Satan will Continue to Attack the Lord’s Supper (Satanás continuará a atacar a Ceia do Senhor)

by Jeremy James 

Several years ago, not long after I was saved, I heard a comment by Vernon McGee in his ‘Through the Bible’ series which struck me as especially important. The truth of his observation became more evident as the years passed. No sermon is ever complete, he said, if it fails to refer to Resurrection Sunday. This is the glorious truth of Christianity, a truth so great and immeasurably broad that we will never fully grasp it, no matter how we try. We must hold it before us continually if we are to understand all the doctrines and precious promises that flow from it. The great task and privilege of every preacher is to remind their listeners of this remarkable moment, this day of days, when Jesus rose from the dead and set in motion a process which, when it runs to completion, will see the perfect restoration of the whole of creation. This is the day the LORD has made The Psalmist referred to this day as follows: “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 It is exalted above all days, a tiny slice of time in the course of history when everything – absolutely everything – changed forever. The contrast between the millennia that passed before it and those that were yet to come could not have been greater. The reality of everything that Jesus had accomplished on Calvary would now become manifest to a fallen world. 2 When Satan ordered the closure of our churches in 2020 as part of his ‘Covid’ mandate, he wanted men and women all over the earth to stop commemorating this wonderful day. Professing Christians were permitted to play ‘church’ online via Zoom, but they could do nothing in cyber space to counterfeit the Lord’s Supper. The scriptural basis for the Lord’s Supper We are all familiar with the scriptural basis for the Lord’s Supper, but it helps from time to time to reflect on why our Lord asked us to celebrate it. When he shared the bread and wine at the last supper Jesus said: “...this do in remembrance of me” - “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:19-20) Through our celebration of the Lord’s Supper we are remembering what Jesus achieved for us through his death and resurrection. Our thoughts turn with delight to “the day which the LORD hath made.” And, as the Psalmist foretold, “we will rejoice and be glad in it.” The Eleven Apostles listening to Jesus at the Last Supper. Detail of a painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 14th century 3 We set out in Appendix A a number of edifying extracts from the writings of H A Ironside which reveal the essential nature and purpose of the Lord’s Supper. He points to several truths which, I suspect, many professing Christians today have largely forgotten or never fully understood. The main facts to note about the Lord’s Supper is that, along with Baptism, it is a defining ordinance of Christianity and is to be celebrated regularly by all believers. The scriptures on which it is based emphasize its deep spiritual significance. It was instituted by Jesus at the last supper as a memorial meal to mark both the death and resurrection of Christ and to bear witness to these events until he returns to call forth his Church. It celebrates the fundamental truths of Christianity and enables believers to express their innermost gratitude for the gift of salvation in the spiritual presence of Jesus. It is a time of deep reflection and silent appreciation whereby believers commune with the Savior through the physical meal of bread and wine and dwell humbly on the unimaginable price that had to be paid to set us free. As Dr Ironside said: “It is intended to deepen in the heart of those already saved, the realization of the preciousness of Christ. We come together to remember Him and, as He fills the vision of our souls, we feast in spirit upon all that He is and all that He has done.” “It is the Lord’s desire,” he noted, “that His people often show His death in this way, calling to mind frequently His love and sacrifice for them... We come together to meet the Lord Himself, to be solely occupied with Him, to offer Him the worship of our hearts, and to remember what He passed through for us.... It must be remembered that when we come together for the Lord’s Supper, Christ is as truly present in our midst as He was among the first disciples two thousand years ago.” The revelation given to the Apostle Paul The Apostle Paul was not present at the last supper but received an account of this God-given ordinance through direct revelation. According to Dr Ironside, this special revelation, which was given by Jesus after he left the earth, is further evidence of the exceptional spiritual importance of this ordinance and its frequent observance. 4 “Paul never knew the Lord here on earth, he was not with the Twelve in the upper room when Jesus instituted this ordinance; therefore, he must have received this as a direct revelation from heaven. That is very significant, for there must be something extremely precious to our risen Savior about the frequent observance of the Lord’s Supper if He, the glorified One, gave to His apostle a special declaration from the glory regarding it.” It should be clear to even the dullest observer that frequent celebration of the Lord’s Supper is of paramount importance to Christians everywhere. An attempt to curtail or limit the observation of this ordinance, in any manner whatever, is quite obviously a direct attack on the Gospel and on all who believe in Jesus. The Marxists, Freemasons and Babylonian deceivers who control our governments did just that in 2020. Worse still, the organized body of grievous wolves within the institutional church did nothing to oppose them! The Apostle Paul, ceiling mosaic, Ravenna, Italy. The vast majority of professing Christians did as Satan commanded in 2020, not what Jesus asked of them. His ordinance was forgotten. They didn’t even grieve over the offense that their disobedience would cause. Three years later we are still waiting for an admission by our preachers, pastors and elders that, through their repeated failure, nay refusal, to rejoice and be glad in the day which the LORD had made, they were willing participants in a terrible act of defiance and hypocrisy. 5 Since we have already addressed the immense harm caused by the unconfessed sin of church leaders during this time – see our paper #331 – we will confine our examination to what the Enemy achieved by prohibiting the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Historical suppression of the Lord’s Supper For nearly two thousand years the visible church assembled and drew great strength, hope and encouragement from its regular observance of a practice instituted by the Lord himself. Even when they were prohibited from doing so by the Roman Emperors, they continued to meet in secret – in contravention of civil law – to celebrate this precious ordinance. It is impossible to think of the church over the course of history of failing at any time, for any reason, to honor this ordinance or to accord it the highest respect. All of that changed in 2020. One of the great achievements of the Reformation was the restoration to the laity of the right to receive both the bread and the wine of communion. For many years the church of Rome had restricted the laity to the bread of communion only, while the priests could receive it in both species, bread and wine. It is difficult to establish exactly when this restriction was introduced but it was fairly widespread by the 13th century. For instance, the Council of Lambeth (1281) directed that the wine was to be received by the priest only. Luther and other reformers objected to this unscriptural practise and it became a matter of such contention that the Jesuits formally forbade the laity to receive the wine of communion under the draconian regime promulgated by the Council of Trent (1545- 1563). Access to the “chalice” became a rare privilege which the Papacy alone could grant, with special exception being made, for example, for the kings of France at their coronation. 