Matthew chapter 22. The Lord
here, speaking to the religious leaders of the day, his most
fierce enemies, speaks in a parable about a marriage feast that the
king, the father, gave for his son. I was reminded in studying
for this message of another marriage feast, not a parable but in reality,
that our Lord attended where he performed his first miracle.
That's recorded in John's Gospel, Chapter 2, where at that feast
they ran out of wine and our Lord made water. He made the
water into wine and thus all the guests were provided for.
It was taken care of. And even so, even so, God provides
needy sinners with everything. Now, pause right there. God provides needy sinners with
everything they need in his Son. Everything. And that's a lot
of things. I need a perfect righteousness,
John. Where am I going to find that?
If it's in here, I don't have a hope. If it's in anything I
do, again, I don't have a hope. In Matthew chapter 5, John will
get to that in his lessons, in his Bible study, but our Lord
said, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom
of heaven. I need a perfect righteousness. And God gives me and every needy
sinner that trusts his son exactly that. Notice again in verse 4
here in Matthew 22. The king says, behold, I have
prepared. Behold, I have prepared. All
that's needed the king himself has provided. And then he adds,
all things are ready. It must be. If the king himself
has made the provision, there can be nothing lacking. All things
are ready. So the next word we find in verse
4, in the light of that, that the king has provided, has prepared
all things and they are ready, the word now is come. Come. That's the word from the great
king. Come is his gracious invitation. He doesn't say go, does he? That's what religion tells sinners.
That's what religion says to sinners. Go to the church. Go to the Baptist church. Or
go to the Catholic church. Go to the waters of baptism. Or go to the preacher. Go to
the preacher. Or go to the priest. The scripture
says there's only one mediator between God and man. And it's
not a preacher, it's not a priest. That one mediator between God
and man, that one lone individual that has the ability, the worth,
the merit to take a guilty vow sinner and reconcile him to a
just and holy God, that one mediator is none other but the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. Through him, God the Father says,
come. Come. All things are ready. The Spirit and the bride say,
come. And let him that heareth say, come. Let him join in that
invitation. And whosoever will, let him come. Come. Any thirsty sinners? The Lord said that fountain of
living water. He said if any man thirst, let
him come to me and drink. Religion won't quench that thirst.
No. God who gave that thirst himself
is the only one that can quench it. And the Lord said, Come unto
me, all ye that thirst. Is anybody thirsty? He said on
that great day of the feast. He had stood for days and observed
them go through their religious traditions, their ceremonies. And as if he could stand it no
more, on the last day of the feast, he said, is anybody really
thirsty? Is anybody tired of that? Is
anybody tired of just going through the motions of religion? Does
anybody really want to know God? He said, come to me. Come to
me and drink. Come. All things are ready. Joseph Hart wrote, come ye thirsty,
come and welcome. God's free bounty glorified. True belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you nigh. Come ye weary, heavy laden. I believe I'm preaching to folks
that can bear witness to the truth in these verses. Because
they came weary and heavy laden, you're listening to one. And
I found it to be so. Come ye weary, heavy laden. lost
and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you'll never come at all. That's so, isn't it, John? If
sinners tarry till they're better, until they think they have something
that can recommend them to God, they'll never come at all. Let
not conscience make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream. All
the fitness He requireth is to fill your need of Him. I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in His arms,
in the arms of our dear Savior. Oh, there are ten thousand charms. God gave His Son. When the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son in whom dwells
in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. John said
that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace. Think, if you can, the amount
of grace required to save a sinner like yourself. And then the amount
of grace necessary to keep you day by day. The hymn writer again
said, Oh, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. This is true. It's true. Prone to leave the
God I love. Oh, what grace can keep me from
walking away? Because I would. I will. He asked Peter, will you also
go away and the other disciples? On seeing that multitude turn
and walk from him, he said, you want to join them? Will you go
with the crowd? You want to follow the religious
crowd? And Peter said, don't have anywhere else to go. I love
that, don't you? Don't have anywhere else to go. You have the words of eternal
life and I'm sure that you're the Christ the Son of the Living
God. John also wrote, no man has seen
God in any time. The only begotten Father which
is in the bosom of the, or rather the only begotten Son which is
in the bosom of the Father, He had declared Him. All those in
Christ, all those in Christ, not in the church, no not in
the church, We've got too many churches in the world already.
