SERMON: HEALING FORGIVENESS

 

30 September 2012

I. Introduction

-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 6:9-15

Matthew 6:9-15 (NIV)

9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

-- people in Russia celebrate the first day of school in a unique way -- on September 1st of each year, parents and their children dress in their finest clothes and head off to school for what is called, the "Day of Knowledge" -- when they get to school, the parents and children listen to talks from teachers and from other students, and finally, the oldest students in the school -- the "last graders" -- take the first year students -- "first graders" -- to their class

-- on September 1, 2004, terrorists took advantage of this school tradition and stormed Beslan Middle School in Russia, taking more than 1300 people hostage -- they moved everyone into the gym, and set up explosives on trip wires surrounding the compound -- they harassed and terrorized the students, parents, and teachers as they walked through the gym carrying machine guns and with explosives strapped to their chest

-- Irina Gigouev was one of the parents in the gym that day -- and as she huddled with her two sons, Mark, aged 9, and Arthur, aged 8, she led several in the group in singing hymns and worshiping God

-- as they were singing, a terrorist moved directly behind her holding an AK-47 -- and Irina prayed out loud for God to touch this man and to change his heart

-- after three frightening days and after the death of numerous hostages, Russian troops stormed the compound -- as soon as the Army begin their raid on the compound, the terrorists starting setting off explosives and shooting hostages -- Irina's sons were both hit by shrapnel, and died in her arms as the battle in the gym raged

-- despite the loss of her sons -- despite the fact she was facing death herself at the hand of the terrorists -- Irina continued to pray out loud for God to touch the terrorist who had stood behind her and her sons and asked God to forgive him for his role in the death of her sons

-- by the end of the siege, 338 people died, including many children and 31 of the 32 terrorists who were in the gym -- leaving behind a world shocked at the horror of terrorism and a story of Christ-like forgiveness by a mother grieving the loss of her sons

-- to this day, Irina still harbors no resentment or unforgiveness towards her captors -- towards those who killed her sons -- but she continues to pray for the terrorists to come to know the power of Christ in their lives

-- this morning, we are going to be talking about what it means to forgive -- a lot of times when we talk about forgiveness in the church, our focus is always on the forgiveness of Christ for our sins -- the forgiveness of the cross

-- but we can never forget that we, who have received such forgiveness from Christ, are commanded to live out that love and that gift by forgiving those who have wronged us

-- Jesus told His disciples that the world would know them by their love -- and that love is no more evident than when we forgive someone who has wronged us

-- in fact, we see this command to forgive others right here in one of the most familiar passages of Scripture in all the Bible -- the Lord's Prayer -- how many times have you heard this prayer in church? -- how many times have you prayed this prayer yourself?

-- and, in all of those times, how often did you stop to think about what you were asking God in verse 12 -- look back at verse 12 again

12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

-- this version says, "forgive us our debts" -- others say, "forgive us our trespasses" -- but it means the same thing -- forgive us when we do something wrong -- forgive us when we sin against you

-- that's the basis of our faith in Christ, isn't it? -- that's the message of the Cross -- Christ has forgiven us of all of our sins and our acts of disobedience -- all of our debts and trespasses

-- but, have you ever noticed the second part of that verse --

12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

-- in my opinion, this is one of the scariest passages in the Bible, because the implications are profound -- Christ is literally telling us here that if we do not forgive others -- if we do not forgive those who trespass against us -- those who have wronged us -- those who have sinned against us and hurt us -- then we will not be forgiven by God

-- Is this what Jesus is actually telling us here? -- is He actually telling us that we will not receive forgiveness from God if we harbor unforgiveness in our heart? -- the answer, as best I can tell from my study of scripture, is "yes"

-- and, in case you didn't get that from verse 12, Jesus said it again in even stronger terms -- look at verse 14-15

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

-- stop and think about that for a moment -- think about what that means in light of your salvation

-- as the authors of "Truefaced" point out, "if we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts towards others, how can we even pretend that we are truly desirous of His forgiveness toward us?"

