This is chapter two. I was telling Kimberly a couple
weeks ago, over a while, I've conducted, officiated one wedding
ceremony in my life. I hope I get to do another one.
That's a nice time. I look forward to preaching the
funeral of a believer. That's a good time. I've been
told that it's better to preach the funerals of unbelievers.
In my experience, that's not, on my end, it's not better. I
want to rejoice. I want to be happy. I got to
thinking, I was like, ah, it may be, the Lord may not be pleased
to allow me to preach another wedding, but I do every time
I get up here. I'm going to preach a wedding
this morning. I'm going to tell you about weddings. And I pray God will
reveal himself to his bride. We do everything backwards in
this world. Bride has a veil over her face, and she reveals
herself to the husband. Our husbandman has a veil over
his face. He sees us. We don't see him
until he reveals himself to us. Maybe God will save somebody
in this room this morning. I pray so. I earnestly pray so. I do. I'm going to preach on
marriage a little bit. And this, it'll either get me
in a doghouse or get me out of the doghouse. I don't know. And I always tell you, everything's
systemic. That means it's the same throughout,
right? And so the picture and types
that we have in a home, husband and a wife and children, how
that works is a picture and a type of how that works in a local
assembly. You've got a pastor and you've got a congregation
and life is born. Life comes through this. That's
how God makes babies. You can be on TV, and I can Zoom
with Kimberly as much as I want when I don't have a child. It's
in person. That's the same as it is in a
home. That's the same as it is in a local assembly, and that's
the same as it is in a church throughout time. The Lord comes
to his people. He draws them near. He weds himself
to them. A kinsman redeemer who's related
to us and able to redeem. It's lawful to redeem. That's why I'm going to preach.
I'm going to tell you the truth according to the scriptures,
and that may get me in or out of the doghouse at home. That
may get me in or out of the doghouse in this local assembly. And that
may get me, if I was to lie on God, I'll tell you what kind
of eternal doghouse that's going to be. There's Pharisees in this
nation and around this world that whenever people die, they're
just, that's it. Foreign food, locked out. That's
a lie. It ain't biblical. Heretics preach
such things. And their denominations and those
that follow them believe such things. It's horrible. Somebody's
got to tell them. But why do people get married? This has
been such a blessing to me. Why do faithful pastors ask why?
Somebody brought that to my attention. I got to thinking a lot about
that the last couple of weeks. All them grace preachers, they always
say, why? Barney, you say, I want to help you if you'll let me.
Will you let me? I want to help you. I want to
ask these questions. Why? And that's, that's to provoke
thought. That's to prime the mind. Teaching
and praying that the Lord will use it, not to just give you
knowledge so you can go to war with somebody out in the street
and be right, but not just something offered that gives me a lot to
think about. I hope I can give you someone to bow to. Not something
to think about, someone to bow to. I want to engage. We're in
the people business. I want to engage people. Why do people get married? The
Lord established this. Where do wives come from? Genesis
2, look here, verse 18. And the Lord God said, it is
not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a help
meet for him. I'm going to make him a help
fit for him. And out of the ground, the Lord
God formed 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 the
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,
help fit for him. Do you see the picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ here? This is a human being, Adam. This is a picture of Christ.
That's why Adam came, for God's glory. These things, it wasn't
fit for cattle and birds and all these things that mankind
naturally seems to worship and adore to be a help for him, to
be meat for him, to be a bride for him. It wasn't fit. And Lord God, verse 21, caused
a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept and he took one
of the ribs and closed up the flesh and stead thereof. And
the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he 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, not out of his foot, that way he
would trample on her, and not out of his head, that way she
could have rule over him, but out of his side, out of unity,
oneness. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife." You ever
heard law first mentioned? The first time wife was ever
mentioned on this globe, God was speaking of unity. Unity. And they shall be one flesh.
Is that what it says in verse 24? Verse 25, and they were both
naked. Everything was exposed. The man and his wife, both of
them. And they were not ashamed. What's
the first mention of a wife, husband and a wife? Unity. What's
the second mention? Verse 25, in this context, sinlessness. Because of that unity, The bride's
sinless, there's no shame. Nothing to be ashamed about.
No spot, no blemish, no wrinkle, no nothing. Holy, unreprovable,
before Him in love. That's all she was. That Lord set His eyes, His affection
on His bride before time was. He saw us before we saw Him.
