Note: This is one sermon from a multi-message series. The various parts are at the following links:

Grace and the Great Controversy

Grace -- real grace -- is in good supply, but so few of God's people embrace it. I have no doubt that when a preacher determines to prepare a message on grace a platoon of demons are immediately dispatched to look over his shoulder to overwhelm his mind with darkened wave of well-crafted deceptions. The demons, if they can, will cause him to veer far afield from the truth. Have you heard of what is today called the having of a "grace orientation," said to mean "the unconditional love of God and salvation as an unearned gift"?

Be careful of your definitions. Statements can be true in what they state, but misleading in what they do not say. God's love is unconditional, but is it true that to follow that idea through to its logical outcome is to understand that "salvation is totally in God's hands"? Be careful. Is salvation "totally" in God's hands? Consider the parable brothers and sisters, of the wedding garment:

And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:1-14).

Our King, the Father, made a marriage for His Son, Jesus. All humanity was called to the wedding. In fact, the wedding itself is a figure of the plan of salvation, the union of humanity with divinity. Don't get me wrong; by this I simply mean that God is working-out His plan to remove sin from His universe so that we can dwell in His presence as restored beings. But there is a problem of vast proportion; humanity has corrupted itself, become broken. Meanwhile, God is holy, and His holy law still stands, still defines the boundary line between heaven's selfless morality and the bitter selfishness of Satan's kingdom. And countless beings scattered throughout the creation of God look on as Satan's charges that God's law is unfair echo through heaven. Every angelic mind is focused on the question, Can God really be both just and the Justifier of fallen humans who have believed on Jesus? (Romans 3:26).

Failure of the Hebrews

Yes, all humanity was called to the wedding. But first the Hebrew nation was called. To that people God had granted special privileges. Massive was their responsibility to live-out and to share what they had been given. They had been granted special opportunities, including being made keepers of the oracles of God (Romans 9:4). To them were given the covenants, and the promise of Messiah to come through their race.

But history records a sad fact. Through long ages they persisted in going the wrong way from God. After every intervention by heaven, in short order they would depart straight-away from His will and plunge back into wickedness. With all their opportunities, the results showed little more than their deep indifference to God's spiritually-based kingdom. And so finally at the rejection of His entreaties He rejected them as a unique people, and went beyond.

Oh, there would still be a people in which God would succeed in combining humanity with divinity -- there would still be a successful follow-through on the plan of redemption -- there would still be manifested before the onlooking universe the result of His plan of grace: sons and daughters of God would be produced. But now the tree of Israel was expanded. The unwilling nation was snipped out of it and the willing were grafted in. Israel remained, but the wild-shoots were grafted in. God would furnish His wedding with guests.

He called and called and called. But they would not come. In sorrow and in anger He thus declares "they which were bidden were not worthy." You see, one had to be "worthy" to attend the wedding. One had to be part of the Father's kingdom instead of part of Satan's kingdom. Romans five outlines for us the fact that there are two kingdoms vying for our fealty today: a kingdom of sin and death, and a kingdom of righteousness and grace. Those adhering to the kingdom of sin and death wish to have no part with the King, no matter how benevolent He is. They refuse to come to the wedding, refuse to give up their old nature and become (as the Scripture says), "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).

A Desperate Need

The fallen nature of humanity is broken. It must be healed. It cleaves exclusively to itself; it has no place for anyone else or for even its only means of healing. Jesus, Yeshuah, Salvation, is no savior or salvation to the fallen nature. He is its destruction. Our nature refuses to be renewed; it is the nature of a devil. It is an unworthy nature.

So how do we get to "worthiness"? It can't be done on our own apart from God, because we have no power to improve ourselves. But there is a way; there is a means of preparation; there is an experience whereby we may have our part in the wedding feast.

But it is only possible through real grace.

Real grace changes people. And we need to be changed people. We all must be ready for the wedding, and we can't be ready by just wishing it or going "as we are." The invitation comes to us as we are, but to go in to the wedding means to accept our King's plans for preparation.

What did we discover in the parable? Just before the wedding began the king went in and inspected the guests present at the wedding. This wedding was no common affair. Remember, it was actually a figure of the plan of salvation, the union of humanity with divinity. God wants to change and restore people. They are invited to the wedding; they are invited to be changed.

How?

Let's look at it.

The Wedding Garment is Provided For Us

What did Jesus say? "Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways." See what God says? "I have prepared My dinner: My oxen and My fatlings are killed," and what? "all things are ready." A moment later we read that "The wedding is ready." Do you see this? Before the King goes in to inspect the guests, He has prepared everything. He has supplied the necessary nourishment to successfully conduct the wedding feast!

