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Raise Your Expectations | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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But this is a day of celebrating marriage, marriages.
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How many of you know when you go to a wedding,
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it reminds you of your first love? It reminds
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you maybe of your own wedding. And so today I
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was just, I kind of freaked Cole out a little
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bit. I think when he walked in thinking this
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was Marissa's gown. No, Marissa's taste is quite
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different. This is a Goodwill special. You'll
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be seeing what we do with that later. But today,
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the verse as we were preparing for this weekend,
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the verse out of Revelation 19, blessed are those
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who are invited to the wedding supper of the
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Lamb. Aren't you glad you are invited to the
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wedding supper? Have you ever known somebody
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and known they're getting married and no invite
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showed up in your mailbox? Or nowadays it's text.
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You know you didn't get a text or an email. And
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you're like, I feel a little left out. The good
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news today is that we all are invited to the
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wedding supper of the Lamb. And we're going to
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kind of work backwards from that. Because we
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are heading toward this marriage supper of the
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lamb. Now, this might be, and I feel for guys,
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I feel like guys, this is a little harder. Women,
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it's easy for us to identify as the bride of
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Christ, right? Some of us that have been married,
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we've been a bride. And the word talks about
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us being the bride. Jesus is our bridegroom.
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And one day we will be with him. Guys, you just
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got to get on board with this. that you are the
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bride of Christ. And I think of David, King David,
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because King David was like the elite warrior,
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wasn't he? He was the top of all of the warriors
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of the soldiers. And yet the other side of David
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was that he was a worshiper and a lover of God.
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And he wasn't afraid of that intimate nature
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of his relationship with God. So this morning,
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we're going to walk through. See, Jesus was a
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Jewish man. And so when we read in the Gospels,
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Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we are reading
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into their Jewish culture, that Jewish context.
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So when we see how Jesus, he was born and the
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goal, right, was crucifixion and resurrection.
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But when we look at this overall life, we're
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looking at it as a Jewish man. So many of the
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things that Jesus did has so much significance
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when we recognize what his end goal was and when
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we recognize... what the ancient traditions of
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the Jewish marriage ceremony was. And so I want
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to encourage us today as we walk through this.
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There were four parts, four main parts of a Jewish
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wedding ceremony. And we're going to walk quickly
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through those four parts. And we're going to
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see it spiritually mirrored in the life of Christ
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and what he did for us in this invitation. And
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so the first part of the Jewish wedding was the
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betrothal. It was the proposal. Now, if you have
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not heard of the proposal, see, my husband, I
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don't know what he knew about me when we were
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getting engaged. But he took me for our engagement
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for his proposal. Do you think it was some nice,
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fancy place? I'll tell you, it was the nicest
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drive -in hot dog stand you could find in Peoria.
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And then he took me to a park where he carried
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a duffel bag. I'm like, what's up with this duffel
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bag? Well, it contained the ring. I look now
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on Facebook at all of the proposals. I'm like,
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man, it's another day here. Men have to really
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like plan out a proposal. What fascinates me
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is that they now have to do a dry run for prom
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dates. I mean, a prom date ask is like a little
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proposal to me. bringing cute cupcakes. I don't
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know what they're all doing, but I see all the
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mamas posting of these proposals for prom. I'm
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like, these guys are just having their dry run
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for the real deal. They're going to know what
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to do when it comes time to marry somebody. We
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didn't have media, online media, when we got
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proposed. There was no posting pictures of our
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of our proposal. In fact, years later, when Jeremy,
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our oldest, was a teenager, I said, Jeremy, because
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they were going to tear down Lou's drive -in.
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That's what it was, Lou's drive -in. And I said,
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I want you to come and I want you to get a picture
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of the sign of Lou's drive -in before they tear
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it down. And so I have that nicely framed in
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our bedroom for him, Lou's drive -in. So proposals
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today are a big deal, and everybody sees them.
