The Compassion To The Saints

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abide, body, branch, bride, comfort, comforter, Father, holy spirit, LAMB, supper, truth

Rev 21:4  and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.

 

First off to my readers, apologies for leaving this very important part out of the original posts.

Now this for us in light of the current events around the world and as of the time this blog is being produced in November 2014, in the USA there is a health insurance debacle that will in all likelihood cost most Americans their employment and jobs may become impossible to get as business place hiring freezes into effect.  There may even be worse backlash than this over new policies and speeches our President has effected.  On the global scene in the Mediterranean we have an Islamic Fundamentalist movement called ISIS or ISIL or it may even have new name by the time you read this.  This group will ask you to either become Muslim or die.  They are not nice about it and they torture as they kill.  They are spreading and may even be in the USA as I type. They are butchering Christians right and left.  In other places that are still Communist Christians suffer in abject impoverishment and disease and torture and imprisonment because they will not turn to deny this King of Kings.  We who suffer at any level for the sake of the Gospel …. suffer.  We await the coming King to release us from this prison of ungodliness.  And He will come.

So then in light of all I have written above and, believe me, that is just a little bit of all the manifold things that are being foisted upon His people at this hour, I add this new post to remind us all that He is our joy and comfort both to come and even here and now.

In His compassion upon His own for whom He died, Christ sends and gives comfort.

The Comfort to come

Rev 21:4  and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.
Isaiah 25: 6-9

6 The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for ball peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And 4refined, aged wine.
7  And on this mountain He will swallow up the 1acovering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8  He will aswallow up death for all time,
And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the creproach of His people from all the earth;
For the LORD has spoken.
9  And it will be said in that day,“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

This portion of verse 8 in Isaiah is the connection to Revelation 21:4.  Moreover there is the banquette.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is the celebration of the consummated union of the Head (Jesus) with the Body, (the Believers); the Bridegroom, (Jesus) with the Bride (the Believers); the Vine (Jesus) with the Righteous Branch…  Now here is where things get a little tricky for the Righteous Branch of Isaiah IS Jesus, He starts as the shoot out the Jesse and in His fulfilled Sacrifice and the culmination of the One Righteous Act or the Perpetually Perfectly Personally Obedient life lived under the Law unto the Father as completely pleasing in all things to the Father, Jesus becomes the fully grown VINE. (At least this is my understanding of it)  In John 15 He tells us that He is the VINE and we are the BRANCHES.  But the apostolic writings tell us that we are One Body.  Therefore we the branches are actually considered as the ONE RIGHTEOUS BRANCH, just as is Jesus, which is fitting for His RIGHTEOUSNESS is OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;
Eph 2:9 not of works, that not anyone should boast;

So then the banquette is part of the comfort and the reward to the Bride who made herself ready. And how did she do this?

Php 2:12 So, then, my beloved, even as you always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much rather in my absence, cultivate your salvation with fear and trembling,
Php 2:13 for it is God who is working in you both to will and to work for the sake of His good pleasure.

This then is the Marriage Supper as it is referred to in Revelation.

Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and let us exult, and we will give glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb came, and His wife prepared herself. 
Rev 19:8 And it was given to her that she be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. 
Rev 19:9 And he says to me, Write: Blessed are the ones having been called to the supper of the marriage of the Lamb. And he says to me, These Words of God are true. 

This again is the Supper as referred to in Isaiah

Isaiah 25: 6-9

6 The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for ball peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And 4refined, aged wine.
7  And on this mountain He will swallow up the 1acovering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8  He will aswallow up death for all time,
And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the creproach of His people from all the earth;
For the LORD has spoken.
9  And it will be said in that day,“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Notice where those tears are wiped away.  For she comes in her pain and her sorrows and the deep shame that she never quite measured up but also in the intense gratitude for that He even ever deigned to show the kindness of Redemption at all.  For she (The Bride) has been humbled.  So them for all of you who suffer now for His name sake, take comfort in this, that you are among the BLESSED who have the invitation to attend the banquette of all the ages as and honored guest of the King of Glory.

His Comfort NOW

Joh 14:16 And I will petition the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may remain with you to the age,
Joh 14:17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He abides with you and shall be in you.

Joh 14:25 I have spoken these things to you, abiding with you;
Joh 14:26 but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and shall remind you of all things that I said to you.
Joh 14:27 I leave peace to you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be timid.

While we are “going through” all these trials which work patience perfect work in us that we become complete lacking nothing in ourselves with all these “light afflictions” (this is what God calls them) we have God, even Christ in us the hope of glory who is also He who gives us joy and comfort so that we might “count it all joy” when we “go through” what life seems to offer.  There is also a great assurance in the knowledge that He is with us every day and thorough every thing we encounter and He sees and knows what is done to us and seeks to see and hear the right response of thanksgiving and praise in all we go through in our lives.

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Between seal and trump: The Markout Pt 1

Tags

angels, God, greeek, holy spirit, Lord, revelation, seal, winds, zechariah

Rev 7:1 After his I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree.

Now I read this and my mind recalls another passage in the Old Testament wherein is mention of the four winds of heaven.
Zec 6:1 And again I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
Zec 6:2 In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;
Zec 6:3 and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grizzled strong horses.
Zec 6:4 Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?
Zec 6:5 And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four winds of heaven, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.
This is what they did; Zech 6:7… Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth. This is a vision the God is speaking to Zechariah the prophet through. Scripture seems to indicate that it is these “winds” that are now “restrained” The Hebrew word used for winds is Ruach or wind or spirit. They might not be blowing winds and that kind of meteorological thing doesn’t seem to be what is spoken of here. In the Revelation the word sounds more meteorological. Strongs Greek #417 anemos From the base of (#109 aēr From aēmi (to breathe unconsciously, that is, respire; by analogy to blow); “air” (as naturally circumambient): – air. ); wind; (plural) by implication (the four) quarters (of the earth): – wind. So these winds are not Zechariah’s winds are they? Suffice to say, it will be quite stifling while what happens next is going on.

The next thing we see is interesting and there are many opinions on it. The seal mentioned in 7:2 is just that, a seal. Strongs Greek #4973 sphragis Probably strengthened from (5420 phrassō Apparently a strengthened form of the base of (5424 phrēn Probably from an obsolete phraō (to rein in or curb; compare( 5420 phrasso (see above)); the midrif (as a partition of the body), that is, (figuratively and by implication of sympathy) the feelings (or sensitive nature; by extension [also in the plural] the mind or cognitive faculties): – understanding.); to fence or inclose, that is, (specifically) to block up (figuratively to silence): – stop.); a signet (as fencing in or protecting from misappropriation); by implication the stamp impressed (as a mark of privacy, or genuineness), literally or figuratively: – seal.

Usually we think of a seal as a mark or a sign of authority but this seems to be a mark of protection and maybe even a means of preservation until the time for use has come. From the “sunrising” or anatole helios in the Greek. Some translations just say East, but it is the particular direction of from the “sunrising” which might typify where in the East the angel ascends. This just might thought also be a moot point. So from the East comes and angel bearing on his person the “sphragis” or seal of the Living God. Now that’s really impressive. We know we are sealed unto the day of our full redemption (bodily) by the Holy Spirit. But I gather this is a different seal.