6 - ‘transubstantiation’ Rome has long used its doctrine of ‘transubstantiation’ – the mystical transformation of the bread and wine of communion into the actual body and blood of Christ – as a powerful means of social control. The liturgical ceremony through which this supposedly miraculous transubstantiation takes place became known as the ‘sacrifice of the Mass’, an event which purports to repeat the sacrifice of Calvary through the supernatural agency of a priest. By this means the church of Rome appropriates to herself the power to add to the work that Jesus performed on Calvary. To engrave this dramatic act in the imagination of parishioners, Rome has turned the bread and wine into objects of adoration. They no longer commemorate the work of Christ on Calvary but constitute divine objects in their own right, produced or made manifest by the miraculous power with which the Catholic priest is allegedly endowed. The Jesuits required all Catholics to adore, worship and venerate the ‘consecrated’ bread and wine of communion through the inclusion of the following Canon at the Council of Trent: CANON VI.-If any one saith, that, in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, is not to be adored with the worship, even external of latria; and is, consequently, neither to be venerated with a special festive solemnity, nor to be solemnly borne about in processions, according to the laudable and universal rite and custom of holy church; or, is not to be proposed publicly to the people to be adored, and that the adorers thereof are idolators; let him be anathema. [Canon VI of the 13th Session] We will not dwell on the sheer madness in all of this. We only wish to point out that the Enemy despises the Lord’s Supper and, historically, has done everything he can to pervert its true meaning. Anathema “In councils held at Meaux in 845 and both at Paris and at Epernay the year following, anathema was defined as “condemnation to eternal death.” Thus defined, anathema was too terrible for a bishop to decide upon alone. Only with the consent of his archbishop or his fellow bishops could he impose anathema... This unrelenting definition of anathema from the 840s entered into the principal canon law collections: the Decretum compiled by Burchard of Worms at the start of the eleventh century, the Panormia and the Decretum assembled later in the century by Ivo of Chartres, and the Decretum of Gratian in about 1140.” – Lester Little, Cornell University Press, 1993 7 The Apostolic Church For the first two and half centuries of its existence, the church celebrated the commemorative ordinance known as the Lord’s Supper. In doing so, believers reflected on the death and resurrection of Christ, on the awesome magnitude of what his selfless sacrifice had accomplished. They were not only looking back, but forward, to the glorious hour of his imminent return – Maranatha! There was no mystical transformation of any kind, no supernatural activity sponsored by a priest, or anything of that nature. The change, such as it was, came only in the hearts of believers as they apprehended anew, in grateful silence, the unspeakable gift of salvation. This is the true apostolic meaning of communion. Fresco in a catacomb in Rome, early second century, showing believers celebrating the Lord’s Supper. A carefully planned attack on the apostolic Church Satan hates this ceremony! He knows how deeply it refreshes the souls of all believers! To distract from this awesome truth, he pours in magic and mystery, and beguiles the imagination of his audience with a theological drama. This drama in turn is made possible only through the agency of a priestly hierophant initiated by ‘Mother Church’. Salvation comes through the sanctifying power which he allegedly summons with his sacred words and his ability to effectually reenact the sacrifice of Calvary. The carefully planned attack on the church via Covid was nothing less than an outright ban on the Lord’s Supper. It troubles the Enemy that there are still true believers on earth who come together frequently in humble assembly to celebrate the resurrection and imminent return of Christ in accordance with Scripture. These people are not deceived by the magic and mystery of transubstantiation or ensnared by the charismatic allure of a sacred object. They only want to do what Jesus asked of them. Impatient to advance toward a ‘new world order’, Satan and his earthly servants issued their anti-Christian prohibition: “Stop! That’s enough!” Nevertheless, they must have been surprised by the success of their brazen scheme. There was no need to use force or issue baleful threats. Church leaders raced en mass to lock their doors and play Zoom. As Jesus foretold, these so-called men of God turned out to be hirelings and not shepherds: 8 “But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.” (John 10:12-13) As a result of all this, the evangelical church in 2023 is very different from that of 2019. The gross hypocrisy of its leaders is plain for all to see, but no-one wants to talk about it. We now know it is led mainly by men who have little or no respect for the Lord’s Supper. There are exceptions of course – praise the LORD! – but the great majority are hireling deceivers. A sweet savour There is a passage of scripture which sheds considerable light on the spiritual significance of the Lord’s Supper, as seen from our Heavenly Father’s perspective: “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” (1 Corinthians 11:29-30) The Apostle Paul is referring to the unseemly way the Lord’s Supper was celebrated in Corinth and the stern penalty that resulted. In many cases the participants fell ill and continued to suffer the effects for some time, while others died! The Holy Spirit punished these people for their sinful behavior. This is the only place in the New Testament where believers are struck down in this way! The closest parallel is that of Ananias and Sapphira, whose lives were instantly terminated when they lied to the Holy Spirit. The Death of Ananias by Masaccio, 15th century 9 The severity of the punishment reflects the gravity of the sin. We cannot say how this principle might apply to leaders and elders who showed little respect for the Lord’s Supper during ‘Covid’, but we have no doubt that it does apply! The Word of God makes this quite plain. We can see this spiritual truth even more clearly in the Old Testament sacrifices. On numerous occasions they are referred to as “a sweet savour unto the LORD”. The Hebrew word translated as “savour” in English is rêah meaning a scent or fragrance. When our Heavenly Father accepted a properly constituted offering He was savoring, not the sacrifice itself, but what it represented, namely the sacrifice that Jesus would one day make on Calvary. The love of His Son was deeply pleasing to Him, like a fragrant perfume. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” – Ephesians 5:1-2 We are saved, not by our own righteousness – for in our fallen condition we stink – but by the sweet, fragrant righteousness of Christ – “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ...” (2 Corinthians 2:15). Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we are reflecting on the vast gulf between our own wretchedness, our pre-saved sindamaged condition, and the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8) which, in his infinite mercy, he has bestowed upon each of us. How is it possible for any Christian to ignore this ordinance? How is it possible for ANY Christian to ignore this ordinance? How? The modern pastors are like the Hebrew priests: “Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance...” (Malachi 3:14) How is it possible to listen to Marxists and Freemasons – patent agents of Satan – and adopt their wicked reinterpretation of God’s Word? How is it possible to submit to their perverted reinvention of standard medical practice and abandon the joy and reverence found in this ordinance? Oh, people will drop dead in the street, they warned! Really? The only thing to fall in the street was truth itself: “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” (Isaiah 59:14) All who had a hand in this should be greatly ashamed. 10 Satan sent his filthy liars to tell their filthy lies and church leaders bowed down before them as though an oracle had spoken. They could have taken their flock to a park or a field outside of town to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, but that’s not something hypocrites like to do. Some went instead to the liquor store, where deadly pathogens were miraculously absent. By failing to come together in a humble assembly during ‘Covid’, submitting instead to the dark interdict of a scheming Masonic government, the professing church decided that worldly obedience – however shallow or twisted its rationale – must sometimes take precedence over our faithful expression of joy and gratitude for what Jesus did for us on Calvary. Have no doubt, this was Satan’s work from the start. His earthly servants despise Christianity and will continue to do whatever it takes to destroy it. Meanwhile, the church itself, as an institution, has been heavily infiltrated by ‘pastors’ and ‘leaders’ who, with bright smiles and soft words, take pleasure in disobedience, deception, and blasphemy. I truly wish all believers would think deeply about this because it is horrifying. Will the great falling away (2 Thessalonians 2:3), when it occurs, be any more reprehensible or loathsome in the eyes of our Heavenly Father than this sinful universal refusal to honor His Son? *** “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible [This pertains to all the pastors and elders who refused to celebrate the Lord’s Supper during ‘Covid’]. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? [Is this how you would treat a respected national figure or dignitary?] saith the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 1:6-8) 11 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household [Who is Jesus referring to? The pastors, of course!], to give them meat in due season [To feed the flock]? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants [By doing whatever the Masons and Marxists demand], and to eat and drink with the drunken [To take the Covid payments and incentives given by the state]; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:45-51) *** “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:15 __________________ Jeremy James Ireland January 14, 2023 12 APPENDIX A Comments on The Lord’s Supper by H A Ironside [Note: The sequence in which the following comments are presented differs slightly from the originals. We have also added titles. To consult the full text of the originals, see the links below.] The means by which needy sinners avail themselves of an interest in the finished work of Christ is very simple. The sinner has to take his place before God as a lost, guilty man, owning his iniquity and putting his trust in the Man who died on the cross; for "By Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by Moses' law." (Acts 13:39) [1] Jesus asked that we thus remember him The Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20) is a feast of remembrance, which is intended to carry our minds back to the death of our Saviour and also to cause us to look on to His coming again (1 Corinthians 11:26) ... Because of this, and of the expressed desire of Jesus Christ that we should thus remember Him, it has been the joy of Christian hearts down through the centuries to come together around the table of the Lord to think of His sufferings, to meditate upon His love, and to enjoy communion with Him. [5] In this New Testament economy Christ is the only sacrificing priest. He is the one all-sufficient victim. Christ, having made atonement for sins, rose from the dead and God has manifested His righteous satisfaction in the work of the cross by seating Him in heaven at His own right hand... [1] Communing with Christ In the celebration of the Lord’s Supper we are to be occupied with Christ Himself, with the memories of His love and grace, recalling His sorrows, sufferings, and death, and bearing in mind His promise to come again and receive us unto Himself. It is a mistake to think of this blessed ordinance as a means of grace, in the sense of having to do with the salvation of the soul. It is intended to deepen in the heart of those already saved, the realization of the preciousness of Christ. We come together to remember Him and, as He fills the vision of our souls, we feast in spirit upon all that He is and all that He has done. [5] The Lord's Supper is a memorial feast. Christians, members of the body of Christ, come together to remember the One who died for them and who put away their sins, and do this because their sins have been put away. No instructed Christian would approach the Lord's Table to get forgiveness. I come because my sins have been forever put away by the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus and I desire gratefully to remember the One who offered that mighty sacrifice and so fitted me for the presence of a holy God. [1] 13 The Lord’ Supper links the two great facts of Christianity “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come." (1 Corinthians 11:26) Observe how this feast links together the two great facts of Christianity, the death of Christ and His second coming. The Lord's Supper is taken in remembrance of One who died, but as we take it we look forward and wait for His coming again... [1] Christ is present in Spirit with his own [We] do not believe that the bread and wine undergo any mystic change, but [we] do believe that as you eat and drink in remembrance of Christ, Christ is present in His sweet and wonderful way, manifesting Himself to the hearts of His beloved people so that by faith they are enabled to feed upon Him. We feed upon Him in remembrance. We look back and think of the sorrows He bore. We contemplate His cross and bitter passion, and as we do, we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood... [1] Frequency “Why observe this feast so frequently when, in many places, it is only at rare intervals that what is commonly called ‘the communion’ is celebrated?” In answer we reply that we have, in Scripture, no distinct commandment as regarding the particular times it is to be celebrated. The Passover was celebrated once per year, but, when the Lord instituted the Supper, He implied much more frequent observance when He said, “As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of Me.” It is the Lord’s desire that His people often show His death in this way, calling to mind frequently His love and sacrifice for them. In the earliest