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The readiness of the corporate bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers—19:7-9; Heb. 6:1; Phil. 3:12-15; Eph. 4:13-15:
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In the New Testament the word perfect is used to refer to the believers’ being full-grown, mature, and perfected in the life of God, indicating that we need to grow and mature unto perfection in the divine life—Matt. 5:48.
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We need to continue to grow until we are matured in the divine life to become a full-grown man, arriving at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ—Eph. 4:13.
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In order for the bride to be mature, her faith and love need to be fully developed—Titus 3:15:
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Faith and love are two inseparable, excellent virtues of the believers in Christ—1 Tim. 1:14; 2 Tim. 1:13; Gal. 5:6.
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Through faith we receive the Lord, and through love we enjoy the Lord whom we have received—John 1:12; 14:21; 21:15-17:
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Faith is given to us by God that by it we may receive Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, and thereby enter into the Triune God and be joined to Him as one, having Him as our life, life supply, and everything—2 Pet. 1:1.
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Love issues out of faith and enables us to live out all the riches of the Triune God with those who have believed into Christ with us in order that the Triune God may have a glorious corporate expression—Eph. 3:19-21.
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In addition to being mature in life, the bride must be built up as a corporate person—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22; 4:15-16; Rev. 19:7; 21:2:
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God’s building is the desire of God’s heart and the goal of God’s salvation—Eph. 1:5, 9; Exo. 25:8; 1:11; 40:2-3, 34-35.
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God intends to have a building in which God and man, man and God, can be a mutual abode to each other—John 15:4a; Rev. 21:2-3, 22.
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The principle of God’s building is that God builds Himself into man and builds man into Himself—John 14:20; 1 John 4:15:
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God’s mingling Himself with man is God’s building Himself into man.
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Man’s mingling with God is man’s being built into God—Eph. 3:17.
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To be built up with fellow believers is the Lord’s supreme and highest requirement of His faithful seekers—4:15-16.
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Being built up with the fellow partakers of the divine life is the highest virtue of one who pursues Christ in God’s eternal economy—1 Tim. 1:4.
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 6:1 Therefore leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, let us be brought on to maturity…Eph. 4:13 Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Rev. 19:7 …His wife has made herself ready.
[In Revelation 19:7] His wife refers to the church (Eph. 5:24-25, 31-32), the bride of Christ (John 3:29). However, according to Revelation 19:8-9, the wife, the bride of Christ, consists only of the overcoming believers during the millennium, whereas the bride in 21:2 is composed of all the saved saints after the millennium for eternity. The wife of the Lamb in Revelation 19 is the aggregate of all the overcoming saints from Abel until the Lord’s return. The aggregate of all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers is the wife in Revelation 19:7 who will be ready for Christ's wedding. The readiness of the bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers. Furthermore, the overcomers are not separate individuals but a corporate bride. For this aspect, building is needed. The overcomers are not only mature in life but also built together as one bride. Christ will not marry each believer individually; instead, He will marry His corporate bride composed of His overcoming believers. When we have been fully saturated with the Triune God so that He flows out of us, we will be completely built and fitted together to become the glorious church, the beloved bride of the Lord Jesus. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4320-4321)
Today's Reading
If we would be qualified to be the Lord's bride, we must grow and pass through many things. Being the bride involves more than being the church. For example, a little girl is not qualified to be a bride. Before she can be a bride, she must grow to maturity. She must also attend school and learn many things. Then a man will choose her for his bride.Different men may have different standards concerning whom they will consider for a wife. For example, someone with a doctoral degree may want a bride with a high education. He would regard anyone with less than a master’s degree as unqualified to be his bride. Likewise, the Spirit has very high requirements for His bride. Will the Spirit take a bride who is immature? Surely, the answer is no. The Lord will not come for His bride until she is mature and fully prepared for Him. Do not think that as long as we are the church, we are qualified to be the bride. This is similar to saying that any female, regardless of age or maturity, is qualified to be married. No, certain requirements must be fulfilled in order for us to be the bride. It is easy for Christians to say that we are all the church. But when the Lord Jesus comes as the Bridegroom, will we be qualified to be His bride? The Lord may tell us at that time that we are not yet qualified, that we need further growth and maturity.
Do you have the assurance that you will be included as part of the bride?… I do not believe that anyone who is merely a Sunday-goer can be part of the Lord's bride. When the time comes for the Lord to take His bride, will you be ready? Will you be qualified and matured?…We all need to grow and mature so that we may be qualified at the Lord's coming to be included as part of His bride. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 191-192)
The bride signifies the church in its ultimate state. According to Matthew 25, when the Lord comes back, those who are ready will sit with Him at the wedding feast. To be ready here means that the bride has made herself ready, that God has completed His building work in man, and that we have grown and matured in the Lord’s life. These three matters—God’s building in us, our growth in the Lord’s life, and our getting ready before the Lord—are all linked together. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4323-4324)
Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 21