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The Call to Come, Part 2

Welcome back to the continuation of the Call to Come message.  In this session part 2 we will conclude this core teaching which serves as a central foundation stone to the Call2Come movement. And so it’s my hope that I am able to impart something of the understanding and passion that fuels everything we do at Call2Come, and pray that this message will impact your life in a way that brings blessing and hope for the future that awaits us, as we draw near to the time of our Lord’s return.

In part 1 of this message, I shared about the bridal paradigm, and taking a fresh look at Scripture with a different lens or viewpoint to see how the Bride of Christ is so central to the Word of God. The fundamental principle that we discussed, was centred around Rev 22:17 which reads, “The Spirit and the Bride say “Come!” I had always seen this as something that would happen at some time in the future and just before the Lord’s return, but as I described in our last session, that I now see this as the complete opposite, and that we need to be calling upon Him to Come today. In fact, for the Bride to become ready she must love like the Bride, worship like the Bride, and pray like the Bride, and the necessary prayer of the Bride is the call to come. When she prays Come, she aligns herself with the Holy Spirit who is always saying Come, and into her bridal into. She re positions herself in a way that enables her to get dressed. Well that was Part 1 and so now we will conclude this message with Part 2.

Before I begin, I just want to quickly point out our contact details which you can see on the screen. This teaching plus all our other teaching is available on the website at www.call2come.org or you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook with the username @Call2Come. My name is Mike, and I am the co-founder and director of Call2Come, together with my dear friend and co-director Dr Howard Barnes.

Ok, let’s get started.

Acts 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

Acts 3:21 the Bible says that He is received in heaven until the restoration of all things. Jesus is in heaven longing to return, but cannot yet return because the Bride has not yet been restored. For she must get herself ready, and yet the preparation of the bride is about us and what we do and what we believe whilst we are here upon the Earth. The Bride is about us. It’s not something that’s automated in the predestination of God.  It’s not something that would just happen naturally, but it’s something that we have to be proactive about. And to do that we have to get rid of our old mind-set and systems of theology. There’s nothing wrong with theology, we need theology to have correct doctrine, but there’s a way in which theology can be put together.  Each doctrine is like a building block and we can put those building blocks together in different ways, so that they create a paradigm or perspective of looking at scripture. The doctrines remain unchanged, but the perspective can be very different depending on how they are put together. What I’m saying is that we need to have a fresh look at what the Bible teaches and look at it from a position of being the Bride. When you see the bride, you cannot un-see. But to see the Bride requires that we allow the Holy Spirit to change our mind-set and position us somewhere we haven’t been before, so that we can see the Bride and then embrace our bridal identity. We will call this the Bridal Paradigm. There’s a way in which we can put theology together, but unless it presents a picture of the bride and the bridegroom, then we are not seeing the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose when Jesus Christ comes again in great glory on the clouds, because He’s not only coming to reign but He’s coming to marry His bride. May the building blocks of our theology and doctrine portray a picture that describes both the fullness of who he is but also describes the undenying reality of His Bride.

Rev 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

In a moment we’ll take a look in Revelation 21 and glean a few more things in our journey to understanding the Bride. But just a quick introduction into what has taken place up to that point. Remember, John has received the revelation given to Jesus and sent to John by an angel. Then in Revelation 4 it says that John heard a voice calling him to come up here and I will show you what must take place after this. Then from Revelation 4 to Revelation 21 we haven’t heard Jesus or the Father, but those chapters contain the events which are described to us with the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls. Then we get to the final chapters of Revelation, and both Father and then Son come back into full view. Here they make the final summation of all scripture like a closing argument or appeal.  In a moment we’ll read the final declaration and revelation of what Jesus says about himself, but before the Son Jesus comes on into view, we see the Father.In verse 5-7 of chapter 21, it says He that is seated on the throne says “See I am making everything new. Write this down for these words are trustworthy and true. He said to me. And he said to me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Who is it who is speaking here?  The passage says I will be his God and he shall be my son.  So this is Father God who is speaking and He says I am the alpha and Omega I am the first and the last the beginning and the end.

But then in Revelation 21:9-11 it reads Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.”

