I’m involved in several weddings this summer. One of them is my baby brother’s. It’s always a privilege to get to share that special time with a couple beginning a new life. Marriage has often been symbolic, in the Bible, with our relationship with Christ. In this passage, heaven is still rejoicing because Babylon has been destroyed. It rejoiced over the attributes of God; but now heaven turns it’s focus to the upcoming wedding feast.

It might be helpful to look at the Jewish wedding of that day.

1. The couple was engaged at an early age (around 12). In most cases it was more or less an arranged thing; however It was also a quite permanent thing. Any infidelity was considered adultery.

2. The groom came to the bride residence, at the appointed time and claimed his bride.

3. The groom took the bride back to his residence for the marriage feast that often lasted a full week.

The Bible speaks of the church as the Bride of Christ. Christ is the bridegroom and collectively, we are the bride. You could say we are engaged (permanently) to Christ and we wait eagerly for the day when He comes to claim us (1 Thes. 4:13-18).

There is nothing more beautiful than a bride. I remember in great detail when my wife entered the sanctuary at our wedding. I thought I would pass out. She was so beautiful! The bride is beautiful because she has no blemishes. Admittedly, that is usually because she has been buffed and fluffed and taped to where she can barely move. But, one day we will be presented as an unblemished bride to Christ because of His redemptive work -- truly unblemished.

The First Question – ARE YOU READY?

The sin in our lives makes us an unacceptable bride. Christ died for us as the substitute. We must put our faith and trust in Him. We must say YES to His proposal. Before we proceed any further – Have you said YES? It’s a HUGE thing – don’t treat it lightly.

The Second Question – ARE YOU REJOICING?

I see four different types of rejoicing in this passage.

1. Celebrational rejoicing

The word “agalliao” literally means “to leap.” I have some radical news for you – it’s okay to get excited about what God has done and is going to do for you. I know different people express it in different ways. But, imagine you received a check for $1 million dollars in your mailbox. Would you do a victory lap around the house? Would you do a victory lap around town? Wouldn’t you be “leaping.” In my church, I’d rather not have the chaos of people dancing and jumping; but, can’t we at least get excited about what God has done? Think about it:

- The Creator of the universe proposed:
- Eternal life
- Having your sins forgiven
- Having the ability to please God
- Attending the greatest party of all time that lasts for eternity

For those of you that think heaven is going to be a place where we fold our hands and sit quietly - think again – heaven is all about rejoicing and worshipping the King. It’s going to be a party!

I’m not suggesting you make a clown out of our God or turn your worship into a circus. What I am suggesting is that you allow yourself to genuinely get excited – read the Word – ask God to show you what there is to REJOICE about.

2. Positional rejoicing

The second word, translated “be glad,” is chairo. This word is very similar to charis, which means “grace.” The idea of this word is that we rest in grace and rejoice in quiet assurance. We can get excited and rejoice, but we can also have the peace to quietly rest in our rejoicing. We know that Jesus is not going to break the engagement. It is the most certain thing in our lives.

Part of the stress in a wedding is the uncertainty:
- Can we really do this?
- Are we ready?
- Will he/she back out?

Our assurance, in Christ, is that Jesus is ready, willing and able and He is committed to an eternal relationship with us. Because of who He is, we quietly rejoice in the grace that has been imparted to us.

Along with the leaping, there is the resting in assurance.

3. Worshipful rejoicing

We “give the glory to Him” because He is the on that made it all possible. A lot of you men were thanking your wife when you got married. I know I was. If any of you married “up” like I did, you wanted to thank your spouse. Jesus told us something very important in John 15:16:

“You did not choose me, but I chose you.”

I have been honored to attend some very special weddings. After a good wedding, the desire is to write a thank you note to the couple, instead of them sending you one. It is perfectly appropriate to write God a thank you not in advance. We praise Him for what He has done, but we also praise Him, in advance, for what He is going to do. In this passage, the wedding supper hasn’t even began, but heaven is praising Him for what is going to take place.

In heaven, we don’t write thank you notes to the guests – they are going to be blessed. We send our worshipful rejoicing to the Lord.

The last type of rejoicing relates to the statements concerning the bride being dressed in fine linen.

4. Experiential rejoicing

Fine linen is the “righteous acts” of the saints. But wait a minute – Isaiah 64:6 says, “And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” The key is that only what God does through us counts eternally. We may try harder to please Him and still not if He is not in control of our actions.

Honestly, Christians waste a lot of time criticizing the world. We could do more good if we would DO something to change the problem.

My friend, Tony, says there are basically three choices:

1. We can choose to be a church of identification. We can say that we belong to Christ and He is part of our makeup. But, don’t you know that there are cults that supposedly identify with Christ? It’s not enough just to say His name.

2. We can choose to be a church isolation. We can gather up in a holy huddle and create rules and secret handshakes. But Jesus told us to “go” --- not stay. OR

3. We can choose to be a church of impact. To be a church of impact, we have to DO something.

The big question someone once asked is, “If you were put on trial for being a believer, is there enough evidence to convict you?” It’s a humbling questions, isn’t it?” Have people been impacted by your good works (the Spirit of God working through you)?

The wedding feast is forever. Paul reminded believers “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). I have read the last chapter – I have news for you – we WIN! Why don’t you start rejoicing now?

Karl J. Forehand, 2001