Isa 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
The Lord tells us that the Bridegroom is with us. But look at yourself--do you deserve His presence? Do you think that your real condition in the eyes of God is worthy of the presence of the Bridegroom? We must all answer, "No." All we have and all we are does not deserve the Lord's presence. To enjoy the Lord's presence we need certain qualifications; we need to be in a certain condition, in a certain situation. What we are by birth, what we are naturally, whatever we can do, and whatever we have, do not qualify us to be in the presence of the Bridegroom. The Bridegroom is Christ, and Christ is God Himself. Suppose God appeared to you today. Could you just sit there? He is the holy God, the righteous God, and such a One is the Bridegroom. We must remember the context of these verses in Matthew 9: the Lord Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners. We are "tax collectors" and sinners. We are not qualified; we need something to cover us that we may sit in the presence of the Lord. This is why, after the Lord spoke of Himself as the Bridegroom, He told us that we need to be clothed in a new garment. When we put on the new garment, we are worthy of His presence. We as sinners and "tax collectors" need to be clothed in a new garment that we may be worthy of the Bridegroom's presence.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 339-340. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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