Transcript: The Church Prepared for Christ's Return: Love and Maturity

Music Music Jesus Christ is alive, and he is at work in his church, and he has risen, and he lives. He is at work in his church today as never before to perfect his bride for his long-awaited return. He is putting on the hearts of many the importance of brethren dwelling together in unity, And he is infusing and inspiring a renewed, deep, reverential fear of the Lord overall in his church, of which he is the head. And there is a growing awareness in the church today of the lack of true reverence, obedient fear, and intimacy for God that his people have been negligent of in expressing and practicing. And this is the only way and means by which we as God's bride church will come to truly worship him in spirit and truth. Now, this burden has been weighing heavily upon the hearts of many church leaders and intercessors and even many bewildered members of the body of Christ. this is the only way by which we as god's people will come to the place where we are really one with god and one with each other the new king james version of psalms 133 declares behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity it is like the precious oil upon the head running down the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down the edge of his garment. Verse 3, it is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountain of Zion. There the Lord commanded a blessing, life forevermore. You see, dear one, unity in the body of Christ will bring about the resurrection life of Christ's body called the church, and it will result in the culmination and the return of our long-awaited bridegroom, who has been yearning and longing for this glorious day in which he shall have the promise that his father gave him before the beginning of time. This beautiful bride, who will be without spot or wrinkle, are those who through the ages of time have given their acknowledgement and confession of love to their bridegroom and have endured through their lifetime for that love to be perfected in their spirit and soul. The crown and perfecting of their love to Jesus Christ is the full and total surrender of their lives which have brought Jesus Christ in his father glory, and this is why he is so jealous over her. Jesus gave himself to his church, and the bride that he is coming back for are those sanctified and consecrated members of the church who have laid down their lives for Christ's sake, and they have picked up their own cross and have drunk from their own cups of the bitter trials and the difficulties and the tests of this life. It is by these sore times and difficult roads that these precious saints have been perfected. They have willingly endured the tests and are known in heaven as overcomers. And because of this, there is a crown of life awaiting them. And these dear saints are esteemed highly of God and also by the angels in heaven. In the Psalms that we have just read, the verses declare, Behold, and how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down the beard of Aaron, running down on the edges of his garment. well i would like you to know that these wonderful verses are declaring that it is good and also it is the perfect will of god and for our honor and in the honoring of his son jesus christ that we as members of his church will dwell together in unity and this unity brings a constant delight to both God and Christ's body. We personally cannot conceive or verbalize the goodness and pleasantness of this because it is so rare a thing, but really it does attract and delight our hearts because it is a supernatural mystery and it literally brings us joy because it is God at work in his supernatural realm. It is likened to a fragrant oil that is highly perfumed and the sweet perfume, the aroma of it that wafts out to the multitudes is considered holy and beautiful. Dear church, these scriptures are defining brotherly love. Our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ must be with a pure and devoted heart to God first before it manifests itself in true love for our brethren and others around us. We must love those who are begotten of God for Christ's sake. And this ointment was made up of divine ingredients which are very precious to God and to those who understand this. You see, ointment was not made for any common use, or is it to be used by just anyone. This ointment came about by a supernatural happening and is in the sight of God very precious because of the great price that it cost his son. and the scriptures were prophetic in nature and were speaking of the oil that would be representative of christ's love to mankind which would be poured out through his brutal death upon the cross and his burial and resurrection and let me say this is very costly ointment dear ones Aaron and his sons were not permitted to minister to the Lord in the tabernacle until they were anointed with this ointment. And neither are yours or my services acceptable to God without this Holy Spirit love, which is representative of this oil. The priests are God's holy nation, a people who love him with a passion. and the priests then ministered before God in their worship and service on behalf of all the people. And today, if we have not this love, we are counted as nothing in the eyes of God, no matter what our service to him or his body might be. And reading out of the New King James Version in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1, we read, though I speak with the tongues of men and angels but have not love I have become a sounding brass or a clanking symbol and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so I could remove mountains but I have not love I am nothing Verse 3, And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. You see, Jesus Christ went to the cross even though he suffered a horrendous death. He did so because of the love that he had for mankind. the word declares that jesus was anointed above all of his fellows and the scriptures say in hebrews 12 verse 2 that he jesus for the joy of obtaining the prize that was sent before him endured the cross despising and ignoring the shame and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Precious one, you and I and all others who have come