They're happy times. I love to do weddings. Reminds
me of a little poem I heard one time that said,
the bride, white of hair, stoops over her cane.
Her footsteps, uncertain, need guiding. While
down the church aisle, with a waned, toothless
smile, the groom in a wheelchair comes riding.
And who is this elderly couple thus wed? You
will find when you've carefully explored it that
here is that rare conservative pair who've waited
till they could afford it. Amen. We're going
to talk about a wedding today, about a bride
and a groom. And to do that, would you turn in
your Bible, please, to Ephesians chapter 5, beginning
in verse 22. Ephesians 5, verse 22. The New Testament
is rich in its store of pictures and analogies
which illustrate the believer's relationship
to Jesus Christ. to the world around it, as well
as to other believers. Last week we examined
the metaphor of the holy temple, and we found
that this holy temple of God has an architect.
It is God himself. It has a foundation, which
is the apostles and prophets. It has a chief.
without which all of the rest of the building
would collapse, and that is Jesus Christ. And
it has living stones, that is, individual believers,
you and me in this age. We are being built upon
the cornerstone and the foundation as God is
constructing this habitation of His in this age.
We have become ourselves the place of worship
where God interacts. with people. We are the
holy temple of God. But as well, we are the bride.
Now what is said here in Ephesians 5 is in the
context of a very important portion dealing with
husbands and wives. We are not going to talk
much about that aspect of it today. Not that
it shouldn't be said, but we don't have time
to cover that part. of the lesson we will emphasize
christ and his bride but i encourage you to pay
attention to what else is said along the way
wives be subject to your own husbands as to the
lord for the husband is the head of the wife
as christ also is the head of the church he himself
being the savior of the body but as the church
is subject to christ so also the wives ought
to be to their husbands in everything Husbands,
love your wives just as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself up for her, that he might
sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing
of water with the word, that he might present
to himself the church in all her glory, having
no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that
she should be holy and blameless. So husbands
ought to love their own wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his own wife loves himself, for
no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes
and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the
church, because we are members of his body. For
this cause a man shall leave his father and mother
and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall
become one flesh. This mystery is great, but
I am speaking with reference to Christ and the
church. This metaphor of the church, the radiant
bride, immediately brings to our minds certain
images and concepts. But we must have a note
of caution here before developing these images
and concepts too far. We must be sure that we
understand the wedding and the espousal that
is in view when we talk about, the church as
being the bride of Christ. For we are dealing
here with a culture that is far distant from
our own, a culture that is oriental and one that
is 2 ,000 years ago. So let's talk about first
the background of this illustration. Where does
it come from? Well, obviously it comes from the
Jewish traditions in weddings. The first major
step in bringing about a marriage between two
Jewish young people was the establishment of
what was called the marriage covenant. This covenant
was titled the betrothal or the espousal. In
it, the Jewish groom would leave his father's
house and would go to the house of his prospective
bride. Upon arrival there, he would meet with
the bride's father, and there were two concerns
on his mind. First, he would ask the bride's
father for permission to marry the daughter.
If that permission were granted, he would then
begin to negotiate with the bride's father for
the purchase price of his bride. Now I'm glad
that was not the case when I got married, but
it's not such a bad idea now that I have daughters,
I think. Now assuming that they could arrive
at a price that was mutually agreeable, the marriage
covenant was established. Once it was established,
the bride and groom would ceremonially take a
cup of wine. and they would each drink from that
cup. From that moment on, they were considered
to be legally married. But they did not begin
to live together right away. The bride, rather
the groom, would excuse himself from the bride
and would return to his father's house. And the
two of them would remain separated then for about
a year. The groom would busily prepare an apartment
or some kind of living accommodation in that
year for himself and his bride. At the end of
that period of time, on an unannounced night,
the groom would call to him his best man and
others who would escort him, and they would begin
a torch -lit procession. to the home of the bride.
She did not know when he would come. But as the
procession would move through the city toward
her house, the bystanders along the way would
recognize what was taking place, and they would
begin to cry out, Behold, the bridegroom comes!
Here he comes! And that would pass down from
block upon block until it reached the house of
the bride. And then that would be her warning.
that he was on the way. So she would gather together
her bridesmaids and they would make preparation.
One of those steps was what was called a bridal
bath in which she carefully washed herself, for
which I'm sure the groom was exceedingly grateful.
Before they finished all of the preparations,
however, The groom and his party would arrive,
and they would stay outside the house of the
bride and wait for her. And you men know how
long that can be. After that waiting period,
however long it took for her to get ready, she
would make her grand exit from her father's house
to join her groom in the street. And then she
and her bridesmaids and the groom and the whole
enlarged wedding party would make its way back
to his father's house in a torch -lit procession.
