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Bride of Christ, who is she?

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by The Bible Guy in Prophecy

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TheBibleGuy 40 Years

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Thomas and Sandy Spencer

Marriage!

Some call me a romantic, an idealist or a dreamer who is out of touch with reality but this March 30th 2015 I am starting my 15th year of being crazy in love with my wife Sandy Spencer. With this overwhelming desire to race home every day after work just to be in her presence, I have been given a partial inside glance of how Jesus views His Bride to be.

I was studying with a friend several years ago and he just blurted out;

 …everyone knows who the Bride of Christ is!

Do you know who the Bride of Christ is? Do you think you are in that company? Are there any qualifications that are expected to be met? Can you point out those that are the Bride of Christ and those that are not? What is her purpose both now & in the future?

In this hour of prophetic fulfillment many religious people will try to persuade you to make eternal decisions based on Heaven or Hell; what a pathetic existence of fear based teaching. Yes Heaven & Hell are very, very real but our motivation of eternity cannot be based on NOT GOING TO Hell therefore Heaven is a better alternative. Our eternity is not based on where but on whom. The Bride of Christ is NOTHING without the Groom: Jesus.

I will give you the answers right up front, if this speaks to you then enjoy the details that follow.

FirstandLast

The Bride of Christ is…

  • Real people.
  • Gentiles not Jews, not composed of Old Testament Saints.
  • In love with Jesus, the Son of our Living God.
  • The ones that have submitted to the cleansing & purifying of His Word.
  • Not the whole Church but a called-out body, from a called-out body.
  • Many are called but she will be chosen from the called by a set of virtues.
  • The 100 fold; not the 60 fold or 30 fold chosen from the same ground or field.
  • Prepared for the rapture event that starts the Wedding Feast.
  • Will be caught away in the rapture event.
  • The rapture of the Bride is the first fruits offering of the barley harvest.
  • John’s vision of the 24 elders with crowns (not the multitude) Revelation 4.
  • The ones that say: “Come.” Revelation 22:17.

The Bride can be also be identified by 5 crowns or rewards for her earthly service:

  • Victor’s Crown: overcoming the desires of the flesh 1Corinthians 9:25.
  • Rejoicing Crown or Soul Winners Crown Philippians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:19
  • Crown of Righteousness or Watchers Crown 2 Timothy 4:8
  • Crown of Life: remaining faithful in persecution James 1:12, Revelation 2:10
  • Crown of Glory: leading those in your influence with a righteous example 1 Peter 5:1-4

Again, the one true motive behind all of this service is because we are so crazy in love with our Lord Jesus, thankful for his: life, death & resurrection, living in full faith that He is preparing a place for us and that He can’t wait to have His Harold proclaim: “Behold the Bridegroom cometh!”

If you realize you are not in this company of The Bride of Christ, make yourself ready…choose to be chosen!

We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!

Jesus40years

Thomas Spencer www.TheBibleGuy.com

Look Up: 40 Yrs. with Jesus

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by The Bible Guy in Kingdom People News

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Look Up: 40 Years Walking with Jesus!

TheBibleGuy 40 Years

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Look Up: 40 Yrs. with Jesus

There comes a time when our lives would be much better if we would just look up.

Our dog Cowboy is getting up in years and surely his sense of smell is better than his eyesight. In the woods he was on the scent of the elk that linger on our property especially in the winter. Nose to the ground, at the edge of the pond with a full charge forward…it would have been much better if he had just looked up. Like a “slapstick” cartoon he actually ran into the largest elk of the bunch; he yelps, takes a submissive roll to his back and then slides into the pond.

In the past 40 years walking with Jesus, I have discovered three types of people:

Group One:

…those that drift aimlessly down the river, their compass is what “feels” good and usually with no goals or sense of direction. They have the thought that they cannot affect their destiny, therefore they try to “experience” everything with no consideration of consequences from choices or worse; lack of choices. They seem to have a lot of “drama” in their lives, little depth of truth, fleeting pleasure and little happiness. These remind me of those in Philippians 3:18-20 “…who set their minds on earthly things.” (read the rest below)

Group Two:

…those who crave knowledge and have mastered the Bible: “knowing” everything about the Jewish calendar & feasts, understanding the prophecies of end time eternity, dazzling those around with their expertise of the “tions” salvation, sanctification, redemption, justification, resurrection, dispensations, elections, predestination…blah, blah, blah. Possessing such great knowledge results in a life of: rules, laws and legalism but no relationship with the very Author of the Bible. This reminds me of Martha the sister of Lazarus in Luke 10:40 “…Martha was distracted with all her preparations…” Or the verse in Matthew 13:14 “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

Group Three:

…these may look like they are aimlessly drifting, but in reality they are fighting the current and headed toward a predetermined destiny. They may consume large quantities of Bible information but more like a treasure hunter learning as much as they can about the author of the book. They are constantly looking up as Mary (the other sister of Lazarus) did when she sat at the feet of Jesus; listening, learning in a relationship with the one who was speaking. Luke 10:39 “…Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.”

