{"id":18463,"date":"2017-11-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-19T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/ecclesiology-004\/"},"modified":"2017-11-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-19T06:00:00","slug":"ecclesiology-004","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/ecclesiology-004\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiology 004"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[94],"series_event":[484],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18463","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-ephesians","series_event-ecclesiology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Ecclesiology 004","sermon_date":"20171119","sermon_month":"11","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":5159,"sermon_slides":5160,"sermon_mp3":5164,"sermon_id":"111917945562","series_or_event":484,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":94,"chapter_and_verse":"5:22-33","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nEcclesiology 004\n\n11-19-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 4\n\nFather, we are thankful for this morning; thankful for some cool weather, and we\u2019re particularly thankful this time of the year, Father, as we get ready this coming up week to celebrate Thanks\u00adgiving and just by virtue of where we live Father we are maxed out in terms of blessings in comparison to the rest of the world and in our sinfulness we forget that, we just focus on little crises and problems that we have, but if we were to take stalk of the big picture we our hearts would have an attitude of gratitude.\u00a0 So I just pray, Father, that this week You\u2019ll help us to take stock of the big picture.\u00a0 Help us to count our spiritual blessings which are\u2026 there\u2019s no further blessing to receive from you according to Ephesians 1:3, we\u2019ve been blessed \u201cwith every spiritual blessing,\u201d and beyond that we\u2019re living in the freest, most prosperous country in the world and so we may not have as much money as we think we should have or what the neighbors have but when we look at the world\u2019s standard we are just maxed out.\u00a0 So help us to keep those things in mind as we acknowledge You this week as the source of our many blessings.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen!\n\nLet\u2019s go to 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 3.\u00a0 We are continuing on in our Sunday School series; we\u2019re on Lesson 4 on Ecclesiology, which is the doctrine of the church.\u00a0 Ecclesiology is one of those branches of systematic theology which tries to focus on what does the Bible say specifically about the church.\u00a0 And so here\u2019s the outline that we\u2019re following; we\u2019ve already defined the church.\u00a0 The church, ekklesia,<\/em> literally means called out ones\u2026 the \u201ccalled out ones,\u201d ekklesia<\/em>.\n\nAnd when the Lord created the church, as we have studied, He added to humanity a third existing people group.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:32, \u201cGive no offense either to Jews or to Greeks\u201d those are the first two people groups, \u201cGreeks\u201d would be a synonym for Gentiles, \u201cor to\u201d here comes people group number three, \u201cthe church of God.\u201d\n\nSo the church, as we\u2019ve studied, consists of all people who have trusted in the Messiah for personal salvation, the very Messiah that was rejected by the leadership of the nation of Israel in the first century.\u00a0 God used the rejection of the leadership of Christ in the first century to orchestrate one of the greatest, if not THE greatest thing He\u2019s ever done, which is the death of His Son to pay the penalty for all of our sins.\u00a0 So as I like to say God took lemons and turned them into lemonade.\u00a0 So through that transaction the sin debt of the world has been paid for and everyone subsequent to that time that has trusted in this Messiah personally, for personal salvation, is part of this new man called the church of Jesus Christ, the called out ones.\n\nAnd then we moved from there to the differences between the universal church and the local church.\u00a0 Do you recall that?\u00a0 We tried to flush those out.\u00a0 And from there we started studying this last week, we moved to what are called the seven word pictures for the church.\u00a0 A picture paints what?\u00a0 A thousand words!\u00a0 So out Bible, which is hard enough to understand as it is, (amen), sixty-six books, could have been like the U.S. Tax Code if the Lord had included every\u2026 verbally said everything He wanted to say about the church.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t do that; instead He gave us seven word pictures, because a picture is worth, probably an entire volume of words.\n\nSo when you study these seven word pictures of the church you start to see what the church is.\u00a0 The first two and half of verse 3 I think we\u2019ve already covered; the shepherd\/sheep metaphor is used to describe the church consistently in the New Testament and we tried to flush that out.\u00a0 The second word picture that\u2019s used is the head\/body word picture or metaphor and we tried to flush that out.\u00a0 And then the third one is the bride\/groom imagery, we are the bride, He is the groom.\u00a0 And probably the key passage that reveals this is Ephesians 5:22-33 where Paul analogizes the Christian marriage to the relationship that God has with His church.\n\nAnd so you see this imagery used many, many times in the Bible\u2019 the most prominent place it\u2019s used is in Ephesians 5, but that\u2019s why I had you open up to 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 where Paul says, \u201cFor I am jealous for you\u201d speaking to the Corinthians, \u201cwith a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband,\u201d so Paul says I was sort of like a best man, I introduced you, Christ\u2019s bride, to your groom who you are now betrothed to, engaged to.