Revelation 19:7

Revelation 19:7

In Revelation 19:7-9 the Bible says, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God." At the beginning of these Bible verses John is telling us to do three things. We are told to be glad and to rejoice and to give God honor. To be glad means to be happy and to be cheerful. The emphasis is on your attitude and your mood. To rejoice means to shout for joy and to exult. The emphasis is on the content of the words that you use as an expression of your joy. You do not understand Christianity if you are sad or depressed all the time. It might just be that you are not thinking about the right things. If you think the right thoughts about that which is to come, then you will be glad and you will rejoice, and your speech will reflect what you are thinking about. Of course, all of this joy and happiness will not be because of you and it will not come from you. It will be because of Jesus and therefore you will honor Him for the plans that He has made for the future and the place that He has given you in those plans. To be happy as a Christian, you must be able to think about what is coming in the future.

One of the things that God has planned for the future is what this passage of scripture calls the "marriage of the Lamb." This will be the time when the believers will be united with Christ as they have never been before. Jesus will be the groom and the church, which is made up of all believers, will be the bride. It is easy to see why God chose a marriage to be symbolic of our eventual union with Christ. A marriage between a man and a woman is supposed to be the closest of all human relationships. If you were wise when you got married and blessed of God, then your spouse was also your best friend. Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

The final and ultimate joining of believers with Christ is compared to a marriage. That means that our current circumstance of waiting for His appearing is similar to an engagement. We are betrothed to Christ, and we are promised to Him. When someone is engaged to be married; they already have a close and meaningful relationship with their future spouse but they look forward to the wedding day with great anticipation. The same should be true concerning believers in Jesus. If you come to know the love of God through Christ, then you have come to know something that can touch your soul as nothing else in life can do. Bernard of Clairvaux said, "The love of Jesus, what it is, none but His loved ones know." You can cross every ocean, explore every continent, and visit every temple that has ever been built by the hand of man, but you will never find spiritual fulfillment until you find it in the person of Jesus Christ. There is the greatness of the love of God through Christ, and there is the possibility of experiencing that love and having it transform your life; but there will always be more to know and more to experience about Him and His love; and the greatest fulfillment of your union with Christ will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation in what the Bible calls "the marriage of the Lamb." One of the benefits of being a Christian is the future that we have of being closer to God than we can ever imagine. No wonder that we are told to "be glad, and rejoice, and give honor to him."

If you have been born-again, if you have been saved from your sins, and if you are a true believer in Jesus; then you are a part of the bride of Christ. The last portion of Revelation 19:7 through Revelation 19:8 describes the bride of Christ. It says, "…his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." The bride of Christ is shown preparing herself for the wedding. That is what brides do. They look forward to the wedding ceremony. They plan for it. They prepare for it. Are you planning and preparing for your meeting with Christ and your union with Him that will last forever? Jesus thought that it was important that we plan and prepare for that initial meeting with Him. In Matthew 24:44-47 Jesus said, "Therefore, be you also ready, for in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man is coming. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods."

There is a preparation that every believer should be making in their own lives in order to get ready for the time when they become united forever with Christ, when they see Him face to face for the first time and are united with Him in heaven. There is also a preparation that God has done and is doing so that some of us can be there. No one will be there because of his own righteousness, but righteousness will be required. A holy God must have holy people to be with Him. Therein is our problem, but therein is also the grace of God. Jesus gives His believers righteousness as a free gift so that we will be properly attired. It is the custom for a bride to wear a white dress. The white dress is symbolic of her purity and of the fact that she is worthy to be presented to the groom. The bride of Christ will be dressed in white, and we are told in Revelation 19:8 that the "fine linen is the righteousness of saints." The righteousness of God is given as a free gift to the believers, because it is their only hope of being there dressed in purity and white. No one will be in heaven because they deserved to be there, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Because all have sinned, the only ones who will be allowed into heaven are the ones who have been given the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:9 also talks about the marriage of the Lamb. It says, "And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God." As a part of the marriage celebration there will also be a marriage supper. When we are united with Christ to begin our eternity with Him in heaven, God will prepare a great celebration and one part of that celebration will be a supper. It is very fitting that we will begin our eternity with Christ in such a way. Just before He left this earth by way of the cross, He sat down with His disciples at the Last Supper.

