Title: Our Marriage to Christ is Most Important Meta: Marriage is indeed important and defining in the believer's life, but it is not the most important thing to be said of the Christian's life. Marriage on this earth is temporary, but union to Christ is forever. Tags: marriage,wedding,sermon,Christ,believer 1 00:00:01,096 --> 00:00:13,441 So Kevin and Krystal are getting married. 2 00:00:13,441 --> 00:00:19,886 This is really important in their lives. 3 00:00:19,886 --> 00:00:25,575 It's like a speck on the sand of sea shores 4 00:00:25,575 --> 00:00:31,230 in light of all eternity. 5 00:00:31,230 --> 00:00:34,815 This is important in their lives, 6 00:00:34,815 --> 00:00:38,011 but you know if we brought out the balances, 7 00:00:38,011 --> 00:00:41,500 and we started throwing the important things in that balance 8 00:00:41,500 --> 00:00:43,899 about their lives... 9 00:00:43,899 --> 00:00:46,324 This marriage is important. 10 00:00:46,324 --> 00:00:50,944 It's defining in their lives in many ways, 11 00:00:50,944 --> 00:00:55,675 but it is not the most important thing to be said about their lives. 12 00:00:55,675 --> 00:00:58,738 Not at all. 13 00:00:58,738 --> 00:01:02,477 There's some more important things to be said about them 14 00:01:02,477 --> 00:01:06,633 than the fact that they're getting married today. 15 00:01:06,633 --> 00:01:08,431 They're already married. 16 00:01:08,431 --> 00:01:11,326 You say, "Wait. What?" 17 00:01:11,337 --> 00:01:17,495 The defining aspect of their lives is their Christianity. 18 00:01:17,495 --> 00:01:20,304 That above everything else... 19 00:01:20,304 --> 00:01:22,069 This day is important. 20 00:01:22,069 --> 00:01:24,359 That day they came to Christ is more important. 21 00:01:24,359 --> 00:01:26,136 This marriage is one thing. 22 00:01:26,136 --> 00:01:31,116 Their marriage to Christ is altogether another thing. 23 00:01:31,116 --> 00:01:34,191 This marriage is temporary. 24 00:01:34,191 --> 00:01:38,628 They might want it to last forever, but it's temporary. 25 00:01:38,628 --> 00:01:41,631 And we're going to say in the vows, 26 00:01:41,631 --> 00:01:43,551 "Do you take her until death?" 27 00:01:43,551 --> 00:01:48,217 "Do you take him until death?" 28 00:01:48,217 --> 00:01:51,352 Every marriage in here is going to sever 29 00:01:51,352 --> 00:01:57,052 when one of us passes out of this life. 30 00:01:57,052 --> 00:02:03,760 But that union to Christ is forever. 31 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:08,246 And this is something that the Scripture speaks to... 32 00:02:08,246 --> 00:02:12,350 And so what I thought I might do is 33 00:02:12,350 --> 00:02:15,672 Go through some of these verses. 34 00:02:15,672 --> 00:02:20,877 In fact, the majority of these verses that we find in Scripture 35 00:02:20,877 --> 00:02:26,624 that speak to us about Kevin's marriage to Christ, 36 00:02:26,624 --> 00:02:29,914 Krystal's marriage to Christ, 37 00:02:29,914 --> 00:02:34,004 Listen to these. Take these in. 38 00:02:34,004 --> 00:02:37,478 Before we actually bring them up and get them married... 39 00:02:37,478 --> 00:02:52,051 Psalm 45 verses 10-11, "Hear, O daughter, and consider..." 40 00:02:52,051 --> 00:03:00,090 Of course, this may be addressed to the daughter Israel 41 00:03:00,090 --> 00:03:06,903 The true Israel is the Christian: Jew or Gentile. 