\u00a0\u00a0 And Paul, of course, did that through personal evangelism and then through that personal evangelism in Corinth the Corinthians church started.\n\nSo he says, \u201cFor I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband so that to Christ I might present you as<\/em> a pure virgin.\u00a0 [3] But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion<\/em> to Christ.\u201d\u00a0 And we tried to kind of explain that passage a little bit last time but there you see the overriding point of it is the Christian marriage is analogized to the church\u2019s engagement to Jesus Christ.\n\nOne of the things that\u2019s really important to understand, and I think this will take us to page number 6, one of the things that\u2019s really important to understand to get a handle on who we are in Christ and also our future is to understand the ten points of the Jewish marriage.\u00a0 If you can understand, if we can understand the ten stages of the Hebrew wedding you\u2019ll have a perfect picture of who the church is and the providence of God, and you\u2019ll have a perfect picture of your future as a member of Christ\u2019s church and what the future has.\n\nSo those ten steps, and I think I gave those briefly last time; let me see if I can give those briefly to you one more time and then I\u2019ll come back and make the analogy.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how the Hebrew wedding works.\u00a0 Stage number 1, the groom initiated, entered into a covenant established upon payment for the bride.\u00a0 He typically did that with the bride\u2019s father-in-law, and to commemorate this arrangement, this payment where the groom is basically entering into a contract to marry his bride with the father-in-law, perspective father-in-law, upcoming father-in-law, the bride\u2019s father, soon to be father-in-law.\u00a0 He entered into a covenant with this guy, soon to be his father-in-law, and to celebrate this covenant the two of them drank from the same cup.\u00a0 So automatically when I say that you\u2019re thinking of something, right?\u00a0 That would be what?\u00a0 Communion, more on that in a second.\n\nStep number two, the bride is set apart exclusively for the groom, so at that point, once this covenant is entered into, the bride is a woman spoken for.\u00a0 And then you move to step three where the groom separates from the bride and returns to the father\u2019s house to prepare the bridal chamber.\u00a0 So that\u2019s step three.\u00a0 Step four of the entire process is there is at that point what\u2019s called the betrothal period where the bride and the groom, prior to their marriage, are in a state of separation.\u00a0 And of course the expectation amongst both is that both bride and groom would keep themselves pure for that future wedding.\u00a0 So that\u2019s step number four, it\u2019s called the betrothal period.\u00a0 It was typically looked at as a loyalty test because if there was a failure morally at this point then basically what happened is it terminated the contract that was entered into in step number 1.\n\nAnd I think I mentioned last time that this is why Joseph is so upset over Mary\u2019s pregnancy, with the virgin birth, virgin conception of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s in early Matthew it talks about how Joseph was going to put her away.\u00a0 [Matthew 1:19, \u201cThen Joseph her husband, being a just man<\/em>, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.\u201d]\u00a0 Now why would he do that?\u00a0 Because in his mind she was pregnant because she failed the loyalty test here in step number 4.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why Gabriel has to be dispatched from heaven to explain\u2026 see how prominent Gabriel is?\u00a0 Gabriel is the angel that reveals new truth or insights.\u00a0 We\u2019re certainly learning about that a lot in the Book of Daniel.\n\nSo Gabriel has to be dispatched from heaven to assure Joseph that everything is okay; she hasn\u2019t failed any moral test; the marriage is still on and the reality of the situation is what has begun in her womb is the work of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Now what if Mary had tried to explain that to Joseph?\u00a0 Would he have bought it?\u00a0 Probably not, so an angel has to step into the act to get the job done here in terms of explanation and that\u2019s Gabriel\u2019s specialty, explanations, new insights, new truths and so forth.\n\nThat takes us into step number five where the groom returns at an unknown time preceded by a shout (what does this sound like), with escorts to retrieve the bride.\u00a0 So he\u2019s been away for a while, the bridal chamber has been prepared and then he comes at an unknown time to retrieve his bride who he already paid for in step one.\n\nAnd that was number five, that takes us to number six, the bride and the groom are hidden in the father\u2019s house for seven days where three events are going to transpire. And those three events are step seven, eight and nine.\u00a0 In step number seven the bride undergoes a ritual cleansing prior to the marriage ceremony.\u00a0 In step number eight there\u2019s a meeting with the father\u2019s assembled guests, the father\u2019s assembled wedding guests and a private wedding ceremony transpires.\u00a0 And then step number nine is the consummation of the marriage.\u00a0 And then step number ten is a marriage feast, a public presentation where the bride, who has been veiled at that point is now unveiled.\u00a0 And then once they come out of the father\u2019s house there is a public feast, marriage feast telling the whole world that these two have gone through these steps and are now formally Mr. and Mrs. So and So.\n\nSo typically that\u2019s how it worked; I\u2019m getting this from a book called Maranatha: Our Lord, Come! <\/em>\n\nby Renald Showers, a very good Bible scholar, if I\u2019m understanding it right a Hebrew Christian himself who would understand basic Judaism and how these weddings took place.