Please turn to the Gospel according to John, chapter 3, verse 29.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Please turn also to the Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse 8.
The voice of my beloved! behold, He cometh,
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
The same book, chapter 5, verse 2.
I slept, but my heart waked:
It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying,
Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled;
For my head is filled with dew,
My locks with the drops of the night.
Finally, Matthew chapter 25, verse 6.
But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet Him.
May we look to the Lord in prayer.
Our Heavenly Father, as we continue in Thy presence, we do pray that the light of Thy countenance may shine upon us. Remove from our hearts any veil that may be there, that we may behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, and be transformed from glory to glory according to His image, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
We ask Thee, O Lord, that Thou wilt release Thy word to us tonight. Speak to our hearts. Draw us to Thyself. Show us the beauty of Thy beloved Son, that we may run after Thee. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We mentioned last night that John the Baptist considered himself the friend of the bridegroom. When he heard the voice of the bridegroom, he was glad, and his joy was fulfilled.
This evening, we would like to continue with the subject of the voice of the bridegroom. John the Baptist was a voice in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord. But before that voice passed away, the voice of the bridegroom was heard. When John heard the voice of the bridegroom, his joy was fulfilled.
We do look to the Lord that tonight we also may hear the voice of the bridegroom, and that our joy may be fulfilled.
Historically, we know that John the Baptist began his ministry six months ahead of our Lord Jesus, because he was the forerunner of our Lord. There in the wilderness he began to cry, “Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
But after six months, his voice was silenced. He was put into prison by King Herod. Then our Lord Jesus began His public ministry in real earnestness. We remember how He began in Galilee.
When our Lord Jesus began His ministry, His message to the people was the same: “Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Even though there were two voices—one voice had just passed, and another voice had begun—the message was the same. That is the preparation for our beginning to hear the voice of the bridegroom.
The first voice that we hear from the bridegroom is a voice calling people to Himself. In Matthew chapter 4, verse 17, we read:
From that time began Jesus to preach, and to say, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Our Lord Jesus continued to call the people to repent. If any person will repent, then he will come to the Lord. Thus, in Matthew chapter 11, we find these words:
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The result of repenting is to come to the Lord. The voice of the bridegroom is saying, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
In John chapter 5, our Lord Jesus said:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.
Again, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, our Lord Jesus stood and cried:
If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.
He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water.
Then, in John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. My sheep hear My voice. I give My life for My sheep, and no one can take My sheep out of My hand.”
Here you find the voice of the bridegroom. The first voice of the bridegroom says, “Come unto Me.” Anyone who is heavily burdened, anyone who is thirsty, anyone who is dead in sins and transgressions, can come to Him. If we come to Him, we shall find rest, we shall be satisfied, and we shall be secure. That is the voice of the bridegroom in terms of our salvation.
I believe, brothers and sisters, that we all have heard that voice. We have come to Him, and we find rest in Him. We find our sins forgiven, eternal life, and eternal security in Christ Jesus.
But the voice of the bridegroom continues. If you read Matthew chapter 4, verses 18 and 19, you will find that after the Lord Jesus said, “Repent,” the next voice is this:
And walking by the sea of Galilee, He saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
It is still the voice of the bridegroom, but here you find that the voice goes a little deeper. Instead of calling us to come to Him, He says, “Come after Me.” Not only are we to come to Him and find rest, but we are to come after Him. It is the call of discipleship.
The call of discipleship is also the voice of the bridegroom. He wants us not only to come to Him and be saved, but He wants those who have come to Him and are saved to come after Him.
He said:
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
He also said:
If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.
Dear brothers and sisters, it is still the voice of the bridegroom calling us to come after Him. It is not enough merely to come to Him. We who have come to Him must come after Him. We have to lay down ourselves, deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. We must learn of Him. We are His disciples. He has called us to follow Him.
To come to Him is to receive all that He has provided for us. To come after Him requires a cost. We have to deny ourselves. How many of God’s people refuse to deny themselves! They do not want to take up their cross and follow the Lord and learn of Him.
The cry of the Lord to us tonight is this: if you have already come to Him, but have not yielded your life to Him; if you have not accepted Him as your Lord as well as your Saviour; if you have not put your life into His hand; if you have not yet denied yourself and taken up the cross—then do it tonight, because He is calling you to do that.
