The Wedding of Christ and the Church

Thank you very much. Very beautiful words. Happy Sabbath to all of you! Even though it's a rainy day today, we can appreciate the liquid sunshine out there because we certainly do need it, don't we, here in this area? And I was telling, in fact, my wife and Jonathan coming down, if we have too much more global warming, we're going to have to build an arc. So, anyway, we'll have to see. I guess, back east, though, they may have to build something altogether different because it's snowing like gangbusters back there. We used to live, by the way, in Pennsylvania, and I remember one time that we were driving on an interstate over there. It snowed so much in just a short period of time where, literally, your car was plowing the snow. It came down so fast. So, it sometimes can do that in that area. You know, I was thinking about last night about my wife and I and how that, about 35 years ago, that we decided to get married.

And we did. We got married January 12th in 1975, so we're rolling around to 35 years pretty soon.

And, to me, that was one of the most beautiful weddings that I had ever seen.

And she was the most beautiful bride that I had ever seen, as well. And, of course, in terms of cost, I can't tell you what it cost because I didn't pay for it. Her parents paid for the wedding, which I was very thankful for because, I think, when we went into the ministry to begin with, we were making $175 a week. So, that would have been totally out of our range to even pay for something like that. But, again, it carries many fond memories for us. In history, though, there have been a few marriages which have stood out. You think about marriages that have taken place. I think one marriage that probably we'd think about would be Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles. They got married in 1981. And it was a marriage with great fanfare, with gilded horse-drawn carriages, with dignitaries that attended it from all over the world. And, I think, Barna and probably one would compare it to a fairy tale event, a fairy tale marriage.

The cost of the wedding was easily into the millions of dollars. I looked on the internet to find out maybe how much it did cost to do that wedding with all that was considered. But, I would imagine it was a multi-million dollar investment on the part of the queen. Diana's wedding ring, by the way, was valued back in 1981 at 30,000 pounds. So, her ring cost $60,000.

I don't know. Probably the pound back then was about four to one. So, you can get an idea of how much it was. It was very expensive. Her dress was 9,000 pounds, or let's say 18,000 to whatever, again, the exchange rate was back then. Her dress, by the way, had a, her wedding dress, had a 25-foot train to it. You know, any of you remember that, seeing that on television when they, the ceremony took place. Their cake was made by the finest baker. He was called the baker of kings. And interestingly, there were 600,000 people who were on the streets of London that day just to catch a glimpse of Lady Diana and Prince Charles. And 750 million people watched it on television. So, this was a grand wedding, wouldn't you agree? I mean, this was something that captivated the world's attention, and sadly, it ended in the tragedy that unfolded an eventual divorce and, of course, the death of Lady Diana or Princess Diana. It was called the wedding of the century. And the headlines read this amid splendor, Charles Wedge's Lady Diana.

I think we could easily say that every young girl around the world, perhaps, imagine herself in the place of Lady Diana wedding the prince of her dreams. I think probably most young little girls thought about how wonderful that would be to get married in such a high fashion as that.

I mentioned this one marriage. I'm sure that probably there were others through the history of mankind that we could talk about. I'm sure that there have been many weddings where much money has been spent. I don't know that there have been that many weddings where 750 million people saw it, though. I don't believe that probably any marriage would compare to that.

And yet, this will not be the most wonderful wedding of all times. The greatest wedding of all time, brethren, has been in the making, in fact, for the last 6,000 years and maybe more.

It is a wedding, a different kind of wedding, but it is a marriage of immense significance that's going to take place in this universe that is going to carry a significance for all eternity, for mankind, and for whatever happens again after this present dispensation that God has revealed to us is going to take place. The wedding I'm talking about, brethren, is the wedding of Christ and the Church, because that will be, no doubt, brethren, the greatest wedding of all time that's going to take place. What preparations, brethren, ought we be making for this great wedding that is coming ahead of us? What should we be doing as God's people? You know, in the first message we heard from Mr. Taylor, he talked about how we needed to understand the difference between the holy and the profane. We need to understand what is holy and what God expects of us and how we treat holy things. And I suspect that probably all of us could certainly do a better job in how we treat the Sabbath, how we treat others of God's laws that we commonly obey in the Church of God and observe in God's Church. But again, what preparations ought we be making for this great wedding that is coming? It has been won, like I said, it has been planned for 6,000 years and perhaps longer. Perhaps, in fact, we could go into aeons of time that, you know, the Father, you know, God and the Word plan this and what is going to take place in the very near future. You know, marriage is a wonderful institution. It has magnificent rewards for the husband and the wife. However, for any good marriage, one has to pay something. Someone has to pay something in order to have a good marriage. It costs something, always, to have a good marriage before and during marriage for the man and the woman. You know, when people get married, you know, we talk about how they get married for better or for worse. Sometimes, in marriages, things, again, can go wrong and mates have to prove their worth as mates by enduring those trials that come up. And, of course, when things are good, well, it's easy for everybody, isn't it? When things go good, it's just when things go difficult. When a man took a wife, you know, in the time of Christ, he had to pay a price. You know, what does a man have to pay to take a wife anyway? Well, you know, I think I pretty much figured out what you have to pay to have a wife. You have to pay everything.

