Come to the Wedding Celebrations

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew chapter 22 verses 1 through 14.

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Again Jesus spoke to them in parables saying the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast but they would not come.

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Again he sent other servants saying tell those who are invited see I have prepared my dinner my oxen my fat calves have been slaughtered and everything is ready come to the wedding feast.

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But they paid no attention went off one to his farm another to his business and while the rest seized his servants treated them shamefully and killed them.

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The king was angry he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants the wedding feast is ready but those who were invited were not worthy.

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Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find and those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found both bad and good.

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So the wedding hall was filled with guests but when the king came in to look at the guests he saw there a man who had no wedding garment and he said to him friend how did you get in here without a wedding garment and he was speechless and then the king said to the attendants bind him hand and foot cast him into the outer darkness in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called but few are chosen.

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This is the gospel of the Lord in the name of Jesus. Do y 'all remember when

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Princess Diana and Princess Charles got married? Y 'all remember that? Or am I just dating myself?

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Now some of you you're too young for this so you don't remember it but it was a big deal. It was all over the news

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I mean I happened to be at the time of the wedding be in British Columbia and I gotta tell you

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Canadia was all for it. Now Canada is where the Canadians are from I just want to make that clear.

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All right and could you imagine if you personally had received an invitation to attend that wedding?

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Think about that. You're sitting there going yeah that's not happening. At least well we're all kind of commoners right that's kind of the issue but could you imagine what the invitation would have looked like right?

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Probably like amazing paper with like you know embellishments on it in this wonderful script and maybe written in gold ink or something right and you can imagine the fellow that would have like delivered this invitation to you.

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He would have been dressed up in like the best British royal servant delivery guy outfit ever.

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Something we've probably never seen so the fellow would probably show up and it's he'd have gloves on right and there in his hands would be the invitation.

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Could you imagine this right? What would you do if you received an invitation like that to attend a royal wedding?

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All right now with this in your mind we're gonna return to our gospel text because y 'all know how you'd

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I mean you'd be like right you just go crazy.

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I mean you'd be calling everybody up on the phone saying take a look at this thing that I've got. It's amazing.

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I'm going to Great Britain. I'm gonna be at the royal wedding. This is what you do and everybody would be excited for you.

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That's the kind of idea. We know this all right. The fact that a royal would know your name and send you an invitation big deal.

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Let's contrast this shall we with our parable today from Jesus and for the first part of this

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I'm going to be reading from my translation again because there's certain words in here that I want us to kind of stumble over and consider as we read this text.

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So Matthew 22 is starting at verse 1. Answering Jesus again spoke in parables to them saying the kingdom of the heavens.

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Yeah it's plural in the Greek. The kingdom of the heavens is like a man a king who prepared and listen to this wedding celebrations for his son.

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Plural. Now keep in mind in the ancient Orient the Near East in the day a wedding feast was not a one -day affair.

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Remember the Newland wedding this summer right. We all went out into Minnesota.

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There was a ceremony. There was a reception afterwards. There was singing dancing and all this kind of stuff and everybody went home and it was a done deal.

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Those of us who are getting older you know as the festivities started to ramp up we were going oh

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I'm so old I got to get out of here right. Okay this is not how wedding celebrations worked in the ancient

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Near East. These things were multi -day affairs. They were a big deal.

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The Newland wedding would have lasted probably at least a week maybe longer. Now could you imagine entertaining and feeding all of those wedding guests for a week.

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Renee's looking at me like yeah this is not happening. Okay but that's kind of the idea. So it's wedding celebrations.

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It's not a one -time thing. It's like a big deal and here we begin to kind of see that mystery of marriage.

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Have you ever thought that marriage is a picture. It's a type and shadow of Jesus's relationship to you his bride.

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Yes you men too. Me too right. In fact think of it this way wonderful type and shadow.

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In Genesis chapter 2 we have the account of how man was made and how woman was made.

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Man was formed first from the dust of the earth and remember God had Adam name all of the animals marched him out in front of him.

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He said that's a monkey that's those are giraffes over there and what is that duck -billed platypus right.

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So Adam named it all named them all and there was no suitable helper found for him and so God caused him to go into a deep sleep took out one of his ribs and fashioned a woman and Adam said whoa man this is bone of my bones flesh of my flesh and the text goes on to say because of this a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two will become one flesh.

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Marriage we learn from Ephesians is a picture of Christ's relationship with his church and think of it this way

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Jesus Christ is God in human flesh the two have become one.

