Title: The Wedding Supper of the Lamb
Bible Book: Revelation 19 : 7-10
Author: J. Mike Minnix
Subject: Christ, The Bridegroom; The Church in Heaven; The Wedding Supper
Objective:
Introduction
Three great things are found in Revelation, chapter 19:
1. First, in Revelation 19:1-6, we have The Wonderful Shouts.
These verses record four hearty hallelujahs from the saints as they praise God for who He is, what He has done, what He is doing and what He will do!
2. Secondly, we have The Wedding Supper.
This will be our focus of attention for today, so I will not say any more about it just now.
3. Thirdly, in Revelation 19:11-21, we discover The Winning Sword.
This passage reveals the Savior as King of Kings and Lord of Lords going forth to do battle with the beast and false prophet, and all their armies gathered on the earth to do battle with the Lord. The wicked pair is destroyed by the Lord along with the armies they have amassed. The Bible records that the beast and false prophet are thrown into lake of fire.
We could choose any one of the three topics in this chapter for our consideration today and find much to garner from it but I want us to focus on The Wedding Supper of the Lamb, for there is amazing imagery here to help understand better our salvation, our responsibilities and the blessings that are ours when we are finally in the presence of our Lord.
A guy took his girlfriend, whom he had dating for several years, to a Japanese restaurant. She was a bit troubled that he had never proposed marriage to her. After looking over the menu for several minutes the young man asked her, "How would you like your rice, fried or boiled?" Without a moment's hesitation she looked him straight in the eye and said, "Thrown!" It is plain that she had a wedding on her mind.
The text we read today reminds us that one day all Christians will join in what is called the Wedding Supper of the Lamb in heaven and that is something we all ought to be looking forward to. The Church, which is all believers in Jesus Christ throughout the entire Church-Age, will one day gather in heaven with our Lord for a great supper. Jesus is the Bride-groom and we will sit down with Him as the Bride of Christ. What a moment that will be for all of those redeemed through the sacrifice that Jesus made at Calvary. Let’s look at some important issues as we get ready for that day which is to come.
I. The Relationship Described
The Bible uses different illustrations to show the relationship which Christ has with those who are saved. For example, let me share two or three of them with you:
We are referred to as Sheep and He is called the Shepherd,
We are deemed Citizens in the Kingdom of God and He is referred to as the King, and
We are called Soldiers and He is the Captain of our Salvation.
But there is no imagery of the divine-human relationship that is more intimate and more beautiful than that of the Bridegroom and the Bride. Christ is the Bridegroom and those who are saved make up the Bride of Christ. The Bride is the Church and by that I'm not speaking of those whose names are recorded in a roll book somewhere or those names that are in a computer database at some church office. The Bride is made up of all those who have been saved by grace whose names are found in The Book of Life in heaven. You don’t get into the Wedding Supper of the Lamb without repenting of sin and receiving Jesus Christ as you Lord and Savior.
So, let's look at the relationship which is described for us in the Bridegroom and Bride.
A. This Reveals the Closeness of the Relationship
The most intimate of human relationship exists between a husband and wife. Each shares openly with the other all the issues of life. Jesus chose this institution as one way to describe His relationship to us in salvation.
You see, Christ opened His heart to us and invited us to become His chosen bride. He sought us, wooed us, and reached out with a nail-scarred hand to show us how much he loved us. Long ago, I accepted Him into my life. He forgave me, washed me clean, and made me part of his Bride – the Church! Yes, there is a local church with a little “c”, but those of us who know the Lord are also part of the Church with a capital “C”. Jesus placed me in His Church.
When you speak of a church, it can seem impersonal. It sounds like an organization or perhaps a building with a cross on a spire. Being part of a local church, with a little "c", is important and it ought to be a joyous experience with God's people. God wanted us to understand that there is nothing about being part of the Church, with a capital “C”, that is impersonal. So, He used the concept of a bride and groom to illustrate to us how deeply we are united with Him in Christ. He wanted us to know that our relationship to Him is one of love and commitment.
It is no wonder He said to His disciples on one occasion, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15). Jesus is personal – He lives in us and we live in Him. One day we will see Him face to face. One day we will sit down with Him at the Great Wedding Supper of the Lamb.
B. This Reveals the Commitment in the Relationship
Marriage is seen as the greatest and most important of all human commitments. When we stand at the altar, by the person we marry, we are forming the primary union for the welfare of the human race. One need only look at the correlation in our modern society to the evil of our world and its relationship to the breakdown of the home to see how important marriage and the family is to all of us. God intended for a man and woman to form a marriage and for their children to be reared in a loving, disciplined manner. His intention was for Christian parents to teach their children the blessing of knowing Christ through daily living, powerful love, daily prayer, church membership, and proper spiritual education. When God wanted to describe the commitment that His people are to make to Him in the Christian age, He chose the idea of a marriage between His Son and those who would follow Him.
