Will you please turn to Revelation, the last book in the Bible?
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth.
Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.
And 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.
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God:
And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.
And He that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.
And He said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.
And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and His servants shall serve Him;
and they shall see His face; and His name shall be on their foreheads.
And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together this morning. We thank Thee for the privilege of being invited to Thy table. We thank Thee for all the goodness and salvation that Thou hast bestowed upon us.
Lord, we come to Thee now with hearts of gratitude. We thank Thee for all that Thou hast given to us. We are unworthy, but Lord, Thou art the worthy One.
As we continue in Thy presence, we pray that Thy Spirit will move among us. Open Thy Word to us, touch our hearts, and bring us into the reality of Thy Word, that we may glorify Thy name. We commit this time into Thy hand and trust Thy Spirit to do the work for the glory of God. Amen.
A few weeks ago, we spoke about how, when you read the Bible from the beginning to the end, you will find that the Bible begins with marriage and ends with marriage.
Now, of course, we are not talking about marriage in this world. We are talking about that spiritual marriage: the union of God and man. For that is the purpose of God.
How, in the very beginning, through the marriage of Adam and Eve, we saw a glimpse of the union of God with man.
The principle is very simple: only that which is out of God can return and be united with God. Anything that is not out of God cannot be united with God.
So, only that which is of Christ can be united with Christ into one. So how important it is that, in our spiritual life, it is Christ—not ourselves—that can eventually be united to God.
There is, therefore, much dealing in our lives. Not only do our sins have to be covered by the blood of the Lamb, but even the self in us has to be dealt with, so that it may be Christ in us and no longer we ourselves. It is only that which is of Christ that can return and be united with Christ.
Now this morning, we would like to go to the end of the Bible, and you find it is again on marriage.
But when you read from Revelation 19 through Revelation 22, you find there are two marriages of the Lamb. Now, are they one, or are they two?
If you read carefully, you find there are two marriages. Why? Because the one recorded in Revelation 19, time-wise, begins the millennium. But when you reach Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, you find that it begins with eternity.
In other words, in these two marriages, you find there are a thousand years apart. The one you find in Revelation 19 is the one that begins the millennium, but the one in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 is at the end of the millennium; it is the beginning of eternity.
So, brothers and sisters, we find that even before eternity there will come the millennium, a thousand years after the end of this age. The age to come is the millennium, a thousand years, and during the millennium there will be a marriage.
Now, who is the bride? That is a very important question.
When we read Revelation 19, we find this:
Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.
And 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.
Here we find the bride is the one who was given to be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.
Now here you find it is not Christ our righteousness. Rather, it is the righteousness of the saints. There is a great difference there.
Brothers and sisters, when we come to the Lord, the Lord becomes our righteousness. We had no righteousness of our own. We were sinners in the sight of God.
But if we believe in the Lord Jesus, if we accept His blood, we will find that Christ becomes our righteousness before God. In other words, He gives us a standing before God.
Before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we could not stand before God. Why? Because if we should stand before God, we would be smitten to death because of our sins.
But thank God, if you have believed in the Lord Jesus, your sins have been forgiven, and Christ becomes your righteousness before God. You can stand before God because you are covered with Christ.
But if you read carefully, you find the fine linen, bright and pure, is the righteousnesses of the saints. In other words, it is not Christ our righteousness; it is the righteousness of the saints.
You know, when we come to God, we are clothed with Christ, who is our righteousness. Otherwise, no one can stand before God.
But look: the white linen with which the bride is clothed is called the righteousness of the saints. It is a different righteousness.
What does it mean? It means that, after we have been made righteous before God in Christ Jesus, we need to have another clothing over us. That other clothing is our wedding garment.
This other clothing, over and above the first clothing—which is Christ our righteousness—is called the righteousness of the saints.
Now you remember when the prodigal son came back. The first thing the father did was to clothe him with fine clothing. But that is Christ our righteousness.
After we have come home, after we are clothed with Christ our righteousness, then it is God’s will, and by the grace of God, that we will develop a righteousness in our life which is called the righteousness of the saints.
