In this parable a king was having a marriage for his son but when he sent the message out with his servants to his people, they all came up with excuses not to attend. They made light of the invitation, or they had other things to do that they thought were more important. The king was angry and sent his armies to destroy many who had offended the invitation and then he sent his servants out again onto the highways and byways and invited all, both good and bad, to attend the wedding. Many then attended and the wedding went ahead. When the king saw all the guests, he saw a man without a wedding garment, and he told his servants to bind him and take him away.

We see that this was a message of things to come. God (the King) had arranged the marriage of His Son (Jesus Christ) and invited His people (the children of Israel) as the Bride. The Israelites rejected this invitation to the point they refused to attend. God was offended and then chose many others to take their place, which included the Gentiles.

Upon seeing the guest numbers filled, the king was pleased, but upon seeing a man with no wedding garment he commanded that he be bound and taken away. We can see that without the wedding garment he was not able to be part of the wedding. God is not going to exclude us because we are wearing the wrong clothes, but the ‘wedding garment’ is ‘righteousness’. Unless we make some effort to accept Christ and be like Him and accept Him as the Son of God so His righteousness can become part of our life, we will not be able to be in the presence of the Almighty God.

Revelation 19:7 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready”.

Whenever we look around and think that the wicked are prospering, don’t start fretting and don’t do anything foolish. The Lord is on our side, and “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) In Psalm 37:16 – 20 God gives us all the assurance we need to have peace in our hearts. “A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked.” (v-16).

Here’s our first assurance: God knows how much we need, and all of His wealth is available to each of us. What good is it to have a million-dollar house if it’s not a home? What good is it to have a huge bank account if our values are not right? David was telling us that it’s better to have a little and have God (because then we have everything) than to have much and not have God. Look at verse 17: “For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.”

The second assurance is that God knows how much we can take, He knows how great a burden we can bear, how fierce a battle we can fight. When God puts us in the furnace, He always keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat, like what He did to Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego.  (Daniel 3 – 26) “Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.”

Third, God knows the days that we will live. “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever” (v-18). God has a plan for our life. That sounds like a Christian cliché, doesn’t it? But it’s true. Whenever we’ve gone on trips it has always assured me to know that the tour guide knows where he’s going and what he’s doing. I can just sit back and let him do the driving and the worrying. That’s how God wants us to live.

He wants us to leave everything with Him; because we’re assured that He knows how much we need, how much we can take and what will happen each day we live. Don’t worry, just live a day at a time. God’s Word says very clearly, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deut. 33:25). Trust God today. AMEN!

Jeremiah the Prophet spoke God’s word to the nation of Judah in the lead up to their Babylonian captivity. Approximately 600 years later, the ‘hope of Israel’, their Saviour, was born into the world. Jesus came to save the Israelite nation from the captivity of sin and the wages of death.

Unfortunately, the words of the true prophets came to fulfillment, and He was forsaken resulting in names being written back into the earth. The promised from fountain of life had come, but whenever the fountain is rejected, access to the life-giving water is lost. Psalm 36:9 “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light”. Proverbs 13:14 “The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart the snares of death.”

Thankfully, with the victory of Jesus Christ, He was able to write the names of those who believed in Him into another book, the Lamb’s book of life. As a remedy to death, a wonderful New Hope was thereby set in place.

Revelations 21:6, “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

Jesus’ disciples witnessed the beginning of this new way when a woman who had committed adultery was brought to Him for condemnation. He was seen writing into the dust, which along with His statement, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her,’ convicted the hearts of the accusers and they let her live. Freedom from judgement and death to walking in forgiveness and life.

John 8:11-12, “She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

The words above from the Prophet Isaiah, like many prophetic utterances, have a number of applications. They can be directly applied to his role as a major prophet of God to bring Israel back to God with His direct words. They can also be seen when the Word of God took upon Himself the flesh of this world through a mother’s womb and resulted in Jesus’ preaching of the Kingdom of God. But Isaiah was also promised that his words would carry forward into the Christian era for the gentile nations.

In a recent Word of Life (#43 2021) the importance of being a sharpened tool, prepared by His wisdom, and ready for the Lord’s use was highlighted. This prompted a member to share the following poem from the book, ‘From Infidelity to Faith’. The second stanza contains the above words applied to Christians today.

Unfit for Service (L.H.K.E)

One night t’was a Saturday evening, I sat alone in my room,

Watching the faded daylight, And the steadily gathering gloom,

And I longed and watched for an op’ning, A word for the Master to say,

Ere the twilight gave place to darkness and the week had sped away.

I knew that there had been moments afforded me through the week

When I might have witnessed for Jesus, But I hadn’t the heart to speak.

