Latest / Voddie Baucham Sermons / Voddie Baucham - Be Careful How You Talk About Christ’s Bride (Eph 5 22-33)

Transcript

Voddie Baucham - Be Careful How You Talk About Christ’s Bride (Eph 5 22-33) · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:18
  Speaker 1: I was in Moscow, Idaho this past week, and a
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: gentleman came up to me in a restaurant. He recognized me,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: came up to me in a restaurant, and he greeted me.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: And I knew he was greeting me, but I had
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: no idea what he was saying. And then he said,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: do you not understand that? I said, no, I don't.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: He had greeted me in Swahili because he had been
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: to Kenya, and he learned a greeting in Swahili. And
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I said, oh, okay. And he looked at me and
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: he said, well, weren't you living in South Africa? And
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I said, well, no, actually we were living in Zambia.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: But neither place speaks Swahili. And, you know, we kind
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: of looked awkwardly at one another and then he went
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: on his way. But that happened. That happens so often.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: People just sort of make these generalizations. Another thing that
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: was always a little comical to me is, you know,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: people would find out that we were living in Zambia
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: and they would say, oh, do you know so-and-so from Uganda?
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Or do you know so-and-so from, you know, Ghana or wherever? Places,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: you know, more than a thousand miles away from where
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: we lived. And I would try to help them understand
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: the nature of the question. And I'd say, that would
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: be kind of like you meeting somebody from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: and asking them if they know somebody in Chihuahua, Mexico,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: because it's on the same continent. And then they just, oh,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: then they kind of register. But then there's the other
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: side of it, where people would ask, people over in
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Zambia would ask about the church in America. What's the
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: church like in America? And I would just have to
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: try to explain to them that we're 50 states, that
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: the church in Maine and the church in Texas, you
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: can't answer that question, although we try to. And then
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: I would come over here and people would say, well,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: what's the church like in Africa? Not even Zambia, right?
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Like what's the church like in Africa? All 55 countries
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: on the largest continent on earth. And people fully expect
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: an answer to a question that broad. Because we're used
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: to talking about the church like that. But it gets
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: even more pointed. Because we have a tendency to make
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: a number of statements about the church. Have you heard
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: any of these? The church is racist. The church is
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: white supremacist. The church was complicit in slavery. The church
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: is misogynistic. The church is homophobic. The church is too political.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: The church is not political enough. The church is too Republican.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: The church is too Democrat. The church is on the
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: wrong side of history. The church is irrelevant. The church
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: is boring. The church is, the church is, the church
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: is or the church is not. We readily make these
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: kinds of statements about the church. And there's a couple
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: of things wrong with those statements. One, making those statements
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: is kind of like saying America is or Africa is.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: It's painting with too broad a brush. Here's the other problem.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: When people make the error of speaking too generally about
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: America or too generally about somewhere else, they're rarely as
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: negative as they are when they make generalized statements about
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the church. Almost always when we make those general statements,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: it's about something where the church is deficient. The church
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: is deficient here. The church is deficient there. Oh, if
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: the church were only. How many times have we heard
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: that whatever the problem is in society, oh, if the
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: church was just doing what the church was supposed to do,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: we wouldn't have these problems. It's all the church's fault.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: You can't say amen, you ought to say out. This
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: is how we talk about the church. Well, Pastor Tom
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: asked me about my title for my sermon this morning.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: And the title of my sermon this morning is, Be
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Careful How You Talk About Christ's Bride. Be careful how
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: you talk about Christ's bride. We talk about his bride
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: in ways that we would never speak about A man's bride.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: At least not and expect to walk away with all
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: of our teeth. And we do it flippantly. And we
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: do it constantly. Because we think wrongly about the church.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: We do not hold the church in the kind of
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: esteem that we ought to if we truly love the
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. And then there are those who say, no, no, no.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: I love Jesus, just not the church. It's like coming
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: up to me and saying, you know, Bodie, man, I
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: love you. I just, I believe we just should be friends.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: That's awesome. But I just need you to keep your
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: wife away from me because I don't like her. As
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: we say in Texas, that dog won't hunt. How is
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: it that we understand that that is a ridiculous idea?
