Now let's open to Ephesians chapter
5. Before I am remiss again, Joe
and Joanne, thank you so much for your hospitality. You have
treated us like kings. We appreciate it greatly. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22. 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. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for 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 nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. For we are members of his body,
and 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 great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ
and the Church. Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the
wife see that she reverence her husband." On the sixth day of
creation, man was created in the image and likeness of God.
Sometime after man was created, The Lord God formed a woman from
the rib of man. From that time to this, the most
beautiful picture and relationship we have of the relationship of
the Church of God to the Son is as the bride of Christ. Being
a son or daughter is a wonderful relationship. We love our parents,
we love our children. But that relationship comes to
an end. Sons and daughters move on. And
they have families of their own. Grow up and they start their
own family. But the relationship of the husband and the wife,
as far as this temporal world can get, is a lasting relationship. It's lifelong. There is no other
relationship in this world that allows two to be as one, other
than the husband and wife. As many of you know, when God
is pleased to give you a spouse who believes the gospel, who
worships Christ with you, that marriage is blessed indeed. For you can enter into that relationship
knowing that it shows forth the relationship of God to His elect
people. Now the majority of this message
is going to examine the greatest love story that has ever been
told. But first I want to look at the
responsibilities that the Lord has given us as husband and wife. As I considered how to present
this message There are some of you in here who have been married
a lot longer than I have. Some of you are just starting
out. I've preached this before to
a crowd that is a much older group and a more experienced
group. It made me a bit nervous to start
with this passage of Scripture. But this is where the Lord took
me. It's been a blessing to me and
as I was reading back through it I was blessed once again.
So I pray the Lord will bless it to our hearts today. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. I don't know, Carl might be wiser
than this, but he might be sitting there going, hot dog, you tell
him. And the old men, those of you
who've married longer than I, this boy's in trouble. He's not
going to get out of this room alive. Well, I'm going to answer
you that are worried about my life. And you younger men, Jacob,
if you're not there yet, you'll learn eventually. I can read this. Wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. And I'm talking
to me. I'm not singling out Joanne. I'm not singling out Stacia.
I'm talking to me. I'm taking my place as a wife. I have one husband, Lord Jesus
Christ. He is my husband. I am his brother. This scripture is written to
me. Pray the Lord will bless it to
you as well. But I'm going to pay attention.
It's written to me. Submit to my husband. I desire to please
my husband. I desire to be pleasing to Christ. I desire to be found walking
after him. To be following him. I want to
be with him. I want his approval. Where he
leads, I want to go. Is it easy? No. No, it's not an easy task. For
my husband is perfect. He does all things well. And
I'm not. False and full of sin am I. And
you ladies, I will single you out here, who are married to
a husband, yours is a difficult task to
follow your husband as well. For you're just like me, full
of sin. And I'm afraid I have to tell
you, your husband is too. He's full of sin in this world.
Your fleshly husband. Time to time he might might be
wrong. It doesn't happen often, but
it might be. But my husband, my husband, you that have seen
Christ who know him, your husband, how I long to submit to him perfectly. Hold your place here and turn
over to Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon is between Ecclesiastes
and Isaiah, I believe. Yeah. The book right before Isaiah. Song of Solomon chapter 2. This passage gives the desire
of my heart. Song of Solomon 2. The voice of my beloved, how
I love to hear his word, particularly when he blesses it. I've been
in meetings and my heart's cold, and lifeless, and I've been in
other meetings when the Lord's presence is there and I hear
His voice, not the voice of the preacher, but I hear His voice,
the voice of my beloved. Behold, He cometh leaping upon
the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like
a roe or a young heart. Behold, He standeth behind our
wall. He looketh forth at the windows. showing himself through the lattice.
Every now and again, I get a glimpse of his glory.
I see him through that latticework, and it thrills my soul so. Verse
10, My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my
fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth.
