The Bride of Christ

There are many ways that the pre-wrath and post-trib arguments are demolished. One of those many ways is understanding the Jewish wedding customs. Have you ever noticed that the "other tribbers" never want to discuss the rapture/escape from all in the context of the Jewish wedding customs? Why not? They don't do it because the Jewish wedding custom has "Pre-tribulational rapture" written all over it.

If you are in Christ today, you should be watching. Watching for what? Watching for Jesus Christ the bridegroom to come back for us, the bride. Watching today for Jesus is non-sense to the "pre-wrath" and post-trib believers. They will argue with the veins popping out of their foreheads and blue in the face that there is nooooo reason to watch for Jesus today because all kinds of things have to happen first before Jesus can come back for us. They are wrong. Dead wrong.

We are told to watch, repeatedly. When the bridegroom goes back to His Father's house, as Jesus has done, the bride is to start preparing for her married life (1 year) then she is to watch for the unexpected/surprise/"secret" return of the bridegroom just as we are now watching for the unexpected/surprise/"secret" rapture/escape from all as we leave this earth and go to the Father's house where a place has been prepared for us.

Do you think its a coincidence that the Jewish bride is hidden away in the bridal chamber for 7 days after arrival at the Father's house? Not a chance. 7 days, as in a week, as in Daniel's 70th week, as in 7 years of the time of Jacob's trouble, as in the Church is not mentioned through the entire book of Revelation after Revelation 3 kind of hidden.

The church is specifically mentioned...by name in Revelation 2-3. Then the church is purposefully not mentioned again until the end of the book of Revelation. That is not coincidence, and no, the Lord is not using code words for the church throughout the book of Revelation, why should He? He mentioned them by name in Revelation 2-3, why the need to call the church anything but the church after Revelation 3? The church is not mentioned by name after Revelation 3 because she is hidden in her bridal chamber.

Jesus said that we should be watching. We are the bride of Christ, what should we be watching for? For the bridegroom. If we are hidden away in the bridal chamber for 7 years while the time of Jacob's trouble is unfolding on earth, would that be consistent with us being commanded to pray for the escape from all that is coming on the earth in Luke 21:34-36? Yes, that would be consistent. Would being hidden away in the bridal chamber also be consistent with the promise to be kept from the hour of trial that is coming on all the earth? Yes, that too would be consistent. Would being hidden for 7 years in the bridal chamber be consistent with not being destined for wrath as we are told in 1 Thes 5:9? Yes, that too would be consistent.

Would being taken before the 7 years of Jacob's trouble be consistent with "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."-1 Thes 4:18 immediately after the rapture/harpazo/escape is explained to us? Yes, that too would be consistent. The Lord does not write confusion or non-sense. We are human beings that He created, do you think He understands how we think and act? Yes, He does understand us, and when He writes to us about the harpazo "catching away" rapture escape, He does so because it makes sense to us that not having to go through the time of Jacob's trouble, as we see the world about to enter it, is a comfort to us.

It is utter rubbish, complete non-sense to tell someone that they are about to go through hell on earth, and oh by the way, sometime around the end of it you'll be pulled out of it, so be comforted by that thought.....that kind of reasoning is utter trash, complete non-sense because it makes no sense to any human except those that may be mentally deranged or demon possessed.

If you are "in Christ" today, you should be very very encouraged. We have not been told to watch for the anti-christ, we have been told to watch for Jesus Christ, our bridegroom and savior. We would do well to format the Jewish wedding custom onto our brains. Jesus explained His return to us in terms of a wedding, bride and bridegroom for a reason. The truth about the Lord's return is in plain sight, but so many people refuse to take it at face value because they are determined that they will take part in the time of Jacob's trouble. Who are we to argue with them? If they believe that there is no reason to watch for the return of Jesus today, who is our bridegroom, who are we to argue with them? Those who have no revelation of being the bride of Christ, likely are not the bride of Christ. How could they be? Can you imagine a Jewish bride taking part in all the preparatory parts of the wedding custom then forgetting to watch for the Bridegroom afterwards? That defies all sound reasoning:

Jeremiah 2:32

Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number. ... Does a bride hide her wedding dress?

We were told to watch:

Mark 13:35 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the ...

... Watch therefore: for ye know not when the lord of the house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrowing, or in the morning; ... //bible.cc/mark/13-35.htm - 17k

Matthew 25:13 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the ...

... Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. ... Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. ... //bible.cc/matthew/25-13.htm - 15k

Matthew 24:42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on ...

... Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ... Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come. ... //bible.cc/matthew/24-42.htm - 15k

Luke 21:36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able ...