That's about what it boils down to. And you have to pay everything in terms of monetary, and you have to pay everything in terms of your commitment to the marriage. And I could also say, what does a wife have to pay? She has to pay everything, too, in just the same way. It's like Mr. Armstrong, used to say, marriage is a commitment between the husband and wife. It's 100% both ways. Both have to commit to the marriage. Well, in the time of Christ, you had to pay something in order to have a wife. And customs, of course, are different now than they were then. But in the first century time of Christ, Middle Eastern wedding customs required what was called a bride price to be paid. You had to actually lay something down in order to have a wife, you know, if you were selecting a particular wife. Now, let's talk about selection of a wife. This was not wholly the job of, say, the intended wife or the husband to make. It is well known, according to the culture of the type of Christ, that very often the parents of a young man would select the future bride for their son.

And the reason for this, brethren, is that a new bride would become a part of their family, you know, part and parcel of that family. And the whole family was interested in knowing that, in fact, this person that their son would choose is suitable for the family. Because, you know, you have, of course, a young lady that's going to begin to interact with everybody's in the family. And then, of course, family was much more important, in fact, than it is even now in our time. And so, that's why the parents were involved in the selection of a maid. Now, sometimes the son or the daughter were consulted about it. Abraham, remember when he sent his leading servant to the family of Sarah, he asked Rebekah if she was willing to go and if she was willing to be the wife of Isaac. You know, you can read that over in Genesis 24 and verse 28. And, of course, we're told that when Rebekah came that Isaac loved her. He took her as a wife and he loved her. And he had never seen her before, by the way. And so, that love came afterwards, but it says in the scriptures that he loved her very dearly. And even if a young man found a girl in that time that he wanted to marry, he would have to seek the approval of the parents. And they would contract or contact the bride's parents and negotiate a price. So, they would go and talk to the parents about the price. And the reason, again, there's a price for the girl that is going to be the wife, say, of their son is because their family is going to be diminished by the lack of her service to their family. Because, when you think about it, if you've got an unmarried daughter, she's going to do all things around the house. She's going to take care of a lot of things around the house. In fact, in that time, they also tended flocks. They would go and they would water the flocks, as we see in certain cases. And they worked in the field as well. And they helped out in many, many ways. And so, when a family lost a daughter, their family was diminished by that. And so, that is why there was a negotiated price that had to be arrived at. Now, the bride price was a compensation, again, for that. Or, as we refer to it, as a dowry that was required for her. Another purpose, by the way, of the dowry was in case there was a divorce. Because, a part of that money went to the young lady in case there was a divorce that took place that she would not be completely destitute afterwards. Sometimes, by the way, the dowry was cash. You know, the amount of money that a person had if they were very wealthy. Or, it might be a promise to perform a service. It's like in the case of Jacob. Jacob did not offer a cash, but what he offered, he offered his service to the family.

And, remember that in that case, he worked for seven years because he was so much in love with Rachel. He worked for seven years for Laban. And, you know, that old critter, by the way, doubled-crossed him and gave him Leah, and he worked for seven more years for Rachel.

And so, he was quite a conniver. But anyway, you know, in the case of Jacob, he did so in providing to purchase his bride, to offer the bride pass not by money, but by the service they offered.

But once they agreed on the amount and it was paid, then the bride became a member of the groom's family. And so, that's how, again, that custom was. And that was called the bride price.

Now, after the parents agreed on the bride price, the prospective groom proposes to the woman, and he discusses the terms of the marriage. And when that is finished, what he does is he pours a glass of wine, and if she rejects his proposal, she refuses the wine. If she accepts the proposal, she accepts the cup and drinks of the wine. And so, that is what seals the bargain, the bride price.

And now, after this particular point, once she accepts the proposal, the groom must go to prepare a place for her to live. Now, during that time, of course, home life was more communal than it is today. You know, you might very well have the whole family, again, just right in one little compound that was surrounding a courtyard. And so, he would go and he would prepare a place for his bride to be.

And this period of time, by the way, sometimes was a year and even more, depending upon how long it would take him to prepare for this place for his new bride. And this period, by the way, is called the betrothal period. And so, when he's arranged for this, now he's going and he's going to, again, prepare a place. It's called the betrothal period, or it's called the period when the covenant is enforced. And it can only be broken by divorce. The only way that that can happen.

And, of course, Joseph and Mary, remember, were betrothed to each other. And, you know, with the conception of Jesus Christ, even. And Joseph was a very wise individual and he did not put Mary away.

But also, Christ told his disciples this, and we'll go to this later, but not now. He said, I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and receive you unto myself. It's what he said. And so, Jesus Christ is following this ceremony, if you will, you know, as he is talking to his disciples. The custom was that the groom would return to his father's house and he would build the rooms needed for them to live in. And so, we'd go back and he would build those rooms, two or three rooms, whatever would be necessary for he and his bride.

