Chapter 31: Wedding Vows

    Mr. Loren Davies Bishop and Miss Nancy Jean Titolo welcome all of their family and friends here today. Thank you for joining with them in the joy of this special date.

    We are gathered here today with the Spirit of the Lord for the purpose of joining these two beautiful people in holy matrimony. This day has been long awaited with much anticipation and prayer. This is a wonderful day to celebrate the joining together of Loren and Nancy. Let’s pray:

    Father God, we thank You for this day, and for this joyous occasion. We believe what is happening here today is of You, and pleasing to You. So we ask that You would manifest Your presence in this service and minister to all who are present. May a measure of Your glory, which marriage represents, be shown in this wedding today. Amen.

    You may be seated.

    Who gives this woman to be married to this man?

    [Nancy’s oldest brother]: Her brother and I do.

    Loren, would you please take your bride and step forward.

    The Bible tells us that in the beginning, God created man in His own image and in His own likeness. The Lord said that it was not good that man should be alone, so He made one suitable for him; He made a helper for him, and called her woman.

    The Lord brought her to Adam, who said “This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh,” and the Word says they were together naked and unashamed.

    So it is written that God created them male and female. And for this cause shall a man cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. What God has joined together, let not man separate.

    The Scriptures said that man would cleave unto his wife: that word, ‘cleave,’ means to join fast together, to cement, to be welded together. This joining of man and woman together is not said to be done by man alone, but the Scripture says, “What therefore God has put together.” So we believe the ceremony today is but an outward acknowledgment of what the Lord Himself is doing.

    Loren and Nancy, you stand before us this day, confessing that you believe that the same God who made you individually has, in His great love, chosen you for each other and has now knit your hearts together, and made you to be one. Having acknowledged and confirmed God’s choice in this, never question or doubt His wisdom in days to come.

    In two becoming one, your whole lives merge together: your weaknesses, your strengths; your sorrows, your joys; your trials, your victories; your possessions, your lives—shall no longer be separate, but in union with one another.

    But the Scripture says: ‘two are better than one’. They are better than one because they have good reward for their labor; if one falls, the other will lift him or her up; and if the enemy prevails against one, two shall withstand him; and if one can put a thousand to flight, two can put ten thousand to flight.

    Two are more powerful than one; two are safer and more secure than one; two are more fruitful and productive than one: indeed, two are better than one.

    But the Scriptures also say, ‘How can two walk together, unless they be in agreement?’ The fact is, they cannot walk together if they are not in agreement. And so the real success of your marriage is dependent on your being able to agree and to walk together. We can declare your legal relationship as husband and wife; but your fellowship will only be as close and rich as you are able to agree and share with one another. This oneness is achieved, not just by adapting to each other, but by your individually adapting and being, more and more, one with the Lord.

    Another person cannot cause you to be complete, whole, or unique. Only a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ can make you complete and whole. A successful marriage is not made up of two incomplete individuals; it is a result of both individuals understanding the unconditional love of God, and then knowing how to love yourself based on His loving acceptance. Then and only then can one genuinely love someone else. It is this kind of love that will bring out the best in each individual.

    This is the love by which we speak, which already dwells in your hearts, being Christians, born again. But you must control your flesh and your mind and allow this love to govern your thoughts and actions. This love is described in detail in first Corinthians. So as I read this passage, let this be a reminder of the God-kind of love that indwells you, to give place to it.

    And it says:

    “If I speak with human eloquence, and angelic ecstasy, but don’t love, I am nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

    “If I speak God’s word with power, revealing all His mysteries and make everything as plain as day, and if I have faith that says to the mountain ‘Jump!’ and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

    “If I give everything I own to the poor, and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So no matter what I say, what I believe, what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

    “But love never gives up. Love cares more for others than self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. It doesn’t strut;

    “Love doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn't force itself on others, isn’t always ‘Me first!’, doesn’t fly off the handle,

    “Doesn’t keep score of sins of others, take pleasure in the flowering of truth.

    “Puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps on going to the end.

    “Love never dies. So trust steadily in God; trust unswervingly, and love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”

    If you focus your life, each day, on this Divine love, your relationship will never suffer but only grow, so that each life is so totally fulfilled. You’ll be tempted to yield to selfishness and impatience of flesh—but don’t give in. Put your selfish desires away and let His Divine love run its full course. It will only grow and increase far beyond what you possess on this special day of beginnings.

    In Ephesians Chapter 5, it is revealed that marriage is the type of the Lord Jesus Christ and the church, His bride. The mystery and glory of Christ in His body is actually revealed and demonstrated in the godly union of a man and a woman.

    The wife is to show the church’s reverence and love for the Lord by her meek and humble spirit, by her submission to her husband in all things, and by her love and respect for him before all.

    The husband is to demonstrate Christ’s love for the church by unselfish giving of himself for his wife, by his ministering to her and caring for her, as his own body.

    May your union be such that the truth and the glory, and the unspeakable joy of the mystery of the Lord and His church, be revealed clearly to all who behold your lives.

    Now before the Lord and these witnesses, Loren and Nancy will confess their love and commitments to one another.

    Loren, do you take Nancy as God’s choice for you, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to be one flesh with her?

    “I do.”

    Do you give your word as a Christian and an honorable man, that you will love her, give of yourself for her, that you will nourish and cherish her, and minister good things to her always, as the Lord enables you?

    “I do.”

    Do you this day make covenant with this woman, that you will be faithful to God, and a faithful husband to her, till death do you part, or the Day of the Lord’s return?

    “I do.”