We don't need any more churches. Need the gospel preaching, the
ones that are already there, but we don't need any more. There
are churches everywhere, everywhere. Don't need any more. Those that
are in Christ, not in the creed, but in Christ, being in Christ. The book of God says, to every
sinner that's in Christ, he's complete. He's complete. Every sinner believing on the
Son of God, every sinner that's in Christ by work, by the operation
of God's mighty grace, we read they're complete in Him. Don't
lack a thing. Don't lack a thing. Every sinner
that trusts the Son of God, the King's Son, they need everything
they need to be accepted by the King they have in Christ. Doesn't that feel good? Doesn't
that feel good? Religion can't give you that.
Oh no. The waters of this world, the
whales rather of this world, like our Lord told the woman
at the whale, drink. Drink as often as you want. Drink
as deeply as you can. But you'll have to go by because
you'll thirst again. And the woman to whom our Lord
spoke those words had done that. She had drank and drank and drank.
Oh, but she was thirsty. And the Lord said, drink of the
water that I'll give you. Ask me. He said, ask me. And
I'll give you a drink, and you'll never thirst again. Every sinner
that trusts the Son of the Lord The son of the great king has
all they need to be accepted by the king himself. Listen to
what Paul wrote. These are familiar verses. You
know them. I don't think you'll be tired of hearing them again. In Ephesians chapter 1, speaking
of what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul wrote at verse 3
of Ephesians 1, and he said, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with all,
not some, but with all, spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. Think about that. That we should
be holy without blame before him. Without blame before him. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he had made us accepted, accepted in the
beloved, accepted. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. And in Revelation chapter 21,
John said he saw the bride. The bride, the church, the church
of God, John, said, I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, behold, look at this sight. The tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. and they shall
be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their
God. A bride prepared for her husband
and she didn't prepare herself, God did. God did. God has made her accepted in
that one in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
If I'm in Christ, and Paul wrote that in Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead, and if I'm in Him, if I'm in Him, how can I
be anything less, Louis, than complete? I can't lack anything
if I have God's Son. This brings us to our text in
Matthew chapter 22. verses 11 and 12, it speaks of
the wedding garment and I want to speak to you about that. The
wedding garment, these folks to whom our Lord speak would
have been more in tune to what he said in you and I because
in that day and in Old Testament times and in the time when our
Lord was on earth, that was the custom. You went to any festival,
especially a wedding feast, The guests would be provided with
a garment. And to refuse that, like this
man did, was an insult to the host. In Ezekiel chapter 16,
let me read you there, I think it perhaps alludes to that here. Ezekiel chapter 16, we read,
I clothe thee, this is God speaking, to his bride. The church, I clothed
thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badger skin,
and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee
with silk. Now I'm reading from Isaiah chapter
61. Listen to this. Again God speaking,
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful
in my God. The church says, for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation. Not with the fig
leaves of self-righteousness. Not with the filthy rags of my
own words. No, God's clothed me with garments
of salvation from head to toe and they're perfect. 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." First, what is this wedding garment? What
is this wedding garment? What does it represent? What
does it picture? It pictures the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That's what God's provided. That's
what He looks for. Only that. That's why this man
was cast out. He came in in his own righteousness,
but he didn't have that robe that only God can give, and therefore
he was commanded to be cast out. That's what God looks for. That's
what delights his soul. That's what he finds satisfaction
in, the righteousness of his Son, when he sees a sinner clothed
in that, and that alone. This is the best robe. This is
the same robe. This wedding garment is the same
robe that the prodigal son who before had crawled out of that
pig pen with all of his stink, all of the stench, all the filth.
That's a picture of what you and I are by nature. You say,
I don't like that. It's so. It's so. That's what
we are by nature, just like him. That's what all of our righteousness
is. All of our good works. That's what it is before a holy
God. A stench in his nostrils. And
here comes that prodigal son. Can't you just picture him? He
said, man, I've got to get back to the Father, Sam. I'm going
to arise and go to my Father. And the Father, we can never
be beforehand with God. The willingness every sinner
must have to come to Christ, God gives him. That thirst, God
gives him. That repentance, God gives him. That new heart, God gives him. That's why, that's why he arises
and says, I must come back to the father. The father had been
looking for days and days and days, hadn't he, John? And he
looks down that road, and there comes, is that him? Is that him?
