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sermon: Marriage of the LambGod's View of Weddings and Marriage
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There is a real buzz here in Victoria today, because we have a wedding scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. As many of you know, Kristi Humphreys and Luke Nelson are going to be married. Luke continues the tradition of all those American boys who keep crossing the border and stealing all of our Canadian girls away.
This wedding tomorrow is extra special for me in two respects. First, because I have known Kristi since she was a little baby, and secondly, because it is the first wedding I have performed since I was ordained almost two years ago.
This year, 2006, has been a very busy year in our church for weddings, and continues to be a busy year. I know that this year's entire crop of weddings is going to be, and have been, very lovely. But, also, they have taken a lot of hard work on behalf of many people. These weddings have taken much planning and preparation, which is much appreciated.
I would like to discuss the planning and preparation of weddings and marriages. Specifically I want to talk about the planning and the preparation for the wedding and marriage between the Bride of Jesus Christ and her groom, the Lamb of God. We often think about this future wedding during the Feast of Trumpets, which is just over a month away. For our visitors, who may not be familiar, the Feast of Trumpets is the fourth of seven Holy days that are commanded by God in Leviticus 23.
A few years ago, when my wife Tricia and I were planning and preparing our daughters' weddings, many marriage scriptures ran through my mind. One was a somewhat somber scripture, considering the joyous nature of the subject of weddings and marriage.
Matthew 24:37-39 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all
Two major questions arise from these verses. The first one is, "What was wrong with marrying and giving in marriage, and eating and drinking for that matter, in the days that preceded the flood?" There is an implication here, because Jesus knew what happened back then better than we do and He was not wasting His words. There is a strong implication that there may have been some people, in Noah's time, who perhaps were listening seriously to God's warning message through Noah but were diverted from doing anything about it. Why would that be? I am not sure, but perhaps some (and this is implied in what Jesus said here) had this false belief that God's intervention back then was not imminent.
Perhaps some people were putting much of their precious time, and wasting much precious time, in preparing weddings instead of joining Noah in his preparation for God's intervention. Perhaps they were eating, drinking and feasting, instead of holding solemn fasts, which would have helped them to humble themselves before God, and perhaps to save them in that terrible deluge. The second question, regarding Matthew 24, "In the future, what will be wrong in marrying and giving in marriage, and eating and drinking in the last days, preceding the second coming of the Son of God?" The question of whether to marry, or whether not to marry, at the very end of the end times is a question of logical and practical timing and priorities.
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4, 5, 8 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
When we look around the world today, and we look at the violence and the terrorism that we have seen recently, this is just an ominous foretaste of the days, weeks and months that will immediately precede the return of Jesus Christ. That will not be a time of peace, but it will be a time of weeping and mourning, hatred and war. It will not be a time to laugh and dance, and it will not even be a time for marital love and embracing.
I want to give an example of wrong priorities. We read of Job's children partying so excessively, and so inappropriately, and at what seemed like an untimely period, that Job felt he needed to repent for his own children.
Job 1:4-5, 13, 18 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so, that when the days of their feasting were ended, Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus did Job continually. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, "Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,
Likewise, in the very last days before the return of Jesus Christ, that will not be an appropriate time for partying, feasting, and not even a time to prepare for physical weddings. God tells us in the scriptures, that apparently both inside the church and outside the church, at some point before Christ's return, that the joy of weddings is going to cease.
Jeremiah 16:9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, in your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
Despite recent events in the world, and the terrorism that we see around us, we do not know when Jesus Christ is going to return. We do not know how close we are to the end of this age. But, how will the children of God know when the cut off time for weddings and marriages is going take place, when will that be? If we are watching and praying, God will make very clear to His people the imminent time of these major end-time events.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, unless He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.
This will be a special time, and this will be a major event. Obviously, it is the biggest thing that is ever going to happen on this earth.
Jeremiah 7:34 Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.
Again, we do not know what the sign of that cut off time for weddings and marriages will be. It may be that the sign of that time might be the utter desolation of our once prosperous lands in end time Israel and Judah. We must remember that for God's people, in that solemn hour, there should be absolutely nothing that should be taking our minds, and our valuable time, off our preparation and planning for the most important wedding ever, the wedding of the Lamb of God to His Bride.
