Ready or Not*

When we were children, we played the game Hide and Seek. We would call out, "Ready or not, here I come!". Is the Body of Christ ready to meet Christ? Solomon wrote that no one will have power over that day: "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who are given to it...". (Eccl. 8:8). Solomon also wrote in this chapter that those who keep the commands of God will not suffer evil. He said that the heart of the wise discern both time and judgment, and there is both a set time and a judgment (v. 5-6). Those who think that evil is not punished quickly, set their hearts to do evil. Though a sinner's days may be prolonged, it will not go well with him because he does not fear and revere God (v. 11-12). In the days before the flood, God said that men's hearts were evil continually, and the LORD regretted that He had created man. Only the man Noah had grace with God (Gen. 6:5-8). It is the grace of God found in His Son, Jesus, that makes death but a shadow for those who believe, for we have passed from death unto life in Him. Have you found this grace with God? In the days of Noah, life went on as usual for men until Noah was shut into the ark and the earth was flooded. In the days before the total destruction of Sodom, life continued as usual for the wicked inhabitants of that city. Only Lot and his immediate family survived, because the angels pulled them out. The ashes of Sodom testify today of the day of destruction that they faced. Jesus said that the same conditions would exist before His appearing: life as "normal", and then sudden destruction (Lk. 17:26-30). Are we ready for that day? Because ready or not, He is returning. Have we silently tolerated sin, participated in it, and aided in its proliferation? God is not afraid to call sin, sin. However, we do not need to remain in sin. Paul, in listing the sins of men wrote, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:11). We don't have to remain in sin, and suffer the consequence of sin, death. The Apostle Jude warned of a danger to the church of believers and wrote: "...It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (v. 3). Jude felt that the salvation faith of the saints was in danger from within the church. Ungodly men, who were ordained to condemnation from the beginning, were "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (v. 4). In the face of this spiritual undermining, even in the church, it is not enough to be comfortable and satisfied with your faith, but you will need to actively contend for it in order to keep it. Jude wrote that this undermining of faith in the church is the same that caused the Israelites, who had been delivered from Egypt by God, to then become filled with unbelief towards Him. This undermining caused the angels to fall, and end up in chains. It is the same underming that caused Sodom and Gomorrah to give themselves over to fornication until they could not be saved. They then became those who suffer the eternal fire (v. 5-7). The apostles felt by the Spirit the nearness of the day of reckoning. If they felt it so strongly then, how much closer is that day to us? Peter wrote: "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins...as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (1 Pet. 4:7-8). As Jude wrote, Peter said that there was a need for fervency regarding the faith. He also wrote that in whatever way that we speak and minister, we are to do it by the oracles and gifted abilities that God has given to each. Only these things will cause God to be glorified. (v. 11). If we suffer, we are to suffer because of our faith, not in the suffering that the sinners and evil-doers will experience: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saived, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? ...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." (13-18). The Prophet Jeremiah wrote the Word of the LORD concerning the undermining of the truth, and the faith of the people of God, and again there is a comparison with the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah. The LORD said to Jeremiah: "I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of the evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah...concerning the prophets...Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land." (Jer. 23:14-15). The LORD warned not to listen to these prophets. "For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked." (v. 18-19). Those profane prophets were prophesying peace, and telling those "that walketh after the imagination of his own heart", that no evil will befall him. Jeremiah wrote about the latter days: "The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly." (v. 20). Jesus taught in a parable about a king who had prepared a wedding banquet for his son. The king saw among the guests one who was not clothed in a wedding garment. The king said: "Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless." (Mt. 22:11-12). Because that guest was not wearing a wedding garment, he was bound, taken away, and cast into outer darkness: "...there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." (v.13-14). This parable offended the religious Pharisees, who felt they were already justified in God, and did not want to listen to anyone who said that they were not accepted by God in their own righteousness. In Jewish wedding traditions, as well as in the scripture, there are wedding garments that must be made ready. The Word of Jesus in Revelation: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Rev. 16:15). And then they were gathered into the place called Armageddon (v. 16). I believe the day is near. We can understand that day as we understnd the appointed feasts of the LORD. We are coming into the season of the spring feasts now. Are we ready? *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 4/3/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.

