
of Lords with all the power of God.

Jesus accurately divided the Word of God. Jesus Christ
was to preach the acceptable year of the Lord—it was
fulfilled. The day of vengeance had not yet come. In
Isaiah 61:2 a comma is placed after the expression “to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” while in Luke
4:19 a period follows the same statement. The comma
in Isaiah 61:2 represents all the years from the day of
Pentecost until the time the Lord Jesus Christ will come
again. The intervening time is the period of Grace, the
Church to which post-Pentecost believers belong, which
was still a mystery at the time of the writing of Isaiah
and was unknown to Jesus.

The time of the Church of Grace is the day of man’s
judgment.

I Corinthians 4:3:
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be
judged of you, or of man’s judgment. . . .

The words “of man’s judgment” are “man’s day.”
Man does the judging today during the age of Grace for
it is man’s day. If this were not so, a man would not be
able to curse God, use His name in vain, nor live like
the devil himself. In this age of Grace man is free, but
there is another judgment coming as Revelation indicates.

Revelation 1:10:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day. . . .

What exactly is the Lord’s Day? Some people speak
loosely of the Lord’s Day as Sunday, yet for another
group of people the Lord’s Day is the Sabbath, Saturday.
Biblically speaking, the Lord’s Day has nothing to do
with the day of the week. The Lord’s Day is the age in
which the Lord does the judging. In that age nobody
will nail Him to a cross, nobody will curse Him, nobody
will mock Him, for His return as King of Kings
will usher in the age of the vengeance of God spoken of
in Isaiah 61.

To live in this age of Grace, an age which was kept
secret from the foundation of the world until it was revealed
to Paul, is a tremendous privilege. Man has power
and status in Christ which no other age has ever known.

The church of the bride did not know of the Church
of Grace that was to come. The Church of Grace, the
Church of the Body, was founded after the church of
the bride was suspended at the time of the crucifixion
and death of the Bridegroom. The church of the bride
will remain in that state until Christ returns. In the meantime,
during the period of the Church of the Body, all
believers are one in Christ Jesus, the Head of that Body.
Each born-again believer has Christ in him, the hope of
glory. No other age has had this potential power for manifesting
the greatness of God as have members of the
Church of Grace. We must not allow this power of Christ
in us to remain dormant. Now that Christ is in us spiritually,
let us put on His mind and show forth our power
to defeat the devil and his forces of evil. We are more
than conquerors now! We now have Christ in us and we
are now fellowheirs with him.

* Luke 1:33: “And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
† The church described and spoken of in the book of Revelation
has nothing to do with our time and our administration.
**Ephesians 1:22, 23: “And hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his
body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
Ephesians 3:2: “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of
God which is given me to you-ward.”
I Corinthians 1:2: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to
them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all
that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
both theirs and ours.”