Is the Marriage Taking Place Now?
Is the Marriage Taking Place Now?
The spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost has been accomplished for many people. Now we are to move forward to the concluding works of redemption, especially to the marriage of the Lamb.
This essay describes the prerequisite works that bring us to complete union with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Christian Church has been in the wilderness for two thousand years. Now, finally, we are approaching the city of God. We are in the Land of Beulah, waiting to enter the Celestial Country.
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. (Matthew 25:10)
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (Matthew 13:41)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.(II Corinthians 5:10)
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. (John 14:19)
I am seriously considering the possibility that these five events are taking place right now, and that they are related. Their common goal is to bring about the marriage of the Lamb.
First of all, let me say that I am not interested in spiritual novelties, only that we all walk in righteousness and holiness. I am not interested in any doctrine or interpretation of the Scriptures that does not lead us to godly behavior.
Why, then, am I coming out with the "outlandish" suggestion that events we usually assign to the future are beginning to take place today? If I am true, and if we actually believe they are commencing to take place now, would that lead us to glorify Christ and to godly behavior?
Consider:
The virgins who were ready .
They will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil .
His bride has made herself ready .
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ .
Because I live, you also will live.
If these events actually are beginning right now, would it move you to press closer to Christ; to exalt Him; to improve your behavior?
Do you see what I mean?
But wouldn't all the church leaders recognize that this is true?
Ha!
How many church leaders said "Amen" when Simeon and Anna blessed the Lord's Christ?
Why is it that the majority of Jews to the present hour do not recognize that Jesus is the promised Messiah?
It is because He did not come in the manner they expected.
So it is true that God has, in time past, revealed His truth only to those whom He had chosen. There is a precedent, therefore, for God concealing His important acts of salvation except to those whom He has chosen to see His Glory.
I am not suggesting for one minute that now we have a "special" group of people who have knowledge that the rest of the Church does not have. Rather, I am suggesting that when God moves, whosoever will may join in once they discover what is taking place.
This sort of thing has happened before, and it very well may be taking place now.
I have written previously concerning my conviction that difficult, chaotic times are coming to our country. Also that it is now that the final three feasts of the Lord are to be fulfilled spiritually: the Blowing of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement; and the feast of Tabernacles.
The idea is that now is the time to draw closer to the Lord Jesus Christ so we may experience what He has for us..
The Lord Jesus stated in the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, that the day would arrive when we would see Him and live by His Life.
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. (John 14:19)
I do not know about you, but during these last few years I have been urging myself and the congregation to enter into Jesus' thinking, speaking, and acting so that we are living by Him as He lives by the Father.
This may be a new move of God, as far as I know.
In any case, entering into the Lord Jesus in this manner has made Christ increasingly real to me. This could be compared to:
The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet.
Do you have a desire to press into Christ to a greater extent than you have known? I know the Apostle Paul was always seeking to press into Christ to an ever great extent.
I think the twentieth century could be referred to as the "Pentecostal Century." Beginning with the Azusa Street outpouring, the Pentecostal blessing spread throughout the world.
However, Pentecost is the fourth of seven Jewish festivals. It stands to reason that if the first four had specific spiritual fulfillments (the Christian Church was born on the day of the Jewish feast of Pentecost), the remaining three would also be fulfilled spiritually.
I think the last three of the Jewish observances are beginning to be fulfilled, and so there is this intense desire to live by the Life of Christ and be more aware of His Presence.
It seems to me that Jesus has been too far off. I believe He wants to draw closer to each of us who keep His commands.
This very well could be the opportunity to enter the wedding banquet.
Have you ever thought much about the following verse?
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Revelation 3:20)
The above passage often is preached to the unsaved. But it was addressed to the last church, the Church of Laodicea.
Perhaps the wedding banquet will be held with one believer at a time. It would be like Jesus to do that, you know. Maybe today if we open our heart, Jesus will enter us as never before. He will dine on our obedience and worship. We will dine on His body and blood.