days of the Church’s history, the Christians broke bread daily; but, when the first days of transition passed, and the new dispensation was fully established, we get the Scriptural example in Acts 20:7, “Upon the first day of the week the disciples came together to break bread and Paul preached unto them.” In Apostolic days, it is well known that this was the recognized custom. Now this is not a commandment, but it is a word from the Lord, and He has said, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words.” (John 14:23) A devoted heart does not ask “How seldom can I do this and yet have the Lord’s approval?”, but “What does His Word tell us about the established order in the early days?” The Book answers, “On the first day of the week,” and, therefore, upon that day, we delight to come together to remember Him... [2] 14 We come together to meet the Lord himself It is important to understand that we do not come together to pray, nor yet to preach, nor to sing or listen to teaching, nor to enjoy Christian fellowship. We come together to meet the Lord Himself, to be solely occupied with Him, to offer Him the worship of our hearts, and to remember what He passed through for us.... It must be remembered that when we come together for the Lord’s Supper, Christ is as truly present in our midst as He was among the first disciples two thousand years ago. Yes, there will be room for praise and for the reading of a portion from the Word of God, which might bring out more vividly the sufferings of Christ. But any brother would be decidedly out of place who sought to give a lengthy exposition of Scripture or an exhortation to the believers. The sense of awe which comes over the soul who recognizes he is in the Lord’s presence will curb the flesh. [2] ...we do believe in the real presence in Spirit of our blessed Lord, for He has said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). And there is no time when Christ’s presence is so definitely realized and so distinctly felt as when remembering Him in the breaking of bread. He said, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” The Lord’s Supper is a continual reminder of the vicarious character of His death, and that is one reason why our blessed Lord is so desirous that it should be celebrated frequently... [4] A celebration of thanksgiving and expectation In 1 Corinthians 11, verses 23-26, we learn that Paul had received a special revelation regarding the supper, yet fully agreeing with the accounts given by the three evangelists – Matthew, Mark and Luke – only that the thought of the Lord’s return is added to the remembrance of Him in His death: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come” (verse 26). Thus are the cross and the glory linked together for faith, and ever kept before the soul in this observance of the Lord’s Supper. The word rendered “show” is often translated “preach” in the New Testament. Every celebration of the eucharist (as the early Christians loved to call this feast – a word meaning thanksgiving) is in itself a sermon. It is a proclaiming of the Lord’s death... [3] Never become so occupied with the form that you neglect the spirit of the Lord’s Supper. It is a place for the heart’s affections to flow out. Do not make it a ritualistic observance, but let it ever be an occasion where Christ Himself is before the soul, who has said, “This do in remembrance of Me.” [3] 15 Christ, from heaven, emphasized the Lord’s Supper [1 Corinthians 11] Having reproved them for their misbehavior at the Table, Paul lays down clearly the revelation that the risen Christ gave him from heaven concerning the proper observance of this service. First, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.” Paul never knew the Lord here on earth, he was not with the Twelve in the upper room when Jesus instituted this ordinance; therefore, he must have received this as a direct revelation from heaven. That is very significant, for there must be something extremely precious to our risen Savior about the frequent observance of the Lord’s Supper if He, the glorified One, gave to His apostle a special declaration from the glory regarding it. And this is what He told him: “That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread.” Why does the apostle slip in the expression, “In which he was betrayed,” if not for us to realize that the Lord’s Supper was meant to appeal to the hearts of His people and so to remind them that in that very night when our blessed Savior was to know to the fullest the untrustworthiness, the wickedness, the treachery, the perfidy of the human heart, He gave this feast in order that His people might have before them the continual expression of His loving heart in giving Himself for them. ... Judas went out, and in his absence the Savior gave this memorial feast to His own. That is very suggestive, for it is only for those who have been redeemed by His precious blood that the Lord’s Supper is given. It is not for the unsaved, it is not for those who are hoping to be saved; it is for those who are in the joy of accomplished redemption, who know Christ as Savior. To them the Lord spake when He took that bread and gave thanks and said, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” [4] [1] The Mass Versus The Lord's Supper by H A Ironside [http://articles.ochristian.com/article10292.shtml] [2] Article adapted by David Dunlap from a sermon given by H A Ironside [https://www.preachtheword.com/sermon/ironside.shtml] [3] From the section ‘The Lord’s Supper’ from Sailing with Paul by H A Ironside [http://biblecentre.org/content.php?mode=7&item=2025] [4] From the Commentary by H A Ironside on The First Letter to the Corinthians [https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/isn/1-corinthians-11.html] [5] From the Commentary by H A Ironside on The Gospel of Luke [https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/isn/luke-22.html]

The Wrath of God and the Bride of Christ (A Ira de Deus e a Noiva de Cristo)

Jeremy James 

“Amos, what seest thou?” (Amos 8:2) Born-again There are several indicators in the life of a believer which show that he truly is a believer, someone who has been born again in Christ and is now a new creation. We will not attempt to enumerate each of these here but will focus instead on just one of them – our daily expectation of the Rapture. We would appear to be heading into a time of real persecution for Christians in the west. The Children of Wickedness are no longer content to drive Christians out of the Middle East and to persecute those who are living in countries like China, India or Pakistan. They are now moving rapidly toward the implementation of their scheme to actively oppress Christians living in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. Some of this oppression will utilize Islam and its deep-rooted intolerance of Christianity. The Elite know that by bringing more and more Muslims into Europe and America they are laying the ground for a painful confrontation at some future date. But before that date arrives they intend to deal a heavy blow to true Biblical Christianity in the west. 2 We are already seeing ample evidence of how this is being put into effect through the LGBTQ agenda. Their goal is to separate the small proportion of true believers from the much larger body of nominal Christians and, having done that, to target and victimize their leaders. Once the pastors and shepherds have been taken away, the Elite expect the rest to capitulate or disperse. The Rapture of the Church In earlier papers we have shown how the Bible teaches a Pre-Tribulation