When Randall and Billy asked
me a couple of weeks ago if they could be married after the service
this morning, I was delighted at the request. And as I began
to prepare my message for this morning, I thought it would be
good to deal with the subject of marriage. I don't deal with
the subject very often. In fact, unless I'm mistaken,
it's been over 20 years since I last preached on the subject.
I know it's customary in this religious age of tomfoolery for
preachers to spend a lot of time talking to folks about what people
call practical things. We like to be told to do stuff
and told how to do them. And there's very little gospel,
if any, connected with it. But I am confident God's given
me a message, a message that will be practical in the outworking
of day-by-day life in our homes but a message full of the gospel
of our Redeemer. My subject this morning is the
first marriage. My text will be Genesis chapter
2, verses 18 through 25. The first marriage, Genesis chapter
2. But let's begin in the beginning,
in the first chapter of the first book of the book of God, Genesis
chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form
and void. A better translation I'm confident
would be, and the earth became without form and void. The word
was is commonly translated either was or became in the Old Testament. God created the heaven and the
earth and then something happened. A catastrophe. I don't know what,
we're not told. Perhaps it refers to the fall
of Satan and the angels that kept not their first estate.
I don't know, we're not told. But something happened, and the
earth became a mass of chaos, empty, full of darkness, without
form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. How
long the earth stood in this Chaotic mass we're not told but
the time came and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of
the waters and God said let there be light and there was light
and God saw the light that it was good and God divided the
light from the darkness and God called the not light day and
the darkness he called night and And the evening and the morning
were the first day. So the book of God begins with
a marvelous, clear picture, an instructive picture of redemption,
grace, and salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. God created the
earth perfect. And then something happened.
And the earth was thrown into darkness, chaos, emptiness, vanity. And then God created the earth
anew. So it is with fallen man. God created man upon the earth
perfect in his own image, after his own likeness, male and female,
upright, God created our race. And Satan tempted our mother
Eve, and Adam not being deceived, but knowing full well his rebellion
against God, plunged himself and all our race into sin and
death under the allurement of Satan's temptation of Eve. And
thus man was fallen. And man, created with such brilliant
light, such brilliant knowledge, such brilliant understanding,
that he named every creature on the earth. Imagine that. One man named every creature
on God's earth and nobody taught him anything. That's the kind
of man man was as he originally stood in the garden and then
he fell. And man became a mass of sin
and corruption and iniquity and darkness, understanding nothing
knowing nothing, or understanding many things natural, but knowing
nothing spiritual, understanding nothing spiritual, with regard
to all things relating to God and righteousness, with regard
to all things spiritual, every man is born in total ignorance
and in total darkness. The natural man understandeth
not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them. They're foolishness to him. They're
spiritually discerned. He can't know them but by the
teaching of God's Spirit. And then God sent His Son to
redeem us by His grace, and at the appointed time of love, every
redeemed sinner is called by God the Spirit in the new creation. God comes to sinners. and creates
the new in Christ Jesus. God comes to centers and just
as he breathed into Adam's nostrils and man became a living soul,
so God breathes his life into the dead center and the dead
center lives and immediately, immediately possesses knowledge
that only God can give. That's a picture of God's grace.
And then on the sixth day of creation, the Lord God said in
verse 26 of Genesis 1, let us make man in our image and after
our likeness. And he did. Now skip down to
chapter 2. Chapter 2, in verse 7 we read,
and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living
soul. Now, look at yourself. Look at
yourself. Look at your wife, your neighbor,
your son, your daughter, your mother, your dad. Look at yourself.
Some of you are in high school, some of you in college. Most
of us have been to both. And in these days, it seems that
the first order of business when you young people go off to college
is professors are determined to knock out from under you everything
you've been taught about decency, morality, and anything spiritual. They're determined to knock the
props out from under you. And so if the high school and
junior high school and elementary school teachers haven't already
gotten you convinced that you sort of evolved out of a mass
of some kind of stuff that was here somehow or another a long
time ago and over a period of millions of years, now here you
are. Look in the eyes of somebody
sitting beside you right now. Just turn and look in somebody's
eyes. Anybody's. Look at them. Does that make any sense to you?
