Even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for it;
that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.But nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church.
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them:
but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
But at midnight there was a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out.
But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.
Let us pray.
Our heavenly Father, we do want to thank Thee for Thy precious Word. We ask, O Lord, that by Thy Holy Spirit Thy words may become living, may become life and spirit to us tonight.
We ask, O Lord, that through Thy Word we may meet Thee, the living Word. Oh, we pray that tonight Thy Holy Spirit will come upon us and bring us into Thy very presence. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We have been sharing together, first of all, on the eternal will of God. The eternal will of God is one and very simple, and that concerns His Son. It is the will of the Father that His Son should have a helpmeet, a bride.
Then we continued with John the Baptist as the friend of the bridegroom. According to ancient Jewish custom, it was the friend of the bridegroom who represented the bridegroom in all the negotiations for the marriage. Finally, on the day of marriage, it was the friend of the bridegroom who went to the paternal house of the bride to lead her to the bridegroom’s house.
So John the Baptist considered himself the friend of the bridegroom. He said that he hears the bridegroom’s voice, and his joy is fulfilled. From there, we moved on to hear the voice of the Bridegroom.
We hear the voice of the Bridegroom first as the voice of the Saviour, calling us to come to Him. Then we hear the voice of the Bridegroom as the voice of the Master. He is calling us to come after Him, to learn of Him, to take His yoke upon us and learn of Him, because He is meek and lowly in heart, and we shall find rest unto our souls.
Then we hear the voice of the Bridegroom as the voice of the Beloved. He is always beckoning us, pleading with us, urging us, and sometimes disciplining us, in order to lead us completely out of ourselves. There is just too much of ourselves that does not fit, that is not one with the character of the Bridegroom.
So He has to call us out of ourselves, that we may be completely delivered and really enter into Him, taking upon ourselves His own character. When that happens, we find that the marriage is consummated.
But of course, dear brothers and sisters, today we know that we have not yet heard that cry. One day there will be a midnight cry: “Behold, the Bridegroom! Go ye out to meet Him.” What a joy it will be when we hear the voice and are ready for Him.
But if we are not ready, how about that?
Now tonight, we would like to continue with the marriage feast of the Lamb. In Revelation 19, John the apostle heard the voice of many waters, the voice of mighty thunders, a great voice saying, “Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth.”
Now, of course, our Lord God Almighty is King. He is King all the time. But now He is taking upon Himself that kingly power. In other words, the kingdom of this world has finally become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. The King is coming.
And as the King is coming, immediately we hear, “Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad.” Why? Because the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. It was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
This reminds us of that prophetic song, Psalm 45. Psalm 45 is called a song of the Beloved; in some translations, it is called a song of love. Why? Because it is love between the King and the Queen, between the Man and the woman. It is a celebration of their marriage.
How appropriate it is that the psalmist, moved by the Holy Spirit, saw in vision the marriage of the King, who is Christ, and the Queen, who is the church. Seeing that wonderful, glorious marriage of Christ and His church, he said that his tongue was the pen of a ready writer. He was ready to write because it touched upon a wonderful subject.
Of course, first of all he had to speak about the King. Always the King is first. Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is always first. If there is no Christ, there is no church. You cannot reverse that order.
The psalmist sings:
Thou art fairer than the children of men;
Grace is poured into Thy lips:
Therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever.Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty One,
Thy glory and Thy majesty.
And in Thy majesty ride on prosperously,
Because of truth and meekness and righteousness.
He sings of our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, who came into this world to be the Son of Man. But as the Son of Man, He is fairer than all the sons of men. There is no man on earth who is fairer than our Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace is poured into Thy lips. You remember the apostle John, in John 1:14: “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us … full of grace and truth.” Here we find our Lord Jesus, the Son of Man, surely fairer than all men. He is the chiefest among ten thousand.
No matter how fair a son of man may be, there is imperfection. But here is One who is altogether perfect. There is only One who obeyed the Father in all things. There is only One who is one with the Father in perfection. He is fairer than all the sons of men, and He is full of grace. When He opened His mouth, there was grace.
How He spoke to the Samaritan woman, offering her the water that would become in her a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life, that she should never thirst again. What a word of grace!
What a word of grace He spoke to that woman caught in adultery when He said, “Neither do I condemn thee.” Grace comes from the mouth of our Lord. Oh, brothers and sisters, I do believe that all of us here—I hope all of us here—have heard that grace. How the word of grace hath fallen upon our ears.