Weaving Your Wedding Garment

 

Previously, we discussed the Jewish marriage covenant, or contract, called a Ketubah. Most of the obligations of the contract, which involves financial security for the wife, falls upon the groom to guarantee and fulfill. In Christ's marriage covenant with us, His bride, the same applies. He has guaranteed with His own blood, our eternal security, and our spiritual position seated with Him.

Once the bride accepts the Ketubah marriage contract that the groom proposes, she begins her preparations for the upcoming wedding. These wedding preparations include ritual cleansings, called mikvahs, for the purpose of purity and holiness, and the weaving of her bridal garment. We see this same kind of preparation involved in the marriage of Christ and His Church:

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."    Eph. 5:26-27

The Hebrew word for bride is "kallah", which means "perfect, complete, the son's wife". The root word, "kalal" is a verb meaning "to complete, to perfect". Both words also include a meaning "to put a crown upon". In Jewish weddings, the bride is very much treated as a queen. There is a transformation that results from the bride's marriage preparations, through which the bride goes from being a betrothed woman, to a wife. According to scripture, this transformation through the joining of marriage, and prophetically speaking, the marriage of the Lamb and His wife, has a wide-ranging effect far beyond the two immediately involved:

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as a garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the LORD God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."    Isa. 61:10-11

We know this is the Messiah speaking, because Jesus identified Himself as fulfilling the scriptures in His reading of Isaiah 61:1-2a in the synagogue (Lk. 4:18). This is the same voice speaking throughout this section of scripture. All of the nations will be changed as the Bride and her Savior Groom are joined together in the wedding. The marriage is immediately connected with the return and reign of Messiah on earth. We can understand the great rejoicing connected with this event when we see the resulting transformation in the land:
"...the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory...and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah ("My delight is in her"), and thy land Beulah ("married, married wife, husband"): for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."   Isa. 62:3-5
Restoration and renewal is connected to the marriage between the Bridegroom and the Bride, even as a bride receives a new name from marriage (see also Rev.2:17):
"Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, "Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for His mercy endureth forever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land as at the first, saith the LORD...In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David (referring to Messiah and His rule); and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, "The LORD Our Righteousness".  Jer. 33: 10-11, 15-16
Surprisingly, not everyone who is called to this great wedding that will lead to the return of Messiah, and to the transformation of the nations, will be willing to attend. Jesus tells a parable of a king who desires to give a marriage celebration for his son (Mt. 22:1-14). Many refused to come, some refusing with violence, because they preferred to attend to their daily activities instead. Because the guests refused, strangers had to be invited, even compelled, instead. Those who attended, were expected to wear the proper wedding garments. If they did not, they were thrown out of the wedding. The place outside the wedding is a place of outer darkness. Jesus concludes His parable of those who refused to attend the wedding of the king's son by saying, "For many are called, but few are chosen."
For those who are the Bride, the Church, we are expected to prepare for this great upcoming event, and not to be of the same mind as those who refuse (Eph. 4:17-18).
Part of the Jewish marriage tradition is the giving of a gift by the groom to the bride upon the bride's acceptance the Ketubah marriage contract. This gift is called a matan. Jesus, our Bridegroom, also has given gifts to His betrothed Bride, the Church. These gifts also help to prepare us for the marriage to the Lamb. These gifts include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph. 4:11-16). These gifts to the Church speak the truth in love that we may all grow into Christ. Their care and teaching leads to the perfecting (see "bride" above) of the saints until we come into the unity of faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, our perfecting leading us to come into the measure of the stature of the fullness (to be complete- see "bride" above)) of Christ. If we refuse these precious gifts from Christ to the Church, we will not have prepared ourselves (Rev. 19:7), not having been properly cleansed, as the betrothed bride should be, and we will not have completed the weaving of our wedding garment, one without spot or wrinkle.

To Contact/Give:
PO Box 155
Christmas, FL. 32709
https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8
http://endtimeschool.com/
PayPal available

To watch the entire message:
https://www.facebook.com/kenneth.e.stevenson/videos/10209865446974650/