Sunday Bible School
The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Part XXXIII
May 2024 | Volume 5 | No. 18
May 05, 2024
May 05, 2024
The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Part XXXIII
Summary of the President’s Message
The Sunday School on May 5, 2024, was held live, directly from the Communication Center of the Mahanaim Radio and TV, Vila Velha, Espírito Santo, with Pastors Gedelti Gueiros and Gilson Sousa participating.
Pr. Gilson Sousa’s Message:
We greet all the brethren with the peace of the Lord Jesus! We are beginning the Sunday School. The topic to be discussed is the Church and its mysteries, prophesied in the book of Song of Solomon.
Pastor Gilson Sousa presented the answers of several brethren to the questions posed, as well as various experiences and testimonies related to the Sunday School.
Pr. Gedelti Gueiros’ Message:
I greet you all with the peace of the Lord. Let’s answer the questions posed.
Question
In Song of Solomon, chapter 1 and 2, we find a prophetic verbiage that uses elements of Israel’s ecology to speak to the Faithful Church. Identify the prophetic meaning of the following references to the Bride:
a. Song of Solomon 1:6 - “The vineyard that is mine, I have not kept.” Answer: The Church became responsible for caring for the inheritance.
b. Song of Solomon 1:15 - “You are like a dove.” Answer: The Church that sees with the eyes of the Holy Spirit.
c. Song of Solomon 2:2 - “As a lily among thorns.” Answer: The Church in sanctification.
d. Song of Solomon 2:12 - “The voice of the turtledove.” Answer: The voice of the Holy Spirit.
e. Song of Solomon 2:13 - “The vines in bloom.” Answer: The fragrance of the spiritual gifts in the Church.
We see in Song of Solomon a wealth that opens to the faithful Church. The book’s mysteries are many. As we reread it, we find values and teachings very suitable for the moment the Church is living. Those who are participating with us are touched because the Holy Spirit operates to give a destination to each subject and word. These are the mysteries of the Lord that were hidden until now.
Sunday Bible School
May 2024 | Volume 5 | No. 18 BIBLICAL INSTITUTE MARANATA CHRISTIAN CHURCH 2 • MCC BULLETIN | MAY 05, 2024
Pr. Gilson Sousa conducting the Sunday Bible School
The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Part XXXIII
Thus, as we read the book of Song of Solomon, we understand that what is prophesied in it is for the time we are living in.
The Vineyard
Song of Solomon presents an ecological, prophetic, and poetic aspect of the Church’s journey. The faithful Church was entrusted with the vineyard, and she became responsible for taking care of it. The story of Naboth recounts his care for the vineyard: “I will not exchange or sell the inheritance of my fathers.”
“However, Naboth said to Ahab, ‘The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.’” 1 Kings 21:3
At the beginning of the journey, the Church says: “The vineyard that is mine, I have not kept.”
“[...] the vineyard that is mine, I have not kept [...]” Song of Solomon 1:6
The faithful Church knew she
had no resources to guard that vineyard, but the Holy Spirit would operate so that the vineyard could endure. The vineyard’s fruit is wine, which brings the joy of salvation.
The doves
The Church looks to the Lord, not with a human or carnal gaze, but dependent on the Holy Spirit. She desires to speak
of the mysteries of the Lord. She desires to speak of all that refers to the Holy Spirit. She looks to the Lord aiming at eternity.
The lily among the thorns
The lily represents the Church, and the thorns represent the world. In the parable of the sower, Jesus speaks about the thorns. In this world, thorns are sprouting everywhere. What
BIBLICAL INSTITUTE MARANATA CHRISTIAN CHURCH MAY 05, 2024 | MCC BULLETIN • 3
Pr. Gedelti Gueiros leading the summary of the Sunday Bible School
The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Part XXXIII
will become of all that is in this world? The disintegration and destruction of everything, including religion itself, are the elements present in this world. What will the future be like? The faithful Church is the lily. She is among the thorns of this world.
The voice of the turtledove
The voice of the turtledove is the Word of the Holy Spirit. One thing is to look at spiritual things; another is the spiritual message. The turtledove’s cooing is a figure of the Church’s preparation for the meeting with the Bridegroom. This cooing speaks of what she is living, of what is being awakened in her heart for the meeting with the Bridegroom.
The vines in bloom
The flowers represent the spiritual gifts. And the text shows a warning: to be attentive to the little foxes. The Church must pay attention to those sins that permeate people’s lives at this hour. The little fox is adorable but ruins the vineyard because it destroys the flowers—the spiritual gifts. It is a minor sin that tries to lodge in the life of the Church. We cannot consent to that. The struggle is against minor sins that are often easily welcomed by man.
Question
In the same sense as the previous question, identify the prophetic meaning of the following ecological figures in the cited texts that refer to the Bridegroom:
a. Song of Solomon 1:13 - “A bundle of myrrh.” Answer: The suffering of the Church for confessing Jesus.
b. Song of Solomon 1:14 - “A
cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En Gedi.” Answer: The operation of the Holy Spirit in the Gentile Church.
c. Song of Solomon 2:1 - “The rose of Sharon.” Answer: The blood of Jesus, His Holy Spirit.
d. Song of Solomon 2:3 - “The apple tree.” Answer: Jesus is the only food for the faithful Church.
e. Song of Solomon 2:9, 17 - “The gazelle.” Answer: The haste of the Bridegroom to rapture the faithful Church..
[Comment by Pastor Amadeu Loureiro]
The book of Song of Solomon brings us great wealth. In a seminar in the churches of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, a pastor even said: “Oh Lord, why did I take so long to reach this understanding?!”
It is important to remember that we are the continuation of the primitive Church. The primitive Church suffered death on the crosses and in the arenas but did not deny the love that was in her heart.
“My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh; He shall lie all night between my breasts.” Song of Solomon 1:13
What pleasure did she find in going to the arenas, in suffering? It was a mystery, a secret. And it is what we experience today. We may struggle and suffer, but the love for the Lord Jesus is ever-present.
The cluster of henna blossoms shows the characteristics of a Gentile Church. The journey of the Church is recorded in the Book of Acts. What happens to us today is something wonderful.
The rose of Sharon points to the blood of Jesus. We do not refer to the biological but to the prophetic.
The apple tree shows the food of the Church. The faithful Church feeds differently, because it is a living body, the body of Christ, for it has the evidence of the presence of Jesus. The Church does not feed on reason, but on the living word that the Spirit reveals.
The gazelle shows the Bridegroom’s haste in relation to this moment. Why? Because the Holy Spirit has revealed this (brief) moment to His Church. The faithful and true Church discerns through the Word, through the Holy Spirit, the moment it lives. The prophecy, at this moment, is that everything is happening very quickly.
May the Lord bless us.
Pr. Gedelti Victalino Teixeira Gueiros President of the Maranata Christian Church
Click here or scan the QR Code below to watch the entire sunday bible school session.
BIBLICAL INSTITUTE MARANATA CHRISTIAN CHURCH 4 • MCC BULLETIN | MAY 05, 2024