Bride-To-Be

Well, thank you once again, Mr. Janisic. Good morning once again, everyone. Welcome all of you on the webcast. It's good to have you here with us today. It's good to have you able to join us and those joining us on the phone hookup as well. We're thankful you're here with us and we're very appreciative that you have the opportunity to gather together on this wonderful Sabbath day and praise our great and mighty God.

Brother, in a number of years ago at Northwest Camp, we had an Excellence in Living class that was taught by Leanne Luker and Keith Toms. Many of you know Mrs. Luker and Mr. Toms. Mr. Toms is an elder that serves down in the Bakersfield area. And, of course, Mrs. Luker was married to Denny Luker from up in the Seattle area and served the church in many capacities for a very, very long time. This particular class is one that explored the characteristics and interactions of men and women. And this Excellence in Living class is a class that goes back, I mean, decades.

It's a long-standing tradition at camp. Those of you that have been to Northwest Camp before, you've been a part of it, whether you're in the youngest of generations at this point, or whether you're those that are my age, or even in between. You've been a part of it in some capacity. Mr. and Mrs. Luker both used to teach the class at one point. I think Mr. Sephora taught it a couple of years, even, when they weren't able to. And, more or less, the class is traditionally kind of focused on the topic of relationships.

And it's a class that has been very well received by the kids over the years. It spent some time on manners and etiquette and relationships and just a whole bunch of different things. Just a way for us to then live excellently, so to speak, in and around the individuals that we know. Well, this particular class that I'm referencing now was one that we had a few years back at Northwest Camp.

And Mrs. Luker and Mr. Toms, the class particularly explored the concept of God's purpose for men and for women. And I know some of the young people that are here were in that class. I know some of you were there at camp that year that we did this. And the particular class talked about the purpose of relationships. It talked about the purpose of relationships between men and women. It talked about the purpose of relationships between Almighty God and how all of those are connected, ultimately, together.

Now, these classes are typically coed. Sometimes they'll have the first class be individually just the boys or individually just the girls, and then they'll mix them at the end. Sometimes they're just coed both times. But the dorms will gather with their brothers and their sister dorms. And for this class, what that enabled them to do was something that was pretty special. They separated out the groups by gender. So they had all the girls go one way and all the guys go the other.

And they had the ladies work on making a list of characteristics of the perfect man. The perfect and ideal husband. On the other hand, they had the men make a list of the perfect woman. The perfect and ideal spouse.

They explained that the list was an exercise, really, in examining and considering the traits of a future spouse. But not only that, what God had designed as roles for men and for women in this life. Now, as you might imagine, the kids separated. They went their separate ways. And there was a bit of hesitation at first. A few giggles. A few out loud laughs that somebody would crack a joke or something to kind of break the ice.

But before long, they got started and the groups kind of cranked out. To be honest, a really well done list, even down into the youngest dorms, came up with a really well done list. Well, I'm going to ask you to do the same thing today. I'm going to ask you to take a second. If you have a piece of paper in front of you, if you have your phone or you have something, I want you to be able to put mind to paper, so to speak.

To be able to take it from your brain and write it down. What I'd like you to do is very quickly brainstorm the first five characteristics of an ideal spouse. First five that come to your mind. No, don't overthink it. Just the first five things that come to your mind. Mind to paper. The things that you were thinking about when you were seeking a wife or a husband, or perhaps the things that after you've been married for a number of years, you've come to realize are critical.

So I'm going to give you about 30 seconds. I want you to jot those five things down. 30 seconds to a minute, maybe. We'll see. I'll look and see if most people's heads are up when I'm done. But take just a little bit of time and jot those things down.

Feel free, for those of you that are at home, to try this as well.

Once again, you're shooting for just a quick brainstorm. Not overthinking it. Just the first five things that pop into your brain. Typically, those gut reaction things sometimes tend to be the ones that are there.

