Adult Sunday School - Marriage And The Ascension Of Christ

Amen. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this morning. I pray that you would help us to understand more about Jesus Christ and more about marriage.

In his name we pray. Amen. All right. Today we will be looking at the

Ascension. So we've gone through the different aspects of the Historia Salutis, all the way through his death, burial, and even descent.

And now we are going to talk about Ascension and also Pentecost. I think there might have been one more thing in here, but yeah,

I think just Pentecost. Ascension and Pentecost. All right. So after Jesus appeared to over 500 disciples, he then ascended to heaven.

If I could get one reader for Luke 24, 49 to 53, and then

I'll read Acts 1 -9 first. So one volunteer for Luke 24.

All right, great. Thank you. All right. So I'll read Acts 1 -9 first. And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

49 through 53. And behold, I'm sending the promise of my

Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.

While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, blessing

God. So just some quick observations from this, that Jesus physically ascending to heaven.

I don't believe this was simply a sign of something. A lot of people believe that heaven is some in some other dimension, right?

And so why would he be going upward if heaven were not actually upward? You know, is he, is he just doing this as a sign before, you know, zapping out to some other dimension?

I don't believe so. I do believe there is a real place in our universe that he's being relocated to.

Also, he is still in body. So heaven is a physical place, right? A lot of people imagine it to be just some spiritual realm.

It's very ethereal. There's nothing that can be touched. There is a physical aspect to it, apparently, if Jesus Christ is present there, sitting at the right hand of the

Father. So, yeah, those are a few things to note about the, about the ascension, is rising bodily, and he remains bodily in this, in this universe.

All right. Now, considering various aspects of this ascension, and how they might apply to marriage, the most notable thing regarding Christ's ascension is the honor of that ascension.

If I could get one more reader for Hebrews 1, 1 through 4. Thanks. Yes, Hebrews 1, 1 through 4.

Long ago, and many times in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also

He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God, and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.

After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name

He has inherited, and more excellent, excellent than theirs. Thank you.

All right. And then John 14, 28 says, You heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come to you.

If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

So, Jesus Christ ascends, and He receives honor. He receives honor because He has accomplished salvation.

Now this honor is not just honor that the church is giving Him. This is a seat

He has above all creation. This is honor He's receiving from angels, from God. And so we've already talked about the honor due to a husband from his wife, because of their particular relationship.

But here we see that when Christ accomplishes salvation, yeah, establishes this new covenant where He's identified with His bride, this gives

Him honor from all, right? And I do believe it is right for, that there is a special honor that is due to a husband as a husband, even from others outside the marriage.

Yeah, even those who have no special relation to Him. Note that scripture speaks of a husband's wife as a crown.

So a crown being something that would be recognized by others, right? A worthy woman is a crown of her husband, but she who makes ashamed is rottenness in his bones.

So there is a, there is a special honor that is due to those who are heads of families, right?

Just like you would give honor to anyone who has a special kind of estate, there is an honor that's due to a husband just as a husband, right?

And it's, I, when I, you know, as I was examining this and trying to think through all the aspects of what the

Ascension implies, this really is true. You know, I do treat, you know, men who are over families differently than I treat men who are not over families.

And it's not as though, like, I disrespect those who are, who are not over families. But there is, there is a special honor in, in having a family and leading a family.

This can also be seen in other passages too. Proverbs 31 talks about the excellent wife, talks about societal honor that her husband receives, right?

Proverbs 31, 23. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

So because, because of his identification with her, right, he receives honor from others.

And Proverbs 31 is about the, it's about the woman. It's about the excellent wife. It's not taking a sidebar just to talk about how her husband's excellent too.

You know, it's that, this is how she has an effect on her husband, right, is that he is, he is well known and respected.

And this applies to children as well. When we're talking about heads of households, Proverbs 17, 6 says, children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children are their fathers.

Right? Once again, this is not just, oh, I get to enjoy my wife, or I get to enjoy my children, so I have a sense of honor.

You know, I get to be king in my own home. The crown is something that's recognized externally too.

So I believe, yeah, it makes sense that you would honor fathers, you know, as fathers.

In the New Testament, scripture speaks of qualified elders as running their households well. In other words, to do so is honorable.

1 Timothy 3, 2 through 5. The overseer, therefore, must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober -minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach, no brawler, no striker, but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money, one that rules well over his own house, having his children in submission with all gravity.

