But I can see her face as she comes up the aisle.
Oh, it's a beautiful sight. And then as they
say their vows to each other and look deeply
into each other's eyes. And then as they are
announced as husband and wife and then introduced
to the congregation, I tell you there's just
electricity in the air on occasions like that.
Marriages are a lot of fun. Tonight we're going
to talk about the wedding of all weddings. The
most exciting marriage imaginable is suggested
to us in the Word of God in the book of Revelation,
the 19th chapter. It is the marriage of the Lamb
of God to His bride. In the 19th chapter of Revelation
you have the only occasions in the New Testament
when the word hallelujah is used. It's common
in the Old Testament, of course, especially in
the Psalms. It is a Hebrew word that means praise
Jehovah, praise the Lord. Here in Revelation
19, we have four hallelujah choruses. I think
most of us enjoy that hallelujah chorus from
Handel's Messiah. There are other hallelujah
choruses that have been written. A stirring arrangement
of some of the words from our text tonight found
in Handel's work. Notice in verses 1 and 2, the
first one, hallelujah, salvation and glory and
power belong to our God. because his judgments
are true and righteous for he has judged the
great harlot who was corrupting the earth with
her immorality and he has avenged the blood of
his bond servants on her. The great harlot is
described to us in the two previous chapters
called Babylon the Great. It is the combination
of the religious ecumenical movement and the
commercial world of that time called Babylon.
And Babylon is destroyed by the Lord and that
causes a great hallelujah chorus to go up from
the tribulation saints, apparently, because it
says that this was the voice of a great multitude
in heaven. That is probably the same great multitude
as mentioned in chapter 7 and verse 9. Those
are the tribulation saints in particular. Again,
in verse 3 they speak, they say, hallelujah,
her smoke rises up forever and ever. That is
the smoke of the destruction of Babylon. And
then in verse 4 there is another identity, another
group of people who say hallelujah, another chorus
of this. The four and twenty elders and the four
living creatures fell down and worshipped God
who sits on the throne saying, Amen, hallelujah.
Now in the book of the Revelation, there is some
question as to who the twenty -four elders are,
but the best explanation that I know of is that
the twenty -four elders symbolically represent
the church of Jesus Christ, the redeemed in this
age. And they are joined by the four living creatures,
which are described earlier in this book, in
chapter four. These four creatures are before
the throne of God, and they then give the word
hallelujah. And then in verse six, John says,
I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude.
It has the sound of many waters and has the sound
of mighty peals of thunder. Now just let your
mind dwell on that for a little bit and think
of what John is trying to describe here. He says
it sounds like Niagara Falls. Have you ever been
there and heard the roar of the multiplied millions
of gallons of water that go into the gorge of
Niagara Falls every second? He says this was
the sound of many waters and he says also the
sound of mighty peals of thunder. Have you ever
been asleep at night when the lightning hit right
outside your house and bam, just like that it
was there and it startled you awake? Well he
says like the peal of thunder, the mighty peal
of thunder, these voices spoke and they say hallelujah
for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let
us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to
him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and
his bride has made herself ready. And it was
given to her to clothe herself in fine linen,
bright and clean. For the fine linen is the righteous
acts of the saints. Blessed are those who are
invited to the married supper of the Lamb. And
he said to me, these are true words of God. Would
you bow with me, please, in prayer? Father, I
ask that in the minutes that we examine this
text tonight, our hearts may be thrilled with
that time that is coming in the future, when
those of us who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ
are united in eternal marriage to Him, the Lamb
of God. Thrill our hearts with the thought of
that day, and I pray that you will also give
us determination that we may live now so that
we will be appropriately dressed on that occasion.
