Okay? Good morning. I want to say,
first of all, I've had a lot of time to think. I've been sitting
right there thinking for a long time. And the first thing I want
to say is thank you to all of our brethren. Thank you, Mike,
for that song. I watched you walk across and
I was thinking, man, I'm glad Mike's about to sing. Thank you, Brother Donnie. And
this congregation, you have been so good to Kingsport. Supported us and loved us. All
around the room, I see the congregations. They tend to sit together. And
I love you all. And I'm thankful. I'm very thankful. I want to have a word of prayer
before we begin. Our most gracious Heavenly Father,
we come before You, Lord, one more time before we open up Your
Holy Word. And I pray, Lord, if it be Thy
will that You would let us look into this with sincerity and with fear, Lord. And I pray,
Lord, that You would allow us to leave this world for just
a minute, the cares of getting here, finding a seat, getting
ready. Lord, make us ready to hear.
Would You make me ready to hear, Lord? I pray that there are two
or three gathered here in Your name, and Lord, I pray that I'm
one of them. Please, dear Lord, if it be Thy will, send Your
Spirit to us. Please bless Your Word to us,
Lord, Have mercy on us, we pray, for Christ's sake. Amen. Turn
with me, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. We are not promised tomorrow. And I didn't know that very well
when I was younger. I didn't think about that too
much. But we are not promised tomorrow.
None of us. May God convince us of that. This life is short. And I haven't
been in it that long. But I can tell you, it's short.
And it's frail. And when it's over, we're going
to go meet God. We're going to have to stand
before God. We are not promised tomorrow.
So do you know what I need today? I need Jesus Christ. I need the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is all I need. Do you know that's all I need? I need a union with Him. That's all I need. When I stand before my God, I
need to be standing in Him. That's all I need. That's all I need. I need to
be in Christ. If I'm going to have any hope
of not suffering God's wrath for my sin, the sin that I commit
right now, if I'm going to have any hope
of not suffering His punishment, I need Him. I need Christ. I need a union with Him. Well, I want to show you my hope.
This is my hope. And I hope and pray that this
really is my hope. Look at Ephesians 2, verse 11. that ye being in time past Gentiles
in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which
is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise
having no hope and without God in the world." Is that not me
and you as we are born into this world? Strangers having no hope and
without God. Verse 13, "...but now..." In Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is
our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to
you which were afar off and to them that were nigh. For through
Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God." Is that union or what? That's union. That right there
said that I died with Him, in Him. It said I rose with Him,
in Him. And that says, I live with Him
and He lives in me. I live in Him and He lives in
me. That is union. Now, Ephesians chapter 1 says
that God chose some sinners to be in this union with Christ.
Look at chapter 1 verse 4. Ephesians 1 verse 4, According
as He hath chosen us, in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." Every sinner that God chose to
be in this union with Christ, God says, they're in love. And we are. Our Lord said, Jacob have I loved. What do you think his heart meant
when he said that? Jacob has no idea, I can tell
you that. He said, Simon, son of Jonas,
love has found me. Solomon wrote, Thou hast ravished
my heart. Look at John 11 with me. John 11 verse 1 says, Now a certain man was sick, named
Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped
his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore
his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick." All who are in this union with
Christ are in love. They're in love. To what degree
is this love? To what degree is this union?
Go with me over to John chapter 3. John 3 verse 29 says, He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom,
which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of
the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled."
This is a union between a husband and a wife. That's what this
is. It really is a true union. And it really is true love. It really is true love. Turn with me over to Revelation
21. Revelation 21 verse 9 says, And there came unto me one of
the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven
last plates, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will
show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." I love that word. That's
even more special than bride to me. the Lamb's wife. And He carried me away in the
Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city,
holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the
glory of God. And her light was like unto a
stone, most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal."
You know what Revelation 4 says the one who sits on the throne
looks like? A jasper stone, clear as crystal. She looks just like He does.
Look at Revelation 22. Verse 17 says, And the Spirit
and the Bride say, Come. And we do, don't we? Let Him
that heareth say, Come. Let him that is a thirst come,
and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Paul
wrote, I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present
you as a chaste virgin to Christ. That is union. That is union. Now those of us who have entered
into the union of marriage, we all have our own story to
tell. That story of how our union came about. And every soul that has been
united to Christ has a story to tell. The story of how their
union came about. And interestingly enough, every
soul that has been united to Christ has the exact same story. Every one of them. I want to
show it to you. Go with me to Genesis 24. This is a love story from the
bride's point of view. Genesis 24, verse 1. And Abraham was old and well
stricken in age. And the Lord had blessed Abraham
in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest
servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I
pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will make thee swear
by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of earth, that thou
shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites,
among whom I dwell, but thou shalt go unto my country and
to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac." Verse 9 says, And the servant put his hand
under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and sware to him concerning
that matter." The first thing that happened in this union was
a covenant was made. Before the bride ever came into
the picture, a covenant was made. The father purposed to choose
a bride for his son. And this is the amazing part.
