WHEN IN ROMANS | Part 4 | Betrothed to Christ: The Divine Love Story of the Gospel

[Music]

Hey.

[Music]

Hey. Hey.

[Music]

Hallelujah. Hey, it's me again.

>> You guys sick of me yet?

>> Nope.

>> Okay. In

fact, I haven't seen you guys in

forever. Praise the Lord. Well, hey,

welcome to Grace Summit Church. If

you're new with us, my name is Ben. I

have the opportunity to serve as lead

pastor here. And uh we're going to dive

into the word of God today. And uh if

you're new, be ready to take notes and

talk back to me. Uh because

participation is better than

observation. Amen.

>> And I want to start with a little bit of

fun. Uh today we're going to talk about

marriage. And really uh the uh sermon

format today is a little bit different

than my traditional preaching style. Uh

going to be kind of just telling some

more uh storyline with you. Uh but who

in here is married? Let me see your

hands. Man, we have a lot of married

folks. Uh we do offer marriage

counseling if you need it.

Keep your hands up. Married folks. Who's

been married longer than 10 years? Keep

your hands up. Man, we got some We got

some old folks in here. 10 years. How

about 20 years?

All right. Uh 30 years.

40 years. Man, now we're now we're

getting to the veterans of this thing.

All right. Uh do we have any 50 years?

Okay.

55 years.

Okay. Anyone 55 or more? All right.

Let's go back to 50. Put your hands up.

All right.

[Laughter]

She's been married a long time. She

needs help holding her arm up.

All right. Do we have uh 52 years?

>> Okay.

>> I think, man. And and good thing I know

you because there's a hand in the back

and a hand in the front and you guys are

married.

I was looking at Uncle Art and going,

"Man, maybe she's been married 70, 80

years." I don't know.

52 years. Is that right, Jimmy? 53

years, I think. Is that Let's celebrate

them.

[Music]

[Applause]

53 years married. And uh Miss Jimmy,

would you stand to your feet for me

because we have a gift for you. One of

our ushers is going to bring a gift for

you uh for being married the longest in

this service.

[Applause]

>> Bob's in the back. Bob, you'll have to

look at it later.

>> Praise the Lord.

>> Thank you.

>> And uh you know, it's amazing. One of my

favorite things to do is to speak with

uh people that have been married a long

lot longer than me and just ask the

questions and and and the beautiful

thing is when people there's a certain

threshold that you cross uh in marriage

that you become cute.

Don't you guys love married couples that

have been married so long that they're

they hang out and they get and it's just

so awesome. But I like to ask, hey,

what's the secret? What's the what's

what's the key to longevity in marriage?

My wife and I, we've been married almost

20 years. In January, we celebrate 20

years.

Yeah. And I know she's only 26, but so I

married her when she was six. No, I

didn't.

I didn't. That was awkward, huh?

[Laughter]

I brought some wedding pictures. You

guys want to see them?

>> Yeah.

>> Let's see this. Look at that.

>> Look at that.

>> Yeah. Yeah. She had to put up with me

with a top hat. I had a cane and I had

the coattails. I was like, "Man, if

we're doing this, we're going for it."

Yeah. But I incredibly beautiful wife.

Wouldn't you agree?

>> And I And she's more beautiful today

than she ever has been.

>> Can we just celebrate Pastor Jessica?

[Applause]

Uh, marriage has changed a little bit.

We can take the photos down. That was

enough. Thank you.

Uh, a lot's changed in 20 years. I think

about um our wedding at our church. Man,

it was this long uh wedding with a a

long full sermon and we had several

songs my wife and I sang together uh up

there. And uh believe it or not, this is

a fun fact. Pastor Dan sang at my

wedding.

[Music]

[Applause]

>> And I'll tell you what I wanted to do. I

wanted to bring the video and put him on

blast.

Yeah, but it was long, man. We had the

uh the altar bench that we went and and

my wife and I prayed together and we

were blessed and all this stuff. It was

just this long thing, hundreds of

people. It's this huge event. And uh

even when I stepped into ministry and

started officiating weddings, uh for

some reason, man, I've officiated a ton

of weddings over the years. And in the

early days, the weddings were all like

that. They were kind of long and and

they would expect the pastor to preach a

sermon and and uh certain elements that

were in that lighting of the candles and

everyone does the sand. You know,

there's lots of different things that we

do at weddings. And there was this weird

transition. I'm not sure uh exactly when

it happened, but I was asked to do

weddings and they want it short and

sweet.

