The Readiness of the Bride will Bring in the Wedding Feast and the Millennial Kingdom

The mature bride is the goal of God’s will and purpose, and the readiness of the bride of Christ depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers; Christ’s goal is not just to remove sin but to gain the bride, and it is very crucial for us to be prepared and ready as the bride of Christ. Amen, Lord, prepare us as Your bride more today!

In the Bible, we see the Lord’s desire not only to redeem us as His people but even more, to gain a bride. Regarding the bride, one aspect is the matter of the maturity of the bride. We need to be brought on to maturity.

On the one hand, we go through many things and we open to the Lord for Him to transform us, and we are being conformed to the image of Christ by the addition of God’s element and the removal of our natural element.

On the other hand, we need to not only be transformed but even more, be matured, that is, be filled with the divine life that changes us.

When the New Testament uses the word mature, it refers to the believers being full-grown and perfected in the life of Christ.

Paul was always forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before to gain Christ, pursue Christ, and be found in Christ, even to arrive at a full-grown man.

For us to arrive at maturity in the spiritual life, we need to continually grow in the divine life.

As we grow in life unto maturity, we are being ripened to be the firstfruits, the overcoming saints part of the bride of Christ.

Christ as the real Farmer is waiting for us to grow in life. We are waiting for Him to return, but He is waiting for us to arrive to maturity, for only our maturity in the divine life can hasten His coming back.

If we’re serious about awaiting the Lord’s coming back, we need to grow in life unto maturity.

To be mature is have Christ being fully formed in us, as we are being fully transformed into His image.

We need to arrive at maturity by allowing the Lord to subdue our will; our submissive and resurrected will is strong in resurrection to be useful to the Lord for His purpose, and this is maturity in life.

Paul laboured to present every man mature, full-grown in Christ for the one new man.

We need to labour before the Lord not only to help the saints to read the Bible and be in the meetings of the church but even more, to grow in life unto maturity. May we remain in the process of transformation and maturity in life day by day.

May we realise that everything that happens to us is under God’s sovereignty for us to grow unto maturity and be brought to maturity for the preparation of the bride of Christ!

The Goal of God’s Will and Purpose is the Mature Bride – the Maturity in Life of the Overcomers is Needed for the Readiness of the Bride

The goal of God’s will and purpose is seen in Revelation 19:7-9, which is the mature bride; when the bride is prepared, the Lord will return and the wedding feast will begin.

However, the readiness of the bride of Christ depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers (Heb. 6:1; Phil. 3:12-15; Eph. 4:13).

On the one hand, we believers in Christ grow in life unto maturity personally, in our life with the Lord; on the other hand, corporately, we need to arrive at maturity in life, at a full-grown man, so that we may be prepared as the mature bride of Christ.

It all depends on the maturity of the bride; the Lord wants to gain a mature bride.

As long as we alive today, as long as we have breath, we have an opportunity to turn to the Lord and enjoy Him, even to grow in life unto maturity.

We have both the opportunity and the responsibility to grow in life unto maturity for the readiness of the bride of Christ. For the bride of Christ to be realised, we need to grow in life unto maturity today.

The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the compeltion of God’s New Testament economy, which is to obtain for Christ a bride, the church, through His judicial redemption and by His organic salvation in His divine life (Gen. 2:22; Rom. 5:10; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2).

God’s economy is carried out by these two things – His judicial redemption and His organic salvation. On the one hand, we are redeemed judicially and can daily apply the blood of Christ.

On the other hand, we need to be much more saved in life day by day so that we may grow unto maturity in the life of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians Paul told the believers in Corinth that he could give them milk, not solid food, for they were still at the infant stage. We need to drink the milk of the Word, and even more, we need to grow to maturity to eat solid food.

As long as a believer remains in the stage of infancy, he is not able to receive anything solid, no matter how much solid food is available to him.

May we not remain infants but grow in life day by day. May we ask the Lord to bring us to a point where we not only drink the guileless milk of the word but even more, we can eat solid food.

Year by year, solid food is ministered to the saints; however, many times when we hear the Lord’s speaking in the meetings, we are not open to receive it, and our growth in life is not unto maturity. Oh Lord!