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The proposals in the ancient Jewish tradition,
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there's no difference. The groom -to -be would
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travel to the wife's family, and when he arrives
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at the family home, he begins to negotiate the
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bridal price. He's got to pay a price. For this
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bride. And so negotiations begin. Once that negotiation
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has been accepted. And the bridal price has been
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settled. Then he takes the cup of wine. And he
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drinks of it. And then he offers her the cup.
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And if she says yes. She takes the cup. And she
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drinks of it. If she does not drink the cup,
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he's out of luck. She said no. So the cup is
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the significant question. It's the ask. I'm giving
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you this cup. Will you drink of it? Will you
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become mine? Will you become my bride? I think
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this is such a powerful mirror of Jesus. Jesus
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at the last supper, he took the cup and he gave
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thanks and he offered it to the disciples to
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drink of. Take this cup. Will you drink of it?
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Will you become mine? Will you say yes to me?
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And you know that he himself drank the cup first.
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As he's in the garden, he leaves that place and
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he heads out. And his next stop is the Garden
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of Gethsemane, where he's in anguish because
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he knows he's going to have to go to the cross.
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And what does he pray? Father, if it's your will,
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let this cup pass from me. Not my will, though,
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be done, but yours. Before he ever gives us this
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cup to drink, he drinks it of himself. And then
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he says here, as often as you drink of it, remember
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me. So just as that bride had a choice, yes,
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I'm going to take the cup. Jesus is standing
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and he's offering it to each of us. Will you
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drink of my cup? Will you say yes to me? Will
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you be my own? What's interesting here is that
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before they enter into the ceremony of becoming
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betrothed together, the bride and the groom will
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enter into the mikvah. the baptism waters. So
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before they come to this ceremony of the cup,
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they walk into the waters of betrothal baptism,
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a sign of a new life, a new season. And I was
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thinking, wow, Jesus, the life that Jesus lived
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was just so amazing because before he even came
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to the place of offering the cup, what did he
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first do? He entered in to the waters of baptism.
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Remember, John the Baptist said, Jesus, no, I'm
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not going to baptize you. You need to baptize
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me. And Jesus said, no, John, you're going to
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do this. This has to be done to fulfill righteousness.
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I have to be baptized, John. Jesus knew I'm entering
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into something. I'm entering into a betrothal
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with my bride, and I have to first walk through
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the waters of baptism. When I was doing marriage
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counseling with Cole and Marissa, some of our
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topics, because we talk about having a Christ
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-centered marriage. And in order to have a Christ
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-centered marriage, what has to happen? I have
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to be Christ -centered, and my spouse has to
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be Christ -centered, right? Otherwise, it's lopsided.
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It's not Christ -centered. So we were talking
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about this, and you remember just a few weeks
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ago, what did Marissa do? She entered into the
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waters of baptism. And we purposefully scheduled
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that Sunday. We were talking about you, Marissa.
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We're talking about the waters of baptism. We
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purposefully scheduled that because before coming
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to marriage, she wanted to enter into the waters
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of baptism, just like Jesus. Praise the Lord.
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And so here in the betrothal ceremony, we have
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the waters of baptism and we have the exchange
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of the cup. And then we move into the second
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stage now of this. And that is the separation
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and the preparation. So from this point of drinking
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the cup, the man leaves and goes back to his
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father's home. And she there in her father's
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home begins to prepare for her wedding, to prepare
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for her marriage. For a year, around a year.
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They are in this separation state. Darren and
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I had this because I was a junior in high school
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when we became engaged the summer before my senior
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year. That's what my mother said, and then she
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ran out of the room crying. Darren was left sitting
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with my dad all by himself. She loved Darren.
