Even though all believers in Christ are promised eternal life, all believers must understand that believing is more than giving intellectual assent to Christ’s Existence or His Redemptive Work. Believing also means Christ’s Ekklesia (His One Body of Believers or One Community of Faith Believers) is His collective Bride who uses everything He gave to Her to help Her become His saintly Overcomers.
Most believers in Christ today call themselves an epithet that neither Christ Jesus nor His first-century Disciples turned Apostles say in the Holy Bible followers of Christ should call themselves. They call themselves “Christians.” Most believers in Christ today also claim to worship God according to the established ways of their organized religion, faith, or belief that neither Christ Jesus nor His first-century Disciples turned Apostles declare in the Holy Bible are how Father God wants followers of Christ to worship Him. These believers worship Father God according to the ways that were established by man-made organized “Christianity.”
God uses many Jewish traditional customs as teaching tools. The ancient Jewish Wedding Custom is one of those teaching tools. This traditional Jewish custom definitely is a detailed illustration of the Messiah’s (the Bridegroom’s) marriage to His Bride.
In the ancient Greek city-states, it was the sound from a herald’s blown trumpet that called forth/summoned the different groups of Greek citizens to their own ekklesia (a word in the ancient Greek cultural that depicted the basic idea of an “assembly”). Every different ekklesia was held in a local community meeting place where each assembly (ekklesia) of Greek citizens discussed their own city-state’s various political concerns. These facts are why if the last days alive believers in Christ Jesus are going to be alert AND prepared for God’s promised last-trumpet summons, which will call them to come up hither, then it is vital that every one of today’s believers in Christ Jesus takes part in the process of recapturing the first-century followers of Christ’s cultural commission of going into the world as they knew it to both evangelize their world and disciple all the NATIONS. For the Word of God is crystal clear about this display of a global influence being exactly what God always intended for every one of His Household of Faith children to achieve.
Originally posted on Gone Fishin':
The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me:…
Just like we rise from spiritual death when Christ calls us to be His CHURCH, those of us who have fallen asleep before Christ returns for His sanctified Bride will rise from physical death, when Christ once again calls us. Then, those of us who are still alive at His coming will be caught up in the clouds with the resurrected dead. We all will meet Christ in the air!
Believers (Bride) ONLY are faithful to the Lord when they are loyal to their wedding vows. Entering into a marriage contract with the Lord without seriously counting up the cost could mean that this person, or persons, might end up in a hasty divorce that has eternal implications!
Jesus the Christ makes it absolutely clear that the only RSVP response that will matter to God is that response which is an initial “yes” followed by a progressive inward change—a sanctified spirit/heart that is habitually sincere, repentant, humble, compassionate, loving, and obedient. These Christ-like characteristics are MUST!
Contrary to popular opinion, the Ten Virgins’ parable is not about Israel being grafted back onto the Olive Tree just in time to rule with Christ during His millennial reign. The Ten Virgins’ parable is about all believers (Jews and Gentiles) who live and die on Earth during the CHURCH Age (cf. Matthew 25:1-13).