In Jesus' name, amen. There were several steps
in the procedure of marriage in the Orient in
the ancient days. The first one involved the
selection of the bride. That was not customarily
done by the bridegroom, but rather by the father
of the groom. And even when the son was small,
young in age, even a child, It was normal for
the father to arrange marriage with another father,
that father having a daughter who would be eligible
at the same time that his son was at the age
of marriage. So there was the selection of the
bride. That then was followed by the payment
of a dowry to the bride's parents. Frankly, I'm
glad that these first two procedures have fallen
out of custom in our day. But at that time the
father of the groom was required to pay a price,
a purchase price for the bride -to -be because
she became in their society the property of the
groom. The payment of that dowry was the legal
consummation of this marital deal. There came
then later the espousal. which was the legal
declaration of intent to follow through on this.
In fact, at the moment of espousal, that young
lady was considered to be the wife of that young
man, although there was a waiting period before
the actual consummation of their marriage, for
at least a year, as a matter of fact. somewhat
similar to our engagement, except perhaps a little
more legally binding in that culture. And then
there came the day of the marriage itself when
the bridegroom would pick up the prepared bride
at her home. There would be some kind of a ceremony
involved there, but the major ceremony occurred
back at the groom's home. So he would then return
with the bride to his home for the major part
of the wedding ceremony. That was then followed
by a feast at which the bride was officially
presented to the groom's friends. It was not
uncommon for these feasts to go on for several
days' duration. One of the grandest most spectacular
days in the future, as we think about the end
of this age and beyond, will be the marriage
and the marriage supper of the Lamb of God. Let's
think for just a moment about those characters
who are involved in this particular wedding that
is forthcoming. In the first place, there is,
of course, the bridegroom, who is said to be
the Lamb. Now in the context of the book of Revelation
there is no question, but that the Lamb refers
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb slain
as it were before the foundation of the world.
He is the one who is being married. He is called,
in fact, with names similar to bridegroom in
John 3, 29, Ephesians 5, 25, and in several other
places. Our Lord is called the one who is the
bridegroom. He himself used this term of himself
in Matthew 9, 15, Matthew 22, verses 1 through
13, Matthew 25, verses 1 through 10. He is the
bridegroom who is going to be married. But of
course if you have a bridegroom, you have to
have a bride. And so we come to the question,
who is the bride? The figure of the bride or
the wife is used in the Old Testament of the
people of Israel. In the book of Hosea as well
as in the book of Jeremiah, the people of Israel
are called the wife of Jehovah. But there the
language indicates that the marriage has already
taken place. The marriage between Jehovah and
the people of Israel took place at Mount Sinai.
That was the bringing into union by covenant
of these people with the Lord their God and There
were certain agreements made on the part of both
on that occasion in the covenants that related
God and his people Israel Tragically the people
of Israel became spiritually adulterous and turned
away from her husband to serve false gods and
she prostituted herself. The book of Hosea is
written after that whole symbolic act, as a matter
of fact. When we come to this particular wedding
in Revelation 19, we are not talking about Israel,
the Jewish people being married to Jehovah, but
rather we are talking about a people that have
been chosen and selected by God the Father, for
union with His Son the Lamb. And of course we
are talking about the Church of Jesus Christ
which is called in the New Testament His Body,
the mystery or the musterion in this age, the
people that are being called out in this age,
those who are being taken out for His name's
sake, Acts 15 and verse 14. The Church of the
Lord Jesus Christ is never pictured as an adulterous
bride, but she is always pictured as a virtuous
bride who is in the process of being cleansed
and prepared for that day when she will be united
with her loved one. And so as we think about
the characters who are involved here, keep in
mind that we're talking about the marriage of
the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, to his New Testament
people the Church, that is, those of us tonight
who are sitting here who are saved and born again
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice
that the bride who is mentioned here is said
to have made herself ready, and it says it was
given to her to clothe herself in fine linen.
So let's think about not just the characters
involved, but the clothing that is worn on this
occasion. It is said that she has clothed herself
in fine linen, which is said to be bright and
clean. And then John does not leave us to guess
as to what the fine linen represents. He says
it is the righteous acts of the saints. Some
translations put it the righteousness of the
saints. It is important to keep in mind that
we are called righteous, or the term righteousness
is referred to us in two respects. There is in
the first place what the Bible calls imputed
righteousness. When you and I trust the Lord
Jesus Christ, we are justified by grace through
faith. The word justified means we are declared
righteous in the eyes of God legally. At that
moment of our conversion, the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ is given to us perfectly.