-- the Apostle John said something similar in 1 John 2:9 -- "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness."

-- in other words, how can we say that we are in the light -- how can we say that we have truly received Christ's gift of forgiveness if we refuse to forgive those who have wronged us?

-- consider the context of this passage and how it would have been received by the people who actually heard Jesus speak these words -- Matthew tells us that Jesus gave the Lord's prayer and this amplification of His thoughts during the sermon on the mount -- He was speaking to first century Jews -- a people chosen by God to be His voice and His light and His deliverance to the world

-- the Jewish people had been severely wronged and harassed and persecuted over the ages -- in fact, when Jesus spoke these words, their country was in bondage to the Romans -- they may not have been slaves, but their very lives were controlled and restricted by these foreigners who had taken over their land

-- as a result, the Jews resented and hated the Romans -- according to one scholar that I read, the Jews were a people who sought revenge for trespasses and rarely showed forgiveness to others

-- but, in this petition, Jesus was calling them to a higher state -- He was calling them to put aside their hatred and their resentment and calling them to forgive those who had wronged them -- He is calling us to the same -- Why?

-- I think He gives us the answer in the way He links our forgiveness of others to the forgiveness from God

-- our ability to forgive others is a sign of God's love and forgiveness in our life -- it is a proof of our salvation -- a proof of our sanctification -- a proof that God has worked in our lives and changed us from who we used to be into people who live with the knowledge and power of God's grace and forgiveness in our lives

-- the Jewish people claimed to be the Chosen of God -- they were proud of the fact that God had established a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- they knew they were the keepers of His word and that the promise of eternal life rested with them -- but, instead of showing God's love and grace and mercy to the world, they showed resentment and hatred and unforgiveness

-- in the same way, a lot of us Christians claim to be filled with God Himself -- we claim to possess within us His truth and His light and His love, but then, rather than showing that love and mercy to others, we turn right around and show resentment and hatred and unforgiveness to others

-- I think that what Christ is trying to get us to see in this prayer is that if we are truly God's people -- if we have truly been touched by God's mercy and grace and forgiveness -- then we will live out the commandment to "love our neighbor as ourselves" by pouring out God's mercy and grace onto others -- by forgiving others for the trespasses that they have committed against us even though they don't deserve it

-- if we find that we cannot forgive others, then it may be that we have never actually accepted forgiveness ourselves -- we may be like the Jewish people in Jesus' day -- claiming to represent God while not truly loving and serving Him with our whole hearts

-- as one scholar has said, "no one can reasonably imagine himself to be the object of divine forgiveness if he is deliberately and habitually unforgiving towards his fellow men"

-- there is no question about it -- if you are a Christian -- if you have been forgiven by Christ for your sins -- for all the debts and trespasses against Him -- you must forgive others when they trespass against you -- you must live a life of gracious forgiveness

-- but what does this mean? -- what does this look like?

-- I think one reason why Christians refuse to forgive is because we really don't understand what forgiveness is -- we have a misconception of forgiveness based on how the world defines it

-- a lot of us think that when we forgive someone, we are just letting them off the hook -- we're just saying, "don't worry about it -- it was nothing," and we pick right up and go back to the way things used to be and just pretend like nothing ever happened

-- that is not forgiveness

-- forgiveness is not about restoring a relationship -- restoration and reunion may eventually come through forgiveness -- but that is not the primary purpose of forgiveness

-- I want you to listen to this -- I want you to understand this -- the primary purpose of forgiving -- the reason God calls us to forgive others -- is to heal the hurts and the scars in our heart that were caused when someone that we trusted trespassed against us and sinned against us and wronged us

-- forgiveness is not something that we do for others -- it is something that we do for our self -- forgiveness is something that happens within us -- within our hearts -- and it doesn't have to involve anyone else

-- true forgiveness is one-sided -- it occurs when you make the choice to heal the hurt that is within you -- when you decide to let God heal the hurt that another has placed in your life

