Are We Ready for the Marriage of the Lamb

Wherever do you remember your wedding? And what a joyful occasion it is, a wedding and all the preparation that goes into it. And if you're not married yet, you think, well, there's going to be a lot of preparation, a lot of work towards a wedding. And it's something that's very exciting. But there's one thing that the wedding must have. A wedding must have a bride. Because it doesn't go very far without a bride. A wedding must have a bride. And today, brethren, we want to talk about the marriage of Christ by looking at the few steps in the ancient Israelite wedding traditions. Obviously, different nations have different traditions. They may vary slightly, but Israel had certain traditions. And by looking at those steps in the process of the Israelite-ish wedding, and I'm going to highlight five steps, we want to look at one important point about that wedding. And that is whether we are ready. That is the important part of the wedding for us to be ready as a bride. Now, in context, let's first start in Revelation 11, verse 15. Because, as we heard in Semenet, we always looked at the return of Christ. We believe that the Day of Trumpets points out that. And in Revelation 11, verse 15 through 18, it says, The seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and they will run forever and ever. So there will be a time when the seventh angel will be sounded, and Christ will come. And it will be a major time of world-government change. Because the governments of this world will collapse, and God's government will then be established on earth. And the elders around God's throne, those angel beings, the twenty-four elders around God's throne, on the throne fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, the One who is, who was, and who is to come, which is Christ, which is to come. You, Christ, have taken your great power and reign. Christ is going to stop reigning on earth. The nations were angry. Yes, the nations will be angry at that time. And the wrath of God has come. As we know, it's symbolized by the meaning of the seven trumpets, the wrath of God, and particularly the seven lost players, which are soon to happen as Christ comes. And then it says, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged. In other words, the time of the resurrection, because the mere fact that some will be resurrected and some will not, is a judgment. It's a judgment call, deciding which ones will be in the first resurrection. And so those will be judged and will be in the first resurrection. So it will be the time of the first resurrection. That you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints. So there's been follows upon the resurrection, the reward of the servants. And it says, the servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those appear in your mind, small and great, and should destroy those who destroyed the earth. And it is then, therefore, as Christ comes to rule, you will destroy those that are in the process of destroying the earth. And so it is a time of all these events to happen. And one of them is the reward of the saints. Now let's look at that section, which is in Revelation 19. And we'll start reading in verse 1.

And then a voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you, ye servants, and those who fear in but small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many warriors, and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Finally, Jesus Christ is going to take the reign and reign on earth. And so, and then he says in verse 7, Let us be glad and rejoice and give in glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife, the bride, has made a self ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed with the fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous act of the saints. And then he said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true saints of God. And as we heard in the sermon, there are a lot of things that we know but doctrine, and we don't know all these things. But one thing we want to get out of this is that you and I want to be there. That is the important part. You know, there's a lot of details, Yahweh, we don't really understand fully, and that's okay. It's okay for us to just not knowing everything as we are in the sermon, but one thing is important, critically important. Is to make sure that you and I are part of that bride, because the bride won't be ready.

Which means if you and I are not ready, kind of miss the boat. You and I don't want to miss that boat, quote-unquote. We want to be ready. And so, let's look at some of those steps of the ancient Israelite wedding tradition. To look at some of the steps that are in the preparation for the wedding, and then the final step, which is the wedding itself. The first step in an Israelite-ish wedding is that the groom's father arranges the marriage. Now, that's very different than today. That's very different than today.

The groom's father arranges the marriage. Now, let's start by looking at that in the Bible, right from the time of Adam, Genesis, chapter 2, verse 18. Because right there, the father of Jesus Christ, I think part of the father of Adam, organized. Who was going to be his wife? So, Genesis, chapter 2, verse 18. Genesis, chapter 2, verse 18. And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. I'll make him a helper, comparable to him. And you know, Adam did not have much choice. There was just one. And that was it. The father of the groom chose the bride. And that's it. He didn't have much choice. So he really, in verse 20. So Adam gave manners to all the cattle, to the birds of the air, to every beast of the field. But for Adam, there was not found a helper comparable to him.