It is imputed to us. It is put to our account,
as it were. All of our sin is removed. The account
is brought up to zero. And then we are given
the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. It
is ours forever. We are righteous in the eyes
of God. in our position and perfectly so and
will be forever. Nothing can change that. That
is the imputed righteousness. But there is another
kind of righteousness that is spoken about in
relation to us which is mentioned here. That
is the righteous acts of the saints. Not those
acts that some think will gain them heaven. Any
righteousness that we do that we think will gain
us heaven is but filthy rags," says Isaiah. It
is unworthy. These are not righteous acts that
people do to try to merit salvation, but rather
these righteous acts symbolized by the fine linen
are those righteous acts, those good works done
by the saints. That is, those who have been saved
serve the Lord, and as we serve the Lord, righteous
acts take place. Some may be well -known, some
not known at all. God knows them all. And it
is said that on that day that which will clothe
us is the righteous acts which we have done here
in this world. The notice that it says the bride
has made herself ready. You and I, by our faithful
service of Jesus Christ, by our good works and
deeds, by our righteous acts, are making ourselves
ready for this day. Now lest we think that somehow
that is to our credit, notice that it also says,
it was given to her to clothe herself this way.
In other words, it's passive in this sense. It
was something given to us, a privilege granted
us, and so it is the work of the Holy Spirit
in us. that motivates us to live that way. But
the point is that as we are motivated by the
Spirit of God and we do righteous acts, that
is preparing us for that day when we will stand
before and with our Lord to be united to Him
in marriage. That is why The Apostle Paul's words
in 1 Corinthians 15 are so significant. Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord. Because
you know that your labor is not in vain in the
Lord. It never is. Because as we serve the Lord,
in small deeds or large deeds, as we serve Him
faithfully with good motives in our hearts, then
that is preparing us for that day, and we will
be clothed properly. The last time we talked
about this theme of the end of the age, we looked
at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. When will
this marriage take place? Well, it seems that
it will be after the judgment seat of Jesus Christ.
For at that judgment seat, you remember, Our
deeds are brought before the Lord and examined
and purified. And in the language of Paul's figure
in 1 Corinthians 3, that which is worthy is left
behind as it were as gold and silver and precious
stones. That which is left behind at the judgment
seat of Jesus Christ, which has passed his scrutiny
and examination, those works of our lives that
make it at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ
will be what clothes us in fine linen on that
day as we are united with our Lord. And so our
service for Jesus Christ means something, folks.
I think all of us want to be properly attired
on that day. And the language here would surely
suggest that what we do now affects how we are
attired on that day. when we stand with Him.
And then let's think about the calendar that's
used here as these events fall out to us. In
the first place, we talked about the selection
of the bride as being the prerogative of the
father. That brings to mind, does it not, those
marvelous verses in the New Testament? In 1 Thessalonians,
in Ephesians, and other places. which remind
us that God the Father has chosen us in Jesus
Christ before the foundation of the world, that
we might belong to the Lord. He has selected
the bride for his son. And then a purchase price
was paid. That purchase price being the shed
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. As it were, that
dowry was put down to guarantee that this union
would one day be consummated. You and I who were
chosen by the Lord were redeemed by the blood
of the Lamb who again before the foundation of
the world was appointed to be our sin bearer.
