IT’S HIS PARTY AND HE WANTS YOU TO BE THERE
Psalm 23:3 "He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name sake.”
There is a story of a church member who was invited to a Christmas cookie swap party. It was a
simple plan for in order for you to come you, you only had to bring a batch of cookies that you had
made. When you brought your cookies you could then take cookies from the others that were
brought. The deal was you could take as many cookies as you brought. It would have been a simple
matter but this man did not know how to cook. He had trouble telling a pot from a pan. What if he did
not know the proper measurements. What if he did not know how long to cook or at what
temperature? He had a problem.
He had no cookies to bring and therefore would not get to go to the party. He would be left out and
if he went and showed up with no cookies he would be turned away. It’s a sad story if you are a
cookie lover like me.
Now we bring up the fact that God is planning a party. His party will be much bigger than any
cookie party. This will not be a sit around and eat cookies and chat party because this party will be
at His house. Now the guest lists. All the people who will be there are not trying to see who has the
best cookies. All the people with vanities or control players will not be found there. All the people
that have experienced guilt, shame or sorrow will not have place there. Those who have had to deal
with disease, death or depression will not have that experience expect if they can or want to
remember the past. For all the things mentioned here that we daily will not be at this party.
What we see faintly here we will see in full view there. We will see God as He really is and we will
need the use of faith anymore. We will not have to see God through the eyes of Moses or Abraham
or David or Isaiah. Our vision of Him will not come by a Scripture, sunset or summer rainbow. Our
vision will not be in words we see or a miracle we experience. We will see Him as He is. I like this
He is not the host of the party He is the party. His goodness is what we will be feasting on. The
music will be His lovely voice. The light of the room will be His glory. Our topic for discussion will be
about His love for us and it will never end.
There is only one big problem for us. The price to get into this party is quite steep. To get into
this party you do not need cookies but you have to be righteous. That doesn’t mean to be good or
decent or a good neighbor or a taxpayer or even a church attender. To get to this party you have to
be RIGHT. But in RM 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” There are some
who do right most of the time. Is there any one of us who do right all the time? Not according to this
verse. RM 3:12 “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is
none that does good, no, not one.”
Now of course there are some who would like to plead their case saying, “I know I am not perfect
but I am better than a lot of others. I live a good life. I do not intentionally break the rules. I try not to
break hearts. I am a helper when I see people in need. I like people. You see compared to others
you could say I’m a righteous person.”
I could try that on my wife and say I am good at not having a messy house. I could take her to a
neighbor’s house and say, look at their house, I do a much better job at keeping my messes picked
up. It would be then that she would show me a room she has cleaned up and my cleanliness would
not look very good.
So as we stand before God and might say, “I’m a pretty righteous person compared to others.” He
would say “maybe but that is not what I mean by righteousness. It is my righteousness that you need
to line up with.” PS 7:9O "righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, 11God is a righteous
judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day. " 17 "I will give thanks to the LORD because
of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High."
36:6 "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep."
89:142 "Your righteousness is everlasting "
119:142 "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go
before you."
JR 23:6 "The LORD Our Righteousness."
2 PT 1:1To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have
received a faith as precious as ours:
God is righteous. His decrees, judgements, requirements and acts are all righteous with no
defilement. Dan 9:14 "for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does" God has never been
wrong. He has never made a wrong decision. He has never had a bad attitude. He has never said
the wrong thing. He has never acted in the wrong way or traveled in the wrong path. He is never too
late, early, loud, soft, fast or too slow. He has always been and always will be right. He is so
righteous that whatever we think of ourselves we cannot measure up to Him.
So this party that He wants us to come do you think He wants to spend eternity with those who are
undone and unrighteous? It would be like Harvard admitting a person who did not complete third
grade. It would not be RIGHT. God does not lower His standards so we would have to say that we
are left in the outer room with no cookies. Paul writes again RM 3:19 “This makes it clear,
doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures are not what God says about others
but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough,
isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our
involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to
face our partnership in everyone else’s sin.”
So do you carry a load of guilt? There are many who do. He might be in a gray flannel suit but
he is carrying a baggage of regrets that come with the times he made compromises in the wrong
way. There is that teen that might wear baggy closes to look cool but his suitcase is beaming full of
words he wished he could take back that he said to his mother. He just tries to hide it in the music he
listens to or the games he can play. There is that woman who is smartly dressed and her
appearance makes it look like she could run for an office when in fact she would just like to run
away. She would like help but who can help her?
So it is that the weight of weariness weights us down. When we rely on self we are misled. Many
disappointments bring great discouragement. Worries bring trouble to our minds. But the guilt that
we carry is what really eats us up. For we cannot rid ourselves of it. What can we do? We have
shown that the Lord is right and we are unclean. He has a party that will take place for the ones
without guilt and we know we will miss it for who we are. What can we do?
The man at the beginning of the story confessed his need. He sent out an e-mail that said, “I can’t
cook, so I will not be at the cookie party.” No one in the church staff came ti his aid. The Supreme
court justices did not have mercy on him. There was a lady in the church who somehow heard of his
situation. On the day the party was to happen, right before he was to not go because he had no
cookies this lady came to him and brought a tray full of 12 flavorful cookies. So by this gift he was
given a place at the party. Now you might ask did he go? He went like a prince carrying a crown on
a pillow. He carried it into the room with his head held high because someone had come to his aid
and made it possible for him to make it to the party.
It is God who had made it possible for you to attend His party and He did more than just bake plate
full of cookies.
His Son Jesus was in heaven and He saw that we as sinners were in need. He asked the Father if
He could go down there to earth and give His life for all that have sinned. God sent Him to die in our
place.
JN 3:16,17 “God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes
in him will not die but will have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the
world, but to save the world.”
RM 5:6,8 “Look at it this way: At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for
ungodly people. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God’s love for
us.”
1 PT 3:18 “This is true because Christ suffered for our sins once. He was an innocent person,
but he suffered for guilty people so that he could bring you to God. His body was put to death,
but he was brought to life through his spirit.”
Now David puts it in this way PS 23:3 "He guides me in paths of righteousness for his
name’s sake." This path of righteousness is narrow and winding up a steep hill. At the top is a
wooden cross. We find at the base of the cross the bags. Bags that are full of all that comes with sin
guilt, shame, insolation, grief, hurt feelings and all the past of a ruined life. Jesus is telling us we can
leave them all there at the foot of the cross and come to the party.
One closing thought. Did anyone know that the non cookie man could not cook? No, but he told
them someone else did the work so he could attend the party. His only
contribution to that party was his confession.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.
“ God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from
everything we’ve done wrong.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
“ On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down;
he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.”
We are getting ready for the party today as we partake of the Lord’s Supper for He said “ Do this to
remember me." It is His party and he made it so we can go how can we refuse?
A Prayer Father, I ask you to bless the people hearing this right now. I am asking You to minister to
their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is
self doubting, release a renewed confidence in Your ability to work through them. Where there is
tiredness, or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, patience, and strength as they learn
submission to your leading. Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask You to renew them by revealing
Your nearness, and by drawing them into greater intimacy with You. Where there is fear, reveal Your
love, and release to them Your courage. Where there is a sin blocking them, reveal it, and break its hold
over my friend’s life. Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them, and
reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it. I ask You to do these things in Jesus’ name.
