The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Matt 22:1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:
2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,
3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.
4 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.” ’
5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.
6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them [a]spitefully, and killed them.
7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’
10 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.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, [b]take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations
Matt 25: 31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the [c]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 4
3 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Deception, it is one of the most dangerous problems mentioned in the scriptures – and in our day and age, deception is running rampant! The spirit of Antichrist, that ol’ devil is heading to hell and he knows it and he wants to take as many with him as he can.
Matthew 25:41 (KJV) Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
The two stories above are possibly two of the scariest scriptures in the whole Bible.
These folks thought they were on the right road doing the right thing yet when they met the King – he had a totally different set of standards and practices that they had somehow missed, and it led to their being cast out of his presence.
We too. can be deceived if we are not careful and it is incumbent to check our selves to see just where we are in Christ, to see if we are following his ways, or if in fact we are following our own thoughts and desires or worse those of the world and Satan.
2 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV) Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
Test yourself to see if you are in the faith…
At this time of year, the Jews have powerful fall feasts – the feast of trumpets which is a call to repentance, the day of atonement when they believe their name is written down in the lamb’s book of life based on their good deeds or bad deeds. and how their being judged will affect them for the nest year.
It is a time of introspection, repentance and refocusing on what the Lord truly asks of us.
As Christians, most of us do this in January… but for me with Jewish roots – I find fall my time, I was saved during this season and each year this is my time to take stock.
I want to know – have I been following the Lords plan for my life, have I been faithful to the things he loves and wants or am I living according to my own wants and desires? The enemy of our souls can create strongholds in the mind if we allow it and we can begin to believe things that are not true and create doctrines of our own imaginations and worse yet. doctrines of devils become part of our belief system.
That is why it is so important as Paul says to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.
So where do we start?
Start by Examining:
What do you believe about the Lord, who is He? What is his nature?
What is our relationship like with him, are you close to him?
Do you believe what everyone else says, or the world says, or what various religious leaders teach. or are you staying within the covers of the Bible?
Are you saved according to the Bible?
Are you walking in truth as a Believer and as a Bible Believing Christian?
Lets start with who the Lord is…because the Bible is very clear – there is only one God – who is Spirit, and Holy, loving, longsuffering and compassionate, who is all powerful, all knowing and who fills the universe.
That spirit overshadowed Mary and the baby that was born was perfect man and perfect God – Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Born for one purpose the salvation of mankind – to deal with the sin issue – his death, burial and resurrection, and ascension make up what we call, the good news or the Gospel. That our sins have been bought and paid for, and as Christ said from the Cross – It is finished!
We are therefore admonished to…
Acts 20:28 (KJV) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
The world and false prophets preach there are many paths to God, but we know from the Bible that there is only one way to into the kingdom of God and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ – Jesus said…
John 14:6 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through Me.
Only One way – through Christ.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is Almighty God come in the flesh? That he was both perfect man and perfect God. Or do you believe in two gods, or three or one hundred gods?
Listen to what Philip asked after Jesus said he was the way.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
The Father Revealed
John 14:7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
If you believe in more than one God you have been deceived, repent and believe the Word of God.
New King James Version
Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
The next test then, if Jesus Christ is none other than one true and living God, manifested in the flesh – what do I do?
The Jews asked the same question of Peter on the day of Pentecost…
Acts 2:36 “ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the [k]remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
The Apostle Peter preached that one way and how to enter the kingdom of God on the Day of Pentecost – so we need to test our salvation experience against the Word of God.
So have we believed the Gospel?
I Corinthians 15: 1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,