Then, as we read, the Lord caused the deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. He took one of his robes, which was up to flesh in its place. Then the robe, which the Lord God had taken from man, he made a woman. And he brought her to the man. And Adam said, nah, this is it! This is now a bone on my bones and flesh on my flesh. She should be called woman because she was taken out of the man. And therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. You see, God made choice. And I tell you, Adam must have seen why this is it. This is it. God knew what to give to God. And God knows. God does the choosing. God does the calling. Look at Genesis. I'll be about a John, Chapter 6. John, Chapter 6, Verse 41. We need to be in context here because we read this John a number of times. But let's read the at-in, starting in Verse 41. The Jews complained, John 6, Verse 41, about Christ, about him because he said, And the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, what do you think you are, that you came from God? Then they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know, how is it then that he says, I've come down from heaven? Then Jesus answered and said to them, do not murmur amongst yourselves. Don't grumble. Don't complain. Don't murmur. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. In other words, the bride cannot come to the groom unless that bride is chosen and selected and arranged by the father. It's the same analogy. Very interesting. Very interesting.

And I will raise him up at the last day. Verse 45. He teach written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God.

Now, look at where this was taken from. This was taken from, if you have a little Bible with a little marker there on the side, it says this was taken from Isaiah 54 verse 13. So let's get the context of Isaiah 54 verse 13. So let's look at Isaiah 54 verse 13 and then look at that context itself, because it's very interesting. Isaiah 54 verse 13, it says, All your children shall be taught by the Lord.

Interesting. So in the context, it starts in chapter 53, which is the prophecy of Christ's life. Look at, for instance, verse 53 verse 3. It says, He's despised and rejected by man, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. Clearly talking about Christ, that he was despised, a man of sorrows in his first coming. Surely he has borne out our sicknesses, or our griefs. He carried our sorrows, or our pains. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and at least, well, people thought, Well, he is stricken by God. But he was wounded, or pierced, pierced through, as we know, he was pierced with a spear, and then blood and water came out. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised, he was crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him. And by his stripes, by the blows that he got, by the stripes, by the things that he received, we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shear, shear, shear, shear, he silent. So he opened not his mouth. You can see it's clearly talking about Christ. And now let's jump a little bit further in chapter 34, verse 4.

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed. Neither be disgraced, as I have looked before, verse 4. For you will not be put to shame. For you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. It's talking about us, that God will forgive us. For your maker is your husband. Your maker is your husband. Christ is going to be our husband, and he's our maker.

He's the one who created us. The Lord of hosts is his name, and your Redeemer, which is Christ, is the Holy One of Israel. He is called the God of the whole earth. Wow! For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit. So we've been called by God, and we are then to go with Christ, and get married as a wife to Christ.

Continue. For a youthful wife, when you were refused, says your God, For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I'll gather you. With a little wrath I gave my face from you for a moment, For with ever-lost incarnations I'll have mercy on you, says the Lord, Lord Redeemer. You see, brethren, God is the one that does the calling, and then he opens our minds to understanding. He does the initial teaching, and then Christ, as our teacher does, is the Master. He's the teacher. He does the teaching to us. It's wonderful, and he ties in exactly with the symbolism of the wedding, the usual life-teach wedding, where the father of the groom submits the bride, and then we follow the teaching of the groom.

You know, brethren, we have to reject the ways of this world, and we have to look at the father. But what's the world is that? They reject the true father. And you and I cannot have two masters. We cannot have two masters. We only have one master, which is God, and we follow our Lord and Master, which is the Son of Jesus Christ, as he teaches us and guides us. But this calling is very special. This calling is very special. And you know the Scripture in 1 Corinthians 1. We have read that many times about the calling. Look at who God calls.

There's nothing for us to be proud of, nothing for us to glory, because in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26 through 29, he says, For you see of Colin, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. Brethren, we're not amongst the wise of this world. We're not amongst the mighty of this world. We're not amongst the noble of this world. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise.

And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the vast things of the world, and the things that are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are. That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That, as it is written, he who glories, very glory in the Lord. Brethren, it is God that does the calling.

God is the one that makes us part of the bride. It's God that makes us a worthy bride. It's when you and I are deeply repentant. Yes, we fall short. How often do we fall short? Time and time again. But when you and I fall short, we get back on our knees, and we say, I want to be different. Help me. We are weak. We stumble. But we seek God, and we look to God for help. He has chosen us. He's chosen you.