Like our dog Cowboy, perhaps we would all be better off, if we just looked up.

Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked (up), and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.

Philippians 3:18-20 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

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Know Truth & be Set Free!

We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!

Thomas Spencer www.TheBibleGuy.com

Knowing where God lives: 40 Yrs. with Jesus

18 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by The Bible Guy in Kingdom People News

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Bible, Bible Keys, Bride of Christ, TheBibleGuy, Thomas Spencer, Treasure, Treasure Hunter, Truth

TheBibleGuy 40 Years

Knowing where God lives: 40 Yrs. with Jesus – December 18, 2014 – Day 142,563

humility

Picture from: vineandbranchworldministries.com 

There are keys and then there are master keys.

Knowing where God lives or where His Presence is or where He invests His: time, energy, resources and life has become the most valuable master key in my life.

Isaiah 57:15a (NKJV) For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 

I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit…

I have discovered some religions practice one or the other but have not found one that practices both. See if you can understand the master key here. 

Contrite and Humble but no reverence for the Holy

I have been in meetings where broken people have come to the end of themselves, cried out to God and have fallen on the floor laughing uncontrollably. Quoting the verse Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV) “…The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” but then observed as the “flesh” takes over and they start barking like dogs (no reverence). 

Legalistically Reverent but no intimate experience

On the other hand I have walked into meetings where everyone is legalistically threatened to enter like an old-fashioned library; most of the women wore grey with their hair up in buns and the men cowered like passive pets. They were trying to honor God who dwells in the High and Holy Place but actually made Him unreachable altogether. 

The Master Key is to live in both! Tips I have discovered…

 When I pray in public, I formally pray to our Father in Heaven (the High and Holy Place) in The Name of Jesus; referring to Jesus as Royalty; my King, my Lord, The Son of God! In contrast when I pray in the presence of our small group or my family or just all by myself; the atmosphere in the room turns more informal.

My language and worship dive deep, personal and intimate. There is no concern here for formalities or ritual. This is the place where my spirit prays: deep to deep. A place where there is no concern for time or schedules. It is the time of true confession and repentance and worship and deep joy with great hope and incomparable faith. The place where God dwells: in a contrite and humble spirit while maintaining reverence for the High and Holy!

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

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Know Truth & be Set Free!

Thomas Spencer www.TheBibleGuy.com

Key to Freedom – Forgiveness: 40 Yrs. with Jesus

16 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by The Bible Guy in Kingdom People News

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TheBibleGuy 40 Years

Key to Freedom – Forgiveness: 40 Yrs. with Jesus – Day 142,561

Forgivness

We do seem like fakes; the times we have said we forgive, when deep down in our hearts we want that person to burn in hell. We learned as children to say “sorry” but forgiveness is deeper, it is a process but, I have discovered that there is that moment when it really comes true! 

Growing up we called it our “bad bag”. Everyone that caused us an injustice, we carried around in our thoughts every day. Then if a new person harmed us we would throw them in the bag with everyone else and compound the injustices that were already in the bag. 

Some men have gone to the moon, discovered cures for diseases, saved people from burning buildings or have written the greatest symphony…well…my great goal, accomplishment, achievement was to empty my “bad bag”. 

Once empty, BURN IT!

Now, you no longer have a bad bag!

It is a process; one that for me started by understanding the injustices that Jesus; the Son of God encountered and then followed His path of how to forgive. I have honestly prayed Matthew 6:12 “…And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors” (NKJV). Today I can pray it in advance:  

Father God I purpose in my heart to forgive in advance anyone who would try to harm me or my family this day, help me to walk in forgiveness, Amen.

 Today I pray that you would open YOUR “bad bag” and just dump it, you may feel like a fake in the beginning but as the process continues it DOES become REAL! 

The Forgiveness Key

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

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Know Truth & be Set Free!

Thomas Spencer www.TheBibleGuy.com

Prophecy – Time to Glean

15 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by The Bible Guy in Prophecy

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Bible, Bride of Christ, Church, Discipleship, End-Times, Prophecy, TheBibleGuy, Thomas Spencer, Tom Spencer, Truth

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September 2014

 Time to glean

These past years the commission from my Lord Jesus has narrowed from a broad “shotgun” type ministry of the whole world, to a more focused target. Some would call me a missionary, not to an underdeveloped country but a missionary to the United States of America, primarily to the Gentile Church of the United States of America.  Things have changed here and I am to be a witness to the fact that just because “man” changes things does not mean that God endorses those changes.

