sermonette: Our Ultimate Purpose (Part Three)
Austin Del Castillo
Given 28-Feb-26; Sermon #1861s; 18 minutes
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We are encouraged to look at the state of relationships in society and reflect how it parallels our and the church's relationship with Christ. We see in the book of Hosea that God commanded the prophet to take a wife that had remained unfaithful to him to parallel that Jesus had taken a partner that was unfaithful during the Old Covenant with Israel and unfaithful members of the church in the New Covenant. We see that in modern society the breakdown that occurred between marriages first started with a greater proportion of men being unfaithful turning into a greater proportion of women being unfaithful with the rise of feminism and related movements. Tactics like gaslighting have been employed to make the suspicious partner feel paranoid about even being wary. A proper relationship, both with our spouses and with Christ, is one where we want to "grow in every good way together" and where there is a full integration and merger. We are called upon to follow the example of Proverbs 31 and look to the virtuous woman to see how to be good partners to Christ.
I'm going to start this message with a bit of an apology to anyone who uses our website and to those who produce it. You see, this is the 3rd time I've titled one of my messages, our ultimate purpose. The first time was in June of 2024. The second time was last August of 2025 and of course today. It was my own lapse of memory which produced this bit of confusion. So please note this message as part three on this subject. Of late, I've been thinking a lot about relationships, those in our society, those within the churches of
God, and those with our great God Himself. It will not be taking too much time, at least hopefully, talking about our relationships in our society, because I'm sure most of us understand that those bonds have become self-serving in the most disappointing ways imaginable. Back when I was a kid in the 1950s and even early 1960s,
adultery was committed mostly by men, or so it seemed. That began to change in the mid-1960s with the sexual revolution and the advent of feminist ideology. Today, I wouldn't be surprised from what I see on the internet that women are now the ones committing adultery more often than men. This has become more the norm because of the continuing devolution, I will say, of feminism and the ease of taking part in this that the Internet provides. Apps such as Tinder easily facilitate contact with extramarital prospects who feel dissatisfied with the current state of their marriages. Whether the wife or husband, they begin offering excuses for not coming home after the regular workday. Nowadays, it seems wives more often than not, call their husbands with news about a late-night business meeting, going to restaurant breaks from such a meeting, or simply saying they are going out with the girls, girls' night out. Even stay at home moms are taking part in this more and more as they begin going to the gym more often or visiting with friends. So they instruct their husbands not to wait up for them. As spouses begin to suspect foul play and find proof of infidelity, the adulterous partner employs the tactic that I feel defines our current age of infidelity. We've heard of the roaring twenties of the last century with its immoral landsliding behavior for the time. Welcome now to the gaslighting twenties of today. When mates suspect or actually find out about a partner's betrayal, The first tactic the guilty party employs is what is known as gaslighting. I think this term came from the plot of a movie titled Gaslight released in 1944 starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. The movie plot involves a husband trying to convince his wife that she is going insane using the gas lights, a common way of lighting during the Victorian era in England, where the plot takes place. When she notices that the gas lights are dimming as the husband tries to cover his search for jewels in her attic, he tells her that it's her imagination. What is known as gaslighting today is used widely by media outlets, politicians, educational institutions, and unfaithful mates. When a mate confronts the unfaithful partner, especially when the confronting member is a male, he is told that he is overreacting. He's insecure, he's controlling. And that affair did not really mean anything. It was just a mistake that can be fixed. It just needs an adult outlook. The endgame of this is to make the faithful person feel like it's her, his or her fault for making the unfaithful one look for comfort elsewhere. Actual
repentance is nowhere to be found. The wise mates soon end the relationship while the naive ones accept the accusations against them, trying to save the relationship only to invite the same behavior over and over again. I've gone into the subject matter due to the recent messages by Mark Schindler regarding the wife of Jesus, how the wife of Jesus needs to be. Also because of a sermon found on our CGG website delivered by our pastor Richard Reitenbaugh titled Song of Songs back in January of 1966. I feel that we really need to consider these topics, especially as we approach the
Passover season. At this point in my walk with our God, I recently realized that I've been a member of God's church for 49 years this month. More than once over, this time I I heard some in the ministry. That is in the past few years, state that the Passover is not about us. It's about
Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us. Now, maybe my thought processes are skewed. I do not doubt that possibility. But I just do not see how what Jesus went through for us is not about us as well. Us is why he went through what he did then and what he's doing in our lives now. He is molding us into the kind of wife he's looking for. The outlook and behavior of so many women in society today is not what he wants. And as I was just saying about the relationships in our societies, No, I'm not saying that all relationships out there are bad, you know. I knew certain people before God called me who were truly devoted to their families and other people they loved. My own mother, for example, was one of them. Please remember that I'm not talking about our church members. I'm saying that I've known people who valued honor, dignity, and self-respect. It did not take long after meeting them to tell who they were. It's just that in today's societies, it's a lot harder to find them. So many women today, for example, refuse to even date a guy who doesn't make high six figures of income. Has a multi $1000 Rolex watch and a high-end automobile. They openly admit that they wouldn't waste their time with them. When