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1 John 3:  1See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and suchwe are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

What is the benefit of living with the anticipation and joy of seeing Christ’s appearing? …  It purifies you.  If your focus is on being with Jesus then you will be keeping yourself pure and holy, doing the good works He prepared for you, so you will run to meet Christ at His appearing and not draw back and be ashamed at His appearing.  “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done on earth as it is in Heaven”.   The analogy is like a child who waits eagerly for his father to come home, anticipating throwing the football with his father or sharing his day with him.  But the child doesn’t enjoy waiting on the father if he has misbehaved and the mother has said “wait until your father comes home“.   Even the word “JOY” spells out the way to pursue and receive joy.

Thank God, we have a Heavenly Father who forgives the sins of His children.  All those who are born again in Christ Jesus and can confess their sin and God will forgive their sin and cleanse them from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  It is a righteous life in Christ that brings “joy” to the believer and allows God to bless the believer in order that they believer may be a blessing to others, building God’s Kingdom on earth and storing up treasures in Heaven.  It is such a simple and beautiful plan but we complicate God’s plan with our own plans, leaning on our own understanding of what is right and wrong, instead of God’s word and Holy Spirit that convict us of the sin in our life.

If you say you are a child of God and are living for your own sinful pleasures in this life, unrepentant of your sin, then you are in great danger because you may have never asked Jesus to truly save you and reign in your life.  A born again believer who has un-confessed sin in their life will have a nagging sense of guilt from the Holy Spirit, which is discipline from the Lord.   The Holy Spirit will make it known to the believer the specific sin that needs to be confessed and left behind.  The believer in Jesus Christ who is “not” walking in obedient fellowship with Jesus will be miserable because he will be kicking against the rod of God’s discipline.  If a believer continues to ignore the Lord’s discipline then you could have serious health problems leading to an early death, to.   This is something Paul talks about for the discipline of a believer in the Corinthians church had married his father’s wife, his step-mother.   

“have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” – 1 Corinthians 5:5

Do not misunderstand me, sickness in the life of the “faithful” believer is not discipline.  I am not going to elaborate on the many reasons a believer can be sick but we live on a Spiritual battlefield, where bullets of sin and sickness effect us all.  Our bodies that are born onto to die but sickness can bring a faithful believer closer to God and give glorify to God!   In Christ there is always deliverance from sickness and sin, either in deliverance to a longer life on earth or deliverance to the better life in Heaven!

2 Cor 5:6-8 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord —  for we walk by faith, not by sight —  we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”

The point is that when we fix our eyes on Christ with the expectation that we will give an account for every thought, word and deed, then we have the proper perspective to live a life of joy and service to Him.  Not only do we have joy because we anticipating meeting Jesus who is the source of our joy but we will be rewarded by Jesus for our faithfulness in looking for His appearing.  God is so good and gracious, wanting to reward us for doing the things that make us happiest!   What an awesome God we serve

in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. – 2 Timothy 4:8

And what kinds of things are Christians doing who are watching for Christ’s appearing?  The “watch men and woman” are studying the word to understand the signs of His return and studying the world to see the fulfillment of these signs.  We will want to obey Christ because we want to be pure when we meet Christ, knowing that He is near!

Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.

Anna and Simeon lived with the hope and joy of seeing  Jesus and they did meet baby Jesus in the Temple 40 days after His birth, according to the Jewish laws of purification for the mother (Leviticus 12:1-5).  Is this the timing when the Church will see Jesus … 40 days after the Great Sign (Revelation 12:1-5) which occurred on September 23, 2017?  Is Nov 3, 2017 the rapture date?  If you consider that Rosh Hashanna occurred on September 20, 2017 then perhaps Oct 30, 2017 is the date of Christ appearing.  But regardless of the date, each day should be lived with the joy and anticipation of meeting Jesus!

I can’t explain why God has put in my heart the expectation that He will soon be appearing to take His Bride, the Church, home.  I thank Him for this joy!  Of course there are signs that everyone can see such as the divide between good and evil in the world which is brewing like a storm over the ocean, with Spiritual energy that must be released.  And I believe this release will occur by removing the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit, the rapture of the church, so the Antichrist can take charge and deceive the world with his promise of a Global New World Order.