What I have been looking at here is somber, and I certainly do not want to put a damper on Luke and Kristi's wedding, or on any of the other church weddings. Let us make it very, very clear that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with marriage, with weddings, with giving in marriage, with wedding feasts, with wedding preparations, absolutely nothing. I want to drive this home, and Warren talked about this in the sermonette. Marriage is good, marriage is not just good, marriage is very good. It is a wonderful institution, and it is a great and meaningful blessing given to mankind by God. There are many, many positive scriptures that favor marriage, and I would like to give you some examples.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Luke 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them, "The children of this world marry and are given in marriage.
I just want to pick out that one verse, but you will notice that He certainly did not say that there is anything wrong with this. Of course He did not, because as the LORD and the Yahweh of the Old Testament, He created the marriage institution itself.
Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.
In addition, as the LORD and Yahweh of the Old Testament, He had been married to physical Israel.
Ezekiel 16:8 Now when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swore unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest Mine. [Israel became God's wife.]
Ezekiel 16:10 Now when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swore unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest Mine.
Ezekiel 16:13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and embroidered work. Thou didst eat fine flour and honey and oil; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. [I want you to remember that fine linen, because it comes back again in our later scriptures.]
I want to make this absolutely clear that the Lord GOD was married to Israel.
Jeremiah 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children,' saith the LORD, 'for I am married unto you; and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Now, again, was Jesus Christ against marriage? No. Much later, we believe in 28 AD, Jesus Christ, His mother, and His disciples happily accepted an invitation to a wedding in Cana of Galilee.
John 2:1-2 And on the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were called to the marriage.
If Jesus Christ were in some way against marriage, would He have accepted that invitation? I do not think so. Also, people think that the apostle Paul was somehow against marriage and that is absolutely not true.
I Corinthians 7:9 But if they cannot contain themselves, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn. [What he is talking about is burning with passion.]
I Corinthians 7:28, 36 But if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such people shall have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you. But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age and need so require, let him do what he will—he sinneth not: let them marry.
People read some of this chapter and they think that Paul is speaking against marriage. If you look at the context, you will see that what seemed like negative implications, are not towards marriage itself. They are toward marriage in very troubled and dangerous times, which those people in Corinth were living through. But, that is another story altogether. What I am trying to show here is that Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul certainly were in favor of marriage.
I Timothy 5:14 It is my will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
Does that sound as though the apostle Paul was against marriage? Not at all. Let us go back to the previous chapter. Here, Paul wrote very strongly against anyone who would forbid marriage. The apostle Paul calls such prohibition 'a doctrine of demons.'
I Timothy 4:1-3 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. [Paul speaks strongly against such prohibition.]
Marriage is a God given gift, and it is a wonderful benefit. Many of the physical benefits that God gives to us human beings have a spiritual symbolism, and they picture some spiritual benefit. The spiritual symbolism of human marriage is a wonderful picture of Jesus Christ as the groom and the church of Jesus Christ as His Bride. It is an absolutely astonishing concept when you begin to understand it. When we begin to understand the depth of this relationship between Christ and the church, and every marriage should strive to picture this relationship. Long time members of the Church of God first learned about this symbolism, in Mr. Armstrong's books, "God Speaks out on the New Morality," "Missing Dimension in Sex," and Dr. Meredith's old booklet, "True Womanhood." We were absolutely flabbergasted by the truth that they brought out in there, directly from God's Word, to show us this wonderful symbolism. For those recent newlyweds in the church, I would recommend those books, and they will bring a new dimension to your marriage.
A wedding should be a joyous occasion, and most weddings are, especially between two converted people. A wedding should be a well-planned occasion. We looked at the scripture there, where we saw the wedding at Cana in Galilee, and we know that particular wedding could have been planned better, because they ran out of wine. We can plan, and we can plan. However, what we find in today's money grabbing world, with all of the pushing, prodding and chiding of the commercial sector, is that weddings can be overdone. Nothing wrong with any of these things, but you have to have tuxedos, you have to have a dance with a band or DJ. You have to have a candle ceremony, you have to have a cake cutting ceremony, and you have to have a shower for the bride (these are all traditions). You have to have a bachelor night out for the groom, you have to have limousines, you have to have a rehearsal dinner, and you have to have a lavish honeymoon, and so on. Again, there is nothing wrong with any of these.
