Christ's Object Lessons - Chapter 24: Without a Wedding Garment

Pastor David Asscherick discusses Chapter 24 of Ellen White's Christ's Object Lessons, examining the parable of the wedding garment from Matthew 22. Ellen White unpacks how the wedding garment represents Christ's perfect character freely offered to every believing soul. David emphasizes that while the garment was provided at infinite cost by Jesus through His life, death, and resurrection, it is freely given to all who repent and believe. This powerful chapter clarifies that the robe of Christ's righteousness contains not one thread of human devising or invention. As David explains, our identity as clothed in Christ's righteousness then informs our behavior as we grow in sanctification, learning to fit more fully into our new identity as sons and daughters of God.

Scripture References: Matthew 22:1-14
Birds mentioned: Pygmy Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch
Covers: Chapter 24: Without a Wedding Garment
Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2lAuK20twc
Light Bearers

Transcript

Greeting and Announcements

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I loved, loved, loved, loved, loved this chapter. I thought it was incredible. I just was, it was a little bit like Sarah's last night, underlining almost whole pages, writing notes frantically in the margin. And there is so much good stuff here. So much on offer, so much to be excited about. This chapter to me was like Brent's maple syrup. I was just like, took a little sip and I was right into straight worship mode. So uh I'm looking forward to this tonight.

Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Let's have prayer. God in heaven, what a blessing. What a blessing to be alive. What a blessing to be your sons and daughters. And Father, we know that the invitation has gone out. We've already looked at one of the weddings, or one of the uh uh not weddings, but the the banquets, the invitation to that banquet in the Gospel of Luke, and tonight in Matthew 22, another invitation. And uh Lord, there's a lot of lessons here for us. This is not only something that was appropriate or applicable in an ancient context in the days of Jesus. Lord, this applies to us today, and there are so many lessons on offer from Matthew chapter 22, 1 to 14. And so, Father, please be with us now. We look to you, we want to learn. There are some things in this chapter we'd like to better understand. And Lord, please send your spirit into our hearts, send your spirit into the lives of every person that's watching live right now, and those that will watch in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. And be with us now as we spend time in Matthew chapter 22. May you send your spirit to be with us, and may we come out the other side confident, confident that by your grace we are clothed in the wedding garment of Christ's righteousness. And it's in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

