Will You Say I Do?

We have been studying about the marriage supper of the Lamb and what the significance is as being the Bride, the church is! What a wonderful idea when you really consider it. A wedding to the most amazing man that will never let you down, will always be there for you and will never ever leave you. He sees the absolute best in you and wants you to have an eternal future with Him in heaven! Who wouldn't want all this?

The Lord has given us boasting rights! The Book of Romans is justification before God, faith that saves.

Romans 15:17 ~ "In Christ Jesus then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God."

The Book of James is justification before man, faith that works.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 ~ "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."

We need to let others judge our lives as Christians based on what they see us doing and saying, to see if that is true in our lives. Jesus says we will be known by our fruits. Are you ready to have your fruit inspected? We shouldn't have to tell others that we're a Christian, they should be able to tell things are different, just by how we act and what we say.

We should be able to share that confidence in our life by what God has called believers to do; build that hospital, school or university; help feed the poor and needy; help on the mission trips. We shouldn't be boasting about ourselves, but about what God is doing. Those are the righteous acts, the ones that point the way to Jesus and glorify Him.

2 Corinthians 5:8-10 ~ "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

Isaiah 61:10 ~ "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

If God is for us, who can be against us? Who cares?

Don't you want to know the true meaning of life? It is the one question we all ask ourselves at some point in our life. Jesus has invited us to know happiness.

Revelation 19:9a ~ "And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!"

To be blessed is true happiness found in Jesus Christ. The invitation to know Christ is global! The Lord is calling out.

Matthew 11:28-30 ~ "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

What will your response be?

Jesus has invited us to celebrate!

Revelation 19:9a ~ " Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!"

Those who are called at not the Bride, the church, no those called are friends of the bridegroom. No one will be unhappy in heaven. When you die as a believer there will be no resting in peace, the celebration the moment you breathe your final breath on earth and take your first breath in heaven, is when the celebration will break forth and you will be alive as you have never been before! Our funerals are almost morbid and somber, while funerals in the deep south for a black brother or sister, is done right! They are breaking into song, worshiping and praising God that their brother or sister is with the Lord!!!

John 3:29 ~ "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete."

Blessed are those who are called (invited) to the marriage supper of the Lamb! These are the believing Tribulation saints who died for their faith in Christ, and the Old Testament saints that died believing in the coming Messiah, and the believing Israel will be there too. A bride is never invited to her own wedding. She is the wedding. Jesus isn't invited to this wedding, because it takes a bridegroom, (Jesus) and a bride (The church) to make a wedding. Everyone else is simply guests of the wedding for all eternity.

Matthew 22:1-14 ~ "And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ' Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be a weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen."

Jesus has invited us to relax.

Revelation 19:9b ~ "And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." 

1 John 1:1-4 ~ "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life - the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was made manifest to us - that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete."

John 1:1-3, 14 ~ "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." 

Psalm 107:20 ~ "He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction."

Aren't these the very promises you would want from your husband or wife fulfilled with absolute certainty?

Don't you want unconditional acceptance?

Revelation 19:10 ~ "Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

John saw his new home!! He was so excited, he fell down in worship. The brethren have this testimony, that Jesus Christ is our future! What can you say about heaven?

John had something to say. The witness of Jesus, specifically the Tribulation believers but limited to them, what is your testimony today?

Heaven is where we will talk about Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit, about what He id and what is happening around us forever. John knew what his future held. To see this entire marriage paraphrased, read Genesis 24. It parallels the story of Abraham, which is the epitome of God, the Father, who is searching for a bride (the Church) for his son, Isaac (Jesus). He find Rebekah for his son and along the way His servant, Eliezer, (Holy Spirit)  gives Rebekah gifts telling her all about Isaac and her future. She is so excited about Isaac that she falls in love with His nature and character without ever having to see him. She can't wait to marry him.

This is what Jesus is doing right now, sitting on a throne at the right hand of the Father, relaxing until the day of His wedding.

Do you take this Lamb, to be your personal sacrifice, to have and to hold, in honor and peace, to accept Him and His love for you? Do you promise to trust Him, to believe in Him, and to be forgiven of all your sins on account of Him?

Will you say I do?

What Type of Gown Will You Be Wearing in Heaven?