Once they arrived there, there would be other
wedding guests who had assembled in the meantime
in a banquet hall. And the bride and groom would
go around and greet everyone, and then they and
the immediate bridal party would excuse themselves.
and go to another room. And then the bride and
groom would excuse themselves from the bridal
party and would enter into the bridal chamber.
And there, in privacy and intimacy, their marriage
would be consummated. That having taken place,
the groom would come back out to the wedding,
to the bridal party itself, would announce that
fact, and they as a group, leaving the bride
in the bridal chamber, would go out to where
the festivities were to take place, and the party
would be on. And in Jesus' day, that party would
last for about seven days, as they would join
in the joy of that which had taken place. But
the bride stayed in private. She was not a part
of that. They were called the hiding days. Seven
days when she would be not seen. And after the
conclusion of those seven days, the groom would
then escort his wife out so that everyone could
see her. Her veil would be gone from her face,
and they would all celebrate. And some people
say that in certain occasions, at least, they
would have at least a 30 -day celebration of
that marriage. Now, that is something of the
cultural background. of the wedding that is in
view as the apostle talks about it here in Ephesians
chapter 5. With that background, perhaps you
can remind yourself with me of some of the parallels
that exist between that historical cultural setting
and what takes place and is and will take place
in the relationship between Jesus Christ and
his bride, the church. Now remember that no analogy
is perfect, and we must be careful of pushing
details too far. But there are at least seven
parallels that I can quickly spot as we think
about this matter. The first parallel is that
of the bridegroom's first coming. He would leave
his home and go to the bride's home and there
pay the price for her. That is exactly what our
Lord Jesus Christ did 2 ,000 years ago. He left
his Father's house in heaven and came here to
the earth, to the house, as it were, of the bride.
And he made the transaction to purchase her for
himself and established a covenant, a binding
covenant between himself and his bride. And the
price that was paid was his own life's blood.
The second parallel I see in the covenant symbol,
in the cup of wine that was shared. Do you realize
that each time that you and I observe communion,
that it signifies this marriage covenant between
us and Jesus Christ, the new covenant in his
blood? Jesus said, you do show the Lord's death,
or rather Paul said, you do show the Lord's death
till he comes. So every time we partake of that
cup, we are reminding ourselves of the purchase
price, what Jesus paid, that we might be married
to him in this covenant. The third parallel is
that of the bridegroom's present work. For he
went back to his father's house. And there he
is preparing a place for us. John chapter 14.
A place that is exceedingly beautiful and which
is described in Revelation chapter 21 beginning
in verse 9. Where the angel says to John, come
and I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife.
And as he does that, he shows this beautiful
city, the new Jerusalem. That is the place that
Jesus is preparing for us, his bride. The fourth
parallel is that of the bridegroom's return.
For without announcement and suddenly, he would
come to the house of the bride without entering
in and would receive his bride to himself. In
John chapter 14, Jesus said, I go to prepare
a place for you, and if I go, I will what? Come
again and receive you to myself, that where I
am, there you may be also. And that is, of course,
the rapture of the church when the Lord Jesus
will come back to the world, not to the earth,
but into the atmosphere of the world, and will
call out his bride to himself. Behold, the bridegroom
is here, and we will be changed and caught up
to meet him in the air and go back to the Father's
house. A fifth parallel might be the guests at
the wedding. For when we arrive back in the Father's
house, there will be others who will be there
who will not be a part of the church. I refer
to the Old Testament saints. Those who believed
in the Lord. trusted in him in that age before
Calvary. Included in that number would be John
the Baptist, who described himself in John 3
.29 as a friend of the bridegroom. These Old
Testament saints will be assembled in the Father's
house to share in the festivities of the marriage
of the Lamb and his bride. Parallel number six
might well be the days of hiding that we referred
to. These would be analogous to the seven years
of tribulation upon the earth, during which the
bride will be unseen by the world. She will be
in heaven, hidden away. But after that period
of time, she will return with the Lord to the
earth and be manifested in all of her glory with
him in his glory. What a grand announcement and
procession that will be in the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. And a
seventh parallel could be the period of celebration
that followed the marriage. Some people, Bible
scholars, understand the millennium, the literal
reign of Jesus Christ on the earth for a thousand
years. to not only be the time when the promises
to Abraham and to Israel would be fulfilled,
but a time as well when there will be a worldwide
celebration of the Lamb's marriage to His bride,
the Church, so that we can understand the millennium
to be the festivities surrounding our marriage
to Christ. So great will be the joy of that union
of the Lamb and His bride that it will take a
thousand years just to begin to celebrate that
joy. Now what lessons can we learn from all of
this? There are four of them I would like to
mention to you. As we think about the Lamb, Jesus
Christ and his bride, the church. Lesson number
one is the lesson of love. In Ephesians chapter
5, we read, Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her. He loved us more than just
in word but in deed. And as an expression of
his love for us, he gave himself up. That refers
to his sacrifice on the cross. For the same phrase
is used a few verses earlier in the chapter when
it says that we should walk in love, verse 2,
just as Christ also loved you and gave himself
up for us. An offering and a sacrifice to God
as a fragrant aroma. In other words, as a sacrifice
which was pleasing to God. The lesson of love
that we see exemplified in our Savior is that
He gave Himself for us, and there is no greater
love than one should lay down his life for another.