And so the very Lamb to whom we will be married
is the one who 2 ,000 years ago poured out his
life for us. We've sung tonight about the love
of our Savior for us. Jesus loves me. This I
know, for the Bible tells me so. The Bible tells
us of the way our Lord has loved us. As the Savior
of the body, He has given Himself for His bride
to purchase us, to make us His own. And then
there is the espousal period. That time when
the invitation, in terms of Christ and the Church,
the invitation is extended to sinners to respond
to the gospel. In this age in which we live,
there is an invitation of grace that is to all
men, to whomever will receive the Lord Jesus
Christ, to respond in faith and trust Him. And
at that moment that we trust Him as Savior, we
are espoused to Him. Just look quickly back to
Paul's language in 2 Corinthians 11. He is writing
to the Corinthian church, but he says here in
verse 2, I am jealous for you, he says to these
Corinthian believers, I am jealous for you with
a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you, or I espoused
you. to one husband, that to Christ I may present
you as a pure virgin." Now Paul is using strong
language here and he is suggesting that because
of their dabbling in some other things that they
are running the risk of becoming impure. And
he says, I remind you that when I preach to you
the gospel, when you responded to that invitation
of grace, At that moment I betrothed you to one
husband, that I may present you to Jesus Christ
as a pure virgin." And so he exhorts them to
faithfulness to the Lord to whom they have been
espoused. You and I who have trusted Christ are
at that point now. We have been espoused to our
Savior. And so as time flows, This ceremony,
which John beholds in this prophetic view, is
yet to be fulfilled. When is it going to happen?
Well, as you study the scriptures, it seems that
the marriage of the church to Jesus Christ will
occur sometime after the Bema seat judgment,
the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, and before
His second coming to the earth. We have talked
about His coming to catch His bride away, and
that is another picture that we can draw parallel
with in the procedure for marriage in the ancient
Orient. Our Lord one day is going to come from
His house to the house of the bride, this earth.
And He is going to call us out to meet Him in
the air. And then He is going to take us back
to His home. John 14 2. He tells us that he is
going to come and receive us to himself and take
us to that place he has prepared for us. Now
this wedding seems to be occurring in the future
at that point when we come to the Father's house.
The judgment seat will have passed at some point
between here, the rapture, and there when we
arrive at the Father's house. The wedding will
take place in heaven and will be witnessed by
the angels of God and by the saints of the Lord
from the Old Testament era and from the tribulation
period because you see they will be slain, those
who will be in heaven at that time, will have
been slain after the rapture. They will not be
a part of the church, though they will be redeemed
as a people of God. They will not be a part of
the bride, the Church of Jesus Christ. And they
are those who are invited to come and to observe.
They will be a part of that glorious scene. And
then, although the ceremony itself is not described
for us here, he does go on to write about the
married supper or feast that follows that ceremony.
It seems in the falling out of these events that
following that grand celestial marriage of the
Church to Jesus Christ, at some point then, he
and we with him will return from heaven. In the
meantime upon the earth about seven years have
transpired. You don't talk about years in heaven
because eternity is there. There is a procession
of events, but not a transpiration of time. That's
difficult for us to conceive of. But after the
judgment seat and after then the wedding, we
will come back to earth and seven years approximately
will have passed. And we will return with our
Lord in His second coming to the earth. And we
will talk about what happens when he comes back
on another occasion. But following his coming
to the earth, we will begin to celebrate with
him this great feast. Some Bible scholars say
that in fact the millennial reign of Jesus Christ,
that thousand -year period described in Revelation
chapter 20, which we take to be as literal as
one can, that that thousand -year reign of Jesus
Christ actually the whole thing is the marriage
feast. Others say, no, it's just at the beginning
of the thousand -year reign. But whichever way
you take it, the point is that the marriage supper
of the Lamb does not take place in heaven. The
wedding is there. But we come back here to celebrate
that wedding. And there is a great supper, a
feast. And he says, blessed are those who are
invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That
would seem to refer to those tribulation saints
who are still living and who will enter into
the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They will share, of course, in that millennial
reign of Christ. That is, by the way, the fulfillment
of God's promises to Abraham and to David. It
is the fulfillment of His promise to Israel that
through that Jewish people redeemed, He will
reign over the nations of the world. But that
millennial reign also, it would seem, is the
celebration of the Lamb's marriage, eternal marriage,
to his bride. Now the place that's been prepared
for the bride is described in Revelation chapters
21 and 22. It is called the New Jerusalem. It
is closely identified there with the bride, the
Lamb's wife, it is called. Folks, you and I have
a lot to look forward to, we who know Jesus Christ.
