My Beloved Is Mine, And I Am His

Temple Baptist Church - 8-31-2008

Song of Solomon 2:8-17

Introduction:

A. What makes the Song of Solomon the “song of songs?” It is an analogy of young love! The Beloved and the Love seeking the fulfillment of love in intimacy ordained and blessed of God! The culmination of this love is found within the bounds of holy matrimony. Marriage is God given and God honored!

B. I have preformed several marriages over the years and count it a privilege to help unite a man and woman in this God ordained covenant. Marriage is a covenant! A covenant only to be sundered by death. It is much more than just a ritual; it is a uniting and binding of two lives that will become one. One desire, one hope, and one love.

C. I use the normal Wedding Vows when performing a marriage ceremony. As our nation’s laws are founded upon the Word of God, so are these sacred vows. They have been used in one form or another through the centuries and I find no reason to change them now. Weddings may vary in their ceremony but when the to be married couple stand before me, the vows are the same. I will not marry them without this vowing before God and man.

D. “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” The Institution of Marriage:

Genesis 2:18; 21-24 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him... And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed 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. And Adam said, 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, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

God’s Word has declared marriage to be honorable in all. It is a divine institution, ordained of God in the garden of Eden between the first man and woman.

1. It was given in wisdom - because man needed a help meet.

2. It was given in kindness - because of man’s loneliness.

Our Lord honored the marriage festival at Cana with His presence and performed His first miracle there. Our Lord selected the marriage to be the emblem of the union that binds together Himself and His own ransomed Bride, the Church. ** (Eph 5:22-33)

1. The Preliminaries Of The Marriage - “Because you have freely and deliberately chosen each other as partners for life, would you please join your right hands.” (Once there were pre-arranged weddings but, in today’s society, the bride and groom freely choose each other.)

a. God Chose Us - Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few [are] chosen. (This verse does not support Calvinism. Much to the contrary as the “call” of God is to the “many.” Why would God call those who could not come? The call is to all and the choosing is for those who come.)

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Whosoever will may come and take of the water of life freely!)
b. We Chose God - Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

John 7:37 In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

2. The Purpose Of The Marriage – “We are gathered here today to unite this man and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony.”

a. That Two May Become One - Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Not “two in one” but “one!” As man and woman are to be one, so must man and God be one!)

b. That Two May Become Many - Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (As the marriage is intended to bring forth children, so is our union with Christ to bring forth spiritual children!)

3. The Promises Of The Marriage – “Will you have this (man – woman) to be your wedded (wife – husband); will you love (her – him), honor and keep (her – him) in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto (her – him) so long as you both shall live----DO YOU SO PROMISE? (I DO)” “I take thee to be my wedded (wife – husband)...to have and to hold...from this day forward...for better or for worse...for richer or for poorer...in sickness as in health...to love and to cherish.”

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

a. A Vow Of Love – “Will you love her? Will you love him? To have and to hold. To love and to cherish.)”

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us. (God never fails of love us.)

John 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

b. A Vow Of Commitment – “Honor and keep… from this day forward...for better or for worse...for richer or for poorer...in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth”
Romans 8:35, 38-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (He is there for us in the good times and in the bad! He is there for us in wealth and poverty! He is there for us in sickness as in health! He is there for us in our sorrows as well as our rejoicing! He never leaves nor forsakes!)

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith: (So are we to stay with him in the bad times as well as the good! The sick times as well as the healthy! The poverty as well as the wealth! The sorrows of life as well as the rejoicing!)

c. A Vow Of Fidelity - Hebrews 13:5b For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (God will keep His vow!)

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (We are to keep ours!)

4. The Permanence Of The Marriage – “Till death do us part!”

Ring Ceremony

The ring, a token of their love for each other, is emblematic of marriage.

The circle, the emblem of eternity; and gold, the type of what is least tarnished and most enduring--it is to show how lasting and imperishable the faith now mutually pledged.
As the union now formed is to be sundered only by death, it becomes you to consider the duties you solemnly assume. If these duties be remembered and faithfully discharged, they will add to the happiness of this life.

It is the duty of the husband to provide for the support of his wife, to shelter her from danger, and to cherish her at all times. It being the command of God’s Word, that husbands love their wives, even as Christ loved the Church, and gave His own life for her.

It is the duty of the wife to reverence her husband, and to put on the ornament of meek and quiet spirit, which is, in God’ sight, as ornament of great price, His Word commanding that wives be subject unto their own husbands, even as the Church is subject unto Christ.

It is the duty of both to delight in one another. To remember that they are to be henceforth undivided. To preserve fidelity, and to see to it that what God hath therefore joined together, man never puts asunder.

As you place this ring on (his – her) ring finger, would you say to her...I love you...with a love as beautiful...and never ending as this ring.

Matthew 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (We are to be one with Christ throughout eternity.)

The Lighting Of The Unity Candle!

Conclusion: I normally leave this up to the bride and groom but will add this to the wedding ceremony if desired: “You man now kiss your bride!” (Keep the marriage warm and loving all of the days of your life. Our relationship with Christ must never “leave” the first love or else it will be characterized by “lukewarm” and then “cold” as in Laodicea.)