If you turn to Psalm 45, in verse 13:
All glorious is the king’s daughter within:
Her clothing is inwrought with gold.
In other words, the first clothing of the virgin is the clothing of Christ. We cannot stand before God by ourselves. The only standing we have before God is when we are clothed with Christ.
He is a clothing of wrought gold, because gold in the Scripture always stands for God. So, as we come to God, we are clothed with Christ, and this is the first clothing we have.
But when you read on to Psalm 45:14:
She shall be led unto the king in broidered work:
The virgins her companions that follow her
Shall be brought unto Thee.
In other words, after being clothed with wrought gold, she has to put on another clothing, and that is her wedding clothing. This other clothing is a raiment of embroidery.
Brothers and sisters, do you see the difference? The first one is clothed with wrought gold, which represents Christ our righteousness. Otherwise, we have no standing before God.
But to be married to Christ, you need a marriage clothing. The marriage clothing is a raiment of embroidery.
I believe we all know what embroidery is. When a woman is doing embroidery, you find it is a very tedious work, because it is stitch by stitch. Patiently, she embroiders the clothing.
So this represents the patient work of the Holy Spirit: how the Holy Spirit, after we have believed in the Lord Jesus, has patiently embroidered into our life our wedding garment.
We believe we all experience this. After we have believed in the Lord Jesus, after we have our standing before God, then how about our daily life?
We find that in our daily life, the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, is doing an embroidery work in our life—stitch by stitch, patiently, without giving up.
He continues to do the stitching until you have a garment of embroidery. And this garment of embroidery is called the righteousness of the saints.
You notice the word righteousness here is in the plural number. It is not the first clothing, which is the righteousness of Christ and is in the singular number. But this righteousness is in the plural number.
In other words, it is the righteous acts that we do by the working of the Holy Spirit in our life. As we cooperate with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to deal with our life, it is like embroidery work, stitch by stitch.
The Holy Spirit is daily working in us to work Christ into our living, so that all that we live is no longer we, but it is Christ who lives in us.
The apostle Paul said, “It is no longer I; it is Christ who lives in me.” And how does He live in you and me? He lives in you and me through the working of the Holy Spirit.
Why is the Holy Spirit in us? What is He doing? As you read the Scripture, you find the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit is one, and His work is nothing but to stitch Christ into our lives.
It is a patient work, because how often we find that we rebel against the Holy Spirit. In our daily life, the Holy Spirit who dwells within us is patiently working Christ in us.
Anything that is not of Christ—or, to say it another way, our self-life, which is not Christ’s life—He will remind us. He will touch us. He will show us.
If we cooperate and are willing to listen to the voice of the inner Spirit, then we find that we will be embroidered.
Brothers and sisters, do you realize how patient this work is?
After we believe in the Lord Jesus, as long as we live on earth, in our daily life, we are not alone in seeking to be like Christ. You cannot do that by yourself.
The Holy Spirit, who dwells in your spirit, is working in you. He is telling you what is Christ and what is not of Christ.
As He works in you and reminds you of that, if you cooperate, if you listen to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit, and you are willing to be dealt with, then daily, gradually, as long as you live, you find you are gradually being delivered from your own self.
And you are being clothed with an embroidered garment, your wedding garment. So, dear brothers and sisters, it is very important that after you are saved, as long as you live, you need to experience this embroidery work.
Now, sometimes we make a mistake. We say, “As long as we are saved, that is it.” So after we are saved, we do not care how we live, because we think that we are guaranteed to go to heaven.
But, brothers and sisters, that is a great misunderstanding. Why? Now, it is true: if you believe in the Lord Jesus, He is your Savior, and He will save you to the uttermost. He will save you eventually.
So it is true that one day you will have your place in heaven. But, brothers and sisters, it is not as simple as that.
What about your daily life on earth? Can we as Christians be careless in our daily life, thinking that we are saved after all? Is that enough?
Like some people say, “If my two legs are all in heaven, I am satisfied.” But, brothers and sisters, you may be satisfied, but God is not.
