The Marriage of the Church

Well, good afternoon again, everyone. It's always, always wonderful to see you. And glad that, even though we've had the Feast of Trumpets here two days ago, that most everyone is able to be back and be here in Sabbath services this afternoon. I think we could say that we were able to enjoy what is really a very jubilant, very joyful Holy Day whenever we have the Feast of Trumpets. What are pictures about Jesus returning? He came to the earth 2,000 years ago, and he only introduced, he announced, the Kingdom of God. But it wasn't installed right then. It's going to be installed whenever he returns, whenever he returns and establishes his throne, establishes the Kingdom here on earth. And certainly, the Feast of Trumpets pictures the inevitability of his return. It's why we pray, by Kingdom come. And we read, here just the other day, we read a part of Revelation 19. And of course, the latter part of Revelation 19 describes his return and his rule with a rod of iron, actually having to suppress people who are going to be gathered against his intervention in world affairs. And I know that that section of Revelation 19 certainly has, you know, everything to do with what Christ is going to achieve whenever he comes back. In the earlier part of Revelation 19, if you look through the chapter there of Revelation 19, you see a tremendous event, picture. And I'm not directly going to read that part right now. I'll read it a little bit later. But in Revelation 19, kind of 1 to 10 or so, the first section of Revelation 19 pictures, there's something that's going to happen, really a very glorious event, picturing the marriage of the Lamb to a bride who has made herself ready.

Now this is describing a spiritual union that is going to last for all eternity in the future. See, when we read this, we can read it, we can see a little bit about it, you can see the angelic realm as they are around the throne of God. You know, they're thrilled, they're excited, the 24 elders are bowing before the great God and excitedly describing, you know, this wedding ceremony, this marriage of the Lamb, and yet He's being married to a bride who has made herself ready.

See, now this event is going to portray a union that, as I said, goes into the future, goes into the future for all eternity, but it begins with us today. It begins with us as God draws us to Jesus Christ and enables us to be a part of the Church of God.

I want us to look at Ephesians chapter 5 because you see a section here, and Paul gives similar instructions in many of his epistles. He gives direction, not only doctrinal information, but he gives Christian living topics. He talks about families, he talks about marriage, he talks about husbands and wives and children, he talks about how to get along, he talks about how to act. And yet here in Ephesians 5, he more mentions something that's in regard to marriage, and actually if we drop down to verse 32, it says in Ephesians 5, 32, that what I'm talking about, what I'm stating to you here in these verses, actually starting in verse 21 and all the way down through verse 33, he says in verse 32, this is a great mystery.

He says this is not something that everybody understands, or if people understand something about it, it may be very limited understanding. But he says in verse 32, this is a great mystery, but I am applying this. I am speaking to you about Christ and the church.

And so here he's stating that the discussion that he has had in the verses prior to this, actually it deals with us on a physical realm. If we are married and if we are in a family relationship, a husband and a wife, you know, then we're trying to apply the principles that are taught. But he says I'm talking to you about a mystery to most people, a mystery that you may need spiritual understanding to perceive. But to drop back in verse 22 to describe a little more about what he was saying, he says, wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Now here Paul not only is directing things to husbands and wives as far as instruction for Christian living, but he's also explaining an important event that we are entering into when we become a part of the church of God and whenever we are as a part of the church in subjection to the head of the church, in subjection to Jesus Christ. And he says in verse 24, just as the church is subject to Christ. See, that's where every one of us have a union. We all need to be able to, no matter male or female, we all have to identify with what is described here in verse 24. As the church, each one of us as a part of the church is subject to Christ. He's our leader. He's our head. He's the one who has paid the ransom. He's the one who is our Redeemer. He's the one that we owe our entire life to in every way. And so just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be in everything to their husbands. But then he goes on. He goes on. In verse 25, husbands love your wives just as Christ loves the church. And he gave himself up for her. See, he's given the sacrifice. He's given, allowed his blood to be shed so that we could be forgiven and be a part of the church. He says, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the Word so as to present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or anything of this kind, yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. And so whenever we read in Revelation 19 about how it is that this bride has made herself ready and then ultimately this glorious wedding is going to take place and that is going to be the setting for our union with Jesus Christ going forward, we also see here in this description that, well, as he has drawn us into the church, as he has nurtured us even through his own sacrifice and through his washing and caring and nurturing and cherishing us, which he does, you know, this is how it is, you know, that we see a connection. So let's see, let's go to Revelation 19 and I want to read at least a part of this or I'm going to briefly read this because I think, you know, it's pretty clear what it is that it's speaking about.