Our Lord is working in our lives now to cleanse
us and prepare us for that day. Through our reading
and our study of the Word of God, through hearing
it, through our obedience to it, we are being
washed by the Word, cleansed by the Word. We
are being prepared by the sanctifying grace of
the Holy Spirit. so that one day we may stand
with our Lord and be united to Him in marriage
and then reign with Him forever over His eternal
kingdom. You and I have a beautiful place that
is prepared for us, this new Jerusalem so beautifully,
marvelously described in the final two chapters
of the Bible, a literal place, a real place,
which we sometimes identify as heaven. but which
more specifically is the new Jerusalem that comes
down from God out of heaven. A place that will
be our eternal habitation and headquarters. Not
that we're going to be limited to that place
forever. I believe that God is going to give
us the privilege of exploring the whole new heavens
and earth that He's going to create in the new
creation. But that new Jerusalem, that's home.
That's the place where we're going to live with
Jesus as his wife, as his people united to him
forever and forever. And I hope that that is
the destiny of everyone listening tonight. The
last chapters of the book of Revelation clearly
tell of the other destiny. That is the destiny
of those whose names are not written in the Lamb's
book of life, those who are lost. It is the eternal
lake of fire that burns forever and forever and
forever and forever. A place of suffering. A
place of punishment for sins. How wonderful that
our Savior so loved us that He gave us life and
paid the price of our sins that we might be saved
from that destiny and given this glorious destiny.
to be his bride. Someone has written, and in
that holy company may you and I find place through
worth of him who died for us and through his
glorious grace, with cherubim and seraphim and
hosts of ransomed men to sing our praises to
the Lamb and add our glad amen. What a glorious
and heavenly prospect and future. God has given
to us who have received His Son. Let's pray together.
I'm aware that there may be some friend here
tonight who has come to our church for some time,
or perhaps this is your very first time as our
guest, and you do not have assurance of your
own eternal destiny being heaven. You have not
received Jesus Christ as your Savior. I wonder
if, before we close the service, by the uplifted
hand you would simply acknowledge, Pastor, I
do not have the hope of heaven. I have not yet
trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, but I wish you
would pray for me in closing, because I am giving
thought to that. My heart is troubled. as I ponder
my future. Please pray for me as we close the
service. Would you lift your hand and then put
it down? I am not going to come back and get
you or embarrass you, but I would like to be
able to pray for you and to know in my own mind
for whom I am praying. Is there one here tonight?
Father, I bless you, I praise you from the depths
of my heart for that glorious day that we have
seen in your Word, how we wish that even now
we might have more understanding of those events.
Oh, if John had been led by the Spirit to write
more than he was, but we understand were that
so, perhaps we could not wait. The anticipation
would be so great. But from what we do know,
we understand that our lives now matter. And
so this week, may we keep that in mind and understand
that we are preparing our heavenly dress for
that day. Oh, may each one of us who knows Christ
beyond that day clothed beautifully in the fine
linen which has been described in the text. And
Father, I pray that you will make us a faithful
people to be sharing the gospel with others so
that the bride can be completed. For you still
have people in the world who are to be a part
of the bride who need to be presented with the
gospel that they may respond and be saved. And
we pray that you will lead us this week to men
and women, boys and girls, whose hearts are being
prepared by the Spirit. for the planting of the
seed and then make us good and faithful seed
planters. Lord, we pray for the completion of
the Church, for the consummation of this age,
and for the fulfillment of all of your holy and
eternal purpose for the redeemed. In Jesus' name,
amen. In closing, I'd like for us to turn in
our hymnals to 480 and sing together a verse
or two from the sands of time are sinking. This
is an older hymn, maybe new to some of you. The
words are very beautiful. The sands of time are
sinking. The dawn of heaven breaks. The summer
morn I've sighed for. The fair sweet morn awakes.
Dark, dark has been the midnight, but day spring
is at hand. and glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's
land. Let's sing together that second verse.
Would you stand with me as we sing, 480.