Scripture Reading: Rev. 19:7-9
Ⅰ
Revelation 19:7-9 unveils that the Lord Jesus is the Lamb as the Bridegroom:
A
In the Gospel of John, Christ is revealed both as the Lamb who came to take away sin and as the Bridegroom who came that He might have the bride—1:29; 3:29:
１
The Lamb is for redemption, and the Bridegroom is for the wedding.
２
Christ's goal is not to remove sin—it is to have the bride—Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-11.
B
In the book of Revelation we see again that Christ our Redeemer is the Lamb and the coming Bridegroom; as the Bridegroom, He must have a wedding—5:6; 14:4; 19:7, 9.
C
We are on the earth being prepared to become the bride to meet the Lord, and He is on the throne in the third heaven prepared to come as the Bridegroom; thus, He is coming as the Bridegroom, and we are going as the bride—Matt. 25:1.
Ⅱ
According to Revelation 19:8-9, the wife, the bride of Christ, consists of the overcoming believers during the millennium:
A
The wife of the Lamb in Revelation 19 is the aggregate of the overcoming saints; 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:
１
The readiness of the bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers—Col. 1:28; Eph. 4:13.
２
The overcomers are not only mature in life but are also built together as one corporate bride—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22; 4:16:
ａ
Christ will marry His corporate bride composed of His overcoming believers.
ｂ
When we have been fully saturated with the Triune God so that He flows out of us, we will be built and fitted together to become the glorious church, the beloved bride of the Lord Jesus—3:16-17a; 5:27.
B
Only the church as the golden lampstand can be the bride of Christ—Rev. 1:20:
１
This indicates that we need to live out the life of Christ—John 6:57b.
２
If we live Christ, what we live out is God, who is the Spirit, signified by the pure gold that shines forth the light, and in this way we will become the bride of Christ who satisfies His desire—Phil. 1:20-21a.
Ⅲ
The reign of God, the kingdom, is related to the marriage of the Lamb, and the marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God's New Testament economy—Rev. 19:6-9; Matt. 22:2; 26:29:
A
God's economy in the New Testament is that Christ would obtain the bride, the church, through His redemption and divine life—John 1:29; 3:29; 10:10b; 11:25. ? 2012 Living Stream Ministry
B
The subject of the New Testament is the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—working together to obtain the bride for the Son—Matt. 28:19; 22:2.
C
The wedding will bring in the reign of the Lord, the kingdom, because all the guests invited to the wedding will be both the corporate bride and the co-kings of the Bridegroom— Rev. 19:6-9; 2:26-27; 20:4, 6:
１
Everyone invited to the wedding feast will also participate in the thousand-year reign as kings—19:9; 20:4, 6.
２
Our King will be the Bridegroom; we, His co-kings, will be His bride; and the thousand years will be our wedding feast and honeymoon with our Bridegroom, Christ— Matt. 22:2; 26:29.
Ⅳ
"His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints"—Rev. 19:7b-8:
A
The bride must make herself ready for the Bridegroom—v. 7b:
１
In Matthew 25:1-13 the prudent virgins, who took oil in their vessels—who had the Spirit of God filling and saturating their souls—"were ready," and thus they went in with the Bridegroom "to the wedding feast," into the marriage dinner of the Lamb at His coming back—Rev. 19:9.
２
For the bride to have made herself ready means that the church has been built up— Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22:
ａ
The bride signifies the church in its ultimate state—John 3:29; Rev. 21:2, 9-11.
ｂ
The bride having made herself ready means that the church has grown to maturity and has been built up—Eph. 4:16.
ｃ
To be ready means that God has accomplished His building work in us and that we have grown and matured in the Lord's life—3:16-17a; 4:13.
３
The preparation of the bride is by Christ's redemption, organic salvation, and the intensified work of His organic salvation—John 1:29; Rom. 5:10; Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6.
B
The bride in Revelation 19 is clothed with fine linen, bright and clean—the righteousnesses of the saints—v. 8; 3:4-5, 18:
１
This is Christ growing in us and living out of us—Phil. 1:21a:
ａ
When we live out Christ by letting Him grow in us, He will be our living—Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:17a; Col. 2:19.
ｂ
The only way for Christ to grow in us and live out of us is by our eating and drinking Him all the time—John 6:57b; 4:14; 7:37-39.
２
The righteousnesses of the saints denote Christ as the subjective righteousness that has been constituted into our being; the more this subjective righteousness is wrought into us, the more we are prepared to become the bride—Phil. 3:9; Rev. 19:8.
３
The righteousnesses in Revelation 19:8 also refer to the righteous deeds, the daily walk, the Christian living, which Christ as our life works out through us; this outworking of the inner life is the white linen with which we are clothed—Col. 3:4.
４
We produce such a garment of righteousnesses by walking according to the Spirit of life and by having a living that is a life of the Spirit—Rom. 8:2, 4; Gal. 5:16, 25.
Ⅴ
"Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb"—Rev. 19:9a:
A
Those who constitute the bride of Christ are the guests invited to the wedding feast.
B
The marriage dinner of the Lamb here is the wedding feast in Matthew 22:2; it will be a reward to the overcoming believers.
C
To be invited to attend the wedding feast of Christ, which will usher the overcoming believers into the enjoyment of the millennium, is to be blessed—Rev. 19:9a; 20:4, 6.