When a marriage takes place, the person officiating turns to the groom and asks in one form or another, “Will you take this woman to be your wife?” The man, if he knows what is good for him at that moment, will say, “Yes, I do.” Then the officiating individual turns to the bride and asks, “Will you take this man to be your husband?” Then she responds, “Yes, I do.” That is a beautiful picture of how a person is saved. Jesus, who died and Calvary for our sins, stands before you and God the Father asks Jesus, “Will you take this person to be your bride – your follower?” Jesus answers, “Yes, I will and I do!” Then God the Father turns to you and asks, “Will you take Jesus to be your Bride-Groom – your Savior – your Lord?” Those who say, “Yes, yes I will and I do,” are made part of the Church – the Bride of Christ. When you say yes to Jesus you are accepting Him as your Savior.
You see, Jesus revealed His commitment to you through His loving sacrifice at the Cross, and you and I are to show our commitment to Him by being a faithful Bride in all areas of our lives. We cannot be saved till we are invited, but He is always proposing to someone and giving that person a chance to be united with Him as part of the Bride - the Church with a capital "C".
The picture of a Bride and Bridegroom is beautiful and wonderful. But God speaks even more deeply of it when He reveals that one day we will sit down with our Lord at a great supper, called the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. What a moment that will be when we are seated with our Bridegroom in glory!
II. The Readiness Declared
No bride goes to any event involved in her wedding without preparation. I have a grandson who will be getting married to a wonderful Christian lady in about three months. My wife, who is only the grandmother in this case, is already planning what she will wear to the events involved in the wedding. Why? No woman goes to a wedding event without preparation.
How much more does a bride prepare for her own wedding! What she will wear to a shower given by her friends, or to a dinner prepared for to the wedding itself is carefully planned. She wants to look her best and be her best for that occasion. I want you to see that we ought to be that way about the wedding supper we are invited to attend in heaven. We must be ready and prepared to look our best for our Groom – Jesus.
A. Inner Garment
I want you to think of two garments that are necessary for the great wedding feast in glory. The first one is what I will call the inner garment. We must wear one garment that is provided for us, and we can call it the robe or righteousness provided through the blood sacrifice of Jesus. We are not righteous in ourselves nor can be be righteous without the blood of Jesus. He died and rose to provide us with His righteousness. When a person accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior, that robe of righteousness is provided through our Lord.
An absent-minded pastor heard a good joke at a wedding banquet. The groom got up and said, "I have a confession to make to my bride in front of all of you. I confess, dear, that before I married you, I spent many happy hours in the arms of another woman--my mother." Everybody laughed, and the minister made a mental note to use the same joke on the occasion of his golden wedding anniversary to be celebrated that week at his church. The fellowship hall was full of guests to honor the pastor and his wife. He rose to speak. "After fifty years of married life, my dear, I have a confession to make to you in front of all our friends. Before I married you, I spent many happy hours in the arms of another woman.” Then he went blank and forgot the punch line. After a few seconds he said, “Yes, I spent many happy hours in the arms of another woman, and for the life of me I can't remember who she was." I don’t expect his wife appreciated that at all!
Let me assure you that all of us have spent too many hours in the arms of the world. You must all remember that Christ loved us when we were unlovely and provided for us His own righteousness, pure and white, that we might have the proper garment to wear to the wedding feast.
Some people think that living a “good life” is all that is necessary to get into heaven. My dear friend, be assured that you cannot weave a perfect garment, a perfect life, to provide for the wedding feast. You cannot be in the presence of God in the works you have performed. All are sinners and all have fallen short of the glory of God. You must come to Jesus in this life and turn from your own ways. He died for you and when you receive Him, He provides a garment of righteousness for the ashes of sin that you have created.
B. Outer Garment
Also, there is an outer garment to be worn. Exactly what is this outer garment? The righteousness which we produce after we are saved weaves this outer garment. This is stated clearly in verse 8. We need to understand that this outer garment is not for your salvation but is an indication of the life you lived after you were saved.
Now, ask yourself what kind of outer garment you will be wearing at the Wedding Supper. Is it stained with the filth of this world? Is it lovely and pure? Does it honor your Lord?
Frankly, I am not sure how far the illustration of these two garments go in a real sense, but it has made me think of my own life. What if I had to wear a garment to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb that depicted my life since I have been saved! Our commitment to Christ, the life we live for Him, the service we give to Him, ought to be so pure that we can stand before Him on that day and not be ashamed of the garment that has been made up of our deeds since Jesus saved us.
III. The Rejoicing Depicted
The Wedding Supper of the Lamb will be a great time of rejoicing. There will a gladness beyond our vocabulary and beyond our expression on that day. Verse 7 states, "Let us be glad and rejoice, give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come..."
A. Christ has Cleaned us Up
You can be assured of this, Christ has cleaned us up in Redemption. He has washed us and made us pure in His sight. He paid it all and all to Him we owe. On that day we will rejoice in the purity that He has made possible through His cross.
B. Christ will Catch us Up
We will be glad because at that moment we will have already been caught up to be with Jesus. Yes, Christ will catch us up in the rapture so that we might be with Him forever. He paid for our sin and He will provide the trip to get to the wedding feast. He will carry us home to be with Him forever. We will arrive for the great dinner riding on the clouds.
C. Christ will Cheer us Up
On that day our Lord will wipe every tear from our eyes. The sadness of this world and all its sorrows will pass away. The great wedding feast will be a time of utter joy and happiness. We will rejoice in His presence and be in wonder of His glory.