-- you can forgive someone and never, ever restore your relationship with them or even let them know that you have forgiven them

-- let me show you an example from the Bible

-- In two of Paul's epistles, Philemon and Colossians, we learn about Demas -- a friend of Paul's -- a fellow-worker for Christ -- someone who Paul had witnessed to and who was travelling with him and ministering with him throughout Asia

-- Paul closes his letter to the Colossians in Chapter 4 by mentioning all those working with him and he says in verse 14, "Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings" -- Demas was a trusted friend and brother to Paul -- but, Demas trespassed against Paul and wounded him deeply

-- flip over to 2 Timothy 4:9-18

2 Timothy 4:9-18 (NIV)

9 Do your best to come to me quickly,

10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.

14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.

15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.

17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth.

18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

-- Demas had abandoned the faith and deserted Paul when Paul was first arrested -- he refused to stand up for Paul and instead left him alone and in prison

-- but, in this closing to the second letter to Timothy, we can see how forgiveness in the life of a Christian should work -- Paul had evidently forgiven Demas for trespassing against him -- for wounding him and violating his trust

-- look at the second part of verse 16

"May it not be held against them."

-- Paul had forgiven Demas -- he no longer was holding this sin against him -- he was no longer harboring unforgiveness in his heart

-- but, note that this forgiveness was one-sided -- Paul forgave Demas in his heart -- but Paul did not attempt to restore their relationship -- he did not attempt to reach out to Demas and bring him back into the fold of Paul's closest confidants -- Paul's trust had been violated and he could no longer trust Demas in the future -- in fact, it seems as if Paul is warning Timothy to watch out for Demas and not to trust him if he comes to Timothy

-- forgiveness does not mean restoration -- when someone hurts you -- when they wound you severely and violate the trust that you had in them -- then you may never trust them again -- in a lot of cases -- such as in the case of Demas and Paul -- such as in the case when a wife forgives an abusive husband -- you probably should never trust them again -- but, you can forgive them -- not for their sake, but for yours

-- you see, there is only one real reason for forgiving someone else when they trespass against us -- yes, Jesus does tell us that we should forgive others because it is a commandment of God -- but, it is a commandment of God for the same reason that we should go ahead and forgive on our own

-- when someone wrongs you -- when they sin against you -- it is like they have wounded your heart -- they have damaged your heart -- and you will never be well -- you will never be whole again -- until you have repaired the damage that they have done to you

-- hearts damaged by others keep us from loving God as we should -- it keeps us from loving others as we should -- it keeps us from living life as we should

-- hearts damaged by others gives Satan a stronghold into our lives -- and Satan fills up these damaged places in our hearts with anger and hatred and resentment and bitterness and a desire for vengeance -- things that hamper our Christian life

-- I've heard it said that unforgiveness is a poison we drink hoping the other person dies -- unforgiveness hurts us more than them

-- so, when God commands us to forgive others when they trespass against us, it is a commandment for our own good -- it is a call for the healing of our hearts -- not for those who wronged us -- but for us -- to cut out of our lives something that is hindering our walk with Christ and that is keeping us from becoming who God wants us to be

-- forgiveness is like the surgeon's knife that cuts cancer out of our body -- God uses this process of forgiveness to heal us and to make us whole once again

III. How do we forgive?

-- so, how do we forgive? -- what is involved in forgiving someone for trespassing against us?

-- before we can begin to forgive, we need to recognize that there is a need for forgiveness and we have to have a desire to heal the hurts within us

-- this takes time -- when we have been hurt -- when we have been violated -- it may take months, or even years, until we reach the point where we are ready to forgive the other person for the hurt that they inflicted in our hearts

-- it is okay to be angry at what happened to us -- in fact, we should be angry at what happened -- because someone we trusted violated that very trust in our lives -- and it is through that anger that our desire to heal should come

-- and, we should keep in mind that forgiveness is a process -- it is not something that happens just once and is over -- we may forgive and then find ourselves feeling those same hurts once again -- we may find that we have to continually forgive the wrong that was done to us -- that is okay and it is part of the healing process