And now when I would have spoken, The privilege was denied.

So I went, in my sorrow, to Jesus, ‘And why is this?’ I cried.

Ah! the Master knew all about it, So He said, and I knew it was right,

‘The tool is too blunt for service: I cannot use it tonight.”

Oh! Christian, learn well this lesson; We can only be used by God

When communion with Him has fashioned our mouths like a sharpened sword.

The shaft to be used must be polished, And hid in the Master’s hand;

The arrow while hid in the quiver, Must be sharp to do His command.

Then polish and sharpen me, Master, Though painful the process may be;

And make me an instrument fitted, To be used any moment by Thee.

From our mother’s womb the Lord has called His children in this era of Grace to testify of HIM. It is by submitting ourselves to God’s purpose for our life that we can become ‘fit to serve’.

This reply to a question put by Jesus while on earth after He had spoken the parable of the Good Samaritan, in answer to a question put to Him in Verse 29 – “But he willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?” This question came about because this man had displayed his knowledge of God’s word in declaring what it had said on how man could inherit eternal life, in declaring, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” Today we too can still make this statement, but do we, like that man, also try to justify ourselves by deciding in our mind who we choose to call our neighbours?

In the days of Christ, it was easy for them to know their neighbour, for to them the world they knew would have been only that area near-by, but even in those days there were people whom they accepted and those whom they did not. The Samaritans were looked upon in scorn by the Jews and that is why Jesus used that parable so that the man could see clearly the definition of the question, “Which now of these three thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves.” The man was forced to answer, “He that showed mercy on him.” Today we often hear the saying that the world is getting smaller — meaning that through the advancement of technology we know almost immediately what is happening anywhere in the world, and in a very, short time one can travel around the world. Now this raises the question, “Who then is my neighbour?” We cannot have the advantages of all this technology and at the same time have the luxury of choosing who we want as our neighbour.

The Prophet Zechariah in Chapter 3, 519 years before Christ came into the earth, prophesied that God would send his Servant the Branch, which is Christ, who would in one day remove the iniquity of that land, and from then on “saith the Lord of Hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour.” We see in the natural how this has fulfilled itself, but in the spiritual sense, have we, who have accepted Christ as our Lord, also accepted his word? – And when we see our neighbour in distress, no matter where in the world, do we try to find an excuse, or do we accept the commandment, “Go and do thou likewise”?

We must also then remember that we, too, are then seen as neighbour to others, and if we are in distress, we should also be prepared to accept help from others.

These words that Christ spoke in the Sermon on the Mount state very clearly that the focus for our spiritual future and welfare should be directed toward this the promises of God, in our soul’s salvation, eternal life and the coming kingdom of God.

It is easy to lose sight of all this in the world we live in, with world events and troubles overshadowing the good things being achieved by so many. Unfortunately, for the sake of headline news and sensational stories, today’s media has little time or inclination to report the good news.

We should never lose sight of our goal in life, of spiritual success and achievement because we are overwhelmed by cares of this world.

Matthew 6:24-29 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other, Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

This would surely give us the confidence to go into each day with the understanding that although there may be some negative events, there will also be many more positive things in our future.

We can be reassured as we look around and marvel at the wonderful creation that God has made, that although man in his self-satisfying wisdom has caused so many problems, God will always provide His blessings to those who genuinely seek them.

We see a warning that with our blessings and all the prosperity that God gives us can become a trap that we can say “In my prosperity I shall not be moved,” meaning that through my prosperity I cannot be moved from it. It is a warning that we must then consider where this prosperity comes from and be prepared to give back to the Lord, the giver of this prosperity, thanksgiving and a sacrifice to show that we have truly not fallen into that trap and consider it our own. It is as it were on loan to us for us to use for the benefit of family and the Church.

The Psalmist also then asked – What shall we do then? How can we offer back this thanksgiving that does not trap us into thinking that it belongs to us? He meditated on all the things that were in the world, and everything he meditated on he came to the conclusion – How can he give that back to God because it is God’s to start with? He then came to the conclusion of the only thing that could be done and is recorded in Psalm 50 verse 12 on as follows: “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”

We see that God just requires back thanksgiving for all those blessings of Grace within our life, and then thanksgiving for all of those things that have brought us prosperity, and then we should also pay our vows which   means that we do not consider them our own but we give back to the Lord so that it can then be used to bring     others unto this great blessing, and if we do that, God then accepts that, for He said then that we can ask of Him when we are in trouble and He will answer our prayers. Genuine thanksgiving opens the door for abundant grace to be poured out into the world, and in that abundance of grace we can then receive multiple blessings from the Almighty God.

