Welcome
Those of you who are new to Missouri State University, welcome. To the students who are returning, welcome back. I’m glad to see you here today and I sincerely welcome you to MSU. I attended here 36 years ago and I welcome you to this same university that I graduated from back in the mid 80’s. So welcome to the start of the 2017 Fall semester at MSU.
Being welcomed is important. You know when you go to a home that you’ve never been to before, you really don’t know until you get there whether you are truly welcome. You really don’t know if the home is welcoming or inviting or not, until you walk in and are greeted by the person that invited. As you know, it’s great when you go somewhere that is really inviting. When the person having you over truly seems to want you there. They are inviting and they make you feel very welcomed in their home.
Large Wedding
Today I’m talking about welcome and being welcomed because there is a great wedding that we all are invited to. Yes, every single one of us are invited to this wedding. Can you imagine how large this wedding will be? Not only are we invited, but everyone who has ever lived has also received an invitation to this wedding.
I can’t even imagine a wedding this large. I just can’t picture it. But the invitation is real. You are invited. Here is your invitation: And Jesus answered and spoke unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
Guests Refused To Come To The Wedding
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
No Wedding Garment
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he said unto him, Friend, how came thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:1-14).
Did you hear this? The king invited people to the wedding. The ones that were originally invited rejected the invitation. So the king had his servants go out and invite others. He sent them to the highways to invite others to this massive wedding.
I Was Invited To The Great Wedding
Students, that’s why I’m here today. That’s what compels me to come over here to share the glorious Gospel with you. I was invited to the great wedding and I accepted the invitation. I’m here to tell you that I accepted the invitation to repent from my sins and put my trust in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I received eternal life when I turned from my sins and surrendered my life fully and completely to Jesus.
The invitation to the wedding is a parable about the invitation to salvation. It points to the seriousness of our sins. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Those who reject salvation will suffer the horrible consequences for their rebellion against God. Our Creator God is Holy, righteous and just and there is judgment to come for all unrepentant rebellion against HIm.
Students, Judgment Day is coming. It’s appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. We are all going to die one day. You are young and may feel bullet proof, but no matter how you feel, one day you will die. God forbid, you could die in a car accident. When I was a sophomore here at MSU all those years ago, one of my fellow high school classmates from Lebanon, MO was on the back of a motorcycle that her boyfriend was driving. They got into an accident and she died. My friend was probably around 19 years old and she died in a motorcycle accident while attending MSU!
You Too Will Be Speechless
I’m pointing this out to you, because life is short. Even if you live a long life, it will still be short compared to eternity. When the man was asked by the king about not wearing the proper wedding garment, the man was speechless. On Judgment Day, if you die in your sins without Jesus Christ being your Lord and Savior, you too will be speechless. You will have nothing to say.
There will be no excuse for your continued rebellion against God. You won’t have an excuse for rejecting such a great of salvation found in Christ alone. Jesus is the only Savior. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the only Savior and we all need salvation. We have all sinned against God. All sin is rebellion against God. Sin must be punished. Because God is good, because He is just, He will and does punish sinners.
The king said the man wasn’t wearing a wedding garment. What does this mean? It means the man wasn’t properly dressed for the wedding. In the Jewish culture at that time, the person inviting you to a wedding provided the wedding garment for you. The main thing was for you to show up and the host provided everything else.
The Righteousness Of Jesus
In this parable, Jesus is pointing to the fact that only His righteousness can cover us. Only His righteousness meets God’s Holy demands of God’s Holy Law. Only the righteousness of Jesus Christ can cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Jesus is the only way of salvation. The Lord Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
You cannot save yourself. You can’t do all that you can do and Jesus make up the difference. No, you must repent and surrender your life to King Jesus. You must put on the Lord Jesus. You can do this when you recognize your sinfulness and God’s Holiness. Oh, you can cry out, God be merciful to me a sinner. When you fall at the foot of the cross, you can put on the Lord Jesus, you can put on His righteousness. He will clothe you in His righteousness and take away all of your sins.
