This is the third part in a series
on the people of God. And I've taken that title from
the last message of the last verse of the second chapter.
God says, I'll be your God and you'll be my people. So we're
going to continue in that study today. And our last study from
Jose, you remember we were shown how God's people and the day
of his power. And that phrase comes from Psalm
110, verse 3, in the day of his power, when God does a marvelous
work in the life of an individual. In the day of his power, he engages
in covenant with God, who is already and always has been engaged
for the elect. Since the election of grace,
which is a certain number of people elected, chosen, predestinated
by the Lord God himself, by his sovereign choice alone, God has
been engaged for that people and with that people. In the
day of his power is when God makes the elect's senses to awaken
to the reality that God has always been in covenant engagement with
us and he invites us and brings us into that covenant with him. In Hosea chapter 2 and verse
19, we were shown last time how the people of God engage with
him in covenant when he breaks the battle in the earth. And
we talked about this battle and how God accomplishes it by breaking
the weapons of the natural man's warfare, which he calls it in
this scripture, the bow and the sword. And these carnal weapons
are no match for those in God's arsenal. Look with me again in
2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 5. Here is described the
weapons of God's people warfare. He says, the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted
itself against the knowledge of God. And I want to emphasize
this phrase and bring into captivity every thought unto the obedience
of Christ. What he's saying here basically
is this battle that we are in is a battle of the mind, the
heart, the affections, the will of God's elect. And the sinner's
weapons by nature is a carnal mind. And we know what a carnal
mind is, it's enmity against God. For it's not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So the mind is at enmity
with God and the affections of a carnal heart which are only
evil continually. And then the will is in bondage
to carnality. What we would do, that we do
not. And the things we know we should do, we don't do. Well,
the evidence that this is the way things are is the way we
look at scripture. Look at that verse again, 2 Corinthians
10, verse 5. Instead of bringing our every
thought into captivity to what Christ has accomplished by his
obedience, The legal mind always looks to its own obedience for
acceptance before God. That's all it can do. That's
all the legal, natural, carnal mind knows to do. Well, if all
we learn here today in our study is to focus on our obedience
to God's law, it'll profit us nothing, really. But if we see
how His obedience unto death secured our participation in
the marriage supper of the Lamb, then we have the mind of Christ.
We promote his obedience, not ours. We know that we can do
nothing to gain or maintain any part of our salvation or acceptance
before God. Paul wrote this, let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. What mind? The mind of God. These are our
bows and our swords that must be broken and God does this in
the battle of the mind. God breaks these weapons in three
ways we talked about last time. First of all, by driving out
our idols. You remember in Romans chapter
1 it talks about how we bow down and worship the creature more
than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. So God first of
all drives out our idols. Secondly, he draws out our affections. He said the feet are swift to
shed blood in Romans 1.16. What he means there is Men by
nature are quick to offer a sacrifice. They want to do something to
please God. And, of course, we know that nothing we can do in
and of ourselves in our natural state can please God in any way.
So God has to draw out our affections to Christ, not to something that
we do or don't. And then he delivers us daily
from evil. And what that means simply is that We have to daily
be called back to Christ through the preaching of the gospel,
through the study of his word, through prayer and meditation
to seek all of salvation based on him and what he did and nothing
on what we do. So that's the battle that rages
in the hearts and minds of natural man until God brings them into
covenant and shows them that Christ has done it all for them.
And that's what we're going to be looking at this morning. And
the last time we talked about God's people engaged with him
in covenant when he breaks the battle in the earth. Today, we're
going to look and see how God's people engaged with him in covenant
when he betrothed his bride in marriage. We've all heard the
expression, theirs was a marriage made in heaven. And you know
what we mean by that, talking about the compatibility of the
couple involved. The choice of each other seems
to be perfect. They seem to work good, well
together. They agree on most things, and where they don't
agree, they're able to work things out in a mutual understanding. And of course, this marriage
that they plan is engaged in by both of them from the day
they decide to get married up until the actual ceremony itself. And both of them are actively
engaged in this marriage. But by the statistics, Of the
Census Bureau on marriage today, the odds of success are not very
favorable. Man all too often has put asunder
what God has joined together, but there is a marriage made
in heaven. There is one. There is no chance
of failure for this marriage. It was purposed, it was planned,
and it was perfected by the triune Godhead in eternity past, but
with this distinguishing factor. The bridegroom alone makes the
decision as to what the marriage ceremony will be like, when it
will be, where it will be. He makes all the decisions and
there's no chance of failure because it's up to him. Every
attention to the details of this marriage has been taken care
of by the bridegroom without contribution from the bride.
