Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Monday, January 23, 2023

He had No Wedding Garment

Summary Matthew 22:1-10

 

Jesus told a parable about a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. The king sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come, and so he repeated this, but still they paid no attention and went off to do their own thing. And some of them seized the servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and so he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers.

 

Then the king told his servants that the wedding feast was ready, but those invited were not worthy, so they were now to go out on the main roads and invite as many people as they could find and invite them, so they did, and the wedding hall was now filled with guests.

 

I believe the point of the parable is that the king represents God the Father and the Son is Jesus Christ. [The wedding feast won’t actually take place, though, until Jesus returns for his bride, when our salvation will be complete and our marriage to Christ will be consummated (completed).] And the invited guests were the Jews, who were God’s chosen people at that time. They, as a people, as a nation, rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

 

So, the Lord invited the Gentiles (the non-Jews) to believe in Jesus, and thus the gospel of our salvation went out to all people, to both Jew and Gentile, and many people trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives. Thus, those who believed in Jesus were crucified with Christ in death to sin, and then they were raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom 6:1-23).

 

Matthew 22:11-14 ESV

 

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

Now, I believe this is speaking of something future when we will all stand before the judgment seat of God and we will have to give an account for what we did with Jesus, when we will all be judged by our works (See Matt 7:21-23; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; Gal 5:16-21).

 

So, now both Jew and non-Jew have been invited to trust Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives. And those who have believed in Jesus with genuine faith have now become the children of God. We have been turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that we can now receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 26:18). And now we no longer live in sin, for we died with Christ to sin, but now we walk in righteousness in obedience to Christ.

 

Now when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, and we die with him to sin, and we are raised to walk in newness of life in him, we become our Lord’s bride and he becomes our husband, but it is like a Jewish marriage covenant of the Scriptures. So, our groom has gone to prepare a place for us and one day he is going to come and get us to take us to be with him for eternity, and that is when our marriage to Christ will be consummated and we will have the wedding feast. So, now we wait.

 

But not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ are God’s true covenant people. There are many without the wedding garments. They are not truly clothed in Christ and in his righteousness because they never really ever died with Christ to sin, and so they were never raised with him to walk in newness of life in him. They did not die with Christ to their sin because they didn’t want to give up their sin, and so they are still living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, so they will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

And one day when we all stand before God and he judges us according to our works, many are going to assume God is going to receive them into his heaven because they made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. But many are going to hear Jesus say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they would not obey the Lord, and they would not submit to him as Lord, and they would not leave their sins to follow Jesus. And so the eternity they thought was going to be in heaven will be in hell, instead. So, please take this to heart!

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

I’ll Live On

 

Lyrics and Music by Thomas Laney, 1914

 

’Tis a sweet and glorious tho’t that comes to me,

Jesus saved my soul from death, and now I’m free,

When my body’s slumb’ring in the cold, cold clay,

There to sleep in Jesus till the judgment day,

 

When the world’s on fire and darkness veils the sun,

Men will cry and to the rocks and mountains run,

In the glory-land, with Jesus on the throne,

Thru eternal ages singing, home, sweet home,

 

I’ll live on, yes, I’ll live on.

Thru eternity I’ll live on;

I’ll live on, yes, I’ll live on,

Thru eternity I’ll live on.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr4bgQZubY8

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