They want like a five minute sermon, a

little sermonet, and we want just the

vows and we we want the whole wedding to

be about 20 minutes. And I'm like, guys,

that's going to be awkward. you have

people flying in from across the

country, right? Uh for a 20 minute

ceremony that, you know, we expand it a

little bit and have some elements. Uh

but we're no longer doing the hour,

2hour wedding and now we're doing the

30-minute wedding. Have you guys seen

that transition as well? I want you to

think back even further to even a

hundred years ago. Uncle Art could tell

us about that.

>> How many love Uncle Art? 104 years old.

Wednesday night when Pastor Paul was

here, he was showing pictures of his

103y old dad. I couldn't help but think

of Uncle Art and say, "Hey, we got you

beat, buddy.

>> We got you beat."

Uh, but a wedding a 100 years ago looked

really different. 200 years ago, man, it

was horse and buggy. Uh, you know,

beautiful ceremony some a lot of times

at people's homes, um, or a small

country church. And uh man, you go back

uh 500 years ago or a,000 years ago,

wedding ceremonies looked uh very

different then. And what we want to do

is we want to give you a snapshot today

of what a wedding looked like 2,000

years ago or even longer.

My goodness, we're going back. I want

you to see, and last week we spent some

time talking about Israel and uh kind of

the Jewish connection and how we're

grafted in. And the Bible does a really

amazing job at making parallels. And

Jesus does a great job of telling

parables.

And one of those that we find find

threaded through scripture is about a

wedding.

Say wedding.

>> The problem is we think of weddings in

our 21st century mindset.

So, I want to take us back in time a

little bit, not just to a traditional

Jewish wedding, but more specifically to

a Galilean wedding. And before we do,

I'd like to pray. Father, we thank you,

Lord, for your Holy Spirit. We thank you

for freedom. Lord, I thank you for the

word of God. And Lord, I pray today that

we would have clear understanding and

revelation, Father, of our relationship

with you, God. your original design for

us as your people and you as our God.

Father, I pray that today before we

leave this place will know that we've

heard from God. Lord, we pray for divine

inspiration, conviction, God, a stirring

on the inside, a compelling, moving us

closer to the likeness of Jesus Christ.

So, Father, I thank you for the

anointing upon your word, upon this

message, and upon your people now in

Jesus name. Amen.

>> So you might ask, why in the world are

we looking at a Galilean wedding? You

know, the heartbeat of the gospel, the

heartbeat of the Bible is a love story.

Amen.

And what if I told you that God

established a specific wedding template

at a specific time with a specific

people to help tell us the story that

explains our relationship with Jesus

Christ and even more so about his one

day return as we're all awaiting our

coming Messiah. The apostle Paul uh used

it along with other writers of the Bible

used it to explain deep theological

truth. Used the the idea of marriage to

explain something deeper than just a

relationship between a husband and a

wife, but also paralleling it with a

relationship between the church and our

God.

That's what we're looking at today. Turn

with me to Romans chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Paul's in a deep discussion

in this letter about law and sin,

about flesh and the spirit. Uh Romans 6

and Romans 8 have historically been two

of my favorite chapters. Uh because it

deals with flesh and the spirit. It

deals with the idea that we're no longer

under the law, right? And so this law

and grace mentality is is worked in

there. But in between these two chapters

that are essentially about the same

exact thing in Romans chapter 7 we see

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Paul take time to talk about marriage.

Romans chapter 7 and verse one he says

Romans 7 · chapter mention

or do you not know brothers

for I am speaking to those who know the

law that the law is binding. Say binding

>> binding.

>> Binding on a person only as long as he

lives. For a married woman is bound by

law to her husband while he lives. But

if her husband dies, she is released

from the law of marriage.

Accordingly, she will be called an

adulteress if she lives with another man

while her husband is alive. But if her

husband dies, she's free from that law.

And if she marries another man, she is

not an adult adulteress.

Verse four says, "Likewise." Say,

"Likewise."

>> Likewise. Likewise, my brothers, you

also have died to the law through the

body of Christ.

Through the body of Christ, so that you

may belong to another, to him who has

been raised from the dead, in order that

we might bear fruit for God.

Why in the world is Paul talking about

marriage in Romans 7?

Romans 7 is not a prescription for

marriage in the 21st century

as it is often used in our American

churches.

It's an image of our relationship

with Jesus Christ.

