As we begin this morning, I’m going to spare you—we’re not going to sing. But we are going to read something. I’d like to read this particular song as we begin. I think it expresses a lot of what’s on my heart this morning.
It’s actually a song by Watchman Nee, number 866. I think it’s an encouraging word.
We may not die, but rise and meet the Lord;
This blessed hope God shows us in His Word.
The Spirit makes it plain to us, His own;
He’ll catch us from this world to His own throne.We may not die, but rise and meet the Lord;
Oh, the bright glory these few words afford!
Changed instantly, the twinkling of an eye,
And see Thee face to face, our Lord, on high.Some shall not die, but rise and meet the Lord;
O precious promise, faithful, true, and good!
Although we do not know the day or hour,
We know that He Himself shall come in power.We may not die; then let us more be pure.
Cut off each sin, unseen or that men see.
This world is passing; heaven will quickly come.
Then let us day by day be more like Him.We shall arise and meet Him in the air;
Then let us not be entangled down here.
We look for Christ; we do not look for death.
Our hope, at any hour, to leave this earth.We shall arise and to our Lord ascend,
When His victorious shout the air shall rend.
O come, Lord Jesus, come! His saints now cry,
“Come quickly,” so we will ever be with Thee.
From my brother Watchman Nee. I think it so much expresses, even, I think, our Lord’s heart—that He might soon return for His own and for His bride.
Now, we’ve been sharing out of the book of Revelation, chapter 1. But I’d like to begin with Matthew, chapter 24.
Matthew 24:42:
Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
Watch. Be watchful. For you do not know what hour your Lord comes.
Now let’s go to Revelation, chapter 1, beginning with the first verse.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show unto His servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John;
Who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and pay attention to—keep—the things which are written, for the time is near.
Last week, as I shared, I just had on my heart, brothers and sisters, the need to be awakened. It’s like in my own personal life: the Lord at times seems to give me that sense of His soon return, but then I kind of hit the snooze button. You know, I kind of drift off, and it’s not a continual thing in my heart.
And yet, in this book of Revelation, the Lord is showing us something so very precious. Not long ago, I finished sharing in that long series out of the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis is the beginning of God’s work with man, and we see how He has a great purpose in mind: a bride for His Son.
We see how God reveals Himself as God the Father in those chapters in Genesis—all of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all those who followed Him in faith. But in the book of Revelation, we see the end of God’s purpose.
If you go to Revelation 21, you see the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. We see the summing up in Christ of God’s purpose in creation—for you and me, and for all. God has something on His heart.
I was so impressed as I began to read that He needed for us to be awakened to the hour in which we live. Last week, I shared on this blessed hope. It says it is a blessing to those who read, take heed, and pay attention to what is in this letter.
It is a blessing because of the blessed hope. In Titus 2:13, it says:
Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
That’s our blessing: the blessed hope. Our blessed hope, as we read from this song this morning, is that we might meet Him in the air, that we might see Him face to face at the throne. A blessed hope that we have for those of us who are now alive and waiting for His return.
Our brother says we do not wait for death. We wait for that blessed hope. And that should be on our heart.
But we know that some have passed, and some of us may yet pass before the Lord comes back. But we still have that blessed hope, brothers and sisters, of seeing Him face to face and hearing Him say to us, “Enter into the joy of the Lord.”
Oh, what a blessed hope—that we look forward to that day and be able to hear the Lord say, “Enter thou into My joy.”
Because we know that those who are not ready, those who have not stayed awake and been prepared, will not hear those words. Rather, they will hear some pretty desperate words: “Depart from Me.”
What that means is, brothers and sisters, that the Lord, in all of His grace and mercy, knows we are not ready to reign with Him during the millennium period. He will have us further disciplined until we are ready for the New Jerusalem. So, in a sense, it is mercy.
Instead of totally rejecting those who are not ready, He has mercy and compassion. He refers to it as outer darkness, and He refers to the gnashing of teeth—the grief of regret, of not being ready.