Time to take inventory of this once great nation; to see and hear what the Lord Jesus has to say about what to speak and what to do. “Father God I ask in Jesus Name that You would lead and guide us as we take inventory, let us stay focused on your tour, help us not to get distracted. In those places where it may seem dark and hopeless; hold our hand, give us strength and make Your purposes clear and sure. Amen”

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)

 Inventory:

Men and women who have called themselves spokesmen for God: have, are and continue to rape the sheep of God. These false teachers have left hundreds of thousands of people maimed, hurt, confused and broke. False Evangelists have physically gone from city to city operating in a spirit of witchcraft and stealing what little God’s sheep had. This destruction continues today through the airwaves. People have been paralyzed through lies, false hope and mind altering substances.

A word from our Lord (even though this may apply to other regions in the world, remember the context is the USA)

“This is the hour of final gleaning just as Ruth (Ruth 2:3) gleaned behind the reapers in the field of Boaz. Walk through the fields says our Lord, lift up the rubble, call out one more time, and communicate again with loved ones, even those who call you enemy.

Listen; listen for a breath, for a heartbeat for any interest in Truth. Reach out with faith; faith to bring little ones to salvation, faith to heal the sick and to cast out demons, faith to pray for a sound mind.

In this hour of final gleaning do not be distracted by the promoting of large crowds; glean the one, glean the two be the good servant (Matthew 24:45).”

Thomas Spencer www.TheBibleGuy.com

Treasure Hunter: 40 Yrs. with Jesus

11 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by The Bible Guy in Kingdom People News

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Treasure Hunter: 40 Years Walking with Jesus! Day 142,556

TheBibleGuy 40 Years

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Treasure Hunter: 40 Yrs. with Jesus – Day 142,556

Gold Fever – In 1980 I travelled to Alaska with three other families on a gold mining expedition costing over 2 million dollars and personally lost everything. I journaled the event thinking I might sell it as a book, but it was so negative I burnt it in the fire. Now armed with this experience I turned to being a treasure hunter in the Word of God.

The Word of God is full of Keys of Truth that unlock Life Mysteries!

BlogTheBibleGuy.com

Know Truth & be Set Free!

We must mix all of the scriptures with faith or they remain as just words on a page. Over 40 years ago I was seeking Truth and I was given the very Word of God that pointed me to God’s Son Jesus and The Holy Spirit or the “Spirit of Truth” that teaches me all things! Wow what a package deal!

Here are three things I started my search with…
  1. As we walk with Jesus He, through relationship gives us the Keys: Matthew 16:19 (NKJV) And I (Jesus) will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…
  2. There are real Enemies who don’t want us to have the Keys: Luke 11:52 (NKJV) “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
  3. The attitude of a true treasure hunter is that we must seek believing that we will find. Hebrews 4:2 (NKJV) For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Matthew 7:7 (NKJV) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

If this treasure hunt together is too slow, Email me with the key you are looking for and perhaps I can unlock a quicker path to find it!

www.TheBibleGuy.com

TheBibleGuy1@Gmail.com

Thomas Spencer

 

Hometown – Iola Kansas – About The Bible Guy

10 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by The Bible Guy in About The Bible Guy

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Betty Spencer, Bible, Donald Spencer, Hometown, Iola Kansas, Jerry Spencer, Richard Spencer, Roe Spencer, Spencer and Sons, TheBibleGuy, Thomas Spencer, Tom Spencer

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Thomas Spencer – The Bible Guy; a Trusted Voice. www.TheBibleGuy.com

Historical Museum

Historical Museum

The New Yorker – Perham Clothing – Spencer & Sons Clothing – Historical Museum

Hometown

By Thomas Spencer

The place where we find refuge and safety or feel secure,

Our origin, birthplace, place of belonging,

Pages in our photo album recording our first’s that soon turn into memories:

1st haircut, birthday, bicycle, broken arm, girlfriend…

1st day of kindergarten, fire drill, pint cartons of milk, the pledge to our flag…

1st time to hold a girls hand in a circle, screaming yuck but really liking it…

1st time to drive a car, get a job, and wonder why the bank gave us that first loan.

Our childhood backyard, home base, history, memories of the corner store,

A season where things were measured by the price of gas, a roll of stamps & penny candy,

Where we could safely test life and play before we became adults;

Playing sports, playing music, playing like couples in love and even being in plays,

Until we were all expected to grow up from boys to men & girls to women

I know for some who can’t let go, Hometown still seems to owe them something…

Yet others who are a little detached it is just their password on facebook,

For me, it is the vibrant color in my youth that allows me to paint my life today…

It was where passion for knowing truth was passed on by teachers, coaches, moms & dads.

Hometown was anything from perfect but it was real…

Our friends, family, pets, successes & failures…

Experiences that gave us a glimpse of who we wanted to be & who we did not want to be.

Now as we look back, the gigantic basketball court seems much smaller…

The initials carved into the tree seem a little silly…

That first car, well, it took more power to run the speakers than it did to make it up a hill.

