The Harvest Time Is Here

Notes from Our Worship and Prayer Service for the 40 Days of Hope 3-25-17

After the Worship Alma Patterson shared a scripture that the LORD gave her during the before prayer service, Amos 9:13, “’Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘When the plowman shall over take the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it.’” The emphasis being on this is the time of reaping. Then she shared a dream she had at an early age; in the dream she became aware that she was raised from the grave, startled by being resurrected with the grave before her and that Jesus was beside her. She was perplexity of having been summoned from the grave, with curiosity Alma looked to the LORD to see Him fan His arm and point to a large harvest of crosses. She was perplexed by the dream and often prayed for an interpretation. Earlier this evening she had shared her childhood dream with Jeremiah Leeper and realized the LORD was revealing that the harvest of crosses represented lives that the LORD had touched through her life. She explained that our impact on the harvest as revealed by the Spirit of the LORD is made possible by “Kingdom multiplication”. That the LORD accounts to us those souls that are touched and won by the souls we touch and win. She felt this was revealed to encourage us during the time of harvest, it is not about how many people we minister to and win to the LORD, it’s about discipling then the growth is exponential.

Then Pastor Chris Leeper shared how the news is reporting since all the rain and snow we’ve had in California that the drought is over but the politicians are reluctant for whatever reason to proclaim the drought over. Since the drought is over it is time for the harvest to begin, he shared from Ezekiel 37 on the vision of the dry bones that GOD brought back to life as a great army. He restored the sinews, flesh, and skin but it was not until He breathed the breath of life into them that they became living beings. He shared how today the Body of Christ is full of dry bones and that GOD is bring them back to life because He is raising up a great army for the harvest.

Lisa Williams shared how during the harvest the workers worked 24/7 to bring in the harvest, that it was the hardest and busiest time for farmers and the workers were always on call.

Hadassah Peterson shared from Amos 9:11-15 and Ezekiel 37:15-28 how GOD was not only restoring Israel but this was about Jesus bringing in the Gentiles to His Eternal Kingdom, making one Body of Christ from Jew and Gentile. She also shared a vision GOD gave her similar to Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, in hers the bones were in piles by type of bone. A pile of arm bones a pile of leg bones, etc. And that the LORD took bones from each pile to make the new man, this is representative of the churches taking on certain functions while limiting or eliminating other functions. During this time of the great harvest Christ will be realigning His Body to reflect the fullness of who He is! So that He will be Head of one unified Body of Believers.

Several people prayed along these lines, when I prayed I shared that there was a group of believers who for several years took this time, Lent, and prayed and fasted for The LORD of the harvest to send out labors to the harvest according to Jesus’ command to the disciples, Matthew 9:37-38, and that when Pentecost happened they became the harvesters; and that now that the drought was over it was time for us the Body to begin the work of the harvest. That when there was a large harvest they had to work to get it in before the next rain came and ruined the crop or the sowers would overtake the reapers.

During the time all this was going on Ben and Deborah Monson’s son Samuel fell while climbing and landed on his head and neck. He was in pain, had a fever and wanted to sleep so they were taking him to the ER. This did not happen at the service. Lisa Spicer was texting with Deborah and sharing with us what was going on so we prayed for healing, grace and peace for Samuel and the family. Later before we took communion Lisa shared that Samuel was feeling better and was hungry. We Bless You Father for your love and mercy demonstrated by Your power and grace.

There Is No Body Without Unity

If you are a Christian you have heard some teaching on the Body of Christ and unity. If you are a reader of scripture than you have read Jesus’ commandment about unity and the teachings of the Apostles about unity and the Body. So why is it so hard for us to walk in obedience to GOD in being unified as the Body of Christ (the Church) in the world? I’m not actually going to try to answer that, I’m going to try to explain what it means to be a body.