Because God’s thought is that you be like Christ, that Christ be your life. So everything that is in us which is not Christ, the Holy Spirit will remind us.
I believe we all have that experience. Suppose you are a person who used to go to a certain place. But after you are saved, you find that when you are going to that certain place, somehow within your heart there is Someone saying, “Now you are a Christian. Do you think it is right for a Christian to go to that place?”
Or you may be someone who likes to boast, and as long as you boast, you feel good about it. But after you are saved, you are doing the same thing, and when you are boasting, you find a difference.
Why? Because you find a still small voice within you saying, “Is it true, or is it not true?”
But you cannot help it; you keep on boasting. Afterwards, how do you feel? Before, after you boasted, you felt good. But now, after you boast, you feel bad, because you feel that you have done something not right.
The Holy Spirit is working in you. He is working so that Christ may be your daily life.
As Paul said, “It is no longer I; it is Christ who lives in me.” Now, how can it be no longer I? The secret is the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
He is guiding you and leading you and telling you what is not of Christ in your life. He is helping you to get rid, as it were, of your own self and let Christ be your life.
So, brothers and sisters, we who have believed in the Lord Jesus—that is not the end of it. That is the beginning of our Christian life.
You know, in our daily life the Holy Spirit is working, and He is faithful.
He will begin with small things in our life, because He knows that if He begins with big things, you may not be able to listen. So usually, you find He will begin with small things: with places that you go, with things that you usually do, and with your words.
Do you have such experience? I believe we all have such experience. The problem is whether you listen or not.
If you do not listen, and if you do it a number of times, gradually you find the still small voice becomes smaller and smaller until finally you cannot hear it anymore.
That does not mean He is not talking. He is, because He is faithful; but you cannot hear.
If you live like that, what will be the result? You are saved, but you do not have your wedding garment.
What does it mean? It means that when our Lord shall return, you will not have the privilege of being married to Him for the millennium time.
You remember the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. It tells us there are ten virgins. Now, by virgins in the Scripture, it means that they are devoted to Christ.
They are ten virgins, and you find they have torches with them. The torch represents our life, because there is oil in the torch and the torch is burning. They all go out to meet the Bridegroom.
But as they wait for the Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom is delayed, they all fall asleep. That means they all die. These ten virgins represent Christians who have died through the ages because Christ had not yet come.
Now, if you read this with Matthew 24, you find there are two: “As in the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.” When He comes, two will be grinding at the mill, two will be working in the field, and two will be sleeping.
You do not find six here; you find two here. Why? Because the earth is round. In some places it is early morning; in other places it is noontime; and in still other places it is night.
So actually, you have two here, and the two represent those Christians who are living at the coming of the Lord.
The Lord knows their spiritual condition, whether you are prepared for Him or whether you live for yourself.
So when He shall come, He will come as a thief. Now, the thief never blows his trumpet before he comes. He knows exactly when you are not ready, and suddenly he comes.
A thief never comes to get your garbage. I often say, if a thief would come to get my garbage, I hope he would come every night. But strangely, a thief comes for your treasure.
He knows where your treasure is, and after he has gotten your treasure, before you realize it, he is gone. That is a thief.
Our Lord Jesus will come as a thief. He knows us. He knows who is really living for Him and who is not.
Those who live for Him, He will take; and those who do not will be left behind. Those who are left behind have to go through the great tribulation.
Now, again I will say, to Christians the great tribulation is another opportunity to overcome. Through the great tribulation, there will still be those who wake up, realize what has happened, and begin to seek the Lord earnestly.
During the great tribulation, there is still a chance for some to overcome. So I say it is the mercy of God.
But anyway, the ten virgins represent the Christians throughout the ages who have died. They all went out to meet the Bridegroom, but because of the delay, they fell asleep; that is, they died.
Then the voice comes: “The Bridegroom cometh.” They all wake up, and that means they will all be resurrected. That is 1 Thessalonians 4.