Do you remember that powerful verse from 2 Peter 1:3: "According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." Now this verse cannot be true unless the King provides for the guests what they need to attend the wedding. And what they need to attend the wedding feast is nothing less than the very righteousness of Christ -- the wedding garment!

Turn with me to Revelation 3:18. Jesus urged His end-time people to do this: "Buy from Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." Ointment for the eyes is needed too, so that we may see. But let's keep our focus on the white raiment. What is that? The same book tells us. Turn to Revelation 19:7-9, and notice: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and [now watch this!] His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Now notice. This is the same book. Its third chapter speaks to us of the need of God's people in the end of time to have "white raiment" so as to be clothed. The nineteenth chapter tells us that this "clean and white" clothing is for "the marriage of the Lamb," and that the wife, the church, has made herself ready, that she is wearing this garment, and that in actuality it is the "righteousness of saints." Other translations call it "the righteous deeds of the saints."

A Righteousness Not Allowed

Now I hope you are paying close attention. What we have here is something that is not allowed for in the conventional, popular, evangelical theology of salvation. The Bible presents the situation as being that where there is salvation, there are deeds, behavior, acts, whichever label you want to use, works even, of righteousness. Notice also that it is said of the bride that "She hath made herself ready."

This is not allowed.

Nonetheless, this is the testimony of Scripture. What does it mean? Friends, there truly is a cooperative part in the plan of salvation. Notice, "and to her was granted" that she would be wearing the white garment, the righteousness of Christ. Only as a gift is her wearing of this garment possible. And yet, we discover that the Bible uses the wording "she hath made herself ready." Is heaven here trying to tell us that she merits some credit in salvation? That she has, somehow, in some small degree, saved herself? No. All it is saying is that she cooperated with her Savior's plan of redemption and He (the Savior) receives all the credit. All that this is saying is that she cooperated. The gift of Christ's righteousness was never earned by her. "To her it was granted." But when God gave her the wedding garment, she put it on.

Now maybe you are saying, "This is an abberation, a place where the Bible-writer used poor wording, and now overmuch is being made of it." Turn to Revelation 7:13-14. There we read, "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

These people "have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Did they do it on their own, apart from God? Never. They needed access to the solvent, the blood of the Lamb. But they cooperated with God. They "washed their robes."

Law Orientation, or Disobedience Orientation?!

For a long time now Christians have been told otherwise than this. A new word has entered the vocabulary: "legalism." If you are trying to obey God, it may be whispered that you have a "law orientation," and not a "grace orientation." If you speak of conditions in the gospel, you are said to be speaking of a "works salvation." All this, friends, is an attempt to shout down the real gospel and replace it with a phony. Always when we seek to preach the authentic gospel, the one the Adventist pioneers understood, this attack is made. The true gospel is being smeared friends, by those who are its enemies.

By the way, did you know that the devil wants us to go to the wedding feast? That he wants us to show up there along with everyone else who's going? That's a fact. He would prefer for you to go. But he wants to send you through the doors into the palace as an unprepared person. He knows this will mean your destruction. He knows the King is going to enter and inspect the guests. So he has two tickets to paradise for you. One ticket says "sin and live," and the other ticket says "the gospel is passive." That is, you can actively sin, and be passively saved. And this he calls "grace."

It is forever true, everything that we of ourselves can do is defiled by sin. That is, stated another way, everything that we try to do on our own apart from God is tainted by sin. We are fallen and we cannot obey -- not without divine help. But we have divine help, if we will receive it. This changes everything, because it involves real grace.

God's Golden Streets or Our Own Blacktop

Man constantly tries to manufacture a grace of his own. Constantly we are prone to seek to supplement the road to heaven in some way, to add a stretch covered with our own blacktop. It is true that humanity is at heart, in its fallen state, ever trying to climb up the salvation ladder some other way, to add a rung or two of our own. But this is not the only trap. There is another one just as destructive, and it is one we have to discuss and give a corrective for. This is the view that believing in Jesus somehow releases us from the necessity of obeying God. It is said that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, now our works have nothing to do with our redemption, that salvation is totally in God's hands.

But what happened back in our parable? The King, at the wedding feast and just immediately before the wedding, comes in to see the guests. And there he finds "a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless." If salvation is "totally in God's hands," then why is this invitee to the wedding condemned for not wearing the wedding garment? In accordance with eastern tradition, the king had provided the wedding garment. But the guest refused to put it on. He came in his own clothes.