\n\nNow having said all that if you can understand those ten steps you can understand who you are, you can understand what you\u2019re supposed to be doing in the present and you can also understand very clearly what the future has for the church because the Lord has His bride, I believe on these same ten steps.\u00a0 So having explained the steps let\u2019s go back and make the analogy; shall we?\n\nSo let\u2019s go back to step one, step number one is the marriage covenant the groom initiated.\u00a0 Now what would that speak of?\u00a0 That would speak of the fact that we have been elected and chosen in God the Father from when?\u00a0 From the foundations of the earth.\u00a0 Now this gets into the whole debate do we choose God or does God choose us and my answer to that is yes, just like a marriage I chose my wife and fortunately she chose me.\u00a0 So God chose me before the foundations of the earth and so He lays out before us the gospel and we respond to it by way of faith, just like a marriage is two parties choosing each other.\n\nThere\u2019s just a lot of people out there that want to believe man has no free will in this at all and that\u2019s the movement of aggressive five point Calvinism where you\u2019re irresistibly drawn to God whether you want to be drawn to God or not, and you\u2019re given the gift of faith.\u00a0 And frankly, I don\u2019t think that kind of teaching is accurate because in a normal wedding, which all of this is analogized to, there\u2019s a choice.\u00a0 Of course God chooses us but at the same time we are placed under conviction by the Holy Spirit where we make a choice for God.\n\nAnd then what happens is the covenant is established upon payment of the price for the bride.\u00a0 Now the payment of the price would be the sacrificial death of who?\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That\u2019s where the price was paid to procure our salvation and if you take a look, for example, at 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it develops this and it says: \u201cOr do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and that,\u201d look at this, \u201cyou are not your own?\u201d\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Verse 20, last verse in the chapter, \u201cFor you have been\u201d what? \u201cbought with a\u201d what? \u201cprice: therefore glorify God in your body.\u201d\u00a0 So obviously this contract that\u2019s entered into between the groom and the future father-in-law is exemplified, if\u00a0 you will, through the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice that in this part of the arrangement the two parties drank from the same cup.\u00a0 Now what does that speak of?\u00a0 It speaks of communion and that\u2019s why Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:25 says, \u201cIn the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 See, we practice communion here on a monthly basis and there\u2019s a reason we\u2019re practicing it; we\u2019re remembering the initial contract or covenant that was entered into to procure our salvation.\n\nSo that takes care of step number one.\u00a0 Step number two in these ten parts is the bride is set apart exclusively for the groom.\u00a0 And that is a wonderful picture of who the church is; we have been the called out ones, we have been set aside specifically for Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we are called in the devil\u2019s world strangers and aliens.\u00a0 If you look at 1 Corinthians 1:2 it says, \u201cTo the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:\u201d\n\nSo it\u2019s a positional truth that we, as members of Christ\u2019s church, have been set apart for Him.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Paul is so upset with the Corinthians when they begin to act carnally and immorally, you\u2019re acting like a woman who is engaged who is still on all the dating websites and trolling for the right man when the fact is you already are engaged.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 That\u2019s the picture that we get in the Bible when the church starts to act in a carnal or immoral manner.\n\nSo because we are set apart at this stage two in the Hebrew wedding cycle we are to act differently from the world.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteous\u201d now this is very important, there\u2019s a lot of confusion by this word \u201cunrighteous,\u201d who are the \u201cunrighteous\u201d in 1 Corinthians 6?\u00a0 If\u00a0 you go back to 1 Corinthians 6:1 it defines who the\u00a0 unrighteous are.\u00a0 \u201cDoes any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the\u201d who?\u00a0 \u201cunrighteous \u00a0and not before the saints?\u201d And if you drop down to verse 6 it says, \u201cBrother goes to law with brother and that before\u201d what? \u201cunbelievers.\u201d\u00a0 Paul is upset with the Corinthians because they were suing each other before unbelievers, pagan courts, Gentile courts, unbelieving courts, and destroying the witness of the church. So that in context is who the unbelievers are.\n\nNow having said that, if you go back to 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 it says, \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteous\u201d who are the unrighteous?\u00a0 Unbelievers.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 will not inherit the kingdom of God?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And he goes on and he describes these unbelievers.\u00a0 \u201cDo not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, [10] nor thieves, nor the<\/em> covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Inheriting the kingdom of God is entering the kingdom of God.\u00a0 You say well how do you know that?\u00a0 I know that because Paul, in the same book, 1 Corinthians 15:50 when he\u2019s describing the rapture, verse 51 actually, he \u00a0says, \u201cBehold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.\u201d\u00a0 And then he goes on and he talks about mortality will be changed unto mortality, perishable will be changed into the imperishable and as this happens we will inherit these things.