The father chose the wife for the son. It's a high calling. It's a very precious calling. And so it's important to keep that first phase of the Israelite-ish wedding arrangement inside, because it helps us to understand where everything fits with the Bible. The second phase is a bit trouble. It's like an engagement, but it's more than an engagement. It's where they agree to marry each other. So there is that engagement. But the difference was that the groom would negotiate with the bride's father a price, and show therefore that he could provide for the daughter for his daughter. Show the bride's father that he could provide.

And in fact, there is in many different nations and groups of people the similar sort of traditions that have still carried through. I remember in South Africa, we would see quite often amongst indigenous people a thing called the labola, that the groom had to pay labola. The labola is a price. And so they would negotiate with the father of the bride the price, how many cows or whatever.

So they would negotiate. And so once they would negotiate that price, the price would be paid. And there was a legal, quote-unquote, commitment. Something that was not to be broken. That betrothal was a commitment. And the tradition then was to drink a little wine as a symbol of that agreement, to seal the agreement of that betrothal. Now, it's very interesting that Christ paid with the price to have the bride, to have you and I redeemed. He paid with the price.

There was a price. And then that price was done at the Passover. And then at the Passover, he said, not my will, but the father's will. And he gave his life. And he changed the symbols of the Passover to include the wine as a symbol of the new covenant that has been signed of that betrothal. That he will marry that wine. It is very significant. And therefore, at baptism, you and I make that covenant at baptism, which is the new covenant, which is our commitment to the groom.

And so at baptism, you are asked, have you repented? Have you repented? Which means not only sorry, but are you making a commitment to live a new life? And second question you are asked is, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your Lord and Master, your high priest, and you soon return King? And then when you say yes, the man in the ministry then that passes you, he would and lay hands upon you.

And upon after that, the prayer God gives us you his Holy Spirit. That is symbolic of that betrothal. Paid with a price, and signed with a little bit of wine, and receiving that seal of the promise, which is the Holy Spirit. It's very significant. Let's look at some of these things in the Bible. First, we look in John 15.

John 15. John 15 verse 13. That is in Christ's discourse with the disciples after the foot washing before he was betrayed. John 15 verse 13 says, greater love as no one than this than to lay down one's life for its dreams. And that's what Christ did. He laid his life for you and I. He laid it down. That he agreed to pay, as they would call it in South Africa, the labora. That price he paid for us. And then look at it in Matthew 26, a little showing how he broke the bread and took the wine. That same evening, Matthew 26 verse 28.

Matthew 26 verse 28. He says, for this is my blood of the new kind, symbolizing the wine as a pointer, as a symbol of that blood that is shed, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. And that is the symbol of that contract, of that commitment that you and I made at baptism, and which we renew every year at the right time, at the right hour, during the Apostle.

The very life of the groom was given for the bride who bought with the price, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And we are now betrothed to Jesus Christ. And then we read the meaning of that, of what that is, in Paul's explanation in Ephesians chapter 5. So turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22, because that's the commitment we make at that time, Ephesians 5 verse 22.

Through verse 33. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. So we are now betrothed, and we've made that commitment, not yet married, but betrothed in the sense that we're going to get married. Submit to your husband as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church. And he is the savior of the body, which is the body which is the church of God.

Therefore, Jesus' church is subject to Christ, so that the wives get to their own husbands in everything. Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. That's a form of love, sacrifice. That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word. And the Word says, we receive the Gospel, and we wash through preaching of the Gospel and the Word.

God's Word, the Bible. Then we might present that he might present her, the woman, to himself a glorious church, so that she may be clean. So as we do Bible study, as we hear God's Word on the Sabbath, we are working through and cleansing ourselves to be a glorious church. Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. We are members of his spiritual body, which is the church. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, and we shall become one. That's why Christ later on in that prayer of the Passover says, I want them that they may be one like we are one.

That's what he wants us to be, as a bride with the husband becomes one. Verse 32 is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. That's what Paul was talking about. Christ and the church, we are to marry Christ. We are to be one with him. That's what we are in the sermon at. We don't fully understand all these things. We're okay with that. But we see through a gloss doctrine, and there's more to it. We don't understand at all. But are we ready? Are we working on ourselves to be ready?

