A Faithful Bride

Q: What does the Bible say about the bride of Christ?

The Bible describes the bride of Christ as those who know Him and proclaim His righteousness as seen in Proverbs 31 and Revelation 19. In Scripture, particularly in Proverbs 31, the bride of Christ is depicted as a faithful servant who knows her husband, symbolizing a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus. This knowledge is not merely intellectual but involves a deep spiritual understanding, as emphasized by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:10, where he expresses a desire to know Christ personally. Additionally, Revelation 19 describes the bride, adorned in fine linen representing the righteousness of the saints. This righteousness is granted by God, affirming the bride's role in proclaiming His grace and mercy.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

God's sovereignty is evident in Scripture, as it teaches us that He works through His people to accomplish His will. The doctrine of God's sovereignty is foundational to Reformed theology and is illustrated throughout the Bible. In Philippians 2:12-13, it is affirmed that God works in His people both to will and to act according to His good pleasure. This demonstrates that while we are called to act, it is ultimately God who enables and empowers our actions. The bride of Christ, as depicted in Proverbs 31, serves as a vessel through which God accomplishes His purpose, emphasizing that any good work is a result of His grace working within us. Therefore, God's sovereignty is a source of confidence and hope for believers, as He orchestrates all things according to His divine plan.

Q: Why is knowing Christ important for Christians?

Knowing Christ deeply transforms believers, fostering a desire to serve Him and share His righteousness. Knowing Christ is of utmost importance for Christians, as it reflects the core of the Christian faith. As expressed in Proverbs 31 and Philippians 3:10, true knowledge of Christ leads to a transformative relationship that compels believers to live in a manner that glorifies Him. The bride of Christ seeks to know Him not just as an abstract figure but as a personal Savior. This knowledge motivates believers to proclaim the righteousness that comes from Him, as highlighted in Revelation 19, where the bride is adorned in fine linen - symbolic of the righteousness bestowed upon her by Christ. Thus, knowing Christ empowers Christians to serve Him more faithfully and proclaim His grace to others.

I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31. I'm going over my notes today, looking at these last few verses of this book. We're in the last book, last book of last chapter, I'm sorry, of Proverbs. And I began to think about this blessed book. And I thought, what a faithful friend the Lord has been to us to give us this book, speaking of the bride. We're the bride of Christ. and how marvelous it is that the Lord would be speaking to his people through these scriptures.

And at first I thought I might just go ahead and just try to finish the book tonight. And after contemplating that thought for a moment, I thought, no, I just think I'll look at one verse. So I want us to look tonight at verse 24. Verse 24. Proverbs 31, verse 24. It says, and here it is, it's speaking of the bride of Christ now. She maketh fine linen and selleth it and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

Now, the last time we looked at this book, we considered the bride's knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in verse 23, her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders. The bride knows him. The bride knows him. That's what the Apostle Paul said in the book of Philippians.

Oh, that I might know him. Not just know about him. Everybody and their brother knows about him. I dare say there's anybody much, for sure in this room, that has never heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. But knowing about him, knowing that he is real, that he is God truly, is a gift that is given to those who have been regenerated by the grace of God.

They know him. They know him. And so the scripture says in that 23rd verse, her husband is known. That means he's perceived. They know him. He's perceived. Her husband is known in the gates. And we looked at that truth there in the gates. In these churches where the Lord has raised up a people that know him and love him and worship him, their heart, they have a new heart for the Lord Jesus Christ. They cannot, they cannot be without him. They cannot be without him. They want to be where he's honored. They want to be where he's preached.

Now, I know, I know, I know there's an old man in all of us that resists that. I know that. There's an old man that looks for every excuse under the sun to not be where he's preached. I know that. I have it, you have it, we all have it. Paul said, I see in me, there is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. I know that.

But there's a new man there. And that new man loves Christ. He loves him. He wants to hear of him. He wants to know what he has to say. And he's speaking through these scriptures. My sheep hear my voice. Here's the voice of the Lord. And what he's done is he's raised up preachers. And he's given preachers a heart to want to look at what God has to say.

And while it's often hard to perceive when you just read scriptures, it's often hard to perceive what is exactly being said, God has called men to take these scriptures and look up, search out the meaning of these scriptures and relate to God's people the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they might, through the preaching of his word, know him more.

Paul says, you know, I know in whom I have believed. I'm persuaded. that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. I know him. But you that believe, you know what you want? You want to know him more. I want to know more of him.

And so that's what we want to do tonight. I just, for a few minutes, I've just got a few things that I want to bring out to us tonight. The scripture tonight lets us muse. Just settle down, think on, contemplate. the things which the Holy Spirit teaches concerning the attitude and the action of the bride.