The time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the
turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree putteth forth her
green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good
smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove,
Thou art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of
the stairs. Let me see Thy countenance, let
me hear Thy voice, for sweet is Thy voice, and Thy countenance
is comely. Take us, the foxes, the little
foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. My Beloved is mine, and I am
His. He feedeth among the lilies,
until the daybreak, and the shadows flee away. Turn, my beloved,
and be thou like a roe or a young heart upon the mountains of Bethlehem. My beloved is altogether lovely. Oh, how I want to be with him.
Back in Ephesians 5, verse 25. Husbands, love your wives. Simple command, right? We're
all very, very easy to love at all times. Never give anybody
reason not to love us. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. This
love is a sacrificing love. How did Christ show forth his
love for the church? He left the Father. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. He left the praise of angels
and walked among sinful men who ridiculed Him and despised Him. He gave His back to be smitten,
His beard to be pulled out, his body to be hung on a tree by
nails, his blood to flow. He laid down his life for his
bride. Husbands, we are to love sacrificing
ourselves for our wives. Song of Solomon 710, the bride
says, I am my beloved's and his desire is toward me. In showing
my love to Stacia, my first responsibility is to provide for her needs. I learned this from my Lord.
He took upon Himself the likeness of sinful man and He died upon
the cross so that I could have life. He provided for my necessities. I was dead and He gave me life. Now after providing for her necessities,
those things that she must have, I want to supply for what she
wants. Christ taught me that too. Above and beyond giving me life
and redeeming me to himself, he gives me a family in the It
gives me brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers outside of
my own family that aunts and uncles that a lot of times I'm
closer to than that physical relationship, that relationship
that I inherit from my family. You're my family. I stand here
in your presence and it is a fearful thing to stand up here. It's
a mighty burden. But I'm preaching to people that
love me. People I didn't meet until yesterday, and yet the
Lord knits our hearts together in Christ. What wonderful gifts He gives
to us. He saved us, He's redeemed us,
and then He just gives mercy after mercy and grace after grace
for all our wants. Comforts and peace in this world
that is torn apart with trials and tribulations on every side.
And the child of God, the Bride of Christ, walks through the
world going, it's okay. My Father's got it all in His
hands. Come what may. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. Husbands, love your wives
even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. That is a brief review of the
responsibilities of the husband and wife. Now let's look at this
greatest love story. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
2. Genesis chapter 2. And while
we read this account, bear in mind what our Lord told the Pharisees
in John 5.39. Search the Scriptures. For in
them ye think ye have eternal life. Just knowing that book,
you think you have life because you can quote Scripture forward
and backward. For in them you think you have
eternal life. And they are they which testify
of me. All of the scriptures testify
of Christ, including what we're about to read. Join me in chapter
2, verse 16. And the Lord God commanded man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not
eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. 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 out of the ground the Lord
God formed every beast of the air and every fowl of the air.
every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought
them unto Adam, to see what he would call them. And whatsoever
Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And
Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and
to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found
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 the 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." Pause here and just
take a moment. Make sure we understand what
is taking place here. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit has created man and placed him in the garden. He has given him one commandment to show that God is sovereign
over Adam. At the time the commandment is
given, Eve has not been created. The commandment is given to Adam
alone. Adam was made in the likeness
of God, but he is not God. Adam is wise, but he is not all-knowing. Adam, before he fell, loved Eve
with a perfect love. He loved her as Christ loves
the Church, and He taught her. We don't know how much time passed
between Adam's creation and the formation of Eve. into the garden. But the text
reads as though Adam named everything created prior to Eve's arrival. And even if Adam was able to,
as this creature is presented, not have to consider things,
if he was able to just say, Robin, horse! There's still a lot in this creation. It took him a while. Then God made Eve, and he brought
Eve to present her to Adam. He would have told that woman
everything that had happened. how he was put asleep and woke
to be presented with this beautiful creature. Don't you know he took her throughout
his dominion and showed her everything and told her How beautiful she
was in comparison to whatever was presented. And he told her God's commandment as he understood it. Remember,
Adam is wise, but he's not all-knowing. He's not God-wise. Let's start reading again in
chapter 3, verse 1. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest
ye die. We've all heard this story. You
may have heard it preached from. I was brought up, most of the
time when men would preach from this text, they would say that
Eve added to the word of God. She added to what God said. I don't think she did. I don't
think she could have. Adam has not fallen. Eve is still
perfect. She doesn't know sin. And to
add to God's word is sin. But I believe she recited back
to the serpent as she had been taught of Adam. And I don't believe
Adam was around at this particular point. The serpents dealing with
Eve. Had Adam been there, I think he would have had some
interaction here. He being the stronger of the two spiritually. The man is the head of the house.
