THE Love Story
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
Read Heb 2
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Song of Solomon - about a marriage / love poetry
Isaac and Rebekah
Ruth and Boaz
I want to speak about THE love story; one that spans all the ages of man:
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
Lineage
Lineage
The first glimpse - Israel
The first glimpse - Israel
Lineage of the Messiah
Lineage of the Messiah
Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
Kingdom Representation
Kingdom Representation
while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Kingdom Declaration
Kingdom Declaration
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’
If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
Man - Family - People - Nation
Man - Family - People - Nation
Adam - Noah - Abraham - Hebrews - Israel at Sinai
So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
Parallels of Purpose
Parallels of Purpose
Birth into Abraham’s lineage = Hebrew circumcision
Proselyte conversion = circumcision and treated as in the lineage
Participation in the community and local synagogue = law keeping
Abraham = Christ
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
Nation & Synagogue = local church
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Local
Local
And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
Regenerate Membership
Regenerate Membership
Brother Reynolds then said that after the great day of Pentecost (recorded in Acts chapter 2) the Lord wanted the thousands of newly converted to “stick around” in order to learn, but then to go out and fulfill the Great Commission, being salt and light in each community as they dispersed. He then waxed historical, sharing how that there were 57,000 Baptist Churches in the U.S. in 1906. Earlier than that, by 1830, there were prominent Baptist churches spread from Virginia to Texas. He told of Brother J.M. Pendleton speaking in 1887 before the Kentucky Baptist Convention about how fifty years prior (the 1830’s) there was a revival of emphasis on experiential conversion. He spoke of how careful the churches were then about receiving members to ensure a truly regenerated membership. Candidates for membership in Baptist churches in that day would have been, “hard pressed,” to gain entrance apart from clearly demonstrating a true conviction of sin, hatred of their own sin, sorrow for that sin, and a strong determination to forsake sin in addition to a conscious awareness of acceptance by God. He said they then agreed, as he did today, with J.B. Moody who once said, “The work must begin on the inside before it shows on the outside.” Brother Reynolds said this was exactly what John the Baptist was requiring before baptizing in the Jordan River (Matthew 3:8). Brother Reynolds emphatically stated, “This experience of grace was indispensable for candidates for baptism,” in the churches of that day and should be the same today. Many of the gathered regularly voiced agreement.
Not National
Not National
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
No special plan for Current Israel
No special plan for America
The Penultimate Picture
The Penultimate Picture
Be careful not to make an idol of the church in its current, imperfect state.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”
Every pastoral letter was to correct issues in the local churches.
Glory Church
Glory Church
Eternal
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Single
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
All-Encompasssing
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
Pendleton’s Church Manual, Ch 1 opening: Nature of a Church
The term Church occurs in the New Testament more than a hundred times. The “word thus translated means congregation or assembly; but it does not indicate the purpose for which the congregation or assembly meets. Hence it is used, Acts 19:32, 39, 41, and rendered assembly. In every other place in the New Testament it is translated church. In its application to the followers of Christ, it refers either to a particular congregation of saints, or to the redeemed in the aggregate. It is employed in the latter sense in Ephesians 1: 22; 3:21; 5:25, 27. Here we have the expressions, “Head over all things to the Church;” “To him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end;” “Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it … that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” In these passages, and a few more like them, it would be absurd to define the term Church as meaning a particular congregation of Christians, meeting in one place for the worship of God.
Tearless
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Consummation
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
Church Family, what we do in time has eternal significance. God has had a people, and has been working throughout history to gather this people as a bride for Christ. Local church ministry in this age is both the continuation of what God began in the past with Old Testament Israel, and preparing for the one Glory Church in the age to come.