So, it is on my heart that we not only be awakened to the hour, but that we be able to maintain a readiness to meet the Lord face to face.
I also mentioned that the time was at hand. We need to be ready because the time is at hand. Interestingly enough, this message was given at the end of the first century. The church was in great declension, but many centuries have passed.
But the word was, “The time is at hand.” We know from the Word of God, brothers and sisters, that Christ can return at any time.
Now, there are some things that have not yet been fulfilled before He comes as lightning across the sky and blows the trumpet. But the Word says that in the beginning, He will come like a thief. You will not know the hour, and all of a sudden some will disappear and meet the Lord at the throne, face to face.
The Lord gave that message at the end of the first century. Some might think, “Well, was the Lord really telling us the truth? Because it has been twenty-some centuries since.”
Well, He was. The Son of Man does not know the time Himself; we certainly cannot know it. He is waiting for the word from the Father. As soon as the Father says it is time, He will return. It could have been at the end of the first century.
That is the beginning of His return, as our brother has shared recently at the conference. The parousia, His appearance, His appearing, is actually a series of events, and there is a time frame involved—not just one instance.
So the time is at hand. If God said to His people—and it was obviously a very true statement at that time—how much more real must it be today, twenty-some centuries later, that the time is at hand?
Really, what God is doing is being merciful, brothers and sisters. He is saying, “I’m not going to tell you the time. You just need to be ready.”
Today, a lot of people get caught up in all the prophecies and figuring out the time. What value is that if you are not ready? The emphasis in the Word is on being ready, not understanding all the series of events.
So, if you do not understand all that you read, it is okay. You can ask the Lord for light. I believe in these days more and more light is coming, and understanding of these Scriptures, because we are getting so near.
The time is at hand. We mentioned last time that at His first coming, a lot of people were looking for the Messiah. The scribes and Pharisees were searching the Word.
Unfortunately, at His first coming only a few were ready. Obviously, only a few were ready, because most ended up rejecting Him. They became offended at the Lord because He was not meeting what they thought their needs were—to overthrow the Roman government, to come out from under their thumb, to bless them, feed them, and take care of them.
That is what they were looking for. That is why they were so excited in the beginning, when He fed the five thousand and the multitudes.
But the Lord was interested in their spiritual condition. When they finally came around to the fact that He was not what they thought He was, and that His heart was really for their spiritual condition, they rejected Him and sent Him away.
Only a few were ready. We mentioned them last time: Mary, who said to the angel, “Be it unto me according to Thy word.” Whatever God would do, she would do it.
We mentioned Anna, the prophetess, who for eighty-four years had been in the temple praying for the Messiah to come; and Simeon, to whom the Lord had given a word that he would not pass away until he saw the Lord Jesus Christ.
To the shepherds in the field, the message came: “He is here. The King is here.” And they went immediately.
Even some Gentiles—they were called wise men, and indeed they were—sought out this young One who was to be the King. But there were just a few, it seems like.
We remember at His cross, there were only a few women there, and John, and the Lord’s mother. Just a few.
Are we spiritually ready for His return?
I mentioned, of course, the three things that really stood out as to the time being at hand. When the Lord cursed the fig tree, a few days later He said, “When you see the fig tree begin to have leaves, the summer is near.”
In 1948, Israel was restored as a nation outwardly, politically—not spiritually. In 1967, they took full control of Jerusalem, which appears to be the fulfilling of that word saying that Jerusalem would be trodden under foot of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled—those great nations which began with Nebuchadnezzar.
Brothers and sisters, it is close. He spoke of the days of Noah: being consumed with the cares of life, marrying and giving in marriage. But there was something else that was so obvious. That was also the day in which the Lord said, “It grieved Me that I made man.”
So much so that He brought a flood, and it destroyed everything but Noah and his family, and those in the ark.
Then today we see the obvious expressions of the birth pains of His soon return—with the tornadoes, unprecedented amounts of tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and all that is going on in the weather and the atmosphere. A great stirring is going on.
