[Do you live by Christ?] There is no problem regarding our salvation, for we have been called and justified. But what wi
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 58 THE HEAVENLY KING BEING TESTED (2) Bible Verses: Matthew 22:2 The kingdom of the heavens has become like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. 22:10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding feast was filled with those reclining at table. 22:11 But when the king came in to look at those reclining at table, he saw there a man who was not clothed with a wedding garment, 22:12 And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 22:13 Then the king said to the servants, Bind his feet and hands, and cast him out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 22:14 For many are called but few are chosen. THE PARABLE OF THE MARRIAGE FEAST In this message we come to 22:1-14, the parable of the marriage feast. This parable is the continuation of the Lord’s answer to the chief priests and elders of the people. In His answer to their question regarding His authority, He spoke three parables: the parable of the shifting of the birthright, the parable of the vineyard, and the parable of the marriage feast. The parable of the shifting of the birthright reveals that the birthright, which had belonged to the nation of Israel, has been taken away and given to the church. The parable of the vineyard indicates that the kingdom of God was about to be taken away from Israel and given to the church. These first two parables refer to Israel on the negative side, for both the birthright and the kingdom were taken away from Israel. [A]fter the first two parables, the Lord added the parable of the marriage feast as the completion of His answer. In giving this parable, He turned from the negative side to the positive side. The parable of the vineyard in chapter twenty-one refers to the Old Testament, in which there was the kingdom of God (21:43), whereas the parable of the marriage feast in this chapter refers to the New Testament. In the foregoing parable, the Old Testament was likened to a vineyard, with the focus mainly on the matter of labor under the law; in this parable, the New Testament is likened to a marriage feast, with the focus mainly on the matter of enjoyment under grace. The vineyard is not mainly for enjoyment, but for labor. But in a marriage feast there is no labor. Instead, there is full enjoyment. No one attends a marriage feast for the purpose of laboring; all attend for enjoyment. Thus, the parable of the vineyard depicts labor under the law, and the parable of the marriage feast depicts enjoyment under grace. Verse 4 continues, “Again he sent other slaves, saying, Tell those who were invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatted beasts are killed, and all things are ready; come to the marriage feast.” This verse speaks of oxen and fatted beasts, both of which refer to Christ as the One killed that God’s chosen people might enjoy Him as a feast. Christ has many aspects for our enjoyment. As the oxen and the fatted beasts, He has been killed and prepared for our enjoyment. THE MARRIAGE GARMENT Verses 8 and 9 say, “Then he says to his slaves, The marriage feast is ready but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and as many as you find, call to the marriage feast.” Throughout the centuries, the preaching of the gospel in the Gentile world has been successful. Verse 10 says, “And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both evil and good; and the marriage feast was filled with those reclining at the table.” Because the proclamation was so prevailing, the marriage feast was filled with the called and invited ones.
Verse 11 says, “But when the king came in and beheld those reclining at the table, he saw there a man not clothed with a marriage garment.” The man without a marriage garment must surely have been a saved one. Although the man in verse 11 was called and saved, he nevertheless lacked the marriage garment. He has been called to salvation, but he is not chosen for the enjoyment of the kingdom of the heavens, which is only for the overcoming believers. In verse 14 the Lord [says]: “For many are called but few are chosen.” To be called is to receive salvation (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 4:1), whereas to be chosen is to receive a reward. The wedding garment signifies our qualification to participate in the marriage feast. The New Testament mentions this feast at least twice, in Matthew 22 and in Revelation 19. According to Revelation 19, those invited to the marriage feast are clothed in white linen. The white linen in Revelation 19 is the marriage garment in Matthew 22. This white linen signifies the surpassing righteousness. Matthew 5:20 says, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” This surpassing righteousness which qualifies us to participate in the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age is typified in Psalm 45, where we are told that the queen has two garments. We, the believers, should also have two garments. We all have the first garment, the garment that qualifies us to be saved. This garment is the objective Christ whom we received as our righteousness before God. In Christ, who is our righteousness, we have been justified and saved. But after receiving Christ, we need to live Him out. We need to live by Christ so that Christ may become our subjective righteousness. This subjective righteousness, Christ lived out of us in our daily life, is the white linen, the second garment, the marriage garment that qualifies us to participate in the marriage feast. Do not think that because we have been invited to the marriage feast, we can afford to be careless. On the contrary, the Lord may come into the feast and pick you out as one not having the second garment. The requirements of the second garment are strict, more than a matter of keeping a few commandments or regulations. Rather, day by day we need to live by Christ and live out Christ. This is not a matter of doing, but of living. [THE TRUTH OF THE KINGDOM REWARD AND PUNISHMENT] [Do you live by Christ?] There is no problem regarding our salvation, for we have been called and justified. But what will be your situation before the judgment seat of Christ? Will you be qualified to enter the marriage feast? If you believe the first part of the gospel, then you must also believe the second part. Martin Luther helped us to know the first garment, Christ as righteousness for us to be justified by God. This truth was recovered more than four hundred years ago. But in the Lord’s recovery today we have come to the second garment. We need both the objective and subjective righteousness. This is an important matter in the Gospel of Matthew, for it is a requirement of the kingdom. [A]ccording to the Gospel of Matthew, believers may be subject to dispensational punishment, a subject covered more than once in this Gospel. Few Christians believe that there will be such a punishment for the saved ones. But for more than forty years we have been teaching that we need to be overcomers. Those who are not overcomers will be excluded from the enjoyment of the kingdom during the millennium and will probably be punished. We have seen that the man without a marriage garment is cast out into outer darkness. To be cast out into outer darkness is not to suffer eternal perdition. The New Testament reveals that once a person has been saved, he is saved for eternity and can never perish. Although we cannot be lost, God may deal with us dispensationally. Do not think that there can be no problems after resurrection and rapture. God may still deal with you after your resurrection. Remember, one day you will be examined to see whether or not you have the second garment to qualify you for the marriage feast. Get ready for this by preparing the second garment, the white linen, the surpassing righteousness. May the Lord have mercy upon us for this! Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
