Lesson 58
Revelation - Study of Things to Come
The
Return of Christ - Chapter 19
Marriage of the Lamb - Christ & church
Why is the relationship of believers and Christ
expressed as a marriage?
What then is the meaning
conveyed by the Lamb marrying the church?
#1 The
point of commitment is the betrothal;
* So important was the
betrothal that if it was broken off, it necessitated a formal divorce.
#2 Preparation for the wedding; period between the commitment and the
consummation!
#3 Presentation; Bride and groom
brought together; Rapture of the church
#4 Celebration;
wedding feast with guests.
Rev 19:7 last phrase - and his
bride has made herself ready.
Question to ask is How has
the bride, the church, made herself ready for Christ??
1. First by believing in Christ! being born
again. w/o regen no salv. Jn 3
2. By preparation through
spiritual growth during their life on earth.
3. The bride is also made ready by the rapture and
the bema seat.
- 1 Ths
4:13-17 details the rapture;
that gets us there; His doing, His timing.
- Bema seat = the
evaluation of the believers life; (Eph
19:8 The Wedding dress,
fine linen
#1 "And it was given to her
,"
#2
"to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen
is the righteous acts of the saints."
So the
preparation of the bride emphasized here is #1 by salvation! and #2 by obedience to the Word of God;
which results in bright, clean wedding clothes.
2. The Marriage Supper (its participants) 19:9-10
- Who are the blessed here? Those invited to the marriage supper!
The bride and the Groom need no invitation to the
feast.
- Those invited to the
wedding feast are the saints of
Therefore this celebration, this marriage supper
takes place on the earth at the beginning of the Millennial
reign of Christ.
This is not the first, nor will it be the last time
that John does this. 22:8-9;
In this one here and in 22:8-9 he is rebuked for
doing so; but not in
Not only is John reminded that the vision is given
by a fellow servant
but more important is that he reiterates for us the central focus
of all prophecy, Jesus Christ;
The next section brings into focus the center piece,
the main event on the prophetic calendar; The return
of Christ, the Second coming!