It is by dining on His body and blood that we are married to the Lamb, isn't it?
Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. (Song of Solomon 2:4)
I firmly believe that the invitation of Revelation 3:20 is taking place right now. I for one am opening my heart to Jesus in a greater way than I have during my seventy years as a Christian. And He certainly is closer to me than He ever has been.
Anyone can do this!
So perhaps the virgins are being invited today to enter this union. The Holy Spirit is inviting us, I believe. If we do not take advantage of the present opportunity, the door may be shut.
It appears, from the Scriptures, that in the closing days of the Church Age, Antichrist will be permitted to enter the heavenlies and attack the believers who are at the right hand of God in Christ. In that day it will not be possible for a believer to receive the Lord into himself and have close fellowship. The door will be closed!
It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. (Daniel 8:10)
Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. (Revelation 12:4)
While the two verses above speak of mystical events, all they are saying is that some people who have been established in Christ will be tempted and fall into sin.
To your knowledge, have the newspapers informed us that this has taken place recently in the lives of some ministers of the Gospel?
At one time they had been at the right hand of God in Christ, which is true of all genuine Christians. Now they have lost their testimony, their crown of life, and are clothed with shame.
Is this or is this not a fact recorded in the newspapers?
"Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall"!
Can such return to the Lord? I believe he or she can, but it is a painful experience, and there may be an eternal loss of inheritance.
My point is that the door is open now that leads to the fullness of Christ, and we need to enter through it and not be casual about our salvation, as so many believers are today.
The door that is open now will be closed one day. Let us draw as near to Jesus as we can each moment, learning to live by His Life in all that we do.
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (Matthew 13:41)
I firmly believe that the above passage is taking place today. The Holy Spirit is pointing out to us our sins and self-will. We are to confess them to the Lord and renounce them with all the strength we have, calling on Jesus for help.
Such is the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish Blowing of Trumpets, the beginning of the Jewish New Year.
The trumpet of war is sounding in the spirit world. The King, the Lord, strong and mighty in battle, the Lord Jesus, is coming to us and attacking His enemies in us. Judgment has begun in the household of God.
This is an eternal judgment on Satan. When we confess an aspect of our behavior that has been pointed out to us, determining with the Lord's help never to act this way again, calling on Jesus to make our determination stand for eternity, this is an eternal judgment on Satan, as I have stated.
When we take this action, we will find that the life has been taken from the sinful urge. It no longer can control us. Try it and see!
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13)
The solemn Day of Atonement follows the Blowing of Trumpets, in the Jewish calendar. It can be termed, "The Day of Reconciliation." In my opinion, the fulfillment of The Day of Reconciliation will keep occurring for eternity, as people are born into the Kingdom of Christ. The new people will have to be taught by the members of the Royal Priesthood what God expects of them.
The Day of Reconciliation speaks of the time when people forsake their own will, choosing instead to do the will of God. In this manner they are reconciled to God and enter His Kingdom.
Mother Eve was the first person on the earth to choose her own will rather than the will of God. At that point, self-will entered mankind. Self-will has increased throughout mankind until the whole world follows its own will instead of the will of God.
The Christian churches, to a great extent, are under the impression that it is impossible to do God's will completely, and so we must be "saved by grace." This is a tremendous lie.
The purpose of "grace" is to free us from an obligation to the Law of Moses, not to serve as an excuse for not doing God's will!
God never commands us to do anything unless He is ready to supply the wisdom and strength that will enable us to gain the upper hand over every temptation and live in complete victory in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (Matthew 13:41)
It is today that Christ is sending out His messengers and they are weeding out of His Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
Not out of the world but out of His Kingdom!
If you are part of the Kingdom of Christ, you will find that the Spirit of God is pointing out areas of your behavior that are not of the image of God. As I stated previously, your part is to confess them accurately and ask Christ to give you the wisdom and power to turn away from them.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.(II Corinthians 5:10)
This is the baptism with fire, of which Matthew speaks. Every person appointed to marriage with the Lamb, must be tested by fire. All sin and self-will must be banished from his or her personality.