-- in his book, "The Art of Forgiving," Lewis Smedes outlines the three steps to forgiveness that we follow when we truly seek healing in our life:

-- first, we begin the process of forgiving when we start separating the person who wronged us from the wrong that they did to us -- when someone wrongs us, in our minds, they become the wrong that they did to us -- we say things like, "he is nothing but a cheat -- he is nothing but a liar" -- we look at them and all we see is the sin

-- but, as Smedes points out, when we begin the miracle of healing, we begin to see our enemy through a cleaner lens, less smudged by hate -- we begin to see them as a person who did something wrong -- not as wrong itself

-- when God forgave us, the first thing He did was to separate us from our sin -- we were not the problem -- it was the sin that was the problem and that needed to be dealt with -- so God provided a way to cover our sins -- when God sees us, He doesn't see the sin any longer -- He sees the person underneath the sin, cleansed through the blood of Christ

-- the first step to forgiveness, then, is continuing to hate the sin but not the person who committed the sin against you

-- the second step to forgiveness is to surrender our right to get even -- when we are first wronged -- when we are first hurt -- we want to get even -- we want the other person to suffer like we have suffered and to know that they are suffering because of what they did to us -- we call this "vengeance"

-- when you start on the road to forgiveness, you are releasing your right to vengeance -- to hurting the other person unjustly -- keep in mind, though, that there is a difference between vengeance and justice -- vengeance is our pleasure of seeing someone who hurt us get hurt back -- justice is making sure that someone pays a fair penalty for wronging another -- vengeance is personal satisfaction -- justice is moral accountability

-- forgiveness does not do away with justice -- someone who wronged you may have to pay for the wrong that they have done -- but, forgiveness does mean that you don't desire them to be hurt in an unjust way simply as revenge for what they did to you

-- the final step to forgiveness is when you revise your feelings towards the person that wronged you -- you no longer hate them for who they are and you even can hope that God's grace might fall into their lives

-- this does not excuse the wrong that they have done -- it does not mean that we are going to tolerate them trespassing against us again and it does not mean that we are going to restore our relationship with them

-- but it means that you no longer have a desire for them to suffer because of what they have done to you -- and it means that if God was to reach out and touch them and change their lives for the better, that you would be happy to see that happen

-- when you have reached this stage of forgiveness, you can know for sure that the hatred and the bitterness are now removed from your life and that your heart has been healed and restored by the miraculous power of forgiveness

IV. Closing

-- forgiveness is a gift from God -- through Christ, God forgave us for the sins that we committed -- He refused to pour out His vengeance and wrath on us but offered His very Son as a sacrifice to ensure that justice was done -- and, once justice was served, God poured out His blessings on us -- on the very people that once had trespassed against Him

-- in the same way, God calls for us to forgive others that have trespassed against us -- He knows that our hearts have been hurt and damaged by others -- and He knows that these wounded hearts can keep us from loving Him and loving others as He wants

-- so, He encourages us to offer forgiveness to others in our hearts -- so that in the process of forgiveness we might find healing from the hatred and bitterness and resentment that we have built up in our lives

-- there is power in forgiveness -- and that is why Jesus commands us to pray daily, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us"

-- as we close now, I want to encourage you to take a moment in the quiet of this place -- search your hearts and speak to the hurts and the sins and the trespasses that have been done against you -- and offer up forgiveness to those who have wronged you in the past -- not for their sake -- but for your sake -- receive the healing that God offers you as you forgive those who have trespassed against you

-- let us pray

SERMON: THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

23 September 2012

I. Introduction

-- turn in Bibles to Hosea 2:16-23

Hosea 2:16-23 (NIV)

16 "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.'

17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.

19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.

20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.

21 "In that day I will respond," declares the LORD-- "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth;

22 and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

23 I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'"

-- on Tuesday of this week, the world was astounded when they opened their papers and turned on their TVs and were told that new scientific evidence suggests that Jesus was actually married

-- this new finding is based on a translation of a tiny scrap of papyrus by a professor at the Harvard Divinity School -- this manuscript -- no larger than a grocery store receipt -- contains the intriguing phrase, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife...'"

