Last week I started a new series of messages about the End Times, titled “Apocalypse”.
The first message talked about how the Old Testament has 39 books with 351 prophecies and all of these prophecies about Jesus’ first coming have been faithfully fulfilled and that in the New Testament, 24 out of the 27 books speak about the rapture and the second coming of Jesus!
Everything the world is experiencing today, this whole pandemic and this whole world scenario are all fulfillments of the prophecies of the last days.
In this series we are going to talk about the events of leading up to Jesus’ return and today we are going to have the second message.
One of the greatest events of the end times is the wedding of the Lamb, which will take place shortly after the rapture of the church. (Last week I taught about the chronology of the final events, if you haven’t heard, please hear the word: The end of time, how will it happen? Please, go to our YouTube channel – Shalom Ireland)
6 “Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.””
Revelation 19:6-9
I really like weddings. As a pastor I have attended and also performed many weddings and it is always a very special moment. Weddings are surrounded with much expectation and celebration.
Sometimes it takes years of waiting as the groom gets the house ready, the bride looks for the dress, plans the food that will be served, the place where the wedding will be held, etc. Most couples dream of this moment of celebration.
I want to ask a question: Did Jesus get married? No, but he’s getting married! His bride is getting ready, Jesus is going to have his feast and those who are prepared will attend the wedding of the Lamb!
Beloved ones, just as a bride and groom wait for their wedding day, I want you to know that this moment we just read about, is the main point of the entire story of Jesus and His people. Everyday since our conversion is leading up to that moment when we are going to take part in the Lamb’s wedding with his bride.
In order to help you understand this event and understand what the Bible says about the wedding of the Lamb I want to tell you about the Galilean Wedding from the time of the bible. Because Jesus and all his disciples were from Galilee and the Galileans had a bit of different tradition than the rest of Israel.
The Galilean Wedding begins long before the time of the feast. The marriages were always pre-arranged. The father of the groom would normally select the future bride.
There was a price that would be discussed by both , the father of the future bride and the father of the Groom.
In order to set the new covenant into place, there had to be a couple of things happened.
First, the Bride to be also had to be a consent Bride. Just as Jesus does not force anyone to accept Him as Lord and Saviour, so the Bride also, is not forced to marry her future Groom.
Second the future Bride and the Groom had to go through a spiritual cleansing in a pool called “Mikvah”
The moment the couple stepped out of the pool, they would call themselves, born again. This cleansing ceremony can be compared to the baptism.
The betrothal’s ceremony was a legally binding covenant contract that showed the couple was officially married, but they were not allowed to share physical benefits of marriage. (No sex until the ceremony)
During betrothal’s ceremony the Bride groom, offer the bride a ring and a gift and also they drink a cup of wine from the same cup.
At this time the Bride Groom would tell the bride: “I shall not drink from the fruit of the wine, until I drink it with you, in my father’s house.”
At this time, the Bride Groom returns to his father house to prepare the house, the bride also prepares herself for the groom. Learning to cook and making her wedding dress.
She would sanctify herself and get ready for the start of a new life with the groom.
In their culture, the groom never told anyone the wedding date! Only the Groom’s father knew the date. Did you know that?
The announcement of the wedding was sent around at the last minute. Before the bridegroom came, a messenger was sent blowing a shofar, to announce the groom’s arrival and this happened in the middle of the night.
When the messenger announced that the bridegroom was arriving, the whole city, friends and relatives went to celebrate that wedding for a full week. (Seven days)
Only after the wedding celebration the groom take the bride to his home where he would live with her forever.
The marriage proposal has already been made! How many of you have been proposed by Jesus?
How did He propose to you?
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
How many of you have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour of your lives?
Know that this request from Jesus, “Come to Me” is a Wedding Invitation for you to be part of the Lamb’s Wedding!
That’s why, at supper, Jesus broke the bread, offered the wine and said: You will do this in memory of me until I return!
“I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.” ”
Mark 14:25
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms ; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ”
John 14: 1-3
Jesus is preparing our home with our heavenly Father!
The disciples were sad because he was leaving, he said: I WILL GO BUT I WILL BE BACK.
The Bible says that He will return! When will this be? Nobody knows !
The groom comes unexpected ! And what should the bride do ?
Live a life of preparation and pursue a life of holiness and to be ready when the Bridegroom returns.
Before the wedding there will be a big party!
Have you ever seen a celebrity’s wedding? Actor, actress, kings or queens, how people talk and want to know all the details! This is nothing close to the Lamb’s wedding!
Have you ever imagined the moment when the angel blows the trumpet and announces that the most expected event in millennia is about to happen?
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 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 19:6-7
Wow what a tremendous thing! Will you be there?
This day will happen! But only invited guests will be present!
While the wedding in heaven is taking place, the world, down here on earth, will be experiencing great chaos during the great tribulation!
Those who were left behind on the rapture will face the great tribulation.
Have you ever imagined this moment?
The wedding of the Lamb will be very different to the weddings of our culture, because in our culture, the climax of the wedding is the entrance of the Bride. Everyone is waiting for the entrance of the bride, but at the Wedding of the Lamb the climax will be the entrance of the Groom !
On this day everyone will be waiting for the groom to come in!
All together we will sing:
“ Great and marvellous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, The King of the nations. ”
Revelation 15: 3
All those who lived for Jesus on earth, who sanctified themselves, waited for His return, will be there, at the great wedding of the Lamb.
The Lamb’s marriage is cause of great joy.
For the Angel said:
“Let us rejoice and be happy and give God glory! Give God glory, because the wedding of the Lamb has come. And the Lamb’s bride has made herself ready. ” Revelation 19: 7
On that day there will be no sadness. The joys of this world will be nothing compared to that day.