Even the bride's unfaithfulness to her husband could not break
or destroy this union. It's eternal. And we'll see this
demonstrated in the life of Hosea and Gomer again this morning.
A type of Christ, Hosea and Gomer, a type of this church falling. So let's look at this for just
a few moments this morning. The prophet Hosea gives us several
reasons why this marriage will not fail, that it will succeed. Look at verse, chapter two, verses
19 and 20 of Hosea. Let's read those verses. God
says, and I will betroth thee to me forever. Yea, I will betroth
thee to me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness
and in mercies. And I will even betroth thee
unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord. Three
times here does God say, I will betroth thee. As with breaking
the battle in the earth was totally of God's initiative and execution,
so the betrothal of his bride to himself It's continued upon
him and him alone. It is all based on and owing
to the intentions of the father and the intervention of the son
by his death on Calvary that this covenant was fulfilled. Well, what about this marriage
guarantees its success? Why is it sure to last? I have
five or six things I'd like for us to look at this morning. why
this marriage will last. It will succeed. First of all,
it is the Lord's betrothal. It is His marriage. He says,
I will betroth, verse 19. The word betroth means to commit
to marry. It also means to consummate the
marriage. And basically what I'm saying
is whatever God purposes, plans, and predestinates in eternity
past, in time shall come to pass. he shall perform what he promises
to do. What our faithful God has committed
himself to do shall surely come to pass. Here, he has permitted
himself to betroth the bride. And the I wills and they shall
leave no uncertainty as to what the outcome will be of this marriage.
It is the Lord's betrothal. Secondly, it is liberating. He says, I will betroth thee.
In this marriage, the bridegroom sovereignly chooses and takes
the full responsibility of the bride to himself. Think about
this union with me. Think about who it is that makes
this union. Think about the recipients of
this union. It's an engagement of a holy
God who owns everything. He wants nothing. He is complete
within himself. And he engages himself with someone
like me that has nothing, can produce nothing, and owe in everything
a humongous debt, sin debt, that I cannot pay. God engaged with
me in a marriage ceremony, in a marriage agreement with me,
the chief of sinners. Not only could I not contribute
anything toward my needs, I hated the God who had always
loved me and provided those needs for me that I needed and was
actively engaged against him against the one that was for
me actively engaged in my betrothal. All this time that I was in false
religion, going about opposed to God, he was actively engaged
on my behalf to bring me to the gospel and the Christ. I was
like those who cried out, crucify him, give us Barabbas. crucify
the Lord Jesus Christ. Worse than that, I was like Barabbas.
I was engaged in insurrection against the church and against
her Christ. And I was deserving of death
for my part in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. But God justifies
the ungodly. To such a one as me, the king
said, I have betrothed thee unto me. I have pardoned thee. I have
adopted thee. I give thee a palace. I make
you a prince. I make you a part of a royal
priesthood, a holy nation. Like the father of the prodigal
son in Luke chapter 15, God said, give him a robe, give him the
best robe. And we know that that robe is
a robe of righteousness put on me by amputation, which is the
whole of my salvation. And he said, give him a ring.
That ring is a symbol of my unbroken betrothal to Christ or to God. And he says, put on his shoes
feet. He's got a message to deliver. the gospel of peace. Having your
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, give
him some shoes. Do this, for this is my son.
