Ephesians 5:25-33 NKJV
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Revelation 19:6-8 NKJV
6 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! 7 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.”8 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.
Dear Jesus,
I want to be part of Your Church, Your pure bride.
"The Church, the Bride of Christ, is clothed in fine linen, pure and shining. There is a contrast with the scarlet and gold of the great harlot. The white linen represents the good deeds of God's dedicated people; that is to say, it is character which forms the robe which arrays the Bride of Christ" (William Barclay in The Revelation of John, vol. 2, 1959, p. 224).
A white wedding gown for a bride is a uniquely Christian tradition. White is a Biblical symbol of purity. It represents the bride's sexual purity. The martyrs of Revelation are described as having washed their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb, Your blood.
I know a fraction of the passionate love You feel toward Your bride. I remember when the most beautiful girl in the room, clad in a white wedding gown, walked down the aisle of McConnell Auditorium to me. Breathtaking wonder!
The flood of emotion upon walking my only daughter, Katherine Rose, clothed in a beautiful white gown, down the aisle was unparalleled. It was May 20, 2007. Beth and I had guarded, protected, taught, nurtured, loved and disciplined our precious girl. The emotions of the day were unlike anything I had ever felt. Joy sobs started somewhere behind my belly button and worked their way up my torso and out my eyes with liquid laughter. I have never felt those emotions before or since. I was giving young Mr. Peter Lanigan our only daughter--a pure bride--the very best that Beth and I had to give.
A white wedding gown is a prophetic symbol from the Revelation of Jesus Christ, anticipating the pure bride of Christ, the Church, who has been washed and cleansed in the blood of the Lamb, and made a suitable bride for Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom.
John Oswalt writes: “The Church ... has lost sight of the biblical doctrine of holiness... The Church expects to go down the aisle to meet its Bridegroom in a dress as filthy as the one in which He first found her in the gutters of life. It is a Church that will not survive the fires of the coming Tribulation” (Called to Be Holy, 1999, p. 6).
Lord Jesus, help Your Church, Your bride, to recommit herself to Your call to holiness. May Your transforming grace of holiness, at work in Your bride's life, grant her the right to wear white. May Your respond, "Look at my holy bride! Isn't she beautiful!"
In the Name of our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
Amen.
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