Please turn with me in your Bibles
to the book of Hosea. The book of Hosea, first of all. Hosea chapter 2. But before we look at that, hold
your place there and turn back over to the book of Genesis chapter
2. In Genesis chapter 2, beginning in verse 18, It says, "...and the Lord God
said, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make
him and help-meet for him." And then in verse 21, it says, "...and the Lord God caused
a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, And he slept, and he took one
of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God
had taken from man made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone
of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman,
because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave
his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and
they shall be one flesh." And they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Now, I would have to say that the most important man in the
Scriptures, second to the Lord Jesus Christ, is this man that
God called Adam. And Adam is more than just the
first man, and he is also more than a representative man, which
he was also. But he is also a type or a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. As a matter of fact, the Apostle
Paul in Romans 5 speaks of Adam as the figure of Him who was
to come. He is a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this means also that the
relationship between Adam and Eve, it was also typical and
also foreshadowed something also. Look back at verses 22, Rather, 23 and 24 there in Genesis
2. And the rib which the Lord had
taken from man, made he a woman and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, now listen to this language, this is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh. And then in verse 24 it says,
"...therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." I'm thankful that we are not
left to our own imaginations. nor the inventions of man, to
know what this relationship and union pictures. If you'll turn
over to the book of Ephesians and that fifth chapter, the Apostle
Paul says in Ephesians 5 verse 20, Giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Submitting yourselves one to
another in the fear of God. That is what all believers are
to do and be to each other. But not only that, wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband
is the head of the wife, even as, or as a picture of, Christ
is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."
Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present
it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish."
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies, he that
loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord
the church." For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and
of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they too shall be one flesh." This is a mystery. a great mystery, but I speak
concerning Christ and the church." In other words, there is a picture,
or a visible example, if you will, In the marriage of a woman
and a man, the union between a woman and a man in matrimony,
that is a picture of the union between Christ and the church. I always try to tell those who
ask me to perform a wedding ceremony, I always try to tell them the
soberness of it, and the significance of it, how that it is a representation
of Christ and the church. The marriage union is representative
of this union between Christ and the church, between the bridegroom
and the bride. That was the language there and
is the language that we read in the Song of Solomon. And it is a most glorious and
wondrous and mysterious union, that not only the people of God
finding delight in Christ, but him also finding delight in them. Listen to this in Isaiah 62,
For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy
God rejoice over thee." That is amazing. That is beyond my
ability to explain or express. And there are so many various
aspects of this union that we ought to study and search out. But what I want us to see this
morning is something that I believe is very important. And I say
that because it is important that we assure that the glory
goes all to God. And what I want us to see and
to notice is how did the bride, how did the church, how did God's
elect come to be in this blessed position and union? How did that come about? Well, if you look in our text,
which by the way we finally get to, it's in Hosea chapter 2. If you look in Hosea chapter
2, listen to what he says, to what
God says in verse 18. He says, "...and in that day
I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field,
and with the fowls of the air, and with the creeping things
of the ground, and I will break the bow and the sword, and the
battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely."
Now, there is so very much in this covenant that God makes. But if you notice, in the next
verse, He says, "...and I will betroth thee unto Me forever,
I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment,
and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth
thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." Now men can have all their little
religious clichés and expressions and bumper stickers and slogans
and all these various kinds of things. But let me have the wills
and the shalls of Almighty God. Let me hear what He has to say
to His people and concerning His people. And what I love in this is that
He gives us that which is the very heart of His decree, which
He calls in the New Testament His purpose and grace. Can we hear Him? I will betroth Thee unto Me. You see, salvation and all that
God has to give in grace, it always begins with God. You can trace the very least
of all the blessings that He has blessed His people to have,
you can trace them like little streams all the way back to one
fountainhead, and that is God Himself. I will betroth thee unto Me. But lest we get lost maybe in the
language of another day, or the King James Old English, or whatever
it might be, what is it to betroth? Or what is a betrothal? Well, it simply means to engage
for matrimony. There's a whole lot of you here
this morning that can say that you were at one time engaged
for matrimony. You were betrothed to someone. It means to a spouse. And it
is a promise, even a covenant to marry. Nobody wants to talk
much using that word covenant. But it is a covenant to marry,
and betrothal was actually in former days a formal ceremony
which in most cases preceded the actual marriage service. Sometimes it preceded that actual
service for a long time. And among the ancient Jews, betrothal
was as formal and as binding as marriage was. So we're not
talking about wishes or whims or maybe-sos or possibilities
here. We're talking about the pledge
and promise of the covenant God. I will betroth thee unto me. And I don't know if you noticed
it or not, but that word betroth is used in just these few verses
three times. And so it is if to say that the
triune God Himself, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
in harmony with each other, all agree in this act, this sovereign
act of God in His grace, and they all in unison say to this
people, I will betroth thee unto me." In other words, the triune
God has engaged himself in all that pertains to this. And it
involves the whole body of God's elect who are also, as we read,
called the church. and who are many times called
and shown to be the Bride. Not the Baptist Bride, but the
Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Father, has secretly
betrothed this people to the Lord Jesus Christ in this everlasting
covenant from old eternity. This didn't happen yesterday.