It is time to be awakened to His soon coming.
Now, as to being ready and maintaining that readiness, we need to look at these Scriptures.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show unto His servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John;
Who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things written therein: for the time is at hand.
Who is this message from? It is from God. It says, interestingly enough, that this is a revelation that God gave to His Son Jesus, to give to His servant, bondservant John.
It was a revelation. It was God’s heart. This is God the Father’s heart in this letter. He gives it to His Son and says, “Son, I need You to share this with Your own. Your blood-bought ones need to be ready.”
He said, “Give it to John. Let him share this testimony.” And He does. He gives this to John.
So, brothers and sisters, this message is not from man. This is not a letter written by man. This is not a letter written by John, in a way. Yes, he is a scribe, but all he is doing is taking down what is revealed to him from the Lord.
So it is not a message from John to us; it is a message from God to us, revealing His heart for His Son—that His Son might inherit all things, and that He might be able to sum up all things in Jesus Christ. It is a letter from God.
Now, who is this message to? It is to you. It is to those who have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb. It is to you personally.
You need to realize that this book of Revelation is a personal letter from God to you. It is very personal, and He wants you to take it that way. He wants you to look at it, pay attention to it, and take heed to what is in it, because He loves us so much. He wants us to be ready.
I was sitting at breakfast this morning, listening to a man talking to his son. He just kept giving advice to his son. His son, of course, was a young man, and I know how it is to be a young man. I still remember those days when I thought I knew everything.
The son kept saying, “But Dad, but Dad,” when his dad was telling him what he needed to know. Here we see God the Father saying, “Listen, you need to listen to this message, because the time is near.”
It is a message through the Holy Spirit. It reveals God’s plan to us: to sum up the ages, to restore everything back to God—not only the nation of Israel, but the church and the nations, prepared for the millennium.
You know what the Lord is saying through this? “I’m going to be seeing you soon. I’m coming to see you soon.”
It is kind of like Zacchaeus—not Nicodemus. Who was the little guy in the tree? Zacchaeus. The Lord walks by and says, “Zacchaeus, come down. I’m going to be in your house today.”
It is kind of like that. The Lord is saying, “Look, I’m coming to see you.” Wow. The Lord is coming to see me. Well, it is personal.
I thought about this matter of being prepared and maintaining readiness. What if one of my relatives called me and said, “Jerry, I’m coming to see you”?
If a relative does that to you and says, “Hey, I’m coming to see you,” I think your reaction probably will be based on your relationship to that relative, won’t it?
If it is a relative that you have been close to through the years, who has helped you and given you advice, and one whom you love, your heart will probably go out and say, “Yes, I’m waiting. Please come soon.”
But if it is a distant relative that you do not think about much, you might say, “Ah, man, I was planning on doing something else. I had something else in mind. Here this relative is coming. I don’t know them very well, and honestly, I’m a little bit afraid of them.”
I had an uncle like that. He always scared me. Forgive me, Uncle, but he did. He was kind of a gruff guy. He scared me a little bit as a child.
So your reaction, brothers and sisters, to the Lord saying, “I’m coming—coming to see you,” will depend on our heart and our relationship to Him now.
The interesting thing is, though, the relative does not tell you exactly when they are going to be there. “Hey, when are you coming?” “Well, I’m not sure, but it’s soon. I will be there soon. You better get ready, because I’m coming soon.”
“Well, is it next week?” “Well, I’m coming soon.” Okay.
Now, here is the thing: are we going to get ready? Are we going to get ready for this One who is coming soon? That is the question.
You may immediately say, “Yeah, I better get ready,” and you go home and start cleaning the house and getting ready. I know that when people come to see us—when somebody is coming—I have to duck, because everything in the house has got to be cleaned.
Of course, I have got to be a part of it. Not only the house, but the yard has to be mowed and everything. So anyway, I know what it is to get ready for relatives and people to come in. You want things to be right, and that is the right thing to do. Do not get me wrong. We should make preparations to take care of those who are coming to see us, to be our guests, to enjoy them, and to let them enjoy us.