Rapture (PTR) – see #81, #91 and #107. We have also shown that a PTR does not conflict in any way with the frequent references in God’s Word to the perennial persecution (“tribulation”) of the saints – see #78. Those who object to a PTR usually do so on the grounds that it allegedly makes believers indifferent to the rising tide of wickedness in the world today. However, by saying this, they are implying that true believers who hold to the “blessed hope” do not hate evil. And that is false. Their position, theologically, is based on a misunderstanding of God’s Word, a failure to distinguish between the turmoil of a world controlled by Satan and the plight of a world subjected to the Wrath of God. God’s Wrath last fell on the world at the time of the Flood. It had nothing to do with any act or scheme initiated by man or Satan. The Wrath of God in the End Time, which we know as the Seven Year Tribulation, will be similar to the worldwide Flood. It too will constitute, from start to finish, a sovereign judgment of God upon the entire earth. The Wrath of God at the time of the Flood lasted 150 days – from the start of the deluge to the day the waters began to subside. The Wrath of God in the Tribulation will last a good deal longer – 2520 days. 3 The Wrath of God in the End Time and the Seven Year Tribulation are the same event. Since Christ endured the wrath of God on Calvary, and did so in our place, it cannot fall thereafter on the church. It would be impossible for it to do so. This is why the church must be taken from the earth before the commencement of the 2520-day period. The persecution of the church over the course of many centuries has been her principal means of sanctification. This was the suffering which she was obliged to endure as the God-ordained witness of Christ here on earth. It was inflicted entirely by the Enemy and had nothing whatever to do with the Wrath of God! All that she has ever suffered in the flesh for her Beloved will add greatly to her adornment in glory (We will return to this later.). The Wrath of God The refusal to see the Wrath of God for what it is has caused much confusion in the modern church. When Christ returns the second time he will come as a lion, not a lamb. His Father will place him in charge of the great Judgment that will afflict the entire earth. For this reason alone his Bride cannot be here during this season of retribution, “for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:11). The seven Seal judgments, which mark the commencement of the 7-year Tribulation, are unsealed by Christ himself. It would be perverse to expect our Heavenly Father to require His Son, by doing so, to pour flaming fire on his Bride. It would be even more perverse to expect that He would do so when His Son had already paid her sin debt on Calvary! It is a mark of how far Biblical exegesis in the modern church has drifted from the literal truth of God’s Word that insane conclusions like these are deemed acceptable. The church must be taken from the earth before the seven year Tribulation begins. Those who claim otherwise have either failed to grasp what the Word of God is telling us about the Rapture – though there may be good reasons for this (see below) – or they are deliberately trying to confuse and mislead the saints. 4 We also need to remember that the church WILL suffer tribulation or persecution before the Rapture (See our earlier paper, #78). This is already happening in many parts of the world today and will only get worse, spreading to regions which have not experienced anything of the kind for several centuries. The Door Christians will be attacked as intolerant bigots for refusing to accept that God has made generous provision for the salvation of souls through other religions. He is such a loving God, they will argue, that He would never have confined the path of redemption to one route only. He loves all souls equally, no matter what religion they follow, and will draw to Himself all who live an honest and upright life. The grace of Calvary is freely available to all, just as God intended. It is not necessary to convert to Christianity to benefit from what Christ achieved on Calvary for the whole of mankind. Through his death and resurrection he unlocked a door into heaven, a universal door, which everyone can walk through, regardless of their religious affiliation. To man in his fallen condition this is a very attractive lie and a great many will choose to believe it. This deadly lie denies the most important truth of all, namely that Christ IS the door. Our heavenly Father has provided a door into heaven, and that door is His Son. Unless we come before Christ and accept him as “the way, the truth, and the life”, we are lost. We do this through faith alone by the grace and convicting power of the Holy Spirit. There is no other door. All who reject Jesus Christ, the living Door, are condemned to undergo the Great White Throne judgment and to forfeit forever the joy of living in the presence of God. 5 There is only one door. Christ is not the path to the door, as the wicked would have us believe, but the door itself. All who refuse to accept him as their Lord and Savior, for whatever reason, have turned away from the Door. They have decided to rely on their own works and their own righteousness as their means of salvation. By doing so they reject the perfect redemption that Christ has provided and continue to live under condemnation. A true Christian knows that no matter how devout a ‘good’ Muslim or a ‘good’ Hindu may be, he is still a lost soul. He is still at war with God. He is still crushed by the weight of his own sins and until he asks the perfect Redeemer to set him free, through the cross of Calvary, he will remain in bondage to Satan. If that sounds horrifying, it is because the effects of sin are horrifying. Sin came from pride. This is the same vile impediment that keeps the unbeliever from coming to Christ in true humility and repentance. The Pagan Morality of the New World Order The believing Christian, one who is faithful to the Word of God, will soon be regarded as an intolerant bigot, not only because he claims that salvation is found only in Christ, but because of his refusal to accept or acknowledge the pagan morality of the New World Order. A Christian may love the sinner and hate the sin, but the world will scorn this attitude as both condescending and elitist. He will be expected to disregard the sin entirely and to treat as natural, wholesome and pleasing to God many types of behavior which the Bible utterly condemns. 6 This is how the Enemy hopes to separate the saints from God. He wants to place them in a situation where their prayers have no effect – because they foolishly affirmed the new morality (“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” – Psalm 66:18). Alternatively, if they stand their ground they will leave themselves open to prosecution under the law. A believer will even be prosecuted for using the wrong word. The LGBTQ agenda is designed to trap anyone who dares to uphold the Biblical teaching on gender by referring to a man and a woman, respectively, by the appropriate pronouns, “he” and “she.” As the prophet Isaiah foresaw, “for a word” he will be made an offender: “That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.” (Isaiah 29:21) For born-again Christians this can mean only one thing: The war has come to our own backyard. We will shortly be required to make a decisive choice between the ways of the world and the Word of God. Many nominal believers will do what several denominations, such as the Anglicans and Episcopalians, are already doing – reinterpreting the Bible to accommodate the LGBTQ agenda. Baptists and other denominations are under immense pressure to follow suit, and many of their leaders appear eager to compromise. 