And what he did is he merely added on to his father's house. And so, the father's house could become large depending upon how many sons he had that were in the household. And Jesus told his disciples, he said this to his disciples, in my father's house, he said, are many dwellings, many mansions, he said. And he said, if it wasn't so, I wouldn't have told you. And so, Jesus said that in his father's house there were many rooms that would be available for his future bride.

Now, the interesting thing that it was up to the father to determine when the place was ready for the new bride and their marriage. And when the father decided it was ready, then a wedding date could be set. And it could be sudden. It's a matter of, again, building these rooms on and getting ready to receive this new bride and to bring her into the house. It could be rather sudden where the father says, okay, it's ready now. We're prepared for it. I imagine there were many other things to prepare for, for instance, the wedding supper and other things that had to be done in order to prepare for the eventual marriage of his son to this new young lady. The groom, by the way, by custom, came by night for his bride to steal her away, according to the the customs of the time. Now, when you read about what they did, it was hardly stealing away. I mean, it was hard to, in fact, hide what was going on. Now, think about this, that people could look at the house of the father and they could pretty much tell it maybe that they're getting closer and closer to the time when this this house is going to be done and the new bride is going to be coming there as well. And no doubt, people were watching also the bride's house, watching what was going on, what was occurring. And, of course, they, of course, would know that when it was near. It's like Jesus Christ said to us, he says, when it's near, he talks about the trees budding and he talks about all that, he says, he says, know that it's even at the door. And so there are certain signs of the times that we can look at, brethren, and realize at the time of Jesus Christ's return when the groom is going to come back, in other words, might be near. Of course, the brides and the bridesmaids and the rest were always waiting, and they were always watching for when it could happen, because, again, it could happen at any time. It could occur at any time. You know, they didn't have Ma Bell to call and say, hey, we're coming over today. Now, when the time comes, the friends of the groom would go through the street shouting, the groom is coming, the groom is coming. And so they would announce that it's time for the wedding to begin to take place. And this alerts the bride to be ready, that she begins to get ready. Now, think about this, brethren. The church or the bride of Christ will not know when he returns, so we have to always, as the bride, you know, and as those who were a part of the entourage of the bride, be ready. We need to be on our toes, because we don't know when Jesus Christ is going to return, when the groom is going to return. And we need to keep on our toes, spiritually speaking. Remember, Jesus Christ said, I don't know the day or the hour.

He talked about how the father knew that. You know, the father, in other words, says when it's time, it's like, you know, with the wedding custom, when the house was ready, when it was prepared, it was time. Now, we have no idea what God is doing up there. You know, we know that there's a New Jerusalem that is about 1,450 miles square and 1,450 miles high. Apparently, that's going to take a little while to bring that about. But what all is going on in preparation for this? We, again, don't know fully. But the father, very well, will be the one who will say, son, okay, we're ready now for you to take a bride. It's time for you to go get her and to bring her. And, you know, so we see this same thing sort of revealed through the Scriptures. Now, the wedding was a very joyous time. It usually took, in fact, a week. You know, you imagine this, we usually have a wedding, and you have the reception afterwards, and usually it's bye-bye, you know, to the husband and the wife, the new husband and wife. In those days, a wedding would take a week. And, in fact, according to the tradition, the days of the marriage were 30 days, for 30 days. You know, this was something that was, you know, very much, again, alive, even after 30 days. And when Jesus Christ returns, the beginning of the kingdom, brethren, is going to be a tremendous time of huge celebration and extreme joyousness for everybody that's concerned, especially those who are part of that wedding that's going to take place, that wonderful wedding. I think you would agree this is going to be the wedding of all times, the wedding for all eternity that everyone will remember. And, of course, we will hopefully be there if we're ready, if we're being ready, and the stated readiness is God's people right now. And, of course, we see many things happening in the world that show us that we are nearing the end of this age and the time is going to come, again, when the groom is going to return. So we need to be on our toes. Let's notice this, that there are certain pertinent scriptures that are given to us, that we can find some answers about this. When Jesus Christ came and in His ministry, He talked about these things. In Matthew 9, let's notice this, Matthew 9, in verse 14, it says, And then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? They thought that the disciples of Jesus were sort of slackers when it came to fasting and those things that they were doing. And Jesus said to them, Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?

For the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

And so here John understood about the bridegroom that Jesus Christ was indeed that bridegroom.

He talked about, again, fasting here. He said, No man, no one, puts a piece of unsrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break. The wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.

And so anyway, he's saying here that, look, there must be a time when things begin, and this is not the time. Now would be, again, inappropriate. But now the bridegroom is here.

And so Christ, of course we know, is that bridegroom, brethren. And if you will, the disciples played a double role. They were not only a part of the bride that was to be, but they were also the groomsmen who were there assisting him, and helping him, and being with him.