Discussion

SPEAKER_00 1:58

All right, as per our custom, at least this time around, we're gonna read this through and a couple translations here. I'm gonna start in Matthew chapter 22, uh, verse 1 in the NIV. Here we go. Now, let me just say this before I read it. Remember, this is the third in a sequence of three parables that Jesus is speaking in the context of an escalated hostility and even rivalry with the religious leaders of the day. The first of those two parables was the parable of the two sons, the one that said he wouldn't go and did, and the one that said he would go and didn't. And then yesterday we had the parable of the tenants. And in each parable, the heat, as it were, and the pointedness of the parable is turned up, right? So the parable of the two sons, it's like, ooh, that's pretty straightforward. Then the parable of the tenants, where Jesus concludes by saying, Therefore the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof. That's straightforward. And then now the third parable turns the heat, turns the volume up yet again. So this is the third of three parables that all take place, apparently, as Matthew tells the story, in succession. And so when we read this one, we can only understand it in the context of Jesus' increasingly urgent appeal to the religious leaders and to those under their influence. Not just to the religious leaders, but those that were under the influence of the religious leaders. Remember yesterday that line: not just the religious leaders, but the ignorant mob, those that were just going along to get along, and Jesus is turning up the heat, he's turning up the volume, he's turning up the intensity. And so if this parable feels like, whoa, this is heavy, remember, we're in Matthew chapter 22. There's only 28 chapters in Matthew. We are down at the pointy end of the spear here. Jesus' crucifixion is going to take place in Matthew chapters 26 and 27. Well, guess 70, 26, 27 is the crucifixion, 28 is the resurrection, and we're in 22. The triumphal entry in Matthew chapter 21 has already happened. So the reason that the volume, the intensity, the passion is turned up here, Jesus knows that these are some of the last words he's going to say to the religious leaders and those that are under their influence. Okay, so with that in mind, now let's go read. NIV, Matthew chapter 22, beginning in verse 1. Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Okay, this is similar to the earlier chapter 18 that we looked at, right? Uh, which was in Luke. Let's remind ourselves of that chapter just quickly here, so we can have this kind of always in mind. That chapter was called Go Into the Highways and Hedges. This is chapter 18 of Christ's object lessons, and is based on Luke 14. Right? Remember that? There was the man there, and he had the distended belly, and he was healed, and then Jesus told the parable, and people made excuses. What were the three excuses? Let's see if we can remember property, profession, and people. Right? So this is similar. Now, another invitation has gone out, and we're seeing uh a flat refusal. A flat refusal. Verse 4. Then he sent some more servants and said, Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good. Right? That sounds a little bit like the parable of the net. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. Hallelujah. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes or a wedding garment, depending on your translation. He asked, How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend? The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, tie him hand in foot, throw him outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are invited, but few are chosen. Okay, this sounds a lot like the parable in Luke 14. There's a lot of overlap. And probably, again, as we've mentioned before, Jesus would have told these parables and probably variations on these parables in different settings, situations, and contexts. And so it's not surprising that there are some similarities and some dissimilarities. Now, the dissimilarities in this case are almost certainly because Jesus is, as we've mentioned, telling this parable at the end of his public ministry. So the volume is up, the intensity is up, the passion is up. Okay, and you can feel that. You can really feel that. The burning of the city, the cast into outer darkness. Jesus is strongly appealing to them to wake up, to listen up. Okay, now I'm going to read the same thing this time again in NT Right's Kingdom New Testament. Starting again in Matthew chapter 22, verse 1. Jesus spoke to them once again in parables. The kingdom of heaven, he said, is like a king who made a wedding feast for his son. He sent his slaves to call the invited guests to the wedding, and they didn't want to come. Again, he sent other slaves with these instructions. Say to the guests, Look, I've got my dinner ready, my bulls and fatted calves have been killed, everything is prepared. Come to the wedding. But they didn't take any notice. They went off, one to his own farm, another to see his business. The others laid hands on his slaves, abused them, and killed them. The king was angry and sent his soldiers to destroy those murderers and burn down their city. Then he said to his slaves, The wedding is ready, but the guests didn't deserve it. So go to the roads leading out of town, and invite everyone you find to the wedding. The slaves went off into the streets and rounded up everyone they found, good and bad alike. And the wedding was filled with partygoers. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who wasn't wearing a wedding suit. My friend, he said to him, How did you get in here without a wedding suit? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, tie him up, hands and feet, throw him into the darkness outside, where people weep and grind their teeth. Many are called, you see, but few are chosen. Okay, all of these parables have a lot in common. The parable of the two sons, the parable of the tenants, and then now the parable of the wedding feast, all of them pointed, all of them fairly unambiguous. I mean, there are some elements that cause us to go, hmm, I wonder what that's about. But for the most part, we've already seen that the religious leaders understood that these parables were directed at them, right? So just look at the last little bit there of Matthew chapter 21. When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. So there's no doubt that if they understood that the parable of the sons and the parable of the tenants was about them, they're also going to understand that this parable is about them. They're the leaders, they're the ones that receive the first invitation. It's like you're the religious leaders, you're the ones who know Torah, you're the ones who are the representatives of Yahweh. Yahweh is holding a feast, a wedding feast for his son. I mean, all of this is very pregnant with messianic imagery. And Jesus, again, here is not being coy or ambiguous. He is straightforwardly making claims about his identity and about their precarious situation. Earlier on in Jesus' ministry, he was less straightforward, and then now it's becoming necessary to speak plainly, very plainly, and he is doing so. Let's now go to Christ's object lessons, page 374. This is page 307 of the original, and we're going to read through. I thought this chapter was incredible. I just thought it was outstanding. And we're going to start, we're going to read through quite a little bit of it. Here we go. Paragraph one. Very meaningful, very important. By the marriage is represented the union of humanity with divinity. The wedding garment represents the character which all must possess, who shall be accounted fit guests for the wedding. Here again, as per usual, Ellen White does a great job of capturing in the opening paragraph or two the essence of the parable. And I wrote in my margin here two words, consequence and character. Consequence and character. This is a passage of high consequence. You can feel it. I mean it's just unambiguous. The parable kind of exudes or oozes, to use our word last night, oozes and urgency and importance, and uh it's straightforward. It's uh you can't mistake that Jesus is speaking passionately here, urgently here. He is trying to arrest the attention of the religious leaders and those that are under their influence. So consequence and then character. Who is it that's invited to the feast? Who is it that's invited to the wedding? Let's keep reading here. In this parable, as in that of the Great Supper, which we just talked about in Luke 14, are illustrated several things. Number one, the gospel invitation. Number two, its rejection by the Jewish people, right? At large, Jesus is not being received, especially by the religious leaders. And increasingly the crowds who have been wanting to follow Jesus and they've been thronging Jesus, but now they're not sure. They are like the mob often is, like crowds often are. They're just going wherever the wind blows. And uh they are prepared to be complicit, if not entirely active, in the actual uh uh uh crucifixion itself, but complicit in the crucifixion. So, number one, the gospel of invitation, number two, the rejection by the Jewish people, and number three, the call of mercy to the Gentiles. A lot of similarities here with Luke 14. But on the part of those who reject the invitation, this parable brings to view a deeper insult, which I thought was quite interesting. Not just, oh, I've got to go do property, oh, I've got to do my profession, oh, I can't come because I'm married, as we saw in Luke 14. But here we see a flat refusal to come, then the violence that's done toward those that are making the invitation, and then when somebody finally does show up, one of them at least opts just not to wear the wedding garment. So there's there's a lot of sort of uh uh brazenness in this parable. It's like really strong unwillingness to attend the feast, the wedding feast, and then an unwillingness to attend the feast on the conditions that everybody else has attended it. Okay, so she says here a deeper insult and a more dreadful punishment. The call to the feast is a king's invitation. It proceeds from one who is vested with power to command. It confers high honor, and yet the honor is unappreciated. The king's authority is despised. While the householder's invitation was regarded with indifference, the king's is met with insult and murder, contrasting Luke 14 and Matthew 22. They treated his servants with sworn, spitefully using them and even slaying them. Now skip the next paragraph and jump down to the paragraph that begins in both parables. In both parables, the feast is provided with guests. In other words, there's a happy ending in the sense that lots and lots of people show up in both cases. Luke 14, Matthew 22, lots of people are there. In both parables, the feast is provided with guests. But the second shows, and this is one of the dissimilarities, that there is a preparation to be made by all who attend the feast. And the preparation is obviously the wedding clothes, the wedding garment, or in Wright's translation, the wedding suit. You have to wear the right clothes to attend the wedding. This element is not found in the Luke 14 version. Right? Those who neglect this preparation are cast out. Preparation is an important idea here. Preparation. I'm sure that's going to be many people's word for the chapter. Preparation. It's not my word, but it's a good word. The king came in to see the guests and saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, Friend, how you can almost hear his incredulity, his surprise. He's like, Uh how did you get in here? How did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to him, Bind him and throw him out. Next paragraph. Okay. Key. Repent and believe. Underline that. To repent and believe. Make a note of that. Calling on men to repent and believe. The gospel. But the call was not heeded. Those who were bidden or invited to the feast did not come. The servants were sent out later to say, See, I have prepared my dinner. In other words, this is like a second invitation. The dinner's ready. The oxen and the fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding. This was the message born to the Jewish nation after the crucifixion of Christ. So now she's flashing forward and saying this second invitation, the first invitation Jesus is making, he's making it right then and there. He's been making it for three years. But she does something interesting here. She says that the second invitation, where everything is now done, the meal is ready, the table is set, the animals are killed. She's saying that this is like everything is on a platter. This is after the crucifixion, and of course the resurrection. Right, she doesn't say the resurrection, but it's implied. In other words, this second invitation is like, hey, Jesus rose from the dead. It's all there for the taking. The food is there. The wedding garments are available. It's all there for the taking. She says this message was born to the Jewish nation after the crucifixion of Christ, but the nation, the claim to be God's distinct people, rejected the gospel brought to them in the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, to be clear, when she says here the nation, again, I have to press this point. She does not mean the nation wholesale. And she also doesn't mean the nation, including everybody. Well, how do you know that, David? What gives you the right to say that? Well, I don't know. All of the disciples were Jews. The 3,000 people that were baptized in the day of Pentecost, which comes 50 days after the crucifixion, all of them were Jews. And the whole first third of the book of Acts, every single person that's baptized, with a few exceptions, like the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, are all Jews. So, so yes, there is a sense in which there is a national closure, the closure of probation in terms of the nation, the unique national status that Israel occupied, that the Jewish nation occupied. That is true. That is true. The leaders speaking on behalf of the others said, we have no king but Caesar. And as we've already noted several times in Acts chapter 6, verse 7, many of the religious leaders, the priests, actually became obedient to the faith. But by and large, by and large, many of the people in and around Judea and Jerusalem said no. The majority said no. Okay, now let's just take this even a step further. When the Apostle Paul, years later, years later, into the future, when the Apostle Paul starts traveling around the larger Mediterranean world, and we see this in Acts 13, all the way down to Acts 28, Paul goes from city to city, town to town, place to place, village to village. If there is a synagogue available, a Jewish synagogue, he goes there first. He does this in Acts 13 in Antioch. He goes there. When Paul writes his letters, he says to the Jews first, and also to the Greeks. So it's very important to understand that there is what is not meant here is that the Jews as individuals are all summarily cut off and they all rejected Jesus. That is not true. I have Jewish friends that have received Jesus as their personal savior. They're living in 2026. But even in that context and in that setting, in the first century, the whole church was Jewish. Thousands and thousands of Jews made up the early church. So it's very important to bear this in mind that there is a sense in keeping with the prophecy of Daniel chapter 9, the 70-week prophecy, that as a nation, as God's chosen and proprietary covenant people, that arrangement was coming to an end. We just read that yesterday. Matthew chapter, remember, I told you this is one of the most important verses in the whole New Testament. Jesus, at the end of the parable of the tenant, says, I'll just read it for you here, verse 43 of Matthew 21. Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce the fruit. I think the New King James says, given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof. Next verse anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, anyone on whom it falls will be crushed, which is an unambiguous reference to Daniel chapter 2. So this idea of a probationary period nationally for Israel is found in the book of Daniel. Daniel is directly alluded to here in verse 44. So, yes, that is true. That is absolutely true. But it does not follow because the religious leaders, who were the representatives of the nation, had on behalf of the nation made the final decision to distance themselves from Messiah. It doesn't mean that thousands and thousands of Jews didn't respond. But the nation writ large, the nation collectively did not respond. Plus, it was important that this situation, I don't want to go too deep into this, but it was important because of the 70-week prophecy of Daniel, that this gridlock be broken up so that the gospel could go to the Gentiles. And I mentioned just a moment ago that the first third of the book of Acts is basically the gospel going to the Jewish world, right? You could go through it. You have Acts 1, which is basically just a quick follow-up on the death of Judas and the appointment of Matthias and the gathering together in Jerusalem, the ascension of Jesus. Acts 2 is Pentecost. And then Acts 3, 4, 5, the gospel is going like wildfire. Acts 6, the gospel is growing so fast that this dispute arises between the Hellenistic Jews and the Jews in Judea, the Hebrew Jews. And then in Acts chapter 7, you have Stephen's crucially important. Sermon or address that has been identified by theologians as a kind of covenant address, a covenant lawsuit address. And then right on the heels of Acts chapter 7, you have Acts chapter 8, which is, among other things, the chapter in which the Ethiopian eunuch is baptized, Acts chapter 9, Saul is converted, who will become the Apostle Paul, and God expressly says about Saul to Ananias, he's a chosen vessel to me to bear my name before Gentiles, before kings, and before his own Jewish people. That's Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 10, Cornelius and his household is baptized. Acts chapter 11, Paul's called in on the carpet, or Peter's called in on the carpet to answer for this. The first Gentile church is planted in Antioch. This is where they're first called Christians. Well, why were they called Christians in Antioch? Because you couldn't call them Jews. This was the first Gentile congregation planted by men from Cyprus and Cyrene. Acts chapter 12, Herod dies. Herod dies, and then from Acts 13 all the way to Acts 28, it's Paul's missionary journeys, largely Paul's missionary journeys, to the wider Mediterranean world, to both Jews and Gentiles. But of course, largely to Gentiles, because the Roman world, the Greco-Roman world and Rome itself was made up mostly of non-Jewish people. What was the Jewish population in the days of Paul? Probably of the Roman Empire? Maybe 2%, maybe 3%, definitely less than 5%. So just by demographics, you know, only one roughly in every, or let's say, let's say two to five in every 100 people that you could preach to as you're traveling around the Mediterranean would have been Jewish. So most of the people that are going to be under the influence of Paul and the people that were coming into Christ, believing in Christ, believing the gospel, coming into the church, throughout Asia Minor, and then into Macedonia and down into Greece, most of those people were Gentiles. But it started off with Jews, and that's the point here. It's very important to bear this in mind because if you read something like this and you don't know the prophetic history or the New Testament history, you're going to make some stupid idea, some crazy statement that, like, the Jews are cut off. Well, no, the Jews are not cut off, but the nation of Israel, as constructed in the days of Jesus, had a probationary period in which they had a unique, a unique and almost proprietary relationship covenantally with Yahweh, and that is no longer the way that it is today. But of course, Jewish people are still wonderfully situated to receive Jesus as the Messiah. I don't know, because they love Torah, because they study Torah, because they know the prophets, because their whole history, heritage, the oracles of God have all been a part of their kind of DNA and their history for more than a thousand years. Or way more than a thousand years. I mean, since the time of Jesus, two thousand years, and since that, before that, a thousand years. So thousands of years. So they're uniquely positioned to receive Jesus as the Messiah. And they can, and they do. And they do. Okay, so let's keep reading here. That was a long, there was a lot there to say, but I just feel like we really need to tap that down so that we understand what's going on here, what is and it is not happening. Okay, let's keep reading. It says, um, I'm still in that same paragraph, just after that section. Many did this in the most scornful manner. Others were so exasperated by the offer of salvation, the offer of pardon for rejecting the Lord of glory, that they turned upon the bearers of the message. And then Acts chapter 8, verse 1, there was a great persecution. Many, both of men and women, were thrust into prison. Some of the Lord's messengers, such as Stephen and James, were put to death. Right? The death of James is described in verse Acts chapter 12, and the death of Stephen is described in Acts chapter 7. I mean, Saul of Tarsus was among those that were persecuting the early church. Let's read the next paragraph. Thus the Jewish people were sealed in their rejection of God's mercy. Again, I don't need to make the point that I just made. This is speaking nationally and covenantally, not individually. The result was foretold by Christ in the parable. The king sent out his armies that destroyed those murderous murders and burned up their city, which is what happened in AD 70. This is an unambiguous reference to the heightened tensions that were already taking place. This is why Jesus said you might remember, you discern the signs of the sky, but you don't discern the signs of the times. Like you are setting yourself at odds with Rome, and Rome is not going to play games. And that's what happened in the destruction of Jerusalem. When we finally get to the great controversy, which is going to be so in the conflict beautiful, you have Patriarchs and Prophets, which we've done, prophets and kings, which we've done, The Desire of Ages, which we've done, and then there's only two books left. Acts of the Apostles, which I cannot wait to do. That'll be next year. It's going to be Chef's Kiss. It's just incredible. And then the Great Controversy. And the first chapter in the Great Controversy is about the destruction of Jerusalem. And it is one of the saddest and most terrible events in Jewish history. And it's just terrible. It's terrible. And that's what's being alluded to here that the city will be burned. The city will be destroyed. And Jesus himself is already, well, he hasn't yet. This is in Matthew chapter 22, but in two chapters, Matthew 24, he's going to anticipate that. When the disciples try to cheer him up with the beautiful stones of the temple, he's going to say, Do you see this, fellas? Not two stones will be left upon one another that will not be cast down. Jesus anticipates. No, it's it's happening. I mean, the the relationship between the Jews and the Romans is not going to end well for the Jewish people. And that's what the parable is foretelling. Now let's read the next one then. The third call. So remember you had the first invitation. Nah, not interested. Second invitation was after the crucifixion. It was like, hey, everything's ready. Then you had the third invitation. Paragraph begins. The third call to the feast represents the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, which is a little bit like Luke 14, right? Go into the highways and hedges. Anybody and everybody that'll come, and that's what we see Paul doing as he traverses the Mediterranean world, just anybody that'll listen, anybody at all, Jew, Gentile, anybody can come. The third call to the feast represents the gospel to the Gentiles. The king said, The wedding is now ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Those that were invited were not worthy. Now let me just remind you, all the way back on page 270, underline that word worthy, and all the way back on page 270, 226 of the original, Ellen White quotes Acts 13, Paul's experience in Antioch, his first missionary journey, what we today would call central Turkey. I was just recently in this very place, in Antioch, at this very synagogue, right at the place where this very synagogue was. And listen to this. So this is page 270, 226, the chapter is going to the highways and hedges, which is the very, it's the parallel to this. Luke 14, Matthew 22. So this paragraph begins, in obedience to this command. I'm going to read this. In obedience to this command, Paul and Barnabas declared to the Jews, it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles, for so the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth. Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13, 46 to 48. So I would, if I were you, I would underline, you judge yourselves unworthy in Acts 13, 46 to 48, there. And I would make a note here, listen to it again, back on page 376 in the current chapter, the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. There's no doubt that Ellen White has Acts 13 in mind here. And the language is the same. She clearly has Acts chapter 13 in mind, where after the persecution and the trouble that Paul experienced at the hand of the Jews from the synagogue in Antioch, he's like, What are you talking about? I'm talking to you about your own scriptures, your own Messiah. You don't want to receive it? Okay. That doesn't mean you can't change your mind. But for now, since you're trying to run us out of town and threatening violence, we're going to talk to the Gentiles who seem really interested in what we have to say. You judge yourselves unworthy, we turn to the Gentiles. And just think about that for a moment. Paul says, seeing that you judge yourselves unworthy, we turn to the Gentiles. This is the very Paul who will continue to reach Jewish people, write to Jewish people, preach to Jewish people. So when you have a local situation, whether in Jerusalem or in Antioch, and the local Jews and the local Jewish leadership has arrayed, uh aligned themselves against the gospel, well, then you just go fishing somewhere else. But again, it doesn't mean that every individual Jew is somehow cut off. And I know you know that, but I'm belaboring this point because the history of the relationship between the church and Jewish people has often been a relationship of anti-Semitism, where things that are about a specific time, a specific people, a specific group of leaders are then globalized to mean all Jewish people for all time, everywhere, always. And that's crazy. And it is anti-Semitic. Like if you run into people that are like, oh no, God cut off all Jewish people. What? All Jewish people for all time? What the whole the whole early church was Jewish people. But there are people in church history, sadly, tragically, uh, in the uh, I mean, really throughout church history, including in the second, third, fourth century, through the medieval period, anti-Semitism has not been the rare exception, unfortunately. And if we're going to reach our Jewish brothers and sisters, we're going to need to be able to explain how it is that what happened at a specific point in a specific city at a specific time does not implicate all Jewish people in history, writ large, collectively, corporately. How does that even work? How does somebody that's born today in the year 2000 or somebody that was born in the year 1000, how can they be in any way implicated in what Jewish people did in the days of Jesus? Even, not even all the Jewish people in the days of Jesus rejected Jesus. So I just feel like, especially in this age of increasing anti-Semitism, we need to be highly sensitive and smart about how it is that we communicate the message. I'll give you a good example. N. T. Wright, one of my favorite New Testament theologians, I've mentioned it before, and the translator of this translation that we've been using, the Kingdom New Testament, in his recent books, he doesn't even use the term Jewish anymore or Jew when he's writing about people in the first century that Jesus was addressing. He uses the term Judean. Judean. And I think it's smart, actually. I agree with it. I think if Ellen White was writing today, she might similarly adopt that. Because what it does is it tacks down what we're talking about to a specific time, a specific place, a specific context. Right? Like Judean, the Judeans. And I've noticed that Wright's been doing that in his more recent books, precisely because things that are written about a specific time, place, and situation are then globalized by unscrupulous and unthinking people into some kind of biblical antisemitism, which is insane. Okay, I think I've said enough about that. I just mainly wanted to point out that she uses the term worthy, not worthy again, and clearly she's drawing on Acts 13. Okay, now let's jump over a little bit here. I'm gonna go over to page 377. We've got to pick up the pace here a little bit. When the king came in to view the guests, is how the paragraph starts, page 310. 310, 377. When the king came in to view the guests, the real character of all was revealed. Character is a very important word in this chapter. I'm sure it's many of your words. For every guest at the feast, there had been provided a wedding garment. You want to underline this the garment was a gift from the king. Okay, if you get that point, then you're well on your way to understanding this parable. The garment was a gift from the king. You you've She's gonna she's gonna labor this point. She is going to labor this point. But she starts here. The garment was a gift from the king. Okay? Underline it. Uh by wearing it, the guests showed their respect for the giver of the feast. But one man was clothed in common citizen dress. He had refused to make preparation. Remember, that's the that's the difference. That's the primary difference. There's several, but that's the primary difference she's saying between Luke 14 and Matthew 22. The preparation, the wedding garment. There's no mention of the garment in Luke 14. Refuse to make preparation required by the king. The garment provided for him at great cost. Underline it. Crucial. She's going to come back to that point. The garment provided at great cost, remember, was a gift. Keep these two ideas in your mind. At great, it's a costly garment, but it's free. She's actually going to say that expressly, but already she's saying it. Costly garment that's free. She continues here. Thus he insulted his lord. To the king's demand, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? He could answer nothing. He was self-condemned. Then the king said, throw him outside. By the king's examination of the guests at the feast is represented the work of judgment. Okay. I know some people are going to be like, ah, judgment. How can we have judgment? Well, I don't know, because the Bible teaches top to bottom, front to back, Old and New Testaments, that judgment is a thing that God does. Another word to think about if you don't like the word judgment, if it gets you offside because of like, don't judge me. Oh, she's so judgy. He's so judgy. Okay, fine. Just use the word evaluate. How about that? Just use the word evaluate. We evaluate things all the time. And if you like the word evaluate, use the word evaluate. It's a better word because the word judge has all these kind of negative connotations, not always, obviously, in a law setting and at court. Uh, you know, Sarah was just with us, you know, your honor, the judge. But some people get triggered by the word judge and judgment. So then just use the word evaluate.