As anyone already knows, for a bride, it is all about the dress. Once that decision is made, the rest of the planning goes relatively smoothly. For a bride it is all about looking her very best the day she walks down the aisle to her future husband and her future life in marriage. As we have been studying in the book of Revelation, we are witnessing our future as believers in Christ. We are looking into heaven at this point to a wedding. Our wedding! Aren't you excited?

In order to understand the context of this marriage and the preparation that goes into it, we have to look into the culture of the Middle East. It was all about the preparation from the time a son or daughter is born. Parents knew everything about other parents, their reputation, lineage, how they conducted themselves. They would work out arrangements when the children were little and they would each do their part to ensure that these relationships were groomed from the first time they entered into that agreement. The parents would do all they could to establish, watch over and protect, until the time arrived to present them to one another.

The Bride, we are talking about in Revelation 19, is the church. She has been purchased, she's been saved. We see that the Bride or church is wearing fine linen, and not a robe. Old Testament Saints and Tribulation Saints all wear robes, but the church wears a gown of fine linen. How does she get it, what is the meaning of the gown. She gets herself ready, it means, how does the church make itself attractive for Christ?

How does she get herself ready? Holy living. Having a single focus for Jesus. We give money to what honors Christ. We give our time and energy, everything we do, we present it to God as an act of worship. That should be our attitude before we step inside the church, preparing ourselves for worship at the feet of Almighty God. Those are the righteous acts. It's dedicating anything we do as unto the Lord. A great question to ask yourself is would Jesus enjoy doing what you are doing and going where you go?

Worship, remember has nothing to do with us, or the church. It is not about you, it's all about Jesus. It's living for Him. We are going to heaven, as a believer in Christ, earth is NOT our home.

Nehemiah 8:10 ~ " Then he said to them, Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

1 Peter 1:8 ~ "Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,"

If we focus on Jesus, it is easy to express our joy for Him. God desires for us to be attentive.

Revelation 19:7b ~ "for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready."

Who is getting married? The Lamb. There are over 700 names that refer to Jesus. When He is getting ready to put His name on the wedding invitation, what name does He use? The Lamb! He could use any name but you want to know why? It is because He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Even in the Middle Eastern cultures, they understand the significance of a lamb, it is the Lamb of sacrifice, that is who we want to get married to!

2 Corinthians 11:2 ~ "Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you."

Once a bride belongs to that man, she begins to make herself ready. How does she make herself ready? By being attentive!!! Let us remember earlier in our study, we are looking at the Middle Eastern marriage culture. We have it all wrong her in the West. It is too rushed and often times the bride has slept with previous men and so has the bridegroom before arriving where they are at today.

Matthew 25:1-13 ~ "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, "Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out." But the wise answered, saying, "Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves." And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready, went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, "Lord, lord, open to us." But he answered, "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

This is how Christ will come for the church, when they are ready and waiting while the world is busy with the things of this world, thinking they still have plenty of time. In the Middle Eastern cultures, the parents of both the potential bride and groom spent time watching over and protecting them, until they were ready to be engaged. The parents arranged for all the preparations while they were growing up. This is the reason for the Holy Spirit in our own lives. The son in the marriage would begin making preparations for their future home, just like Jesus has been doing for us.

The church, the true Christian, is making herself ready. She is waiting for Jesus to come back at any time, and she is anticipating that happening at any moment.

Titus 2:13 ~ "waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ."

Do you want to know complete forgiveness?

Revelation 19:8 ~ "it was granted to her to cloth herself with fine linen, bright and pure - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints."

The Lord has given us all that is needed to get into heaven. Wouldn't you want to know that every single one of your sins is forgiven? You can! Notice is stated it was granted to her to cloth herself in fine linen. It means it was granted, bestowed up, graced. She is graced with a gown. In the western world, weddings are very different. The bride spends months or more preparing and buying, organizing and buying, inviting and buying. This gown is given to her, because she already belongs to Him by engagement.

