The Ultimate Wedding

THE ULTIMATE WEDDING Based on Rev. 19:1-9

By Pastor Glenn Pease

Romance is the greatest power in the universe. It is the motivating power that will 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 goes around the world is a good example. It was not just the love of money and power that moved Conrad Hilton to build this vast empire. In his autobiography, Be My Guest, 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 curls

several pews in front of me at church. The hat was dark red

and the curls were very black and there was something about

the way she wore the hat, the way she carried her head, she

was very attractive. When I saw her face, pretty, vivacious,

alert, with laughing eyes, in my excitement I did something

worthy of a college freshman.

I followed the red hat out of church to try to find out where

she 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 a

long start on me that, after seeing it bop up and down in the

crowd for a couple of blocks, I lost it.

For a month of Sundays I amazed that congregation with my

piety. I attended every mass from six till noon. But I didn't

see her again."

One afternoon as he left his theater where business was going bad, he walked right into that same girl. She had on a different hat, but it was her, and she was with 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 he insisted that when he finished building a hotel she come back and marry him. He also insisted she give him her red hat. He writes again:

"There was the incurable romantic coming out again. It was

now my firm intention to sprinkle stars in Mary's lap, and I would

go back into the fight, climb my mountain, as her champion. In the

days when Arthur was king, I would have worn her colors on my

sleeve.

In Dallas, Texas, in 1924, I had to content myself with flying the

red 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 her into the world of the rich and famous. It is a beautiful love story, but it has one major flaw. They did not live happily ever after. Eight years later their marriage ended 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 with no fear of conflict. The goal of God is achieved when He gets His Son, the most famous single in all of human history, married. When Jesus gets married at the great wedding of the Lamb, then singleness will cease to exist, and all will be as it was 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 from God. This is the beginning of the most romantic adventure conceivable as this happy 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, The greatest of the Old Testament saints, was single. Paul, the greatest of the New Testament saints, was also single. Volumes could be filled with the stories of the famous singles who have served the kingdom of God with great success. But all this will 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 each other, but they will be wedded to the Lamb, and be His bride forever. Christian husbands and wives will together be part of the Bride. Their love for each other will not be diminished, but rather enhanced. Their primary loyalty, however, will be to the Lamb.