He knew us before we knew Him. And He came to us, made Himself
irresistible to us. and we cleave to him out of love,
not out of commandment, not out of law, not out of necessity,
out of love. I remember the first picture
I ever saw of Kimberly Nicole. I can tell you what she's wearing.
I can see it right now. He was at a birthday party. Little
did I know he was going to have a lot more birthday parties after
that. I laid my eyes on her. I made myself appealing to her.
I showed her the very best of myself. Second picture I saw
of it was you at a swimming pool. Little did I know I was going
to be spending a lot of my days at a swimming pool the rest of
my life. I laid eyes on her. I swooned her. Lord laid eyes
on his bride and he swooned her. He swooned her. The Lord performed
his very first public miracle when he entered his public ministry
at a wedding. You reckon weddings are important?
You reckon the sanctity of marriage is more than a legal binding
contract for medical benefits? Why do we get married? Why? Turn over Revelation 19. Here's
the end of it. Revelation 19 verse 6. John writes here, I heard, as
it were, Revelation 19, six, I heard, as it were, the voice
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, hallelujah, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Behold your God, the sovereign
almighty God that rules every molecule. I keep saying that
over and over and over again, and I hope I get it as much as
I hope you get it. Every molecule and person and
thought and heart of every king and every governor and everything. Every storm, every rocket, every
bullet. He's omnipotent. He's all-powerful. He's on his throne. And they're
saying, Hallelujah. All flesh is grass. Behold your
God reigneth. That's good, isn't it? Let us be glad and rejoice
and give honor to him. For the marriage of the lamb
has come and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of the saints. She's robed in righteousness. And he saith unto me, write,
write this down. That way, San Diego Grace Fellowship
in Hamoul, California, on October 8th, 2023, can read it. This is important. How we handle
God's words, how we handle God. Let's read it. Verse eight. I'm
sorry, verse nine. He saith unto me, Right, blessed
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he saith unto me, these are true sayings of God. God says
this. And I fell at his feet to worship
him. And he said unto me, see thou doest not. I'm a fellow
servant and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus.
I'm just a preacher. Get up. What's wrong with you?
I'm just telling you about this wedding. Telling you why people
get married. Telling you why they're blessed.
Worship God. Don't you worship me. Don't you
worship a man. Don't you worship a dead man that used to preach
God. You worship God. For the testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. There's always nut jobs throughout
the world. They're prophesying this, especially the last couple
of days, all that stuff going on. I bet they're turned up to
11. I bet they're geared up. What was that tabloid? The National
Enquirer? Elvis had a baby with an alien
or something at the checkout when I was a little kid. That's
just on the internet in everybody's hand now. And people think that's
real. It's just nonsense. But these
prophecies, people say, oh, that's what's going to happen. That's
what's going to happen. What is prophecy? God's Word says it's
the testimony of Jesus. Man stands on his hind two legs
and tells you prophecy about stuff that ain't Jesus. He's
a false prophet. That's not a prophecy What this
preacher tell John hey don't worship me I'm telling you worship
God Look what he's done. And this those are blessed. It's
at this wedding wedding supper It's wedding of the lamb. Oh,
this is a picture, isn't it? How does this affect us? We physically
get married, don't we? There's people given in marriage
and left and right and center all around this world and throughout
time. Lots of people get married. The Lord gave us this token of
marriage to represent Christ and his bride. I want to say
this as plainly as I can, and I really want you to get a hold
of it. The gospel is not like a marriage. A marriage is like
the gospel. Well, Kevin, you were just mincing
words. No. How somebody words things, we're
going to word things wrong. That's going to happen. Okay.
Don't chew on the briars. Chew on good stuff. But the preeminence
is to God. Christ gets all the preeminence.
You understand that? And so because he is our husband
and we are his bride, we are given the token of marriage. That's important. A ceremony does not make something
happen. It declares what's already done. You get that? When a husband
and wife are joined together in holy matrimony, we made all
them words up, man did, but when you stand up publicly professing
a love that is already there, I hope you don't get married
and we'll fall in love later. Maybe you will, maybe you won't,
but you're publicly declaring a love and a unity that is already,
just like water baptism. God commands immersion in water
baptism to his people, and they willfully obey, don't they? What
do you do? That doesn't make, it's not a
sacrament like taking the, those aren't sacraments. Getting that
water doesn't physically do anything to you. You're publicly declaring
A unity that's already taken place. I don't think we have to get
baptized, Kevin. Do you have to get married? Well, I want to. I don't have
to. I want to declare the world. I got a ring on my finger. It's
a heavy one, too. If it falls off, I know it. She's
got a ring on her finger. Walking down the street, people
know I'm hers and she's mine. I am my beloved's and my beloved's
mine. It's a public profession. If I was taking my ring off and
hiding it, what would you think? You ever seen a movie, or read
a book, ever? He's up to no good. You'd get
mad. Y'all may not care, she would.