I find myself referring to people & things as; “that old so and so”…

Questions start with; “Remember…” & “I wonder what happened to…”

Bad memories kind of fade into the shadows of time – but the thoughts of Jumping off the swing set, flying into the air & being a super hero once again are still just under the surface!

Hometown, a moment on the timeline of life, a reference of being, a circle of friends & family…

And a safe place to make mistakes & to overcome.

Could it be that God’s Original Design for Hometown was like one of three bird’s nests?

The nest that either had so much comfort we never wanted to leave…

The nest that had little comfort & so many stickers we couldn’t wait to leave…

The nest that was so high in the air with such a beautiful view that we looked back at the nest with great honor but we had to answer the call to adventure to jump out & fly, testing & challenging all that we had been taught in our Hometown.

Thomas Spencer

TheBibleGuy1@Gmail.com

www.TheBibleGuy.com

Quote

I don’t fit in. Do you fit in? 40 Years Walking With Jesus

09 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by The Bible Guy in About The Bible Guy

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Bible, Bride of Christ, Church, Church vs Ministry, The Bible Guy, TheBibleGuy, Thomas Spencer

40 Years Walking with Jesus!

TheBibleGuy 40 Years

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Thomas Spencer

I now see that I have never fit in. I was always the kid with more questions than answers; I was named Thomas for a reason. I was not one to believe things until I could see them with my own eyes. Oh, I was popular in school because I was an overachiever. I was an overachiever because I was never satisfied with my current condition. Throw in sexual abuse, competition with my three older brothers for our parents’ attention, plus spirits of fear of death and depression from my younger sister dying just after birth and you get me; Thomas a kid who never fit in. Today is no different and perhaps worst but now I finally understand!

Jesus speaking about His disciples and you and me:

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. John 17:17 (NKJV)

It seemed lonely for years but today I have embraced the fact that we are not supposed to fit in. People in the world hate me because the Holy Spirit of God in me agitates the demonic spirit in them. The truth is I don’t belong here I am just visiting at best. This earth… it isn’t my home and one day I will be leaving. This world and its earthly cares have no place for me.

TheBibleGuy Heaven Home

The things that matter to my worldly neighbors, town and government mean nothing to me. For evangelism sake I can relate with sinners and what is important to them but only for a while and then I move on to Truth. This is part of a song I have sung for 40 years: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus…and the things of earth shall grow strangely deem in the light of His Glory and Grace.”

Leaders in the organized religious institutions hate me because I am a threat to their very existence and members of those denominations hate me because I have been labelled as rebellious and a nonconformist trying to divide The True Church and sinfully scatter our Lord’s sheep. I am in good company for the religious said the same about our Lord Jesus.

Matthew 11:18 “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’…”

Matthew 23 – Jesus hands out 7 woes to the religious leaders of the day and calls them all hypocrites. Believe me 2000 years nothing has changed.

I was first discipled in the Assembly of God denomination and while in their Bible College I did a report on: When the Methodist denomination lost it power. One of the devastating turns was when they tried to fit in and transitioned from a Holy Ghost, rolling on the floor, tongue talking, Spirit filled, evangelistic healing movement into…well… what they have today. Today they fit in; they have become the same as the world they live in. My paper concluded that the Assemblies of God did the same (just like all of the rest of the denominations).

When I wrote my first book: The Church What is it? now revised to: Church what it is and is not, I was told by my “god father” in Kansas, that if I published it I would never minister in Kansas again.

I no longer fit in. So what is the answer, what do we do?

  1. Love God, love people (I got that from my brother’s ministry in Pittsburg Kansas).
  2. Assemble together with those of like faith as often as you can.
  3. Pray & ask our Lord Jesus if there is anything else you are to do before He calls us home.
  4. Press your wedding clothes because we have an appointment to a wedding in Heaven!

That is my simple list of 4 are yours different? Please share them!

www.TheBibleGuy.com

TheBibleGuy1@Gmail.com

Thomas Spencer

 

About The Bible Guy

19 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by The Bible Guy in About The Bible Guy, Prophecy

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Bible, Bride of Christ, Church, Discipleship, End-Times, Prophecy, TheBibleGuy, Thomas Spencer, Tom Spencer, Truth

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Thomas Joseph Spencer –  An Apostle of those with like faith – The Bible Guy; a Trusted Voice, Ambassador of Heaven with the Ministry of Reconciliation.

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TheBibleGuy - Early Years

Thomas Spencer 1964

TheBibleGuy – Early Years  

1958 – When I was born I was named Thomas Joseph Spencer and rightfully so. My grandmother was a God follower: God fearing, Bible believing and Holy Ghost led. My Mom and dad were God Rejecters, although later in life I had the honor to lead them to the saving power of Jesus. Therefore my name Thomas Joseph comes in two parts and in this order:

– Thomas:  not in origin a given name but an epithet of the apostle who initially doubted the resurrected Jesus, thus the title “Doubting Thomas” or one who will not believe until he sees the proof; a seeker of truth until he finds it. Also means twin; one who walks in a dual role or one who changes from one belief to another.

