Well, joining us with the book of the
Revelation again this evening, and we're at chapter
19.
The book of the Revelation, chapter 19, and
we're going through from verse 7 to the
end of verse 10.
7, 8, 9, 10, you see.
It's a very short portion.
We'll read it through together and you watch
the reading.
Let us be glad and rejoice and give
honor to him, for the marriage of the
Lamb is come.
And I'd like you to underline the phrase
in your mind just now, the marriage of
the Lamb is come.
You want to take note of where it's
taking place and when it's taking place.
For the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.
For fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
And he says unto me, writes, Blessed are
they which are called unto the marriage supper
of the Lamb, because after the marriage there
will be the marriage supper.
And blessed are they which are called unto
the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he says unto me, these are the
true sayings of God, and I fail at
his feet to worship him.
And he said unto me, see thou do
it not.
I am thy fellow servant, and of thy
brethren have the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy.
It's a very wonderful little portion of the
evening, and there are more problems in it,
I believe, than you think there are just
now.
You notice that I have called this, this
evening, the marriage supper of the Lamb.
That's one of the phrases in the paragraph.
Now, I think that you notice, as we've
come through the book of the Revelation, there
were times when the scenes were down here
on earth.
And then there were times when the scene
changed so quickly, and we were looking at
things in heaven.
And we've always got to watch this.
Wonder can you go through the book of
the Revelation without looking at it and telling
me all the chapters that we've gone through
now.
Let me put you over it again.
In chapters 1 and 2 and 3, we
saw the Lord going through the midst of
the churches.
He was looking at the book of churches,
and you remember the things he said.
Well, that was enough, wasn't it?
And then in chapters 4 and 5, it
was the Lamb we were taken up with
in heaven.
And you remember I said that this book
of the Revelation is God's revelation of Christ,
and God reveals the Lord in the midst
of the churches in the first three chapters,
and then he reveals the Lamb in the
midst of the throne in chapters 4 and
5.
Now, when we came to chapter 6, we
came back to earth again.
And 7 and 8 and 9 and 10
and 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
18.
And last week we were back in heaven,
listening to these wonderful hallelujahs from the great
crowd in heaven.
You remember that chapter 6 was the four
horsemen, and that was on earth, desolation and
starvation, the civil war and so on.
Chapter 7 was a parenthesical portion, you remember,
where the 144,000 were sealed.
Chapter 8 was where a third part of
everything above the earth and on the earth
and round the earth and under the earth
was burned with fire.
Chapter 9, it was the chapter where the
demons were let loose.
What a chapter that was.
Chapter 10 was another parenthesical chapter.
Chapter 11 was the two witnesses.
You remember that great scene where they stood
against the beast and overcame him for quite
a time.
Chapter 12 was Israel in the wilderness being
hunted by the devil.
Chapter 13, we had the two beasts, and
what a night we had on this.
Chapter 14 was the 144,000 coming through
the tribulation on Mount Zion.
Chapter 15 was parenthetical again.
Chapter 16 was Armageddon.
Chapter 17 was the scarlet woman.
Chapter 18 was commercial Babylon.
I've thought in all the chapters, you know.
And what's more, I can tell you what's
in them too.
And when we come to chapter 19, we're
back in heaven.
Do you remember it?
Let's get it clear now.
Look at verse 1.
After these things I heard a great voice
of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation
and glory and honor and power unto the
Lord our God.
My, this great voice is in heaven.
Verse 5 said, And a voice came out
of the throne saying, Praise our God.
Verse 6, And I heard out of it
where the voice of a great multitude, and
as the voice of many waters, and as
the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, for
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
And then the voice said, Let us be
glad and rejoice.
So I don't think that you have any
trouble settling the scene this evening.
This is taking place in heaven.
And it's taking place after all these things
have taken place on earth.
In fact, you know, we're going to be
taken in to the marriage of the Lamb.
And it couldn't possibly have taken place before
it.
Because there was a harlot who was protesting
to be defect.
And the harlot had to be removed.
