我們也自己預備好了─啟示錄
現在我們來到啟示錄最令人鼓舞的一段經文，始於啟示錄十九章6-8節：
我聽見好像群眾的聲音，眾水的聲音，大雷的聲音，說：哈利路亞！因為主─我們的神、全能者作王了。
我們要歡喜快樂，將榮耀歸給祂。因為，羔羊婚娶的時候到了；新婦也自己預備好了，
就蒙恩得穿光明潔白的細麻衣。（這細麻衣就是聖徒所行的義。）
首先，群眾宣告主作王了。此天國的福音不單是傳給眾人，並從眾人中傳出來。全地都要讚揚此最偉大的信息已傳遍地極。
天國的福音和救恩的福音並不一樣。救恩的福音使人知道耶穌是救主，但天國的福音乃是顯明祂是王。救恩的福音是神為我們所做的─美好到我們將慶祝直到永遠─但天國的福音則是與我們蒙召為祂所做之事有關。
主第一次來是為了成為羔羊，但祂將再回來作王。當我們看見所釋放出去的信息是強調祂即將到來的國度，我們便知道這世代快要結束，並要為即將到來的世代做預備。
在宣告主掌權，傳揚祂的榮耀後，重點立刻轉向神國度最偉大的事件─主迎娶祂新婦─教會的婚禮。神國度的世代將始於這有史以來最大的慶祝與慶典。
由於這是要來世代的重大事件，其中一個我們可以看到的徵兆，就是新婦專注於為她的王預備。正如在這裡所言，她『也自己預備好了』。要預備好，她必須『毫無玷污、皺紋』（參考以弗所書5:27）。毫無玷污指的是她的貞節，她必須成為貞節的童女。這基本上讓她與『大淫婦』相反，大淫婦將自己嫁給這世界的靈，而不是為王持守貞節。
當然，新婦代表整個教會，而不是一個國家或歷史上一段時期的教會。即便如此，目前的情況是教會整體狀況不佳，離貞節新婦的情景甚遠。是有一些做得不錯的教會與運動，但我們若要成為所蒙召的貞節新婦─時間表顯明我們很快就要來到這世代末了─那什麼是必須發生的事呢？
我認為唐波特（Don Potter）對此有很棒的洞見，他主持了一些婚禮，他曾告訴我在許多婚禮上他親眼見證一個驚人的神蹟。他說在婚禮要開始前五分鐘，他看到新娘狀況糟透了，他不認為婚禮可以準時舉行。接著神蹟發生了，新娘即時展現出完美型態，似乎就在婚禮前五分鐘完全翻轉！
似乎主給予新婦一個特別的神蹟，在婚禮前幾分鐘還一團糟，但當萬事互相效力，她呈現出最榮耀的新婦。這可能也是基督新婦在這世代末了轉變的方式。
儘管可能會有特別的神蹟給新婦，但我不認為全靠神蹟。正如上述經文所說，她『也自己預備好了』。她所做的一切準備都是在為歷史上最特別的事件預備，讓她到達似乎需要神蹟的位置，但很快萬事互相效力。我的重點是我們不應單靠外在來評斷教會，她可能比我們想的更接近萬事互相效力之時。
(摘自喬納 word for the week, Week17, 2018)
Making Ourselves Ready—The Book of Revelation
Week 17, 2018
Rick Joyner
Now we are coming to some of the most encouraging prophecies from the Book of Revelation, beginning with Revelation 19:6-8:
And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
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 righteous acts of the saints (NKJV).
First, a “great multitude” declares that the Lord reigns. This is the gospel of the kingdom not just going to the multitudes, but coming from a multitude. The whole earth will resound with this greatest of all messages to be preached on the earth.
The gospel of the kingdom is not the same as the gospel of salvation. The gospel of salvation makes Him known as Savior, but the gospel of the kingdom reveals Him as King. The gospel of salvation is about what God has done for us—which is so wonderful that we will celebrate it forever—but the gospel of the kingdom is about what we are called to do for Him.
He came the first time to be the Lamb, but He is coming back to be the King. When we see the message going forth that emphasizes His kingdom coming, then we will know that the time is indeed short to conclude this age and prepare for the next one.
After declaring that the Lord reigns and proclaiming His glory, the emphasis turns to the immediate and first great event of the kingdom—the marriage of the Lord to His bride, the church. The kingdom age will begin with the biggest celebration and feast there will ever be.
Because this is such an event for the ages, one of the signs we can look for is the bride becoming focused on preparing for her King. As we are told here, she has“made herself ready,” and to be ready she must be “without spot or wrinkle” (see Ephesians 5:27). Without spot speaks of her purity, as she is to be a pure chaste virgin. This is the basic contrast between her and the “great harlot” that married herself to the spirit of this age rather than keeping herself pure for the King.
Of course, the bride is the whole church, not just the church in any one country or period of history. Even so, at this time a case could be made that the church overall is in bad shape, far from this picture. There are some great churches and great church movements that are doing well, but if we’re going to become the pure bride we are called to be—and the timeline suggests we’re fast coming to the end of the age—then what has to happen?
I think Don Potter has great insight into this. Don has officiated a number of weddings, and he once told me about a remarkable miracle he witnessed in many of them. He said that just five minutes before the wedding was supposed to start, he saw brides in such bad shape that he didn’t think there was any way for the wedding to start on time. Then a miracle happened and she emerged perfect and right on time, seemingly transformed in the last five minutes!
There does seem to be a special miracle that the Lord gives to brides to be such a mess just minutes before their wedding, but then everything comes together and she emerges as the glorious bride. This could be the way will seem at the end of the age with the bride of Christ.
Even though there may be a special miracle for brides, I don’t think it is all miracle. As the Scripture above stated, she “makes herself ready.” All of the preparation she has done to prepare for the most special event in history got her to the place where it seemed like it would take a miracle, but everything comes together quickly at the end. My point is that we should not judge the church just by appearances. She may be closer to everything coming together than we think.