I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (Revelation 21:2—NIV)

The Firstfruits of the Bride

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4—NIV)

There is, I think, abundant Old and New Testament evidence that the Christian Church will be divided temporarily into two segments, a militant remnant who will govern with the Lord during the thousand-year Kingdom Age, and then the balance of the Church who will descend together with the militant remnant as the new Jerusalem, the holy city. This will take place after the final resurrection and judgment.

In the Old Testament we have several types that portray a temporary division of the one Christian Church into two segments:

There is the account of Gideon in which a remnant gained the victory for all Israel. The story of Gideon may be the clearest of the Old Testament types of the coming of the Lord.

Then there is the temporary separation of the Ark of the Covenant from the remainder of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, during the rule of King David.

It also is true concerning David (a type of Christ) that he governed Judah for several years before he became king over all Israel.

And then there is the design of the Tabernacle of Congregation. The tent, a type of the Christian Church, was divided into a Holy Place and a Most Holy Place.

Have you ever noticed the emphasis placed on David's "mighty men"? It is remarkable that of all the various vocations pursued by the Jews, one of the principal distinctions was between David's outstanding fighters and then the remainder of Israel. This emphasis on war persists in the New Testament with the exhortation to "fight the good fight of faith" and to "put on the whole armor of God."

In the new Testament we see separate pronouncements of the marriage of the Lamb, divided by the thousand years of the Kingdom Age. The first occurs in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation, when the Bride is clothed in the white robes of her righteous conduct, and soon after appears as an army following the Commander in Chief.

The second announcement is found in the twenty-first chapter of the Book of Revelation, when the entire Bride of the Lamb descends to the new earth as the holy city.

The second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation imply a division between the victorious saints and the remainder of the churches of Asia.

For example, when speaking to the angel of the church in Sardis, the Lord warns that only a remnant, a "few names," will walk with Him in the white robes of the royal priesthood. What about the majority of believers in Sardis? Are they to be thrown in the Lake of Fire?

Probably not, although the Lord warns them of the danger of having their names blotted from the Book of Life.

We know there shall be some who will be saved as by fire. There are the greatest and the least in the Kingdom of God, according to the Lord Jesus. We realize some reap Christ thirty-fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.

There were the multitude, the seventy, the twelve, and finally the three on the Mount of Transfiguration.

There is Zion, which consists of the warriors, and then Jerusalem.

It may be true that one of the most deadening of the "grace" teachings is that because we are saved by grace and not our own efforts, we all shall receive the same reward; all have the same standing in the Kingdom of God.

This is not true. There are some for whom places at the right hand and left hand of Jesus Christ have been prepared.

To be continued.