The Bride Clothed

In the Gospel of Luke, there is a passage of scripture that most folks are very familiar with, even those maybe who are not believers, especially during this time of year.

And of course, the passage to which I am referring is that of the birth of Christ.

The most traditional story recorded for us in the second chapter of Luke's Gospel account.

From that particular account, from Luke's account, we have almost all of the things that people traditionally associate of the setting around Christmas and the birth of Christ.

Of course, the only exception to that is the introduction of the wise men, but that's neither here nor there for today.

In Luke's account, we read a proclamation in verses 13 and 14.

It reads, and there suddenly appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising

God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.

This angelic proclamation has rightly been seen as the central focus, the central truth regarding the announcement of the birth of Christ.

But unfortunately, the words have been horribly misused and quite often misunderstood.

You see, the typical viewpoint of this pronouncement is one that has to do with a proclamation of peace that is being ushered into the world in a physical sense.

That the peace that is generated and the result is this peace between the people of earth.

This is a humanistic and a pragmatic viewpoint where we wanna be able to put these words into immediate action and have them immediately affect all of mankind.

But the reality of the situation is that when we have that view and when we proclaim that view, people are left disenchanted because it takes only a small amount of concentration and thought to look around us in the world today and see that there is no peace between people and that everything we do to try and bring about this idea of our peace fails.

And as it fails, the people who have this viewpoint begin to doubt and question scripture.

They challenge its veracity. They question the word of God and because they are questioning his word, they literally begin to question

God himself and the snowball begins to roll downhill.

The reality of the peace that is being promised here, however, is something different.

This peace can only be defined when we consider the remaining words in this verse, the context of everything that's happening and then of course the totality of scripture.

What we see when we do that is this is not a declaration of peace between people, but rather a declaration of a peace that can exist between God and man, but only in those, and don't miss this, with whom

God is pleased. So often we hear that verse quoted and all we hear is peace on earth and goodwill towards men.

Goodwill toward men is a mistranslation. It's actually a detriment to the meaning of the verse because the goodwill towards men, when we hear that, we think goodwill towards our fellow man and this is really goodwill of God towards men.

And as we have seen in the past, that only exists where God himself is pleased.

So that begs the question, what does it mean to be one of these people with whom

God is pleased? Well, the good news is that God answers that question.

We don't have to struggle with that information. For example, we could turn to Psalm 147 verse 11.

Yahweh is pleased with those who fear him, those who wait for his loving kindness.

Or perhaps we could turn to Habakkuk chapter two verse four, where he says, behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by faith.

Or maybe we go to Micah chapter six verse eight, where he says, he has told you, oh man, what is good?

And what does Yahweh require of you? But to do justice, to love loving kindness and to walk humbly with your

God. And of course, there are the naysayers who say, well, all of that is from the

Old Testament. So we turn to Hebrews chapter 11 verse six, and without faith, it is impossible to please him.

For he who draws near to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

And granted, these are only a few examples of the scripture that clearly demonstrates what it is that pleases

God, the way in which God is pleased, but it can be summed up in these words.

God is pleased with those whom by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, have trusted in Christ according to scripture alone, ultimately for the glory of God alone.

But here's an issue. You see, we get to the point where as we begin to read these things, we also begin to understand that the challenge with us as people is that we have inherited a sinful nature.

That we as humanity are sinful, broken, fallen creatures whose continuous desire is to rebel from our creator.

Take for a moment just the words that I used from Habakkuk a few moments ago, the righteous will live by faith.

Paul uses this same text in two different places. The first is found in Romans 1 .17,

where he begins to build his foundation for everything that follows in that letter, dealing with the salvation of men and how that works itself out.

And then secondly, we find it in Galatians 3 .11, where he begins to demonstrate that the law itself does not and has not justified anyone that it is according to faith.

And then to complicate matters, if things weren't as challenging as they could be, we know that there are those who have been identified or who identify as the church, those who say that they are called out and set apart for his glory.

And as we look at them, we see that it is comprised of people who are less than faithful to God.

Now, I wanna be very clear here. When we think about this, we are not just talking about those churches who aren't truly churches.

