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Good morning and welcome. Please stand for the reading of God's word. I'll be reading from Isaiah chapter 25. I'll be reading verses 1 through 9. Isaiah 25, 1 through 9, beginning in verse 1. O Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you. I will give thanks to your name, for you have worked wonders, plans formed long ago with perfect faithfulness.

For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin. A palace of strangers is a city no more. It will never be rebuilt. Therefore, a strong people will glorify you. Cities of ruthless nations will revere you. For you have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, for the breath of the ruthless is like a rainstorm against a wall.

Like heat in drought, you subdue the uproar of aliens. Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced. The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain, a banquet of aged wine, joints, pieces with marrow, and refined age wine.

And on this mountain, he will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time. And the Lord will wipe tears away from all faces, and he will remove the reproach of his people from all the earth.

For the Lord has spoken, and it will be said in that day, Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited, that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we come before you this morning, our hearts turn to who you are and that you have ordained human life to exist and populate the earth.

Father, not only that, but you have ordained that it would be in righteousness and justice, and that all of humanity would one day inhabit this earth under your authority, embracing your divine rule. Not only internally, but externally. Father, we see these words and we recognize that they speak of a glorious day in the future, Father, when all will be made right upon the earth.

Father, for now, as we turn our hearts to celebrating your incarnation and walking among us, we see this as the first step, even as we look upon the manger and celebrate that you have been born of man and that you have dwelt among us and have taken up residence.

Father, that was your step, your first step of coming here and going to the cross and beyond the cross, through the grave, and through the grave, back to life, and through that life to the right hand of the Father. Father, as a step toward you coming back and reigning supremely upon this earth, Father, we see all of that.

And we hear the call that you have called us, even here today, to step into your glorious kingdom, to receive who you are, and to rejoice in what you are doing and to be part of this plan that is unfolding with perfect faithfulness. So, Father, we rejoice in your salvation this morning, we rejoice in the promise.

That one day the reproach of your people will be absolutely removed from planet earth, that death will be swallowed up for all time, and that you will remove every cause for sorrow and every memory of sorrow, and that you will prepare a lavish celebration upon this earth that will extend into the ages of the ages.

And it's in this hope and in this knowledge, Father, that we have gathered this morning. We glorify you, we thank you, and we pray now that your rule would be ever more strong in our midst and in the days that we have upon this earth and in this age.

And in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Well, once again, good morning. Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 19. We'll be looking at verses 6 through 8 today. Revelation chapter 19, beginning in verse 6. I'll read through verse 8. Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

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. 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.

Well, if you've ever been in our marriage preparation class, you know one thing about me, and that is that I love marriage. I love the institution of marriage as God designed it. It is a beautiful covenant, a beautiful union, a beautiful institution. And God created man and woman in the beginning.

As you're thinking about what God did, he brought Adam and Eve together for the purpose of reigning together over the earth. That the two of them, God created the man and he had functions for him to do and special tasks for him to do in reigning and taking care of the world that God had made.

And then he created the woman and he brought her to him to help him. Fulfill what God had called him to do. It's a beautiful picture of union. Two of them faithfully devoted to one another. And in that faithful devotion, they would take care of the issues of life.

They would face all that came from taking care of the earth. All the issues that would come, they would reign together. You see, faithful devotion to one another is necessary to reign together. And so enjoy not only one another, but to enjoy God's creation. And as you know, something really, really wrong happened in the garden.

When each decided to live for themselves, instead of living for God and being devoted to Him, they became devoted to self, and the relationship was greatly perverted and compromised. Life became a struggle. Well, as we think about marriage, this is the emblem, the beautiful picture of marriage, the undefiled union, is the emblem that God uses to speak about his brother.

Bride, his church, what Christ being married to his church. And the aftermath of everything we've read about in Revelation leads up to this point, to this point of this marriage, this emblem, this coming together and reigning together. This is what is being celebrated in our text this morning.

Last time we looked at verses 1 through 4, we're right here in the middle of the Alleluia choruses, the only Alleluia choruses in the New Testament, by the way. Right in the middle of them, verses 1 through 4 contain three of the Alleluia choruses. And then in verse 5, we are called to join this chorus.

Verse 5, and a voice came from the throne saying, Give praises to our God, all you his bondservants, you who fear him, the small and the great, all categories. The command goes out for everyone to be praising God. All of his servants. And this is all levels, all categories of people, all intellectual capacities, all positions, all giftings, all capabilities, wherever you are in the spiritual maturing process.