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She just didn't think that it was going to happen
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that soon, right after I graduated. It was a
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lot. You and her are a lot alike, Kathy. So for
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that year, I was engaged, and Darren headed to
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Missouri for a year of Bible college, and we
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have said that was a good thing, right? It was
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good for us to be separated for that year. When
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you're wanting to live in God's ways, right,
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then some healthy boundaries can be good. And
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so he spent that year writing me letters, and
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I was back at home trying to graduate and prepare
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for a wedding. In John chapter 14. Jesus says
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this, my father's house has many rooms. If that
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were not so, would I have told you that I am
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going there to prepare a place for you? And if
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I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
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back and I will bring you back with me where
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I am. You know the way to the place where I am
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going. Well, Thomas. And you know, you got to
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love Thomas. Thomas likes details. And Thomas
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said, Jesus, what are you talking about? What
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do you mean you know the way? I need to be sure
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that I know the way. Could you just clarify the
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way? And of course, Jesus says, I am the way,
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the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
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Father but through me. So here we have mirroring
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Jesus. He's saying, listen, I'm here with you
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now, but I am leaving. I am going away to my
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father's house. I'm offering you the cup. And
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so I want you to drink it and say yes, but then
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I'm going to go away to the father's house and
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I'm going to prepare for you. And this is the
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season we are living in, the season of separation.
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The season where we're waiting for Jesus to come
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back for his bride to take home. And what's interesting
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here is that it's not the groom who decides if
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it's time to go for the bride. I doubt he would
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have lasted a year were it up to him. It was
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up to the father of the groom. The father of
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the groom would decide and say, okay, son, it's
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time. Go get your bride. Do you know that Jesus
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himself said, I don't even know. I don't even
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know the times. Jesus himself. is preparing a
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place for us. And he's just waiting, just like
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we're waiting. And we're all waiting and longing
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for the Father to look at the Son and say, Jesus,
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go get the bride. Go get the bride. It's time.
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Go get the bride. And I guarantee you, Jesus
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won't be wasting any time. He's coming for his
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bride. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. We should
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have hearts longing for this moment in which
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Jesus comes for us. Matthew 24, it says this,
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that no one knows, only the Father. Right? We
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just said that. Therefore, because we don't know,
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keep watch. Because you do not know on what day
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your Lord will come. So you must be ready. Because
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the son of man will come at an hour in which
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you do not expect him. We didn't know. They didn't
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know. The bride didn't know. She just had to
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be ready. She just had to be looking for when
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the bridegroom would show up to get her and take
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her back to the father. There is a readiness.
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that we have to walk in. There is a watchfulness
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that as the bride of Christ, we have our eyes.
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Where? Is he coming? Is it today? My eyes are
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lifted to the sky. Is he coming? Is he coming?
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The separation is a hard place. It can feel long,
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and we're going to see that in a minute. But
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there does come, eventually, the third part,
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which is the return for the bride. And so the
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groom, it is unannounced, and it is usually at
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night. It's usually at nighttime that he is showing
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up for the bride. His coming would be preceded
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by shouts. As he walked toward her home, there
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would be around him. the friends of the groom,
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and they would be calling out that the bridegroom
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was coming. And her bridal party, carrying lanterns,
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their lamps, would hear that call, and they would
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go out with their lamps to meet him and light
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the way to the bride. Beautiful. In this we see...
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where Christ returns for the church. And we see
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this in Matthew 25. We see the warning of this
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in Matthew 25, the parable that Jesus tells.
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At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like
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ten virgins who took their lamps and went out
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to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish,
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and five were wise. The foolish ones took their
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lamps, but did not take any oil with them. The
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wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with
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their lamps. I'm glad to know I have a grandson
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who's wise. Our grandson is going to be nine
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in July, and in a week, Darren and the girls
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are taking him on his first Boundary Water camping
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trip. And so Edmund is a planner, and he's been
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walking through with Alexandra. Continually he
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calls and gets on video call to show his stuff,
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to show his supplies. And a big conversation
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is, do we have enough fuel? I have, how many
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cans do you have? I've got this many cans. And
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Alexandra's like, no, no, we don't need all that.
