Formal Wear Required

James McNeill

The King Is Coming • Sermon • Submitted 4 months ago • Presented 4 months ago

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Formal Wear Required examines Jesus' parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:8–14 and the Biblical call to holiness as believers await His return. This message explores the King's invitation of salvation, the coming gathering of the Bride of Christ, and the importance of being spiritually prepared with the garments of holiness when the King returns.

Notes

Transcript

I. Series Overview — The King Is Coming

We are in a series entitled. The King Is Coming

There are three aspects to the Lord's return that impact our lives:

The Biblical or prophetic

The lifestyle

The waiting

We have already looked at the Biblical or prophetic portion.

Now we have moved into the lifestyle aspect.

We are looking at how Christians are to live in these last days.

Today, we are looking at how. Formal Wear Is Required

II. Matthew 22:8–13

Matthew 22:8–13 ESV

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.’

III. Introduction

There are different ways for one to dress, and there are different occasions that have a certain dress code.

There is casual dress, business casual attire, and formal attire.

There used to be a time here in America when everybody had their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothing.

Some RSVP events might say that it is a black-tie event.

How someone dresses really matters at times.

Believe it or not, the Kingdom of God has a dress code.

We are to be clothed in holiness.

Ephesians 5:27 ESV

so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

This morning, we're looking at how, at the coming of Christ,. Formal Wear Is Required

IV. Holiness and the Blessed Hope

A. The King's Invitation

Matthew 22:8–10 ESV

In this parable, the King's invitation is a picture of salvation.

In fact, as a whole, the entire parable is a picture not only of salvation and holiness, but also of how the Jews would reject Jesus and the Gentiles would accept Him as Messiah.

The servants are told to go into the highways and compel people to come to the wedding feast.

The going into the highways is a picture of the effort of the Church to fulfill the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:19 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

The Church is called to first go into all the world and compel every man, woman, and child to be saved through faith in Christ.

B. The Wedding Feast Gathering

Matthew 22:10

Our blessed hope is often referred to in Scripture as a wedding feast.

Revelation 19:7 ESV

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;

In the parable, there comes a time when the king says, "The feast is ready; go gather the wedding guests."

Likewise, there's coming a day when we will experience our last sunset and see the sun rise for the last time.

There's coming a day when we will have read our last book, watched our last television show, studied the Bible for the last time, and prayed our last prayer.

There is coming a day when groceries recently purchased will sit in cupboards and pantries, undisturbed and uneaten.

There is coming a day when the Father will look at the Son and say, "Go get Your bride."

1 Thessalonians 5:2 ESV

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

C. The Consequences of Not Being Properly Dressed

Matthew 22:11–14 ESV

“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.”

In the Lord's parable, there was a dress code.

One individual did not have the proper wedding attire on.

In the parable, the wedding attire is symbolic of holiness.

Salvation is not a license to sin.

God expects us, through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, to cast away the sinful garments that once defined our lives and clothe ourselves with holiness.

Holiness is not an option, but rather it is the formal wear the Lord requires.

The Lord is not returning for a complacent and compromised people, but rather a people who have set themselves apart for Him.

Romans 12:1 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

We live in a day and age when Christians compromise God's standards in order to live as they want to live and do as they want to do.

Rather than having to struggle with and overcome sin, they either give up or redefine what sin is.

Holiness is not an easy pathway to walk, especially when television, social media, radio, books, magazines, and every type of social gathering bombard us with every type of sensual temptation.

There are consequences for living an unholy life.

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Hebrews 12:14 ESV

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

As indicated in the parable, those without it will spend an eternity in hell.

There's an old hymn in the hymnbook that says:

"So if at the judgment bar sinful spots your soul shall mar,

You can never enter there." (Sin Can Never Enter There)