Well, turn back, please, to Ephesians
chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. We started
looking at Ephesians some three months or so ago now, and we
come now to the second part of chapter 5. Now, chapter 5, Ephesians
5, is all about the lifestyle of the new man. And what do I
mean by the new man? I mean that man that's implanted
by God's spirit in belief of the gospel of his grace. You
see, the gospel doesn't transform the old man. The old man is always
flesh and sin. But the gospel, in the gospel,
God comes by his spirit and implants a new man who resides alongside
that old man. As long as this flesh draws breath
and blood pumps around the veins, the old man is there with all
of his sinful tendencies. And so we are, as the Song of
Solomon says, as a camp of two armies opposing one another in
the same being. But there must be a new man.
For Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, we know all of these things
about the kingdom of God. And Jesus said, you don't know
the first thing. You can't even see the kingdom of God unless
you're born again. Unless there's a new man being
born within, you cannot see the things of the kingdom of God.
So the old man is still present, but there is a new man. And that
new man is encouraged to a lifestyle which is consistent with the
gospel. Now this isn't law. This isn't a regime of law. We're
encouraged to put off the old man. The old man, this flesh
which is still here, is no longer the manager. There's a new man.
There's a new manager has been implanted within. And that new
manager is the manager who is the spirit of the living God
created by Him. And that new manager has the
desires of the kingdom of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ
to honor Him, to do His will, to obey His voice. to hear him,
to walk in his ways, to follow his example. And so Paul exhorts
that the old man be put off like a dirty old ragged coat and put
on the new man of the Spirit of God. promote the desires of
the new man and so there are all of those aspects of walking
in light and being led by the spirit and not doing the deeds
of darkness the works of the flesh as Paul calls them in Galatians
5 all of those things he says don't even think of them don't
even talk about them but the relationship with God in which
this behavior is encouraged is not one of law it's not one of
threatenings I tell you the places you will that say they stand
for the truth of reformed Christian faith more often than not in
this country in these days what you will hear is a regime of
law and of threats the threat of loss the threat of punishment
the promise of extra reward if you do it isn't a regime of law
he says right at the start of this chapter five he says that
you are God's children. And not just children, your dear
children. Dear to God. As dear children
do these things. You've been given a new nature
in Christ. You have the example of Christ himself. And it all
culminates down in verse 21, where he says, Submitting yourselves
one to another in the fear of God. Submitting one to another. This is talking about self-denial. Do you know, I really do believe
the root of all sin is self. The desire for self to have the
preeminence and to have its own way. In every relationship, in
every situation, self wants to have its own way. This is the
flesh, this is what it wants. But submitting yourselves one
to another is self-denial. Oh, I really think I'm right
because nearly always I am right. Those of you who know me know
that nearly always I am right. But, you know, this is what we
think in and of ourselves. But no, submitting one to another. Taking the second, you know,
stepping back. Not pushing to the front. Submitting to one
another. Self-denial. Who gave the greatest
example of self-denial? Didn't our Lord Jesus Christ?
This cup. Oh, if it be your will, let this
cup pass from me, said Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane,
but not my will, but thine be done. But thine be done. He submitted, even he who is
God in human flesh, even he who came from majestic glory, submitted,
submitted, became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Esteem others, says Paul, more highly than yourselves,
submitting one to another. That's hard to do, isn't it?
You know, if you think, if you glibly say that, you haven't
really thought about it. Think of every relationship you have
with other people. Esteem the other more highly
than yourself. You know, flesh cannot do that.
Flesh cannot do that. Flesh always thinks its ideas
are better than the other person's. Flesh always does. But the Spirit
of God says this, submitting to one another, self-denial.