We're talking about all Christians. Because as we look at the bride, when we look at ourselves, because brothers and sisters, we comprise the bride.

We come together to become the bride, the church, the called out ones, the ecclesia.

What we see are people that are less than faithful to God.

And in reality, commit spiritual adultery far more often than any one of us would care to admit.

And so when we consider that great truth and the great truth regarding the peace that Christmas proclaims, and what is necessary to be one of those people who pleases

God, we're left with a question. And the question is, how can an unfaithful bride be accepted by a holy husband?

This brings us to our text for today and our focus in dealing with the righteousness of the bride.

And so if you will, take your copy of God's word. And if you have not already, turn with me to the book of Isaiah.

We will be reading this morning from the 61st chapter. And as you find your place there,

I ask that you stand in reverence for the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative, complete, sufficient, and certain word.

Beginning in the first verse of Isaiah chapter 61 and reading down through the 11th, we read the following words.

The spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me because Yahweh has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh and the day of vengeance of our

God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a hedgerow instead of ashes, the oil of rejoicing instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh that he may show forth his beautiful glory.

Then they will rebuild the ancient waste places. They will raise up the former desolations and they will make new the ruined cities, the desolations from generation to generation.

Strangers will stand and pastor your flocks and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.

But you will be called the priest of Yahweh. You will be spoken of as ministers of our

God. You will eat the wealth of nations and in your glories and in their glories, you will boast.

Instead of your shame, you will have a double portion and instead of dishonor, they will shout for joy over their portion.

Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land. Everlasting gladness will be theirs.

For I, Yahweh, love justice. I hate robbery in the burnt offering.

And in truth, I will give them their recompense and cut an everlasting covenant with them.

Then their seed will be known among the nations and their offspring in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the seed whom

Yahweh has blessed. I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh.

My soul will rejoice in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation.

He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks herself with a hedgerow and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its branches and as a garden causes the things sown in it to branch out, so Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to branch out before all of the nations.

Our prayer this morning is adapted from the Valley of Vision, a prayer entitled, Fullness in Christ.

Our great and merciful Heavenly Father, Lord, you have taught us in your word that Christ has all fullness and so all plentitude of the spirit.

All that we lack, we will find in him. For his people, not for himself alone.

He having perfect knowledge, perfect grace, perfect righteousness to make us see, to deem us righteous, to grant us fullness.

Father, it is our duty out of a sense of emptiness to go to Christ, to possess him, to enjoy his fullness as our own, just as if we had it in ourselves because it is for us in him.

Lord, remind us that when we do this, we are as filled with the spirit as a fish that has far from the shore to the sea and has all the fullness of waters to move in.

For when faith fills us, we are the way to be filled with the spirit. First faith, then fullness, because the preparation for this makes us totally empty of ourselves and fully prepared to be filled with your spirit.

Lord, you have taught us that the finding of this treasure and of all grace in the field of Christ creates within us strength and joy, glory, and renders grace all the more alive.

Lord, our prayer is that you help us to delight more in that which we receive from Christ, more in that fullness which is in him, the fountain of all his glory.

Lord, let me not think to receive the spirit from him as a thing apart from finding and drinking and being filled with him.

To this end, establish us in Christ, settle us and give us a being there, assuring us with certainty that all this is ours for this will fill our hearts with joy and peace.

Father, we ask all of these things in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, a couple of weeks ago when we began this series, we took an in -depth look at the truth that the church was

God's plan from before the foundation of the world. And we demonstrated that the church is what was expected even in the

Old Testament. The New Testament sees it implemented and then the final truth of the bride of Christ, the church, is when we are brought into full consummation where the bride is brought to the bridegroom and spends eternity in the presence of the triune

God. One of the truths about the church that we did not necessarily talk about specifically that morning, but that we alluded to earlier is the unfaithfulness of the bride of Christ to Christ.

Again, this is not an indication of various organizations that call themselves churches when they in fact are not truly churches.

This is an indictment of the true church. The issue is, is that although we are the true church, although we are those who have been set apart, although we are those who have been called out, the church is still built and made of true people.