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So even the mystery of marriage points to Jesus in his incarnation and so the king this is the father has prepared wedding celebrations by the way brothers and sisters were we not praising

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God today and rejoicing I heard you sing it rejoice in the Lord always again

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I say rejoice you see the celebrations of the wedding feast have already begun they were here today we have been doing this so the story goes out so this king he sent servants and listen to how the

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Greek works to call the called that's literally what it says to call the called now it's important that we recognize here that in this parable the called the a -list invitees if you would are none other than the

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Jewish people themselves the Hebrews who are descended from Abraham the nation that God has selected out of all the nations of the earth the one from which the

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Messiah comes and so the calling the called the a -listers are first and foremost those who are descendants of Abraham so he says you told your

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I told my servants you call the called to the celebrations and well then the text says they did not desire to come so you've been invited to the royal wedding yeah

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I don't think I want to go you see the issue here something's wrong something's like really wrong text goes on so again he sent his servants saying tell the called behold my dinner is ready and listen to this my sacrificial oxen and fattened animals have been slaughtered yeah that where it says ox you know the oxen the the

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Greek word is hoi tau poi and it literally means sacrificial oxen it's a it's kind of if you would a pointer to the crucifixion of Christ the forgiveness of our sins the sacrificial oxen the fattened animals they've been slaughtered the barbecues running right now all is ready come to the celebrations but having no regard having no regard having no regard for whom having no regard for what answer having no regard for the king or his son yeah we're not interested sorry they left one went to his field check to see if his combines ready for the spring planting the other one to his commerce to run his business

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I got better things to do than go to a royal wedding especially a royal wedding for that guy think of it this way having no regard right

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I don't know if you've noticed but Donald Trump is kind of a polarizing figure there are some people who have no regard for him they in fact they spend a lot of time talking

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Trump down this would be like them be receiving an invitation to a state dinner at the

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White House from Donald Trump I'm going yeah no way there's no way

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I'm gonna go to that because he's the one putting it on that's the idea of the no regard so we got better things to do take care of your field check your email see what's going on on Twitter Facebook Snapchat maybe see what's on NBC tonight or Fox see who's playing in the

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World Series things like we got more important things to do but then it gets really weird okay remember at the beginning of the sermon you've got these servants dressed up in royal garbs with these royal invitations the white gloves on and here's what it says others seized the servants mistreated and killed them

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I don't understand this somebody's delivering an invitation to wedding celebrations and the thing that comes to your mind is kill that fellow

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Wow something's really off so the king was angry rightfully so and listen to this he sent his troops and destroyed the murderers and burned their city singular this is a prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in 70

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AD the a -listers the Jews refused to come to the wedding celebrations refused to participate in them they had no regard for God despite their lip service and worship of him how do we know they rejected

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Christ persisted in sin and unbelief and would not bend the knee to Jesus and receive the forgiveness of their sins eventually

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God said enough is enough and had their city burned by the Romans then he said to his servants on the one hand the feast is ready but the called are not worthy interesting is there any fault on the part of the king here none where's all the fault lie it lies in the a -listers now one do a little cross reference work here and you're gonna see in the book of Acts chapter 13 the

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Paul at Antioch Presidia preaching the gospel in a synagogue there and you're gonna see how this goes out this is the preaching of the gospel remember when

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Jesus said to the disciples in Luke 24 go and proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in my name to all nations starting with Jerusalem start there and then to the rest of the nations and so the

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Apostle Paul when he was on his missionary journeys where's the first place that he would go to tell people about Jesus the synagogue first people who get to hear the good news to get the invitations to come to the wedding feast are those who are descendants of Abraham who've been anticipating and waiting for the

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Messiah to come and now that he is come and has been sacrificed for their sins everything is ready for the celebrations and so the call goes out to them first so Acts 13 13 it says this

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Paul and his companions they set sail from pathos came to Perga and Pamphylia John left them returned to Jerusalem and they they went out on from there from Perga and came to Antioch and Pisidia and on the

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Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and they sat down after the reading from the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them saying brothers if you have any word of encouragement for the people say it so Paul stood up motioning with his hand he said men of Israel you who fear

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God listen the God of this people Israel chose our fathers made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt and with uplifted arm he led them out of it and for about 40 years he put up with them in the wilderness and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan he gave them their land as an inheritance all of this took about 450 years and after that he gave them judges until Samuel the

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Prophet and then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul the son of Kish a man after the man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years and when he had removed him he raised up David to be their king of whom he testified and said

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I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart who will do all of my will of this man's offspring

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God has brought to Israel a Savior Jesus as he promised before his coming

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John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel and as John was finishing his course he said what do you suppose that I am

