ALL SAINTS ARE MEMBERS OF THE
BRIDE OF CHRIST
A popular teaching on
the Bride of Christ assumes the
Bride will be completed before the
great tribulation. Jesus stated
that the "Son of man is about to
come in His Father’s glory with the angels to reward every
believer". Matt.16:27. Why should
His "imminent" return
to reward every believer occur
at a "day and hour" prior to the
great tribulation? There is no
indication at all that such a
"day and hour" could occur before
the Tribulation; especially
after Jesus promises we will
"know when the end is near".
Matt.24:33,36.
"Jesus Christ will come to be
glorified in the Saints and
be admired by ALL who believe on
the same Day because of Paul’s
testimony"! 2 Thess.1:10.
The
context shows He also comes
in "flaming fire on that DAY to
destroy all who disobey the
gospel"! Verse 7. All the Saints,
all Believers, are part of
His Bride!! Because He comes "with
all the Saints to reward every believer and destroy
the
wicked on the same day"!!! I Thess.3:13;
Matt.16:27; Rev.22:12;
Zech.14:5-9.
Why must the "unknown day and
hour", which only the Father
knows, actually occur "on one of the days after the
tribulation"? Mark 13:24-27. Who
are the elect that He "gathers from earth to the sky on one of
those days"? Are they the ones
that He "sends the angels to
gather out of the four winds
from all the ends of the sky at
the sound of a great trumpet (the
last trump) immediately after
great tribulation"? Matt.24:29-31.
[Holman Bible for the SBC].
The
Holman Bible has the Elect
Gathered from earth to the Sky!
There are four reasons. First, the "sign of the Son of
will appear in the SKY and all
the tribes of earth will mourn"!
Matt.24:30. Being gathered on the
four winds is limited to the atmosphere surrounding the
earth where Jesus will appear!!
The tribes of earth would not be
able to see Jesus if He takes
the Elect to the "third heaven" to
which Paul was caught up!!!
Second, the angels
complete the gathering to Jesus
after He has already appeared! The
tribes of earth do not begin to mourn
until He has already gathered ALL
the Saints from the earth and the angels take over!!
Matt.24:30-31. All the Saints,
including those who survive at the
last day, must accompany the
Son of Man from the meeting place
at the "Synagogue" in the sky!!! I Thess.3:13; I
Thess.4:17; 2 Thess.2:1;
[Synagogue, noun; so the Meeting Place
is "in
the air"; in the sky].
Third, the Elect must
all be gathered at once to meet
Jesus because the Saints "prepare
for The Wedding of the Lamb"
moments before "heaven opens" and
Christ descends with the "Called, elect and faithful" to
destroy those who refuse to
repent…at the same time as He "Resurrects and rewards the
Saints"! Rev.19:7-15; Rev.17:14;
Rev.11:18. Jesus brings His "Rewards with Him when He comes
to be glorified in all the
Saints"!! 2 Thess.1:10. I can’t
imagine any other moment for
the Lamb’s Bride to meet Him other
than that following the "First Resurrection" which
includes all the martyrs out of
the great tribulation!!!
Rev.20:4-6.
Four, Jesus gathers the
Elect from the earth and appears
before the angels "gather them on
the four winds from one end of
the sky to the other"! Matt.24:31
(See Mark 13:27). The tribes of earth begin to mourn
before the angels complete the gathering out of the same four winds globally
that symbolize the four ends of the sky!!!
[Mark 13:24-27;
Then Matt.24:30-31].
Since the "great trumpet"
sounds after Christ appears, no
other trumpet can be the "last trump" to glorify
all the Saints at once.
Matt.24:31; I Cor.15:52.
It’s obvious the Day and the
Hour Christ appears are separated
by initial signs of that Day and by the events to be
fulfilled during the ensuing hours
of that Day! Therefore, imminence
requires the signs of
that Day to occur prior to
events of that Day…i.e.,
armies gather to Armageddon, sun turns dark,
the moon to blood and stars begin falling from
heaven at the great quake!! Christ’s return relates to His
presence only after these signs of
that Day have occurred!!!
That scenario is the
"any-moment" expectation for the
unknown "day and hour" Christ appears. His final recorded
words before He actually comes to
destroy the wicked verifies that reality: "Behold, I am
coming as a thief. Blessed is the
one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not be
naked, and they see his shame"
when the wicked "assemble to the place called Armagedon…on
the great day of God Almighty’s
wrath". Rev.16:14-16.
