Revelations 19:7-9
7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.”
It is quite a lovely thought to contemplate “The Bride Made Ready.” We can read the promise of it in this Revelation 19 passage, and I would encourage all to again do so, for this is where we spend some time in this article.
We read the injunction in verse 7 to rejoice and be glad as well as give glory to God, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His Bride has made herself ready. When we read the entire chapter, we find that this injunction is made to God’s bondservants who fear Him, the small and great (verse 5).
Verse 8 tells us that the Bride was clothed in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. This fresh clothing is necessary because the Bride has been being tested and purified through great trial and battle. Yet now the great battle has ceased and God has avenged the blood of His bond-servants by His judgments upon the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality (verse 2). Yet the final end to the Bride’s great hour of testing and purification is in the return of the Lamb of God who is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Revelations 19:11-16
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and inrighteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
This is a brief overview, but now let us look deeper into these matters. It is a noteworthy consideration to understand the direct correlation between the Bride made ready—or the Bride making herself ready—in the context of great conflict. There is a great and, I believe, final conflict in front of us that is absolutely needed for the Bride to be refined and readied for her eternal role and ministry of being a Royal Priesthood carrying forth the Glory, Presence, Life, and Voice of the Lamb. It truly is a Malachi 3 and 4 type time where the Lord is among us as a refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap. However, He is using Babylon, an economic, governmental, and religious world system, to finalize the Bride’s readiness. This is not only true of what is coming but is equally true throughout our spiritual journey with and in Him. Great Commissional intent includes tremendous preparational battle. This may go against our theologies, but so be it. The Eternal Purpose of the Lamb was to prepare His Bride to reign with Him through unparalleled testing and battle. There simply cannot be an immature, unprepared entity ruling and reigning with the Lamb on His throne. This great eternal purpose demands that the Bride be prepared through conflict, but her reward is much greater than her brief conflict. We need to understand that the playground of Satan is attached to the school of Christ on this planet. Yes, God is using Satan by allowing him to do his worst but all the while giving God the right opportunity to make His eternal Bride ready. If we see this clearly, we will no longer question or doubt His loving kindness as well as His Kingly intentions, instead we will glorify Him for the opportunity to suffer knowing that we shall reign with Him and be His eternal chosen vessel for bringing internal spiritual transformation to all the universes of His creation!
Romans 8:16-25
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for ouradoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.Ephesians 3:9-12
9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.Ephesians 1:18-2:7
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
2 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Let’s finish this article with a final thought from Revelation 19. There is direct correlation between the Bride making herself ready and the return of Christ. This is profoundly clear in Revelation 19 and I believe this is Peter’s reference in 2 Peter 3:12. The hastening of the day of God can only mean the Bride has made herself ready for the Bridegroom. Let’s repeat this truth: the Bride has made herself ready for the Bridegroom. Our willingness to allow the Bridegroom to make Himself our supreme inheritance, our first and foremost love and desire, by the purifying of hearts, and hunger, and emancipating us from idols and distractions is in view here. May we submit to our husband, our Bridegroom, our one and only King, the Lamb of God. Amen.