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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Parable of the Wedding Feast Bible Verse:The Parable of the Wedding Feast "And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven 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 are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his 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.” " Message:
This appears to be a single parable, but it is lot easier to grasp if we split it into two parts. The first part, then, is fairly simple. It has been called The Parable of the Open Door. Jesus is talking about the Jews. He invited them to the great feast of his Son; they were the invited guests, for they were God’s chosen people since the day of Abraham and the vehicle for his salvation. But they weren’t interested. Instead, the Jewish establishment attacked the disciples of Christ who invited them to salvation, persecuted them, and killed many of them.
There were not yet any Christian martyrs when Christ gave the parable. He might have been speaking of the prophets, many of whom had been killed for prophesying against kings who tolerated or even practiced idolatry. (John the Baptist had already been beheaded, but his death was the result of his own prophecy, not his connection to Christ.) Or, this might be prophetic as to future Christian martyrs.
As prophecy, the parable is utterly accurate. The Temple itself, and all within it, will be demolished shortly after Jesus’ death, and all within it will die. Furthermore, the “servants” will go forth “out into the roads” and spread the Gospel throughout the world, inviting all to repentance, good and bad alike, and bringing light and salvation to all who will receive it.
The second part, the wedding garment parable, affects us, today, more directly; and it should concern us. The door is open and we may be admitted, but that does not mean we will be accepted. There will be people, Jesus tells us, who come to him for salvation but are not, somehow, properly clothed; and clothed apparently refers to a personal characteristic. Jesus does not get specific. We must read and learn more, to find out how we might be “properly clothed.” We are reminded of Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven . . .”
Anglo-Saxon cross found on the corpse of a dead girl, @ 500 AD
England, ca. 500 A.D.
Cross found with
body of a girl
We see the garment metaphor more clearly in Revelation 7. The saved souls are depicted as people who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-17.
Salvation (i.e. the “wedding garment”) is a gift, but that doesn’t mean it is easy or automatic. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21) Martin Luther’s “sola fide” (salvation through faith alone) is widely misunderstood. One must conform one's heart and actions to Christ to be saved; the doctrine of sola fide, , does not mean that faith without works is sufficient for salvation. Here is how Luther himself put it: “Works are necessary for salvation but they do not cause salvation; for faith alone gives life.”
What, then, are Christ's “commandments”? The Sermon on the Mount is instructive about this (Matthew 5-7), but He will give us a summary a few lines down in Matthew 22. Luke tells it thus:
And [a man] answering said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”
And [Christ] said unto him, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”
(Luke 10:27-28)
Meditation : Prayer : May the word I have read, Lord, be planted deeply in my mind and heart. Help me not to walk away and forget it, but to meditate on it and obey it and so build my life on the rock of your truth.......Amen |
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