Our Lord Jesus is not only full of grace; He is also full of truth. Sometimes we try to be gracious, and we compromise truth. Or we try to be true, and we lack grace. But here we find Him who is fairer than the sons of men: He is full of grace and full of truth.
I often think that in the Gospel of John, all that He says is truth, and all that He does is grace. Every time you read a chapter in the Gospel of John, you find that He does something, and that is grace. Then He says something, and that is truth.
How powerful is truth. It is like arrows: when the truth comes, it cuts; it pierces. The Lord Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
You remember when our Lord Jesus was being judged by Pilate. Pilate asked Him, “Art Thou a king?” The Lord Jesus said, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.”
He is the King of truth. Those who accept Him, those who listen to His word, are healed. But those who do not listen to His word—truth becomes like arrows that shoot into their hearts, and they fall under His feet.
This is our Lord Jesus in the days of His flesh upon the earth. Even though He is meek and lowly, yet He is the King of grace and the King of truth.
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness:
Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee
With the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.
It is because our Lord Jesus lived upon this earth full of grace and truth. It is because He hated wickedness and loved righteousness. Therefore, He went to the cross in our stead. Because of the finished work of Christ, God His Father has highly exalted Him. He is anointed with the oil of gladness above all His companions.
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that He might bring many sons unto glory. This is the King. This is the Beloved. This is our Bridegroom.
He is already ready for the marriage. As a matter of fact, the moment our Lord Jesus returned to heaven, He was ready to come back to receive His own unto Himself.
All Thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made Thee glad.
Everything is ready for the marriage. Thank God, in that prophetic vision, we find that the Queen is also ready.
Kings’ daughters are among Thy honourable women:
At Thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
How is she ready? Listen to the voice of the Spirit:
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;
Forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house:
So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty;
For He is thy Lord; and worship thou Him.
What is the voice of the Spirit? Look at the Beloved. Hear His voice. Then forget your own people and your father’s house. Then the King will desire thy beauty.
In other words, the beauty of the Queen is in gazing upon the Beloved and forgetting about everything else. That is her beauty.
Rebekah’s mother and brother asked her, “Wilt thou go with this man? Wilt thou not stay eight or ten days here before thou go?” But she could say, “I will go.”
Even though she had not seen Isaac, she had already heard about Isaac. The servant said, “My master hath only one son, and unto the son he hath given all that he hath.” The servant also gave Rebekah some tokens of the riches of Isaac.
She had heard, and even though she had not met Isaac yet, she had already forgotten her own people and her father’s house. She said, “I will go.” That was her beauty.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we gaze upon the Lord with our spiritual eyes, if we see Him as One who is fairer than the sons of men, if we hear His voice, the word of truth, if we see His deeds, the work of grace—even though we have not seen Him, as Peter said, yet we love Him.
How you long to see Him. You say, “I want to meet Him.” You will forget yourself. You will forget everything that is holding you back, because your whole being will be occupied with Him. The King will desire thy beauty. He is thy Lord; worship thou Him.
All glorious within is the king’s daughter:
Her clothing is inwrought with gold.
Here we find the Queen, the daughter, now the King’s daughter. She is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She is clothed with a golden robe. Why? We know gold in Scripture always speaks of the nature of God. She is clothed with Christ.
When the prodigal son came back to the Father, not only did he receive the kiss of forgiveness upon his neck—the prodigal son had a stiff neck, so the first thing the Father did was kiss that neck and melt that hardness—but that was not enough.
The Father said, “Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him.” He could not remain in rags. He had to be clothed with the best robe. What is that robe? Christ our righteousness.
In Romans 13, it says, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” I love that verse very much because there is a testimony behind it—not my testimony, but the testimony of Augustine.
Augustine was a brilliant young man, a professor of rhetoric. In those days, a professor of rhetoric held the highest chair in the university. But he lived a riotous, dissipated life.
His mother, Monica, prayed for him and shed many tears for him. God answered the mother’s tears.
One time Augustine and a few friends went to Milan. During that time, he and a friend were talking about the meaning of life as a philosophical subject. But the more they talked about the meaning of life, the more life became meaningless.
Finally Augustine was frustrated. He stood up, left the room, and walked in a garden. He was still thinking, still wrestling. But while he was walking and thinking, suddenly he heard the voice of children singing.
It was very strange. He listened and heard the words, “Take and read, take and read, take and read.” He said, “Take and read? Take what, and read what?” Immediately he felt that he should read the Bible.
