Welcome to our program. The title
of the message today is The Garment of Salvation. The Garment of
Salvation. And I want you to pay close attention,
and if you'd like to follow along in your Bibles with me, I'll
be preaching from Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 22. And this is one of the parables
of our Savior, the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
he often spoke to his disciples in parables, and he spoke to
them in parables within the hearing of those who had rejected the
gospel. In fact, he told them in Matthew
chapter 13 that the reason he spoke in parables was to conceal
the truth from those who had rejected the plain preaching
of the gospel. But he told his disciples, he
said, blessed are your ears for they hear, and your eyes for
they see. God had given them spiritual
ears and spiritual eyes, so that when he spoke a parable, and
they would ask him the meaning of the parable, they could understand
what he was teaching in that parable. Now the parables were
symbolic stories using earthly elements and people in order
to teach a higher spiritual truth. And that's what this parable
that I'm going to deal with today. It concerns how God calls his
people, his elect, his church, the lost sheep that Christ spoke
of, into the kingdom of God, into the kingdom of heaven, into
salvation, the experience of salvation. We might say it this
way, into the church, and how he keeps them there and it has
to do with the garment of salvation. We're going to talk about that.
But let's run through this parable. Now Christ had been teaching
in parables and he'd been teaching some very profound truths concerning
those who rejected the gospel and those who would receive it
by the power of God's grace. Now you understand that the only
way that a sinner will receive the truth is by the power of
God. He will not do it We will not
do it of our own free will. The Bible says in John chapter
1 that Christ came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But it goes on to say that as many as received him, to them
were given the right, the power it says, but that means the right,
to become the sons of God, which were born, not of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God. You see, this is the issue, and
you must be born again. And so he's speaking here in
parables. Back up in chapter 21, when he
was speaking, it says in verse 45, when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke
of them. In other words, they understood
that what he was saying about those who would reject the gospel,
that he was speaking of them. So it says, but when they sought
to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took
him for a prophet. Now the multitude just saw the
Jesus of Nazareth as a prophet. And they liked what he was saying,
to a point, and the Pharisees wouldn't touch him because of
that. But in verse 1 of chapter 22 it says this, and Jesus answered
and spoke unto them again by parables and said. Now what we
have here is called the parable of the marriage feast. It's the
marriage feast of the king. And as we look at this, what
we're going to see is that the king sent out his servants to
bring in guests who had already been given an invitation to come. That's the first thing. So we're
going to see, number one, a marriage prepared. And I want you to notice
the language of this parable. He says in verse two, the kingdom
of heaven is likened to a certain king which made a marriage for
his son. Now, The Kingdom of Heaven refers
to the whole realm of Christ the King, the King of Kings,
over his people. It refers to the church. It refers
to the dominion of salvation. It refers to the covenant of
grace over which he is the only sovereign mediator. He is the
Lord of the covenant. He's the messenger of the covenant.
So it refers to the dominion of salvation. Now, ultimately,
God is the sovereign ruler of the universe, even over those
who reject him. And, of course, if those who
reject him unto the end shall be punished eternally, they shall
perish, the scripture says. But the kingdom of heaven is
the church of the living God. And we're talking about the Church
here on Earth. Ultimately, the Church, the true
Church, is made up only of true believers. But while they're
here on this Earth, before the Lord comes again the second time,
there's going to be wheat and tares. So here we see the Kingdom
of Heaven. We see a certain King. Now who
is this King? This is God. This is God the
Father. And he says he made a marriage, a wedding feast, in other words,
for his son, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the very Son
of God. Christ is called the bridegroom
of the church. He's called the husband of the
church. When Paul spoke about the marriage
of a man and a woman, the husband and the wife, in Ephesians chapter
5, he made it clear that he was using it as an illustration of
Christ and his church. So here the king made a marriage
for his son. Now notice it says the king is
the one who made the marriage. This is a picture, a symbol of
eternal salvation. Salvation is the product of an
eternal everlasting covenant of grace made before time. It's the product of eternal dealings
of the Father and the Son before the foundation of the world,
the scripture says. Paul described it in 2 Timothy
chapter 1 as the salvation which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. And it's an amazing thing. Ephesians
