I'd like to deviate this morning
from our study in the book of Romans, and Lord willing, we'll
pick it up next time. I'd like to preach this morning
on a subject that I think, and I've thought about this,
I thought about this this morning, I thought, what subject is more wonderful,
more profitable, more glorious than this subject. The subject is marriage. I preached
this morning on what do we know about marriage. And I'm telling
you now, I thought this through now before I made that statement,
because when we look at marriage, And what marriage in this life
sets forth, it encompasses everything. Mercy, grace, salvation, redemption,
everything. What subject could we look at? Marriage. Turn with me to Ephesians
5.31. Ephesians 5.31. This is my text this morning. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 31, 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. the foundation of all peace and
comfort, joy, salvation, everything that a believer understands
concerning this life, all of the peace, all comfort, all joy,
all hope, all comes down to the fact that the believer realizes
that he is married to Christ. To realize in that glorious thought
that the Lord Jesus Christ loves his wife and gave himself for
her. that He will never leave her. He will never forsake her. I can begin to settle down right
there. Not based on my faithfulness
to Him do I find hope, but my hope based totally on His good
pleasure. to love me, give Himself for
me, keep me. And you know what? I want to submit myself to Him.
I want to. I desire to. Who would have ever had the thought
except the Spirit of God revealed it in the Scriptures? that the union of our parents
in the garden, Adam and Eve, was a picture of our relationship
to our great husband. Who would have ever thought that
in the garden there we see the glorious love that a husband,
a picture of Christ, Adam, a picture of Christ, had for Eve. God had told Adam, in the day you eat of the fruit,
you're going to die. And you know, whenever Eve took
of that fruit and fell and rebelled and ate, Adam knew the consequences
of eating that fruit. He knew what it was. And he would not let her die
alone. And he took and he ate. When our blessed Savior was made
sin at Calvary, He knew what was going to happen. He knew
He was going to die. And for the joy that was set
before Him, obedience to the Father in the redemption of her. And He went to the cross just
as Adam took with his eyes wide open. And in that day that Adam ate
that fruit, he died spiritually. And I'm telling you, in the day
that the Lord Jesus Christ willingly was made sin at Calvary, he died
under the judgment of God because she could not die. He loved her. He was not going to let his bride
perish. The Lord Jesus Christ made sin. What does the Scripture say?
That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. We could never understand or conceive
the depth of the revelation of creation unless Almighty God
revealed it. Listen to this. Genesis 2.18. If you want to turn there, that's
okay. Just listen. I'll just read it.
I've got it written down right here. Listen to the depth of
the wisdom and the knowledge of Almighty God in the creation
of mankind. Do you think, why did God make
men? Was it that God was lacking anything? No. Holy. Complete. Listen to this wisdom. Genesis
2.18, And the Lord said, It is not good that the man should
be alone. He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ here. You say, I thought I was talking about husbands.
Husbands in this life are pictures. Marriage in this life is established
by Almighty God to portray, to set forth, to be a picture of
the relationship of Christ and His. That's what Paul says. It's
a great mystery. I'm speaking of Christ and His
bride. We're going to look at that in just a few minutes. Scriptures
concerning marriage. It's not good that the man should
be alone. I will make him and help fit
for him, meet for him." That's what he said. It's not good. Lord, are you saying that Christ possessed a bride for a special
reason that you said, Lord, that it was not good for Christ to
be alone? That's exactly right. How would
I have known that? The glorious display of the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ was such that God knew it to be good
for Christ to have a bride to show forth and to display His,
Christ's, glorious honor in her redemption. How honored He is when we see
what He has done for us. The greatest display of the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ was that God gave Him a bride. The marriage of Christ to His
bride, well, first of all, it was eternal. There is no period,
no time, no date ever found in Scripture when this union began. except that the scripture says,
I have loved you with an everlasting love. How long is everlasting? Everlasting. Turn to Isaiah 54. Look at this. Isaiah 54, verse 4. Isaiah 54,
verse 4. Isaiah 54, 4, 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 wooded hood
any more for thy Maker." Think about this. Your Maker.
When were we chosen in Christ? Well, the Scripture says, before
the foundations of the world. Everlasting love. Almighty God,
who is the eternal Father, evidently had an eternal Son.