To be indeed washed with so that we are not, we're not having spots or wrinkles, that we are holy, and without blemish, how are we really doing that? Because that's the commitment we make in this betrothal stage. Verse 33, nevertheless, let each one of you, in particular, sell out his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

So this is the commitment we make at baptism. This is the commitment we make every year. At a possible. After baptism, the hands are laid on us, and we receive the Holy Spirit upon prayer. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

We'll read in verse 21 and 22.

As a deposit, as a pledge, as a promise, as a down payment, it's a guarantee that baptism you and I, we might a pledge, but so does God. You know, it's like the groom. They make a pledge. I'm going to marry her. And she makes a pledge. I'm going to marry you. It's a two-way pledge. They take the wine, and they seal it as the symbol of Christ's love. And then it's sealed, guaranteed in our society by putting a ring, like an engagement ring, showing that commitment.

The seal of that commitment is the keeping of the cause of the Spirit. It's like an engagement ring. A sign, a seal. The Holy Spirit then gives us the strength and the power to overcome, knowing that the groom is coming to marry us.

Symbolically, that means, and now it's possible. I'm speculating now, make it clear, it's possible. That's when our names are written in the Book of Life. Receive the Holy Spirit, make that pledge. The names are written in the Book of Life. Look at Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. Verse 3. And I urge you also, true companion, help those women who libored with me in the Gospel with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. So yes, fellow Christians, living human beings, they had their names written in the Book of Life. It's very possible it was when they received God's Holy Spirit. And that the pledge was done, and the promise was done. That's it!

Now, what is the next phase? The third phase in the Israelite-ish traditional wedding process is the waiting pill. It's the waiting pill.

They're not living together, but today people do. They're not living together. They're separate. The groomed girls and the bridegos of their place, and they're separate.

Now, what does the groom do? The groom went and prepared for the wedding. They went to both the house, prepared for the wedding. Very much different than today's tradition, which the bride that seems to be void of all the preparation, was the groom that did that with the father. They did all the preparation. They prepared all the wedding. They had the house. They prepared the chambers. They did all the work. They prepared everything. The bride on the other side had one job to do. One job to ready herself, to beautify herself, and to get that wedding down, ready, and to be ready. That was the job of the bride. The groom would do all the other preparations out there, and all of it would be surprised through the bride when it would happen.

For every, we are now in a waiting period.

Symbolically, the Holy Spirit was given at a painted cost. We're now waiting for trumpets. Symbolically, the coming of the groom. That's where we are in the waiting period. We don't know when he will come. We don't know the day or the hour.

But we have to wait patiently, having faith, and relying on God. But our job is to be ready and to prepare ourselves as the bride. Jesus Christ knows how difficult he is to be faithful, but we have to be faithful. We have to be ready. Turn with me, please, to John, Chapter 14. John, Chapter 14.

Verse 1 through 3. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. That where I am, there you may also be. Can you see that if they lived in that type of tradition of a wedding like that, these words had such deep meaning for them? Wow! Of course! It just meant so much more. So brethren, with Christ saying, I'm going to be your husband, and I'm going to come back. That was what's happening in that traditional wedding preparation process. So it makes so much sense for them. In the meantime, you and I, as brides to be, wives to be, what do we have to do? We've got time. We don't know how much time we've got, but we've got time. And so what does Paul tell us? Look at Ephesians chapter 5 verse 16.

Ephesians chapter 5 verse 15. There are 16. Ephesians 5 verse 16.

Redeeming the time. Redeeming the time. Because the days are evil. That is our job. We've got to redeem the time.

We've got to be careful how we use the time that is going by.

Do we have to contain the waste in our life? What's giving us time? What are we doing about it? What are we doing about it? Do we have oil in the vessel?

How are thoughts, ones of obedience? Are we making sure there's no provision for the flesh? Thinking from the point of redeeming the time, look at the Psalm. Psalm 90 verse 17. Psalm 90 verse 17. Psalm 90 verse 17.

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of your hands, of our hands, for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.

Brethren, what are we doing with the time? What are we doing with the time that we have in our hands? Are we establishing the work of our hands using that time properly? Yes, establish the work of our hands of the time we have, so that we become like God, so that the beauty of the Lord is upon us. In other words, we become like God.