The final signs of Christ’s
return to rapture the Saints will
be seen by all Believers! Jesus
blesses those who follow His final
recorded instruction while
anticipating the
"great day of God almighty;
the great day of His wrath and
wrath of the Lamb"!! Rev.16:14-17;
Rev.6:14-17. The signs occur on
"one of the days after the great
tribulation…in the days whenever
time ends and the 7th Trumpet is about
(mello; #3195) to sound"!!!
Matt.24:29; Mark 13:24;
Rev.10:6-7.
The Saints of the Church
"prepare for the Lamb’s wedding"
moments before "heaven opens and
Christ descends with the called,
elect and faithful"! His promise
of blessing includes those who are about to be
invited to the wedding supper on
earth!! Rev.19:7-10. Zechariah
and Paul teach that Christ
comes "in flaming fire to destroy
those who disobey the Gospel…
to be glorified in the saints
on the day He delivers all who
believe from their tribulations…to
become King of all the earth"!!!
Zech.14:5-9; Rev.11:15-18; I
Thess.3:13; 2 Thess.1:7-10.
Another favorite assumption by
many (including Jack Van Impe) is
that, since the "church"
is not mentioned in the Book of
Revelation from chapter 4 to 20,
it was taken to heaven.
But the church is not mentioned
at all in heaven. Saints appear in
heaven including countless martyrs
having "come out of great
tribulation with their robes
washed and made white in the blood
of the Lamb". Rev.7:14. They are
among the "faithful" coming with
Him. Rev.17:14.
Who can understand Revelation
if Saints and the Church are two
groups of people? Paul in
Ephesians refers 6 times to the
Church and 9 times to Saints. In
Revelation John refers only to
individual churches…7 local
churches of Asia Minor; but he
includes all the Saints in the
Lamb’s Book of Life. He has the
"called, elect and faithful coming
with Jesus" just as Paul has "all
the saints coming with Jesus
Christ at His very presence".
Rev.17:14; I Thess.3:13.
The Church began at Pentecost
but the Lamb’s Bride includes all
the Saints from the O.T. and N.T.
dispensations! The Church does not
cease at some "Pre-Trib Rapture";
for Jesus is building His Church
and will be with us until the
"full number of Gentiles has come
into the Church at the End of the
Age"!! Matt.28:20; Rom.11:25.
Daniel 7 mentions Saints more
times than any chapter in the
Bible and has Christ coming "with
them to give the kingdom to the
people of the Saints" at His
coronation as King of kings.
Dan.7:14-27. John confirms this
revelation in Rev.11:15-18.
Saints of all
the Ages are now God’s People
Revelation identifies the
"appointed time to judge
(resurrect) and reward the Saints,
small and great, at the 7th
Trumpet", the Last Trump, when "we
all are changed from corruption to
incorruption; from mortality to
immortality"! Rev.11:18; I
Cor.15:51-54. This agrees with
Jesus who twice promises to "bring
His rewards with Him for every
believer"!! Matt.16:27; Rev.22:12.
It confirms Revelation that the
First Resurrection occurs when
those "beheaded for Christ during
great tribulation are raised up to
reign with Him for 1000 years and
to serve God in the Temple of
heaven"!!! Rev.20:4-6;
Rev.3:11-12; Rev.7:14-17.
The unknown "hour" of the last
day occurs on one of the days
"immediately after the great
tribulation when the 7th
Trumpet is about to sound"!
Matt.24:29; Mark 13:24; Rev.10:7.
It's the Hour of Testing from
which all Believers will be
kept!! Rev.3:10-11. Jesus
connects that Hour with His
Presence as the "tribes of earth
begin to mourn and beg to escape
all these things and to prevail to
stand before the Son of Man"!!!
Luke 21:34-36; Matt.24:30.
These tribes, at least 5
million Jews, will be "kept alive"
and be among the invited guests to
the wedding supper of the Lamb!
Zech.13:8-9; Luke 17:33;
Rev.19:7-9. Survivors of the 12
tribes of Ishmael will also be
among those who "beg for mercy"
and are kept alive!! Paul includes
them among the "all to whom God
shows mercy" according to
Rom.11:32!!!