But it has been a week now. “Man, I’ve kept the house clean for a whole week.” Even with three kids running around, that is not easy, is it?
I have three grandchildren. Boy, it is like tornadoes. It really is. Your house can be so nice and straight; you bring them in, and in less than five minutes everything is out of the closets and onto the floor.
Everything they see, they grab and want to play with. After about a half hour, they want to go outside and do the same thing in the yard. I have to pull all the stuff out of the shed, you know?
Anyway, that being said, I am saying it is not easy to maintain that preparedness. So now it has been a week, and then another week, and a month goes by. You are wondering, “Ah, I can’t seem to get in touch with them anymore, but they said they were coming soon.”
“Well, look, I have got to get back to life the way it really is. Just go on. Maybe if they show up, I will scurry around at the last moment and get ready.”
Or you may say, “Hey, when they come, they come. I’ll take care of them then. I’ll run out to the store and get some groceries, and we’ll straighten up as best we can.”
Well, He is coming soon. He has let us know. I want you to know this morning: I do not want you to leave this room thinking that it might be a week away, a month away, or two years away. It might be today.
Now, are you ready? Are you prepared?
I thought a lot about it. I said, “Lord, what is it that is going to keep us prepared for Your coming, having that sense of Your soon coming, and being ready for You?”
I know it says you have got to be watching, you have got to be diligent, you need to be before the Lord, and follow the Lamb wherever He goes. The motivation is there because the Lord is coming, and we want to be ready for Him, and we want to meet Him face to face.
So the motivation is there, but where is the power to maintain readiness? I saw that little word, bondservant—written to His bondservant.
You know what differentiates a bondservant from a servant? A servant is hired. A servant gets paid. A servant works for reward.
But a bondservant, as we know from Scripture, serves out of love—nothing but love. He may gain something in the end, but his service is purely because he loves the master. That is a bondservant.
In other words, it is based on love. It is love. I am convinced, brothers and sisters, it is the love of God.
We said it this morning: it is God’s compassions and mercies that are new every day. It is His love for us that, I think, challenges us, takes our heart, and says, “He’s coming soon.”
Love and readiness go together. Second Corinthians 5 says:
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;
And He died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him who for their sakes died and rose again.
It is His love that constrains us. It is when we touch His love that we get this constraining love in our hearts that gives us that affection for Him and for His soon return.
It is His love that calls us to respond to Him and say, “Lord, by Your grace, I am willing to be ready. I want to be ready.” It is that love. I hope you touched His love at the table this morning.
It is that constraining love that really holds us, brothers and sisters. But there is to be a response. There is something that holds us back.
God’s constraining love is upon us, but there is something that holds us back, and it is called self. It is the self-life.
The Lord says, “You have been bought with a price; you are not your own.” But, brothers and sisters, often we feel like we are our own. “I’ve got to look out for myself.”
Interestingly enough, I saw this the other day on the table: Thirty-One Kings by A. B. Simpson. I said, “I wonder what this is all about.” I did not think there was but one king.
Well, it is not hard to figure out what the thirty-one kings are, is it, brothers? It is the expressions of self—thirty-one expressions of the self-life that our brother goes through in this book, that the Lord has got to deal with.
If you read this, you will discover there is a whole lot more self there than you ever imagined, brothers and sisters.
That is the restraining force in our life. Christ is the constraining force—His love—but the thing that restrains us from that constraining love is the self-life. It wants to do its own thing. It really does not want to go through all that is needed to get ready for His soon return.
Let me read some things from A. B. Simpson on this matter of the self-life.
Our very life must not be held as a selfish possession, but as a sacred trust.
Have you ever thought of that in that way? Our life is not to be a selfish possession, but a sacred trust for the Lord. It has been given to us for the Lord.
We must definitely and thoroughly enter into the meaning of the mighty word, “You are not your own.”
We must thoroughly enter into the meaning of that. He says, “You are not your own.” We must surrender ourselves so utterly that we can never own ourselves again.