But it does not end here. If you turn to John chapter 21, you will find the voice of the bridegroom calling again. In this case, of course, He is speaking to Simon Peter.
In John chapter 21, verse 15, we read:
So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these?
He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee.
He saith unto him, Feed My lambs.
We know the story of Simon Peter. When he met the Lord for the first time, his brother Andrew brought him to the Lord Jesus. The Bible tells us that the Lord looked at him—not merely with a casual glance, but the Lord really looked at him. The Lord said, “Thou art Simon; thou shalt be called Cephas,” which is by interpretation, Peter.
From that time on, this man became a believer in our Lord Jesus. Then the Lord Jesus called him to follow Him. Simon was fishing, because he was a fisherman. The Lord Jesus passed by the Sea of Galilee and saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets. The Lord Jesus said, “Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed the Lord. They responded to the call.
From the record in Luke chapter 5, we know that after he had followed the Lord for a time, Simon went back to fishing one night, but he did not catch any fish. The next morning, our Lord Jesus borrowed his boat to preach to the multitude. After He finished preaching, He told Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”
Simon, being a fisherman, said that they had toiled all night and caught nothing. But out of respect for the Master, he followed the instruction. To his surprise, he caught a full net of fish. He realized who this Man was. He knelt before Him and said, “Lord, depart from me; for I am a sinful man. I am not worthy to be Thy disciple.”
As a matter of fact, secretly Simon was thinking of dropping out, and that was the reason he went fishing. He felt that he would never make it. But the Lord Jesus said, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” From that day onward, he followed the Lord Jesus.
Even in John chapter 6, when the Lord Jesus began to say things that were hard to hear, many disciples said, “This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” They did not understand, and they withdrew. When the Lord Jesus turned to the few who remained with Him and asked, “Would ye also go away?” Simon Peter said:
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.
Here you find Simon Peter willing to follow after the Lord. It was a difficult time for him. He was disciplined by the Lord again and again. Of all the twelve disciples, he was the one most disciplined. You know who was the least disciplined? Judas.
Simon was the one most disciplined by the Lord, but no matter how the Lord disciplined him, he would not go. He would not go.
After three years, before our Lord Jesus was betrayed and crucified, the Lord said, “All ye shall be scattered.” Simon Peter said, “No, Lord. The others may be scattered, but I am going to die with Thee. I will stick with Thee. I love Thee. I am willing to die with Thee.” Yet that very night he denied the Lord three times.
Thank God, after our Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, He appeared to Simon Peter alone. We do not know what happened in that interview. Oh, how Simon Peter needed that! After denying the Lord, he probably felt, “From now on, I am finished. Will the Lord ever forgive me? Will the Lord ever receive me and accept me as His disciple again?”
No doubt, when the Lord appeared to Simon alone, the Lord assured him of His love. But then, when Simon and a few of the other disciples were fishing again, the Lord appeared. During breakfast, the Lord Jesus turned to Simon Peter in the presence of the other disciples and asked him a question. It was the voice of the bridegroom: “Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these?”
Why did the Lord Jesus ask him this question three times? The Lord had already met him privately and assured him of His love. Why, then, did the Lord Jesus ask him this question three times before the other disciples?
I believe it was not to assure Peter of the Lord’s love toward him, but actually to restore Peter to his first love. You remember in Revelation chapter 2 that the voice of the bridegroom to the church in Ephesus said, “Thou hast left thy first love.” How are you going to regain it?
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works.
Here you find our Lord Jesus reminding Peter and seeking to restore his first love toward the Lord. He asked him, “Lovest thou Me more than these?” More than the fire by which he had failed? More than the company of the servants of the high priest? More than the food? More than his own life?
Peter thought that he loved the Lord, but he discovered that he loved himself more than he loved the Lord. The Lord Jesus said, “Lovest thou Me? Lovest thou Me?” Peter dared not say that he loved the Lord with all his heart. He knew that he had failed.
Strangely, he said, “Lord, Thou knowest. Even though I cannot say that I really love Thee more than anything else, because I have failed, yet strangely I feel that I am attached to Thee. I cannot get away from Thee.” The Lord said, “Feed My lambs.”