With the number of days short until His return, the carnal tendency is to kick back on cruise control into Heaven but for someone who really loves Jesus, that person want to be purified and be found worthy of God’s gift of grace.  Not a worthy that is based on our worthiness but works of appreciation and faith for being made worthy by the Blood of the Lamb.  This is a time to study God’s work, like you were preparing for a final exams, to show yourself a workman approved (2 Timothy 2:15).  And this has been true for me, in that I have found great growth in these last few months, studying scripture, especially end-times prophecy in order to understand the time and the season of Christ’s return.  Furthermore, Paul specifically admonishes believers to gather together and encourage one another as we see the day approaching.   Not only is this an admonishment to attend your local church body of believers but it’s also an admonishment that we should be aware of when Jesus is going to return.  We are expected to be following the Paraclete within us, the Holy Spirit, not acting like a parrot repeating the phrase “No one knows the day or the hour”. 

I understand that the teaching from your personal Bible study and Internet resources may be better than what you receive from the pulpit on Sunday and that your giving and service to Christ may be great “on your own”.  And in a sense the Internet does provide a way to gather thoughts together and offer encouragement to one another.  But Paul was referring to a physically gathering as the body of Christi which is obedience to Christ and part of the purifying process.  I understand the we each mature in Christ at different rates and have different interests so it can be hard to find someone to share what is on your heart in the Church.  And I understand some people have personalities which make them more introverted but gathering together and serving in the local body of believers is God’s highest and best for a believer.  It is another area of discipleship in Christ … another test of your faith and something we will be doing for all eternity.  Have you ever heard of a Heavenly choir of one?  And like so many things, it’s something that can only be understood by faith, by denying our selfish reasoning and trusting and serving Christ.

not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.  – Hebrews 10:25

Of course it can be hard to serve with fellow Christians when they tell you that you can’t know the time of Jesus return and it’s foolish to anticipate it, quoting the words that Jesus told those at the Olivet discourse, that “no one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36)“.   Jesus as the Son of Man didn’t know the day or the hour but Jesus as the Son of God did know the day and the hour.  There is only One “know man”, yet there are many “watch men”.  Though we may not know the exact day or the hour, Jesus told us to “watch” for the signs of of the time which forecast His return.  The point is that when we see craziness of the sin in the world coming to a head, you can anticipate the “head of the Church”, Jesus, will come snatch you away from the coming judgment for this sin.  As “watch man” for Jesus we can see the signs that Jesus told us to watch, therefore we know we are in the season of His return, He is near, right at the door!  

Matthew 24:     32“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34“Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.35“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

      36“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40“Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41“Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.

It’s true that Jesus said “no one knows the day or the hour” but He didn’t say that “no one knows the year or the season”.  Is is possible to know the year of Christ’s return?  Well, if a day with the Lord is like 1,000 years and the time for sinful man to walk the earth is 1 week, like the time of creation, then sinful man has 7,000 years on earth.  If you consider that there is the 1,000 years of the Millennium left and 7 years of Tribulation, the the year 7,000-1007 = 5993 would be the year of the Rapture.  The 5993 sign of His return? 

I have done some research on the Bible timeline and from the evidence I have found it is very likely that 2017 is the year 5993 since creation.  Also since Jesus fulfilled the three Spring festal signs and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost fulfilled the forth Jewish festival, it makes sense that the remaining three fall festivals will be the next one fulfilled beginning with the Rapture on the Feast of Trumpets.  This is why so many Christian were excited about the Revelation 12 sign that occurred on Rosh Hashanna on September 23, 2017.  However, with this date behind us now, the next possibility is some timing that is related to this date, such as a 40 day waiting period.

The point is that we are suppose to watch and be aware of the season of Christ’s return so we are not be overtaken as a thief … because we are “overcomers in Christ”.  The victory over the world has already been won in Jesus name … His Kingdom is coming “after” the seven year Tribulation period.  So when you hear the world pining for a Global New World Order of “peace and safety” you will know that this is the sign that Jesus is coming!  The intent “seems” good but it’s a “deception of peace” among men by honoring men’s works, not a peace among men by honoring Christ!  It is a blasphemous claim, not a noble claim.  It’s a lie of Satan … you can be your own god … not the truth of Christ … you can be a son of God.

1 Thessalonians 5 1Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

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The Bride, the wife of the Lamb:

Many understand the Bride of the Lamb to be the Church, which is true but when the New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven to inhabit the New eternal earth has “all” believers in it and it is called the Bride of the Lamb.

Revelation 21: 9Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God.