What I am saying is that if the couple and their families try to cram too much into a very short time, then the happy occasion can easily turn into a fiasco. The pressure, especially from the commercial world, to include too many confusing details can cause two things. It can cause financial hardship on the couple and the parents, and that would be a terrible start for the couple. It can also cause the wedding day to be exceedingly stressful for all concerned. I know first hand, been there, done that, three times.
Let us get back to the big question for God's people. We are members of the Bride of Jesus Christ. Are we putting the same time, thought, planning, effort and detail into our preparations for our marriage, to our groom Jesus Christ, as we put into our own family weddings? I am sorry to admit that in the hectic days immediately before our daughters' weddings, with all of the physical things that were happening, my prayer time suffered and my Bible study time suffered. Other family members, and other people involved in a wedding, have told me the same thing. The wedding planning just comes in and takes over everything it seems. What I need to keep hitting on the head is that we should be putting much more time and effort into planning and preparation for our marriage to the Lamb of God than we put into our physical weddings. Again, I do not want to take anything away from Luke and Kristi's wedding, or any of the church weddings that are beautiful and wonderful. But, think about it, we are comparing something human with something divine. Every other wedding no matter how beautiful is a mere, pale physical symbol of this wonderful wedding that is to come.
I would like to take a closer look at the marriage of the Lamb. Jesus Christ identifies Himself as the Bridegroom in many scriptures.
Matthew 22: 2 The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a certain king, who made a marriage for his son.
Revelation 21:2 And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And there came unto me one of the seven angels, who had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, "Come hither; I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife."
Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let him that heareth say, "Come." And let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the Water of Life freely.
The main description of the wedding ceremony itself we find in a few verses in Revelation 19.
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready."
That is important. When the time of the wedding of Jesus Christ to His Bride arrives, then will be the time for the resumption of gladness and rejoicing. We must not forget that it will also be a time for giving additional glory and honor to God. We will share that gladness and rejoicing with God the Father, Jesus Christ and all the angelic host of heaven. It will exceed anything that any of us have ever experienced. What a wonderful time to look forward to. It is very important for us to note, that the Bride of Jesus Christ, as it says in verse 7, will have made herself ready for the wedding. I do not know that there is any bride who does not spend time getting herself ready for her wedding. This bride, that is the Church of God, must get herself ready and prepare. This bride will not have allowed anything to side track her from preparation for this most wonderful occasion.
Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
The fine linen is even more than that. At this wonderful ceremony, the bride will be given the unique privilege to wear a very special wedding gown that is made of this fine, clean, white linen. This garment, this wedding gown, is not just beautiful. It is important, symbolic and it is meaningful. It is more meaningful than even the loveliest of today's physical wedding gowns. I do not have time to go into all of the verses, but this unique fabric, fine, clean and white linen, was made into garments that were worn by royalty, God's priests in the Old Testament. It was also used extensively in the construction of God's tabernacle. We also find that the spiritual version of this linen was worn, and probably still is worn, by God's angels. At the marriage of the Lamb, at the wedding of Jesus Christ, to His Bride, the bride will then be qualified to wear this fine, clean, white linen. Why? Because then she will consist of saints who are totally righteous, not imperfect as we are now. They also will be royalty. They will be kings and priests. They will be pillars in the temple, and they will be like the angels, only higher at that time in rank. You can see that the symbolism of the wedding dress of the Bride of Christ is very, very important and symbolic.
Revelation 19:9 And he said unto me, "Write: 'Blessed are they that are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said unto me, "These are the true sayings of God."
It will be one of eternity's supreme blessings to be called to this wedding. Who will be the blessed ones who will be called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? Who will be there? Obviously, God the Father and Jesus Christ will be there. They will be doing the calling and the inviting to the wedding. We know that the angels, the archangels, the twenty-four elders, the four living creatures will all be there. Obviously, the Bride of Jesus Christ has to be there, collectively made up of the resurrected and changed members of God's true church from throughout the centuries. These are the blessed ones who will be there. Who will not be there? Those who are symbolized by the five foolish virgins, from Matthew 24, will not be there. They will be shut out because they will not have adequately planned or prepared. I would like to quickly run through that to point that out.