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I am not he no but behold after me is one coming the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie brothers sons of the family of Abraham a listers on the invitation list right and those among you who fear

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God to us has been sent the message of this salvation for those who live in Jerusalem the rulers because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets which they read every

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Sabbath fulfilled them by condemning him and though they found in him no guilt worthy of death they asked pilot to have him executed and when they had carried out all that was written of him they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb but God raised him from the dead and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem who are now his witnesses to the people and we bring you the good news that what

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God promised to the fathers this he has fulfilled to us their children see the fulfillment word right everything is now ready it's all been fulfilled the sacrifice has been made the table is set everything is fulfilled right this he fulfilled to us their children by raising

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Jesus as also it is written in the second Psalm you are my son today

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I've begotten you and as for the fact that he raised him from the dead no more to return to corruption he has spoken in this way

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I will give you the holy and sure blessing of David therefore he says also in another Psalm you will not let your

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Holy One see corruption for David after he served the purpose of God in his own generation fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption but he whom

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God raised up did not see corruption so let it be known to you therefore brothers that through this man and here's the important words the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and that's what we need we need our sins to be forgiven for us to be reconciled to God and so that's what

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Christ has accomplished that's what he has done this is why we can celebrate because Christ has fulfilled all of this for us and now we truly have the forgiveness of sins and by Jesus everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses and you're going to note that the

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Apostle Paul does not end here with an altar call instead he ends with a warning beware therefore lest what is said in the prophets should come about look you scoffers be astounded and perish for I am doing a work in your days a work that you will not believe even if one tells you so you'll note this is what it looks like for a servant of the king to go out to the a -listers and deliver the invitation to the great wedding celebrations and Paul having delivered these invitations before knows just how dangerous of a job this is and he leaves them with a warning a firm warning to not be scoffers so as they went out the people begged that these things might be told to them the next

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Sabbath and after the meeting of the synagogue broke up many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed

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Paul and Barnabas who as they spoke with them urged them to continue in the grace of God the next

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Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord but when the Jews saw the crowds they were filled with jealousy began to contradict what was spoken by Paul reviling him and Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly saying it was necessary that the

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Word of God be spoken first to you since you thrust it aside and you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life behold we are turning to the

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Gentiles notice same language the king says of those who have roughed up his servants and have reviled him and have no regard for the wedding invitation are too busy with the cares of this life he says of them those a -listers are unworthy and you know

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Paul says they have deemed themselves to be unworthy so what's the king to do all the a -listers of most of the a -listers have said nope we're not going to show up but he has sacrificed the sacrificial animals the barbecues running right now we got all kinds of wonderful tasty meats ready for people to eat and no one's in attendance so verse 9 go therefore go therefore to the main roads to the highways to the byways and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find so the servants went out into the road and gathered all whom they found both bad and good now this is quite the party so they go out from the palace out to the highways and byways and one says hey look there's a guy drunk under the bridge over there grab him up let's get him into the wedding feast how about the town hooker well let's get her in here too how about the people running the shops in the marketplace let's get them in as well what about that retired fellow over there will get him in as well he needs his walker let's get him going right so anybody that you can find good bad riffraff abiding citizens people who are dodging their taxes people who've been in jail it doesn't matter everybody's coming in that's quite the party right wonderfully scandalous if you think about it and don't think for a second that by saying good and bad here that somehow there are good people and there are bad people that's not really what they're talking about this is kind of how we judge each other there's none righteous no not one every one of us is in need of a

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Savior so the wedding hall was filled with guests now let me ask you a question okay if you're the town drunk and the servants have gathered you up and brought you to this wedding feast do you think for a second that in your closet you have the wedding garments that would pass muster at a royal wedding feast nope how about if you work in the marketplace maybe you're the local butcher would you have the garments the wedding garments necessary to pass muster at a royal wedding feast nope now

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I I guarantee you nobody has these things so the question is where do they get them that's the question and it's important to note here that nobody is gonna have this stuff especially the town riff -raff so all of them are provided the wedding garments they have to be they are provided the wedding garments and keep this in mind what the gospel demands the gospel provides the gospel demands that you are righteous so examine your life how's that working out for you yeah now if I have to stand before God or attend the great marriage feast of the

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Lamb in my own righteousness oh man that's not gonna look good not gonna look good at all it won't pass muster neither will your righteousness because each of us have soiled garments and so that's you got to understand this for this next part because the next part is kind of like a who was just swept up into this wedding feast and upon being offered wedding garments to cover him up and make him presentable at this royal gala affair he says nah listen

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I'm a man of my own doing right I don't want to get all done it up for something royal wedding this all seems kind of silly and stupid to me