chapter 1 speaks of it very plainly when it speaks of the work of
the Father, the work of the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit
in salvation. But salvation is of the Lord. It's not of man. Salvation is
conditioned on the Lord Jesus Christ, not on the sinner. And
so we see that it's salvation. that is not conditioned on us,
but it is totally the sovereign work of God the Father through
His Son. Now, in the next place, we see
an invitation rejected. Now, I know men argue over whether
or not salvation is a command or is an invitation. Well, basically
speaking now, technically speaking, we would have to say the Gospel
is a command. It's a command issued forth from
the King. But in the Bible, the Lord is
represented as a compassionate, merciful God. And in that, the
gospel being preached out into all the world, we see there is
an invitation given. And it says here, verse 3, it
says, "...he sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden
to the wedding, and they would not come." Now when it says,
"...he sent forth his servants to call them," That word bidden
there is talking about those who had already received an invitation. And then the servants were sent
out to call them to the wedding. The marriage feast has been made
ready. And all things have been prepared, look at verse 4, he
says again, and they wouldn't come now, at the time the king
called, and he said, again he sent forth other servants saying,
tell them which are bidden, which had received an invitation, behold
I have prepared my dinner, my oxen, and my fatlings are killed,
and all things are ready, come unto the marriage feast. That
is a beautiful picture of the salvation that is to be preached
out in the gospel. All things are ready. In other
words, salvation has already been accomplished by the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's already been prepared. The
gospel is not an invitation or even a command for you or me
to bring our own works and our own efforts. Now, in this parable
we could say it's not a command for you to bring your own food,
but it's a command for you to come and receive what the king,
through his son and for his son, has already prepared. Salvation
is by grace, and that's the invitation, that's the command, and this
is the issue. How could a sinner reject such
an offer? It's ridiculous for sinners to
reject that, but that just goes to show you how sinful and blind
and depraved we are by nature. When we fell in Adam, we attained
a spirit. We became dead in trespasses
and sins and so lifted up with our own self-righteousness and
pride that we just have to have some part in our own salvation.
in the preparation of it, in the continuation of it, or in
the finality of it. But God says no. He says come
to the marriage feast. It's already prepared. Salvation
is of the Lord. All righteousness has been established
by Christ. His blood alone paid for our
sins, for the sins of His people in full. So He says come unto
the marriage and it says in verse 5, but they made light of it.
In other words, they ignored it, they thought it was nothing,
they went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise,
one to do his farming, one to do his selling at the market,
and the remnant took his servants, verse 6, it even went this far,
the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully
and slew them, killed them. There's that invitation rejected.
Now who's he talking about here? Well, what he's talking about
in this parable, and you can go back to what I read back there
in Matthew 21 and verse 45, it says, And when the chief priests
and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke
of them. What he's talking about is the rejection of Christ and
the gospel by the Jewish nation here. They had already received
the command or the invitation in the Old Covenant, all the
way back before the Old Covenant, in Abraham. when God chose Abraham
and He brought forth the seed of Abraham nationally in the
Jews. All through their Old Testament history, they rejected God's
prophets, they rejected the gospel. And then when the Lord Himself
came to this world, they rejected Him. Now, all of us by nature
reject the Lord. We don't have anything to boast
of or brag about if we've received Him. And we have to understand
this, that he's talking about the Jewish nation, what he's
talking about is their religious leaders, the Pharisees, the scribes,
the Sadducees, the nobles, and the majority of the people. Not
every individual Jew rejected him. Matthew was a Jew. Paul was a Jew. Peter was a Jew. Salvation came to the Jew first,
and then to the Gentile. But the Jews as a nation, along
with their leaders, they rejected the gospel, they rejected Christ,
and they entreated them spitefully and slew them. Now we can see
that in the history of the prophets. Christ said they killed the prophets.
We can see that certainly in their treatment of our Savior
and our treatment of Him by nature. That's sinful humanity. We're
not just blaming the Jewish nation. We've got to blame sinful mankind
for that. And then we can see it in their
treatment of the apostles in the book of Acts when Stephen
was martyred and James was martyred. They treated him spitefully.
They did not want what God freely gives in Christ. And so they
took him and they spitefully used him. Now what we see in
the third place is those who rejected the gospel punished.