42 00:03:06,903 --> 00:03:14,234 Every Christian here, hear this, you're being told to hear. 43 00:03:14,234 --> 00:03:18,886 "Incline your ear, forget your people..." 44 00:03:18,886 --> 00:03:21,625 In other words, where you came from... 45 00:03:21,625 --> 00:03:23,534 Do you remember how Scripture says, 46 00:03:23,534 --> 00:03:26,534 "Come out from among them... 47 00:03:26,534 --> 00:03:30,730 Come out from her. Come away." 48 00:03:30,730 --> 00:03:32,755 The Lord calls us, 49 00:03:32,755 --> 00:03:36,655 forget your people and your father's house. 50 00:03:36,655 --> 00:03:41,562 And the King will desire your beauty. 51 00:03:41,562 --> 00:03:47,131 "Since He is your Lord, bow to Him." 52 00:03:47,131 --> 00:03:49,906 So we know Who's being talked about here. 53 00:03:49,906 --> 00:03:55,008 We can't know Christ unless we leave off our former family. 54 00:03:55,008 --> 00:03:57,684 Who is our former father? 55 00:03:57,684 --> 00:04:03,286 Jesus spoke to the Jews in His day, "your father the devil." 56 00:04:03,286 --> 00:04:05,375 We don't think so, but that's true. 57 00:04:05,375 --> 00:04:07,625 And who were our people? 58 00:04:07,625 --> 00:04:09,572 The Scripture tells us about those; 59 00:04:09,572 --> 00:04:12,572 the sons of disobedience, the children of wrath, 60 00:04:12,572 --> 00:04:16,145 but "leave your father's house, 61 00:04:16,145 --> 00:04:21,055 and the King will desire your beauty." 62 00:04:21,055 --> 00:04:24,419 What beauty?? 63 00:04:24,419 --> 00:04:28,624 Sinners? Oh, this beauty... 64 00:04:28,624 --> 00:04:33,559 Remember, Ephesians 5, Jesus loved the church 65 00:04:33,559 --> 00:04:37,129 and gave Himself for the church, 66 00:04:37,129 --> 00:04:39,038 and what was it for? 67 00:04:39,038 --> 00:04:41,808 It was to sanctify her. 68 00:04:41,808 --> 00:04:46,326 It's to cleanse her by the washing of water of the Word. 69 00:04:46,326 --> 00:04:52,973 It's so that He might present the bride to Himself in splendor. 70 00:04:52,973 --> 00:04:55,240 That's where the beauty comes from. 71 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:56,527 Or think about this... 72 00:04:56,556 --> 00:05:01,639 Paul says of the Corinthian church that he was jealous of her, 73 00:05:01,639 --> 00:05:05,751 and he was wanting her prepared, 74 00:05:05,751 --> 00:05:10,601 betrothed to Christ, as a pure virgin. 75 00:05:10,601 --> 00:05:13,600 Just think about that. The Corinthians! 76 00:05:13,611 --> 00:05:15,512 What do we know about the Corinthians? 77 00:05:15,512 --> 00:05:17,905 "Such were some of you." 78 00:05:17,905 --> 00:05:22,331 What were they? They were what we were. 79 00:05:22,331 --> 00:05:25,675 A lot of sinners. Liars, idolaters, 80 00:05:25,675 --> 00:05:29,065 fornicators, homosexuals, drunks, 81 00:05:29,065 --> 00:05:34,733 selfish, self-absorbed, full of pride... 82 00:05:34,733 --> 00:05:38,544 That's the kind of people 83 00:05:38,544 --> 00:05:45,834 that are betrothed to Christ as a pure virgin. 84 00:05:45,834 --> 00:05:50,463 Christ gives us the beauty that He desires... 85 00:05:50,463 --> 00:05:54,758 But think about that: what He's making the children of God, 86 00:05:54,758 --> 00:05:56,684 the King desires our beauty, 87 00:05:56,684 --> 00:05:59,684 that we might be presented to Him. 88 00:05:59,684 --> 00:06:04,722 I know, I saw it in your eyes brother, you watched that sight, 89 00:06:04,722 --> 00:06:07,063 your bride coming down that aisle. 