We must hand over self and all its rights in an eternal covenant with God, and give to God the absolute right to own us, control us, and possess us forever.
We must abide in this attitude, and never recall that irrevocable surrender to the Lord.
We must choose that each expression of the self-life shall die. And God will make that death effectual in you the moment you sign the death warrant.
We have got to sign that death warrant. I do not know how many of us have signed the death warrant on our own selves.
We must receive the great antidote to self: the love of Christ. It is in a far higher sense the love of Christ, and that alone can slay the strength of self-love, enable us to say, “The love of Christ constraineth me.”
A. B. Simpson. It is an encouraging little book. You have to get to the very end to get encouraged. But it is such an encouraging little book.
That is the restraining force in our life: the self-life.
Let’s look at Matthew 25 for a second.
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 is 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.
The ten virgins. The Lord shared this that we might understand this matter of being ready, being prepared for Him.
Five were wise and five foolish. The foolish ones were really not prepared. They were His, because they had the torch of life. They had that light of life in them.
When the cry came out, the torch was lit in all ten. They all had the life of Christ. But something began to happen: they did not seem to have the oil to sustain the light.
This has nothing to do with lost salvation. It is just being ready for the Lord. Their lights were dimming out, and they did not have enough oil.
Whereas the ones who had the oil in their vessels were able to keep their lights trimmed, and they were able to go into the wedding feast. The others were told, “What you need to do is go out and buy oil.” Of course, by the time they had done so, the doors were shut.
What is this? It is the Holy Spirit. Being full of the Holy Spirit—that is being ready.
What is it that keeps us from being full of the Holy Spirit? I have already told you: these thirty-one kings—and there are probably a hundred and one kings. It is that self.
That is the thing that keeps the Holy Spirit from really filling our hearts and our lives and making us ready. The vessel is not ready. We are the vessels.
We are not full of that oil that is needed and required for the wedding. So we see, brothers and sisters, how serious this matter is.
Being prepared for the Lord is saying, “Lord, every day, every day, You are coming. You are coming, Lord. I need to be ready. That is where my heart needs to be today, Lord.”
“Yes, I have many other things to do, but my heart needs to be there—being ready for You.” You see what I am saying?
That takes the Holy Spirit—the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The main thing that hinders the Holy Spirit from working in our lives is that self-life, and that has to be yielded.
That will only be yielded by the constraining love of Christ. We will only yield that self-life because of this constraining love of Christ. You see how important that constraining love is—how we need to sign the death warrant in order to be ready for the Lord.
In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul says:
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing.
Now, did I say that correctly? Not unto all them also that love Him, but unto all them also that love His appearing. Interesting.
Paul did not just end by saying, “Unto all those who love Him.” He said, “All who love His appearing.”
I think this matter of His appearing is kind of the thing that separates us out. I would ask probably everybody in this room, “Do you love the Lord?” And they would say, “Yeah.”
Do you love His appearing? Do you love His appearing?
That is the differentiating factor: loving His appearing. That is because there is such an anxiety in your heart, such a passion in your heart: “Lord, may all self disappear. Lord, my passion is for You.”
Loving His appearing. By the constraining love of God, brothers and sisters, that is what helps us—what gets us ready for Him: to love His appearing. It is the constraining love of Christ.
Now, it is interesting in Revelation 1. John says, “To the seven assemblies which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace.”
From Him who is, who was, and who is to come. Grace.
We need the constraining love of Christ. But, brothers and sisters, we need the grace of God to be ready. It takes God’s grace. Grace and peace to you. Oh, how full the Word of God is.
Not only does His love constrain us, brothers and sisters, but it is grace that is needed to be ready. Philippians 2:13 says:
For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure.
Are you willing to be ready? It is going to take God working in your heart to will. Are you going to actually get ready? It takes the grace of God working in your heart to get ready.
One of the most amazing, life-changing events in a Christian life is when you discover that grace is not just a freely given gift, but that grace is Jesus Christ.