Take just about another 15 to 30 seconds. I'm going to have you begin to start wrapping up your ideas. I know you may not have your five, but hopefully you've got at least a couple. That kind of gets the road started. You can continue to write down the rest of them while we're going through here. But I would venture a guess if I pulled the room, and I'm not going to for sake of time, go through and make a joke. I'm going to do a couple of things and I'll just kind of go over to the end of this list. I'm going to say, right now, I'm going to try to get to the end of this list. I'm going to try to get to the end of this list. I'm not going to, for sake of time, go through and make a giant list of everybody's stuff that they had here. But I would venture a guess that if I pulled the room, many of you came up with some of the same exact things. Some of the same characteristics. Whether it was for men or whether it was for women, some of the characteristics would be pretty much identical. Looking for a person who is building that relationship with God. Someone who's loving, someone who's faithful, who's trustworthy, self-controlled, someone who's a good communicator, someone who's faithful, maybe slow to anger, somebody who's willing to lead, willing to step up into that leadership role, or, depending, maybe somebody who's willing to step back and allow someone else to lead. Someone who's affectionate, maybe somebody who's romantic, a person who's wise in various aspects of life, things like money, someone who's temperate, and the list goes on. And I would almost venture a guess that by the time we put our list together, if we put the list that those teens came up with and the list that you guys came up with, pretty much they'd be straight across the same. We live in a society today in which these roles of husband and wife and man and woman are often reversed, sometimes blurred. And as a result, we are experiencing in the United States, and as well, the rest of the developing world, we are experiencing a number of marriage struggles as a result of the pressures that are placed upon that marriage union and that marriage covenant by society and by our own human limitations and our own human desires. I'm going to start today by turning over to the book of Ephesians. I appreciate that Mr. Griswold left this for me. Ephesians 5, he started going there, and I went, well, we can go there twice. And he said, I'm not going to go there. He said, all right. That's what we like to hear. But I appreciate that it's going to dovetail as well as it is. I like how God does that. In the book of Ephesians, Paul is addressing a number of things to the brethren in Ephesus. Now, much of the book of Ephesians deals with the concepts and themes of unity, kind of deals with getting along appropriately within the relationships that we have, whether that's relationships with others in the body, whether that's our marriages, whether it's our relationships with our parents or parents with children. And for those dealing with, in a very unique scenario, he mentions here in Ephesus that most of us likely don't have to deal with, which is those that were in the challenging situation of being a bond servant or a slave in the Roman system and that relationship between master and slave. Paul addresses that as well in this book of Ephesians. But Paul keeps coming back throughout this book to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and he keeps coming back to this idea of the grace that we've received as a result of this sacrifice and the application of that grace and that application of that example as we consider our fellow brother or sister, spouse, or child. Ephesians 5, we're going to break into the context.

Ephesians 5, we'll break into the context. I'm trying to see if I can keep this mask up on the end of my nose here. I'll put some tape up there one of these days. Keep it up there.

Ephesians 5, we'll go ahead and break into the context here and look at the words that Paul writes to husbands and wives and his admonition is an encouragement for both. Ephesians 5, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 22, says, wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church, and he is Savior of the body.

Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. This particular passage has caused a degree of rankling over the years, as you might imagine, as a result of a misunderstanding really of what it means.

I distinctly recall sitting at a wedding probably more than a decade ago here in the Salem area. It's probably almost been 20 years ago, actually, come to think of it. And as is often the case with weddings of individuals in the church, we all have friends outside of the church, too, that want to see us get married. And so they come to the wedding, and you know, we go through and we read these scriptures, and we talk about these things. And, you know, I happen to be sitting behind a couple of younger ladies that were listening to the service. And when John, Mr. Sephora, when he read the passage, this passage, one of the young ladies turned to the girl on her left and probably a little more loudly than she intended and went, pshhh, yeah, right!

That's not gonna happen! Submit! Ah! But she, I mean, it was loud enough. I kind of went, oh, oh wow, that was a little bit louder than we'd intended. But this idea of submission, this idea of willingly placing ourselves under the authority of someone else is one that's a challenge in our society today. Mr. Griswold talked about this. There's a negative implication that comes with this, and not only that, we as Americans in particular, we have a very natural proclivity toward individualized freedom. We don't want other people telling us what we can and what we cannot do.