-- no one knows where this manuscript came from -- how it was discovered or who originally owned it -- it first showed up in the 1980s when a German Egyptologist suggested it might prove Jesus was married

-- in 2010 the current owners asked Harvard professor Karen King to authenticate the papyrus and provide an accurate translation

-- scientific tests of the paper and the ink demonstrated that the tiny slip of paper was indeed authentic and came from a fourth century codex written in Coptic, an Egyptian language -- Dr. King believes it may have originally been translated from an earlier Greek manuscript and notes that it was written around 300 years after the death of Christ, probably around the same time as the apocryphal gospels of Thomas, Mary, and Philip

-- of course, the claims from this manuscript are nothing new to the Christian community -- others throughout history have claimed that Jesus was married and that He even had children

-- the most famous of these in recent years was Dan Brown in his novel, "The Da Vinci Code" -- in this novel, Brown alleges that Jesus was married to Mary Magdelene and that she was the Holy Grail sought after in the middle ages during the Crusades

-- Brown goes on to say that Jesus and Mary Magdelene had children and that their descendants are still alive today and are the keepers of the truth of the message of Christ that the early church corrupted for their own political reasons

-- so, in light of this discovery that was just announced this week, I thought it might be helpful to spend a few minutes this morning talking about the issues this manuscript raises so you would be ready to discuss this issue with any friends or coworkers who might come up to you and ask you questions about it

II. Did Jesus have a Wife?

-- let's start with the big question that this manuscript raises -- did Jesus have a wife?

-- the answer to this question, based on scripture, is simply, "no" -- no where in the New Testament is there even a hint that Jesus might have been married -- it is not recorded in any scripture that we have and it is not even found in the earliest Gnostic gospels or writings

-- in fact, until this discovery of this Egyptian manuscript and its translation by Dr. King, we have never found in print a statement indicating that Jesus was married, even though there were many opportunities to do so in our own Bible

-- if you would, hold your place here in Hosea and turn over to the New Testament -- to 1 Corinthians 9:5 or just listen as I read this verse

1 Corinthians 9:5 (NIV)

5 Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?

-- in this verse, Paul defends the right of the apostles and other church leaders to be married -- this would have been the perfect place for Paul to write that Jesus was married -- if Jesus had been married, Paul most certainly would have cited Him as conclusive support for being accompanied by a wife

-- in other words, if Paul wanted to make the case that it was okay for him to have a wife, what more compelling case than to say, "Jesus was married, so I can be married, too?" -- but he didn't, he only mentioned Peter and Jesus' own brothers -- which implies that Jesus was not married and everyone knew He had never been married

-- we have to remember that Jesus' mission on earth was not procreation but salvation -- as Focus on the Family states on their website, the "establishment of marriage, family and an earthly home were not Jesus' purposes" -- this was not why He came -- He came to bring forgiveness of sins and redemption through His blood, not too raise a family

III. Who is the True Bride of Christ?

-- in fact, if Jesus had married, He would have sinned and been guilty of polygamy because He already was engaged to be married to another

-- look back at Hosea 2:16-20

Hosea 2:16-23 (NIV)

16 "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.'

17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.

19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.

20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.

-- you see, Jesus was already promised to be married to someone else -- He was promised to be married to the church

-- in 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul tells the church at Corinth, "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him."