The way I make sense of this is to say that “all” believers are married to Christ.  Jesus is the Groom and believers of Jesus are His bride.  This is why He went to the cross and took on a human body to receive a Bride.  Somehow, we bring God joy through a marriage relationship.  Christ is not married to Angels but He is married to those from the seed of Adam who have accepted the wedding proposal of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.  This is a concept beyond our limited understanding because God does not need our love since He is the source of love, yet God desires our love.  Who can understand the depth of God’s wonderful love for us, in that He sent His only begotten Son as a man to pay for the sin of man!

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.  – 2 Corinthians 11:2

Paul’s desire was to present the Bride of Christ, the Church to Jesus as a pure virgin without the corruption of sin.  And at the rapture our corrupted bodies will be transformed into incorruptible bodies.  We will be with Christ in Heaven for seven years consummating our marriage, which is the time we will receive rewards at the Judgement seat of Christ for our acts of faith in Christ Jesus.  Then we will come back to earth for a marriage ceremony and supper.

Revelation 19:  7“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

I think when the Bride of Christ comes to church, riding like an army on horses, we will be joined by the resurrected Old Testament Saints and resurrected Tribulation Saints and the 144,000 resurrected Jews.  The marriage of the Bride will occur on the Millennium earth and the Bride will include “all resurrected believers” who are riding with Christ, while all the Sheep nation people will be guests in attendance at the wedding.

I want to take a moment to study the fine linen clothing that the Bride is wearing, which are the righteous acts of the saints from Revelation 19:8.  We notice that the armies that follow Christ to earth are the Bride of the Lamb because they are each clothes in fine linen.

And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. – Revelation 19:14 

The question that many people ask is that if the fine linen is the righteous acts of the Saints and I am a believer of Jesus Christ will I be clothed in white linen if I didn’t do a righteous act worthy of being clothed?  The warning to the Church in Sardis is especially interesting.    

Revelation 3:1  “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
      He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. 4‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

What is said is that there are few believers in Sardis who have not soiled their garment and were walking by faith.  And these faithful believers are promised that they will walk in white … in the future … in the Kingdom to come.  However, verse 5 implies that these faithful Sardis believers will be with Jesus in Heaven, while the unfaithful believers who don’t do righteous works will loose their salvation and be erased from the Book of Life.  Yet, this concept stands in contrast to the many verses that tell us that a believer has eternal security in Christ, especially 1 John 5:4 which tells a believer that is an overcomer!

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.  – 1 John 5:4 

The only way I can make sense of this is to think that the garments the other people in the Church of Sardis were wearing were not wedding garments from Christ.  These people were NOT saved.  Most of the people in the Sardis Church were “dead” …  this is an unsaved condition.  This is the same condition I think the foolish virgins are found in when Christ returns … they were NOT saved.  They were foolish because they have lamps and even had oil at one time that was NOT a lamp of Christ and it was NOT the oil of the Holy Spirit.  It could very well be that they were part of the Catholic church that does not preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:  1For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

Each believer in Christ is an “overcomer” (1 John 5:4) and each person will get a wedding garment of Christ to cover their resurrected body and have the assurance of eternal life not to be blotted out of the Book of Life  (Revelation 3:5).  We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and will have the fullness of the Holy Spirit when we are in Heaven (2 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 13:12).   Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He is going to complete the work of changing you into His image (Philippians 1:6).  If you cooperate with this good work of the Spirit that began in you, then you will have the fruit of the Spirit in this world and rewards in Heaven.  If you don’t cooperate with the Holy Spirit in you to allow Christ to change you into His image … well, you will probably be miserable and argumentative most of the time and conundrum to your brothers and sisters who are trying to be obedient and live out a life of faith in Jesus Christ.

I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6 HCSB

1 Corinthians 3:10According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.   16Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

You see, even if the believer has self motivated works or no works of faith at the Judgement Seat of Christ but he has accepted Christ as his Savior, he will be saved … which is more assurance of our eternal security.  And if a Christian is rebellious toward the temple of God that God started within him when he accepted Christ as his Savior … well this verse above (1 Corinthians 3:17) indicates that his body will be destroyed by God.  This is similar to the instruction that Paul gives the Church for how to pray for a rebellious brother or sister, that they are turned over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh but the preservation of their Spirit (1 Corinthians 5:5). 

The point is that He who began a good work in you is going to complete it (Philippians 1:6), another promise of God.  As a Christian it is better for you to suffer physical destruction so you confess your sin are restored to fellowship with God (1 John 1:9), than for you to remain in sin, ruining your rewards and misleading other Christians.  This is not to say that all sickness and physical problems are discipline from God on a believer because this of course is not true.  For the faithful Christian, suffering in sickness is a way to draw closer to the Lord, receiving more rewards and death is the victory when you claim those rewards!

