Salvation Belongs To Our God!

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God . . . .  And from the throne came a voice saying, Praise our God, all you his servants, and all who fear him. small and great.” Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure’ – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this:  Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ” Revelation 19: 1, NRSV.

Dear God, I am so glad that our salvation is dependent solely, upon You. I claim this salvation in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen.

This is one of my favorite scenes in the entire Bible. It announces the details of the marriage supper of the Lamb. The multitude praise God. Then “a voice from the throne” invites all the saved, big and small to praise the Lamb. I believe this voice is that of the Father, inviting all to attend the wedding celebration of His Son. Next comes the shouts of praise! The praise is so effusive that it is compared to thunder, and the roaring of the waves of the sea. At last Christ, the Lamb slain on our behalf, is to be joined in marriage to His bride, and a supper has been prepared!

The next statement is crucial, “His bride has made herself ready,” which actually means, The Lamb has made His bride ready! How do I know? We read in the text that, to the bride of the Lamb, “it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen bright and pure,” and the fine linen is described as “the righteous deeds of the saints.” In other words, this preparation was given to the bride. The bride could not prepare herself. This supper is also mentioned in Matthew 22. If we do a cross reference with Matthew 22, verses 11 and 12, we will find that, the invitee who arrived without a wedding garment was cast out. This means that the Father of the Bridegroom, had prepared special wedding garments for the guests to wear. When this guest arrived dressed as he pleased, the Father recognized it, and turned him away.

The fine, pure, linen in which the bride is dressed is described as the “righteous deeds of the saints.” Before we say more about this, let me refer you to this text:  “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64: 6a). Therefore, we know that these righteous acts did not originate with them; they had to be granted to them. Let me share another text with you, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed[.] (Revelation 3: 18, emphasis provided). Let me share just one more bit of information about the righteous deeds of the saints:  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2: 10). God created us in Christ Jesus, that is, we were re-created (Born again), and it is in Jesus (Jesus living His perfect life within us) that good works are possible!

Now let us go on to see how many guests will attend the marriage supper of the Lamb. John says the following:  “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.  On that day when they crown Him King of kings and Lord of lords, a great multitude will be there to witness it!

My dear friends, the will of God is that we all be saved. “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3: 9, emphasis provided). Dearest friends, Jesus wants you and me to be saved. If you and I are lost (God forbid!), we will have no one but ourselves, to blame. Jesus has already done everything to save you and me. I accepted Him; will you accept Him today?

We will continue this conversation tomorrow!