Now, why did He do this? Well, there are two
reasons given in verses 26 and 27. He gave Himself
up for us that He might sanctify the church.
That means to set the church, to set believers
apart. to make them different, to make them holy.
He gave himself up to sanctify the church, having
cleansed her by the washing of water with the
word. The tenses of the verbs there in verse
26 lead me to believe that that cleansing it's
talking about, the washing or the bath of water
with the word, is the word of the gospel which
we hear and believe. and which then results in
our being cleansed from all of our sins. And
it is that bath, just like the bridal bath, it
is that bath that sanctifies and sets us apart
for our bridegroom. But then he expresses furthermore
that he might present to himself the church in
all her glory. And so he gave himself for us
to sanctify us and to cleanse us from our sins,
but also that he might present us to himself
in glory. That word present is such a fine one.
It means that he wishes to place us beside himself.
Think of this, that the king of the universe
desires to place you beside himself so that you
might share with him. In glory. Isn't that fabulous?
That's how much he loves you and me. That's why
he gave himself up for us. That he might present
us to himself. That we might be a radiant bride.
Which he describes here as having no spot. That
is no stain. Not dirty. Having no wrinkle. Now
that's a pleasant thought, isn't it? It literally
means a wrinkle on the skin caused by age. In
other words, the church is presented here in
her freshness and her youth. Or any such thing.
In other words, there will be nothing at all
that will be charged against the church in that
day. He says that we will be holy and blameless.
Frankly, our lifestyles right now come a little
short of that, don't they? Because we still do
sin. And we should not take that lightly, considering
who we are in Jesus Christ and what our destiny
is. But aren't you glad that there's a day coming
when we are going to be presented to Jesus Christ
in glory and there will be no mark, no stain,
no wrinkle or anything like that that will disfigure
us? and make us unworthy to be standing with
him, beside him, on his throne. Jesus Christ
loved the church, and he gave himself for it.
Question. Do you love the church? Then what have
you given for the church? Have you given yourself
for it? And I'm thinking primarily of the local
expression of the church because that's the tangible
thing that we can relate to. If Jesus Christ
so loved this church that he gave himself for
it, then how much should we love it? And yet
isn't our attitude too often, what am I going
to get out of church? rather than what can I
give and contribute to church. I must ask myself,
as you should ask yourself the question, what
sacrifice have I made for the church? Do you
love the church? If we love the church, then
we'll give ourselves to it and for it as much
as Jesus did, even to the point of sacrifice.
How does that apply to you? I don't know. What
is it that God says to you to do in order to
prove your love for the church? I don't know.
But I know this, we can't just love the church
in word. That's insufficient. There must be some
deed there as well. The lesson of love. Then
the lesson of care. We see that Jesus Christ
is presently caring for his bride as a man would
his own body, it says in verse 29. No one ever
hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes
it just as Christ also does the church. In other
words, Christ nourishes and cherishes the church.
He cares for the church presently, right now.
He nourishes it. What does that mean? Well, it
means more than food. The idea behind the word
nourish is to bring this one who is in view to
maturity, to full perfection. In other words,
the concern of Jesus Christ right now is that
every believer in the church be brought to full
maturity. and perfection. He nourishes us. He
feeds us. He brings us along in our understanding
of who He is. He exposes our sins so that we
can confess that and repent of it and be done
with it. He's nourishing us to bring us to maturity,
but then He's cherishing us as well. What a great
word that is. Like a husband cherishes his wife.
Like a man cherishes his own body. And oh, how
men are wont to do that. To show tender love
to their own bodies. So Jesus Christ is tenderly
loving us and showing us affection. Question.
Do you care for other believers? Do you weep
o 'er the erring one and lift up the fallen?
Or do you gossip about the erring one and kick
the fallen? As much as our Lord is concerned
about the church maturing and growing and being
nourished, so ought we to be. And I will frankly
say to you that as the pastor teacher of this
church, that is my number one priority. that
this church be matured in the things of God.
