Behold, The Bridegroom Cometh
Introduction
John 14:1-3
Be finding John chapter 14. We’re going to read three of the most familiar verses in all of the Bible as we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Table.
One of the most blessed truths that I know is what Scott just sang: “And This Could Be the Day.” Jesus Christ may come at any moment for His Church, and He chose a wedding to illustrate that fact.
John chapter 14, verses 1 through 3, our Lord Jesus, just before His crucifixion and ascension into glory, said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;; that where I am, there ye may be also.” The Title of our message: “Behold, the Bridegroom Cometh.”
Now, in order to understand this passage of Scripture, we have to understand the tradition of marriage that was in the Bible at this time. Let me tell you how weddings took place.
First of all, it was the groom who took the initiative. The groom would leave his father’s house and would go to the house of his prospective bride, and there to carry on the courtship. And, he would negotiate with the father of the bride for the bride, and he would actually purchase her;; he would pay a price, a purchase price, for his bride. And then, from that time on, after he had negotiated for her, and paid a purchase price for her, they were betrothed. That is, they were as good as married, but the marriage was not yet consummated. When this took place, there would be a ceremony when they would drink both from a common cup over which a benediction had been pronounced. It was the cup of the covenant. Then the groom, after having sealed and settled the marriage, after they had been betrothed, and had drunk from the same cup, he would leave her house, and he would go back to his father’s house, to prepare for them living accommodations. They know they’re going to be married. The wedding will be consummated, but she does not know exactly when this will take place.
Then, upon a time, the groom would come back again to her house, and it would be usually at night, and he would be escorted by an entourage—escorts. Generally, it would be a torchlight procession, and he would come back to her house to snatch away, to take away, his bride.
While he was gone preparing living accommodations, the bride was there waiting, hoping, expecting, knowing that he would come, but not knowing the exact time. Just before he would arrive, there would be a runner who would go out in front, and he would give a shout, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh.”
Can you imagine her heart? Can you imagine what there is in her heart and in her life when she hears that shout? And then, he would take her, sweep her up in his arms, and carry her back to his father’s house, where the guests would be assembled, and there would be a great feast, a wedding feast. And then, after the wedding feast, the bride and groom would be escorted away to the wedding chamber for the consummation of the marriage. The bride and groom would remain secluded for seven long days. And then, after seven days, they would come back again, and he would present his bride this time with her veil removed for all to see her beauty.
Now, keep that in mind, because you’re going to understand something more about the Lord’s Supper, and the song that Scott just sang about the bridegroom coming for the church.
Now, let’s see if we can translate that to the church, because, as you know, Christ is the bridegroom, and the church is the bride of Christ.
I. The Proposal
First of all, think of the proposal that our Lord has made to us—verses 1 through 3— Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father’s house are many mansions…”—He’s talking here about having gone from His
Father’s house to seek a bride. Now, go back to chapter 13, and notice in verse 18. He says in chapter 13, verse 18: “…I know whom I have chosen…” Now, we love Him because He first loved us. Look in chapter 13 and verse 34, the middle of that verse. He said, “…I have loved you…” We are chosen of the Lord. We are loved of the Lord.
Now, we talked this morning about His wonderful name. I’ll give you another wonder. Wonder of wonders that Jesus loves me. We love Him because He first loved us. He chose us. He set His love upon us.
Joyce loves me because I first loved her. I don’t think she would have paid any attention to me. But I saw her in school there when we were sitting there in grammar sitting, sitting off to my right about six desks up and two desks over. I couldn’t study for looking at that girl and watching her. And one day I wrote a magnificent love note and dropped it by her desk. She still has that love note right now. You can’t see it, but it is there. It’s part of church history. Now, Joyce loves me because I first loved her. And, folks, I want to tell you, I love Jesus because He first loved me. He says there, in John chapter 13, “I have chosen you, and I have loved you.”
