The Word of God speaks to the Church as clearly being the Bride of Christ.
Revelation 19: 7-9 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. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.
Ephesians 5: 25-27 Husbands, love your wives (your bride), even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with the 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 scriptures are filled with many references to the church as being made up of the saints who are devoted and living for Jesus Christ, the One true God. As Jesus was presented as the Lamb for sacrifice without spot or wrinkle, the church also is to be found ready without spot or wrinkle for the time that Jesus, the Bridegroom, would come to take her home to dwell with Him forever.
BUT.. let us remember the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). Five were ready to meet the groom five were not ready. Five entered into the wedding feast and five did not enter. In fact, Jesus said He did not even know them (anymore).
This article is not to prove or disprove the soon return of the Lord. It is for those who already believe or know that He is coming soon and yet, it is also for those who either think or know that they belong to Christ and that they will go with Him regardless of whether or not they live in ready-mode. There is a unique thing that happens when one lives on the edge of his seat for an event to come about as compared with the attitude that the events are in the someday realm of everyday life.
Every woman can relate to what she does when she has a specific event soon to happen in her home. She goes into to ready-mode (some more than others) to spiff up every detail of organization and cleanliness so as to have the place of meeting or celebration just so and to please her guests in every way. The desire is to have everything possible in its proper place and for her home to shine at its best.
The return of the Lord for His Bride is the same; to have everything in it’s proper place (in the heart) before the Bridegroom returns. This getting ready and to be always prepared is what the Lord expects of His followers to be able to be worthy of escape (Luke 21: 36). To be worthy is to have an honor bestowed in the giving of this gift. Honor is to be received by a performance that readies the receiver to it.
What is the performance needed to escape?
Both sets of virgins fell asleep as they waited for the bridegroom. The huge difference between the two is the oil of readiness and desire to follow the Lord. The foolish virgins allowed their oil to be consumed by time (the delay of the Lord) and the flame of life. The wise virgins’ lamps were burning but their oil of readiness to follow had not been depleted as denoted by the extra flask of oil to keep the desire and readiness alive. The flame must be fed and there must be plenty of oil to get the job done.
Do not be late for this very important date!
Many people preparing for a wedding feast would certainly welcome any latecomers to the wedding event. But we are not talking about just any event here. We are really talking about the ultimate wedding feast of all time and eternity. God requires only one thing from us to be able to enter into the celebration. He wants us to want the coming of His Kingdom more than we want anything else in this life. If He finds that our eyes and affections are fixed on the things of this world then we are not worthy to escape. He will tell you as you strive to enter in with pleading and crying, “I do not know you.”
A word to the wise
Hunger and thirst for the Kingdom of God and the return of the Lord. Do not be or do as Lot’s wife when she turned to look back towards what she was leaving behind. The Word of God says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”(1Corinthians 2:9). Keep your eyes and heart focused on being only with the Lord and give your heart to the imagining of the next life with Christ in Heaven. This is so crucial and you do not want to miss it for the World, pun intended. It will require a vigilance that certainly gives you a ticket out of here before the Great Tribulation. Only a devoted bride will leave here when the Lord comes for her.
Warrior Boots
Yes, the Bride of Christ is also called to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6: 10-18). She is a warrior in the trenches of the warfare of prayer. She is disposed to doing the works of God as presented to her in her daily life. The men and women of God are to be of sound mind or self control as well as devoted to the thoughts of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Keeping your boots laced up with a devotion to the Lord and His Kingdom will keep you ready for that Great Day as well as the trials that are soon to come to our Nation and the World. God is allowing a great shaking to come upon the World and our Nation to bring His people back to Him with a renewed fervor and devotion that will save them. It will also bring the hearts of many who do not know Him to their knees to seek Him for safety and salvation. Many do not even realize that they don’t really know Him.
Prepare for the worst and the best
Prepare your hearts for the worst that this world has ever seen. Prepare for the best that this world has ever seen in the Rapture of the Bride of Jesus Christ. If anyone is left behind whether by default or being chosen by the Lord to do so, be prepared for the greatest outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit that the World has ever seen. All good things for God’s people depends upon the devotion and diligence that has been stated here. Each and every day things are speeding up even more. Be on the side of being the Bride of Christ. Walk in the devotion of the Lord and His Kingdom. Be consumed with it. Let all things of this world fall away by comparison. Dwell on the next life and what God has planned for you to do now and in the future. It will be glorious here and in the world to come. Don’t miss the free gift of ESCAPE (Luke 21:36) from the Great Tribulation which will begin when the Bride of Christ is raptured out of here. There will be a great harvesting of souls during the great outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit. If you keep your boots laced up and your devotion keen by praying to be made worthy of escape, it will be the most glorious event in all of the history of the World!