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[Music] Nice. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] This morning, seated to have everybody here with us this afternoon. On behalf of the Hutchings and the Van Dot families, I want to welcome everybody here. Uh it is a blessed occasion that brings us together. It's a blessing to see Julian and Rilene all gussied up and ready for the occasion. And I want to open with a word of prayer and then my brother Michael Kirkpatrick is going to come up and read a portion of scripture. So let us pray. Our great and our holy God and father, we thank you very much for this privilege to gather together. We acknowledge your glory, your majesty, your power. We acknowledge your goodness to your creatures and the provision of marriage. We thank you for Julian and for Railen. We thank you for this opportunity that they have to come together as one flesh. We pray that your blessing would be upon this this glad occasion, but even more so for their marriage. We pray that it would be strong, that it would be faithful, that it would be a lively image of Christ and his bride, even the church. We ask for your blessing upon all that we do today, that it would be a time of worship, a time of glory given unto you, time of celebration and rejoicing. And as we are reminded about the scriptures or from scripture what you say concerning marriage, may we all take heed and may we all find that joy that you have blessed us with so wonderfully. We just commend ourselves to you now and to the word of your grace and pray for your glory to be had. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Amen. Ephesians 5:es 22- 23. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife as also and he is the savior of the body. Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this reason, a man shall be joined to his wife, to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself. Let the wife see that she respects her husband. Amen. Amen. Well, please take your hymn books. Good opportunity for us to praise and worship our God. You can turn to number 446. 446. Be thou my vision. And we'll sing together. [Music] I wish Lord of my heart all else to be [Music] save on my for my [Music] night or sleeping thou my wisdom and thou my true word. I am with thee and thou with me. Lord, thou my great father by thy true son. Thou in dwelling and thy with thee. Be thou my battle serity. Thou my delight. Thou my soul shall thou my eyes. Praise shall be. Oh power of [Music] my empty praise. How mighty now and always thou holy mercy my heart. My king of heaven, my treasure thy king of heaven, my victory, may I [Music] jo of my own heart whatever we call still be my vision. Oh ruler of [Music] all please be seated and the bridal party can be seated also. For those of you who do not know, Pastor Kirk Patrick is the pastor at the Suriri Reformed Baptist Church. So, Phil Hutchings reminded me today that it was nine years ago that they first visited our church here in Chilowak. And when I first met Phil, I said, "We're looking to plant a church in Suriri." And that was all that it took for Phil and his family to to stay with us. And then of course when the church was planted in Suriri, Phil and his family abandoned us here in in Chilowak and began a a fruitful career of churchmanship in Pastor Mike's church. So we thought it would be very nice and good and and Railene had had mentioned to have Pastor Kirkpatre participate through scripture reading and then he'll pray a little bit later. But the passage that our brother read is in Ephesians 5. And it's one of those clear passages of scripture concerning marriage that the Apostle Paul brings forth to the church in Ephesus. But the background is the book of Genesis. So I want to read an extended section of Genesis chapter 2 dealing with marriage and then make some comments concerning Genesis 2 and 3. So in Genesis 2 at verse 18, and the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him." Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to the to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam. And he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man he made into a woman. And he brought her to 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, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Amen. Well, here in this section in Genesis 2:18-2, we have the institution of marriage by God. It's not the best agreement that man could come up with to formulate marriage. This was Godgiven. It predates the civil state. It even in essence predates the church. And as Paul says in the in Ephesians chapter 5, it's a mystery concerning Christ and his bride. So God institutes marriage. I want to look then secondly at the fall into sin. We're not going to read the whole section, but in Genesis 3, if we just stopped at Genesis chapter 2, it would be a happily ever after story, but of course in Genesis chapter 3, there's a fall into sin. But there's a hap happily ever after story in the announcement of redemption by God concerning his son Jesus Christ in Genesis 3:15. But in terms of God's institution of marriage, the text says it was not good that that man was alone. It's the first time or the first instance in the week of creation that something was not good. God makes something, it's good. God makes something, it's good. When man is alone, it's not good. And so God undertakes to bless and to provide for the man a good woman, a helper. And with reference to marriage, when we look at this passage, we look at other passages in scripture. The primary emphasis here is companionship. It was not good that the man was alone. So he makes the helper suitable or comparable to him and brings her to Adam to be his helper in his task of exercising that dominion mandate. But