Three times the Lord asked him, “Lovest thou Me?” By asking this question, dear brothers and sisters, I believe Peter’s first love was restored. Because his first love was restored, the Lord was able to commit His sheep and His lambs into the hand of Simon Peter.
What is the voice of the bridegroom? The voice of the bridegroom begins, “Come unto Me”; continues, “Come after Me”; and is consummated in, “Lovest thou Me?”
The relationship between the bride and the bridegroom is love. If there is no love, even if there are many activities, many works, much labor, and much knowledge, something is basically wrong. The one thing that the bridegroom seeks in the bride is love—first love.
When we first believed in the Lord Jesus, we loved Him. When you are first saved, when your sins are forgiven and you know that you have His life in you, oh, it is so marvelous! At that time, you really love Him with all your heart. You do not think of yourself. Nothing seems too costly for Him. You are willing to give up everything for Him. That is first love.
But, dear brothers and sisters, even though we have that first love in time, it may not yet be first in quality. First love has to be developed. First love has to increase until it is not merely first in time, but first in quality. You really love Him. You are willing to lay down yourself for Him.
Because of this, I cannot help returning to the Song of Songs, because the Song of Songs is a song of love. Here you find the relationship between the virgin and the beloved.
In the Song of Songs, we read two verses, and these two verses tell us one thing: the voice of the beloved. The virgin heard the voice of the beloved.
The Song of Songs does not begin with a person getting saved. It begins with one who is saved and who is in her first love. She has just tasted the grace of God in Christ Jesus, and her heart is stirred within her. She wants to know more of the beloved.
It is not the story of a prodigal son returning home. The prodigal son has already returned home, and because of this he wants to know more of his Father’s love. The Song of Songs begins with the cry from the heart of one who is stirred in her first love for her beloved. She cries out for a closer walk, a closer relationship, and a more intimate relationship with the One whom she loves.
Her cry was answered. You find how she was brought into the chambers, how she was brought to the banqueting table with the beloved, and how she rested together with the beloved. Even at that time, she had to pay a little cost, because her mother’s sons did not understand her. Yet there you find how she rested in the beloved.
Brothers and sisters, after we are saved, if we really have a heart for Him and desire Him, the Lord answers our desire. The reason why some people do not seem to progress in the Lord is that they do not have much desire for Him. If you really desire the Lord, if you really cry for Him and want to know Him more, He will come to you.
You will find that He is near to you. He will lead you into His chambers. In other words, He will lead you into all kinds of experiences. He will show you His unsearchable riches. In one room you will see certain things; in another room you will enjoy something else. You will sit together with Him and rest in Him. You will find how restful He is and how rich He is.
As you do that, you may sometimes be misunderstood. Some people may think that you are too passive, that you only want the Lord and nothing else. But that is a very little cost to pay.
The virgin was so comfortable with her beloved. She thought that was just wonderful. Then suddenly, in chapter 2, verse 8, she heard, “The voice of my beloved.” She thought that the beloved was with her, but suddenly she discovered that He was not with her. She heard His voice coming from outside.
She was in the room, she was in bed, but the voice of the beloved came through the window, calling her to come out with Him. “The winter is over. The spring is coming. Come out, and go with Me to the mountains and over the hills.”
Now, brothers and sisters, when we have a real life with the Lord, we find all our supply in Him. We find our rest in Him. Oh, how we want to remain there forever! We think that this is everything.
As a matter of fact, we are enjoying the Lord, and that is true. We say that we love the Lord, and we do. But actually, we often love the Lord because we enjoy Him so much. It can be very self-centred, even in our spiritual pursuit. The Lord is mine; He is for me; I enjoy Him so much; I will not let Him go. I just want to remain there and continue to enjoy Him.
In other words, we are still very much self-centred in our spiritual pursuit. The Lord has to call us out. The voice of the beloved calls us out. Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord has so much for us to learn, yet we are so content with the little that we have of Him. We think that it is enough. But the beloved says, “It is only the beginning. Come out. Come out of yourself. Go with Me onto resurrection ground.”
Only when we come out of ourselves and go with Him onto resurrection ground do we really begin to have union with Him.
If you read the Song of Songs carefully, you will find that before this time it is still the stage of courtship. There is a courtship between the virgin and the beloved: the virgin seeks for the beloved, and the beloved comes to her and tries to draw her out.