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: I love you, and I want to have a close,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: intimate relationship with you, but I hate the one that
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: you have united yourself to in a one-flesh covenant that
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: we call marriage. Can that be okay? And the answer
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: is absolutely not. Yet that's exactly what we do with
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Christ and his bride, the church. We bash her constantly.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: We badmouth her constantly. All the while claiming that we
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: love Jesus. Why do I use this comparison? Well, because
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: the Bible does. Open your Bibles with me to the
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5. And I want us
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: to look at a very familiar passage of Scripture. but
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: I want us to flip it around. Normally, when we
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: go to Ephesians chapter 5, we're beginning in verse 22,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: we're usually talking about marriage. Right? We think about that,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: and this is about the role of the wife and
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the role of the husband, but what's the metaphor? What
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: is the relationship that the Bible uses in order to
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: teach us what we need to learn about marriage? The
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: relationship that the Bible uses is the relationship between Christ
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: and his bride, the church. So today, we're going to
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: look at it backwards. And we're going to see what
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: this text has to teach us, has to say to
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: us about Christ and his bride, the church. And my
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: hope is that we're warned to be careful how we
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: talk about Christ's bride. Be careful how you speak about
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: the church. Several truths that we find in this text.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: Let's read it first. Ephesians chapter 5 beginning in verse 22.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: One of the most familiar passages really In all of
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: the Bible. Ephesians chapter 5, beginning verse 22. But as
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: I read it, I want you to pay attention to
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: the references to Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: as to the Lord. For the husband is the head
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: of the wife. as Christ is the head of the church,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: his body, and is himself his Savior. Now as the
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: everything to their own husbands. Husbands, love your wives as
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: washing of water with the word, so that he might
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: present the church to himself in splendor without spot or
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: because we are members of his body. Therefore, man shall
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: and the two shall become one flesh. Here's the key text.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Verse 32. This mystery is profound, and I am saying
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: that it refers to Christ and the church. This is
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: a profound mystery. And this profound mystery refers to Christ
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: and the church. But what does this profound mystery teach
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: us about Christ and the church? More specifically, how does
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: it warn us to be careful how we speak about
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Christ's bride? Number one, we need to be careful because
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Christ is indeed the head of the church. Be careful
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: how you speak about the church Because Christ is the
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: head of the church. And whatever you're saying about the church,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: you're saying this in the presence of and in reference
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: to her head, who is Christ. Listen to it again. Again,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: verse 22. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: even as Christ is the head of the church. His
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: body and is himself its savior. Now as the church
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: to their husbands. There is no man at the head
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: of the church. I don't care how many meetings they
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: have in Rome, how much smoke, what color smoke comes out.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: I don't care how many men they name Pope, how
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: many men they identify as the supposed vicar of Christ
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: on earth. There is no man at the head of
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: the church. Christ is the head of the church. The
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: monarch in England may be the head of the church
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: of England, but that monarch is not the head of
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: the church of Christ. Christ is the head of the church.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: This is incredibly important. The church is never going to
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: have a new era. It's interesting, you know, we're in
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: football season now, and People are always talking about if
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: there's a new owner or if there's a new head
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: coach or there's a new starting quarterback. Now we've moved
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: from this era to that era. A few basketball fans.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I grew up in Los Angeles. I'm a basketball fan.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I'm a Laker fan. And they talk about the Kareem era.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: And then we went to the Magic era. And then
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: the Shaq era. And then the Kobe era. And then
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: the LeBron era. No such thing with the church. No
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: such thing with the church. Whatever the era, whatever the season,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: whatever the epoch of history, Christ is, has always been,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: and will always be the head of the church. And
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: when you talk about her, you need to keep that
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: in mind. Christ is her head. Christ is her authority.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Christ is her protector. Christ is her champion. Just that
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: thought in itself would keep a lot of things from
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: coming out of our mouths as it relates to the church.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Listen to what scripture says. Ephesians 4, 15 and 16. Rather,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: from whom the whole body joined and held together by
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: every joint with which it is equipped. When each part
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: is working properly, makes the body grow so that it
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: builds itself up in love. Colossians 1, 18. He is