Psalm 30 continues, verse 2 “O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.” This also refers to spiritual health. This spiritual health within our lives, that health that will keep us in contact with God can only come in one way, and that is through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It was prophesied. In the Bible we can read the words – All Hail. Hail we understand in our language means – Good day, how are you? But in the Greek language hail has a completely different meaning. It means – receive the best of health.

We see that word was used in various occasions in the Bible. When the angel visited Mary, who had conceived by the Holy Spirit, the angel said unto her – Hail Mary thou chosen of God; meaning that through thee would come this restoration of health, this spiritual health within the world. When our Lord was taken to be judged before He was crucified the soldiers put a crown of thorns on Him and said – Hail King of the Jews; without them realising they were testifying that through this King would come this spiritual health that the Church so desperately needed.

The final use of that which brought it to an end we find in our Lord’s own words in Matthew Chapter 28: 9-10, which after our Lord came out of the grave. “And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.” He used the words – All hail. Now within the world all the fulfilment of the spiritual healing that was needed was now vested in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the women recognised it and came and held Him by His feet to give thanksgiving unto Him for this great blessing that was being granted to the Church. We too should always remember that we should give all thanksgiving for this great blessing.

Then there was another obligation, and He told them to go quickly and tell my brethren of this wonderful blessing. And so, the role of the Church becomes very clear. We have to always go forth and give this wonderful news         that now ‘all hail’ is available, the fullness, the restoration of our spiritual sicknesses and weaknesses can be taken away as we are healed. This is the real prosperity we are offered.

The text reminds us of the great blessing restored again to the earth where we have the opportunity to once again be called sons and daughters of God, an opportunity that was lost to mankind with the downfall of Adam, for Adam was the son of God the Scripture tells us. We find that in the genealogies listed from Adam through to Christ in the Scriptures, and in the last part of that the genealogies go back to those that were close at the creation. We can read in Luke Chapter 3. Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. We see God recognised Adam as His son, and had he not fallen into sin all the generations thereafter would have inherited that wonderful blessing to be sons and daughters of God, and would have been blessed down through the ages: but that was lost to mankind, until God created a second man which was our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin to come into the world as the Son of man again, because He had to be adopted into the world, and that adoption we know was done through Joseph and Mary. We can confirm that in the Scriptures, where our Lord when He went to the temple when He was twelve years old and His parents were concerned, and when they found Him He said – Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business, but it then records in the Scriptures that He put Himself under their care. That is an adoption in our day of grace, where there is a child which is not of the direct bloodlines but is drawn unto the adoption of those parents and they care for that child as though it were their own. Our Lord then was adopted into the world as the Son of man.

We read He was in the world, but the world knew Him not. We are in the world and the world knows us not. There is no difference, everyone looks the same. The only way the world could have known that our Lord was from God was if they had believed and followed His virtues that He did. It is the same in the Church today. The world can witness that we indeed have something different, if the virtues that we show to the world by our deeds and actions are such that it shows there is a difference. This restoration took place again back in the world when our Lord came out of the grave. He came out of the grave; the first person recorded seeing Him was Mary the sinner, and we can see His declaration to the world at that time which should give us great hope, for we find written in John Chapter 20 verse 11 on as follows: “But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them. I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” We see there the declaration that now Christ could once again through this resurrection be called the Son of God, and not only Him but He said to Mary – My Father, and your Father. Now the opportunity was there again. The restoration had been made through that great sacrifice where the sins of the world had been taken away and mankind could now begin a new start in the love of Christ.

This is an opportunity for each and every one of us to come to our Lord and confess our sins, and receive from Him the adoption. Once again, we cannot just demand; it just does not happen. It is like a spiritual adoption where we are accepted by the Heavenly Father to be His sons and His daughters. With all adoptions there has to be some agreements. Of course the agreement in this case is that each time we repent for our sins He then will agree that we then are in a position to be adopted to be His sons and His daughters.

We then need to go on to the step of regeneration which we know happens through the blessings and Sacraments that He has left for the Church. In this regeneration we then take on a new being we might say, it is a spiritual being within us. There is still the fleshly being and there is the spiritual. We know that if we follow the flesh then we suffer the penalties of the flesh, but if we follow the spiritual guidance within us that is given through the power of the Holy Spirit we can then remain as sons and daughters of God. The great blessing is that our Lord knows that it is not possible for us, for He lived on this earth as an adopted son of man. He saw and experienced Himself how difficult it is to maintain that constant connection to God. He achieved it through the power of the Holy Spirit within Him, but He knows how difficult it is.  Each time we slip but then we come back, it creates that ability for a great celebration in heaven that my son again has returned to me.  This can only be done through grace, and it is a wonderful blessing that we can receive in our lives.  It enables us to be heirs to that great promise of the Kingdom of God.