Will You be Found Dressed in Robes of Righteousness or Naked in Your Sin?
"Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." -Matt 22:9 (KJV)
Today the days are getting a little colder where I live, the nights very chilly. People are starting to don coats in the mornings to keep warm amidst the cooling days. This reminds me of how we are dressed in the eyes of our Lord and Savior.
In the parable of the Wedding Banquet, the king invited many people from the highways and byways of life some good and some bad. The guests came ready to partake but as was the custom of that time they were bidden to put on special wedding garments provided by the king. In this regard they were all equal in apparel and none better than the other – they pretty much all looked relatively the same. But there was one…
When the king arrived he noticed one person that was not clothed in the special wedding garments. Note that the king was the only one to observe him in the wrong clothes, the others didn't seem to notice. And why didn't the servants discover this as well? At any rate, whether the man was given a garment but decided to remove it in favor of his own clothes is unknown but a possibility. We have been invited to the wedding, in fact, as a Christian we are the of bride of Christ (Eph 5:23-28) and as such should be dressed in a robe of righteousness but are we, are you?
When Jesus calls out the seven churches in Rev 2-3, He makes mention of those that are dressed appropriately. Rev 3:4, the Sardis church, there were still a few that did not defile their garments and they continued to walk with Christ. But in Rev 3:18, speaking to the Laodicean church, He urges them to get past their riches and self-righteousness producing lukewarmness and buy from Him gold …
"I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." -Rev 3:18 (KJV)
Folks, this is extremely important to whether or not you will be granted access to His kingdom, His home in heaven when you pass from this life to the next. Many are dressed in robes of self-righteousness – arrogance, prideful, think they are always right, making accommodations for their fleshly desires, sitting on the fence between Christianity and secularism. This is not good and defiles are clothing before the King.
Many have accused me of being too negative, of 'slamming the Gospel down the throats of my readers or hearers', of not talking enough love, of not presenting more hope to those that read my messages. Well, to those I say this is love, and these are words of hope! You see love means you care, you care enough to talk tough, to talk the truth of Scripture. Did you ever read Rom 11:22? Without knowing the severity of God, we can never know His kindness. For example, don't you recall yelling, scolding, disciplining [repeatedly] your kids not to cross the road without looking both ways when they were growing up? Or to keep their hands off a hot stove? Or don’t do this or that? Is this not about your love for them to make them aware of the dangers of life? That’s love friends. Jesus warns us many, many times [in no uncertain terms] in the Gospels to stop from doing this or to be aware of that, to repent and live (Luke 13:1-5). These are warnings from our Lord to take heed of the things we do. This is love! My messages are also Biblical warnings based in love, care and concern. They are messages of hope so you can hear what is really said in the Bible instead of the watered-down, toothless, spineless and overdose of a people-pleasing Gospel taught in the majority of our so-called Christian churches today.
But back to the one who chose not to don robes of righteousness. He was not a real Christian, he was a fake and the king noticed right away. This person did not take Christianity serious, was wishy-washy in living a Christian life. Was a hypocrite. You see this wedding garment – our garments – are an inward and spiritual thing. Many in the church today, many who claim to be a Christian, are false friends to Jesus Christ who don't know Him and certainly don't love Him. Matt 7:21-23 points this out clearly.
But where are you today? Will you be discovered with the right garments on – those of a personal relationship with Christ? Those of a real bonafide Christian that walks the walk and lives the life and does not defile the things of Christ? You must assess your walk daily friends to see if your faith is still alive and still real -2 Cor 13:5. Remember, you must live for Christ, you must be in Christ, you must not be in the world with one foot in and one foot out. You must not be half-hearted in your faith – Luke 9:62. You must not be found lukewarm or He will vomit you out of His mouth. Yes, you will make Him sick … at you! (Rev 3:16)
Lastly, look at the parable again and observe what the king said to the one without the proper robes or clothes. First off, the man had no answer to the king's question about how did you even get in here. He was speechless – he knew his guilt and shame when exposed to the king's piercing gaze (Rev 1:14). Finally, the king told His servants to take him away and throw him into outer darkness. Friends, this means he was cast into hell. This is sobering, this is real and will happen to many that call themselves Christians but live either covertly or overtly in the world. Many go to church every Sunday but do not live for Christ. They seldom read their Bible, seldom pray, seldom tell others about the Good News of the Gospel, they may look good on the outside to others but to the ultimate King that will scrutinize you, they are not His.
This is the reality of serving a Living God. He is serious and makes no provision for those that are not 100% dedicated to a live in Him. So are you clothed in robes of His righteousness today or will you be found naked in your sin and cast out of His presence. .
"I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." -Isa 61:10 (KJV)
-BPWatcher, Internet Preacher and Bible Prophecy Watchman
THE KING IS COMING – WILL YOU BE FOUND READY AND WORTHY!