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: be preeminent. That in everything he might be preeminent. Especially
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: in the church. Be careful. Be careful how you speak
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: about the church. Because Christ is her head. Whatever you think,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: you sift it through that lens. Secondly, be careful how
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: you speak about the church because Christ loves the church.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Be careful. He loves her. Just think about how fearful
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: we would be to speak about a man's wife whom
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: he loves. Don't talk about my wife. Just don't do it.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: I'm saved, but I remember some stuff. And as much
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: as I love my bride, that pales in comparison to
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: how much Christ loves the church. You think about that
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: the next time you say the church is or the
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: church is not. Christ loves the church. Do you treat
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: the church like that? Do you treat the church like
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: it is loved by Christ, cherished by Christ? The apple
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: of his eye. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: the church and gave himself up for her. The greatest
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: commandment reminds us to love the Lord your God with
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: I see this text, this passage, and it gave rise
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: to a definition in my mind many years ago. Love
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: is an act of the will accompanied by emotion that
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: leads to action on behalf of its object. And Christ
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: is the ultimate picture of this. This act of the will. Nevertheless,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: not my will but yours be done. It's accompanied by emotion.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: It's not led by emotion. not tossed to and fro.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: There is emotion. There is passion. And it leads to
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: action on behalf of its object. Christ demonstrated his love
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: for us in this, and that while we were yet sinners,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Christ died for us. Greater love hath no man than this,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: than to lay down his life for his friends. And
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: Christ laid down his life for his bride, the church. Now,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: that raises some interesting theological questions. Some of you may
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: already be raising an eyebrow as I say this. And
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: your thought is, well, wait a minute, wait a minute,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: didn't Jesus die for everybody, not just for the church? Well,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: doctrinally speaking, we hold to what's called particular redemption. or
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: limited atonement, Christ died for his bride, the church. His
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: death was sufficient for the whole world, but specifically efficient
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: for the church. There's a couple of ways we talk
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: about this. Again, we can't argue this whole thing out today,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: but I want you to understand the perspective. First of all,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: I want you to understand that this passage is is
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: one of the greatest arguments in the whole Bible for
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: particular redemption. Because this passage makes it clear. Christ died
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: for his bride, the church. Another place that we look
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: is in John chapter 17, which lays out for us
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: the covenant of redemption. And in the covenant of redemption,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: we see that in eternity past, God the Father gave
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: a love gift to God the Son. And the love
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: gift that God the Father gave to God the Son
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: was a people. God the Son out of his love
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: for God the Father died to redeem the people whom
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: the Father had given to him. John 17 makes this
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: very clear. And the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: which is the personification of the love between the Father
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: and the Son was actually applies that redemption to the
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: elect in time. A couple of places that we go
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: to that give us problems with this. One place that
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: gives us problems with this and people always bring up
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: is John 3.16 mainly because of our earliest understandings and
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: memories of the translation, kind of King James, right? God
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: so that whosoever, right, believes in him should not perish
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: but have eternal life. Whosoever. It's a wonderful word. It's
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: a wonderful word. But what does that mean? Does that
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: mean that Jesus laid down his life and he paid
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: for the sins of every human being, and then just
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: went to heaven and sat there and hoped and hoped
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: and hoped that someone would come? Listen to this. I
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: love the way it's translated here in the Holman Christian
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Standard Bible. I think in terms of the Greek, it
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: does as good a job as any translation. John 3, 16,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: for God loved the world in this way. He gave
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: his one and only son so that everyone who believes
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: in him will not perish but have eternal life. So
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: that everyone who believes in him, by the way, that
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: same phrase is used in 1 John chapter 5. 1
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: John 5, 1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: Christ has been born of God. The same phrase. Everyone
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: who believes. But here's the question. Who's going to believe?
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: John 6, 44, Jesus says this. No one can come
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: No one can come to me unless the Father who
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: sent me draws him. Well, but the Father draws everybody,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: doesn't he? He draws everybody and just not everybody responds.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Let's finish the statement. No one who comes to me,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: no one can come to me unless the Father who
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: sent me draws him and I will raise him up
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: on the last day. Who's he going to raise up?
