Jesus: The King

Today, we're focusing on another parable of Jesus. These are stories, and this is a very unusual story. It's a story about a wedding. Weddings are times of joy, times of celebration, times of great excitement, aren't they? There's the tremendous drama in weddings, particularly when the bride in Oliver Beauty walks down the aisle, and even the toughest of bridegrooms as they stand are moved to tears, as they weep as it were, tears of joy, tears of gratitude. I think often tears of unbelief that this incredibly beautiful woman has agreed to be their wife. And then there's great tenderness at weddings, aren't there, as the bride and the groom look into each other's eyes.

There's great floods of emotion. God has ordained marriage. And so we're not surprised that weddings are characterized by joy, by excitement, by celebration, thankfulness to our loving God who gives us the gift of holy matrimony. Of course, sometimes things go wrong at weddings. I think of the best man who was six feet six and about 260 pounds deciding to faint during the ceremony.

It was tough catching him, but I am stronger than I look. And then I think of bridesmaids, some of them trying to be the star of the show sometimes, whining about their shoes, thinking, why didn't you check that up before you came? I remember one wedding in Seattle, Washington. It was in an old church. It was August.

It was very hot in Seattle. There was no air conditioning, and the doors were open. And in the middle of the ceremony, as I'm giving some profound advice, which I now forget, to the couple. And a homeless man came in one door and walked right in front of us and right out the other door. Sometimes candles blow out at weddings at very inopportune times. I succeeded one time as we were signing the wedding certificate, setting it on fire as I forgot there was a candle nearby. It was a great beginning to the wedding as we saw it go up in ashes. I remember fairly recently an outdoor wedding where the bridal party and myself were caught in a sudden rainstorm, absolutely drenched. But in every case, the couple get married, and in most cases live happily ever after. One thing I've noticed in the years, I've officiated at many weddings in different settings that what people wear has changed.

Have you noticed this? When I was a little boy, teenager, going to a wedding was a big event. And if we're ever going to get a new suit, it was for the wedding.

Perhaps a new pair of shoes, a new shirt, a new tie. I love wearing ties. People say, you know, you look so uncomfortable wearing a tie.

Just don't tighten it so tightly, and it'll be much easier. So as a little boy, I've always worn ties. And often at the wedding, that was the first time we wore the suit or the pair of shoes or the tie. It was a special occasion. But now it seems that people turn up to weddings as if they just came out of the backyard, don't they?

I've seen people coming, their clothes are very casual, very rumpled, even dirty. And we think, did they realize this is a wedding? I think of, this was in the other church, the groom's father, as we were standing and the guests were coming. He was getting angrier and angrier because he paid quite a bit of money for the wedding, I think, about some of the people, the way they were dressed. And he said to me, pastor, don't they realize this is a wedding? It's not a ball game. It's not a barbecue in the backyard.

But things have changed, haven't they? We're going to hear Jesus tell a story. And He's going to tell a story.

It's a very unusual story. And as we come to the end of the story, we'll find that there's a man there who's inappropriately dressed at the wedding feast. This is no ordinary wedding in the story. It's a wedding given by a king for his son. Now, I think if I was invited by a king to be at the wedding of his son, a prince, I would make sure I was dressed appropriately.

I would check the wedding protocol. So as we read the story, I'm going to read it to you, we're thinking, what's all this about? Jesus says at the beginning of it, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who gave a wedding feast for his son.

Now remember this. He's going to tell a story about a man who gives a wedding feast for his son. And from that, he's going to teach us about the kingdom of heaven. This is the third parable. We thought of two of them last week. Some of you may remember that. Two parables.

This is the third in the triad. And it's a fascinating parable. And the context is, you must always think of the context of Scripture, the context is that Jesus is in conflict with the Pharisees and the elders and the chief priests. And he's telling the story, the parable, to them.

You ready for it? Have you got your Bible? Open it with me to Matthew chapter 22, and we're going to read the first 14 verses, which is the story of a wedding feast. Matthew 22 verse 1, and again Jesus spoke to them in parables saying, the kingdom of heaven, here it is, may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again, he sent other servants saying, tell those who were invited, see I've prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fat caraffes have been slaughtered and everything is ready, come to the wedding feast.