Does that make the least bit of sense to you? Well, no, preacher,
but these things are beyond us. No, they're not. God created
man out of the dust of the earth. And God breathed into his nostrils. And man became a living soul. That's how human beings came
into existence. Not by some strange unexplainable
process of evolution that ignorant scientists, brilliant in science,
but ignorant with regard to all things spiritual, Ignorant with
regard to all things righteous. Ignorant with regard to God and
light. All things like that are taught
only of God. Only of God. And yet folks in
their brilliance imagine that somehow we just, here we are. Here we are. God breathed into
his nostrils and man became a living soul. And as I said earlier,
that's exactly what happens in the new birth. You who are dead
in sins, oh, may God today, by the power of His Spirit, breathe
into you the breath of life. Prophesy to the wind, son of
man, and cause these bones to live. And so the preacher stands
and prophesies, and God sends His Spirit And here the dead
arise to life. That's the power of God's free
grace. Then in verses 16 and 17, we
read the Lord God commanded the man. He didn't command men. He commanded the man. He didn't
command the man and the woman. The woman was not around when
God gave his commandment. He commanded the man, Adam. The
commandment was given to one man because one man, by God's
ordination, by God's purpose, by God's decree, by God's order,
one man was the representative of the whole human race. So that
we stood in Adam. And whatever Adam did in the
garden, we did in him. In the loins of our father Adam,
as one with Adam. He said, well, I don't like that.
Take it up with God. That's the way it is. Adam was
our representative in the garden. There was a reason for this.
God had ordained the salvation of his elect by another man,
the last Adam, who was our Lord Jesus Christ. As we fail by the
act of one representative man, as we fail by what Adam did in
the garden, So all God's elect are saved by the work of another
representative man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hold your hands
here and turn to Romans chapter 5. We'll be back to Romans 5
again next Sunday, the Lord willing, but we've looked at this many
times in the last few weeks. Here in Romans chapter 5, the
Apostle Paul explains to us what happened in the garden. God the
Holy Spirit explains to us how we got in the mess we're in.
How come? How come you take that baby and
you teach it and you train it and you teach it right from wrong
and you teach it to do things that are right and not to do
things that are wrong and the child just instinctively, just
instinctively rebels? How come? How come every one
of you, not a parent here, there's not a parent here, who hasn't
had to deal with a lying child. How come? How come? Because they're born that way.
Because this is what happened in the garden. Romans chapter
5, verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man, Adam,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. When Adam sinned, Charlie
Meadows, you sinned, and I sinned. And when Adam died, we died.
That's how come we live like we do in this world in our corrupt
nature. That's called depravity. That's called original sin. Now
look at verse 18, Romans 5. Therefore, since this is how
everybody was lost, therefore, as by the offense of one judgment
came upon all men to condemnation, Every man, every woman represented
an Adam, the whole human race. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the Lord Jesus Christ, the free gift came upon all men,
not all men without exception, all men represented by this last
Adam, represented by this last covenant head, all men of God's
elect, all the host of God's elect. Justification came unto
them, the justification of life. Verse 19, for as by one man's
disobedience many, quite literally the many, the many, the many
represented by that one man were made sinners, so by the offense
of one shall many, the many represented by this one man, Christ Jesus,
be made righteous. Now back in Genesis 2. In verse
18, we're told that the Lord God created Eve for Adam, our
father. The Lord God said, it is not
good that man should be alone. Why did God create woman? Why did God create woman? It just does my heart good to
be politically incorrect for man. That's out of step. It's a good
place to be. Out of step with everybody going
to hell. Why did God create woman? He says, the Lord God said, it
is not good that man should be alone. Why wasn't it good for
man to live alone? Adam had no one to love. Being created in the image of
God, Adam was a creature of affection. He had, in his nature, a great
capacity to love. But love and affection do not
exist where there's no object to love. He had no one to talk
to. There was no one like himself. with whom he could converse.