Last Events
on Earth before Christ Appears
with All the Saints
I. "The World’s Armies have
Gathered to Armageddon".
Rev.16:12-16.
Believers "watch" with
anticipation for Christ to appear
in the context of the world’s
armies already having destroyed a
third of mankind in one hour at
the 6th Trumpet! They
cross the Euphrates River to
invade a 180-mile land area of
Israel in the 6th
Plague!! In that context Jesus
urges Believers to keep dressed
while they watch!!! Rev.9:13-21;
Rev.16:14-16.
The armies are gathered and
symbolically "reaped" to the
winepress of God’s great "anger"
(thumos; Rev.14:17-20); ready to
be "trodden with blood rising up
to the horse bridles"! But first
they are put under indictment in
the 7th Seal’s Court of
Judgment. Two Witnesses are taken
to heaven, along with 144,000
Firstfruits "redeemed from earth",
to observe the evidence given in
Seal Seven of just 6 of the 7
Trumpet Judgments. Rev.11:12;
Rev.14:4.
II. The World Had Observed
Ascent of 2 Witnesses to Heaven.
Rev.11:12-14.
As the armies of the Evil Trio
(Satan, Beast and False Prophet)
gather to Armagedon, the Beast
kills the 2 Witnesses and leaves
their dead bodies for 3½
Days in a street of
Jerusalem! They had finished their
endtime task when "time (delay)
was no longer subject to a
1260-day countdown and the Last
Trumpet was about to sound"!!
Rev.11:7-11; Rev.10:6-7. The "End
had Come" at the 7th
Plague!!! [Rev.16:12-17 precedes
Rev.6:12-17].
The world had celebrated and
sent gifts to one another during
these 3½ Days.
Rev.11:12.
Their rejoicing ends abruptly
as a voice from heaven calls the
2 Witnesses to rise up to heaven
and a "great quake kills 7000 of
the Beast’s elite guard in a tenth
of Jerusalem in the same hour"!
The third Woe, the Hour of wrath
at the 7th Trumpet, is
about to occur!! Rev.11:11-14. The
last martyr has been killed and
total disarray descends on the
enemies of God as His anger is
about to explode in the "cup of
wrath". Rev.14:10; Rev.16:18-21.
III. Effects of Signs in
Sun, Moon, Stars Continue.
Rev.6:12-17; Luke 21:25-35.
IV. "144,000 Jews, Firstfruits
to God and the Lamb,
Redeemed from Earth".
Daniel reveals "the Son of Man
must come on the clouds of heaven"
and be presented to the Ancient of
Days and be crowned King of
kings. Dan.7:13-14. This
presentation requires the
"redemption from earth" of 12,000
blameless Jews from each of the 12
tribes of Israel who "alone can
learn the song of the Lamb and
present the Son of Man as worthy
to take the Kingdom and give it to
the people of the Saints".
Dan.7:13-27; Rev.14:1-5;
Rev.15:1-5.
I believe the "rescue of the
144,000 Firstfruit from Mount
Zion" will take place in the same
hour the 2 Witnesses ascend to
heaven. Having been sealed with
the name of the Father, not one
will be killed during 1260 Endtime
days. The 4 winds of Seal 6 will
be held back long enough to seal
them with the Lamb’s name because
they are the Firstfruits of both
God and the Lamb. Rev.7:1-8;
Rev.14:1 [KJV]. They
will "present the Son of Man" as
worthy to take His Bride and
become King over the entire earth
on that Day. Dan.7:13;
Rev.11:15-17; Zech.14:9.
Mankind will observe the
gathering of armies to Armageddon,
the terror caused by the great
quake as Seal Six opens, the
resurrection and ascension of the
Two Witnesses to heaven, the
consternation of the Beast’s elite
guard as 7000 die in the same hour
the 2 Witnesses are caught up to
heaven and 144,000 Jews are
rescued from Mt. Zion…all this in
anticipation of the "Hour of Trial
coming on all the inhabitants on
all the face of all the earth and
from which all Believers are kept;
because they endure patiently".
Luke 21:34-35; Rev.3:10-11.
V. Court Scene of Seal 7 Leads
to the Verdict by the Angel of
Fire. Rev.8:1-5.