He says in verse 7, But when the king heard thereof, he was
wroth, or he was angry. and he sent forth his armies
and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city." And
what he's talking about there is the destruction of Jerusalem,
I believe, which happened in A.D. 70. You see, the reason
that God rejected the Jewish nation is because the Jewish
nation rejected Christ. And as a result, the gospel would
go out to the Gentiles. And it says in verse 8, I want
you to notice this, it says, "...then saith he, to his servants,
the wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy."
They weren't worthy. Now why weren't they worthy?
And I'll tell you, this is something we need to understand fully about
salvation and about God's grace. They were not worthy because
they would not take their place as sinners who are in need of
salvation by God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. You see, none
of us are worthy of salvation. Not one sinner. If salvation
were based upon our worthiness, none of us would be saved. Our
worthiness is not our works. It is not an act of our will. It's not our decision that we
make. That doesn't make us worthy. What is it that makes a sinner
worthy for salvation? Well, my friend, the Bible teaches
it very plainly, is that Christ and Him alone and His finished
work on the cross, His blood, and His imputed righteousness
charged to His people, that He is the only thing that makes
us worthy. And unless we take our place before a holy God as
sinners who deserve nothing but God's wrath by nature and based
on our works, as sinners who cannot earn salvation and who
do not deserve salvation, unless we just fall at the feet of Christ
and beg for mercy, there is no worthiness for us. The Bible
says worthy is the lamb that was slain. Well, these people
thought they were worthy because of their works, their righteousness.
They'd gone about trying to establish a righteousness of their own,
but they weren't worthy in God's sight because they had no Savior.
They had no mediator. They had no Christ. He is our
worthiness. So what happens now? There are
new guests that are commanded to come and invited. Over in
verse 9 he says, Go ye therefore into the highways, literally
the crossroads, and as many as you shall find bid them to the
marriage. Bid to the marriage. Go everywhere.
That's what he's saying. Go everywhere you can go. So
it says, So the servants went out into the highways and gathered
together all as many as they found, both bad and good, and
the wedding was furnished with guests. God's going to have his
people. And this is a picture of after
the Jews having rejected the Lord as a nation, the gospel
going out to the Gentiles. He says, you go out into the
highways and gather together as many as you find, and you
bid them, and he says both bad and good. Now the scripture teaches
very plainly that in God's sight among men there are none good,
no not one. The Bible teaches in Romans chapter
3 and verse 10, there's none righteous, no not one. There's
none that seeketh after God. There's none good, no not one. We're all sinners, for all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Good people do
not need salvation. It's only bad people that need
salvation, sinners. So what does he mean, good and
bad? Well, he's talking about good and bad in the eyes of the
world. For example, Think about John
Chapter 3, the Gospel of John, and John Chapter 4. Now there's
a man there in John Chapter 3 named Nicodemus who was a religionist.
He was a outwardly moral, dedicated Pharisee who was a leader of
the community, a member of the Jewish High Court called the
Sanhedrin. Most people, without understanding
the Word of God, would look at a man like Nicodemus and they'd
say he's a good man. He doesn't need salvation. And
yet, then in John chapter 4, we're confronted with a wicked
adulteress, a Samaritan woman, who had an infamous reputation
as being an evil, sinful woman. Most people, without understanding
the Word of God, would look at her and easily say, well, now
she needs to repent. She needs salvation. So they
would call Nicodemus good, and they would call the woman at
the well, the Samaritan woman, bad. But what God teaches us
in John chapter 3 and chapter 4 is that both Nicodemus and
the Samaritan woman both are in need of salvation by grace
equally. Nicodemus was a moral religionist,
but he was no more righteous or good in the sight of God than
the woman at the well. Yes, the woman at the well needs
salvation by grace, but so does Nicodemus. Matthew himself was
a publican, a Jewish person who collected taxes from his own
people, from the Roman conquerors. And usually they were men who
skimmed off the top and lined their own pockets. So Matthew
was an infamous sinner. Did he need salvation by grace?