Before this thing took place.
And we've been through the chapters where the
great whore, the harlot, the scarlet woman was
removed.
And after these things, this voice shouts in
heaven, Let us be glad and rejoice.
You know, there are great suppers right through
the New Testament.
Let's try to get all this in this
evening.
Let's go back to Luke's Gospel, chapter 14.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 14.
And our Lord Jesus speaks by parables very
often.
And at verse 16 he said this.
Then said he unto him, A certain man
made a great supper, and barred many.
And sent his servant at supper time to
say to them that were bidden, Come, for
all things are now ready.
And I don't want to take time with
this parable this evening.
But the greatest gospel preachers we've had in
the world, they've all been saying that this
is the gospel supper.
I believe that when you can invite the
people and say, Come for all things are
now ready, it must be a great spread.
And I believe that there is forgiveness on
the table for unbelievers.
And I believe there is redemption.
I believe there is justification.
I believe there is substitution.
I believe there is reconciliation.
And I can go on quite a bit,
you know.
But all things are now ready.
And the one word that covers this supper
is the word invitation.
It's come!
That's what the gospel supper is all about.
Just come.
For all things are now ready.
Now if you go from Luke 14 you'll
come to John chapter 12.
John's gospel, chapter 12, verse
1.
And then six days before the Passover came,
then Jesus, six days before the Passover came
to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been
dead, whom he raised from the dead.
There they made him a supper.
And Martha served.
But Lazarus was one of them that sat
at the table with him.
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of
spikeny, very costly, and anointed the feet of
Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair,
and the house was filled with the odour
of the ointment.
This is what's called by preachers the Bethany
supper.
And I think one word covers it again.
It's the word adoration.
And now you can see Lazarus sitting at
the table looking at the master that called
him out of darkness into light.
And he must have been adoring the Lord.
You'll find that Martha is serving now, and
she's not grumbling anymore.
Life is so taken up with the Lord
that the mere task means nothing.
And, of course, Mary breaks the alabaster box
of ointment, and the whole scene is adoration.
I think the gospel supper is invitation, and
this one is adoration, and without going to
the scriptures you know about the last supper.
It was there that the Lord instituted what
we call the Lord's Supper.
And when we meet the Lord's this morning
around the table, it's commemoration that's the word.
We're there to remember the Lord's death.
And I believe that the supper that we're
thinking about this evening, the marriage supper, the
word is jubilation.
Yes, now have you got them?
The gospel supper is invitation, and the Bethany
supper is adoration, and the last supper is
commemoration, and the marriage supper is jubilation.
And next week, if the Lord will, there's
another one there in chapter 19.
I think you should get it now, and
then you'll be thinking about it.
And it's said in verse 17, we're at
chapter 19, verse 17, And I saw an
angel standing in the sun, and he cried
with a loud voice, saying to all the
fowls that fly in the midst of heaven,
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper
of the great God, that ye may eat
the flesh of kings, and the flesh of
captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh
of horses, and of them that sit on
them, and the flesh of all men, both
great, free, and bond, both small and great.
My, the noot for this one is damnation,
as these people are damned.
I just thought I would drop this in
just to start the students along the line
of some of the great suppers of the
New Testament.
There may be one or two more that
I've left out for you to find, and
you'll find there's a word for each one
of them.
But we'll ask what's called the marriage of
the lamb this evening.
And I want you to note the difference
between the phrase in verse 7 and the
phrase in verse 9.
You know, it's the marriage of the lamb,
that's the phrase in verse 7.
And it's the marriage supper of the lamb
in verse 9.
Now, I want you to get the hold
of this.
You know, we are united to the Lord
Jesus just now.
Every believer in this meeting is united to
Christ.
We're members of his body, and in fact
he's the head of the body.
And we're all one in that sense in
Christ Jesus.
And yet although that union has taken place,
and it can never be broken, yet the
marriage of the lamb has not taken place,
and will not take place, and cannot take
place until the whore is removed, this false
woman.
And this scene is the way of the
end of the great tribulation.
