REVELATION OF THE CHURCH

It is written in the scriptures in John 6:45 “everyone shall be taught by God.” This is only through the power of God’s Spirit (The Holy Spirit). It is also written in Acts 17:11 concerning the Berea Christians “these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.” Concerning the epistle we write unto you today, we beseech you by the mercies of God to be like the Berea Christians who as the scriptures said received the Word and searched diligently the scriptures whether those things were so. Our Father will reward those that diligently seek Him, for understanding of the Word of God only comes by the Holy Spirit through full obedience to God’s Word. But first, you must have the word rich in you in all wisdom.

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only ‘he’ who now letteth (hinder) will let (hinder), until ‘he’ be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked one (The Antichrist) be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming – 2 Thess 2:7.”

Who then is the ‘he’ quoted above who also is the hinderer of lawlessness that comes by the Antichrist? From 2 Thess 2: 6-8, we know the following: that this ‘he’ is something already known and it now hinders lawlessness until it is removed from the earth; that it is strong enough to prevent the revelation of the Antichrist; that it is a man for it is called he; that it will be removed from the earth before the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. From the scriptures, this hinderer of lawlessness could be one of three things. It could be governments (Rom 13:1-7, 1 Pet 2:13), the church (Matt 5:13, 2 Corinth 2:15-16, Eph 6:12-18, 2 Corinth 10:4-7), or the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-15).

Now the hinderer of lawlessness MUST be the one that will be taken out of the world before the antichrist can be revealed (2 Thess 2:6-8). Will governments be taken out of the world? No. Why? Because the Antichrist himself reigns over many kingdoms (Dan 7:24; 11:40-45), and other kings reign over the rest of the earth all during the time the hinderer of lawlessness is removed ( Rev 11:15, 16:13-16). Will the Holy Spirit be taken out of the world? No, for he will be here all through the tribulation and forever (John 14:16, Acts 2:16-21, Rev 12:17, 19:10). Multitudes will be saved by the Holy Spirit during the tribulation, as now (Acts 2:16-21), Rev 6:9-11, 7:1-21, 12:5, 17, 15:2-4, 20:4-6). Therefore this hinderer of lawlessness is and can ONLY be the church. It will be raptured before Antichrist comes. The church will continue to hinder lawlessness on the earth until the rapture when he is taken away. Afterwards the Antichrist will be revealed to the world. This is conclusive proof that the rapture takes place before Daniel 70 th week and the tribulation of Rev 6:1-19:21. According to Dan 9:27, the beginning of the reign of the Antichrist for 7 years occurs when he makes a 7-year covenant of peace with Israel to solve the current Middle-east crisis/violence between the Jews and the Arabs/Palestinians. This is the KEY event that marks the beginning of the tribulation and this is the way to know when exactly the tribulation begins. Since he (the Antichrist) reigns for at least the last 7 years of the age, surely the church of God will be taken out before the last 7 years of this age.

Some people say that the church cannot be a ‘he’. They say it is the bride of Christ, so it must be a ‘she’. On the contrary, the scriptures say different. The church is NEVER referred to in all scriptures using feminine pronouns, it is NEVER symbolized as a woman, and AMAZINGLY it is NEVER called the bride of Christ in the entire scriptures. In fact, on the uttermost contrary, the church is called a MAN (Eph 2:15, 4:13), and the BODY OF CHRIST ( Col 1:18, 24, 1 Corinth 12:12-13, 27, Eph 1:22-23). Because Christ is a man, it would not be proper to compare his body to that of a woman or use feminine pronouns to refer to the church. Since the church is not a woman, lady, virgin, or bride, and is not referred to by feminine pronouns, and since the church is called a man, and the body of Christ who is a man, then the church in the scriptures quoted from 2 Thess 2:7 can be referred to by the pronoun ‘he’.

Perhaps some of you marvel and say “if the church is the body of Christ and not the bride as it is, who then is the bride of Christ”? Using ONLY the scriptures, let us settle and lay this matter to rest once and for all regarding what the bride of Christ is. It is written in Rev 21:9-11 “ And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God…” Who then is the bride of Christ? It is that great city, the holy Jerusalem. Is this not also written in Rev 21:2? What a simple revelation! If the holy city, the New Jerusalem is the bride, then all that go to live in that great city make up the children of the bride chamber. For if the holy city has mansions and chambers as our Lord Jesus himself hath said in John 14:1-3, then would you not agree that we are truly the children of the bride chamber? Have you not read the scriptures in Matt 9:15 wherein our Lord Jesus Christ, the bridegroom himself declared that we are the children of the bride chamber? And this is written in three of the four gospels (Matt 9:15, Mark 2:19, Luke 5:34)? Would the bridegroom not know who his true bride is? So why did he not call his disciples his bride (for they are part of the church), but instead repeatedly called them friends as in John 15:14-15? If so, then what does ‘children of the bride chamber’ really mean some may still ask? This term simply means ‘companions of the bridegroom’; those who went into the marriage with him to receive the bride. Do you now understand why the marriage supper of the lamb (Rev 19:7-8) cannot take place without the church being present and why the scriptures say here (Rev 19:7-8) that the bride was arrayed (covered) with saints and not that saints are the bride? Is the array of the bride (the holy city) with saints as mentioned in this scripture not a picture of saints living in the holy city? We are an inseparable part of the bridegroom, his body. Will a man separate himself from his body so that his head is getting married without his body present? No, you will agree.

Are you saying to yourself ‘did Apostle Paul not teach in Rom 7:1-6 that Christians are married to Christ by the new covenant? And did he not also use marriage to illustrate the relationship of Christ to His church as in Eph 5:22-32’? We provoke you in the name of our Lord to read and meditate on these scriptures particularly Eph 5:22-32. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you will realize that Apostle Paul used the love of Christ for His church (as His own body) in these scriptures to illustrate how a man should love his own wife (also as his own body). This was his own perfect illustration of the love that should exist between a man and his wife. He was teaching us here again that the church is the body of Christ. He was not teaching that Christ is married to the church for that will be contrary to what the scriptures hath said. He simply compares the relationship of Christ and His body to a man and his wife, teaching that a married man is one body with his wife. Also, Apostle’s Paul’s use of the word marriage in Rom 7:1-6 is to illustrate how Christ is inseparable from the church as His own body. Is a man not married to what he cannot be separated from?

And perhaps, if we say the church is a woman so that Christ is married to it like a man is married to his wife, then how come Christ is getting married again to the holy city as written in the scriptures? If a man marries a woman so that the two become one body as the scripture hath said, can this new body be married again? No, you will agree. Likewise, if Christ is already married to the church, then He cannot be married again to the holy city. On the contrary, Christ is indeed married to the holy city because He lives in this city, the New Jerusalem, forever, even forever and ever and He will do so with His saints, amongst whom we are.

Therefore brethren, having established from the scriptures who we really are i.e. the body of Christ, let us lay aside every weight and sin that doth so easily beset us and let us be like Christ our head, who is holy. Let us not love the world neither the things that are in the world which are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, all of which are not of the Father. Let us PASSIONATELY desire a better country, which is a heavenly one where God our father is not ashamed to be called our God for He has prepared for us a city, a holy city, even the New Jerusalem. Let us all therefore COVET this city with all diligence.

As the end of all things is at hand, let us be sober, and watch unto prayer, that we may be accounted worthy to escape all the distress that are coming upon the world shortly and to stand before our Lord Jesus Christ at the catching away. Let us watch and pray always with all prayers and supplication in the Spirit, for the coming of our Lord is at hand. It is even at the doors, May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.