THE MARRIAGE SUPPER AS ETERNITY BEGINS
By R. C. P.
The Great Climax at Last Is Reached—Every Hope Is Realized as the King of Kings Begins to Reign—Touching Scene as the Two Adams Meet—The Bridal Party Enters the Bliss That Knows No End AFTER His coronation, Christ's first thought is for a waiting church for whom He went to prepare mansions. John 14: 1-3. For centuries He has heard them pray: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." As the Bridegroom has seemed to tarry, they have clung to the loving message left for their encouragement: "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." Luke 12: 35-37. THE CHURCH LOOKS FORWARD TO SUCH THINGS
Creation groans, awaiting redemption. The bride, the heavenly Jerusalem, longs for the presence of the Bridegroom. Rev. 21: 9, 10. "The flock longs to see that great Shepherd of the sheep. The exile sighs to be at home, and the pilgrim pants to gain his rest. The soldier prays for the hour of final victory, when the Captain of his salvation shall appear, wearing His many crowns. The sick and the dying long for the presence of the great Physician, who healeth all our diseases; and those who sleep in the dust of the earth still are resting in hope, and waiting all the days of their appointed time until their change shall come. And wearied, and burdened, and tearful, and heart-sick humanity throughout the world, pants, and longs, and sighs, and prays for that rest which God alone can give. "Such are the things to which the church are looking forward,—the coming of the Lord, the reign of peace upon the earth, the beginning of eternal and universal blessing throughout the world, the glad and holy day when God shall be all in all, the time of rest, of quietude, of joyful, endless peacefulness, when the Prince of peace shall reign." THE GLORIFIED KING DESCENDS
When the glorified Lord descends, all the angelic throng will attend their triumphant King. "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare His righteousness: for God is judge Himself." Ps. 50: 3-6. The men who had confederated to establish His kingdom by force, will learn in dismay that their confederacy was false, and their king a fraud. In terror they will fly from the presence of Him whom they had professed to adore. "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6: 14-17. AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER
"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Dan. 2: 35. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God almighty, which are, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev. 11: 15-19. INVITED TO THE MARRIAGE SUPPER
The Judgment which decides who are to be robed in the righteousness of Christ, is according to the law of the kingdom as proclaimed from Sinai and placed in the sacred ark of the covenant. When the Judgment is past, those not robed in righteousness according to the law in the ark of the covenant, are cast into outer darkness. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." Matt. 22: 2-14. When the Judgment is past, the waiting church, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, robed in wedding garments for the marriage supper, raises the exultant cry: "He474will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." "Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in." Isa. 25: 8, 9; 26: 2. The Lord responds: "Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Verse 19. "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isa. 35: 5, 6, 10. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory." Ps. 24: 3-5, 7-10. THE OMNIPOTENT ONE REIGNETH
As the bridal party enters the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, "a voice" comes "out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God." Rev. 19: 5-9. It will be a touching scene when Christ, the second Adam, to whom the first dominion is restored, shall meet the first Adam, by whom the dominion was lost, and conduct him back to Paradise restored. There he shall look upon the same garden in which he first walked in sinless purity, and pluck the fruit from the same vines that his hands had trained, and eat the fruit of the tree of life, from which he was shut away by a flaming sword in cherubim hands. He may then eat and live forever. He casts his crown at the feet of his Redeemer, and leads in redemption's song; and as of old, the morning stars sing together, and all the sons of God shout for joy. "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. 5: 13. Thus the one lost sheep is found and returned to the fold amid great rejoicing. The kingdom as originally established, invaded for a time, is restored from invasion. The festive board is spread, the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place. The reign of sin ended, the kingdom, restored from invasion, is established forever. THE FESTIVITIES OF ETERNITY BEGIN
At the marriage feast, Christ gathers the redeemed of earth around the festal board, while as their servant He presides. He drinks anew with them the cup of promise in His Father's kingdom. A thousand years of marriage festivities roll by as a passing earthly day, while heaven lavishes upon earth's weary pilgrims its best in royal welcome into the joys of their Lord and King. "From desert waste, from cities full,
From dungeons dark, they've come;
And now to claim the mansions fair,
They've found their long-sought home." Touring from world to world, the bridal party will join all worlds in heralding the praises of their newly crowned King. Out of seeming defeat there has come eternal victory. Out of loss there has come gain. The love of Christ has been manifested in redemption as it could not be revealed in creation. Dying that the lost might live, He has bound the universe in one common bond of brotherhood of love, as inseparable as the Godhead itself. The long, dark, dreary night of earth's gloom, during its invasion by sin, has caused it to become more glorious, through the tears and agonies of Gethsemane, and the incomparable sacrifice of Calvary, which have consecrated it as the central dominion of honor and glory in the universal kingdom of God throughout eternity. Christ, having been faithful in restoring that dominion which was lost, will reign King of kings and Lord of lords, with His name exalted above every name in the universe of God. Bedecked in jewels of surpassing splendor, in the fulness of glory of the Ancient of days, the heavenly Jerusalem, descending, becomes the metropolis of the earthly dominion. Rev. 21: 2, 10, 11. Then the bodies of redeemed saints, fashioned like Christ's glorious body, adorn the palaces of the New Jerusalem, as ornaments adorn a bride appareled for her husband. This mortal has put on immortality. This corruptible has put on incorruption. Death has been swallowed up in victory. 1 Cor. 15: 53, 54. The kingship lost in Adam has been restored in Christ.