If we are to go on with the Lord, we need to leave the word of the beginning of Christ and not remain merely in the realm of doctrines but even more, eat solid food. We must go on from the infant stage to maturity by feeding on the solid food, which is the word of righteousness.

Let us be brought on to maturity. The solid food is here among us, but how much are we appropriating it? How much do we enjoy solid food?

May the Lord bring us into the experiences we need in order for us to grow in life unto maturity and be prepared as the mature bride of Christ.

In the Gospel of John, Christ is revealed both as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world and as the Bridegroom who came that He might have the bride (John 1:29; 3:29).

On the one hand, He came to remove sin; on the other hand, He came to obtain the bride. In the book of Revelation, we see that Christ is the Lamb and also the coming Bridegroom; therefore, as the Bridegroom, He must have a wedding.

Our dear Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, wants to have a wedding. The wedding of the Lamb will be a universal wedding; it will be the marriage of the Redeemer and the redeemed.

Hallelujah, Christ is coming as the Bridegroom, and we are going as the bride!

The marriage of the Lamb will come after the rapture of the majority of the believers (1 Thes. 4:15-17), and it will follow the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).

After all the raptures and before the wedding, there will be the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ to determine which believers will be qualified for the wedding feast. Oh Lord!

If we today grow in life unto maturity to be prepared as the mature bride of Christ, we will be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ, and we will participate in the wedding feast.

However, if we are not rewarded but are disapproved by the Lord, we will not perish; yet we will suffer a loss like that described in 1 Corinthians 3:15.

We may do a great work for the Lord, we may accomplish much in this age in the name of God, but one day the fire of God’s judgment will come and burn anything that is not done in oneness with Him and out of the divine life within us. Oh Lord!

Matthew 25:1-13 is a further warning in this matter, for we see that only the five prudent virgins enter the wedding feast, while the five foolish ones will be rejected. Oh Lord! May we be those who grow in life unto maturity today to reach the goal of God’s will and purpose – the mature bride of Christ!

Lord Jesus, grow in us unto maturity today so that we may reach the goal of God’s will and purpose, the mature bride of Christ! Bring us on to maturity. We want to grow in life day by day. Save us from remaining infants who only drink the milk in the word of God; may we advance to eat the solid food, the word of righteousness. Amen, Lord, may we realise that the readiness of the corporate bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers. We aspire to be Your overcomers, dear Lord! Mature us in this age. Gain us as the overcoming saints who grow unto maturity in this age to be part of the mature bride of Christ. We aspire to be there at the wedding feast, when You return, so that we may feast with You and reign with You! Amen, Lord, gain a mature bride for You to marry at Your return! Intensify Your organic salvation in us to produce us as the overcoming saints who compose Your mature bride! Dear Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to be part of Your bride, the mature bride who matches You!

The Readiness of the Bride will Bring in the Wedding Feast and the Millennial Kingdom!

A very crucial matter related to the Lord’s return and the coming millennial kingdom is the readiness of the bride of Christ (Rev. 19:7). It is crucial for us to be prepared as the mature bride of Christ; the readiness of the bride is our growth unto maturity.

Our daily growth in the divine life matters very much. Day by day, our giving the Lord the ground a little bit more matters, for He has a way to increase in us little by little, day by day.

According to Revelation 19:8 and 9, the wife, the bride of Christ, here consists only of the overcoming believers during the millennium.

Yes, the bride here is the wife in Ephesians 5, but it is in its fresh, mature, and prepared aspect, for only the overcoming believers will participate at the wedding feast of the Lamb.

The readiness of the bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers; when the overcoming saints arrive at maturity, the mature bride is produced, and the Lord can return.

The overcoming saints, however, are not separate individuals but the corporate bride. Amen, the Lord wants to gain the readiness of the bride, which will bring in the wedding feast and the millennial kingdom.

In Revelation 19:6 the voice of the great multitude proclaims, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.”

When the bride is ready, when the mature bride is prepared, there is a resounding Hallelujah in the heavens! There is Hallelujah and Praise the Lord, for the bride is ready, and the Lord can return as the Bridegroom for His bride.

The reign of God, the kingdom, is related to the marriage of the Lamb.

The wedding will bring in the reign of the Lord, the kingdom, because all the guests called to the wedding will be both the corporate bride and the co-kings of the Bridegroom.