They will all be resurrected, but there is a difference. The wise ones have extra oil in their vessels, so they can pour the oil upon the torch. The torch will be brightened, and they will be able to go to meet the Bridegroom.
But the foolish are foolish because they do not have extra oil in the vessel. They may fill their vessels with other things which they consider important instead of the extra Holy Spirit.
Because of that, they are cast into outer darkness during the millennium time. So, brothers and sisters, we need to have a wedding garment.
You remember another parable. When the king had his son’s marriage feast ready, he invited people to come.
When they refused, he asked, “Go to the streets. Go to the lanes, and compel people to come in,” until the house was filled.
Then he came in, and he saw one of them who did not have the wedding garment. In other words, the king prepared wedding garments for every guest.
But one felt that his own garment was good enough. He did not need the wedding garment prepared by the king. So he came on his own, as it were, and because of this he was thrown out into outer darkness.
So, brothers and sisters, do not feel that because you have believed in the Lord Jesus, you can live afterwards as you like. Not so.
You have to remember: as long as you live after you are saved, this is the opportunity for you to have that wedding garment ready.
You have to cooperate with the indwelling Holy Spirit and learn to be delivered from your own self and be filled with Christ.
So here you find we need that wedding garment, and the wedding garment is called the righteousness of the saints. Why? Because it is our righteousnesses accumulated during our lifetime.
We are doing the right thing before God. We are allowing the Holy Spirit to touch us, deliver us from ourselves, and fill us with Christ. This is our wedding garment, and this is the garment of embroidery.
So, dear brothers and sisters, our life as a Christian on earth is very important. Really, we are building up our wedding garment.
Thank God, if He should come today and we have that wedding garment ready, we will be united with Christ during the millennium time. So the Bible says we will reign with Christ for a thousand years.
Brothers and sisters, for a few years—maybe you live as long as I am, maybe you live over a hundred years—compared with a thousand, it is almost nothing.
So let us be wise and not be foolish, thinking of enjoying ourselves during a few years while we miss a thousand years of reign.
In Revelation 19, we find there is a marriage to start the millennium, the thousand years. Those who are married will reign with Christ for a thousand years.
Then we find from Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 there is another marriage, another wedding of the Lamb.
But if you read carefully, you find it is a wedding in the new heaven and new earth. This old heaven and old earth will pass away. The millennium is over.
After the millennium is over, eternity to come will come in. In eternity to come, you find the New Jerusalem.
The foundation of the city bears the names of the twelve apostles, and the twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
What does it mean? It means that in eternity, all the work of God throughout the ages will all be gathered together in that New Jerusalem. Nothing of the work of God will be lost.
So here you find not only all the Christians, all who really believe in the Lord Jesus, will all be in the New Jerusalem, but also all the Israelites in whom the Lord God has worked will all be in the New Jerusalem.
In other words, all the works of God throughout the centuries will all be there. Thank God.
All who have His name and the Father’s name on their foreheads will all be kings, reigning with Christ for eternity.
So, dear brothers and sisters, even those who have lost the millennium kingdom, who are cast into outer darkness, weeping and gnashing their teeth—which means they repent—will be disciplined in outer darkness.
We do not know exactly what will be happening, because God is always positive and never negative. But we know that even though they are in outer darkness, repenting, during that period God will complete them.
Because in Romans 8, we find that whom God has called, He will justify; whom He has justified, He will sanctify. Nothing will be lost in eternity.
Everything will be gathered together to the glory of God. So this is what you find in the Scripture, and hopefully, hopefully, we will be encouraged.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for Thy mercy and grace, which is everlasting. We thank Thee that once Thou hast called us, Thou wilt work with us until Thy purpose is fully realized.
Dear Lord, do not allow us to be complacent. Allow us to really cooperate with Thy Holy Spirit in us, that we may really live not for ourselves, but for Thee, as long as we are here on earth.
Lord, we pray that when Thou shalt return, none will be left behind, but everyone will be taken. Lord, it is the prayer of our hearts. Hear us, O Lord, in Thy name. Amen.