Think about your body, what a marvelously mysterious thing it is! Medical science has only begun to understand how and why our body is and functions. The truth is, as much as they know there is so much more they do not, but this is not a medical or scientific exploration. For this discussion we must set aside all of that type of thinking and just look at our body as a singular being made up of innumerable parts all with their own unique purpose and function.

Our body is fearfully and wonderfully made! We are the purposeful result of GOD’s creative desire to have a lover. Here is one of the biggest problems we have with thinking about the Body of Christ and being the Bride of the Lamb; we think after our human desires and understandings rather than GOD’s. GOD does not want nor need a lover like we as humans do. 1 Corinthians 13 is the chapter on love and if a married couple live according to that lifestyle they will have a great marriage and love life, but sex is a purely mortal function. There is no sex or need for sex in the eternal spiritual kingdom, and being in the continual glorious presence of the True and Living GOD we will not miss it, Luke 20:27-38.

Stop thinking about the Body of Christ and the Bride of the Lamb (which are one and the same) in fleshly terms.

Our body is fearfully and wonderfully made! We are the purposeful result of GOD’s creative desire to have a lover. Not just individually which is the first relationship that we have with GOD, like being in our mother’s womb. We are not aware of our body just our existence and the feeling of love and protection that we should experience. Then we are born and as we grow and gain understanding we begin to discover our body and its many functions and how to function as a whole being in the larger world in which we exist. This is an ongoing process in life. So our relationship with GOD must grow beyond just our self to include His whole Body.

Think about your body, what a marvelously mysterious thing it is! It functions under many adverse conditions and it functions after traumatic events. It recovers and renews itself and sustains life longer than we expect most of the time. This is of course not always true, many die early deaths for a variety of reasons, accidents, sickness or disease, war, or acts of evil. This is the result of sin in our world, therefore in our lives. Not all people die because of their sin but sin is the underlying cause of death in all creation. All of us know people who have lost organs or limbs and survived and still function normally or mostly normally. Some are born with major defects or conditions and still live and have a reasonable life. Some experience horrific physical events that result in major lose of limbs and or organs and most recover and regain life.

So what am I trying to say? GOD made our body, formed from the dust of the earth and He breathed His breath of life into it in Adam. Then He took Eve out of Adam, remember what the scriptures say, GOD man male and female; then He separated them because He knew man was not a singular being and needed a companion. After that GOD forms all of us in our mother’s womb, writing out the days of our lives before any of them exist. We are marvelously and wondrously made in the image of GOD.

Now that the preamble is done here is what the LORD was showing me this morning in my prayer and reading time.

The Body of Christ is like our body, it was made perfect by GOD who expects us to maintain it’s perfection. But He knows that we cannot without His Spirit so He has given us His Spirit.

Now we, the Church, have done many things to hurt the Body plus our enemy the devil attacks us to keep us sickly, weak, and divided. Being divided is like having an autoimmune disease, we are fighting and hurting our self, therefore we are fighting GOD!

Like many individuals who have lost organs and limbs we are wounded and have festering sores. Festering sores are the deceptions and hatred we have for other members of the Body. They do not let the wound heal and therefore the body cannot recover.

We have lost limbs and organs and wonder why our Heavenly Father does not pour out His anointing for revival and miracles. Our thinking is wrong He has; but because we are not healthy and whole the way He made us we cannot function normally as He designed us.

Like our human body we can live and function after lose and damage but not the same. We can overcome and develop reasonable behaviors and adaptations, but we are not what we should be.

Around the world right now there are calls for unity though out the Church, but if we stay as we are it will not happen and we will continue to be incomplete and inefficient in the gifts and callings for GOD’s Kingdom in the earth. If we really believe the scriptures and want to obey Christ’s commandment to love one another as He loves the Church then we must be willing to lay down our life for the Church (Ephesians 4:32; 1 John 3:16). It has to stop being about us, our ministry, our church, and our denomination. It’s all His and we are only a part of it, He determines what and where He wants us and the function that is our required part to keep His Body healthy and accomplishing His will in the earth.