And he goes on to give examples of submission in relationships
in everyday life. The first one is marriage. We'll
come back and look at that in a little bit more detail in a
moment. But then in chapter 6, which we didn't read on into,
but look right at the start of chapter 6, where there's teaching
about relationships and submitting to one another in families. So
verses 1 and 2. well, down to verse four, children
obey your parents in the Lord for this is right you see he's
talking to you especially if you're believing children living
in a home with parents he says to you obey your parents in the
Lord why? well it's right this is right
do it honor your father and mother which is the first commandment
with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long
in the earth And you fathers, you see relationships. Children
submit to you, definitely, but parents don't go unreasonably
lording it over them. You fathers, provoke not your
children to wrath. Regard them as tender. Regard
them as tender little plants. Be careful with them. I've been
sowing some seeds. I saw this morning the first
little tomato plant has germinated. And I'm going to be very tender
with those plants. I'm going to take care of them. I don't want them to get any
cold drafts or to dry out or anything like that. I'm going
to be tender. Well, sow with your children. They don't think
like you as adults, so be careful with them, be tender, be gentle
with them. You see, relationships, submit
to one another. And then verses 5 down to verse
9 is about servants and masters. Slaves and masters. Well, you
say we don't have slaves in our society, though I suppose you
could find examples of it in some extreme situations, but
there are lots of employer-employee situations And it's all about
that, submitting to one another. And doing all things not as though
you, A, are doing it to B, in a particular way, but do it as
unto the Lord. So submit to your employer as
if your employer were Christ himself. And masters, don't go
thinking that you've got the right to exploit that gracious
behavior of your Christian believing employees, but be considerate
to them. And remember that though you're
a master of men, you have a master who is in heaven. Submit to one
another. So there are these examples,
and as I've already said, Philippians 2 verse 5, let this mind be in
you. which was also in Christ Jesus,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. He became a
servant. He came to serve. Not to be served,
but to serve. The king of the universe, the
lord of glory, came to serve. To buy a people. to purchase
a people to purchase a bride for himself let this mind be
in you he became obedient unto death even the death of the cross
but then in verses twenty two to thirty three of chapter five
we have all of this about marriage about husbands and wives about
wives being submissive to their own husbands obey your husbands
in the Lord in all things for the husband is the head of the
wife and husbands don't be harsh, don't be cruel, don't exploit
that situation but love your wives and that love is a self-sacrificing
love an absolute giving love again submitting to one another
selflessly submitting to one another not my way but yours
not me first but what you want submitting to one another and
again it's this relationship between men and women and so
a lot of people treat these verses as the marriage guidance counsellors
biblical handbook you know the Christian marriage guidance counsellors
biblical handbook and if that's all you see you've completely
missed the point what is this really about what are these verses
22 to 33 really about you see if you understand something of
this understand something of what it is here all relationships
will be better than any human counselor can ever make them
if you understand what is being said here because this is really
about salvation look with me verse 23 for the husband is the
head of the wife now watch even as Christ is the head of the
church and he is the savior of the body verse 24 therefore as
the church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be unto their
own husbands in everything and verse 26 Sorry, verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for 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, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. Verse 29. No man ever hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. For we are members of his body.
We, the church, are members of his body, of his flesh, and of
his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and they
too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. But
I speak concerning Christ and the church. What's this about?
Oh, it's marriage guidance counseling handbook. No. It's about Christ
and the Church. The marriage is incidental. The
marriage relationship is an incidental illustration of the practical
outworking of that in human relationships. But it's really about Christ
and His Church. This is what the Scriptures are
about. You see, it's about Christ and the Church. And what is the
Church? It's the body of believers. And who are they? The ones who
believe the gospel of salvation. Oh, aren't there millions and
millions and millions of believers in this country? No, there aren't.