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. (I Peter 4:12)
We may not thought much about this, but it would be impossible to be resurrected and caught up to Jesus in the air before we had passed before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Notice carefully that at the Judgment Seat we receive what is due us, whether good or bad.
Can you see how this fits in with the following?
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (Matthew 13:41)
"Everything that causes sin and all who do evil."
"Things done while in the body, whether good or bad. "
The reason Bible scholars do not accept these statements at face value is that they have been taught they do not apply to Christians who have "accepted Christ." Somehow such believers have been lifted into another category, and they will not be judged according to their behavior, as will the remaining members of mankind.
Although I am not well acquainted with the scheme of interpretation termed "Dispensationalism," I rather suspect that this platform of interpretation has produced the destructive notion that Second Corinthians 5:10 and Matthew 13:41 do not apply to Christian people.
How utterly ruinous of sound biblical interpretation!
Do you see any statements in the contexts of these two passages that a special group of people are exempt from these judgments?
Well, they are not exempt! We ought to know better than this. But we have been deceived because we do not love God's truth.
The soul that continues in sin shall die spiritually, Christian or unbeliever. The soul that behaves righteously, and receives Christ when Christ who is presented to him or her, shall live spiritually.
How could it be otherwise?
He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord. (Ezekiel 18:9)
If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. (Ezekiel 18:26)
Regardless of what is being taught currently, the Christian Gospel is not a plan whereby the wicked can live and have fellowship with God. What kind of a Divine Gospel would that be? It is the gospel of Satan!
The Lord Jesus will help any truly repentant individual turn from his or her wickedness and live in God's sight. Christ does not excuse the wicked on the basis of any religious profession.
Now stop and think. It would be impossible to be resurrected and caught up to Jesus in the air before we had passed before the Judgment Seat of Christ. To be gathered, resurrected, and caught up to the Lord is itself the sentence of judgment.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.(II Corinthians 5:10)
In order to be gathered with the Lord when He appears, we must have done good things while in the body.
If we have done bad things while in the body, we are not eligible to be gathered with the Lord when He appears.
Can you see why the Judgment Seat of Christ must operate before the Lord Jesus appears? If those who have done bad things while in the body are not eligible to be gathered to Christ when He appears, how could this judgment take place after He appears.
This is the delusion that is prevalent in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in our day. There are hundreds of thousands of Christian people who suppose they suddenly will be gathered to Christ and then return with Him to Heaven. This is a false hope, and it is preventing people from preparing themselves to stand in the evil day.
The wicked shall be removed from the Kingdom before the Lord appears, not after He appears and the Christian people are caught up to meet Him in the air. How could it possibly be otherwise? This would defy common sense as well as the Scripture.
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (Matthew 13:41)
"Everything that causes sin and all who do evil."
The following applies to people who may have made a profession of faith in Christ but who continue to sin.
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hebrews 10:26,27)
The words above are directed toward experienced Christians.
The five passages I am stressing tell us of the current move of the Spirit of God, the purpose of which is to prepare us for our marriage to the Lamb.
Notice carefully:
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God's holy people.) (Revelation 19:7,8)
The Bride makes herself ready for the Lamb.
It is obvious that the purifying of the Bride will take a period of time. I believe it has begun.
It is absolutely necessary that if the believers are to be resurrected and be caught up to meet the Lord in preparation for His and their descent to the earth to establish the Kingdom of God, they first must be purified from all sin and self-will.
We are purified from sin as we confess our sins and the Spirit of God takes the life out of them, and finally takes them out of us completely when we are resurrected at the coming of Jesus.
We are purified from self-will as the Lord places us in situations of pain and futility and we no longer can govern our life the way we would have it to be.
I have mentioned previously that we are married to the Lord by dining on His body and blood.