to Jesus and are passionately in love with him, are that prize that Jesus saw beyond the cross. We were his joy, and he has enough of his love to be poured out to all. And it doesn't matter what you do for Christ, whether it be teaching or preaching or prophesying or healing the sick or raising the dead. But still, if it is not done in love, it is as nothing. the ministry of jesus christ through human agents will be the same kind of compassionate love for his people that he too had and the love that jesus christ had for his church is described in ephesians 5 25 and this is a wonderful likeness viewed through the highest human kind of love which is ordained of God and should be the expression of love that a husband has for his wife. Ephesians 5, 25 and reading out of the New International Version. Husbands, love your wife just as Jesus Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word and to present her to him as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Verse 29. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does his church. for we are members of his body and for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh verse 32 this is the profound mystery but i am talking about christ and the church however each one of you must love his wife is he loves himself and the wife must respect her husband. The church of the bride of Jesus Christ cost our Savior, Jesus, everything. He died and he bled for her and he gave his life for her. And the very same resurrection life that raised Jesus from the dead is the same resurrection life and power that is preparing and equipping his church in this day and hour. Dear one, I hope what I will say next here will go deep into your spirit. Jesus wanted the church more than he wanted life itself. The church means more to Jesus Christ than all of the entire universe and all that is in it. The very reason for the creation of the entire universe was for the purpose of mankind. And this earth was to be the place where this supernatural love and great mystery would take place and unfold. Christ's creative force and energy spoke all things into existence and the Holy Spirit brought forth by his almighty dunamis power the existence of the entire universe and yes, even mankind. What love! What awesome love was at work here between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But in extreme contrast, I ask you, what did it cost Jesus to birth forth the church? Let me tell you, it cost him humiliation. It cost him suffering and death on the cross and his own life's blood to be spilled out. Jesus is fully God and he divested himself of his glory and he stepped out of heaven and came to this earth in the form of mere man and offered his body his life and his blood to be the only and the one savior who could redeem fallen man from their sins and from eternal death he purchased the church with his own precious blood and life and he went to hell and took back the keys of death and hades and then he sent his own holy spirit to birth his church into existence on the day of pentecost and he has worked patiently for nearly two thousand years to bring his church into the position of being fully matured and united and perfected church and he is still working today the new king james versions of ephesians 4 10 declares he that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers verse 12 for the perfecting of the saints for the working of the ministry for the edifying of the body of christ till we all come in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the son of god unto a perfect man unto the measure of the full stature of the fullness of christ verse 12 tells us that jesus has instituted the five-fold ministry in the church to perfect the saints for the work of ministry and when jesus ascended into heaven he distributed a wealth of spiritual gifts to his followers he personally enabled them to minister as his body on this earth to bring each believer into the place of spiritual maturity. And this has been going on in every generation since the supernatural appearing of his Holy Spirit on Pentecost. And with these gifts and actions in the church today, they are intended for the good of the church and to advance the kingdom and the interest among men. And all of these gifts are designed for one common good, and that is to advance the kingdom of God and promote brotherly love, and at the same time, not ending one another's gifts and divine God-given abilities. All are for the perfecting of the saints, and that is to bring an orderly spiritual state and foundation to those who have been lost and bound to sin. The aim of this perfection is to strengthen, to confirm and ground each individual in his or her proper place in the church so that their divine abilities and functions might contribute to the good of the whole body of Christ. The work of ministry is that they might share the truths of scripture and properly use their Holy Spirit gifts and talents in their ministry. to edify the body and build up the church, which is Christ's mystical and supernatural body, by adding new members through their work of love. And the time is coming very soon that Jesus Christ is coming back for his bride. He could never be satisfied with having only one person as his bride. Oh, no. In fact, Jesus is so full of love that it will take a bride made up of many millions and millions of saints to satisfy his heart. And you must know this, too. Not one of us who love him intimately and dearly is capable of monopolizing all of his love any more than a sponge could absorb all the water in an ocean. And not even a body of billions of people could exhaust the love that Jesus and his Father have for the true church. Unlimited indescribable love beyond comparison flows constantly from the heart of Jesus Christ to his precious bride He has been longing for the day when she will be totally and eternally joined to himself You can imagine the greatest joy is when Jesus becomes physically one with his long-awaited bride. the greatest joy of jesus will be when his bride is physically resurrected and translated bodily to meet him in the air can we just imagine that day as recorded by scripture says he will come with the armies of heaven reading in the new international