The whole spectrum, all are called to give praise to him for what's coming. And they should. They should actually give thanks for what has just been spoken about. Look in verse 1. After these things, I heard something like a loud voice, a great multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God.

We should worship God. We should be praising Him. That's what hallelujah means. Give Him praise. Give God praise. We should be giving praise to God for what belongs to Him. What belongs to Him, salvation, glory, and power. But it's also clear that we should be praising Him for His judgments.

Look at verse 2: Because His judgments are true and righteous, for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bondservants on her. His judgments are true and righteous. They are always good, always just. And so we can and should be praising God because of His judgments.

But also, we should be praising Him for His eternal condemnation of evil. Look at verse 3. And a second time, they said, Hallelujah, for her smoke rises up. Forever and ever. And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, Amen, hallelujah.

He, because the condemnation and destruction of evil will never be complete, its reconstruction can never begin. And so, for this, you can praise and give glory to God. He is going to do away with evil. Salvation belongs to him. Glory, power, all of his judgments, all of his ways, all of his plans, everything is true, righteous, and he will permanently remove evil from his kingdom.

And so, all of these, in verse 4, the heavenly hosts and the worship leaders of heaven, the living creatures and the 24 elders, give a hearty amen. And so, and from this, this extends to everyone. We too should be praising God for these things. But then, in our text this morning, one more reason to praise God will be given.

One more hallelujah is to be heard. Verse 6. Then I heard something like the voice. Of a great multitude, and like the sound of many waters, like the sound of many peals of thunder, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. He reigns, he is forever in a state of reigning.

He has reigned. He is reigning. But specifically, here, he has ruled. He has judged the beast. He has taken authority over. He has exercised that dominion in judging the great harlot, in judging the beast. Hallelujah, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. You notice that the previous three hallelujah choruses look backward.

They look backward to what God had done in judging the harlot. But this call looks forward. It looks forward to what the judgment of Babylon makes way for. In other words, the destruction of Babylon the Great prepares the way for something. The destruction is really about construction. The end times aren't just.

About destroying. God can destroy, but he's a creator. He's accomplishing something. If his objective with the end times was just to destroy, a Noahic flood would work just fine. Bring it all to an end. That's not what he's doing. He's judging. He's bringing about a change. He's bringing about something positive in the earth, something wonderful, something that all can rejoice in.

And what is he specifically talking about here? What is the occasion? What is this call from heaven? Well, it's about his reign upon the earth. Now, let me clarify something here. God has always reigned and always will reign. He is the creator, God over all. He reigns even now, even though the world is fallen and evil is real and has a presence.

He even rules over evil. He could even use a Judas in accomplishing something good, though he is not the author of evil, yet he is that much in sovereign control over evil. And these are reasons to rejoice. We can rejoice now, no matter what circumstances we face, or no matter how dark our Times get, we can rejoice now because the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

However, the rain spoken of here is not this universal rain, like he is. It's a more specific rain. It's that coming rain where God's will is done on earth just as it is in heaven. That's what's being celebrated here. And look at this sound of this. You don't really see a, you don't hear a voice like this.

This is the most dramatic sound. Look back at verse 6. Then I heard something like three times, he compares it three times, like the voice of a great multitude. Great voice in unison. Like the sound of many waters, like the sound of mighty peals of thunder. Now think about that.

A voice of a multitude, a voice of many waters, sounding like great booming peals of thunder. That's how John describes this voice. Hallelujah. For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. And these hosts in heaven are celebrating the fact that God's universal reign on earth. In heaven is now come to earth.

And this is the last song of praise in the book of Revelation. This is it. True liberation for earth has finally arrived. You remember in Revelation 11:15, you remember when the angel blew the seventh trumpet? There were these loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.

And these singers, who are they? Well, they are the angelic chorus, the myriad of myriads, the ten thousands of ten thousands, the thousands of thousands of Kyle Fields full to capacity, booming their loud praises. And they are boom, and they call, we are called to join in, even though we only can see even now, we can only see this day coming, and we can see it by faith.

It is just as sure as if we were there. It will happen, it is coming, and because of that, we are to put our hearts in a state of giving praise to God for His coming. Thank you in advance for your coming kingdom. It's interesting that they are to be singing the last phrase of verse 6 is to our Lord and God who is God Almighty.

It's interesting that the emperor at the time, Domitian, gave himself this title, Our Lord and our God. And that is how he expected his citizens to refer to him. And yet, here is the rejoicing, the booming celebration. No, it is not Domitian or the imperial powers of Rome who is our Lord and our God, but we can rejoice because our Lord and our God is the God Almighty, and it is him.