He was the head of the house. He would have interjected here.
So I think they were separated. But nonetheless, Adam taking Eve, his wife, through
the garden, showing her his dominion. And as they walk through the
garden, Eve, that tree over there, is
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God's commanded,
thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day ye eat of it,
thou shalt surely die. Eve, don't touch that tree. Why tempt God? Don't even touch
it. Adam taught her as he understood. We've heard this account read
many times. We've been taught how by Adam's
fall, sin entered into the world. But what is it that caused Adam
to openly rebel against his creator? More importantly, how is Christ
glorified in Adam's fall? As I said, Adam doesn't appear
to have been there. Where is he? It's a fair question. He's been
given his bride. What caused him to leave? I don't know. This is supposition.
What if, perhaps, our Lord, knowing that Adam's about to fall, He's
communing with him one last time? He knows Adam is about to die. And perhaps he is providing some
comforting words like he did to Peter before he denied Christ. He said to Peter, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you
as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not. be a good reason to be separated
from your bride? We don't know. At any rate, it
doesn't appear that Adam was there with her at this time. And he understood the command
and the consequence to apply equally to himself and to his
bride. And God deals with men in one
of two men. 1 Corinthians 15.22, we read it
earlier this morning. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. Be it in Christ or you're
in Adam. This is my personal belief. Take
that grain of salt, okay? But I don't believe up until
the fall God ever spoke directly to Eve. It's not recorded. He spoke to Adam, but it's not
recorded that he spoke directly to Eve. I tend to believe that
Adam was the only one God spoke to. He spoke to Adam, and Adam
spoke to Eve. So, Adam's returning. Eve has spoken with the serpent. And Adam's returning from...
I haven't read it. Let's read the
rest of what happened to Eve here. Starting in chapter 3,
verse 4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not
surely die. For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat." Let's pause there for
just a moment. Adam comes back. wherever he
was he's walking through the garden and he looks up was the woman next to that tree what's she doing there? and his
pace quickens a little bit and he gets closer Is that fruit in her hand? That's
the fruit of that tree. There's some missing. And he reaches her. My wife,
what have you done? He replies, the serpent said
I could eat. Nothing's happened to me. Eve is still alive. The commandment
was given to Adam, not to Eve. And oh, it's so hard for us today,
in this day of death and destruction on every side. But Adam didn't
know what death was. He had never experienced death.
