(Revelation 19:1-10)…..After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” 3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
Since the foundation of the world God has been working to bring man into fellowship with Him. It could be said that real fellowship with God was accomplished when Jesus died on the cross and opened that door of fellowship with Him. By the grace of God all those who place faith in Jesus are saved and brought unto Him! This is the moment when the Lamb of God takes His Bride unto Himself! Notice, at this wedding the groom, not the bride, is the center of attention! Hebrew weddings consisted of three parts
- Betrothal – Often when the children were young (engagement) – the Church has been betrothed to Christ – (John 6:44) (Ephesians 1:4) (1 Thessalonians 1:3-4) (Hebrews 13:20) (1 Peter 1:2)
- Presentation – this included the festivities where the father presents the bride to the son – the Church will be presented to Christ at the rapture – (John 14:1-3) (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
- Ceremony – exchanging of vows – the supper will signify the end of the ceremony
Now notice, His wife hath made herself ready (v.7). Typically, brides of this time prepared their own wedding garments. It was the bride’s responsibility to get herself ready for the wedding! You and I need to understand that we are to prepare ourselves for that day that is coming as well! Notice, (v.8) says that the Bride of Christ will be clothed in white linen and that this linen is the righteousness of the saints. There are three kinds of righteousness that a person can have.
- Personal Righteousness – this is the righteousness you can produce all by yourself. It is evil and no good at all can come from it (Romans 3:10-15) (Isaiah 64:6). In our own righteousness, we are literally dressed in rags before the Lord
- Provided Righteousness – this is the righteousness we are given when we trust the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior (2 Corinthians 5:21) (Romans 3:21-22). We have been provided with a spotless inner garment of righteousness!
- Practical Righteousness – this is the righteousness we live out each day we are in this world as believers. How we conduct ourselves, how well we submit to authority, how we use the opportunities, the gifts, the responsibilities and privileges we are given as children of God (Matthew 22:1-12) (Ephesians 4;17-24) (Colossians 3:1-11) (Colossians 3:12-17).
Which garment are you preparing to wear?