Revelation 19 verse 1, after this, I heard what seemed to be a loud voice, a great multitude in heaven saying, hallelujah, hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God for his judgments are true and just and he has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth of her fornication. He is avenged on her the blood of his servants and once more they said, hallelujah! And verse 4, the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne and saying, hallelujah! See, this sounds like a, you know, a time of great joy, a time of just exuberance in every manner because what God has been working on, what he has been helping people work toward, is coming to, in a sense, a conclusion. And he says in verse 5, from the throne came a voice saying, praise our God, all you his servants and all who fear him, small and great. And I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunders, crying out saying, hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. And so clearly this is talking about Jesus having returned to the earth. He has set up a kingdom on the earth. He is the king of that kingdom, even as he told Pilate, as Pilate questioned him about, is he the king of the Jews? He says, well, yes, I am, but I'm not setting up my kingdom right now. That's going to be in the future. But he says in verse 6, the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. See, that's a part that I want to focus on today. There are actually many things that we could read as we read about the return of Jesus. We read some of the verses the other day. We could read about the resurrection. We didn't really go into that in detail, but we of course know that whenever Jesus comes, there is a resurrection. A resurrection I'd like to be a part of. A resurrection that I would like for you to be a part of. I certainly want, whether I'm a dead in Christ or whether I'm still alive and remain, I want to be a part of the resurrection or the transformation that takes place whenever Jesus returns.

But here he talks about this marriage of the Lamb and about the bride having made herself ready.

And it goes on in verse 8 to say, to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure, and this fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. So to give some clarification here, it actually shows that being prepared for this great wedding, being prepared for this spiritual union that we can be a part of because we are a part of the church of God today. We are a part of what Christ is doing in order to nurture us and cherish us and purify us to be able to have the qualities described here in verse 8. And I think the only thing I, you know, as I read this, it's exciting to read it and yet there's not a lot of additional information about, you know, what does this actually mean? But what we can say is what we've already said, as I've mentioned here during the announcements, it's a tremendous blessing, an unbelievable privilege and blessing to know the truth of God in this age, to be able to be potentially a part of this great wedding, this great marriage, and it's certainly a privilege to have the opportunity to know God right now at this time. All of us know people who do not know God. You know, many of us work for others who do not know God and who do not really want to know God in many ways because you find a world that is rather indifferent, a world that is certainly cut off from God in many, many ways, but it is an honor to know what God's purpose for human life is, to know what his plan of salvation is, and yet, whenever we have that understanding, with that understanding comes a responsibility and awareness that we're being judged. We're being judged right now. We're being judged as we are growing toward and working toward hastening, praying for the day of Christ's return to come. So, as you see in verse 8, it says the clothing that this bride is clothed with need to come from somewhere. You know, it says it's the fine linen, it's white and pure, it's bright and pure, and that it involves the righteous deeds of the saints. But what exactly is that talking about? How are we putting on the fine linen garments, wedding garments that are required for this wedding? How are you doing that?