People who are according to the word of God, natural born sinners.

If we could remember far enough back, we would know that we needed no training, we needed no encouragement.

We were just to steal a phrase from modern society, born that way, with all of the ability to sin, filling our nature.

The problem is, the truth of reality is that this does not excuse our failures, it does not excuse our behaviors.

You see, each and every person born, although they are born with a sin nature, is still held personally accountable for being obedient to the moral law of the almighty creator.

That is our responsibility. It is important that we have a right understanding of that truth.

Because without a right understanding of that truth, it is easy to simply excuse away the things that we do.

But when we do have that right understanding, it leads us to the reality and the knowledge that by ourselves, in ourselves, according to our nature, according to our ability, we are absolutely incapable of being obedient and we are absolutely incapable of being faithful to God.

Now, of course, the easy thing to do would be to sugarcoat all of this and say, hey, it's okay, we can just explain it all the way, we can excuse it, we can continue to live in rebellion.

However, when God moves in the heart of an individual, a change occurs.

That change is one that creates in us a heart that has different desires, different thoughts, and different approaches.

The heart that has been regenerated begins to desire to know

God and ultimately the heart that has been regenerated will place its faith in Christ.

We will believe, we will be repentant, and we will have a desire to live a life that is pleasing to God and that is in accordance with his moral law.

And of course, here is the part of the conversation where the pastor always gets the question from the individual, well, would

I still sin? First and foremost, the fact that we can recognize that says a lot because before being regenerated, you're not even gonna recognize that.

However, if we look to the word of God, we see that even in that space, even in the reality of being a regenerated person, we are still clothed in a body that is corrupt.

In fact, Paul describes it in Romans chapter seven as a body of death.

And he teaches us in that chapter that even as those who have been converted, even as those who are regenerate, there is a war that rages, a battle that continues between that body of death and the reality of the regenerated individual.

And what we see is as we continue to work through this, we get to the point where we understand that the statement that Paul makes in both

Romans and in Galatians, as he quotes Habakkuk, as he states the words of God that say the righteous will live by faith, that the righteous person, the one who is regenerated, the one who is converted, the one who is truly a part of the bride of Christ, does not achieve that of their own ability.

One of the dangers in churches sometimes can be the impression that because we are believers, because we are church people, then we haven't figured out that we are, because we are coming to church on Sunday morning and we're studying our

Bible every day and we're at Sunday school and at prayer meeting and in any other function of the church that we have achieved and attained that which pleases

God. But the truth is you can be a 100 % attender.

You can have had perfect attendance for the last 20 years in church. You can have been the head of the committees.

You can have been Sunday school teachers. You could even be an elder and ultimately falter because we begin to rely on ourselves instead of God.

And so that brings us back to the question, how can an unfaithful bride be acceptable or be accepted by a holy husband?

This is where Isaiah 61 comes in and begins to answer the question for us.

And I wanna say, of course there are a plethora of scriptures in the

New Testament that we could turn to. And if you need to know what that $5 word means, it means a lot.

There are a lot of scriptures in the New Testament that we could turn to, so why go to the

Old Testament? Because it is necessary to understand and demonstrate that this is not a secondary plan.

That this was what God intended for all of eternity. So as we look at biblical prophecy, there's something we need to make sure that we understand in reading biblical prophecy.

And that is that most biblical prophecy, as we read it, has not only a long -term prophetic value, but also has short -term prophetic value.

In other words, when this prophecy is proclaimed, there is something in it for the people immediately.

But that the ultimate meaning, the real truth, is something that is in the distance.

And so this particular passage, the immediate reality of the prophecy speaks of the deliverance of the

Jews from the captivity in Babylon. What we see displayed, however, in an ultimate fulfillment way is that this passage of scripture teaches us about the sovereignly appointed bridegroom.

It teaches us about the deliverance of God's people from the bondage of sin and the righteousness that ultimately is imputed to his people.

That righteousness that is given to us by Christ as we are adorned in his righteousness and ultimately presented in that adornment before the almighty

God. And so as we begin to look at this, you may recall from our first message that we identified the bridegroom in the

Old Testament as being the husband or the groom of his chosen people, his bride.