He said this bride is not going to come from Canaan. That's the
promised land. That's the land flowing with
milk and honey. God the Father did not choose
a bride for His Son from the promised land. From glory itself. He could have made anything the
bride of Christ. Angels. He could have created
a sinless being that never left heaven. A perfect bride for His
perfect Son. But He said, she's not going
to come from here. She's going to come from the
land of idolatry. Ur of the Chaldeans. You're going
to go down to Ur of the Chaldeans. Abraham represents the Father.
And his servant represents the Spirit, and the Spirit is about
to go call a bride for the Son. Verse 10 says, And the servant took ten camels
of the camels of his master and departed, for all the goods of
his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia
unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel
down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening,
even the time that women go out to draw water. This servant went
straight to the well. And this word is the well. When we are dying of thirst and
when we need refreshing, We come to God's Word, don't we? And
by His mercy and by His grace, we draw out living water. And
it is. It feeds my soul. Living water. This servant is
going to meet the bride of the Son at the well. This is where
they're going to meet. And he's going to meet a particular
bride. A very particular bride. Verse 12 says, And he said, O
Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed
this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I
stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men
of the city come out to draw water, and let it come to pass
that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I
pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and
I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that
thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac. And thereby shall I know
that thou hast showed kindness unto my master." And it came
to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out.
who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor,
Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel
was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her.
And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came
up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray
thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink,
my lord. And she hasted, and let down
her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she
had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy
camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted
and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto
the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man
wondering at her held his peace, to know whether the Lord had
made his journey prosperous or not. This is what our Lord said
about His bride. He said, My people, shall be
willing in the day of my power. Verse 22 says, And it came to
pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a
golden earring, a half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for
her hands of ten shekels weight of gold. Gifts of the Spirit. Fruit of the Spirit. Hope, love. Verse 23. And said, Whose daughter
art thou? Tell me, I pray thee. Is there
room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said
unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, which
she bare unto Nahor. She said, Moreover unto him,
we have both straw and provender enough and room to lodge in.
And the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord. And
he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who
hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth. I
being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's
brethren. And the damsel ran and told them
of her mother's house these things." So this servant came to Rebecca's
house. Verse 33. And there was set meat before
him to eat. But he said, I will not eat until
I have told my Aaron. And he said, Speak on. And he
said, I am Abraham's servant, and the Lord has blessed my master
greatly, and he has become great. And he hath given him flocks,
and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants,
and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife,
bare a son to my master when she was old, and unto him hath
he given all that he hath." He said, I am here for one purpose
only. And that's to tell you about
the Son. That's the only reason I'm here. To tell you about the
Son. Verse 37 says, And my master
made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of
the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell, but thou
shalt go unto my father's house and to my kindred and take a
wife unto my son. And I said unto my master, Peradventure
the woman will not follow me. And he said unto me, The Lord
before whom I walk will send His angel with thee and prosper
thy way. And thou shalt take a wife for
my son of my kindred and of my Father's house." Then in the
next few verses that servant goes on to reveal everything
that had already happened to him. He told him about this covenant
that was made. And he told him about this predestination
that brought him and Rebecca to the same well. He told them
about irresistible grace. He told them about the fruit
and the gifts of the Spirit. He told them everything that
had already happened. Verse 48. He said, And I bowed
down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord
God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to
take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. And now, if you
will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not,
tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left." Then
Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from
the Lord. We cannot speak unto thee bad
or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee. Take her and go, and let her
be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord has spoken. And it came
to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped
the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought
forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold. He brought forth the
unsearchable riches of Christ to him." Verse 53 says, "...and
raiment." He put a robe on her. What do you think that robe was?
That is the righteousness of Christ, the blood of the Lamb,
Verse 53, the servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels
of gold and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah. He gave also
to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did
eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried
all night, and they rose up in the morning. And he said, Send
me out away unto my master. And her brother and her mother
said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days." That means one
year. at the least ten months. After that she shall go. And
he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered
my way. Send me away, that I may go to
my master. And they said, We will call the
damsel, and inquire at her mouth." Now a confession is about to
be made. She's heard about a man who is
the son of the highest, and he's the heir of all things.