Six of 7 Trumpet Judgments
go on open display for all the
Saints in God’s Court of Seal 7’s
Judgment...for the entire Scroll
opens with the 7th seal removed! The 7th Trumpet
is about to sound that "God’s
wrath has come"!! With Christ
crowned the "saints
come with Him to give the kingdom to
the people of the saints"!!!
Rev.8:1-5; Dan.7:9-10;
Dan.7:13-27; I Thess.3:13 and
I Thess.4:13-17.
Plague #7 (at Rev.16:17) must
empty and be suspended in the air
until the Babylonian City and
System fall by earthquake
(millstone) moments
before Christ descends.
Rev.16:18-21; Rev.18:21-24. The Day of wrath
occurs after Plague #7 reveals
"The End has Come". For that
reason Rev.16:12-17 must precede
fulfillment of Rev.6:12 to Rev.8:5
or Rev.11:12-19 or Rev.14:1-15:5 or
Rev.16:18-21.
VI. 7th Trumpet
sounds: "God’s (hour of) wrath has
come"…the "appointed (kairos)
time" for Resurrection, Rewards
and Retribution (after it sounds
for the first time). Rev.11:15-18.
VII. Rejoicing anticipates
2nd and 3rd
soundings of the Last Trump.
Rev.18:20 to Rev.19:9. Christ will
be "Glorified in all the Saints"
at the Last Trump!
Paul combines the "deliverance
of SAINTS from tribulation on the
Day (at the Hour) Jesus Christ is
glorified in all who believe! On
that Day He comes in flaming fire
to destroy all those disobedient
to the Gospel"!! 2 Thess.1:7-10.
John verifies that the "appointed
time to judge the dead
(resurrection) and reward the
SAINTS, small and great"
(rapture), will occur when God
destroys those who are destroying
the earth"…at the 7th
Trumpet!!! Rev.11:18.
Seal 7’s Court Scene requires
the presence of the Two Witnesses
and 144,000 "Firstfruits unto God
and the Lamb" before the First
Resurrection brings glory to all
the Saints! All the Martyrs "must
be killed before the End of great
tribulation" and be joined by the
144,000 Jewish Firstfruits so
Christ may be "glorified in all
the Saints" and wedded to them at
the "Synagogue" in the sky!!!
Rev.14:4; Rev.7:12; I Thess.3:13;
2 Thess.1:10 to 2 Thess.2:1.
Saints Enter Heaven’s Temple
"after the Last Plague Empties"
.
Rev.15:8
"No one enters the presence of
God or the Lamb before the last
Plague empties in the air"; and
the Drama in the Temple does not
immediately follow the last martyr
or last Plague! The first six
Seals must open, six Trumpets must
sound and all seven Plagues must
empty before all the Saints begin
to praise God and the Lamb in the
Temple of heaven!! Martyrs remain
under the Altar until they meet
the 144,000 redeemed from earth
and stand with them on a sea of
fire before God to present the Son
of Man as worthy to take His Bride
and reign as King over all the
nations!!! Rev.6:9-11; Rev.14:1-5;
Rev.15:1-5;
Dan.7:9-10 and Dan.7:13-14.
Glory and Praise to God and the
Lamb take place in the Temple of
Heaven just before Christ comes
with all the Saints! The last
plague empties in the air when the
End has Come, the last martyr has
been killed and the 144,000 have
been rescued from earth by the
Lamb and they present Him with two
songs as the worthy Son of Man in
the Presence of God "seated on a
sea/river of fire"!! Dan.7:9-10;
Rev.14:2-4; Rev.15:2-4. Only then
does "the Temple of the Tabernacle
of the Testimony open" and the
scene shifts from the "after these
things" of Rev.15:5 to the "after
these things"
of Rev.7:9. Here the Saints praise
God and the Lamb for the first
time together. In each of these
two verses note this significant
phrase: "After these
things John looks and beholds" the
Three-Act Temple Drama!!!
Seal 7 opens for the Court to
sit in Judgment on those already incarcerated...
(gathered literally
but reaped symbolically to the
winepress of God’s great anger;
Rev.14:17-19; Rev.16:12-16)
…waiting to be indicted and
sentenced to Hell! Rev.14:10. Here
Dan.7:9-10 leads to the
Coronation and Judgment of
Dan.7:13-22!! Seal 7 leads to the
Verdict of Rev.8:5 and the 7th Trumpet’s
proclamation that "God’s wrath has
come"!!! Rev.11:15-18.