7 We are about to witness a major crisis in the church. Pastors and preachers across Europe and America will shortly be asked to affirm the LGBTQ agenda, perhaps by participating in a ceremony which validates the homosexual lifestyle, or to take a stand which unequivocally rejects that lifestyle – probably by refusing a request to perform such a ceremony. All who take the latter course will incur a legal penalty of some kind, such as a large fine. They will also be hit with a court order to comply with the request or face further financial penalties. Repeated failure to comply could result in the confiscation of property or a jail sentence. A church might even lose its license to operate. How many believers will support them? The great falling away This is eerily similar to the great “falling away” or apostasia that the Apostle Paul speaks about in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The falling away is not, as some suppose, a significant movement of professing Christians into unbelief or into another religion, but rather a general slide into a false form of Christianity. Paul chose the word “apostasia” for a reason. An apostate is not someone who has abandoned his religion but someone who accepts and welcomes a critical and malignant change in its theology. Much of this false Christianity already exists in embyronic form. Anyone who is familiar with the teachings of the Purpose Driven church, the Prosperity Gospel, Word of Faith, or the various incarnations of the New Apostolic Reformation will have discerned the contours of apostate End Time Christianity. New Age mysticism has gained a strong foothold in the evangelical church and most, if not all, of the principal leadership roles and academic/teaching positions are filled by Freemasons and sundry other impostors. In the book of Revelation, chapter 17, when John saw the Mother of Harlots, he wrote: “and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” (Revelation 17:6). He was greatly shocked by the vision before him. The church of Christ had become, in its debased End Time form, a woman arrayed in purple and scarlet and decked with gold and precious stones. It was not another religion per se but a sickening parody of true Christianity. 8 The Day of Christ and the Day of the LORD We can get a glimpse of the darkness that is already working in the church by simply looking at the corrupt translations of the Bible that are now being used in many socalled Bible-believing churches. The NIV is probably the worst, a cleverly twisted piece of work which is apparently used by 80% or more of professing Christians. But the others, too, contain many strategic lies – terms and concepts which have been deliberately mistranslated in order to obscure an important truth and mislead believers. Let’s consider just one example. The KJV refers to “the day of Christ” in the following verse: “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” (2 Thessalonians 2:2) What does this term mean? For anyone who cares about the truth of the PreTribulation Rapture, this is an important question. It does not refer to “the day of the Lord” which, as numerous other passages of Scripture confirm, designates the occasion when Christ will return to punish the wicked. As we have shown in an earlier paper (#107) “the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5 and 2 Corinthians 1:14), “the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6) and “the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:10 and 2:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:2) ALL refer to the same prophetic occasion, the day of the Resurrection of the saints and the Rapture of the Church. They do NOT refer to the day of the LORD/Lord, which is a later, separate event known as the seven year Tribulation. “O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked:” Psalm 74:19 9 Why do several translations confuse ‘the day of the Lord’ with ‘the day of the Lord Jesus’? The scholars and academics will probably point to two early manuscripts which exclude the name ‘Jesus’. But in doing so they are rejecting the testimony of several hundred manuscripts which include it. This is a startling and very serious error. We can see from the translations below that it has found its way into the Bible versions used by the vast majority of Christians today: 1 Corinthians 5:5 - “the day of the Lord Jesus” [KJV] NIV “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” ESV “you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” CSB “hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” NET “turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” HCSB “turn that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord.” 2 Thessalonians 2:2 - “the day of Christ” [KJV] NIV “not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us – whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter – asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.” 10 ESV “not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” CSB “not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come.” NET “not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.” NASB “that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” RSV “not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” ASV “to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand;” HCSB “not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come.” NIV New International Version NASB New American Standard Bible ESV English Standard Version CSB Christian Standard Bible NET New English Translation RSV Revised Standard Version ASV American Standard Version HCSB Holman Christian Standard Bible 11 As we can see, the Enemy has being been very busy indeed! Christians have long been warned not to trust the modern Bible translations, but most have ignored the warning. As a result we have today a situation where few believers can defend the PreTribulation Rapture. A professing church that confuses the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) with “the wrath of God” (Romans 1:18) is a church whose true spiritual strength has been greatly depleted. It may feel firm in its profession but, in reality, it is like a wall ready to fall. The Promises of God The Christians who are best equipped to deal with the trials and hardship ahead are those who dwell on the Rock. These are the ones who trust completely in the Word of God and delight daily in the “blessed hope,” the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. They get up every morning knowing that today they might hear the great Trumpet call, when the dead in Christ rise first and those who are living are lifted on high in the twinkling of an eye. They are the ones who know that the Holy Spirit dwelling within them will never leave them nor forsake them. And they are the ones who cannot be shaken because they live each day in the glorious certainty of God’s promises. In our minds and hearts, His promises are akin to memories of actual events. Humanly, we find solace by reflecting on pleasant events from our childhood, for example when we spent a summer holiday with our cousins on the farm. These enjoyable memories lift our spirits. The promises of God are similar. They relate to events that have not yet come to pass, but they are as certain as though they already had. During times of trial and adversity, we can lean on His promises and extract from their sweetness and certainty a soothing balm for our soul. No doubt the Apostle Paul had this in mind when he called the Pre-Tribulation Rapture our “blessed hope”. 