So stick with me. I want to take us on a

journey and walk you through really

what's a beautiful three-stage process

of the traditional Galilean wedding.

Stage one

is what we call the betroal.

It is a legal covenant.

The Galilean wedding, we have to

understand the culture of the day. Uh we

didn't have uh restaurants. Uh we didn't

have the uh coliseum having concerts and

games. uh they didn't have a lot of the

entertainment, a lot of the things, a

lot of the distractions that we have. Uh

in the day, 2,000 years ago or longer, a

Galilean wedding was the biggest event

of the year. This was a time that really

the entire community would come

together. It was a city. Uh people that

didn't even uh know the couple would

participate in the wedding ceremony, the

the the feast, the celebration. All of

this uh was really paramount for the

city. They would get excited because

somebody in our city is getting married,

biggest event of the year. And when the

young man would come, oftentimes from

another city,

uh he would come and he would make his

uh desires known

and they would meet

at the gate of the city.

This is a location in the city where

often times the elders of the city would

meet. The

they would go there even though they

didn't know these elders because this is

a location where the legal binding

covenant could be written and witnessed

and signed.

And so these families would come and

gather at the city gate in front of the

elders

for this betroal which was a legal

covenant.

I need you to understand that in our

21st century mindset the marriage

becomes legally binding

on the day of the marriage and then the

papers are signed and given to the

state. That makes it a legal binding

marriage. That wasn't so in the Galilean

wedding. At the engagement,

the the marriage was legally binding.

Changes things, doesn't it? It was

legally binding at engagement.

People of the town would gather at the

gate.

The legal binding marriage was laid out.

There was a price that was paid.

The groom would speak to the bride's

father and negotiate what they called a

bride price or a mahar.

The surrounding cultures did similar

things where there was a purchase price

between the groom and the father of the

bride for the bride. The big difference

in the Galilean culture was that it was

not a purchase uh like the Aramaic or

other surrounding communities uh it

wasn't a purchase of property. Many

cultures had that mindset about females

that that you would purchase and she

became yours. How many know the devil is

a liar?

>> Ladies, you should have Man, we should

have got an amen on that one.

>> Yeah. In the Galilean culture, the

purchase price of the mahar was an

insurance policy. And in just a moment,

we're going to see how the groom had

some things that he had to leave and go

tend to before the wedding ceremony. And

that money given, that price paid was to

make sure that she's well taken care of

over and above what what her father

could offer her. I want to make sure

that she is blessed, that she is

covered. If anything happens, you, dad,

have resources to take care of her.

>> It was an insurance policy.

A lot of times it was a very large gift.

It was a tangible demonstration of her

value.

to the bridegroom

provision for her protection and future.

It was him shouting

that she is worth everything.

They had the legal document there and

this legal document

uh uh Cuba was the name of it and it was

written by the groom of the father.

He would write out the particulars

outlining the groom's promises and

responsibilities

and then the covenant was signed.

Then a cup was presented. They had a

ceremonial cup. It was filled with wine

and the bridegroom would hand it to the

young lady.

And this is another area that it was

radically different than the surrounding

cultures

because in the surrounding cultures, if

the price was paid, there was a purchase

for the young lady, she had no say and

no choice. The Galilean wedding

tradition was radically different. And

so when that wine glass was handed, it

had the symbolism of covenant. And so

she had when it was handed to her, she

had every opportunity and full authority

to reject

the man and by she would do so by

rejecting the wine.

So at that moment she would hold that

wine glass and and you got to picture

it. The men have already kind of worked

out the details and and we got the

covenant and all this stuff and and this

is what it's going to look like. And I

pictured sometimes these were teenagers

that were getting married in this

culture. And I picture her uh finally

having that wine glass in her hand. And

the entire I mean the whole town is is

here gathered and you can almost uh

catch time stopping as she holds that

glass and everyone looks and waits to

see if she will reject the young man or

if she will receive him. She didn't have

to say a word. All she had to do in

receiving him was to take a drink of the

wine and then hand the glass to him.

Directly following he would take a glass

and that was the covenant being made

legally binding between man and woman.

At that moment

it was tradition. And I love when

archaeology

shows us something about scripture that

is paramount.

They've discovered in Galilee in the

surrounding areas, these Galilean

weddings of different inscriptions and

different writings and different things

that would lay out the the process that

I'm explaining to you today.

But in that moment when the bridegroom

would drink of the wine, sealing the

covenant, it was tradition for him to

say something

like this.