II. The Purchase
But not only was there a proposal;; then there was a purchase. The Lord Jesus bought us. He sought us, and He bought us. Now, what price did He pay for His bride? The gold of His blood, the silver of His tears! You see, the same night in which the Lord Jesus instituted the communion that we’re going to enjoy tonight, the same night He gave us John 14, verses 1 through 3. And these are together. The cup of communion means that the purchase price has been paid. Put in your margin 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 25. When Jesus held the cup with His disciples that night, He says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” That is, we have a covenant that is a contract, a marriage contract, and that cup represented the purchase price. First Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20—our Lord says, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which ye have of God, and you’re not your own? For you are bought with a price…” We have been bought by the Lord Jesus Christ. He, the heavenly bridegroom, has paid the price for us. We sing, “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;; she is His new creation by Spirit and the Word: from heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride;; and with His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.”
III. The Parting
And so, you see the proposal. You see the purchase. And then, you see the parting. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus has returned to His Father’s house, and He is there preparing a place for us. That’s what He is doing, is preparing a place for us. Now, He made the entire world and all creation in six days, and it’s wonderful. He’s been 2,000 years preparing a place for us;; it ought to be something! That’s what
He is doing. He is preparing a place. What are we doing? We are preparing a person.
We are getting ourselves ready for Jesus Christ to come again. While the bride was waiting for the groom, she had two major responsibilities: one was to keep herself pure;; one was to keep herself pure. Paul said to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 2: “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I might present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” And Paul said, “I’m just watching over the flock, because when the bridegroom comes, I want you to be pure.” Don’t you want to be pure when Jesus comes? I mean, can you imagine a man who’s gone off to prepare a place for his bride to come back to her, and they’ve already drunk from the espousal cup, and they’ve made a holy covenant, and he’s purchased her, and then he comes back and finds her being unfaithful to him? That’s the reason James said, in James 4:4, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” How can we have this harlot of a world as a lover when we have been espoused to the Lord Jesus Christ?
But not only was she responsible to maintain her purity;; she was also responsible to prepare her wedding garments, what the girls call a trousseau. Would you turn to Revelation chapter 19 with me for a moment, and look in verses 7 and 8, and here’s what it says: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him;; 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 the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” Now, there is imputed righteousness, but this word means, literally, the righteous acts of the saints. What you are doing right now is preparing your wedding garment, what you’re going to wear when the bridegroom comes, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. And so, here she is preparing to be pure and beautiful and spotless. And that’s what I want to be. When Jesus comes, I want to be ready to meet Him. I don’t want to be unfaithful to Him. I want to be ready. And so, there is the parting. He has gone.
IV. The Proclamation
But, next thing we’re looking for is the proclamation. That is what Scott was singing about. We’re waiting for the shout, the verse that He quoted just before he sang: “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God.” Jesus is coming back again with a shout. What will be shout be? “Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him.”
You know, sometimes people ask me, “Pastor, do you think the signs are fulfilled that Jesus can come again?” Friend, there never has been a time since He ascended that He may not come again at any moment. And we need to remember that: that He’s coming at any moment.
I was reading tonight even in my study, in Matthew 24 and verse 36: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man.” You don’t know the time that Jesus is coming. And, as Scott sang, “It may well be tonight.” Can you imagine the joy, the excitement, when she hears that shout? Just think tonight what would happen if we heard the trump, heard the shout? I’m not looking for the signs;; I’m listening for the shout. Jesus may come at any moment. And so, there’s the proclamation.
V. The Partnership
And then, there is the partnership. Lo, notice the partnership. Here’s what it is. He says in verse 3: “And I go and prepare a place for you;; and, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” I tell you that heaven, to me, is not made marvelous because there are gates of pearl, walls of jasper, streets of gold;; it is Jesus that makes heaven heaven —“…that where I am, there ye may be also.” We’re going to be with the Lord Jesus. You see, we’re betrothed to Him now, and that is wonderful;; but the full consummation of the marriage comes when Jesus Christ returns again.
Did you know that God, in order that we might understand spiritual truths, has given us material truths and material things that are a reflection of the heavenly glory?
Marriage is but a reflection of our relationship with God. For example, Ephesians chapter 6, verses 31 and 32, the Apostle Paul said, “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife;; and they too shall be one flesh.” And then notice this: “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” The husband and wife relationship is a picture of Christ and the church. One time I said this in a sermon, and a lady wrote me a letter, and said, “That you should say that, you should not make your relationship with Jesus Christ analogous to the relationship of husband and wife.” Friend, that’s what God has done. That’s what God has done. Now, thank God for a joyful marriage.