12 Unjustified doubts Many sincere Christians have difficulty believing in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. They are unable to see it as anything other than a convenient ‘escape’. As fallen sinners we don’t deserve such mercy, they say. But they are confused. The PTR, like salvation itself, is a gift. We don’t deserve it! Why did the sons of Noah go into the Ark before a drop of rain fell? The answer is faith! They believed what their father was telling them. Anyone else, with the necessary faith, could have done the same. We need to understand and accept God’s revealed plan for the church. He has shared that plan with us for a reason. He wants us to be ready when His Son comes again – because he will come suddenly, without warning. In the meantime He wants us to bear fruit abundantly, without fear. Nominal Christians will not be ready. They have no oil in their lamps. Up to now they have gotten along by the light that shone from the lamps of true believers – “Give us of your oil” (Matthew 25:8). But when the trumpet sounds, when Christ calls to his bride and says, in effect, “Come up hither!”, how many of us will eagerly reply, “Yes, Lord, here I am!”? Yes, the sad truth is that a huge proportion of the professing church will not be ready. These nominal Christians are not waiting for the day of Jesus Christ; they have more important things on their mind. They amble from one end of the year to the other and never once give thought to fact that, when Christ returns and calls to his bride from the air, he won’t stay very long. Only those who are ready and waiting – those who are spirit filled – will ascend to meet him. 13 We live in an age of gross apostasy and appalling lies, of deceitful pastors and mischievous preachers who will gladly lead their flocks into the depths of hell. A great many professing believers think they are saved when they are not. This is why we opened this paper with a brief reference to the indicators in the life of a believer which show that he really IS a believer, someone who has been truly born again in Christ. Chief among these is his desire to be with Christ! Anyone with that desire will have studied the doctrine of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture with great objectivity and care. “I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.” (Psalm 102:7) Why the Enemy hates the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Why is there so much pressure today – from church leaders and self-proclaimed authorities on Bible prophecy – to refute the truth of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture? The answer is tied to the imminent creation of a New World Order. Satan wants a great mass of people to reject Christ and receive his ‘son’, the Antichrist. He knows that when the Holy Spirit leaves this earth, He will take the church with Him. He also knows that professing Christians who are not taken up in the Rapture will be subject to the “strong delusion” which the Apostle Paul mentions in 2 Thessalonians 2:11. If this is the case (and it is!) then Satan knows that he will fatally enslave millions of souls in the wake of this event. It should be remembered that it is God Himself who sends the “strong delusion”, not Satan. Why will God do this? That “all might be damned who believed not the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:12). This is a very unsettling statement since it would seem to imply that all professing Christians who are not taken up in the Rapture will accept the Antichrist 14 The Holy Spirit must vacate the earth in order that the Wrath of God may fall in all its fury. When He leaves, the church must go with Him. The Rapture and the departure of the Holy Spirit are the same event. We are certain of this connection because of the promise that Christ made to the church: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is the Restrainer spoken of by Paul: “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now restrains will restrain, until he be taken out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7) [Note: The KJV uses an old English word for the verb “to restrain”] He alone is capable of impeding the works of darkness on this earth. No organization, institution or group, no matter how spiritual, would be able to do so! A supernatural power can only be restrained by a greater supernatural power. Isaiah says as much: “…When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” (Isaiah 59:19) Once again, with this verse from Isaiah, we run headlong into one of the many traps set by the Enemy. Most of the modern Bibles make a total mess of this passage. Consider the following: Isaiah 59:19 – “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” [KJV] NIV “From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along.” ESV “So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the LORD drives.” 15 CSB “They will fear the name of the LORD in the west and his glory in the east; for he will come like a rushing stream driven by the wind of the LORD.” NET “In the west, people respect the LORD's reputation; in the east they recognize his splendor. For he comes like a rushing stream driven on by wind sent from the LORD.” NASB “So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives.” RSV “So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the LORD drives.” ASV “So shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of Jehovah driveth.” HCSB “They will fear the name of Yahweh in the west and His glory in the east; for He will come like a rushing stream driven by the wind of the LORD.” We find nothing here but confusion and deception. The “enemy”, who shall come in “like a flood”, as stated in the KJV, is completely erased from these corrupt translations. He is even identified with God! As a result the passage makes absolutely no sense. 16 It is clear from all this that the Ruling Elite – the Children of Wickedness – have made a concerted effort to suppress the truth of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture in the modern Bible translations. Christians who rely on these translations to reach a sound Scriptural understanding of the Rapture are therefore greatly handicapped. They should set aside these corrupt translations and use the King James or Authorized Version (1611) instead. The PTR can also be inferred from other doctrines Interestingly, even if these key verses were not in God’s Word, we would STILL know that the doctrine of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture is fully supported by Scripture. The term “the wrath of God” has a precise meaning in God’s Word. It only ever applies to the wicked. It cannot fall on repentant sinners. In fact Colossians 3:6 explicitly rules this out: “…the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:” We are also told that there is “no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Since the Wrath of God is directed ONLY at the wicked, at those who are still under condemnation, then it cannot impinge upon the church in any way, shape or form. The Book of Revelation describes how the Wrath of God, as a predetermined sequence of judicial events, will fall on the children of disobedience during the seven-year Tribulation. Since these events pertain to the earth as a whole, and not just one or more geographical regions, then they are certain to impact severely on the entire world population. The Tribulation will be universal. Not one soul will escape its onslaught. This means the church cannot be on the earth when it strikes. To argue otherwise is to claim that the work of Christ on Calvary was incomplete and that his bride must be subjected to the same fiery retribution that the rest of mankind will have to endure. What is more, it would place on the Bridegroom, on Christ himself – the “bridegroom” of Matthew 9:15, Mark 2:19, Luke 5:34, and John 3:29 – the terrible task of judging his Queen (Psalm 45) for a debt that had already been paid. This is simply not tenable. 