After these things in heaven, the marriage of
the lamb takes place.
Now, let's look at these questions that I've
put down for you.
Who is the bridegroom?
And I don't think there are any problems
with the answer, because the phrase is, it's
the marriage of the lamb.
And the lamb is the bridegroom, I think
that's quite clear.
Now, the next one is not as clear
as some people think it is.
When I say, who is the bride?
You know, it's there that some of the
people who don't hold the dispensations with me,
begin to argue with me.
You see, there's quite a crowd of people
in this world who believe in a general
judgment, and a general resurrection, and a general
everything.
They tell me, you see, that when you
go all the way back over the flood
into the Antediluvian, before the David's came, into
the Antediluvian age, that Enoch, and Noah, and
all the saints there, that they belong to
the church.
And then that's when you come to this
side of the flood, Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and all the patriarchs before Moses came,
that they belong to the church.
And then you get Moses, and you get
the prophets, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and so on,
and they belong to the church, and then
we belong to the church, and the tribulation
saints belong to the church, and the millennial
saints, and it's all one.
I'm afraid that you're going to be in
a bit of difficulty this evening, because we're
going to have to look at the brides.
And then we're going to have to look
at somebody who's been invited to the marriage
supper, and they're not the bride.
And you're going to be in difficulty, you
know.
I think you know that people who are
not prepared to learn that there are dispensations,
they cannot possibly understand the book, and there's
bits they've got to squeeze out.
Ah, but they weren't put in for you
to squeeze them out.
They were put in for your learning.
I was talking to somebody just the other
day, and they were saying to me, you
know, Jehovah married Israel.
I said, that's right, Israel is sometimes called
the wife of Jehovah.
And he said to me, you see, Jehovah
marrying Israel is the marriage of the Lamb.
It's just the same thing.
I said, now I want to tell you
that the marriage of the Lamb doesn't take
place until all these things have passed.
And you've got to go from chapter six
right to the end of chapter eighteen, and
then it says, after these things.
And you are having the marriage your way
back there.
You are a thousand years and two and
three thousand too soon.
But I did this for them, and I
want to do it for you.
And you young believers, watch this, because some
of these fellows may talk to you.
Let's go back to Isaiah, chapter fifty-four.
Prophecy of Isaiah, chapter fifty-four.
Now this is the prophet Isaiah, and he
was one of Israel's prophets, remember.
And he's talking to the nation of Israel,
and that will be made quite clear.
And in verse five he said this.
We're at Isaiah fifty-four, verse five.
For thy maker is thine husband, and that
bit should be quite clear, that Jehovah is
the husband of Israel.
The Lord of hosts is his name, and
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the
God of the whole earth shall he be
called.
For the Lord hath called thee as a
woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a
wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith
thy God.
For a small moment have I forsaken thee,
but with great mercies will I govern thee.
I said, you're trying to tell me that
the wife of Jehovah and the bride of
the Lamb are one and the same?
He said, yes, that's what I believe.
I said, now you're quite sure that he's
talking here to Israel, and he's saying thy
maker is thine husband.
Yes, he said Jehovah and Israel are together,
Israel is the wife of Jehovah.
And I said, you maintain that the bride
and Christ is the same?
He said, yes.
I said, now he says to Israel here,
in verse seven, for a small moment have
I forsaken thee.
Now, I want to ask you, did Jehovah
forsake his wife?
He said, yes.
I said, that's right.
I said, now he's forsaken her for a
small moment.
Of course, he's not altogether given her up,
you know.
With great mercy he should govern her.
Now, I said the bride is just a
little bit different.
Because the Lord Jesus looks at every member
of the church and he says, I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Did you get that?
Because that's tremendous.
And for anybody who had got any scriptural
sense at all, they could see the difference
between God forsaking Israel and the Lord will
never forsake the church.
He's made the solemn promise, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee.
And the difference is absolutely clear.
My dear friends, the day that the Lord
founded the church at Pentecost, he said, upon
this rock I will build my church and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it and he'll never forsake us.