But he paid no attention and went off. Went to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized the servants, treated them shamefully and killed them. The king was angry and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, the wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.

And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?

And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen." Isn't that quite a story?

Let's think about it. As we think about it, remember that Jesus has told us this is what the kingdom of heaven is like. There's a comparison between the earthly story and the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is being compared to a man giving a wedding feast for his son. Now, Matthew frequently mentions the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. Look back to chapter 21, for example, verse 31.

We saw this last week in the story. Jesus said to them, middle of the verse, truly I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. You religious leaders, remember this, that the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of heaven before you. And then again in verse 43, therefore I tell you, speaking to Israel religious leaders, the kingdom of God, there it is, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. I mentioned Jesus taking a little children and as He did that, again, He's making a comparison, a truth about the kingdom of heaven. That you can learn about the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like little children, totally dependent on others.

Humility. When John the Baptist comes, Matthew tells us, the beginning of his public ministry, what does he say? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. That's his message, a message of repentance, a message that you must get right with God.

Why? Because the kingdom of heaven is near. Similarly, when Jesus comes, Matthew records it in chapter 4 verse 17, when Jesus comes, what does He say? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

If you're going to enter the kingdom of heaven, repentance is absolutely essential. So central to the message of Jesus is the kingdom of heaven. And here, as I say, He's comparing the kingdom of heaven to a king who gave a feast for his sons. The invitations are sent through His servants, verse 3. And very surprisingly, those who are invited, Jesus says, but they would not come. That's odd, you're getting an invitation by the king to come to the feast, but you won't come.

All right? The message goes out again and the king says, now when you ask the people, this time I want you to emphasize that it's going to be a great feast. I've got all of these fat animals and everything is ready.

It's free. All they need to do is come. But they don't come to the wedding feast. Some pay no attention. You begin to think of some parallels with the kingdom of heaven as the story unfolds.

I hope you are. Some pay absolutely no attention. And some say, well, I've got to take care of my farm.

Others say, I've got this business deal I've got to do. And then others are very, very hostile to the servants. They treat them shamefully and in fact they kill them. He's saying this to the Pharisees and the chief priests and the elders. Understandably in the story, the king is very, very angry. Not only have they refused to come, they've killed his servants. So he sends his troops, destroys the murderers and burns their city. He's a very powerful man. He's much more powerful than they are. And justice is quickly executed.

The culprits are not going to sit in death row for 20 years. No, they're wiped out. They're judged.

Then the king changes his tactics, as it were. He says, well, obviously those who didn't accept the invitation, they wouldn't come, are not worthy. They've refused my gracious invitation. So now, my servants, I want you to go out into all of the roads and I want you to invite everyone. You know, when you're sending out the wedding invitations, you're counting how many people aren't you?

Particularly if you're going to pay for it. And there's a certain number of people who are going to come to the wedding. There's a space issue. How many people can the reception accommodate? How many people do you want to pay for? But this king has, as it were, infinite resources. And he says, invite everyone you can.

I'm ready. Abundant provision. And as you go, you invite. This is fascinating, isn't it? Did you notice in verse 10, they gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. And so they all come. And the reception is absolutely packed with people. People who think they're very good, people who think they're very bad.

People who are religious and people who are irreligious, the good and bad, they're all there. And so the king goes in and he looks around and there is one individual sticking out like a sore thumb. He's not wearing a wedding garment.

Now, it's not that he's naked, please. No. And it's not that the king provides the wedding garments in that culture. No.

The fact is, we don't understand. He invited you to a wedding. The king is there.

I mean, take some care with your dress. Now this man comes. He's not clean. He's not respectable.

He's not decent. He wants to be part of the party, as it were, but he's showing no respect for the king. In that culture, he's not wearing the right clothes. So the king goes to him, verse 12, and speaks to him very graciously. He said, friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And the man is speechless.

