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Scripture Reading: Matt. 9:14-15; Luke 5:29-30, 33-35
From the record of Matthew we see that all things related to Christ took place outside of religion. In that day Judaism was the genuine religion, the religion founded according to God’s holy Word. But everything concerning Christ took place outside of that. In other words, Christ had nothing to do with religion.
The record of Matthew 1 tells how the birth of Christ was accomplished outside of Jerusalem, away from the temple, having nothing to do with the holy priests. God did not send the angel Gabriel to the family of the priests; God did not send Gabriel to someone praying in the temple in Jerusalem. God sent His angel to a little town in a despised country, Nazareth of Galilee. He sent him to a girl, a virgin, in a poor family. Practically everything related to this girl and her situation was outside of Jerusalem, the temple, and the holy priesthood — the typical and genuine religion. The birth of Christ had nothing to do with religion; it was absolutely accomplished outside of religion.
You may say that Jesus was conceived in Nazareth but born in Bethlehem. But if we look into the record carefully with the light of the Holy Spirit, we see that this was accomplished in a hidden way. We may even say that He was born there “sneakily,” just to fulfill the prophecy. He was suddenly brought to Bethlehem to be born, and then, just as suddenly, He was brought away. The birth of Christ had nothing to do with anything religious.
Matthew 2 then proceeds to tell us how people found this Christ. He was not found in religion; neither was He found by any religious people. He was not found in Jerusalem; He was not found in the temple; neither was He found by any priest or any holy people. We are all familiar with the account of the heavenly star appearing in a pagan country to people with no Bible and no genuine religion. We know also how those heathen magi exercised their natural mind, concluding that the King of the Jews should be born in Jerusalem. In so doing, they caused many young lives to be taken. But eventually, they found Jesus. They found Him mainly not according to biblical knowledge. You remember that when they came to Jerusalem, King Herod called the chief priests and scribes, those who had the knowledge of the Bible. They all gave Herod the proper and exact quotation, Micah 5:2, telling that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. They had the knowledge, they had the exact scriptural references, but none of them went to see Christ. They were for the Scriptures, they were for the Bible, but they were not for Christ. They paid attention to Micah 5:2, foretelling the coming of Christ and even the birthplace of Christ; yet, when the news came of Christ’s birth, none of them went to behold it. The Christian religion today is exactly the same in principle. People talk about the Bible and have the knowledge concerning Christ, but rarely do you find one who really cares for Christ. They care for the Bible, they care for the prophecies, but they do not care for Christ.
Praise the Lord, there were some pagans from a pagan land who did care for Christ. The record of Matthew tells us that after they departed from Jerusalem, the star appeared to them again. I tell you, when you leave the denominations, when you leave the Christian religion, the star is there. Hallelujah, the star is there! When you get into religion, you miss the star; you miss the mark. When you go to the religious people, when you attempt to follow the dead letter of the Scripture, you miss the heavenly star and can never find Christ. When the magi departed from Jerusalem, behold, the star appeared. Hallelujah! How good it is to have a heavenly star! Then they found Jesus. The finding of Jesus is absolutely outside of religion.
Matthew 3 relates to us the principle of the introducing of Christ — this also is absolutely outside of religion. John the Baptist was the one who recommended Christ to the people. He was born a priest, but he would not remain in the priesthood; he would not stay in the temple or even in the city of Jerusalem. We read that he was in the wilderness. He stayed in a wild place, and even he himself became wild. He wore camel’s hair. The camel, according to Leviticus 11, was an unclean animal. But John said in effect, “You say, according to your religious regulation, that the camel is unclean. Then I must be such a camel!” What would you say? John acted in a way radically opposed to religion. Consider his diet. He ate locusts and wild honey. He had no religion, and he had no culture; he was versus religion, and he was versus human culture. He was not in the temple. He had no altar to offer sacrifices; he had nothing related to religion or even to human culture.
