2 Peter 3:1-18

1 Peter 1:13-21

1 Thess. 4:1-8, 13-18

Luke 21:34-36

What do these verses tell us about the return of Christ?

In what way do the passages describe the need to be ready?

What actions regarding living a life that honors the Lord accompany those who believe in and are preparing for His coming?

What is the Spirit showing us about the Church or ourselves regarding our need to live awake and be holy?

We continue to look at God’s call to be a holy, sanctified people. Those who are awake are taking this call seriously while also recognizing that spot recognition and removal are a process. 1 Thessalonians 4 speaks to this:

“Finally brothers and sisters we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more…for this is the will of God, your sanctification…For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards God who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

If we go back to the illustration of the light in the lantern, God’s desire is that we walk with Him in a manner that pleases Him more and more, but to do that, we have got to get the junk out of the lantern case so that the light within can shine. Sanctification is God’s will for His people. The Holy Spirit is the presence and power of God within to lead us in this process. One of the motivations to submit to the process of spot removal is so that the light of the presence of Christ can shine outward through us to the world around us. We are called to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill. Another motivation to engage with the Lord in cleaning out our junk is so that our light shines upward to please and honor the One whom we love, like a bride preparing to meet her groom.

In Ephesians 5, Paul gives us this picture of sanctification likening it to a bride being prepared for her husband.

“Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” In Hebrew culture this translates to Jesus paying the bride price for the people he loves. The price was His blood, His life, to have the church as His beautiful bride.

“That He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,” This describes the period of preparation for the bride to cleanse and purify herself before marrying her husband. This corresponds to the Jewish custom of the betrothal period.

“So that he might present the church to himself in radiance, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish before him.” (Eph.5:25-27) Here is the wedding, where a purified and radiant people are united at long last with the One who loved them and gave Himself for them.

A story in Genesis that beautifully depicts this process of a bride being prepared for her husband is the story of Rebekah and Isaac. In Genesis 24 Abraham calls his oldest servant who had charge of all that he had, Eliezer, to go back to the land of Mesopotamia from which they had come to get a wife for his son, Isaac. He takes ten camels and choice gifts and embarks on the 520 mile journey.

 Eliezer finally arrives at the well outside the city and prays, asking God to show him who Isaac’s prospective bride might be. He prays specifically that a young woman would come to the well, who when asked, might be willing to not only give him a drink but would also  provide water for all ten of his thirsty camels – that would be about 500 gallons of water! Rebekah comes to the well and not only gives Eliezer a drink but volunteers to draw water for his camels until they are done drinking. What a girl! 

Eliezer then asks to stay with her family and he is welcomed into their home with traditional Middle Eastern hospitality. Eliezer then tells all that his master Abraham has sent him to do; find a bride for their kinsman Isaac. As well he tells them all about his specific prayer for God’s leading being answered by his interaction with Rebekah at the well. Rebekah’s father and brother discern that this encounter is God’s doing and they consent to give Rebekah to become Isaac’s wife. Eliezer then presents them with the choice gifts that he had brought as the bride price. He tells the family that he intends to begin his return journey the next day. So soon? Rebekah’s family suggests that she stay behind for 10 additional days and begin her journey then, but are willing to let Rebekah decide. “Will you go with this man?”, they ask. She replies, “I will go.” So the next day Rebekah and a few companions mount the camels to begin the 21 day 520 mile journey back to Canaan. 

 As I think about this story, I get the sense that this account is a depiction of a bigger story, even our story. Could Abraham be a type of God the Father who is seeking a bride for his one and only Son. Could Eliezer the servant, whose name means, the God who helps, be a depiction of the Holy Spirit, whose work is to find and prepare those who choose the Son. Could Isaac be a representation of Jesus, the unseen bridegroom who pays the bride price. Could Rebekah be us, those who have said yes to the Holy Spirit, to leave behind life as we knew it, in order to believe in and belong to the unseen Son? 

Rebekah then travels through a wilderness guided only by the servant. I would imagine that Rebekah had a lot of questions for Eliezer as they traveled, “What is my husband-to-be like? Describe him for me. What is his character like? Tell me the truth about him.” And so he helped Rebekah to get to know Isaac and how wonderful he is, so that without having seen him, she grew to love him. But the journey was a long, bumpy, dirty, rough trek. Camel riding is not a luxury ride and camels are particularly surly animals. Once we have said yes to become a follower of Christ by believing that He has paid the bride price for us, we commence our own difficult wilderness journey to meet Him. But we do not travel alone. We are accompanied by the God who helps, the Holy Spirit, who is continually guiding us and preparing us by removing our spots, wrinkles, blemishes to be radiant for the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.

  The story of Eliezer bringing Rebekah to Isaac ends in Genesis 24:63 – 66

“Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening, He lifted up his eyes and behold, there were camels coming. Rebekah lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, ‘Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?’ The servant said, ‘This is my master.’ And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done [and that she had done] …she became his wife and he loved her.”

“Right now the Holy Spirit [the God who helps] is poking at the dying embers of your love for Jesus. [Perhaps you are tired of this camel ride and have lost sight of who it is that you are preparing to meet.] It is because he desires to set your heart on fire with love for him! Are you allowing the Spirit of God to convict you of sin and unbelief? If so, rejoice! He wants you to be cleansed from every spot, every wrinkle on that day when you [finally dismount the camel] meet him [your bridegroom] face to face. So yield to His leading. Let Him do His [sanctifying] work in you completely – and you will truly know what it means to walk in the Spirit.” (worldchallenge.org May 14,2021)

The call to holy living has a purpose. It is preparation to meet our Savior. Just as a bride wouldn’t dream of showing up for her wedding in a disheveled and dirty condition, so we who belong to Him can let the Holy Spirit do His sanctifying work in us as we ready ourselves to be united with Him.