Being the Bride of Christ

Good morning, everyone. I haven't seen the room this crowded, I think, since the first time we bought the ABC crowd down. And it is a privilege to be back. It seems like we were just here. I know it's been some weeks, but the time is flying by. It crossed my mind a day or so ago, I was thinking about how Mr. Campos had me substituting for him, some while he was traveling.

And it occurred to me, there was a few years ago, Mr. Antion would have me substitute for him at ABC when he was in the Council of Elders, and I substituted for him several times. Then he called and told me I was taking over his job. But I need to worry about getting a new assignment. But hopefully not. I'm sure you're not eager to see Mr. Campos go away, and I don't think he is. He's visiting up in, I believe it's New Brunswick, and has a daughter there as well.

And I don't have much to say about the ABC graduation, except it was a thrill. It's one of those things where you rush and rush and try to get all these things done, and then suddenly it's all quiet. And the Home Office has been very quiet the last few days. I noticed yesterday there were only a handful of us there because of many men traveling out to be places for Pentecost. But we'll miss the class. You get attached to them. In the spring of the year, people always ask me, well, how is it going? How do you feel? I said, well, I feel a little sad because you work with them, and you love them, and you get to know them, and then they graduate and leave. But there's a whole new group coming in next year. Matter of fact, this week we just got a new application. A fellow in Arizona, I believe, and it's not confidential to give his name, it was Gabrielle Alberado.

Mrs. DeCampo has mentioned that, and I said, do you think he's Hispanic? So anyways, we'll have another class of students next year, and it will be exciting again. Seems like there was something else I was going to say, but if I think of it, I'll tell you tomorrow down in Brea. I'm going to start off by saying, I decided to do something in a way that I haven't done before. In my years of speaking in Sabbath services and in the ministry, I've had an opportunity to address a wide variety of topics. And I remember one of the things that was kind of exciting when I was hired by the church and became a pastor, I suddenly realized, hey, I get to give the main message on a holy day. Because you spend years before that trying not to cover the main thing because you want to fit in and supplement what you know the pastor is going to cover. So when you're the guy, it's like, oh, I get to talk about that. And since then at ABC, I've got to delve deeply into some important topics in the Bible. But there are a couple of subjects that I've never spoken at length about, and it might be surprising, but I'll explain why. The two are child-rearing and marriage. And that hasn't been because I don't know anything about those topics. Not that I'm ignorant of what the Bible teaches, but partly I thought, wow. Could we adjust that curtain? I said, I mean, a card just pulled in. I mean, windshield's giving me glare on my eyes. Thank you. But I would say, I remember hearing stories, I've heard stories for almost as far back as I can remember, of the days when the church was growing so rapidly that fresh ambassador college graduates were being hired and sent out into the field as assistant pastors and sometimes pastors. And so years later, I've enjoyed hearing the stories from white-haired grandparents about how they'd have a 21-year-old man come in and start to teach them about child-rearing and give them sermons on how to have a happy marriage when, of course, those young men hadn't had a chance to develop much experience on their own.

Now, of course, the men meant well, and not to say that what they taught then had no value, because the Bible says what it says, and they had been studying that. Whether or not their life experience supplemented it very much. But still, when I was hired as a pastor, I had only just become a father. And I realized I was looking out in an audience where a lot of those people knew more about raising children than I did. I was expecting to learn from them. I'd been married a few years longer than that, and I would say happily. I still didn't feel like I was one to start instructing on marriage. As a matter of fact, I'd say the one lesson that I got down properly, or the one thing I'd done right in my marriage, was to convince you to marry me. That carried a lot of mistakes since then. Sorry, Sue, I'm not trying to embarrass you today. But time goes by, and this summer Sue and I are going to have our 15th anniversary. Which I know we look pretty old for only being 30 years old, but... I'm joking a little. We were older than most people starting a first marriage. And I will say that the many sermons I heard back when I was a teenager and in my 20s on marriage, some of those lessons came back. So they were useful. And I thought, you know, maybe, just maybe, I'm finally ready to give a sermon on marriage. But having set this all up, I'll say that's not exactly what I have in mind for today. To be honest, I'm still one of the least experienced in the room. I look around and many of you have been married quite a few years more than Sue and I. And that lets me maybe take a different angle at it. I'm going to assume that you know a thing or two. If I borrow from the farmer's insurance commercial, you know a thing or two because you've seen a thing or two. You know, about marriage and raising children. And then maybe then, knowing that you have a lot of knowledge, I could take that and talk about a subject that I think is especially fitting for this weekend, and that's the Church of God. The Church and the Church's relationship with God, specifically with Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul taught a bit about marriage, which, actually, if you want to turn to Ephesians 5, it seems almost required that I go there if I'm going to talk about this subject.

But Paul made a very profound statement after giving some wise advice to husbands and wives about how to treat each other and what they should do and what they shouldn't do. And I'm saying it's kind of ironic because Paul seems to have not been married, but many people believe that he was probably widowed at that time and had been married.

But after, at the end of all that, he reveals something very important in Ephesians 5 and verse 32. He says, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.

Marriage is a type of the relationship between the Church of God and Jesus Christ.

I realize I'm not telling you something new and revelatory at this point. You've probably heard that many times. That's important. I mentioned the sermons that I heard when I was younger about how to conduct your marriage. And they often would explore Ephesians 5, often talk about how we know, since we know the way the Church is supposed to relate to Christ, we can start applying that to building good and healthy marriages.

