January 25, 2004 Revelation 19:5-9
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!”
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous declarations of the saints.)
9 Then the angel said to me,
“Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
The Garment and the Groom of the Gospel
When God approach Adam in the Garden of Eden, Adam hid because he was naked. God then asked Adam, “Who told you that you were naked?” It’s a rather simple question, but it has a profound meaning. Before that time, Adam didn’t think about the fact that he was naked. How couldn’t he? This amazing fact reflects the way he was made - not to be focused on him self. Instead, he was focused on God - on Eve - and on what God gave him to do. But once he fell into sin by eating from that Tree, he immediately looked at himself in a sinful way, and realized that he needed some clothes.
Ever since that Fall, humans have been obsessed with the ways in which they are clothed. A woman can have fifty pairs of shoes and clothing in her closet, look her husband straight in the eye, and say to him, “I don’t have anything to wear.” Every morning countless Americans look at five to ten different shirts or pants, ponder it for several minutes, and then finally decide what to wear. We don’t want anything that makes us look fat or doesn’t compliment us in some way - and this is just to go to work or out to eat! All the while, God tells us in his Word - “don’t let your beauty come from outward adornment!” (1 Peter 3:3)
This obsession over clothing only becomes worse when a special event is coming - especially a wedding. In the highly televised wedding of Trista and Ryan several months ago, I think I remember hearing that the bride wore a wedding dress that was 75,000 dollars. Man, oh man - 75,000 dollars for a dress! For that price it better fly! Even in normal life, the groomsmen end up having to pay over a hundred bucks just for a one day rental tux. I don’t know if I’m the only one that feels this way, but all of the pomp and anxiety over what kind of clothing is worn at a wedding and all of the little details seem somewhat ridiculous to me. Of course, this is coming from a guy who decided to get married on a farm, next to a cow yard, so I may be a bit strange on this thing. But the idea behind a wedding - the purpose of two people getting married is to publicly declare that they are committing to one another for life. When it’s done in a church, it’s done to thank and praise God for bringing two people together. Do we really need thousand dollar dresses and hundred dollar tuxes? It seems to be majoring in the minors.
The reason I bring this up, is that throughout the Scriptures God compares the relationship between Christ and the Church as that of a groom - being Christ - and a bride - being the Church. In today’s text also, He refers to our being brought together as a wedding, and our dining together with Him in heaven as a feast. It’s kind of ironic, however, that when talking about our wedding, one of the main things God is concerned about is the CLOTHING of the bride. He wants to make sure that she is wearing the right clothing. Jesus once told a parable about a man who showed up at the wedding without the proper wedding clothes. Jesus said,
when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. (Matthew 22)
What does this show us? To Jesus - the clothing is ALL important! Without the right clothing, He won’t even marry us!
Why is the clothing that we wear so important to Jesus? It’s important because of WHO HE IS. This is a HOLY God we’re supposed to be spending the rest of our lives with. Do you think that HE would want to spend the rest of eternity with a rotten, stinky, and unfaithful bride? So He gives His bride fine linen, bright and clean. These words insinuate that the clothing we had on was dirty, dull, and old. Jesus didn’t want to marry a stinky, dirty, and rotten Bride. Like it or not, that’s the way the Bible describes His potential bride -
Psalm 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
Genesis 8:21 Every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.
When God looks at us in our sinful state, there’s no way He can just accept us the way we are. We’re too ugly - too sinful - too stinky. He has to give us some clothing. This is beautifully illustrated in a vision that Zechariah had of Joshua in chapter three of his book. It reads -
He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.” 5 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.
The rich garments were symbolic of the forgiveness of sins which Joshua had received. As Paul said to the Ephesians in chapter 5- Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. The wonderful gift of God is that through faith - given to us at baptism - God gives us the holiness that He requires through the blood and righteousness of Christ. It’s what we sing about in the song -
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness.
My beauty are, my glorious dress,
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.
John says it this way - Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” The beautiful picture that God is drawing for us is illustrated every time you put on clothing. You could have the nastiest scar on your stomach or your chest, but with clothing on, nobody would know it or see it. It would be covered. Our clothes help us to look better than we would look naked. That’s what this clothing does for us. This linen, bright and clean - covers all of us the same. No matter if we’re small or great, rich or poor, through faith in Christ we all become equal - because we all wear the SAME clothing from the same God. It’s all bright, it’s all clean, it covers us all - through faith. He describes the linen as - the righteous declarations (NIV says - acts) of the saints. That word for righteous declaration - dikaiwmata - is always used in Scriptures for a declaration of God - something he declares to be or happen - whether law or gospel. So in this case, the clothing He gives to His bride - the Christian Church - reflects His declaration to them - that they are not guilty. By his declaration they are pleasing in His sight - even their works as Christians.