The king is giving him an opportunity. You haven't followed the protocol. You've shown disrespect. You think you can do things your own way.

I'm giving you an opportunity to explain yourself, and the man is speechless. Then the king says, bind them. Cast them into the outer darkness.

It's a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. And as we read this, we think, come on, king. I mean, the man's a bit disrespectful. You could have told him to leave, but you're not just doing that. You're casting him out into the outer darkness.

That seems very severe for a man who's just got the wrong jacket on, as it were. But remember this. Jesus is not teaching about wedding protocol. This is not a formula as to how you have a wedding.

That's not a point at all. Again, verse 2, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Jesus in this wonderful way, in this brilliant story, is teaching us about the kingdom of heaven. So I want to teach you from the story about the kingdom of heaven, and I've got three lessons, three points. The first one, that the offer to enter the kingdom of heaven goes to everyone bad and good.

Isn't that incredible? Here is Jesus teaching about the kingdom of heaven, and the offer to enter the kingdom of heaven is given to everyone, whether good or bad. Now think of the two parables we thought of last week. Think of the parable of the two sons, and where Jesus is saying, as the kingdom of God is preached by John the Baptist, the people you think would go into it first, the religious people don't. The last shall be first. And the very people you think, they're not worthy of the kingdom of heaven. They can't enter it. No, they're the ones who do. The corrupt tax collectors, the immoral prostitutes repent and enter the kingdom of heaven. However, even in that parable it's clear that the kingdom of heaven is open to everyone. Everyone that is, who humbles himself. Everyone who becomes like a little child.

Everyone who repents and believes the gospel. And the second parable, at the end of chapter 21 that we thought of, makes the point even stronger. There the son, remember, he goes to the vineyard and he is thrown out of the vineyard and he's killed outside of the vineyard.

What does that sound like? It sounds like Jesus is going to be thrown out. Thrown out of the city where God places his name.

The city where there's the temple. And he's going to be cast out, led outside the wall to a place called Gotha, Calvary, the place of the skull. And says Jesus in that previous parable, the kingdom of heaven, of God is being taken away from you and has been given to a people, verse 43 of chapter 21, I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. Verse 45, when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived he was speaking about them.

Yes, they are. They know the Old Testament Scriptures. They should know better. And now the kingdom of God has come because Jesus is the King and He's standing right in their very midst. He is the Messiah, the long promised Messiah has come. They've seen his miracles.

They've heard his teaching. And instead of embracing him and entering the kingdom of God, they are so hostile they're going to kill him. Isn't it wonderful though, that in this parable of the King and the feast, when he sends out his messengers, the ones who are first invited, as it were, are those that you think would come in the story, the religious people.

But did you notice how strong it is at the end of verse 3? But they would not come. He's talking to the Pharisees.

He's talking to the chief priests. The King has come, and there is an offer to you to enter the kingdom of God if you repent and believe in me, the Messiah. But you would not come. Lord is going to weep over Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who would come to you. How often I would have gathered you as a hand gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not come. Come to the feast!

No. We've got something else to do. We're going to kill your very messengers. See the nation of Israel is specially chosen by God. They're the earthly people chosen by God. They are God's people.

They've been greatly privileged. Paul writes in Romans 9, verses 4, he says, they are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants and giving of the law, the worship and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs and from their race according to the flesh is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.

Amen. What's Paul saying in Romans 9? That Israel, of all of the nations of the earth, has been greatly privileged. They have their patriarchs, they have the covenants, they have the law. In fact, from them comes the Messiah. Matthew's begun by telling us that Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham. He's an Israelite, he's Jewish.

And as he comes, he comes first of all of the nations, of all of the places where Jesus had been, where he could have been born. He's born in little Israel. It's a tiny nation, isn't it? When we go there, particularly Americans who are used to this huge country, they're amazed how small this is.

It's a small country. Right, however, in the very middle of the earth, isn't it? And it's there that God chose his son to be born.

We'll think of that this evening. And as the Gospel comes, it comes first to Israel. So Paul can say in Romans 1, 16, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first, and also the Greek. In the progress of Revelation then, the Gospel, the offer of the kingdom of God comes first to the Jew, and then to the Gentiles.

