A Terrifying Place! But Who’s Going There?
“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” -Isa 61:10 (KJV)
The Pretender Who Snuck in Only to be Tossed Out
You will rarely hear at your church, from your pastor or elders what I’m about to speak about today according to God’s word. It’s not a pleasant subject but one that applies to those that: pretend to be a Christian, care more about worldly affairs than their relationship with Jesus or play a hypocrite in your faith.
Matt 22:1-14 describes a king who made a wedding for his son and invited many to attend. The ones originally invited (the Jews) declined. The prophets of the Old Testament were invited next but were slain by the original invitees. So God sent His wrath to destroy those. Then He said to His servants go and invite all others (Gentiles) so the wedding was furnished with guests.
Now it gets very interesting …
The king arrived to view His guests and found one without a wedding garment for it was an ancient custom to provide a wedding garment to guests who were to attend the planned wedding. But in this case one of the attendees stood out as one not clothed in a designated wedding garment (or robe) and the king confronted him and asked him how’d you get in here. But the intruder was speechless!
The intruder, the one without a wedding garment, had nothing to say because he knew his nakedness (his sin). Could he have snuck in? And why didn’t the servants recognize he had no garment on? Did the intruder shed his garment once at the wedding? We don’t know for sure but what we do know…
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? Now concerning the wedding garment:
God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God. -Psa 53:2 (NASB)
Only those who put on the Lord Jesus, who have a personal relationship with Christ, whose mind is focused on God, who live by faith in Christ, and to whom He is their number one priority in life will be clothed with a God-given wedding garment. Combine these with the righteousness of Christ (which you receive once saved), along with the justification and sanctification of the Spirit, then your wedding garment is complete. Absolutely no other way exists for man himself to create one of these wedding garments. If he does, he will be found out and tossed out.
The intruder, the pretender – you see 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.
A further definition of this wedding garment – a robe of righteousness – can be found in Isa 61:10 (see above verse). This being said, we must fully examine ourselves daily to ensure that our robe has not become stained by sin without repentance and the living of an unholy, Godless life.
Friends, 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. You see many Christians today are dressed in robes of self-righteousness – arrogance, prideful attitudes and ways, think they are always right, making accommodations for their fleshly desires, and the sitting on the fence between Christianity and the world. And those that pretend to put on Christ, those who “play” church, those who cater to worldly cares and desires, those that rarely repent of their sin and those that live an unholy lifestyle will be found out by the King and then tossed out of His kingdom into HELL with there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the truth for it is written in His Word!
Bottom-line: The pretenders, the hypocrites, the fake Christians will NOT enter the gates of His Kingdom but will be destined for Hell and folks this is an eternal destination. No purgatory, no working off your sin in some doctrine of devils place promoted by one of the most populous religions on earth. NO – NO – NO!!
Today is the day for us to look in the spiritual mirror and see if we have put on Christ in all areas of our lives. We must strive to enter the narrow gate and stay on the narrow road -Luke 13:24. Salvation is not a one time prayer, it is not a about a once saved always save doctrine that many very famous Bible pastors, preachers, teachers and experts teach. It’s instead about you working out your salvation each and every day before the Lord -Phil 2:12-13. We sin therefore we must repent and strive to change our attitudes and ways.
Consider this very carefully…
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” -Matt 22:14 (KJV)
Conclusion: Many are called to the marriage wedding feast, that is, to a salvation in Christ, but few are able to dress in their God-given wedding garment, that is, in name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God – 1 Cor 6:11.
Will you be found dressed in an approved wedding garment of the King or tossed out where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth?
-BPWatcher, Internet Preacher and Bible Prophecy Watchman
GLORY TO GOD!