Matthew 25:1-13 Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made: 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, 'Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.' [The foolish virgins were asking the wise virgins to help them out and to make up for their lack of preparation.] But the wise answered, saying, 'Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. [They are among the most fearsome words in the whole Bible, 'the door was shut.'] Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But he answered and said, 'Verily I say unto you, I know you not.' [These are amongst the most dreaded words of Jesus Christ in the whole Bible, 'I do not know you.' What an awful thing to hear from Jesus Christ.] Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.
The people represented by those five foolish virgins will not be there at the Marriage of the Lamb. Who else will not be there? Satan and his demons will not be there. They will have been banished from visiting heaven. Believe it or not, there was a time, and perhaps they still can, visit heaven. Satan himself was able to visit the throne of God in heaven
Job 1: 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
Satan is a fallen super archangel of the same rank, we believe, as Michael and Gabriel.
Revelation 12:7-10 And there was war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in Heaven. And the great dragon was cast out—that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out onto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven, "Now have come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night.
Yes, Satan and his demons will be banished from visiting heaven. Will the wedding ceremony and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb really take place in heaven? I do not want to suggest at all that heaven is the eternal reward, or the ultimate dwelling place of God's people. A careful study of the timing of the relevant scriptures strongly suggests the possibility that the Marriage of the Lamb is going to take place in heaven, and we will be there.
Let us take a side trip, and look at this timing, because it is very exciting.
Revelation 14:1 And I looked and lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads.
We know who the Lamb is, we know who the 144,000 are, but where is this Mount Zion? Is it the one in Jerusalem, the physical and earthly one?
Revelation 14:2 And I heard a voice from Heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.
What is the origin of these voices? It tells us right there, they originate in heaven. Who are the heavenly harpers? We will see later that they are the 144,000 firstfruits of God's people.
Revelation 14:3 And they sang, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four living beings and the elders; and no man could learn that song, except the hundred and forty and four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.
Whoever is singing this new song is singing it before God's throne, which is in heaven. They are singing this new song before the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders who are in heaven at God's throne. Who is singing this new song? The singers of this new song are the 144,000 who are redeemed from the earth. Those words, 'from the earth,' imply two things. It implies that the 144,000 are humans who have been changed or resurrected, and it also implies that they are not on earth at that time.
Revelation 14:4 These are they that were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
The singers of this new song are those that are symbolized, in Matthew 25, as the five wise virgins. This verse says that they are the true followers of Jesus Christ. It also says that they were redeemed from among men, no longer among men but now spirit born children of God.
Revelation 14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
These new spirit beings are without guile. They are without fault now. They are pretty well perfect because God has made them perfect. These are they who continued to repent of their sins to the end of their lives, or until the return of Jesus Christ. Again, where are they? It says before the throne of God. Here the apostle John is picturing a time, as he was inspired to do, following the first resurrection, following the meeting of Jesus Christ and His Bride in the air, but preceding their descent to the earth. Here we have 144,000 firstfruits of God, standing with the Lamb of God, not on the earthly Mount Zion in Jerusalem, but rather in the Mount Zion that is in heaven where God's throne and God's temple are.
Revelation 14:17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in Heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
Let us have a quick review again before moving on here, 144,000 firstfruits are pictured standing before the throne of God. They are already redeemed from the earth and from among men.
Revelation 15:1-2 And I saw another sign in Heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels holding the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass and having the harps of God.
Here again, is the identity of those harpers from chapter 14. Where are they now? They are standing on the sea of glass. Where is the 'sea of glass'? The sea of glass is before God's throne. Here are the harpers who were victorious over the beast; here they are in heaven, on the sea of glass, standing before God's throne. What are they doing? They are singing.
Revelation 15:3-4 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints! Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy. For all nations shall come and worship before Thee, for Thy judgments are made manifest."
What happens next in the time sequence here?
Revelation 15:5-7 And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in Heaven was opened; and the seven angels, having the seven plagues, came out of the temple, clothed in pure and white linen and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four living beings gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever.
Here the gates of God's heavenly temple are briefly opened. These seven angels are allowed to leave heaven, and to pour out the seven last plagues upon the earth, and then the heavenly temple is closed up again.