In fact, it says in the New Testament
that he loved the church and gave himself
for it.
That he might sanctify it and cleanse it
by the washing of water, by the Word.
That he might present it unto himself, a
thing without cost or blemish or any such
thing.
And I think for the first time in
his life he was pulled up and he
said, you know, there is a difference.
I said, look, there's a thousand differences.
So don't let's get off on that foot,
let's get this quite clear.
That the Lamb is the bridegroom, that's quite
clear, it's the marriage of the Lamb.
And only the New Testament saints from Pentecost
up until Jesus comes again compose the bride.
That is called the church.
And the church is the bride.
And he will never leave and he will
never forsake.
Now let's get this bit quite clear.
See the next question on your sheet.
Who are the friends of the bridegroom?
Let's go over to John's Gospel for a
moment or two.
We're at John chapter 3, it's that great
chapter.
John's Gospel chapter 3, verse
22.
John 3, 22.
After these things came Jesus and his disciples
into the land of Judea.
And there he tarried with them and baptised.
And John also was baptising in Enon, near
to Salom, because there was much water there.
That should keep some of you about infant
sprinkling, you know.
You know, I was down at this place
called Enon, near to Salom, one day.
And as I went down there, there was
a baptismal service in the Jordan.
And the man who was baptising waded out
into the street where he could get baptised.
Why do you think John wanted much water
for, for sprinkling?
Why he could take enough in a lemonade
bottle and would do a crowd.
My dear friend, look at it.
John also was baptising in Enon, near to
Salom, because there was much water there.
You know, he needed to bury the people.
Why not for baptism is all about, it's
the mercy.
You take the candidate and he's saying this
to the crowds.
When Christ died, I died with him.
When he went in, I went in.
When he went down and was buried, I
was buried.
When he rose, I rose.
What's wrong with this?
Oh, you would rather have potpourri than truth.
Yes, that's truth you see right now.
Some of the folk are all talking about
blessing.
They're afraid of truth.
Don't talk to me about being blessed when
you're afraid of a book.
My dear friends, it's quite clear that John
was baptising by immersion.
Because he needed to go to the place
where there was much water there.
Verse 23 again.
And John also was baptising in Enon, near
to Salom, because there was much water there.
And they came and were baptised.
For John was not yet cast into prison.
Then there arose a question between some of
John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
And they came on to John and said
unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee
beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold,
the same baptises us.
And all men come to him.
All babies.
All men.
John answered and said, A man can receive
nothing except it be given him from heaven.
Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said,
I am not the Christ, but that I
am sent before him.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom.
But the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth
and heals him, rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice.
This, my God, therefore, is fulfilled.
Tell me what John was.
Was he a part of the bride or
one of the friends of the bridegroom?
I don't think that some of these boys
who talk about prophecy can read that, in
my opinion.
I would have no quibbles answering the question.
He doesn't consider himself to be one of
the brides.
He says, he that hath the bride is
the bridegroom.
And you know the friend of the bridegroom,
which standeth and heals him, my, he rejoices.
And then John said this, my joy is
fulfilled.
He was one of the friends of the
bridegroom.
I believe that from Pentecost until Jesus comes
again composes the bride all the believers.
I believe that the Old Testament saints are
all the friends of the bridegroom.
Because John the Baptist was an Old Testament
prophet.
Oh, I know he appeared in the New
Testament.
Nevertheless, it was under the Old Testament that
he came.
Because the Holy Ghost filled him from his
mother's womb.
And in the old economy the Holy Ghost
could come upon whom he would, when he
would, where he would.
And John was one of the old economists.
You know, John's a very interesting character.
This is John's joy that we're looking at.
I preached at a convention not so very
long ago.
On John's joy, and John's job, and John's
Jesus.
Which is a very interesting line.
Now that's John's joy.
He was a friend of the bridegroom and
when he heard his voice he rejoiced.
Have a look at John's job for a
moment or two.
Go way back to John chapter 1.
John 1 verse 6.
