In the Church but Not of Christ
The parable of the wedding feast talks abuot one group or set of people. These people are not entirely of the world—they have been invited to the wedding hall, they dine in the wedding hall, and do all they are supposed to do in the wedding hall. But brethren, do you know what is missing? The wedding garment.
What does this represent? It represents what God requires from each of us. We want to be there. Let me put it this way: when you go to Rome, you do what the Romans do. But here, in this case, we are in Rome, yet we don’t do what the Romans do. No. And each day and night, the shepherds, the pastors, apostles, ministers—they are doing their part, telling us that once we are of Christ, we should do everything Christ expects of us. They can’t force anyone. Their work is to bring us into the wedding hall; they don’t determine who is right or wrong. In other words, they don’t determine who goes to hell or heaven. That is why it took God Himself to cast the man into the lake of fire.
Matthew 22:10: So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
At the time of the invitation (now), God told the servants (the prophets, pastors, evangelists, apostles, etc.) to invite everyone without any requirements. In fact, their past was not considered before they were invited. It was “come as you are”— whether good, bad, evil, wicked, a murderer, a thief, or anything else, God said you should come.
Matthew 22:9-10: Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways *and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.*
You should also take note: you only receive a wedding invitation if everything for the occasion is ready. So, like Jesus said at the beginning of the parable and others like it: all things are ready. Yours is to simply prepare for the occasion. But many are stuck with the world that is passing away—a world set on fire.
Matthew 22:4: “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”
Now is the time of invitation. It is the time to call people from the streets and the highways and tell them about this wedding feast which God has prepared. It is a time of COME AS YOU ARE. Then, when you do, the servants will teach you all things concerning this wedding. They will teach you about the wedding garment to put on, and they will teach you the consequences of not putting it on.
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
The decision to wear it is in your hands, but the servants will make sure you understand what it means to put it on and what it means to go to the wedding feast without it.
No one will stop you from coming to the wedding feast without the wedding garment—it is not in anyone’s power to do so. But it is in the power of the servants to give you all the instructions concerning the wedding. It is up to you to follow them. They cannot force you to put the wedding garment on; they cannot force you to come to the wedding. All must be done by you.
Even the chosen ones—the Israelites, for whom the wedding feast was prepared—rejected the invitation and killed the messengers on top of it. So no one can force you to come to the wedding, and when you decide to come, no one can force you to put the garment on. It is YOUR CHOICE.
Matthew 22:4-5 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
But the truth is this: your disobedience to the message given is why you are going to hell. In other words, the very words you reject have already judged you. And when the time is up, the Master comes and casts you into the lake of fire.
John 12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
We are in the church—paying tithes, attending naming ceremonies and funerals, contributing to welfare, organizing conferences, revivals, and all of that. These are good, but this is what we are focused on—making sure the traditions of men are followed instead of God. Some of us are stuck with all the religious activities in the church. Mark 7:8-9 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
Then one day, the King returns and casts out someone who from childhood has been in the church. How is that so? How are sons of the kingdom being cast into the lake of fire? Does it even make sense? What could be the reason? How is it that the one invited is cast away? Because we love the world, the money, the marriage, the job, the position, the house, the land, all the good things the world has to offer..
Matthew 8:11-12 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Remember, it is said in the Old Testament that when God sends you to deliver a message and you fail, and the people end up in hell, He will require their blood from you. So, if the people whom God sent to deliver others from the snares of the devil did not do their job, God upon return would have destroyed them also.
Ezekiel 33:8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; *but his blood I will require at your hand.
So when you read the parable, the moment Jesus returned, it was the man who honoured the invitation who was cast into hell—the man in the church, the man in the kingdom of God, the man who received the invitation and came to the wedding. It only means that the ministers did their part, but the man did not obey. Do you get it? Each one of us is responsible for where we will spend eternity.
Then to Lot’s wife. The place was about to be set on fire, but she was more concerned about the material things she was losing than about her soul. I mean, what would make someone go back to a place set on fire, when your life is what matters most? Brethren, this represents us today—we have all the information, we know God is going to destroy the earth, we believe it, and we attend church, and perform all the necessary religious activities. But do you know where our heart is? It is in the world—not in God or the things of God.
Every day we hear the warning to depart. But like the Israelites, our feet is in the Promised Land, yet our hearts are still in Egypt. In other words, we are doing all the church activities, all the religious rituals, even reading and understanding the Bible, but our heart is in the world. And Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
So the question is: what treasure do you have in this world, seeing that God is about to set it on fire? Tell me—this entire earth will one day cease to exist, everything completely annihilated. So tell me, is it your job, your business, your farm, your land, your wife, your children, your husband, your girlfriends and boyfriends, or even the marriage you’re looking for—are these your treasure? Over there, in the new earth, God said all things are new. You are a new person, born of water and the Spirit—not of a woman. So who is your family there on the new earth? Which land or house will be yours? The old world, the old earth, is being destroyed.
Letting go is a must. It’s not easy—if it was, why would Lot’s wife look back? At least common sense should tell you there is nothing there to gain, and that your soul is what matters. Yet she looked back. She did not obey the instruction given. Just like the man cast into the lake of fire—despite being invited, he was still living in the world. His heart was set on the world, not on things of the kingdom of God.
The place has been set on fire, what is the first thing you do, Run for your life.. But here is Lot’s wife, here is you—wanting something that is set on fire. The Owner Himself is destroying what He created, so what is your problem? What do you have to lose, please?
All things are ready; just run for your life, that is all. You are now climbing mountains, praying for things that are about to be set on fire. Then we get them, and then we set our hearts on them, losing our soul in the end. So did we go, or did we come?
So day by day, night by night, then one day the King returns. And because their heart is not with Him, they won’t even know He has come. As Jesus said: “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away.”
The key word is “they knew not.” Why did they not know? Because their heart was not there. They are too busy about marriage, about building houses and filling their bank accounts.. If your heart is there, you will be watching each day and night, doing what is expected of you, living in a ready state. But look—their entire life is so tied to the earthly things that they only saw the flood when it was too late. Blinded by the activities of the world, by even the religious activities in the church, and the pressures of life.
Why should a man lose his soul over something that will be turned to ashes and vanish into thin air? Why, my dear? Why, brother? What is there that you can’t let go? We are supposed to live for tomorrow, but we are living for yesterday—which has already been judged with fire.
What do you have to gain in this world? What is so precious, when even the God who made it is burning it? Yet here you are fighting over it. I wish we could fully understand the consequences of not making it to the new earth. Don’t think the 100 years you live on this earth is long—it is just like a second, a flash, before God. Men once lived 950 years, 910 years, and 600 years. What then is your 70 years compared to that?
But brethren, where you will go has no timer or expiry. If you were to be in the lake of fire for 950 years, at least you would know that someday you would be out. The story of Lazarus and the rich man in hell tells us one thing: there is no way out once you are in. The rich man never asked for a way out; he only asked for something to sustain him—because there isn’t one. It is unending. A permanent state.
Can you imagine this? If you can, then you will understand why God left His royalty and came down to earth Himself to save man.
Luke 16:24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