Not until you come out of yourself—instead of trying to hold the Lord for yourself so that you may enjoy Him, but being willing to let go of yourself and move on with Him to resurrection ground—can there be engagement. The engagement period comes after the virgin responds to the voice of the beloved, leaves her bed, goes out of the room, and seeks Him. There she is moved on to resurrection ground.
What is resurrection? Resurrection is life out of death. You have to go through death. Anything that goes into death and cannot come out from death is the old creation; that is yourself. But if something can go through death and come out of death, that is resurrection. That is a new creation. That is Christ Himself.
The voice of the beloved is calling us to come out of ourselves—even our spiritual self. We may think that we are very spiritual, that we really love the Lord, and that we really know Him. Even that has to be dealt with until we move on to resurrection ground; that is to say, until nothing but Christ is our life. He is our resurrection life.
Only when we move on to resurrection ground do we find the espousal, the betrothal, the engagement.
You remember that the apostle Paul said to the church in Corinth:
I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Paul feared that they might be deceived by the enemy, as Eve was deceived. Brothers and sisters, we are His, and He is very jealous over us. We are espoused to Him as a pure virgin to one Man, our Lord Jesus.
If we are really espoused to Him, then we have to move on to resurrection ground, because only on resurrection ground are we really one with Him. On this side of resurrection is you; on that side of resurrection is Christ. We have to move on into resurrection ground in order to be truly espoused to Him.
How do we know that this is the time when the virgin is really engaged? In Song of Songs chapter 3, verse 11, we read:
Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon,
With the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him
In the day of his espousals,
And in the day of the gladness of his heart.
When the virgin hears the voice of the beloved and is willing to come out of herself and follow Him, then it is the time of espousal. Following this, in chapter 4, verse 8, we read:
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
With me from Lebanon.
Before this, the Lord never called the virgin “My bride.” He called her “My love,” but not “My bride.” After this, He calls the virgin “My bride.” There is an engagement; there is a deeper union with the Lord, because it is now on resurrection ground.
On resurrection ground, we begin to enter into ascension ground—the victory that is in Christ Jesus. We cannot experience victory in Christ Jesus until we are on resurrection ground. There we experience His victory.
The virgin, after she experienced the victory that is in Christ Jesus, felt that this must be the peak of everything. Surely this must be the end.
Then, in chapter 5, verse 2, we read again:
I slept, but my heart waked:
It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh.
Again, the virgin heard the voice of the beloved. Oh, brothers and sisters, how we need to hear the voice of the bridegroom! As we hear His voice, He calls us and moves us on with Him until we are really united with Him in purpose.
The virgin was resting. She felt that she had reached the peak of her spiritual life; she had received the victory of Christ. What more could there be? But fortunately, even though she was asleep, her heart was awake.
All mothers know how that can be. A mother may be sleeping, but her heart is awake. When the baby makes a little noise, immediately the mother knows it. Her heart is awake.
This virgin, though asleep, had an awake heart. She heard the voice of the beloved and found that He was no longer there. The beloved was outside, saying, “Open to Me, My sister, for My head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.”
Brothers and sisters, that is a picture of the Garden of Gethsemane. You find that our Lord Jesus, on that night, went into the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed. Even His sweat came down as blood.
Here the beloved is calling His bride to join with Him in the fellowship of His sufferings—not only to know the power of His resurrection. Oh, how great it is to know the power of His resurrection! But that is a preparation for what is to follow.
The beloved is calling her to have fellowship with His sufferings. There is one aspect of His suffering that we can never share. When our Lord Jesus suffered on the cross and shed His blood for the remission of our sins, He had to tread the winepress alone. He is the One who bore our sins in His body. No one can share that.
There is one aspect of the sufferings of Christ in which we have absolutely no part: His atoning suffering and death. We receive the benefit of it; we receive remission of sins. But the sufferings of Christ have other aspects, and in those aspects He calls us to share His sufferings.
The fellowship of His sufferings includes suffering for righteousness’ sake, suffering because of His compassion toward the world, and suffering for the church, that the church may be born and grow. He travailed until He saw a seed that satisfied His heart.
Paul said in Colossians that he filled up that which was lacking of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church. After the church is born, the church needs to grow. For that, we need to share the sufferings of Christ.