But if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?

Okay, so here you have a description of an elder, one who is, yes, suitable for the office of elder, and describes things that are all things worthy of honor, and then includes, you know, him ruling his own household well.

That is something that's worthy of honor. All right, welcome. Yes. Yeah, this is honestly something that I'm wrestling through right now, because I have for the longest time said, well,

I would not want to create— I would not want to read these requirements as excluding Paul from eldership, or excluding Jesus from eldership.

But the more I think about it, the more I realize that those are not—I mean, those really are special cases, and maybe there is a category for a man, you know, someone who's doing this extreme church planning work like Paul is doing, where he's not serving as an elder, and if the role of an elder is to, you know, counsel, et cetera, you know, with people who are trying to run their households, it doesn't make sense for him to do that without any experience.

This is something I'm still trying to land on, because right now, I'm in the middle ground where I'm not sure anymore.

Right. Well, a lot of— Sure. Yeah, I don't think— some of it's about relationships and, you know, the spiritual aspects of them, but a lot of it's just about the practical things of, you know, that he's not deeply in debt because he can't manage money, right, or he's not, you know, his house isn't in total disorder because, you know, he doesn't know how to, you know, organize everyone to get things clean, or whatever the case may be.

Right, so there's a lot of practical things that go into running a household, and yeah, is it right for the congregation to make an assessment without that data point?

I don't know. Yeah, I'm in a point where I'm in a middle point right now. I hope to land on a position sometime in the next several months.

Yeah. Okay, so moving on next to marital preparations.

Okay, so one of the reasons that Christ ascended is to prepare a place for us.

John 14, 1 through 4. Does someone want to read that? John 14, 1 through 4.

Chris has got it. Do not let your heart be troubled.

Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so,

I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again to receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.

Thank you. All right, so another thing to consider about what this says about heaven.

A lot of people, in recognizing that the Bible talks about new heavens and a new earth, really push back against the idea that heaven is the ultimate destination.

But, you know, the way Jesus talks about it, he's preparing a place in heaven. I don't think there's anything wrong with speaking of heaven as that final destination.

Yes, we will enjoy a new heaven and a new earth, but it is, at least in some sense, a heavenly dwelling altogether because it's heaven come to earth.

So, yeah, just some thoughts on that that I think, yeah, eschatology, learning about the future and heaven and what that existence will be like is kind of hard, and sometimes there's like pushback that's a little too strong and opposite directions trying to be corrective.

But yes, he's talking about preparing a home in heaven. All right, now this, it should be obvious how that this might apply to marriage.

So we're going through, we're going through all the aspects of salvation, seeing how they might apply to marriage since the union between Christ and church applies to a husband and his wife.

Here, it's right for a husband to go and to and to prepare a home for his wife.

If his job is to provide, then naturally he should be one to ensure that this is accomplished. And interestingly, what we see in scripture typically is that this is part of the father's estate, which is what we see in here with Jesus where he says, let me read that phrase again, yeah, in my father's house are many mansions, right?

That he's going to his father's house. Consider these passages, Genesis 28 20, and Jacob vowed a vow saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and garments to put on so that I come again to my father's house in peace and Jehovah will be my

God, then this stone will I have set up for a pillar will be

God's house. And of all that you shall give me, I will surely give a tenth to you.

So this is, this is when Jacob is not a part of his father's house. So typically man takes wife to his father's house.

Jacob in this case has gone to his wife's father's house, right? Laban's house. And he is, you know, making vows for God to bring him back to his father's house.

Like this is not considered ideal. Genesis 31 30, Laban responds to him and says, and now though you want to be gone because you longed greatly after your father's house yet why have you stolen my gods, right?

Not knowing where they were hidden. Okay. Yes. So this is just,

I'm just identifying the pattern. We're going to talk about this in a second. Yeah, but in general you do see the wife leave her father's home and join the man's father's home.

Psalm 45 10, So yeah, if the man is to be the provider, it would make sense in most cases that in this particular aspect of the home.

Now not that the wife can't bring in some wealth with her, but yet typically what you would imagine across history, the shape of that would be, would be that the man has, you know, housing that he's providing for the wife and she comes and she joins him and she forgets her father's home.

Now, this is not universally the case in our own culture. So we should ask, you know, is this a problem and what's the problem with it?