He had a Bible, so he went to the room and opened it. It opened to Romans 13, verses 13 and 14. His eyes fell upon those two verses:
Let us walk becomingly, as in the day;
not in revelling and drunkenness,
not in chambering and wantonness,
not in strife and jealousy.
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Those verses just fit him. There and then, he capitulated; he surrendered to Christ. Later on, he was chosen as bishop of Hippo. In church history, we know the great influence of Augustine.
Clothed with the garment of wrought gold, clothed with Christ Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, how can we stand before God? God is a holy God, a righteous God. God is light. He dwelleth in unapproachable light. His holiness is beyond description.
How can we sinners, so full of sin and full of ourselves, approach this God? How can we stand before Him? Oh, brothers and sisters, anyone who dared approach God would be smitten to death.
But thank God, today we can stand before God in holy boldness. Why? Because we are clothed with Christ Jesus. When God looks upon us, He does not see us; He sees Christ, our righteousness.
We are perfect in God’s eyes, not because we are perfect, but because we are clothed with Christ Jesus. Every child of God has that garment of wrought gold. That gold has been wrought; it has gone through fire and become a robe of righteousness. It speaks of the finished work of Christ.
Oh, brothers and sisters, how we do thank Him that we are clothed with a garment of wrought gold, even Christ Jesus Himself.
Oftentimes we think that when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we receive righteousness. Certainly, the righteousness of Christ made Him qualified to be our Substitute, the Just for the unjust, the sinless for the sinful. But what we receive is Christ Himself as our righteousness.
You are not merely putting on something called righteousness. We receive the Person of our Lord Jesus as our righteousness. That is the reason why we may change, but our righteousness never changes. Thank God for that.
But, brothers and sisters, if this woman is only clothed with a garment of wrought gold, she can stand before the King, but she still cannot be married to the King. Why? Because she has not yet received her wedding garment.
The garment enables you to stand before Him, but that garment does not give you the right to be joined with Him as His bride. You need a wedding garment.
You remember the parable of the king who invited people to the wedding of his son. One man came in, and when the king came into the room to meet the guests, he found one without a wedding garment.
In those days, when a nobleman or king held a wedding and invited friends to come, garments were prepared for the guests. They were supposed to put on that garment in order to sit down at the feast. But evidently there was a person who thought his own garment was good enough. He despised the garment prepared by the king.
What was the result? He was cast out. He could not participate in the wedding feast. Brothers and sisters, it is true that when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are clothed with the garment of wrought gold; we are clothed with Christ. But we need a wedding garment in order to be married.
In Psalm 45, it says:
She shall be led unto the King in broidered work.
Over and above the garment of wrought gold, there is a raiment of embroidery. This is the wedding gown. It is a beautiful wedding garment, embroidered. With that raiment of embroidery, she is led to the King for the wedding ceremony.
In Revelation 19, it says that the wife hath made herself ready. What does it mean to be ready? Read on, and immediately you find that she is given fine linen, bright and pure, which is the righteous acts of the saints. That is being ready for the wedding, because she has put upon herself that wedding garment, that raiment of embroidery.
It is called the righteousnesses of the saints. What is it? When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we put on Christ Jesus as our righteousness. That gives us our standing before God. But God is looking for something more in us, and that is the righteousnesses of the saints.
How does that righteousness come about? It comes through the work of the Embroiderer. The Holy Spirit is the divine Embroiderer, and He is embroidering Christ into your very being, stitch by stitch, needle by needle.
He is working Christ into your very character, into your very being. It is a very patient work, if you know embroidery. Stitch by stitch, needle by needle. When the needle goes through the fibre, it does give you a little pain. But thank God, out of the suffering, something of Christ is being wrought into your character.
The divine Embroiderer is embroidering according to a pattern, and the pattern is Christ. Not only Christ as your righteousness, but Christ being constituted, organized, incorporated, and wrought into your very being, until you exhibit the character of Christ. Christ is being formed in you.
When people see you, they see Christ. When people hear you, they hear Christ. It is not your cleverness; it is the wisdom of God. It is not your own gentleness; it is the gentleness of Christ.
Through the working of the stitches—that is, the working of the cross—the divine Embroiderer uses the needle of the cross to work Christ into your very being and into your very life. Dear brothers and sisters, out of that comes a beautiful raiment of embroidery. That is your wedding garment.