– Joseph: “God will increase” “from the prison to the palace” “highly favoured” The eleventh son of Jacob but Rachel’s first; because of jealousy, he was sold into slavery and reported to his father that he had died. As a slave in Egypt, Joseph established and prospered Potiphar’s house, as a prisoner established and prospered the King’s prison and because God revealed dreams and gave interpretations to him, he became an advisor to the pharaoh and established a plan and even prospered Egypt in a seven year famine plus his family, whom he was eventually reconciled with, as his brothers came to Egypt for help.

– Sir name Spencer: origin traced directly to the French Robert d’Abbetot listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Robert le Dispenser, possibly one of the Norman knights who fought alongside William the Conqueror in the defeat of Harold II, King of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The official appointment as Royal “Dispencier” sometimes expressed more grandly as “Royal Steward”, “King’s Steward” or “Lord Steward”. Spelling later changed to Spencer “a dispenser of provisions”.

The Fearful Years

At age 5 my younger sister Patricia died at birth and I had been raped repeatedly by my dad’s step brother (my baby sitter) I watched my dog run to me across the street only to see her smashed by a speeding car and I had already attended an open-casket funeral. A spirit of depression was in my home along with an unhealthy fear of death.

Thomas Spencer 5th grade     My Awaking

In my back yard at age 9 or 10 I asked God if He was really real, a familiar Kansas sunbeam came piercing through the clouds (this was the first time I had been blessed with a beam of light) God Is!

1974 – It took me a few years to understand how to have a relationship with this Real God. It was through Jesus His Son, I found Truth and was Born Again; a transition started. Becoming a disciple of Jesus the Son of our Living God, the Establisher Joseph started taking center stage and Thomas started replacing doubt with Truth and Faith. Spencer? Dispencier? Dispenser of Goods? There was an anointing on me of redistributing large quantities of American surplus to those in need.

Thomas Spencer 3         The Religious Years

1977 – Entered into the religious world (seemingly the only place that was teaching the Bible) “Assemblies of God” in Kansas, Bible College in Springfield Missouri, ministry in San Diego California.

1986 – “Word of Faith” in Spokane Washington, 1989 Casey Treat in Seattle Washington

12    My Second Awaking – Renouncing Religion

1993 – 1998 writing the book “The Church What is it?” (I almost got it right) established “House to House” Ministry in Western Washington,

1999 – After 25 years of trying to “prove” religion to be “right” only to discover a deceptive “form of godliness” but no power. Renouncing building & temple ministry going strictly “House to House” and diving deep into the True Word, Will and Way of God almighty!

Y2K – Test Run of the End of the World, a personal purge and refined by fire.

2000 – For me a Biblical “Job’s Trial” losing everyone and everything: wife, children, ministry, lands, houses, business, finances, friends, reputation, identity…

IMG_1160      Starting Over

2001 – As the tragedy of “911” was happening in New York and then the rebuilding, God was rebuilding me with the pure gold left in me after His refining fire burnt the hay, wood & stubble. Remarried; experiencing True Love and Passion for the first time in my life and 13 years of restoration and “testing” the Truths of the Word of God in our lives!

Rewrote the book The Church what is it to The Church what is is and is not (again, almost got it right, getting closer)!

Rejoicing with 14,245 days of walking with Jesus

February, 2014

– Today an Apostle to those of like faith, blessed with all of God’s provisions establishing the Truth that had been sought after, found and proven.  Today a trusted voice, a servant of Jesus handing out the proper amount of food at the proper time until my Master calls me home.

Through the Bible.sm    Prophecy Revealed & Understood

– Today the pulling back of the veil that separates the natural from the super-natural. It all makes sense now: from the Book of Daniel to the Book of Revelation; understanding Jewish & Gentile scriptures, calendars, moon, feasts and the difference of the rapture of The Bride of Christ and The Second Coming of Christ.

TheBibleGuy.com

TheBibleGuy Republishing Ira Surface’s 1921 End Time-Time Line and His book The First and The Last

The First and The Last

First written in 1919 now republished by The Bible Guy.

The year 2020 – What happened to the Church Book that I almost got right?

All these years I was trying to fit the church into the Kingdom of God, now I understand it does not fit, it never did and never will. I was taught without question, that the church and The Kingdom of God were the same. Well they are not! Our most patience Father God has brought amazing Truth on the subject and I have done my best to reveal to you what has been shown me.

The Kingdom of God on Earth as seen through the eyes of Mark's Gospel

The foundation of all ministry & life is the Kingdom of God with Jesus the King and the Ekklesia as the people of the Kingdom!