And as we moved into the New Testament, we saw that in the New Testament, both

John the Baptist and Christ himself identify Jesus as that bridegroom.

And hopefully you recall that the implication of that is Jesus proclaiming that he is

God. Again, we get to the point where people in today's world say, well, the New Testament, Jesus never says that he is

God. He says it over and over and over. They just don't see it because the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.

But this is, we want to press in just a moment into this, just a little bit more.

And the reason that we want to press into this is so that we understand exactly what's happening in Isaiah chapter 61 and how all of these things relate together.

And so again, we go back to the gospel of Luke. You may recall another encounter in the gospel of Luke, one that occurs immediately in Luke's gospel in the way that he writes it.

It occurs right after the temptation of Christ. And we see that Christ going through the temptation in the wilderness.

Then we see the beginnings of the ministry of Christ. Luke just uses two short verses to identify that for us.

And then we have this encounter. We find this encounter in Luke chapter four, beginning in the 16th verse.

And it reads in this way. And he, being Christ, came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.

And as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. And he opened the scroll and he found the place where it is written.

The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the

Lord. And then Luke's gospel says, and he closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.

And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

Now, you may have noticed that the words from Isaiah that Jesus read sounded familiar.

Hopefully they did. Because we just read them in the opening of Isaiah chapter 61.

This is the prophecy that Christ himself read in the synagogue that day.

And as we continue in Luke's gospel, we see two different reactions. The first reaction that we see is a very favorable reaction.

In fact, verse 22 says that they spoke well of him and they marveled.

But then as Jesus began to continue to speak, the reaction changes.

And by verse 28, those same men who stood and marveled and spoke well were filled with rage.

That's how controversial the proclamation that Jesus made was.

And for our purpose here this morning, we are gonna focus in on the statement that he read.

The scripture that has been fulfilled in their hearing and what this all means to you and I.

Jesus's statement. The statement that he makes after he completes the reading of the passage and sits down.

As he sits and looks at these men that are looking around him, that are marveling and speaking well of him, the first thing that he says to them is today, this prophecy has been fulfilled in your presence.

Specifically, when we read this passage, when we turn to Isaiah and we read the passage in Isaiah, we literally can, in verse one, take every time we see the word me and exchange it for Jesus.

Because although the prophet Isaiah was speaking of himself, he was foretelling the coming of the true one who would proclaim these things.

And this is what Jesus is claiming. This is what

Jesus has said. And so we see in this passage,

Christ is sovereignly anointed by God for a task of truly accomplishing the works that are listed here.

In addition to that encounter in Luke, if we look in the

Gospel of Matthew in chapter 11, verses two and three, we see another encounter.

And this one is between John's disciples and then

Christ. By this time, John has been imprisoned. He is awaiting his beheading.

He calls his disciples to him and he sends them to Jesus with a question.

This is what Matthew's Gospel says. Now when John, in prison, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, him being

Jesus, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for someone else?

John, who you may recall from last time was the one who proclaimed

Christ as the bridegroom, who you also may recall is the one who in his mother's womb leapt for joy at the voice of Mary because she was carrying

Christ, now finds himself imprisoned and he begins to maybe doubt a little and so he asks, are you really the one?

And this is Jesus' response in verses four through six.

And Jesus answered and said to him, go and report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the leopards are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the

Gospel preached. To them, and blessed is he who does not take offense at me.

Now Jesus' response is actually made up of two different prophecies. One pulling from the prophets, both coming from Isaiah, one coming from what we identify as the 35th chapter of Isaiah.

The other from the chapter that we have read this morning. The ones from 35 being the clause where the healings have occurred.

But the final clause, the poor have the Gospel preached to them is a direct reference to the afflicted mentioned in verse one.

It's a direct reference to the broken hearted, to the captives, to the prisoners, to all of those who received the good news or the

Gospel. In both of these passages of scripture, both of these encounters,

Jesus specifically references this particular passage of scripture as fulfillment, being fulfilled in the presence of those and then as evidence, as proof that he is the one who was sent, the one who the spirit of the

Lord is upon. Now these words ultimately, we will see in a few minutes, describe the effect that he has on his people and the results of that.