There was a man sent from God whose
name was John.
You know, he was really sent, this fellow.
Why he didn't take this on among his
own?
God sent him.
You know what he was sent for?
This is the job.
The same came for a witness.
That was his job.
He was the witness.
To bear witness of The Light, capital L.
Here's what he said in verse 16.
John bare witness of him and cried saying,
This was he of whom I speak.
He that cometh after me is preferred before
me.
For he was before me.
But you know that John the Baptist was
born six months before Christ was born.
You know that.
He was six months older.
And yet in bearing witness he stands up
and says, He was before me.
You see, he knew about the eternality of
the Son of God.
He knew that he was eternal.
He knew he was the eternal Son.
And he's bearing witness to his eternality.
Look down the chapter a little bit.
Verse 19.
The record of John.
When the Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem, they asked them, Who art thou?
And he confessed and denied not, but confessed,
I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What then?
Art thou Elias?
And he says, I am not.
Art thou thy prophet?
And he answered, No.
Then said they unto him, Who art thou
that we may give an answer to them
that sent us?
What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, I am the voice of one
crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way
of the Lord.
You know, he was the forerunner of the
Lord.
Do you notice how he puts the word
in now?
You see, he didn't only bear witness to
Christ's eternality, he bore witness to Christ's authority.
He said, He's the Lord.
I'm just sent before him.
Have a look at this.
Verse 27 he says, He it is who
coming after me is prepared before me, whose
shoes latcheth I am not worthy to unloose.
You see, he doesn't only witness to Christ's
eternality, and to Christ's authority, but to Christ's
superiority.
He said, I'm not even worthy, man, of
stepping down and loosing his shoes.
See, verse 29, The next day John seeeth
Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world.
You see, the testimony he gave, he witnessed
to Christ's eternality.
He said, He was before me.
He witnessed to Christ's authority.
He said, He's the Lord.
He witnessed to Christ's superiority.
He said, I'm not even worthy to stoop
down and loose his shoes.
He witnessed to Christ's sufficiency.
He's the Lamb of God to bear away
the sin of the world.
Oh, what a wonderful testimony.
But it doesn't finish there.
You see, he said this, verse 32, And
John bear record, saying, I saw the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove unto the
boat on him.
And I knew him not, but he that
sent me.
He was sent from God, you remember.
He that sent me to baptize with water.
The same said unto me, Upon whom thou
shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on
him.
The same is he which baptizes with the
Holy Ghost.
And I saw and bear record that this
is the Son of God.
You see what he's doing now?
He's bearing witness to his deity.
He's the Son of God.
My, what a witness he was.
He bore witness to Christ's eternality.
He was before me, he said.
He bore witness to Christ's authority.
He says he's the Lord, you know.
He bore witness to Christ's superiority.
He said, I'm not worthy to stoop down
and loose his shoes.
He bore witness to Christ's sufficiency.
He's the Lamb of God to bear away
the sin of the world.
He bore witness to Christ's deity, he said.
He's the Son of God.
But where we're looking in chapter 3, go
back to it now.
You see, he's saying in verse 29, He
that hath the bride is the bridegroom.
But the friend of the bridegroom which standeth
and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice.
This my joy therefore is fulfilled.
You know, he's witnessing to Christ's identity now.
He's the bridegroom.
And he'll have the bride, and I'll be
at the wedding.
I'm the friend of the bridegroom.
I think that all the arguers about dispensations
and so-called amillennialists ought to wake up
a little bit.
Do you read it at all?
Surely the friends of the bridegroom cannot be
the bride.
I have married, I suppose, hundreds since I
came here in twenty years.
And I can tell you the difference every
time between the bride and the friends.
It's a great pity that some of the
so-called scholars couldn't see the difference, isn't
it?
There's a vast difference.
Let's get this bit.
I think I should do this, you know.
I'll do this quickly.
You know, John's joy is the joy of
the friend of the bridegroom.
And John's job was to bear witness.
It would interest you scholars to go through
everything that John the Baptist said about our
Lord Jesus, to see John's Jesus.
