Question: Stephen Kaung said that Jesus will come back for the rapture when the overcomers of the church will be ready. I do not understand too much. When I see the church today I only see its depravity, its lack of love for Him and only love for themselves. Even if it's true that some believers (like me) are better, still in general, the church is far off the focus of Jesus.
Then too, the church in Laodicea is the last church, not the church in Philadelphia. However, this church in Philadelphia is better. But Jesus will come back later. I don't understand why Jesus is waiting until his wife is ready. Can you show it to me in the Scripture, please?
*This question was emailed from a brother in France.
Geoffrey's Notes:
You had asked about how Jesus is waiting for the bride to be made ready. Here are a couple of Scriptures to quickly see this:
1. Revelation 12:1-11 - The manchild is raptured suddenly once born. This is the portion of the bride—the overcomers, "and they overcame him" (v.11)—that ends up beginning the return of the Lord. It is the rapture that happens at any moment. The "twinkling of an eye" first rapture. The vision is of a woman in travail to give birth. Once the man-child is born, the rapture happens immediately. The first rapture is dependent on the birth of the man-child, or the readiness/completion of those overcomers. Here is an example of Christ waiting for the bride. The whole woman is not raptured here, (i.e., the entire church), but only those that make themselves ready are taken to the throne. The Lord's return does not wait for the entire church to be made ready, it only requires a remnant. This may help with the question about the depravity of the church. That which is required of the church is gained in a remnant of the church—the overcomers. This principle of a remnant is found all over the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.
2. Revelation 19:7—"and the bride has made herself ready"—This is the worship right before the Lamb comes physically to the battle on His white horse together with His army. Now those that will be ready are ready, the judgment seat of Christ has happened, all saints have been raptured and judged, and the bride is ready. Now is the time that He returns to the earth to establish His kingdom. It took the tribulation period to get the rest of those alive prepared for His physical return. So here again is the Lord's return waiting for the bride to make herself ready.
You also asked about the church in Laodicea and the church in Philadelphia. From the questions asked, it's evident that you know about the prophetic timeline with the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. Though they were seven actual churches at the time, and though they each have messages written to them that are "what the Spirit says to all the churches," they also carry some meaning to do with the time-periods of the church age of grace that we're in. Laodicea is the last one, so it's there at the end, as you mentioned. However, when you look at the time-periods, you have the starting time of them, but you do not have the ending time for all of them. Only the first three had a definite completion. The last four are more than just a time-period—they are a way of the church or a type of church practice. Notice that all of the last four churches have something in their letter to do with the end time. There is the Catholic-church type (includes more than just the Roman Catholics) Thyatira—and this is still a way of church practice today. There is the Protestant-church type, Sardis, which is also very much a way of church practice today. Then too, there is still the Philadelphia way of the church where two or three are gathered in the Lord's name. This is still going on today, even though we are now into the Laodicean time-period. We now have four different ways of church practice that we can find in Christianity.
That said, it's important to remember that the overcomers are found in every church-type. Though the way of Philadelphia is the best according to the Lord's comments in Revelation 2-3, He always calls out "to him that overcomes" in each of the seven churches. That means He has overcomers there. Those overcomer, the individuals, are all part of the man-child in Revelation 12. They are all part of bringing in the Lord's return. The Philadelphia way of the church is an overcoming church in general and includes some overcomers just like the others. But as an overcoming church, it means they have a unique portion of the formation of the man-child in the corporate aspect of it since they are built together more than what Christians typically experience. When you gather in the Lord's name, and He leads the church, you experience the Head + body in action. There is some "overcoming"/"man-child" experience there. But if instead, you are a mere individual overcomer, you miss out on some of the "I will build My church" experiences that the Lord needs for the bride to be ready.
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