But for the moment, what this means to us is further evidence, further verification that Christ is the bridegroom of the church.

He is the one who is to come. He is the one who has been anointed by God to fulfill the purpose of calling the church to himself, to claiming his people.

Throughout the rest of this passage of Isaiah, we see actions that are accomplished.

But these actions are accomplished by God. So if we consider the short term of the prophecy and we use the understanding that Isaiah is the one being referenced when he talks about me and I, then what we see in all of the actions is they have been completed by God.

But if we understand the long term of the prophecy and we see that Christ is truly the bridegroom, the one that was proclaimed throughout all of history, all of the

Old Testament, who has now come, who is the one who the spirit of the

Lord is proclaimed, is upon, we see again that Christ is the bridegroom.

The difference between Isaiah proclaiming this prophecy and Christ's proclamation of this prophecy is that Isaiah never claimed that the prophecy was being fulfilled in their sight.

Christ, Christ makes that claim, specifically in regards to the first two verses and following, that that day in their very presence, this prophecy was being fulfilled.

And so the fact that Christ is the bridegroom, that he is the one that has been identified, that he is the one who has come to call his bride and he is the one of whom

Isaiah speaks in Isaiah chapter 61 is of utmost importance.

This is a vital understanding as we address this question we have been asking.

How, how can an unfaithful bride be accepted by a holy husband?

And we begin that with understanding of this holy husband. This is not just any holy husband, this is

Christ. This is the Lord Jesus, knowing that he is the one of whom

Isaiah prophesied would come and bring the good news to the afflicted bind up the brokenhearted, release the captives, free the prisoners, comfort those who mourn, replace that mourning with rejoicing and praise.

Begins to help us see the work that he is doing specifically for his people. We see first that his responsibility was to proclaim the word.

It's right here in Isaiah. The spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me because Yahweh has anointed me.

That's what's occurred and this is the reason. The reason is to bring good news to the afflicted.

His first and primary focus and responsibility is the proclamation of his word.

We've talked in the past about the threefold office of Christ as prophet, as priest, as king. Here we see this announcement by the prophet

Isaiah that is fully manifested in the person of Christ who literally is the word incarnate.

John tells us, John chapter one verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Think back to the angelic message for just a moment that we hear in Luke.

Before the multitude of angels gathered around this one angel, the first angel that appeared, the first words that she told or he told or it told, the shepherds as they were on the hillside was don't be afraid.

Behold, I bring you good tidings. Good tidings is good news.

Good news is gospel. It brought the message of Christ.

A message which, as the angel says in Luke chapter two verse 10, is for all the people.

But the good news was proclaimed on that first night to the shepherds, the lowest of the people.

And it has since that time continued to be proclaimed to the poor.

Now here's a problem. When we hear the word poor here in 2025, we have a completely different conception because this has got nothing to do with physical wealth and monetary gain and personal possessions.

These are the poor in spirit. Consider the words of James, James chapter two, verse five.

Listen, my beloved brothers, did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him?

Christ came first and foremost to proclaim the word of God. If you think through what we're talking about this morning, it lines up perfectly with Paul's statement in Romans regarding the faith of individuals.

They have to hear. The second thing we see in this passage from Isaiah chapter 61 is that Christ was to be a healer.

Now certainly as Christ walked this earth, he performed many miracles, he healed many people. Those healings were physical.

And the people all stood in awe and wonder as he did so. And as he performed these miracles, they followed him even more.

The crowds grew of these people desiring to be healed, to see this work that was being done, to be miraculously fed from a few fishes and slices of bread.

That's what they yearned for. But even as they followed him, even as they followed, not truly following because they were seeking the physical healing, but even as they followed, this physical healing that was being received pales in comparison with the true healing that Christ came to offer.

He was sent to bind up the broken hearted, not the physical ailments of the heart, the spiritual ailments of his people.

