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Continuing our discussion from part one, and to reiterate a point that I made in part one, we need to do our very best to remain the Lord's untainted bride who is unspotted from the world, and who stands blameless before Him, as we can determine by the following group of verses:

"That ye may be BLAMELESS and harmless, the sons of God, WITHOUT REBUKE, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;"


"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, WITHOUT SPOT, and BLAMELESS."


"I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment WITHOUT SPOT, UNREBUKEABLE, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:"


But exactly how do we, as the faithful bride of Jesus Christ, achieve this goal? Again, by not compromising our Christian convictions, and by remaining as separate from the world as we possibly can, despite any negativity which may potentially come our way because of our taking such a stance. That also means setting an example for the world by the way in which we live, behave and talk.

So as you can see, we each have an important choice to make. We can either hide our spiritual light, and act and behave more like the world, or else we can help the world to become more like us by being the example that God expects of us as His children of light. Following are some additional verses which reveal the importance of letting our spiritual light shine before the world:

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."


"No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light."


"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children . . . For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light . . . And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."


Now, make no mistake. If you choose to live your life in a godly manner which is more pleasing to the Lord than to the children of the world, eventually, you may indeed draw some heat from those people who don't agree with your beliefs, or with the manner of life you have chosen. You may become the object of their ridicule, or worse. If that should happen to you, it is important that you understand that rejection and being ostracized from society due to your Christian beliefs is a part of being a true Disciple of Jesus Christ.

As I point out in a few other BBB articles, the Prophets of the Old Testament period most certainly experienced this kind of rejection and persecution, and even death at the hands of the very people they were trying to warn and save. Jesus obviously experienced it as well, including His own death on the Cross, as we read in the Gospels and in the rest of the New Testament. As the Book of Acts and some of the Epistles reveal, the Apostles and Disciples of the First Century Church likewise often found themselves persecuted, beaten, thrown in jail and kicked out town. And, of course, many other Christians down through history have experienced the very same kind of treatment at the hands of nonbelievers, and even at the hands of organized religion, such as the RCC.

A good chapter to read regarding this topic is Hebrews 11 in the New Testament. It is commonly referred to as the "heroes of faith" chapter. While I more amply discuss the subject of persecution against Christians in articles such as "Civil Disobedience and Christian Persecution", for the time being, allow me to share a few of my favorite verses with you:

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."


"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."


"But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls."


"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me."


"‭‭They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.‭"


So as you can see, if we are going to travel down this path, and live in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord, we need to be willing to suffer persecution for our Christian faith. We need to be willing to stand alone, even if the whole world stands against us and tells us that we are wrong, or that we are stupid, or crazy, or that we believe in fairy tales. It really does not matter what they think. All that truly matters is what God thinks of us, and that we are pleasing the Lord, right?

Now, while I have painted a rather dark picture for you with the previous group of verses, you should know that in most cases -- at least in the Western world -- you won't suffer such serious persecution. At best, you may become alienated from certain members of your own family who do not embrace your Christian beliefs. In fact, this has happened to me for literally decades now. Likewise, some of your co-workers may heckle you. Sadly, if you belong to a church in your area, some of them may distance themselves from you as well if you are more enthusiastic about your faith than they are willing to find acceptable.

Of course, if you are a really bold witness for your faith, and one who street preaches, or who passes out Gospel tracts in shopping mall areas where they have "No Loitering" or "No Soliciting" signs, or who stands in firm protest at abortion clinics, well, you should expect the level of persecution to rise substantially to where you may even spend time in jail. If the situation should escalate to that point, instead of allowing the Devil to condemn you and tell you that you just really blew it and were stupid, please remember verses such as the following:

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."


"And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name."


"But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."


Now, there is something else that you need to know, and that is this: If we choose to live in a manner which is pleasing to the Lord, and if we are faithfully letting our spiritual light shine in the world through being a bold witness of our faith, something else is going to happen. Do you know what that is?