From a pauper to a prince, God's betrothal lifted this beggar
off the dung heap to a palace with a king. In the day of his
power, this sinner was made to see that my enemy was in reality
my benefactor. It is this truth that set me
free to engage with God in covenant. So this is a liberating covenant
engagement. Thirdly, it's a lasting engagement. He says, I will betroth thee
to me forever. What God promises in the future
is that which he predestinated in the past and is so sure to
happen that he can speak of it as already accomplished. Think
about this. My sovereign creator had already
betrothed me to his son in the everlasting covenant of grace
made before time, which he consummated by his death on the cross. It
was by his death that he earned the right to be the bridegroom
and as such the head of the church. I have always been betrothed
to God, which ensured that he would betroth me to him. in the
day of his power, in the day of my regeneration and conversion,
when God brought me to a knowledge of what Christ, what he had done
for me in Christ. What I was from eternity past
shall forever be, he communicated to me in the gospel. Nothing
could prevent my betrothal unto the Lord, and nothing can disannul
that betrothal. The pardon, the adoption, the
provisions, and the love are only evidences of what the elect
have always been, sons of God, daughters of God, whose names
were written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of
the world. Listen to what Jeremiah the prophet
wrote concerning this subject in Jeremiah 31. Here he shows
that God's mind and purpose to have a people is as old as God
himself. Never has there been a time when
God has not loved his bride. He says, the Lord has appeared
of old unto me saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I grown thee. The
amazing fact of his love for us guarantees our betrothal to
him and that forever. His is a lasting betrothal. And
fourthly, it's a lawful betrothal. I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness and in judgment. You know, the laws of our state
recognize marriage between a man and a woman to be legal and binding
when they meet certain requirements. An agreement to the terms of
the marriage certificate must be witnessed and signed after
a waiting period of normally 30 days. The blood tests are
given. and when the administrative fees
are satisfied, a certificate of marriage is given. Failure
to answer every requirement of the agreement renders it null
and void. Well, what about God's marriage
agreement? It has to be legal too. He can't
do anything that's not legal. How can God marry a holy and
righteous God? How can he marry an ungodly sinner
like you and me? It's got to be legal. He can
do it. It's got to be legal. His betrothal must be as legal
as the one that you and I went through when we married. Failure
in one requirement renders it null and void. Well, let me see
if I can explain this a little bit. In the everlasting covenant
of grace made before time, God betrothed to him a bride, a chaste
virgin, When sin entered into the world, this bride, like Gomer,
went a-whoring after other gods, is the way the scripture put
it. God's elect, his chosen, his betrothed bride played the
harlot and broke the marriage covenant made by the triune Godhead. In Adam, we left the God of glory
for an idol of our imagination. The penalty under God's law for
that is death. by stoning. The wages of sin
is eternal death. But because God's love doesn't
change, it's everlasting. He didn't abandon his elect.
He continued to care for her, who attributed her care to her
lovers. And that's what we did. Look
at Hosea chapter 2 and verse 5. We talked about this last
time. It says here, for their mother had played the harlot.
She that conceived them hath done shamefully, for she said,
I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Then look at Hosea
chapter two in verse eight. Now, why did she do this? Because
she did not know that it was I, God, who gave her corn and
wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared
for Baal. Can you relate to this? I remember
when I, in ignorance, attributed my corn and my wine and my oil,
those spiritual blessings given to me by God to an idol of my
imagination. I remember when I did that. I
remember when God revealed that to me, that I was an idolater,
that I was attributing to another God the things that the true
and living God himself was giving me. Every blessing God gave me,
I was attributed to the giving of an idol of my imagination.
I didn't know God either. And God said, Gomer did this
because she didn't know me. I didn't know God either. I knew
a God, but it was a God of my imagination. It wasn't a true
and living God. It wasn't a just God and a savior. So God showed Gomer just like he
showed me that what I was Worshiping was an idol, not the true and
living God. Look at verse 10 of Hosea chapter 2 and verse
10. He says, now I will discover
her lewdness in the sight of her lovers and none shall deliver
her out of mine hand. God says, I'm going to show her
what she's doing and how her idolatry is an offense to me.
And I'm going to deliver her out of, and none shall deliver
her out of my hand. In other words, none shall thwart
my purpose to expose her sin. to her. And God does that to
every one of his elect. He shows us the nature of our
sin. And I remember when God showed
me the sin of my idolatry, and I think this is the case of everyone
whom God betrothed. Every single one of those betrothed
to Christ owned the title, former idolatry. We can't get away from
that, because that's what God saves all his people from, idolatry.