I think the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John might be referred to as the "Marriage Chapter." This portion of the Scriptures tells us how our life and resurrection comes from our eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood.
Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. (John 6:57)
Christ's body is as "hidden" manna, available only to those who are living in victory, living by the Life of Jesus just as Jesus lives by the Life of the Father.
The marriage itself is described as follows:
Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." (John 14:23)
The passage above tells us of the spiritual fulfillment of the final feast of the Lord, the feast of Tabernacles. To arrive at this climax of the plan of redemption we absolutely must obey the teaching of Jesus, not try to hide behind the excuse of "grace."
Prior to John 14:23 is John 14:16,17. This passage tells us that if we keep the commands of Jesus, He will ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit to be with us and in us forever.
The task of the Holy Spirit, like Eliezer of old, is to bring the Bride to the Lamb.
The Spirit works in us until John 14:23, the actual marriage, is possible.
God is seeking an eternal home, a place of rest, and an environment in which He can place His Throne.
The Lord Jesus wants some brothers and sisters.
The Lamb is seeking a Bride.
All these and other desires and needs are satisfied as the Father and the Son take up Their eternal residence in our soul, thus making us a life-giving Spirit.
As I stated previously, we have to live by the body and blood of Christ if we are finally to be the eternal dwelling of God, the everlasting Tabernacle, the new Jerusalem, established forever as the government of the Kingdom of God.
One can see immediately the problem with self-will. It is impossible to be the place of God's rest when we are engaging in our own thinking, speaking, and behaving.
How about you and me? Are we willing to set aside our first personality and receive the Father and the Son? Or will we persist in our religious practices, hoping to bring our first personality to a mansion in Heaven?
The true disciple of the Lord Jesus is tempted and chastened all day long. He is brought into places of weakness. Instead of yielding to the temptation to save himself, to give in to sinful lusts and pleasures, to participate in the things and life of the world, he prays to the Lord Jesus to give him or her strength for the day.
He continually looks to Christ for wisdom and strength, every day and every night. His attention is directed toward Christ at all times. When this is true of any Christian, he or she is fed in the spirit realm with the body and blood of Christ. In this manner He lives by the Life of Jesus.
Such is the marriage of the Lamb.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our Resurrection and our Life. As we partake of His body and blood we are partaking of our resurrection. We are partaking of our life.
It must be kept in mind that we are flesh and blood, created originally from the dust of the ground. Actually, we are an animal creation. The animal creation cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ was born of Mary, and thus is human. However His Life is that of God. It is Divine. In this manner Christ differs from people who are born on the earth.
We must be born again if we would enter the Kingdom of God and have fellowship with the Father and the Son. Every time we dine with Christ and are given His body and blood, a part of us receives the Life of God. This Life nourishes the Divine Seed that was given us when we first received Christ as our Lord and Savior.
We see, then, that the marriage of the Lamb has begun, in the sense in which I have written. I cannot say when it will be revealed fully to the world---perhaps not until the new Jerusalem descends through the new sky and is installed on the new earth.
However, the important aspect of the marriage is now. It is time for each believer in the Lord Jesus to seek more of the Presence of our Savior. To practice bringing our thoughts, words, and actions to Christ for His approval or disapproval. We simply must get closer to the Lord until we in reality are living by His Life just as He lives by the Father's Life.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)
There are additional references to the marriage of the Lamb:
But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. (I Corinthians 6:17)
Consider the following two verses:
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:20,21)
The first verse tells us of the marriage of the Lamb. Even though there will be a time when the entire Bride will be joined together, the important aspect is that individual occasion when we invite the Lord into our heart and He dines with us and we with Him.
There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. (Luke 13:28)
Notice in the second verse that we sit with Him on His Throne. Who sits on the Throne of the King except His Bride?
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity [perfected into one]. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)
God in Christ in us in Christ in God. Such is the government of the Kingdom of God. Such is the Divine Tabernacle that will govern the Kingdom of Christ for eternity—the Lamb and His Wife.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:7)
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:2,3)