In the natural our body only has a few organs that it cannot live without; brain, heart, and liver. In the Body of Christ there is only one that we cannot exist without our head, Christ. In our natural body every part and function is controlled by our brain. In the Body of Christ it should be the same, but many parts of the Body have cut themselves off from our Head or believed a lie of the devil that cuts us off from our Head.

Like our human body that we can repair and bypass some functions or replace with artificial or borrowed parts; many members of the Body of Christ have fixed or adapted themselves to make them seem whole; but we are not! My hands have 4 fingers and a thumb each, my fingers have multiple digits and if I lose a couple of them I can still function but not as well. If I lose all of them my hands can still function but not fully. If I lose one or both hands my arms can still function but even les effectively; etc.

We can only be whole and complete and fulfilling the purpose of GOD in the earth when we are truly united and The One Body of Christ. I am not saying that we need to or must do away with denominations, or individual church ministries, or anything like that. What I am saying is that if we maintain our divisions and separations at the expense of unity we will not accomplish the purpose of GOD that He expects us to and we then pass off to the next generation the responsibility to do what GOD gave us to do on top of what He has called them to do. GOD does overcome our deficiencies but He wants to use us as His one united Body in the earth to accomplish His purposes not overcome our deficiencies.

Study Genesis 1 and 2; Psalm 139; John 14 thru 17; Acts 1 and 2; 1 Corinthians 12 and 15; Hebrews; 1 John 4

A Story of Two Sons

A Story of Two Sons

Also called the “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” or “The Parable of the Lost Boy”, Luke 15:11-32 NKJV.

I’ve heard many teachings on the prodigal son, his repentance, and his father’s love and acceptance of his return. Their comparison to us the sinner and GOD the Father, I’ve also heard a few on the older brother’s reaction to the return of his brother. The following is my understanding of this parable.

“Then He said, ‘A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” So he divided to them his livelihood.” This shows that both sons were of an age that if they wanted they could go out on their own and the younger son wanted to. Now the father was under no obligation to support his younger son if he left the family home and business, but he had to know that if he gave the younger son his inheritance he would leave home. Jesus’ introduction tells us two things; the family business was doing well and the younger son did not want to work when he could be living the “good life”. He might not have been lazy but he did not care about the family business and did not want to work it, he doesn’t seem to be influenced by friends because he left home and community. “And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.” We are not told how long that took.

We understand prodigal living as self indulgent or wasteful living, filled with sinful behavior.  Whatever he was doing he wasted his possessions and was soon broke. Then followed his second real life test, the one that would prove if he was his father’s son or a reprobate son. He had failed his first real life test by wanting and wasting his inheritance without earning it by supporting his family and working the family business. “But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.”

“But when he came to himself,…” we do not know how long that took, days ,weeks, months, but at some point good reasoning returned. “…he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!’” This is the critical point in this young man’s life, he could go home and expect his father to take him in and provide for him and he had no reason to think his father wouldn’t. Or, he could go home in humility and repentance which those who know this parable know he did. So he failed his first life test but passed the second. “’I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father.”

I do not remember hearing this section taught this way but I believe the important part is his recognition of the fact that he had sinned against GOD! He did not sin against his father because his father had freely given him the inheritance, how he used it was now his business. The man’s sin was against GOD because he did not live his life and steward his possessions as he knew GOD expected him to.  Remember this is a Jewish parable therefore the Jews hearing it would understand this point. As Christians we should also understand this critical point. I have heard many teaching of this parable relating the father of the sons to Father GOD, while the father reflects the love and desire of our Heavenly Father I do not believe Jesus was making that inference.  The young man’s father is just that, remember the first commandment with a promise is Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your GOD is giving you.” Also remember Jesus chastised the religious leaders for perverting it; study Mark 7:9-13 and Matthew 15:1-9. While the son owed honor to his father he did not have to go and repent to his father, but he did want to show his father that he had learned and was repentant before GOD. Part of his repentance to GOD was to show humility and to start earning his way. He knew his father would not be harsh since he knew how he treated his servants and that it would be easier than if he stayed the course where he was, so he made his decision to return home to family.