So, after God stripped Gomer of her Idolatry showed her her
sin. He in in chapter 2 in verse 14
of hoses says this therefore Behold I will allure her and
bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her
God never leaves his children his elect without a knowledge
of their sin and He says I will lure her and bring her into the
wilderness and speak words of comfort to her and what were
those words of comfort? tell Jerusalem that her warfare
is accomplished. Can you remember when God told
you, Robert, your warfare is ended. The battle is over. The war is over for you. Those
are the most comforting words that any person can hear. I will
allure her and bring her into the wilderness and tell her that
the warfare is over. The warfare is accomplished for
me. The unfaithful one, God did not cast away his people whom
he foreknew. He foreknew me. He foreloved
me. And although I was an active, open idolater, he still loved
me through that. But he would not leave me there.
He brought me out of that. Although I was worthy and deserving
of death. So the question is this. How
can a holy and just God who declares The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. How can he save an adulterer,
a spiritual adulterer like me? How can one who willfully disobeyed
God's commandment live to tell it? God can overlook my sin and remain
a just God. He couldn't dispense his love
for me at the expense of his justice and holiness. But there
is a way. How could he do this? I must
be betrothed to Christ in righteousness and judgment by him who is the
Lord our righteousness. The full responsibility for my
sin must be charged to one who is qualified and willing and
able to satisfy. I'm a sinner. I can't do that.
I can't do anything to appease God's wrath against me, the sinner. But my husband can. the Lord
Jesus Christ can. But again, how can a holy God
charge and punish one who never committed a sin? That's not justice. So it seems that there's a dilemma
here, but there's not. We know that the answer is in
the gospel of substitution, satisfaction, and imputation. Look with me
at 2 Corinthians chapter 5 in verse 21. This is a gospel in
a nutshell of how God can be just and justify a sinner like
me. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. God
the Father made God the Son to be sin for us who knew no sin. He's the only man that ever lived
a perfect, sinless life, and he was charged with sin. He made
him to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. My sin was laid on Christ. It was charged to him. A holy
and righteous God can't charge me and my substitute and surety
for sin. He can't charge both of us and
be just. He charged Christ with my sin and Christ willingly went
to the cross to satisfy it. The full responsibility for my
sin must be charged to one who's qualified, and Christ is the
only qualified surety to bear my sin. By his obedient suffering
and death, he established the one righteousness which God freely
imputes to his elect, which is all our salvation. And that righteousness
is not by impartation, it's not by infusion, it's by imputation
alone. You know, when you think about
this, this ought to be the first thing we thank God for every
day of our life when we get up. Lord, thank you for that transaction
between Christ and you and us in the imputing of that righteousness
to our charge and imputing the charge of our sin to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Righteousness imputed declares
and demands life. Sin conceived and charged demands
death. The righteousness Christ established
by his obedience, suffering, and death must and has been imputed
to every sinner for whom it was established. Not one of Christ's
betrothed shall fail to have it. Why? God's justice demands
it. Justice demanded Christ die when
sin was imputed to his charge. Righteousness demands the betrothal
of all for whom he lived and died if it is charged to their
account. And when was this righteousness
charged for the betrothal? I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, Jeremiah said. Therefore, with loving cords
have I drawn thee. The gospel is the song of redemption
by the imputed righteousness of Christ. That's our song. Those
clothed in their filthy rags shall be betrothed in his righteousness. Listen to what Isaiah says in
Isaiah chapter 61, 10. He says, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He
has covered me with a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels. This is Christ speaking. I, the
Lord our righteousness, will betroth her, the Lord our righteousness. In Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse
33, Christ gives his name, the Lord our righteousness. And he
calls the church in Jeremiah 33, she shall be called the Lord
our righteousness. In other words, he will betroth
to him a righteous bride. You know, when you think about
it, God, Christ couldn't marry anything unrighteous. His bride
has to be righteous. And there's only one righteous
and that is his. and it resides in heaven in the
person of Christ who satisfied justice on behalf of his church
by his death on the cross. So justice demands where righteousness
imputed, the sinner's complete pardon and not only forgiveness
but participation in and right and title to the whole inheritance
of grace. God has blessed his betrothed
in Christ with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. Sinners are not betrothed to
become righteous. They are so because they are
already righteous, not in themselves, but in their husband, Christ.
