Wedding Preparations

⁶ Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder:

“Praise the Lord!
    For the Lord our God,^[b] the Almighty, reigns.
⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice,
    and let us give honor to him.
For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb,
    and his bride has prepared herself.
⁸ She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.”
    For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.

⁹ And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”~ Revelation 19

There is a bit on (one of my favourite films)  Muppet's Christmas Carol, just before the ghost of Christmast future meets Scrooge, where the Narrators excuse themselves because this bit is too scary. (if only we could do that in real life). They then reappear foe the happy and touching finale.

Well folks,  having skipped the last three chapters we have done something similar here.  From now on it's pretty much all good.

The Bride

Now the bride in Revelation,  which of course is the church,  the prize for which Christ laid down his life,  is presented as someone who has made herself ready.

There is so much to say about this but I don't have the time to go into too much detail. But she,  the bride at the wedding of the Lamb,  will not be an apathetic,  disinterested bride.  This is not an arranged marriage where the bride comes with either indifference and resignation,  or in defiant reluctance.

This is a bride who wants to look good for her beloved fiance.

I was not party to the preparations of the bride at my own wedding,  but I know I took about half an hour. Including the shopping for a suit and a haircut about a week before the day,  my preparation time probably totalled to about 3.5 hours. Its my understanding that this for a man is not untypical. 

Not so for my bride. 

Weeks and months of planning,  not just of her own attire but of the whole event  in excruciating detail,  dress fittings and refittings and hair and makeup... I am clueless as to the final tally of hours but...

You get the picture. 

And when a bride prepares herself,  yes for those invited guests,  to an extent,  but when she walks down the aisle, her eyes are for her husband,  and what she really wants,  what she really,  really wants,  is that Wow moment when the groom sees her for the first time in her dress looking like a million pounds. 

And his heart just stops for a beat,  and his jaw hits the floor. 

That,  I believe,  is the desired effect. 

But none of that happens by accident.

That moment has been planned, in the case of some girls,  from the time they were children. 

Yes. I don't think anyone is more prepared for something than a bride. 

And here,  at the end of the ages,  the bride is shown as someone who has made herself ready. 

Jesus isn't coming back for a bride who slept in. 

The church will be in a glorious state of readiness. 

As the church,  and as members of the church,  we too must be readying ourselves for the bridegroom at his coming. 

I do believe personally that the church is crying out for a revival.  I can't speak with authority on the world wide state of the bride,  but the church in my experience, and in the West, could definitely do with a bit of heating up. 

Are we ready. Or have we slept in? 

Wake up, oh sleeper,  rise from the dead,  and the christ will shine on you. 

Lord make us ready adorning ourselves with good deeds and acts of kindness,  as a bride adorns herself for her wedding. Jesus,  it's you that our hearts adore  and all this we do now is so that we can see that look on your face.

We so look forward to that day,  and we long for you, 

This day, 

And all days, 

Amen.