Not long ago in Los Angeles a brother came to the meetings wearing a blanket. This blanket was a real test to some of the people. But John the Baptist wore camel’s hair. The blanket was cultured, treated, and made with human hands, but the camel’s hair worn by John the Baptist was absolutely raw. He was wild; he was really wild. This was the pioneer, the forerunner, of Christ. It was he who stood there and, seeing Christ coming, exclaimed to the people, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” It was he who said that he saw the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and abiding upon Christ, and he knew that it was He who would baptize in the Holy Spirit. What can we say? He said nothing about the Ten Commandments. He gave that up. He said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” He pointed to the One who would baptize in the Holy Spirit, and he said, “Repent.” John did not teach people about religion — he called on them to repent, to change their mind, to change their concept about religion and culture. He did not tell them to do something; he baptized them, he buried them, he terminated them. John said, “I baptize you in water,...but He who is coming after me...will baptize you in the Holy Spirit” (v. 11).
What would you say? Jesus was recommended in such a wild way. Would you believe? Would you take it? He was recommended by a wild person in a wild way with nothing to do with religion. Hallelujah for John the Baptist! He was really good.
Matthew 4 tells us that after Jesus was introduced, there were some dear ones who followed Him. Who were they? The high priests? The scribes? No. They were Galilean fishermen. Some were fishing in the sea, others were mending their nets — they were unlearned people, but they followed Jesus. They began to follow not in Jerusalem, not in the temple, and not even in the Holy Land, but in Galilee, a place then considered as “of the Gentiles” (v. 15).
You see, the birth of Christ, the finding of Christ, the introducing of Christ, and the following of Christ were entirely apart from religion. Then, hallelujah, Jesus came: He not only came in His birth, but He also came of age; He came forth to minister; He presented Himself to the people. He was there; He came to the people; there was no need to go and find Him.
Skipping over Matthew 5, 6, 7, and 8, we come to chapter 9, where something very interesting occurred (vv. 14-15). The disciples of John came to Jesus, talking about something religious. Could you believe that after such a short time the disciples of John the Baptist, who had nothing to do with religion, could fall into a kind of religion? They founded a new religion, and they took the lead to put a question mark upon the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, the disciples of John came with the disciples of the Pharisees (Luke 5:30, 33). What company! The Pharisees were the old-timers of religion. The disciples of John were the new-timers; they had only been on the way for perhaps two years. Yet within such a brief period, the disciples of John had become religious.
“Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?” (Matt. 9:14). The disciples of John came to Jesus and spoke to Him in such a way because they saw something — they saw Jesus sitting at a feast, not just an ordinary meal but a feast (Luke 5:29). Furthermore, they saw Him feasting not with the high priests, the Pharisees, or the scribes, but with the sinners, the tax collectors. Jesus was feasting with the tax collectors, of all people. This really bothered the religious ones. Both John’s disciples and the Pharisees came to Jesus, and the new-timers in religion took the lead to rebuke Him: “Why do we fast,” they said, “but Your disciples do not?” Why? Religiously speaking, the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees were one hundred percent right: it is much better to fast than to feast. “Why do we fast and Your disciples feast?” they asked.
The Lord Jesus did not argue or reply to John’s disciples and the Pharisees in a doctrinal way. He said to them, “The sons of the bridechamber cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?” (Matt. 9:15). He answered not with a doctrine but with a person. He referred to Himself as the Bridegroom! His presence caused them to rejoice, the presence of the Bridegroom. The Lord Jesus said nothing according to the teachings, according to the Scriptures, according to any quotation from the Bible in the old way. Neither did He say anything concerning Himself as the almighty God, the Creator, the Lord, or the Master. God in the religious concept is such a One, but the Lord Jesus mentioned nothing of this. On the contrary, He referred to Himself as a bridegroom.
A bridegroom is the most pleasant person in the entire universe. You say that you fear God, you want to please God, and you like to serve the Lord — that is good, but it is rather religious. Have you ever had the concept that your Lord Jesus Christ is not only the most holy God, the Creator, the almighty Lord, and the Master, but He is your Bridegroom, the most pleasant person? In the presence of the Bridegroom, fear is nonexistent. He is so lovely; He is so pleasant; we need not fear such a One. Hallelujah, we have the Bridegroom! The Lord Jesus said that the Bridegroom is here; the most pleasant person is here. Suppose that when He replied to the disciples of John and the Pharisees in such a way, John, James, and Peter suddenly shouted Hallelujah! Do you think the Lord Jesus would rebuke them? Surely not; the Lord Jesus would be so happy.