Do you not know that the divine Embroiderer is embroidering in your life today? How often we misunderstand Him. How often we refuse His workings. How often we think that He is being hard to us, or cruel to us. How often we run away from Him.
But, dear brothers and sisters, do you not know that He is preparing your wedding garment? If you do not have that wedding garment, you cannot enter into the marriage feast of the Lamb, even though you have the garment of wrought gold.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit in your life after you have received the Lord Jesus. Oh, how patient is the divine Spirit of God, but how impatient we are.
Fine linen, bright and pure: this is the life of Christ on earth. His life on earth is perfect, pure, and bright. A thing can be pure but pale. But here you find that it is pure and bright. It is not merely moral; it is spiritual.
People can be moral but pale. Probably the more you try to be moral, the paler you become. There is no life in it. But when the life of the Lord Jesus is being wrought into us, dear brothers and sisters, you find that it is not only pure; it is bright. It is shining.
Sometimes we try to be gentle, but even our gentleness is hard. You have to bite your tongue to be gentle. Sometimes we try to be meek, and we almost have to break our backs. But our Lord Jesus—how meek and lowly He is in heart!
When Christ is exhibited in your life, dear brothers and sisters, He is not only pure but bright. It is attractive. It does not push people away. Some people have that “I am holier than thou” attitude, and everybody has to get away from them. Such a person is terrible.
But our Lord Jesus is so attractive—pure and bright. The righteousnesses of the saints are considered as your righteousness, but actually it is Christ in you being wrought into your life.
You remember when the children of Israel were in the wilderness. God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle. Why? Because God wanted to dwell among His people. God wanted to be one with His people.
The curtains of the tabernacle were made of fine linen. Into that linen were woven threads of blue, purple, and scarlet, and cherubim were embroidered on the curtains.
Blue is heavenly. Purple is royal. Here you find the life of Christ being wrought into our lives, and we become the very curtains, the very tabernacle in whom God dwells. Cherubim are all over the person.
Cherubim, I believe, in Scripture represent the original design of God concerning creation—what God thinks of man, what man is in God’s original design, what man ought to be.
That is why, when our Lord Jesus died, the veil embroidered with cherubim was torn in two. He made a living, new way through His body.
Brothers and sisters, this is the wedding garment. This is being made ready for that wedding.
With gladness and rejoicing shall they be led:
They shall enter into the King’s palace.
This also reminds us of Ephesians 5. In that chapter, Paul speaks of the husband and the wife, the union of husband and wife. Paul says that this union is a great mystery, but he speaks concerning Christ and the church.
Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. We often think that Christ loved me and gave Himself for me. That is true. But we also need to see that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for the church, because that is what He wants. The church is to be His bride.
He gave Himself that He might sanctify it, purifying it by the washing of water with the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it might be holy and blameless.
The Lord Jesus gave Himself completely to the church, not only to bring the church into being, but continually sanctifying it, setting it apart, separating it, purifying it by the washing of water with the word.
Not only has the church come through the sufferings of Christ and the travail of His soul—“He shall see His seed”—but even after the church comes into being, you find how He nourishes it and cherishes it, how He sanctifies it by the washing of water with the word.
What is the washing of water with the word? Some people think that the water is the word, but then it would be repetition. It does not make any sense simply to say, “the washing of the water with the word,” as though water and word were identical.
We know the word is the Word of God. The Word of God washes us clean. But what is the water? I personally believe that the water speaks of the water and the blood that came from the side of our Lord Jesus.
You remember when the soldier pierced the side of our Lord Jesus. Out of that broken heart came water and blood. Blood is for the atoning of our sins; water is to give us life.
Dear brothers and sisters, how does the Lord Jesus sanctify us? How does the Lord Jesus sanctify the church? He sanctifies us by the washing of water with the word. In other words, the Word comes first.
The Word of God comes to us, and when the Word of God comes to us, it washes us. Sometimes the life of Christ within us comes first. The life of Christ within us begins to speak to us, and then the Word comes.
By the interaction of the life within us and the Word without us, quickened by the Holy Spirit, we are washed clean.
Oftentimes we do not know that we have spots and wrinkles. Just like Ephraim: the prophet said, “Gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not.” Oftentimes we do not know that we have spots and wrinkles. We think that we are fine, that we are right. People in darkness usually feel all right.
Oh, how we need enlightenment. When the Holy Spirit brings the Word of God to us, it is like a sword that penetrates and divides asunder soul and spirit, exposing the thoughts and intents of the heart. We need the living Word of God to purify us.
