Here Comes The Bride

Here Comes the Bride

TEXT: Ephesians 5:25-27

INTRODUCTION:

When I was in the 6th grade, I had a Catholic girl friend, and being curious, I decided to find out what Catholics believed. I checked out a book from the school library and read it and discovered that there were a lot of differences in our beliefs.

One thing that caught my eye and which I couldn’t quite figure out at that time was the information regarding nuns. The book said that nuns were married to Jesus Christ and even wore a type of wedding ring after taking their final vows to signify that they were taken.

Since that time I’ve noticed that the issue of nuns being married to Christ is a popular twist for TV and movie plots. How many times have I seen lovely nuns on TV or the movie screen who are torn between loyalty to Christ and the love of a handsome man. (I might add that they usually choose the man in the end.)

At that time, as a 6th grader, I thought it was rather unusual for Christ to have so many wives. Surely it must have made Christ into a polygamist for so many women to wear his ring and claim to be his wife.

Over the years, Bible study has revealed something, which casts a shadow of doubt on the whole matter of nuns being married to Christ. According to the scriptures, Christ has only one bride. This bride is HIS Church ---- HIS WHOLE CHURCH.

This means that you and I have just as much claim to being the Bride of Christ as any Catholic nun. Why? Because the Church is the Bride of Christ.

In II Corinthians 11:2, Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church and he says:

“I am jealous over you with godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

There are some things about the relationship of the church to Christ, which could be paralleled in a man’s relationship to his wife. Ephesians 5 talks about this similarity. There are also similarities between a normal wedding ceremony and Christ’s wedding to the Church.

We will examine 3 areas where normal weddings are similar to Christ and his church. These are:

I. The Wedding Gown

II. The Wedding Ring

III. The Wedding Vows

I. THE WEDDING GOWN

When a girl starts thinking about marriage and her wedding ceremony, her thoughts turn first to how she will look in her beautiful wedding gown. Let’s face it, the wedding day is the brides day to shine.

ILLUSTRATION:

When I was a janitor at O.B.C. there were two or three times I had the opportunity to clean the floors in the girls dorms. One thing that astounded me as I went from room to room was the large pin-up pictures and posters of brides on the walls. Some of these girls had pictures taken from “BRIDE” magazine all over their walls. I might add that some of these girls didn’t even have boy friends yet.

It didn’t seem to matter whether marriage was imminent or not, the idea of being a bride and wearing a beautiful white gown with a veil was the biggest dream on some of these girl’s minds.

The Bride of Christ will wear a gown of pure white on that wedding day, too. Revelation 19: 7-8 says:

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.”

We all know that the wearing of white signifies something. If a bride is a pure virgin, she wears white. Most brides who have been married before customarily wear some color other than white. As we look at the church today, some people are going to be inclined to wonder how the church can get away with wearing white. As we look at the horrible things that have been done in the name of the church (such as the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades in the middle ages) we might tend to think that red would be a more appropriate color.

It would be wise to point out two important facts here:

First: NOT everyone who claims to be a part of the Church (The Bride of Christ) is really a part of Christ’s church.

Matthew 7:21-23 says:

“Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of

heaven, but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your