Is it a problem in and of itself? Does it reveal some kind of underlying problem that that leads to a different pattern that we see in our society as opposed to other societies?

What is it? What is it with this? So first of all, first of all, it is right for if the woman is to be a helper for the woman to come alongside the man in helping him, and this would typically be shaped as, you know, the man continuing his life and the woman joining him in his life, right?

First Corinthians 11 8, For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. For neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man.

Right? If she's created as a helper for him. Now we live in a world where there's so many variables now, right?

There's so many broken homes too where if a man doesn't really have any family, right?

There's no father's estate or whatever to to be a part of, right? And she has a lot of family.

It might make sense for him to relocate near her family. However, a lot of times this will be

I believe that can be done in a healthy way, but a lot of times it will function as sort of an anchor that keeps the man from pursuing whatever he would and keeps the woman from being a helper to him.

So it's something to be aware of if you end up in a situation where you do where you're in a marriage where the man has moved to be with the woman, right?

There is a danger since he is joining in her life in that way that it will be him being a helper to her rather than her being a helper to him.

And that's the that's the dynamic that you have to be careful of, right? Is that to make sure that the man is still doing the man's role.

So this really isn't really isn't so much about location, but it's typically location is going to be reflective of what's going on in the dynamic of the husband truly being the head, you know, and the wife being the body as Christ in the church.

All right. Let's see. Okay, the second observation is that—

Sorry, I lost my spot here. Oh, yeah, the second observation is that the dynamic where you have the woman coming to the man's home is often also typically because of the way trades are passed off from the father to the son in biblical times.

Right, Luke 2 .49, Jesus says, How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?

Right, so not only is he continuing in his father's trade as carpenter, but he's continuing in his heavenly father's trade, right, his true father's trade being in the house of God.

And so because these things are being passed off from one to the other and he's acting as a provider, naturally, it would be the case that that family business would continue in one particular area, right, and the woman would come and join.

So how should this be, you know, applied to us? I think there is something about fathers taking a more active role in passing off skills to their sons, right?

Now on one hand, the kind of careers that are available are so many. They're not, you know, these simple trades that you fall into, right, and it is good to have a broad education, but right now the way that's been accomplished is to pass it off entirely to the government, right, and to let them decide, you know, let them mold and shape the child into whatever they'll be.

And there's all kinds of interesting sci -fi around this too, right, where like this one big government system exists to shape you into one of four categories, and this is like the substance of the sci -fi, it's like, oh, this person defies all four categories, and it's their own person.

I think there was an SNL skit about that. Yeah, yeah. Well, I, but there's a lot of them like that.

I used to, I used to read a lot of, when I was, you know, a young adult, I used to read a lot of young adult sci -fi, and they're all like that.

And then, yeah, and then they got popular as movies later on. There was a, there was an SNL skit at one point called

Group Hopper, that was just like a generic version of this, where, you know, he doesn't fit into the group, he's a group hopper.

But, anyway, the, the, yeah, it is, it is good for fathers to pass on these skills, you know, even if you're, even if you're not able to take your son along with you to learn the trade, right, it's harder in some trades than it is in others, especially trades as advanced as you find in this area.

It is good to try to pass off as many of those skills as possible, and take that responsibility of education into your own hands, as opposed to just letting whatever government system is going to shape your child the way that they would shape them, and then assume that, you know, whatever that direction is going to be is good.

It's good to pass off, to pass off particular skills. So, I think that what

I'm pointing out is that frequently, the fact that, the fact that you don't see this as often anymore, you know, the woman coming and joining the man, joining something that is close to the father's estate, etc.,

is not necessarily a problem in and of itself, but it is reflective of several problems that I think exist that are, that reflect breakdowns in the family and supplanting a family with other institutions.

So that's, that's what I'm getting at here. Yes. yeah, a lot of times that will happen too, you know, if the wife is spiritually leading, right, and she's deciding the church, and he's just following along, it's going to be reflective of other things.

And so, in any case like that, where, where it is externally backwards, you have to make sure it's internally, you know, the relationship between you two is not, you know, is not him being her helper, but her being his helper.

If they don't have confidence, then sure, it'd be good to get pastoral care. If they do know that that's what's happening, if it really just is the case that, you know, there's a, like, the life situation is such that it only makes sense for us to relocate to this area as opposed to that area, and then, you know, to make sure that the wife's family is not controlling the relationship or anything like that, you know.