unknown 37:26

Right?

SPEAKER_00 37:27

So we had pizza today. I mentioned that. And our friends came over and I said to Jim and Sonia, hey, what do you think of the pizza? You can see their response on my Instagram account on the story after this is done. Um I said, you know, give you give it a give it a number. What do you think? What do you think of it? I think it's delicious, but maybe I'm wrong. And Sonia said, 12 out of 10. And Jim said, 10 out of 10. And I said, How many stars on Google? They said, six stars. Okay, now here's my point. I'm literally asking them to judge my pizza. We've made pizza, we've prepared it, we've cooked it, we've cut it, we've placed it in front of them, and I'm saying, what's your judgment of the pizza? Or we could say, how do you evaluate the pizza? What are your thoughts about the pizza? So some people are going to get tripped up by the judgment thing, but there's no need to get tripped up. Judgment is what we want God to do. We want God to be evaluative. Otherwise, what? He just turns a blind eye and lets anybody and everybody? No. God is evaluative. God is assessing, just like we do. We evaluate the words that other people say. We evaluate their behavior. We evaluate the way they dress. It doesn't mean that we judge them in the sense of condemning them to hell because they're wearing their wrong clothes and they've got their nose pierced or they have a tattoo. That's not what we're saying. We can be smart and evaluate situations. And God comes in, the man comes in to evaluate his guests. Hey, hey, great, nice to have everybody here. What? And then he looks and he sees oh, well, that's highly unusual. Somebody's here without a wedding garment. A costly garment that I provided at my own expense for free to the guests. So he's he goes over to inquire. And Ellen White says, and she's spot on here, that this represents people that the judgment is those that profess faith in Jesus. Oh, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian. But saying words with your mouth does not necessarily make it true. I can say, I am a center in the NBA. I play in the National Basketball Association, and I am a center for the Denver Nuggets. People are gonna say, really? You look kind of short and kind of old, and I've never seen you play basketball. You don't seem You don't seem like a center for the NBA Nuggets, for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA. No, no, no, no, I am. Now I know this is absurd, but the point is if we're gonna make a profession, if we're gonna say we are something, well, then our action should demonstrate that that thing is true. So, like, for example, we invited Jim and Sonya over for pizza. We told them we were gonna make pizza. What if they had showed up and there was nobody at the door? We left. We blew it, we blew them off. They'd be like, Well, that's not cool. They would evaluate, and then they say, Hey, I thought we were coming over to your house to eat pizza. Nobody's here. Oh, yeah, we didn't, it didn't matter. No. We thought we invited you, but we didn't really care because we got a better invitation. Sorry. They they would, if we invited them for pizza again, they'd be like, probably, probably no. Just because they have evaluated our actions. But if we invite them over and they come over and they have pizza and it's delicious and it's awesome, if we invite them again, they're gonna come. Because our words and our actions have lined up. And that's the point she's making here. It's one thing to say a thing, another thing to say and then have actions that corroborate that thing, that are consistent with that thing. Okay. Uh, and that's the point she makes on page 378. Now jump down to uh it is while men are still dwelling. It is while men are still dwelling. Page 378-310. It is while men are still dwelling upon the earth that the work of investigative judgment takes place. If you don't like investigative judgment, it should say the work of evaluation, the divine work of evaluation. Fine. In the courts of heaven, the lives of his professed followers pass in review before God. Hey, these people said they were going to invite Jim and Sonia over for pizza, but then they left. They did it ten times in a row. Oh, those people, they don't seem like trustworthy people. Doesn't seem like they really do want to make pizza. They don't seem very friendly or hospitable at all. That's just being smart. All are examined according to the record of the books in heaven and according to the deeds. The destiny of each is forever fixed. All she's saying here is that our actions and our words should align. And again, do not get hung up. People just get all freaked out about this. It's like you go to your dentist, your dentist is making a number of explicit and implicit claims. I just grabbed dentists out of my mind. So you go to your dentist, and there's a lot of, again, explicit and implicit claims by the dentist and their office. Now, they're not always going to say, hey, look, she's a good dentist. She went to school for this. All the instruments are clean. They're all professional. That's all implied. But you often see dentists' office that will say something like, pain-free dentistry, or or uh, we put customers first. So sometimes they'll make explicit, but if you went to this dentist and the place was a total mess, and everybody conducted themselves totally unprofessionally, they would not accept your insurance, even though they said they would on the phone, and you started to see just the place was disheveled, nobody seemed to know what was going on. The dentist arrives a half an hour late. Uh, you notice that she's got dirt under her fingernails, the instruments don't look clean. Trust me on this. You will judge, by which I mean you'll evaluate. You'll be like, I think, and you probably say to your spouse, I think we need a new dentist. There's nothing, this is what we do, and this is what God is doing. Now, this is very important. I'm going kind of long on a few things here, but God is not doing this for his own sake. According to the judgment that we see in Daniel chapter 7 and in other places, angelic hosts are always proximate in the judgment. God knows everything. God doesn't need to investigate any more than he needed to go down into the Garden of Eden to find out where Adam and Eve were. He knew where Adam and Eve were, he knew what had happened. But he still asked them questions. Where are you? What have you done? Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the fruit? God knows the answer to these questions. God told Abram that he was, well, before that, even before that, um, God went down to see the tower which the sons of men built in the tower of Abel, Genesis chapter 11. Went to see it. He has to go down to see it. In Acts chapter, uh Acts, excuse me, Genesis chapter 18, when God is dialoguing with Abraham about Sodom and Gomorrah, he says, we're going to go see what's going on in Sodom and Gomorrah. So this idea that God evaluates and investigates, you have to always hear this in this kind of larger context that we see, for example, in the book of Job, where there are onlookers. And those onlookers do not possess, as God does, omniscience. They don't know everything. God does know everything. So the judgment is not primarily for God. In fact, it's really not for God at all, because God knows all things. It's for the onlooking universe, the angelic host, possible other create possibly other created beings for humans, for us. Okay, so the investigation that's going on here is just what any rational person does. You literally do it dozens of times every day. Okay, now let's get down to my favorite part. Now we're getting into the the the best part for me. Next paragraph, page 378. By the wedding garment in the parable. Here we go. By the wedding garment in the parable is represented the pure, spotless character which Christ's true followers will possess. Amen. How will we possess it? Oh, well, we don't have to wonder, because she tells us that that's what the wedding garment represents. Okay? It's a gift from God. We've already seen this. Costly and yet free. Let's keep reading. To the church it is given that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Revelation 19.8 and Ephesians 5.27. Curiously, in the Book of Revelation, the saints are depicted in white. Jesus, however, is depicted as being clothed with a garment dipped in blood.