Leave the house with my ring on. It's just declaring what's
already taken place, isn't it? Baptism doesn't make a person
buried and risen with Christ, but it's a public declare of
the love that's already there. That work that's already done.
Now Ephesians 5. Lord gave us, first time wife's
mentioned, he gave us this picture of Christ and his church in marriage. It's not good for a man to be
alone. Man needs help. He needs somebody to help him. He shows us that wedding supper
at the end. We serve him. We his faithful servants. He's
made us faithful. I want to do everything I can
in my power for the glory of God and the furtherance of his
gospel and the health and betterment of his people. I want that. He has to walk in me. He has
to do that. And I want to pray for him and
the Spirit has to make intercession for me. But I want those things. I want those things. Paul speaks
here in Ephesians 5, verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands. as unto the Lord. And you will
have to know something about the Lord first before you can
submit to 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'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. In the home, in local assembly,
in the body of Christ, These things ring true, don't
they? Do everything you can to support, honor, care for, attend
to, know your own husbands. Not a different husband on every
day of the week. We get that. You ladies get that, don't you?
You husbands get that. Your own husbands. I respected
my father and I learned about my father because my mother told
me so. She respected her husband that
God gave her. The husband, he has to provide, he has to protect,
he has to lead the home. And so you wives, you make sure
you do everything you can to keep that house in order to make
his job easier because you love him. It's your job. Paul told Titus
in Titus 2 verse 5, be discreet, chaste, keepers at home. good,
obedient to their own husbands. That, here's the end state, the
word of the Lord be not blasphemed. It's blasphemous to do something
else. Y'all heard me say that. It's gonna get better, hold on.
Second message is real good, you gotta hang with me till the
end. In the local assembly, that's the home. in a local assembly. If someone's listening in, I
know there's a fellow driving through Tennessee tonight that
might be listening to this, and he needs to hear it, and if the
Lord raises up one of you young men to be pastors one day, you
hear me. Submit, the local assembly, submit to your own husbands.
Give ear to your own pastor. I just copied and pasted all
this down. Give ear to your own, it's the same. Give ear to your
own pastor, not a different one every day of the week. We get
that in a home, don't we? Get it in here. The scriptures
say, know them. Know them, preach to you. That pastor has to provide for
you with the word of God. He has to bring home the bread
and you make sure your house is in order and you do everything
you can. That way, all he has to do is just bring home the
food and protect you and look after you. Titus 2.5 says, to
be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their
own husbands. Why? That the word of the Lord
be not blasphemed for the body of Christ, his bride, the eternal
church throughout time. I can tell this to Eve. If I was there to preach to Eve
and to whoever at last saint is at the end of time, it's called
the glory. I can tell any of them. Submit
to your own husbands, the Lord Jesus Christ, your kinsman redeemer,
not a different one every day of the week. To him alone, our
kinsman redeemer, he's provided everything for us. He protects
us. He defends us. He prays for us
when we don't know what to pray. He leads us in paths of righteousness. He leads us by the still waters.
So because of our love for Him who first loved us, it's an honor. It is a privilege to serve Christ
and to serve His people however we can. What a privilege, yet
a simple thing, to be given the task of keeping His house in
order, to preach His gospel, to sweep His floors, maybe to
be a doorkeeper in the house of God. Come on in. Thank you. Well, that wasn't
much. It's a privilege. To be discreet, to be checked. You said it applies to all three
of them. Keepers at home, good, obedient
to their own husbands. I want to do those things. That
the word of God be not blasphemed according to his word. Submission
and obedience. be obedient to your husband,
submit to your husband. That's considered hate speech in this
decade that we're in. That's hate speech. That makes
people flinch, don't it? There's people right now that
won't go to a local assembly because they won't have some pastor get
up there and tell them what to do. I'll just tell you, bow to
God. That's what that one told John. Worship God. I ain't gonna have some fella
tell me that. Let me tell you what, there'll come a day you're
gonna have a man reign over you. It's a blessing if God makes
you start adhering to that now. You can't bow to a police officer.