I don't think all these things need pastoral care specifically, but there's always a wisdom in a multitude of counselors.

So certainly something worth bouncing off of friends if you're concerned, you know. All right.

Okay. Yeah, and this is, this is the father's duty to pass off skills. Proverbs 22, 6, train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he's old, he will not depart from it.

So, next let's talk about the anticipation that the disciples experienced upon Christ's ascension.

Luke 24, 52 says, and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, blessing

God. So this is ultimately the anticipation of his return. Acts 1, 10 through 11 says,

And while they were looking steadfastly into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said,

You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, will so come likewise as you beheld him going into heaven.

All right. So, yeah, once again, you know, they're looking into heaven.

They're hoping that he'll return. And then they're told he's not, he's not returning just yet.

All right, so, one application for marriage, obviously, is that a couple should be, should be looking forward to their wedding day, just like the church and Christ are looking forward to their wedding day together.

This betrothal stage of the union, it's, we, we looked last time at how Jesus told

Mary not to touch him, meaning that she was getting too attached and that he was not going to be with her until later, right, at the, at that final union.

So there's, there's an attachment that would be inappropriate, but there's also a desire that is appropriate, right?

They should be, they should be worshiping Christ here, right? They should be anticipating his return. And so likewise, there's a level of attachment that's inappropriate and a level of attachment that is appropriate, that is appropriate prior to the wedding day.

It's not supposed to be something that's stoic, but so I meant, sorry, for which one?

Oh, that was Acts 1, Acts 1, 10 through 11. All right.

Uh, having ascended to the right hand of God, the Son now makes intercession for us. Now, we've already talked about prayer a little bit, but I want to make a different point here.

Hebrews 7, 23 through 28, if someone wants to read that. Thanks.

Hebrews 7, 27, 28. 23 to 28. 23 to 28. Yeah, thanks. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office.

But he holds his priestly, priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

He has no need, like these high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever.

Thanks. Yeah, and if any of you are in the church's theology chat, if you noticed recently, we put all the

WhatsApp groups into a community so you can join any of the little chats. In the theology chat that we have, someone was asking about Jesus still being a man, and this is good evidence for it right here, that that if a priest has to be a man, right, we have one meteor between God and man, the man

Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5 also talks about the priest being taken from among men. If a priest has to be a man, and Jesus is only able to say forever because he lives forever as a man, then certainly he's still a man and still lives forever as a man.

Now, part of why he's ascended to the right hand of the Father is to speak to him on our behalf.

We've already talked about a husband's role in praying for his family, but it is also the case that a husband ought to use any kind of position of authority he has for the benefit of his wife, right?

If he has a particular standing with the government officials, you know, he should speak on behalf of his family.

This can happen in, you know, immigration cases, but also happens in other legal cases or other situations, and a man has a particular standing in society, and so he should use that to the advantage of his bride.

Pentecost. Okay, moving on to Pentecost. Uh, on the day of Pentecost, Christ sent the outpouring of the

Holy Spirit. We did a Sunday school on this not too long ago. The Holy Spirit has always been indwelling believers.

That is not something new. What is new at Pentecost is the outpouring of the Spirit. Yeah, James 4, 5 talks about that Scripture, Scripture speaks of the

Spirit dwelling within us. Now, James is very likely the first New Testament book written, and if that's the case, the

Scripture he's talking about is Old Testament Scripture. And so he's, I'm not sure what verse he's referring to, but he's saying that Old Testament Scripture even speaks of the

Spirit dwelling within us. But now the Spirit is outpoured. All right.

This is a longer passage. Who would like to read Acts 2, 1 through, let's do this large section,

Acts 2, 1 through 21. Thanks.

Yes. Yeah, it's a big one. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

They were dwelling in Jerusalem. Jews devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

And they were amazed and astonished saying, Are not all these who are speaking

Galatians? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language?

Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judah and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia.

Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene and visitors from Rome.

Both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians.

We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed saying to one another, what does this mean?

But others mocking said they are filled with new wine. But Peter standing with the eleven lifted up his voice and addressed them, men of Judah and all who dwell in Jerusalem.

Let this be known to you and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk as you suppose since it is only the third hour of the day.

But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh that your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

And your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants.

In those days I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below blood and fire of and vapor of smoke.