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We've got some. Well, just in case, should I
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bring this can of fuel? Listen, this is the heart
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of the wise virgin. I need to make sure I've
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got backup fuel. I don't want to run out just
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as the bridegroom is approaching. The bridegroom,
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though, was a long time in coming, and they all
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became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, the
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cry rang out, here's the bridegroom, come out
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to meet him. All the virgins woke up and trimmed
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their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise,
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give us some of your oil, our lamps are going
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out. No, they replied, there may not be enough
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for both us and you. Instead, go to those who
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sell oil and buy some. But while they were on
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their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived.
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The virgins who were ready went with them to
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the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later,
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the others also came. Lord, Lord, open the door.
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But he said, truly I tell you, I don't know you.
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Listen, these virgins, this wedding party, they
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lost sight of what they were doing. They lost
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sight of their purpose. They lost sight of their
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mission, which was to be watching for the bridegroom
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ready to attend. They lost sight. This oil is
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so important because we're living in this place,
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aren't we? We're living in this separation place.
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And we have to be people that carry oil. Throughout
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the Bible, we see oil representing the Holy Spirit.
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And when Jesus left and was ascended into heaven,
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he said, now go wait for what? The Holy Spirit
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to be poured out. I'm leaving you, but listen,
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I'm leaving you with fuel. I'm leaving you with
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the power of the Holy Spirit. All through scripture,
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we see oil, and Holy Spirit. We see anointing
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for service. We see empowerment being set apart.
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In fact, even in Acts 10, God anointed Jesus
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of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. Always
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the anointing. How were they anointed in the
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Old Testament? With oil. With oil. And so in
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Romans 13, it says, do this, understanding the
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present time. The hour has come for you to wake
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up from your slumber because our salvation is
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nearer now than when we first believed. The night
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is nearly over. The day is almost here. So let's
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put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the
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armor of light. Every generation has longed and
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looked for the return of Christ. Listen. We're
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one generation closer. The next generation is
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going to say we're one generation closer. We're
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nearer now than we ever have been before. We've
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got to be filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit.
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We've got to be overflowing. The virgins obviously
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have been using their oil. They have been burning
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it, waiting for him to come. The problem was
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they weren't refilling. They weren't getting
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filled up again with the oil of the Holy Spirit.
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And so we are the light of the world. And that
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light is not fueled by me. It's not fueled by
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us. What is it fueled by? The Holy Spirit. who
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was given to us to be a testimony, to share the
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gospel of Jesus Christ. We've got to be filled
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up as we're awaiting our bridegroom with the
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oil of the Holy Spirit. Come, Lord Jesus, come.
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Come, Lord Jesus, come. And then finally, the
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fourth portion of this wedding. is the wedding
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feast, the glorious wedding feast. The bridegroom
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has announced his arrival. They have gone to
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meet him, and now he is taking back with him
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to his father's house his bride. Now here's the,
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here's now, I know we got, I think most of our
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kids left. I'm going to be very careful in how
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I say this, but here's what happens when the
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bridegroom takes the bride back. There's a little
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room for them that they go to to become husband
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and wife, where they culminate the wedding, where
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they become one as husband and wife. It's the
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first thing they do. Everybody is outside waiting.
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I know. How would you like that? I tell you,
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it was a little weird when my son got married
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and the next morning we all had breakfast together
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and they joined us. I don't know, you feel like
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you need a little distance from that. No, they
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were all waiting outside for the deed to be done
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when they came out. Some of you are turning red
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in the face. After that followed a seven -day
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feast. They had a great big party. Great big
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party. This is what we're looking for in the
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marriage supper of the Lamb. Now listen, I'm
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not being weird about our relationship with Jesus.
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When we talk about the bridegroom and the bride,
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it is not weird in that human sense. As we have
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already partaken of the body of Christ, We're
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going to take communion in a few moments. And
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we're going to partake of the body of Christ.
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And the heart of Jesus was that as I am one with
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the Father, I pray that also these children,
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these sons and daughters of God would be one
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with us. It is becoming one in spirit with Jesus.