version in revelation 19 11 the word declares, Revelation 19, 11, I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. Verse 12, his eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but himself he is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the word of god the armies of heaven were following him riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen white and clean when jesus comes to take his bride home he will gather her together from those who are present but also those from all ages past. They will form into his body, and he shall become officially her head. She will be arrayed in the most beautiful white garment, and she, his bride, will arise slowly and will be without spot or wrinkle. And this will be the greatest joy that our Savior has been waiting for, And this will be the greatest manifestation of his love to his bride. I can tell you at this very moment, dear church, Jesus Christ is filled with an incomprehensible amount of heart-throbbing love and expectation with a longing excitement for his bride. This anticipation has been building for the last 2,000 years. And with each generation, Jesus has been seeing his bride, understanding the mystery as to the depth of his love that he has for her. And this love has become more intensified during the last few centuries of the church, as Jesus has beheld his bride becoming more and more mature and prepared for this long-awaited promised marriage. the work of the true five-fold ministry has been going on in every generation of time even without the acknowledgement of titles such as apostles and prophets and evangelists pastors or teachers this awesome work of advancing and building the kingdom of god has been a great labor by the faithful called and ordained of god in spite of the opposition that lay before them and this appointment of the fivefold since pentecost the beginning and birthing of the church has always been a divine appointment and practice in each age for the purpose of accomplishing the advancement of the kingdom of god and the perpetuation of the family of god and let us not forget the reason and the institution of the ordained fivefold ministry of god It was for the perfecting of the saints and for the edification of the body. The perfecting of the saints seemed to be twofold here. It means making them perfect in holiness. And that comes by teaching and preaching the word of God, which is like a mirror and reflects the heart, the will, and the mind of God. and with the conviction and the convincing power of the Holy Spirit to bring about the beauty of holiness in each saint, if they have a teachable spirit or heart, to receive the truth and even the correction when need be. The perfecting of the saints, secondly, means also the completion of their numbers. There is a time coming right before Jesus returns when the time of grace will cease for mankind. And that is saying the time for Christ to come is at hand. And he will come to judge the world. And we read about that in the book of Matthew 24, in the book of Daniel and Isaiah and Revelation and other books. There is a prophesied time to come when God's wrath will be poured out upon this whole earth. And the whole world will shake and tremble with whole cities and nations going down into destruction. And scripture tells us that there will be sounds of great weeping and wailing as never heard before upon the face of the earth. And people will run into caves and into mountains, but these places will not hold them. They will open up wide and expose them. People will want to die, but they will not be permitted. the time of the perfecting of the saints will cease and the time of grace will end and the trumpet call has gone forth in every generation to warn to align to order our lives according to the holy precepts in scripture do it while today is called today the scriptures say do not put off and say oh i'll get around to that tomorrow you see time is short I said time is short and this is all part of the perfecting process of the church the body of Christ is to be an expression of the son and the word of God is to be the nourishment and strength and yes indeed even the vitality as it is coupled with close connection and intimacy by constant communion with the Godhead and between the members of Christ's body dear ones what we are speaking about is the perfecting and refining process of the bride church of our lord jesus christ the holy spirit is among us and lives in us he is used in likeness of the fuller soap and as a refiner's fire to cleanse and purify us all and when jesus christ came. He came to mainly establish sanctification and a seal of covenant that would mark his church and his bride. And the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will cleanse and purify us by Christ's blood. The blood brings life and cleanses us from all sin. what a perfecting work of god's holy spirit this perfecting work generates and fosters maturity and works in us the perfecting nature and character of our lord and savior jesus christ oh church what a wonderful savior we have he has given us his spirit the great purifier and refiner carries the word to our hearts and enlightens our eyes with understanding and drives out all doubt and fear and hatred and jealousy and lust and anger and so on and molds us into his very image and fills us with his love with his power and presence and gives us his gifts and causes us to be useful tools and firebrands in his hands to advance his kingdom for his sake. The whole motive of this plan of God is driven. Get this. Get this and do not forget it. It is driven by his love. this is the machinery that drives the holy spirit to release his power his presence and his gifts for the refining and perfecting work of preparing the bride of jesus christ for his return what grace and love precious ones the perfecting of the church is purging away all the dross all the stuff that is called sin and that will hold people back from participating in the marriage supper of the bridegroom soon to come And again this perfecting of the saints and the church has been going on in each generation The numbers have been being added to the millions and millions of the bride church. And those that truly love Jesus Christ and love