He is the one who is reigning. And we can rejoice that our Lord God is God. But as you read through this and the verses that are coming, just a casual reading of our text informs us that the coming reign is likened to a marriage celebration. Now, think and put this into your thinking when you're thinking about the second coming.

And this reign that we're reading about, it's in the context of a marriage. Marriage celebration. We have lots of weddings, don't we? You've been, it's the high point of human existence, if you will. There's hardly anything that we celebrate more than the wedding. And yet, this is how we are to see the second coming.

So, as we continue this morning, I want you to begin seeing several elements of this wedding imagery that describes the reign of God upon the earth. I want you to see this so that you'll ready yourself now for it. You hear a lot of exhortations in the scripture to be ready for his coming, to be ready for his coming.

What does that specifically look like in our routine throughout? How should we be readying ourselves? Well, the same way that the bride in our verses this morning readied herself. But it's in the context of rain, his coming rain. That's what this whole chorus is about. His reign has come.

Hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. And now he's going to show us what that rain or the manifestation of that rain, the emblem, if you will. Marriage is the emblem of God's reign. Up on the earth. And it's not just the marriage ceremony, but the celebration that follows is what particularly comes to view here.

So when you think about second coming, think about the groom and the bride showing up into the banquet hall. That's the imagery that's being used here. So, first couple of elements, just like with any marriage, there's a groom. So, we'll start there. There's a groom. Surprise. Look back at verse 11.

I mean, verse 7. Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come. The Lamb's getting married. The Lamb who was slain is taking a bride. Let us rejoice and be glad. That's to be the occasion for a wedding celebration.

And they are ongoing present verbs. So it's like, let us be rejoicing. Let us be expressing joy. They're two words that communicate an inward and an outward expression. Let us be rejoicing and let us be expressing. Expressing joy, let us rejoice and let us be glad. Let us be rejoicing.

Let us be expressing joy. And look back at verse 7, and give glory to Him. Interesting. Notice how we give glory to God. Notice how they're giving glory to God to be rejoicing and to be expressing joy in what God has done. Give glory to Him. That's the way you and I give glory to Him.

Do you have a thankful heart? Are you scanning your life? Are you looking in to see the things that God has done, the things that He has promised? Are you rejoicing over those? Are you thanking Him, expressing Him? That is the way you give glory to Him, is a heart of gratitude and excitement, rejoicing and expressing joy for the good things that He has done in your past.

We have so many things, salvation, provision, so many things to forever have enough to express joy over, but also rejoicing in advance for the things which are to come. That's how we give Him glory: to be rejoicing and be turning that inward rejoicing into outward expressions of joy.

How you give glory to your Creator. That's how you display Him to those around. It's the big event of a lifetime when you think about the things that we celebrate. There's a few ceremonies that are larger and give more thought to and more festive than a wedding. And you can take that across any culture.

It's pretty universal. But the Lamb is going to take a bride. And I can tell you, in the history of my life, except for being born again from above, it was my wedding day. That is the most profound, most and most reason to look back and rejoice. It was that day.

But here we have the Lamb taking a bride. This is the biggest event in human history. I can look at that anecdotally and look at my life and see what a big event my marriage was. But I can look at this. This is huge. And you hear this sound that John describes by peals of thunder, mighty waters, loud voice.

He doesn't give it this kind of fullness, this full sound, anywhere else as he does here in this last great praise, hallelujah, chorus. In Revelation, you know, the question being asked, you remember in Revelation 13, 3, who is like the beast? You remember that? The amazed followers of the beast.

Who is like the beast and who is able to wage war with him? That's the question being raised by the unbelieving world, the amazed, bamboozled followers of the beast. Who is able to wage war with him? But the real question in the book of Revelation and in heaven, who is like the Lamb is the appropriate question.

He is strong. No contest with the beast. There was no contest in heaven, and there is no contest on earth. Who is like the Lamb? But not only is he strong and far more powerful than the greatest authority or the seemingly greatest power that has ever come upon planet Earth, the Lamb is far more strong, but not only that, he is true.

He didn't have to, he doesn't lie. He's true. He's just. And not only that, he's humble. He's humble. He's good. What this chorus is saying is: behold Earth's King. How wonderful this is! How wonderful that this is your king and this is my king. This is something to celebrate, and he has promised and purposed to bring his reign here upon the earth.