The Man Was Speechless
The man that the king confronted in the parable was speechless. The king asked him how he got in there without wearing the correct wedding garment and the man was speechless. Folks, the Bible backs this up. You may spit, stomp, cuss and swear that there is no God, but you know that God is real. God has written His law on your conscience and your heart. You know right from wrong today because of God. Who He is and His moral standards.
You will have no excuse on Judgment Day for your rebellion against Almighty God and your rejection of salvation found in Christ alone. And you will be speechless. Your mouth will be stopped. Now we know that what things soever the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God (Romans 3:19).
Your Mouth Will Be Stopped
You will be speechless on Judgment Day. You will have no excuses and your mouth will be stopped. When God reminds you of every wicked thought that you’ve ever had, every vile word that you’ve ever spoken and every sinful thing that you’ve done, you will remain silent. Yes, you will acknowledge your guilt on that great and terrible day of the Lord, but there will be nothing you can do on that day. If you die in your sins. If you die without Jesus Christ being your Lord and Savior.
Oh students, I’m here today pleading with you to accept the invitation. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the only Savior of mankind. Only Jesus saves. But praise and thank God, Jesus saves. He saved 2,000 years ago and He still saves today. Come to Jesus Christ and be saved.
Come To The Wedding – Receive The Invitation
Oh, come to the wedding. Receive the invitation. Jesus Christ is the groom and the church is the bride. Those of us who are true believers in Jesus, His followers, are the church. Oh, repent and submit your life to Jesus. Come to King Jesus today and be saved. Be cleansed, be forgiven, become a new creature in Christ. Oh students, be saved. Be saved today. Repent and believe the Gospel.
I can’t find anywhere in the Bible where Jesus ever begged anyone to come to Him. But I’m not Jesus. I’m merely a sinner saved by grace. I’m begging you, I’m pleading with you to repent and be converted. Recognize that you are a sinner. Confess and forsake your sins. Cry out for God to save you. Oh, when you truly see how sinful your life has been in light of God’s Holiness, you too will cry out for God to save you. Then you will beg God to save your soul.
Open Invitation
The invitation to the great wedding is an open invitation. Not all will accept. In the parable I read earlier, many people made excuses. Some were too busy. Others had just gotten married. In today’s terms, you might say that you’re too busy with college to think about your sins and the righteousness of Jesus.
Oh, but don’t put it off. You don’t know when you will breathe your last breath. You are not guaranteed the rest of today, let alone tomorrow. Remember I mentioned earlier that an old high school classmate died from injuries she sustained in a motorcycle accident when she was a sophomore here at MSU. She was probably only 19 years old. I guarantee you that she had no idea when she woke up that morning that she would not see the next day.
Life is short. Eternity is long. Don’t foolishly die in your sins without Jesus Christ being your Lord and Savior. Don’t count on a one-time religious experience when you were a child that did not dramatically change your life. Meeting the risen Lord changes your forever. The apostle Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus over 2,000 years ago.
Truly Saved Truly Changed
Not only did Paul’s name change from Saul to Paul, but he stopped persecuting and killing Christians to becoming one himself. Then Paul suffered tremendously for the sake of the Gospel. But he was ok with that because Jesus was with him every step of the way. Now Paul is in Heaven with Jesus and he will spend eternity with his Lord and Savior. I can’t wait to spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven. But I’m gloriously saved. I know where I’m going. I have the promise from Jesus that I have eternal life – right now. The second I die I will be in Heaven. I want you to go there too and repentance and faith in Jesus is the only way of salvation.
Oh students, don’t be like the man who showed up to the wedding without the wedding garment. You can’t get to Heaven with your own righteousness. Isaiah says all of our righteousnesses look like filthy rags to our Holy God. Oh, don’t die in your sins and be like the man without the wedding garment. Jesus said the king had him bound hand and foot, and taken away, and he was cast him into outer darkness, where there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Hell Lasts Forever
Oh, don’t die in your sins and go to Hell. It lasts forever. Don’t die without Jesus Christ and suffer the torments of Hell for all eternity. No, instead, repent and surrender your life to Jesus. Call upon the precious name of Jesus and be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Do this today. Turn from your sins and turn to Jesus Christ the Lord and be welcomed into the family of God. Repent and believe the Gospel.
(This message was lifted up at Missouri State University on August 23, 2017)