The invitation first is to come. Israel, come to the Messiah. They say, no, we're going to kill him. And what does he then say? Go therefore, verse 9. Did you know this?

Go therefore to the main roads. What's our Lord Jesus Christ going to say before he ascends to his Father and his God in Matthew chapter 28? What's he going to say to his followers? Yes, Jewish men, the disciples, go and make disciples of all the nations.

But first, it comes to Israel. I think it's wonderful, however, and I'm so glad that in this parable in verse 10, it says, they gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. Any good people here today? Oh, a lot of you think you're very good, don't you?

I mean, compared with other people. You don't steal. You try to keep the commandments. You're a good neighbor. People think well of you.

You're invited to the Christmas party. You're a good person. You're not a criminal. You're an outstanding citizen. You think you're pretty good.

You're religious, perhaps. You're at Calvary Church. That's pretty good.

It's pretty impressive, isn't it? All the things you could be doing on a Sunday morning. You could be at home watching Manchester United play right at this moment.

You could be doing that. But you're here. You're good. This message is for you.

You need it. You, too, must repent and believe. And some of you say, no, in actual fact, John, I'm pretty bad. If you knew what I did this week, if you knew my thoughts this week, you'd be absolutely shocked. I might be.

I don't know. You think you're a pretty bad person, and you are. Perhaps you're deceptive. Perhaps you steal. Perhaps you're immoral. Perhaps you're having an affair and covering it up. Perhaps you're stealing from your employer. Perhaps you betrayed your friends.

Perhaps you're a nasty, mean person. Hands up. There must be one honest person here. Seriously, what I'm saying to you? Whoever you are, whoever you are, this message comes to you.

Come, whoever you are. They go into the highways and the byways, and everyone they find, good or bad, comes to the feast. I want to tell you, you are invited to the greatest party ever. Good, you know, we're at one of the live group parties, Christmas parties last night, and it was pretty good. But I'm going to a better party. One where there is, think of this, unending joy. A tremendous celebration of the marriage feast of the Lamb.

And it will be incredible. I want to tell you, if you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, don't buy into the consensus that Christians are kind of dull, nasty people. Yes, some of them are.

I could tell you some who are. But we who followers of Jesus Christ experience a joy, a deep lasting joy, which is not dependent on our temporary circumstances, which can be very difficult and very disappointing, but the source of our joy is not in the world, it's not in our achievements, but it is in Christ and Christ alone. And if you follow Jesus Christ, you will never, ever, ever regret it.

And you will experience a joy that the world can never give you. You ever think of the wedding that Jesus went to, the King of Galilee? Remember what He said when He turned the water into wine. You've kept the best wine until now.

Normally, as you drinkers know, you give the best wine first, and then when your guests are a little tipsy, you feed them the bad stuff. Right? What's the point? The point is this, that if you enter the kingdom of heaven, it gets better and better and better. You go the way of the devil.

He will give you the best first. And the more you follow the devil, and the more you continue to fill your own lusts, it gets tougher and tougher and tougher. And you wake up one morning, and you look in the mirror, and you say, how on earth did I ever get like this?

Often, your very physical appearance may change, and you'll wreak havoc in your relationships, and all that you once believed was important has gone in the pursuit of a dream, a false dream that the devil holds to you. The reverse is following Jesus. The wine gets better and better and better. The Proverb says that the path of the righteous is like the dawn, which gets brighter and brighter and brighter. Some of you saw the sun come up this morning just a little bit, and then it gets brighter and brighter and brighter. That's what it is, to enter the kingdom of God.

And the wonderful thing is that the offer comes to you, to you. For God so loved the world. One time someone said to me, when I said that Jesus loves the children, he said, well, you don't know if He loves the children.

You don't know if the children are elect. I thought, you know, of course, our Lord loves all of the children. His love goes to all the world. Listen to Paul. It is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. God wants you, my dear friend, He wants you to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Peter puts it this way, the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. And the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, that wonderful death, is sufficient to save all who will come to Him. There is abundant provision in our Lord Jesus Christ. He never runs out of grace.

