1
AGAPE 2 LESSON 6
THE GRAND FINALE OF THE CHURCH
(The final parade of the church)
Put together by Bongie Kuzwayo
[Isaiah54v1—17]
(v1) “Sing O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing; and cry aloud, you who have not laboured with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD.
• Sing O barren, – – – -! Break forth into singing; and cry aloud = all the women who were said to be barren in the Bible, ended up rejoicing; Sarah, Rachel, Manoah’s wife, Hannah, Elizabeth. The church’s purpose is to bring forth the man-child/the corporate Son/the divine Son. The grand finale is the time of the church to rejoice. [Psalm149v1—9] Praise the LORD! Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the assembly of the saints. (2) Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. (3) Let them praise His name with a dance; let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. (4) For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. (5) Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds. (6) Let the high praises of God of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand. (7) To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishment on the peoples; (8) to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; (9) to execute on them the written judgement—this honour have all His saints. Praise the LORD!
• The desolate = the harlot/the bent woman.
• The married woman = the bride/the church/the holy nation/the virtuous woman.
• More are the children of the desolate = [Matthew7v13—14] Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. (14) Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
(v2) Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwelling; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.
[Marks16v15] And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Matthew28v18–20] And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
(v3) For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.
Now, this speaks of the final ingathering of souls. The season we are in right now, is the Feast of Tabernacles – the time of harvesting everything left in the field.
(v4) Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
2
[John16v20—22] Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. (21) A woman, when she is in labour has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. (22) Therefore, you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
(v5) For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
• For your Maker is your husband = the church is His Bride.
(v6) For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in the spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused,” says your God.
Hannah who was grieved, in (1Samuel1), is a metaphor for the church, grieved desiring to offer to God the first-fruit. [1Samuel1v10—11) And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. (11) Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”
(v7–8) For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. (8) With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.
The then church, Israel had turned her back to her Husband, the LORD, and was worshiping the Baals. All the blessings that God had blessed her with, she had attributed to Baal. God rejected Israel for a season. God says, [Hosea2v13—17] “I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers; but she forgot,” says the LORD. (14) Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her, (15) I will give her, her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from Egypt. (16) And it shall be in that day,” says the LORD, that you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master,’ (17) for I will take from her mouth the names of Baals, and they shall be remembered by their names no more.
(9) For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so I have sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
God established a covenant with Noah, his sons and his descendants after him, including all that came out of the ark – that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood. The rainbow would be a reminder to God of this covenant (Genesis9v9—16). The rainbow occurs when the rays of the sun meet the rain droplets at forty-two degrees. We, the church, are the 42nd generation in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew1v17). The representation/expression of the bride of Christ in a city is a protective mantle from calamities.
(v10) For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD who has mercy on you.
God keeps covenant. He made a covenant with David: [Psalm89v33—35] Nevertheless, My lovingkindness I will not utterly take away from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I
3
will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. (35) Once I have sworn by My holiness, and I will not lie to David.
(11) You afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colourful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
Stones = believers [1Peter2v4–5] Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, (5) you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ
Colourful gems (precious stones) = these represent tribes in Mount Zion. Aaron wore gems on his breastplate to represent the tribes of Israel when he went beyond the veil, to appear before God.
Foundations = apostles and prophets (Revelation21v14).
(12) I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones.
This is the picture of the Holy City/the New Jerusalem/the bride, the Lamb’s wife descending out of heaven from God. [Revelation21v10–12] 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, (11) having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. (12) Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
(v13) All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.
[John6v44—45] No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (45) It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall be taught by God.’ Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
(14) In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror for it shall not come near you.
(15) Indeed, they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. (Isaiah41v11—16).
[Psalm2v1—5] Why do the nations rage, and a people plot a vain thing? (2) The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, (3) “Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. (4) He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. (5) Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and destress them in His hot displeasure:
(16) Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the spoiler to destroy.
All things were created by the LORD Himself, including the devil. He uses him to sift the believer. {Wheat is crushed – coarse flour removed, and fine flour that remains is baked. This is the purifying work of the Holy Spirit, called the baptism of fire. This is a sifting process. Trials and tribulation are an intrinsic part of a Christian’s life. At the end of the process, the believer becomes bread to strengthen others. [Luke 22v31—32] And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. (32) But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.
4
(17) No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgement you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the LORD.
The LORD will always defend His own: [Isaiah59v18—19] According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; the coastlands He will fully repay. So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD will raise up the standard against him.
The church’s purpose is to bring forth the man-child/the corporate son/ the divine Son of God. The grand finale of the church is her time to rejoice exceedingly.
AGAPE 2 LESSON 6