\n\n[1 Corinthians 15:52, \u201cIn a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.\u00a0 [53] For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.\u201d\u00a0 [54] But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, \"DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.\u201d]\n\nSo inherit is this idea, and this is what he means when he says \u201cflesh and blood will not\u201d what? \u201cinherit the kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 So inheriting the kingdom is entering the kingdom.\u00a0 And if you compare that and go back to 1 Corinthians 6 Paul\u2019s simple point is unbelievers are not going into the kingdom; they\u2019re not going to inherit it.\n\nHe goes on and he says in verse 11, I\u2019m back in 1 Corinthians 6, \u201cSuch as some of you were\u201d see that,\u201d they\u2019ve been changed, the folks he\u2019s talking to, \u201cbut you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.\u201d\u00a0 What is Paul\u2019s point here?\u00a0 Why in the world are\u00a0 you imitating unbelievers in your lifestyle?\u00a0 They\u2019re on a totally different track than\u00a0 you\u2019re on.\u00a0 They\u2019re not going to heaven, you are, so why would you as a Christian go back and imitate them?\u00a0 And this is all an outworking of this very important step or stage in the Hebrew wedding where the bride (that would be us) has been set apart exclusively for the groom and since we have been set apart exclusively for the groom Paul says we ought to act that way.\u00a0 Let your practice catch up with your position.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 So that\u2019s step two.\n\nStep three is the groom separates from the bride and returns to his father\u2019s house to prepare the bridal chamber.\u00a0 What is this speaking of?\u00a0 This is speaking of Christ\u2019s\u2026 this is step three I believe, 2,000 year separation from the church.\u00a0 His separation from the church occurred with which event?\u00a0 The ascension.\u00a0 Where is the ascension recorded in the Bible?\u00a0 Acts 1:9-11.\u00a0 Take a look just for a second at Acts 1:9-11, this is when Jesus left physically, just as the groom left the bride to prepare the bridal chamber.\n\nNotice Acts 1:9-11, it says, \u201cAnd after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. [10] And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. [11] They also said, \u2018Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.\u201d\u2019\n\nSo the period of separation, analogized to us, is post ascension.\u00a0 So Jesus said in the Upper Room I\u2019m going to leave and while I am gone I am going to be preparing the what?\u00a0 The Father\u2019s house.\u00a0 So in the same way in the Hebrew wedding the groom separates from the bride, goes back to the father\u2019s house, prepares the bridal chamber and you see a dead ringer here for that in John 14:2 as Jesus is describing His relationship with His church.\u00a0 He says, \u201cJohn 14:2, \u201cIn My Father's house are many\u201d what? \u201cdwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.\u201d\n\nSo that\u2019s exactly where we are in this whole thing; we\u2019re in step three, we have been physically separated from the groom, although He lives in us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and He\u2019s been gone for 2,000 years, since Acts chapter 1, and what is He doing?\u00a0 He\u2019s not sitting up in heaven just kind of goofing off and playing video games; He\u2019s preparing the Father\u2019s house, which in this case would be the bridal chamber.\n\nSo that takes us to number 4 which is the betrothal period where there\u2019s a loyalty test.\u00a0 Now a failure of the loyalty test at this stage cancelled the contract which was entered into in step one.\u00a0 And here is the point of the analogy that I don\u2019t want to push too far because some people will push this to teach the doctrine of insecurity.\u00a0 We teach here the doctrine of security; a lot of people are out there teaching the doctrine of insecurity where you can have your salvation and lose it.\u00a0 And we don\u2019t believe that that\u2019s a teaching that is reflected correctly in Scripture.\u00a0 We\u2019ve done many, many lessons on that.\n\nThe only point I want to make here with step number four is we are to be behaving as a woman spoken for.\u00a0 We are to behave as those whose practice in daily life is catching up with their position.\u00a0 And if we are not behaving that way the Bible very clearly calls us what?\u00a0 It starts with an \u201ca,\u201d adulterers.\u00a0 And this is what James is talking about.\u00a0 Remember James is writing to a Jewish Christian audience who understands these twelve steps very clearly.\u00a0 He\u2019s writing to the twelve tribes scattered; they\u2019re called brethren all the way through the book.\n\nAnd in James chapter 4:4 talks about falling in love with the world, and he says in James 4:4, \u201cYou adulteresses,\u201d\u00a0 I mean why would he call us adulteresses?\u00a0 Because we are not behaving like a woman spoken for; that\u2019s how we\u2019re supposed to be behaving in this loyalty test and in this betrothal period.\u00a0 \u201cYou adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.\u201d\u00a0 So he\u2019s dealing with people that are saved but have fallen in love with the world and basically what he\u2019s saying is you\u2019re not doing well until you guys repent and start to change your behavior; let\u00a0 your behavior catch up with\u00a0 your practice and basically you\u2019re acting like someone that\u2019s engaged to somebody but really isn\u2019t acting in daily life like they\u2019re engaged to somebody.\n\nSo that takes us through, I believe, step four which is the betrothal period.\u00a0 And one of these days the betrothal period is going to end because we move to step five where the groom will return at an unknown time, preceded by a shout, with escorts, to retrieve the bride.\u00a0 Now what do you think this event this is talking about?\u00a0 The rapture.