The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Thank you.

All right. So the bible speaks of this giving of the spirit as a a pledge or seal in Christ's absence.

John 14 16 through 17 says and I will pray And I will pray the father and he will give you another comforter.

That he may be with you forever the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive. For it does not behold him neither knows him.

You know him for he abides with you and you will be in. And will be in you. Excuse me. Second corinthians 1 21 says now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is

God. Who also sealed us and gave us the pledge of the spirit in our hearts. All right.

So the spirit is a pledge. What's a pledge? A pledge is some kind of typically it's money, right?

Something of value that you would give in order to make good on something that you're going to do.

Just one example in scripture. You've got Judah and Tamar where he gives what is it his I think it's his staff and his cloak, maybe something else his signet ring or something and he hands us all to Tamar not knowing that it's

Tamar thinking she's a prostitute, right? And uh, and this is going to be the pledge that he's going to make payment.

He goes to make payment and she's not there and then later she uses this to expose him. So, uh, so that's that's what a pledge looks like, right?

A pledge is some kind of down payment that you make to show that you're serious about the thing that you're going to do. So covenants typically have uh different signs involved.

And when you have a covenant where a large part of the fulfillment is in the future, it's typically right for there to be some kind of pledge.

And that's what the Holy Spirit is in this betrothal, right? The Holy Spirit is the pledge to the Christian that that union will one day happen.

Or that the fullness of that union will one day happen. We are already united to Christ, of course, but our own culture uses engagement rings to that end in marriage, right, as a as a promise.

It's something of value, right? It's a pledge that shows this intention to marry a woman.

So we've already examined the fact that engagements are not covenantal like betrothal is, and so engagements do get broken without having to go through a court system or anything like that.

At the same time, if your yes is a yes and the ring is truly a pledge, that has implications for how you would how you would treat the ring.

If it really is serving as a pledge, you know, it'd be wrong if the man breaks off the engagement to ask for it back, right?

And if the woman is breaking off the engagement, it would be wrong for her to keep it, right?

These are these are kind of the implications of it of it being a pledge. Now this is unrelated, but people always talk about this, so I wanted to look into it a little.

I didn't find as much as I thought I would, but a lot of the a lot of the early reformers were opposed to wedding rings.

I don't know about engagement rings, but wedding rings in general, because there was a lot of ceremony around them in Roman Catholic services, and they didn't want to have anything that was associated with that kind of extra added religious ceremony.

And so they wouldn't wear wedding rings. And in the Westminster Directory of Public Worship, which goes through what different kind of worship services should look like, and I use it pretty often, you know, when

I I've only done one wedding, but when I did a wedding, I used this to look at to see how the wedding should go.

It it walks through everything and then omits any reference to to exchanging of rings, and at the end it says there should be no other ceremonies involved, and that's like basically they're opposed to, you know, adding any kind of religious ceremonies.

Now what we do when we exchange rings is very minimal. It's not whatever was going on with Roman Catholicism at the time, and honestly,

I don't even know what it was I was trying to look into and couldn't figure it out, but yeah, that's that's one little piece of history that a lot of the early

Reformers wouldn't have wedding rings. I just lost mine recently, and that's why I don't wear one. All right, next from Pentecost looking forward as the disciples are being, as the disciples are continuing with that mark of the

Spirit, what we see is they bear the name Christians. I think this is the only time the word

Christian is used in all of Scripture, Acts 11, 22 through 26.

Thanks, Emmanuel. Acts 11, 22 through 26.

Yeah, yeah, through 26. You got it?

22 through 26. 11, 22. Thank you.

The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

When they came and saw the grace of God, he was glad and exhorted them all to remain faithful to the

Lord with set fast purpose. For he was a good man, full of the

Holy Spirit, and of faith. And a great many people were added to the

Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch for a whole year.

They met with the church and taught a great many people, and in Antioch the disciples were first called

Christians. Thanks. Okay, so they bear the name of Christ, right, along with this mark of the

Spirit on them. They're bearing the name of Christ. We see that in Scripture a few times, that the woman bears the name of her husband.

Probably the clearest one is in Isaiah 4, 1. It says, some women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, we will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel.

Only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach. And so they're saying, we want to be your wives.

Do not, you don't even have to provide for us. We just want to have your last name so that we're not ashamed.