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It is coming and being united in the Father's
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household with him again. So let's not get weird
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about that. But what he's really referring to
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is a union, a oneness. Just as the Father, Son,
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and Holy Spirit are one in the Trinity. The fulfillment
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will happen when he brings us home. And so we
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see this mirrored in Revelation 19. And in this
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passage down in verse 7, it says, let us rejoice
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and be glad. You got nothing to be glad and rejoice
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about in life. Here you go. Let us rejoice and
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be glad and give him glory for the wedding of
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the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself
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ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given
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her to wear. Fine linen stands for the righteous
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acts of God's holy people. Then the angel said
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to me, write this. Blessed are those who are
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invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb. The
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wedding of the Lamb has come and the bride has
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made herself ready. This is our end goal. This
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is the prize. The prize of Jesus is why we run
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our race. The prize of Jesus. is why we endure
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hardship. The prize of Jesus is why when things
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are going all wrong, we don't give up faith.
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Because ultimately our goal is not to find victory
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here on this earth, but to find victory and oneness
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with him at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
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And so we keep our eyes on the prize, who is
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Christ Jesus. This is going to be a joyous celebration,
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and I can't wait for it. Back when Jesus first
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offered the cup, he offered the cup and he said,
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now you take it and drink of it. You know what
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he said following that? He said, I will not drink
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from the fruit of this vine again until that
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day that I drink with you in the new heavens.
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He's saying, I'm looking. I'm looking forward
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to that day when you are with me in heaven and
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we will drink of this cup again. in person together.
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It's going to be beautiful. It's going to be
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beautiful. But my question today is this. What
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kind of fiancé are you going to be? What kind
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of fiancé am I going to be in this time of separation
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as we are anticipating the marriage supper of
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the Lamb? It's said there in that passage, the
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bride has made herself ready. We are in partnership
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with Holy Spirit of preparing our hearts, our
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lives for the marriage supper of the Lamb. The
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five virgins who were foolish had a problem.
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The bridegroom was a long time in coming and
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they became drowsy and they fell asleep. They
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lost their sense of expectancy. They lost their
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sense of anticipation. This is why Darren and
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I tell new couples all the time, we were giving
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his brother and his wife a hard time because
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she's not coming to family reunion this week
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because he can't come. And we're like, hey, separation
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is good for you. It's good sometimes to be apart
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because you remember again the anticipation of
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being together that you had at the beginning.
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Those five virgins lost their anticipation. They
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lost their expectancy. And you know what happens
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when we get drowsy and sleepy? We no longer live
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in a prepared state. We're no longer preparing
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ourselves. We grow complacent and indifferent
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when we grow sleepy and drowsy. You say, yeah,
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I've heard it for four decades. Jesus is coming
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again. I haven't seen him come yet, though. We
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can't grow weary. Can't lose heart. We have to
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stay in anticipation. When we grow sleepy and
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drowsy, we no longer take care of our garments,
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our wedding garments, our fine linen, our bright
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and clean clothes. We no longer take care of
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them. In the book of Ephesians, it says that
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Jesus is going to present. to himself a radiant
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church without stain, without wrinkle, or any
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other blemish, but holy and blameless. Listen,
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no bride. In fact, I saw your dress kind of laying
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on the couch, and I thought, oh man, maybe we
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need to hang it up. Right? It kind of worried
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me a little bit. Why? Because there's a protectiveness
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over our wedding linen. Our wedding clothes.
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But when we grow drowsy, when we begin to get
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sleepy, suddenly we begin to let things creep
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in. Suddenly we begin to engage in activities
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that stain us. There's no way I would wear my
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dress out to do certain things. It's set apart.
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But suddenly, when we're sleepy and drowsy and
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we lose our sense that he is about to return,
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we lose the sense of the imminent return of Christ.
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Suddenly, we begin to turn our gaze onto something
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that we shouldn't turn our gaze onto. I know,
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don't you just feel like I've defiled something?