And at midnight, when the bridegroom calls, they will have their lamps
trimmed and will go in with him to the marriage supper. Those
with no oil in their lamps and improper wedding garments will
be cast out. Why? God demands it. Justice demands it. God's betrothal
is legal. It is right for him to marry.
And it is right for him to reject those who are not ready and will
not participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb. So it's a
legal thing. Another thing, it is love in
action. Not only is God's betrothal legal,
it's love in action. Look at verses 19b and 20. He says, I will betroth thee
to me in loving kindness and mercies. I will even betroth
thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know me." In Christ
alone is loving kindness, mercy, and faithfulness to be found.
We know that God is love. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but that he loved us. God is love. It is his love that's
the cause of our salvation. In loving kindness, Jesus came
to offer up his sinless humanity on the altar of his deity. He
is our mercy seat. In him alone is law and justice
satisfied. Christ faithfulness, it is Christ
faithfulness that holds this marriage together. That's how
David could pray in Psalm 51, have mercy upon me, O Lord, according
to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgression. God is not just a just God. He's
a just God and a savior. And it's in this capacity that
all those betrothed to Christ shall know him. And Jesus said
in his high priesthood prayer in John 17 3, this is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. Love sent the Savior to die in
my place. How could he love me so? God
is love. His betrothal is love in action. It's a living betrothal. It is
life. It is for life, and it is for
the living. And last of all, it's life-changing.
In Hosea chapter 2, in verse 21 and 23, we'll see this. Yeah, it's life-changing. From
the day of his power, the sinner is never the same. He is a new
creature. He was dead. Now he's alive. He was motivated by duty. Now
he's motivated by grace and gratitude and love. He walked in darkness,
now he sees. He sees that he was always betrothed
to God in Christ. And he sees his betrothal in
Christ now, in the day of his power. And what does God say
to these people? In Hosea chapter two and verse
21, it shall come to pass in that day, what day? That day
of God's power again. What that God says I will hear,
what will God hear? He says, I will hear the heavens.
What will he hear the heavens say? What they hear the earth
say. And what will the earth say?
What he hears the corn, the wine, and the oil say. And what will
the corn, the wine, and the oil say? What they hear Jezreel say. And what will Jezreel say? Oh,
you remember this guy, Jezreel. Who is this Jezreel? The word
means scattered. It means to sow. This is that
remnant that when they were unfaithful to God, he scattered them to
the four winds of the earth. This remnant, according to the
election of grace, they will come up out of the land and they'll
come back to Zion, to the church, and they'll have one head, which
is Jesus Christ, be one fold. Look at Hosea chapter two in
verse eight again. It says, for she, Gomer, did
not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil and multiplied
her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Though Gomer
forsook the Lord and went after her idols, God did not stop providing
for her. He continued to meet her needs.
You remember in the first chapter of Hosea, he talked about how
God put a hedge up and he built a wall where she couldn't get
back to her lover. He was, even in her spiritual
adultery, He was still taking care for spiritual needs. And
in verse 22 of Hosea chapter 2, the corn, the wine, and oil,
and those things are representing the spiritual needs of the people
are mentioned again. What will Jezreel say to the
corn, the wine, and the oil? Well, look at Hosea chapter 2
in verse 16. It says, and in that day, it shall be at that
day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi, and shall
no more call me Beale. Now Ishi and Beale signify my
husband. Both words in the Hebrew signify
my husband. Beale signifies one of dominance
and suggestion, of subjection. Ishi, one of love and compassion. So in the day of God's power,
we will call God Ishi because of his love and compassion for
us. Who is my husband? Thou art my God. Look at Hosea
chapter two in verse 23b. The end of that verse says, they'll
be my people and I will be their God. Who is my husband and my
God? Hosea. And the Jezreel and the remnant
will say, my husband, thou art my God. Who is my husband and
my God? That one represented in the corn.