And in a way, brethren, we are doing the same thing as God's people today. We are groomsmen for Jesus Christ. And of course, we are going to play the role of the bride in the future. We're assisting Christ in doing the work that must be done in this day and age and time that we're living in. Let's go to John. John chapter 3. I must admit to you, brethren, that the concept of being a bride is not something that I readily accept. You know, I don't know that probably any man here probably would feel comfortable with that role as being a bride. Obviously, it means something a bit different than two people getting married. But here in John chapter 3 and verse 24, we see Jesus Christ introducing these concepts. Down in verse 28, here John is talking. He's talking to some of the disciples, his disciples, and also those who were of the priesthood. And it says, you yourselves, bearing witness, that I said I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him, it says. And it says, he who has the bride, he says, is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, you know, John, of course, was one of those friends of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled. And then John says here, he says he must increase, but I must decrease. He recognized, again, who Jesus Christ was, that he had to diminish in stature, and Jesus Christ had to increase, and that Jesus was the groom, the bridegroom, and that there is the bride that's involved in the process of what Jesus Christ was doing at that particular time. And, you know, much of what Jesus Christ said, by the way, actually taps into this and ties into this. Let's go to Matthew 22. Matthew 22. I think we as men, by the way, have to, again, adjust our thinking with regard to this, because we are going to be playing a role that is traditionally, you know, the wife's role in the marriage, and Jesus Christ is going to have a role that is traditionally the man's role in the marriage. And, you know, women, by the way, have the, you may edge on us in that particular department, because that is something they understand.

And hopefully we can convey to them the role that husbands have and vice versa. In other words, we're learning from each other. That's what marriage is about. In fact, the marriage that God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was to teach them about what we're talking about right now, about this marriage that was to take place between the church and Jesus Christ in the future. I'll show you that a little bit later on. But let's notice here in Matthew 22, verse 1, And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son. And we understand this parable that God the Father is that king, and that Jesus Christ is that son. And it says, And sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, and they were not willing to come. And again, he sent out other servants saying, Tell those who were invited, see, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen, and my fatted cattle are killed, and all the things are ready. Come to the wedding. Notice again, the king is the one that's saying it's ready. It's time. He's done all this preparation that is involved. I think that we are living in a time now, by the way, where God is sending out the message to this world. And as, of course, we predicted it would be in this day and age and time that we're living in, the message of God, the message of the gospel and the truth about the king of God is less appealing to people than it was in more difficult times in the past.

That people have been so corrupted in this age and day that we live in, brethren, that it's hard for them to accept the gospel of the kingdom of God. And, you know, consequently, they're not coming in and they're not joining in to the work that God is doing right now. And we may actually see it become more and more difficult rather than easier for us.

You know, sometimes we have wondered, well, you know, we don't have the right formula in preaching and reaching, you know, the generations that are out there. Well, you know, it may not necessarily be the message. It may not be the method by which we're preaching. It may be the people to whom we're preaching. That may be more part of it than we realize. Of course, time will tell. And we have to keep doing the work regardless. Well, because Christ is going to be pleased with those that are found doing when He returns.

And so we have to continue to do what we do. And so He sent these servants out and He said, things are ready. But it says, they made light of it and went their ways, one to His own farm, another to His business. And the rest seized His servants and treated them spitefully and killed them. You know, people had disdain again for the truth. And it says, but when the king heard about it, he was furious.

And He sent out His armies and destroyed those murderers and burned them, burned up their cities. And then He said to His servants, the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore, go out of the highways and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. You know, we may come to that time where we'll go out to the highways and the byways to do that. I don't know what, again, that will mean for the church and the method by which we go out to preach the gospel, but it means that we make every effort again to preach that message of hope to this world.

And, you know, those people are out there. No matter who they are, they're going to respond. And so those servants went out in the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. And so here, this raises quite an interesting point here.

You know, I think that we need to, again, see, as we've seen so far, the father was involved, as we've said traditionally he was. He says when it's ready, he makes, again, the preparations are necessary for his son to get married. But now we come here and where it talks about that he saw someone that does not have on the proper wedding garment. And let's notice what happens here, going on down through here. And it says, and when the king came in to see, he saw this guest who did not have on the wedding garment. In verse 12, so he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?

And he was speechless. And then the king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him in outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, he said, but few are chosen. You know, here we see that God calls many, many people. In fact, he probably has touched the lives of perhaps millions of people. But only a few are chosen. Only a few, frankly, are willing to to do what God seeks for his service to do. I talked about last week about how that you know, God has standards. He has standards. You know, Mr.

Taylor talked about the standards that God has about, you know, how to treat holy things. And of course, the Ark, you know, was something physical, and yet it was holy as far as God was concerned. The utensils of the temple were holy, and they were to be treated in a very holy manner. You know, very often again in our day, in our cavalier day, we don't tend to treat things in a holy manner. You know, we don't treat services sometimes in a holy manner the way that we should. You know, we don't treat the holy days that God has given to us in the same way, or tithing in the same way, or clean and clean meats, as well as God instructed.

