The Bride Says Come
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
This week, suddenly this phrase popped into my head. It's taken from the very last chapter in the Bible where it says, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17) Perhaps this has been on my mind because our daughter is in the midst of planning her wedding, so I've been thinking a lot about brides. What John is referring to here is the ultimate marriage, that of the Bridegroom Christ, being married to the Church, His bride. This isn't the only place in the Bible where we find this analogy used. Near the end of His ministry, Jesus told a wedding story which carried a very sobering message. "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' `No,' they replied, `there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!' they said. `Open the door for us!' "But he replied, `I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." (Matthew 25:1-13) The lesson is simple - we need to be ready for the coming of the Lord. The dividing line between wise and foolish is preparedness. In this case, what does it mean to be unprepared? To be short of oil. For us it means, lamps without oil is religion without the Spirit. Certainly, it's not because the oil of the Spirit is not available. No, God has poured out His Spirit on the church, and continues to do so even today. However, in spite of the abundance of supply, apparently there will be those who will allow their oil to run out. Remember that when Paul exhorted, "Be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18), the meaning is, "be filled and keep on being filled." Oil is available, but evidently we have something to do with whether or not our own supply is kept up. The obvious question then is, how can we keep the supply oil replenished? The answers are simple and familiar. First, we must continue in prayer, but not just prayer for provision and protection. Have you noticed that almost the entire election campaign has revolved around these two issues? The economy and terrorism. We want leaders who will guarantee that four or five years from now we can look back and say we are now better off than we were five years ago; and we want leaders who will promise to protect us from the threat of radical Muslims. Too often our prayers to God are also limited to this worldly concerns, instead of related to eternity, which is the issue addressed in Jesus' story of the ten virgins. To be sure our lamps are filled, we need to pray another prayer - to be filled with the Spirit. Only when we are filled with the Spirit will we have the power to live a life free from sin and pleasing to God. Only when we are filled with the Spirit will we receive power and divine guidance to live our lives in such a way that others will receive the Gospel and also be prepared to spend eternity with the Lord. To use another analogy, when the farmer sows, cultivates, and reaps a great harvest, when this year his barns are filled to overflowing, he doesn't sit back and say, "Well, I guess I can take it easy for the next couple of seasons." No, he understands the Joseph principle - during the good years you store up the surplus, knowing that next year, or the next, may bring a very poor harvest. So even though this year he has plenty, the farmer continues to faithfully sow, cultivate and reap - year after year after year. Keeping up the oil supply is also the result of regular exposure to Holy Spirit inspired Scripture. We talk a lot about the importance of reading and studying the Bible, but I'm afraid it's mostly talk. In a hustling world there's little time to sit quietly and just read; there are so many other calls for time and attention; meditation, contemplation, and reflection have been sidelined by action packed days of work and nights of entertainment. On the other hand, because the Scriptures are Spirit inspired, reading them is a form of refueling - aligning our thoughts to eternal truth; aligning our emotions to provide for mature responses to the good and the bad events that barrage us all; informing decisions with Godly options and the strength to follow through; and equipping us with answers to the problems brought to us by the people in our lives who notice that there is a wisdom beyond our own human resources. The third spicket for oil is that of spiritual fellowship with other believers. Understand this is not mere socializing, as pleasant and helpful as that may be. What is needed is the kind of fellowship where we share with one another the good that God is doing, and the burdens we bear and in fellowship share with one another. If we repeatedly bring our oil lamps to these refueling stations, there will always be plenty of oil, and when the invitation is sounded, we will be well prepared to pass through the night and join the Lord in the everlasting day. Now, going back to the original phrase, "The Bride Says Come." Please note that this is not the Bride's invitation to the wedding feast - the Bridegroom does that. Rather, it's the Bride's response to the announcement that the Bridegroom is coming. The question for us is, is this our ready response? Are we eagerly awaiting the coming of the Lord? Can we sincerely join with the Apostle John, exiled on the Isle of Patmos who cries out "Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus"? (Revelation 22:20)  - - Return to Top of this Page
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