Because John's Jesus was the Lamb.
John's Jesus was the Son of God.
John's Jesus was the bridegroom.
John's Jesus was the Christ.
Here's something that you should notice.
He says this in verse thirty.
He must increase but I must decrease.
Verse thirty-three.
He that hath received his testimony hath yet
to receive that God is true.
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the
words of God.
For God giveth not the Spirit by measure
unto him.
The Father loveth the Son and hath given
all things into his hand.
John saw that, you know.
John saw him as the heir of all
things.
Yes, John's Jesus is worth looking at.
He knew him all right.
Go back to Revelation nine to you.
I want to get this little bit done
this evening.
We're up these questions.
Who is the bridegroom?
And it's the Lamb.
And who is the bride?
It's the church.
Who are the friends of the bridegroom?
And I say the Old Testament saints.
Where does the marriage take place?
In heaven.
When does the marriage take place?
After these things.
After chapter six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven,
up to the end of eighteen have been
completed.
And don't make any mistakes about that.
That's when.
Now here's a question.
What does making herself ready mean?
It says in verse seven, For the marriage
of the Lamb is come and his wife
hath made herself ready.
You see, I'm absolutely sure that the marriage
of the Lamb has to be kept back
until the whole tribulation course has run its
course.
For the one purpose that the false church,
this scarlet woman, had to be removed.
But while these seven years of tribulation were
going on down here on this earth, you
know the saints that had risen to meet
the Lord in the air at the beginning
of the tribulation, where were they?
Oh, well they were at the judgment seat
of Christ.
Because you see, she'll never be ready.
She'll never be ready for a whole lot
of things.
The things that have happened between Christians down
here.
And they go back biting one another and
they say things about one another.
And they never apologize and they never make
it up and they never say they're sorry.
Oh, well I haven't seen you all.
You know the day that we rise to
meet the Lord in the air, oh I
know all about this.
I know it'll be the Lord himself.
I know it'll be the master of the
house.
I know it'll be this same Jesus.
I know it will be the great shepherd
of the sheep.
The chief shepherd.
But I also know that it will be
the righteous judge.
Paul said, there's a crown laid out for
me which the righteous judge.
Oh, there's a whole lot of things that's
to be put right, you know.
And the Lord will make the saints stand
in front of him not to be mad.
And a whole lot of mean and miserable
and horrible and diabolical things that have been
done by believers, unbelievers.
Has to be put right, you know.
I am not getting off with it.
You'll have to stand in your own shoes.
And not until he has dealt with everything.
Not until there's not one blemish or blot
or spot left.
When shall we be ready?
We shall be made ready then.
Oh, the judgment seat will be passed when
we come to chapter 90.
While the tribulation is going on on earth.
The judgment seat will be taken place in
the heavens.
I think that you can see this tonight.
The excitement before the marriage.
Let us be glad and rejoice.
And you can see the announcement of the
marriage.
And you can see the garments for the
marriage.
And you can see the enjoyment of the
marriage because it's the marriage supper.
And we'll all sit down and there'll be
neither spot nor blemish nor any such thing.
Now I think there are one or two
things for young folks to learn here this
evening.
And I want to take a bit of
time with you.
Because we're living in a day and hour
which is called the permissive society.
And you know I hear them coming on
the TV.
And they come so boldly.
I heard a young woman saying the other
night, to hell with marriage.
Oh yes, she was quite bold.
She thinks she knows everything.
Yes, it's quite alright for me to live
with a man.
It is a leisure.
It'll not be just so alright then.
And all of them that want to prove
proof.
Just you sit up now while I talk
to you.
Friend, I'll tell you what God's Word says
about marriage.
In Hebrews 13 it says, marriage is honourable.
That's what it says.
And I think that anybody with the least
little pick of brains can see this.
If God's Son is going to enter into
the ceremony of marriage, there must be nothing
wrong with it.
Because this happens to be the marriage of
the Lamb.
My dear friends, marriage was ordained of God.