We could talk about, you know, a lot of areas where people, you know, sort of take a cavalier, sala vie type of an attitude about some of those things. Hopefully you're not doing that. But, you know, the Father has standards.

You know, Christ, as we were told, looks to the Father. In fact, remember when He came, He said that He could do nothing except it be by the Father. And so He looked to the Father, brethren. And, you know, we're told in the Bible in John 644, Christ said, you know, no man comes to Me except through the Father.

And so Jesus Christ looked to and obeyed the Father. Now, again, not that Jesus Christ is not the way and the truth and the life. He said that He was that. He said, no man comes to the Father also except through Me. And so the Father is the one that draws us, but we come through Jesus Christ.

And He said, He said, if you had known Me, you have known My Father. If you've seen Me, you've seen My Father, He said. And so the Father and the Son work together as we understand.

And Jesus Christ obeyed the Father. And, you know, He said as an example, as the bride of Christ, that we need to be obedient as well. Not only obedient to the Father, but we need to be obedient to the Son as well as our role will require us to be if we're going to be, you know, the bride of Jesus Christ. But here, again, we come in and this man is not wearing the wedding garment. It means much more than just clothing here, you know, to us, of course. According to ancient custom, by the way, though, everyone who attended a wedding feast had to have on a wedding garment. I do not know, again, what kind of garment that would have been, because obviously it would have been a physical garment that they had to wear. It had to probably be of a certain quality or whatever. But here in this parable, the man was not wearing, again, the proper wedding garment. And, you know, I think that what this means to us, brethren, do we have on the proper wedding garment as God's people? Are we preparing that wedding garment? The Bible reveals to us what we ought to be doing. Are we doing that as God's people? You know, before any young lady gets married, you know, I remember again back 35 years ago when my wife and I got married all the time that it took for her to get ready. In the wedding, boy, there was a lot of waiting that took place. It's a good thing that you have groomsmen there, by the way, because of all the waiting that took place. But, of course, when I saw her for the first time, it was worth the wait. Let me tell you that.

She was the most beautiful bride I had ever seen before. Well, in the same way, we as the bride of Christ ought to be preparing for that marriage, but again, from a spiritual standpoint, that we have on the right marriage garment, the wedding garment that we're supposed to have. You know, the plan of God, brethren, for the marriage of Christ and the church follows again these Jewish customs. It's kind of interesting how we see this throughout the Bible. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 5 and see another part of it.

First time I saw my wife in her wedding dress, frankly, I lost vision in one eye, so that was pretty bad. It took me a long time to gain it back, you know. Ephesians 5 and verse 22.

Notice here, it says, wives submit to your own husbands, ask to the Lord.

And, you know, a lot of times women don't want to hear that, obviously, but that's what it says in the book.

Am I lying, brethren? Is that what it says in the book? Or am I still blind?

And it says, for the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church. So, again, very clearly, Paul recognizes, again, this important concept of Christ marrying the church. And he is the Savior of the body.

And, of course, we should realize, men, that what I said earlier, that a man has to give everything to his wife, you know, it means that he must be the family's greatest sacrifice.

You know, like Jesus is the Savior of the body. In verse 24, therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands and everything. 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 the water by the word. You know, Christ wants a pristine bride, a beautiful bride, a glistening bride. And it says 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. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies, and he who loves, his wife loves himself. You know, we do ourselves good. And, brethren, on the same token, spiritually speaking, if we love the church, you know, we're doing ourselves a service.

If we love Jesus Christ, we're doing ourselves a service. It says, 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, and his flesh and his bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So here he hearkens back to the time of Adam and Eve. Remember what was said there by God when they got married? The reason that they get married is to leave father and mother and join to that wife, and the two are to become one flesh. I mean, what other reason does a human being have to get married unless God has a plan and a purpose for it? To teach us something? To show us something? Well, this is the reason. The next, notice what it says, This is a great mystery. What happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and what man had been doing for the last six thousand years and getting married is a great mystery. But he says, I speak concerning Christ and the church. So when Adam and Eve were given those ceremonies back there in the book of Genesis, brethren, it was to point to the time when Christ would marry the church.

Of course, the church was only begun to be built with the first righteous person who would have been able in that case. And then, of course, we have others that were part of that Enoch and Noah and others that were part of that church that has been building for the last six thousand years and is going to marry Jesus Christ. This is the great mystery, brethren, of why God gave marriage to Adam and Eve. Human marriage, brethren, looked to the marriage of the glorified Christ and the glorified church. And submission in marriage pictures the church submitting to Christ.

A man loving his wife pictures Christ's love for the church. A wife respecting her husband pictures the church greatly respecting and regarding Jesus Christ. And that's what we're told to do.