He would say, "I go to my father's house

to prepare a place for you. I will not

drink of this cup again until I return

for you.

Now, if you've been saved any length of

time, those words sound familiar.

Stage one is of the betroal. Stage two

is the separation

and what we call the waiting.

after that drinking of the wine and the

covenant being sealed, he would leave

oftentimes for more than a year

to go to his father's house and build an

addition.

Now, this is another strange thing to

our 21st century mindset because if we

got engaged and I said, "Hey, I'm going

to go add add a room to my dad's house

and you're going to live with your

in-laws."

>> Be like, "Uh, no, I ain't." Right? We

were stopping this stuff right here. And

that was the culture. That was the

tradition. That's what happened.

Families, whole families, multiple

generations would live on one piece of

land all together serving and helping

and then sacrificing all of these

different things together. And so he

would leave and go to his father's house

and put an addition on. And ladies, I

hate to tell you, he also uh he would

add this new room, but he also was the

interior designer.

He would either build furniture or have

furniture built. He would get rugs and

and different things to set it up in

preparation

for his new wife,

but also to set up for what was to come,

being called the wedding feast of

celebration. The whole family pitched

in. It wasn't just him. He was leading

the charge,

but everyone was helping serve and

excited about this wedding to be. Her

job was to be ready. Say ready.

>> Ready.

>> So, while he travels back home and puts

this audition on, it's building

furniture and all these different

things. She's still in her village and

she doesn't know when he's coming back.

Now, the surrounding cultures had a date

set that I will return in one year. And

so at that date, I'll come get you and

go. Galilean tradition was that the

bride and the bride's family had no idea

when the groom was coming back.

Yeah, that messes with my brain a little

bit. I want it on my calendar. I want to

know which day you're coming, buddy.

Right. But that was tradition. It had

this excitement with it. And the

interesting thing is that the groom

didn't even know when he was returning.

There was a high honor for the father of

the groom.

And so it was up to the groom's father

to give the okay for the groom to go

back and get his bride. So I picture

this teenage boy

building this room.

He's really excited. I mean, he's he's

ready for it to happen this week, right?

So he probably gets really quick and

gets it all set up. And I picture the

father coming in going, "Boy, you've

lost your mind. You're not ready yet.

Right? And so the father would continue

to come back and until the father said

go, the groom was not permitted to go

get his wife.

So when everyone least expected it, the

father would say, "Okay, now is the

time."

While she was waiting,

because she didn't know the day or the

hour, she would have to be in

preparation. She would have to get her

dress ready, her bags packed, all of her

belongings, all of these things. There

were groomsmen and bridesmaids back

then. Make sure all of her ladies had

the proper dresses and attire and all

the different things and be ready at any

given moment for this man to come back

and take me to a different home.

M

oftent times the groom would come

around the midnight hour

and when he would come he would come

with his groomsmen and I picture this

Jewish kind of celebration mentality as

they come in at midnight. They've been

traveling and they have chauffear and

they're dancing in the streets and

they're letting the village know that

I'm back. He's back. And so the people

of the town would wake up and see the

celebration and get so excited and they

would run out to the bride's house and

say, "He's here. He's here. He's here."

And so she would get up and the whole

family would wake up. And man, there was

this huge celebratory mentality was

there.

And he would gather his bride, all of

her things, and all of her people, her

family, her friends would travel with

him back to his father's house.

Stage three was the wedding,

the celebration,

and the father would give word,

the groom would return.

The

archaeological finds had some words in

there that would talk about him going to

snatch his wife. It was this quickening

mentality that he would surprise her and

steal her in the night. Then all of the

family would come. So he would go snatch

his wife and take her back. And when

they went back, they didn't go back for

the wedding celebration.

He would first take her to the new room,

the audition.

They would sit down and with that same

ceremonial cup, they would share a glass

of wine, and they would stay in that

space for seven days. You guys know

that's where we get our honeymoon from?

Yeah. We like to honeymoon in tropical

places,

not at my dad's house.

They honeymooned at their dad's house.

And this happened before the wedding

celebration,

before the reception.

So they would consummate the marriage,

stay in the room. Seven days later, they

would come out for what they called the

wedding feast of celebration.

Why am I sharing this with you?

Why is Paul and other writers in the New

Testament using this marriage language?

I want you to hear what Paul said in 2

2 Corinthians 11:2

Corinthians 11:2.