Yes. And when God called him, he called
the bad in the eyes of society. Why would he consort with such
people, the Pharisees said? Your master eats with publicans.
and sinners. What a shame. Well, that's the
kind of people he saved. But then look at Saul of Tarsus,
who was a moral religionist. Christ saved him too. In the
eyes of the people, he would have been a good man, but he
was a sinner in need of salvation by grace. And that's what Christ
is teaching here. He's not teaching that in this
life there's some good and some bad. We're all bad. But in the
eyes of the world, that's the way the world, that's the way
we by nature look at people. And what he's teaching here is
this. Every person born of Adam is in need of salvation by grace. God saves sinners. This is a
faithful saying, Paul wrote, worthy of all acceptation that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief. When I look at the last part here, here's an intruder
expelled. And this is where we get to the
wedding garment or the garment of salvation. Now listen to this
very carefully. It says, when the king, verse
11, when the king came in to see the guest, He saw there a
man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him,
Friend, how camest thou in hither, or here, not having a wedding
garment? And he, that is the man, was
speechless. Then said the king to the servants,
Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer
darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Now this
part of the parable speaks of the end time when Christ comes
back. and gathers his church together
and then he'll separate the sheep from the goats. While on this
earth, within the true church now, where the gospel is preached,
there'll be both wheat and tares, sheep and goats. Sometimes the
goats, the tares, will expose themselves and leave the assembly,
but sometimes they won't. And here we see that the issue
between the sheep and the goats, the wheat and the tares, whether
or not a person is a true believer, a truly saved person, or just
a false professor, the issue has to do with the garment of
salvation, a wedding garment. Now here's the question, what
exactly is that garment? That's the issue. Back over in
the book of Matthew chapter 7, the Lord has a picture of judgment
here and in verse 21 he makes this statement he says not everyone
that saith unto me Lord Lord now he's talking about people
who profess to be his servants to profess to be saved and he
says not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my
father which is in heaven now let me ask you first What is
it to do the will? That's the revealed will of his
Father in Heaven. Well, it's to come to the marriage
feast with the wedding garment on. It's to believe the gospel. It's to rest in Christ. We'll
see more of that in just a moment. He says, many will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name
and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many
wonderful works? and then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you, depart from me ye that work iniquity."
The Lord said in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 20, He said, For
I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall
in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, the righteousness
of men will not do. What he's talking about in this
wedding garment is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Bible says in Romans chapter 1 verse 16 and 17, Paul wrote,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first
and to the Greek also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith. My friend, to come to this wedding
feast, to enter into the kingdom of heaven, you do not need your
own righteousness or the righteousness of men. What you need is the
very righteousness of God. Well, what is that righteousness?
Well, over in the book of Romans, chapter 10, in verse 4, we read,
it says, for Christ is the end or the fulfillment or the finishing
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. You
see, the righteousness that I need to be in this wedding feast,
to be in the kingdom of heaven, is the merits of the obedience
and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I need His blood to wash me clean
from all my sins. I need His righteousness to cover
me like a robe. That's called the imputed righteousness
of Christ. That word imputed means that
it's charged to my account. He's the one who did it. He's
the one who prepared it. He's the one who worked it out
and finished it, and God charges it to my account. As my sins
were charged to His account, His righteousness must be charged
to my account. And that righteousness is called
a righteous robe, over in Isaiah chapter 61, in verse 10. It says,
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. This is the
work of Christ charged to my account. You see, many people
go here and they say, well, that garment is the righteous acts
of the saints. Not so. It's the righteous work
of the Lord Jesus Christ given to the saints. That is the garment
of salvation. That is the only garment of salvation. That's why it says in Revelation
19, in verse 7, to be glad and rejoice and give honor to him,
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made
herself ready, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed
in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. It is my righteousness. But not
one I worked out, and he saith unto me, Right, blessed are they
which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith
unto me, These are the true sayings of God." Now how do I prepare
myself for the marriage supper? I rest in Christ. Believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Rest in Him for
all righteousness. Cling to Him and look to Him
for all salvation. Wear His robe. His works plead
the merits of His blood and His righteousness. And when the King
comes in, He'll look at you and He'll say, Well done, thou good
and faithful servant. Not based on your works, but
based upon the work of Christ. Well, I hope that's been helpful
to your understanding of the Gospel. And if you'd like to
receive a copy of this message, listen to the announcers. He
gives you the details. The title of this message is
The Garment of Salvation. And I hope you'll join us next
week for another message from God's Word.