The Bride has made herself ready! Pt.2

By Helen Jesze, 26^th February 2021

“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready,”

Rev. 19:7 ESV

“…so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God], so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless,”

Eph. 5:26 + 27 The Amplified Bible

Last week I wrote about a bridal couple I saw in a dream, and how the words “Reprieve” and “The Bride has made herself ready” came strongly to me. One lady wrote to me, saying that in my dream it was the groom who was dirty, unkempt and not fit for the wedding, but surely it is the “Bride”, the Church of Jesus Christ who has to get ready, not Jesus, our Heavenly Bridegroom. She is absolutely right. If I had not received these words in the dream, I would probably just have dismissed it, but it seemed clear that God was speaking to me, and there was another meaning here.

In a dream or a vision, I think there are two possibilities how it can be interpreted. One is that everything we see in the dream or vision is exactly as it would be physically. Another interpretation is that we are seeing something symbolically. On this occasion, it was symbolic, the truth being shown that one of the bridal couple was not fit for the wedding – in our case, the Bride of Christ – but God is giving us a “reprieve” so the twofold work of preparation might be done to make us ready; the work that Jesus himself does in us and the steps that we, the Bride take, to make ourselves ready.

Another lady wrote this is just what the Lord has being impressing on her for a while now, and that in the Bible Study group she attends, they are studying this at present. She then asked, how do I think we can make ourselves ready for our Heavenly Bridegroom, so let’s have a look at that.

In Bible times, during the Early Church, the Apostle Paul and others wrote on several occasions, warning these new Christians that they had been brought out of a lifestyle of slander, gossip, lying, drunkenness, immorality, gluttony, stealing, homosexuality and idolatry. He warned them because there was evidence that they were still doing some of these things which did not belong in a Christian’s life.

As we look at the Church (the whole Body of Christ) nowadays, we see millions of people who have been delivered from sin, who love their Lord and seek to follow him. Yet when we look closer, we see there is also division, disunity, deception, immorality, a turning away from what God says in His Word and instead accepting the culture of the day, and what society tells us.

We do not hear much preached about ‘sin’, as it is often thought we should not make people feel uncomfortable. It is said we should not be ‘judgmental’ and must realise that Time and Culture have altered the way people think and as Christians, we should also ‘go with the flow’. There are “Seeker- Sensitive” churches, where the Spirit of God has little or no opportunity to change people’s hearts, because the Word of the Living God is not preached, or is so watered-down that it has no effect on the hearers.

We see many Christian men (and women) come for prayer and counselling because they watch pornography. One man cried in despair,“I have been struggling with this for 20 years! At one time I used to creep out at night, to go to porn shows, but now 2 clicks on my phone and it is all there, and no-one knows!” Satan has made it so much easier to watch porn on our screen. It is not only poison for those who watch it, but also exploits the people (mostly women) who engage in the acts, as most of them are trafficked or forced to do this, bringing in billions of pounds for the producers. Jesus can set us free from this bondage! I have seen people drink alcohol or take drugs to prove that they are no longer bound by them! How foolish! Every time it spells disaster.

Many Christian couples live together before marriage. God has given us love, part of which is sexual expression but the Bible says it should be used within the safety and boundaries of marriage, between a man and a woman. We need to watch what we see and hear. It is dangerous to watch hypnotism programs, occult, horror or sex films, or to look at unsuitable or porn magazines; the spirit within us should recoil or feel uneasy, if we do so. But in time, like the proverbial frog that is put into cold, then warm, then hot water, if we continue to do this, we will not notice it any more. It is then that we switch into receptive mood, for we have opened an inward door in our mind and heart, breaking down our defence; we can be attacked or taken over by the spirits influencing those programs or reading matter; fear, depression, lust and many other negative things can be the result.

Am I saying that if we do any of these things we have lost our salvation? No, not at all! God is calling to us to realise where we have gone wrong, to repent and clean up our act, to let him deliver us, making his Bride beautiful and ready for his coming. I want to encourage you today that his arms are opened wide with mercy and grace, not judgement. Satan wants to condemn us, but the Holy Spirit wants to convict us, so we will put our lives in order.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you see all of us and how we need you. Forgive and break off of us every shortcoming and sin, cleanse us in the blood of Jesus and infuse us with your strength and power to live for you. Help us to develop a closer relationship with you, in prayer and the reading of your Word every day. Make us ready for the day when our Bridegroom calls! In the Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.