Thank God, we have the life of Christ in us. Sometimes, when we are doing something, the life within us feels defiled and will not allow us to do it or say it. Life cleanses all the time. The life of Christ within us changes us. The Word of God cleanses us. By the interaction of the Word and the life of Christ, the church is purified.
This work is going on and going on until He may present to Himself the church, a glorious church. What God is after is glory.
Our Lord is the Lord of glory, and He is after a bride that is a glorious church. What is glory? One brother says glory is when God is manifested. Another says glory is when God is satisfied. I think both are right.
Glory is when God is seen. When God’s heart is satisfied, you see glory. When the Lord says He is after a glorious church, it means that He is after a church in which He is fully satisfied, a church that is the manifestation of His very Self.
Ourselves are shame. But the church is to be without spot or wrinkle.
In Jude, there are some people who are like spots in the love feasts. In 2 Peter 2, false prophets and false teachers are called spots. That means there is something wrong within, and it begins to appear without. It is a manifestation of the flesh.
Oh, how spotted we are. All these spots need to be removed—divine surgery to remove all these spots. And not only spots, but wrinkles.
Wrinkles mean getting old. You lose your freshness. You become routine. Wrinkles.
The Lord today, by His Holy Spirit, is sanctifying us. He is working in us to remove every spot and every wrinkle. In Hebrews 9, our Lord Jesus, as the Lamb, offered Himself without blemish unto God through the eternal Spirit. You cannot offer a sacrifice with a spot; God will not accept it.
Because He is spotless, He wants a spotless church. Every expression and manifestation of the flesh must be removed—whether false prophets, false teachers, false doctrines, or worldly living. All these spots have to be removed, and not only spots but wrinkles: forever fresh, forever living.
In the seven letters to the seven churches in Asia, you hear the voice of the Spirit: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.” The Spirit is speaking. What is He doing? He is trying to remove all the spots and wrinkles in the church.
The church in Ephesus had lost its first love. It had wrinkled. Therefore, repent, remember from whence thou art fallen, and do the first works. Get rid of all the wrinkles and become fresh and living again.
To the church in Smyrna He said, “Ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death.” Do not become wrinkled. Continue to be living and fresh.
To the church in Sardis He said, “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead.” You have wrinkled. Repent; let the wrinkles be removed.
The church in Pergamum had spots, falling into the world. The spot must be removed. The church in Thyatira had spots, becoming too complicated and losing the simplicity of Christ. That has to be removed. The church in Laodicea had become false—no reality. That falsehood has to leave.
Because what the Bridegroom is looking for is a bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing: a glorious church, holy and blameless. This is what our Lord Jesus is doing by His Spirit today in His church, making us ready.
In Revelation 19 it says, “His wife hath made herself ready.” What does that mean? It means that you have a responsibility.
It is true that she was given the garment of fine linen, bright and pure. She was given it; she got it by grace. Whatever character of Christ is developed and manifested in us is the result of grace. Do not think that it is your merit. You have no merit whatsoever.
You are given grace. It is the grace of God given to you, enabling you. But on the other hand, it says, “The wife hath made herself ready.” In other words, you have to cooperate.
You cannot just remain passive and negative. It is true that God is always working in you. It is the Spirit of God who is working Christ into your very being. But you have to be willing. You have to be anxious. You have to cooperate. You have to submit yourself. You have to yield yourself. You have to endure.
This is what it means: she hath made herself ready. It is not a passive, negative faith. It does not come upon you automatically, mechanically, or technically. It has to be livingly and spiritually worked in you by your being willing, cooperating, submitting, and yielding.
This is all that He requires of you, dear brothers and sisters. God does not require anything more. He knows you cannot. All you need to do is, deep in your heart, tell Him that you are willing.
You may not even know whether you have the strength to endure, but that is His problem, not your problem. You just tell Him you are willing. You yield. You capitulate. You give yourself to Him. Allow Him to do whatever He wants to do with you, and He will do it.
The bride is given that garment, which is the righteousnesses of the saints. But here we have a problem.
Go back to Ephesians 4. There we find: “Walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
God gave to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Here is a body, but this body is not mature. This body is composed of God’s people everywhere throughout the world. It has many members, but one body. Christ is the Head, and the Head takes care of the body.