Oh, he's lost a lot of weight. He gets close, oh my, look at
those rags. The stories, the rumors I've
heard must have been true. He wasted his inheritance and
he comes back and he's already, you know the story well, the
prodigal son. He done made up in his mind what
he was going to say to the father. I'm going to recite this to the
father. And he begins to do so and he no sooner gets the words
out of his mouth than the father stops him and says, bring forth
the best robe. He tells one of his servants,
bring forth the best robe. The very best robe is the one
that the father himself gives. This is the robe which presents
the sinner like this before a holy God. Turning, if you will, back
to Ephesians chapter 5. This robe that God the Father
puts upon every returning prodigal, this wedding garment, this robe
alone can present a sinner before the holy God like this. Ephesians
5 verse 25. Husbands, love your wives. Love
your wives like you love every other woman. No, no, no. And that's not how Christ loves.
That's not how Christ loves. Love your wives even as Christ
also loved the church. He loved the church. Those the
Father gave him, he loved with an everlasting love. As he loved
the church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify it
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish." My soul, imagine that. Without blemish? That's how God's church is now.
That's how she stands before God now. That's how God views
her now, robed in the perfect righteousness of His own Son,
with His holy garments on, as holy as the Holy One. This robe of righteousness covers
sinners completely. Completely. Again, I'm reading
from Ezekiel 16. Here's the result of God's great
work of grace. This is what it does. And thy
renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty. For thy beauty. For it was perfect. Oh, I like
that. Because God demands perfection.
God doesn't demand your best. He demands perfection. He says
it must be perfect to be accepted. If that ever dawns on a sinner
who thinks he's working his way to heaven, oh, that'll bring
him down. That'll take the starch out of
him, won't it? Oh, but in the perfect righteousness of Christ,
here's how we are before God. perfect through my comeliness
which I put upon thee, saith the Lord." Perfect. No wonder
Paul said. No wonder Paul said. At one time,
he said, I was like my kinsmen, my brethren according to the
flesh. I was like them, a Pharisee of Pharisees, of the stock of
Israel, circumcised the eighth day, touching the law blameless. But something happened. Something
happened. God Almighty came to him and
as old Newton said, by his grace he taught Paul's heart to fear. He stripped him. Paul said, when
the law came, sin revived. It exposed what I really was
and I died. And I saw what I was by nature,
guilty sinner before God Almighty. But Paul went on to write, But
what things were gained to me, those I count a loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless I count all things
lost, for the excelling of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord, whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but done, that I may win Christ. Paul says my former righteousness,
my self-righteousness that I spent my entire life weaving, that
I thought recommended me to God, he says, now it's done. Done. I throw it away. I just cast
it away. Well, Paul, what's your hope
now? To be found in Him. to be found in him. Oh, what
sweet words. To be found in him, that is Christ. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of a God by him. Oh, to be
wrapped up in him. That's the best robe. That's
the wedding garment that the king puts upon all the guests
of his son. Robin came by Friday to visit
with my mom and to meet my sister. And I, Lester, I thought, I told
him, I'll just make myself scarce. Might as well. Wouldn't be able
to get a word in, anyway. But so I did. But I think I heard
mom telling the story about when we lived up that hollow. And
I've told you about it, I'm sure. And when I would be walking home
from seeing a movie like The Werewolf or so forth, And my
friends would stop at the mouth of the hollow, and they'd go
on down into the camp where they all lived. Man, I'd have to walk.
It was at least a mile. It was a mile. It seemed like
20 miles when I was about 10, 12 years old. And man, I'd get
walking up that hollow, and I'd get to thinking about the werewolf.
Oh, the werewolf, Johnny. He's going to get me. He's going
to get me. And man, I'd hear a leaf rustle
on a tree and I'm gone. I'm picking them up and laying
them down. And I turn the corner and there's
that house. The last house. That's as far
as you could go. The road ended at our house.
And there was that porch light on. And I'd go in, get ready
for bed. Mom, do you remember this? I
think of this all the time. Mom had come up to tuck me in.