Now, later on we started wondering, well, did we have everything quite correct about the Church? Not to say that we were way off, but sometimes we think we know more than we do. But today I want to turn that style around and look at it the other direction. Maybe look at some of what we know about marriage, including what the Scripture does tell us, and apply that to understanding our role as Christians within God's Church.

You know, how to maintain and build a relationship with God. And by the way, when I say that, I shouldn't say this is the comprehensive sermon on how to have a relationship with God. I don't think there is such a thing as a comprehensive sermon on that subject. Now, for the start, we should start with the start. I didn't have that in my notes, but it occurred to me. We want to begin talking about how the relationship starts, but first I thought I should deal with the one major incongruity in the analogy. I wrote out the word incongruity without having to say it. I realized it doesn't come as easily. But I remember, as I said, growing up in the Church for the most part and hearing these sermons about marriage and making this analogy.

You're the bride of Christ. The ministers tell us, you as a Church, you're the bride of Christ. We're in the role of the wife. And as a relatively healthy teenage boy with testosterone coursing through my veins, I'd have to say that made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. You know, it didn't bother me that God is portrayed as a husband and a father. But I thought, yeah, I want to see myself in that role, too. Me? A wife?

Well, I guess I want to clearly say that this analogy is about the relationship. It's not about gender. And I'm not implying that you don't realize that, but we should just put that aside and make sure that we realize that what we can learn from the analogy applies to both of us.

In creating Adam and Eve, I won't turn there, but in Genesis 1 and verse 27, it says, God created man, and it could have been translated mankind. I believe the word there is a Gom, which was used as a personal name for Adam as well as for human beings. But it says that God created man in his own image.

And then it says, in the image of God, he created him. Male and female he created him. Both men and women are created in the image of God. It's not that man is in God's image and women are, well, whatever women are. No, it's not that way at all. You know, there are differences between men and women, and that's important.

And I've come up with a way that I think describes what God did, and I say think because it seems to be true, but I can't turn to a chapter and verse that exactly illustrates this. But I think God created men and women in his image, and we could say he made some of his own character traits and attributes a bit more prominent in women than in men. And some of his other traits he made a bit more prominent in men than in women. And thus we could say perhaps when a man and woman are married, that's when they are the most in the image of God. And if you've heard me say that before, it's because I say it as often as I can because I think it's clever. But hopefully it's also true.

But when we talk about this allegory or analogy, I sometimes struggle with which term I should use. But this analogy between Christians and Christ and the church and this relationship with Jesus Christ, it's Paul wasn't just talking to women. And so men could say, listen up, honey, you learn, you've got to learn this, and I'll be over here drinking a beer and watching a football game. It's not like that. We're all made in God's image. We're all in the role of being married to Christ.

As a matter of fact, I could say the opposite. If some of God's traits that he made perhaps more prominent in women make it easier for them to learn that lesson, then we men are at a disadvantage and we'll have to work harder to perhaps catch up.

But getting back to the start of the relationship, my point there is there is a start to the relationship.

And in any relationship that really matters, you don't want to forget how it started, how it came about.

Most married couples remember how they met. As a matter of fact, it's a famous, or not a famous, it's a favorite dinner topic. I think if you have people over to dinners, who and I try to have the ambassador students over at times. It's not uncommon for the question to come up, well, how did you meet? How did you end up being married to each other? I still remember the first time I saw Sue. It was at a feast of cavern apples, many, well, quite a few years ago. I remember I was on the ushering crew at that time, so we were there early and I was doing my duties. And as I wasn't married, I was, I did notice when there were pretty girls around. And I remember a dark-haired girl with pretty eyes putting out books to save seats. And she looked up and smiled, you know, the way only she can.

I thought, I want to meet that girl. But the funny thing is, I'm really bad at meeting girls. And so, you know, I sort of wanted to and I tried to get up my nerve and I never did go up and talk to her for a couple of days. Finally, it was at one of the single, one of maybe the single's activities, it included a luncheon. And I was sitting there with some people I knew and happened to be a seat open next to me. Here comes that dark-haired girl with the pretty eyes through the line and she sat down right next to me. And a couple of days later, we actually bumped into each other on the beach. I think that's when we had our first one-on-one conversation. After the feast, I contacted her by email. And those conversations, it was one of those neat things like, oh, this girl only lives a hundred miles away from me. You know, you can meet at the feast, people could be from all over the place. Now, so it started there. That's where we met. We had contact. I got her email address, wrote to her, and got up the nerve to ask her out for a date. Now, you might think it was smooth sailing from there to the wedding aisle, but it wasn't. And that's a story for another time. Don't worry about that. The point is, for every relationship, if it is a relationship, be a marriage or a friendship. A teammate, work relationship. One person generally initiates the relationship, and the other person responds to that initiative. And one person has to reach out and make it possible. And the other person has to respond. If those two things don't happen, there is not a relationship. There are just two strangers.