There are people who believe all sorts of things, but there
are relatively few who believe the gospel of his grace, as it's
revealed in this book. Believers, I told you last week
before, sorry, week before last. Believers believe God. And if God says it, God talks
about election, God talks about particular redemption. If God
says it, believers believe what he says. They believe what he
says and the body of those who believe are his church. They
believe the gospel of salvation. They bow to his authority as
he's spoken in his, he's God. It's not for us to say what God's
allowed to do and not allowed to do. He is God. In all matters
of salvation, we bow to what He has said. This church is His
elect. Who are they? A fixed number,
yes, known only to God, but an innumerable company. From our
point of view, as innumerable as the sand on the seashore is
innumerable, but nevertheless, they're the elect of God from
the foundation of the world. And it's about how he, in bringing
his church to him, is just and just. God must be just. The God
of the universe is just in all things. In all of his law and
his holiness and his righteousness. God is of purer eyes than to
behold iniquity. He cannot look upon sin. God
must be just. God cannot change his mind about
things. God cannot sweep sin under the
carpet. God cannot just ignore it and
forgive it. God is just. But at the same
time, he's a just God and a saviour, says Isaiah 45. Just God and
a saviour, and that's echoed in Romans 3, that he might be
just and justifier of those whose faith is in Christ. The great
question, you know it because I tell you it so often, what
was the question that Job asked? Chapter 9 verse 2, how can a
man be just with God? Isn't this it? If you know I
must face eternity, how can a man be just with God? For it's appointed
to man to die once and then the judgment. How can a man be just
with God? This is it. God has set forth
a Savior. He is just and the justifier
of those he brings to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this
is the sum total of the scriptures. Some people preach as if preaching
the scriptures is preaching a theology course, and I have to teach you
about this subject and that subject and another subject, but it all
boils down to one thing. It's the gospel of God's grace.
Now, some of you received from Cliff an email the other day,
and I've actually written it out, which is the quote from
Huntington, because I thought it was so good. William Huntington
was a preacher a couple of hundred years ago. And he said this about
one text that he was about to preach on. And the text was this,
Jesus said, my father worketh hitherto and I work. And what
he's saying is the man who was speaking to them is essentially
God who is working the works of God. He's doing the works
of his, you say, God's working. Yes, this man is God who is working. He's working the works of God.
And Huntington says this, in giving you my thoughts on this
text, I shall take but little notice about creating the world.
You know, I'm not going to spend time on these great, great truths
of creating the world, of upholding the world, for we read that Christ
upholds all things by the word of his power, of governing the
world, of disposing of all things in the world, of destroying and
renewing the world, or judging the world, for all these things
are subservient to one grand end. All things are for the elect's
sake. Christ created all things. He
upholds all things by the word of His power. He has power over
all flesh. All things that the Father has
are His. He will destroy this world, burn
up the earth, and fold the heavens together. He will make all things
new. He will be the only judge of quick and dead. The work that
our Lord and His Father are engaged in appears to me to be one principal
work, and to serve the turn of this are all other things created
and upheld. Everything else, it's all for
this one purpose. For the purpose of what God will
do with his elect. And it was this work that our
Savior had his eye on when he spoke the words in his text.
The work that he was doing was the work of salvation. And this
is it, to form a human race and to bring an innumerable company
of that race to eternal glory by Jesus Christ. That is the
grand work that God had in view from everlasting. That is what
this is about. When we read about marriage here
and Paul says, I speak concerning the Christ and the church, it's
this great work of him saving his elect. That's what it's about. Yes, it's about marriage. We
can learn about good marital relationships by reading and
putting into practice what it says there in terms of submitting
one to another, but it's about Christ and the Church. We read
in our society and in the news quite a bit about arranged marriages
in our day. You'll have heard of this. There
are people trying to put legislation through to try and make it very
difficult, especially for Asian families to betroth their daughter
to somebody in Pakistan or something like that and basically abduct
her and take her away and she's forced into an arranged marriage.
And all you ever hear about it is what a dreadful outcome it
is. Now, don't think for one minute I think that anything
other than that each human being should be perfectly free and
at liberty to choose the partner, the husband, the wife with whom
they want to spend the rest of their lives. So I'm not a fan
of arranged marriages, even though there is a lot of evidence, I
believe, Reading in the press recently, there's a lot of evidence
that some of these arranged marriages turn out to be a great blessing,
and the people that go into them with the right attitude are greatly
blessed. So, I'm not debating arranged
marriages in human terms. They do exist, and they cause
all sorts of trouble, but they also bring about great blessing,
some would say. And there's all sorts of debate
about it, but I know of one arranged marriage that I praise God for.
The arranged marriage is the arranged marriage of his son
to his church, to his bride. Because, you see, if I'm a member
of that bride, and I believe by God's grace I am, if I'm a
member of that bride, in my flesh, I never would have chosen him.
I never would have been inclined to marry that bridegroom. But
in sovereign grace, In Sovereign Grace he arranged that marriage
of his son with his bride before the beginning of time. In Sovereign
Grace the father chose a bride for his son. That's Sovereign
Grace. Sovereign means God. God did
it. God did it because he is God.