Revelation 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no man was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
We believe that this 144,000 remain in heaven during the pouring out of the seven last plagues. You can read about that in Revelation 16. They remain in heaven during the suppression of the beast, which we read about in Revelation 17. They remain in heaven during the suppression and the putting down of Babylon the Great, in Revelation 18. Just an interesting side note here, Babylon the Great was also called the Mother of Harlots, and we know that that is Satan's counterfeit bride. Immediately after Babylon's fall, and the time of rejoicing that happens there, then comes the wedding and the marriage of the Lamb.
Revelation 19:7-9 Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready." And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said unto me, "Write: 'Blessed are they that are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said unto me, "These are the true sayings of God."
Here, we see immediately after the wedding and the marriage supper of the Lamb, heaven is opened once again.
Revelation 19:11 And I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
Here, we see Jesus Christ pictured on a white horse. Why is He pictured on a white horse? Because He is ready to travel, He is going somewhere. What happens next?
Revelation 19:14 And the armies which were in Heaven, clothed in fine linen white and clean, followed Him upon white horses.
Again, the gates of heaven were opened, and travel and movement is implied here. Jesus Christ is moving out of heaven, on His way down to earth. There are vast armies of angels, and 144,000 resurrected saints following Him, still wearing the fine white clean linen. They have a gruesome, but a necessary job to do.
Revelation 19:15 And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword with which He shall smite the nations, and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
How long is the wedding of Jesus Christ? How long is the marriage supper going to be? How long is the interval between the First resurrection, when the saints are resurrected, and the descent to earth of Jesus Christ, the Bride and the angels? We have always understood that the First resurrection and the return of Jesus Christ to the earth are all going to take place on the same day, on the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets. How do we fit all of this into one day? We must remember first of all, that Jesus Christ is not limited by human time systems, and neither will the Bride of Jesus Christ be, once we are changed to be like Him.
II Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing: that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Now take your calculator out. If one of God's days, in other words Jesus Christ's wedding day, can be 1/1000th of one of our earthly days, that works out at 86.4 seconds that a whole day of activity can be compressed into. God is able to fit a magnificent celebration of a whole twenty-four hour wedding day into less than two minutes of earthly time. I thought you would find interesting the time sequence there, and the possibility that we will visit God in heaven for the Marriage of the Lamb.
I would like to mention that there is a difference between a wedding and a marriage. All of us old married couples will tell the young married couples all about that. In the English language the wedding and the marriage are two different things. The wedding is a ceremony that puts the man and the woman together, plus the day's celebration and activities. The marriage is what comes after the wedding day—it is the lifetime together. In Camelot it is called "The happily ever aftering." When we read about the Marriage of the Lamb, in the scriptures, we know that we are reading about the wedding ceremony and the celebration supper symbolized by the Feast of Trumpets. Since the Feast of Trumpets symbolizes the return of Jesus Christ and the wedding of the Lamb, then the preparation for the Feast of Trumpets must symbolize the preparation for the return of Jesus Christ and the wedding of the Lamb. Preparation is also necessary for the other four Holy days. The other four Holy days symbolize the rest of the church's marriage to the Lamb. The preparation for the Day of Atonement symbolizes the preparation for the putting away of Satan. The preparation for the Feast of Tabernacles symbolizes our preparation for a whole one thousand years with Jesus Christ. Our preparation for the Last Great Day symbolizes our preparation for a whole wonderful eternity with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Amazing things to think about, but I wanted to put the accent on the necessary preparation.
In conclusion, I would like to give my sincerest love and greetings to Luke and Kristi on their wedding weekend. I would like to send out our sincere love and greetings from Victoria to all of the blushing brides and all of the grooms of 2006. I would like to finish by just mentioning once again, that we have looked today at the timing and location of the wedding ceremony and the Marriage supper of the Lamb. These are interesting details to study and to ponder. The main point that I would like to hammer home, is this one, that if we want to be included in the most wonderful of all weddings, if we wish to be part of the Bride of Jesus Christ, then from what we have read today we know that we must diligently be planning and preparing for it right now. We cannot allow Satan to divert us from our planning and preparation. Just think of it, that God's church is engaged to be married in a ceremony so marvelous that even the most fabulous royal weddings of Europe pale into insignificance. We are members of the Bride of Jesus Christ. We must be spending as much time as we possibly can with our fianc�, every single day, and even more as we see the wedding day approaching.
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