Between the Church and Jesus Christ, we want to never forget He's the one that started it. He is the one that initiates. Matthew 16, verse 18. This is a memory scripture, although my Bible is almost open to there, so maybe I will turn there. Matthew 16 and verse 18. To give some of the story, come in, coming into it. Remember Jesus had His disciples, and they were parked somewhere, and He raises a conversation. Who do people say that I am? You go, well, does somebody think you are John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets? And He says, well, who do you think I am? Peter answered right away, you are the... Well, actually, instead of just quoting it from memory, which is bad. He said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my Father who is in Heaven. And I say, you, you are Peter, and I am getting sidetracked here, you are Petros. On this rock, this Petra, we make the point that Christ wasn't talking about building His church on Peter, the pebble. He was talking about building the church on the solid rock foundation that Christ was and is. On this rock, I will build my church. I will build my church. The gates of Hades will not prevail against it. We should never forget that Jesus Christ didn't find a church to join. He didn't say, I need to find a group of people out there that believe what I believe and go join them. You know, many of us have had that experience, but not Him. He established a church. Established a church that didn't exist before that. So that we could say on the other side, the church wasn't there, and then said, hey, that Jesus guy is pretty okay. Let's bring Him in. Not at all. The church exists because Jesus Christ founded it. Matter of fact, He makes it more clear if you want to flip back to John 15 and verse 16. John 15 and verse 16 have something that on His last night that He spent with His disciples in the flesh before His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus had a lot of important things He wanted to teach them. And He couldn't squeeze them all in, or He knew they wouldn't understand all of them, but He made it clear later on, you're going to understand this. But one of the things He told them here in verse 16 is, You did not choose me. I chose you. And appointed you that you should go out and bear fruit. Think of Zach's sermonette. We're to bear fruit just as every disciple has ever been. And that your fruit should remain, and whatever you ask, the Father in My name, He may give you. But the point is, again, Jesus Christ did the choosing. And the relationship that the church has, and we could say that the relationship that we individuals have, we didn't start it. We can take no credit. Now, that's not to insult or belittle us. It's to remind us of how important it is that we're here. I won't turn there. Ephesians 2 and verse 20. Ephesians 2.20 describes the foundation of the church being the apostles and prophets. Paul liked to use different metaphors at different times, because that's not to say the church isn't established on Jesus Christ the Rock.

But the prophets of the Old Testament, the apostles of the New, were the ones that he worked with powerfully to have a called-out chosen people.

Now, I'm sort of mixing things together here. As I said, the church is an institution. It's the conglomeration of all of us who are members of it. And so we have to understand that Jesus Christ founded a church.

But he also works with us as individuals. And many of the lessons that I'll talk about as we proceed will be for us as individuals, because we're not, you know, none of us are running the church. Thankfully, I'm glad I'm not doing that. But, you know, Christ initiated...well, and I guess I want to make sure I do understand the difference.

John 6 and verse 44. It's in John 6, 44, as well as John 6, 65, that Jesus told the people that he was speaking to that no one could come to him, Jesus Christ, except the Father in heaven draws him. So we want to realize that Jesus Christ founded the church. He initiates the relationship in conjunction with God the Father. They work in perfect harmony, as they have since before there was time.

There were some of the men conversing about the idea of eternity and such beforehand. We know John 1-1 reminds us that in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. They've always worked in complete harmony and agreement. So when I say Jesus Christ initiated the relationship or that God the Father initiated the relationship, it's not to say that, it's not like Jesus said, what did you do that for? I wasn't ready for that one. They worked together perfectly. So both of them were involved. And again, that tells us we didn't choose God.

He chose us. And something I like to point out, especially with young people, but I think it's just true for all of us. We need to remember that not a single one of us is here by accident. And we're here, we have the understanding we do because God wanted that. And I've heard some people state it this way, that at some point in history, God the Father spoke your name.

And I don't know if it works exactly that way, but it's comforting for me to frame it in that reference. And then one time the Father looked and said, yeah, Frank Dunkel, I want that guy. Why? I don't know. Well, actually, I think I do know. If it was 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 26, that's where it says, as we've sung many times in the church, not many wise men now are called.

Not many noble, not many wise. God didn't initiate that relationship with us because we deserved it, or because we were so special. That's where I would say maybe it varies from the marriage. I mentioned when I first saw Sue, and of course, looking at her, I couldn't tell how wise she was or noble, but I could tell what she was nice to look at.

And so I wanted to initiate a relationship. God doesn't initiate it with us because we're so attractive. He initiates it because he sees something deeper, and he sees the potential in us, what he wants us to be. Now, the point I want to go there, you know, I'm still at the start of this relationship. Although we didn't initiate the relationship, we have to do something.

We have to respond to that initial calling, and we have to continue doing something. As I said, I had to get up the nerve to ask Sue out, but if she said, no thanks, nothing would have happened from there. Christ's parables show that the invitation in relationship with Christ is something that's been extended to quite a few people. Matthew 22 and verse 14 has a well-known phrase. Actually, I will turn there. Matthew 22 and verse 14.

Now, this is the end of a parable, but at the end it says, Many are called, but few are chosen. The invitation is out there for quite a few. Now, it doesn't say all are called, but few are chosen. We want to remember that that's a very important factor, but many people don't respond to the invitation. And, of course, the parable that perceived this is the one of the wedding suppers. Now, that, again, is mixing metaphors a little bit, because the people in this parable are invited to the wedding as guests, not as brides.

So, mixing that metaphor, but the idea, of course, well, we look at it. In verse 2, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, sent out the servants. Call those who are invited to the wedding. And they were not willing to come. The invitation was there, and some of them, you know, they just blew it off. They weren't interested. They didn't value it. So, he sent out other servants. Tell those who are invited. Tell them what a big deal it's going to be.

I've prepared my dinner. My oxen, fatted cattle are killed. All things are ready. I didn't have this in mind when I was preparing this, but, you know, across the pond, there was a considerable wedding this morning. We saw a little bit on the news that it's a big deal. How many people had an invitation to that wedding that just decided not to?

I wonder. I don't know the answer to that question. Probably not many. Anybody who had got an invitation to that would know what it's about. Know how big a deal it is.

