Those Invited to the Wedding Feast
(Rev 19:9~16)
In the midst of their suffering, the Christians in the catacombs must have been overwhelmed by Gods invitation to the heavenly wedding party through the letter of 2 Peter. Thats how they evangelized the super power Roman empire by showing an example as the brides of the Lamb. Lets think more about those invited to this heavenly wedding.
1. Blessed are those who are invited. Those invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb are the people who shout Hallelujah over the great city of Babylon pulled down. The seven blessings listed in Revelation are as follows. 1) Those who read and listen to the Word and take to heart what is written in it, 2) those who die in the Lord, 3) those who are not shamefully exposed, 4) those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb, 5) those who have part in the first resurrection, 6) those who keep the words of the prophecy, and 7) those who wash their robes. Being invited to join the Lambs trials and achieve Gods purpose is a blessing. God encourages those persecuted for the sake of Christ to rejoice, looking for the great heavenly reward. We need to continue to invite people to the wedding feast no matter if they accept it or not. Wedding clothes are like an invitation card. Blessed are those who are dressed in fine linen by Gods grace, which they dont deserve as they are. Thus God calls us to be Christs bride with such confidence that we need to know who the bridegroom is.
2. The Lamb, Christians bridegroom has glorious names. They are as follows. 1) One is Faithful and True. God opens the door of the heavenly kingdom to his selected people in time of crisis. Heavenly affairs are by no means separable from earthly affairs. So it is with heavenly and earthly history. Nothing on earth is accidental. Everything is in Gods time. No one but God can finish anything because everything is from God. Every minute we spend is evil if it is not used for salvation. The only one who doesnt change in the world is Jesus Christ. He is patient, faithful, and truthful, resolving to save us his wretched people. God is faithful and truthful to us. So we should be to him. Faithful but not truthful is a treacherous guy. Truthful but not faithful is a self-contradictory guy. Fair and just is a key phrase for all Christians, which we should put into practice for ourselves above all. 2) Its the name that no one knows but Jesus. God inspects every single case of our sins with his eyes like blazing fire. No one can escape his judgment, which penetrates all secrets. Yet by keeping in mind that God watches over us with his inspecting eyes and his admonitions for us, we can put many crowns on our head. We often pose as Christians, yet we are so self-centered that no one recognizes us as one. People also mock us because we are Christians. Is the true mystery of Christians that they rejoice in trials? We enjoy Gods authority as ours because we are united with Him thanks to the power and authority that no one but us knows. Hallelujah! 3) It is the Word of God, dressed in a robe dipped in blood. Jesus was dressed in a robe dipped in the blood that Rome made him shed. On the last day, God the Avenger of his people with the rider of white horse, the one who carried his cross for us, will surely hold Rome the persecutor accountable for the innocent blood of Christians. His name is the Word of God and his weapon is a sharp bladed sword, with which he fights, dressed in a robe dipped in blood. Likewise, we also can bring others to salvation, dressed in our robe dipped in blood through our application of the Word, the final touch of our QT. 4) It is King Of Kings and Lord of Lords. Our Lord is the king of kings, incomparable to the kings in the world, who hold their power temporarily. Even with the crowns of the Antichrist, seven horns and ten heads, their power is limited. However, with the invitation to the wedding feast of Jesus, we can enjoy his unimaginable power and authority. By believing in Jesus, we can be one of the most attractive persons in the world. Its the secret no one knows but you. Heres the testimony of a missionary who attended our Bathhouse Seminar. He had an affair with a woman in his mission place. He thought his ministry was ruined. Later he attended a small group meeting of our church after the seminar, where he met a couple, who had supported his ministry. The couple told him that they were blessed by his confession. He said if he had been in the community, he wouldnt have committed the sin. Who of us can be free of this sort of sin? There is no one but sinners sinners revealed or sinners concealed. We are all sinners. No one is humble. There are only humble circumstances. We are evil, wounded, full of inferiority complexes, and conceited. Yet we are invited to the feast all the more. As the invited ones, we walk with the Lord, who fights for us in the name of Faithful and True. May God bless us to be invited to the wedding ceremony of the Lamb by seeing our sins and bringing others to the Lord!
Then the angel said to me, 'Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' And he added, 'These are the true words of God.' (Rev 19:9)