He never runs out of love. He never runs out of forgiveness. And if you, whoever you are, if you repent and come to Him, He will receive you, our magnificent Savior. That's the first lesson, the offer to enter the kingdom of God goes to all good and bad.

The second lesson is this, not everyone will be in the kingdom of heaven. I realize the belief in our society when you talk to people, and you say, oh, it's nice. It's nice, John, that you're following Jesus.

That sounds so wonderful. That's your truth, but you know, I've got my own way, and my way is a little different. But it doesn't really matter because this is my truth. And with all due respect, I'm not going to follow Jesus.

I'm going to live my own life. And ultimately, whatever we believe, we're all going to end up in the kingdom of heaven after all. All are going to be saved. We've got churches here in Charlotte that preach that they're universalists. I don't know what they do with this parable. Do they cut it out of their Bibles? Did you notice verse 14, for many are called, but few are chosen.

Yes, the call goes to everyone, the whole world, good and bad. Ah, but few are chosen. Not everyone will enter the kingdom of God.

Illustration, dramatic illustration in a parable. The man without the wedding garment, the man who comes to the wedding on his own terms and his own ideas, not only is thrown out of the wedding, he's cast into outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those who refuse the invitation to come, those who refuse to repent have no part in the kingdom of God.

The tenants in the parable that we thought of last week, chapter 21 verse 41, do you notice they're put to a miserable death. God's judgment comes on those who reject His Son. We all love John 3, 16.

We teach it to our children. That's probably the first verse I ever learned. But implicit in John 3, 16 is that if you do not believe, you will perish.

Listen to it. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. If you don't believe, you will perish. And what is implicit in John 3, 16 is explicitly stated in John 3, 36.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Now this is the teaching of Jesus. This is not something we at Calvary Church have thought up. This is the teaching of the Word of God.

The man without the wedding garment has to face the King. He may deceive others, he cannot deceive the King. In John, we know that I was standing. John the Apostle heard this. As he writes the last book of the Bible, as an old man, he writes about that day where there will be the great white throne, and John writes, those whose names were not written in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire. When Jesus returns as King of kings and Lord of lords, we read, He will come with a sharp sword coming out of His mouth with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. Does that sound to Jesus that you know?

You say, well, that's not really my Jesus. That's not my truth. I don't believe that. I don't believe God will judge people. Listen, you've got the freedom to believe what you want, and you can believe what you want.

It doesn't alter the truth of the Word of God. If you're sitting here and you refuse to repent and continue to refuse to repent, I have to warn you, as a preacher of the Gospel, that you will be thrown into the lake of fire. Like this man, you will be speechless.

You will have no excuse. You've heard the Gospel and you've rejected it, and judgment is coming. That's the second lesson. Not everyone will be in the kingdom of heaven. Third, the last lesson, not all who profess salvation possess salvation.

Isn't that right? This man, I can see him coming in with the crowds into the marriage face, and perhaps no one sees anything different about him. He's there.

He's beginning to enjoy himself. But when the king comes in, the king immediately knows this man should not be here. He's with the crowd in the feast, but he doesn't belong there. It's a radical difference.

He's not appropriately dressed. Verse 41, for many are called, but few are chosen. You remember in the behind the shoes Jesus talked about two ways. There is a wide road, many are on it.

It leads to destruction. There is a narrow road, and Jesus says there are few that find it. Yes, the offer goes to everyone, and there are people who profess with their lips that they are following Jesus. They're with the crowd, as it were, but the reality is they do not know Jesus Christ. And Jesus says in that day, Matthew 7 verse 21, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Lord, Lord, I did this, I did that, and He says, no, no, apart from me, I didn't know you. Those who profess salvation, but do not possess it are cast out. Let me ask you, are you dressed for the kingdom of heaven?