Matthew Henry says in regards to this particular passage, he was sent to bind up the broken hearted as pained limbs are rolled to give them ease, as broken bones and bleeding wounds are bound up that they may knit and close again.

Those who hearts are broken for sin, who are truly humbled under the sense of guilt and dread of wrath are furnished in the gospel of Christ with that which will make them easy and silence their fears.

These are the people who hear the gospel, who repent, who believe because the Holy Spirit has regenerated their heart.

Because of that, they are able to feel the burden of the weight of the sin that they bear.

And so Christ came to proclaim the word, Christ came to heal his people, Christ came to thirdly deliver them.

Notice in Isaiah, after he binds up the broken hearted, he's also proclaiming the release of captives, proclaiming release to captives and freedom to prisoners.

It is this deliverance of his bride here described as captives and prisoners.

The people of Israel and Judah were captives in Babylon, but the true church, the true issue is not captivity in a foreign power, the true church is captivity.

The true issue is the captivity of the people in sin. And he came to bring peace to this bride.

Peace promised to the bride and war promised to the enemies.

Look here to proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh. That's the peace.

And then we have to proclaim a day of vengeance of our God. That is the war, the battle that Christ fought on Calvary's cross.

Henry again is helpful. Christ proclaims on the day of vengeance of our

God, the vengeance he takes on sin and Satan, death and hell and all the powers of darkness that were to be destroyed in order to bring our deliverances.

These Christ triumphed over in his cross, having spoiled and weakened them, shamed them and made a show of them openly.

Therein taking vengeance on them for all the injury they had done both to God and to man.

Secondly, on those of the children of men that stand it out against those fair offers, they shall not only be left as they deserve in their captivity, but be dealt with as enemies.

We have the gospel summed up where that part of it, he that believes shall be saved, proclaims the acceptable year of the

Lord to those that will accept it. But the other part, he that believes not shall be damned, proclaims the day of vengeance of our

God. That vengeance which he will take on those that obey not the gospel of Christ.

Lastly, as we look at this passage regarding our bridegroom, we see that not only does he come to bind up the brokenhearted, not only does he come to proclaim release and freedom to those who belong to him, not only does he promise this peace to those who believe, not only does he profess this war to those who disbelieve, he also comes as a comforter and a planter.

If you notice the last two or the last verse in part of verse two, it says to comfort all who mourn.

And then it says to grant all who mourn in or to grant those who mourn in Zion.

Now that passage, that second line is one that is misunderstood sometimes. The word grant can also be translated as establish.

So this is not the idea of somebody in Zion mourning, this is the idea of those who mourn being established in Zion.

Those who mourn, those who are comforted being those who believe. All of these comforts are promised.

That this establishment in Zion, this giving of a headdress of ashes instead of the ashes, this mantle of praise instead of the spirit of feigning, these are all promises given to the church by God, by the one who came to deliver his people, his bride, his church.

Coming out of that comfort as those who believe. What we see in this last two lines, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh that he may show forth his beautiful glory.

They, let me help you out a little bit with that pronoun.

They is the church. They is the bride of Christ.

They are you and I sitting here this morning.

What an amazing statement that the bride is called oaks of righteousness.

I don't know about you, but I don't feel like an oak of righteousness. And the reason

I don't feel like that is because I know that in my ability, in my physical nature,

I can never attain that. But thanks be to God that through Christ, I don't have to attain it, it is given.

Why? Why are the people of God to be oaks of righteousness?

For the same reason we answer the question, what is the chief end of man? In the words of to enjoy

God and glorify him forever. Notice the last sentence in this verse three.

The planting of Yahweh. They, the people who are now oaks of righteousness or the planting of Yahweh.

In other words, Yahweh is the one who has done the work. Yahweh is the one who is till the soil.

Yahweh is the one who planted the seed. Yahweh is the one who regenerated the heart. Yahweh is the one who bound up the brokenhearted.

Yahweh is the one who claimed the captive free. Yahweh is the one who has given us this comfort.

Yahweh is the one who has declared war on his enemies. and as the one who has done all of these things, he has now planted us as oaks of righteousness.

