I believe that we all can feel it now – the time of the
final judgment is near. The signs that were told in the Bible is very visible
now in our world. Calamities here and there - we are in the end times. The
second coming of Christ is nearing, which also translates as the redemption of
His faithful followers from this world. But one thing I asked in my mind, are
we Christians, or the so called “followers” already ready for this event? Can
we say confidently now that we are a part of those who will be redeemed?
Well, I personally believe that we aren’t ready for this big
event yet. Why? Well, one thing is that there are still churches who focuses
more on “church politics” instead of spreading the love and sharing the word of
God to others. There are pastors who continue to criticize other pastors,
instead of helping them. In short, there’s still division within the church of Christ. Also, there are still many of us
who does not live a serious Christian life. With these being said, it is clear
that we are not yet ready. So the question now is when can we say we are ready?
“Let us rejoice and be glad and
give him glory! For the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear” (Fine linen stands for the
righteous acts of the saints.)
-Revelation 19:7-8
The verses I’ve written shows that the bride of the Lamb,
which is the church, is ready. This particular chapter in the book of
revelation happened after God’s wrath occurred. This chapter showed how the
redeemed people praised God for the justice He had shown to them. Also, this
chapter shows that it won’t be easy to be a part of the redeemed.
It was shown in the previous chapters before this that the faithful followers of God experienced a lot of hardship and persecutions. They have experienced all of the worst possible thing that could ever happen to a man. The persecution would just be at its peak on that time. This clearly shows that those who had overcome has an incredible amount of faith in them, keeping them completely still with their faith and unmoved by all the tragedies. They gave all their hopes to God, and they waited until the second coming of Christ came. They are patient – they did not turn back.
It was shown in the previous chapters before this that the faithful followers of God experienced a lot of hardship and persecutions. They have experienced all of the worst possible thing that could ever happen to a man. The persecution would just be at its peak on that time. This clearly shows that those who had overcome has an incredible amount of faith in them, keeping them completely still with their faith and unmoved by all the tragedies. They gave all their hopes to God, and they waited until the second coming of Christ came. They are patient – they did not turn back.
Now as Christians, I believe that all of us wants to be a
part of that church that is being described in the verses I’ve written. The
verses showed that the bride (the church) was given a fine linen to wear for
the wedding. It was also described in the Bible that the fine linen stands for
the righteous acts of the saints. So with that being said, if we really want to
be a part of that “end time church”, then we (all of us!) must take this
Christian life seriously. We must become spotless, or pure in the eyes of God –
we must hate sin completely and persevere on this Christian walk. We must be
still in our faith, like the redeemed. We also must be united as one – as His
church, and not be divided like what it is today. Only by then that we can say
that we are ready to meet the Lord as His bride.
Original link for the photo: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlrpTzq3F74LtCDvJ1P0kR3m5uV1e7O1GOfuWExQi36oUR5UlO45Ff05zubdSLS5_fBZQrmDCOKjCE86gTs-5ZI6T42s8e_4nK4bPqRNQX17FWmzgAw-m4iCzr25wEuMCTCRoiV0voKdv/s1600/Revelation+19+-+Christ+and+His+Bride.jpg
