A Timely Word Concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Recovery
Message Six
The Preparation of the Bride
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Rev. 19:7-8 Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.
Rev. 19:13-14 And He is clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed Him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
Word of Appetizer
According to Revelation 19:8-9, the wife, the bride if Christ, consists only of the overcoming believers during the millennium; how would we be qualified to be the Lord’s bride?
According to Matthew 25, when the Lord comes back, those who are ready will sit with Him at the wedding feast. To be ready here means that the bride has made herself ready, that God has completed His building work in man, and that we have grown and matured in the Lord’s life. These three matters—God’s building in us, our growth in the Lord’s life, and our getting ready before the Lord—are all linked together.
Spiritual Burden
The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy, which is to obtain for Christ a bride, the church, through His judicial redemption and by His organic salvation in His divine life; the Lord’s recovery is for the preparation of the bride of Christ, who is composed of all His overcomers.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy; the Lord’s recovery is for the preparation of the bride of Christ, who is composed of all His overcomers.
The readiness of the corporate bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers; in addition to being mature in life, the bride must be built up as a corporate person.
The bride’s wedding garment is of “fine linen, bright and clean”.
For the presentation of the bride to the Bridegroom, the bride needs beauty; the bride must also be a warrior for the defeating of God’s enemy.
The corporate Christ, Christ was His overcoming bride, will come as a stone to crush the aggregate of human government to bring in God’s kingdom.
The Experience of Life
Christ is the righteousness by which we have been justified by god so that we may be reborn in our spirit to receive the divine life; as our objective righteousness, Christ is the One in whom we are justified by God; as our subjective righteousness, Christ is the One dwelling in us to live for us a life that can be justified by God and that is always acceptable to God.
Practical Application
The readiness of the corporate bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers; we need to continue to grow until we are matured in the divine life to become a full-grown man, arriving at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
If we would be in the wedding feast of the Lamb, we must be clothed with such a garment—fine linen, bright and clean—the righteousnesses of the saints; we need to live by Christ and to live Him out in our daily living. This Christ, the subjective Christ, will be the wedding garment.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Rev. 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.
Eph. 4:13 Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
1 Tim. 1:14 And the grace of our Lord superabounded with faith and love in Christ Jesus
Eph. 2:22 In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.
The marriage of the Lamb, the Lord’s recovery, the maturity in life, be built up as a corporate person
I. The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy, which is to obtain for Christ a bride, the church, through His judicial redemption and by His organic salvation in His divine life.
II. The Lord’s recovery is for the preparation of the bride of Christ, who is composed of all His overcomers.
III. The readiness of the corporate bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers; in order for the bride to be mature, her faith and love needs to be fully developed.
IV. In addition to being mature in life, the bride must be built up as a corporate person; the principle of God’s building is that God builds Himself into man and builds man into Himself.
Key Verses (2)
Rev. 19:8 And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.
Phil. 3:9 And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith.
S.S. 1:15 Oh, you are beautiful, my love! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
Eph. 5:27 That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
V. The bride’s wedding garment is of “fine linen, bright and clean”
VI. For the presentation of the bride to the Bridegroom, the bride needs beauty.
- Clean refers to the nature, and bright refers to the expression.
- The fine linen with which the bride is clothed is “the rightenousnesses of the saints”; Christ lived out of the saints as their subjective righteousness becomes their wedding garment.
- In Song of Songs the lover and the Beloved both have beauty, and they appreciate the beauty in each other.
- Our only beauty is the shining out of Christ from within us; what Christ appreciates in us is the expression of Himself.
- “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty” (Isa. 33:17a); “the King will desire your beauty” (Psa. 45:11a).
- “You are as beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, As lovely as Jerusalem, As terrible as an army with banners” —S.S. 6:4
Key Verses (3)
Eph. 6:10-11 Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil.
Rev. 19:13-15a And He is clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed Him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations;
Dan. 2:34-35 you were watching until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image at its feet of iron and clay and crushed them…and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
VII. The bride must also be a warrior for the defeating of God’s enemy
VIII. The corporate Christ, Christ with His overcoming bride, will come as a stone to crush the aggregate of human government to bring in God’s kingdom.
- In Ephesians 5 and 6 we see the church as the bride and as the warrior, in Revelation 19 we also have these two aspects of the church.
- Christ will come as a fighting General with His bride as His army to fight against Antichrist at Armageddon.
- Whereas Daniel 2 speaks of Christ coming as a stone cut out without hands, Revelation 19 speaks of Christ coming as the One who has His bride as His army.
- After crushing the human government, God will have cleared up the entire universe; then the corporate Christ, Christ with His overcomers, will become a great mountain to fill the whole earth, making the whole earth God’s kingdom.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy (Gen. 2:22, Rev. 19:7-9)
(Please illustrate that God’s New Testament economy is to obtain for Christ, a bride, the church.)
T2 The Lord’s recovery is for the preparation of the bride of Christ, who is composed of all His overcomers. (Rev. 19:7-9)
(Please illustrate those who constitute the bride are not only mature in life but also built together as one bride.)
D2
T1 The aggregate of all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers is the wife in Revelation 19:7 (Rev. 19:7, 21:2)
(Please illustrate the difference between the bride in Revelation 19:7 and 21:2.)
T2 The readiness of the bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers. (Heb. 6:1, Tit. 3:15)
(Please illustrate that in order for the bride to be mature, her faith and love need to be fully developed.)
D3
T1 The righteousness we receive for our salvation is objective; whereas the righteousnesses that meets the requirement of overcoming is subjective (1 Cor. 1:30, Rev. 19:8)
(Please illustrate the difference between objective righteousness, and subjective righteousness.)
T2 We need a garment for our justification, and a wedding garment (Luke 15:22, Matt. 22:11-12)
(Please illustrate that according to the revelation of the whole Bible, we, the saved ones, need two garments.)
D4
T1 For the presentation of the bride to the Bridegroom, the bride needs beauty (S.S. 1:15-16, 4:1,7)
(Please illustrate that our beauty is not our behavior. Our only beauty is the reflection of Christ, the shining out of Christ from within us)
T2 On the day of his wedding, a bridegroom cares much more for the beauty of his bride than for her ability. (Eph. 5:27)
(Please illustrate that our beauty will eventually be more important to the Lord than our function.)
D5
T1 The bride must be a warrior for the defeating of God’s enemy (Eph. 6:10, Rev. 19:14)
(Please illustrate that the bride of Christ will floow Him as His army to fight and destroy Antichrist and his army.)
T2 The overcoming saints have two garments, one for salvation and the other for reward. (Rev. 19:14)
(Please illustrate that the second garment qualifies us not only to attend the wedding but also to join the army.)
D6
T1 The fighting of Christ is the speaking of the Word of God (Rev. 19:13)
(Please illustrate that the Lord’s fighting in the war at Armageddon will be a powerful speaking.)
T2 Human government not only rebels against God, exalts man, and worships idols but also fights against God directly (Rev. 19:13-15, 2 Thes. 2:2-8)
(Please illustrate that Christ the embodiment of God, will come with His bride to crush the human government)