his body are those called the bride church. The perfection of these numbers of his people will come to be what is called the fullness of time. Jesus knows that it won't be long now. And the heartbeat of his love is increasing. The longing to have his resurrected bride churches vibrating with divine desire and with a pure and holy love. And his emotions are spiritually charged with the passionate fire of this holy love, reaching a state or a magnitude beyond human description. We cannot understand it. When the actual moment arrives for the consummation of the ages and the marriage to his bride, Jesus will leap from the throne and will triumphantly, in the twinkling of the eye, will sweep down towards the earth and with the armies of heaven riding with him all dressed in white. and when he reaches earth's atmosphere he will release a jubilant and victorious shout and this shout will reverberate and echo from the eternities of heaven to the very ends of the earth and the archangel gabriel will announce the momentous news and the trumpet of god will be sounded and the bodies of the departed saints as was previously mentioned will immediately be joined with their spirits as the first resurrection takes place. The living saints are instantaneously changed from mortals to immortals. And this will happen so quickly that before a twinkling of his eye flashes by, the bride will be in his presence, fully united and clothed with their eternal bodies joined together and with their eternal bridegroom as she slowly rises to take her place and be with her husband forever and ever. And this will be an endless union of living and loving and reigning together forever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Dear ones, we as the bride church of Jesus Christ today have great responsibility. Those in the church have a supernatural calling. We are sons of God, members of the spiritual body of Christ, God's new kind and type and race of human being. 1 Peter 2.11 declares, We are called foreigners or aliens on this earth, and this is not our real home. We are called foreigners and aliens as we walk this earth. we have a work to do here before christ will take us home philippians 3 20 says but our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there the lord jesus christ see we are spiritual beings living in an earthly mortal body and we're born of the spirit baptized with the Spirit and manifest the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit. True Christians are different from all the rest of God's created beings in heaven or earth. And this is why the world hates us. And those who will participate in this last day restoration and preparers of the bride ministry will not be there simply because of their revelation, their faith knowledge, or preaching abilities. No, they will be permitted to participate because Jesus chooses them on account of the love that they have for his body. It is all about his love. Jesus ordains and anoints those whom he chooses. And it will not be men's deciding, but Christ will empower those who are the least likely. And he will select these to work in this hour and time, because they have truly died to self and lived for Christ Jesus. Galatians 2.20 declares, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. This scripture will have become a lifestyle reality to these people. Every attitude and action contrary to God's divine principles will have to be purged. And nothing short of conformity to the image of Jesus Christ will do, and love for him and his church will have equal importance. Jesus is going to pour out his spirit and his love and his presence and power upon these end-time ministries. As was previously stated, there is such a great lack of reverential fear of God within the church today. Christians, even charismatic leaders, come to church with all types of sin in their lives, ranging from sexual immorality to gossip and jealousy and party spirits. And they sing praise and they rejoice and prophesy and testify as though there was nothing out of order in their lives. But these God-ordained and anointed end-time ministries, and especially the prophets, will move in love but with fearless strength and will call out the hypocrisy and the lies through the revealing power of the Holy Spirit. it. These leaders will expose this hypocrisy, and the Spirit of God will cause the reverential fear of the Lord to fall upon whole congregations. Christians will come to the place where they will cry out for this perfecting and purifying work to be done in their own lives. We live in an exciting time right now. Are you willing to allow God to do his wonderful work in your own life so that he can prepare you for the work that has already begun in gaining momentum. I ask you, dear one, are you willing to be different and walk through the fires that come your way in order to be used of God in this last day ministry, which will usher in our precious bridegroom who is coming soon with great expectation for his beloved bride? john the baptist said in john 3 29 reading in the new international version the bride belongs to the bridegroom the bride who attends the bridegroom awaits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice that joy is mine it is now complete he must become greater and i must become less now is the time for us to decrease and allow jesus christ to increase in our hearts and souls now is the time to be attending to your bridegroom to shower him with your attention and time shower him with your faithfulness and your love shower him with your obedient and reverent fear which translates into awe or meaning to be awestruck by his beauty and presence now is the time precious church jesus christ is coming soon will he find you one to be counted among his bride church remember the bridegroom is not coming for those who have not fallen in love with him or have been interested in the things of the world. His passion burns for his perfected one. Those who love him with a burning zeal and ardent fervor and have laid down their lives for him and serve him by denying themselves of their own comforts and needs and wants. Jesus Christ, your bridegroom, is coming, dear church. Prepare yourselves now as never before, because tomorrow may be too late.