90 00:06:07,063 --> 00:06:09,253 You were admiring. 91 00:06:09,253 --> 00:06:12,943 Jesus Christ admires His bride too. 92 00:06:12,943 --> 00:06:15,734 He admires these two, and there's a beauty. 93 00:06:15,734 --> 00:06:17,304 He is loving them. 94 00:06:17,304 --> 00:06:19,411 He gave His life that they 95 00:06:19,411 --> 00:06:22,861 might be made beautiful, pure virgins. 96 00:06:22,861 --> 00:06:24,451 It doesn't matter if you had a background 97 00:06:24,451 --> 00:06:26,985 like the Corinthians themselves... 98 00:06:26,985 --> 00:06:29,867 pure virgins, that's what the blood of Christ, 99 00:06:29,867 --> 00:06:33,636 the death of Christ, that's what He's accomplishing. 100 00:06:33,636 --> 00:06:41,042 Listen to this, Isaiah 54:5, "Your Maker is your Husband, 101 00:06:41,042 --> 00:06:44,042 the Lord of Hosts is His name." 102 00:06:44,042 --> 00:06:49,536 We just sang "to make a wretch His treasure." 103 00:06:49,536 --> 00:06:52,218 The Lord our Maker is our Husband. 104 00:06:52,218 --> 00:06:57,638 He makes a wretch His bride. 105 00:06:57,638 --> 00:07:01,658 And when the Lord creates a bride for Himself, 106 00:07:01,658 --> 00:07:04,466 He's going to create a bride worthy of His name. 107 00:07:04,466 --> 00:07:06,510 Christian, just think who you are! 108 00:07:06,510 --> 00:07:10,501 You are being made into a bride 109 00:07:10,501 --> 00:07:15,011 acceptable for the Son of God Himself. 110 00:07:15,011 --> 00:07:17,029 That's what's happening. 111 00:07:17,055 --> 00:07:21,019 And the Lord of Hosts is His name. The Lord of armies. 112 00:07:21,019 --> 00:07:23,930 There's power! He's capable. 113 00:07:23,930 --> 00:07:24,930 No matter how defiled, 114 00:07:24,930 --> 00:07:27,268 He's capable of removing that stain. 115 00:07:27,268 --> 00:07:29,281 He's got the power, He's got the might. 116 00:07:29,281 --> 00:07:31,994 He's got the authority. 117 00:07:31,994 --> 00:07:36,545 There's power in that Name. 118 00:07:36,545 --> 00:07:39,965 There's salvation in that Name. 119 00:07:39,965 --> 00:07:49,500 Listen. Hosea 2:19, "And I will betroth you to Me forever. 120 00:07:49,500 --> 00:07:54,918 I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice and in 121 00:07:54,918 --> 00:07:57,931 steadfast love and in mercy. 122 00:07:57,931 --> 00:08:03,271 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, 123 00:08:03,271 --> 00:08:08,302 and you shall know the Lord." 124 00:08:08,302 --> 00:08:10,726 Now take that one in. 125 00:08:10,726 --> 00:08:13,405 In Scripture, we know this: 126 00:08:13,405 --> 00:08:18,905 To know the Lord doesn't mean to know some facts about Him. 127 00:08:18,905 --> 00:08:26,993 Adam knew Eve and she conceived a child. 128 00:08:26,993 --> 00:08:30,263 The closest physical intimacy... 129 00:08:30,263 --> 00:08:35,887 What we're told is that being betrothed to Him forever, 130 00:08:35,887 --> 00:08:38,007 we will come to know Him. 131 00:08:38,007 --> 00:08:40,642 There is a picture here. 132 00:08:40,642 --> 00:08:45,341 Christ is bringing us to Himself; the closest affection, 133 00:08:45,341 --> 00:08:55,152 the closest tenderness, the closest intimacy, forever. 