companionship and I hate to say this but if in the the case of an accident or persons are physically disabled that does not null and void a marriage. Marriage is first and foremost companionship. Secondly, the blessing of sexual intimacy. God is not against sexual intimacy. God is against the abuse of it and the misuse of it outside the context of covenant marriage. And then of course the blessing of children. All things being equal, God in his mercy causes the the the womb to be fruitful. So God ordains, God defines, and as well God determines the permanence of marriage. Here in Genesis 2:24, it says, "Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." That one flesh is not to be separate. It is not to be disjointed. It is not to be severed. In fact, Jesus says in Matthew 9, "So then uh uh Matthew 19, so then they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate." So it is to be one man, one woman forever. Then we see God's order of duty in the Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. And very simply for Julian, you need to lovingly lead your wife. Lovingly lead your wife. That's the injunction. Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, that's your job. If you get out of line, Pastor Mike will come and and beat you up. Um, Railene, you need to submit and honor your husband. When when we boil down Christian marriage and we boil down marriage in its essence, that's the primary function. The man need his bride and the wife is to honor and submit to her husband. And most of the times, and I'm sure married couples here can testify to this, the difficulties that arise in marriage is when one or both parties are not doing what they're supposed to be doing. Can save you a lot of money in the therapy session. It's quite simple. We're not obeying God. We need to obey God. Husbands, love your wives and lead them. Wives, submit to your own husbands and honor them. Now, there still will be kinks. There will still be challenges. There will still be difficulties. But when we boil down the essence of marriage, that's Paul's word, under the inspiration of the spirit to the people of God. And in terms of this beautiful relationship, the husband is to lovingly lead his wife. The wife is to submit to and honor her husband. Matthew Henry makes the observation, "The woman is not made out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near to his heart to be beloved." I think if you keep that in mind, that's a good help. Meredith Klein says, "The woman was made for the man, yet not as his slave girl, but his queen." Now, it shouldn't surprise us that people abuse these things and loving leadership becomes tyranny and despatism and honoring and submitting just goes out the window. But by the grace of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, Christian couples are to embibe and follow and pursue these things. This is what pleases God. And as those of you who have been in our church or in Suriri church know, I always quote Luther at this point. He says, "Let the wife make the husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to see him leave." You practice that in your marriage, that's good. Let the wife make the husband glad to come home. If he's miserable and doesn't want to come home, you should change some things and let him make her sorry to see him leave. If she's casting you out the door at o dark 30, you might want to take stock as to how you're treating her. But ultimately, this is a great mystery. But as Paul says, I speak concerning Christ and his church or and the church. So the institution of marriage as we find it there in Genesis chapter 2 is wonderful. It's great. 18 to2 it's very encouraging. God the creator gives good gifts to his creatures and marriage is certainly one of them. But as we continue in the narrative, we see the fall into sin. We know the story specifically in verses 1 to7 their fall. And then in verses 8 to13 their reckoning with God. And in terms of the fall, it ought not to surprise us that the devil goes for this. Brethren, there's no accident as to why the family has universally been under attack because that's the fundamental building block for all of society. If you cut at the very root and foundation, you're going to affect the entire whole. And so, the devil comes to tempt Eve. And when he comes to tempt Eve, he challenges God's veracity. That means God's truthfulness. He says, "You will surely not die." He challenges God's goodness, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open. As well, he challenges God's security. You will you will be like God. God does not want that. He wants exclusive rights. Well, when it comes to this particular temptation, it prevailed upon Eve. And with reference to the temptation, the way that the the tempter sets it up is that the tree is very alluring. It's alluring pragmatically. It's good for food. It's alluring aesthetically. It's pleasant to the eyes, but ultimately it's good philosophically. It's able to make one wise. It's able to make you like God. So, of course, Eve takes that fruit, she ingests it, and then passes it over to Adam. Scripture says she was transgressed by deception or she was deceived. Paul says 1 Timothy chapter 2. But the sin of mankind is predicated upon Adam. There was an inversion that happens at the creation account. God makes man and then woman and then creature to subdue. We've got talking snake to the woman who then gives the fruit that is prohibited to her husband. So there's a an inversion under the under the influence of the devil there. So then they reckon with God. first instance, they flee from him. They run from him. And I've always found it amusing that they hide amongst the trees, the very trees God made. Sinners aren't the brightest bulbs in the chandelier. You're not