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I think my Harley Davidson t -shirt my biker boots and dirty jeans are gonna be just fine for the king if he can't accept me the way

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I am well you know the problems with him dude right that's kind of the idea and so this is the idea then of the person who comes to church but doesn't feel any real particular need to repent and believe in all that Jesus stuff they think that hey listen

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I'm a good person and when I stand before God God's gonna say you're a good person you're in no one is righteous no one is good and you must be covered in these wedding garments or you're gonna be thrown out into outer darkness and the only way you can be well clothed in these garments is to say my righteousness is dirty

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I don't have what is necessary to pass muster forgive me and the king says no problem

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I've got Jesus's righteousness for you you can wear this for free so that's what you got to get in mind here so when the king came in to look at the guests and keep that in mind the king actually shows up at one of the big wedding gala celebration he saw there a man who had no wedding garment and he said to him and here's the

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Greek is it kind of funny it's not really friend like hey you're my friend it's more like hey buddy okay when somebody says that to you you know we're not exactly friends right hey buddy how'd you get in here without a wedding garment and he was speechless absolutely speechless and this is a this is a very severe warning for those who kind of show up to church and go through the motions but are not penitent and they're not believers in Christ they think the church is some kind of a social club or do -good organization like the

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Rotary or whatever that's not what the church is so he's speechless so the king said to the tenants bind him hand and foot cast him into the outer of darkness in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called and few are chosen the place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth that brothers and sisters is hell and yes scripture teaches that there is hell do not listen to the church leaders who say that there is no hell or that hell is empty or that God is going to somehow annihilate people and they will just be there for a short amount of time and then cease to exist that's all nonsense over and again and Jesus is the one who speaks the most about hell hell is described as a place of eternal conscious torment never -ending under the wrath of God where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth now let me ask you this question so we've got the people on the a -list who had no regard for the king didn't show up we had the fellow who decided to show up in his

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Harley Davidson t -shirt and biker boots he was thrown out where's the fault lie is the fault with the king or with the people the ones who end up in outer darkness in each and every case the king was merciful persistent loving kind and thorough come to the wedding celebrations that's the call of the gospel but people decided that they were going to do it their own way or have no regard for this king and ultimately they find themselves in hell very terrible circumstance and that's the idea it is not

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God's will that any should perish including you including me but that all should repent be forgiven covered in the righteousness of Christ and you're gonna notice that God provides everything he provides the sacrifice he provides the food he provides the wine he provides the wedding garments he sent out his servants they sent out the invitations and said come and come and come and anyone who is not at the wedding feast dressed in these fine royal wedding garments it's their own fault

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God is not at fault the ones who end up in hell it is their own fault and it's utterly foolish and sad and so you heard me say that today we were singing that song rejoice in the

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Lord always have you ever considered that every time we gather here to hear the

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Word of God to sing praises to Jesus Christ our Savior and God our

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Father in the Holy Spirit that we rejoice in our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins that this gathering every

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Sunday is one of the pre -planned wedding celebrations in anticipation of the big one this is a foretaste brothers and sisters of the feast to come and I'd like to point your attention back to Isaiah 25 and I want you to listen to these words this is a prophecy of the big celebration that this little mini celebration is pointing to it says this verse 6 on this mountain

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Yahweh will make for all peoples a feast of rich food a feast of well -aged wine of rich food full of morrow of aged wine well refined he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all of the people's the veil that is spread over all of the nation's he will swallow up death forever and Yahweh Elohim will wipe away tears from all faces notice the contrast those who are in hell weeping and gnashing of teeth those who are at this amazing wedding feast with the fine wine and the well -aged meats their tears are being wiped by God Himself notice the contrast he will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people we be taken away from all of the earth for Yahweh has spoken and it will be said on that day it will be said on that day imagine if you would for this next little bit that the folks of Kongsvinger here today that we will all be at the same table at this great wedding feast and in that moment we will see

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Jesus here's what we'll say behold this is our

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God that's Him right there we have waited for Him so that He might save us imagine the joy in your heart the warmth that you will feel the tears that will rush down your face in joy as we together at the same table will say behold this is our

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God we will see Him together this is what

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Isaiah prophesies this is what he prophesies this is

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Yahweh we've waited for Him so let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation oh brothers and sisters the sacrificial animals have been slaughtered the barbecue is rolling the corks have been taken out of the wine bottles the tables are set come to the wedding celebration in the name of Jesus if you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church you can do so by sending a tax free donation to Kongsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th

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Avenue Northwest Oslo Minnesota 56744 and again that address is

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Kongsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th