He gives to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to mature the saints, that the body may be matured. As the body matures, all the members begin to function. When all the members function under the Head, the body begins to grow into full stature, into the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, until the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
When that is attained, the marriage of the Lamb is come.
A body that is not mature cannot be a bride. The church today is the body of Christ. The church tomorrow is the bride of the Lamb. But if the body is not mature, then it cannot be the bride.
How important it is that the body be mature, that we really come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into that full-grown man, into the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Now here is the problem: when will the body ever be fully matured? When will God’s people arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God? When will God’s people as a body become full-grown into the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ?
The more you know yourself and the more you know what is around you, the more hopeless it becomes. In 2 Thessalonians, we are told that before the coming of the Lord there will be a falling away. The Lord Jesus said, “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Love will grow cold, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
How can the marriage of the Lamb ever come? That is the problem. Where is the solution?
Matthew 25 gives us the answer. “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.” If you read the context, you know that what is spoken of is the coming of the Lord.
The preceding verses say, “As were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.” Then two shall be in the field; one is taken, and one is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. Watch therefore, because you do not know when the Master shall come.
Now, brothers and sisters, here you have to stretch your imagination a little bit—your sanctified imagination. When you come to this matter of parabolic typology, it is very strange. If you do not exercise a sanctified imagination, you will be troubled.
This parable speaks of the marriage feast of the Lamb: “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.” According to ancient Jewish custom, the bride and her bridesmaids waited for the bridegroom to come. Not like today, when the bridegroom waits for the bride.
In ancient times, the bride and her maidens waited for the bridegroom. They were in the bridegroom’s home already, preparing the wedding attire, arranging the rooms, and getting everything ready for the feast. The bridegroom was somewhere else, with his relatives or friends.
There he was with his friends, writing poems, singing, drinking, and having a good time. Finally, the bridegroom would say, “Let us go,” and usually it was midnight.
The bridegroom and his friends would begin to go to his home. As they went, the people on the streets would cry, “Behold, the bridegroom!” The voice would be relayed until it reached the house. Suddenly the ten virgins woke up.
They had waited and prepared; now suddenly, at midnight, came the cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom!” So they all arose, and then followed the wedding feast.
Unfortunately, in traditional interpretation, people think the five wise virgins are saved and the foolish virgins are unsaved. That is out of context. We believe that the parable of the ten virgins speaks of them as virgins.
You do not find a bride mentioned in this parable. The bride must be there; otherwise, there could be no wedding. But the bride is not mentioned. All that is mentioned is the Bridegroom and the ten virgins.
When you look at it corporately, you see the bride. When you look at it individually, you see the virgins. In other words, the virgins are the bride, and the bride is the virgins. That is sanctified imagination.
The reason why the bride is not mentioned is very important, because the Lord is trying to show us how to be ready. You have ten virgins here. Ten is the number of responsibility. These ten are very responsible.
The Scripture never calls an unbeliever a virgin. In God’s eyes, an unbeliever is adulterous because he commits adultery with the world. Only one who is cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb is a virgin.
You remember Paul in 2 Corinthians 11: “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.”
So, first, they are all virgins. Second, they all have lamps. They all have light. They have oil within them—that is, they have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Because of that, there is light. They are not sons of darkness; they are sons of light.
Third, they all go out to meet the Bridegroom. Will an unbeliever go out to meet Christ? No. Only a believer goes out to meet Christ. Everyone who is saved, at least when first saved and in first love, does go out to meet Christ. You do want to meet Him, do you not?
Maybe later on you do not want Him to come. You say, “My master tarrieth.” But at least in the beginning, you want to meet Him.
Fourth, because the Bridegroom tarried, they all went to sleep. Not five foolish went to sleep and five wise stayed awake. No, they all went to sleep.
Sleep in the Bible can have several meanings, and you have to apply them according to the context. First, there is normal sleep. But normal sleep does not make sense here. Second, there is spiritual sleep. But the five wise virgins slept too, so that cannot be the meaning.
Third, sleep in Scripture means death. The death of the saints is just sleep. Thank God, because the sting of death has been removed. Therefore, when a believer dies, he is just sleeping, and he will awake in resurrection.
Strictly speaking, the sleep here can only apply to death. Why? Because the Bridegroom delayed. Saints in the first century went out to meet the Bridegroom, fully expecting Him to come quickly. But because the Bridegroom tarried, they went to sleep.