The point I am trying to make is that everyone who has received Christ as received His robe of righteousness.  There won’t be anyone running around naked in Heaven.  My pastor thinks the “fine linen” are “tassels” of rewards on our wedding garment/robe that we receive at the Judgement Seat of Christ.  In other words anyone who is in Christ is an overcomer of the world and receives Christ’s robe of righteousness but the “fine linen” adornment are like “medals” of accomplishment for our faith in Jesus Christ. 

However, I think there will be different “shades of white” or a different composition of the robe based on the faithful acts of the believers.  The outward appearance of our robe will be based on our inward acts of faith, even changing through eternity as we learn and serve Christ.  That is, ones inward faith drives ones outward faith, which becomes evident through “righteous acts” (which are rewarded as the white raiment worn in heaven).

Crowns of Reward for the faithful works of believers in Jesus Christ

 

The Crown of Life is for perseverance through temptation and  suffering (James 1:12, Revelation 2:10).

 

The Crown of Righteousness is for living pure because the believer is loves to see the appearing of Jesus (2 Timothy 4:8, 1 John 3:3).

 

The Crown of Glory is for the willing selfless exercise of service to others “feed the flock” for the building up of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:17, 1 Peter 5:2-4).

 

The Eternal Incorruptible Crown is for self control and discipline in running the race of faith submitted to the Spirit and not the flesh (1 Corinthians 9:25, 2 Timothy 2:5).

 

The Crown of Rejoicing is for rejoicing with believers and for sharing the gospel to make believers of Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20)

For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.  – Matthew 16:27 HCSB

Along with the white raiment worn in heaven, each crown appears to be the outward manifestation reflecting what was on the inside. That is, suffering (unto the Crown of Life), watching/waiting (unto the Crown of Righteousness), and selfless exercise of ones gifts (unto the Crown of Glory) are outward and visible. This living from the inside to the outside is what the Apostle Paul  calls living “from faith to faith” (i.e., inward / invisible faith having outward / visible results on the outside). Thus the righteous will live by this nexus of “faith to faith” (Romans 1:17).  In summary, the “righteous acts” are the visible fruits, which in heaven will appear as white raiment and crowns.  Some of this info is taken from this web site.

When David cut off the bottom of Saul’s garment, he cut off the “tzitzit” or tassel, 1 Sam. 24:1-22. Saul’s garment was seen as a symbol of his authority to reign as king. “Skirt” is the same word as the word “borders”.  When Samuel rebuked Saul for failing to kill all the Amalekites, their king and their cattle, Samuel turned to go and Saul reached out to stop him. In doing so, he ripped the tassel from Samuel’s garment. Samuel used this as a picture of what God was going to do with the kingdom of Israel. It was to be ripped out of Saul’s grip, 1 Sam. 15:1-31. Again, “skirt” is the same word that is translated “borders” in our text.

We need this reminder too! Many people seem to think that since they have prayed a prayer and joined a church, they are free to do as they please and live as they want. Not so! The Lord expects His people to live separated, holy lives; both internally and externally!  When you touch the Hem of His garment you are reaching out in faith to His promise of salvation and healing.  The tassels are a reminder of the Great God who has redeemed us with His precious blood.

We need this reminder today! We must never forget the terrible price that was paid to redeem us. We must never forget that God robed Himself in humanity, dwelled among men and died on a cross to secure our redemption, Isa. 53:4-6. We must never forget that He rose from the dead on the third day, ascended back to Heaven and sits there as our Intercessor today. We must never forget that He is coming back to get us some day to take us home to be with Him in Heaven, John 14:1-3. May we never forget who we are; what we are; why He saved us and where He is taking us!

Here is one more reason to have joy about Christ coming to rapture His Church “before” the Day of the Lord.  Early Church believers interpreted the Greek word in  2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Strongs 646. apostasia” to mean a “physical departure” … the rapture … not a “Spiritual departure” … of apostasy teaching. 

Dr. Andy Woods believes the Greek word for “departure” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is better translated a physical departure (rapture), rather than a spiritual departure (apostasy).  It is the King James Bible that first changed the meaning of the Greek work “departure” to “falling away” meaning apostasy.  The early church view was that it was a “physical departure” and many commentators through the ages have held this view.  Come Marantha Come!