Well, I think it's important to go to what Jesus says in Matthew 22, because not only do we have this information in Ephesians and then in Revelation that involved this, but here in Matthew 22, you see a parable that Jesus gave and one that we should understand, one that we should benefit from, because it tells us exactly what we need to do. Now, I'm sure many have read this parable, Matthew 22, verse 1 through 14, and maybe not really fully understood, you know, the import of it, and yet perhaps maybe you have. And maybe you're fulfilling all the requirements, and yet it's good for us to go over them and be able to think about, well, how well am I filling those requirements? But here in chapter 22 of Matthew, you see Jesus stating the parable. And actually, you see this between verse 1 and verse 14, and it almost seems like there's kind of two sections to this. Verse 1 through 10 is the first section, and then verse 11 through 14 is the second section. Now, many of the parables that Jesus spoke, you actually find him a little later explaining to the disciples what this means. You don't see that in this particular one, but as we've already shown, you know, you can see things in Ephesians, and you can see things in Revelation that involve a wedding, that involve a marriage, and that involve even the way to be prepared for that marriage. I will say up front, though, the first section down to verse 10, that first section is spoken directly to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the ones who were the religious leaders, and in essence, they were the ones who represented the Jewish nation. And, of course, Jesus had come through Judah, and he had come to the Jewish nation to begin with. And, of course, he was later going to direct his disciples to first go to Israelites, go to Judah, but then also extend on out to the Gentiles. And so we need to have that in mind, perhaps, as we read this, chapter 21, verse 45. You see Jesus actually speaking two other parables, the parable of the sons and the parable of the wicked tenants. And in verse 45 it says, this is of chapter 21, when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized he was talking about them.

See, that was, you know, they figured it out. They, there are lessons for us in those parables that they realized he's talking about us. He's calling us names. He's actually saying we're corrupt. They didn't like it, of course. They wanted, verse 46, to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, because everyone looked at him as a prophet. See, people, you know, had different opinions of Jesus, and certainly the religious leaders, you know, they were in jeopardy. They were threatened by this religious leader, who was a far greater religious leader than they would ever think about being. And, of course, they did. They did suffer. They suffered a lot of jealousy, a lot of anger, a lot of hatred, a lot of malice toward Jesus. It's ultimately why, you know, they led the charge to put him to death. They just couldn't stand him. But here in verse 1 of chapter 22, once more, Jesus spoke to them in parables. So here, again, it's pretty obvious he's talking to them. He says, the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, as Matthew usually states it, but it's talking of the kingdom of God, may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.

And he sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they wouldn't come. And again, he sent another slave, or other slaves, saying, tell those who had been invited, look, I prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fat calves have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. It was almost like he was pleading. Come to the wedding. But in verse 5, you see what happens. They made light of it. They went away, one to his farm, another to his business. And while others, the rest seized his servants and mistreated them and killed them. And it says in verse 7, with this kind of response, with this kind of disrespect, with this kind of appalling behavior, the king was enraged. And he sent his troops, destroying these murderers, and he burned their city. And so he told his servants, I want you to go out. The wedding is already ready, but those who are invited are not worthy.

And so go therefore into the main streets and invite everyone to find another wedding banquet. And those servants went into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Now, as you read any commentaries that talk about this, they kind of get at least some part of this right. Now, Jesus was actually indicting the religious leaders. He was telling them, you know, you're the ones who actually even know the law. You're the ones who know that the Messiah is going to come. And you read others. As we read the New Testament, you read, you know, Mary and Martha, they knew something about the Messiah coming, something about the resurrection. They knew some, there were, this was pretty common information. And yet what this parable pointed out was that those who were invited, initially the Jews resisted. They wouldn't even accept, they wouldn't even consider accepting Jesus Christ. And then, whenever others were brought in, you know, they came up with excuses. And so this again was dealing with the house of Israel. And ultimately, he says, go out and bring everyone in. You know, there was going to be a time when all could be brought in and be a part of this wedding, whether they were Israelite or not, even the Gentile world. And of course, that's what the entire ministry of the Apostle Paul was all about. He is directed as the Apostle to the Gentiles. So this particular part of it involves an invitation. It involves being invited to the wedding. And of course, it shows at least certain groups of people didn't want to have anything to do with that. And clearly, it points out that that kind of response is completely wrong. But what I want to focus on, of course, is verse 11. Verse 11, on down to verse 14, because verse 14 says, many are called, but few are chosen. Now, there's a differentiation between being called or being invited by God to know something, but then actually choosing to respond, choosing to obey, choosing to change clothes, because that's really a part of what's being explained here.

