Watching And Waiting
Memory Verse: John 14:1-3
Life Application: We must be ready for our Bridegroom when He returns.
Revelation 22:17 NKJV “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
Is your heart crying out, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!”? Are you desperate for your bridegroom? Does your heart beat rapidly in anticipation of His return? Do you long to smell His fragrance and feel His presence? Are you watching and waiting for the bridegroom’s return?
Revelation 21:2 NKJV “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Revelation 21:9 NKJV “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ ”
The church is the bride of Christ. Just as a woman that is waiting for her wedding has responsibilities and obligations, we too, as the bride of Christ have responsibilities and obligations. During Biblical times a Jewish wedding (marriage) consisted of several steps. They were the arrangement, the preparations, the coming of the groom, and the marriage supper celebration.
The Arrangement
The first step in the wedding was the arrangement. The father of the groom arranged the match. The family sometimes sent a servant or a matchmaker to find a wife for the groom. This step could even occur when the bride and groom were children, and often they would not have even meet each other until the wedding day. At this time they completed the legal part of the marriage and a dowry was paid. The bride was a legal part of the groom’s family.
Believers are the bride of Christ. God the Father, the father of the groom, made the arrangement and then paid the price for the bride (the dowry). The dowry was the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. By giving up His Son the price was paid and the arrangement was sealed with blood. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior you have committed your life to Him. You are His legal bride.
After accepting the arrangement, the bride was given gifts. We too, are given gifts after accepting the arrangement (salvation) – the gifts of the Spirit. The Bible calls the church, those who trust in Jesus for salvation / eternal life, the bride of Christ.
We have not seen our groom yet, we are waiting for Him to come. As the bride of Christ we have legal rights as part of God’s family. In the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis we read about Abraham sending his servant, Eliezer, to obtain a bride for his son, Isaac.
Genesis 24:4 NKJV “but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
Eliezer chose Rebekah to be Isaac’s bride. An agreement was reached with her father and her brother, and Eliezer paid the dowry. God the Father sent a match maker, the Holy Spirit, to bring us into the family of God.
Genesis 24:53 NKJV “Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.”
The Preparations
The second step of the wedding was the time of the preparations. Both the bride and the groom had preparations to take care of. During this time the bride was prepared to be a suitable wife for her husband. It was also the period of time in which she was observed for her purity. The bride waited and prepared herself for the coming of the groom. The groom was responsible to provide a suitable home for the bride. During the preparation period he prepared a home for his bride.
John 14:1-3 NKJV “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
When Jesus ascended to heaven forty days after His resurrection He went to prepare a place for us, His bride (the church/ the bride of Christ). As the bride of Christ we should be in the process of being perfected for the groom. We should be undergoing a process of sanctification (to be set apart).
Hebrews 10:14 NKJV “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
Sanctification is the process by which God enables Christians to separate themselves day by day from sin. It is also dedicating yourself to seeking God. We are to set ourselves apart from sin for the Lord’s use.
2 Timothy 2:20-21 NKJV “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work.”
Cleansed By The Word
There should be a process by which believers are being made more and more like Christ- even if it is only gradual.
2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV “But we all, with a veiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
We should also be in the process of being cleansed by the washing of the Word. We should conform more and more to what the Word of God teaches.
John 17:17-19 NKJV “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”
It is God’s desire that we be sanctified.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 NKJV “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor”
Our number one desire should be to please Jesus. As His bride we are to make ourselves ready for His return. He is coming back for a bride that is watching and waiting (and preparing) for His return.
The Bridegrooms Returns For His Bride
Luke 12:40 NKJV “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
We should live each day with the attitude of, “Today might be the day.” We are to watch and wait.
The third step of the wedding was when the bridegroom took the bride to his house. On the wedding day the groom would leave his home and go to the bride’s home to get her. As the groom returned to his own home with his bride a bridal procession followed. The groom took his bride into his house and completed the marriage. The Jewish wedding ceremony was conducted in the home of the groom with only a few witnesses.
One day Jesus will come and take His bride home (the rapture). Only those who have properly prepared themselves will be taken. Sin interferes with a person being properly prepared.
Matthew 25:1-13 NKJV “The the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ The all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I saw to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you do not know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
You must be ready for Jesus’ return yourself. No one else can make the preparations for you. In Biblical times if a groom arrived to get his bride and she was not ready or if he found her impure the wedding was off. Sometimes it cost her life. If Jesus arrives and finds us not ready or finds impurities (sin) in us, we will not be the bride of Christ.
The Marriage Supper Celebration
The fourth step of the wedding was the marriage supper celebration (wedding feast). Many people were invited to the marriage supper. The marriage supper lasted for seven days.
Revelation 19:7-9 NKJV “ ‘Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the rig hteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” And he said to me, ‘These are the true saying of God.’ ”
If we have accepted the arrangement made by God (salvation),we must take very serious our responsibilities and commitments. We must be so desperate for our bridegroom that we will do what ever it takes to be ready for His return. No one knows the exact time of His return, so we must be ready at all times. We must watch and wait for our Bridegroom comes like a thief in the night.
Revelation 16:15 NKJV “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
Review
1. The Bible refers to the church as what?
2. We have responsibilities and obligations to _____________, our bridegroom.
3. During Biblical times what were the steps to a Jewish wedding / marriage?
4. Who arranged for a marriage during Biblical times?
5. The family sometimes sent a servant or a __________________ to find a wife for the groom.
6. When the legal part of the marriage was complete and the dowry was paid, the bride was a ___________ part of the groom’s family.
7. Believers are the _____________ of _______________.
8. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior you have ____________________your life to Him.
9. We are given gifts after accepting the arrangement (salvation) – the gifts of the ____________
10. . As the bride of Christ we have ___________rights as part of God’s family.
11. God the Father sent a match maker, the ___________ _____________, to bring us into the family of God.
12. The second step of the wedding was the time of the ________________________.
13. Both, the bride and the ______________, had preparations to take care of.
14. During this time the bride was prepared to be a __________________ ___________for her husband.
15. It was also the period of time in which the bride was observed for her _______________.
16. The groom was responsible to provide a suitable ____________ for the bride.
17. When Jesus ascended to heaven, forty days after His resurrection, He went to ________________ a place for us, His bride (the church/ the bride of Christ).
18. As the bride of Christ we should be undergoing a ________________ _____ _____________________ (to be set apart).
19. What is sanctification?
20. We are to set ourselves apart from sin for the ______________ use.
21. According to II Corinthians 3:18, into who’s image should we be transformed into?
22. We should conform more and more to what the ________ ____ ______ teaches.
23. Our number one desire should be to please ___________.
24. Jesus is coming back for a bride that is watching, waiting and ____________________ for His return.
25. Only those who have properly prepared themselves will be taken when ___________ returns.
26. Sin _____________________ with a person being properly prepared.
27. If we have accepted salvation we must take very serious our _____________________________ and commitments.
28. Who knows when Jesus will return?
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