How you gonna bow to a holy God? He put that police officer there.
Ain't you got a lick of sense in your head? What's wrong with
you? You see this picture in the home
and local church throughout time? It's so, isn't it? You want liberty? I mean liberty. You want freedom? I like freedom. I fought for freedom. You fought
for freedom. I like it. I like to do what
I want. You want liberty? You want rest? I've worked hard
and I've got tired. I like rest. Do you want peace
in your home? God says, submit to your own
husbands. Do you want liberty in Christ?
Do you want rest and peace in your souls? Submit to the Lord. I have no rest. You submitted
to the Lord. You come unto Him. All you that
labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Cast all your
care on Him. Cast all your care. We'll look
at that next hour. Cast your burden on the Lord. Peter said
that. He said, cast all your care upon
Him for He cares for you. Take it to Him. Leave it there.
That's the hard part. To live outside. Here's where
we'll get in trouble. It's so. In the home, to live outside
of the bounds of this union, this word of God in our homes,
it brings a lot of unnecessary trouble, pain, and grief. I attest to it. To live contrary
to the word of God in our homes brings unnecessary trouble, pain,
and grief. I can tell you that's what God's
word says. I can tell you that's what I've experienced. I know
it. I know it right now. To live outside the bounds of
this union, this word of God in the local assemblies, it will
bring a lot of unnecessary trouble, pain, and grief at best. At best. Eternally. That's a picture in
the home. Husband and wife. That's a picture
of local assembly. The bride and the husband. And that's a
picture of God throughout time and his church. To live outside
the bounds of his union. To live outside the bounds of
his word and to submit to another either in part or in whole. To
give ear to another, to rest in another, is a damnable heresy
full of eternal woe and condemnation. That's awful kind of him, isn't
it? Telling us and showing us in the home, telling us and showing
us in the local assembly of the saints. We get it. If he's taught you
that, you get it. I'd say it and put it on a dry
erase board in good flow format with bullet points and numbers
and letters and subcategories and print it and copy it and
laminate it and give it to you. He has to make it effectual in
your heart. It's so. That's wives. Now husbands. You that are husbands and you
that might be husbands one day, you listen to them. Do you know
why the wives are spoken to first about scripture? Always are. We're the ones reading it. I
think in the home, we have a harder job. But I'm a bride. I'm his bride. I'm the one reading
this about brides. That's me. I'm a bride. Any man walking down the street
that says that to me, he might need to see a dentist real soon.
But spiritually, I am my beloved's and my beloved's mine. I'm his
bride. Verse 25, Ephesians 5, 25. Husbands,
that's where I know I ought to get in trouble. I failed miserably.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it. Well, what if a husband doesn't
love his wife? doesn't know how to love his
wife. He's gonna have to know how Christ loved the church first
before he can truly love his bride. That's just so. He might
like her a whole bunch, or he might lust a whole bunch, but
for a husband to truly love his bride, he primarily and first
has to know the love of Christ towards his bride. Then he can
love like Christ. Even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it. That's real important too. That
qualifies 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,
that it should be holy and without blemish. So, after this manner,
so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that
loveth his wife loveth himself the one. For no man ever yet
hated his own flesh, but nourished it and cherished it, even as
the Lord the church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones." Isn't that what Adam said? Now this is bone of my bone and
flesh of my flesh. What was that picture of? Was
how we conduct wedding service? No. We are members of his body,
of his flesh, of his bones. For this cause, because of that,
shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined
unto his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Christ came
down and joined himself to us, didn't he? He came to us. He
left his father and married us, set his affection
on us in the home. It's good instruction. It's instruction
God gives. You men, you love your wives
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. What's that
mean, Kevin? If she needs something, you lay
down your life to provide it. Not if she wants a Ferrari and
a fancy yacht. I wish she wanted a yacht. I'd
go get you one of them. But not just privileged things. If there's a need, you lay down
your life for her to provide it. If she's getting attacked, I made her a promise going on
17 years ago. I said, you'll never have to
work a day in your life you don't want to. I'll look out for you. I'll defend you. I'll protect
you and provide for you. I'm in it. How I failed. You men, you husbands, if your
wife's getting attacked, you lay down your life to defend
her. If she doesn't know what the
future holds, take her by the hand and you gently lead her
beside the still waters. I'm speaking only to believing
husbands, not unbelieving husbands. You're the spiritual head of
the family. God's not just gave you knowledge, but if you understand
the scriptures, you're the head of the family. Your primary God
given task is to keep your wife under the sound of the gospel.