John describes that he was then transported or carried away in the spirit to a mountain that was great and high.  John was being shown the Bride but in order to see the Bride, the wife of the Lamb, he had to be taken somewhere very specifically. And I believe that to see the Bride we have to change our point of view. John was taken to a place that he wouldn’t be able to get to by his own mind or rational or argument, but he was taken there by the Spirit of God to a place that was high, to an elevation in which he could see things from God’s perspective, from heaven’s perspective and not from the position of standing upon the Earth. For us to see the Bride, we have to see things from God’s perspective from a high and lofty place and then we can behold and see what God sees, and what he sees is his bride. Hallelujah. Oh, let the Holy Spirit take us to that place. May the Holy Spirit take us to a place that we haven’t been before. To that holy Mountain so that we can understand and see who we truly are. You are the Bride and I pray that your eyes may be opened that you may behold the glory of all that he is and all that you are when you are in him. Be the Bride. Be part of the Bride. He’s coming back for his bride it’s the Bride who will reign with him. Be ready. Get dressed and ready, for Jesus is coming back for his bride.

So, in revelation 21 as we have read, we find the declaration of the Father when he says I am the alpha and Omega. and John describes in these chapters as best he can what he sees. He describes that he saw the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven dressed like a bride. Beautifully dressed for her husband. He describes gates and walls and foundations. He sees that the walls are made of Jasper and the gates are made of pearls and on the gates, he saw the names of the tribes of Israel, because you can’t get in to the New Jerusalem other than through the gate of Israel. But then the foundation was on the names of the Apostles who represent the church. We are given this beautiful picture and vision of the One New Man, both Jew and Gentile now coming together as The New Jerusalem beautifully dressed for her husband. And now, finally, in Revelation 22, Jesus comes to take centre stage, and we are given the final revelation and declaration that Jesus makes about himself.

Within this final chapter, there is a particular word that in Greek is the word “Erchomai”. and this word means to “come”. We find the word “erchomai” used seven times in this final passage of scripture. Let me show you where we find this word. Jesus says in verse 7, I am coming soon and this word coming is the word “erchmomai”. and then in verse 12 he said behold I am coming soon and the word is used a second time the word “erchmomai”.  Then continuing in verse 17 we read the Spirit and the Bride say come and this word “come” is again, the word  “erchmomai”. Let him who  hear say “come”,  and let him who is thirsty “come”,  now five times we have read the word “erchmomai”.

And then finally in the last verses of scripture Jesus closes with this statement and encouragement to us when he says “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”. And then John finishes with his closing summation and prayer “Amen, even so come Lord Jesus!”.  Now we have the 6th and 7th use of this word “erchomai”. So if you want a biblical reason or instruction why you should pray “Come” then we need look no further than in John’s closing prayer because he himself closes the very pages of our Bible when he says “Even so come Lord Jesus!” and there we find the 7th use of the word “erchomai”. In John’s prayer, he is agreeing to all that Jesus has done and all that he has said. When he said amen, he’s saying “yes Lord I agree”. “Yes lord come“. Lord you said you’re coming my response is come!

Revelation 22:12,13 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

Remember we just read in chapter 21 these same words “I am the alpha and Omega” but on that occasion, it was the Father who said I am the Alpha and Omega. Now here we see that it is Jesus making the same declaration. That’s because the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father, and together with the Holy Spirit they are completely one. The Holy Trinity of three in one. Jesus is the fullness of God, He is God.  He says “I am the Alpha and Omega”  I have always been and always will be the first and the last. I am the beginning and I am the end. I stand before you it is me Jesus who speaks to you and my name the name that was given to me at my conception within the Virgin Mary was the name Jesus.  Jesus the man.  Jesus God. You need look nowhere else, but it is me. Jesus is saying I am Alpha, Omega and I stand before you and invite you to come “He that is thirsty let him come.”

Then we read the final revelation that Jesus makes about himself in verse 16. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, I am the Bright and Morning Star.” The final summation of all that Jesus is, here contained within the statement. He said, “I am the root and the Offspring of David I am the bright and Morning Star”. He is the root of David which means that Jesus didn’t come from David, but David came from Jesus. Before David was Jesus was. Jesus is the root of David he is the pre-existing King. He is the king, has always been the King, and that because Jesus was King, David received from Jesus his lineage as king. Jesus was the root of David. It was a picture of his deity, it was a picture of Jesus as the God King. Because He is the root of David.

