ARE YOU DRESSED FOR THE OCCASION?--MATTHEW 5:1-11, 22:1-14

ARE YOU DRESSED FOR THE OCCASION?

(A follow-up to: "COME TO THE WEDDING FEAST.")

MATTHEW 5:1-11, 22:1-14

Key verse: vv. 11-12, “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.”

Introduction:

The guests continued to pour into the palace, putting on the robes provided by the King, “but THERE WAS ONE among them WHO HATED THE KING, AND HIS SON, and who resolved to come into the festive assembly WITHOUT wearing the ROBE OF GLADNESS, and thus TO SHOW, even in the royal presence, his CONTEMPT for the whole proceedings.” ---Spurgeon.

The CUSTOM in the EAST of presenting festival garments even though nor clearly proved, is certainly presupposed here. It undoubtedly means something which they bring NOT OF THEIR OWN—for how could they have any such dress who were GATHERED IN from the HIGHWAYS indiscriminately?—but which they receive as their appropriate dress. ---Jamison, Fausset, Brown Commentary.

I. THE GUEST WHO REFUSED THE KINGS ROBE

A. This guest manifested a PROUD, REBELLIOUS disposition, Isaiah 13:11, “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”

B. The proud are AGAINST the Lord and His people, Psalms 86:14, “O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.”

II. THE KING COME TO VIEW THE GUEST

A. He came to look at them as a pleasing spectacle, v. 11; Matthew 6:1, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”

1. The King sees A MAN without a wedding garment.

a. The lack of a wedding garment represents “the old man,” Ephesians 4:22, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;”

b. The lack of the garment represents the lack of faith in Christ, Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

2. What the King saw in the guest that were appropriately dressed, Ezekiel 16:6-14.

B. His presence is TOLERATED UNTIL a certain solemn moment: WHEN THE KING CAME in to see the guests, vv. 12-13; Zephaniah 1:7, “Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. 8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with STRANGE apparel.”

1. The example of the parable of the wheat and tares, Matthew 13:30, “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

2. The tares are the children of the devil, Matthew 13:38, “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;”

3. The tares are gathered and burned, Matthew 13:40, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.”

C. Many are called, but few are chosen, vv. 13-14; Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

1. The CHOSEN are those who receive Jesus Christ as Savior, John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that BELIEVE ON HIS NAME:”

2. The ONE without the wedding garment was bond and cast out into outer darkness, v. 13; Matthew 8:12, “But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

CONCLUSION

3. The banquet was probably held in the evening because of the necessity of inviting guest late in the day. The outer darkness is a comparison with the well-lit banquet hall and is a symbol of hell. It demonstrates the fact that without the Robe of Righteous by faith in Christ as Savior, man ends up his life in “outer darkness” without salvation.