In fact, the word woman itself is even, like it is even a name that comes from man, right?

And the man said, now this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, and she shall be called woman. Because she was taken out of man.

So even the first woman in that way is being named after the man that that she is with. So not every society features this, but I do think it's a good thing to reflect biblical truth to have a woman take the name of the man in some way.

And this happens in different ways and in different cultures, and I don't, you know, it can vary in how it appears in different cultures.

But for ours, it's the last name. So, yeah, she'll frequently be referred to her husband's full name also, prefixed by Mrs.,

right? So like Mrs. Conley Owens or whatever, right? That's a, that's a thing that I think is less common in our time, but it still, you know, happens on formal letters that we get and things like that.

Let's see. Yeah, yeah, so it's, it's variable. Not every culture is gonna have it exactly the same way, but I think it is something that is good to have.

So a lot of times people reject this, right? And they try doing something different and so the woman will keep her maiden name.

A lot of times you'll see that with celebrities, right? Because, and the idea there is that they're keeping their brand, you know, so that they can be easily recognized as the same name they've, they've built up.

But honestly, that's, is that a good excuse or is that exactly what we're trying to avoid here? Where, you know, she's kind of going in her own independent direction rather than supporting the man, right?

She's, she's, you know, making a name for herself at this point. And yeah, let's see.

The other thing that couples will often do is hyphenate the last name. Yes, Emmanuel.

Right, so that, yeah, we bear the name of Christ. It talks about us bearing the name of God in all kinds of circumstances.

I just found this text, you know, as we're walking through it, the historians salute us. This text seemed to be an appropriate one because it's here where the world is identifying them too as being

Christians, not just them bearing the name in other ways, but, but the world even identifying it. Ah, you are

Christians. You bear the name of Christ, right? Yes. Yeah, I don't know if it's a cuss word, but I mean they're identifying them as, as followers.

Now, I get that a lot of times those are used to say, well, you're, you know, you're special. You're not typical

Jews. You're this, you know, or, or you're not real Christians. You're Lutherans. You know, that's how like the word

Lutheran originally came about. You know, Luther didn't like his followers being called Lutherans because he wanted them just to be

Christians, but, but yeah, it is, it is something the world is labeling, but it's something where you already see in Scripture tons of times.

It talks about bearing the name of God. Okay, so another way, another way this is rejected was with hyphenated last names and that can be either the woman's last maiden name first or, or second.

Obviously, it'd be preferable for it to be second, but either way, it's, it's not reflective of what you see in, what was that one passage

I read, Psalm 45, Psalm 45 that said, forget your father's house.

Where was that passage? Sorry. Yeah, I don't,

I mean, certainly, if they didn't like Christians, it would be used with disdain, but I think you can say that for anything, right, for any kind of label.

I don't, the name itself is just literally, you know, like one who is of Christ. Yeah, I forget.

I, I'm, I've lost the passage. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, Psalm. Yeah, I just looked at Psalm 45, 10.

Listen, O daughter, and consider an incline your ear. Forget also your own people in your father's household. Right, so, you know, is that, is that really leaving father and mother?

And I know that's a command given to the man, but we talked about before that applies to both, right? Is the woman really leaving her father and mother to join with the man when that, when that happens?

And I would say it's, it's holding on to things a bit, regardless of whether you put it first or last or, or do it any other way.

The other thing that's common, especially where I'm from in the Southeast, is for a woman to move her middle name to the, her maiden name to her middle name and to lose her middle name.

Does anybody here familiar with that? Like is that? Yeah. Well, you're from, are you from the? Maryland.

Okay. Yeah. So that's what, yeah, my mother did that too. I always thought it was a little odd, and studying this more,

I now think, yeah, I think this is odd. I think that, I don't think it's a leaving behind. You should just keep your middle name.

Right, right. Say they've got a career, and they're, you know, they're a well -known person.

Sure. Yeah, I think it, I mean, it's, you know, on Facebook, you, people just put like their old name, right?

They're in parens afterward. Like there's even a feature to do that. I think that kind of thing is, you know, is reasonable.

Put parens, maiden name. Yeah, other things that go even farther, right, is the prefix

Ms. I don't think that ever really caught on, but, but using Ms. instead of Mrs.

or Miss to basically say, you know, that marital status shouldn't matter at all. Like that shouldn't be something that people are even considering when they're addressing me.