“If one member suffers,” Paul said, “I suffer.” How his heart was burdened with the people! How he toiled in prayer for the Galatians! Brothers and sisters, there is the fellowship of His sufferings. He is calling us to suffer together with Him that the church may be built.
At first, the virgin could not do it. She said, “I have put off my garment; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?” She did not want to do it.
But then she saw the hand of the beloved, the nail-pierced hand. That moved her to the very depths. So she arose and went out. She could not find Him immediately, and she suffered. Finally, she found Him.
In Song of Songs chapter 6, verses 8 and 9, we read:
There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines,
And virgins without number.
My dove, my undefiled, is but one;
She is the only one of her mother;
She is the choice one of her that bare her.
The daughters saw her, and called her blessed;
Yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
Then, in verse 13:
Return, return, O Shulammite;
Return, return, that we may look upon thee.
Here we find a marriage—not only an engagement, but a marriage. This virgin has become Shulammite. Shulammite is the feminine form of Solomon. Solomon is masculine, and Shulammite is feminine.
The virgin has been called by the beloved and has responded to the voice of the bridegroom. She has moved on with the beloved until she has come to the point at which she is really one with Him, not only in life but in purpose. That union is a perfect marriage union.
Shulammite: one with Solomon, united with Solomon in one.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is always calling us on. Do not think that because you have known Him a little, received something from Him, and enjoyed Him to a certain degree, you may now be contented and stay put.
Do you not hear the voice of the beloved? He is always calling you on and on. He is calling you to come out of yourself and enter into Him until you are truly joined with Him in one purpose. That is the marriage of the Lamb.
Oh, that we may hear the voice of the bridegroom.
Of course, one day we shall hear a voice: “Behold, the bridegroom!” If we are hearing the voice of the beloved and moving on with Him, no doubt there will be a cry in our heart: “Oh, that He may come! Oh, that it may be consummated by His return!”
Even in the Song of Songs, toward the end, the last verse is the cry of the loved one:
Make haste, my beloved,
And be thou like to a roe or to a young hart
Upon the mountains of spices.
After she has experienced the Lord in such a way, there is only one cry left: “Make haste! Come back quickly!” Her heart is already there, but she longs for the time when the bridegroom shall return and claim her as His bride.
In Revelation chapter 22, you find the same thing:
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
Throughout the generations and the ages, those who have heard the voice of the beloved have looked forward to the coming of the bridegroom. That is the consummation.
In Matthew chapter 25, we find how the ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom. But because the bridegroom delayed, they fell asleep. Suddenly, at midnight, there was a cry: “Behold, the bridegroom!” Finally, the bridegroom comes.
Even in the first century, the apostles looked forward to the coming again of the Lord. Sometimes people say that they must have been mistaken because the Lord did not come in the first century. How do you know? Those who loved the Lord were waiting for Him to return in their lifetime, and they were right, because the Lord could have returned.
During the second and third centuries, when Christians were being persecuted, how did they greet one another? They greeted one another with the word, “Maranatha”—the Lord is coming. That was their blessed hope.
Every generation and every century, you find those who have heard the voice of the beloved and love the Lord looking forward to His coming, because that is the consummation of love.
If anyone is not looking forward to the coming of the Lord, he must be a wicked servant, because the wicked servant says in his heart, “My master tarrieth.” If you really love the Lord, your heart will go out to Him. You will pray, “Make haste. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”
Dear brothers and sisters, have we heard the voice of the bridegroom? Are we longing to hear that voice? When the voice of the bridegroom is heard, historically, it means that he has come to claim his bride. It means that the bridegroom has arrived. This is our blessed hope.
I would like to read to you a hymn written by our dear brother Watchman Nee. He wrote this after China had become Communist and the Christians were under great pressure and difficulty. Unfortunately, the English translation is not ideal; the Chinese is much better. But I cannot read the Chinese to you, because most of you would not understand. You would need the gift of interpretation.
Still, I would like to read the English translation. You can sense the feeling of God’s people—the longing for the Bridegroom.
Long ago at Bethany we parted;
In my heart there is a ceaseless void.
How can I take my harp down from the willow?
How can my song without Thee, the Beloved?And when at night I keep a lonely vigil,
Grown dumb alike to sorrow and to cheer,
Then I recall the promise of Thy coming,
And sigh, “O Lord, why dost Thou not yet appear?”Thy danger makes the earth, I too, am homeless;
Thy cross strips earthly pleasures from my soul.