This doesn't happen when a sinner does something. It doesn't even
happen when a sinner believes something. Before we ever were,
and before the world ever was, he makes this statement before
there are even human ears really to hear it, and he says of this
people, I will betroth thee unto me. And He did it without any consideration
of our choice or our will or anything like that. He simply
did it as God must do, and that is as He pleases. And you know, rather than fight
against that, rather than kick and fuss about that and argue
about that and refuse to believe that, we ought to rejoice that
God does all His pleasure. He said of Israel what He says
of all His elect people. It was His pleasure to make us
His people. It is His pleasure to save His
people through the preaching of the gospel. And when the Lord
saves us, when He brings us to a knowledge of Himself and gives
to us a new heart of faith, we are brought now to be pleased
with whatever pleases Him. But this is what He said. Paul
writing to these same Ephesians, we read there in chapter 5, he
begins that epistle with these words. He said, "...Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world." Now you can read that and try to explain that
away if you want to, but it's going to say the same thing every
time. God is to be praised and thanked. Because the only way that we
were ever brought into this union, made to be this bride of Christ,
is by His will and choice that He made before the foundation
of the world. That means all this foolish,
unbiblical, God, degrading language of modern religion, such as,
God chooses for you, the devil chooses against you, and you
make the deciding choice. That's all foolish blasphemy. He said, I will betroth thee
unto me. And then in Matthew's Gospel,
he gives it to us in this expression. He says, "...the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his
son." There it is. That's the picture. You see,
the Father chose a bride for Christ, His Son, and it says,
even then gave her to Him. You say, but what about my decision? Well, He decided for His people
a long time ago. And so, when our Lord comes into
this world, when He takes on that body and comes into this
world, look at what He says in expressions like this in John
chapter 6 and verse 37. He's standing around talking
with so many who are rejecting Him on every hand. Is He disappointed? Is he sad? Does he break down in tears over
the rejection? No, look at what he says in verse
37 of John 6. He says, "...all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that comes to me I will in
no wise cast out." All of them. This bride is given to Christ. Turn over to John 17. John chapter 17, and look at
the second verse. As he prays to the Father, as
Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given him. Look at verse 6. I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me, and they have kept thy word. Look at verse 9. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me. For they are thine." Verse
11, "...and now I am no more in the world, but these are in
the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine
own those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we
are." Do you see this reoccurring theme? They are spoken of as
a people that were given to Christ before the world began, so that
everything that happens to them in the way of spiritual and eternal
blessings is because of His grace. Because of His sovereign grace. And what we find is that this
marriage is an arranged marriage just like Abraham's arranged
when he sought out a wife for his son Isaac. That's another
picture. We find it again also in that
marriage that Jacob had to Rachel. These are not accidents. This
is the grace and mercy and purpose of God. But look back here in
Hosea chapter 2 and listen to what he says. Listen to the words
of this covenant God. If you notice, he says that,
"...I will betroth thee unto me." unto me." You see, men and women
in our day have such a misconception and erroneous view of what this
business of salvation is all about. They think that it is
first off and maybe altogether all for them. But just like Brother Richardson
used to say, Before God can do anything for you, He's got to
first do something for Himself. This is about God. Unto me, to
God Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why the apostle
John, I believe it is, speaks in the Revelation and he tells
us that they cry out, you have redeemed us to God. You see that language that we
read concerning the husband and the wife. is language simply
that bears out this covenant relationship and the fact that
we are to be unto God. He said, I'll betroth thee unto
Me. That means that He brings us
into this nearest relationship He brings us into this glorious
fellowship. He brings us into these wondrous
possessions, and He does so eternally. I'll betroth you not into a religious
organization, Not into a position of doctrine, though doctrine
is vital and important. Not into some man-made relationship
or thing. He said, I will betroth you unto
me. God said, I'm engaging myself
to you and you to me. Isn't that what the bride said? I am my beloved's and he is mine. That's a wonderful relationship
in a marriage. To be solely the possession of
the other. And you can be in that relationship,
you can be without fear, if we know that that individual loves
us. That's why He says, Husbands,
love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for
it. And if you notice, he says that
what he will do here in this, he says that he will do it forever. Forever. You and I, we are so
time-bound that we cannot even begin to comprehend, Harley.