You will know that you got there only by His Grace! And you will sing: It was through grace, it was grace that got me here!
No one will enter by their own righteousness, but only by the righteousness of Jesus on the cross! For it was the Lord Himself the Bridegroom who justified us!
First before the wedding of the Lamb we will meet Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:9-11 and the Judgment Seat of Christ is something that you have to prepare for.
On that day everyone of us will stand before the Lord, alone, and we will be completely stripped, our thoughts, our words, our intentions and everything will be before Him.
So we have to be cautious of the way we live our lives today and we need get ready today.
There will be a lot of crying, a lot of tears, a lot of regret for things we could have done and not done, for things we shouldn’t have done and things we did.
That is why, dear ones, that we, the pastors of the church are always calling you to come to church, to come to prayer meetings, to participate in the online services, be in communion with the Church, be in communion with your brothers and sisters, for the church on earth is the Body of Jesus and if you are disconnected from the church, you are disconnected from the Body of Christ!
I have seen many Christians, who have been baptised, but today they are out of church, they are out of communion, they are sheep without a shepherd, they are sheep that do not receive food from their shepherd and they are in great danger of being left out of this wedding!
Every Sunday that you hear the word God, that you attend our online meeting, every Wednesday that you attend your cell meeting , God is feeding you, the Lord is cleansing you, and challenging you to prepare for the wedding day!
Only those who are prepared will participate in the Lamb’s supper. The Lamb’s Supper will be the prize for the faithful ones
In the parable of the 10 virgins told by Jesus in Matthew 25, Jesus said that 5 of them were foolish, lazy and no longer filled up on the oil, that speaks of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
When the Bridegroom comes, they did not have the oil, and therefore did not enter, and they were left out of the wedding.
“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’“ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. ”
Matthew 25: 10-13
But 5 of them, prepared themselves everyday and were connected with the Body of Christ, they were looking for God, looking for the presence of the Holy Spirit. For it is the Holy Spirit who leads us to live a life of preparation for the marriage!
I am terrified of some Christians in my own church, with Christians who are disconnected from the body of Christ, from communion, from the life of the church and they are in danger.
The most important thing is that you are prepared for that day and know that you will be there!
Why will you be there?
Because He died for us, but also because we have prepared for that day.
The Bible says
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear. ” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. ”
Revelation 19: 7-8
The Bible says that the wife prepared herself, and her clothes are her acts of justice or good deeds.
Have you ever seen a young woman about to get married, getting ready?
She starts the preparation months before the wedding, but on the wedding day she spends the entire day in the salon. Some of them go on a diet because they want to be in their best form for the day.
I remember at my wedding, when Fabiana came in, wow, how beautiful she looked!
The Bible says that the bride has prepared herself, and that is why we, the Church, have to adorn ourselves for the groom.
We have to ask and pray for God to help us overcome our difficulties, weaknesses, our sins, our behaviours that do not bear good testimony.
Today many who are in the church do not give good testimony, because they live in the wrong way, they are people who fight with their co-workers, Christians divorcing, abandoning their spouses instead of forgiving, Christians who gossip, talk about their brothers behind their backs, people who do not forgive, Christians who have addictions to smoking, drinking, pornography, are disobedient to parents, Christians who do not listen to their leaders, are rebellious and live in sin.
Beloved, the church is the bride of Jesus and if He is Holy, we must sanctify ourselves for Him!
But Satan has been working with all his strength to change our mind!
There is a spirit of rebellion working in the heart of people, because we the leaders teach the truth, show the word of God, but they say: no, I don’t believe that, in the church that I grew up things were not like that, I think I don’t need to do that, I don’t need to pray, I don’t need to fast, because I choose what I want to do!
In the same way that the bride takes care of her skin, hair and takes care of her clothes, applying makeup, because she wants to make an impact and wants to please the Groom. So the Bible says that the bride was dressed and dressed in fine linen.
Every time the Bible speaks of fine linen, it speaks of purity. The bride’s dress who entered the wedding was clean and free of dirt and completely adorned.
How are you living your life?
I am living every day of my life waiting for this Lamb’s Wedding day!
I have been praying and asking the Lord, show me every area of my life that I need to fix, what areas I need to change!
These days are days of spiritual cooling, many are at home and do not even want to attend online meetings, many are getting cold.
Many who loved the Lord are getting cold and are turning away from the faith!
Remember that Marriage is for those who are called and accept the invitation.
To the church of Laodicea Jesus said:
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:20
Here Jesus is talking about the Wedding of the Lamb.
The church around the world is living in sin, Christians are uncommitted to the church that is the Body of Christ and think they are doing well,
people living in sin, young people and adults living a sexual life before marriage and think that God accepts everything.
Jesus is knocking on your door! Who will open the door ? Who will open their hearts?
The world will collapse, the Antichrist will rule the world and the world will be governed by him, will have only a single religion, a single currency and if you are not raptured you will face all of this and you either accept the mark of the beast or will suffer.
I believe that Jesus will come and get the church before this happens. Jesus is the Bridegroom and I do not believe he will say: I will marry you, but first I will leave you there to suffer all kinds of abuse and then I will come and get you, no!
The Bridegroom protects the bride and comes to take her, let’s see Revelation 3:10
““Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:10
But if you are not ready, you will not be raptured, will be left behind and will go through the great tribulation and will miss the Wedding of the Lamb,
Jesus is saying to his church today, behold, I am at the door and knock!
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and I will have supper with him and he with me.
I believe that we are living in the last days of the invitation to this great wedding celebration of the Lamb.
Today is the day to prepare yourself ! Repent from your sins and come back to Jesus because He loves you , died for you and will come back to get you !
May the Lord bless and keep you for that day!