In Sovereign Grace he chose a bride. And this is a fact. He did. He did. There are those
that have been chosen by God before the beginning of time
to salvation unto salvation. And there are those that are
not. And you say that's not fair. That's not for you to judge.
God has said he's done that. That's God's business. It's biblical
truth. You say, oh, show me a text that
teaches the doctrine of election. I tell you, when you know it
and you believe it, you'll find it hard to find a page of scripture
on which there isn't a text showing and illustrating the doctrine
of God's sovereign grace in election. God is the God of sovereign grace,
and he chose a bride for his son in sovereign grace. He pictured
it throughout the scriptures. Take for example the Song of
Solomon. What's that all about? It's about a king in all of his
glory and all of his wealth choosing this Shulamite, this girl. And she's defiled with the work
of the field and she's sunburnt with the burning of the sun and
the soil of the field and the work is upon her. And she's despised
all around but yet she is made beautiful by him, she is taken
to be his wife. And it's such a beautiful picture
of the way that God marries himself to a bride, to his people. And he sent his son not just
to come and marry, but to do everything that was necessary,
to redeem, to pay redemption's price, to wash that bride of
all the defilement of sin, to justify so that before the bar
of the court of God and of his justice, who shall bring any
charge against this one? There's no charge left, for Christ
has died. The fire of the wrath of God
has already fallen. When Christ died on the cross,
Christ was made sin for us. He who knew no sin was made sin
for his people, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. And when he was made sin, He possessed those sins,
they were His, He was guilty of them, He bore the penalty
of them. You read the Psalms and you read the anguish of David,
which is genuinely the anguish of David, but it's the anguish
of Christ bearing the sins of His people. Where you read of,
my sins were ever before me, that's Christ speaking on the
cross when He's loaded with the sins of His people, to pay redemption's
price for those people. And that wrath of God having
fallen, that fire of God having fallen, you know, an old illustration
I know, but you know, the safest place in a forest fire is where
the fire has already been. Because the fire can't come there
anymore. It's already burnt there. If you're in a forest that's
on fire, you find yourself a bit that's already burned and go
and stand there, and you'll be safe. And the wrath of God has
already fallen on the Son of God, and on the sins of the people
of God, on the cross of Calvary. and then he sanctifies his people
he makes them holy he makes them holy he is my sanctification
he's wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
and all the time he remains holy and just as God but yet he's
just and justifier and why did he do this? why did he do it? go back right to the beginning
turn back to keep a finger in Ephesians 5 and go back to Genesis
chapter 2 Right back to the beginning. You know, people regard these
early chapters of Genesis as the few chapters of the Bible
that they will refuse to believe. You know, the first 11 chapters,
they're just myth and nonsense. No, we don't believe that because
we're such an enlightened scientific society. I tell you, if you ignore
the first 11 chapters of Genesis, you miss out on the fundamentals
of God's business in creating and saving a people. It's absolutely
clearly there in all things. But look in verse 18 of Genesis
chapter 2. God has created the world. He's
created Adam, the first man, and he's alone. And he says,
the Lord God said in verse 18 of chapter 2, it is not good
that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet
for him. A help, someone to help him that's
fitting for him. And out of the ground, the Lord,
and then he goes on to form all of the animals, and they're not
helps, meat, for Adam. They don't, they don't, they're
not soulmates for Adam. And so God creates woman out
of man. Not out of the dust of the earth,
but out of man. And just as he said, it is not
good for man, the first Adam, to be alone, I don't believe
that this is going beyond what scripture is revealing to us
but it's not good for the second Adam to be alone maybe there's
that there in the scriptures that God is saying it's not good
for Christ his son to be alone there must be a bride for him
there must be a wife for him there must be a people for him
and it's pictured in the culmination of time, at the end of time.
What is it that's going to happen then? The marriage supper of
the Lamb. The wedding feast. The reception
as we call it in our day. The marriage supper of the Lamb.
And there we have scriptural pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ
and He is what? The Lord of Hosts is His name. The Lord of hosts, because that
innumerable multitude, He's redeemed them and brought them to Himself.