Peter Marshall said this: “Dearly beloved, the marriage relationship, when rightly understood and properly appreciated, is the most delightful, as well as the most sacred and solemn, of human relations. It is the clasping of hands, the blending of lives, and the union of hearts, that two may walk together up the hill of life to meet the dawn together bearing life’s burdens, discharging its duties, sharing its joys and sorrows. Marriage is much more than moonlight and roses, much more than the singing of love songs and the whispering of vows of undying affection. In our day, it is by many lightly regarded and by many lightly discarded. But marriage will ever remain in the sight of God an eternal union made possible only by the gift of love, which God alone can bestow.” I think that is beautifully written, but that is only a faint representation of the joy that we will know when Jesus comes. Now, it’s wonderful being a Christian now. But, friend, if you think it is wonderful now, you just wait till the honeymoon. You wait till our Lord Jesus Christ comes and sweeps us up in His arms, and takes us to glory, and we will experience that relationship with Him, which is unceasing in love, and increasing in joy, throughout all eternity. Again, someone has written these words: “Oh, the soul-thrilling rapture when I view His blessed face, and the luster of His kindly beaming eyes. How my full heart will praise Him for His mercy, love, and grace that prepares for me a mansion in the skies.” And so, there’s the partnership.
VI. The Presentation
And then, next, there’s the presentation. One of these days, the Lord is going to present us to this world. We are hated, scorned, and looked down upon right now;; but it won’t always be that way. You remember after seven days the bride was taken, from the seven days of the hoopa, they called it, and then she is presented with her veil removed? One of these days we’re going to be presented to this world with the veil removed. Put this verse down—Colossians chapter 3 and verse 4—the Bible says, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” What a day that will be!
Now, what does that mean to us as we prepare tonight to take the Lord’s Supper? Well, first of all, it means preparation. If Christ is coming again, you’d better be married to Him. You’d better be wed to Him. You had better have drunk from that cup of covenant. And, here, you see, every time the gospel is preached, do you know what is happening? Jesus Christ is proposing marriage to you. He is saying, “I, Jesus, take thee, sinner, to be my bride. And I do promise and covenant before God the Father and these witnesses to be thy loving and faithful Savior and bridegroom, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in faithfulness and in waywardness, for time and eternity.” That’s what He says to us when the gospel is preached. And what should we say to the Lord Jesus? We should say to Him, “I, sinner, take thee, Jesus, to be my Savior. And I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be thy loving, faithful bride, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, for time and eternity.” There is a marriage that takes place. We are espoused to the Lord Jesus Christ. Preparation ought to be there.
Secondly, separation ought to be there. We ought to keep ourselves for Jesus alone. I remind you again of James 4:4, that says that friendship with this world is warfare with God.
And anticipation ought to be there. We ought to be living, waiting for that moment.
We need to be faithful, because the shout may not be long in coming. Again, someone has written these words: “It may be at morn when the day is awakening, when sunlight through darkness and shadow is breaking, that Jesus will come in the fullness of glory to receive from the world His own. It may be at midday, it may be at midday, it may be at twilight, it may be per chance that the blackness of midnight will burst into light in the blaze of His glory, when Jesus receives His own. Oh, joy, oh, delight, should we go without dying. No sickness, no sadness, no dread, and no crying. Caught up through clouds with our Lord into glory, when Jesus receives His own.”
Conclusion
Well, when we take the Lord’s Supper, when we take this cup, it’s the betrothal cup. That’s what it represents. We’re waiting on our Savior who is gone into glory. And, one of these days, this morning at 3:37 a.m., we’re going to hear the shout, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh,” perhaps. But some time, just as real as that—just as real as that. You say, “Well, I don’t think He’s coming tonight.” Well, that’s a good sign that He might, for the Bible says, “…in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” Now, He’s paid the price. He’s purchased the bride. He’s gone to prepare a place, and soon, and very soon, we’re going to hear the shout.
Now, the Bible says, when we come to the Lord’s Table, we do this till He come—till He come. Jim, as we prepare our hearts, let’s stand and sing a chorus. Would you stand together? Jim, come and lead us.