A lot of people have an invitation to become part of God's Church, but they don't have a clear view. They don't get it. They don't understand that this is not an event to be missed.

Now, we could get into the discussion of which we won't have a definitive answer is, do they have the invitation without the Holy Spirit opening their minds to understand? Because that's something crucial to us. We understand that without the Spirit moving in us and opening our minds to understand the truth, we don't understand the truth. So, I can mix parables and go on about the seeds scattered, but let's move on with this.

In verse 5, of course, it says, they made light of it, went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. The rest, these deservants treated them spitefully and killed them. And this seems to be making a reference to the Old Testament, putting these servants in the place of the prophets that God sent to Israel, who were often killed. When the king heard about it, he was furious, sent out his army, and destroyed the murderers and burned up their city.

He said to his servants, well, the wedding's ready, so we still have this wedding. Those who were invited weren't worthy. Go to the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. So the servants went out to the highways, gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

And we could skip there, there's the...well, actually, let me not skip this.

Because the king came in to see the guests, and there was one of them who was a bit presumptuous, he didn't dress properly. He didn't have on a wedding garment. You know, you imagine someone traveling down the highway, maybe coming back from work in the field, and he didn't think, oh, this is a special occasion, I should wash up and put on nice clothes. He just went as he was. And that wasn't acceptable. So the king, when he saw him in 1st Waltz, said, friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? A man was speechless, so he was bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness. And, of course, in verse 14 reminds us of where we started, or where I started with this. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Many people hear some message of the truth, but don't always respond.

Now, well, as I said, I could mix metaphors and go off in a different direction. I want to remind us that when God began drawing you to him, you could have been like a lot of other people and ignored that message. It could have gone in one ear out the other and been ignored, but you chose to listen.

You're here because you realize the value of it. We all are here, but we still never want to forget that God is the one that has the value in it. None of us are here because we were so worthy or deserving. It's a special blessing. Now, accepting a date can begin a relationship, but one date doesn't begin a marriage. One conversation, bumping in on the beach and talking, although it's funny how your friends, if they see you, want to make it into something. That's a different story. But when both parties are motivated, what do they do? They begin making time to be together, to communicate. Each wants to get someone to know the other. They want to spend time in each other's company. They want to build a relationship. And I'm wondering, as I was writing this, I thought, how many members here will be thinking back to when they first started dating the person they fell in love with and got married? Now, I'm going to confess something that those of you that know me well will already realize. I do not like talking on the telephone. And to be honest, I'm not a very good conversationalist, which doesn't make me ideally suited for being in the ministry. That's something I need to work at. Now, I'm blessed because, as I said, the best thing I did in going into good marriage was choose the right partner. Because who likes to talk, and that works out. Sorry, I'm going to be in trouble later if I'm not here. But the point is, I knew that even once we started a relationship, if I wanted to have a relationship, I needed to pick up the phone and call. I needed to make myself talk, and I wanted to get to know her. I needed to be willing to talk. I needed to be willing to listen. And as I said, you know what it's like when you fall in love and you just can't get enough. Many of us perhaps had a similar feeling when we started learning God's truth, when He began to open your mind. And you started studying furiously. I've heard people say, I just couldn't get enough. They wrote to Pasadena, if you go back to far enough, send me more booklets. I remember working in the Watts office back when I was in college. Some people would call and say, please send me all of your booklets. And we'd have to say, well, we don't do that. Let me send you these four to start off with. And then if you want more, we'll send you more. But it's furious. It's like, I want to know more. I want to know more. In a time of also prayer. Of course, as I said, it's talking and listening, going back and forth.

It works in a marriage and it works that way, building a relationship with God.

I want to turn to... Well, I'll cite a couple of scriptures. 1 Timothy 4 and verse 13. I will turn there. Now, 1 Timothy 4, 13 is not... Paul was writing to Timothy, who was a young minister. So this wasn't somebody who just came into the church and couldn't wait to get it to start learning. But it does go to show that there's... you need to devote certain time and attention to this communication. And that's what he says here. Paul tells Timothy, Till I come, give attention to reading. And it's implied that he meant reading the Old Testament scriptures that he had. And maybe to some of the letters that were going to become New Testament scriptures. Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. The word for doctrine could also be translated as teaching.

On the other side, I'll mention 1 Thessalonians 5, 17. I won't turn there because basically I want to cite three words. But 1 Thessalonians 5, 17 is where Paul wrote, Pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing.

And I often explain to the students that when we're going through practical Christianity, that doesn't mean that you never are not praying because that's not balanced. But it means you never stop being a person who prays. Just like I suggest we study God's Word every day, we pray every day.

Because we're getting to know God. We want to.

As a matter of fact, I'll mention, speaking of teaching at ABC, I realized something when I first started because the first class I was assigned was what's called the major prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. And then I moved into the minor prophets, which, you know, those are just classes that Mr. Antean had taught me. He told me, now you're teaching them. Not because I was already especially well qualified. So I dug in and started studying and learning as much as I could. And it was enlightening for me to find that as I read those, I found myself not focusing on predictions of the future. So that's valuable. But what I saw was a being who had feelings and thoughts and wanted a relationship with his people. I felt like I was getting to know God in a way I never, I hadn't quite before. That he reveals himself there. Now I'll mention, I guess the other side, most, and we're in an older group. So many of you were called into the church not having grown up in it. And so you had that experience, we often call it the first love. Gotta know more, I gotta get more. That's put some younger generations off a little bit. And sometimes the older members who come in that way don't understand, it's like, why don't you feel this way? I would liken it still like a marriage, but for those who grew up in the church, maybe it's sort of like falling in love with the friend that you've known since you were little kids. You already know each other. You spent lots of time together. You know, growing, I started attending when I was 10, so I didn't entirely grow up, but they'd been around it a lot. I already know this stuff, but I say it's partly coming to understand and know that I know it. Oh, yeah, I do know this. I do know who God is. I can trust that. Now, along with this communication, as I said, you don't want it to all be by telephone. You need to get together. And I say telephone, Sue lived 100 miles away from me, which was close compared to some. You go out on dates. We could almost say that God has provided opportunity for us to have dates.