But wives are instructed to willingly place themselves under the authority of their husband, just as we willingly place ourselves under the authority of our Lord. And as the church is subject to Christ, wives then are also subject to their husbands. Now, Paul goes from this kind of physical realm a little bit here into more of a blended view, starts to kind of bring out an analogy here between the physical and the spiritual implications of this marriage covenant. He goes on in verse 25, Ephesians 5 and verse 25, he says, husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Verse 28, so husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as the Lord does the church.

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Verse 31, for this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

Verse 32, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Paul's instructions was, husbands love your wives. Now how?

It says, love your wives as Christ loved the church and sacrificed himself for her, so that he could make her holy and set apart indifferent, cleansed, again by the washing of the water by the Word, so that that woman could be cared for, provided for, protected, and safe.

Now suddenly, this isn't about our physical relationships anymore. It is, but it is so much more than that. Paul connects the dots. He says, why does a man leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and to become one flesh? Why did God institute this?

Because that's the model with which God put into place for us as humans to understand the unity and the level of connectedness that we as members of the church are to have with our betrothed.

Jesus the Messiah. We know God the Father is preparing a bride for his son. We know that it's a bride which has been selected. It's a bride whose dowry has been paid.

And it's a bride who now awaits the return of her bridegroom. The title of the second split sermon today is Bride to Be. And with the time that we have left, I'd like to explore this concept further. I'd like to take a look today, too, at three very specific qualities of a bride, which we as members in the body, just as our youth develop and they prepare themselves to be a godly spouse prior to their own physical marriages, we must be preparing for that spiritual marriage that is to come between that body of believers, that bride of Christ and Jesus Christ. You know, this body is a body that has been made up of individuals that God has selected, individuals that God has provided an opportunity to understand his truth. We have responded to that calling. We've submitted ourselves to the covenant of baptism. We've received the down payment of his Holy Spirit. We've accepted the blood of Jesus Christ on our behalf. And so, in that sense, that bride price has been paid. That bride price has been paid by the father of the groom for our betrothal.

He has purchased us, literally purchased us, to secure the marriage of us to his son with his son's own blood. We've accepted that bride price, and so we are now betrothed, at this time, to Jesus Christ. Now, in accordance with marriage, customs, and Judea, at that point in time, for all intents and purposes, we're married. I mean, we don't, you know, go through the consummation of the relationship. We're not there yet. But only a writ of divorce could separate us from the bridegroom at this point in the marriage customs of Judea. The price has been paid. She has agreed. You are betrothed. The only way this ends is with a writ of divorce. At this point, the bridegroom has gone to his father's house to prepare a place for us, to prepare a dwelling place for his bride, and he will return to retrieve her. He will return to marry her at the marriage supper of the Lamb, referenced in Revelation 19. We have that promise from God, similar to what we see in Philippians 1 and verse 6, that he will complete the good work that he has started in us. That promise is there. But in the meantime, the bride is to make herself ready, to be made ready. She's to prepare for that day and that time when her husband will come, bridegroom will come, will sweep her off her feet, so to speak, and will marry her.

In the process of that preparation, brethren, we have an active role to play, as well as a role in which we must allow God to work in us as we are shaped and molded into the kind of daughter-in-law that he desires for his son. For those of you with children, think about the kind of individual that would marry your little baby girl.

Your little man. Think about how important it would be to you for that person to be the right person.

We don't often have the opportunity to select it. We don't do arranged marriages here, necessarily. We don't have the ability to select it as God does. But God has prepared a body of believers, a bride for his son. Let's go over to 2 Corinthians 11. We'll kind of take a look at the first of those characteristics that we're going to explore today. 2 Corinthians and we'll pick it up in chapter 11. A bride to be is chased. A bride to be is chased. And for the younger ones in this crowd, that does not mean like tag. Like chase them around. It means chased, which is something entirely different. 2 Corinthians 11 and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 2. 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 2. Paul writes, For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. He says, For I have betrothed you to one husband. He says, As the individual who has been brought you the gospel and who has provided you with this understanding, as God has called you and I have served you in this way, he says, I have brought you to one husband. I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chased virgin to Christ. He says, Verse 3, But I fear, lest somehow is the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Christ, whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, he says, you may well put up with it.