This illustration has it’s root in the tradition of the day. In Biblical times, marriage feasts would often last a week - if not more. Generous hosts would give extra clothing out of courtesy to the guests, so they wouldn’t stink. It was a sign of honor and respect to accept that gift. But when it was rejected, it would have been a sign of arrogance - like - “I don’t need your gifts!” In the same way - what happened to the man in the parable who showed up with no wedding clothes? “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 22) God would not allow anyone to remain at his wedding feast who didn’t want to wear His clothing. It was a slap in His face - a rejection of His gift - to try and show up at this high class wedding with what the King considered to be rags.
Unfortunately, there are many people who are offended at such a wedding. It’s kind of like going to a high class restaurant that has a dress code. Some people are offended at this. To think, that God wouldn’t marry us unless we wore the clothing He wants us to wear! It hurts their pride - their self-worth - to think that He won’t accept them for who they are - that He has to change them in some way - make them more “acceptable” to Him. So they say to God, “you’re going to have to accept me for who I am - because I’m not going to change or feel bad about who I am. You made me this way, so you’re going to have to take me this way! I’m not going to apologize to you for who I am.”
There are others who say to God, “there’s nothing wrong with the clothing I’m wearing! As a matter of fact, I know plenty of people who are pretty impressed with who I am! They don’t think I stink at all! I’ve fed the poor. I’ve donated thousands of dollars to hospitals. I’ve dedicated my life to doing things that has helped people. I don’t stink, and I’m not going to wear your clothing! At best, I might put a tie on, but definitely not the whole outfit!” So they take the clothing that God gives them, and they throw it to the floor.
The more I got to thinking about this - think about how seemingly offensive this is to men also! He calls us His bride! He puts a dress on us and says to us, “now you look pretty! Now I want you to submit to me and be a good wife. Do what I tell you to do and listen to my every word.” This goes against every grain of a natural man’s fiber - to be called a bride - to wear a dress - to submit to anyone or anything. In order to put this dress on - it takes a great amount of humility. We have to admit that we’re weak, helpless, and in need of Jesus’ protection and strength. That’s so offensive to many men who take pride in their strength, that they never even think of doing such a thing.
In order to justify their actions, they then go on to attack their Groom. John says that we’re marrying a Lamb. Who would want to marry a lamb? A lamb is usually a weak creature that needs to be protected from wolves - that only follows. It kind of reminds me of a popular show on TV right now called, “Average Joe”, where they try to match a beauty queen with a bunch of average and less than average guys. When the beauty queen first met the men she’d date, she was really upset. But then, when she got to know these guys, she started to realize there was more to them than met the eye. That’s the way a Lamb would at first appear. So the Jews said, “we don’t want to marry a Lamb. It’s weak and helpless. We’d rather marry a bear, a lion, or some other powerful creature.” There are many who have looked at Jesus - the Lamb - and ridiculed Him for one reason or another. They said he was a drunkard, a law breaker, a liar, and a rebel against the government. They see Him cry and die and say, “what kind of a King is that? What kind of a leader is that?” The world also looks at the Lamb and says, “I don’t want to be married to HIM! He calls me a sinner! He says that He has to be in charge! He thinks He’s holy - that He walks on water!” So people say, “I don’t want to marry the Lamb anyway!”
But throughout Revelation and the Scriptures - we have a much different picture of this Lamb upon further examination. When Jesus approached John, the Baptist said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The Lamb was willing to be slaughtered - not because of His weakness - but as the substitute for the world’s sins. The Lamb is far from a weak Groom. Revelation 17 says, They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers. Revelation 5 says, I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne. Jesus rose from the dead - having died for the sins of the world - and providing it with a wonderful robe of righteousness to last into eternity. And this Lamb is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Revelation 6 describes how terrifying this will be for those who rejected Him as their Groom. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” When we see this picture of the Lamb, it shows us that our Groom isn’t the powerless and weak creature that He would seem to be.
Marriage is a difficult thing - because you know you’re making a lifelong commitment - a point in your life that everything will change - and your life will revolve around your spousev noy just yourself. Jesus wants you to be His bride - and He has a special garment for you to wear. The world thinks this clothing is ugly. It thinks that it is degrading of humans. It says that real men don’t wear these clothing. It also doesn’t like the idea of marrying a Lamb. It advises us against such a marriage - saying that this Lamb isn’t powerful enough, caring enough, or handsome enough. But we look at this marriage arrangement through the eyes of faith. This clothing doesn’t itch. It’s beautiful. It makes us look holy, pure, and righteous in God’s sight. It makes us ready to spend eternity with Christ. This Lamb is also precious in our sight. He sacrificed Himself for us. He conquered death, Satan, and hell. He rules over the world, and will come back to take us into His eternal heaven. Even though the Lamb is powerful, He isn’t in the last bit abusive. This is a wonderful marriage! What did God tell the people to do? “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!” And how do the people respond? Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! Won’t you do the same, knowing that Christ is your Groom? Amen.