Mom's leaving tomorrow. You might do this tonight, Mom. But she'd come to tuck me in
and she'd throw that old blanket up and here it'd come floating
down. They'd tuck me in. Man, I felt so safe. I wasn't
scared of anything anymore. I was home. I felt so secure. One day, one day, soon, God Almighty
is going to say, time shall be no more. And all mankind, that's
you, that's me, we're all going to be ushered into the presence
of a holy God, not the God of modern day religion. Not that
idol that men have carved out of their own depraved imaginations,
but God as He is, God holy, God righteous, God that declares
Himself the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The God that says
it must be perfect to be accepted. What hope Does a sinner like
me have before such a holy God as that? What hope do I have? This, this, this good hope that
I'm wearing that wedding garment, that best robe, that I stand
before Him in that which He Himself has provided for this needy sinner,
the robe of Christ's perfect righteousness. Safe. secure. God can demand no more
because this robe was woven by Christ himself. The wedding garment
is the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
therefore, I stand before God, I stand before God, no fault
at all. blameless before the throne of
God. Listen to what Paul said concerning
this righteous robe woven by the Lord Jesus Christ, by his
perfect life and his satisfaction on the cross. In Romans chapter
5, we read this. Paul wrote it, verse 17, for
by one man's offense, that is Adam, death reigned. reigned
by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace, abundance
of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, only
by one, Jesus Christ. Grace doesn't come through anyone
else but Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by one offense
of the one, judgment came upon all men to come to nation, even
so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made Righteous. Christ said, no man cometh unto
the Father but by me. Top Lady wrote, Christ's sheep
do not contribute any part of their own wool to their own clothing. They wear and are justified by
the fine linen of Christ's obedience. That feels good. That feels good. just to know that this sinner
stands before God Almighty as accepted as Jesus Christ himself. Say, Larry, did you mean to say
that? Oh yeah. As accepted as Jesus
Christ himself because I'm accepted in his son. I'm accepted in the
beloved. Therefore God accepts all those
that are in him. Oh, I am my beloved's, and my
beloved is mine. He brings a poor, vile sinner
into his house of wine. I stand upon his merit. Oh, what
a solid foundation. Those that are built upon this
foundation shall never perish. I stand upon his merit. I know
no other stand, not even where glory dwelleth. in Emmanuel's
land. This is the one thing that the
king looked for, this wedding garment. And this was the one
thing this man lacked and the reason that he was cast out.
This is the distinguishing mark, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Paul asked the church at Corinth
in his first epistle. They had become proud, proud. We have a tendency to do that,
don't we? And one said, I like Apollos. He's a great orator. If Apollos is not going to be
in town doing the preaching, I won't go listen to Peter or
Paul. And others said, well, I like Paul. I like Paul. Others
said, well, I like Cephas. He's my man. And Paul said, you're
puffed up. Puffed up. We would say, you've
got the big head. And he takes the needle of God's
grace and word and pricks their puffed-up head by asking them,
who made you to differ from another? You know what the word is there.
Who distinguished you? Who distinguished you? Who's
made the difference in you and anyone else? It's only God and
God's grace. What do you have, Paul, as that
you didn't receive? Now, if you've received it as
a gift of God's free grace, why do you glory as if you didn't? This man apparently came in wearing
his own attire, refused the wedding garment, and he was cast out. He was like that Pharisee in
Luke 18 who said, I don't need anything. I'm sure you've noticed
in that parable of the rich man that our Lord, or rather the
Pharisee and the public, and our Lord said he spoke this parable
to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous like
the Pharisee. And in his prayer he didn't ask
for anything. Can you imagine that? A sinner
coming into the presence of God Almighty and he doesn't ask for
anything. He stands popping his suspenders,
as Henry would say, and reciting all that he is, all that he does. And he says, God, I thank you.
I thank you. I'm not like anybody else. I'm
different. I've made myself to differ. And I'm not like, and he looked
down and said, ooh, like that publican. I'm not like him. I'm
not like him. Oh, he wished he had of been
like him. He had never been stripped like the publican. Therefore,
he had never been clothed. You can't wear your own righteousness
and the righteousness of Christ at the same time. One's got to
go. Remember when Bartimaeus heard them say, the Lord calls
for thee? When he said in his darkness
and his blindness, Jesus, have mercy on me. And they said, he's
calling for you, Bartimaeus. He got up and threw aside his
garment. Threw it down. Got to get rid
of that. And he came to Christ. That poor
publican said, there's not another sinner like me in the world.
I sure would like to meet one. I sure would like to meet one.
My soul, they're rare. They're rare. I would like to
meet a sinner that's got nothing to pay. Like that woman in Luke
7 that our Lord spoke of in the peril about the two debtors.
When they had nothing to pay, When you come to that, when you've
got nothing to pay, when you feel like you have nothing, you
can do nothing, and you're worth nothing, you're a candidate for
God's free grace. Then he said, he frankly, he
freely forgave them both. Oh, thank God for his amazing
grace. This great grace and salvation,
Paul in writing to Titus said, was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, or with his
holy garments on. Doesn't that feel good? One old
writer put it this way, He said, faith has two hands. With one,
it pulls off its own righteousness, like Bartimaeus did, and throws
it away. And with the other, it puts on
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. One old hymn writer
expressed it like this, and I agree with it entirely. This is scriptural. He said, Jesus, thy blood and
righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress. Misflaming
worlds and these arrayed with joy shall I lift up my head.
