6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 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; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
- Who is the Bride in this passage?
- How has the Bride made herself ready?
- How was she granted/given the ability to clothe herself?
- What is the purpose for righteous deeds?
- How often do you recognize yourself as the church?
- How often do you appreciate the gift of doing righteous deeds?
Funny how God works. This was part of the text for the sermon yesterday. As it was being read, verse 8 jumped out. We know we cannot save ourselves. We know that Jesus' blood is what washes us. We know we are not worthy on our own. So why bother with doing good? It indicates here that we have been granted (NIV/NASB given) the right to clothe ourselves in righteous deeds. Our righteous deeds are part of God's grace. If you will, God has given his Son's future bride a line of credit so that she can have an appropriate wedding gown. The image in the passage shows the gown to be white and dazzling. Are you content with the blue jeans and flannel shirt you have on now? Ouch! I need to go change clothes.
1 comment:
This reminds me of a couple notes I have scribbled in my Bible:
Phil. 2:12 ... as you have always obeyed... continue to work out your salvation...for it is God who works in you...
Philippians is written to saved Christians. Salvation calls for obedience. We should use salvation the way it was intended. I don't know who said it, but the quote I have written in my margin is "God cleaned us up to go do something." Maybe you said that to me sometime, Harold!
Matt 22:1-14 Parable about the wedding feast -- king found a guest not in wedding clothes and threw him out. Seems harsh, but the note I have written in margin (again, don't know original source) says that masters of households kept extra garments for guests. This man refused to change his clothes. Lesson for me -- I can come in the way I am, but I can't stay that way!
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