But then Jesus said I am the Offspring of David. And we know that there were many prophecies given to David that he would always have someone who will sit on the throne in Jerusalem. All the fulfilment and coming of the kingdom will be through the lineage of David as was prophesied. And now Jesus is standing here and He’s saying that I am the Offspring of David.  Jesus was saying I am the fulfilment of all prophecy that you have been waiting for. Of everything that you had believed would happen on my first coming it will take place on my second coming. The messianic promise, the waiting for the Messiah and the King to return to Jerusalem will be fulfilled when Jesus Comes again.  On his first coming the Jews were waiting for the Messiah to come and to triumph over Israel’s enemies. For him to come in glory, because that’s what they read when they read the prophets, that he would come again in great glory. And yet if Pontius Pilot was still on the throne, then the promised one who was to come had not yet come, or at least not in the manner which they expected, which is why the disciples asked Jesus before he ascended to Heaven Lord are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom?

And since that time the Bible says that the cloud took him out of sight and he hasn’t been seen since for 2000 years because he’s still in heaven, received in heaven and is still there. And now in this revelation Jesus is making his final statement that I am the Offspring of David I am the one who will fulfil every longing, desire and the fulfilment of the promise that was made to you more than two thousand years ago. I am that one. Jesus said I am the root of David, showing him as the God King, but also I am the Offspring of David, showing Jesus as the man King the human King that Jesus is fully God and fully man and is King.

And now concluding the final revelation of Jesus.  I am the bright Morning Star. The bright morning star you can still see today. The morning star is known as the planet Venus. And Venus other than the sun and the moon is the brightest object in the sky. You can see it very clearly as a bright object in the night sky. Without getting too scientific, just to say that Venus orbits the sun inside the orbit of the Earth around the sun. That means from our perspective upon the Earth, Venus is always close to the sun, the furthest it can ever be when looking at it from the Earth is 47 degrees. And so, depending on where it is within its orbit, Venus will either be seen as the morning star or the evening star. But when Venus is the morning star it is because it is going before the sunrise. In other words, Venus appears before the sun or a new day. Before a new day dawns, the Morning Star rises. Jesus uses this picture and understanding when he says I am the bright Morning Star. I will come again and it will herald in a new day and a new age. When Jesus Comes he will bring with him a new day, a millennial age, a new dispensation. Jesus says make no mistake I am coming again.

And because of this very fact that Jesus Christ is coming again, it is because of this that we can have solid unshakeable hope today. We know that there is a glory that awaits us. We know that whatever we have to go through, whatever is required of us, through the ups and the downs we have a hope that is eternal, in which the writer of Hebrews 6:17-19 describes as an anchor to the soul.

Heb 6:17-19 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

God’s purpose is unchanging throughout all history. What he has intended, even from before creation, no matter what you may see being played out across the face of the Earth, God is still very much in control and bringing His purpose to pass. That Jesus Christ is coming again. And because he is coming we have hope today. It is worth it. Let us exchange everything for this one truth that My Redeemer Lives. To know that he is coming again. To know that this same Jesus Christ, the one who bled and died upon the cross for me, that his love has never waned. His passion and his love that took him to the cross, to suffer the agony of the nails that would be driven through his hands and his feet, has never diminished for 2000 years. The same intensity of desire, the same passion of his heart, the same unconditional love that allowed him to sweat drops of blood and to declare not my will but thine be done, that same love of our Lord Jesus and longing for His Bride has not wavered for 2000 years.  Surely Jesus deserves his bride and he deserves all the glory. Every tongue that was supposed to confess and every knee that should have bowed on His first coming, will not be denied him again on his second coming. His first coming was heralded by a star from the East and only a few wise men saw and followed it to find the King, but on his second coming He needs no star to go before him, because He himself is the Bright Morning Star. And this time every eye shall see him because as lightning in the east is visible in the west so will be His Glory when He comes again on the clouds.

It was to this revelation, that Jesus made about himself that he was the Bright Morning Star, that we find the one response that there can ever be to this unveiling of who Jesus is, and we read it in revelation 22:17. There is no longer the time or the inclination for our cleverness or own ideas or political manoeuvring or wrangling or anything else except the one prayer that we are left with. The prayer that the Spirit and the Bride agree together in saying.  When we know who we are and who Jesus really is, there is only one thing left that we can say and that is to “Come!”

Rev 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”

This is the passion of my heart and it led to the movement that is now known as Call2Come. It is my life’s message. That as a church, as a people, as the Bride, that we should be calling upon the bridegroom to come. Because when we pray come I believe we position ourselves into unfamiliar and yet strangely warming territory. Because it is as the Bride that we can lay everything else aside. It is as the Bride that we shall find oneness and unity not only with him but also with one another. There is no longer room for denomination or anything else that separates us because there is one bride and one bridegroom.  This is a paradigmatic shift that changes everything. It changes the way that we should see ourselves and in the way that we should see the church.