For one thing, every Sabbath we gather together and we spend time with Him, with each other. And then the annual Holy Days are really special dates. Now, I don't want to carry that analogy too far, but again, that sharing, sharing and having... sharing time and sharing experiences are really what builds a relationship. And God wants to do that with us. You know, married couples don't have to date as much because they live together. But I've been told, and I need to be reminded, perhaps more often than I think, that you still need to go out on dates and do things together. Continue talking. Continue building that relationship. Again, without turning there, Hebrews 10 verse 25. When I say again, I mean the part about not turning, not that we've cited the Scripture. But we often cite Hebrews 10.25, where Paul wrote, Let's not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Don't stop getting together. It's important to maintain that relationship. A relationship with God, which we have every day, but also with God's people.

Even if we don't study God's Word as voraciously as we might have when we first started to come to understanding, and as I said, if we don't spend as much time, it still needs to be done on a daily basis. Jesus Christ compared the Word of God to food, in a sense, when he was tempted by Satan the Devil. Remember, Christ had been fasting for 40 days, and Satan shows up and says, Paul, you're the son of God, make these films into bread. Jesus answered and said, quoting from Deuteronomy, man shall not live by bread alone. Not by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God. God's Word is something that we live by. And just like we eat every day, except when we're fasting, we should study God's Word every day. God's Word should be a daily part of our lives, and it's not just getting information, it's, in a sense, spending time with God, building and maintaining that relationship. Just like husbands and wives should talk to each other every day, we should talk to God every day. And of course, that relates to praying without seizing as well, not just studying God's Word, but talking to Him. If you're in Timothy, which I probably told you not to, but Hebrews 3 and verse 13 is just a few pages away. This is another... I'm taking some short phrases out. Hebrews 3 verse 13 says, exhort one another daily while it's called today. I'll mention that, well, lest you be hardened through the steepfulness that's been, but exhorting one another daily. And we want to, again, have that relationship. Studying God's Word, talking to Him, talking to each other as much as we can. Consider also the example of the Bereans. We're going to meet in Berea tomorrow. This is the Bereans that were in what we now call Turkey, but in Acts 17 verse 11, that's where it says the disciples that were in Berea received the Word with readiness of mind, and they searched the Scriptures daily to see if those things were so. We want to be like them in searching God's Word daily. I'm pausing because I'm about to go to a different subject in my notes. So I want to turn next to what is sometimes the touchy subject that we call authority within marriage. I want to say authority that is meant to be exercised in selfless love, even though sometimes it's not. So let's go back to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians 5 will begin in verse 22. Remind ourselves of this.

I'm thinking back to when I was younger. I know I've heard the Scripture cited a lot of times. It says, wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. Actually, I'll pause there because I heard it a lot of times as a youth, but there's one word that I overlooked, and I'm not sure if some of our ministers didn't at times, because it says wives submit to your own husbands. It doesn't say wives or women submit to every man you see, but to your own husband. Husbands, I guess your wife is the only one that needs to submit to you. But it goes on to say why in verse 23. For the husband is the head of the wife, as, or like, in a similar manner, as also Christ is head of the church, and he's Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands and everything.

And as I've said, for decades we've used this, and I would say we've appropriately used it to teach us how God established authority and structure within families, showing that the husband and father was intended to be in charge, and wives and children were supposed to cooperate with that structure. Now, I don't mean to neglect the instruction that Paul gives a little later, that husbands are to love and care for their wives. That's just as important. And as a matter of fact, he says to love and care for them the same way Christ does for the church.

But this whole thing about wives committing your husband, you know, this is the truth. It's in the Bible, it's the Word of God, but sometimes our practice is all in short. You know, actually, in the whole section here. Men ought to love their wives as their own body, as it says in verse 28. They ought to. Sadly, sometimes, instead, men end up acting in a way that's selfish or neglectful.

But that's looking at human beings and human relationships.

When we turn to the relationship of the church with Jesus Christ, that's something kind of nifty, is that Jesus Christ is never neglectful. Jesus Christ is never selfish. He fulfills His role perfectly.

But we know that the church is not perfect, not yet, anyways. And we could say, just as wives don't always submit completely and perfectly to their husbands, and I say that without comment on whether or not the husband deserves that, wives don't always completely believe in or trust their husbands. And again, men aren't always as trustworthy as they should be. But in like manner do we, as the church of God, sometimes fail to submit.

Do we sometimes fail to trust in God?

Well, probably sometimes we do.