She's been given the gifts and the calling of God. She's already
been given a robe of righteousness to wear. She's heard about him. She's seen a glimpse of him with
eyes of faith, whatever that servant has been pleased to reveal.
But she hasn't yet seen Him with her own two physical eyes. So
everything she's seen so far is as though it's through a glass
darklight. Verse 57 says, And they said, We will call the damsel
and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah and said
unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. Yes, I will. Whom having not
seen, she loves. She already loves him. Is this your story? This is mine. Rebecca, what do you confess? I will go. I confess His name. I want to
be His bride. I really do. I want His name
to be my name. Wherever He lodges, that's where
I want to lodge. I want His people to be my people. I confess that He is God, and
I want Him to be my God. Verse 58 says, And they called
Rebekah and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she
said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah their
sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they
blessed Rebekah and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be
thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed
possess the gate of those which hate them. And Rebekah arose
in her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed
the man, and the servant took Rebekah and went his way." Now at that point right there,
at that verse right there, this is where we are in our journey. This is where we are in our own
story, right here. We are in the journey. And right now we are traveling
through the land. And God's Holy Spirit is leading
us along that way. And I've always loved the thought
of this, but the distance from Ur to Canaan is about 550 miles
in a straight line. They didn't travel in a straight
line. They had to follow the Euphrates
River. So it's estimated that they traveled between 800 and
900 miles on the back of a camel. That took a while, didn't it?
That took a long time. That seemed like a long time. All along this way, you know,
you know, that Rebecca has got to be asking
this servant. What's Isaac like? Would you mind telling me about
Isaac? Would you tell me about him again? I know you just told me. Would
you mind telling me again? Now what all did you say about
him again? And if this servant would have
started telling her about the materials that the streets were
made out of in Canaan or the newest mansions that had just
been built in Canaan, Rebecca would have said, I don't care
about any of that stuff. Tell me about Isaac. I just want to hear about him.
That's it. I just want to hear about him. Tell me one more time. I need
to hear it one more time. I need to hear it one more time.
So this servant, being a faithful servant of his master, what do
you think he did? He glorified Isaac. He told her that Isaac was the
promised son. He said, Rebecca, your husband
Your husband is the promised one sent from
God. All kindreds of the earth are
going to be blessed by God through Isaac. God said if anybody's going to
be called, if anybody's going to be blessed, it's going to
be through Isaac. He is God blessed forever. She said, could you please tell
me some more? Tell me about his character.
What about his character? Oh, he said, you've never met
a man like this man. He loves his father. And his
father loves him. He is a faithful and obedient
man. All of the word and the will
of His Father, He obeys. He obeyed even to the point of
death. There came a time when the Father
had to kill His own Son, Rebekah. And not only did Isaac not rebel,
Not only did he not rebel, but he carried his own wood to his
own sacrifice. The father said, son, you must
be the sacrifice. And Isaac willingly crawled up
on that altar. And he said, not my will, but
I'll be done. Because of that, Rebecca, Because
he made himself an offering for sin, his father hath highly exalted
him. And in Abraham's seed he has
given Isaac a name which is above every name. And he swathes in
his hands all things. Isaac is appointed heir of all
things. And Rebecca, in your union to
Him. Because of this union with Him,
you are going to also be freely given all things. You know what Rebecca said? Why
me? What did I ever do to deserve
this? That servant said nothing. You didn't do anything. It was
all done for you. It was all given to you by My
Master. All glory, all honor, all praise
goes to My Master. Every bit of it. Now verse 61, And Rebekah arose in her damsels,
and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man, And the
servant took Rebekah and went his way, and Isaac came." Aren't
you waiting for that? And Isaac came from the way of
the well, Lake Iroi, for he dwelt in the south country. And Isaac
went out to meditate in the field at the eventide. And he lifted
up his eyes and saw, and behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah
lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off
the candle. For she said unto the servant,
What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And
the servant said, It is my master. There he is, in all his glory. He said, I told you so. And she
said, You didn't tell me the half of it. The have was not
told. I could never have imagined His
beauty. Do you mean that my Beloved is
mine and I am His? I am so unworthy. I am so unworthy of Him. The
end of verse 65 says, Therefore she took a veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all
things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his
mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her. And Isaac was
comforted after his mother's death." What a union. Is that not the best news you've
ever heard? It is to me. Behold what manner
of love. That Christ would leave His Father
and come down here to this cesspool of sin to cleave unto His wife,
that they too should be one flesh. Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. He's coming. Alright, I hope
the Lord bless you.