Paul talks about here the patrol of the brethren and Corinth to the Lord, that he wants to present them as a chased virgin to him, that he wants to ensure that they are pure and that they are innocent, that they are chased is the word. The Greek word there is hagnin, it's agnin, h-a-g-n-e-n, transliterated, and it's a verb that comes from the root agios, those of you that have been going through the epistles, Bible studies with us, that is a word that has come up over and over and over again in the epistle of John and the epistle of Peter. And what it means is it means holy, it means set apart, it means different. It means someone who has been set apart for a purpose, who is different from those who are around them. And depending on the context in the translation, the word can mean chased, it can mean pure, it can mean innocent, blameless, modest, you know, it's kind of one of those words that has a lot of different meanings. But in context here in 2 Corinthians, Paul's referencing a purity of mind.

He's referencing an uncorrupted mind that has not been corrupted by a different Christ or a different gospel that has been preached to them, which certainly in this scenario is referencing a number of the challenges that they had with heresies and divisions in the early church.

But Paul says he desires them to have an innocence and a purity of mind in the simplicity of the gospel message, that they would not fall for falsehoods, that they might maintain soundness of doctrine, they might maintain the teaching of the apostles. He says that they might be presented to their husband pure and innocent, uncorrupted, undefiled. You know, while referenced in this specific context here as he's talking about this kind of purity of mind, this idea of chased behavior or purity or innocence, it pops up in a number of other places in Scripture.

Comes up throughout the New Testament, in fact. One of those places is the book of James. Let's go over to James 3. James 3, and we'll take a look at the example here of this particular reference. James 3, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 13. In this particular section, James is contrasting earthly wisdom and the wisdom from above. He's talking about this earthly, sensual, demonic wisdom and this wisdom that comes from above. James 3, and we'll pick it up in verse 13. He says, who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. Verse 14, but if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. If you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above.

Things like envy, things like self-seeking. These things are earthly, he says. They're sensual. They're demonic. He says, for where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. Verse 17, he says, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, it's first chaste, it's first agnon in Greek. Then it's peaceable, then it's gentle, then it's willing to yield, then it's full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy. Verse 18, he says, now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

So the wisdom from above is contrasted with the wisdom of this earth.

James goes on to say that that which is done by envy and self-seeking in our hearts, things that are boasting and lying against the truth, that wisdom is earthly, it's sensual, and it's demonic. But instead, he says, the wisdom that's from above, it's agnon, it's pure, it's chaste, it's innocent.

That's that foundation of godly wisdom. It's a foundation of godly wisdom. It's not corrupted, it's of God, and it comes from God. It's a wisdom that's peaceable, it's a wisdom that's gentle, that's willing to yield. It's not always picking a fight, it's not always out for its own desires, it's not always out to envy what others have. It's full of mercy, it's full of good fruits, it doesn't show partiality or hypocrisy, and it's sown in peace by those who make peace.

This wisdom, brethren, it's not from us. This wisdom is from above. It's God's Spirit dwelling in us, and it's ultimately our willingness to yield ourselves to it and submit ourselves to it, which collectively, as a body, will allow us to then express those fruits. Peace, gentleness, submission to one another, mercy. If we are submitting ourselves to the wisdom which is from above, which is pure, which is chaste, which is innocent, these will be the fruits by which we collectively express. Peace, gentleness, submission to one another, and mercy.

You know, this characteristic of the bride causes a great number of other really important characteristics to be expressed. In 1 Timothy 5, Paul references the concept of Agnan again. We won't turn there, but he tells Timothy that as a Christian, as a part of the bride of Christ, that he must be pure, that he must be separated from, and not involved in the sin of others.