It says here within the scriptures, this is a great mystery down in verse 33, 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. And so, brethren, God wants us to respect Jesus Christ, to highly regard Jesus Christ because he is our future husband. He has that role and responsibility as our husband. And again, we have the role as the wife. Let's go to John chapter 5. John chapter 5 The book of John says a lot about, again, this concept. In John 5, in verse 22, Notice the confidence that the Father puts in Jesus Christ. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment, it says, to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. And it says, Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him, who sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto life. You know, when you really, again, have that love and respect and iteration of Jesus Christ, who is our future husband, you've passed from death to life. You are alive, and you're going to be a part of that great marriage that's going to take place. The Apostle Paul was preparing the church, brethren, for the marriage, because Jesus Christ had already paid the bride price. He had paid for the privilege of marrying the church, by what he did, and what he endured, and what he went through.

You know, in Paul's time, sometimes people question his apostleship. They question who he was, but Paul always knew who he was. He knew what his job was and what his responsibility was. Let's go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and see what he says over here. He says, O that you would bear with me a little folly, and indeed you do bear with me.

For I am jealous for you, he said, with godly jealousy. This is the right kind of jealousy.

You know, Paul is saying, for I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

You know, his job was to try to prepare the church. We have that job right now today.

You know, before Mr. Armstrong died, he told, you know, Mr. Aaron Dean, he told him, he said, the job of the church now is to prepare the church. Prepare the church.

And so that was what Paul was doing. But here, let's notice what Paul goes on to say, but I fear less somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness.

So your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

You know, today, of course, people do not treat things in the way that they did at one time.

You know, people, you know, in other times may have been less educated, frankly, but sometimes they had more wisdom in how to treat things that were of God. They had more, it seems, an understanding of that than people do today. Today, it seems so few people respect anything that is in the Bible, you know. A lot of times, again, people will laugh at and scoff at what is in the Bible. And so we need to again not be corrupted, as he's talking about here, through the simplicity that is in Christ. You know, it's as simple as obeying God.

That's just how simple it is. God Almighty wants us to simply obey Him. It's like the case of the ark, you know, just a matter of obeying God. Just do what God says. And frankly, David himself was as much to blame in that circumstance because David should have used more wisdom in what he was doing. So he had no right to be angry with God about that. And, you know, we know the time is going to come when, in fact, people are going to recognize how God has to do something sometimes in certain situations. What if God had not done anything? I think what we would find is people would be even more emboldened to do the wrong thing. And pretty soon, God's words don't mean anything to anybody. And so Paul says here to the church at Corinth, he says, I fear you've been corrupted. And it says, for if he who comes preaches another Jesus, you know, you get off the track in these types of things whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it. What he's saying here is you might very well put up with it because you've been corrupted. And so, brethren, we've got to, again, ourselves be on our toes. Paul, again, labor to keep the church unspotted from the world with all of the things that can corrupt. And there are many things that are out there, evils that can corrupt each and every one of us. Christ paid a price, brethren, to redeem us from the condemnation of our own sins.

And it's easy, very easy, to fall back into sin. Beware, brethren, lest that happen to you. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18, notice it says, flee sexual immorality. He said, every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. In the age of time when people are so familiar with STDs and those kinds of problems, I think that you can easily understand how that is the case.

But not just, again, from that standpoint, from the standpoint of destroying your marriage.

And it says, or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own, for you are bought at a price.

Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Christ has prayed again the bride price for us. He has paid for our sins. He's paid for us.

And we belong to Jesus Christ. We are engaged to Christ who gave his life for us, brethren.

How could we even consider, brethren, doing anything else, frankly, than what we've been called into? If we really, again, understand what it's all about, I realize there are some people that might not even fully understand this. It happens to people that come into the church. They don't understand what the church is about. Brethren, we need to, again, learn if we don't know.

No, we need to consider these things, brethren. We are engaged to Jesus Christ who gave his life for us, brethren. He paid a dear bride price for us. He paid the ultimate price because he wants to spend eternity with us. That's what he decided. He wants to spend all eternity with us, and Christ shed blood, brethren, and washes us and cleans us up and makes us a redeemed and clean bride prepared for Jesus Christ for the future. Remember this, again, as Peter himself said, that you have not been redeemed with corruptible things like he says, like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. So that is what you were redeemed with. That was the bride price that Jesus Christ gave with all the suffering and all the things that he endured in giving his life for you. I want to quote to you from the manners and customs of Bible lands by the author, Fred H. White. This is from page 130. It says, When the night arrived for the wedding festivities to begin, it was time to go for the bride. The groom was dressed as much like a king as possible. Now, we see a lot of analogies in that. We are a bride and we're going to be a queen. Jesus Christ is coming. He is a king.

But according to the ancient customs, the groom had to be dressed as much like a king as possible.

And it says, If he were rich enough to afford it, he wore a gold crown.

Otherwise, it would be a garland of fresh flowers. His garments would be scented with frankincense and myrrh.

Remember the gifts of Jesus Christ we received as a king at his birth.