Some Bible versions translate as select the grace of the Lord be upon us. In other words, the beautiful, godly, kindly, gracious, divine nature type attributes become part of us. So that we change from human nature to divine nature.

And therefore, establish the work of our hands with the time we have, so that the beauty of the Lord is upon us.

We have time now, before the blowing of the lost trumpet, to ready ourselves, to put on that wedding gown of righteousness, with God's Spirit guiding us and helping us, Jesus living in us, spiritually speaking, and helping us, pulling out all the impurities out of our lives, so that we become more like the true sons and daughters of God. In other words, pulling out those tears and those things out of our lives. Look at the parable of the tears in Matthew 13, Matthew 13, verse 36. Matthew 13, verse 36.

This is the important part of the bride. The bride is the ready of self. We've got the time now to ready ourselves. What are we doing with it? Are we doing that? Is that what our hands are doing with the time we have? Matthew 13, verse 36. Then Jesus sent a multitude away and went into the house, and His disciples came to Him saying, explain to us the parable of the tears of the field.

And He answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tears are the sons of the wicked one. Are we making sure that we are sons of the kingdom? Are we making sure that we are really bearing good fruit based on those good seeds? The enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tears are gathered and burnt in the fire, so will be the end of this age. The Son of man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and those that practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the Son in the kingdom of their Father, He who has years to year, they can year.

So we have to work on that and making sure that we are really the sons of the Father. How we need to practice this during the time we have. We will be troubled if we've been baptized. If we're not baptized yet, maybe we need to make that commitment. We need to consider that. And then make sure that how we love, we love to be the temple of the Living God. Turn of me to 2 Corinthians 6. That's what we've got to do. We've got to live in a way that Christ can live in us through the power of His Spirit, so that we become the temple of the Living God.

2 Corinthians 6, verse 14 through 18. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. In other words, don't have those wrong things in you. Just be clean. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness and what communion is like with darkness? So we have to put in our lives just clean things, light. And what accord is Christ with reliable? And what part is a believer with unbeliever?

And what agreement is a temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the Living God. We are the temple of the Living God. I'll dwell in them and welcome them. I'll be their God. They shall be my people. Come out from among them and be separate. Be holy, be different, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I'll receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters. And we as sons and daughters of God, we are to marry as a bride, to marry Christ. And therefore, we are to display that divine nature, that grace, that beauty of God in our lives.

By using it, by putting it to practice, by living that way. Sure, it's not easy. But we have opportunities to practice. That's what we have, is we deal with God's people and encourage one another. It gives us a lot of opportunities to practice. Turn with me to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, starting in verse 24. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

How do we stir up love and good works with other fellow men? By having fellowship of brethren, team brethren, with same belief. And therefore, we share and we stir up that. One encourages another one, like it says, rubber, you know, sharpened the stone, you know, sharpened the stone, one with other. I am sharpened Zion, that's what I mean. I am sharpened Zion. So, we work with one another, stirring up love and good works.

And therefore, you can't be an independent Christian, because that does not give you the time, opportunity, capability to stir up love and good works. And you don't get that. That's why it says in verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Not forsaking the opportunity of being together when we have, whenever we have that opportunity, particularly also on Sabbath and High days, not forsaking that assembly. As is the manner of some, very exhorting one another, and so much more, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.

The day approaching. The day that you and I are going to be held accountable. The day that we are going to stand before Christ. And we're all going to have to. We're all going to have to. Sooner or later, we're going to make that commitment, and we either make that commitment or we don't. You see, as the day is approaching, to give account.

It couldn't come in one or two ways. It could come as a whirlwind when Christ comes. We don't know. We don't know the day or the hour. It could come that way. So we don't know when it's coming. Or it could come in a different way. Because we're all getting older, and none of us knows if tomorrow will still be out. So no one knows the day without. We could die tomorrow. No man knows the day without. So while there is time, do something about it. Because no man knows the day without. As the day is approaching, we don't know how quick it is. We don't know how quick it is.

