BS-40 ‘The Wedding’
Have you ever been to a wedding? In many cases the bride’s father gives her away. He entrust her to another man to cleave to; to take as partners; then they go on their own journey. The father has hopes that the bride’s journey is smooth; not many bumps along that road that may be much traveled.
If you were the father wouldn’t you want the same for the bride you give away? What about the bridegrooms’ father. What might he want?
Lesson Point – One day the Father is going to give the Bridegroom an extravagant wedding; don’t you hope you are there as one of the invited guest?
One place that a marriage feast is mentioned is at Matthew 22:1-14. Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying; 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who held a wedding feast for his son.
Father God, the King, is going to hold a wedding feast for the Bridegroom. It’s when the ‘Church’, that means repentant Christians, meets him; to ever be in his care. Jesus is the Son getting married.
3 And the King sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’
Father God sends out messengers to proclaim the gospel message but many are unwilling to listen, let alone to come to the banquet. Who was it that were first invited? Scripture tells us it was the ‘Sons of Israel’. Again HE sends out the evangelist to invite people to the wedding feast. The King has made ALL of the preparations, food and festivities have been made ready, but the secular crowd; the Chief Priest and other Pharisees aren’t interested in attending.
5 But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them.
The secular world, are not interested in the things of the King; they have their own agenda; instead of being involved in the things of God; their priority is making money for their pleasure. Their thoughts are having a high status and the conservatives don’t fall into their life style. In fact those conservative people who are employed by them are often looked down on with abusive treatment.
7 Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.
Father God will judge with perfect righteousness; the sheep and the goats will be separated; then many will stand before the judge in court. Some of the strong Angels of heaven will make sure the sentence from the Kings Judgement takes place. Woe to some of them.
8 Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.
The King instructed his soul winners and the prayer warriors to make known the wedding was about to start; because the secular crowd were not interested. The ‘good stewards’ of the King invited whomever they came in contact with to join them for the wedding. Many were being invited; both the Saved and the Heathen; but few entered the festivities.
11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
When Father God entered; he noticed that there was at least one of the guest who did not have on the breastplate of Righteousness; the ones who had put their ‘trust’ and ‘hope’ in the gospel of the Son. The unbeliever was speechless as he was led out of the festivities. He was the one who had heard the gospel at one time but rejected the salvation message. This person; more than likely was wishing that a do-over from his past could take place. Just like the secular of this day; they have rejected the gospel and their future abode will be dark with eternal torment. One thief on the cross choose wisely; didn’t he; how about you?
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John 2:1-12. Miracle at Cana; another wedding. “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus *said to her, “What business do you have with Me, woman? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you, do it.” 6 Now there were six stone waterpots standing there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing two or three measures each.”
The mother of Jesus knew about ‘the Son’ that God had given her to raise as her own. The day was a special occasion. She probably thought, “It’s time Son to perform a miracle and we need one today.” The Son was obedient to his parent; though HE would rather have not been placed in the spotlight.
7 Jesus *said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” And they took it to him.
Only God can turn water into wine as it is put in a waterpot; the servants shook their heads but they took the drink to the head ‘mantra de’ for the taste test. It surprised them with his response.
9 Now when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the groom, 10 and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus provided the wine for the banquet just like he provided the blood for salvation. Have you tasted the blessing of the 2nd birth; the spiritual birth?
11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
The 1st of the miracles caused the disciples to believe; how about you; do you believe? Have you trusted? Have you committed?
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.
What do you think they talked about? Did they make a 3 year PLAN and draw up a Mission statement? Wow! Wouldn’t you like to have been the FLY on the wall?
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Revelation 19:7-11. Marriage of the Lamb
7 Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
The Christian, the real Christian, has prepared themselves. Their clothes or attire are that of a good steward; their time – talent – treasure; these ‘good deeds’ are done after trusting in the Savior to remove the stains from their past; it’s not trying to buy their way past the Pearly Gate but it’s gratefulness to God. They have been given a clean slate. Though they live in the world; their choices are to follow the Kings teachings when secular mankind is at odds with the WORD that the Christian tries to live by.
9 Then he *said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Do you have an invitation; are you preparing for that last wedding in History? There will be a New Heaven; there will be streets of gold; LOVE will be the language used; no more politics; no more heartache or sickness. Only the few who travel the narrow road will be there. Every human who has ever had a heart beat will one day stand before God; every knee will bow to the King; the King is Father God! Make the right choice!
10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brothers and sisters who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
The Apostle John was writing this Revelation. All scripture comes from God, the Holy Spirit. Believe it! There are some mysteries yet to be totally understood so don’t get rattled. Sometimes the translation from the Greek to English such as believe or maybe love could have more than the first thought of the meaning. Could it be trusting or Eros, which is one of the Greek words for love…
The Coming of Christ
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
The 2nd coming of Jesus will be different. Jesus setup a spiritual guide at the 1st; at the 2nd judgement will take place to those who have never repented and believed the gospel.
How about you; have you trusted in the Savior?
Do you want to be invited to the wedding? Have you ever repented and ask Jesus to forgive you of sin? We have ALL sinned as Romans 3:23 reads and then in Romans 6:23 it reads that the wages of sin is eternal death. Yours and everyone’s ‘OUT’ is that the verse tells the sinner that Jesus provides forgiveness. “BUT that the gift of God is eternal life THROUGH Christ Jesus the Lord”. Without accepting the GIFT; it is not yours to keep. Grab it and don’t let go!
Repentance is what Jesus is offering you; put your Trust in him; HE has your ‘back’ so-to-speak. No one else can give you a clean slate; his blood is the atonement that ALL people receive their justification from. Wouldn’t you like to know that your reservation has been made; what’s stopping you from doing it today?
There is a New Heaven, a dwelling place, in the future for those who attend the wedding.
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Revelation 21:1-4. And 21:10. The New Heaven and Earth
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city; new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
The New Jerusalem
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
Jesus made a statement in John 14:1-3. Jesus has been preparing the new heaven for about 2000 years now. When Father God gives the word that it is time for the wedding; just like the wedding the King spoke about in Matthew 22; Jesus is coming back to receive his bride. Are you ready?
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Revelation 22:20. 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
And so, we who are born again, spiritual Christians, reply with “Come Lord Jesus.!!!”
DG