February 25, 2005
9. THE ARRIVAL OF THE KING. He came among his guests to greet and welcome them. No doubt that he was grateful for their willingness to attend the wedding feast. Mingled in the midst of the guests, to his consternation, he found a man without the wedding garment. Mt. 22:11 This man was not involved in the wedding party, in any fashion. He was but a guest. It was the custom at a grand affair such as this for a garment of white to be furnished and worn by all the guests. To refuse to wear it for whatever reason, was a gross affront. The reasons for the actions of this person could be many. He could have felt that what he had on was more costly and elegant than the wedding garment. He could have purposely declined wearing it as a direct insult to the king. It could have been that he was just plain ignorant. What ever his reasoning, he must now bear the consequences. It is worthwhile to note that the king called him, Friend, or companion. Mt. 22:12 The word does not express a close friendship only a recognition of his presence. Certainly, the question of the king does not contain hostility but a seeking for an answer. The attitude and reasoning of the man obviously was of a wrong nature and feeling. Guilt and condemnation of such magnitude swept over the man that he was incapable of uttering a word. He could absolutely not verbalize an excuse of any kind. “He was speechless.”
TRAGIC RESULTS. So serious was the infraction of the individual that it resulted in great punishment. He was to be bound hand and foot, losing all ability to resist while being brought into complete submission. He had no more control over his destiny. Mt. 22:13 He is thrown into a condition of “outer darkness.” He is completely separated from the joys, the merry making and the celebration of the wedding feast. Jesus referred to the time preceding the “outer darkness” as the “beginning of sorrows.” Mt. 24:8 Which is where we are right now in the plan and purpose of the Lord. Yet to come is the “outer darkness” which is the tribulation period. The original children of the kingdom will occupy the time of the “outer darkness.” Mt. 22:13 The seventy week prophecy was for them. The three and one-half year ministry of the Lord Jesus completed the first half of the seventieth week. The last half is the three and one-half years of the tribulation coinciding with the reign of the antichrist. Dan. 9:27 It could well be said that the great tribulation will be a time of hell on earth. All the forces of wickedness and evil will be loosed upon the inhabitants of the earth. The “outside” portends the most wicked and vile of human kind. They will also associate with the lowest and wildest of the satanic spirit world. Wickedness will know absolutely no restraints. The very worst of the worst of the ages will run rampant in the great tribulation. Rev. 22:15 Every cause possible of weeping will be prevalent. The extreme suffering and sorrow will cause the peoples of the world to gnash their teeth. Both in anger and in great pain. The man of sin will perpetrate his will and his way upon the peoples of the earth. Be assured, that only an eternal hell can in any way be compared to the agony of the great tribulation. Make certain you escape it.