"Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him:for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His
wife hath made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7). This great event is the consummation of joy to Christ
as Man. It is not called the marriage of the bride, but the marriage of the Lord. It is His joy that
is especially in view, not ours. The marriage, of which no details are given, takes place in heaven
and on the eve of the Lord’s return in power, several years subsequent to the rapture (1 Thess.
4; John 14:3). The marriage is the disclosed secret of Ephesians 5:32. Not Israel, nor a remnant
thereof, but the Church of the New Testament is the bride.

We read in Ephesians 5:25-27 that Christ has loved the Church with a deathless and unchangeable
love, a love ever active and knowing no cessation till He presents her in glory to Himself. The
Church has weathered many a storm, has longed for her heavenly Bridegroom through cloud and
sunshine, has in conjunction with the Spirit on earth often cried to Him, the Bright and Morning
Star, saying, "Come" (Rev. 22:16,17). We who have had our place in the Father’s house,
according to John 14:3, are about to be displayed in the kingdom as the bride and wife of the
Lamb. What a moment of joy! His glory and joy exceedeth. More of the oil of gladness is poured
upon His head than upon ours (Heb. 1:9). Our place, our blessing, our gladness are wrapped up
in His. "The marriage of the Lamb is come." Then shall He who died "see of the travail of His
soul and … be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:11).

"His wife hath made herself ready." There are two sorts of fitness, and the Church is the subject
of both. First, God in the exercise of His sovereign grace makes one fit for heavenly glory, as we
read, "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12). Second, believers have to make them-selves ready before they
enter on their eternal glory:that is, the story of our lives on earth has to be gone over again in the
presence of Him who is Light. Our lives have to be reviewed at the judgment seat of Christ (2
Cor. 5:10). The light of the throne will be cast over and upon every moment of our lives,
discovering the hidden, and bringing out the true character of every act, word, and service. From
the judgment seat with its searching light we shall then pass into the loved presence of the Lamb
as His bride and wife for ever.

(From Exposition of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.)