Yes. I'm not, sorry, say that one more time.

My name, this name, it's me, it is, you know, it is who

I am. It is still a representation of. Right, it's what, what family are you primarily a part of, or are you primarily a part of his family or the family you come from?

Right. Yeah, another thing is a lot of times feminists will do it too, right, to like, yeah, uphold womanhood, and I've heard,

I've heard people respond, well, I'm glad you're still bearing your grandfather's name, whatever it is, you know, because it came from a man at some point.

All right, the last thing I want to go through is, is adoption. So the

Spirit is called the Spirit of Adoption. Romans 8 14 says, For as many as are led by the

Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by which we cry,

Abba Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified with him.

Okay, so it, it calls him the Spirit of Adoption because he's the one in our hearts calling us to cry out,

Abba Father. Our, our legal status of being adopted is, it's not merely legal.

It is also organic, and that we're, we're changed to actually feel like children. So, considering this in the analogy of marriage, should this adoptive status here be considered individually or corporately?

So in one sense, it's individual, right? Each person is individually adopted as a child of God calling

God Father. However, this refers to the status of, however, it refers to our direct status as children of God rather than as children of Christ, and additionally, in addition, it speaks to our joint relationship with him, inheriting with him.

So because we are children of God the Father directly, we are co -heirs with Christ, right?

And as such, because it is elevating us to that level, it's not, it's not speaking of, if you remember the analogy, right?

The analogy is the church is the bride, and we individually are the children of Christ in the church.

But if this is, if adoption in the Bible is talking about us becoming children of the Father, not, and so that we're co -heirs, we're on that level, not, you know, the children of Christ instead, then maybe it makes sense.

Well, it does make sense to consider this corporately, that the whole church is being adopted. Yes? In the

Bible it was written, adoption, a baby, even though he's an heir, he's under an age thing, and that's,

I was just trying to figure that out. Sure, yeah, well, it's definitely the case that some of the adoptions you see in the

Bible are later on and primarily for the purpose of inheritance. At the end, yeah, it's also true that in Galatians, it talks about the tutor that raises the child for some time and then later, but I don't think that has to do with adoption in particular.

But what this describes is that we already have the spirit that we might call out Abba Father, right?

And if we're, yeah, and if the adoption doesn't happen until later, then we wouldn't be able to call out Abba Father, basically.

So it is something that's happened now. And so, yeah, my point here is that it's something that seems to be happening, not just for us individually, but for the church as a whole, that we can be counted as co -heirs and children of the

Father even. So my point from this is that it speaks to the reality of in -law relationships, and this relates back to the naming thing.

You know, which family are you identifying with? So the woman who marries a son truly does marry into the family.

A lot of times in -laws will treat the wife of their son as some kind of second -class family member or something like that, right?

But it is not, it should not be viewed that way. Leviticus 18 .15 says, you shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter -in -law.

She is your son's wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness. Now, it goes, it goes through all these passages in Leviticus 18 about different kinds of incestuous sins, and it includes in -law relationships in that.

Why is that? Because the family ties are so real that that implies things for sexual ethics even, right?

And the same is true in 1 Corinthians 5 .1. Why is it so heinous that the man is sleeping with his father's wife?

It's, I don't, I'm, personally, I'm not sold on the idea that the father is even alive at this point, right?

It's rather that the, because that establishes a family relationship, right?

This is more than just, you know, cheating on someone or committing adultery of some other kind. This is an incestuous relationship, even though this woman's not blood -related to him.

Right. Yeah, so in -laws should therefore care for the relatives by marriage as true, as true relatives.

Shouldn't treat them as a second class or anything. You consider Naomi's relationship with Ruth, right?

There, there's a real strong bond there, treating, treating her as a true daughter, not as something secondary to that.

Ruth 1 .16, and Ruth said, Do not entreat me to leave you and to return from following after you, for where you go

I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. So yeah, all that to say that, yeah, people in daughter -in -law should, should treat that relationship seriously.

Yeah, as, as establishing a true family bond and not just, not just some secondary relationship that's not the same as blood relationship.

The Bible treats them the same as blood relationships. All right, any questions?

Go for it. No? All right. Okay, well we can close in prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you again for your word and all it teaches us about your Son, all it teaches us about ourselves.

ask that you would prepare us for worship this day, and thank you for this day of worship in Jesus' name. Amen.