\u00a0 And this is a dead ringer, I believe, we looked at John 14:2 a second ago, but this is a dead ringer, I believe, to what Jesus said in John 14:3.\u00a0 See this?\u00a0 \u201cIf \u00a0I go and prepare a place for you,\u201d but that time of preparation is not forever, because what does He say here, \u201cI will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.\u201d\n\nI believe that this is the first reference to the rapture of the church revealed in the Scripture, revealed here by Jesus Christ for the very first time in the Upper Room.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll also notice that He\u2019s coming back with a shout.\u00a0 What happened there in step number 5, the groom returns at an unknown time preceded by a shout with escorts to retrieve the bride.\u00a0 Now look at how Paul describes the rapture.\n\nLook at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.\u00a0 Do you guys know how to navigate your way through the New Testament?\u00a0 Just remember the Gospels are first in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.\u00a0 Then you\u2019ve got Acts of course; then\u00a0 you\u2019ve got Paul\u2019s big books.\u00a0 What are those?\u00a0 Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians.\u00a0 And then just remember the pneumonic device, Go Eat Pop-Corn, which stands for Galatians, Ephesians Philippians, Colossians and if you don\u2019t like popcorn memorize the pneumonic device God\u2019s Electric Power Company.\u00a0 Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, then after you have that down then just think of the T\u2019s, all the T\u2019s are towards the end of the Pauline books.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, I don\u2019t know if that helps you because sometimes it\u2019s hard to\u2026 the pastor says turn here, turn there, it\u2019s just an easy way to flip quickly in your Bible.\u00a0 Anyway, that wasn\u2019t a point I was trying to make.\n\nThe point I was trying to make is at the point of the rapture what does it say?\u00a0 \u201cFor the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,\u201d boy, that\u2019s a parallel with the Hebrew wedding cycle, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 He \u201cwill descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the<\/em> archangel and with the trumpet of God,\u201d now it\u2019s interesting that in step five of this wedding, one of the steps, step number five, when the bride is retrieved the groom returns at an unknown time preceded by a shout with escorts to retrieve the bride.\u00a0 When the rapture happens who rises first?\u00a0 The \u201cdead in Christ.\u201d\u00a0 You say well that sounds like the church I just left, \u201cthe dead in Christ.\u201d\u00a0 No, the \u201cdead in Christ\u201d are all of the Christians that died before the rapture.\u00a0 So they\u2019re in heaven waiting for the rapture; they\u2019re looking forward to it as much as we are.\u00a0 And I really hope this happens in our lifetime because\u2026 I can\u2019t promise that but if it does we\u2019ll be the generation that cheats death, that escapes the natural process of death that has plagued the human race ever since the fall in Eden.\n\nSo those folks with Christ are coming down, the dead in Christ rise first (in resurrected bodies, and they\u2019re descending) and then we are \u201ccaught up\u201d and changed and we all see each other in the sky.\u00a0 And all of your deceased loved ones, I just had a friend in the Dallas area that was very instrumental in my life, I found out he passed away at the age of 80 yesterday.\u00a0 I did his wife\u2019s funeral so I\u2019m flying back on Tuesday (and I\u2019m also coming back on Tuesday) to speak at his memorial service. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s a memorial service or funeral but we\u2019ll figure it out.\u00a0 So you can pray for me.\u00a0 But it\u2019s always painful to see a loved one in Christ die, a friend, a family member, and death is not an easy process to endure and so if the rapture happens in this lifetime we won\u2019t have to die, we\u2019ll be caught up and changed.\u00a0 And those that are \u201cdead in Christ\u201d we will see again at the point of the rapture.\u00a0 And so Paul says \u201ccomfort one another with these words.\u201d\n\nThe whole doctrine of the rapture is not designed to terrorize the Christian.\u00a0 It\u2019s designed to comfort the Christian.\u00a0 And that\u2019s an important point to make because a lot of people are telling us we\u2019re not going to be raptured until the seven year tribulation period is over.\u00a0 \u00a0So here is basically what they\u2019re saying: you\u2019re going to go into the tribulation period, the wrath of God is going to be poured out on you, you\u2019re going to eyeball it with the antichrist; he\u2019s probably going to cut your head off but don\u2019t worry, you\u2019re going to be raptured, \u201ccomfort one another with these words.\u201d\u00a0 It just doesn\u2019t fit, does it?\n\nSo we believe that the rapture will precede the seven year tribulation period or else the promise of going into the wrath of God is not a comfort.\u00a0 But the ultimate comfort is seeing these deceased loved ones in Christ; again, the rapture is not just a resurrection, it\u2019s also a reunion.\u00a0 And this, I think, is the significance in step five where the groom returns at an unknown time preceded by a shout with escorts.\u00a0 Who would those be?\u00a0 The \u201cdead in Christ,\u201d to retrieve the bride.\n\nSo this takes us to step number six, where the bride and the groom are hidden in the Father\u2019s house for how many days?\u00a0 Not six days, not eight days, but seven days where three events will transpire.\u00a0 So how does this parallel with us?\u00a0 The church will be raptured and hidden from the world during Daniel\u2019s seventieth week, which interestingly lasts how many years?\u00a0 Seven years!\u00a0 So you have seven days with a Hebrew wedding; seven years with the church.