The other reason I do not believe that the father in the parable represents our Heavenly Father is that our Heavenly Father will never give us our inheritance at the beginning. When we first become a Christian we receive many things, salvation is a complete package of healing, deliverance, sanctification, righteousness, sonship; we are made a new creation, the temple of Holy Spirit, a member of the Body of Christ, but He does not give us our inheritance, He does not sent us in His calling for us, we sets us in His Church where we will learn and grow into the fullness of Christ He has called us to; study Ephesians 4:11-16. Another misunderstanding in the Church is what our inheritance is, it is not anything in this world! We do not receive our inheritance until we leave this world and enter into His Heavenly Eternal Kingdom, this earth and everything in and of it are temporary and will be destroyed. We cannot have or enter into our Heavenly eternal inheritance until we pass from this physical, mortal life.

“But when he was still a great way off his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Wow! I have heard many testimonies of salvation that reflect this type of experience. But, that is not everybody’s experience, my wife had that type of salvation experience but many including myself did not have that kind of salvation experience. What is common in our salvation experiences is that we can all look back over our life and see where GOD was at work in our life and how He pursued us and allowed us to get to the same place that the young son got to, so that we could see our desperate situation and that we had sinned against GOD and that only He could save us and give us a life worth living if we repented and yielded our will to His.

*“And they began to be merry. Now his older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come and because he is safe and sound your father has killed the fatted calf.’ But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.” Our Heavenly Father has never pleaded with any of us to rejoice that a lost brother has come home! The father started a party for his returning son and did not send a servant to the field to tell and invite the older brother? Sorry not Heavenly Father like. “So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I have never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’” The older son obviously has self-righteous issues. He judges his brother without any evidence or talking to him at all. Yet he is also feeling the rejection of his father who seems to favor his younger brother. There are many in the Church who are jealous of others who resent them and speak against them. It is a misunderstanding of GOD and how His Kingdom works on earth and in heaven. I have been both the prodigal son and the jealous son, neither is good and GOD does not want us to be either. Our Heavenly Father loves us all the same, the price Jesus paid for everyone of us is the same. GOD has gifted us all differently and called us to different ministries and purposes but He does not love us differently. Our mortal and eternal rewards are not based on what we do but how yielded and obedient we are.

Remember this parable was being told to those who knew the Law and the covenant GOD made with Abraham, they understood that the father does not represent GOD, but that all three represent them. In the two previous parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin Jesus ended them with these statements, “…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents…”, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of GOD over one sinner who repents.”, study Luke 15:1-10, but He does not say that at the end of this parable. “And he said to him, ‘Son you are always with me and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’” All three people have weaknesses found in us, believers, but not in GOD! Yes, we should rejoice every time a sinner repents and is saved, yes we should rejoice every time a back slidden believer repents and is restored. But when we have a personal, intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father we cannot be jealous of other believers, we can only rejoice in what GOD is doing in their life.

*As I was writing this section I stopped to talk with my wife Charlene, as I was explaining what I felt the LORD was telling me this morning as I read this parable she told me we had watched a TV minister talking about this parable and saying the same things I was saying a couple of nights before. She does not remember who and I do not remember it at all, I may have fallen asleep as we sometimes watch Christian TV as we are in bed. But I know that over the last several months I have thought about the common teachings around this parable and felt they were lacking in what Christ was saying. We were reminded of our personal experiences 20 years ago and brought to a place of repentance to GOD and forgiveness of others. That is the point of reading, studying, and meditating on the scriptures, so our Heavenly Father can bring repentance, forgiveness, and healing to us.