Make no mistake about it.
Let's have a look at this this evening.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 19.
Young folks, take your time and have patience
with me.
And try to get the hold of what
I'm going to say to you now, because
you'll need it as you grow up in
this marriage.
Verse 3.
The Pharisees also came on to him, tempting
him.
They were always doing this, coming with questions
to try to put him in a fix.
The Pharisees also came on to him, tempting
him and saying on to him, Is it
lawful for a man to put away his
wife for every cause?
Well, listen to the way the Master answered.
You preachers, and what do you learn from
me?
And the answer he said unto them, Have
ye not read?
He always went to the book.
Have ye not read?
And time after time in this very Gospel,
he saith again and again to these men
who bring these questions, these crooked questions, he
says, Have ye not read?
Because the answers are always in the book,
you know.
And he answered and said unto them, Have
ye not read, that he which made them
at the beginning made them male and female?
And don't make any mistakes about that.
We didn't come from monkeys, you know.
He which made them male and female, he
created them, he's the creator.
Now, he which made them male and female
said, he talked, you know, to them.
In fact, the day that he made Eve
and brought her to Adam, he talked to
the two of them.
Have ye not read?
That he which made them at the beginning
made them male and female and said, and
this is what he said, For this cause
shall a man leave father and mother.
And it's good for the fathers and mothers
in this meeting to know that when they
get married they're leaving.
And don't be trying to hold on to
them.
And if they come back in a huff
one night, haunt them.
Don't be taking them in now.
They're out of the nest for good.
No use of any old boys coming near
our door.
No, we've all had bits of rouse, you
know.
Oh, well, it's sweeter when you make it
up again.
Well, this is what the Lord said, this
is God talking to him.
For this cause shall a man leave father
and mother and shall cleave to his wife.
Mind you, you've got to learn that.
That's to cleave to her.
Don't be putting the old man and the
old woman in front of her.
Oh, I know you're to honour them.
I know all about that.
But you're to cleave to her, you know.
You're going to take her.
That's how it's got to be.
And they, twin, shall be one flesh.
Wherefore they are no more twin.
No more.
One flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together.
I think that some people forget that this
goes on in knowledge.
You know, it's a very solemn thing.
Oh, I know that you can come and
know nothing above it.
But God joins them together.
Now, God said this, let's go back to
see where he said it.
And that's the thing we must get.
It's the way in Genesis chapter 2, which
gives you young people another thing to think
about.
That while the modernists say that the early
chapters of Genesis are no good, remember the
Lord Jesus quoted them.
He happened to know all about Genesis too,
and he believed it too, and so do
I.
He believed it.
Verse 21, to save time, The Lord God
caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam,
and he slept.
And he, the Lord God, took one of
his ribs, and clothed up the flesh instead
thereof.
And the rib which the Lord God had
taken from man, made he a woman, and
brought her unto the man.
This was a mighty moment, you know, when
God led her to the man.
He was given her away.
And if you're at a wedding and the
father gives the girl away, there's nothing wrong
with it, you know.
I just hope that he gets it into
his mind that he has given her away.
Yes, this is what God did.
And the rib which the Lord God had
taken from man, made he a woman, and
brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, Adam recognized this, This is
now bone of my bones, and flesh of
my flesh.
She shall be called woman because she was
taken out of man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and
his mother.
Now in your Bible you don't see here,
Aunt, now that it was God that was
talking.
Now you might think it was Adam, but
it wasn't.
Because the Lord Jesus was quoting from here
when we're over at Matthew 19.
And he's saying, Have you not read?
Did you not read?
And in the old Jewish first five books
of Moses, the Talmud, it's quite plain there
that God is talking.
And we've lost that little bit.
But the Lord Jesus has saved it for
us.
Because he said to them, Have you not
read that he that made them male and
female said, Therefore shall a man leave his
father.
Now here's what God said, verse 24.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and
his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife,
and they shall be one flesh.
Now that's exactly what the Lord Jesus is
quoting.
