Title Blessed Waiting/Revelation 19:6-10
blessed waiting
☞Text:6 And I heard a voice like the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of loud thunder, saying, “Hallelujah, the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 We rejoice and rejoice with great joy. Glory be to you, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready, 8 and he has given him a bright and clean linen garment, which is the righteous deed of the saints.” 9 The angel said to me, Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding banquet.” And he said to me, “This is the true word of God.” 10 I fell at his feet to worship, and he said to me, “I am with you and with your brothers who have received the testimony of Jesus. You are a fellow servant. Be careful not to do this, but worship God. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
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We are preparing and waiting with excitement for the pastor that the Lord has established to come to our house and bless us, but what if the Lord himself comes? It is clear that we need to be better prepared and prepared to meet.
Now we are waiting for Jesus who promised not to come again. In particular, we have celebrated Advent, a season to check preparations by reminding us of the importance of waiting.
Advent is derived from the Latin word adventus, which means "come" or "arrive" and means to prepare while waiting for Jesus to come. The word Advent also means waiting for Jesus to come in the 'waiting period (待), coming (臨)'.
It is truly a blessed waiting for a Christian to wait for Jesus to come again. Because when Jesus comes again, we will live in the fully realized kingdom of God that we expect.
The reason this feast was set ahead of Christmas is to prepare by remembering and preparing for the day when Jesus will come again according to God's promise, just as Jesus came to this earth according to God's promise. Because God always keeps His promises. Some people doubt that the promise is over since 2000 years have passed, and there are some who do not prepare or neglect to prepare.
But the Lord is faithful and always keeps His promises.
In the Old Testament, the first mention of the promise of the Savior's coming to this earth is in Genesis 3:15. If we look at that time as 4000 B.C., 4000 years after that, the Savior Jesus came. When Jesus came, some received great grace and blessings, while others were devastated. Those who persecuted, tortured, and killed Jesus who had come were completely destroyed. Among those who received great grace and blessings, there was a man named Simeon and a man named Anna, the daughter of the prophetess Banuel.
Simeon was instructed by the Holy Spirit that I would not die until I saw the Lord's Christ in my life. "Lord, you are releasing your servant in peace, just as you said. My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before all peoples. A light to enlighten the Gentiles. The glory of your people Israel." (Luke 2:29) -32)
After 7 years of marriage, the prophet Anna lost her husband, and after living for 84 years, she did not leave the temple and fasted day and night, eagerly waiting for the Lord to come. Seeing this, he thanked God and prophesied that this baby would save mankind with rain.
How blessed are those who believed in God's promises, prepared, waited eagerly and met the Lord?
Now we are waiting for him to come again.
The Lord has clearly promised. “I am going to prepare a place for you; if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also” (John 14:2-3)
How will you come when Jesus comes again?
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 The Lord gives a shout, and the archangel himself descends from heaven with a cry and blows the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ rise first, and then we who are alive will rapture with them in the clouds. He said to receive the Lord in the air and be with the Lord always.
However, the text tells us what happens in the air and a wedding feast is held. The bridegroom is Jesus and the bride is us. It is said that the bride's clothes at that time will be bright and clean linen cloths made through the right deeds on this earth.
Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus is coming again. I believe that He will come and welcome us and lead us to the perfect kingdom of God. "Our Lord is coming back to the world. Hallelujah, Lord, He is coming again"
However, there is one thing we need to pay attention to in today's text. “His wife has prepared herself, so she has put on a bright and clean linen cloth, which is the righteous deed of the saints.” (7-8)
These words imply how the saints will prepare to meet the Lord on this earth.
Jesus, if you come now, are we prepared with bright and clean linen cloths?
Before Jesus first came to this earth, John the Baptist cried out. “Repent, bring forth fruit worthy of repentance.” “The ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” I was reminded that we cannot receive Jesus until we repent. You cannot welcome the groom until he has put on clean linen.
Dear saints, we are blessed people who are waiting for a very precious person.
Verse 9, "The angel said to me, Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "This is the true word of God."
Now let's go back. Whether I have prepared clothes to meet the Lord with good deeds according to Your word. A good deed is a life of obedience to the word of the Lord. It means to forsake my will, to forsake the worldly customs, and to live according to His commandments.
Park Je-sang of Silla went to Japan to rescue the king's younger brother, but he rescued the king's younger brother and sent him back to his home country. Eventually, he was caught by the Japanese king and executed. tales are handed down.
Even though there is no guarantee that he will return, we eagerly waited for our mother-in-law and turned to stone.
Let's trust everyone. Let's believe hard. Let's stand firm in the word. Let's be faithful to our mission. Let's pray hard. Let us be willing to use our time, material, and talents for our missionary mission.