-- in Ephesians 5, Paul uses the analogy of marriage to explain our relationship to Christ when he tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church

-- and in Revelation 19:6-9 we are given a picture of the wedding feast of the Lamb and are told that His bride -- the church of Christ -- has made her herself ready by putting on righteousness and fine, bright linen that was given to us to wear

-- here in Hosea, we read even more pointed language telling us that we are the bride of Christ

-- in verse 16, God tells us that "in that day" -- in the day of the Lord -- we will no longer call Jesus "master," but we will call Him, "husband"

-- and down in verses 19 and 20, we read that we are betrothed to Him forever -- in righteousness and justice -- in truth and in love

-- we are betrothed to Jesus -- we are engaged to Him -- we are His bride

-- this is why Jesus could never have been married while He lived on earth -- He already was engaged -- He already had a bride

-- if you know a little bit about the Jewish wedding customs, you'll see just how perfectly the analogy of a marriage lines up with our relationship with Jesus

-- when it was time for a young man in Jesus' day to marry, either he or his father went to the bride's father to arrange the marriage -- by custom, they were required to pay a dowry for the bride -- to give something of great value in exchange for the woman's hand in marriage

-- then, when both parties were in agreement, the girl would be brought in and the betrothal would be sealed by drinking a cup of wine that was passed between the bride and groom and their parents

-- at that point, the couple were considered betrothed in the eyes of God and man, and the union could only be dissolved through divorce -- this was the same situation as Mary and Joseph were in when she was found pregnant with Jesus -- although they had not actually had a wedding yet or consummated their relationship, for all intents and purposes, they were considered married by their family and friends

-- after the betrothal, the groom would go away to prepare a place for his bride -- usually, a room for them in his father's house

-- the groom would stay away from his bride for a long period -- anywhere from one to two years -- but when it was time for the wedding, the groom would come at night with his friends and witnesses, with trumpets and great fanfare -- they would be met at the bride's home by her attendants, who lit the path to her home with lanterns and escorted the groom to the wedding feast

-- the couple would dine together at this feast with their family and their guests -- and then they would say their vows to each other in the presence of all of those present -- they would retire to the bridal chamber where their wedding was consummated -- and then the feast would continue for another seven days until the groom carried his wife back to his father's house to begin their new life together

-- now think for a moment how this relates to us and Christ -- look back at verse 18 here --

Hosea 2:18 (NIV)

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.

-- God says that He made a covenant with us and the earth that He would be our God and we would be His people

-- this happened with Noah after the flood that destroyed the earth -- God made a covenant and gave us the rainbow as a sign of His promise -- later on He confirmed this covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Jesus reaffirmed this covenant in the upper room when He shared the cup of wine with His disciples and spoke of a new covenant of His blood

-- this was our betrothal ceremony -- this was when we became engaged to be married to Jesus

-- and then Jesus paid the greatest price of all for us -- He gave His own body and blood that we might be with Him -- and then He left us here to prepare a place for us to dwell with Him forever -- remember the words of Christ to His disciples in the upper room? -- "I go to prepare a place for you" and "in my Father's house are many rooms"

-- at some point in time -- in the day of the Lord -- Jesus will come back to claim His bride and we will join Him at the marriage feast of the Lamb -- the church will be His bride and we will truly become one with Him at that time

IV. Will Jesus Still Marry Us?

-- so, if the church is the bride of Christ, then why does the world keep trying to marry Him off? -- why do they keep trying to find a wife for Jesus?

-- it's because the church is not acting like a faithful bride -- we are acting like Hosea's wife Gomer

-- God made the prophet Hosea fall in love with an adulterous woman named Gomer -- and even though she bore him three children, she left their home to become a prostitute -- even though she was married, she lived like she was not and was unfaithful to Hosea and to the vows that she had made to him

-- Gomer was a picture of the way the nation of Israel acted towards God -- as it says here in verse 17, Israel turned away from God and chased after idols like Baal

-- in the same way, the church of Christ today has not been faithful to its betrothed -- we may not be bowing down to idols in our backyard like the Israelites did, but we put our faith in idols just as much as the ancient Israelites did

-- we trust more in our bankbooks than we do in the God who provides -- we follow the ways of the world more than we follow the ways of Christ -- we have been unfaithful to Him just as Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea

-- that's why the world keeps trying to find a bride for Jesus -- they look at us and they don't see a bride waiting for her bridegroom -- they don't see a chaste virgin waiting for her wedding day -- instead, they see us prostituting ourselves on the idols of fame and fortune, more concerned about living the American Dream than looking forward to the hope we have in Christ