Saints in the second century went out to meet the Bridegroom. They too expected Him to come quickly, but the Bridegroom tarried, and they went to sleep. Up to our time, many dear ones of God have gone to sleep because the Bridegroom tarried.
Who are those still living, those who have not died yet? Here we are.
We are represented by Matthew 24:40-41: “Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left: two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.”
Those two are living, because you cannot be in the field if you have already died. They are still working. The two who are grinding at the mill must be living; otherwise, how can they grind a mill? A ghost cannot grind a mill.
In another account, you find two sleeping in one bed; one is taken, and one is left. Thank the Lord, because when the Lord comes there will be living saints upon the earth. In some places they are sleeping because it is night; in other places they are grinding because it is morning; in other places they are working in the field because it is daytime. The earth is round.
But no matter where you are—whether it is night, morning, or noontime—if you are living when the Lord comes, one is taken. The ten virgins are divided into two: five wise and five foolish. The two living are divided into two: one taken and one left. It is the same thing.
Many have died through the twenty centuries. They went out to meet the Bridegroom, but because the Bridegroom tarried, they died. Thank God, at midnight there is a cry: “Behold, the Bridegroom! Go ye out to meet Him.”
The ten all heard the voice. They all got up; they were resurrected. They all trimmed their lamps. Now is the difference. Everything is the same except one thing, and that one thing does not seem important or vital until that moment.
What is it? The wise ones have extra oil in their vessels. So they pour the oil into their lamps, and the lamps burn brightly, ready to go out to meet the Bridegroom.
But the foolish did not have the extra oil. They said to the wise, “Give us some.” Then the wise said, “We cannot do it.” It is something that cannot be transferred. “Go and buy for yourselves.” In other words, it costs you something.
While they went away to buy, the Bridegroom came, and the five wise went in with Him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. The others were left outside, weeping and knocking.
Do you see the picture, brothers and sisters? In Revelation 19, the bride is represented by the overcomers of the church, because they are ready. Those who are not ready will be kept out of the marriage feast of the Lamb.
That is why it says, “Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” You might be invited, but if you are not ready, you will not enter.
Oh, brothers and sisters, do you have that wedding garment? Are you clothed not only with Christ as your righteousness, but also with the righteousnesses of the saints—the work of the Holy Spirit in your life?
It is true that you have the Holy Spirit, as our brother says, but are you filled with the Holy Spirit? That extra oil is the fullness of the Spirit. “Be filled with the Spirit.” Be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit, and let your life be under His control.
You have the Holy Spirit, but is your life under His control? It may not make any difference today. People may not see any difference.
Two are working in the field; both are working. Two are grinding at the mill; both are grinding. Two are sleeping. Now, do not be afraid to go to sleep.
Some people think, “The Lord is coming. What shall I do?” They do not even dare to sleep. But if you are ready, you will go.
Do not stop working and say, “If the Lord is coming, why bother to work?” Go to the field and work, because if you are ready, you will be taken. If you do not work, you may be left behind because you are not in the work of God.
Brothers and sisters, do we allow ourselves to be worked upon by the Spirit of God, near the cross, that He may take away all the spots and wrinkles and work Christ into us, that we may be all glorious?
It is up to you. He will do it. Grace is sufficient. But you have to decide whether you will allow Him or not. You have to decide whether you are cooperating, because God will never force you into something that you do not want. He is a perfect gentleman.
The marriage feast of the Lamb—do you remember our Lord Jesus when He broke bread with His disciples? He took the loaf and said, “This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.”
Then He took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood: this do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.” Then He said, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
I believe that is the marriage feast. The Bridegroom is waiting for that marriage. He has not drunk for two thousand years. He has not eaten for two thousand years.
Week after week, we break bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Him until He comes. What a day it will be when, at the marriage feast of the Lamb, He shall drink it new with us together.
Oh, blessed are those who enter into the marriage feast of the Lamb.
I personally believe this marriage feast of the Lamb extends for a thousand years. Nowadays in China, we can have a marriage feast for three days. But I believe this marriage feast extends for a thousand years. Glorious!
That is the consummation. That is the day to which the Bridegroom is looking forward, and that is the day to which we are looking forward. May the Lord help us.
Our heavenly Father, oh, how we stand on tiptoe. How we stretch out to hear that midnight cry: “Behold, the Bridegroom! Go out to meet Him.”
But, O Lord, make us ready, that we may enter in and sit with Him. Then Thy joy will be fulfilled, and our joy will also be full. Grant that it may be so, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.