He said this. He said, "For I am jealous

for you with the jealousy of God

himself.

I promised you as a pure bride to one

husband, Christ."

Doesn't this change the mentality of

salvation a little bit?

Paul's driving it home with the people

that he's pastoring, the people that

he's ministering to, that you are

promised as a bride to the husband,

Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 5 and

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

verse 31. Uh here Paul quotes some Old

Testament marriage scripture. He says,

"Therefore, a man shall leave his father

and mother and hold fast to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh."

Then in verse 32 he says this mystery is

profound and I'm saying that it refers

to Christ and the church

leave father and mother hold fast to his

wife and the two become

one flesh. I'm not giving you a church

history lesson today. I'm telling you

the love story of the gospel.

The love story of the gospel. And I need

you to hear this if you're a Christian

today that you're not just saved, but

you're engaged or betrothed

to another. His name is Jesus.

I have another picture. It's fun with

the LED wall.

>> I got Da Vinci's Last Supper. Look at

this thing.

Ain't this cool?

Yeah. It's one of my favorite

depictions. Look how big it is, man. I

could I could sit at the table.

Isn't this fun?

Help me, Lord.

Yeah.

When Jesus sits, and let's leave this up

for a moment. When Jesus sits at the

last supper in Jerusalem,

who is he talking to?

His disciples, but all of them,

say, all of them.

>> All of them

>> were Galilean men.

That's where Jesus gathered the

disciples. That's where Jesus lived for

two and a half years of his ministry was

in Galilee. I picture uh in Capernaum

and the other surrounding areas that

Jesus was involved in these weddings.

What was the very first miracle that

happened in the New Testament that Jesus

did?

>> Strange water and the wine. Where was

that?

At a wedding in where? Galilee. Right.

Could it be that that very first miracle

was not just uh Jesus offering some

booze to a wedding party?

>> Stick with me, folks.

Could it be that he was laying the

foundation and the groundwork for this

love story between God and man? Could it

be when he was standing sitting at the

last supper and talking to these men,

these Galilean men, that he's using

language that they would fully

understand as wedding language to tell

the love story between God

and man?

He's there. He breaks the bread and he

pours the cup.

It says in Matthew 26:28,

Matthew 26:28

"This is my blood of the covenant

which is poured out for many for the

forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, I will not drink from the

fruit of the vine from now

from now on until that day when I drink

it new with you in my father's kingdom,

my father's house."

When they had sung a hymn, they went out

to the Mount of Olives.

This is just before Jesus

was then taken to be crucified.

You know that the last supper

I actually was able to stand in that

space. Now, there's a newer church on

top of it,

but it's the location

believed to be the location of the last

supper.

That is the same room as the upper room

on the day of Pentecost when the Holy

Spirit was poured out for the first

time.

[Music]

That'll mess with you a little bit.

[Music]

Not only at this Galilean tradition of

betroal

was the purchase prayed and the paid and

the wine drank,

but when she would drink the wine and he

would drink the wine, he would celebrate

also by giving gifts to the family.

But he saved the very best gift for her

to show her value, her worth.

So again, the town's people would be

looking to see what did he give her.

[Music]

You know, you've done it when you watch

other people open gifts. Man, I wonder

what he spent on that,

right?

Ephesians 1 and verse 13 says this.

And you were also included in Christ.

When you heard the message of truth, the

gospel of your salvation.

It says, "When you believed, you were

marked in him with a seal,

the promised Holy Spirit." Catch this.

Who is a deposit guaranteeing our

inheritance

until the redemption of those who are

God's possession to the praise of his

glory.

[Music]

There were gifts exchanged.

There was a covenant made.

The very fact that you have the Holy

Spirit dwelling on the inside of you is

proof of the covenant between God and

man. It's proof of a betroal between God

and you.

It's the deposit, the down payment, the

covenant guaranteeing your inheritance.

in the father's house.

John 14:1 says this. Jesus said, "Let

John 14:1

not your hearts be troubled. Believe in

God. Believe also in me. In my father's

house are many rooms. If it were not so,

would I have told you that I go to

prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again

and will take you to myself

that where I am,

you may be also.

Here's the truth.

You're not just saved,

you're spoken for.

Just like in that Galilean wedding,

there was a price paid for you.

A price that shows your value, your

worth.

And it was the price of Jesus Christ.

Being on that cross,

he was beaten,

stricken,

his beard was ripped out of his face,

and he was spat at. And he was nailed to

a tree that he created.