Paul tells him, don't lay hands upon someone too hastily.

He says, be impartial, be without prejudice.

You know, in doing so, Paul indicates that the purity of a person could be affected by rash judgment, could be affected by knee-jerk reactions, could be affected by being implicit in the sins of others for not standing up for what is right, and therefore purity ultimately is implicated as a distinction of a separation from that which corrupts. Purity is a separation from that which corrupts, that which decays, that which dies. Turn with me first to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1.

Hebrew, James, Peter. 1 Peter 1, just a page over. We're actually just here in the midweek study this week in the epistles of Peter here in 1 Peter 1. And as Peter talks about the inheritance which God has provided them, we'll pick it up in 1 Peter 1, verse 3. It says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Verse 4, to an inheritance incorruptible, an inheritance undefiled that does not fade away, that is reserved, it says in heaven, for you. Verse 5, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Brethren, we are begotten to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it's an inheritance that's incorruptible. It's an inheritance that is unable to be tarnished. The inheritance itself cannot be defiled. It cannot be corrupted. It doesn't fade away. It can't be stained. It can't be destroyed. It's an inheritance that is pure and it's undefiled that has been reserved for those whom God has called.

Brethren, what is that inheritance? It's the marriage of the bride to the bridegroom. It is the marriage supper of Christ. It is eternal life in the kingdom of God. That is the inheritance we've been promised to become a part of God's family. That's the inheritance that we've been provided. That's the living hope that we have in the resurrection of Christ. Our husband was made alive for us again and will return for us. He's coming back.

You know, there's a number of places in Scripture where this concept of undefiled or untarnished or incorruptible or pure is conveyed with this idea and this visual metaphor of white garments.

It's conveyed with this visual metaphor of white garments. One of those places is Revelation 3 and verse 4. Again, we'll reference it. Revelation 3 and verse 4 in the words to the church in Sardis. Christ tells them, there are a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, whose garments have remained clean. He says, and because they are worthy, they will walk with me in white. Then he explains that those who overcome will be dressed in white. Those who overcome will be dressed in white. Pure, clean, white. All of these are ways to describe an individual who has not been compromised, who has not been corrupted, who is pure, who is innocent, and who is chaste, which is a desired characteristic in a bride to be. In fact, you look at our American customs of weddings, but it's not the same around the world. We typically will have a white wedding dress. That is typically the tradition here in the United States. We have a white wedding dress. Brilliant white. Beautifully white. It's rooted in this concept. That's where this comes from. Other parts of the world, that's not a tradition. Other parts of the world, Nigeria, man, they get married in some of the loudest and most beautiful fabrics you would see in their traditional native garb. But the white dress tradition of the United States is making its way to West Africa.

Now people are wanting to be married in that white dress, even though it's not culturally something they have done. But anyway, moral of the story, that white wedding dress is rooted in that concept. Now we recognize perfection is not possible in this life. We will stain that garment.

We will sin. Walking in that repentant attitude with our God is what is being sought after.

We are doing what we can to yield ourselves to Him, to grow, to improve better every day.

Let's go over to Revelation 19. Revelation 19, and we'll go ahead and pick up the account in verse 6. Revelation 19, we'll pick it up in verse 6. We referenced it earlier. We're going to read it now. Again, as we are walking with God, that is implying a walking with us in a repentant attitude with our husband, with our bridegroom. Those who do that, it says in Sardis, are those who will be in white, those who are dressed in white, those who overcome. Revelation 19, we'll pick the verses up here. Again, looking towards the event that we're preparing for. Revelation 19 in verse 6 reads and follows. It says, And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, is the sound of many waters, and is the sound of the mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.

Verse 8, To her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then He said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and He said to me, These are the true sayings of God. The bride has made herself ready. She's in linen, white and clean, representative of the righteous acts of the saints, the collective righteousness of the body, not through their their own righteousness. We could somehow justify ourselves, but through the grace and the mercy of Christ. As it talked about in Ephesians 5, which we read earlier, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, presenting her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but through His sanctification, through His cleansing, through the washing of water by the Word, she should be holy and without blemish.