\u00a0 Now if you have been tracking along with us in the Book of Daniel hopefully what you\u2019re starting to see is that makes a lot of sense because the 490 year cycle, called the seventy sevens, was originally given to who?\n\nRemember our ten facts?\u00a0 What was fact number 1?\u00a0 It was given to Daniel\u2019s people in Daniel\u2019s city which would be the Jewish people in the city of Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0 It was never given to the church, the seventy sevens.\u00a0 The church didn\u2019t even exist yet when the prophecy of the seventy sevens was articulated.\u00a0 So it completely stands to reason that the church cannot and will not be here for that time period.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we are\u2026 the church during the seven\u00a0 year tribulation period is basically going to be hidden from the world; not hidden from God but hidden from the world because we, as the church, have no place in a prophecy that God gave to the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And that is why when you go through the Book of Revelation you don\u2019t find any references to the church on the earth during that time period.\n\nThere are many, many references to the church, about 19 to be exact, before this time period starts.\u00a0 That\u2019s Revelation 1-3, but then\u00a0 you get beyond that section into the futuristic section of the book and the word \u201cchurch\u201d\u00a0 doesn\u2019t even show up.\u00a0 The word \u201cchurch\u201d doesn\u2019t even show up in the whole book until the very end when Jesus tells John at the end to preach these things in the churches because this is Israel\u2019s time of tribulation as was articulated by the prophet Daniel, seventy sevens have been given to your people and your city, and Daniel is not the only prophet that talks about it.\u00a0 Jeremiah talked about it to, \u201ca time of trouble for\u201d who? \u201cfor Jacob.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say a time of trouble for Sugar Land Bible Church.\u00a0 It says \u201ca time of trouble for Jacob but he\u201d that is Jacob, Jacob is a synonym for who? Israel, Jacob will be saved out of it.\n\nSo God is dealing once again with the nation of Israel.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the church, during this time period, is hidden to the world.\u00a0 We are in the Father\u2019s house, now God is continuing on, if you will, with His program for the church, in heaven during this seven years but it has nothing to do with experiencing the wrath of God on the earth during the tribulation period.\u00a0 We are hidden from the world at this time.\n\nSo those three events in the Father\u2019s house are now described in step seven, step eight and step nine.\u00a0 And this takes us to step number 7 where the bride undergoes a ritual cleansing prior to the wedding.\u00a0 Now how would that parallel with us?\u00a0 That is speaking of the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ that the church will experience in heaven where the church will not be judged.\u00a0 Why won\u2019t we be judged for our sins?\u00a0 Because that issue has been taken care of it, hasn\u2019t it?\u00a0 When was that taken care of?\u00a0 Step one, the contract has been paid, the price has been paid, we\u2019ve trusted in what Jesus has done for us so we are not appearing in heaven where God has decided well this person should be here, this person shouldn\u2019t be here.\u00a0 That issue has been taken care of; we are raptured to heaven rather to be evaluated and it\u2019s not even us evaluated, it\u2019s our works.\n\nOur works are evaluated.\u00a0 Our works\u2026 now what works?\u00a0 Works we do post-salvation.\u00a0 Those are put through a fire to test their quality; those things that we did through human power with selfish motivation, which is what the Corinthians were doing, that\u2019s why Paul is addressing this subject to them, are put through the fire and they will be shown to be wood, hay and stubble.\u00a0 What do wood, hay and stubble all have in common?\u00a0 They\u2019re all combustible.\u00a0 So they will go through the fire, these works, and be consumed in the fire.\n\nAnd a lot of people will sit there in heaven and they\u2019ll smell the smoke on their garments because they\u2019re saved by God\u2019s grace but they\u2019re watching their whole life in Christ (which they wasted) being consumed by this fire.\u00a0 And they will, 1 Corinthians 3:15 specifically says, \u201csuffer loss.\u201d\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how sever the loss will be but to me it\u2019s got to be frustrating to watch your life consumed, all the things you were doing wasted.\u00a0 And this is why 1 John 2:28 says we ought to live a life in such a way that when He comes we shouldn\u2019t shrink back in embarrassment.\u00a0 [1 John 2:28, \u201cNow, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.\u201d]\n\nA lot of Christians will get to heaven and they\u2019ll sort of be embarrassed.\u00a0 Now there\u2019s a moment of shame, there\u2019s a moment of loss, I don\u2019t know how long that lasts, I don\u2019t know how severe it is, but those two biblical texts, 1 Corinthians 3:15 and 1 John 2:28 both clearly talk about Christian suffering loss at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ.\u00a0 And if I were some kind of rabid five-point Calvinist, which I\u2019m not, if I was some kind of rabid teacher of the doctrine of Lordship Salvation, you would never hear me even talk about this.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because under the doctrine of what I would call hyper-Calvinism, they believe in what is called the perseverance of the saints where if you\u2019ve really received the gift of faith then you automatically are an overcoming Christian.\u00a0 In other words, you can\u2019t have much sin in your life, you can sin periodically but not regularly.\u00a0 Everything\u00a0 you do is done through pure motives because that is the sign of being one of the elect.