In verse 11, when the king came in to see the guest, and this was, of course, at the wedding bank, what he noticed a man who was not wearing a wedding robe. And he said to him, friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?

See, now, when you read this, and perhaps if we're not fully aware of what customarily was done at that time, and Jesus was clearly aware of this, whenever people were invited to a wedding, they were even, you know, invited to, you know, they provided apparel for them to wear. You know, maybe they didn't always just have what would be appropriate, and so they provided apparel for them to wear. And they made it available so that if they're going to come to the wedding, the wedding can be a real festive. Maybe it was tuxes and, you know, prom dresses. I don't know what it was that was provided, but this was somewhat commonly done.

And yet, in this case, the king comes to this man and says, how did you get in here without this wedding garment?

And, of course, the response is somewhat pathetic. It's somewhat, it's unusual, surely, and yet it's pathetic, and it's pretty revealing. And all he can say is, I'm speechless. He had nothing to say. He had no response. See, this could be likened, and certainly it shows a disrespect for being invited, a disrespect for being brought in, and a disrespect for even putting on the clothes that you were supposed to wear in the wedding.

And clearly, you see the outcome of this, verse 13, the king said, to the attendants, bind him hand and foot, throw him into outer darkness, or be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's a bad outcome. That's a bad outcome. And then he makes a statement, many are called and few are chosen. And I think we need to understand, you know, verse 11 and 12, as far as what was exactly happening in the lives of these people. You know, this is, it's an interesting parable that Jesus gives. And as I said, it was customary for hosts to provide garments for their guests to wear, and certainly to not wear the provided garment showed a lack of respect and a lack of appreciation for being invited to the wedding.

And so I think the questions that we have to ask ourselves as we think about this whole section, chapter 22 on down to verse 14, because all of us have responded to the call. We have all responded to coming to the wedding. Are we really respecting the Father's invitation in our lives? Is that a primary focus of everything I do? And are we properly attired?

Are we properly attired for the wedding, the wedding that we hope to be a part of when Jesus returns? See, I think this is pretty exciting whenever you see it. And yet, unfortunately, when you think about it, and clearly what you see here in this example, in verse 11 and 12, was that this man, you know, tried to get into the wedding.

He tried to be a part of the program, a part of the project, a part of the wedding banquet, without the proper garments. He tried to get in just like he was. That's somewhat of a common idea many people have about religion. You know, I'll just, you know, dabble around and take this and that and whatever I happen to want. They want to do it their own way. They want to do religion just according to me, instead of according to what God's Word says. And clearly, you know, you can see, and Paul even writes about that.

He talks about people, you know, resisting the way of God and just choosing to do it their way. You know, he even told the Jews in Romans 10, you know, they have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of God. They are not really seeking to know what God wants. And certainly, as we read this example, particularly in verse 12, you know, whenever he, you know, the man had to simply be speechless. He had no excuse. He had no reason for, except I'm just too lazy.

I'm not putting forth any effort to show respect to the king, nor do I wish to change my life. That was really what he was saying. So what we can learn from this is that we've got to be willing to put on the garments that God provides. And of course, these are all revealed in the Word of God. They're all revealed so that we can follow. We can see what they are, and then we can follow them.

We can enjoy them. We can benefit from them, and we can then be properly attired. We don't want to be disinterested in the invitation. We don't want to be making excuses for why we've got other things to do. We want to put on the proper wedding garments. So the first thing, there are several things mentioned that we can put on, but first of all, we've got to put on. If we're going to put on the proper garments, we want to put on Jesus Christ.

See, that's the first thing that we could easily identify here. I want us to look in Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13, you see an urgent appeal, an appeal that Paul made to the people there in Rome. Of course, he had talked to them in chapter 12 about having a transformed life. And in chapter 13, he continues to give them more instruction, and yet, I want to start in verse 11.

It says, besides this, you know what time it is, how it's now the moment for you to wait from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers. And of course, that was true then, and that's true now. We're closer to the return of Jesus. We're closer to the wedding.