Let's go back to Matthew 19.
Because these fellows don't stop arguing just like
that, you know.
They're like some of the critics that we
meet around.
Now the Lord is speaking to them and
saying, Have you not read that he which
made them male and female said, Verse 5.
For this cause shall a man leave father
and mother, and shall cleave to his wife,
and they shall be one flesh.
And the Lord Jesus is quoting from Genesis
2.
Wherefore they are no more swain, but one
flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let no
man put asunder.
They say unto him.
Why did Moses then command to give a
writing of divorcement and to put her away?
It was very quick with that, wasn't it?
They say, if you say, God said, let
there be one and no more swain, what
about Moses?
Well here's the answer to that.
The Lord Jesus answers.
He says unto them, Moses, because of the
hardness of your heart suffered you to put
away your wives.
But from the beginning up to the time
that Moses did that, it was not so.
It was never God's idea.
Oh I know that God allows and God
permits things to happen.
He permitted Jacob to have several wives, but
he never granted them.
Let's get the hold of this.
It was never God's mind at any time
that you could get out of this marriage
vow.
From the beginning, it was not so.
Let's go on with the rest of it,
in case you have read it already.
Verse 9.
I say unto you, whosoever shall put away
his wife, except it be for fornication.
And so some of the fellows say, all
right, even the Lord said, except it be
for fornication.
You see, when Moses was in the wilderness
and this great multitude was around him and
I could understand him quite well, he heard
her coming from every tent almost and said,
look, I'm fed up with her.
Something will have to be done.
And so Moses gave them a bill of
devotion.
From the beginning, it was not God's idea.
God allowed.
And in the day and hour when our
Lord Jesus was on this earth, the law
of the land in Jerusalem just then was
that if she be taken in fornication, you
can get rid of her.
And he's quoting their own law.
But from the beginning, it was not so.
See our land today.
Why, if a man sneezes three times at
night in bed, now she can get rid
of him.
Oh, no bother now.
If he snores, you can get rid of
him.
That's the law of our land.
In America, you know, I was preaching in
America and I was told that a big
church that I was going to preach at,
there was a choir and I think I'm
right in the figure.
It doesn't matter.
I think there were twenty-four ladies in
the choir.
And the choir master had been married to
eight of them.
So they were able to sing a bit,
weren't they?
Not for me, they weren't.
I said, I'm not cool.
Well, those fools are not singing, but I'm
preaching.
I can have a night off if that's
the only clout you can get.
Oh, let's get God's mind on the thing.
It's not our law.
I know all about our law.
I know about the law in the days
of Christ in Jerusalem.
I know about Moses' law.
We Christians are under God's law.
You remember that.
God doesn't want you to do this thing.
My dear friend, there's no way out of
it for you if you get money.
If you're a Christian, you'll be made one
and you'll be no more twenty.
That's God's law.
You see, God thinks a lot about marriage.
It's a very honourable thing.
You know, my Lord blessed the marriage in
Cana of Galilee, both with his presence and
with his power.
I trust we'll learn from this this evening.
Now, next week we're going on into one
of the greatest portions in the book of
Revelation concerning the coming again of our Lord
Jesus.
Have a look at chapter 19.
You'd better open the book again.
See verse 11.
John says, And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse, and he that sat
upon him was called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness he doth judge and make law.
This is Christ coming to the earth.
You know, we have been looking in the
book of Revelation at Christ coming to the
earth and when he comes one of these
nights, we'll rise to meet him.
And then these chapters of the tribulation will
take place and we saints will be at
the judgment seat of Christ.
And when everything's put right and the marriage
supper is all sealed and settled, then the
Lord will come to earth.
That's where we'll be next week.
God bless you.
Father, we're singing, Lord.
967.
Just sing the first and second verses only.
First and second.
967.
When my life work is ended and I
cross the swelling tide, when the bright and
glorious morning I shall see.
967.
First and second verses only.
Thank you.
Dear Lord, part us in thy fear, and
with thy blessing for thy holy name's sake.
Amen.