asked what they themselves would bring to the table. They practically shout that they are the table. Uh, they consider themselves so valuable valuable and attractive. Now, maybe it's me with my eyesight, not what it used to be. But in my evaluation, these women wouldn't win any beauty contests that I've ever watched. The reality is that these folks have come to apply the feminist narrative to themselves, hook, line, and sinker. They are living in the la la land of their own minds that feminism sold them. Now they wonder why men have given up on the dating scene. It's as if men have come to the realization that there is no gain in it for them. They would rather avoid drama and the expense of these women. Uh, bringing into their lives. Would Jesus Christ be interested in this kind of woman for an eternal mate? Uh, most definitely not. Let's remember the constant heartache that Israel brought to him, not only on the the journey of 40 years in the desert, but even after when they gained the promised land. They committed adultery, left-right idolatry left, right, and in between. Yet how did the one who is now Jesus Christ think of them? Please turn to Isaiah 54 and 5. Isaiah 54 5. It says, for your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name. And your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. He is called the God of the whole earth. This is how Jesus saw Himself, where Israel was concerned. In reading the context of this verse, we see that Jesus is telling Israel. That in spite of all of the disrespect that they showed him, he's still going to forgive them and bless them. Still, Israel continued to
sin against him and hurt and disrespect him. Yes, I said hurt. Because the way Jesus loves us and ancient Israel, we tiny humans can hurt his feelings and his dignity because he's put all he is at the stake for us and has not hidden it from all
the world to know. As Israel continued to commit idolatry, Jesus came. To the point of calling the prophet Hosea to portray how he saw and felt about Israel. We can see this in the
book of Hosea chapter 1 and verse 2. That's Hosea chapter 1 and verse 2, Hosea being right after the
book of Daniel. In Hosea chapter 1 verse 2, it says, when the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, Go take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord. Down to verse 8. Now, when she had weaned Lorumaha Ruhama. Uh, my pronunciation, sorry about that. She conceived and bore a son. Then God said, Call his name Loami, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God. But the context, context of these verses, we see that God is talking about his relationship with the kingdom of Israel and not of Judah at this point. But let's turn over to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 8. Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 8, it says, Then I saw that for all the causes which backsliding Israel had committed adultery. I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. So it came to pass that through her casual harlotry that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Meaning the worship idolatrous places. In Jeremiah 3:10, and yet for all her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to be with her whole heart but in pretense, says the Lord. I could not help but remember what Jesus said in Mark 7, verse 5, Mark chapter 7 and verse 5 when he said to the Pharisees, then the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat bread with unwashed hands? And Jesus answered, and he said to them, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites? As it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Uh, that's from Isaiah 29 and verse 13. It should be noted that Jesus has viewed all of Israel as an unfaithful wife since he called them out of Egypt, not only during the 40 years 40-year exodus, but way into the present. One can only imagine his pain and heartache over Israel's dishonor and disrespect of the one they call their God, even to this day. As a result, he looks to the
Israel of God that, that his father has called us to be. Our Father has called us and brought us to a true and faithful relationship with his beloved Son. The point of this message today is for us to understand. That as his future wife, he's not only looking to us as a virgin who will always bring him honor and respect. But closeness to him on a level that becoming one flesh between a husband and a wife can only hint at on a spirit level. This is what becoming one of, one with him truly is. Back in back when our pastor Richard Reitenbaugh gave this group a sermon on the Song of Songs, now some 30 years ago, he pointed out that when Jesus was telling us what eternal life really was that is in John 17. Jesus said that it was to know the Father and Jesus whom he had sent. Richard pointed out at that time that the word no had the purposeful connotation of the sexual act between a man and a woman. It is what makes a man and his wife become one flesh. On the human level, sex is the most intimate act between a man and a woman. Done as God intended, this act includes real
love for our mate. It includes our emotional desire to show our mates we want them in the whole of our lives, supporting and honoring and helping each other grow in every good way together. It can lead to truly understanding one another. This goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. Remember that God said that it was not good for the man to be alone. God said that he would make a helper meet or fit for him. Only recently have I been wondering. If Adam and Eve actually were meant to be a type of Christ in the church. Taking us back to the book of Proverbs and the virtuous woman. This is the kind of a wife for which Jesus is looking. Certainly not today's ideologically independent women. Who have been brainwashed into thinking that they are the prize and that most men are not worthy of their attention. Some of these quote unquote ladies are downright scary. Uh, not long ago, they were saying they wouldn't consider any man that did not earn at least 6 figures. Now they are saying that they wouldn't pay attention to anyone that doesn't earn at least 7 figures and wears a $100,000 Rolex watch. Well, Uh Can these requirements of many women today be actually considered insanity? In closing, brethren, our God has called us to be examples of the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. Not only is our behavior towards Jesus, is it our behavior towards Jesus, but in our actual closeness to Him. Obedience to our God is a great thing. But our intimate closeness to him is what he's looking for. He's looking for a faithful mate to him. It seems to me that our personal intimacy with our future husband is indeed our ultimate purpose.