The Tamid

The Mystery of the Tamid*

It was mid-afternoon. He took me into a chamber in the middle of which was a large golden stone model of the Temple of Jerusalem. We were viewing it from what would have been the Temple’s eastern side, the side closest to the altar of sacrifice.

“’Now this is what you shall offer on the altar,’” said the teacher. He was reciting a passage of scripture. “’Two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.’ This,” he said, “was the law of the Tamid. Tamid was the name given to the sacrifices that were to be offered every day in the Temple. So each day, the offerings would begin with the sacrifice of the morning lamb and finish with the sacrifice of the evening lamb. All the other sacrifices would come in between the two.”

“Was there a specific ritual to the offering of the Tamid?”

“The morning lamb would be offered up at the third hour of the day. With its death, the Temple trumpets would sound and the Temple gates would be opened. Then at about the ninth hour, the evening sacrifice would be slain and offered on the altar, at which time the sacrifices would be finished.”

“So the morning lamb was offered up at the third hour. What time is that?”

“Nine o clock,” said the teacher. “And when was Messiah crucified? The same hour, nine in the morning. So as the morning lamb was slain on the altar, the Lamb of GOD was lifted up on the altar of the cross, and the trumpets sounded to announce the sacrifice, and the Temple gates were opened.”

“And the evening lamb,” I said, “at the ninth hour, what time was that?”

“Three in the afternoon,” he said.

“Isn’t that when Messiah died on the cross?”

“It was. So the sacrifice of Messiah began with the offering up of the morning lamb and ended with the offering of the evening lamb. And it all took place during the six hours of the Temple sacrifices, in between the two lambs, from the first sacrifice to the last. The Lamb of GOD,” said the teacher, “is all in all, covering every moment, every need, every sin, every problem, and every answer. He is Tamid.”

“You never told me; what does tamid mean?”

“It means continual, daily, perpetual, always, and forever. And so He will be there for you always…and will be your answer continuously, every day, always, and forever. For Messiah is the Lamb, and not only the Lamb…but your Tamid.”

The Mission: Meditate on the fact that Messiah is your Tamid – the covering for every moment of your life – always, and forever, Live accordingly.

Exodus 29:38-39; Mark 15:25-37; Revelation 7:9-17

The Good Friday Sacrifice Mysteries

*The Book of Mysteries; Day 49; Jonathan Cahn; FrontLine; Charisma Media/Charisma House Goup; 2016

Unity in the New Testament

Unity in the New Testament

This is a study of unity in the New Testament, but it has to be established on unity from the beginning!

“In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth. Then GOD said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Genesis 1:1 & 26a The name of GOD used in the introduction of GOD is the plural form Elohim. (From my studies I do not see any other name of GOD used until Genesis 14.) So GOD establishes His plurality; Father, Son, Spirit; and the theme of unity. We see throughout the Old Testament that there is no conflict or division in the Godhead. “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity!...For there the LORD  commanded the blessing – life forevermore.” Psalm 133:1 & 3b This is the only time in the Old Testament that the word unity is used. It   is to those who believe in the Living GOD and comes with a commanded blessing from GOD. If we are in unity in His Kingdom on the earth which at that time was Israel, He will bless us!

Now the bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the life of Jesus, the only begotten Son of GOD, who was the full embodiment of the Godhead! (Colossians 2:8-10) What does Jesus say about unity? “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” John 17:20-26 Jesus does not use the word unity but His teaching on being one is the same. He and the Father are one, and He wants us to be one with Himself so that we will also be one with the Father. Here is the blessing of unity that the love that the Father loved Jesus with will be in us and Jesus will be in us! This is eternal life!