going to hide from the God that made the trees. And then, of course, they sew those fig leaves to cover their the the private parts. And then they blame shift. And that really again is something that happens in marriage. We shift blame instead of accepting responsibility for what we've done. So in chapter 3 at verse 9 it says then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him where are you? So he said I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and hid I hid myself. And he said who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? Then the man said the woman whom you gave to be with me she gave me of the tree and I ate. He first blames God. He first blames God. If if if you hadn't given me this woman this this mess would have never happened. And then of course he blames his wife. And there's that betrayal of loving leadership and headship exercised in the context of love. He's throwing his wife under the bus. It's her fault that we're in this particular mess. Well, then she steps up to the plate. According to verse 13, the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me and I ate." And since then, there's this pattern of blame blameshifting in marriage. Don't do that. It's not a good thing. Whoever covers his transgression will not prosper, but the one who confesses and forsakes it will find mercy. Proverbs 28:13. Keep that in the ready in your married life. It is a very helpful and wonderful passage of scripture. So, as I said, if we would have stopped at the end of Genesis chapter 2, we'd see, wow, happily ever after. We read into this account the the the temptation and then the subsequent fall of man into sin. We might be con uh uh ready to conclude that all is a all is a myth. But Genesis 3:15 is the first announcement of salvation by Jesus Christ. Genesis 3:15, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Typically, we refer to this as the first gospel promise, the first announcement of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And as you continue through the Old Testament, you see this emphasis on seed. The seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, the seed of Jacob. You see this emphasis on seed. And Paul explains for us in Galatians 3:16 that that's Jesus Christ. Well, this is the first announcement of the seed. And we learn a lot actually about the Lord Jesus. We learn first that he would be a born a man born of a woman. Redemption's not going to come through angelic means. Notice, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. There will be a woman who has a seed. That will be Jesus. And he will do what God announces in this passage. He would accomplish victory through suffering and death. There's a lot of gospel going on in Genesis 3:15. This is God's uh uh redress to man's sin. Man doesn't fix his sinful condition in and of himself. He doesn't repair. He doesn't cover himself. He can't he can't undertake to make things right with God. If salvation comes, it comes from the most high. And we see that announcement here. So he would be a man born of a woman. He would accomplish victory through suffering and death. And he would accomplish total victory. So I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. We turn to the pages in the New Testament. What does Paul tell us in Galatians 4:4? In the fullness of the time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. You should hear Genesis 3:15 back there. We see that in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus in his first coming, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, that's when he casts out the ruler of this world. That's when he renders that death blow to the devil himself. That death that he suffers, he accomplishes victory through his own suffering and death. But he accomplishes total victory and vanquishes the assault of the devil. The New Testament tells us we're not waiting for the second coming for the devil to be dealt with. The devil has been dealt with by our Lord. Everything that remains as a mop up uh uh skirmish. The the Lord Jesus has finished the work in his life of obedience to the father, his death as a substitute and a sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection again the third day. Paul can summarize this beautiful, beautiful theme in Romans 4:25. He says that Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification. It's always good to have a Christian wedding. It's good to have Christian young people. It's good to be able to talk to them and not have them look at me like I'm, you know, odd because I suggest that you need to lovingly lead and you need to honor and submit to your husband. That's a blessing. It's also a blessing to have, you know, lots of Christians in attendance when they come to witness their their younger brothers and sisters getting married and joining in in in this blessed union one to another. But most likely, usually the law of averages would suggest that at every wedding, not everybody's a Christian. So if you miss all the significance in terms of responsibilities with reference to husband and wife, don't miss the significance of this announcement in Genesis 3:1 15. This and this alone is God's answer to the sin problem. