Message Six

The Marriage of the Lamb
and the Wedding Feast

Scripture Reading: Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 19:7-9;
Matt. 22:1-2, 11-14; Psa. 45:13-14

1. The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy:
   1. God’s economy in the New Testament is to obtain for Christ a bride, the church, through His judicial redemption and by His organic salvation in His divine life—Gen. 2:22; Rom. 5:10:
      1. In the past, Christ as the Redeemer gave Himself up for the church for redemption and the impartation of life—Eph. 5:25; John 19:34.
      2. In the present, Christ as the life-giving Spirit is sanctifying the church by the washing of the water in the word—Eph. 5:26.
      3. In the future, Christ as the Bridegroom will present the church to Himself as His counterpart for His satisfaction—v. 27; S. S. 8:13-14.
   2. The marriage of the Lamb and the reign of God, the kingdom of God, will take place after the destruction of Babylon the Great, the great harlot—Rev. 19:1-4:
      1. This is the reason the great multitude of the saved rejoice and praise with hallelujahs (vv. 1, 3, 6), and the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures join them in praising God (v. 4).
      2. The wedding will bring in the reign of the Lord, the kingdom, because all the guests invited to the wedding will be both the corporate bride and the co-kings of the Bridegroom—20:6.
   3. The marriage of the Lamb will come after the rapture of the majority of the believers—1 Thes. 4:15-17.
   4. The marriage of the Lamb will also follow the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ—2 Cor. 5:10:
      1. If we are rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ, we will participate in the wedding feast; the guests will be the corporate bride.
      2. If we are not rewarded but are disapproved of by the Lord, we will not perish; yet we will suffer a loss like that described in 1 Corinthians 3:15.
      3. According to Matthew 25:1-13, the five prudent virgins will be admitted to the wedding feast, and the five foolish ones will be rejected.
      4. After the judgment seat of Christ, which will be set up in the air, and after the wedding, Christ will descend with His chosen ones as His army to fight against Antichrist in the war at Armageddon—Rev. 19:11-21.
   5. The wife, the bride of Christ, in Revelation 19:7-9 consists only of the overcoming believers during the millennium, whereas the bride, the wife, in 21:2 is composed of all the saved saints after the millennium for eternity:
      1. The readiness of the corporate bride depends upon the maturity in life of the overcomers— Rev. 19:7; Heb. 6:1; Phil. 3:12-15; Eph. 4:13.
      2. We need to adorn and consummate the New Jerusalem as the bride of Christ with God the Father as the gold, God the Son as the pearl, and God the Spirit as the precious stones— Rev. 21:2, 19a; 1 Cor. 3:12; S. S. 1:10-11.
2. Christ lived out of the saints as their subjective righteousness becomes their wedding garment— Rev. 19:8:
   1. The righteousness we received for our salvation is objective and enables us to meet the requirement of the righteous God (1 Cor. 1:30), whereas the righteousnesses of the overcoming saints are subjective (Phil. 3:9) and enable them to meet the requirement of the overcoming Christ.
   2. The second garment, the wedding garment referred to in Matthew 22:11-13, is the Christ whom we live out and who is expressed through us in our daily living as our surpassing righteousness—5:20; Rev. 3:4-5, 18.
   3. The wedding garment is typified by the raiment of embroidery in Psalm 45:
      1. At the time of our salvation, we received a golden garment that enabled us to be in the presence of God—v. 13.
      2. Only those who have the second garment produced by the embroidering work of the Holy Spirit will be chosen and qualified to attend the wedding feast of the Lamb—v. 14; Matt. 22:14.
3. The marriage dinner of the Lamb is the wedding feast, the kingdom of one thousand years, which is one day in the eyes of God, as a reward to the overcoming believers—Rev. 19:9; Matt. 22:2, 11-14; 2 Pet. 3:8:
   1. To be called to the marriage dinner of Christ, which will usher the overcoming believers into the enjoyment of the millennium, is to be blessed— Rev. 19:9.
   2. Eating and drinking Christ in order that we may feast on Christ is the central thought in God’s economy—1 Cor. 5:7-8:
      1. The beginning of the Christian life is a feast:
         1. The Lord Jesus likens the gospel of God’s full salvation to a great dinner—Luke 14:16-23.
         2. The penitent sinner is not only clothed with Christ the Son as the God-satisfying righteousness to judicially redeem him but is also brought to the Father’s house to feast on the rich Christ to organically save him—15:22-23; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 3:8.
      2. The continuation of the Christian life is a feast:
         1. The Christian life continues with the Lord’s table until He comes—1 Cor. 11:26.
         2. The divine concept is that to remember the Lord is simply to eat and drink Him, to enjoy Him—vv. 24-26.
         3. The Lord’s table is a weekly proclamation, a declaration to the whole universe, that we daily enjoy Christ as our food and drink.
         4. Even while we are fighting on the battlefield, the Lord prepares a table for us in the presence of our adversaries for us to feast on Him—Psa. 23:5.
      3. The consummation of the Christian life is a feast:
         1. The overcoming believers will feast on a special portion of the unsearchably rich Christ at the marriage dinner of the Lamb for one thousand years—Rev. 19:9; Matt. 26:29; Luke 22:30; 13:29.
         2. This is a feast that will last for eternity—Rev. 22:1-2.
         3.