We're closer to needing to be clothed than we have been last week or any time in the past. But Paul says salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers. The night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness, and let us be clothed. That's the same reference here in the Greek words that are used. Put on the armor of light. Put on a spiritual garment that we're going to see reflected from Jesus Christ. Verse 13, let us live honorably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy, but instead, what does verse 14 say? It says, put on. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. See, why is it that we study the Word of God and that we read what it says about, and of course, Jesus coming to the earth the first time is the most important thing that happened in the plan of God up to that point. It was critical, it was necessary, it was needed, and yet it was important for the entire plan. And yet, when we have Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, we've got an account of what Jesus was like, of what he said, of what he did, of where he'd come from, and we want to feed on that information. We want to make that a part of our minds. But he says, put on the armor of light. Verse 14, put on Jesus Christ. You see the same thing mentioned here in Galatians. Galatians chapter 3. He says, as many of you, as were baptized, into Jesus Christ, have clothed yourself with Christ. Now, whether we realize it or not, at the time when we were baptized, we can all think back. Some of you, that wasn't too long ago. Others, that was quite a while ago. But surely you remember, you know that you were giving your life over to Jesus Christ. You were saying, I see that he's more important. I need what he has to give. I need his forgiveness. I need the Holy Spirit of God to be able to change my mind and my thinking. And I am then going to be a servant of Jesus Christ for the rest of my life.

And so here he says, many of you, as were baptized into Christ, have been clothed with Christ.

And so he goes ahead to explain, there is no longer Jew or Greek, no longer slave or free, no longer male or female. All are one in Jesus Christ. And so he, Paul, of course, continues to point this out. He does this in numerous of his books. We might even go back to what Luke writes, because this is what I was mentioning. Whenever we were making a commitment at baptism, baptism is, of course, clearly, when you read the book of Acts, a requirement. We're going to be a part of God's family. If we're going to be a part of the wedding, that's yet to occur. If we're going to be a part of the church where we are in subjection to Christ, we're going to repent. We're going to turn. We're going to be baptized. We're going to be forgiven. And we're going to become like Jesus Christ. Here in Luke 14, you see actually a whole section about the cost of discipleship. Starting in verse 25, it says, "...large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned, and he said, Whoever comes to me and does not hate, love less, in comparison, his father or his mother, his wife or his children, brothers or sisters, yes, even his own life." If we don't see that we are not, you know, we're in a sense giving up our life, and we are coming under the reign, coming under the rule of Jesus Christ, and that's got to be more important than anything else. It says, you cannot be my disciple unless you're willing, unless you see the significance, see the importance of what it is that Christ is going to do in our lives. And whosoever in verse 27 does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. See the whole section, and I'm not going to take time to read more of it, this whole section points out what it is to put on Jesus Christ. We have come to a point in our lives where we see how much we need forgiveness. We see how much we need the help of God to be able to be transformed and to be a part of what we see to be a glorious union of the future, which of course is describing a family of God. But there are many other verses we can go to, but I think it would suffice to just go to these, because clearly we're supposed to put on Jesus Christ. That's a part of the wedding garment. That's a part of the apparel that God makes available, and yet we have to seek it. We have to want that. It's probably an area that we should ask for in our prayers every day, because you can't just say, well, I've asked for that once, I'm sure I'm immediately transformed. You know, that's a lifelong process. The second thing I can say is that we are to put on, again, as a part of the wedding garments that God wants us to have, we are to put on the new man. See, that's the description that Paul gives. He talks about the old man or the old woman and the new man, the new woman.

And of course, whenever you see what he's talking about, it would be applicable to men or women.

Let's look at Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, again, sometimes we can read through these we could read through these verses and we could say, yes, I agree with that, but we may not realize, so this is talking about me. This is talking about changes that need to come about in my life with by the help of God. It's really not something I can fully do myself. It's something I have to ask God's help in doing. So here in Ephesians 4 verse 17, now this I affirm and assist. I insist on in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles live in the futility of your mind. See here, again, Paul was stating that you can't just continue in your old ways. You can't continue to be the way you have been up to that point when you were baptized and then transformed into a newness of life.