Second, your primary God given task is to keep your children
under the sound of the gospel. Third, it goes on, your primary
God-given task, and third relationship, or triciary, I guess, is to keep
those that you have influence over, that work for you, that
live on your property, that live in your home, or neighbors, or
whatever, anybody you have influence over, especially if you own your
own house. Isn't that what Abraham did? In great measure, because
Abraham was, God made him faithful, you and I have a gospel today.
through Abraham, his seed. We have Christ today, isn't it?
He said, I know him, that he will command his children, his
household after him, that they shall keep the way of the Lord,
to do justice and judgment. That's too much responsibility.
Well, God gave it to you. I can't sustain that. No, you
can't. He has to. The Lord had to do that work
in Abraham, just as he does us. But as a picture, and as the
means, the husband was the head of the family. Local assemblies,
Lord calls one of you men to be a pastor. You lay down your
life to labor and to provide the bread that the Lord gave
you, night and day. Yeah, I'm tired, it don't matter.
I'm sick as a dog, it don't matter. You keep an eye open for the
wolves that try to sneak in and divide and devour the sheep and
sow discord and put question marks on things and have negative
things to say that ain't according to the word of God. I can't help
but laugh. Paul talks so plainly to Timothy. And not that it's funny, but
it's I've experienced it. He just said that as plain as
you can say it. They gave him good instruction. Watch after
them people. When you rebuke him sharper,
they'll be sounding the faith. And people come up with crazy
wives tales. Don't even entertain that in
these endless questions. Hush! I ain't here to play 20
questions. I'm here to preach the gospel.
Now there'll be some questions, but this ain't Stump the Chomp. And in love and in tenderness.
No matter if you're told how rough you are and how mean you
are, in love and in tenderness, you take the reins and you lead
the flock. That's the saying. The scriptures don't say they'll
give you the reins whenever you get there. They said you take
them. Ain't nobody gonna give up control. You take it. In tenderness
and kindness and according to the word of God. That's in the
home. That's in local assemblies. And
that's throughout time, because that's what our Lord's done to
us. He didn't come in and just beat us to death. It felt like
it did. When he first showed us what
sin was, oh, we cried out. He didn't show us at all. He
didn't deal with us according to our sins. He was tender. He
was just like Joseph. Oh, he was so mean to him. No,
he wouldn't. No, he wouldn't. He was wise and tender. 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. That's what the Lord said of
Adam and Eve in Genesis 2, 24. Therefore shall the man leave
his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife, that they
shall be one flesh. And they were both naked and
they weren't ashamed. Verse 32 says, this is a great
mystery, isn't it? But I speak concerning Christ
and the church. How am I going to have this in
my mind to lay down my life for my wife and to defend her with
my life and to provide for, protect her and lead her according to
the word of God? It's got to be because I know
Christ because of what he's done for me. against adversity or support,
and that's just as bad. Getting pumped up is just as
bad as getting deflated being a pastor. It doesn't matter.
Because of what he's done for us, he set his place like a stone.
That's what I gotta do. Because he's done it, isn't it?
It's a picture concerning the love of Christ for his bride
and his faithfulness. Why we get married? While we
stand up, people put on a suit and tie and get dressed up real
nice for weddings. And ladies wear dresses, don't
they, to weddings, because it's an important event. If they'd
understand that's a wedding, a picture of Christ and His bride,
it's real important. It's just a token to show us
what He's done for us, what He is doing for us, what He shall
do for us. That's why we get married on this earth. How many
people you reckon know that? Verse 33, nevertheless, this
is verse 32, it's a great mystery, I speak concerning Christ and
his church, nevertheless, with all these things in mind, I just
told you, with who he is and what he's done for us and where
he is now, let every one of you in particular so love his wife
even as a self and the wife see that she reverence the husband.
Isn't that good? If you want a happy marriage,
the Lord says it's plain. You men lay down your lives for
your wives and your wives submit to your husbands. Why? Look unto
the Lord that joined you together. You have to know Him first. That's
going to be the necessary thing. And He's revealed Himself to
us. That's what's amazing to me. I know it's hard to see on
the outside, but I'm amazed Kimberly married me. That's amazing. I did pretty good. I married
up. Lord's married to us and what
a great husband we have. That's pretty good.