unknown 46:16

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SPEAKER_00 46:16

This is Revelation chapter 21. Or 19. This is Revelation 19 or 21. Jesus is described as clothed with a garment dipped in blood. So what color then? Let's think this through. What color would a garment dipped in blood be? Red. Right? And if it was dried blood, kind of a dark, muddy, deep reddish brown. Okay, but all the saints are in white. How does that work? Why is Jesus in red and the saints in white? Because of Isaiah chapter 1, verse 18, for example. Come, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. The divine exchange has taken place and is a marvelous symbol. The saints are all dressed in white, the robe of Christ's righteousness, while Jesus is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, because his blood was shed. He receives our judgment, our justice, what should have been ours. He suffered and died on the cross, died the death which should have been which which we deserve. And then we get his robe of righteousness. Okay, let's keep reading. The fine linen says scripture is the righteous acts of the saints, yes, in response to the fact that Jesus has given them his righteousness. So we've already said actions and deeds will line up. Okay? Now she makes this so clear. Watch this. It is the righteousness of Christ, his own unblemished character, that through faith is imparted to all who receive him as their personal savior. Okay, well, that's unambiguous, unmistakable gospel. Okay? The righteousness of Christ, his own unblemished character that we receive through faith, and that is imparted to all who receive him as their personal savior. Now, imparted is not a word that we use a ton. So I looked it up, and here are the main synonyms give, bestow, confer, or grant. Okay, so let's just insert those words. Um that through faith is given to all who receive him, that through faith is bestowed on all who receive him, that through faith is conferred on all who receive him, that through faith is granted to all who receive him. The word means to give. That's why the garment was free. It was a gift. Now let's uh then she goes on to talk about Adam and Eve, top of the next page. We're not gonna deal with that because her point is basically just that Adam and Eve tried to clothe themselves with fig leaves. We try to do the same. But then she goes into this very interesting thing, the paragraph through that begins this is what the transgressors of God's law have done. 379, 311. This is very important because she uses a word here three times, and I'm sure many of you picked up on it, but if you didn't, you're gonna need this. Let's read this. This is what the transgressors of God's law have done ever since the days of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve's disobedience. They try to cover themselves, right, with fig leaves. Then God comes down and covers them with skins, makes them tunics of skins, Genesis 3.21. Watch this. They have sewed together fig leaves to cover the nakedness caused by transgression. They have worn the garments of their own devising. So circle or underline the word devising. I didn't do this earlier, so I'm gonna do it right now. Devise definition. Devise. Um here we go. To invent. Uh let me look here. To devise. Um to uh here we go. Oh, this is like a legal definition here. Devise. To to conceive, to imagine, or to invent. Of their own invention, which is exactly what was happening. They grabbed fig leaves and they invented their own coverings. It was their own imagination. They, oh, I got an idea. Let's cover ourselves, our nakedness, the shame of our nakedness, with these fig leaves. Or conceive, I've got a great idea, I've conceived of a great idea. So she says, these were garments of their own invention. Of their own invention. By works of their own, they have tried to cover their sins and make themselves acceptable with God. I'm reading now. This just gets better and better. But this they can never do. Never. It's not possible. Nothing can man devise. There it is, the second time, invent. Nothing can a human being invent to supply the place of his lost robe of innocence. That's her point. You know, that Adam and Eve were innocent, and then they sinned, they rebelled, they fell, and then they tried to cover themselves with these invented garments. She continues, no fig leaf garment, no worldly citizen dress can be worn by those who sit down with Christ and the angels, notice the angels, at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided can make us meet, which is kind of our way of saying, make us able or ready or possible to appear in God's presence. So only, underline only, underline nothing, underline no, underline no, underline devise. We're not done. We are not done. Turn the page. Top of page 380, 311. This covering, and in case you're unclear, the robe of his own righteousness. Notice now that that's the second time that she has thrown in the word own. Let me read it to you again back at the bottom of page 378. Is the righteousness of Christ, his own blemished character. Now let me read it here. This covering, the robe of his own righteousness, O W N. It's very important here. Because if we use that word own, right? Like I own this house, I own a car, I own the Bible. And we also use it in terms of the possessive. Oh, no, that's my own. That belongs to me. That's my own. Oh, is this your neighbor's lawnmower? No, that's my own. Own means it belongs to me. And she doesn't just say, look at this here. She doesn't just say, this covering, the robe of his righteousness. That's not even strong enough. The robe of his own righteousness. And she's done it twice. Christ will put upon every repenting believing soul. Okay, there it is again. Take that repenting believing and go all the way back to page 375. 308 of the original. I'm tacking this down, my friends. I don't want many misunderstandings here. Go to page 375. We've already read this, 308 of the original. You'll find the paragraph that says, the call to the feast. Let me read it again. The call to the feast had been given by Christ's disciples. Our Lord had sent out the twelve and afterward the seventy, proclaiming the kingdom of God was at hand and calling upon men to repent and believe. To repent and believe the gospel. So that's how you get the that's how you get the gospel. You repent and believe. But let me read you this here again. This covering, the robe of his own righteousness, Christ will put upon every repenting believing soul. So we don't have to have any ambiguity on how Ellen White understands that we get the wedding suit, the wedding garment, the garment of Christ's own robe of righteousness. Repent and believe. Believe and repent. That's it. That's it. There's no wiggle room in here at all for any kind of works-based, fig leaf-based self-righteousness. Look at the next paragraph. This robe, we're still on page 380, 311 of the original. Watch this. Here's the third use of devising. This robe woven in the loom of heaven. Wow, that's cool, has in it not one thread of human devising. And remember, our synonym for devising is invention. Not a thread. So just imagine if you have an enormous garment, right? You got a great big garment. In fact, just today, um, this just came to my mind. When our dear friends, Reiner and Alice, came over to visit today for breakfast. Um, Alice was at one point walking ahead of me, and I and she was wearing a gray sweatshirt. A gray sweatshirt, kind of like this one, but it was uh nicer than this. A gray sweatshirt, and I noticed that there was a thread about as long as my finger that was just trailing down. And so I said, Oh, hey, Alice, let me grab this. And I reached up and I just plucked this thread off. She said, Oh, did I have a thread? I said, Yeah, look at this. Little thread. Just a little thread. That little thread did not do anything in terms of the overall structure or integrity of the garment. Right? He you break off that little thread, it it's only a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the whole garment. The garment, and Ellen White says, not even a threat. Not only is the garment not of human invention or devising, there's not even a threat, not a single thread of human invention or devising. I mean, language cannot be clearer. Let's keep reading. This robe woven in the loom of heaven has not in it one thread of human devising. Christ and his humanity worked out a perfect character. Indeed he did. He loved God with all his heart, mind, his soul, and he loved his neighbors himself. And this character he offers to impart to us. Oh, he offers to give to us, to bestow on us, to confer to us, to grant to us. All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. Everything that we of ourselves can do is defiled by sin. That's pretty clear. That's pretty clear. But the Son of Man was manifested to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Sin is to be defined as the transgression of the law. First John chapter 3, verses, she quotes five and four here. But Christ was obedient to every requirement of the law. He said of himself, I delight to do your will, O my God. Yes, your law is within my heart. Psalm 40, verse 8. When on earth he said to his disciples, I have kept my father's commandments, John 15, 10, by his perfect obedience. Earlier in this paragraph, she said, His perfect character. Now she says, His perfect obedience. Amen. Because when I put on the robe of Christ's righteousness, let me tell you how this works. This is how this works. When I receive the robe of Christ's righteousness, and how do I get it? Hmm. Oh, that's right. Believing and repenting. Okay, so now I have that on me. I believe that, friends. This is my new identity. I'm a son of God. I'm a daughter of God. I am no longer just a wayward, aimless, rebellious sinner. Now, am I perfect in my behavior? Am I perfect in my obedience? Am I perfect in my growth, maturation, and holiness? No, I am not. But I am a follower of Jesus now, and I have the garments of Christ's righteousness to prove it, given to me as a free gift. Well, guess what? Now that my identity is solid, my behavior will start to correspond with my identity. This is pretty straightforward. For example, I am a rock climber. That is one aspect of my identity. And I rock climb. I am also a bird watcher. And I watch birds. Am I a perfect rock climber? No. I'm trying to get better. I'm trying to get stronger. Been doing it for 35 years. Am I a perfect bird watcher? No, there's lots of birds I don't know, especially in areas that I'm not familiar with. But I'm a birdwatcher. I have the clothes of a birdwatcher, I know the vocabulary of a birdwatcher, I hang out in the community of a birdwatcher, I'm married to a bird watcher, I am a birder. I'm not a perfect birder, but I'm definitely a birder. It's my identity, and my identity then informs my behavior. At every opportunity I go birding. Just today I was pointing out to Jim when he was here. Oh, that's a beautiful pygmy nut hatch. That's a mountain chickadee. Notice how the mountain chickadee is a little messier and also has the eyebrow that the black capped chickadee doesn't have. And if they were to call, you'd hear that the mountain chickadee is a little more raspy, and the tone of the call is quite a bit different than the black capped chickadee. When you know what to listen for, they're unmistakable. That's a mountain chickadee, that's a black capped chickadee. Oh, look, a house finch just arrived. That's the female house finch. She doesn't have any red on her. She is more drab, and she's still beautiful, but a little more drab. Oh, here's a red house finch. Here's a male house finch. Look at the beautiful red breast. Oh, it's getting really red. He's getting, it looks like we're getting closer and closer to spring. Okay, I