There was only life. And Adam says, you've died. You
must have died. God said, in the day you eat
thereof, you shall surely die. You've died and you just don't
know it. Eve responds, no, nothing's happened to me. I'm fine. I feel
just the same as I did. It's good fruit. You simply don't know it yet. You've died. and I love you and
if you're dead I'm going to be dead too and in open rebellion
to his creator Adam took of that fruit and he did eat Adam in his limited understanding
considered his bride dead and loving her he left his father
cleaved to his bride, and he died for his bride, and they
died. Is that justification for Adam's
rebellion? No. Adam openly rebelled against
God. If your family is starving for
food, and you break the law, and you steal food for them,
you're guilty. Adam sinned, he transgressed
the law of God, and the penalty of sin is death, regardless of
the motive. Through Adam, sin injured the
world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned. sad ending to our love story in just a moment Adam will stand
and he's going to in the presence of God point to that woman and
say it's her fault she did it the story has all the makings
of a great tragedy And what a sad ending that would
be. But our story, our greatest love story, it doesn't end like
that. Before the foundation of this
world was laid, God the Father purposed to provide a bride for
His Son. And that Son, He loves the bride. He loved her then, He loves her
now, and He is the perfect husband to her for a short time she communed
with him in that garden with nothing in between in her own
standing he knowing that she must die so that he could provide
for her needs she had to die he left her alone and she rebelled Although she departed from Him,
He never once stopped loving her. In the fullness of time,
He left the presence of His Father, and the Son of God became man. It was man that offended God,
and a man, THE man, had to answer for that offense. What man can
answer for that offense? All born of Adam are guilty. I can't pay for my sin, much
less yours, not even hers. The Son of God became the seed
of woman and he bore none of Adam's guilt. As man, he could
suffer the penalty due to his bribes. As God, He is undefiled
by the sin that He bore. For love, Christ was forsaken
of the Father. God's judgment fell and His blood
was shed to atone for the sin of the bride. Christ, like Adam,
He saw His bride in her death. But unlike Adam, He took from
her death and gave her life. He suffered, died, and rose again,
and she lives in Him. Ours is an everlasting love story. As long as God is on His throne,
the story remains. 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 has
chosen us, God the Father has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. Heaven predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace. wherein he hath made us accepted
in the blood, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself. that in
the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
that we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted
in Christ. Who first trusted in Christ?
God the Father first trusted in Christ. This love story will
remain as long as God is on His throne, that in the ages to come,
He, our Father, might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Throughout eternity
God the Father is going to show forth the glory of God His Son
as seen in the redemption of His bride. God the Father has
purposed to give His Son a bride. God the Son loves that bride
and He gave Himself for her. God the Holy Ghost calls that
bride as in Song of Solomon 2.10, rise up my love, my fair one,
and come away. Have you heard his voice? Do
you desire your beloved? That husband who loved you and
gave himself for you. Can you say, I am my beloved
and he is mine? I sure hope so. But if you can't,
don't you want a husband like this? Who is all together lovely? If my beloved is not your beloved,
turn with me to Isaiah chapter 5. No, excuse me, Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55 verse 6 If my Beloved is not your Beloved,
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while
he is near. Let the wicked I am that wicked without Christ. Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man. There is none righteous, no,
not one. Let the wicked forsake his way and the
unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return. We left our
Lord in Adam. Let him return unto the Lord.
And why should we return? He will have mercy upon him and
return to our God. For by return to our God, he
will abundantly pardon. I've told you about my beloved.
I call you to it. but I can't give you a love for
him. Only he in power can create in you a spirit to call upon
him. Seek him in his word. Call upon him to make himself
known to you. When Christ is made known unto
you, you'll know that when he cried out, it is finished, he
declared, my bride, which was dead, covered in filthy robes,
is now made alive in me. She who rebelled and I watched
die is awakened in newness of life to die nevermore. 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 they too shall be one flesh. Let's bow together and word of
prayer. O Lord our God, our Father, it's in the name of Christ, your
holy, beloved Son, that we approach unto you. Lord, I pray that this day has been a blessing
to those here. Lord, may You send Your Spirit
unto us. Write Your Word upon our heart.
Cause us to believe. Cause us to seek Christ. Oh,
that we might see Him glorified. Lord, forgive us of our sins.
Forgive us of our unbelief. Lord, we pray that you would
raise up this work. Lord, send him a pastor. Send
him a man at your own heart who will seek to honor and glorify
God and His Son in every message that is brought here. to the
salvation of sinners. Lord, regain your elect in this
place. May it be a light in this dark
world. Lord, thank you for the love
you've given us for one another. Thank you for your love to us
in Christ Jesus. Cause us to turn to Him. Cause
us to seek Him. Cause us to be found in Him. Be merciful to us, Lord. For
those who are sick and enduring times of trial and strife, be
merciful to them especially, Lord. Give them grace above grace. For it's in Christ's name we
pray, Amen.