The corn, the wine, and the oil. Look at John chapter 12 and verse
24, talking about this corn. This is speaking of Christ. He
says, Verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. That corn of wheat, as I said,
is Christ, the bread of life, who died and was buried and rose
again the third day. He was planted in the soil. That
corn of wheat fell into the ground, it died, and it brought forth
much fruit. He says, thou art my husband
and my God. That's what Jezreel will say.
That one represented in the wine, the wine represents the blood
of Christ, he who trod the winepress of
God's wrath alone for the love of his betrothed. Jesus said
this in Matthew chapter 26, for this is my blood, this wine is
my blood in the New Testament which is shed for many for the
remission of sins. Thou art my husband and my God. The one represented in the oil
of anointing, we know that oil in the scriptures represented
the Holy Spirit who anoints for service, for sacrifice, and for
healing. To Christ was the Spirit given
without measure. Look at Psalm 45 and verse 7. God says of Christ, thou lovest
righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Christ,
he who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despised the shame, and is sat down on the right hand of the
Father. Thou art my husband and my God. So how can Jezreel, so
named because God scattered them over the face of the earth, declare,
Thou art my God. How can those who were called
Lo-Ruhamah, which means I will not have mercy, and Lo-Ammi,
which means they're not my people, how can they be shown mercy and
recognition as God's people? Well, look at Hosea chapter 2
and verse 23. He says, I will sow her unto
me in the earth. Christ sowed The scripture says a sower went
forth to sow, speaking of Christ. He sowed wheat. Some come in
and sowed tares among the wheat. But he sows among the thorns.
He sows along the roadside. He sows along the stony ground
and in the good soil. And the scripture says that some
bathed fruit. So Christ promised this to whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Jezreel
called out to the corn, the wine, and the oil. Christ. They called
out to Christ. Ishi, thou art my God. Not Beale, but Ishi. This call
from the remnant in the earth is heard by Christ himself. who
is represented in the corn, the wine, and the oil, who in the
power of the Holy Spirit called out his elect under the preaching
of the gospel from the four corners of the earth. The earth will
cry unto the heavens, where Christ is seated at the right hand of
the Father, pleading the merits of his obedience, suffering and
death to redeem his people. And the God of heaven says, I'll
hear. In Psalm 19.1, the scripture says, the heavens declare the
glory of God. and the firmament showed forth
his handiworks. The heavens declared the glory
of a sovereign, omniscient Creator God. This alone is sufficient
revelation to engage the sinner in seeking after God. But God's
redemptive glory is seen in only one place—that is, in the face
of Jesus Christ. And where is Jesus Christ? He's
seated at the right hand of the Father. The heavens will hear
the earth. Christ hears the call of one
of his elect. Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. And he sends his Holy Spirit
to gather that one in. The firmament showeth forth his
handiwork. His handiwork is nothing more
than salvation by the imputed righteousness of Christ, which
is all of the elect's salvation. Included in this handiwork is
the betrothal of his bride unto him, unto himself. Look at Hosea
2, 23. He says, I will sow her unto
me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained
mercy. And I will say unto them which
were not my people, thou art my people, and they shall say,
thou art my God. What a blessed people are the
people of God. Well, in the society section
of today's paper is the announcement of those couples engaged to be
married. And they did this as you and I might share in their
love for and commitment to each other in a relationship that
statistically stands no more than a 50 chance of enduring. But in the volume of this book,
there's another wedding announcement made. The marriage celebration
of the lamb. And it cannot fail because our
faithful God betrothed his bride in faithfulness. She cannot go
back to idolatry. There's no way God's people can
go back to idolatry. Why? Because whosoever is born
of God does not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In other words,
those who are in Christ cannot sin because in him is no sin. And his seed remains in him.
We, his seed, remain in him. So the question is, are you in
Christ? Is your name included in the wedding announcement in
this book? Has he announced your betrothal to himself? When at
midnight the cry is made, behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye
out to meet him, will you be ready? When the door is shut
to the age of grace, will you be locked out? Or can you say
as those betrothed, is she my husband, my God? I hope you can.