know things. I am not a perfect birder, but I'm becoming a birder. That's my identity. When I am clothed with the righteousness of Christ, I start to live like a son of God. You start to live like a daughter of God. Eric, at no point do you think, oh, I'm really here. I'm here because of my obedience. That's how I got into this wedding. No, that's not how you got into the wedding, my friend. If you did that, you'd be the guy in just ordinary street clothes. No, you got into the wedding because you got the wedding garment on. The wedding garment was a costly gift that was given to you for free. And that wedding garment is the robe of Christ's own righteousness. And there's not a thread of human devising in it. But when you put that garment on, you're gonna say, wow, this fits great. I almost feel like this is how I was made to be. I almost feel like this is what it means to be human. And you're gonna start learning how to love like Christ loved, how to help others like Christ helped others, how to speak about Jesus, how to pray to Jesus, how to be helpful, how to be kind, how to be loving, how to be gracious, how to be merciful, how to be forgiving. You're gonna start to look like a Christian, just like I look like a birder, and I look like a rock climber. Imagine if I had all the clothes of rock climbing, and I had all the gear of rock climbing, all the ropes and quick draws and carabiners and stick clips, I had all the things. And then somebody said, Well, when did you go rock climbing? Uh, uh, uh. They start asking me about rock climbing places, Yosemite and Joshua Tree and Red Rocks, and uh uh uh they're gonna say, Are you really a climber? Because climbers climb and birders bird, and Christians try to live the life of Christ. Do I climb perfectly? No, I often fall. Do I bird perfectly? No, I sometimes get birds wrong. Some birds I don't even know what they are. I hear a call and I'm like, I don't know what that bird is. But I'm becoming a better birder. I'm becoming a better climber, and I'm becoming a better Christian. But at no point does my growth in the Christian faith take the place of my identity and status in the Christian faith, which is conferred upon me as a gift from Christ, his own righteousness, the robe of his own righteousness given to me. I mean, I just it can't be clearer. It just cannot be clearer. Um, now jump over to page 381. Jump over to page 381, and this is really great stuff here. We're gonna spend a little moment here. Page 381, 312 of the original paragraph begins, it is not enough. It is not enough. Let's read this. This is key. I actually wrote here on my margin, key. This is key. This is big here. It is not enough for us to believe that Jesus is not an imposter. Okay, so now what she's gonna do is she's gonna talk about, well, what do we mean by belief? Because remember, we receive the garment by repent and belief. Repent and believe, believe and repent. Okay. So she's gonna say, okay, it's not enough, and she's gonna say this three times, it is not enough, it is not enough, it is not enough. Underline all three of them. I'll point them out. It is not enough for us to believe that Jesus is not an imposter. Okay, well, that's a pretty low bar, right? I think that Jesus was the Messiah, you think that Jesus was the Messiah. She's like, okay, look, that's good, but that's not enough. Okay, what else? That the religion of the Bible is no cunningly devised fame. So people can think, oh no, the Bible is telling the truth, and Jesus was an imposter, we're not there yet. That's not enough to put on the robe of Christ's righteousness. That's a that's a belief, but it's a kind of intellectual ascent. It's not believe in the full-throated, robust whole wheat version of believe. We don't want the whitebread version of believe. We want the whole wheat version of believe. She continues. Oh, okay. So this is not just a general or generic assent to some ambiguous religiosity. Oh, I oh, I need to know not just that Jesus is somebody's savior in some general sense, but he's my savior. Oh, now it's personal. Now it's individual. Now it's volitional. Now it's, oh, okay, I get it. Then she says, it is not enough, second time, to believe the theory of truth. Well, now we know what she's driving at. A generic assent to some general religious Christian truth. That's not enough. That's not enough. It is not enough, third time, to make a profession of faith in Christ and have our names registered on the church roll. Just like making a profession of rock climbing or of birding doesn't make me a climber or a birder. I am a climber. I am a birder. It's not just something I say. I love to talk about both of them. And I love to do them. I love to talk about Jesus, and I'm a follower of Jesus. It's not just a profession. This is her point. Then she quotes 1 John 3.24 and 1 John 2.3, jump down below that. This is the genuine evidence of conversion. Whatever our profession, whatever our mouth says, amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in works of righteousness. In other words, unless we're trying to live the Christ life, behave like Jesus, think like Jesus, heal like Jesus, be a blessing like Jesus, forgive like Jesus, just like I'm a climber. I know how to climb, I know how to lead, I know I'm a climber. That's what I do. I think it's a really good illustration. She then has a section on page 382 where she's like, look, some people are going to tell you that Jesus did away with the law. Here she's dealing with what Dietrich Bonhoeffer would call cheap grace. Ah, don't worry about any of that obedience stuff. Don't worry about oh, none of that really matters. No, that's not how that works. No, Jesus lived a real life, and he gave us an example of how to live, how to be human, what it looks like to be a human being. That's what Jesus really has done for us. He's shown us what God's intent was in creating human beings. And he gave that to us in the law, the law of love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Number one. And number two, love your neighbor as yourself. Oh, you want a further breakdown of that? You have the Ten Commandments. You want a further breakdown of that? You have lots and lots and lots of commands in the Old Testament. You want a further breakdown of that? Well, just look at the life of Jesus. That's the life we are aspiring to lead. To live like that, to love like that, to be like that, to forgive like that, to be kind like that. Like that, to serve like that. Again, do we do it perfectly? No, we do not. But we're trying to do it. And remember, Ellen White said all the way back, way, way, way back on page 72. Because jump over, I'll tell you why this matters. Jump over to page 383. Paragraph begins. God requires perfection of his children. And somebody's gonna go, oh no! Oh no! We're never gonna make it. God requires perfection of his children. Well, you might remember all the way back on page 72. Oh, I turned right there. I love it when that happens. You might remember this line. You ready? All the way back on page 72, 66 of the original. When Jennifer was here, we talked about this. That was a great session with Jennifer. Go back and listen to that one if you have any questions about this chapter, because they kind of illumine one another. Okay, listen to this uh paragraph, excuse me. The germination of the seed, top of page 72, 66 of the original. The germination of the seed represents the beginning of spiritual life. And the development of the plant is a beautiful figure of Christian growth. As in nature, so in grace. There can be no life without growth. The plant must either grow or die. As its growth four times is silent and imperceptible but continuous, so is the development of the Christian life. And then remember this little gem. At every stage of development, our life may be perfect. You remember that? At every stage of our life, at every stage of development, our life may be perfect. Yet if God's purpose for us is fulfilled, there will be continual advancement. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime. As our opportunities multiply, our experience will enlarge, our knowledge will increase, we shall become strong to bear responsibility, and our maturity will be in proportion to our privileges. I mean, it's unmistakable. Growth, growth, growth, grow, enlarge, become strong, increase, maturity, sanctification, continual advancement. And she holds this for Ellen White, there is zero, for scripture, there is zero tension between the idea that we are growing, maturing, developing, and that at every stage of that development we can be perfect for that stage. And you're like, but wait a minute, David, I wasn't perfect at this stage. I made a giant mistake. I, oh, okay, you made a giant mistake. Guess what? You can confess, you can repent of that giant mistake that you made. You can confess that to God. You can ask him to forgive you. He will forgive you. We just read a few days ago. God never tires of forgiving. And then this is really cool, and this is kind of a this will scramble your head a little bit. Part of what it means to be perfect at a given stage is to repent when you're not perfect at a given stage. And that's paradoxical and it's beautiful. I'll say it again. Part of being perfect at given stages of Christian development is repenting, learning to repent when you haven't been perfect at that stage. And you're like, so wait a minute, in order to be perfect, I have to fail so that I can confess and repent and be perfect. Yes. Exactly. Just like a child that's learning to walk. They learn to walk, they get a few steps right, and they they fall. It's like, well, you have to fall in order to learn how to get it right. Now, does the child fall on purpose? No. Does the climber fall on purpose? No. Do I purposefully misidentify a bird? No, but sometimes I do. And I learn and I grow. So when a more experienced birder comes alongside me and says, Oh, you know, David, you pointed out that that was a Cooper's hawk, but actually it was a large sharks-hinned hawk, and here's why. Reason number one, reason number two, reason number three, and I'm learning, and I'm like, oh, okay, wow, that's super helpful. I thought it was a Cooper's, but I can see now that it's really a large shark shin. I'm learning. I got it wrong. I didn't get it wrong on purpose. That would be rebellion. That's a big difference. But you can even repent of rebellion. Even rebellion can be repented of. Thank you, Jesus. Like Peter. Peter was fully rebellious. Fully rebellious when he denied his Lord with cursing and swearing. We already have that chapter. We already have that section. Remember the look. The look. Remember that? Okay, I just love this section. God requires, back to page 383, God requires perfection of his children. Don't freak out. She's already told us that perfection is available at every stage of development, growth, maturity, holiness. She continues here. His law is a transcript of his own character. It is the standard of all character. These, this infinite standard is presented to all, that there may be no mistake in regard to the kind of people God will have compose his kingdom. It's an infinite standard. And I got news for you. Only Jesus kept that infinite standard. You have not kept the infinite standard, neither have I. God is infinitely good, he is infinitely perfect, he is infinitely holy, and finite beings have not kept his infinite standard. But to the degree that we can keep it, we should keep it, and we want to. Because God is awesome. And who wants to live a life of sin? I mean, sin is always sugar coated, but it sucks. It's terrible. It's not what we want. We know it's not what we want. And over time, as we mature and grow, we learn, I didn't, I don't want that. I used to do that. I don't want that anymore. I did that for