And his girdle will be silken on brilliantly colored. And it says, His sandals would be figured and carefully laced. And all of this would give effect to the flowing drapery of the long robes and the graceful bearing peculiar to the lands of the So there were long robes. There was a garland or a crown upon his head.

His sandals were on again and were very nice looking sandals. It says, For the time the peasant seemed a prince among his fellows, And all paid him the deference due the exalted rank.

Going on, The adorning of the bride was a very costly and elaborate affair.

Much time was given to the preparation of her person. Every effort was put forth to make her complexion glossy and shiny, with a luster like unto marble.

The words of David must have been their ideal for her, That our daughters may be as cornerstones polished after the similitude of a palace.

That's from Psalm 144, verse 12.

Her dark locks of hair were often braided with gold and pearls. She was decked with the precious stones and jewels that the family had inherited from previous generations. And even if they did not have, by the way, those things, they would borrow them from the relatives or someone else in order to depict her the way that she was depicted as a queen, basically. The wedding festivities, and especially the bride's adornment, would always be remembered by her. This was something that she was never to forget about her life. And there are scriptures about that, by the way, that show how, in fact, that God will allow us to have those same experiences that we will never forget. And remember, the groom came for the bride at night, at nighttime. The streets of Jerusalem would have been very dark. And light was necessary to be used to see the way during that time. Now, going on from manners and customs of Bible lands by Fred White, it says, The bridegroom set out with a bride from the house of her parents, and there followed a grand procession all the way to his house. Those invited guests who did not go to the bride's house were allowed to join the procession along the way and go with a whole group to the marriage feast. Without a torch or a lamp, they couldn't join the procession or enter the bridegroom's house. It's interesting, isn't it? In light of what Jesus Christ said, he writes here, Fred White writes here, he says, The ten virgins waited for the procession to arrive at the point where they were waiting, and five wise virgins were able to proceed because they had reserved supply of oil for their lamps. But the foolish virgins lacked the oil, and so, not being ready, they were barred from the wedding feast. So that's why they were not able to go on that procession. Because, again, according to Jewish customs, they were not permitted to do so. Now, let's go over to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew 25. Matthew 25 and verse 1, it says, Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. So there, again, the bridegroom and the bride are going along their way. And it says, Now five of them were wise and five were foolish, and those who were foolish took their lamps and took the oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels, it says, with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And, of course, got into the night, because the groom comes again at night to steal his bride away. And at midnight, it says, at midnight a cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming! And so the groom has been shouting, The bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him! And then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered and said, No, lest there not be enough for us and you. But go rather those who sell and buy for yourselves. And it says, And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in. They had the lamps. And it says, To the wedding, and the door was shut. And afterwards the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, Surely I say to you, I do not know you. He said, Watch therefore. Of course, this is a warning and this parable for us, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. In fact, Jesus Christ said He didn't know when it was going to happen because it's the Father's responsibility to tell Him when it is time. And by the way, this parable here is given right after Matthew chapter 24, which talks about all of the events that are going to take place leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. And then we come here to Matthew chapter 25, where again it discusses this parable of the ten virgins where five are wise. Of course, Christ is the bridegroom. The virgins here represent the church, brethren. And all of them slept because the wait was long on end of the night. I know some again who have been in the church many, many years, 60 or so years. That's a long time to be in the church. Some, of course, have been in longer than that, but they've been waiting patiently for that time. You know, so sometimes the wait is longer than we think it's going to be. But this is a warning to us to keep alert, to keep our eyes open. Christ will not again come to the Father since it's time and the place is prepared for us. And we are to keep our lamps prepared with oil. And that oil, again, pictures the Holy Spirit. We need to have that Holy Spirit available. The only way we can get that Holy Spirit is from God. And that means we have to be praying on a regular basis as God's people. So we have to keep our lamps ready, brethren. We need to be prepared, lest we, again, be told by the groom, you know, if we have to go and do something to prepare for it, depart from me. I do not know you. I don't know who you are. If we're unprepared, brethren, we will be shut out and it will be too late for us then. So be ready, brethren, at all times because the return can be suddenly. As soon as the Father says it's time, it can be suddenly, spiritually for us, brethren, and literally for us. You know, we read Matthew 24 and verse 25. These things are taking place, you know, at the end of the age and occurring at the end of the age.

Matthew 26. Let's notice here in verses 1 and 2. It says, Now it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings that he said to his disciples, You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.

And so here we're just within a few days, brethren, after Christ spoke this parable about the ten versions is the Passover. And again, these events tied in very much to this concept of Christ being the groom and the church being the bride. Let's go down here in verse 26. And it says, And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed and broken, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat this is my body. We know he's giving them the emblems of the Passover. But notice here in verse 27. He took the cup and he gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

And so here Jesus Christ offered this cup. Again, this is a few days after he's talked about these ten versions and the bridegroom and all of that. Now, Christ says, This is my cup that I'm offering you. I want to share my life with you.

Is what he was saying to these men that were gathered there that evening.