As someone said, we can't even begin to begin to begin to comprehend
what this word forever and eternity means. And we look around us
and we see in the marriage relationships all this temporary stuff going
on right and left, symbolic of the very times that we live in. But this union, this covenant,
is forever. Not temporary. He'll never divorce
us. He'll never leave us or forsake
us. His words to His people, to His
bride is this, Lo, I'm with you always, always. His blood is called the blood
of the everlasting covenant. His love that He has for His
people is an everlasting love. And everything is bound up eternally
in God's purpose and for His glory in this covenant. My daddy taught me something
that over my life has been valuable. I mean, really valuable. He always said this, he said,
a man's word is his bond. He came from a time and an upbringing
that you did not have really to sign anything. If you told
a person you were going to do something, that's exactly what
you did. This is the everlasting covenant. And it depends not on what we
do or fail to do, but it depends on the one who made the covenant. This covenant is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so when you find a man like
David, David oftentimes is painted by religionists forgetting all
that the Bible says about him in his sin and his error. But
he did so many things that were absolutely wrong. He suffered
the chastening hand of God because of it, but he laid down on his
deathbed. And he said, although my house be
not so with God, yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant. And it is ordered in all things. And sure, and this is all my
salvation, a covenant. Well, it's obvious it couldn't
have depended on David's performance, could it? It took into view David's
failures, and David's sins, and David's misguidance, because
it all depended on the covenant he had. the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul writes to Timothy amazing
words to me sometimes. He says, if we believe not, if
we fall for a time in unbelief, as we believers often do, yet he abides faithful. He cannot
deny himself. You may break your word, as a
matter of fact, you will. You'll break your pledges, you'll
break your promises, you'll do it most of all to God Himself,
but He abides faithful. He cannot deny Himself. He cannot deny His pledge and
His promise in this everlasting covenant. In Mark it says, "...but
from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they
twain shall be one flesh. So then they are no more twain,
but one flesh. And what therefore God hath joined
together, let no man put asunder." Now, they pledged that in the
wedding vow. It doesn't always work out, does
it? You know why? Because it's two sinners that
got married. That's why. That's exactly why. But God has determined all things
in this covenant dependent on Himself. It's forever. And then if you
notice here, it says, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness. When I was growing up, there
used to be a lot of people that would, as we say, run off to
South Carolina. You remember that? They'd run
off to South Carolina. There was a place in South Carolina
where you could get married without waiting and stuff like that.
So couples would run off when they wanted to get married secretly
or they didn't have the good blessings of their parents or
something like that. They'd run off to South Carolina
to get married. Be sneaky about it. Not this
relationship. Not this union. It will be upright
and up front in every way. And though he is taking to himself
a bride who of herself is just like Gomer here in Hosea, a harlot,
an adulteress, a woman of the lowest character and such as
that, that's the picture of Christ's bride. but He's going to betroth her
to Him in righteousness. It's not going to soil His name
to take this bride to Himself, because He in this covenant This
covenant that is hinging upon what Christ Himself does as a
man coming into this world, He makes His Bride the righteousness
of God in Him. Where is He at? Where is it at? It's in Him. I knew a guy and
I highly insulted him. He had an old truck and it was
a rust bucket and shambles and all that. He pulled it out one
day and parked it on the street and he asked me, what do you
think of that? I said, well, if you taped a hundred dollar
bill to the hood of that truck, it would be worth a hundred dollars. And although our righteousness
is not a pasted-on righteousness, we as his bride are made the
righteousness of God in Christ. God has made Him in grace to
be to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He's blessed us with all things
righteously and given us everything that He can give us in grace,
but grace reigns in righteousness. And so He joins us to Christ
and stick us together It means that He looks upon us, He views
us, He receives us, He rests everything concerning us on His
darling, beloved Son. We are made righteous in Him. You say, well, preacher, I do
unrighteously every day. So do I. I'm not proud of that. That's just the reality. The
good that I do, It's sad. But that doesn't change
me from this unchangeable state of justification wherein He's
made us righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of
fact, we're in union with Christ, we're married to Christ, and
so this bride will take His name. Jeremiah says, In his days Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the
name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness."