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Everybody that the Father draws. Because the one who the
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Father draws is the one who will come. Christ died
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: for his bride, the church. He came specifically to redeem
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: a people. Our confession puts it this way. Second London
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Baptist Confession, 1689. 1689. Chapter 3, paragraph 5. Those of
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: mankind that are predestinated to life, God before the foundation
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: of the world was laid according to his eternal and
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: immutable purpose and the secret counsel and good pleasure of
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: his will hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory out
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: of his mere free grace and love without any other
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: him thereto. It's all of grace. It's all of grace.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: I wasn't smart enough. I wasn't good enough. I wasn't
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: seeking enough. I wasn't. I wasn't, you know, in the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: ocean drowning, going down for the third time, having God
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: throw me a life preserver so that I could just
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: grab it. I had to grab it. I had to
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: grab it. No. I was dead in my trespasses and sins.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Not dying. I was dead in my trespasses and sins.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: And here's what I know. Not a doctor. Don't play
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: one on TV. But I know this. Dead men don't
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: grab things. But I was made alive together with Christ.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Through the miraculous work of regeneration, I was made alive.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: And having been made.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Alive by God's grace, by God's grace, He granted me repentance.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: He granted me faith. I have nothing to boast in.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Nothing whatsoever. That's what particular redemption does. It takes all
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: boasting away. By the way, even people who argue that
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: they don't believe in particular redemption or limited atonement, I
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: love it. I believe it was Spurgeon who said that
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: we all pray like Calvinists. Amen? Regardless of what we believe.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Here's what we don't pray. If you have a lost
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: loved one, if you have a lost loved one, you
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: don't bow your head and you don't say, Lord, I
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: just really hope that they exercise their will. I really
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: hope that they would know. Lord, save them. Open their eyes.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Remove the scales. Rip out that heart of stone and
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: give them a heart of flesh. Grant them eyes to
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: see because we know We know it's a supernatural work
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: of God. It makes us uncomfortable to talk like that.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: We know it's a supernatural work of God. By the way,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: one of the reasons it makes us uncomfortable is because
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: we think it makes us arrogant. We think it makes
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: us like, I'm special. No, it doesn't. Same chapter in
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: the Confession, paragraph 7. The doctrine of this high mystery
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: that men attending the will of God revealed in his
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: word and yielding obedience thereunto may from the certainty of
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: their effectual vocation be assured of their eternal election, so
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: of God and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: all that sincerely obey the gospel. Humility. Humility. I do
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: not deserve this. This is a result of Christ loving
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: his bride and dying to redeem his bride who was
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: a gift to him from his father. Christ is the
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: head of his church. Christ loves his church. We ought
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: to be careful how we speak about her. Not only that,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: we ought to be careful because Christ is actually perfecting
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: his church. He is in the process right now of
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: perfecting his church. Verse 26 in our text. that he
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: might sanctify her, having cleansed her with the washing of
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: water from the word, so that he might present the
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Turn in your Bibles toward the end. Look at Revelation 19.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Look down again at verse... Then I heard what seemed
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: to be the voice of a great multitude, like the
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: roar of many waters, like the sound of mighty peals
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: of thunder crying out, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: the almighty reigns let us rejoice and exult and give
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: him the glory for the marriage of the lamb has
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: come and his bride has made herself ready it was
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: granted her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: pure let's go this For the fine linen is the
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: righteous deeds of the saints. That's what Christ is doing
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: in and with and to and for his bride right now.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: That's what's true about his bride. That's how he sees
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: his bride. And if we understand this, it will change
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: the way we talk about the church. But wait a minute.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: I look and I see this, and I look and
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: I see that. Let me hasten to say, not everything
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: that goes by the name church is a church. Amen?
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: In fact, many of the prominent examples that we have
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: today are not churches at all. They're goat farms. But
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: just because they are prominent, that doesn't mean that somehow
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: the church is not doing or being what the church
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: has been called to do. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 4.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: 2 Timothy chapter 4, beginning of verse 1. This is
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: very important to keep in mind. Because we do see
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: things that are awful. And when we see things that
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: are awful, we need to call them out. But it's
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: one thing to see something that is awful and call
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: it out. And it's another thing to attribute the awful
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: thing to the authentic church of God. 2 Timothy 4,
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: beginning of verse 1. I charge you in the presence
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: the living and the dead, and by his appearing and
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: by his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: and teaching. Verse 3, for the time is coming when
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: passions and will turn away from listening to the truth
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: and wander off into myths. I've been asked I don't
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: know how many times, why is it that these false
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: teachers and these charlatans have churches with thousands of people
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: in them? Why is it? Why is it? My answer
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: is because the Bible is true. Not because there's something
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: wrong with the church. The church is everything Christ says
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: she is. But those are not churches, they're goat farms.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Filled with people with itching ears. And at times if
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: we're not careful, we're influenced by them and we want
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: to shave off the edges of the gospel so that
