COMMITTED to train men and women
to have minds for the Lord Jesus,
hearts for the truth, and
hands that are skilled to the task.

"wedding" Tagged Sermons

Preparing for the MARRIAGE SUPPER

The great composer Frederick Handel composed on of the most famous piece based upon this verse. The Hallelujah Chorus: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. And He shall reign forever and ever. While this chorus is a masterpiece, it cannot even be slightly compared with the chorus these heavenly beings are singing.
Why are they singing?
• They witness the final triumph of good over evil
• They witness the final triumph of Christ over Antichrist
• They witness the final triumph of God over Satan
• They witness the final triumph of the Holy Spirit over the spirit of evil.
We must understand that since the fall of Adam, the faithful angelic beings around the throne of God have anticipated that ultimate day when God would finally judge Satan and those who follow him in his rebellion against God Almighty.
In verse 2 of this chapter we read that God’s judgment are true and righteous. The great harlot, religious, political and commercial Babylon has been judged. All that Babylon typifies since the days of Nimrod, when he inaugurated a system that led men away from God. In other words, all the iniquities of past ages will be justified in this ultimate destruction when God will judge Babylon. According to verse 3, God’s judgment upon this religious, political and commercial Babylon will be complete. Satan will never be permitted to rebuild that system ever again. No wonder those in heaven were singing for joy.
For almost 2000 years Christians around the world prayed: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. When the heavenly beings sing the Hallelujah chorus, they do so in great anticipation of the promised return of the King of the universe, Jesus Christ, to set up His glorious Kingdom on this earth.
Paul is using a wedding to picture the Lord’s relationship with His church.
In Biblical times, a marriage was the single greatest celebration. Their wedding preparations were even more elaborate and lasted much longer than in modern times.
Such wedding preparations consisted of 3 different stages:
First was the engagement. It consisted of an arrangement by both sets of parents contracting the marriage of their children. Such an engagement was legally binding and could only be broken by a divorce. This engagement did not just include those two children, but it included the union of two families. There were years of preparation for the time of marriage, as the boy prepared for his bride.
Second step was the so called PRESENTATION. Here both families would celebrate with the entire town for up to a full week. This presentation was always just prior the actual wedding ceremony. When the celebration came to an end, the groom and his best men would go to the bride’s house and take her and her bridesmaids to the ceremony.
Third step was the most anticipated and significant one. During this ceremony the bride and the bridegroom finally exchanged the wedding vows. After this ceremony the families and their friends would have one more final meal before the newly weds would depart.
We as Christians are His workmanship, he made us new, a new creation. What’s the purpose? FOR GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD PREPARED BEFOREHAND that we should walk in them. The purpose of every born again believer is to be available to the Lord for “good works”. We can be faithful or we can be unfaithful to walk in the things God prepared beforehand.
The Devil is a master deceiver and the father of lies. He tells those who are not yet in God’s kingdom, “WORK FOR SALVATION”. If they don’t listen to that lie, and eventually someone comes along to share the Good News with them and accept Jesus as their Savior, the Devil will change tactics: He will say: “Now that you are saved freely by grace, you don’t have to do anything.” That’s not Biblical. I think the Apostle Paul’s experience should teach all of us a vital lesson: Acts 9:1-16
We make ourselves ready by faithfully walking in the work God has prepared for us to do here on earth. Such work will be rewarded greatly by God Himself, and those rewards will reflect on our garments we will wear throughout the 1000 years here on earth as we rule and reign with him.
Are you ready?

WHAT SIGN Do You Show Us?

Last Sunday we heard John the Baptist introduce Jesus to the Jews by proclaiming: BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.
Every miracle, every sign Jesus performed during His entire ministry on this earth was done so with a very specific purpose. God never does anything without a specific purpose. In this case, the Apostle John is revealing to us that Jesus did this signs and miracles not for their own sake but to point to something that was SIGNificant. These signs always pointed to Jesus Himself, the only one able to represent God’s kingdom. The only one God the Father ever said: THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.
Why did God chose a wedding for His son to perform the first sign during His earthly ministry? And why did God chose to turn water into wine for thirsty guest? Why not turning water into grape juice?
WHAT SIGN?
He became the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins. He has done away with the Old Testament requirements. No animal sacrifices, no temple tax, now show bread, no altar of incense, no Holy of Holies, no ark of the covenant. He nailed it to the cross for good. He is the firstborn of many brethren. NOW THE CHURCH IS THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD.
What sign do you show us? For you and me, it means to be reminded that we are the newly raised temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in us, and because of that we are here to glorify God in our body and in our spirit.
Jesus’ signs pointed toward something much more SIGNificant than the sign itself, it pointed toward the glorious truth WHO HE REALLY IS, the Redeemer, the Savior of the World, the Only begotten Son of God, fully man, fully God. The KING OF GLORY.