And this eternal Son, who was the bridegroom, how long did
He have a bride? Your Maker, when you were made. When was she made? She never
was. When was the beginning? There
was no beginning. God is eternal. What God thinks
right now, Mitch, He's always thought. What God loves right now, He's
always loved. He will forever love. Your Maker. is thine husband, the Lord of
hosts is his name. Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel, the God of all the whole earth, shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee
as a woman forsaken, and grieved in spirit a wife of youth when
thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have
I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In
a little wrath I hid my face from thee in a moment, but with
everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord
thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I
sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee for
the mountains shall depart, the hills be removed, but my kindness
shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace
be removed, saith the Lord that have mercy on thee. I want to
make one comment. Obviously, accepting the point
that I wanted to make that Almighty God who made us. Said. Your maker is your husband. But
here's the point I want to make. The Scripture says in verse seven
and eight for a small moment, have I forsaken thee? But with
great mercies will I gather thee, and a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment." What does that mean? I know this,
that Almighty God said, this is the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ said this, the Lord Jesus Christ said this,
I will never forsake thee. What does he mean, for a small
moment, have I forsaken thee? We who were not appointed to
wrath, not ordained to wrath, Romans 9 says, what does he mean
in a little wrath? I hid my face from thee for a
moment. Let me tell you what I think this means. I think when
we died with him at Calvary as a substitute, when he was under
the wrath of God and us in him, when he was forsaken, by God
who hid His face from the Lord Jesus Christ only for a moment. But in His redemption, we have
life. Us personally, He said, you were
not appointed to wrath. But as being associated with
Him, the Scripture is very specific. For a small moment, a little
wrath Just a moment, but only in our substitute. Being found
in Him when He was under the wrath of God, we were too in
a substitute. When He was forsaken for a moment,
being associated with Him, we died with Him. As He died, we died. when the bridegroom was chosen
in Christ. She was chosen, the Scripture
says in Ephesians 1, holy and without blame before Him in love. And she fell in Adam. But I'll
tell you this, He washed her and cleansed her
by His own blood And He will present her as a bride without
spot and without blemish. And all of the glorious character
of the Lord Jesus Christ is set forth totally in the redemption
of His bride. The marriage. I want to look for just a minute
now marriage in this life, because this is what marriage set forth. This is it. I know that marriage is an institution, it's a contract,
it's a union, it's a bond that was born in the heart of Almighty
God. When we read a while ago in Genesis
2 verse 24, Shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave
unto his wife, there will be one flesh." That glorious bond, thinking
first of the marriage of Christ to His bride, and let it permeate
to everyone that is married in this congregation. Think about
marriage. Let me tell you something. is
the glorious picture of bond. And it speaks of honor and commitment
and oneness and peace and fellowship. And it settles the heart of all
that find themselves with a mate that they love and trust and
they cleave to. Neil, what would you do without
her? She's your wife. One. One flesh. This marriage
being born in the mind and the purpose and the will of Almighty
God and the coming together in marriage. We witness times of
marriage. Coming together, you know, and
I oh my goodness, I understand the thoughts of. Men, women,
they think. What's the use of getting married?
Why? Why are you? I mean, you know, if we love
each other, we can just we can cohabitate. I mean, going through
all of that. Why do we need to get married?
Because Almighty God said. Honorable. Marriage is worship because marriage
is obedience. For this reason shall a man leave
his father, mother, cleave. The Lord Jesus Christ gave His
approval in the marriage of Cana of Galilee. He attended a wedding. Worship. You know, we've looked
at that word, worship, obedience. Abraham was told by God, take
your son, your only son, sacrifice him unto me. Abraham took Isaac
with some of his helpers there. Abraham told the helpers, you
stay here. Abraham knew he was going to
sacrifice Isaac. Why? Because the Lord told him
to. And he said, Lad and I are going to go and worship. We're
going to worship God. Why does a man and a woman, what
is the basis now? I'm telling you what the scripture
says concerning marriage. I told you a moment ago the picture,
the glorious picture. Why? Why? Why? It's obedience, the establishment
of order, comfort, peace, marriage. worship, this divine union, that
type of the Lord Jesus Christ is altogether lovely. There's nothing that's more glorious
than to see a couple love each other. I mean, just think of
the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride, and
a marriage is that picture. It's that picture. You know, in the midst of this
world's vile, disrespectful, disobedient attitude, the Lord
has allowed the privilege, and that's what it is, it's a privilege
to have a marriage. That's a joy. to be able to wake
up every morning. This may sound old-fashioned
to you. If it does, that's OK. I'm just
old-fashioned anyway, I guess. I'm thankful. But you know, there's nothing
that is more comforting and glorious
to wake up every morning and, you know, for a husband's wife