They put him up there as a spectacle

of mockery.

King of the Jews,

the crown

pushed on his head and blood running

down his face.

And as Jesus, the bridegroom, is hanging

there, he looks down upon his bride and

he says, "Forgive them for they know not

what they do."

The gospel

is a love story.

There's a price paid for the covenant.

The covenant was signed. It was written

by the father of the groom

called the cuba.

And this is our

contract, our covenant written by the

father. This is our cuba.

The cross

wasn't an execution.

It was a proposal.

[Music]

Cup has been presented to us

through salvation. And salvation isn't

just a prayer that we pray.

It's a cup that we drink.

We say I do to Jesus. Make it legally

binding in the heavenlies.

Matthew 24:42 Jesus said, "Therefore,

Matthew 24:42

keep watch because you do not know on

what day your Lord will come."

[Music]

You know in this culture we

symbolize marriage with a ring.

Can I tell you long before I wore a ring

on this finger,

God had spoke to me 25 years ago

to wear a ring on this finger.

I don't share this often and I don't

share it publicly but I feel to share it

today

that at my salvation shortly after God

spoke covenant to me

and I decided to recognize that covenant

with a ring on this finger.

This isn't the same ring. 25 years ago I

had a silver one with crosses on it.

I like to work with my hands. I had an

incident where it got caught and pulled

the meat right up. And I'll spare you

the details. But now I wear a silicone

ring.

Can I tell you

since I've made that covenant and you'll

probably never see me without a ring on

this finger.

There have been times

that my right hand I've been saved a

long time and I've been tempted by the

devil in many ways that my right hand

was reaching out to do something that it

ought not to be doing.

And I've seen that ring and pulled my

hand back because it's a reminder of my

covenant between my God and my soul.

I'll say this, I'm not the ugliest man

around.

I've had times in public,

different settings,

where a young lady thought I was

attractive and maybe thought I was

single. It was being a little bit

obvious about the attraction.

And I was thankful that I had this

wedding band on my finger

cuz at that moment, I could take a drink

with my left hand this time and make it

really obvious her direction.

And if she's really not getting the

picture, you can point. Right.

What are you saying? Said, "I'm taking.

I'm taken.

Leave me alone.

I'm taken."

Do you know that salvation for you is a

betroal between you and God? And that

God put a ring on it?

I didn't think it'd be fitting. I wanted

to play the song.

I wouldn't do that. I might do that. But

I didn't do that.

You put a ring on it.

You know that when the enemy comes in,

all you have to do is look at the devil

and say, "Hey, I'm I'm taken.

I'm taken. I'm betrothed to another."

What I don't want to do is get caught up

in spiritual adultery where I'm flirting

with the flesh and flirting with the

world and when I least expect it, my

groom comes back for me and finds me

tainted.

I'm betrothed to another.

1 Corinthians 10:21,

1 Corinthians 10:21

Paul said this. He said, "You cannot

drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of

demons, too.

You cannot have a part in both the

Lord's table

and the table of demons."

Every day as humans, we're either

drinking the cup of the covenant

with Jesus or we're flirting with the

cup of the world.

And Christian, I want to tell you, you

can't have both.

You can't have both.

As a waiting bride

will either be faithful

or adulterous.

[Music]

We're betrothed.

Doesn't that change the gospel?

Doesn't that change your salvation?

This Galilean wedding

tradition and this mindset, it's all

throughout scripture. I don't have the

time to go Old Testament with you to

give you all the marriage analogies

pointing to the coming Messiah. You

guys, if you've ever read Song of

Solomon,

that's not about

two lovers.

that's about a relationship between God

and his people.

And if you haven't read it,

it's rated R.

First time I read it, I was very

uncomfortable.

It's a love story.

and you are the heart of his affection,

the bride of Christ, the church.

We're waiting and ready

for the groom to return to get his

bride. And one day, when we least expect

it, the Father will give the word,

and there will be a shout and rejoicing

in the streets. 1 Corinthians 15:52

1 Corinthians 15:52

says, "In a moment, in the twinkling of

an eye, at the last trumpet,

for the trumpet will sound, and the dead

will be raised imperishable,

and we shall be changed."

you know the

seven days that of the honeymoon that

they would spend many commentators

make the parallel of the seven years of

tribulation that's talked about in the

Bible

that there will be a season that the

bride of Christ is just tucked away with

Jesus her groom and whatever else is

happening outside

is happening outside

but then there'll be a celebration

what the Bible calls the marriage supper

of the lamb in Revelation 19:6. And I'll

Revelation 19:6

close with a scripture.