That's good news. And that's something to rejoice over and to keep rejoicing over no matter when or where we live. Even if we're gone, even if this isn't, we can see these things coming and rejoice. Because one day, the God Almighty, our God, will reign upon the earth just as he does in heaven.

And such reign of the Lord God Almighty is going to be through his Lamb. God Almighty has mediated his rule through the Lamb. Good news. But notice that the Lamb doesn't do it alone. He takes a bride. Just as God Almighty is going to reign over. The earth through his Christ.

The Lamb, the Christ, is going to reign over the earth through his bride. Get this. Understanding how this reign, the Lord God Almighty, reigns. He mediates his authority through his Son, and His Son mediates authority through His bride. They're going to reign together. That's the emblem. Marriage. And the commencement of such reign is at the marriage of the Lamb.

As I mentioned earlier, marriage is about reigning together over the issues of life. You see that in husband and wife relationships. And that's why you work on your relationship. So much is robbed when you don't embrace what God has for you and servant and sacrificially and love one another as Christ loves us.

But in this context, it's about reigning over the earth and the issues of life and society that go along with it. The marriage ceremony has not come yet. And the union, Lamb and his bride, they are going to reign over earth. That's how the Lamb is going to mediate and share his rule with his bride.

The marriage ceremony is not yet come. It is still future. There's still people being born that are going to be part of the church. They're not all here yet. There's still some people to be saved. They're not all here yet. But one day that full number will be.

But you need to understand a little bit about the custom of the Jewish wedding. There are three stages. This will help you help me get my mind around how this is developing. First of all, there's the betrothal phase or stage. And that's where parents would be involved, and the bride and groom would enter into a covenant, a marriage, betrothal.

And at that time, they were married. Only a divorce could sever the relationship. And this is what Joseph was contemplating in Matthew 1. The second stage involved a procession for the groom to go and get his bride, bring her to the wedding ceremony. And then the third stage was the wedding feast, where the bride and groom would show up to the feast, and that feast would last oftentimes seven days.

But we can think of it as an extended wedding. We have a lot of these same components here. We have an engagement, we have the day of the wedding, and we have the feast or the banquet hall, the celebration that follows. Well, we can see a lot of these elements in the way, as we're waiting for Christ, we are in this betrothal period.

There is a real spiritual union with us in Christ, the church. We are spiritually one with him based upon his cross. He paid the price. We have entered in through faith into the new covenant cut in his blood. We are betrothed. We belong to Christ. We are spiritually one with him.

And yet there is a day when he's going to rapture his church, take him to the ceremony, and return. And that's what I think we're looking at here: is this return, the feast, the celebration that's going to go on for a thousand years. That's the third phase. In fact, It was this third phase that you remember when Jesus, in Matthew 26, he says, Look, this is the new covenant cut in my blood.

My body is broken for you. This is the blood that is shed. And he takes the Passover cup and he takes it and he drinks. And he says, I'll never drink of the fruit of this vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

That's what we do, by the way, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper. We're declaring his coming again. The last thing he said is, I'm not drinking this again until I drink it again with you. You, speaking to the disciples, I will drink this with you in the kingdom.

And he's talking about this day, this coming. I know there's a lot of debate about when and where this marriage takes place. Does the marriage in this place take place before or after his return to earth? Or does it happen in heaven or on earth? I think it happens before, and I think it happens in heaven.

And largely, just looking at the syntax: the marriage supper for the marriage of the Lamb has come. The literal expression. It's a past tense. It's saying, for the marriage of the Lamb has happened. It has appeared to the public. It has come. It's not saying it's about to take place, nor is it saying it is taking place.

It is saying it has come. So the rejoicing and the glory that these are, this chorus in heaven is celebrating is that the marriage of the lamb has already come. It has happened. Regardless, there is no debate about the main point of what marriage is. What is marriage?

It is a unique, unbreakable, intimate, and everlasting union. And that clearly is what marriage is about. And it's clearly what Christ is relating and what God is relating to his reign. An unbreakable, intimate, and everlasting union. Another thing that's very straightforward and no debate is the emphasis is upon the celebration of the union.

The celebration of the union and the readiness of the bride. You notice that the bride is ready. She has readied herself. We'll talk about the bride in just a moment. But she is ready to be and to do all that her husband, the lamb, desired. Her to be.

She's going to reign with him. And he is going to reign with and through her. So that's the groom. Let's talk about the bride for a moment. Look back at verse 7. And his bride has made herself ready. Literally, the expression, she has, and his bride, she has put herself in a state of readiness.