134 00:08:55,152 --> 00:08:57,336 We're talking about Christianity. 135 00:08:57,336 --> 00:09:04,355 This is the most important reality about these two. 136 00:09:04,355 --> 00:09:09,069 They're Christians. That's the defining element. 137 00:09:09,069 --> 00:09:16,473 Betrothed, married to Christ. 138 00:09:16,487 --> 00:09:20,062 This is the church speaking, 139 00:09:20,062 --> 00:09:22,837 "My beloved speaks and says to me, 140 00:09:22,837 --> 00:09:27,247 'Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.'" 141 00:09:27,247 --> 00:09:32,468 That's Christ. She's saying, that's what He says to me. 142 00:09:32,468 --> 00:09:34,647 Is that not what He says to us? 143 00:09:34,647 --> 00:09:36,817 He beckons us, even in this life, 144 00:09:36,817 --> 00:09:38,787 "Come away. Come away." 145 00:09:38,787 --> 00:09:40,255 Even in their marriage, 146 00:09:40,255 --> 00:09:43,255 He's going to beckon to you, brother, "come away." 147 00:09:43,255 --> 00:09:47,726 And to you, sister, "come away." 148 00:09:47,726 --> 00:09:51,769 Even apart from each other, "come away." 149 00:09:51,769 --> 00:09:54,480 As sweet as their union is going to be, 150 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:56,940 Christ is still married to them, 151 00:09:56,940 --> 00:10:00,174 with an eternal marriage, 152 00:10:00,174 --> 00:10:03,664 and He calls us to come away. 153 00:10:03,664 --> 00:10:06,738 John the Baptist, you remember him. 154 00:10:06,738 --> 00:10:10,518 He pointed to Christ, and he said, 155 00:10:10,518 --> 00:10:14,025 the Bridegroom is the One that has the bride, 156 00:10:14,025 --> 00:10:16,482 not the church, not the preacher, 157 00:10:16,482 --> 00:10:19,482 not any man, not John himself... 158 00:10:19,482 --> 00:10:22,432 it's Christ Who has the bride. 159 00:10:22,432 --> 00:10:25,082 He alone is the Bridegroom. 160 00:10:25,082 --> 00:10:26,749 He's the One that has her. 161 00:10:26,749 --> 00:10:30,509 She belongs to Him and to no one else. 162 00:10:30,509 --> 00:10:32,910 Again the Song of Solomon, 163 00:10:32,910 --> 00:10:40,730 "I am my Beloved's, and His desire is for me." 164 00:10:40,730 --> 00:10:43,647 Brothers and sisters, what we need to recognize: 165 00:10:43,650 --> 00:10:49,179 This guy desires this lady. 166 00:10:49,179 --> 00:10:54,799 But that's the shadow. That's what God designed 167 00:10:54,799 --> 00:10:59,192 so that all of us here today could look at that and say, 168 00:10:59,192 --> 00:11:05,179 Wow. That's like going out in the sun. 169 00:11:05,179 --> 00:11:08,179 That's like your child running out in the sun, 170 00:11:08,179 --> 00:11:10,272 and you look at your child and you look 171 00:11:10,272 --> 00:11:12,622 at the shadow cast on the ground, 172 00:11:12,622 --> 00:11:17,363 and that's what this is. This isn't the reality. 173 00:11:17,403 --> 00:11:23,667 Oh, it's very real in a sense. 174 00:11:23,667 --> 00:11:27,807 But it's what God designed for us to just get a glimpse, 175 00:11:27,807 --> 00:11:31,725 to just get an idea... 176 00:11:31,725 --> 00:11:35,127 But we have this, Romans 7 verse 4, 177 00:11:35,127 --> 00:11:38,127 the apostle Paul says to the Roman Christians, 178 00:11:38,127 --> 00:11:41,132 "Likewise, my brothers, you also have died," 179 00:11:41,132 --> 00:11:42,726 Now listen to this: 180 00:11:42,726 --> 00:11:44,881 "you have died to the law." 181 00:11:44,881 --> 00:11:48,699 He just got done describing a woman 182 00:11:48,699 --> 00:11:52,989 who has a husband and the husband dies, 183 00:11:52,989 --> 00:11:58,988 and now she marries another husband. And he says, 184 00:11:58,988 --> 00:12:04,490 "you have died to the law through the body of Christ, 185 00:12:04,490 --> 00:12:08,620 so that you may be married to another." 