It is correct that grace is freely given to us. But grace is Jesus Christ. It makes a tremendous difference in your life when I say to you, “It is by the grace of God.” What I am really saying is, “It is by Christ in you that you will respond.”
It is Christ. This Christ—we are talking about the self-life—He denied His self-life all of His life. He said, “I do nothing of Myself. Whatever the Father says, that is what I do. I do not do anything out of My own self or for Myself. It is all for God.”
He had a perfect self-life, but He did not use it. He did not respond to it. His life was always dependent on God and the work of the Holy Spirit in Him and upon Him to do God’s service and God’s will.
Our self-life is hopeless and fallen. If the Lord Jesus gave up His own self-life in order to live the life of God that a man should live, should we not give up our fallen self-life—our hopeless self-life?
He denied His perfect self-life; we need to deny our flawed self-life. So, out of God’s love, His grace works in us to be prepared.
By His grace, you can respond. By grace, you can deny yourself. By grace, you can obey. By grace, you can be transformed into readiness. It is not works; it is grace. Grace is Christ working in you.
Have you discovered God’s grace? Have you discovered God’s grace? You say, “Well, yeah, grace all the time.” Well, it is Christ. That is the discovery.
When you discover that Christ is not only your Savior, but Christ is your life, that is the difference. Take Him as grace. Take Him as your life.
Friday night at the Bible study, we were sharing and talking about some of our weaknesses—not in reference to being prepared for the Lord, but some of our weaknesses and things that challenge us. We are not ready to meet them, and we are looking to the Lord to strengthen us.
What really came out of that whole discussion was something that T. Austin-Sparks preached all the time. He says, “You can never come to God on your own ground.”
In other words: “Lord, I am weak. Will You come and strengthen me? Lord, I do not have any wisdom. Will You just come, Lord, and give me some wisdom? Lord, give me the grace to bear this thing.”
T. Austin-Sparks was pretty bold. He said the Lord is not going to respond to you if you come on that ground. You have to come on the ground of who Christ is.
“Lord, I am weak. I do not have any strength. I cannot face this situation. But, Lord, You can. You are in my life.”
“Lord, You can face anything. You faced Calvary’s cross. You faced death and overcame it. There is nothing that cannot be overcome, because it is Christ who lives in me.”
It is not you doing it; it is Christ. Do you see the tremendous difference? This is why grace is so tremendously important. It is Christ. It is Christ in you working.
So how are you going to be ready? By the grace of God.
“Lord, I am not able to be ready, but You were ready. You were ready when the Father called You to come. You were ready when He said, ‘It’s time to go to the cross.’ You were ready.”
“You were ready when He said, ‘It’s time to come back.’ And He will be ready when the Father says it is time to go back.”
Grace. Grace working in us. Oh, may we see God’s grace.
We must also see that God is working toward a purpose. In Genesis, we see the purpose of God when He made Adam and Eve, and He took something out of the side of Adam and made a woman for Adam.
We know that at Calvary’s cross the spear pierced the side of our Lord Jesus. Blood and water flowed out. It is interesting: John was there, and he testified. He said, “I saw it, and I testify to it.”
Why was that so important? Because the blood and water flowed out. The blood was for our sins, and the water was His life being poured out, given to us, that from this the bride might be made ready.
A bride for Himself. That was the hint in Genesis. In Revelation, we see the fulfillment of it.
What I am trying to say is this: this letter is written to you personally. It is a personal letter, and we need to be awakened. But this letter is written to the bride. This letter is for the bride.
The Lord has a deep personal desire for all of us to be ready and to be worthy of Him when He comes back. But part of that is that we are a part of the bride. We are not the bride.
I have said it before, but I must say it again because there is a wrong concept. Some people say, “I’m going to be married to Christ.” Well, that is not exactly true. It is the bride that is married to Christ, and we are a part of that bride.
We experience being a part of the bride now on this earth in fellowship with one another in the church. We do all of this in order that we might be matured and made ready as His bride.