What does she truly desire? What does the bride, and you that believe now, you're the bride, believers of the bride. And let me tell you what you truly do, what you truly do, what you truly do want to do. Now, here's what scripture says in verse 24. She maketh fine linen and selleth it and delivereth it unto the merchant. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking now, okay, you just said that this is what the bride does. This is what she wants to do. This is what she wants to do.

She makes, maketh, continually making. Fine linen. Now, while that verse of scripture right there seems to indicate that the bride is producing something, like she's making a product, it says she maketh fine linen. When you first read it, you'd think, well, okay, she's making this cloth. She's making it. She's producing it.

And obviously, there's an earthly thought process when you read something like this. But we know that as far as the bride producing something, or doing something, or making something, or constructing something out of nothing, she's making, that can't be so.

Because all things were made by him. And without him, nothing was made that was made. He spoke everything into existence. So if that's the way it is, and we know that that's so, we know, I've never, you know, invented, I've never created anything, anything I've ever done. I may have picked up a hammer. and took a nail and nailed two boards together and made an X out of it. I might have done that, but I didn't make the nail and I didn't make the board. The Lord made that.

So if that's the case, when it says she maketh fine linen and selleth it and delivereth it unto the merchant, if that's not what it means, no, she's not creating it, then what does it mean? What is it? Here's the first thing. In the first word, she maketh fine linen. The word maketh, again, it doesn't mean she produced it. But this fine linen that is spoken of, it means that she actually is the vessel through which the Lord accomplishes his will. That's what the word means. The word means, it's a word that speaks of his sovereignty to bring forth what the Lord is pleased to bring forth and he uses it through human elements.

I can't grant salvation. I can't give you salvation. But I can preach the gospel through which the Lord himself creates life. I didn't make it. So when it says she makes it, it doesn't mean she created it. It means that she was the vessel through which God worked. Faithful is he who calleth you who shall also do it. We can of ourselves do nothing. The Lord himself.

Turn with me, Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. I want to just read a few verses just to show you what's being said here. Philippians 2. Philippians chapter 2. Look at verse 12 and 13. Wherefore, Philippians 2, 13. I'm sorry, Philippians 2, 12, 13. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have also always obeyed, not in my presence only, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and do of his good pleasure.

So when it says, This is the same meaning as what we just read back here in Proverbs. When it says, she maketh, it's not that we make our own salvation. It's not that we work it out by our own means and energies and ability or something. We are the vessels through which God himself does as he pleases. So the scripture says concerning concerning this bride's calling, her mission in this world.

It says back in our verse, she maketh fine linen. She's the vessel through which the Lord is going to make something. But then here's what she said to make. She said to make fine linen She's to make fine linen. Now this fine linen, what is the fine linen that's being spoken of right here? Well, you already know where it is, so let's just read it together. Turn with me to Revelation 19. Revelation chapter 19, she maketh Fine linen. She is the vessel through which fine linen is given or bestowed is what it's saying. Revelation chapter 19. Revelation 19 verse 79.

Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him For the marriage of the lamb is 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 fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." So back in our passage, when it says that this woman, that she maketh fine linen, Does it make a little bit more sense now?

She's not the one that's producing the fine linen. The fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. She's the vessel that proclaims to God's people that it's the Lord that is the one that makes his vessels to be clean before him by and through the application of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So she maketh fine linen.

And there's something else that the scripture says that she does. She selleth it. She selleth it. Now, you see where it sounds as though that she's doing something and she's going to be producing something and then making a market out of it and making money for it, but the word selleth Right there, you look this up, I'd encourage you to do so.

It means, when it says she selleth it, it means she surrenders unto the Lord for that which he has done. She selleth it, she gives over to God's people this truth. It is the Lord who saves his people, who robes them in his righteousness, and keeps you by his grace, and looks upon you forever in his mercy and compassion and loves you to the end. He'll never leave you, never say that in itself is what is called selling. She's selling. The word actually means to surrender. Here's what the bride does. Here's what all of the bride, all of his people do. They know that they're not the authors. of their righteousness before God. They're not the authors of that. He is.

And when it says that she makes this fine linen and sells it, what she's doing is she's telling the people, I'm telling you right now, here's what you do, here's what you do. When I say you sell yourself, she's selling her product, here's what you're doing.

You have, by the grace of God, surrendered yourself. You say, well, I don't see how that can mean what this is saying. That's why it's so important that a pastor takes these words and looks the words up and finds out what they really mean. Because if I leave it to me or to you to find out what that word, and she selleth it, let me tell you what you're going to think.