No one with whom he could discuss the beauties of the garden. No
one with whom he could share his thoughts. Whether he could
have talked to the lions or the birds or the fish. Well, you can do that, but they
don't know what you're talking about. That's not communication. That's just rattling. That's
just talking. Adam had no one to talk to, no
one with whom to share his thoughts. He had no one to touch or embrace. Companionship, togetherness,
is essential to those who love. We need to touch and be touched. We need to embrace and be embraced. All of us, one way or another.
I have been taking some therapy out at the Wellness Center One
of the ladies there, she doesn't like to be kind of hugged like
you just reach and take somebody by the shoulder. One of the other
therapists said, if you hug her, she wants you to hug her tight.
She can't stand to just be touched. Well, we all like to be touched
one way or the other. Embrace one way or the other,
but we need the touch and the embrace of others. And Adam had
no one to help. There was no one who needed Adam's
help. and no one to help Adam with
his needs as a man living in this world. I don't know which
would be worse, to live without one to help or to live without
one you can help. We need to be needed and we need
others who need us. The Lord God graciously took
care to provide help for fallen needy man even before he fell
and became needy. God took care to provide Eve
for Adam before there was ever any necessity for her. And the
Lord God took care to provide Christ for his people before
we ever had any need of our Redeemer. Why did God create Eve? There
was no one for Adam with whom he could share blessings. Wouldn't it be miserable to live
with all the wealth, with all the property, with all the knowledge,
with all the experience God gave Adam in the garden and live without
anyone with whom you could share it? Without anyone with whom
you could communicate the things you enjoy? Love must give. Love delights to give. But Adam
had no one to whom he could give what God had given him. No one
to whom he could give himself. And he had no one to comfort.
No one for him to comfort. No one to comfort him. No one
for him to admire. And no one to admire him. Adam
was alone. Oh, but preacher, He walked with
God in the garden and God walked with him in the cool of the day.
Yes, but Adam had no one like himself. He was alone. And Adam
had no one with whom to produce others like himself. All the
other creatures brought forth others after their own kind.
Adam had no mate with whom he could bring forth sons and daughters
like himself. Adam was alone. He had neither
wife, nor sons, nor daughters. Eve was created by God. Specifically,
God tells us to be in help, meet for Adam. I raised my daughter constantly
teaching her this. And I try to teach you young
ladies this. And older folks, older ladies,
you need to pay attention. A woman finds her fullness as
a woman in a man. Not in a career, not in society,
not in the country club, but she finds her fullness as a woman
in the man to whom she gives herself. That's the fulfillment
of womanhood. How was Eve created? Look at
verse 21. This is what God did for Adam. This is how God made
the first woman Eve. This is the first marriage, the
first wedding. It took place in the beginning, in the Garden
of Eden. It was performed by God himself.
Verse 21, 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. We are first told what the Lord
God did for Adam. He caused a deep sleep to fall
upon Adam. This was more than laying down
and taking rest. God put Adam into a deep sleep,
a coma perhaps. No one else could do this to
Adam. And while Adam slept, The Lord God took one of his ribs
and closed up the flesh so that there's no scar. And from that
rib, he made woman. And then he brought her to the
man. God still does that. He brings
men and women together. How marvelously he does it. How
marvelously he does it. Some of you hear God's worth
wonders to bring you a wife or husband by whom he brought you
to himself. I've told many of you stories
of how Shelby and I met. Just marvelous details. God brings them together. I pray
like you do for my grandson and my granddaughter. Hedge them about with your goodness,
save them by your grace, and give them companions with whom
they can worship and serve you. Now you, young people, hear this
old man. Be wise and wait for God to give
you a husband in whom you find your fulfillment, with whom you
can worship God. Or a wife who finds her fulfillment
in you with whom you can worship and serve God. And it is God
who brings sinners to Christ. It is God who brings sinners
to Christ. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. The Lord God did not
create the woman like He did the man, but He made the woman
from the man. Eve, the woman was not the beginning
of a new order or a new race. She was the continuation of the
race. Adam was the sole head and representative. That's God's
order. She is called woman, isha, because
she was taken from man, ish. The Lord didn't take the woman
from the man's head to reign over him. Neither did he take
her from the man's foot to be trampled by him. but from his
side as one who is his equal. Now, that's not equal in the
politically correct sense of the word. Anybody who imagines
that a man and a woman are equal is nuts. Just nuts. There are things you women can
do that a man can't think about doing. And things you men can
do a woman can't think about doing. That's nuts. That's just
nuts. The word is used in this sense. They were themselves creatures
of God, human beings made by God. The woman, God tells us
plainly, is the weaker vessel, made the weaker vessel so that
she may have her desire toward her husband. The Lord God took
the woman from the rib of man, from under his arm to be protected