But he says in verse 22, verse 22, you were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self which was corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And to clothe yourself. Again, putting on or clothing. These are all words that are very, very similar, a description that's very similar to what it is that we want to know about our wedding garment. To clothe yourself with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So here, he makes that, I think, very, very clear. And then he enumerates on what that means starting in verse 25. So then, putting away falsehood.

Again, this is not something we don't know, but it's something we should be reminded of and maybe think of in the manner that I need to put this on. I need to ask God to give me this view.

Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbor, for we are members of one another. It says, be angry, but don't sin. Don't let the sun go down on your wrath. Again, each one of these, perhaps, could be a topic for a sermonette or a sermon, because there's a lot more information about these. But these start listing things that are the transformative part of the old self becoming the new self. And that's what we have to put on. Verse 27, do not make room for the devil, or don't give place to the devil. That involves some resisting. Thieves must give up stealing. Rather, let them labor and work honestly with their hands so as to have something to share with the needy. Verse 29, let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. Now, that's a tall order to strive to achieve at all times, but it's clearly the instruction of becoming the new man. It says, don't breathe the Holy Spirit of God with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. And then he uses a great summarizing statement here at the end, put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. See, that's putting on the new man. That's putting on the wedding attire. That's putting on the wedding apparel. Let's go over to Colossians. Colossians chapter 3. You could go to each one of these books and find information that would be similar to this, but this describes it in a little different way. It describes it in the same way of putting on clothing, being clothed with something. Here in Colossians chapter 3. And again, I'm not taking time to read through all of these, but you may wish to do so. But even reading these verses, it's far, again, enough for us to try to focus on and to try to achieve. Here in Colossians chapter 3, the first part of it says, set your mind in verse 2 on things that are above and not on things on the earth. See, that, of course, is helping us focus on what is really important as opposed to what is happening here in this temporary life that we live. In verse 8, he says, now, well, back up to verse 7, he says, I've talked about ways that you also once followed when you were living that life. He's talking about the old ways. But now, you must get rid of all these things to get rid of anger and wrath and malice and slander and abusive language from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices, and you have clothed yourself with the new self. Again, whenever it tells us we need to put on the wedding garments that are going to be acceptable, we see what these are when we see a difference between the old self and the new self. Verse 10, you have clothed yourself with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Creator.

And if we drop down to verse 12, it says, as God's chosen wants, as God's invitees to the wedding, as those who have been drawn to be a part of the Church of God today under the lead and supervision of the Head, Jesus Christ, it says, as God's chosen ones holy and beloved, clothe yourself. So here's more to put on. I guess we would put on a hat and we would put on gloves and put on a coat, a dress, a coat, pants. Clothe yourself with compassion. Clove yourself with kindness. Clove yourself with humility and with meekness and with patience.

And bear with one another. And if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other. He says, holding those grudges, holding things against one another, that isn't a part of the new man. Bear with one another. In verse 13, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other just as the Lord has forgiven you so you should also forgive. Again, you can see how similar this is to what he said in Ephesians. He said basically the same thing to different of the congregations.

But here he says in verse 14, above all, clothe yourselves with love. Clothe yourselves with the love of God, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. So what kind of garment are we looking for in the new man? Well, it's described here, I think, in graphic detail. Verse 15, let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, to which indeed you were called in the one body, and be thankful. See, he's talking about us being a part of a spiritual union, having been espoused to Jesus Christ, and the wedding is yet to occur whenever he returns. When he comes back, and his wife will have made herself ready. So each of us have a part in that. We have a part in putting on Christ, and then putting on the new self, the new man. The last thing I'll mention is clearly what it says there in Revelation 19. We must involve ourselves in the righteous deeds of the saints. See, much of what I've read already is a transformation of our heart and mind, a desire to seek something completely different than what we were. And God knew what we were when he started. He just said, we just need to clean this up. We need to forgive, and we need to eradicate the things that are unacceptable, and embrace the values of God. Embrace what's really important, because this is describing the divine nature. But thirdly, we must involve ourselves in the righteous deeds of the saints, because that's what it says there in Revelation 19. I think it's verse 8. It says, the linen, the fine linen, the pretty garments, the white pure garments that they have, are the righteous deeds of the saints. You are the righteous deeds of the saints. In Matthew 5, Matthew 5, it says, of course, that we're to be a light to the world.