186 00:12:08,620 --> 00:12:12,966 Christian, our first husband was the Law. 187 00:12:12,966 --> 00:12:15,966 Our second husband is Christ. 188 00:12:15,966 --> 00:12:18,151 "Married to another. 189 00:12:18,151 --> 00:12:20,801 To Him Who has been raised from the dead 190 00:12:20,801 --> 00:12:23,761 in order that we may bear fruit for God." 191 00:12:23,761 --> 00:12:27,316 We were once married to the Law. 192 00:12:27,316 --> 00:12:33,039 He was not a kind husband because he showed no mercy. 193 00:12:33,039 --> 00:12:36,749 Very strict, very harsh. 194 00:12:36,749 --> 00:12:39,233 And the moment we messed up, 195 00:12:39,233 --> 00:12:44,233 he cursed us all the time. He was cruel to us. 196 00:12:44,233 --> 00:12:51,284 But, we find in Jesus a gentle Husband. 197 00:12:51,284 --> 00:12:54,284 One Who laid down His life for us. 198 00:12:54,284 --> 00:12:55,661 He set us free. 199 00:12:55,661 --> 00:12:58,661 And He died and He rose from the dead. 200 00:12:58,661 --> 00:13:03,935 And it's in Him now we become this very fruitful tree unto God. 201 00:13:03,935 --> 00:13:07,163 And then when you get to the last book of the Bible 202 00:13:07,163 --> 00:13:09,910 Here it is, here's Scripture closing out, 203 00:13:09,910 --> 00:13:15,630 "Let us rejoice and exalt and give God the glory, 204 00:13:15,630 --> 00:13:19,008 for the marriage of the Lamb has come 205 00:13:19,008 --> 00:13:22,438 and His bride has made herself ready. 206 00:13:22,438 --> 00:13:26,585 It was granted for her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, 207 00:13:26,627 --> 00:13:34,655 for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." And listen to this: 208 00:13:34,655 --> 00:13:40,285 "and the angel said write this, 209 00:13:40,285 --> 00:13:43,695 'blessed are those who are invited 210 00:13:43,695 --> 00:13:46,952 to the marriage supper of the Lamb." 211 00:13:46,952 --> 00:13:50,195 Oh brothers and sisters, those of us, there's many of us here 212 00:13:50,201 --> 00:13:53,476 that have already received our invitation. 213 00:13:53,476 --> 00:13:58,355 Some of you have not yet, and we bid you, call upon Him. 214 00:13:58,355 --> 00:14:04,260 You want that invitation to that marriage feast. 215 00:14:04,260 --> 00:14:10,003 Blessed are those who have invitations there. 216 00:14:10,003 --> 00:14:12,692 It's a blessing to be here today, but you know... 217 00:14:12,705 --> 00:14:18,256 You could miss this one. You don't want to miss that one. 218 00:14:18,256 --> 00:14:26,205 That is the marriage feast of all marriage feasts. 219 00:14:26,205 --> 00:14:29,638 That is the greatest defining reality 220 00:14:29,638 --> 00:14:32,998 about the Christian and about these two. 221 00:14:32,998 --> 00:14:36,982 Union with Christ. 222 00:14:36,982 --> 00:14:41,678 Brethren, we're going to sing three more songs, 223 00:14:41,678 --> 00:14:45,764 and then we'll go to getting these two married.