    Nancy, do you take Loren as God’s choice for you, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to be one flesh with you?

    “I do.”

    Do you give your word as a Christian and an honorable woman, that you will love him, that you will respect and submit to him, and that you will minister good things to him always, as the Lord enables you?

    “I do.”

    Do you this day make covenant with this man, that you will be faithful to God, and a faithful wife to him, till death do you part or the Day of the Lord’s return?

    “I do.”

    May I have the rings, please?

    Loren and Nancy, these rings are special tokens of your union together as husband and wife. They represent your unending love and commitments to each other. May these rings be a constant reminder that you have entered into a lifelong covenant with one another, approved by God and empowered by His grace.

    So wear these rings openly and proudly before all. Let every notice of them prompt you to thank the Lord because He has so richly blessed you with each other.

    So Loren, place this ring on Nancy’s finger and repeat after me:

    “I give you this ring . . . as a token of our covenant . . . together as one . . . May it ever remind you . . . of how much I esteem . . . and respect you . . . Of how precious and beautiful . . . you are to me . . . Wear my ring as my wife . . . till death do us part . . . or the Day of the Lord’s return.

    Nancy, place this ring on Loren’s finger and repeat after me:

    I give you this ring . . . as a token of our covenant . . . together as one . . . May it ever remind you . . . of how much I love you . . . of how much I honor and respect you . . . Wear my ring as my husband . . . till death do us part . . . or the Day of the Lord’s return.

    The Word of God states, in Matthew 19:

    “Have you not read that He, which made them at the beginning, ‘made them male and female, and said “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh”?’

    ‘Wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh. What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

    By the authority of God and His holy word, as a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, acting on His behalf and in compliance with the laws of the State of Oklahoma, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

    In honor and remembrance of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Loren and Nancy have chosen to partake of holy communion, as the first action of their marriage.

    You’ve just exchanged your vows, your commitments, expressing your love and devotion to one another. Every marriage has successfully made it through this part. But it is the fulfillment of these vows of commitment that makes the difference.

    Marriage isn’t a simple union between a man and a woman, it is a God thing. Therefore, God releases into us His strength and grace to fulfill it. A husband is a calling of God, as is a wife. Therefore there is an anointing of God, a Divine inspiration, an empowerment given to both, so that if it is yielded to, it will bring glory to God and bring His goodness into the marriage.

    As you partake of communion today, let the juice that represents the blood of Christ and the bread that represents Christ’s body speak to both of you of God’s sustaining grace in your marriage.

    Life brings many challenges, tests, and trials. Mistakes will be made, but nothing is greater than the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. The blood speaks to us of God’s forgiving nature, and so as you partake, let God’s forgiveness to one another be totally set in motion. Set your hearts and your minds in a state of forgiving; the blood of Jesus gives you the power to forgive and to be forgiven.

    So as you eat of the bread, think of the body of Christ that was broken for your healing; healing for your body, your mind, your emotions. May every hurt of your past be healed so that you bring only a new beginning to this union in God.

    The bread represents the body of Christ. What we see here is Christ’s body in His expression of God’s love and commitment to the world during His earthly ministry. Let this same expression and commitment, through and by God’s grace, flow in you and through you now, in Jesus’ name.

    So as you partake of the bread, let it remind you of the love and the unity that was represented in the body of Christ.

    And as you drink of the juice, may it remind you of the power of God to forgive, and to bring into that place of relationship with Him, one another. May you partake.

    Loren and Nancy wish to light a unity candle to express their union.

    The light of these candles is symbolic of spiritual light: Jesus is the light of the world. He is in us and we reflect His light to the world; or He is seen in us as we walk aware of His presence.

    May your lives together be brighter than they’ve ever been before; may your new union and light be a testimony of Jesus Christ, ever glorifying God before man and angels.

    This day as you begin life anew, as one instead of two, take heed to these words that I now speak. These are not the words of man, but the true word of God; these are not words that bind, but words that will bring liberty and peace. If you will obey them, they will keep you and bring God’s best to enjoy.

    Loren, “he that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord.” The Lord has blessed you with this woman; He now commands you to be a good man, a good husband, to be the head of the home. Leave all, in order to cleave to her. This woman is made a suitable helper to you. She is your glory — treat her as such.

    Love her as yourself, as your own body; nourish and cherish her; give yourself unselfishly for her and edify her with your words. Love her as Christ loved the church. Dwell with her according to knowledge and give honor unto her as unto the weaker vessel. Remember that you are heirs together of the grace of life.

    From now on your body is not your own, but it also belongs to Nancy. Minister to her and meet her needs, and be reminded that the Lord commands you not to put your wife away, or divorce her.

    Nancy, the Lord has blessed you with a husband. You are to him to be his helper. He is your head in marriage: love him, respect him, and submit to him in everything, as the church submits to Christ.

    Adorn yourself with a meek and teachable spirit. You are his glory. Honor him before all men. Do him good and not evil all the days of his life.

    From now on your body is not your own, but it also belongs to him. Minister to him and meet his needs. Remember that the Lord commands you not to leave your husband.

    So Loren and Nancy, having heard these words of the Lord, receive them in your heart and purpose by His grace to always obey them. The enemy will come to turn you away from these things, but do not yield to him. In obeying these words you will surely be blessed; and your joy will be greatly increased, to the Lord’s glory.

    So may the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, both now and forever more.

    Would you both please turn and face the congregation?

    Loren, you may now kiss your bride.

    Honored family, and friends and guests. It is my privilege to present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Loren Bishop, heirs together of the grace of life.