And He says, as He goes into glory, leading that train of
His people behind Him, Behold, I and the children whom He has
given Me. The Father has given to the Son
a bride in that most glorious arranged marriage. that glorious
arranged marriage he's given them to his and here it is at
the culmination of time behold I and the children whom thou
hast given me and so therefore back in Ephesians 5 verse 31
for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall
cleave to his wife be joined to his wife and they too shall
be one flesh you see right back at the beginning a help meet
for him not the animals but the woman taken from man You know,
it says he took a rib from Adam's side and out of the rib made
woman. Woman was formed from man. Woman
was not formed from the dust of the earth as Adam was formed
from the dust of the earth. I don't know whether, I'm not
a geneticist in any way whatsoever and I'm not an expert on cellular
biology and chromosomes but it is interesting, it's always been
interesting to me that the woman has 22 X's and the man has 21
X's and one Y. And I just wonder, is there something
in that that there's a bit missing from the man one that was taken
for the woman? I don't know. That's pure speculation. And
maybe somebody who is an expert in molecular biology can tell
me that I've got it completely wrong. But it seems to me that
there's maybe some hint in there. And in Genesis 2, 23, The woman
that was made from Adam, Eve was made, and he looked at her.
We have a song, he says, how the man looks at the woman. He
says, I imagine when Adam met Eve in the garden, he must have
felt the self same way. Do you remember that song? Because
he looked on her, this beautiful creature that God had made from
Adam. And he said, this is bone of
my bones and flesh of my flesh. And therefore, verse 24, look
at verse 24. Sorry, verse 30. Look at verse
30 of chapter 5 of Ephesians. For we are members of his body,
his bride, his church. We are members of his body, of
his flesh and of his bones. We're members of the body of
Christ. You know, we're so much part of him that he looks on
us and we are his, what's he? He's the head of his church.
What is a head without a body? The head has the body. You know,
they used to find it a pretty effective way of stopping somebody's
life to separate the head from the body in Henry VIII's day
on the block at the Tower of London. The head must have its
body and he has his body. We are flesh of his flesh and
bone of his bones of the Lord Jesus Christ, members of his
body. And this is how salvation is
accomplished. You see, this passage is about
God's way of salvation. It's accomplished through the
Son of God coming to be the substitute for his people, to be the surety
of his people. To be united with his people,
and in that union, members of his body, flesh of his flesh
and bone of his bones. You know, was your salvation?
Do you believe you're saved in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you
believe that you have the holiness? We're told to pursue holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord. Do you believe you
have that? Yes I do, because I know he had it. And I'm united
with Him. I'm flesh of His flesh and bone
of His bones. I'm that bride of His. And because
He has it, I have it. Can anybody bring any charge
against you? That you're not holy enough to
be there? No, because I have that in Him. What about your
sins? Are you carrying any sins into
eternity? No, He's dealt with them. I'm
flesh of His flesh. I'm bone of His bones. So Paul
said, I am crucified with Christ. but I'm still living nevertheless
I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of note of not in of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself it's not my faith in
Christ that saves me it's the faithfulness of the Son of God
who came and did all to secure me to buy me to purchase my salvation
so this is how a man is just with God This is how we attain
to the holiness without which no man can see God. We need Christ's
righteousness and we have it in union with him. If I am in
Christ the holy God is as pleased with me as he is with his son
and he said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And my sin he made him who knew
no sin to be made sin for me that I might be made the righteousness
of God in him. You see, the wages of sin, if
you arrive at eternity bearing your own sins, the wages of sin
is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Christ Jesus our Lord. So when was this arranged? When was this marriage arranged? Some will tell you, oh, well,
it's arranged when you decided to follow Jesus. Did you ever
sing that chorus? I have decided to follow Jesus,
no turning back. Was it arranged when you decided
to follow Jesus? Not according to the Bible. Not
in the slightest. It wasn't arranged then. Oh,
maybe it was arranged when Christ came from heaven and came to
earth to live and die in the place of his people. No, it wasn't
arranged then. Maybe right back when Adam fell,
maybe everything was going to be fine because God had created
man and Man was going to live under the law perfectly, and
that would all be absolutely fine. Maybe when Adam fell, oh,
we need to think again. We need to come up with a plan
of salvation, because Adam, this wonderful creation, he's gone
and fallen into sin, so let's have a gospel that will save
him. Let's arrange a marriage for him to the Son of God. No,
it wasn't then. It was in eternity. outside of
time. How do I know that? The very
epistle that we're reading. Chapter 1 of Ephesians. Chapter 1 and verse 4. According
as He hath chosen us in Him. See, He's blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According.