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: we can be more appealing and we must not. Instead,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: we must continue to just be the bride of Christ,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: just be the church. It's enough. It's enough. We're being
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: prepared for Christ. Finally, we need to be careful how
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: we talk about the church, not just because Christ is
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: her head, not just because Christ loves her, not just
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: because he's purifying her, but because he's one with her.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: We've already alluded to this, but the church is the
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: body of Christ. It's not just the bride of Christ,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: it's the body of Christ. Verse 28 in our passage,
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: In the same way, husbands should love their wives as
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: we are members of his body. Therefore, man shall leave
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: and the two shall become one flesh. We are his body.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Calvin writes this in the Institutes, Christ designs so to
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: honor marriage as to make it an image of his
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: sacred union with the church. Christ's sacred union with the church.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: We are united to Christ. John 17, 20 through 21. Again,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: this is there in Jesus' high priestly prayer, this picture
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: of the covenant of redemption, clearest place we find it
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: in Scripture. Part of that prayer is, Jesus says in
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: verse 20, I do not ask for these only, but
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: also for those who will believe in me through their word,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: that they may all be one, just as you, Father,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: are in me, and I in you, that they also
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: may be in us, so that the world may believe
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: that you have sent me. There's that, as we sang about,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: that mystic sweet communion. 1 Corinthians 12, 12 and 13.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: For just as the body is one and as many
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: members and all the members of the body, though many
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: are one body, so it is with Christ. For in
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: one spirit, we're all baptized into one body. Jews, Greeks, slaves, free.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: All were made to drink of one spirit. We could
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: go on and on and on. Passage after passage. What
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: is baptism? Baptism is a picture of our union with Christ.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: We're buried with him in baptism. Sorry to all my
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: friends who sprinkle. It's a symbol of his death. We're
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: buried with him in baptism and then raised to walk,
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: not just the newness of life, but we're raised to
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: walk in Christ. We are in Christ. Our baptism symbolizes
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: that we are in Christ. Our life is hidden in Christ.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: We are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. The
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: Spirit of God indwells us. And so when we talk
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: about the church, we're not just talking about the bride
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: of Christ. We're talking about the body of Christ. And
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: it's beautiful because Paul alludes to this amazing one flesh
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: union where two become one. And then from that union,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: there's life and generations come. And he says, that's when
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: he says, this mystery is great. But I'm saying that
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: it refers to Christ and the church. It's amazing that
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: he calls a husband and wife to this wonderful union.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: But newsflash, we won't be married in heaven. The union
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: between a husband and wife is a temporal picture. A
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: temporal example of a greater spiritual reality. And that greater
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: spiritual reality is our union and communion with Christ that
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: will have no end. Be careful. Be careful how you
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: talk about Christ's bride. Because he is her head. He
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: loves her. He's perfecting her. And he is one with her.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: You remember that the next time you say the church
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: is or the church is not. Remember that. But also
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: think about that when you consider your own spiritual condition.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Are you a member of the body of Christ? Is
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: Christ your head? Have you turned from trusting in yourself
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: and being the Lord of your own life and fled
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: to Christ? Have you repented of your sin and trusted
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: the finished work of Christ to save you from your
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: sin and the finished work of Christ only so that
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: you can say he's your head? So that you can
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: say he is. He loves you because his death has
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: been accrued to you because you came to him. in
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: repentance and faith. Can you say that he is perfecting you?
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: That you've been justified and you've been adopted and now
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: you're being sanctified and on your way to being glorified
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: because of the work that Christ is doing in you
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: through the washing of the water of the word. Can
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: you say that? And can you say that you are
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: united to Christ through faith? Do you see how different
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: that is than just saying I go to church or
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: grew up in a Christian family? Is that you? Young man,
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: young woman, boys, girls, Is that you? Is that you?
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: You have to go beyond your union with your family
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: and your union with your church family to union and
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: communion with Christ so that you can say, He's your head.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: He loves you. He's perfecting you. And He's united to
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: you because you've placed your faith in Him and in
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: Him alone to redeem you And to save you. My
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: prayer is that. This is true of us. And that
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: if it has not been true. Of you up to
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: this point. That you would flee to Christ. Even now.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: And be found in him. But for all of us.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: My prayer is that we be careful. How we talk
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: about Christ's bride. Let's pray. Father, how we do praise
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: you and thank you for the mercy that is ours
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: in Christ. How we praise you and thank you for
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: our union with Christ and our union with one another
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: as members of the body of Christ. Grant by your
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: grace that we might keep this in the forefront of
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: our minds and that we might consider it when we
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: speak about the church. That we might be ever so
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: careful to speak about the church as though we know
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: and understand how precious she is to Christ. And in
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: so doing, may she become more precious to us. We
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: pray this and we ask it in Christ's name and
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: for his sake. Amen.