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have transgressed. All we like sheep have gone astray. And the bottom line is that we are liable to God's just judgment and his wrath and his curse. And the only provision is in the gospel. first announced in Genesis 3:15 and then shown us in farther steps until that fullness of the time when the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So ble uh look to the Lord Jesus Christ, believe on him and have everlasting life. If you're a believer, look continually at him and rejoice in gratitude at what he has done in the salvation of your souls. and pray for this young couple that they would be faithful that they would take seriously Ephesians 5:22-33 and they would take seriously always Genesis 3:15 and divine commentary subsequent to that that opens to us the reality that Christ lived Christ died Christ was raised again so that we might have everlasting life well let us pray and then we'll sing God's praises our father in heaven we thank you for this announcement of salvation ation already in the garden. And we thank you that the rest of the Bible shows us how this is brought to fruition, how it is brought to fulfillment in and through your son, your only begotten son, that one who took on our flesh, who lived for us, who died for us, and who was raised again for us on that third day. We look forward to his return again in glory to judge the living and the dead. We pray that you would just cause us to rejoice that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And God again bless Julian and Railene. May this be a most happy and encouraging occasion. And may they know the joy of the Lord as they navigate Christian marriage. And may they honor you. And may they be that lively image that Paul sets forth in Ephesians 5. And we ask this in the name and for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, if the bridal party would come back up forward and we'll sing 128B. 128B. You can stand as we sing together. [Music] All we shall be prospered and be happy all your days. In your life you shall have gladness. She shall fill her home with good service and the joys of motherhood. [Music] all children, sons and daughters [Music] shall be all blessing strength and beauty and proise [Music] sweet shall is blessed in this for all of shall you bless. You shall see kingom prosper all your days till I shall see. You shall see your children's children, all your people. [Music] Please be seated. He's going to pray. Well, let us pray. Our good and gracious Lord, we are thankful for the gift that marriage is that you saw that man was alone and it was not good. And so, we're thankful for your provision and we're thankful for your provision for Julian and Railene. Thank you for your providence to bring them together. And as they now come to this time of the vows, we ask and pray that you'd help them by your grace and by your spirit to keep these by faith. We pray that Julian would love and lead his wife Railene. We pray that Railene would submit and honor her husband. And we pray, oh Lord, that when they fail, that they would forgive and love one another. That they would bear and forebear with one another. And that as they embark on this journey by faith. We pray, oh Lord, that they would trust in you with whatever comes their way. May they put their faith in you with whatever they have to deal with. And we pray, oh Lord, that they would seek to resolve it in a way that honors and glorifies you. And we are thankful again for this blessed picture of Christ and the church. And we're thankful that there is mercy and forgiveness for sinners because of Jesus Christ and what he has done. So bless Julian, bless Railene, bless them in their marriage. And again, we pray, oh Lord, that you'd help them by your spirit to keep the vows that they are about to take. And again, oh Lord, we ask that you'd forgive them for the times that they will fail. So bless them and keep them. way they look to Christ. And we pray these things in the name of Christ. Amen. Amen. All right, we'll start with Julian. I, Julian Vanop, I, Julian Van, take you Railen Hutchkins take you Railene Hutchings to be my married wife to be my married wife. And I in the presence of God. And I in the pre in the pre in the presence of God. And before these witnesses And before these witnesses promise and covenant promise and covenant to be a loving and faithful husband to you. to be a a loving and faithful husband to you. For better or for worse. For better or for worse. For richer, for poor poorer. For richer or poorer. In sickness and in health. In sick. In sickness and in health. Until God shall separate us by death. until God shall shall separate us till death. Amen. I Railen Hutchings I Railene Hutchings take you Julian Van Dop take you Julian Van Dop to be my married husband to be my married husband and I in the presence of God and before these witnesses and I in the presence of God and before these witnesses promise and covenant promise and covenant to be a loving faithful and obedient wife to you to be a loving faithful and obedient wife to you for better or for worse for better or for worse For richer, for poorer, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. in sickness and in health. Until God shall separate us by death. until God shall separate us by death. Amen. Well, let's go ahead and exchange the rings. And then after that, we're going to sign the license. This is a binding covenant before God first and foremost, and we all function in a witness capacity as they engage in this. The rings obviously uh represent ownership one to another. So you go ahead and place the the ring on Railen's finger. Okay. Am I putting his on now, too? Yes, you can put his on, too. Yeah, that's a good thing. All right. Think we'll go over here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Well, before I pronounce them husband and wife, they ask that we sing the doxology together. That's page 568. And we will stand to praise our great God, even father, son, and holy spirit. Praise God blessings. Praise him all to see me. Praise him. Praise the father, son. Holy Ghost. [Music] Well, as a minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus and as one rep uh given authority in the province of British Columbia here in Canada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride. [Applause]