2021 FREE Online Course Through The Bible – Level One!

Ready for 2021

Thomas Spencer

TheBibleGuy1@Gmail.com

www.TheBibleGuy.com

Chapter 8 – THE RAPTURE

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by The Bible Guy in The First and the Last, catching away of the Bride of Christ

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FREE EBook – THE FIRST AND THE LAST by Ira Surface 1921

Republished by TheBibleGuy Thomas Spencer 2014

TheBibleGuy.com

TheBibleGuy Republishing Ira Surface’s 1921 End Time-Time Line

Chapter 8

THE  RAPTURE

After careful study of the previous chapters of this book, we must have anticipated the truth of the rapture, which we hope to make clear in this chapter.  If we study the chart which is folded in this book, we will see that the first resurrection commences at the rapture, and continues until the Glorious Appearing of Christ.  This is the resurrection of which John speaks in Rev. 20:4-6, as follows:

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”

I. NOT GENERAL RESURRECTION    

The idea that all the dead are brought forth at the same time, and that there will be a general judgment, to which all, both good and bad, will be called, and judged at the same time, is an error that grows out of not rightly dividing the word of truth.     So, it is scripturally certain that all the wicked and those who have received the mark of the beast will be resurrected after the thousand years re finished. In other words, the holy ones will live and reign with Christ a thousand years before the wicked ones will be resurrected. This, of itself, is sufficient to cause us to reject the idea of one general resurrection.

One of the evident things in God’s word is that there is a first resurrection, and that this resurrection will precede the millennium. The scripture says, in Rev. 20:5, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

1. First Resurrection Not New Birth

It is quite common to hear, from those who seem to be careless in the reading of God’s word, that the first resurrection is the new birth.  This is not authenticated by the scriptures.  Resurrection, as referred to in the quotation given above, Rev. 20:5, is not figurative, but is a word literally applied to the dead body.

The new birth has reference to the regeneration of the spirit, which makes us new creatures in Christ.  We re distinctly told in Eccl. 12:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: but the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”  This explains the verse given in I Thess. 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.”  The spirits of those who have died in the triumphs of a living faith in Jesus go at once to God, only their bodies go into the grave.  But at the first resurrection, all the bodies of those righteous dead will hear the call and come forth to meet Jesus, their spirits will take possession of their resurrected and glorified bodies, and they will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Paul says, in I Cor. 15:23, “But every man in his own order.”  Order here means regiment, or rank.  This is an important fact, and helps us to decipher the manner of the resurrection.  Some will be in rank A, and some in Rank B.  The dead and the living will take the rank peculiar to the state they possessed while they were alive.  The fact that multitudes will have died before that day will make no difference in their rank.  Those who remain until the moment of that call to come forth will be changed, and they will join those whose rank corresponds with theirs.  This makes it plain that the church of the Gentiles will be made up of orders, according to the measure of the Holy Ghost’s work in their lives.

The firs resurrection is not the new birth, because we are told, in Rev. 20:6, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.”  This is evidence that the new birth must be first experienced before we can ever have part in the first resurrection.  That experience of blessedness and holiness, which the new birth gives is not the first resurrection, but a pre-requisite for it.

Again, order is one of the first principles of God, the Creator; and it is reasonable to believe that order will be the character of the summons to the judgment.  That order is plainly set forth: first the just, then the unjust.  It will be first the righteous, then the wicked; for in no case are the wicked represented as coming to be judged with the righteous.  God does not mix things.  Sometimes man gets things mixed, but it is because he does not carefully read the scriptures.

We have seen how the previous chapters of this book have set for the order of the reckoning time.  That order is that the Gentiles shall be first and Israel last.  If you will refer again to the chart, you will see that the great regiment of the first resurrection is divided into the following orders:

  1. The rapture of the Gentile full overcomers.
  2. The tribulation saints, or the fullness of the Gentiles.
  3. The rapture of believing and full overcoming Israel.
  4. The glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, or His coming back to earth again.

Our purpose is to take the first two orders, or the church of the Gentiles, and scripturally define their position.

2. The Scriptural Fact of the Rapture

We will notice that there are two orders in the church of the Gentiles: their rapture, as seen in the fourth chapter of Revelation, and their fullness, as seen in Rev. 7:9.

The scriptural fact of the rapture is suggested by the fourth chapter of Revelation.  John is caught up by the Spirit into heaven.  In order that he might have the real experience, John is not only caught up, but he is thrust forward into the very time and place of the rapture.

Those whom John first saw, when the door was opened, were crowned ones, and were not the multitude he saw in the seventh chapter, for that order had no crowns: but they were seen as a Blood-washed multitude with palms in their hands.  That fact puts this multitude in another rank, different from that occupied by the raptured ones whom he saw.