How do I know He's blessed us with that? Because He's chosen
us in Him. He's chosen His people in Christ. When? Before the foundation of
the world. Before there was such a thing
as time. In eternity. And what for? That we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9, you don't
need to turn to it, but it says there, even more explicitly,
he gave us these things before the beginning of time. Before
the beginning of time. Just as Christ is the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, that's what Revelation 13.8 says,
He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In eternity,
always, His people were justified in Him from eternity. So His
church, then, was written in the Lamb's Book of Life from
eternity. When did Christ love His church? When did He love His church?
Did He decide to love His church at a certain point? Oh, I don't
know anything about it. There comes a time when he starts to
love his church? No. No, God says through his prophet
Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31 verse 3, I have loved you with an everlasting
love. That's when, everlastingly, there's
never a time when he didn't love his people. And why do his people
love him? Why do God's people, why does
Christ's church love him? Because he first loved us. he
first loved us and because he first loved us and because he
everlastingly loved us as that verse in Jeremiah 31 says with
chords of love he drew us with chords I was heading off Don
Faulkner's got a lovely expression for it something it's one of
these southern expressions he's on a downhill slope with a tailwind
or something like that that was me but he lays his hand on his
people and with chords of love he draws his people. We read
in Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 23 talking about wisdom which
is Christ that he was set up from everlasting there was never
a time when he wasn't set up from everlasting and in verse
31 it tells us that his delights were with the sons of men. From
everlasting. His delights were with the sons
of men. This is when it was arranged.
Before there was any time. There was never a time when it
wasn't arranged. In Hosea chapter 2 and verse
19. We read it earlier in the service. I will betroth thee. This is what God says to his
people. To the bride of Christ. I will betroth thee to me forever. Isaiah 54 and verse 5. thy maker
thy maker is thy husband the God who made you is your husband
when he created all things he was the husband of his people
this is how God is just and justifier of his people this is how he
saves his people this is how he saves the church it's Christ's
church and it's by unity with his son in eternal marriage the
bride of Christ eternal marriage You say, well, what about the
sin that afflicts us now? Well, the Shulamite was dirty
from the field, but fair, made fair, made fair and fitted for
Christ, clothed with the righteousness of Christ, given a wedding garment.
We already read it in Ephesians 1 and verse 4, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. That's not holiness
that you generate yourself by working at it. That's holiness
that he makes. He imputes. He gives you. He imparts a holy nature. He
gives you a holy standing before him. So that we read in Psalm
45 and verse 13, that the king's daughter, this is the bride of
Christ, the king's daughter is all glorious within. You look
at yourself. and in your flesh you see nothing
other than sin and defilement you see you know as Paul says
in Romans 7 everything that I see in my flesh and of myself I hate
it and I despise it and I see there just nothing other than
sin but in him all glorious within All that sin is removed. It's
all burnt at the cross of Calvary. It is, as verse 27 says, 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. This is all the work of Christ
to prepare that bride. And it's all waiting for culmination
in the marriage supper of the Lamb. Oh yes, here are principles
of submission one to another that are the outworking of this.
Understand. Understand what this is teaching
about your eternal redemption. Are you a child of God? Your
eternal redemption was fixed then. He drew you with cords
of love. He fixed your salvation in eternity
when he betrothed you to his son, his church. He made you
a member of that church and betrothed you to his son. This is biblical
salvation. This is what this book says.
I stand to be corrected by anybody who can honestly show me from
the text of this book that it is any other way. But this is
what I see here. And this is what great men of
God have seen long before me. Is he drawing you? If you're
not his, is he drawing you with cords of love? Is he? If he is,
is he burdening you with sin? Come unto me, all you that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.