there Her wife, her husband's there. That's so comforting. That's such a... I mean, you
know, to get up and, you know, what is she doing? Well, she's
just cooking breakfast, you know. You think, I'm just so glad to
have you there. A man loves his wife. He treasures her. Treasures her. The Lord gave her to him and
him to her. And this honorable commitment is pleasant, stability, honor of this relationship
is founded on the foundation of God's truth. To know what a marriage is, how
is it established? How is it maintained? How is
it run? How do we know? Turn to Ephesians
5.22. Ephesians 5.22. The Scripture says, and this
is the This is the divine truth concerning a marriage. Wives, now listen to this, I'm
talking to wives, I'm going to talk to husbands in just a second.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own
husbands as unto the Lord. yields herself, submits herself, adapts herself sincerely and heartily unto the
Lord Jesus Christ. She adapts herself to Him. She's subject in all things. Now, let me just kind of give
you a scenario that you can understand. Whenever a husband, like I said,
I'll say something about husbands in a second, but a husband that
loves his wife, that gives himself for his wife. He loves her. He loves her. And she adapts
herself. She submits herself. to Him. They may talk about things, they
may discuss things, but her husband is the head of the house. He's
the head of the wife. He doesn't lord over her. He doesn't treat her disrespectfully. How does Christ treat His bride? That's the way a husband treats
his wife. But just in light of the Scripture, the way it's written,
and husbands are in verse 25. I'll get there. But wives that
adapt themselves. How does the bride of Christ
adapt herself, submit herself to the Lord Jesus Christ? In
obedience to His Word. The best example that I can think
of Now, I've used this example before, but there are times that
the Lord, as He guides His bride in this life, and He does as
He will, He places her. Some in His bride He calls to
one position, some to another, and some to another. But do you
know that every part of His bride submits to His placement where
He's put her? Why are you here today? You say,
well, this is where the Lord placed me. That's right. That's
a good answer. Why am I here? Why am I in Katy,
West Virginia and not somewhere else? This is where the Lord
put me. And do you know what I'm thankful
for? That the Lord would give me a
heart to submit to that. And to be thankful for that now. I don't want to say that in a
in a way that you know, so well, you know. Come pat me on the
back because I'm going to tell you something. It scares me to
death. Humanly speaking, I guess it's
the right thing to say. Because I realize it, but for
the grace of God, I wouldn't be here. Where would I be somewhere
else? But that Almighty God would give
me a heart to submit. Thank you. Lord, thank you. Thank you. Brother Scott, what
would you give? What would you give for the last
50 years? What would you give in exchange for being able to
have the privilege of pastoring this group of people? You wouldn't
change that. Why? You love them. You love
them. How do you know He loved you?
He told you the truth. Submit. Wives, submit yourself
unto your own husbands. God Almighty has ordained an
order in a marriage, and He places a wife in a position of dependence
upon her husband for protection and provision and comfort. He doesn't lord over you. Husbands
that love their wives do not browbeat them and demand, I'm
the half, I'm the, you know. You just need a good big stick
is what you need. Don't treat her like that. That's
your wife. A man who loves his wife. Helps her. She depends on Him. Why? Because that's part of Him. Look at Ephesians. Look at Ephesians
5.30. A man leaves his wife. It's causal. A man shall leave his father,
mother, join unto his wife. And these two are one flesh. One. They're together. Together. Whenever the Lord Jesus Christ
turned to John 19, John chapter 19, verse 33, our blessed Savior
was on Calvary on the tree. John 19. I made mention of this
the other day. John 19, verse 33, when they
came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already,
they break not his legs. But one of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side and forthwith came out blood and
water. And he that saw it bare record,
his record is true, and he knoweth that he sayeth true, that they
may believe. And all these things were done
that the Scripture should be fulfilled. A bone of him shall
not be broken." Remember a few weeks ago, He gave his head,
gave his forehead to the thorns. He said, you can have my head.
Gave his back to the smiters. He said, you can have my back.
He gave his beard to the ones that plucked out his beard. He
said, you can have my beard. Gave his face also to those that
spit in him. He said, you can have my face.
You can have his hands. You can have his feet. When it
came time to break His bones, He said, You're not going to
break them. We're bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh. He says, Not one of those are
going to be broken. Those precious bones. Can those
bones live? Ezekiel 37. Lord, You know. What
do you want me to do? Preach to them? If there be the
bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh in that everlasting
and eternal choosing an election, I can tell you for a fact, you're
not going to be broken. Submit yourself unto your own
husbands. Think well of him. How does the
bride think of Christ? Wives, think that way of your
husbands. You have respect for him. We speak respectfully of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't refer to your husband in
a disrespectful way. How would you refer to the Lord
Jesus Christ? You don't refer to him as the
man upstairs, the old man upstairs. You don't talk to him. You don't
say that. No, not a believer. Submit yourself to your husband. Let me ask you wives. What do
you think about your family? You seek the family's welfare?