The word unity is only used two time in the New Testament, Ephesians 4:3 & 13, “…endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of GOD, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Wow! The first six verses of this chapter are about oneness, the same prayer Jesus prayed over the disciples and the future Church in John 17; “…bearing with one another in love…keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…one body and one Spirit…one hope of your calling…one LORD, one faith, one baptism…one GOD and one Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Verses 7 thru 10 speak of Christ’s Lordship, power and authority, verses 11 is about the gifts He gave the Church, and verses 11-16 are the purpose of the gifts and the results He expects to see in the Church. 4:16, “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Paul teaches unity in his teachings on the Church as a body of believers likened to the human body and to a building built on Jesus Christ the chief corner stone and foundation. Peter refers to us as being living stones built on Christ The Living Stone. (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 2:18-19; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 3; 1 Peter 2:1-10) Paul has a lot to say about love which also is a sign of unity, but John says it best emphasizing what he heard Jesus teach and pray for the Church. In First John he talks about love and abiding saying if we say we love GOD but hate (do not love) our brothers we are a liar, that is a strong statement. He says we need to abide in Christ, His love needs to abide in us, if it does His Spirit abides in us and we are the children of GOD. “If someone says, ‘I love GOD,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love GOD whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves GOD must love his brother also.” 1 John 4:20-21 Study the whole book of First John and 1 Corinthians 13.

Here is the scripture that started this diatribe, 1 Corinthians 1:10-31, as I was reading this passage I started thinking about unity and the Cross, the thought I wrote down was, “Out of unity comes the message of the Cross, or unity is the message of the Cross – Salvation for all! Otherwise we are like the Jews of Jesus’ day.” Study Matthew 23

I have been a Christian since Dec. 8, 1974 and I have never seen unity like Jesus and Paul pray and teach about. I have heard songs and teachings about unity and I have seen attempts at localized unity and some small successes. But for the most part the Church is divided and seems to want to stay that way. Catholics and Protestants rarely join together in prayer, fasting, worship, fellowship, and ministry to the lost and needy. Within these two groups are many divisions, expressions, and ministries that do not often work together themselves.

1500 years ago the Church lost the Middle East and Asia because of its sectarian and political divisions. In the 19^th century the Church lost Southeast Asia while it was expanding its political, economic and religious base in those regions, in the 20^th century the Church lost Europe during the two greatest wars the world had ever seen, now the Church is in the process of losing the Americas while we are electronically taking the Gospel to the world. The good news is that the Church is slowly gaining in parts of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. As the Body of Christ we have failed to fulfill the commission He gave us, the works of which are preach the gospel in all the world, lay hands on the sick and see them recover, cast out demons, and raise the dead. This will result in making disciples of the nations and making His enemies His footstool.

What will it take to bring us, the Church, to repentance and unity? I do not know – GOD did not tell me. I have a thought, what if it is the arrival of the anti-christ and the great tribulation? It is only a thought I am not forming a new doctrine (actually I think this is a very old doctrine). In my 43 years of being a Christian I have been all over the map on the end times, the rapture and tribulation. I have heard many teachings and read a few books on the subject, but mostly I have read the Bible and I have come to no clear conclusion of the timing of the events, I do believe that everything the Prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles have written is true and will happen. I’m not worried about the order or timing of the events because one of the main themes of Jesus and the Apostles teachings is to know the signs of the times and be prepared so as not to be taken by surprise. I am trying to live my life after the motto of the Boy Scouts, “Be prepared!” 

Judging Our Sin Nature

Judging Our Sin Nature

Sin! Such a hated and misunderstood word. Words have power whether for good or bad so when a word is misunderstood or it’s meaning changed it can cause a lot of grief. We mostly use the word sin to refer to actions that offend GOD and man. It has since the 20^th century become a word of hate and attack against those we are judging; even though we are told not to judge others but only ourself. (Matthew 7:1-6; John 7:21-24; Romans 14:9-13) We will be judged for all of our actions, words, and thoughts; but only the action of rejecting GOD’s Gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ will be condemned to eternal punishment. We will wind up in hell no matter how good and righteous we live if we reject Jesus Christ! (Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:11-15)

Sin is foremost personal, the law reveals that we are all sinners and therefore subject to GOD’s righteous judgment. But we are shown that GOD had a plan from the beginning to redeem us to Himself. (Romans 3:19-23, 5:12-21; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 1:29; Ephesians 1:3-14; Hebrews)