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Suddenly, we're listening, we're allowing music
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that is not elevating us. but music that is marring
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us. We find ourselves entertaining in our minds
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and in our thoughts and in our heart. Negative
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thinking toward other people. Unforgiveness to
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other people. Judgments on other people. I think
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that one of the tools that the enemy most uses
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is not some horrific sin that we would never
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think of, but it's busyness. Oh, yeah. If he
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can keep us busy, he can keep us out of the affections
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of Jesus. Suddenly, we begin to entertain other
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idols. Anything that would steal our affection
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for God. Anything that we would put above our
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commitment to God. Our affections begin to move
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to others. Suddenly, you can name it for yourself.
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What yours is. This is not the bride. That Jesus
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is calling for. This is not the bride to be presented
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at the wedding supper of the lamb. We have to
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be busy about preparing and guarding our lives.
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That when the call comes, that when the trumpet
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sounds and we see our bridegroom approaching,
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we're not saying, oh, wait a minute, I've got
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to get ready. No, we're ready. Come look. Lord
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Jesus, come. It needs to be our daily cry. Come,
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Lord Jesus, come. Because if it's our daily cry,
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I guarantee you're living prepared. You're living
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prepared. I'm going to ask if the worship team
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would come. In a moment, we're going to partake
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of the communion table. And listen. This is not
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just about an outward appearance. Religion is
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about outward looking good on the outside and
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going home and treating your family poorly. This
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is not that. This here represents the inner life.
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The inner life in Christ. This represents the
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relationship with Christ. This isn't, we're going
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to be singing this in a moment. This really is
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not about us living perfect. Sometimes you're
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going to just by engaging in life, you're going
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to find a little bit. You're just doing life.
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And as you're doing life, you know what? Oh,
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you got something on that. This is not about
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perfection. When this happens, we just have to
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come back to the table of the Lord and drink
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of the cup and he cleanses us and washes us.
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That is part of the preparing for the return
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of the bridegroom, being washed by the bridegroom.
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This is about a state of the heart. And this
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is why we can identify with King David so much,
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who God said, he's got a heart after me. And
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yet we find him committing adultery. We find
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him murdering. When the prophet comes and confronts
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him in that moment, he says, that's me. I repent.
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And he walks through a season of repentance and
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then God restores him. And he goes on. He leaves
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his place of repentance and he goes into the
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sanctuary and begins to worship. And he writes
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Psalm 51, wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
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If I had a big old tide stick, I'd just take
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it right all over there. This morning, you're
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going to be offered the cup. And in this house,
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we practice open communion. You do not have to
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be a regular attender or member here. You are
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welcome to partake in communion if you have said
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yes to Jesus, if you have decided to follow Jesus.
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And so in a moment, we're going to be giving
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you the bread and the cup. And as you take the
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cup this morning, you have a choice. And maybe
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you have never made the choice to receive the
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sacrifice of Jesus. Maybe you've never made the
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choice to be a follower of Jesus. You are welcome.
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It's very simple. You take the cup and you say,
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yes. Yes, Jesus. I am yours and you are mine.
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Yes. And maybe you have already been a follower
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of Jesus. And you're saying, you know what, though?
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I've gotten a little bit of a stain. I've been
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maybe doing some things that aren't preparing
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me for the return of the bridegroom. Here's your
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good news. You partake of the cup and the bread,
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and with sincerity of heart, you say, wash me,
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Jesus, and I will be clean. I will be whiter
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than snow. And so as we partake of this today,
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whichever place you are in, as you take of the
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communion, you're simply saying yes. You're simply
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renewing. You're renewing first love. You're
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renewing your bridal place and your bridal commitment.
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And you're fixing your eyes on the return of
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the bridegroom. Amen. And so I'm going to invite
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our ushers to come. And as they come, they're
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going to offer you communion. And let's just
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as they do for a few moments, we're just going
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to worship as they distribute this morning.