Let's begin in God's word. And
the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone.
I will make him and help meet for him. 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 mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they
shall be one flesh. Who gives this woman to be married
in holy matrimony to Ben Moyer? Her mother and I. You may be seated. God made marriage for the purpose
of glorifying his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures
tell us we, that is God's church, are members of Christ's body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. And for this cause shall a man
leave his father and his mother and shall be joined unto his
wife and they too shall be one flesh. It's a great mystery. The scripture says, but this
speaks concerning Christ and the church. God made marriage
to glorify his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the purpose
of marriage. God the Father chose a people
that he would save and gave them to his son to be his bride. And our Lord Jesus Christ betrothed
that bride to himself forever. He said in Hosea 2.19, I will
betroth thee unto me forever. I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in
mercies, in justice and in mercy. And he said, and I will even
betroth thee unto me in faithfulness and thou shalt know the Lord. Christ agreed upon this in eternity
before as yet he ever came in human flesh. Ben, you've been
engaged to Sarah for quite a while now, and you knew today when
you came here exactly who you were marrying. Our Lord Jesus
Christ knew from eternity who his bride was. He knew when he
came here who he was laying down his life for. That's why it was
announced that his name should be called Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. He knew who he came to save,
and that's what he accomplished. He walked through this world
and fulfilled the law and laid down his life for his bride,
making her righteous in him. And now he's risen to the right
hand of the Father, and he's sending forth the gospel and
calling out each one that he redeemed. And he will not lose
one. He'll bring each one to himself
and keeper and protector and one day we'll stand before him
at the marriage supper of the lamb, the wedding day, like where
we are now. That'll be a grand occasion.
So Ben and Sarah, this institution that you're entering into now
is very serious. It carries a serious responsibility
because it glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's a very,
very heavy responsibility. It glorifies Christ and his bride.
Now, Sarah, God gives you your responsibility as Ben's wife. Now this is God's word to you.
He says, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto
the Lord. For the husband is the head of
the wife, even as 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. Christ is the head of the church.
He's the head of his bride. And God says, therefore, as the
church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their
own husbands in everything. Now, Sarah, you're a member of
Christ's church, and you submit to Christ for everything. You
look to Christ for everything in salvation. You submit to Christ's
word as your only rule of faith and practice. You submit trusting
Christ to lead you and keep you. God says now, as a wife, do the
same to your own husband in everything. He says, Sarah, do this to your
own husband. Your mother has a husband to
submit to. Ben, your mother has a husband
to submit to. Sarah, you're to submit to your
husband now. You'd never do anything to bring
reproach upon Christ. And never do anything to bring
reproach upon your husband. Never do anything to bring reproach
upon his name. The more your name. You take
sides with him in everything. You teach your children to honor
him and respect him. You understand Ben's gonna make
a whole lot of mistakes. But never go to mom and dad and
talk about Ben. and never go to anybody and talk
about Ben. You uphold him. And the way that
you esteem your earthly husband will show how you esteem your
heavenly husband. Now Ben, God gives you your responsibility
as Sarah's husband and it is a weighty responsibility. God
says husbands, love your wives. And he tells you how. Even as
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. Now
Ben, Christ rules his house not by law, not by threats and commands. He rules his house by love. That's
how he rules his house. Christ saw his bride fallen in
sin, and did he deal harshly with her? Did he put her away?
When he saw her fallen, he came to where she is, and he humbled
himself. He took the form of a servant.
He made himself the least that he might save his bride. He didn't
expose her sin, he came and put away her sin. He purchased for
her a snow white dress to put upon her, his own righteousness. And the scripture says that he
might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by
the word. that he might present her to
himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
You remember how the gospel first affected your heart when you
heard what Christ did for you? It melted your heart. Your heart
was constrained by the love of Christ for you. That's how you
are to be the head of your house, by loving her. loving her as
Christ loved you and gave himself for you. So, remember this, at
all times, love is a far superior rule to law. It's far superior
than law. So rule your house by love. Now,
from today forward, Ben, Sarah will be one with you as your
own body. God says, so ought men to love
their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself, because she is your body from now on. No man ever
yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it,
even as the Lord the church. We are members of Christ's body,
of his flesh and of his bones, and this is why we're standing
here right now. Today you're leaving your mother
and father, and you're uniting with this woman, and she's your
body from now on. What you do to her, you're doing
to yourself. And Christ says, because she's
one of Christ, what you do to her, you do to him. And Sarah,
the same goes for you. He's one of Christ. What you
do to him, you do to the Lord. So you love her as your own body. Today, you're going to leave
your father and your mother, and you're going to become one
with Sarah. And what's hers is yours, and what's yours is hers. Just as I told Sarah, you honor
her and you uphold her and you speak well of her. Whenever any
kind of problem arises, you never talk down to her and you never
go to mom and dad and talk about her or to anybody else and talk
about her. You exalt her, you honor her,
you protect her, provide for her in every way. Lead her, guide
her in every way. If you want her to submit to
you, be the head of your home and love her. Make her want to
submit to you. All right, now. To you both, I'll give you this
word. If you love Christ more than
you love each other, If you love Christ more than you love each
other, you'll have a happy home. You'll have a blessed home. It's
what makes a husband and a wife turn around and walk back in
the room and say, I'm sorry. All right, now, having told me
your desire to be united in marriage in the sight of God, in the sight
of these witnesses, will you now join hands? Now Ben, in taking Sarah to be
your lawful and wedded wife, God requires that you now leave
father and mother and cleave unto Sarah alone. That you love
her and give yourself for her as Christ loved the church and
gave himself for it. That you honor, nourish, and
cherish her as your own flesh, even as Christ does the church.
in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in bad
as in good, preferring her above all others, being true and faithful
to her in all things until death alone shall part you. Do you
so promise? I do. And Sarah, in taking Ben
to be your lawful and wedded husband, God requires that you
now leave father and mother and cleave unto him alone. that you
love and submit to him as the church submits to Christ in everything,
that you honor and respect him, being discreet and chaste, in
sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in bad as in good,
preferring him above all others, being true and faithful to him
in all things until death alone shall part you. Do you so promise. Now, does the best man have the
ring? I hope so. Alright then, if you'll place
this on Sarah's left hand, and repeat after me. With this ring,
I thee wed, and with it give unto you, myself, the love of
my heart, and all my earthly goods, from
this day forward we are one. Sarah places it on his hand.
Now, Sarah, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed, and
with it give unto you, myself, the love of my heart, and all
my earthly goods. From this day forward we are
one. Let's pray. Father, we ask that Your blessing
would be upon this couple, that You would indeed give them the
heart to honor Christ in everything that they do, that You would
cause them always to remember what He's done for them, constrain
their hearts by love, make their marriage to be about something
much larger than just themselves, make them to truly desire in
all things to show forth the picture of Christ in his church.
We ask you to be with Ben's mother and father and Sarah's mother
and father. Help them to be wise parents,
to have the wisdom to send them back home to each other to work
it out. And Lord, we ask your blessings now upon this union.
In Christ's name, amen. Ben, Sarah, may you forever be
one in heart, one in purpose, one in desire, and one in Christ. I now pronounce you man and wife. Ben, you can kiss her now.