At great cost heaven has provided the garment of Christ's righteousness. What an insult it would be not to put it on; to think we can appear before the King in our own righteousness. How speechless we would be.

If our heart has been renewed by the Spirit of God, then our lives will show it. If we are wearing the wedding garment, our lives will show it. The wedding garment is Christ's own righteousness. Christ is God. God is love. If we put on Christ (Galatians 3:27; Romans 13:14), we put on love. With this love poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), what we are will be changed. This supernatural love brings me the capacity to control my hasty ways. It protects me against manifesting my selfish tendencies. It changes me and makes God now my friend and Satan now my enemy. Drastic alterations come even in the motives that underlie my actions. If this divine love is implanted in my soul, won't His law of love be carried out in my life? Can this kind of love be put inside of me and I remain unloving still?

The so-called faith in Christ used as an excuse to release us from the necessity of obeying His law is nothing but presumption. "By grace are ye saved through faith," but "faith, if it have not works, is dead" (Ephesians 2:8; James 2:17). If you give yourself to Jesus, then no matter how sinful your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character. You are accepted before God is if you had never sinned. But grace does more than this! There is a change in your heart when Jesus is present in it. By faith we cling to Jesus, the connection to Him is kept open. We keep ourselves surrendered to Him and He works in us to will and to do what He wants to do.

With Christ at work inside of us, we do the same good works that He did -- works of righteousness, works that are obedient. Since we are sinful and unholy in our natures, we cannot perfectly obey the law of God, we cannot make ourselves righteous. We must have Christ in us, changing the whole equation. We have, originating inside of us, nothing of which to boast, but Christ's righteousness is imputed to us and the same righteousness of God is imparted in us and through us by the work of the Holy Spirit. When we put on the wedding garment, then the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us (Romans 8:4).

What then? Do we receive any credit personally for being saved? Not at all. In the garment of salvation of which we speak there is not one thread or stitch of anything produced by a man or a woman apart from God. God is in it. Jesus came and lived in a fallen human body without sinning. By His perfect obedience, He made it possible for every human being to obey God's commandments. If it is possible to obey the commandments of God, then where is your or my excuse for sinning? We no longer have one. The power to obey is not in the human agent. It is in God. So we must put on the garment.

How astonishing the fact that so many have today been taught such a brutal lie. They expect to be saved by Christ's death, while they refuse to live His self-denying life. They rant about what they call grace, and seek to cover themselves with the appearance of righteousness. But many don't care to be transformed by Jesus. Under a distortion of grace they shelter themselves from the real bankruptcy and shallowness of their spirituality. But the righteousness of Christ will not cover even the smallest cherished sin -- not one.

Sin is the forgotten doctrine of our time. "The wages of sin is death," death I say, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Getting a grip on what real grace is is a matter of eternal life or eternal death.

A Wedding Furnished With Guests Because of Real Grace

Now you might say, "Pastor, I thought we were going to follow the word 'grace' through the Bible. But in this parable that word does not appear." Agreed. The literal word "grace" does not here appear. But grace is still here. After all, this parable speaks to us of God changing a people, making them "meet" (Colossians 1:12) to be "partakers of the inheritance of the saints of light." The word used in the parable is "worthy."

That's an astonishing word. After all, we are so unworthy. In us is no good thing; in us is no latent righteousness. We aren't inert, just needing a little push from God to become good; we are disasterously bad, and it will take everything God has to change us. If the righteous man is only "just barely saved," where will the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:18). Well, the sinner won't appear in heaven. But the righteous man at least will. And why will he? Why will he be there? Because Jesus proved that divinity and humanity combined can fully obey God's law. The only man or woman who will ever be righteous will be the man or woman who puts on Christ, who lets him put His righteousness in him and upon him. (Romans 3:22).

Brothers and sisters, the King is coming. He has prepared a wedding for His Son. Have you put on His robe of righteousness? Are you ready for the wedding?

Don't forget. Jesus worked His first ministerial miracle at a wedding. I don't believe that He has stopped. There is real grace at the wedding feast. We cannot earn our salvation -- not for a moment. But if we have given ourselves to God, if His Spirit is in us, then "how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:2).

The wedding has been furnished with guests. The guests have been furnished with robes. The robes have been wrought out by Christ. On that day when we meet again, when our tear-ducts have been emptied in joyful reunions and even the physical embrace of our Lord Jesus, make sure you are there. The way things are going, that day may arrive sooner than we think. God gather us there then. May not one be missing. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.