We are all at various levels of maturity, and
I'm concerned that we all be brought along and
grow. I know many of you share that concern.
You're pouring your lives into other people,
that they might be nourished and brought along
in their walk with God. We must care about each
other. Are we showing tender affection and love?
When someone in our small church is hurting,
are we ministering to them? What about the person
who's not involved in our small church? Do we
care about them? What about the one who's going
through the struggle in the family with children
who are rebellious? It's a lot easier to condemn
than it is to pray or to go out there and put
your arm around that father or mother and to
say, if there's anything I can do, I'm here.
Once again, folks, words are not enough. We must
show that we care. There's somebody around you
right now who needs your care. And you may not
even know that at this point, but I guarantee
you that's true. Because every person you meet
is battling some battle, is carrying some load.
And we need to be sensitive to that. And there
are ways that we can individually get involved
in the lives of other people. If we send somebody
down, let's just take a moment and say, hey,
is something a problem? Can I help you? Can I
pray with you about something? Folks, let's care.
I mean, let's really care about one another.
Jesus cares about us, and we must reflect that.
Lesson three is the lesson of oneness. It says
that for this cause a man shall leave his father
and mother and shall cleave. The word literally
means to be glued to his wife. And the two shall
become one flesh. Back in Genesis, when that
account is given, the Hebrew there is very expressive
when it says the two shall become one. The word
one back there means indivisibly one. We picture
it mathematically by saying one plus one equals
one. There is a oneness between husband and wife
that is very special. But then he goes right
on to say, this mystery is great, but I'm speaking
with reference to Christ and the church. In other
words, he is giving us here a lesson in oneness.
He is saying that you and I are permanently identified
with or glued to our bridegroom. That's the reason
that the mystery is so great, he says, because
we are united, identified with him. We're not
only joined to him, but we are a part of Jesus
Christ. Now, there are a couple of very practical
applications of this truth. One is that we can
rest easily knowing that we are kept secure in
our relationship with him. I am one with Jesus
Christ. Do you understand that? It means that
I can no more lose out on my salvation and go
to hell now than Jesus Christ can go to hell.
And I say that with reverence. Because God, by
His grace, has made me one with Christ, just
as He's made you one with Jesus Christ. And you
can rest secure in that knowledge. Spurgeon said,
as long as a man's head is above water, you can't
drown his feet. And my friend, our head is in
heaven. He's glorified, and we may be nothing
but the soles of the feet, but we're part of
Him. As long as the head's above water, you can't
drown the feet. A second application is this.
Nothing happens to me but that He permits it
and knows all about it. Because you see, I'm
a member of Him. He cannot neglect me. He cannot
hate his own flesh, his own body. And so whatever
happens to me happens to Jesus. It's just that
simple. Whatever happens to you happens to him.
There's nothing that happens to you but that
he is not in control of that. He's not aware
of it. He's not monitoring it. He's not able
to meet your need in that crisis, whatever it
is. because we are one with him. Since Christ
and we are one, why should we doubt and fear?
If he in heaven has fixed his throne, he'll fix
his members there. That's the lesson of oneness.
And finally, the lesson of submission. We see
in verse 24 that the church is subject to Christ.
In verse 23, Christ is the head of the church.
Just as a wife is to reverence her husband and
to be in submission to him, so, my friend, so,
my friend, we are to be in reverence of Jesus
Christ and in submission to him. Oh, you say,
I know he's the head. We sang about it this morning
in the hymn. I know that he's the final authority.
Good. Now, are you living in light of that? Are
you living in light of it? You say, well, as
much as I know. You say, how do I know what he
wants? After all, he's invisible to me. There's
a very good answer to that. Our head, our bridegroom,
Our husband -to -be, the Lord Jesus Christ, expresses
his will for us, his wife, his bride, the church,
right here. And as the Holy Spirit teaches us,
we learn what he wants us to do and to be. You
say, well, how does that apply in the church?
Well, there's one other aspect to that. And that
is the Lord Jesus Christ has provided that in
this age in the local church, there should be
leaders that he calls elders. These elders of
the congregation are responsible for determining
the mind of God in the direction of the ministry
of the church. They are no more infallible than
anybody else in the church, but they are responsible.
And that is why in the word of God it says, Obey
your leaders and submit to them, for they watch
over your souls as those who will give an account.
Let them do this with joy and not with grief,
for that will be unprofitable for you. We as
a church express our submission to Jesus Christ,
our head, by our attitude toward the authority
that he establishes within the local congregation.
