• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
 
THE ULTIMATE WEDDING Based on Rev. 19:1-9By Pastor Glenn PeaseRomance is the greatest power in the universe. It is the motivating power thatwill produce the new heaven and the new earth, and it is the power behind much of what has been created in this earth. The spectacular Hilton Hotel chain that goesaround the world is a good example. It was not just the love of money and powerthat moved Conrad Hilton to build this vast empire. In his autobiography, Be MyGuest, he tells of a turning point of his life while in Dallas. It happened in church."All I saw of her at first was a jaunty red hat and a few curlsseveral pews in front of me at church. The hat was dark redand the curls were very black and there was something aboutthe way she wore the hat, the way she carried her head, shewas very attractive. When I saw her face, pretty, vivacious,alert, with laughing eyes, in my excitement I did somethingworthy of a college freshman.I followed the red hat out of church to try to find out whereshe lived. For once I wished I hadn't so many friends to greet.I'm afraid I was abrupt. But as it was, the red hat got such along start on me that, after seeing it bop up and down in thecrowd for a couple of blocks, I lost it.For a month of Sundays I amazed that congregation with mypiety. I attended every mass from six till noon. But I didn'tsee her again."One afternoon as he left his theater where business was going bad, he walkedright into that same girl. She had on a different hat, but it was her, and she waswith a Mrs. Evans whom he knew. Mrs. Evans introduced him to Mary Barron.They entered at once into a whirlwind courtship. She had to leave Dallas, but heinsisted that when he finished building a hotel she come back and marry him. Healso insisted she give him her red hat. He writes again:"There was the incurable romantic coming out again. It wasnow my firm intention to sprinkle stars in Mary's lap, and I wouldgo back into the fight, climb my mountain, as her champion. In thedays when Arthur was king, I would have worn her colors on mysleeve.In Dallas, Texas, in 1924, I had to content myself with flying thered hat from my bedpost.Then I went back to my mountain with renewed vigor."He was soon back on top and very successful, and he married Mary and took herinto the world of the rich and famous. It is a beautiful love story, but it has onemajor flaw. They did not live happily ever after. Eight years later their marriageended in a bitter divorce.
 
Falling in love is the easy part. The living happily ever after is the hard part.But the fact is, the greatest love story of all time and eternity does end this way,which means it never ends at all, for Christ and His bride live happily ever after.Heaven is an eternal honeymoon where the bride and groom enjoy endless bliss withno fear of conflict. The goal of God is achieved when He gets His Son, the mostfamous single in all of human history, married. When Jesus gets married at thegreat wedding of the Lamb, then singleness will cease to exist, and all will be as itwas in the garden of Eden: One couple-a husband and wife-and Adam and Eve.In eternity it will be the one groom-the second Adam-Jesus. His bride is the church-the second Eve. The new heaven and the new earth will be their wedding gift fromGod. This is the beginning of the most romantic adventure conceivable as thishappy couple, perfect in themselves, enjoy together a perfect universe forever.There will be no singles in heaven, for all who are there are part of the bride.There have been many great singles all through history. John the Baptist, Thegreatest of the Old Testament saints, was single. Paul, the greatest of the NewTestament saints, was also single. Volumes could be filled with the stories of thefamous singles who have served the kingdom of God with great success. But all thiswill be over in heaven, for there will only be married people in heaven. Some ask,will marriage last forever? The answer is yes. People will not be marrying eachother, but they will be wedded to the Lamb, and be His bride forever. Christianhusbands and wives will together be part of the Bride. Their love for each other willnot be diminished, but rather enhanced. Their primary loyalty, however, will be tothe Lamb.The wedding is called the Wedding of the Lamb, and the Wedding Supper of theLamb, because it is the sacrifice of Christ on the cross that made it possible for thebride to be there redeemed and made clean and whole, and fit to be the bride of theSon of God. In chapter 18 fallen man in his folly and wickedness is called a harlot.In this chapter the redeemed and forgiven are called the bride. The Bible gives thefemale equal time in its symbolism. On the cross we see two men, one of whomrepresents the rejecters of Christ, and the other represents the receptors of Christ.From that cross setting one of them goes to hell, and the other to heaven. Now inRevelation 18 and 19 we see all mankind represented by two females. The one is aharlot who is destroyed, and the other a pure bride who is exalted. All mankindends up either a harlot in hell, or a bride in heaven.This means the whole Christian life is preparation for a wedding-a wedding thatwill begin eternity, and be the final wedding that will not only end all singlenessforever, but also all divorce forever. Paul in II Cor. 11:2 writes, "I am jealous foryou with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I mightpresent you as a pure virgin to Him." Paul saw his task in life as preparing thebride for the Wedding of the Lamb. We call it a lot of things: Church planting,evangelism, discipleship, sanctification, etc., but they all point to the ultimatewedding.The problems Paul had were due to the bride becoming infatuated with an
 
impostor. The church was letting this rival to Christ win their affections. Thebattle of history has been to keep the bride of Christ loyal to the Lamb. So all of history is a matter of romantic conflict. Satan's goal is to seduce the bride and makeher a part of his harlot. The Savior's goal is to make her holy, and as Paul says inEph. 5:27, "To present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkleor any other blemish, but holy and blameless."So all of life is wedding preparation, and it is a hassle because Satan is trying topostpone the wedding and get the bride to break the engagement. The task of thechurch is to overcome, and press on to the wedding, and be ready to marry intowealth and power beyond imagination. The bride who marries the King of Kings-the ruler of the entire new universe-will be the Queen of Heaven, and the mostpowerful and wealthy Queen that has ever existed. This is the destiny of the Brideof the Lamb.What would it be like to marry the richest man in town, or the country, or theworld? It is an interesting fantasy, but the promise of God is that all who loveChrist as Savior in this life will be married to Him in the life to come. They will bethe wife of the richest man in the universe. You talk about marrying up! The raggirl in the slums marrying the prince pales with comparison to this true romance of the former slave girl, in bondage to Satan, rescued, redeemed, and restored topurity, becoming the Bride of the Lamb. No wonder the whole first part of thischapter is a Hallelujah Chorus. The greatest love story of all is about to beconcluded in the grandest of all weddings.Long, long deferred, now come at last,The Lamb's glad wedding-day.The guests are gathering to the feast,The seats in heavenly order placed,The royal throne above the rest-How bright the new array!Sorrow and sighing are no more,The weeping hours are past.To-night the waiting will be done,To-night the wedding robe put on,The glory and the joy begun-The crown has come at last.What is heaven like? There are many answers, but one of the best is, it will belike a royal wedding with feasting, rejoicing, and all the pleasures that accompanysuch a gala occasion, and all Christians will be the Bride at that wedding. Here atlast the bride is complete and ready for the wedding. Jesus did not marry in time,for He chose to wait for a bride fit for Him-a bride made perfect by His ownsacrifice. A greater than Solomon is here, for in Christ we see a King of greaterwisdom, and with far greater riches and power, and even a bridal suite more vastthan Solomon's. For though he had 700 wives and 300 concubines from many lands,
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...