THE BRIDE OF CHRIST                      

          Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready   Revelation 19:7

          In recent weeks, we have had two church weddings.  As the wedding days approached for these couples, the brides prepared themselves to be presented to their grooms.  I think it is safe to say that one of their greatest desires was for their groom to see them as even more beautiful and desirable than ever before; to be proud that they had chosen them for their mate for the rest of their lives.  They each walked the isle with a radiant glow.   We, as a church, sat at witnesses to these two unions.  I would say if cameras panned the crowd, they would have captured the joyful smiles of those of us who were so happy for them.  We had loved these four people as individuals, and we had prayed for them to find one they could share their lives with and serve the Lord with.  Now we had the privilege of seeing each groom’s reaction as he was presented with the bride who had prepared herself for him.  

          God’s word tells us that we, the church, are the Bride of Christ.    We are to prepare ourselves to be presented to our Groom.   Let’s use our two brides above to help us discover what that might look like.

          First, each bride accepted the invitation, or the proposal, of the groom.  Likewise, we must accept Jesus as He extends the same invitation to each one of us to accept Him as our Lord and Savior, our Bridegroom.  He has already made all of the necessary arrangements.  He died to pay our sin debt, and then He ascended back to heaven to prepare a place for us to be with Him forever.  It is up to us whether or not we will accept His proposal.

          Second, each bride spent time getting to know her groom.  They spent time daily talking, asking questions, sharing meals, and doing life together.  We need to spend time with the Lord daily.  We need to spend time talking to Him in prayer, learning about Him through His word, and walking with Him through our daily lives.

          Third, each bride prepared herself to meet her groom.  Neither of them walked down the isle in dirty clothes.  Quite the opposite!  Each bride made sure her wedding garment was spotless and beautiful.  Likewise, we need to prepare to be as spotless as possible when our Groom comes for us.  We do this by daily (and sometimes more than once daily for me) repenting of our sins and asking for the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Without the help of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be all that God asks us to be.  With the Holy Spirit’s leadership and guidance, we can live a life pleasing to the Lord as we await His return. (I realize there needs to be more said on the Holy Spirit, but that is for another time.)

          Fourth, each bride was radiant as she walked down the isle to be presented to her groom.  Her hair and makeup was given special attention, but the most important thing I noticed about these brides was their radiant glow.  Their faces told a story – a story of love and devotion to their groom.  Shouldn’t our faces tell the same story?  When others look at us, they should see something different.  I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Smile, it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to.”  In that case, how much more would a radiant glow cause a watching world to wonder?  They likely would not only wonder, but would question. 

          That brings me to my fifth and final point.  We need to be like the brides we have used as the examples today.  You would not have to be around these brides very long before they started talking about their grooms.  They would find a way to bring them into a conversation and to brag on them.  You could see the love reflected in their faces.  When our lives reflect the love of Christ and our love for Christ, people will ask us about Him.  And when they do, we need to be as a gushing bride and tell them all about our wonderful Savior and future Groom.

          One day the Bridegroom will come for His Bride.  Will you be ready to meet Him?