Bymonline.org | August 2020
the Lamb.
So the King sent His army and took them
to task for their barbaric act. “ O Jerusalem
Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and
stone those sent to you, how often I have
longed to gather your children together, as a
hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but
you were not willing! Look, your house is left to
you desolate” (Lk 13:34,35). A time will come
when the King will say, “That's enough. I've
had it.” His anger was kindled; He unleashed
His wrath; He destroyed those murderers and
burned their cities. He rejected the Jews, sent
the Roman army and destroyed Jerusalem.
Hitler drew the noose around the Jews and
killed millions of them.
I was just thinking why they neglected
such a golden opportunity to attend a palace
wedding. Then I thought may be the protocol
was too much for them. Out of curiosity I
checked Google to see the Royal Wedding
protocols. There were twenty but I chose one
that relates to our subject.
The Wedding Dress. You cannot go as
you please. There is a dress code. I suppose
the servants were sent with the royal
wedding dress for each invitee. The invitees
were to put off their dirty clothes, have a
wash, and put on the wedding garment.
Joshua's filthy clothes were removed. His sin
was taken away and he was given rich
garments (Zech 3:3-5). We need to first put off
our dirty clothes. Our rags described by the
authors of the epistles need to come off. The
religious Jews could not strip themselves of
their self-righteousness. The Bible
recommends that we strip ourselves of the
filthy clothes of misleading others by telling
lies, harboring bitterness against someone in
our heart, emotional outbursts resulting in
shouting, screaming, harming others, dirty
talk, immorality etc., not to mention the loss
of ethics in business, out of wed-lock
birthrate, substance-abuse, pornography
and such things which were not so common
in the Biblical era (Eph 4:25,31; Col 3:8; Rom
13:12-14).
We need to take a scrub bath and be
washed in the blood of the Lamb. Now we are
ready to put on the wedding garment sent by
the King. There is the helmet of salvation
which we need to wear always as we ride
through life (1 Thess 5:8). It is the rule of the
new kingdom. Job says that he put on
righteousness as his clothing; justice was his
robe and turban (Job 29:14; Rev 19:8; Isa
61:10). We need to clothe ourselves with the
Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 13:14). That means
anybody seeing us must see Jesus Christ.
Humility (1 Pet 5:5), the new self (Col 3:10),
and over all these virtues we must put on love
which binds them all together in perfect unity
(Col 3:12-14). 'The Bible speaks of putting on
love like a garment. It is a cloak we never
remove - doing good, meeting needs, shedding
offences, showing compassion, projecting
friendliness. That's the uniform of the
Christian,' says Shurtleff.
Now do you understand why they said
'No'? It was too much for them.
Then the King went ahead with His next
strategy. He sent some more of His servants
and told them that those He invited did not
deserve to come. So He asked them to go to
street corners and invite anyone they found.
These servants, we may safely assume as the
disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. They went
out into the streets (Acts 5:15) and gathered
all the people they could find, both good and
bad. The invitation widened their eyes. Their
hearts thumped with excitement. “Who me?
To the King's banquet? Oh, this lovely
garment! How wonderful! It is hard to put off
my old clothes to which I've got used to since
many years. But I want to come. So give me
the wedding garment,” was the joyous cry of
everyone. They were choked with gratitude.
They put off their stinking clothes and had a
Page 05