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7-23-2023 Sunday Sermon Message

Meditations of the Week: Psalm 91:1-16

Text says: 2 Corinthians 11:1-2

Word Title: The glory that God’s Church, the Bride of Christ, will receive after the Rapture.

        The Apostle Paul testified that he did not learn the gospel of Christ from others, but received it directly from the Lord:

¶ For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:23-25 KJV)

       The apostle Paul testified of the gospel of Christ:

¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16 KJV)

      He also testified of the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe:

¶ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: (1 Corinthians 15:1-5 KJV)

        He then witnessed of a very important and mysterious fact to Christians who believed in the gospel of Christ he preached and were saved:

¶ Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:1-2 KJV)

        The apostle Paul testified to the saints of Corinthian church that Gentile believers in Christ had been saved by receiving the Spirit of Christ, and that he felt reverential jealousy before a mysterious truth unimaginable to a Jew as himself. In other words, he testified to this great mystery of how they were betrothed to the Lord Jesus Christ.

         He testified that Christians who believed in the gospel of Christ and were born again of the Holy Spirit, whether Jews or Gentiles, became not only God’s children but also betrothed brides to Christ, God’s only begotten Son, forming the Church of God. Because of this, he testified, Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: (1 Corinthians 10:32 KJV)

        The Apostle Paul also commanded his spiritual son Timothy two very important missions before he passed away. The first is to spread the word about the Day of Christ when Christ comes to take the Church of God, His bride, the Rapture day and the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, where Christ will rule the whole world with His bride, the Church of God:

¶ I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:1-2 KJV)

       He also testified to Christians persecuted in Rome about the persecutions and glory that the Church of God, the bride of Christ, will receive:

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: ¶ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:16-18 KJV)

          The Holy Spirit testified through the apostles about the glory that the Church of God, the Bride of Christ, would receive. In particular, Apostle Paul testified about the rapture, in which the Bride of Christ, the Church of God, would be caught up into heaven on the Day of Christ to receive glory:

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 KJV)

        The apostle John testified that Christians who are raptured at this time will be transformed into the image of Christ. King David also confessed in his prayer that he hoped to be transformed into the image of Christ on the day of Christ’s resurrection.( Psalm 17:15)

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3 KJV)

          The apostle Paul testified to the miraculous transformation of the body of Christians, the Bride of Christ, into the image of Christ on the day of the Rapture:

¶ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:51-54 KJV)

        The raptured saints will ascend to heaven, and at the Judgment Seat of Christ, they will be rebuked and rewarded with crowns according to what they have physically done according to the will of God:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10 KJV) But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (Romans 14:10 KJV)

       The apostles testified of the glorious crowns that the raptured saints would receive at the Judgment Seat of Christ:

(Crown of Righteousness) I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8 KJV)  (Crown of Rejoicing) ¶ Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. (Philippians 4:1 KJV) For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 KJV) (Crown of Life) Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. (James 1:12 KJV) Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. (Revelation 2:10 KJV)  (Incorruptible Crown) And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Corinthians 9:25-27 KJV) (Crown of Glory) Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (1 Peter 5:2-4 KJV)

        The crown mentioned in the Bible is the right to rule. The apostle John ascended to heaven and testified to the words he heard:

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:9-10 KJV)

        Christians who have received the crown will marry the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, to become the Bride of Christ. The apostle John gave a testimony of this marriage ceremony:

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. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (Revelation 19:7-9 KJV)

          The Psalmist and Solomon, in the Holy Spirit, foreshadowed the wedding scene where the Bride of Christ would be married to Christ, and they testified about the guests invited to the ceremony: people who have been saved from Adam and Eve through all the generations will attend to celebrate the wedding between the Church of God, the Bride of Christ, and the Lamb, Jesus Christ. John the Baptist, who was a prophet, said that he was full of joy as a friend of the bridegroom:

Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. (Psalm 45:9 KJV)She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. (Psalm 45:14 KJV) With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace. (Psalm 45:15 KJV) There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. (Song of Solomon 6:8-9 KJV) 

         While God’s judgment is being carried out on earth through the seven years of the Great Tribulation, the Church of God, the Bride of Christ, who has suffered for Christ, will enjoy glory in heaven. Now the time has come for Christ to open the gates of Heaven and appear to judge the Antichrist, the false prophet, and all the nations that follow them at the end of the Great Tribulation, together with the raptured and married Church of God. The apostle John and Judas witnessed this scene in the Holy Spirit:

And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:14-15 KJV) And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, ¶ To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 14-15 KJV)

        When the thousand years are over, the Bride of Christ will live in the city of New Jerusalem that Christ has prepared, working with Christ to fill all things with Him forever and ever:

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23 KJV)

Amen! Hallelujah!