Well, one way or another. It could be around the corner. It could be tomorrow. We don't know. And so it continues. For if we sinned woefully. Why? Because we're not stirring the love and putting it to practice, which is basically the love is based on God's commandments and putting to practice those good, godly works. Making sure that with sons of the Father, sons and daughters, that God and Christ can dwell in us for the power of the Spirit. But if we sin woefully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth. After we have received the knowledge of the truth. That's key. After we receive that calling. After we receive that calling, it is incumbent upon us to do something about it.

If you just jump to verse 32 as a point of interest, and we'll on verse 26, we'll jump on verse 32. But recall the former days in which after you were illuminated. You know, when you receive the knowledge of truth, this information comes into your head and bing! The light comes on and you illuminate it and it says, Aha!

Grasp! I see it! Back to what's left? It said, Eureka! I see it! You know? Well, it just comes bang! You illuminate it! So it says, a certain... it says, Yahweh, After have received the knowledge of the truth. So once you've called and God opens your mind, there's only one way forward. Make the commitment and move forwards. You can't go back! After you receive the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrificial sense, but a fearful expectation of judgment and fire-eating nation, which will devour the adversaries. You know, the world does not take that picture of Christ, which is saying, Oh, Christ's loving, loving.

Yes, Christ is loving. Christ's attitude will never change. That's Him, He's merciful. But He's also judge. He's the judge. And justice is first, then mercy and fire-eating. There'll be justice first. Then if you repent, there'll be mercy. But if you don't repent, there's no mercy. Judgment is first. And so that's why it says, once you know the knowledge of the truth, and now you've got to repent. If not, there's no longer a might-to-sacrificial sense, but a fearful expectation of judgment and fire-eating nation, which will devour the adversaries.

Anyone who has rejected Moses, law dies without mercy in the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more worse punishment do you suppose will be fought worthy of those who have trampled the Son of God and the food, counted the blood of the covenant by which you sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know who said, dangerous is mine, all will die. Says the Lord, and again, the Lord will judge his people. So brethren, it's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of God if you're not right. That's why it says, a little later on, in verse 35, it says, Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which is great reward, but move forward.

For you have not had need of endurance, so that after you've done the will of God, you may receive the promise. We need to endure. We've got time. This is the time. This is the job of the bride, to use the time to be ready. That's our job. That's the important part of the whole wedding of the Lamb. Are we ready? Are we going to be there?

That is the important part. For you have need of endurance. We need to remain faithful till the end. That's it. Till the end. The greatest challenge that you and I have, brethren, is the passage of time. It's time. And it's to use that time to ready ourselves. The test of time. Obeying God over time. Not just for five minutes, but obeying God over time. Those that will be within are called and chosen.

That means they have repented and made a commitment and faithful till the end. Now, the fourth stage in a typical wedding is that the father of the groom decides when the groom is going to fetch the bride.

The father decides to the groom and says, right, now everything is ready. You can go. Quite significant. Now man knows the day or the hour. But the father. Isn't that interesting? And they could see it and it would make sense. And then look at Revelation 3, verse 20. Then at that time, that's why it says, Revelation 3, verse 20. Revelation chapter 3, verse 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

That's when Christ comes to the groom and says, let's go. Then there's no time to say, I'm not ready. Wait a minute! You've got to go! That's it! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come into him and dine with him and he with me, who will have that wedding supper.

Lovely. Lovely the meaning and the standing. And so, that's the time when there's a parable of the ten versions. Think about it. They all fell asleep, but when they saw the time was coming, five were ready and five were not. Look at Matthew 25. Matthew 25.

Matthew 25.

Verse 1 to 5. Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins. Interesting, they virgins, which means they're God's people.

They're true Christians. They took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The people in God's church, they were practically ready. They waited. Now, five of them were wise and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them.

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. So they ate the lamps, had a little bit of oil in the lamp, but you had a vessel with additional oil, like a reservoir, like an extra tank, with extra oil. We were close to God, and we were full of God's Holy Spirit. They had an extra.

But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. The bridegroom, it's easy to fall asleep, but let's make sure that we have enough oil. Make sure we have enough oil that we're ready. And the time is going to come that some will be protected and some will not. You just have to read in Revelation 12, where it says, some will be protected and some will not. Some will be required to have their blood shed to be cleansed. So we either are ready now, or we'll have to get ready in the Great Tribulation, or we'll burn in the back of fire. Which one do we want? You see, bridegroom, there's a lot of parables about this. There's one, for instance, about the Great Supper. Look for instance in Luke 14. Luke 14, verse 15. Luke 14, verse 15.