She's going to take it. She said, okay, I'll take a dollar for this. Would you take 75 cents? Okay, I'll take 75 cents for it. Okay. And you give them something, they give you some money. That's what you think of selling. That's not what this word means. She, the bride, she maketh or proclaims him who makes his people to be righteous before him, robes them in fine linen, and sells it, meaning they surrender themselves under it. This is what the bride does. This is what you do. This is what you've done.

You know what you, as the bride, that know him, you know what you want to do? I want to do whatever he calls me to do. That's what I want to do. Whatever he's called you to do, whether you eat, whether you drink, whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. It's what the bride does. She does not have a heart to do what she by nature wants to do. She doesn't want to do that anymore. If the Lord has called you to do this, you do that. And you do it to the best of your ability, asking the Lord to give you the grace to do that which he's called you to do.

The Lord's called me to preach. I've told you before. Before the Lord called me to preach, I could not wrap my head around how anybody could come to the church virtually every day, every day, and sit at a desk every day and just study every day. That seemed, humanly speaking, just, I just, I'm glad that somebody can do it, but for me, this is what I think. I just don't think I could do that. But you know, after the Lord has pleased to call me, do you know the joy that I have to be able just to go somewhere and be quiet And just look into God's word and read a word and look it up.

I want to know what that word means. I want to know what it means. You know why I want to know what it means? Number one, it's what he said. I want to know what he said. And here's the second thing I want. I want you to know what he said. I want you to know. I want you to understand.

If I left this place tonight and I knew in my heart that I did not look it up and find out, what does God have to say? And I just let it go. I just read it for the face value, just read it for what it says, and then we left. I couldn't go to sleep at night. He said, well, you're good night, Marvin. You're taking that a little seriously, aren't you? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. This is the joy of my heart.

This is what the bride wants to do. She make it fine linen, she sets forth what the Lord has done. She's not making it herself, she's not producing it, but she's telling God's people how this fine linen, the righteousness of the saints, how it comes about. The Lord produces it by his obedience, by the Lord Jesus Christ's obedience to his Father. And the Father, by grace and mercy, imputes that righteousness unto the saints. And the scripture declares that to be, she makes it. She makes it. She makes fine linen. And she sells it. She sells it.

What does that mean again? She bows to it, and she tells God's people, this is what you're going to do. This is what I'm selling it to you right now. Here's my sales to you right now. You're going to surrender to the Lord what God has called you to do. That's called selling it. I sold it to you. I didn't sell it for money. I sold it through the words of my mouth from these scriptures right here to God's people, and I'm telling them this is what you do. You're thankful. It's this truth.

And let me tell you what it's sold for. Let me tell you what it's sold for. Turn to Isaiah 55. Let me tell you what the price of it is when I sell it to you. I'm going to sell you something. Say, how much is it? How much is it? Okay. Turn to Isaiah 55. Let me tell you how much it cost. Isaiah 55, verse 1.

Oh, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Let me tell you this, you can't afford this of yourself. You can't afford it. What's it going to cost me? What am I going to have to do?

What does God Almighty give his people that they might please him? He gives them faith to believe him. to believe him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not believe that he's existing. As I said before, demons believe that. Demons believe that he exists. Believe on him. Trust on him. Trust him.

By the grace of God. Brian, if God takes me tonight, I believe. I'll be in glory. I believe I will. I believe. I'm trusting Him. I'm trusting Him. I've never seen Him physically, but by faith I've seen Him. I've seen Him. What does He look like? Here's what Scripture says. He's altogether lovely. He's lovely in my heart.

Here's what she does. This bride, she's going to Take what God Almighty has given. She's going to rest in Him. She's going to believe Him. She's going to trust Him. And then the last thing that it says right here, verse 24, she maketh fine linen, she selleth it, and she delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Now, this word, that she delivereth, She bestows it.

Here's what I'm doing. I'm delivering something to you. I'm bestowing something to you. She delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Let me tell you who the merchant is. The one that God has called to whatever position he's called them to, they are the merchant. She delivers it to the merchant.

She tells the people of God, this is what the Lord has done for you. This is what he's going to do for you in eternity. And I'm delivering unto you, unto the merchant, whatever the Lord has done and called you to. If the Lord's called you to be a housewife, if the Lord has called you to be a worker at a job, if the Lord has called you to be whatever He's called you to do, whatever you do, whether you eat, whether you drink, whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. You are a merchant, and you're doing something, and the reward of what you're doing is being with Him, being called of Him, being with Him, eternally being with Him. This is the reward of God's people. Whatever He's called you to do, do it with all of your heart. I pray that God bless these words to our heart for the Lord's glory and for our eternal good. Amen.

A Faithful Bride

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the bride of Christ?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is knowing Christ important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Marvin Stalnaker

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A Faithful Bride

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the bride of Christ?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is knowing Christ important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Marvin Stalnaker

Comments

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