On the one hand, the overcoming believers will be part of the mature bride of Christ; on the other hand, they will be the co-kings of the Bridegroom. Still, they are the guests at the wedding feast. Hallelujah!

All the co-kings will be the Lord’s corporate bride. To the overcomers, the thousand years of the millennial kingdom will be a wedding feast. Everyone invited to the wedding feast will also participate in the thousand-year reign as kings. Amen!

The readiness of the bride will bring all this in; when there’s a mature bride, when the bride is prepared, the wedding feast comes in, and the millennial kingdom is here.

For the overcomers, reigning with Christ in the kingdom will be the wedding feast. Hallelujah!

We need to pay attention to this crucial matter of the readiness of the bride of Christ. Yes, we are the wife of Christ, the church, but we need to be prepared and made ready as the bride of Christ for the wedding feast.

Yes, we will be the wife of the Lamb, one with Christ for eternity as His wife, for we are becoming the New Jerusalem; however, we want to be the overcoming saints today who are the mature bride to join Him for our wedding feast in the next age. Amen!

The readiness of the bride of Christ depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers; these overcomers are not separate individuals but a corporate bride.

The Lord at the end of this age is recovering a remnant of saints to be built together as the mature bride for His coming back; this remnant will be the overcomers.

In many cities throughout the earth, some of the Lord’s seeking saints will be attracted and gathered by Him to grow together in life and be transformed and matured to be the bride, ready for His return.

They are also joined together and knit together for the building up of the Body of Christ; this growth, knitting, and building is for the preparation of the bride. May the Lord gain this among us.

May we not be introspective to check where we are and what’s going on in us; may we not doubt ourselves and think we are not qualified or matured.

May we just give ourselves to the Lord to be transformed and grow unto maturity until the Lord gains the readiness of the bride. Adam declined Jehovah’s wedding invitation, but we want to be there at the wedding feast.

By His mercy and grace, we want to be part of the corporate bride of Christ to satisfy His heart.

Our present situation matters a great deal; we are not governed by outward circumstances but rather, though we are limited in many ways, we want Christ to increase in us. He wants to grow in us.

He wants to make us His bride. If God is for us, who can be against us? May we not hold back! May we give the Lord the opportunity today and these coming days for Him to gain us in a new and fresh way for us to be prepared as the mature bride of Christ, His overcoming saints!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we give ourselves to You today. Make us Your overcoming saints in this age. Make us part of the corporate mature bride to satisfy Your heart. We come to You today to just enjoy Your grace. Thank You for Your mercy and grace. Thank You for the invitation for us to come to the wedding feast. Amen, Lord, You desire to make us part of Your bride. We open to You and we say Amen, yes, do this in us! We do not look at our condition. We refuse to analyse ourselves and see what’s wrong and why are we not up to standard. We give ourselves to you today to grow in life! Amen, Lord, increase in us! Bring us to maturity. Build us up together with the saints. Gain us as the seeking saints who give You the best cooperation by growing in life unto maturity day by day! Yes, Lord, gain the maturity of the bride! Gain the readiness of the bride! May we all hear the call and enter into the wedding feast as overcoming saints! We love You, dear Lord Jesus!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brother Ray Mulligan in this conference, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 94, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Maturity of the Bride (2025 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 3, The Building of the Bride – day 6.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Our Bridegroom soon is coming / To claim His holy Bride, / The ones whom He has wooed, won, / And wholly sanctified. / O Lord, we would be ready / And get our hearts in tune / For the wedding day that’s coming / Very soon. / Oh, the wedding day is coming, / Is coming very soon, / When the Bride shall be prepared / And shall marry her Bridegroom. / Oh, what love and consecration / Should all our hearts attune / For that wedding day that’s coming / Very soon. (Hymns #1316 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Who will be the counterpart to Christ today? / “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!” / Ready be to match Him now without delay, / “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!” (Hymns #1309 stanza 4)
  – The day approaches; Jesus soon is coming. / Redeem the time; it must not slip away. / Lord, make us ready for the cry: “Behold Him!” / By using every moment of each day. / When Jesus comes, will we go in to meet Him? / When Jesus comes, will we from self have ceased? / He’s coming soon to take the wise ones with Him. / Oh, let us not be left outside the feast. (Hymns #1307 stanza 1 and chorus)