as the weaker vessel, from near his heart to be loved by him. And then the Lord God brought
the woman to the man. She is God's gift to man. Oh, what a sight that must have
been. Can you imagine? Here's Adam. And God brings him Eve. He knew exactly what the Lord
was doing. I don't have any idea what all transpired in conversation
between Adam and God. We're not told, but God brought
Eve to Adam, and he looked at her and said, wow. Wow! Look at this. Look at this. The
man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither
was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. Look
at verse 23. And Adam said, This is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she's 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. Adam spoke as a prophet. Adam
spoke as a prophet. He's talking about something
more than just the union of a man and his wife. For we know that
the Apostle Paul quotes these very words in Ephesians 5 and
said, now wait a minute, I'm not talking about a husband and
wife, I'm talking about Christ and the church. Adam said, this
is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This woman's part
of me. She's to be loved and cherished
by me as I love and cherish myself. She and I are one person. If the children have to go out,
anybody has to go out again, just stay out, please. This is
just too important for disruption. It's too important. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Adam understood
from the beginning what very few people understand today.
The man who has a wife is the one responsible for his household. The man who has a wife is the
one responsible for his household. He's the head of his house. Every
man is. And God's going to hold you responsible
as the head of your house. That means he is the prophet,
the priest, and the king, established by God in his house. That's how houses are to be run
as a man, the head of his house. He's the provider for his household.
It's his responsibility. His responsibility to take care
of his family. I have actually heard men say
they're looking for a wife who could help them take care of
their needs. Don't let me, don't let me talk
to her. I'll tell her not to marry you. You're not worth salt
and powder to take a shoot you in the head. A man's responsible
to provide for his family. He's the ruler of his house.
It's his responsibility to run the household. That's his responsibility. So that his word is law in his
house. And he's the protector of his
house. It's not the responsibility of neighbors or society or civil
government. It's every man's responsibility
to protect his own. And the woman who has such a
man can rest comfortable in his care. The woman who has such
a man, a man to be prophet, priest, and king, to lead her in the
worship of God, A man who labors and gives himself to provide
for her every need. A man who rules his house in
love for the glory of God, protecting his house from every harm possible. And the man who is such a man
is a man in whom a woman can rest with joy and peace and love. Listen to what this scripture
says. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell
with them according to knowledge. Dwell with your wives according
to knowledge, giving honor to the wife as unto the weaker vessel,
that is, taking care of the wife, because she needs you to take
care of her, as being heirs together of the grace of life. Now, look
at verse 25, Genesis 2. And they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed." There they stand as
God created them, holy and upright. They needed no clothes to protect
them because there was nothing around to harm them. They needed
no clothes to conceal any part of their bodies which God had
made. They were not ashamed because they had nothing to be ashamed
of. There was no sin in their nature, no guilt in their consciences,
and no wickedness in their actions. But that didn't last long. Read
chapter 3, verses 1 through 9, and you'll find that Adam sinned
against God. And as soon as Adam and Eve sinned
against God, they were ashamed and began to cover themselves
and hide from God. And so man is born in this world
hiding from God. We're all inheritors of their
shame because we've all inherited their guilt. Man is born afraid
of God, hiding from Him. You who are
without Christ, I've described you to a T and you know it. You
live every day of your life afraid of meeting God in judgment, afraid
of death, afraid of eternity. Why do you reckon that is? Any
animal will defend itself against an attacker. But no animal fears
death. Good many animals, unless you
keep them caged up, when it's come time for them to die, you
can't find them. They'll just wander off, lay
down someplace and die. I've had dogs do it. No matter
how good a care you take of him, no matter how close you are with
that pet that you cherish, comes time to die unless you keep it
caged up. More than likely he'll just go off somewhere and you
won't find him anymore. He's just gone. Because there's
no fear of God in the animal. Because there's no sin in the
animal. Not so with you. Not so with
man. Man without Christ. Man without
grace, man without redemption, man without righteousness, man
without God's salvation, lives all his life terrified of God. And so he tries to hide from
Him. In drunkenness, in dope, in rebellion, in revelry, in
riotousness, in religion, especially in religion, but he tries to
hide from God. Don't let God speak to me. Y'all
deal with that. I can't deal with that! Because
man's fearful of God. Now, what does God the Holy Ghost
teach us by what we just read? Without question, there's much
to be learned about true womanhood in these verses. Can you, dear
ladies, receive the Word of God and teach your daughters to do
so? Listen to this. You don't need to turn there.
Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. Can you bow to the Word of God,
receive and accept the truth of God regarding your beginning,
your present state, your proper place of service and honor in
this world? If you can, it may be that by
God's grace you can enter into the far greater, more glorious,
eternal state. of which your whole experience
is a type in picture. Listen to this. The aged women
likewise be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers,
not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may
teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love
their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good,
obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Blessed is that woman who hears
and follows that instruction. And blessed is that man who has
the gift of such a woman. I do want you to turn to this
one, Proverbs chapter 31. Proverbs chapter 31. Only such a woman. I've chosen my words deliberately.
Only such a woman. If that includes you, wonderful.
If that excludes you, that's the way it is. But only such
a woman is a virtuous woman. Let's see if that's so. Proverbs
31, verse 10. Who can find a virtuous woman?
A virtuous woman. For her price is far above rubies. You can't name a price for such
a woman. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so
that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and
not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool and flax
and worketh willingly with her hands. She's like the merchant
ships She bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it
is yet night, and giveth meat to her husband, and a portion
to her maidens. She considereth the field, and
buyeth it. With the fruit of her hands she
planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength,
and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise
is good. Her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle,
and her hands holdeth the staff. She stretches out her hand to
the poor. Yea, she reaches forth her hands to the needy. She is
not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household
are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings
of tapestry. Her clothing is silk and purple. She's not a gadabout. She doesn't
run here and there. She doesn't have idle time. She
gives herself to taking care of her family. Now watch what
it says, verse 23. Her husband is known in the gates
when he setteth among the elders of the land. How's that? He's known because he's married
to a virtuous woman. Everybody knows him by the woman to whom
he's married. She maketh fine linen and selleth
it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honor
are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come. She
openeth her mouth with wisdom, and her tongue is the law of
kindness. If you understand her gossip, her tongue's the law
of kindness, wisdom. She looketh well to the ways
of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her
husband, her children also, they rise up and call her blessed.
Her husband also, he praiseth her. Many daughters have done
virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favor is deceitful. And beauty is vain, but a woman
that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit
of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. Now, let's go back to our text. You young men, Don't be satisfied with anything
less for a wife. Don't be satisfied with anything
less for a wife. Don't do it. You will have a
spear under your arm for a crutch if you do. Don't be satisfied
with anything less. But there's something far more
glorious here. The marriage performed in the
garden by God The marriage of Adam and Eve is a picture of
the marriage performed by God in grace, the marriage of Christ
and His church. All of these things that we read
in the book of God, we're told were a figure, a figure of Christ
and His church. As the woman was formed out of
the side of man, when God caused him to fall into a deep sleep,
so the church of the Lord Jesus was redeemed and came forth from
His pierced side And in a deep sleep of death, he was delivered
by the hand of God, the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, and was taken by wicked hands and crucified and slain.
