"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as
the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia:for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 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. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean
and white:for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are
the true sayings of God" (Rev. 19:6-9).

There are two main subjects in this passage:God manifestly assuming His kingly power, and the
Lamb taking to Himself His bride_the Church of the New Testament. The moment has not yet
arrived for the Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered as none ever did, to mount His throne. But all is
getting ready for that grand event. O blessed moment for which creation groans and waits, for
which the Church hopes and prays, and for which the wearied tribes of Israel long with eager
expectation! The Nazarene is God’s appointed King. But two events must necessarily take place
before the throne of the world is occupied by Christ:Babylon must be judged on earth, and the
marriage of the Lamb must be celebrated in heaven. The first has been described in Rev. 18; we
are now about to consider the second.

The call of the throne (given in v. 5) meets with a magnificent and immediate response. The praise
is loud, deep, and full, and characterized by strength and grandeur. The voice heard by the Seer
(i.e., the apostle John) is likened to the sound of "many waters" and "mighty thunderings," that
is, majesty and power combined. Having had the summons from the throne, the mighty choir takes
up the strain in a voice of majesty and power_not "voices," for the mind of heaven is one. We
now hear what fell upon the enraptured soul of the Seer; the last "Hallelujah" is sounded. It is not
now Christ the object of praise, but God on the throne in holy and righteous action. The titles
under which He is worshiped gather up all the various manifestations of God to His people of old.
Separately they set forth distinctive relations and glories; when combined they form a tower of
strength; when seen as united in Him the grandeur of the whole is beyond all telling.

The kingdom has now come, and kingly power is assumed. This is the first great subject of praise
by the heavenly host. What a relief to creation, burdened with six thousand years of sin and
sorrow! But before the second theme is announced, calling for the adoration of the redeemed, we
read, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him."

In the revelation of God on His throne as Jehovah and the Almighty the whole being is bowed
before Him. The soul is awed, not in fear, but in profoundest depth, and surely that is right and
proper as we contemplate Him in the greatness of His Being.

But in the subject now to be introduced the affections are deeply stirred and the heart moved to
its very center. Hence the prefatory call to rejoice and give God glory, for the "marriage of the
Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready."

This great and grand event is the consummation of joy to Christ as man. It is not said the marriage

of the bride, but the marriage of the Lamb. It is His joy that is specially 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 at least 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. Israel in her land was the wife of Jehovah (Jer. 3:14-20; Isa. 54:1),
but the wife was divorced because of her iniquity. Israel, however, is to be reinstated in Jehovah’s
favor. But a divorced wife can never again be a virgin, and it is not a divorced wife but a virgin
whom the Lord marries (Lev. 21:13,14; 2 Cor. 11:2). Israel, moreover, has her place and
blessing on the earth; the marriage of the Lamb is in heaven, the Church’s proper home. The
exclusively heavenly character of the scene forbids the application of it to Israel.

Of whom is the bride composed? We answer unhesitatingly, all saints embraced between Pentecost
(Acts 2) and the translation (1 Thess. 4:17). These events respectively mark the commencement
and the termination of the Church’s sojourn on earth. The Church, then, is the bride. The Church
is imperishable because founded on the glory and dignity of Christ as Son of God (Matt. 16:18).
His body, too, is the nearest of all to Him (Eph 1:23), as the bride is the dearest object to His
heart and eye. He 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 (Eph. 5:25-27). 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 ofttimes cried to Hun, the Bright and Morning
Star, "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. Then
shall He who died see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.

"His wife has 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 themselves ready before they
enter on their eternal glory. That is, the story of 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 act, word, and service. The enigmas of life will be
explained, unsolved problems cleared up, and all mistakes and misunderstandings rectified. This,
and more, is the application of the judgment seat of Christ to the heavenly saints, and precedes
the marriage. "His wife has made herself ready." The light of the throne has done its blessed
work, bringing out into bold relief the whole story of her history on earth. What would it be if in
glory we remembered one incident of a painful kind which had not been set right? The thought
would be intolerable. But all will come out at the judgment seat as a matter between each saint and
God. It will not be a public exposure before others. Nor must this be understood as signifying
judicial judgment. All that has been settled on the Cross. We appear before the judgment seat of
Christ crowned and glorified, "raised in glory" (1 Cor. 15:43), to have the light of the throne cast
upon the past. What a mercy that it is so. We shall then pass from the judgment seat with its
searching light into the loved presence of the Lamb as His bride and wife for ever.

"And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white:for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints." The harlot (Rev. 17) was gorgeously arrayed, but her pomp,
splendor, and ornaments were claimed as a matter of right. With the bride it is different; she is
arrayed as a matter of grace. The fine linen, pure and lustrous, of the bride is her righteousness,
or righteous acts, done on earth. But she claims no merit, for these righteous acts were wrought
by the power of the Holy Spirit in her. Her garments bespeak her practical character. She can now
enter on the enjoyment of eternal companionship and union of the closest nature (that of wife) with
her husband, the Lamb. Her deeds on earth have been appraised at their true value in heaven.

"Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." The bride and
guests are clearly distinguished. The former is, of course, in more immediate relation to the
Lamb. The bride is wed; the guests sup. Those called to the supper are "blessed." This is not said
of the bride. Her blessing, which is that of the highest order and character, is expressed in the
simple words, bride and wife. What unspeakable joy is conveyed in these terms! But the guests
are pronounced blessed. Who are they? We answer, the friends of the Bridegroom. But as the
friends of the Bridegroom they enjoy a higher and dearer character of blessedness than they would
if merely the friends of the bride. John the Baptist expressly tells us that he is a friend of the
Bridegroom (John 3:29). The Baptist was martyred before the Church was formed, hence he
comes in as perhaps the most honored of the guests at the marriage supper. Old Testament saints
constitute the large company of called guests, each one being a friend of the Bridegroom, and
rejoicing in His presence and voice. The apocalyptic martyrs (Rev. 20:4) are not raised till after
the marriage, hence cannot be numbered among the guests. Angels may be spectators of the scene,
but guests they cannot be. Angels are never spoken of in the way that these are. It is called a
supper, perhaps in contrast to the subsequent supper of judgment (Rev. 19:17). The former is in
connection with the Lamb and His joy; the latter is in relation to God and the judgment He
executes on the ungodly.

These divine communications, whether spoken by an angel or seen in vision by John, have
attached to them all the weight and authority of God Himself. "These are the true sayings of God."
The basis of our faith is not conjecture, but the certainty that God has spoken. Absolute certainty
is of prime importance in these days when the dogmatism of belief in a divine revelation is
considered to savor of a narrow and illiberal spirit. In old times God spake in the prophets; in
New Testament times God has spoken in His Son (Heb. 1:1,2). How blessed, therefore, to have
the confirmation of these grand and heart-gladdening truths from God Himself!

(From Exposition of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.)