Which brings us to the second characteristic of a bride-to-be. That is, a bride-to-be is submissive to her husband. A bride-to-be is submissive to her husband. You know, it can be tempting, I think, sometimes for us to think that these righteous acts of the saints, the white garments that are present here in Revelation 19, are things that we have done in and of ourselves. That if only we could live more circumspectly, if we could only work harder to be righteous, we could pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, so to speak, and earn those white robes. Now, we have a role to play.

We have a role to play, but it's a challenging distinction. Let's turn over to Romans 5. Romans 5, verse 18. Romans 5 and verse 18. I want to make the distinction as clear as I can today.

Romans 5 and verse 18. We'll see the Apostle Paul's words here as he goes through the book of Romans and just really spells that Romans is a treatise on salvation in many ways. It is an incredible, incredible document and an incredible epistle that was written. Romans 5 and verse 18.

Apostle Paul writes, Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. The righteous acts of the saints, the righteous acts of the body of believers, came about as a result of one man's righteous act, one man's submission and obedience.

Paul here talks about the actions of Adam and how one man's sin, through one man's sin, judgment came upon the earth, came upon all men. And ultimately, that resulted in condemnation to death for transgression of God's law. Similar to that, through the righteous act of Christ, he says, through his obedience to the point of death, the saints are made righteous.

So are those righteous acts a result of our hard work? No. Ironically, they're a result of our submission. They're a result of our submission. By submitting ourselves to the mind of Christ dwelling in us, God's Spirit working in our life, by yielding our spirit, our own human spirit, to his spirit and obeying, we maintain that righteousness that was imputed to us by Christ's sacrifice. It is through our submission to that spirit, through our obedience of that spirit, through our choice to yield with which that righteousness continues to be imputed. Let's go to Colossians 3. We'll see a result of this. We'll see what it looks like.

If I can find the book of Colossians. I'm reasonably certain it's in here somewhere.

Here we go. Colossians 3, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 12. Colossians 3 and verse 12, it says, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

If anyone has a complaint against you even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. He says, verse 14, But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord, and whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Paul tells the church in Colossia how they were to dress now as the new man.

The old man's dead. The new man has different fashion sense.

Turns out he's to be clothed differently. He's to be clothed in tenderness, in kindness, in humility, in meekness, and in longsuffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, even when people have complaints against us. And brethren, where do these things come from?

Do these things come from us?

Are these a natural proclivity of our human spirit? No, they are not. They're of God.

They come from us willingly placing our rebellious human spirit under the authority of our husband, under the authority of our betrothed, and yielding ourselves to Him as He yielded Himself to God. We are yielding ourselves to His wishes, to His desires, to His commands.

And when we do this, the righteous actions will follow in our lives. Is it our own power? No.

Do we play a critical part? Absolutely we do. Absolutely we do. Like I said before, it's a challenging distinction. But our obedience and our submission to the Spirit of God in our lives, our choice each and every day to listen to that and not to our own rebellious human spirit, is something which requires our submission. It's something which requires our submission, and it also requires a recognition of the price that was paid for us. Let's go over just a few pages here to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6, and we'll...

1 Corinthians 8, and we'll... In verse 18, Paul is building an argument throughout the entirety of the book of 1 Corinthians, really setting it up so this concept is clear. And often when we read this passage, we don't typically go past it. We usually end right at the end of verse 20. We end right there, and that's it. We don't go any further. But it's interesting because, again, when you look at the Scripture was originally written, these chapter and verse marks weren't there.

This was a distinct concept that continued throughout. And so, when we take a look at verse 7, it's related. It's connected. Or chapter 7, I should say. It's connected. We don't often continue past it, but the two ideas are not mutually exclusive. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 18, says, Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Verse 19. This is the one we typically will come to. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? You are not your own.

For you were bought at a price. You were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. And we tend to stop there. We tend to leave it at that. We make our point. We move on to the next passage. But if we keep going, this idea, brethren, is built in further here in 1 Corinthians 7. Why are we not our own? Why are we not our own?