Bold shall I stand in that great day for who ought to my charge
shall lay. while through thy blood absolved
I am from sin and fear and guilt and shame. This spotless robe,
the same appears. When ruined nature sinks in years,
no age can change its glorious hue. This robe of Christ is ever
new. Jesus, be endless praise to thee,
whose boundless mercy hath for me, for me a full atonement paid,
an everlasting ransom paid. If Jesus Christ, as the scriptures
teach, bore the sins of his people upon the cross, if on the cross
he who knew no sin, Christ, was made sin for me, then I must
be made the righteousness of God in him. Unless God changes
his very nature, he cannot demand payment twice. He cannot demand
payment from my hands if he's already exacted full payment
from Jesus Christ himself. Therefore, on the grounds of
satisfied justice, mercy comes. Mercy comes to this guilty sinner
and justifies him. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. That's what our Lord said to
those in the garden, didn't he? When they come to arrest him,
I'm he. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, you
found him. I'm he. But these, these must
go their way. These must go their way. They're
mine. They're mine. Take drink, this
is my blood which is shed for you. He had by himself purged
our sins. He entered in once into the holy
place having obtained. Don't you like that? He obtained. He didn't try to do it. He did
it. He bore all the sins of all of
his people away upon the cross. Now they stand before God clothed
in this perfect wedding garment. Where did they get it? From the
king himself. Again, we won't turn there, but
when you read Ezekiel, those first 14 verses, It speaks of
that infant, that newborn infant being thrown out in the field.
It's born. About like people do today. Have babies and throw
them in the trash or butcher them before they're even born.
That child is thrown out into the field. A picture of perfect
helplessness. Help yourself. Oh no, no, no. Take the first step. Can't do
it. Can't do it. If I'm helped, If
I'm rescued, God's going to have to come to me. God's going to
have to take all the steps. I can't help myself. And we read
in every verse there, God said, I came to you. When I passed
by you, I saw you. I saw you. Polluted in your own
blood. I saw you dying. I saw you helpless. And I spread my skirt over you. and you became mine. You became
mine. Like Bobby sang a moment ago, God my true father and I'm his
true son. God in me dwelling and I in him
one. He said you became mine and I
took you and I washed you and I clothed you and I put a ring
on your finger, Jules, and you were perfect through my comeliness. I ask you again, Child of God,
doesn't that feel good? Doesn't that feel good to know
that you're robed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Jude
wrote, unto him who is able to keep you from falling and to
present you faultless before the throne of God, Faultless? That's what this robe does. Presents
us faultless before his throne. And John said, he saw those who
were redeemed from the earth. That's not everybody. These are
they which follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goes. They were redeemed from
among men. being the firstfruits unto God
and to the Lamb, and in their mouth was found no guile, listen
to this, they are without fault before the throne of God. Last of all, concerning this
wedding garment that the Father in mercy and grace robes every
sinner that believes on his Son in, what of it? What of it? It's all that was required. It's all that was needed. It's
all that was accepted. And it's enough. It's enough. Without it, without it, without
Christ, every sinner that stands before God without this wedding
garment, that stands before God without being clothed in the
perfect robe of Christ's perfect righteousness, they'll hear this.
Depart from me, just as this man did in the parable. Cast
him into outer darkness. Depart from me, I never do you. Oh, but there stands a multitude
that no man can number, clothed in white raiment. White robes
stand before the king, before the throne of God and the Lamb,
and he says to them, Enter in. Enter in. Welcome home. All of
this is for you. All of this is for you. Welcome
home. This gives those who are dressed
in it the eternal right of way to enter heaven. The right of
way to enter heaven. This is what we read in Revelation
22. They have right to enter into the gates through the city. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
when you lie down tonight, when you go home and your day's done
and you finally lie down and snuggle up in that warm blanket,
think of this. Think of this as you wrap it
around you. I'm clothed in the righteousness
of God's own Son. Wow! Who can condemn me? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God himself who has justified
them. Wrap yourself up in him, in his
perfect robe, and rest easy. Just rest easy because you're
accepted in his son. When he shall come with trumpet
sound, oh, may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness
alone, Faultless, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ
the solid rock I stand, all other ground, all other ground, everything
beside, all other ground is sinking sand, but not him, not him. Oh, I pray that in that day,
as Paul said, we'll be found in him, found in him. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.