She is ready to reign with him. She is married. She is ready. The question is: who is this bride? You've got two options. It's either the redeemed of all times or it is the church. I think it's, and this is going to relate, we'll deal a little bit more with this next time.

There is a marriage supper, and there is the bride, who's obviously blessed, but there are also a blessed guest list. Blessed is everyone who is invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, verse 9. We'll come to that next time. But the point here is: the bride is the church.

What is the church? The believers, from Pentecost to the rapture, believers from All nations. You remember the church? What's distinct about the church? It comes from all nations. Jews, Gentiles, and all nations. Every tribe, every tongue, and every peoples of the earth. This is who he is bringing with him.

And there's a real logistical and practical reason why he does. But it's clear when you're reading through the New Testament that the New Testament clearly identifies the church as Christ's bride. All nations, Jew and Gentile. And if you think about this, you get the picture in the Old Testament.

Israel is God's bride. Yet when you start reading it, you start realizing it's in the context that she has been unfaithful over and over and over again. When you come to the New Testament, Christ's bride is this church, chaste, having eyes for him, virgin. This is the language used to describe, and it is Christ who is being wed here.

You see, the Lamb is going to rule over all the nations. Think about that. And he's going to rule over the nations through the faithful, through those he's called. Through the faithful, and how does he call? Through the faithful proclamation of the gospel. He's calling people out of the nations.

Why is he calling people out of all the nations? Well, his rule never was intended to just be over one tribe of humanity. And so he brings the church. This is the church, Jew and Gentile. This is not the Old Testament saints. Oh, they'll be resurrected in part of this, as we'll keep reading.

They are the friends of the bridegroom, just like John the Baptist. They didn't know the name Jesus, but they looked forward to his coming. They prepared the way for him. And they are certainly among the blessed. You see, you think about what Jesus did when he was upon earth.

He came and he saw Matthew sitting over there at the text, but he saw James and John. He called, come, follow me. Come and follow me. And then Peter says, You know, we left everything for you in chapter 19. We left everything for you. What's in it for me?

He goes, Yeah, I tell you the truth, you who've left everything, you are going to sit on 12 thrones. Thrones, judging Israel. Matthew 19, verse 28. Israel is going to prosper. He's going to bring back in this crowd his apostles, and he's going to make good. Jesus promised his disciples, those who had left everything in his generation, they are going to rule over, judge over, and be an instrument of blessing and bringing about righteousness in Israel.

But what about Texas? What about Mexico? What about Africa? You see why he's calling people out of the nations? This is his church. And he's going to use these same. He's going to put them in a state, in a glorified state. He's going to bring them back. And they are going to be part of that ruling people that reign with him.

They are the bride who reigns with him. You say, well, that's not fair to Israel. Well, that's not fair to everyone. Listen, it's God's prerogative to do whatever he wants. Just like he called it, why did he choose Israel instead of another nation? I don't know. It's his prerogative.

He chose Israel to do what he did through it to make a covenant. He chooses the church to rule over the nations, but there's going to be a bride. That's his prerogative. But there's no second-class citizens. This is imagery. It's going to be how God is establishing, bringing about righteousness in the earth, and this rule and reign that takes place at the second coming.

Well, the question, really, maybe the more profound question in this passage is: how has she made herself ready? And the answer to this question reveals a really profound biblical tension, number one, but also, I hope it will deeply motivate you and every true believer to walk in the works that God has for us.

But let me first look at the clothing she'll be wearing in verse 8, and that'll help us answer the question: how did she make herself ready? Because we need to know that. Because how she readies herself is going to be the same way that we ready ourselves, or certainly be related to it.

Look at verse 18. Look at verse 8. I'm sorry. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean. That's her clothing described. It was given to her. Her clothing was given to her to clothe herself. Fine linen, shining linen, splendid linen, radiant linen, bright and clean.

That is clean. It is pure. It's without wrinkle, without spot, without stain. It's free from dirt. And this stands in stark contrast to the clothing of the harlot. Remember what? She was all dressed all, she had a really gaudy appearance. Revelation 17:4, the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a cup, a gold cup full of abominations.

This is the appearance of the harlot, but then in stark contrast is this simple, spotless purity of the Lamb's bride. Simple devotion. You can tell a lot about a man by the kind of woman he's attracted to. Christ is holy. He is drawn to the holy, and our heavenly Father prepares and brings to him a spotless and holy bride.