1 Corinthians 7. Now, concerning the things of which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection do her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Verse 5. Do not deprive one another, except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and may give yourself in prayer, and come together again, so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. So Paul continues directly from that point that we read earlier in 1 Corinthians 6 verses 19 and 20 into a discussion about marriage, submission, and authority. Why are we not our own? Because the wife doesn't have authority over her own body. Her husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his body. The wife does. Vice versa. Now we tend to look at these verses, especially chapter 7, we look at these verses in a very purely physical sense. This is the I have a headache clause of the marriage of the marriage bed, right? That's this clause right here. But Paul is making spiritual connections to physical covenants. He's saying we're not our own, we're our husbands. That price is paid for us. We've been bought. We've been betrothed. We're soon to be married, and as a result, we must submit ourselves to him. And thankfully, brethren, our husband is perfect.

Our husband is perfect. He's loving. He's not abusive. He cares for us implicitly. He gave his life for us. He died so that we may live. He's done nothing but good for us. Nothing but good for us. We have no reason to rebel. We have no reason to push back. We have no reason to exert our own desires for control. His will is for our ultimate good, despite the challenges that we face.

Which brings us to our final characteristic, which we'll explore today, which is a bride to be is faithful. A bride to be is faithful. Let's go over to Malachi 2 in verse 10. Malachi 2 in verse 10. It's a book we don't often go to here at the end of the Old Testament. Malachi 2 in verse 10.

It's kind of interesting. The book of Malachi contains God's prophecy against Judah's idolatry and sin. And, you know, in many ways, Malachi is kind of a fascinating book simply because it's one of the latest books of the Old Testament that we have before a really long break in writings between, you know, the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the new, that intertestamental period. And it kind of shows us the mindset of the Israelites and those of Judah in that intervening time. The book was likely written between 538 and 333 BC. So it's during the reign of the Persian Empire in many ways. And at the tail end, kind of the Greek Empire. But in it, God is holding the people of Judah accountable for their actions, their lack of faithfulness to Him. Malachi 2 in verse 10. He says, Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another?

By profaning the covenant of our fathers or of the fathers, Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the Lord's holy institution, which he loves. He has married the daughter of a foreign God.

May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this being awake and aware, yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts. He says in verse 13, And yet this second thing you do, you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with crying, so He does not regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, For what reason? Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously. Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

But did not He make them one? Having a remnant of the Spirit. And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring, it says. Therefore, take heed to your spirit and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. The Hebrew word that's used for treacherously here is bakad, which translates to treacherously or in some cases against the standard. But it's interesting as you go through and you look at how the word's used throughout the Old Testament. It's used in a whole bunch of places to bring in the concept of unfaithfulness. Dealing treacherously is a code word for saying you done cheated on your spouse. It's a code word in the Old Testament.

And the implication of the usage in Jeremiah in particular in reference to Judah was of Judah's harlotry. Of her going to other gods. Of her going to other places. You know, Judah dealt treacherously with the Lord, it says. And ultimately, Judah married the daughter of a foreign god committing adultery. Judah, Israel, they were not faithful to their god. They were betrothed. They were married to him, we might say, but they wanted to see other people.

Despite all the good that God had done, despite all the blessings that he had poured out, all the miracles that he had wrought, it was never enough. They wanted more. They wanted something new. They wanted something different. The grass was greener on the other side. His efforts on their behalf didn't ultimately matter because their own desires, their own wants, were more important.

Faithfulness to God requires us to put to death these things in our lives. To put to death the things which are idolatrous in nature. We read the latter part of the passage earlier, but this piece building towards the characteristics of the new man. Let's pop back over to Colossians 3.

Again, we read the later part of the passage earlier. I want to read the earlier section here because this is what builds into that idea of the new man and what the new man should look like. Colossians 3. Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians.

Colossians 3. Sorry, Colossians 3. Change it up on you. Colossians 3 in verse 1.