Thy coming bids me seek a better country,
For Thou Thyself art now my final goal.Things are gone; my joy has lost its flavour;
My song, the sweetness I would fain convey.
Things that are gone—the sense of void overwhelms me.
O how I long that Thou wilt come and not delay!Though even now I know Thy loving presence,
Yet in my heart there is still a sense of lack.
Enlightening and tender sustaining can no more satisfy;
I want Thee back.Despite Thy peace within, I still feel lonely;
Despite Thy joy, there still remains a sigh.
When I feel most content, the silent yearning
To see Thee face to face becomes an uttered cry.What exile cannot but desire his homeland,
And long his people once again to greet?
What soul of alien land forgets his kindred?
What parted lovers never yearn to meet?O Lord, how can these earthly loves and pleasures
With all the joy of Thy return compare?
Then, if I cannot here behold Thy countenance,
What can I do but sigh till Thou, my Lord, appear?Couldst Thou, O Lord, forget Thy word or promise,
Soon to return and take me unto Thee?
Yea, day by day and year by year I wait it,
And still I wait, and no return I see.Remember, Lord, the years I have been waiting—
Yet, Lord, not I alone, but Thy dear saints
Throughout the many generations, beseeching Thee to come back;
For I know countless tears and countless fervent pleadings.O may Thou come, the echo of the ages.
Come, come, and answer now this mighty corporate cry.
Brothers and sisters, throughout the centuries and throughout the generations, the cry of the church has been, “Come, Lord Jesus, come.”
Why is it that the bridegroom delays? Remember one thing: the bridegroom is most anxious to come, but He cannot, because the bride has not made herself ready.
He could have come in the first century, but He could not. He could have come in the nineteenth century, but He could not. He can come now, tonight. But if He should delay and not come tonight, it is because He cannot—not because He will not.
Is there any bridegroom who is not anxious to claim his bride? Our Lord Jesus is most anxious to return, but unfortunately the bride is not ready.
Do you think that we are waiting for Him, or is He waiting for us? Do you know that His coming, in one sense, depends upon our condition?
The timetable of God is flexible. It is not mechanical at all. He does not say, “At two thousand years, exactly at that point, He will come.” His timetable is spiritual. It is conditioned by the readiness of the bride.
That is the reason why the Spirit of God has been moving throughout the twentieth century, and especially in our time, because the day is drawing very near. The Spirit of God is calling, calling, calling us: “Get ready. Get ready for Him.”
How are we to be ready? In one sense, we are never ready. If anyone thinks he is ready, he is not ready. But in another sense, we have to be ready.
Oh, how we need to repent! I believe repentance is something that needs to be continuous—continuous repentance. Not in the sense that we repent all over again as if we were not saved. No, you cannot do that. Once you have repented and believed in the Lord Jesus, you cannot repent again in that sense.
But repentance means that the more you hear the voice of the beloved and the more you see the glory of the Lord, the more you discover ground that needs to be repented of. If we see the Lord, if we see Him more, there is more to repent of. That will keep us in a broken and contrite condition, and that is the sacrifice that God desires.
The question today is this: if we really long for the bridegroom to return, then, brothers and sisters, we have a responsibility. We can hasten His return, or we can delay His return.
If we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, because that is what the Holy Spirit is doing today, then we can hasten the return of the Lord. If we do not repent, we can delay His return.
Tonight we will not go into the matter of how the bride has made herself ready. God willing, we will go into that tomorrow. But tonight, we just want to put this before us: the voice of the bridegroom. He is calling us, calling us, that we may truly be one with Him and like Him.
When this happens, there will be the marriage feast. Shall we pray?
Our Heavenly Father, we pray that Thou wouldst stir our hearts, that we may raise our voice unto Thee and say, “Make haste, my beloved. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”
Good Lord, we do know that Thou art waiting for us. Oh, that we may hear Thy voice and move on with Thee, that we may truly be one with Thee, that Thou mayest see that we are ready for Thee to come and claim us for Thy Son.
Lord, we want to lay ourselves at Thy feet and invite Thy Holy Spirit to perfect the work that Thou hast already begun. In the name of our Lord Jesus.