-- we're hardly the type of bride that Jesus would want -- but that's one reason why I like the book of Hosea so much -- it shows the heart of God

-- look at verse 21-23

Hosea 2:21-23 (NIV)

21 "In that day I will respond," declares the LORD-- "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth;

22 and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

23 I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'"

-- every time Gomer left Hosea, Hosea wouldn't let her go -- he followed her into the streets and chased after her even though she was unfaithful -- he bought her back from her life of prostitution time and time again

-- even though she continued to be unfaithful and repeatedly left him, Hosea was faithful to her and brought her home again and again and again

-- in the same way Hosea sought Gomer, these verses say that God responds to us -- He responds to our unfaithfulness with faithfulness -- He responds to our lack of love with His agape love

-- to those who were not His loved one, He shows love -- to those who refused to be His people, He says, "You are My people" -- and He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us but will stay with us forever until we turn again to Him and confess, "We are your people -- You are our God"

V. Closing

-- so, what's the take-home message from all of this?

-- first, when someone asks you if Jesus was married, tell them, "Yes, He is married to His church" -- tell them that we are His bride and despite our flaws, Jesus loves us and chases after us and redeems us from our sins and our unfaithfulness -- tell them that He clothes us with His righteousness and dresses us in gowns of fine linen -- and tell them that He has prepared a place for us to dwell with Him forever in His Father's house

-- second, when they ask you about that manuscript where Jesus says, "My wife..." tell them that He is probably referring to the church -- remind them that there is no record in all of Scripture that indicates that Jesus was married when He lived here on earth -- and that even none of the Gnostic gospels and writings closer to Jesus' time refer to Him being married

-- this little slip of paper with the words, "My wife..." taken out of context from the larger codex do not mean that Jesus was married

-- third, keep in mind that as the bride of Christ, we have responsibilities in this relationship as well

-- we have to find the perfect clothes to wear -- everyone knows that the wedding dress is symbolic of the bride -- the white signifies the purity of the bride to all who are gathered there -- the dress is a reflection of the character of the woman who wears it

-- as the bride of Christ, our clothes will be a reflection of our character -- we need to be putting on pure, white garments -- reflecting our purity of character -- our devotion to Christ

-- our daily acts -- our daily lives -- will determine what type of clothes we will wear to the wedding and the wedding feast

-- I guarantee you that there's not a women in here who did not dream or plan on wearing a beautiful white dress to her wedding

-- if we consider our earthly weddings so important, then why aren't we taking more care with the clothes we will be wearing to our heavenly wedding?

-- we need to be standing firm -- living for Christ -- and we need to remain pure and devoted to Him

-- how do we show our love and devotion to Christ? -- how do we ensure our garments will be fine linen? -- by doing righteous acts in His name

-- what's the other thing we should be doing as the bride of Christ? -- we need to be sending out wedding invitations

-- when Kim and I got engaged, we sent wedding invitations to everyone and their brother -- of course the family got invited -- then we started working on our friends -- and then our parent's friends -- and the list got bigger and bigger and bigger

-- well, we have a wedding and a wedding feast coming up -- and I don't think it's too far away -- let me ask you a question -- who have you invited to the wedding lately? -- who have you told about your betrothed?

-- we need to be sending out invitations to others to join us at the marriage feast of the Lamb -- we need to be sharing our faith with our family and our friends and our friends' friends

-- it is a crying shame that we put more effort into inviting people to our earthly weddings than we do in inviting them to a marriage that will last for eternity

-- finally, we need to be watching for the coming of the groom -- we need to keep the fires lit and the lamps trimmed -- we need to make sure that we are not caught unaware when Christ returns -- He tells us that He will come as a thief in the night, and that we must keep a close watch for His return

-- so, keep one eye to the heavens and one eye on earth as you go about your day, so that you will be prepared for your wedding when Jesus comes again

-- let us pray