The Wedding Garment (Robe)

Jesus told this story: (Matthew 22: 11-14)

A king was going to have a wedding dinner.

Many people were asked to come to the dinner. But they were too busy to come. They were doing things they wanted to do and they did not want to come.

The king said, "I will ask other people" He told his workers to go out into the roads and ask anyone they see to come to the wedding dinner.

The workers walked around the city and the country. They asked anyone they saw to come to the wedding dinner.

When the people came to the dinner, they were given a special wedding robe to put on. Then they went on into the dinner.

The king went around talking to the people. He came to one man who did not have on a wedding robe. He asked the man, "How is it that you do not have on a wedding robe?"

The man did not have anything to say. What could he say? The robe was given free. The man did not take the robe. He thought he could go pass it. He thought he was good enough the way he was. He thought he did not need the robe.

The king took the man and put him out of the house. The Bible says that he was put into outer darkness were there is weeping (crying) and gnashing (rub the teeth together) (much pain).

In the story Jesus is trying to show how things will be in heaven.

The Bible talks about a dinner in heaven some day. This dinner is called the "marriage supper of the Lamb." Revelation 19: 7, 9 Revelation 7: 9 ,13-14

This dinner is to honor Jesus as King.

The first people Jesus asked to come to the dinner were the Jews.

The Jewish people had been the people God gave His law to. The Jewish people have written the Old Testament of the Bible. The New Testament was written about Jesus by Jewish men .

Some of the Jewish people believed that Jesus was God's son.

They heard what Jesus said and did obey what he said.

Many, many Jewish people did not believe that Jesus was God's son. They had Jesus killed. They did not want to hear Jesus.

This is like the people in the story who did not want to come to the dinner.

So God asked other people to come to the dinner. He asked anyone who wanted to come to the dinner in heaven.

People who believe that Jesus is God's son are believers and they go to church. They are called "the church". The church is all the people who believe in Jesus and have asked Him to forgive them----are called the "bride". The "bride" church and Jesus will be together now forever in heaven.

When people come to Jesus and ask to be forgiven of their sins (wrong doing), Jesus forgives them. He gives them a robe of "righteousness". The white robe shows that their sins have been taken away and they are clean from their sins because they have come to Jesus.

We can not come into heaven just as we are. We have sin. Sin can not be in heaven.

The man in the story thought he was good the way he was. He did not need the robe. He was wrong. The king did not let him stay at the dinner.

Jesus will not let us stay in heaven if we have sin. Only if we have the "robe of righteousness" that Jesus gives us will we be able to stay in heaven.

People who think they are good enough ----that they do not need Jesus or God. They think they do not need to say they have sin. They do not think they must ask Jesus to forgive them-----they will have to go out of heaven. They will go to a dark place where there is pain and crying---hell.

The man in the story could have put on the robe. It was free. He just did not want it. But he did want to be at the dinner.

People want to be in heaven. But many people do not want to obey God. They do not want to obey what Jesus says. They do not want to read the Bible, pray, or do what God says. They do not want the "robe of righteousness". But   they want to go to heaven.

Heaven is God's heaven. He can say what we have to do to get in. He can say what we have to do to stay there. The Bible tells us what we are to do. If we want to stay in heaven, we need to do what the Bible says.

If you want to go to heaven------Jesus is the only way to get there.

Jesus is the one who died on the cross for our sin.

Sin is wrong. People who sin must die forever.

Jesus loved us. He did not want us to die forever. Jesus said, "I will die in your place." Now you can go free and live forever in heaven.

But…..you must come to Jesus and ask for Him to forgive your sin.

You must obey Jesus and do right. Jesus will help you to keep doing right. Keep praying and ask Jesus to help you.