... Watch therefore, praying at every season, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things which are about to come to pass, and to stand before the ... Matt 25 tells us all about the bridegroom coming. We are told about the wise and foolish virgins. The foolish virgins brought no oil with their lamps. Oil is necessary for light and light is necessary to watch. The foolish virgins were not prepared to watch for Jesus to return for them. There are many people today, many who call themselves Christians who are not watching for the Lord's return today. They are the foolish virgins, prominent among them are the pre-wrath and post-trib teachers, but there are many others. The wise virgins take Jesus, the bridegroom at His word. He commanded us to watch, so we are watching, today and everyday. We who are the bride of Christ, have been through the arrangement and preparation phases of the wedding ceremony. We are not confused about who we are, or what is next. After the arrangement and the preparation comes the fetching of the bride. Those of us who are watching what is happening in the world see precursors of Revelation 6 written all over it. War, death, famine, signs in the sun moon and stars., movement of the earth's crust, its all there. FEMA just ordered 1 billion dollars worth of freeze dried food, the elite of this world have looted the economies of the world on purpose, knowing that people would riot, but also knowing that something is coming that will make the rioting dissapear. There are comets incoming to close orbits of the earth right now. There have been recent discoveries of large magnetic fields in space that NASA calls "fluff" because according to their faulty science, it shoud'nt be there. A large new planet has been discovered in the outer reaches of our solar system and its headed our way. Why don't you hear about this from the propaganda press? Because they want to you to work until the last second then drop dead in place while they hide themselves in the rocks and caves they have dug for themselves to hide from the wrath of the Lamb. Should you fear any of this ^^? Not if you are the bride of Christ. Everything that is coming is wrath, vengeance and judgement for the world, not the bride. The church has been through many tribulations on this earth. The vast majority of the church has lived and died in the past, only this last generation is seeing the fulfillment of the book of Revelation. If the vast majority of the church was tested and tried in the tribulations of life apart from the tribulation, does it make any sense that we, the last generation would be tried and tested differently? Where can anyone find in the bible that all of our forefathers in the faith would be tried and tested differently than this last generation of the church? You won't find it anywhere in the bible. We will have tribulation in this life, we were told that, and all of us have experienced that. Nowhere in the bible will you find that we who are just as much the church as our brothers who passed before us are to be tried and tested differently because we belong to the church at the end of the age. The church ages are all listed in Rev 2-3. Do you see the abomination that causes desolation, seals or trumpets or vials anywhere in there? I don't. What I do see is a faithful weak church and an apostate church at the end of the age. The faithful patient weak church is promised to be kept from the testing and trial coming on the entire world. Is that consistent with everything else we've discussed about the pre-tribulation, pre-flood, pre-time of Jacob's trouble rapture/harpazo/escape? YES The Word of God is like a puzzle. There are many puzzle pieces that must fit together to form the picture that the Lord intended for us to see. Many of todays preachers and teachers are attempting to force in pieces where they do not belong, therefore they get a royal mess instead of the royal message. These things were written today as a message of comfort and encouragement. We are the bride of Christ, that is a fact. Jesus is the bridegroom, that is a fact. Jesus explained His return for us in terms of a wedding, and He was Jewish so that means it was explained in terms of a Jewish wedding ceremony. If Jesus explained His return this way, that is how we should seek our understanding. The next step of the wedding is for Jesus to come back for us and take us to the Father's house. As we see the seals of Rev 6 being prepared to open, we should rejoice that we will be hidden away from them. Jesus opened the seals, the book came from the Father's hand. The wrath that is released from those seals is the wrath of the Lamb and we have not been appointed to it. Lift your head up and look up because we see "all these things" beginning to happen...our redemption draws nigh. Luke 21:28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and ... ... So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!" grace and peace

Debunking Objections to the Pre-Trib Rapture

The "other tribbers" have a multi faceted problem in their attempt to prove the Pre-trib rapture of the church wrong. They have to overcome:

1. The preponderance of scriptural evidence
2. The purpose of the tribulation
3. The nature of our God

The purpose of the tribulation was covered in the previous post. The bottom line there is-there is no reason whatsover for the church to be involved in the Daniel's 70th week. We weren't here in the first 69 weeks, we won't be here for the 70th week.

The purpose of this post is to address item 3 in the list above that we hear little to nothing about: the nature of our God.

Somewhere along the line, someone began to sell people on the idea that we have some kind of sourpuss, cosmic killjoy kind of God in the sky that enjoys seeing His people suffer. If that were true, that we did serve that kind of God, then perhaps the "other tribbers" might have a better argument.

As I read the bible, and I look back at my own life's testimony, here's what I see of the God of the bible:

1. He is longsuffering, putting up with my waywardness well beyond what I deserve to bring me around to His way through kindness and grace.

2. He is kind, tender, merciful and generous. Indeed He never puts on our shoulders any burden that is more than we can handle, though at times He has tested my strength and faith to the very last ounce.

3. He means what He says. Read the bible like a little child and I assure you that you will be much better off than any of the so called christian scholars of our day. If the Lord said it, He meant it. There is no need to write a 200 page book to explain simple lines of scripture. For example, if the Lord said there would be an escape from all, there will be an escape from all. No need for long lectures or 3day long debates or 200+ page books to explain or clarify what the Lord meant. It means what it would mean to a child.

4. He wants the very best for His children. Read Isaiah 54 for a glimpse into the character and nature of our God. He wants the very best for His children.

Think of our Lord's nature like a little child. If you were a child in a house with an older brother, and that older brother was always constantly getting into trouble with your father, would you expect your Father to punish you for the transgressions of your older brother? No, no reasonable child would expect that. We are the younger child (the church) and Israel is our older brother who to this day rejects Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Our God is a loving God, but He is also just. A righteous judge does not punish the innocent. The bible defines innocence differently than the world does. Innocence is being free from sin, which means covered by the blood that Jesus shed for us. The church by definition is a blood bought prize. Our sins have been removed from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103). Nobody who is on the narrow path that leads to life, who is covered by the blood of Jesus "needs" to go through any part of Daniel's 70th week.

The story of Noah shows us the Lord's character and His coming for us will be exactly like the story of Noah. If Noah escaped all of the flood, so will we. If Lot escaped all of the fire that fell on Sodom, so will we escape all the judgement coming to the world soon.

grace and peace