Look at Luke (Luke 12:36; 14:8).
Let me share some notes with you that I copied from a dictionary some years ago. I'm not sure if they are exact, but you will get the point:
"Among the Jewish people a wedding was a festive occasion in which the whole community participated. When the day for the wedding arrived, the bride put on white robes (often richly embroidered), decked herself with jewels, fastened a bridal girdle about her waist, covered herself with a veil, and placed a garland on her head. The bridegroom, dressed in his best clothes, with a handsome headdress on his head, set out for the house of the bride's parents. He was accompanied by his friends, by musicians and singers, and by persons bearing torches if the procession moved at night. The groom received his bride from her parents with their blessings and the good wishes of friends. Then he conducted the whole party back to his own house or his father's house with song, music, and dancing. On the way back they were joined by additional friends of the bride and groom. A feast was served and celebrated with great joy and merrymaking. In the evening the bride was escorted to the nuptial chamber by her parents, and the groom by his companions or the bride's parents. On the next day the festivities were resumed, continuing for seven days." (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary -1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
You can gather from this detail of weddings in the days of Jesus that much fanfare and joy was known by everyone who took part. I want you to think of the joy we will know at the wedding feast. There will be food, music, laughter and joy unspeakable. This is something you don't want to miss. Remember, you can only attend this feast if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
A. There is a Personal Joy
"Let us be glad," is a phrase of happiness. In other words, the saint in heaven has an inner peace and a bubbling over of excitement at the same time. It will seem to you that you are the special guest - The Bride - at this event. Isn't it wonderful how the Lord can make your salvation so marvelous that it is personal - like He loved only you. Of course, it will seem that way to every saved person on that day. The Lord has a way of looking at us with a light so penetrating that it is incredibly personal. Yes, He loves you personally and on that day you will feel it and know it.
B. There is a Public Joy
Let "us" be glad, the text states. Some of us are afraid to rejoice too much during worship in these days, but I can assure you that you will not be hesitant to do so when we gather on that day. The most shy among us will shout for joy. The word "rejoice" in this passage means to jump for joy. We will be like we were when we were mere children - ready to jump for joy and every happy event. You will lose your reservations and shout your praise to Christ. We will not be caught up in the moment, we will caught up in the Master!
IV. The Request Delivered
A minister was planning a wedding at the close of the Sunday morning service. After the benediction he had planned to call the couple to be married to come forth for a brief ceremony in front of the congregation. For the life of him, he couldn't think of the names of those who were to be married, so he said, "Will those wanting to get married please come to the front?" Immediately, nine single ladies, three widows, four widowers, and six single men stepped to the front of the church.
Well, our Lord makes a wonderful invitation in this passage. It is an invitation to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.
A. The Blessing of the Invitation
It is indeed a blessing that we are invited to the great wedding banquet. What a day that will be! In fact, if you have never trusted Christ, He is inviting you now to be prepared to attend. In order to do so, you must admit that you are a sinner and turn from your sin in repentance. Secondly, you must accept the fact that Jesus is Lord and Savior by believing that He died for you and gave a perfect sacrifice for your sins at Calvary, and that He rose from the dead and is forevermore alive. Lastly, you must confess Him openly and completely. In just a few moments, we will give you an opportunity to do just that. This is an invitation you don’t want to refuse!
B. The Burden of the Invitation
The train was bound for Atlanta and the conductor was collecting tickets when he spied a person crouched beneath a seat. He approached and saw it was a little, old, wrinkled man. "Let's have your ticket," he demanded. The old man crawled out of his hiding place. "Please Sir," he begged, "I don't have a ticket. I'm poor. I can't afford one. But my only daughter is getting married in Atlanta tonight. I've got to get there for the wedding." A gentle and sentimental man, the conductor was visibly touched by the story. "Okay," he muttered, “you can ride the train, but sit in the men's room and keep out of the way." The conductor then continued down the aisle. He spied another old man hiding behind a seat. "You there," he shouted, "where's your ticket?" The old man said, "What ticket? I don't know anything about a ticket. My friend invited me to the wedding."
Well, you have been invited to the greatest wedding celebration that will ever occur. Look at Matthew 22:1-14, where it reads, “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, ill-treated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. Friend, he asked, how did you get in here without wedding clothes? The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are invited, but few are chosen."
Anytime you receive an invitation, the burden is upon you to respond in the positive or the negative. The invitation to come to Jesus is the most important of all! Don't let someone else have your seat. Respond to Him - the burden is upon you to refuse or accept - the invitation has been sent to you.
Conclusion
Now is the time for you to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. It includes an invitation to a great feast in heaven one day. Will you say yes to God’s call? Jesus has already said yes to you, but now you have to respond. Just remember, the invitation is for a limited time only. Now come to Him.
And some of us who have already accepted the invitation, don’t you think we ought to be so prepared that we are anticipating that the wedding feast might be any moment? Let us check our garment to be sure it is clean and pure. Let us rededicate ourselves to the One who gave His all for us – the One we will sit down with at the great supper one day!