Notice how anyone becomes a part of this great celebration, and therefore becomes a member of the Kingdom of God. Revelation 19:9 says, "Blessed are they which are called…" God is in the business of calling people and inviting people to join Him through Christ. "Many are called, but few are chosen." When God calls you, He touches your heart and wakes you up to your need of a Savior. He invites you to come and to be forgiven so that even "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." One day the marriage supper of the Lamb will come. Today we live in the age when the invitations are being sent to all who will. God uses His believers to help send the invitations. Jesus said in Luke 14:23, "And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." God is inviting you to come to Him through Christ. Surely you will take His invitation. The choice is yours. You can ignore His invitation, or you can accept it. If you respond positively to God’s calling to come to Jesus, then you will be one of the "blessed" who are "called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

These Bible verses have been talking about salvation in the symbolism of a marriage and a marriage supper. Unity with Jesus Christ gives salvation. You cannot be saved from your sins through a religion or a church. You cannot be saved from your sins through your own good works. You cannot be saved through water baptism. You can only be saved through the proper spiritual connection with Christ. That is being born again. If you are united with Jesus Christ in a close and personal relationship that is similar to marriage, then you have salvation. It is just like Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me." Jesus also said in John 4:14, "But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

In the Book of Revelation, we have heard about the appearing of Christ that will come. We have heard about the reign of the antichrist and his destruction and the judgment that will come upon the earth during the Great Tribulation. We have heard and we will hear more about the eventual bliss and happiness that awaits the believers in Jesus. At the end of Revelation 19:9 we are reminded of the truthfulness and the reliability of these teachings. It says, "These are the true sayings of God." Of course, this can be said of any part of the Bible. The Bible is the most important book in the world because it is the truth from God. The Bible is God’s Word. It makes sense that God would give us a written Word. That is why the Apostle John is told at the start of Revelation 19:9, "Write." Because we have a written Word, we go reliably time after time to the source and find the authority and the foundation for the things God wants us to know. If God had only given us a spoken word, it would have changed over time as it was passed from one person to another. But with a written Word, it is written down once and, as was the case with John and the Book of Revelation, it is then available to all following generations. The Bible is the most important book in the world because it is the truth and because it came from God. You can rely upon the Bible because "they are the true sayings from God."

A messenger had come to John from God to reveal these things to him. John was so impressed by what he saw and heard about the end time and the judgment and the things to come that he fell down at the feet of this messenger. The Bible says in Revelation 19:10, "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See you do it not: for I am your fellow-servant, and of your brothers that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Several times in the Bible there are situations where a human fell at the feet of another human to worship them, but each time they are told that only God should be worshipped. This is actually one of the many evidences of the divinity of Christ. When Thomas fell at the feet of Jesus and worshipped Him and said, "My Lord and my God," Thomas was not rebuked. His worship of Jesus was accepted.

The Apostle John was told that this messenger was a fellow-servant. Those who believe in Jesus have many things in common, and one of those things is the fact that we serve the same Master. We all have an equal status and position. There is no real hierarchy among sinners who are saved by grace. We are also members of the same family. Revelation 19:10 calls John a fellow-servant, and it also calls him a brother, which again emphasizes the equality of believers. If you are a servant of God, and if you are a member of the family of God, then you will have another thing that is mentioned in Revelation 19:10. You will have the "testimony of Jesus." One of the most important ways of serving God in this world is to open your mouth and to tell others what Jesus has done for you. The testimony of Jesus is a testimony that comes from Jesus. He puts this testimony into the mind and the heart and the soul of those who are saved. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." Declare the works of Jesus that you have experienced. If you have experienced salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have a testimony. If you are going to serve God in this world, then one of the things that He wants you to do is to find ways to give that testimony about Christ to a lost and dying world.

We are told an important detail about the testimony of Jesus at the end of Revelation 19:10. It says, "for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." The central meaning to the word prophecy is to speak forth the truth. Sometimes the truth has to do with future events, but it does not have to in order to qualify as prophecy. The emphasis in this word is on the speaking forth and the making public of the truth about God and the truth from God. If you have been touched by the testimony of Jesus, then you will also be touched to make the testimony public.

Notice that it is called "the spirit of prophecy." Do not underestimate the importance of the Spirit in making known the truth from God. You cannot do this work in your own strength. The sound of your voice, the strength of your personality, and the reputation of your name cannot do this work. It is not a question of formal education or degrees or titles that they put before your name. The law of the Spirit requires that we be led by the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit. Jesus said, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth." It is also true that they that serve God can only do so by the Spirit. The flesh profits nothing. The will of man cannot perform the work of God.

"The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." Notice that it is the testimony of Jesus. There is salvation in no other name. Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself." If you are going to speak forth the testimony of Jesus then you must speak about Jesus. Some people make the mistake of speaking too much about their church or their religious organization or some church leader that they admire. The Bible says that "the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophesy." If you are going to speak forth the truth about God, then you must speak about Jesus. If you are going to be saved, you must believe in Jesus and pray to Him for the forgiveness of your sins.

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