And I think maybe we do that more than we think, not because we don't trust God or believe in Him, but we don't see Him directly running things. And that's where the analogy is a little difficult, because the church has a relationship with Jesus Christ and with God the Father and must submit. But we don't directly interact, well, we do interact through prayer and through the Spirit, but when it comes to personal interactions, we deal with human beings who are representing God. We don't see Jesus Christ running things. I think I get to work in the home office, which is a wonderful thing, and I get up my little past, you sometimes go upstairs, especially this time of year when there's no coffee downstairs in the cafeteria. And I've looked in those offices. I see Mr. Steeley, I see Mr. DeCampo, she's right at the top of the stairs, Mr. Eddington, Harris McNeilly, Victor Kubik, but there is no door up there that has a sign plate that says, Jesus Christ. I don't see Him in any of the offices. So what I'm seeing are faulty men working for Him. And so sometimes we don't necessarily trust or respect what we see the Church doing. And forget about the home office right here. Weekly you come in here and you don't have Jesus Christ standing up here. You're stuck with me this week, or Mr. DeCampo's. You have faulty, frail humans who make mistakes. So Scripture calls Jesus Christ the head of the Church, but He leads through fallible human beings. And I say, really? Are those humans that fallible? And I know it just says, wait for laughter. I didn't get much laughter, but... If you've been in God's Church any length of time, you know the answer. Just the same way if you've been married for longer than a honeymoon, you know that your husband or wife is fallible. So the trick is, you know, a wife should respect her husband because he is her husband, not because he's perfect. The Church and His members should respect Christ, and that includes giving proper respect to the human beings he puts in authority and responsibility because of Christ and because He's perfect, not because of the humans are. I want to turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians 12, verse 28. Let's start with 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 28. We'll talk about roles within the Church. In verse 28, it says, God has appointed deeds in the Church. First, apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers. After that, miracles and gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. And He asks, are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? And the implied answer is, well, no. Not everyone has the same gifts, and certainly not everyone has a position of authority or responsibility. And those who do have some assignment, they differ. And I've learned that being at the Home Office. I have a primary responsibility to teach classes. I'm not responsible for what goes on in the Churches in Brazil. I'm very happy to have Mr. De Campos take care of that. And so on and so on. There's a parallel passage over in Ephesians that I'd like to go to. Ephesians 4, verse 11. Ephesians 4, verse 11.

So God gave some to the apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. So he's making the case God gives different people assignments, and we could ask, why? Why do you do it that way? What's the purpose? And I'm asking that because he gives the answer immediately following in verse 12. The why he puts people in these positions is for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is another way of saying the Church. And what I would say is, this verse is showing that authority and position representing Jesus Christ, that comes with a very serious responsibility. It's not to be puffed up and feel all good about yourself. It's not because you're worthy or deserving. It comes with a great responsibility as a husband or father. I got in my notes a reference to 1 Timothy 5, verse 8, which I'm going to turn there because I don't want to risk misquoting. 1 Timothy 5, 8, Does a husband and father have a high level of responsibility to go with his position of authority? Here it says, If anyone does not provide for his own, especially for those of his own household, he's denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. And that's pretty serious. When it says, With any does not provide, it's talking about a husband and a father. You're not taking care of those in your household. You're not making sure your wife and your children are fed and clothed and have a roof over their head. You might as well admit you're not a Christian. You're worse than an unbeliever. It's a high level of responsibility. And we could say, within the church, those who are ordained or appointed any type of leadership, they're not just those who get to make decisions and boss people around. They have a high responsibility to serve, to edify the body of Christ, to equip them as saints for the work of ministry. It's kind of scary because I think, well, I'm one of those people that have that responsibility, and I know I'm one of the not many wives on the week and the base. Here we have to trust that God is working through us. Of course, one of the main points of the Holy Day we're going to celebrate tomorrow is that it's not by our power, our wisdom, our ability alone, or even at all, some degree. Now, the way that the ministers and those in the church try to equip the saints for the work of ministry is largely through teaching. And there are some other things that the responsibilities come in for. If we can consider a different metaphor for how leaders in the church should care for members, Jesus Christ referred to that of a shepherd with sheep. I found it interesting in studying the Old Testament, I didn't realize that in Hebrew there's one word that's been translated as both shepherd and as pastor. And I'd have to double check. I think it's the same in Greek. That's how in English we have the term pastor when we think of a leader of a congregation. But it comes from the word for shepherd. And there's no surprise then that God, in the Old Testament, shows some of what he thinks a pastor or a shepherd should be doing. If you'll join me in Zechariah 11, we'll look at some of that. Zechariah 11, beginning in verse 16.

This is the chapter, actually the entire chapter, where God takes to task leaders in Israel. Particularly in Judea, but we could look, since it's prophetic and probably dual prophecy, looking to leaders of our nation in the end time. Because he takes to task civil leaders as well as spiritual or religious. But I want to look at how that could apply to us today. So it's in Zechariah 11, verse 16. He says, Indeed I'll raise up a shepherd in a land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek beyond, nor heal those who are broken, nor feed those that still stand, and he'll eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces. And he goes on to say, Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock. So when God says at the beginning of verse 16, I'll raise up a shepherd, He's basically saying, because the people have turned away from me, I'm going to give them poor leaders. So God is not saying, this is the kind of leader I want. He's saying the opposite. And I'm pulling this out of context, so that's why I wanted to explain it. This is what He's saying a bad leader does. A bad leader doesn't care for those who are cut off. A bad leader doesn't seek the young. A bad leader doesn't heal those who are broken, or feed those that stay in. Well, then we would say, a good leader, a good spiritual leader, will be doing those things. A good pastor will care for those who are cut off. And if we look at it spiritually, it could be saying, those who are perhaps wandering from the truth.

Maybe someone who's beginning to be beguiled by a false doctrine. Those people are in need of good care, of good, strong teaching, of sound doctrine. A good pastor will seek the young. Now, there's a couple ways to look at that. Seeking the young, we could say, on the church for years, since I was a child, a child has devoted a lot of time and energy to programs for youth. As a matter of fact, I can't remember who it was recently I was telling.

