If the believer is lacking in formation, or reconciliation, or union, he is unsuitable as a member of the unblemished Bride of the Lamb. He must ask the Lord to form him, reconcile him, and bring him into union with Himself. Christ is both able and willing to do this.

Christ will perfect us. We must desire perfection with our whole heart. The day of the divided heart is over. From this point forward the way of the Lord must be made straight. Let the holy be holy and the filthy be filthy. Let us make up our mind we are being formed for the sole purpose of being the fullness of Christ. There is no place here for the believer who still is flirting with the demons and attempting to preserve his own life and ways.

The marriage of the Lamb is near and the Bride must make herself ready. Let everyone who is thirsty come and drink; for out of the Bride will flow rivers of living water without price. Blessed is every person who is called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

The Manifestation Stage

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness [righteous deeds] of saints. (Revelation 19:7,8)

A parallel passage is found in the Book of Isaiah:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:10,11)

There are five major aspects of the manifestation stage:

The bodies of the members of the Bride are redeemed.

We are joined together with the Lord Jesus.

The Lord and we become visible in glory to the people of the earth.

We (the Lord and we) crush the forces of wickedness in the earth.

We bring life and restoration to the material creation.

The bodies of the members of the Bride are redeemed. We find in Revelation 19:8 that the Bride is arrayed in "fine linen." A similar expression occurs in the passage from Isaiah: "He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation."

The fine linen, the garments of salvation, refers to the raising (or changing) of our physical body into a state of incorruptibility.

It is important to note that the "fine linen" is the "righteousness (actually, righteousnesses, or righteous acts) of saints." The fine linen is not that of imputed (ascribed) righteousness but of righteous works—works that have taken place because of the Life of Christ that has been formed in us and is dwelling in us. Every righteous act proceeding from the Life of Christ in our personality directly affects the body we shall receive in the day of resurrection. Every wicked act proceeding from Satan and our adamic nature also affects the body we shall receive in the day of resurrection unless through the Spirit of God we confess our sin and turn away from it.

To be continued.