The answer can be found by going back to a verse I shared with you at the beginning of this article, and understanding that human marriage relationships are merely a reflection of the true relationship which Jesus desires to have with us, His spiritual bride. The Bible verse I am referring to is the following one:

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."


In this case, I would like to highlight the very last phrase in that verse where the Apostle Paul writes "that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Given the rest of the verse, it should be rather evident what Paul means by that phrase. But if not, and you need a little help, it is quite simply this:

Just as the Lord told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to be fruitful and multiply, He desires the very same thing of us as His spiritual wife. In other words, He desires for us to bear spiritual children for His Kingdom. So how do we do that? By letting our spiritual light shine, and endeavoring to be a faithful witness of our faith to others. That's how.

In other words, as it has been said, the fruit of a Christian is another Christian. If you are living a Christian life, and people notice your example, they may become curious and begin to question you regarding your faith. With time, some of them may even reach a point where they too accept the Lord. If you are a bold street preacher or a Gospel tract passer, it is even more likely that you may win souls to the Lord. So these souls that you win are your spiritual fruit. They are in fact your spiritual children to which you gave birth. Following are some related Bible verses concerning sowing the seed of God's Word, and being fruitful branches for God's Kingdom:

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."


"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."


"But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold . . . But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."


"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."


"And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred."


"But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."


"He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."


"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."


"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned . . . Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."


Stop and think about the previous verse group for a moment. Wouldn't it be rather strange -- not to mention selfish -- if a human couple is perfectly capable of having children, and yet after twenty long years of marriage, they are still childless? It would certainly raise some eyebrows, wouldn't it?

So then think how our Heavenly Father would feel if we, His spiritual bride, were married to Him for twenty long years, and yet after so long a time, we had never bore Him a single spiritual child. Worse yet, imagine if in either the human relationship, or in our spiritual relationship with Jesus, the reason why there are no children is because the spouse is being unfaithful, and is committing adultery with some other person, or in a spiritual sense, with the world. Wow!

Well, if there is one thing we have learned here, it is that God loves fruitfulness, both physical fruitfulness in all of its different forms, and in spiritual fruitfulness as well. As some of the previous verses reveal, when someone or else something does not bear fruit, God is not very happy about it, and He casts it into the fire to be burned. Burning does NOT necessarily mean that it is always destroyed. In certain instances, burning and fire is simply meant to purge off the dross so that something becomes more pure and more fruitful. Following are a few more verses for your consideration:

"Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!"


"And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it . . . And when even was come, he went out of the city. And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God."


"Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."


"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"


"I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."


Thus, we have now come full circle in our discussion, and we see that spiritual adultery with the world can eventually lead to spiritual fruitlessness, which itself may lead to spiritual death. That is how serious the issue of spiritual adultery is with the Lord. After reading all of the above, can you still honestly say that you are not committing adultery?

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Are You a Burning Ember for the Lord?
Are You Crucified With Christ?
Are You Redeeming the Time?
Biblical Marriage Ceremonies
Christian Witnessing: Winning the Sheep and Waging the Warfare!
Civil Disobedience and Christian Persecution
Do You Stand Up for Your Faith?
Going Down the Highway of Life
Have You Sold Your Soul for a Pound of Flesh?
My Personal Vision and Your Challenge
Oh Be Careful Little Eyes!
One From Beyond: Hebrew of Hebrews
Queen James Bible: Blasphemous Abomination Exposed!
Sluggards and Sloths: Are You Diligent and Faithful in the Affairs of God's Kingdom?
Strangers and Pilgrims: Are You an Alien?
Study, Work and Don't Be Ashamed
The Children of Light: Are You One of Us?
The Fruit of the Womb
The Heavenly Vision: Have You Got It?
The Thorny Issues of Marriage, Adultery and Divorce
This Little Light, Glory of the Lord and Our Bright Future

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