The elders. A few weeks ago, or I should say
a few days ago, I was in a meeting where John
MacArthur was speaking, and he told about a time
of stress within Grace Community Church there
in Sun Valley, California, when some of the older
members of the church became disgruntled over
some issue. And they demanded a meeting with
him. And so... A time and a place was established
when he would meet with them. And they were all
gathered there, all of these disgruntled people.
And he, along with a couple of elders, came in.
And John said, before we get started, I just
want to read some scriptures and have prayer.
And so he opened his Bible and he began to read
from 1 Corinthians chapter 3 about strife and
division and the fact that that is an evidence
of carnality. Then he turned to Hebrews chapter
13 and he read the verse I just read about obey
those who are your leaders and submit to them.
That's the will of God. Then he closed his Bible
and he said, folks, I just want to tell you,
you're carnal. That's the problem. He said, what
we need to do is to repent and pray. And God
met them in that room that day, and there was
a brokenness, and there was a repentance. What
is your attitude toward the headship of Jesus
Christ? As the direct Lord of your life, and
then as it relates in the church, the authority
that God has established in the church, is there
chafing and resistance or even rebellion? Then
be aware that that's not God's will. It's carnality.
Be aware that what God's will is, that all of
us be submitted. One to another, as he says in
verse 21, in the fear of Christ. What does he
say in the fear of Christ? Because it's a very,
very serious thing to be in rebellion. Whether
it be in the husband -wife relationship or in
the church relationship, rebellion is as witchcraft,
says the Word of God. That's the lesson of submission.
The relationship between a bridegroom and his
bride is one of love. And folks, if there's any
great danger that you face, which I face, is
that our love should not be what it ought to
be. We face the danger in the first place of
a cooling love. When, like the church at Ephesus,
we do all of the outward things we're supposed
to do, but Jesus says to us, this I have against
you. You've left your first love. You've forsaken
it. You don't love me with the intensity with
which you loved me at one time. The next step
away is an indifferent love, like the church
in Laodicea, where they could care less whether
Jesus was in their midst. They were rich and
had need of nothing. They were having a grand
old time, and yet he was outside knocking to
come in. They were lukewarm and self -satisfied.
That's a step down from what happened in Ephesus.
Cooling love, indifferent love, and the final
awful step is adulterous love. When we fall out
of love with Jesus Christ and fall into love
with the world, the systemized organization of
evil headed up by Satan, which controls unregenerate
people. That's why we were told in 1 John 2,
verse 15, do not love the world. But James takes
it a step further and addresses people who were
loving the world. And he says, you adulteresses.
Now, my friend, that's a strong word. He says,
you adulteresses, do you not know that friendship
with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore,
whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God. Are you guilty of sexual
immorality? You say, oh, wow, never. I would
not want to shame myself. I would not want to
shame my wife. I would not want to shame my God
by that. I wouldn't be involved in sexual immorality.
I wouldn't commit adultery. It's a terrible thing,
and it is. It's a shameful, despicable thing.
But if we feel that strongly about physical adultery,
why is it that we take spiritual adultery in
our own lives so lightly? When we have one arm
around the Savior, But the other arm is around
the world, and we are cuddling up as close to
the world as we can possibly get, and loving
the world too. James says, you adulteresses.
Dear people, we are the beloved bride of Jesus
Christ. We are destined to join Him on His throne,
to share in His inheritance, to be glorified
with Him. Let's have a pure love, a fresh love,
a first love for Him. The Apostle Paul said to
the Corinthians, My desire for you is that I
might present you as a pure, chaste virgin to
Jesus Christ. And that's how we as a church and
we as individuals ought to want to be presented
to him. Would you bow with me? I don't know what
the intensity of your love may be for your bridegroom.
But dear Christian, can I ask you, is it a cooling
love? Is it the same intensity of love that could
be described as first love? Or has it even slipped
so far as to be a lukewarm love, an indifferent
love? You don't really take time to spend with
him, to talk with him, to read his word. Or has
it gone even further so that you're a spiritual
adulterer or an adulteress? You love the world.
You're living in the world. You're a part of
it. Sin is dominating you. Will you today make
whatever confession to your bridegroom that you
need to make? Ask his forgiveness. Repent and
return to him. Father, I pray. that each of us
may be pure and chaste in our love for our bridegroom.
And wherein that love is less than it ought to
be or it is given to another, expose that, rebuke
us, that we may repent of it and come back to
that place of first love. And I pray this in
Jesus' name. My Jesus, I love Thee. I know Thou
art mine. For Thee all the follies of sin my
precious Redeemer, my Savior. Number 480 will
be our closing hymn. We're going to sing.