\n\nAnd beloved, to be completely honest with you, I don\u2019t even see this teaching in the Bible. What I see is were saved but we have the opportunity, always, to go back to the old nature, which is still there until glorification.\u00a0 As long as I\u2019m in this body I have an opportunity every day of my life to go back to the old nature.\u00a0 God has given me provisions by which I can overcome the old nature but that doesn\u2019t nullify the reality that the old nature is always there to go back to.\u00a0 Now God keeps a record of that.\u00a0 When we go back to the old nature what\u2019s it going to be at the Bema Seat?\u00a0 Wood, hay and stubble\u2014consumed!\u00a0 We suffer embarrassment and suffer loss but we are still saved as though escaping the fire.\n\nNow Paul is very clear that it doesn\u2019t have to be this way.\u00a0 You can start living for Christ right now, not through human power but through His power, and that, through the Spirit\u2019s power, that\u2019s correct and as your works appear before the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ they\u2019re not wood, hay and stubble but they\u2019re gold, silver and costly stones.\u00a0 You say where is the pastor getting all of this from?\u00a0 It\u2019s right there in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; I\u2019m not making anything up.\u00a0 You can read it for yourself and see it very clearly.\n\n[1 Corinthians 3:10-15, \u201cAccording to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. [11] For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, [13] each man\u2019s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be<\/em> revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man\u2019s work. [14] If any man\u2019s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. [15] If any man\u2019s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.\u201d]\n\nWhat do gold, silver and costly stones have in common?\u00a0 They\u2019re non-combustible.\u00a0 The only thing the fire or the refiner\u2019s fire can do is purify them; it can\u2019t destroy them.\u00a0 Wood, hay and stubble, that\u2019s completely different.\u00a0 Those are all combustible.\u00a0 So whatever is left after this fire has done its work, testing our works, will be part of rewards\u00a0 that we will receive from the Lord above and beyond salvation.\u00a0 Some Christians will be fully rewarded; others will be half rewarded, others will be three-quarters rewarded, others will be two-thirds rewarded, others won\u2019t be rewarded at all.\u00a0 And this is Paul\u2019s whole point of exhortation to the Corinthians that you can change now as a Christian and start living for correct things and be fully rewarded.\u00a0 But anyway, that would parallel step seven which is the bride undergoing a ritual cleansing prior to the wedding ceremony.\n\nThat takes us to step eight where there is a meeting with the Father\u2019s assembled wedding guests and a private wedding ceremony takes place.\u00a0 Now who are these assembled guests that we meet?\u00a0 We don\u2019t know exactly, but there\u2019s some speculation that maybe at this point we\u2019re meeting the Old Testament saints.\u00a0 The Old Testament saints are not necessarily part of this program; they\u2019re taken to a place called paradise.\u00a0 Remember what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10?\u00a0 I was caught up to the third heaven and I was caught up to\u2026 what does it say there?\u00a0 Paradise.\n\n[2 Corinthians 12:1-10, \u201cBoasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2] I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago\u2014whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows\u2014such a man was caught up to the third heaven. [3] And I know how such a man\u2014whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows\u2014[4] was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. [5] On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my<\/em> weaknesses. [6] For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from<\/em> this,<\/em> so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in<\/em> me or hears from me.\u00a0 [7] Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me\u2014to keep me from exalting myself! [8] Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. [9] And He has said to me, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.\u2019 Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. [10] Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ\u2019s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d]\n\nYou see this whole thing described.\u00a0 So maybe, it\u2019s not something I\u2019m dogmatic on, but maybe those in Paradise we have during the Father\u2019s house, this seven year period, a chance to meet, interact with, so that may be the parallel with the Old Testament saints.\u00a0 But once again we don\u2019t know that for sure.\n\nThen that takes us to step number nine, after the private wedding ceremony has transpired the bride and the groom consummate the marriage.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t need a lot of explanation does it?\u00a0 I hope not!\u00a0 Ephesians 5:27, therefore would be the parallel for us. Ephesians 5:27, in that great chapter where Paul unleashes this metaphor, perhaps for the first time.\u00a0 Ephesians 5:27\u00a0 says, \u201cthat He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be\u201d homely\u2026 I\u2019m sorry, \u201choly\u201d not homely.\u00a0 Words mean things don\u2019t they.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it amazing how you can change a few letters and it changes the whole meaning of a word.\u00a0 I had a student when I was teaching at the Bible College, she put on her Facebook page, \u201cDr.\u00a0 Andy Woods is the beast.\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 And I saw her in class and she said did you see my post.\u00a0 And I said yeah, I saw your post, you called me the beast.\u00a0 She says, oh, I\u2019m sorry, I didn\u2019t mean to call you the beast, I must have fat figured it and typed in an extra a, I meant to say you\u2019re the best.\u00a0 Well that changes things.