I attended my very first Feast of Tabernacles in the fall of 1975, which was also the same year that the World Wide Church of God initiated what they called the Youth Opportunities United Program. Why are you? They let me squeeze in, even though I wasn't quite a teenager. I was only 11. I said, well, it's for 12-year-olds, but we'll let you in because your birthday's coming up in a couple months.

And we were looking... Actually, the church was focused on the prophecy at the end of Malachi and felt a responsibility for turning the hearts of children to the fathers, and fathers to children. So, a good pastor will pay attention to the youth in his church, but we could look at this spiritually as well. Someone could be young in the truth, even though they're old in physical age.

They could have just had their minds open and be like that excited person who's learning and wants to learn more. And every time I explain this, it reminds me of a couple that I was able to counsel with and eventually to baptize. Mr. Howell would remember. They were, I believe, in the 70s or 80s in the Prestonburg congregation. And one of our counselors, the man looked at me and said, I didn't understand this before, all my life.

Well, he was far older than me, but he was a youth in God's truth, and God calls when he's ready. It also says, a good pastor will heal the broken. And again, there's a physical and a spiritual way of looking at that. A good pastor will go to those who are sick and injured, often, you know, anointing them, helping them.

I don't know how many pastors I've heard, or seen, visit and give advice on what's good to eat or not eat, or different medicines. But of course, it also refers to emotional and spiritual injury and sickness. That's when people might need it the most. And likewise, a good pastor will feed those that still stand. You don't devote all your attention to those who are struggling or hurting, you also spend time with those who are healthy and strong, and continue giving them spiritual food and meat in due season.

I couldn't help. Actually, I've had this instruction, maybe because of what happened in the church a few years ago. I've told people, one thing it doesn't say here that a pastor will do is lead the sheep off somewhere else to greener pastures. Because we've had some men assume that that's their duty to do. It's like, well, I don't like the way I'm being treated, so I'm going to take all my members and we'll go somewhere else. But, that's not our point. My main focus is to come back to being the bride of Christ. We need to look to Christ as our spiritual husband and know that He will provide.

And that He'll take responsibility. He'll do it through human beings who will not always do it perfectly. But we need to trust that Christ is going to heal the sick. Seek those who are cut off. Strengthen those who are stanned. As I said, we might look at human leaders who Christ delegates and say, I wonder if they're ever going to get this job done. Times like that, it's worth perhaps remembering another scripture I like to look to.

It's Lamentations 3 in verse 26. Lamentations is a pretty sad book. The whole book is about exploring the depths of human suffering. But in the middle of chapter 3, it shows that there's hope even when things seem their worst. And I could say, if a congregation has a pasture that they think isn't serving them, they might think things are at their worst.

But we want to remember who's in charge. It's actually a certain Lamentation 3, 25. It says, the Lord is good to those who wait for Him. It's good to wait to the soul who seeks Him. It's good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. As I said, if things aren't quite right with the human leaders in the Church, that doesn't mean we should bail off or start our own Church. But know that God will take care of it. Although it also, this brings me to another point from Ephesians 5.

And I didn't write it down exactly, so I'm going to turn back there. You can turn there, or hope that I read it correctly. Ephesians 5, verse 25. Not 25, but... Yes, and verse 28, where it says, Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. For he who loves his wife loves himself. And as I said, humanly, we know men don't always take care of their wives properly. But it says, no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church.

So here's an analogy. God, Jesus Christ is going to care for the Church the way a person will care for his body if he's taken care of himself properly. But think about how you take care of your health. You know, a lot of things we do are enjoyable and pleasurable. You know, taking a nice hot shower. Boy, you're taking care of your body and it feels great. But to take care of your body properly, you also have to exercise. You have to work yourself out. And sometimes that makes you sore. I don't know how many times I've done that.

As a matter of fact, I've laughed at young guys in college. If you started doing push-ups or going to the gym and lifting, and then they get sore right here, you go and poke them and say, oh! Sometimes taking care of yourself leaves a little soreness. Or you also deprive yourself of some things that you think are really good. If I'm going to take care of my body, I'm not going to give it ice cream two or three times a day every day. Why not? I love ice cream. Well, it's not good for you. And I think how many times do I call out and pray to God and say, please give me this?

Why aren't you giving me this? It's what I really want. Well, maybe I'm asking for ice cream. And so, for Jesus Christ to care for the body that is the church, He's not always going to give us exactly what we want. Again, I look out. I'd say the experience of people in this room supports the idea that marriage can withstand tough times. Many of you have been together for years, and I hope that I can spend the years and match you eventually.

A good relationship can overcome some things, but what seems to be perhaps the toughest is infidelity. And I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about that as it relates to marriage. And I'm fortunate, I don't have that experience.

But in the Old Testament Scriptures, God refers to that quite a bit. He uses the analogy of marriage to Israel in the same way in the New Testament we see it as with Christ in the church. And again and again, the prophets cite Israel's infidelity as something that destroyed that relationship. Isaiah 50 in verse 1 mentions a certificate of divorce. I'm not going to turn there, but if you want to start turning to Hosea, I do want to turn to Hosea chapter 2. As I said, Isaiah, he says, where is your mother's certificate of divorce? Because God basically says, she cheated on me, I'm not going to be her husband anymore.

In Hosea chapter 2, it gets a little more specific. But I'll make the point that eventually in Hosea, there's what I think is a happy ending.