The four Living creatures, who were in the raptured body, seemed to be so closely identified with the great throne, upon which God sat, that when they spoke their voice seemed to come from the midst of that throne, and to be the voice of the throne.  These four Living creatures seem to be the heavenly choristers: they lead the thanksgiving service, they lead the worship, they direct the anthem of praise.  Then in one spirit of adoration and homage, that happy raptured multitude, represented by the four Living creatures and the twenty-four Elders, fall before the throne; they cast their crowns at the feet of Him who sat upon it, saying (Rev. 4:11), “Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”  Again we see this same multitude singing the new song (Rev. 5:8-14):

“And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints.

“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

“Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all  that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne . . .  .

“And the four beasts said, Amen.  And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever.”

It was the gospel of the Son of God; the song of redemption, sung by those raptured ones, from the midst of the throne.  This will be the raptured company; that glorified, selected body which Jesus will call up to meet Him in the air.  These raptured ones are a prophetic picture of the first fruits of the early harvest, the promise of the coming full harvest.  This full harvest will be the completion and fullness of the Gentile church.  Paul speaks of this in Rom. 11:25:  “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.”

These four Living creatures and twenty-four elders are a prefigured representative body.  They are not only dictating the anthems of praise, but they are voicing the very essence of the inner hearts of all who are in that company.  Hear the responsive chant, or ratification, by the innumerable host which compose that company, and then the echoes that come from all the living.  Rotherhams translation of verse 10 says, “And didst make them unto our God a kingdom and priests.”  The King James version says, “And didst make us, “ etc.  Whether it be “them” or “us”, they are evidently, identifying themselves with this raptured company, and representing, in voice and heart, all who are around the throne at this prophetic moment.  They are there with the hosts of others, who, with one mighty voice, accept and sing that new song.  And when the music of that angelic host subsides, we hear the ratification in Rev. 5:14: “And the four beasts said, Amen.  And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever.”

It seems to one who studies this question, that there must be a reason for the rapture.   You will remember that Jesus said, in the parable of the laborers, “Many are called, but few chosen.”   Where there is a choice to be made (and Jesus says there is a choice), there is a difference; and where there is a difference, there are merits possessed by some which others do not possess.  Jesus says that in the reckoning time there will be many called, but few chosen.  It is evident that the ones chosen are those who have qualified, especially, for this rapture.

There is no one who can say, as he looks over those who believe in Jesus and belong to His body, that all are equally qualified.  Some, while they believe in Jesus as their Savior, do not welcome the operation of the Spirit in their lives.  We can not say they are not Christians, but we can say they are not Spirit filled.  They have been born again by the Spirit, but they have not received the Holy Spirit since they believed.  “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”  Acts 19:2.  Not only are they not advancing but they are resisting the power that would set them on fire for God, and make them efficient in their testimony.  They do not stand with the class of Spirit filled workers whose whole being is alive to God.  Even the casual observer would not class them together.  Then why should we expect them to be in the same rank at the reckoning time?  Jesus taught this difference in the parable of the pearl of great price:  in the parable of the pounds: in the parable of the laborers: and in the doctrine of rewards, where very man shall receive according to his deeds.

This being so taught, may we not say the same is true of the church which Jesus is calling from among the Gentiles?  He will not only call the church, but from that church which He has called, washed, cleansed and sanctified, He will CHOOSE a people for His special glory.  That choice will be on the ground of special equipment and efficiency.   God has provided that equipment, and he who carelessly refuses to perfect himself will certainly not deserve a place in the rapture.

This suggests our next thought:

3. The Time of the Rapture

The time of the rapture will be the time of Christ’s second coming, which will be in two stages.  In the first stage, He will come for the Gentile church.  In the second stage, He will come to Israel as their Messiah.

Not Expected

He will come for the Gentile church at a time when the world is not thinking of looking for Him.  His coming will be before the tribulation has commenced.  If you will notice the chart, you will see that the first stage of His second coming will be immediately after the utterance of the message to the Laodicean church, which is the last message.  The effect of that last message will be felt until every Gentile who will believe has been reached.  That message will be carried through the first six seals of the tribulation period.  Therefore, those who are not ready to meet Jesus when He comes at the rapture will pass into the first six stages of the tribulation.  John says of these (Rev. 7:14), These are they who come out of the great tribulation.” – Rotherham.

But those who are qualified and worthy will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air, when He comes for them at the rapture.  I Thess. 4:15-18

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Very Near

The time of that coming, we believe, is very near, but the time will not be announced.  Even the angels in heaven do not know, as that time is known by God the Father only.  This is the element of hope in the gospel, for Paul says, in I Thess. 4:18 “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”  If the whole church were to pass through the tribulation, as some believe this verse would have no meaning.  The hope which Paul holds out to the church is the fact that those who are qualified, at the coming of Christ, shall be (not may be), caught up to meet Jesus in the air.  Thus they escape the fearful tribulation which is to come upon the earth, the commencement of which will be at the entrance of the white Horse Rider, Rev. 6:2.