In 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 Paul clarifies the issue of sin in the church verses sin in the world. If we were to not have anything to do with sinners then we would have no reason to be on the earth. Jesus told us to be light and salt to the world. He commissioned His Church to go into all the world and preach the gospel, lay hands on the sick and see them recover, cast out demons, raise the dead, tread on serpents, make disciples of the nations and make His enemies His footstool. So we have to be involved with and in the world but not of the world. (John 17:6-26) Paul was teaching that we should not have fellowship with those who say they are believers yet live as sinners. This is the closest we can get to judging others!

Only GOD has the right and responsibility to judge us, even our judgment of ourself is only valid if we use His standard of judgment. The acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ is the only true basis of judgment. Everything else is our works and they will be judged by GOD (the sinner) or Christ (the believer). (John 5:19-30; Revelation 20:11-15; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8; Acts 10:42; 1 Peter 4:1-5)

 The Bible says we are born with a sin nature, this is the nature of rebellion that we get from Adam who rebelled against GOD’s only commandment to not do something; eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So from the moment of conception we are destined to rebel against GOD and therefore receive His just judgment. But since He made us and knowing that He knew that Adam would commit the first sin He made a plan with Christ and the Holy Spirit that Christ would be born as a human and live a sinless life, then give His life as the eternal sacrifice to take away our sin nature; and that the Holy Spirit would then live in each one of us that receive GOD’s gift of salvation to teach us, to lead us, to comfort us, to gift us, and to use us to glorify Jesus Christ in and through our life. They made this plan before the foundation of the earth was laid. (John 1:10-13, 3:16-21; 1 Corinthians 6:17-20; Ephesians 2:19-22)

So if we are a sinner, one who does not believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of GOD, then we will be judged by GOD and self condemned to the eternal lake of fire.

But when we believe and confess Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior then we will receive His eternal reward. (Romans 6:22-23, 10:8-10; John 14:1-3)

The Bride

Who are the friends of the Bridegroom? Who are the guests invited to the wedding and feast of the Bridegroom? Who is the Bride of the Bridegroom?

John the Baptist referred to himself as a friend of the Bridegroom, John 3:22-36, verses 27 through 29 being the key verses, “John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ,” but, “I have been sent before Him.” He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.’”

I have always heard and believed the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) was about believers; like the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). But they are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, they are not the bride. In Matthew 22:1-14, the parable of the wedding feast, the guests were not the bride. So who are the guests? Those who lived and died before the Cross; they awaited Christ and He preached to them in hell and led them forth into His Kingdom. But, they were not and can never be part of the Body of Christ who is the Bride of the Lamb. They are those invited and who prepared and waited for the arrival of the Bridegroom and for the wedding and feast. All of humanity was invited but not all cared or wanted to attend, only those who believed and waited will attend, the rest will be cast in to utter darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.

So who is the Bride, most believers have no problem understanding that the Church of Jesus Christ is the Bride of the Lamb. The Bride is all believers since the Cross and resurrection of Christ. There is only one Body of Christ, it is also the Bride of the Lamb, it is also the Church. We are not invited to the wedding as guests we are Christ’s focal point of the wedding, the reason for the wedding. All of humanity since the Cross and resurrection have been called to be part of the Body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb; but many have rejected that call and will killed in the second death along with those who rejected the invitation to the wedding of the Bridegroom and His Bride (Revelation 20:5-6, 11-15; 21:8).

So in Revelation 21 when it says that the Bride of the Lamb is the New Jerusalem and goes into great detail to describe it; why does it not look like us; the Church, the Body of Christ? I do not know, while I can have the mind that was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5-8) I cannot have the mind of GOD nor His knowledge of all things while I am still in this flesh. But, I know that someday I will be like Him and know Him (1 John 3:1-3).