During the "half hour of
silence" in Seal Seven, 6 of 7
Angels present the evidence in the
open Temple Drama, Act Two,
showing playback of 6 of the 7
Trumpet Judgments which had
already passed by as of the 7th
Plague and 6th Seal!
The Angel of Fire renders a
Verdict of Guilt!! Rev.8:1-5.That
is the moment to launch the "Hour
of Trial coming on all the
inhabitants on all the face of all
the earth"…the moment to sound a
first of three soundings of the 7th
Trumpet…the Last Trump of I
Cor.15:52!!! [Rev.3:10-11; Luke
21:34-36].
The drama climaxes in the open
temple as the Ark of the Covenant
is seen. "Heaven and the Saints
and Prophets rejoice", from
Rev.18:20 to Rev.19:9, as the
entire Babylonian System falls by
history’s greatest quake. The
nations’ cities fall; Babylon
splits in 3 parts, the
mountains disappear, the islands
complete their movement…no longer
framed by the oceans as they join
the mainlands. Great blocks of
hail fall on those who blaspheme
God. Rev.16:18-21; Rev.11:19. [The
rejoicing and Babylon’s fall
separates Rev.11:19 and
Rev.19:11; but both occur at the
same time].
All the
Saints Glorify and Exalt Christ in
the final "Hour of Trial"!
The Saints remaining on earth
are caught up to glorify and exalt
Christ moments after the Hour of
Trial begins with the fall of the
Babylonian System. In that Hour
all the Saints are "gathered from
earth to the sky and from all ends
of the sky"! Holman Standard
Christian Bible. Mark 13:24-27;
Matt.24:29-31. This Hour follows
the Signs of that Day and events
that occur both before and during
the Three-Act Open Temple Drama!!
Paul reveals this is the moment
that all who believe exalt Christ
at the Synagogue in the Sky; for 2
Thess.1:10 and 2 Thess.2:1,
separated by a chapter division,
will occur together to glorify
God!!!
Jesus will be exalted (admired;
#2296) "by all Believers" during
His Hour of Triumph! Our "wonder"
will express total devotion to
Him…and greatly surpass the world’s
amazement offered to the Beast!!
Rev.17:3; Rev. 17:8. This is
wedding and reward-time as Jesus
"brings His reward with Him" even
for the last martyr who must first
suffer death!!! Rev.22:12;
Matt.16:27; Mark 8:38; Mark 9:1;
Rev.6:9-11; Dan.12:10-11;
Rev.12:10-11.
In that same Hour all those who
survive, or else perish, will
confess to the glory of God! The
wicked will blaspheme His name
while their tongues disintegrate
in their mouths and their knees
buckle to involuntarily
acknowledge His glory!! OR those
who repent are "willing to die and
beg for mercy and to prevail to
stand before the Son of Man"!!!
Now we see God’s ways are
"past finding out! He will
repent and remember their sins no
more!! He will show mercy to
all"!!! Joel 2:11-14; Luke 17:33;
21:36; Rom.11:26-36.
God’s mercy continues to allow
even the wicked to repent until
the last day! Failure to see this
has, in my opinion, led to
misunderstanding the climactic
character of a 12-Hour "Day of the
wrath of God and the Lamb"!! His
wrath occurs on "one of the days
after the great
tribulation…because time ends in
the days whenever the 7th Trump
is about to sound"!!! Rev.10:6-7.
Revelation begins the Day of
Wrath after ALL the Plagues
conclusively demonstrate that "God
is not willing any should perish"!
Every expositor I have studied
assumes the Great Tribulation is part of the Day
of the Lord!! This assumption
cannot be true since the wicked
are allowed to exist and "refuse to repent"
right up to the "Day of God
Almighty!!! Rev.16:9-16.
On that Day Christ comes as a
thief to destroy the destroyers of
earth; to resurrect and judge and
reward the dead; to gather every
believer from earth to the sky; to
send the angels to gather them to
Himself; to be glorified in the
Saints and admired in ALL who
believe ON THAT DAY because of Paul’s
testimony to the Saints".
Rev.16:15; Rev.11:18; Mark 13:27;
Matt.24:31;2 Thess.1:10.
September: Farewell Message as
editor of Senior Experience. Mel
Miller