  1. Be Ye Ready

Now, since the exact time of the rapture can not be known, although we know from the fulfillment of prophecies that the tie is near, let every saint of God be ready; for there will be no trumpet to announce this coming.  It will be preceded by a calm, like that which settles down before the breaking of a terrible storm.  I Thess. 5:3 says, “When they shall say peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them.”

It is possible for us to be so absorbed in the cares of life, that we will not notice the deception of the times.  It is even possible for us who are deeply absorbed in the study of this long looked for event to be overtaken and miss God’s best for us, the rapture.  “Therefore e ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh,”  Matt. 24:44.  Pray that ye may be accounted worthy to escape, Luke 21:36.

  1. The Manner of Christ’s Coming

We are told that He will come as a thief, and this statement reveals two things: first, it defines how Jesus will steal away His bride; second, it reveals, more clearly than ever, the fact that this stage of His coming will be for a different purpose than the second stage.  The second stage will be a revelation to the whole world; for “every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him.” Rev 1:7.

This is additional proof that His coming for His precious ones, at the rapture, will be as a thief comes, and will not be seen by the world of unbelievers.  We see, in Heb. 9:28, that “unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”  So those who look ardently for Him (as Rotherham translates it), and have made themselves worthy, will be the only ones who will see Him at that time.  “There shall be two men in one bed; and one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.  Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left,” Luke 17: 34-36.  Doubtless, in each case both were Christians, but both were not Spirit filled and no overcomers.

As a Thief

But, how does a thief come, and for what purpose?  He comes silently.  No trumpet announces his approach; he carries no flaming torch.  He comes to steal, and enters stealthily.  Then, he does not take everything of value.  He leaves the furniture, which is not what he wants.  He looks for the diamonds, the rubies, the silver and the gold – the things that are most precious.

Secretly

Jesus will so come, not with a flaming sword to execute vengeance.  No one will see Him at this time, except those who are ardently looking for Him.  He is coming for just one thing, which is not to reveal His glory, for the time of that revelation is at the second stage of His coming.  That one thing will be to catch out His precious Bride.  Ah!! You say His Bride?  Yes!!  Among the raptured ones the Bride of Christ will be hidden away.  The church is the body for which He gave Himself.  Paul says in Eph. 5: 25-27, “Even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.  That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any suck thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”  This is the pearl for which the merchantman made the supreme sacrifice.

There is something very beautiful in this manner of Christ’s coming at the rapture.  The Bride will be ardently and earnestly looking and longing for her Bridegroom, as the Bridegroom is longing for her.  That meeting in the air will be a blessed, glorious, and mutual greeting.  It will be the fruition of the hope so long entertained.  It will be the escape of the precious and beloved Bride from the awful throes of the great tribulation, which must come before the earth is restored to its Edenic purity.  “Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come pon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take they crown,” Rev. 3:10,11.

Jesus will be the resurrection life of which He spoke when He said, “He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.”

The unbeliever will not recognize this coming of Christ.  To him, this catching away of the prepared and Spirit-filled ones will be a strange coincidence, which he will explain in a materialistic way.  The believer who is converted, but has not yielded his life to God, will be stricken with a spirit of remorse, because he has not given credence to the doctrine of Christ’s second coming.  He will remember all the sermons, testimonies, and messages he has heard, and will say, “Yes it is all true, and I have missed it.  I have missed God’s best, and the joy it would give me now.”

It is pleasant to believe that between the rapture and the gathering in of the last straggling Gentile, at the end of the church period, there will be a mighty turning unto the Lord.  Millions of church members who are not living a victorious life, will then turn to God and yield themselves to Him.  Many ministers of God who have, amidst much reproach, given out the word of the kingdom, and warned the people against the encroachments of this deceptive age, will rejoice to see the fruits of their labor.  The word shall not return voice, it shall accomplish.  They have strewn the word in hard places, and under much discouragement; but they shall come forth rejoicing, bearing precious sheaves.

This rapture is our high calling in Christ.  We may now take possession of it.  If you are not ready, you must get ready quickly.  This is no fancy or dream; Jesus is really coming soon.  Do not miss God’s best.  Let not another day pass before you get right with God, “for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.”

  1. This Rapture Exclusively Gentile

It has been shown that God does make a separation between Israel and the Gentile.  You will see on the chart that the barley harvest includes only the Gentiles.  The house of Israel will be reckoned with as the wheat harvest.  The house of Israel will be reckoned with as the wheat harvest.  But both harvests had the sheaf of first fruits.  This sheaf of first fruits, in each case, was gathered before the full harvest, which they represented, was gathered.  Great care was taken to keep the barley sheaf separate from the wheat sheaf.  This, unquestionably, is a type of the Gentile harvest ad of the Jewish harvest.

This subject will be treated more fully in the next chapter on the Bride of Christ.

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