Why? That they, that he may show forth his beautiful glory.

It is for the glory of God that these oaks of righteousness exist.

And all of that brings us back to the question, how can an unfaithful bride be accepted by a holy husband?

And so we've identified the holy husband. We've identified that the work that the holy husband does in bringing his bride to himself.

But let's be very clear on how the bride is acceptable going forward because the truth of the matter is, whether we as believers want to admit it or not, like I said earlier, we still sin.

We are still unfaithful. I think if every single one of us in here evaluated ourself truthfully and honestly and just ask ourselves one question, one and only one question, today, have you loved the

Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength for every second?

Now, if you can honestly evaluate yourself and say yes, then we probably ought to switch places because the truth of the matter is we fail him constantly.

And so we still have to answer this question. Christ is the bridegroom.

He's the one that was sent to deliver his people. And in that deliverance, he accomplished all these things that we have mentioned, including the fact that somehow the bride has been made righteous.

We've been declared righteous here, but we don't see the accomplishment. Where does it come from?

We know God does it. In another passage from Isaiah, this same bridegroom, the bridegroom who has been identified as Christ is there identified as the servant of the

Lord. And it says in that particular passage of this servant of the

Lord that he was crushed for our iniquities, that he was pierced for our transgressions.

Now we hopefully recall that particular passage. We know that it comes from the suffering servant song, one of those being

Isaiah chapter 53. And we hopefully understand that this refers to Christ, but let's make sure that we understand the full implication of that statement.

And so as we come down chapter 53 in Isaiah, we read this passage in verse 11.

As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities.

So now we're still talking about this suffering servant. The suffering servant here is also being identified as the righteous one.

And the righteous one obediently suffered. And in that obedience and in that suffering, the many are declared justified or declared righteous.

They're brought into a right standing with God. And if we move forward a little bit in scripture to Paul's letter to the church at Galatia, we read these words.

But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son born of a woman, born under the law so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoptions as sons.

Now, let me tie these two together for you so hopefully you follow and understand.

The obedience that we see demonstrated in chapter 35 of Isaiah is obedience that is being done as the covenant head of his people.

As Christ comes, as Paul describes it in Romans, the one who comes and through his obedience brings righteousness.

We see Christ doing this work that Paul describes in Ephesians chapter five, verses 25 through 27.

You remember, we love to point to that passage of scripture, especially Mother's Day, Father's Day, as we talk down to our husbands and wives.

We shouldn't be, we should be encouraging them. But when we read this particular passage, we really like to hone in on the men.

And in doing so, we often miss the whole point of the passage. Ephesians chapter five, verses 25 through 27, husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and blameless.

Then we go, men, this is your responsibility to your wives, and it is. But before we ever get to the men understanding, the husbands understanding that that's their responsibility to their wives, we need to understand that that's what

Christ has already done for the church. He's already proclaimed the word.

He's washed his people, set apart before the foundation of the world according to his work, because he loved us so much that he gave himself for us to sanctify us, to cleanse us, to present us to himself in all her glory with no spot, no wrinkle, or any such thing, but that we are holy and blameless.

The work of Christ. As the second Adam, where he's described again in Romans five, verse 19, for as though one man, through the one man's disobedience, the many were appointed sinners, that being all of us prior to regeneration, even so through the obedience of the one, the many will be appointed righteous.

The incarnate word fulfills to the highest degree the law of almighty

God, the moral law to which all people are held accountable.

And in doing that, he provides a perfect righteousness that he then imputes to his people.

Paul again, Romans chapter seven, or do you not know, brothers, for I am speaking to those who know the law, that the law is master over a person as long as he lives.

For the married woman has been bound by law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.

So then if while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.

But if her husband dies, she is free from the law so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.

So my brothers, you also, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ.

So that the reason that you were made to die to the law through the body of Christ was so that you might be joined to another, to him, to Christ, who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit of God, for the church, the bridegroom, the bride.

When we talk of belonging to the bridegroom, of belonging to Christ, we are talking about that uniting with him as a spouse.