Now, when one of them who sat at the table of fame heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Verse 16. Then he said to him, A certain man gave a great supper and invited many. Many are cold. Many are cold. And said his servant at the start of time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. But they with one accord began to make excuses.

But are we making excuses while we can't get ready now? Are we making excuses? The first said, Well, I've brought a piece of ground. I must go and see him and excuse himself. Another one said, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm going to test. I asked you to have the excuse. So another said, Well, I have married a wife, and before I cannot come. So that servant came and reported, he seems to his master, then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out into the streets and lanes in the city, and bring me near the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. And the servant said, Master, if he's down, as you come on, and there's still room. Wherever the time is going to come, we're going to see people coming into the church stage. And he said, Wow! But you know, we have to show mercy and kindness and love, and help him to grow, because God is calling. God is going to go out in the streets and lanes in the city and bring people into his church, because the ones that are being called have rejected that calling. And look at in verse 24. For I say to you that none of those who were invited shall taste my supper. If you are called, and you don't respond so that you get chosen, you will not be there. You see, we are expected to be there when we're called. When we're called, when you're invited, we're expected to make the effort to be there. No excuses. If not, you could be in trouble. That's why then it goes on onto the next parable about counting the cost. There is a cost. We are a counter-cost. There is a cost. And that cost is that you and I have to endure to the end. Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, first and above all, because that's the pearl of great Christ, and endure to the end. Now, turn with me to Revelation 3, verse 5. If we are faithful to the end, Revelation 3, verse 5.

He who overcomes to the end shall be clothed in white garments. He who was in at the righteous acts of the saints, which represent those white garments. And I will not blot out His name from the Book of Life. So that name could be blotted out. If we made that commitment, we are not faithful to the end, that could be blotted out. But I'll confess His name before my Father and before His angels. So we've got to overcome to the end. Now, because then is the time that the groom comes, because the Father has saved the groom, then we have the return of Christ, which is basically the wedding peace, the wedding supper, which should read traditionally in Jewish, they use a lightish wedding, could lost as much as seven days. The bride now belongs to the groom. And that's the symbolism, Christ comes, of the Day of Trump, it's the symbolism of that. And then the symbolism of that wedding supper, which we read early on. These are the true saints of God. And as you read after that, you can read after that, in Revelation 19, that then Christ is called the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, because they've been coronated as kings, and He's now the King of Kings, because they've been coronated, they're married, and they're coronated as kings and priests, and He comes, and then He defeats the beast and the false prophet, and then Satan is bound for a thousand years, which is the symbolism of the Day of the coming. The important thing our brethren is, is not exactly how these things will happen, because as we heard in the sermonette, and I'm very appreciative of the sermonette, because it fitted beautifully into the message. We don't know these things exactly how everything's going to happen. And I know people can get caught into, this will happen this way, this will happen that way, and then there's a vision, and we don't want that virtue. But the important thing is that a bride must ready a self. That the important thing is, are you and I going to be there? That is the important thing! Some of the details we don't know, because the father and his room are preparing it, and we don't know it's going to be a surprise for us. And well, are we going to be surprised? Are we going to be surprised? It'll be exciting. But our job is to be prepared. We have a high calling from the father. We are betrothed, but there's a waiting period to be ready. Follow the side when the groom comes, and when he comes and knocks at the door, we better be ready. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 3, Hebrews chapter 3 verse 12 through 14. Hebrews 3, 12 through 14. Hebrews chapter 3, 12 verse 12 through 14. Be aware, brethren, lest there be any of you with an evil heart of unbelief uniparting from the living God, but exhort one another daily, what it is called today. Still today, there's no time! There's no time! Redeem the time! That's also symbolic, yeah, of the Sabbath. But anyway, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Satan is very clever. Sin is very deceitful. That's why he says, don't have a heart of unbelief. And he ties unbelief with deceitfulness of sin. Can you see that? And then he goes on. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. Brethren, you and I need to stay firm to the end.