Hosea 2 in verse 2, speaking to the people about Israel as a nation, it says, bring charges against your mother. Bring charges. For she's not my wife, nor am I her husband. This isn't denying that there was ever the covenant relationship, but it's saying that it's been broken. Let her put away her harlotries from before her, harlotries from her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts.

So, God often symbolized idolatry with adultery to show how it broke that relationship. I'm not going to turn there, but in two places, two chapters in Ezekiel, it's expounded in great detail. In Ezekiel chapter 16 and also in Ezekiel 23, it gives a thorough and a pretty graphic description of idolatry, worshipping false gods. And that's symbolizing adultery, the way that can ruin a marriage. But I do want to look briefly at the happy ending. If you turn to chapter 3 of Hosea, we'll see that even such an infidelity, such cheating on the relationship wasn't enough to end God's love. And so it shows hope of having it rebuilt.

And as a matter of fact, I should explain because I jumped in the middle of this. At the start of Hosea, God actually commanded Hosea to act out something to symbolize his relationship. So he told Hosea, I want you to go marry a prostitute. Go marry... I don't know what Hosea thought, but it said he did. He went and married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and they had children. And God gave those children names that symbolize his relationship with Israel. And what happens, it seems that Hosea's wife might have left him and returned to her former profession. And we see in chapter 3, it says, The Eternal said to me, that is to Hosea, Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery.

Just like the love of the Eternal, of the Lord, for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love raisins, cakes, and pagans. Now, I'll mention the English here seems a bit vague, because it's where it says, Go love a woman who is loved by a lover. That word for lover could have been translated friend, associate. It could also be translated as husband. And that's what I think is meant to be the proper translation. What God is saying is to Hosea, it's okay that you still love Gomer, even while she's cheating on you. Go get her! And he's saying, I understand because I still love Israel, even though they're worshiping false gods. So, it shows how deep God's love is for his people that never fails.

He had that for the people of Israel, and I think there's no doubt he has that for the people in his church. And amazingly, that Hosea had that for his wife. And to me, this is something that should give us tremendous encouragement. Because if God could still love and forgive Israelites, the Israelites in ancient times, in the face of such a blatant sin, there's got to be hope for us.

Now, you could say, well, yeah, but I'm not worshiping idols. I don't have a statue of Kimash in my backyard or anything like that. But Paul saw it a little differently. I want to turn to Colossians 3 and verse 5 to remind us of a principle here. Because the type of idolatry that we need to worry about isn't, you know, bringing a statue and burning incense to it. Colossians 3 and verse 5, and Paul is discussing overcoming our natural traits and humanity. He says, Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. I read that sometimes, I go, huh, covetousness is idolatry. Well, how is that? You know, if I'm wanting something, I'm coveting, that's a sin. It's breaking one of the Ten Commandments. Matter of fact, I like this connection because when you go through the Ten Commandments in the Pentateuch, the tenth one is covetousness, then you go back to the beginning of not having any other gods before me. It's almost like a cycle. And that's the point. Anytime we let something come between us and God, we say, that's committing idolatry. If something becomes foremost in our time and attention, becomes a higher priority than God, then you could say, we're committing spiritual idolatry. We're breaking the spirit of the law, even if we don't have a statue. And that sort of fits with the way Christ said, the spirit of the law against adultery. You're not to commit adultery, but Christ said, if a man looks on a woman to lust after her in his heart, he's committed adultery. So as Christians, we have to examine our lives and focus on maintaining that relationship with God first and foremost. Not let us, not let ourselves make an idol out of a job, out of a hobby, out of our car, relationships. Actually, I think it's a tremendous irony that with this way of thinking, a person could make an idol out of their spouse, and thus be spiritually committing idolatry, which is adultery, with their... Maybe I'm carrying that a little too far. I'm getting my soul confused. The point is, when the problem is identified, we need to stop it. Don't give an ordinate time or attention to anything that might displace God in your life. And I say, your life, my life. Instead, devote the time and attention to the things that we discussed earlier for building a relationship. That prayer, that Bible study, that maintaining contact, and strengthening those even more by fasting at times. And the example that we see both in Hosea and in some cases in the world shows that even if, you know, one of the worst things possible in a relationship does damage it, it's not beyond repair. And that it can be fixed. Couples have overcome infidelity and rebuilt. God certainly shows that He is willing to forgive even the worst sins. He says, no sin that we're willing to repent of can't be forgiven. That gives us a hope. He's not like a human husband who might not always fulfill his role perfectly. Jesus Christ always fulfills His role perfectly. That was one of my earlier points. And so we just want to ask for His help for us to do our part. We'll do it imperfectly, but we can. Hmm. I'm coming to where it says, conclusion in my notes. I was going to say, in a sense, I was going to say, so there it is, my first sermon on marriage. And yet, not really.

But, again, I make the point, in this room, you don't need me to teach you about marriage. Rather, I need many of you to teach me. But we all still have a ways to go about learning and to build a relationship with God. And I hope that some of the things we've learned through experience of marriage can help us to do that. You know, we collectively make up the Church. We are part of the Bride of Christ. But individually, we don't have responsibility for all of the Church's relationship with Him. We do each have responsibility for our own relationship with Jesus Christ. And we want to remember that that is our responsibility, and we're working on that. Paul showed us that the things that can build a happy and a prosperous marriage can help us have a happy, prosperous relationship with God. Tomorrow, we're going to talk about another important thing that makes that possible. But for now, we'll leave it there, and I'll wish you all a happy Sabbath.