With all of the legal relational implications that follow. Consider in a marital relationship when the husband and the wife are joined together in holy matrimony, all that the man has becomes possessions of both him and the woman.

Only because this husband, in the description that we're using, of Christ as the bridegroom, and the church as the bride, because this husband is the incarnate word, the possessions and the righteousness of Christ become the possession of his people.

This then is the answer to the question, how?

How can an unfaithful bride be accepted by a holy husband?

It is because Christ, the incarnate word, came as a man.

God himself stepped out as a man to obey the law that our federal head,

Adam, transgressed. And as he transgressed, and we so in likewise transgress, only the truth that this man, this man who was truly man and truly

God, can his obedience and sacrifice possess the infinite worth that is necessary.

Only because this husband is the incarnate word, truly

God, truly man, can his righteousness then be imputed to his bride.

Why? Because he has entered her condition.

He has fulfilled her obligations. He has borne her curse.

Or to restate those things, because he has entered my condition.

He has fulfilled my obligations. He has borne my curse.

And now as risen Lord, he credits his obedience to me by grace through faith.

And each of you can, if you are a believer, insert your name. Because that is what he has done for the bride of Christ, for the church.

The reason that we celebrate the birth of our Savior is because the word becoming flesh through the incarnation not only verifies the bride's belonging, but also provides the very righteousness by which we, the church, the people of God, stand justified in his sight.

So as we consider this truth that is revealed to us in Isaiah 61, that ultimately is fulfilled in Christ, we come face -to -face with the answer to this question.

And the answer's not found in our merit, in our performance, gracious, imputed righteousness of Christ alone.

Christ who came not merely to proclaim freedom, but to purchase freedom. Not merely to announce righteousness, but to clothe his bride in his righteousness.

Left on our own, left to ourselves. We are powerless, we are incapable, inconsistent, prone to wonder, weak in faith, and faithless in our obedience.

Praise be to God that the bridegroom is faithful. The incarnate word descended into our world, took upon himself our nature, fulfilled the law that we shattered, bore the curse we earned, died the death that belonged to us, and rose again, and in so doing declared, us righteous, not because of who we are, but because of who he is.

So what does that mean for you and me? It means that the peace proclaimed on that night in Bethlehem, is peace between God and the redeemed.

It means that those with whom he is pleased are those who are united to his son,

Christ, by grace, through faith. And it means that every true believer stands before God, not as a stained and unfaithful spouse, but as one clothed in garments of salvation, wrapped forever in the robe of Christ's righteousness.

But that brings us to a reality that this truth demands response.

Christ, having provided righteousness for his bride, the question we have to ask ourselves is, are we living as those who belong to him?

Are we truly resting in his finished work, or are we still trusting in our failing efforts?

Are we seeking the glory of God, and the joy of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ, or are we returning to those garments of self -righteousness that we love so well?

So, beloved, the bridegroom has come.

He has clothed his bride. He imputes his righteousness.

How then will we live as those who are adorned for his glory?

Let's pray. Our most gracious Father, and most holy

God, Lord, we bow before you humbled.

Even as we humbly bow, we are filled with joy.

Joy, because the righteousness that is Christ's alone, he has imputed to us.

Lord, we confess our weaknesses, our unfaithfulness, our wandering hearts, yet even in our confession and our understanding of our state, we rejoice that our acceptance before you is not built on our faithfulness, but on the perfect faithfulness of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, we thank you for bearing our iniquities, for fulfilling our obligations, for imputing a righteousness to us that we could never obtain.

We pray that you guard our hearts from pride, from self -reliance, from doubt, and from despair.

May your spirit drive us again and again to rest in the fullness of Christ. We pray that the

Holy Spirit apply these truths deeply to us. For those who are weary, we pray for comfort.

For those entangled in sin, we pray for repentance. For those doubting, we pray for assurance.

For those delighting in Christ, we pray for even greater joy. Shape us into oaks of righteousness, not for our sake, but for the display of your glory.

Make us a bride who treasures her husband, who trusts his word, and who eagerly awaits his return.

And may our lives together bear fruit for God. We pray this in the name of Christ, our righteousness, our redeemer, our bridegroom.