But notice her clothing is identified in verse 8. Not only is it described as fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. The fine linen is something. It's depicting something. It's depicting the righteous acts or the righteous deeds of the saints, of the bride.

By the way, this implies and necessitates that a judgment has already taken place. He has gathered together these people and he has clothed them. He has already made a decision. Yes, I believe that we will stand before a Bema seat, that we will stand before, that there will be this time where we stand.

It's not a judgment of everybody be here, but there's a judgment made about their clothes that they're on, and they're wearing them. There's already been a connection with Christ made. There has been, you remember the slanderer and accuser, you know, these righteous acts, God has made a determination.

They are clean, they are good. She is acquitted before any kind of slander and evil speech. But look at, let me read to you, Ephesians. 2, 10. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Guess what the bride of Christ does? The bride of Christ walks in their good deeds which God has prepared for us to walk in. And he prepared us to walk in them before the foundation of the world. There's a kind and caliber of people that respond to God.

And at the point of salvation, we are given Christ's righteousness. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus and we long for what He has and what He gives, we are given His righteousness. And then that righteousness takes root and it begins to be put on display by the outworking of God's Spirit in the daily life of His people.

That's how God puts Himself on display. So if you look at this, there is this profound tension. She is clothed in good deeds, and she is disposed to doing good deeds. It's not just that she has done good deeds. This is the disposition and inclination of her. Her heart, and this is what makes her fit to rule and reign with Christ.

Because when she comes with Him, she's coming with this globe of devotion and simple purity, and disposed to doing what pleases Him and what is good. And this is what makes her fitting to reign with Him. You've got a world that has been destroyed, and here comes the kiss of heaven: Christ and His bride.

But this profound tension, you can see it in these two phrases. It was given to her in verse 8, and in verse 7, she has made herself ready. Do you see a tension there? She has made herself ready, and God has given it to her. She has made herself ready by embracing the good works that God has ordained for her to walk in.

And it's clear that her existence is of God. Her redemption is clearly of God. The works that God chose for her and for me, they come from God. Corporately and individually, God has chosen works for us to walk in. They're given by God. So we can see God is glorified and deserves glory for everything.

But don't miss this point. She willfully embraces them. Here's the work that you've given me to do. I will clothe myself in that and go and do what you called me to do. That is why she's radiant. That is why she's clean and pure. And that is why she's readied to reign with Christ.

And what a lesson for us today. How do we prepare? How do we ready ourselves for Christ's return? Embrace what God has set before you to do and to be. Simple devotion to the simple things is beautiful in His sight. I don't care how big the task, how small the task, what is beautiful is simple, pure devotion to your God and King, Jesus Christ.

That is the fine linen. Big contrast. Serve Him. You and I, embrace what God has for us. Serve Him. No matter how small our corner of the world may be or how large. It doesn't matter. What matters is simple, pure devotion. Walking in the works that God has called you to do.

Clothe yourself in those. Ready yourself. Because there's coming another chapter in human existence. Well, just as maybe as a preview, our time's getting away. So we'll keep reading. The bride is also an army. An army. And I can't wait to where we look at that. A bride and an army.

The army bride. This is exciting to see. But imagine just for a moment an army of people, humble, kind, good, just, servant-minded, hard-working, and will sacrifice for the well-being of others to the same degree that Christ did. Now you're starting to get a glimpse of Christ's bride. You see, her acceptance of God's giftings and calling equips her for the marriage.

To be what the Lamb wants her to be, as those who will reign with him and over the earth, all nations. And what a glorious sight this will be in light of all that's happened in Revelation: the darkened world, the deceived world, the tired world, the destroyed earth.

And then here comes the King and His glorious army bride. She doesn't do the fighting, by the way. She's there to occupy and to heal. So the second coming is likened to a wedding celebration, which begins at the moment the groom and the bride arrive. Friends, there is just something so beautiful about simple devotion to Christ's ways.

Life is not about how big or small your area of service, but the purity of your devotion. So ready yourself by embracing the good works that God has for you today. Go do them, clothe yourself in them. Do and be what he wants you to be. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this picture. We thank you as we look forward to the second coming, Father, that you put the whole second coming in the paradigm of a wedding. And then you put it in the context of a wedding celebration, and then even into the eternal state, Father, you put it again in the context of a wedding celebration.

So, Father, we thank you for these glimpses of the future, and we long for your rule and reign over us now. Help us to embrace all that you've given us to do, and to wait, to wait for you, and to be readying ourselves as we wait. In Jesus' name, amen.