Matthew chapter 5, verse 14, you're a light of the world.

The city built on the hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the basket, but on the lampstand gives light to the house. That's the only way you're going to be of benefit or use is to be shining brightly. But in the same way in verse 16, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

See, now, giving or doing good works, the righteous deeds of the saints are going to involve doing good works. It's going to involve serving one another and serving others as far as the world as a whole, as we are able to do so. In Titus chapter 2 and 3, Titus, of course, is a book that Paul wrote to a fellow minister, a younger minister than he was.

And yet, Titus needed to know, well, what do I teach to the people? What do I teach to, you know, to tell people that they need to do? And how can I properly conduct myself in the house of God? And Paul gives him a lot of, actually, it's very short here, I guess, three chapters. But he clearly says to tell people to be doing good works, to do the things that are going to assist and help others. Here in Titus chapter 2, verse 11, it says, The grace of God has appeared, bringing to all salvation, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passion, and in the present age, to live lives that are self-controlled and upright and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We're awaiting His return. We've got time. He's not coming tomorrow. It's going to be a little while. We've got time to make these kind of changes. In verse 14, For it is He who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for Himself a people of His own who are zealous for good works.

See, here He not only says we need to do good works, He says that ought to be, in many ways, a motivating factor in our lives. We ought to be excited and be zealous to do good works. And in chapter 3, if we drop down here, again, I don't want to read the entirety of it, but in verse 1 it says, Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil, no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, to show every courtesy to everyone. And down in verse 8, He says, This saying is sure, I desire that you insist on these things. And so, several times Paul emphatically tells Timothy or Titus, I want you to insist that people understand what God is requiring. He says, I desire that you insist on these things so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone, but avoid stupid controversies and genealogies and dissension and quarrels about the law for they're unprofitable and worthless.

Brethren, we've labored over some of that. That has caused unfortunate division.

And it tells us what to do. If we drop down to verse 14, he says, Let people learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet urgent needs so that they may not be unproductive. See, that's what whenever we're told, well, what kind of garment do we need to put on? Well, we need to do good works. But as I've mentioned, now we're to put on Jesus Christ. We're to put on the new man. And we're to involve ourselves and devote ourselves to doing good work in serving other people. So let's go to Revelation 19 here to conclude, because it is exciting whenever you read this occasion that's going to happen at the return of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is going to occur. The bride at that point will have made herself ready. Right now, we're in the process of being made ready. Right now, we're in the process of putting on the acceptable wedding garments that he makes available to us. And as it says in verse 7, Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his bride has made herself ready. For to her it's been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Now, that's not just simply relying on our own righteousness, or relying on what seems right to me, or relying on whatever my old garments were. That's completely apart from that. That's asking God to clothe me with the new garments that he describes in his Word, which of course are what we can be extremely thankful that he makes those available. Just as I mentioned, garments were made available on the parable. The man just didn't wear them. He disregarded that option. And we don't want to do that, brethren. We want to seek to put on the garments that are provided by God, provided by his Word, and provided by his Spirit. And of course, I want to conclude as we realize, as we celebrate the Holy Days, as we're grateful for the purpose that God has given us, a great plan of salvation that he is going to work out, not only involving us, but involving billions of people over the years to come. We are truly blessed in understanding that. And what you see in verse 9 at the conclusion of this ceremony that is described, and that the angelic beings are just exuberant about, it says in verse 9, the angel said to me, I want you to write this down, and bless it! Truly bless it! Are those who were invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And that's where we come in. We have every reason to be excited, and to be thankful, and to be grateful. And as he points out here, he goes on in verse 9, he said to me, these are the true words of God. These are words that you can't get around. We want to put on the wedding garments that would cause us to be properly clothed. And I hope that I can encourage us to do that, and that we all can seek to put on Christ, to put on the new man, and to involve ourselves in the righteous deeds of the saints.