You say, what are you talking about? There's a man there who is improperly dressed, and the question, the obvious question, the logical question then is this, Lord, how can I be properly dressed for the kingdom of heaven? I don't want to be thrown out if you point to yourself. If I ask you, do you think you're going to be in the kingdom of heaven, and you immediately start telling me of your achievements and your goodness and your church attendance and all the good things that you do, you're wearing the wrong dress.

You're pointing to yourself, to what you have done. And Isaiah says in Isaiah 64 verse 6, that all of these things that you think are pretty good and at a human level are good. But in the eyes of God, they're filthy garments, they're polluted.

You sit there and we hear about your accomplishments and we think, yes, that's pretty good. If I was God, I think I'd allow this person into heaven, but we're not God, and we have a different standard. And we are unholy people, we are polluted people. All of us without exception have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

The best that we do is polluted. We're wearing the wrong clothes. In God's eyes, we are without a wedding garment. Spiritually naked, bankrupt. You say, what do I need? What you need are righteous garments.

What you need are perfect garments. You can't stand before God in your own efforts, what you have done. It's a fatal mistake.

It's a terrible mistake. It will damn you for all of eternity. No, what's the gospel? It's not to look at ourselves, it's to look to Christ. And He comes in His perfection. He did no sin, He knew no sin, in Him was no sin. And in the wonder of the gospel, there is this wonderful great exchange where all of my sin, my dirty garments as it were, my dirty clothes are given to Jesus as the Lamb of God to take away my sin. And in exchange, He gives me His perfect righteousness so that I am clothed in the righteousness of my Lord Jesus Christ. So when I stand before God, I don't say I deserve to get into heaven. After all, I was a pastor, and I put up with all of these people at Calvary Church for many years, and if you only knew what I did, God, surely I can get in.

Absolutely not. I don't point to what I've done. How could I, as a sinful human being, ever enter in to the purity of heaven, of a God who is absolutely perfect and righteous and holy? I don't need better clothes that I can manufacture. You can't give me your clothes.

They're polluted as well. I need the clothes of someone who is perfect. And so says Paul in that great exchange, Him who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And so I stand before my God in the garments of my Savior, my magnificent Lord Jesus Christ. Robert Murray McShane puts it this way, when I stand before the throne, listen to it, dressed in beauty, not my own, when I see Thee as Thou art, love Thee with unsinning heart, then Lord, shall I fully know not till then how much I owe. This is God's grace.

This is the wonder that God takes, the worst of people like us. We understand that we need to repent. We can't stand in our own righteousness. We can't stand in our own filthy garments as it were.

No, they're put off. We put on the righteousness of Christ. That's illustrated in baptism, isn't it? When we see someone who is being baptized, Isaiah says, chapter 61 verse 10, I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul shall exalt to my God, for He has clothed me with the garment of salvation. He's covered me with the robe of righteousness.

That's it, that's it. That's what it means to repent. And so John in Revelation 7 sees this great multitude from every tribe and tongue and nation and they're wearing white clothes. And the robes have been made white in the blood of the Lamb. Through the blood of the cross, through the sacrificial work of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the world crucifies Him.

They reject that stone. He becomes the chief cornerstone, our Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead and calls on you and me to come. That's the gospel. Come, says our Savior, all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I'll give you rest. He gives us rest for our soul. He gives us forgiveness of sin. He gives us this inexpressible joy so that we're not saved by our works, but once we are saved, we demonstrate the reality of our salvation by a changed life.

So that our good works are never the condition of our salvation, but they are the consequences of our salvation as we are created in Christ for good works. Where do you stand? Where do you stand? You picture standing, as it were, before God.

What do you say? Are you speechless? Or do you realize that you're standing in the garments of your Lord Jesus Christ? Why won't you repent? Why won't you come to Christ, turning from your sin and embracing this magnificent Christ who died for our sins and rose again?

Will you do that? Dear God, we pray that some here, many here, will even now be repenting of their sin and trusting the Savior. For those of us who are following Christ, we realize that the closer we follow Him, the more joyful it is, so forgive us when we are distracted and arise when other dreams. Help us to walk close to our Savior, we pray in His name. Amen.