17 King Hezekiah No doubt there are some who believe in the PTR, not because they have confirmed it through a careful examination of Scripture, but because it suits some selfish purpose. They are similar to the Pharisees who were certain they had a place in the Kingdom simply because they were Abraham’s sons. Jesus tried to teach them that, if this was their attitude, then in reality they were far from the truth. We are reminded here of King Hezekiah. This once humble man was filled with pride, possibly because the LORD had added 15 years to his life. He committed an act of great hubris when he showed the Babylonian delegation all that he had in his treasury. This placed him under divine judgment. The prophet Isaiah told him that, because of his presumptuous attitude, all the riches in his treasury would be carried off to Babylon. His sons, too, would be taken and made eunuchs in that pagan land. He added, however, that this calamity would not come about in his lifetime. When he heard this Hezekiah said, “Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken…for there shall be peace and truth in my days.” (Isaiah 39:8) This was a very selfish response. While we might wonder what was running through his mind, it is obvious from what the Bible records that Hezekiah was only concerned about his own welfare. The fact that Judah would be destroyed in the process, that thousands would die, and that his sons would be enslaved and mutilated did not seem to grieve him at all. Those who believe in the PTR for equally selfish reasons are really no different from Hezekiah. 18 The Parable of the Talents The parable of the talents is preceded by a verse which shows that it relates directly to the Second Coming of Christ and, by implication, to the Rapture of the church: “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 25:13) At the outset, the three servants seem to be saved because each of them received one or more talents. The first was given five talents and earned five more by productively investing what he had received. The second was given two talents and added another two by wisely using what his master had given him. The last was given only one talent but he did nothing with it! He simply buried it in the ground. (Please bear in mind that a talent of silver is a very substantial sum of money.) On his return, their master highly commended the first two – “Well done my good and faithful servant” – and rewarded them accordingly. However, he was angry with the last, who could at least have put the talent to good use by giving it to the money changers and earning interest. Instead he buried his talent in the ground and showed no respect for his master’s property or any regard for the task entrusted to him. As a result he lost everything! His solitary talent was taken from him and given to the first servant. He was then condemned as an “unprofitable servant” and cast into outer darkness. This parable says a great deal to us today. 19 CONCLUSION We can’t play games with God’s Word. We can neither add to it nor subtract from it. If it teaches a certain doctrine, and men of God have provided good evidence that it does so, then there is an onus on us to examine the matter prayerfully, diligently and respectfully. We have no right to dismiss it unless we can show from Scripture that the doctrine is wrong. We also need to remember that the Enemy hates the doctrine of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. He does not want the saints to have the “blessed hope” or to live in the wonderful certainty of God’s grace and mercy. If he is to enslave the world and lure mankind into his deadly trap, then he needs in the End Time an institutional church that no longer believes in the “blessed hope”, a church that has wandered so far from God’s Word that it no longer sees itself as the Bride of Christ. The Tribulation saints Before concluding we would like to mention the spiritual destiny of those souls who come to faith after the seven year Tribulation has begun. In numerical terms they may exceed the number who came to faith during the Church Age. Despite what some are teaching, these souls will take part in the First Resurrection and will receive immortalized bodies. The life-extending food that the Lord will provide during the Millennium will only be for persons born during the Millennium period, numbering billions, who will not as yet have received immortalized bodies. These people will be direct descendants of those Jewish and Gentile souls, small in number, who survived the Tribulation. However, the Tribulation saints, if we may call them that, will not be part of the Bride. The Bride comprises only the ecclesia, the called-out ones. This is the Church, the body of Christ, which is still growing, albeit slowly. She will reach completion before the seven year Tribulation begins. Not one soul will be added to her body after the Rapture. The Word of God makes a clear distinction between the saints who comprise the spiritual body we know as the Bride of Christ and the Tribulation saints – greatly beloved by the LORD – who do not. Psalm 45 describes the Bride as follows: “…upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.” (Psalm 45: 9-11) 20 Most Bible scholars agree that the “queen” in this passage is actually the church, the Bride of Christ. Even though the church is never revealed in doctrinal terms in the Old Testament, she may be glimpsed in this Psalm. She sits next to the “king” – namely Christ – in “gold of Ophir”, the purest and most radiant form of this element. She is asked to forget all of her former attachments and to worship the King with her whole being. The beauty of her garment is emphasized: “The king’s daughter [or wife] is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework…” (Psalm 45:13-14) The church is the daughter of the LORD and the bride of Christ. Her stunning beauty derives entirely from the redeeming work of Christ on Calvary. Even though her clothing is a ‘covering’ its beauty permeates her entire body. The Book of Revelation tells us that, while waiting expectantly for the bridegroom, the Bride had been making herself ready: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7) We are not told what she did to make herself ready but no doubt it was through her faithful obedience to God and His holy laws, serving as the loyal witness for Christ here on earth, and enduring with patience the persecution which came with that role. In verses 14 and 15 we find what can only be a reference to the Tribulation saints: “…the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.” (Psalm 45:14-15) We are presented here with a scene where the “virgins”, the Tribulation saints, who are called “companions” of the Bride, are led by the Bride into the palace and the presence of the King. They experience great gladness and rejoicing as they are led in. From this we can infer that the Bride has immediate access to the Bridegroom, as in a true marriage, while close relations or “companions” of the bride may enter only under her patronage or supervision.