Galatia, Ephesia, Colossians 3. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above. Seek those things that are the wisdom from above, as we read earlier. Where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden now with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Verse 5. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth. Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness. Notice what he says next, which is idolatry. All of these things, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, are idolatry. They are serving false gods.

Verse 6. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

Verse 7. In which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these. He says, you're different now. And because you're different, because you're betrothed to my son, put off anger. Put off wrath. Put off malice and blasphemy.

Filthy language. He says, put it out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you've put off the old man with your deeds. In other words, don't live differently than you say you do. Take off the mask. Kind of as Mr. Griswold mentioned earlier, hot or cold?

No, not lukewarm. Take off the mask. No hypocrisy. He says, but you now yourselves are to put off all these. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you've put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, nor free. But notice how he finishes. He says, Christ is all and in all. Christ is all and in all. Faithfulness is both trust and submission. It's trusting in the goodness of our husband. It's trusting that he has a purpose and he has a plan for our life. Even when it gets challenging, even when it becomes difficult.

Ultimately, we submit ourselves to that, despite the challenges, despite the difficulties, and that we are going to yield our deepest and our most intimate parts of ourselves to him.

That we are giving ourselves 100% to him. You know, if I or Shannon were to go out to a club or something with our friends, she went out with her girlfriends, or I went out with my guy friends, we would all naturally recognize in a circumstance that it would be unacceptable for me to flirt with a waitress.

It would be unacceptable for me to flirt with a bartender. It would be unacceptable for me to get up and go out and grind out there on the dance floor with somebody. That's not okay.

And yet, how often do we flirt with, or do we engage with things other than our husbands spiritually?

How often do we flirt with things or engage in our own wants or desires?

Brother, our husband has every right to demand our faithfulness.

We are his. We are not ours. We are his. He has every right to demand our faithfulness.

And our faithfulness to our husband includes a fulfillment of our promise.

It includes not lying to him, not lying to others, not putting off the old man if we really haven't. And that old man is still grasping, coming up out of the dirt, you know, still reaching for us.

He's been buried, but he's still clawing his way to the surface.

We've been commanded to leave those things behind. And an aspect of that is this transformation, as expected, into a new man. That we will yield ourselves to his spirit within us. That we will willingly put ourselves under his authority, not willingly placing ourselves under a host of other things. Whether that authority is our own authority and our own wants and our own desires, or the various gods, small g, that we've defined in the world around us.

Faithfulness means that we are saving the deepest and the most intimate parts of ourselves for him and for him alone. We may cheat on him, but he never, ever cheats on us.

2 Timothy 2, verse 13, says, even if we are faithless, he is faithful. Even if we are faithless, he is faithful. Chastity, submission, faithfulness—these three characteristics are expectations of the collective body by their bridegroom and their father, our great god.

In reality, again, these are a sampling of the many, many, many characteristics of a bride to be. There are so many more, but at their core, these three encompass so many others.

Chastity, submission, faithfulness—quite frankly, you can take all three of those things, and I think you could wrap it up in one single concept, and that is submission. One single concept can wrap up all three, that we are willing to submit ourselves to God's Spirit in our lives.

You know, in earthly relationships, if the husband and wife would both fully submit themselves to God and to one another and exhibit the fruits of Spirit in their interactions, 100% of marital challenges would disappear overnight. 100% of marital challenges would disappear overnight.

It is that simple, and it is that challenging all at the same time.

We must submit ourselves to the Spirit of God that is dwelling in us. We need to rely on that spiritual wisdom which is pure and from above, maintain our unblemished state, our undefiled state, through yielding ourselves to God's Spirit and to Christ's sacrifice. We need to continually yield ourselves to the authority of our husband, willingly transforming ourselves as a result of his Spirit dwelling in us, remaining faithful and true to him and to him alone.

Brethren, if these three things are in place, the rest will follow. This bride to be will be a radiant and a glorious bride with joy indescribable. Can you even imagine the joy?

The dancing and the celebrating and the songs and food of the marriage supper of the Lamb.