In the Bible, Jesus revealed a great mystery to eleven of His disciples after they ate the Passover supper the night before He was betrayed. Jesus had given a piece of bread that was dipped in a special sauce at the table to Judas and said to him, "What you are about to do, do quickly!" The others thought perhaps Jesus was sending Judas out to buy food or to give something to the poor, but he went out and betrayed the Lord to the chief priests.
After that, Jesus began to tell the eleven that He was going to leave them, but that He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them, to comfort them, and to teach God's Word to them. (John 14:16,17) Jesus said that He and the Father would also indwell them. (John 14:18, 23) Yes, all three members of the Trinity indwell believers during this time in history that the Bible calls the Church Age. This was not true of Old Testament believers. The Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals for special service, and could be taken away.
In this Church Age we are said to be "in Christ", that is, we are identified with (baptized into) Jesus Christ the very moment we believe in Him. This identification is one of the seven baptisms found in the Word of God. Every believer is in full-time Christian service, and the Lord wants each one to find and fulfill His plan for our lives. Motivation to do that does not originate from our own efforts, but it comes from KNOWING GOD'S WORD. The Christian life is based upon THINKING. God's thoughts. Acting upon our emotional feelings does not fulfill the Christian way of life.
The Church is called "the Bride of Christ", and in Ephesians 5:32, the Apostle Paul calls the relationship between Christ and the church a GREAT MYSTERY. At a time known only by the Father, Jesus Christ will call His bride out of this world:
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow now, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so those also who sleep in Jesus God will bring with Him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we who 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." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
Web and layout Wesley Miller
links to Lois Delnay's Children Bible Study
http://gettoknowyourbible.org/
http://loisdelnay.bravehost.com/index.html
link to Lois Delnay's Writings on Helium
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