The Lord Jesus is so much to us: He is the very God, He is the Creator, He is the Lord, He is the Master, He is the Lamb who bears away our sins and accomplishes redemption in a full way, and He is also the One with the dove who imparts life into us and baptizes us with the Spirit. But besides all these, He is the Bridegroom. Eventually, at the end of the Bible, we have such a term, the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 21:9). This is a matter which is to some extent contrary to religion and religious thoughts. The Lamb is the Redeemer, but the Lamb who took away our sins on the cross is also our Bridegroom.
Some of you have been recently saved, while others have been saved for a considerable time. Have you ever prayed in this way: “O Lord Jesus, You are so lovely; You are my Bridegroom. Lord, I love You; I love You just as one who loves her bridegroom.” Have you ever spoken to the Lord like this in your prayers? More or less we are under the influence of a religious concept. It is exceedingly easy for any Christian to pray, “O Lord, You are my God; You are my Father; You are my Master; You are my Creator.” We could say this, but I fear we are not accustomed to saying, “Lord Jesus, You are my Bridegroom!”
Now we see the religious concept. Do not blame those Jewish people; we must blame ourselves. We have all become religious. We are still to some extent under religion’s influence. We are talking about fasting and praying, while the Lord Jesus is saying, “The sons of the bridechamber cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?” The Lord Jesus is not speaking in doctrines or religious rituals, but pointing to Himself as the Bridegroom. Our God, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Lord and Master, today is a Bridegroom to us. We must all drop the religious concept and take up something new. I cannot force you, but I would ask you from this day to contact the Lord again and again with the sense that He is your Bridegroom. Would you? There is not much need to pray in the old religious way. I am afraid that when you forget God, you just forget Him; then, whenever you turn back to Him, you immediately pray in that old way. It is so easy to pray like that. But when you pray in the way of appreciating the Lord, it is entirely different. Do not think this is my teaching; it is the Lord’s revelation. The Lord is going to recover it, and He is doing it now. We must have a change. Repent! Change your concept! Be buried! Enjoy Jesus as the Bridegroom!
Many times in my room by myself I have really become excited. The Lord is so much to me. He is so good, so wonderful, far beyond what I can express. He is the Bridegroom! Hallelujah! The Bridegroom is with us — we have His presence! We not only have the presence of the almighty God but the presence of the Bridegroom, the most pleasant person. He is so precious and so lovely. The Lord Jesus must be like this to us.
In the matter of love, none of us keep any formalities or rituals. If we really love someone, we drop all the forms. If not, our love is not genuine. Therefore, since Jesus is our Bridegroom, we must drop all our rituals and formalities.
We need our concept radically changed. When we come to our meetings, the church meetings, we are coming to meet the Bridegroom. Whenever we come together, we are coming to be with our Bridegroom. His presence means everything to us. As long as He is with us, we need no regulations, no rituals, no doctrines or forms. Christianity today needs so many doctrines, forms, rituals, and regulations because they have lost the presence of the Lord. In a wedding we have the presence of the bridegroom, but in a funeral we have lost the presence of a dear one. In Christianity people have lost the presence of the dear One, so there is no excitement. But we have the presence of our Bridegroom, and His presence is everything to us. How can we help but be excited? We have to shout; we have to be exceedingly joyful. The Bridegroom is with us — Hallelujah!
The Bible not only tells us that the Lord Jesus is our Bridegroom, but that as such a person to us we are four kinds of people to Him. Matthew and Luke tell us that He is the Bridegroom, and we are the sons of the bridechamber. We are the people who are with the Bridegroom in His chamber. We love the Bridegroom. In this sense, we are not the bride, but we are the sons of the bridechamber. We gaze upon the Bridegroom; His presence is so good and pleasant to us. You see, the sons of the bridechamber are certainly unlike those in the mortuary. We are not in a mortuary; we are in the bridechamber. Hallelujah! We are companions of the Bridegroom in the bridechamber.