\u00a0 I went from a beast to the best.\u00a0 So holy, homely, you know\u2026\n\nBut anyway, \u201cthat He might present to Himself the church\u201d see that is the consummation of the marriage; we are presented to Him and it\u2019s analogized to the consummation of the marriage between bride and groom who now are husband and wife.\n\nAnd then this takes us to number ten where there is a public presentation; the bride is unveiled so we could publicly see who she is.\u00a0 The bride is unveiled, she is no longer hidden to the world and what follows is a marriage feast.\u00a0 And I believe this is talking about what happens following the seven\u00a0 year tribulation period because we\u2019re caught up in the rapture but we\u2019re coming back with the Lord to rule and reign in what is called the Second Advent.\u00a0 You say well aren\u2019t the rapture and the Second Advent the same?\u00a0 No, they\u2019re not; they\u2019re two different events.\u00a0 One is a rescue operation for the church before the tribulation starts; the other, that we participate in, is a rescue operation for the nation of Israel to rule and reign in millennial fashion and alongside Christ under His delegated authority, not at the beginning of the tribulation or before the tribulation starts but at the end of the tribulation period.\n\nSo it is at this point that we\u2026 remember now, we have been hidden to the world for seven days or in the analogy seven years.\u00a0 But at this point there\u2019s no more hiding the church; she is publicly presented, no longer as the bride of Christ but the wife of the Lamb.\u00a0 For example, notice Colossians 3, Go Eat Popcorn, Colossians 3:3-4, it says in Colossians 3:3, \u201cFor you have died and your life is\u201d what? \u201chidden with Christ in God.\u201d\u00a0 Hidden, that\u2019s what the church is.\u00a0 And specifically for those seven years hidden to the world.\u00a0 But then verse 4 says, \u201cWhen Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201crevealed with Him in glory.\u201d\u00a0 So what has been hidden is now unveiled to the world\u2014this\u00a0 is my wife and she is going to exercise delegated authority under My authority in the Millennial kingdom.\n\nAnd this is all flushed out in the public presentation at the end of the tribulation period in the Second Advent, the unveiling of the bride.\u00a0 And then what typically followed at this stage of the Hebrew wedding cycle was a marriage feast.\u00a0 I believe that that feast is described in Revelation 19:9.\u00a0 [Revelation 19:9, \u201cThen he said to me, \u2018Write, \u2018Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.\u2019\u201d And he said to me, \u2018These are true words of God.\u201d\u2019]\u00a0 Some of my teachers told me that that feast was something that took place in heaven but I noticed that as they got older they started to change their views on it.\u00a0 John Walvoord changed his view on it although his earlier view is reflected in some of his books.\u00a0 He said that the marriage feast was in heaven but he switched his view later on in his life where the marriage feast is on the earth after the public unveiling of the bride.\u00a0 I think Walvoord\u2019s latter view is correct and I think you see a reference to it in Revelation 19:9, \u201cThen he said to me, \u2018Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.\u2019\u201d And he said to me, \u2018\u201cThese are true words of God.\u2019\u201d\n\nSo the Bible could have just gone on and on explaining all of these details as I\u2019ve tried to do.\u00a0 But it doesn\u2019t do that; it just gives us a picture and if you understand the picture you can understand the sequence and how the whole thing fits together.\n\nSo number 1, the marriage covenant is signified by our choosing in God and the fact that the payment has been paid through Christ\u2019s death to make us His bride.\u00a0 \u00a0Number 2, then the bride is set apart; that\u2019s speaking of our positional reality that we\u2019re now in, where a woman is spoken for.\n\nNumber 3, the bridal chamber is prepared; that\u2019s speaking of the ascension of Christ in John 14:2 where He is preparing a dwelling for us in the Father\u2019s house.\n\nAnd then that takes us to step four which is the betrothal period which is the way we\u2019re supposed to be acting today, since we\u2019re a woman spoken for.\u00a0 Then the bride is retrieved; that\u2019s speaking of the rapture of the church.\u00a0 And then number six, the bride and the Groom are hidden in the Father\u2019s house for seven days and that\u2019s speaking of our program with God in heaven, hidden from the world, while the seven year tribulation period is taking place on the earth below.\n\nThen number seven, the bride is cleansed and that\u2019s speaking of the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ, which is not a judgment to determine heaven or hell, it\u2019s a judgment to determine reward.\u00a0 And then number eight, you have the wedding ceremony, so this probably is speaking of meeting with Old Testament saints, not to be dogmatic on that but it\u2019s an interesting possibility, and a private wedding ceremony.\u00a0 Then you have number nine, the consummation of the marriage, which is Ephesians 5:27, the public presentation of the church to Jesus Christ.\n\nAnd then you have number 10 is the marriage feast where you have the public presentation at the Second Advent of Christ and the unveiling of the bride, and a feast taking place on the earth.\u00a0 And I think Jesus, in the Gospels talks many times about this feast that was coming.\u00a0 He talked about how people will come from everywhere and dine with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 We just didn\u2019t know how the church is connected to it until we put all the pieces together. \u00a0Anyway, hopefully that picture helps you because it sort of shows you who we are; what we\u2019re supposed to be doing in the present; what has happened in the past, and what the future holds.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t