The life as a bride is far more glorious than our individual life in the Lord can ever be.
I often think—it is like having that thousand-piece puzzle. When I was a child, that was a big thing going around. We did not have televisions in the beginning. I was twelve years old before we had one of those. It is hard to believe, isn’t it? Never had a TV.
Anyway, we had puzzles. You get a five-hundred-piece puzzle or whatever, and you put it together. Here is the point: each one of us is like that piece of puzzle.
We have a little coloring here. You always look for the blue sky, the little hint of white in it, and hook it in, right? You get the edge pieces in first. You know how to put these puzzles together. You are always looking for that little something that fits.
Interestingly enough, no one piece can fit just anywhere. It has only one place in that whole puzzle that it can fit. But where it fits, it is securely joined to the puzzle pieces around it. They are one.
When the puzzle is finished, you no longer really notice the individual pieces, do you? What do you see? You see the image. You see the picture. You see the picture that the person who made this puzzle put on there. That is what they are after in the end.
So, brothers and sisters, that is the way it is. When I say we are part of something much more glorious, we are just that little piece. That little piece alone is not sufficient. It takes all the pieces.
You know what the image of that puzzle is going to be when it is finally finished? It is Christ. That is what will be seen. When they look at the bride, they are going to see Christ. That is the image.
This matter of being prepared reaches more than just our individual lives. It is our lives together in the Lord. We have to be together.
We are imperfect puzzle pieces, and we have not quite been shaped right yet to fit into that puzzle. So the Lord is still doing that shaping work on us. There are no better people to do that than our brothers and sisters.
They just know how to do that thing. They know how to cut us up a little bit, shape us up a little bit, offend us, and knock off a few corners.
When we get offended, we need to go to the Lord and say, “Lord, there has got to be something there. I would not be offended otherwise.”
The other person may be right, but what the Lord is after is that little rough spot He is trying to get off. The other person may be wrong, but the Lord is still trying to get that little rough spot off.
Either way, brothers and sisters, we owe a lot to our brothers and sisters in getting us ready. So it is not only an individual calling; it is a calling for His bride. In the end, it will be His bride.
Brothers and sisters, the church, the bride of Christ, cannot be just an objective doctrine in your heart. So many people today say, “Yeah, yeah, we know all about the body of Christ.” But are they experiencing the body? Are they living in it? Is it a subjective reality in their hearts?
It is an essential part of being ready.
Finally, it says:
And from the seven Spirits that are before His throne;
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness.
The other thing that I saw that we needed in order to be ready was that we have to keep our eyes on Jesus. Our eyes have to be upon Him continually. We have to see Jesus Christ.
John directs us immediately to Jesus Christ, and he begins to give a description of Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not have time to go into all of that description this morning—maybe another time.
He is coming soon. He is coming soon. We need to be awakened to the hour.
The Spirit says, “Come, Lord Jesus.” The bride says, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Are we in the bride? It should be in our hearts: “Come, Lord Jesus.”
But, brothers and sisters, what is it that is going to really get us prepared? It is the constraining love of Christ. I hope He is constraining us today—even me.
It is the constraining love of God. It is the grace of God working in you. It is Christ in you, working in you. It is that sense of purpose that God has called us to—to be a part of His bride.
And we must keep our eyes on Jesus. Not so much on one another—our eyes on Jesus. That is where our eyes need to be.
We will see what the Lord has later, but just remember that this morning: He is coming soon. It is a personal letter to you. It is written to you. It is written to me. It is written to His bondservants. May we respond to Him.
Lord, we just come this morning. We thank You for Your love. We thank You for Your great compassions.
Lord, we thank You for Your continuing willingness to call to us, to give us the alarm to awaken.
Lord, today we take the grace of God. Lord, we sign this death warrant to self, that we might be filled with Your Spirit, that we might be made ready.
And Lord Jesus, often I confess, I get my eyes on other things and on myself. Lord Jesus, always put that hint in my heart: “Jerry, you’re looking in the wrong place.”
I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.