That's not too hard to understand, is it? He's talking about the
Messiah. He's talking about the Christ.
But then just a little while later, he talks on about ten
chapters later, talking about this same thing, "...in those
days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely,
and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord
our righteousness." We've got the same name. We don't display
the same character, but we've got the same name. That means
we're viewed by God as one with our Lord Jesus Christ, and whatever
He is to God, that's what we are to God. As He is, so are
we in this world. I've told this story a lot of
times, but I've got to tell it one more time. When I lived in
eastern Kentucky down in the mountains in the coal mining
section, There was a restaurant there in the town, and I was
sitting there in that restaurant one day, and up in front of that place drove
the most awesome Cadillac car I've ever seen. It was like every
metal part of that trim was gold-plated. Gold-plated. And I thought, man,
who must this be? What celebrity, what wealthy
person must this be? And I watched the lady, she got
out of the car, I'm telling you, dressed as we say to the nines. She came in and she sat down
at a booth not too far from me. And the waitress went over to
take her order, and when she opened her mouth, I knew she
was from as far up to the head of the holler Any person could
be born. And I thought to myself, how
in the world did that gal, with obviously limited education and
other things too probably, but how in the world did she get
to be in that position? And then it came to my mind.
She married into it. She married into it. And here
we are, a wretched bunch of ignorant, blind, deaf, lame sinners. And yet we're in relationship
with the Lord of glory for all eternity because of an act of
His grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're made the righteousness
of God in Him. And he goes on to say, I'll betroth
thee unto me in judgment. that is according to justice
and truth. He will be just as just as He
always was and always must be, and yet at the same time, He'll
be our justifier. He's a just God and a Savior. I used to hear a preacher use
that But I got to notice, and most of the time he'd say, now
God is a just God, but He's a Savior. Setting those two things contradictory
to each other. No, that's not what it says.
It says He's a just God and a Savior. In other words, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, God can be a just God, judging all the sins of His bride
by Him and in Him, and at the same time, He can justly be the
Savior. But only in Christ. Only in Christ. When Boaz would have Ruth to
be his wife, oh, he loved her. You want to read a love story. You read the book of Ruth. Ruth's
not the star of that book. Boaz is. He's a type of Christ. But in order to have her as his
wife, he had to go down to the city gate and redeem her. Redeem her whole family. Pay whatever was required. Satisfy
the one who was first to be satisfied, which is a type of the law. But
he did it. He paid it. And he took Ruth
to himself. That's the way it was in this
man whose name is on this book that we're looking at this morning,
Hosea. Hosea was his wife. But she played the harlot. She
went down and she had her lovers. She was the adulteress. And the
worst thing of it all, while it was all going on, Hosea was
putting food at her door and taking care of things and all,
and she was doing two things. She was attributing it to her
lovers, and she was offering it to false gods. That's us. Before the Lord comes in mercy
to us. Before He makes known to us that
He has betrothed Himself to us, and us to Him from old eternity. that it is He who all these days
has been protecting us and providing for us and blessing us and helping
us, even when we were full of ingratitude and attributed to
our own strength and our own smartness and such as that, and
offered it up to the very idolatrous gods of man. Christ loved the church. and
gave Himself for it." And then he says, "...in lovingkindness."
I'll betroth the end of me in lovingkindness. And I do believe
that's the Old Testament expression for grace. It's all of God's
grace. It's God giving us what we do
not deserve, all a gift. And He redeems us in order that
we might have those gifts. I wouldn't nitpick with anybody,
but I hear people say oftentimes that Christ purchased these blessings
for us. I don't think that's the case.
Because Paul tells us, right into the Corinthians, that God
sends His Spirit into our hearts, giving us a revelation that we
might know the things that are freely given unto us of God. But if a man is sitting down
on death row, condemned to die, and hates you, you've got to
do more than give him a million dollars. You may freely give
it to him, but in order for him to be blessed by it, or use it,
or spend it, whatever it is, you've got to redeem him. That's why when you read the
words Redemption in Scripture, they have to do with persons.