John the Revelator says this. He says,

"Then I heard what seemed to be the

voice of great multitude,

like the roar of many waters and like

the sound of mighty peels of thunder,

crying out, hallelujah,

for the Lord our God, the Almighty,

reigns."

Let us rejoice and exalt.

Give him the glory for the marriage of

the Lamb has come and his bride has made

herself ready.

It was granted her to clothe herself in

fine linen bright and pure. For the fine

linen is the righteous deeds of the

saints.

And the angel said to me, "Write this.

Blessed are those who are invited to the

marriage supper of the Lamb." and he

said to me, "These are the true words of

God."

I'm going to ask our ushers to come

serve you communion today.

And this morning, we're not just taking

communion.

We're affirming

our vows. We're affirming our betroal to

Jesus.

And as the music plays and the ushers

are coming around, I want you to do

business with God.

And I'll just ask, are you living as a

faithful bride, ready for your Jesus?

Or have you been flirting with the

world,

caught up in spiritual adultery?

I'll say this. If you're in this room

and hearing these words and you're

going, I don't know if I've ever really

been saved.

But maybe today

is the day.

Just like that bride in Galilee had the

cup in her hand and all she had to do

was drink,

confirming the covenant.

Today as we take communion,

you guys know the sinner's prayer is a

fairly modern thing. Last hundred years

or so,

you don't have to recite special words.

And

if that's you today and you want to give

your life to Christ and understand

what's being shared with you today, you

can hold that cup and you can say,

"Father, receive me.

I make my covenant with you today

and drink of the cup.

I'm going to ask Pastor Dan and Pastor

Mark to join me up here

and give you just a moment as we prepare

our hearts to receive communion.

[Music]

Jesus said to do this often in

remembrance of me.

Too much in our church culture, we're

doing it in remembrance of only the

sacrifice

that was paid, which is exactly what it

means. But can I submit to you today

that it also

means betroal?

Do this in remembrance of me. Remember

the vow. Remember the covenant. Remember

the commitment that's made between

the groom

and the bride. Pastor Dan.

Lord, we remember

the covenant. We remember the love

story. We remember the affection you had

for us. that even when we were yet

sinners,

Christ

died for us.

Jesus

was given a body

and he bore our own sins in that body on

the tree

and by his stripes

we are healed.

Thank you Lord for experiencing humanity

in your effort to save us and redeem us.

You experienced everything we

experience. You understand

like no other. And you were tempted in

all points just like we are. Yet you

never sinned.

So you became the perfect sacrifice.

And I'm reminded as you hung on that

cross and you said, "It is finished."

that the literal translation is paid in

full.

That Lord, you paid the price for us to

be with you forever, spotless, without

blemish,

pure and holy. Thank you for your broken

body. Lord, we remember you now as we

partake together. You can partake of the

emblem of Christ's body.

[Music]

Let's lift the cup today. Lord, we are

grateful for your blood, Lord.

The price of our salvation, the price

you paid so that we could

experience your love that Lord, we could

be betrothed to you. And so today, Lord,

we accept the covenant. We thank you for

your blood. We thank you for the healing

that comes with your blood. And so Lord,

we pray that today, Lord, bring healing

and salvation,

knowledge of you, to know you better

today, and to remember all that you've

done for us in Jesus name.

[Music]

So often as we eat this bread and drink

this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death

until he comes.

Can I also use some biblical language

today?

But God has joined together. Let no man

put us under.

Let's stand to our feet all over this

house.

Father, we thank you Lord for

this new covenant,

this betrodal,

this vow and this commitment that not

only you make with us through the blood

of Jesus, but that today, Lord, we make

with you as the bride of Christ.

And Father, I pray that at any given

moment, Lord, we would be found faithful

by you, pure and holy and spotless,

without blemish or wrinkle.

But God, that we would

keep ourselves pure, that we would be

holy as you are holy.

Father, I thank you, God, for the Holy

Spirit that you've given us to live on

the inside of us.

Thank you for the Holy Spirit keeping us

holy through and through.

So, Father, we thank you for this

moment.

We thank you, God, for being here in our

midst. We feel your presence.

We thank you for this day in Jesus name.

Amen.

[Music]

Hey, hey, hey.

[Music]