Jesus has given us everything we need to get into heaven. It is fine linen! Remember the Old Testament saints and Tribulation Saints will be wearing robes. The church or the Bride of Christ is the only one in the Bible who wears fine linen. It is a special garment. In the Middle Eastern culture if you wanted to break off your engagement, you had to write a letter of divorcement, even before the wedding actually took place. Remember Joseph's intentions to divorce Mary when he learned she was with child. They weren't even marriage yet. That is how binding this agreement is.

The church was born corporately on the day of Pentecost. What was the day you gave your heart to Christ? That is the day the Holy Spirit entered you and has sealed you until the day of redemption. That was the day you got your engagement ring of promise that was placed on your finger that day.

Jesus is saying in a sense that day, I promise you, I'm going to prepare a place for you, and until that day when I come for you, I will never leave you or forsake you. Isn't that what every husband and wife wants to hear in their own marriages? The great thing is that even if we have been unfaithful to Him, he is never unfaithful to us. He remains that way to us, no matter how far we walk away from Him. We wander away all the time, yet God is greater than our heart. God is not an Indian giver, he never takes His promises back.

The Lord has given us opportunity.

Revelation 19:8 ~ "it was granted to her to cloth herself with fine linen, bright and pure - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints."

Notice that the linen is fine, clean and bright.

Ephesians 5:25-27 ~ "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

This solidifies the way husbands are to see and view their wives, and sets the perfect example of how they should be within the context of a godly marriage. Because this is true, we are making ourselves a gown that is beautiful, made out of right-doing which will honor Jesus Christ on that day.

More tomorrow...

Don't You want to Know What A Real Relationship Is?

The highlight of the Book of Revelation can easily be found in Chapter 19. It is the reason for all the hard work Jesus had to endure to bring you and I to salvation through Christ. Almost every single person alive, knows what a wedding looks like. Perhaps they have been part of one, had one of their own or been an invited guest to one. God puts such an emphasis on our relationship with Him, He refers to it as a wedding. This is the very reason Jesus died on the cross. This is the future if you're a believer. We don't refer to this kind of marriage as a trapping.

In fact the very gown of the bride is the righteous acts of the saints. She (the church) is getting ready to marry her bridegroom (Christ) forever. Jesus is delighted in our salvation, and this is divine heavenly anticipation. This is His reward of His passion.

The anticipation in any wedding is when the couple will say their "I dos!" Most of the time it is the husband who jumps the gun before the pastor can even finish the vows before He says "I do!" The bride on the other hand manages to stay composed during it all. He can hardly wait!

This part of our study is all about the future as a believer and if you are not a believer in Christ, what are you looking forward to in your future?

In verses 6-10, is found the reason why Jesus Christ came to earth and went to the cross. He went to the cross, knowing what was coming, our redemption through His suffering.

Hebrews 12:2 ~ "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Makes you wonder what did Jesus get out of the passion of the Christ...the answer is as awesome as His suffering, and resurrection - it is that He has been given you as a reward! As must as we want to be in heaven with God, He wants us more! Jesus bought the ticket for us to get there.

Revelation 19:6-10 ~ "Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage fo the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure" - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

The setting is heaven and the event is a wedding. Ask yourself if you can say I do to any of these things:

Don't you want to know what a real relationship is? "Will you take this man?"

Everyone of us does! Knowing what a real relationship looks and feels like! God is telling you that He wants you to personally to be there! God desires for us to be glad.

Revelation 19:7a ~ "Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory..." 

To understand the meaning of glad, we go to the Greek meaning of chairo - which means a deep cheerfulness; an overriding sense of contentment of heart; immovable.

John wants us to run to this wedding! Marriage man's way is a wreck, but marriage God's way is a blessing! God always wins in the end, no matter how far you try and run and hide from Him! Weddings are a time to be glad and full of joy! But did you realize that a crowd in both a wedding and a funeral look the same. You can copy and paste them. Why? Because they are all done wrong!

God desires us to be rejoicing!

Revelation 19:7a ~ "Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory..." 

Again let's look at the word in the Greek and we find agalliao, which means to jump for joy, to be exultant, with exceeding great and overwhelming joy; to be fully engulfed. Sound like you at any wedding? How about church?  Why? We are too refined in this culture and generation. We will be Pentecostal in heaven, trust me! We won't be ashamed or held back by anything or what anyone thinks because it will all be for God's glory and honor.


More on that tomorrow!