years, and that's not the thing I do anymore. It's sugar-coated. Don't take that. I know it looks good. You don't want that. Let's stay away from that then. We learn to stay away from it. And then we learn to embrace the good stuff. Then this uh sec section here. The life of Christ on earth was a perfect expression of God's law. And when those who claim to be children of God become Christ-like in character, they will be obedient to God's commands. And remember, the main command is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Do we have more to say? Yes, we do. Let's turn the page. All right, I'm going to pick this up a little bit. The next paragraph, bottom of page 383, the man who came to the wedding feast without a wedding garment represents the condition of many in our world today. They profess with the mouth to be Christians and lay claim to the blessings and privileges of the gospel, but they don't feel in need of transformation of character. Do you feel a need of transformation of character? I do. Well, if you feel in need of transformation of character, then you have repented and you're believing. She continues. They have never felt true repentance for sin. Well, have you ever felt true repentance for sin? I have. I have repented of sins that I said I didn't want to do anymore, and sometimes I've stopped doing them, and other times I've done them again, but then I've repented again. So I know what it is to feel true repentance for sin, and you do too. They do not realize their need of Christ or exercise faith in him. That does not describe me, and it does not describe you. It is not true that you do not know your need of Christ or exercise faith in him. So don't put that, that shoe doesn't fit you. That shoe doesn't fit me either, so I'm not going to wear it. They have not overcome their hereditary or cultivated tendencies of wrongdoing. Now, I've not come overcome all of them, but I've overcome some of them. Let me give you one. Hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil. Well, how about this? My father abandoned me. My second father abandoned me. That's evil. It's evil to bring a child into the world and abandon that child. That's an evil thing to do. Well, guess what? By the grace of God, I have stuck around for my sons. I love my sons. I cherish my sons. I advise my sons. My sons are my best friends in the world. So I have overcome that hereditary tendency to evil, to abandon, to abandon my sons. That was generational. And I broke that by the grace of God. God in me, we broke that curse together. So I have not overcome every one of my hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil. I'm still growing. But that one, I'm just using this as a quick example. Yet they think that they are good enough in themselves. You don't believe that. I don't believe that. So that shoe doesn't fit you. There's no way that shoe, I mean, that shoe, we are not like the Pharisee who says, Man, I'm glad I'm not like these guys. We're like the tax collector who beats his chest and says, God have mercy on me as sinner. They think they're good enough in themselves. That doesn't fit you. They rest upon their own merits. That doesn't fit you. Instead of trusting in Christ, that doesn't fit you. Don't wear these shoes if they don't fit and they don't fit you. Hearers of the word, they come to the banquet, they have not put on the robe of Christ's righteousness. Many who call themselves Christians are mere human moralists. That's not you. That's not me. We are not mere human moralists. We are followers of Jesus, doing our best to learn how to love like he loved, bless like he blessed, live like he lived, serve like he served. That's what we are. We're not human moralists that think we're going to get in on our own merits. We're not showing up to the wedding with fig leaves. No, we're trusting in the righteousness of Christ. That's what you're doing, that's what I'm doing. We have repented, we are believing, and when we fall, we repent and believe again. And when we fall, we repent and believe again. Top of the next page, 385, top of the next page. All these expect to be saved by Christ's death, while they refuse to live his self-sacrificing life. They extol the riches of free grace and attempt to cover themselves with an appearance of righteousness, hoping to screen their defects of character, but their efforts will be of no avail in the day of God. That's not you, friends, and that's not me. I really hope it's not you, and I don't think it is. I don't think you're doing with DA so that you can extol the riches of free grace and attempt to cover yourself with an appearance of righteousness. I just don't think that's you. You are somebody that fails and falls and makes mistakes and is unkind and gossipy and sometimes cruel and sometimes lustful. And yeah, yeah, that is true. That is who you are. But that's because you're a sinner learning how to follow Jesus and you repent of those sins. And sometimes when those sins come around, you're gonna say no to the devil. You're gonna be like, no, no, I've done that before. I'm not doing that. I've tasted that before. That is bitter fruit. That is sugar-coated and it's all kind of poison inside. I'm not doing it. We're learning, we're growing. The righteousness of Christ will not cover one cherished sin. Amen. A cherished sin is a sin that we refuse to give up. Right? Something that I'm holding on to. I cherish it. I cherish it. Let me look up some uh synonyms here for cherish, just quickly. Cherish. Adore. Adore. Uh love. Hold dear. Feel great affection for, treasure, prize, entertain. No, the sins that I have had and do have in my life are sins I hate. I don't adore them. I hate them. The litmus test for whether or not we are cherishing a sin is how we feel about it when we are in our sober moments, when we're not overcome with temptation. If we're like, no way, I don't want that, I don't want to have anything to do with that, but then in a moment of temptation, you stay up too late, you eat too much ice cream, you get in an argument, you whatever, and then you find yourself doing something that you're like, why did I do that? The litmus test is upon reflection, how do you feel about that sin? If you're like, huh, it's no big deal. That's not a big deal. It's not, it's not a sin. I kind of like it. Well, that's cherishing. But if you're like, why did I do that? Why did I do that? I did not think I would do that again. How what was the chain of circumstances that got, and this is one of my favorite things that Angelo Grasso says. When you fall into temptation, when you fall into sin, don't go immediately to condemnation. Go to curiosity. I love this point that Angela makes. Go to curiosity, be curious. Why did you sin there? What was the chain of events that got you to do something that you now regard as completely stupid? Completely not in keeping with where you're trying to go. There was a chain of events, and you'll be able to identify, say, I was fine there. And that was a oh, here it was. And often your slip-up will just be in some habit, some inattentiveness, something stupid. And you can get not just self-incrimination, self-condemnation, woe is me. We do need to do that. We do need to say, Father, I'm so sorry, that's a terrible sin. I didn't mean to do that. But don't just go to condemnation, go to curiosity. Figure out why you fell, why you said that, why you looked at that, why you thought that. Why you did that. There's gonna be some reason, and very likely in your sober moment when you're like, oh, what was I thinking? You'll be able to go back and identify the slip-up. And what you want to do is you want to address the sin well before the temptation is overwhelming. You want to address it back here. And that gets easier. So don't insist on condemnation. Look for curiosity. Be curious. Identify those moments in your day, in your psyche, in your breakfast, in your in your what you ate the night before, what you what you the sleep that you did or didn't get, the movie that you did or didn't watch. And you're like, I I know, I know how that snuck up on me because I was inattentive and I let that in the door, and then that led to that, and then that led to that, and then I ended up here. I see it. God help me not just to not do the thing, but not to play in the sandbox where the thing is likely to find me. Right? Man, a lot more could be said, but there's a section here that I really want to go to. Okay. Um 386. 386. Join me in 386, the professed churches of Christ. We're we're almost done here. Just a couple more sections I want to read. I'll be quick. 386, the professed churches of Christ in this generation. Quickly, 386. The professed churches of Christ in this generation are exalted to the highest privileges. Amen. We talked about privileges yesterday. The Lord has been revealed to us in ever-increasing light. Amen. Our privileges are far greater than were the privileges of God's ancient people. We have not only the great light committed to Israel, the Old Testament, but we have the increased evidence of the great salvation brought to us through Jesus Christ. That which was type and symbol to the Jews is reality to us. They have the Old Testament history. We have that and the New Testament also. We have the assurance of a Savior who has come. Notice the word assurance, a Savior who has been crucified, who is risen, and who over a the rent sepulcher, that is to say, the open tomb of Joseph has proclaimed, I am the resurrection and the life. In our knowledge of Christ and his love of the kingdom of God is placed in the midst of us. Christ is revealed to us in sermons and chanted to us in songs. The spiritual banquet is set before us in rich abundance. The wedding garment provided at infinite cost is freely offered. And that's my favorite line in the whole chapter. Provided at infinite cost is freely offered. She's already hinted at this, but here she says it in such great language. Infinite cost, freely offered. There is a purposeful paradox in the way she has worded this. Provided at infinite cost. Infinite cost to who? Well, to God. Remember, there's not a there's not a thread of human devising in this garment. It was it was Jesus that was incarnate. It was Jesus that was that was uh uh crucified, it was Jesus that was buried, it was Jesus that was raised, it was Jesus that ascended to heaven. The ink of history is dry. You didn't contribute to that. I didn't contribute to that. No, nobody did. That was a thing that Jesus and the Spirit and the Father did. So it was at an infinite cost. The ink of history is dry, it's done. But it's freely offered to every soul. By the messengers of God are presented to us the righteousness of Christ, justification by faith, the exceeding great and precious promises of God's word. I love this. Free access to the Father by Christ, the comfort of the Spirit, the well-grounded assurance of eternal life in the kingdom of God. I mean, she's saying, oh, we get all this stuff. The righteousness of Christ, check justification by faith, check the exceeding great and precious promises of God's word. Amen. Check free access to the Father. Oh, hallelujah. Check the comfort of the Spirit. Thank you, Jesus. Check the well-grounded assurance of eternal life in the kingdom of God. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check. I'm in. I'm in. What do I have to do? Repent and believe. Believe and repent. Put on the garment. That's your new identity. Live into this new identity. That's it. And more could be said, but I'm going to just stop right there. More could be said, but I'm going to stop right there. Great, great chapter. I've already gone an hour and a half. This was an incredible chapter, and it's so easy to understand. I love the language of infinite cost, freely offered to every believing

