The Joy Of Thanksgiving

Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:9

Thanksgiving....a time to reflect upon the many blessings we have reaped throughout the year. A time to gather round the table with family and friends to praise God for His continual bounty from the storehouse of heaven. We are the children of a mighty and wondrous creator who continues to pour out His blessing on a world that has refused His great love and His tender mercy. In joyous anticipation of reunion, families will travel from near and far, desiring to share the happiness of health, home, laughter and love with those they hold dear. The table is set and the smell of the finest foods fill the air. What a time of feasting, of thanksgiving, of joy! As we look forward to this time of celebration, will we take time to thank our great provider for all that He has given us, blessings that perhaps we take for granted or overlook?

The book of Revelation speaks of two greats suppers at the end of time. One is a joyous feast, a great jubilation, when the redeemed of the ages will dine with their creator at the great marriage supper of the Lamb. (Rev 19:6-9). The other pictured in Revelation 19:17-21 calls all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven to gather together to the supper of the great God to feast upon the bodies of those destroyed by the brightness of His coming, those who refused to respond to the call of salvation. One a supper of joy, happiness, and eternal life, the other of mourning, despair and eternal destruction.

As the Christian world anticipates the long-awaited event of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, that great day of redemption and deliverance from the woes of a wicked world, how have we responded to God’s invitation to the wedding feast? All throughout the scriptures we see Christ, with deep abiding love, extending His call through His messengers, those who give tirelessly of their time and talent to extend the message of everlasting life in Jesus Christ. Through great sacrifice the way has been prepared for the “bride” to take her place beside her “bridegroom” in that blessed union that will throughout eternity bring eternal bliss to all heaven. We need only accept His invitation by surrender of our life to the working of the Holy Spirit upon our heart.

Many are oblivious to the events portrayed in the book of Revelation that will rock the very foundation of a complacent society before the two suppers take place. The final battle in the great controversy of good and evil looms ominously on the horizon. As the clarion call to salvation rings every louder, every individual must seal his heart either for or against Almighty God and His eternal, unchangeable law. Time soon will be no longer, probation is running out for mankind. The forces of good and evil will meet head-on in the great confrontation of Armageddon, the climax of the judgment plagues of Revelation 16. Have we prepared ourselves for this great time of tribulation, the final test of man’s loyalty to His creator? As Christians do we discern the signs of the times? Will we hear the gentle knocking of our Savior upon our hearts door, pleading, calling, longing for our reception of Him as our first love? Or will the deafening sounds of catastrophic upheaval awaken us from a spiritual slumber to face the great day of reckoning with fear and trembling. The hour is fast approaching when the trumpets will sound and the great Anti-Christ will appear to deceive the nations. Many will be lead astray by Satan's lying wonders, forsaking the true Word of God and accepting manifestations of “supposed” Christianity for they know not the truth. In this Satan has for centuries honed his skills, darkening man’s perception of truth, replacing it with doctrines that though seeming to be in the name of Christ, have in actuality worked toward the advancement of his work against the kingdom of God.

God is working through His last day remnant church, those who hold faithfully to the scripture and the scripture alone as their final authority, to turn the tide of apathy and blindness to the need of preparation for these final end-time events which will steal upon the unprepared like a thief in the night. The many vices that plague a self-indulgent society today, lead mankind to place little value on the need of daily preparation for this great time of deception. Amid the lukewarmness and apathy of this final generation must come the fire of revival and the spirit of reform, of true godliness, to turn us from darkness to light, from Satan to God. For this we must pray, for it is our greatest need and one that Satan will do all in his power to quench.

The hour of judgment has come, and Christ will soon complete His work of investigation in the heavenly sanctuary. He will then return to earth to claim His own, His bride, and to render judgment upon those who refused His invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb, those without the wedding garment of His righteousness. No second chance will then remain, no millennium of peace and prosperity, only the destruction of sin and sinner. All must decide before Jesus comes again which supper they will attend — the marriage supper of the Lamb or God’s great supper of death.

In everlasting love for His people, Christ delays His return, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) . The time grows nigh when God shall gather His elect from the four winds. Will we be ready?