And to drink means that we accept the proposal, brethren, and we offer our life back to Jesus Christ. Though it is out of the ordinary, certainly, like I said, men don't think of themselves in terms of being brides. It's not something we think about. But this is what Jesus Christ was offering that night to his disciples. Here you have one cup, brethren, being shared by 12 grown men that evening. And Christ passes his own cup around and tells them to drink from it. He says, All of you, because it was symbolic, brethren, of that marriage proposal and their acceptance of that marriage proposal. A covenant, brethren, is a contract spelling out the terms of the marriage.

And the contract, brethren, is signed in blood and offers to us, brethren, eternal life with Jesus Christ as the groom and us as the bride. The bride price he would pay was with his life and with his blood. Let's note a song down here in verse 29. Christ said then afterwards, he says, I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. I imagine, brethren, when that is going to take place is probably at the time of the wedding that's going to occur. It's going to happen that Jesus Christ, for the first time, is going to drink wine with his new bride. I don't know how that's going to be. How many thousands will be there? I don't know. I don't think it's going to be into the millions. I think it's going to be into the thousands. But maybe all of us will have a glass of wine at that time, and Jesus Christ will have a glass of wine. And maybe he'll raise it up and say to the kingdom, what a wonderful time that is going to be. Again, Christ the groom. As we know, he had that responsibility to go, and he had to prepare that place. And so we're going to certainly be in that place and have that opportunity to be with Jesus Christ for all eternity. Let's go over to John chapter 14. Again, we mentioned it earlier, but this time let's read what he says here.

We live in difficult and troubling times now, but Jesus Christ told us not to be troubled, and we can be assured that our husband, Jesus Christ, is going to protect us. He's going to watch over us. But he says in verse 1 of chapter 14, he says, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions, as it can mean dwellings, many places in my father's house. If it were not so, I would have told you. He said, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and I will receive you to myself, that where I am there you may be also, and where I go you know, and the way you know. They had an understanding about these things, and they grasped what this was about, at least on a certain level. They understood it.

And so Christ says, In my father's house are many dwellings, and I'm going to leave, he says, and I can tell you I'm going to come back, so that where I am you can be also. And so Jesus Christ looks to that time when he can have that opportunity to come back to his beloved bride, his chaste woman, you know, this chaste lady that he has selected to be his bride for all eternity. Now think about that, brethren. We're going to be close to Jesus Christ for all eternity. We're going to be interacting with our husband for all eternity. And again, who knows, again, the breadth of that future that is ahead of us, you know, after the time of the Second Resurrection and after the new heavens and the new earth come down. Again, it's limitless as to what God will do for us in the future. Let's go over to Revelation 19. Revelation 19 in verse 7. Now this is what God tells us to do through John here. Jesus wants us to do this as the groom.

In verse 7, he says, let us be glad and rejoice. If we understand, brethren, we can do that. We can be happy about what, in fact, we may have to go through in the future and keep that in our minds if we keep that uppermost in our minds, no matter how difficult it may be. He says, let it be glad and rejoice and give Him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. You know, she spent, in other words, all this time preparing herself, you know, and making herself ready for the groom and the marriage that's going to take place. And to her was granted to be a raid in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen, brethren, is the righteous acts of the saints. And so, you know, the fine linen, the garments, the wedding garment, brethren, has to do with the righteous acts of God's people. And we're told in the book of Psalm in Psalm 119 verse 172 that the commandments are righteousness, obeying God's commandments are righteousness, brethren. And, of course, we need to clean our lives up and fall into place when it comes to obeying those commandments that God has given to us. And so we need to, again, have those garments, those fine and pure and righteous garments on. And then he said to me, right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the land. And he said to me, these are the true sayings of God.

And so the bride has made herself ready, brethren. And so the church has to be constantly preparing for the wedding by putting the righteousness of God on. Christ said, seek you first the kingdom and His righteousness and all the things that you desire are going to be added to you. And so the white garments, brethren, picture the chastity and the purity of the future bride of Jesus Christ.

And so, brethren, you and I haven't seen the greatest wedding of all time. Now, we may have seen Princess Diana and Prince Charles get married, and it was almost a fairy tale wedding that took place. But your groom is going to return. And, you know, one of the things he's going to do with you and me at that time, he's going to whisk us up above the clouds. He's going to take care of us from that time forward, and we will ever be with Jesus Christ from that time. He will set his feet down upon the Malabalas, and he will set his government, his kingdom, upon this earth. So we haven't seen the grandest wedding of all time. The wedding between Jesus Christ and the church is going to be the greatest wedding of all. And God has given us, brethren, a wedding marriage invitation, a contract. Right now, Christ, our groom, is going to prepare a place for his future bride. He's already, again, paid that bride price for us. And all called now must accept the terms of the covenant and the promise, you know, promising, in fact, our groom, Jesus Christ, our lives in return. And, brethren, if we do, we will be there for this wonderful future event that God is offering us to be a part of. Don't let anyone, brethren, don't let anything take that opportunity that is ahead for you away from you.