Rubric

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soul. Let's do our rubric. Point, personal prayer, practice, promise, and I can't wait to see your words. I went back and forth on two words here, and I'll be very interested to see which I'm I'm still kind of undecided, actually. The point. I wrote here the third parable in this sequence of Matthew 21 and 22, the sons, the tenants, and the wedding environment, is the most pointant. We must be clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness if heaven is to be our eternal home. Amen. His robe of his own righteousness. Number two, the person. Jesus was perfect. He was perfect in his life and his death and his resurrection, and he offers us his perfect righteousness if we will but believe and repent. Amen. I'm in. The prayer, Father, teach me and help me to surrender my habits and my character 100% entirely to you and to your will. On the very last page, she talks again about habits. We talked about habits, was that yesterday or the day before? Two days ago, saying and doing, and my word was habits. Habits. And I want to surrender my habits, and I want to surrender my character. That's my prayer. The practice. Well, my practice actually, we didn't read the section that goes along with my practice, so it's not going to make sense. Let me just quickly read it. This is on page 388. She just has this single sentence. I'll just quickly read this. This is the second to the last page of this chapter. Paragraph begins. Sad will be. Sad will be the retrospect in that day when men stand to face to face with eternity. The whole life will present itself just as it has been. And then this line: the world's pleasures, riches, and honors will not then seem so important. Let me read that again. The world's pleasures, riches, and honors will not then seem so important. And I just wrote here on the margin context. Like we've just got to remember when the devil is tempting us, and when our own sinful nature is tempting us, we just need to remember big picture. None of this is gonna matter. What's gonna matter is character and converts. So we've got to keep the big picture the big picture context. We've got to remember what we're doing here. We're not just here to be political partisans for the Republicans or the Democrats or whatever your political situation is in your country. We're here for something. We're not just here to accumulate widgets and order everything and anything on Amazon Prime. We're not just here to pay all the attention in the world to whatever Hollywood is producing or whatever the sports media is producing. Not that you can't do some of those things. Order on Amazon Prime, watch the USA hockey beat Canada. That's fine. But that's not the main thing that we're here for. We need to keep the main thing, the main thing. Remember when Kylie was here, we talked about that? The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing. And so what I wrote here for my practice is context, context, context. What really matters in the final analysis? We've got to remind ourselves of the big picture. The big picture is we want to spend eternity with Jesus in heaven, and no widget or sin or worldly acquisition is gonna even compare. And so a little bit of potential hardship in the here and now that will actually turn out to be good for us, even in the here and now, but a little bit of hardship in the here and now will pay big dividends in the hereafter. We've got to remember the big picture. We've got to remember the big picture. And then finally, the promise. Uh, my promise was on page 380. I already read it, but I'll read it again. Um the cut this covering, the robe of his own righteousness, Christ will put on every repenting believing soul. Jesus, I'm a repenting believing soul. I am David Ashrack, I am a repenting believing soul. I believe, I choose to believe, I repent of my sins, my shortcomings, my failures, my faults. So then the promise is. He gives me the robe of his own righteousness. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, what was your word? I can't wait to see. I can't wait to see. And I'm really torn here. I'm really torn here, but I'm gonna be very curious what everybody else has got down here. Lots of people saying me too. Okay, invitation. Zach says, invitation. Okay, Mantis Lee says conversion. Love it. Change. Garments. Good word. Robert says gifted. Oh, yeah, great word. Gift. Coral Rn says freely. That's one of the words I'm wrestling with. Maybe freely. Appearance planted. Accept. God has made a home for me. He has made a way for me. He will help get me there. Amen. Get back up. One word, all pushed together. Robe, accept. Cost free. Robe of innocence, says Sarah. Rob says Brent. Oh, you guys had the same word. Revealed. Change into the wedding garment. Character change. Oh, I do like that. I really like that. Fitted. Now, motive. Who had that? I loved that. Selena. Marie Selena. Wow, I like that. Okay, what am I missed here? Take on cost, infinite cost, surrender, cleave, accepted, transformation, evidence. Write that down. Change. Um, character, gift, covered. I haven't seen my other word yet. Evidence. His speechless without a wedding garment. Cover. Enshroud, says Pam. I want to be completely covered with his garment. Preach. Inspected. Unexpected. Oh, that's hot. That's really good. I like the play there. His covering. Oh, I like that 303 scissor G. Friend, provided. See, Jesus only. Preparation. Consequences. Decision. Wow. Okay. Fit. Oh, fit's really good. I'm not sure if that's Alice or Reiner, but it's good because an outfit. It's an outfit. And then we have a fitness. We belong there. Jesus makes us fit. I see it. United. I sew, so linen stuck out. Okay, well, let me tell you, one of the words has already got up here. I love the word freely. She uses the word free and freely. I just read that here a moment ago. I'll keep my eye on Instagram to see if it comes through again. But just this line here. Provided an infinite cost, freely offered. Okay, here's some more. Perfect. Character, says Matt Morgan, 324. Great to see you, Matt. Fit is good, isn't it? Several people saying fit. I like badge. Badge is good. Fashion is cool. Threads is cool. Okay, my other word. Nobody has used my other word. Changing mind to fit. Yeah, fit's good, isn't it? KB Photog says he's changing. I'm really torn now between fit, change. Okay, Sapria Star says allegiance, judgment. Cassandra says fit is great. Fit is kind of cool. The garment fits. We want to be fit by his grace. It's an outfit. Loom. I like it. Loom. Cover, says Jeannie. 6870. This is so good. Okay, so the words I'm going with are I love change, by the way. I think it's good because it's a change of clothes. Jesus is changing us. Our nature is being changed. I do like that. I like change. Um I also liked the word access. Nobody had that word. But she mentions there, remember when she's giving that long list, she says, the righteousness of Christ, justification by faith, the exceeding great and precious promises of God's word, free access. And you think about the event was the access. People had access to the event. So I really like access too. But and I really like change. But change is a little more maybe generic is not the right word. Let me just go look at my words so far. Have I used change? I definitely haven't used it. Oh man. I'm going to have two words. I am breaking my own rule. I'm going to have two words. I like access. I like it a lot, but I'm going to go under the influence of my own community here. I love change and I love fit. I love it. Like a change of clothes and God is changing our future. He's changing our destiny. He's changing our character. And we have a change of clothes. I really like that. But I like just as much fit and outfit. I'm breaking my own rules. I know it's terrible, but I can't decide. And both of them are so good. And when I write the word fit here, I'm going to put out in parenthesis and then fit. Outfit. And then we're fit for heaven. I like them both too much. I'm breaking my own rules. And and for maybe I've done it one or two times before. But I'm going to do it. I just like it too much. Change and fit. There it is, ladies and gentlemen. Love you all so much. Tomorrow night, remember the first where I'm going to do the first half of Talents. It's an enormous chapter. Try to read the whole thing if you can. Yeah, Freely's good too. Somebody's asking about Freely. I like Freely, I like Access. I like change. I like fit, but I cannot have four words. Freely, that works a lot. So that one's out. Access was really good, but she only used it one time. And fit is just, to me, chef's kiss and change is too good because the change of clothes, the change of heart, the change of scenery. Jesus is changing our future. He's he's rewritten our past. It's all too good. Change and fit. There it is, ladies and gentlemen. I love you all. You guys are the best. Tomorrow night, talents. Uh it's gonna be great. And we're gonna have a guest. So let's have a prayer. Father in heaven, thank you for your love and mercy. Thank you for the change that you offer us. Thank you that you offer us an outfit and that you then, by your grace, fit us to be your sons and daughters. You're growing us into that role. Forgive us, Lord, where we fall, we fail, we sin, we make mistakes. Lord, we don't want to do that anymore. We want to turn our attention to you away from sin, away from Satan, away from this death-filled world. Lord, help us to remember the larger context, the larger story. Nothing in this world, nothing in this world is worth losing eternity with you over. And so we say no to this world, we say no to the God of this world, and we say yes to you, yes to Jesus, and yes to the Spirit. And we pray all of this in the powerful, saving name of Jesus. Amen.