I want to go home. I want to be part of that first resurrection, don’t you? I want to see that beautiful river. I want to sit under the shade of the great Tree of Life! I want to taste all twelve manner of fruit that perfect tree has to offer! I want to experience the world the way God intended it to be! A world without destruction, without war, and without hate. I want the world created in peace and love. I want to experience life everlasting with my Friend, Jesus.
But that world won’t be the same without you. I want to experience heaven with you. The invitation has been sent; have you received it? In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 22, Jesus tells us about the invitation:
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:2-14)
The invitations have been sent and the wedding is ready! Are you ready? Unfortunately, there are many who think they are ready. But on that glorious day, when the splendor of Christ will be seen by every eye, there will be many, with invitation in hand, who will be turned away; rejected by Christ!
Why are many refused entrance to the kingdom if they had already been invited? Because they refused to wear the appropriate attire to the celebration! There’s a dress code! You see, there’s preparation involved; you can’t just show up!
1. Receive the invitation.
2. Put on the wedding garment.
3. Go to the wedding.
What exactly is the wedding garment? How do I get it?
“'Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.' And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." (Revelation 19:6-8)
The wedding garment is the “righteous acts of the saints.” Where does righteousness come from? Righteousness comes through Jesus Christ! So the wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ; the character of Christ! Receiving the invitation is only the first step; then we must cast off our filthy rags and put on the righteous robes of Christ!
“The man who came to the feast without a wedding garment represents the condition of many in our world today. They profess to be Christians, and lay claim to the blessings and privileges of the gospel; yet they feel no need of a transformation of character. They have never felt true repentance for sin. They do not realize their need of Christ or exercise faith in Him. They have refused the gift which alone could enable them to honor Christ by representing Him to the world.” (Christ’s Object Lessons, pg 129)
Friends we need to be transformed; changed by Christ into His glorious image if we would gain eternity with Him.
Now, let's return to the Gospel of Luke Chapter 18. We'll pick up where we left off in verse #34:
"But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken."
Jesus had spent all day walking, and teaching and expounding the wisdom of God to all who would hear. His desire was to bring His children into the light of His glory that the Father might be revealed; and through this revelation many souls might be won back to the Kingdom of Heaven! That they might understand what faith was all about and be prepared to enter into His Heavenly Kingdom! But the cold, hard reality was that no one had grasped His Truth; not one had understood the meaning of His words! And not one seemed to measure up to His standards.
The Persistent Widow: Didn't put God first!
The Pharisee: Put himself above others!
The Disciples: Were a barrier to those who sought Christ!
The Rich, Young Ruler: Couldn't let go of the world!
And the disciples, beside themselves with confusion said, “Who then can be saved?” (Luke 18:26)
"Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho..." (Luke 18:35)
Where were they going? JERICHO!
The same place that years before had been witness to the miraculous, power of God!
What did God do at Jericho? The walls came tumbling down!
And just as He had done years before, by bringing down the walls at Jericho, Jesus was about to bring down the walls of confusion and doubt!
Today is the day, friends, when we can be assured what faith is all about! Today is the day, when we can cast aside our worldly rags and put on the robes of Christ! You can be assured that as Jesus came to Jericho, something special was about to happen!
"Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging..." (Luke 18:35)
There, just outside the walls of the city sat a poor, wretched, blind man; begging for whatever mercy he could receive. He was a social outcast; forgotten and cast aside! Every day was the same; sit by the road and beg! But today was different! There was something inside of him that told him today was the day! He didn't know what was going to happen, but the Spirit of God was moving on his heart!
"And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:36-38)
"(H)e cried out!" The same way that Christ said his very elect would do in the Parable of the Persistent Widow! (Luke 18:7)
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The same humble prayer of the lowly tax collector in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector! (Luke 18:13)
"Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet..." (Luke 18:39)
He was rebuked! The same way the disciples rebuked the mothers who had brought their infants to Christ!
"(B)ut he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:39)
He would not be moved! The same, faithful, determined, child-like quality that the Kingdom of Heaven is made for!
"So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” (Luke 18:40-41)
Revelation 3 : 17-18 say,
"Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked- I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed,
that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."
You can give me sight! Unlike the rich, young ruler, this man knew that without Christ, he was nothing; wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked!
"Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God." (Luke 18:42-43)
Let's rejoice, for today is the day that we can claim with full confidence that Christ reigns in our hearts for eternity!
God bless
But that world won’t be the same without you. I want to experience heaven with you. The invitation has been sent; have you received it? In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 22, Jesus tells us about the invitation:
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:2-14)
The invitations have been sent and the wedding is ready! Are you ready? Unfortunately, there are many who think they are ready. But on that glorious day, when the splendor of Christ will be seen by every eye, there will be many, with invitation in hand, who will be turned away; rejected by Christ!
Why are many refused entrance to the kingdom if they had already been invited? Because they refused to wear the appropriate attire to the celebration! There’s a dress code! You see, there’s preparation involved; you can’t just show up!
1. Receive the invitation.
2. Put on the wedding garment.
3. Go to the wedding.
What exactly is the wedding garment? How do I get it?
“'Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.' And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." (Revelation 19:6-8)
The wedding garment is the “righteous acts of the saints.” Where does righteousness come from? Righteousness comes through Jesus Christ! So the wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ; the character of Christ! Receiving the invitation is only the first step; then we must cast off our filthy rags and put on the righteous robes of Christ!
“The man who came to the feast without a wedding garment represents the condition of many in our world today. They profess to be Christians, and lay claim to the blessings and privileges of the gospel; yet they feel no need of a transformation of character. They have never felt true repentance for sin. They do not realize their need of Christ or exercise faith in Him. They have refused the gift which alone could enable them to honor Christ by representing Him to the world.” (Christ’s Object Lessons, pg 129)
Friends we need to be transformed; changed by Christ into His glorious image if we would gain eternity with Him.
Now, let's return to the Gospel of Luke Chapter 18. We'll pick up where we left off in verse #34:
"But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken."
Jesus had spent all day walking, and teaching and expounding the wisdom of God to all who would hear. His desire was to bring His children into the light of His glory that the Father might be revealed; and through this revelation many souls might be won back to the Kingdom of Heaven! That they might understand what faith was all about and be prepared to enter into His Heavenly Kingdom! But the cold, hard reality was that no one had grasped His Truth; not one had understood the meaning of His words! And not one seemed to measure up to His standards.
The Persistent Widow: Didn't put God first!
The Pharisee: Put himself above others!
The Disciples: Were a barrier to those who sought Christ!
The Rich, Young Ruler: Couldn't let go of the world!
And the disciples, beside themselves with confusion said, “Who then can be saved?” (Luke 18:26)
"Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho..." (Luke 18:35)
Where were they going? JERICHO!
The same place that years before had been witness to the miraculous, power of God!
What did God do at Jericho? The walls came tumbling down!
And just as He had done years before, by bringing down the walls at Jericho, Jesus was about to bring down the walls of confusion and doubt!
Today is the day, friends, when we can be assured what faith is all about! Today is the day, when we can cast aside our worldly rags and put on the robes of Christ! You can be assured that as Jesus came to Jericho, something special was about to happen!
"Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging..." (Luke 18:35)
There, just outside the walls of the city sat a poor, wretched, blind man; begging for whatever mercy he could receive. He was a social outcast; forgotten and cast aside! Every day was the same; sit by the road and beg! But today was different! There was something inside of him that told him today was the day! He didn't know what was going to happen, but the Spirit of God was moving on his heart!
"And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:36-38)
"(H)e cried out!" The same way that Christ said his very elect would do in the Parable of the Persistent Widow! (Luke 18:7)
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The same humble prayer of the lowly tax collector in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector! (Luke 18:13)
"Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet..." (Luke 18:39)
He was rebuked! The same way the disciples rebuked the mothers who had brought their infants to Christ!
"(B)ut he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:39)
He would not be moved! The same, faithful, determined, child-like quality that the Kingdom of Heaven is made for!
"So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” (Luke 18:40-41)
Revelation 3 : 17-18 say,
"Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked- I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed,
that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."
You can give me sight! Unlike the rich, young ruler, this man knew that without Christ, he was nothing; wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked!
"Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God." (Luke 18:42-43)
Let's rejoice, for today is the day that we can claim with full confidence that Christ reigns in our hearts for eternity!
God bless
0 comments:
Post a Comment