The most joyous moment in the life of the bride ought to be the moment when she loses her own name and self-dependence at the marriage altar, taking her husband’s name instead of her own and merging her life in his.

And the most blissful moment of our life ought to be that in which we, by renouncing our right to self-ownership, become the bride of Another, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In marriage the wealth of the husband is, of course, placed at the disposal of the wife. Many will recall the story of the Earl of Burleigh, which Tennyson has immortalized. Under the guise of a landscape painter, the Earl won the heart of a simple village maiden. Imagining they were going to the cottage of which he had spoken, in which they were to spend their happy wedded life, they passed one beautiful dwelling after another, until . . .

. . . a gateway she discerns With armorial bearings stately, And beneath the gate she turns, Sees a mansion more majestic Than all those she saw before: Many a gallant gay domestic Bows before him at the door.

And they speak in gentle murmur, When they answer to his call, While he treads with footstep firmer, Leading on from hall to hall.

And while now she wonders blindly, Nor the meaning can divine, Proudly turns her round and kindly, “All of this is mine and thine.”

So by the union of hearts and lives the simple village maiden became the Lady of Burleigh, and all her husband’s wealth was hers.

Who shall tell of the wealth which they inherit who are truly united to Jesus?

“The incomparable riches of his grace” (Ephesians 2:7).

“The boundless riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).

Oh, sacred union with the Perfect Mind, Transcendent bliss, which Thou alone canst give; How blest are they this Pearl of Price who find, And, dead to earth, have learnt in Thee to live.

Go then, and learn this lesson of the Cross, And tread the way the saints and prophets trod: Who, counting life and self and all things loss, Have found in inward death the life of God.

Give up your identity!

Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.—My brethren, ye . . . are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.—Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ.—The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.—Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.—If the Son . . . shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.