Second, we are the guests invited by God to the wedding feast of His Son (Matt. 22:1-10; Rev. 19:9). God the Father is now preparing a wedding feast for His Son and inviting many to attend it. Hallelujah! We are not only the sons of the bridechamber but also the guests invited to the wedding feast. Have you not received an invitation? On the day you were saved, you were invited by God the Father. “All things are ready,” He said. “Come to the wedding feast.” We are feasting now. Praise the Lord, whenever we come into His presence, we realize that we have come to a feast. Whenever we come together in a meeting, we must realize that we have come to a wedding feast. The church meeting must not be just a meal but a feast, and not an ordinary feast but a wedding feast. Whose wedding is it? It is the Lamb’s wedding. Do you come to the meetings for teaching or for learning? We must come to the meetings for feasting. Even while I am speaking in the meetings, I am feasting; I am feasting much more than you all. I have a kind of enjoyment within my spirit. So in this sense, we are the guests invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Third, we are the virgins going forth to meet the Bridegroom (Matt. 25:1-13). In one sense the Lord Jesus as the Bridegroom is with us, but in another sense He is away and is coming back. In one sense we are with Him and we are enjoying Him, but in another sense we are waiting for Him, and we wait for Him in the way of going forth to meet Him. We are the virgins. Whether I am male or female, as one going forth to meet the Bridegroom, I am a virgin. We are all virgins going out of the world to meet Him. We are all virgins looking for His coming. That is our goal. He is the coming Bridegroom. We are the virgins — we love Him; we are waiting for Him; we are eagerly seeking His coming. We are the sons of the bridechamber with the Bridegroom, we are the guests invited to His wedding feast, and we are the virgins going out of the world to meet Him.
We must realize that as virgins we are those who have nothing to do with this world. Our goal, our aim, is Christ; we are going forth to meet Him. If we are still involved in this earth, if our goal is something here, we all become gentlemen, not virgins. Sometimes I look at some of the sisters and say to myself, “You are a sister, but you are really a gentleman. You are full of earthly aims. Your aim is not the Bridegroom’s coming. Your aim is something else, perhaps even your missionary work. You are pursuing some business other than the Lord Jesus.” We all must be virgins and have nothing to do with this earth. Our goal is His coming; our goal is Christ; we are aiming at Him. As such, He is our real enjoyment. If you are not such virgins aiming at Christ, you miss at least a part of the enjoyment of Christ.
In the first sense we are the sons of the bridechamber, in the second we are the guests, in the third we are the virgins, and in the fourth we are the bride. We are not only the sons of the bridechamber, not only the guests invited to the wedding feast, not only the virgins waiting for Him, but eventually the bride herself (Rev. 19:7-8; 21:2, 9). Hallelujah! Brothers and sisters, have you realized that He is so much to us, and we are so much to Him? Because He is so much to us, we must be so much to Him.
These four aspects are all for our enjoyment of Christ as our Bridegroom. In the first sense we are the companions in the bridechamber enjoying the Bridegroom. In the second sense we are the guests enjoying Him as our feast. In the third sense we are the virgins enjoying the coming of the Bridegroom. Eventually, we will all be the bride to enjoy the Bridegroom to the uttermost. Thus, to enjoy Christ as the Bridegroom we must be four kinds of persons to Him. By all these four ways we enjoy Christ so richly and sweetly. May the Lord impress us deeply with all these four aspects and bring us into the full enjoyment of Christ.
If we would enjoy Christ in a full way, we must be one of the sons of the bridechamber, one invited to the wedding feast, one of the ten virgins, and a part of the bride. We are waiting for the day when our Bridegroom will return and take us to be with Himself as His bride. That day has not yet come, but we may at least enjoy Him now in the first, second, and third ways. Sometimes, however, we have a real foretaste of enjoying Him in the fourth way, as His very bride.