Well, sure you do. How does the bride think of the
bride who seeks her welfare for her husband's honor? The Lord
ordained it. The bride's thankful for his
provision. And I'm telling you, you wives,
whenever your husbands come home and they've worked and you're
thankful, farm, you'll fail to tell them, thank you. Thank you. That goes two ways, too. I'll tell you, you husband, I
think it's about time. You know, turn back over to Ephesians
5. Ephesians 5. Wives, submit yourself
unto own husband, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the
head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. And
he's 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 a 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 body. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it even as the Lord,
the church. For we are members of His body,
of His flesh, and of His bones." This is the vital second part,
I guess you'd say. to the stability of a marriage. As the Lord God, the Lord Jesus
Christ loves His church, the husband gives himself for her. Christ's church is Himself. That's His body. That's a great
mystery. She is His body, and He loves her as He loves
Himself. Almighty God does not command
a man to do anything that He Himself has not done perfectly
and eternally. A man, the Scripture says, loves his wife. as his own body, he that loveth
his wife loves himself. How can it be that he would love
me as he loves himself? He gave himself. How do I know that Christ loved
his bride? He gave himself. What would you give? What's the
ultimate gift that you give your wife? You give yourself. I will not let her perish and
me not go down with a fight. She's my wife and I will defend
her to my life. What else could I
give? As Christ gave Himself in the
bride's redemption, perfection, the husband gives himself without
selfishness for the bride's needs of this world. What does she
need in this world? That's what I do. What did I
need? He gave himself. What did I need? I needed redemption. Gave himself. He's the head, I'm the body.
He gave himself for me. A husband. Husbands love your
wife. You know, the only way that a
man exhibits love The only way that a man exhibits love is what
he does. What does a man think about his
wife? What he does for her. That's
what he thinks. I've said this, talk is cheap. Talk is cheap. What a man does, that's what
he thinks. I have loved you with an everlasting
love, the Lord Jesus Christ said. What was the ultimate exhibition
of that? He gave Himself. For God so loved
the world, the order of mankind, He gave His only begotten Son. A man in this life that loves
his wife, I'll tell you this, he'll show affection for her.
I've said before, times that I'll be preaching a wedding,
and I'll say, for you men, treat your wife as the queen of the
house. What's the basis of that thought? I'll tell you what the basis
of that thought is. The Lord Jesus Christ has a queen
because He's the King. And the King has a queen. Your wife is the queen of your
house. Treat her that way. Put her on
a pedestal. The Lord Jesus Christ did His. We're highly exalted in Him. Not without Him, but in Him.
She's the queen of the house. You defend her character. You defend her character. You
take her side every time. Do not let anybody talk about
her. You defend her. We walk in this world and we're
frail creatures. We walk in this world and we
stumble and we fall. You show me one place where the
Lord Jesus Christ ever spoke disrespectfully of her. Not one. You take her side. You delight
yourself in her. You seek her contentment, her
comfort, her pleasure. He's concealed my faults. He
covered them with His blood. You conceal the faults of your
wife. Men, don't speak disrespectfully
of her. The husband is the leader in
spiritual things. The worship of God and the order
and discipline of children That's the husband. The Lord disciplines his own. A wife finds great comfort in
submitting herself to a husband that loves her. I've said this before. I'll say
it again. A wife that realizes that her
husband loves her She gives Himself for her, defends her character,
finds great pleasure in her company, in her voice, in her thoughts. She's thankful to submit herself
to Him. Why? Because He loves her. He defends
her. He'll die for her. What do we
know about marriage? What the Scripture tells us.
That's what we know. May Almighty God bless us, teach
us. Those of us that are married,
those of us that will be married, may Almighty God teach us this
is a marriage. Husbands, love your wife. Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. who
loved his bride and gave himself for it. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You for
another day that we've had to be able to come together for
just a moment and consider the Scriptures, the glorious setting
forth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the husband of the bride. And
Lord, to think that He's always loved us. Even when we fell in Adam, He
who would associate Himself with us because He loved us, gave
Himself for us. Teach us, we pray. Settle our
hearts. We ask these things for Christ's
sake. Amen.