He redeemed us to God that we might freely receive the things
that He gives us. He gives us loving, kindness,
grace. Hosea redeemed Gomer off of the
slave market, just like Christ redeems His bride off the slave
market of sin. delivers us out of the bondage
of Satan, who has taken us captive at His will. And He does it,
He betroths us in mercies, those sure mercies of David, those
mercies that are new every day, which means that He gives everything,
and it's no way what we deserve. I hear people say, I deserve
better than this, or He deserves better than that. Oh me, how
sad, how blind. He does it in faithfulness, it
says. His faithfulness. He performs
every detail. When you look in chapter 3, it
says, "...then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman
beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the
love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other
gods and love flagons of wine." So, Hosea says, "...so I bought
her to me." He bought her to him. God buys us. redeems us. We are purchased possession,
Paul said. He redeems us to God, to Himself. So I bought her to me for fifteen
pieces of silver, and for an omer of barley, and for a half
omer of barley. And I said unto her, Thou shalt
abide for me many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot,
Thou shalt not be for another man, so will I also be for thee." God's people fall, they fail,
they have lapses of faith, but they will never fully and finally
apostatize. Because they're kept. He keeps
them. He does it in His faithfulness. Faithful is He that calleth you
who also will do it. He abides faithful. Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love Him, and keepeth His commandments
to a thousand generations." You say, but we haven't done that.
God's people can only do that. Because this is His command to
them, that you believe on Him whom He hath sent. And then, like old Abraham, God
fetches His bride. Abraham sent his servant down
to get this bride for Isaac. And there are so many wonderful
things in that account, so many pictures The triune God. Abraham as the
Father, Isaac as the Son, the Servant as the Holy Spirit. He
goes down to fetch a bride. And he has a pretty fantastic
story. He tells this woman, he says, The Lord has blessed
my master. He's got this, he's got that,
he's got camels, he's got sheep, he's got men's service and maid's
service. He's got a lot. And then this
is what he says, And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son to
my master when she was old. And unto him he hath given all that he hath." He said, it's not that the Lord
has just blessed my master and given him all these things. He
said, now my master has given to his only son everything. That's what we find. that this
covenant God has given to His Son everything. And He that hath the Son hath
the life. Join heirs with Jesus Christ,
heir of all things. Isn't that wonderful? We have
Christ. We're in Christ. We have all. I know we're so full of self,
we want this, we want that, we're not satisfied about the other
thing. But if you have Christ, you have all. Which means outside
of Him is nothing. Will this bride go? She did go, didn't she? She went
back to Isaac. by faith. She believed what the
messenger said. This sounds too good to be true,
doesn't it? Too good to be true. This is the love story of all
love stories. And they lived happily thereafter. It's all because God in grace
hath betrothed us to Himself. Turn over to Isaiah 54. This covenant language is all
throughout the Old Testament, all through it. It isn't stated. But in Isaiah 54, this is the
believer's comfort and consolation. Look at verse 4. He says, Fear
not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, for
thou shalt not be put to shame, for thou shalt forget the shame
of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood
any more. For thy maker is thy husband. The Lord of hosts is his name,
And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole
earth, shall He be called." Our Maker is our Husband. And all in Christ. This verse
is referred to several times in various places in the New
Testament. and in the Old Testament. But
it comes out something like this, "...and he that believeth on
him shall not be disappointed, shall not be confounded, shall
not be ashamed." The Lord's people will never
ever be ashamed of being married to Him. I hear people make all kinds
of excuses about God, all kinds of misrepresentations. I'm not
ashamed of Him who is the Lord of glories, who first loved me
and gave me everything in His Son. His name is the Lord our
righteousness. Our name is the Lord our righteousness. My name is not Gary Shepherd Jesus. Sorry ladies,
I don't like that maintaining of that maiden name in a hyphenated
version because of what it represents. Our name is Gary the Lord our
righteousness. He's our righteousness. I will betroth thee unto me in
faithfulness, in lovingkindness, in judgment, in mercies, and thou shalt know the Lord. Father, this day we bow in your
glorious presence. and rejoice at that grace union
that you have brought yourself into with your people. We thank
you for this One called the Bridegroom, who is like a sun shining in
its glory coming out of His chamber. The One who can look at us by
grace and through that righteousness imputed to us and say, There
is no spot in thee. We thank you for him, and for
all you've blessed us to have in him, and that you have betrothed
us unto our Savior forever. We pray for these, Lord, that
were mentioned and more. Call out your sheep, we pray. Call out your bride. And as your
Bride, Lord, in these days of such as they are, we await your
coming. And the Spirit and the Bride
say, Come. Come, Lord Jesus. Even so, come
quickly. And we'll enjoy that picture
in the Revelation in a reality, the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The Lamb and His Wife united, manifested, never to be separated
again. We pray in Christ's name. Thank
you. Thank you. Amen.