The Wedding Feast

Then the angel said to me, Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb! And he added, These are the true words of God. At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.

Rev 19:9-10

It is a great honor to be invited to this wedding feast. That invitation is the gospel which goes out to all men and women everywhere, in every age, inviting them to the wedding feast of the Lamb. This links with the parable told by our Lord in Matthew 22. A great king made a wedding banquet for his son. He sent invitations out to certain ones, but they refused to come. Then the king sent his messengers out into all the highways and byways, appealing to anyone, good or bad, to come to the wedding feast. When many came, he gave them wedding garments that they might be suitably clothed for the feast. This is clearly a picture of the great event we have before us here.

The Spirit of God has been calling men and women throughout the Christian centuries, and before that in Old Testament times, inviting them to come and join this wonderful scene of the wedding supper of the Lamb. What a privilege it will be to see the great Bridegroom himself, and to be a part of his beloved bride, to share in the intimacy of fellowship with the Lord Jesus! Each individual member of that bride will be able to feel that the Lord himself is their peculiar possession. I often think of the words of Samuel Rutherford, that great Scottish saint who wrote in the 17th century,

     The Bride eyes not her garments,
     But her dear Bridegroom's face.
     And I will not gaze at glory,
     But on my King of Grace.
     Not at the crown he giveth,
     But on his pierced hands,
     The Lamb is all the glory
     Of Emmanuel's land.

It is almost impossible to adequately describe the beauty of this scene and to make it real to our hearts. What a wonderful, blessed thing it is to be invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb! So incredible is it that the angel adds, These are the true words of God. John is so moved by this that he falls down to worship the angel and is immediately rebuked. The angel says, No, do not do that. I am merely another servant of the King. I am like you, one of those who bear the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! And how do you do that? The very spirit of prophecy itself tells us how, for the angel adds, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. All prophecy points only to Jesus. It is not designed to give us a calendar of the last days, though some read it like that. No, the spirit of prophecy is to bear witness to Jesus. He is the central figure of all Scripture. It is not events that we are to focus on, but the One who brings them to pass, the Lord Jesus himself. Thus we are instructed here by the angel to focus our attention upon him.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have invited me to this wedding feast, to be part of your bride on that day. Amen.