Eve had her beginning when God created Adam. She was created
when God created Adam. But God took her out of his side
on another day. So all God's elect, all the church
and bride of Christ, all the body of Christ have their beginning
in Christ, the surety in whom we have life, in him who is our
life. And he brings us forth at the
appointed time of love, revealing himself in us. Now let me make
seven statements very briefly about this and I'll be done.
Number one, thank God there is another representative man. Christ
our Savior. Jesus Christ is the last Adam. God deals with all human beings
in just two men. Just two men. Wayne, you're going
to get what you deserve in Adam or what you deserve in Christ,
one or the other. Just two men. God deals with
all men in two covenant men. Adam and Christ. Adam represented
all the human race and we all died in Adam because we all sinned
in Adam and now we continue in Adam's transgression and shall
stand before God in the day of judgment bearing our iniquities,
each one being damned forever for his own sin because of his
relationship with Adam. But there is another multitude
of people. all the host of God's elect,
represented by Jesus Christ, whose sins Christ bore in His
body on the tree, whose sins have been put away by His precious
blood, who stand before God in the righteousness, in the obedience
of Jesus Christ, the representative man. And God looks upon His people
in Christ Jesus and is well pleased all the time. and says, well
done, thou good and faithful servant. Number two, this last
Adam shall not be alone in his kingdom. A seed shall serve him. He shall have a people to love
and a people by whom he shall be loved forever. Jesus Christ
has a people made after his likeness with whom He is in fellowship
of people with whom he walks. A people who serve him, a people
whom he serves. A people who admire him and a
people whom he admires. He says, you've ravished my heart,
my love, my dove, my undefiled. There's not a spot in you. You've
ravished my heart. He has a people with whom he
shares everything. of people who shall be with Him
forever. Number three, in order for us
to be joined to Christ in Him to us, the God of glory made
His Son a body of flesh. Woman was made of man, but Christ
is a man made of woman by the hands of God, born of the Virgin,
that He might redeem and save His people from their sins. The Lord God caused a deep sleep
to come upon his son, and in the sleep of death for sin. At the cross, the Lord Jesus died in our stead,
willingly, freely, voluntarily laying down his life for us,
just as Adam, with full knowledge of what he was doing. I can hardly
comprehend this. Adam knew what Eve didn't know.
Adam knew when he took that fruit from her hand, he would plunge
himself into sin and death and banishment from God. But willingly,
he made himself sin and died and was banished from God. So
too the last Adam, our Lord Jesus. And I can better understand what
Adam did in the garden than I can understand this. Willingly made
himself sin and death and was banished from
God that he might not lose his chosen bride. from the side of our crucified
Redeemer, there flowed out blood to justify us and water to sanctify
us, his chosen people. The apostle picks up on this
in the fifth chapter of Ephesians and tells husbands to love their
wives as Christ 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. And then, at the appointed time
of love, the Lord God brings His chosen bride to Christ by
the effectual power of His Spirit, graciously forces the woman He's
chosen into His arms. graciously compels the one he
set his heart upon from eternity into his arms. If you want to
read a picture of it, read the first three chapters of the book
of Hosea. God says this is a picture of
my love for my people and Hosea fixed it. He fixed it so that
Gomer had to have him. Jesus had to have him. She couldn't
survive any longer without him. And when she had to have him,
she was glad to have him. Oh, may God fix it so that you
have to have his son. And when you have to have his
son, you'll be glad to have his son. One more thing. They were not
ashamed. There they are, not ashamed. He that believeth on the Son
of God shall not be ashamed. Adam and Eve had no outward clothing
and were not ashamed when they stood before God in the garden
because they had no sin in their nature, no guilt in their conscience,
and no iniquity in their actions. And
there was an inward holiness in their beings that made clothing
unnecessary. So it is with God's people standing
before Him. Here I stand, made righteous in Christ's righteousness. without sin, because in Him is
no sin. And full of shame before you, full of shame before you, but not before God. Have no reason to be ashamed,
because as He is, So are we in this world. Oh, all things are
ready. Sinners come to the marriage
this day. Oh, this day be wed to Jesus
Christ the Lord by faith in Him. Amen.