April 10, 2014

Matthew 22:11-14

First Thought

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”.

A letter to my children and the children of my friends:

There is a day when man will be robbed of speech by conviction.

That day is the day when the King will come and speak and no worthy words will be found adequate to respond to Him.

The sinner will have no room in his mind to speak a fitting word on his own behalf and will be overwhelmed with conviction. In speechlessness he will be tied up by angels and as a sheep led to the slaughter, he will be led out the sight of God.

He will not open his mouth as he is thrown out to the darkness where he will weep and gnash his teeth in awful and eternal agony, remembering that which he should have done and did not do it, and that which he did and should not have done.

Just like Jesus who was bound up in the garden, taken to the Sanhedrin then later led outside the city gates as a sheep taken to the slaughter, he did not open his mouth and was crucified as the worst of sinners.

In the same way those who crucified Jesus and rejected salvation, will be thrown out from the presence of God in to the darkness where man cannot take any provision for his needs.

Nothing that man has toiled in life will pass the customs of heaven or hell.  Not even the tattoo of his body will pass to the other life, but his memories either of a life wasted or a life well spent, will pass.

We have a preview of this in the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man:
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

So it was said and so it will be done.

Those who tied up Jesus and rejected and threw him out of their lives will not find room in the kingdom of God.

Those who had no room in the Inn of their hearts for Jesus will not find room in the heart of God.

But those who surrendered and accepted Jesus and opened their hearts and lifted Jesus up, will find room in the many mansions in the kingdom of God.

Those who made room in the Inn of their hearts for Jesus, the little boy of God, will find room in the heart of God as well.

As a father said to a man who was kind to his son, “The candy that you gave to my son has sweetened my mouth” or as the popular proverb is true, “Pat a little boys head and you will be touching his father’s heart.” In the same way, God does not forget the kindness shown to his Son, Jesus.

The believer will be overwhelmed by tears of gratitude and incapable to find a word worthy of the King’s ears.  He will be mesmerized with a reward of the presence of God and will feel more than rewarded by the special smile of God to them and to them alone.

In the presence of God there is no room for anything but silent conviction.

The many who are invited will be silenced in the day of his appearance.

The few who are chosen will remain in the light of His presence.

The majority who are rejected will be thrown outside of the light of God’s fellowship and presence and into a thick darkness of separation.

Those who wanted a perfect society on their own terms can only find such a society in two places: “In heaven where they don’t need it, and in hell where they already have it” (President Reagan said this of Communism).

The speechlessness of the Elect is theologically correct due to the fact that “God seeks worshippers in spirit and truth”.

I can easily imagine my heart and spirit bursting to pieces with the joy of the sight of such a great King and his kingdom.

In the same way, when I adjust to the altitude of His presence it will take the hand of Gabriel the archangel to silence me from singing and praising out loud and without ceasing!

Dear Little Ones, by the time you understand this letter I will be an old man or in the presence of the Lord but I want you to remember what is in my heart for you:

An elder of Jesus the Lord.

Gerry Gutierrez