The Christian Hope
The Invitation to Hope ¡V Matthew 221-14
Illustration: Wedding Invitation.
Wedding invitations are quite simple. You are invited to either attend or to send your apologies for non-attendance. However let me read you another wedding invitation ¡V Read Matthew 221-14. The wedding invitation which God sends out is a little more complicated and it is far more important. The wedding invitation is sent to everyone ¡V no one is excluded. The striking thing is that if you are unable to attend this wedding no excuse will be accepted and there will never be another opportunity to attend this wedding. In fact if you are unable to attend you have had it for all eternity.
In this parable Jesus speaks about a wedding banquet and an invitation to attend. The very fact that the king had invited these people was an honour but it was also a command. The prospective guests had been contacted in advance and now that everything was ready their presence was requested. But these guests persistently refuse to attend. The king very graciously repeats the invitation and he even describes the greatness of the feast as an incentive for them to attend. But once again they refuse and their excuses are mundane and selfish. These people had become slaves to their money, to their work and to their families. They had relegated the king and their refusal was a slight to him. Not only do they refuse to attend the banquet but they compound their sin with violence towards the messengers. Well like any king he will not sit back and allow his ambassadors and messengers to be treated so ¡V he sends in the army and they destroy the cities. Their material wealth did not save them on the day of the visitation of the king¡¦s men.
The king then sends the messengers out to the street corners and all sorts of people are now invited to attend the banquet. The king not only issues invitations he also provides marriage garments for these people. However one man amongst them is found without the right attire. Whether one is good or bad there is proper attire for attending a wedding. The speechlessness of the man in the face of the question leads to only one conclusion he is guilty as charged. He had been invited and wedding garments had been provided but he decided, for whatever reason, he did not need them and so he entered the feast in his own old clothes. Well the result is that he is ejected for all eternity. Jesus finishes the parable with a chilling statement: many are invited but few are chosen.
You see being invited is not enough ¡V you must also put on the wedding garments provided. You are invited to hope. You are invited to the wedding and everything has been prepared ¡V now are you going to refuse or are you going to come? And if you come are you going to put on the wedding attire?
The Promise of Hope ¡V John 141-6
Okay you have been invited but what¡¦s the guarantee this wedding is going to happen. After all, plenty of weddings have been cancelled. Many a bride or groom has been left at the altar. Well here is the Promise of Hope ¡V Read John 141-6. Jesus begins by telling his disciples, and us, not to be troubled in our hearts but to trust in him. It is both a statement to be believed and a command to be obeyed. In verse 2 he speaks of a divine provision for them and us. Jesus never speculated about the future or about a future life. He had no need to, he knew from before the beginning of time all of history. He spoke of eternity with familiarity because he was and is the very author of eternity. He tells the disciples he will go via the road of death to prepare a place for them. He speaks of his father¡¦s house which has many rooms ¡V like an oriental home where sons and daughters have apartments underneath their parents. He would depart and make ready this place so that one day he would come and take them to be with him. Jesus took personal responsibility for bringing them, and us, into his father¡¦s house. Jesus left by the road of death but he would return by the road of life and as he says in verse 19 of the same chapter ¡¥because I live you also will live.¡¦ It is these statements of Christ which lead Thomas to ask the way to this place where Jesus is going. Thomas, like many, cries in despair ¡V what way? Then we have some of the most profound and important words ever spoken by Jesus ¡V verse 6.
He is the way ¡V unmarred by sin.
He is the truth ¡V makes life right despite all its ups and downs.
He is the life ¡V because he made death subject to him.
And the consequence, the logical conclusion is that he alone is the means of reaching the father and the father¡¦s house. You see he claimed to be the way, the truth and the life. It was not that he claimed to know about them. Not that he claimed to know the way, the truth or the life. No! No! No! He claimed to be the way, the truth and the life. He is the solution ¡V a relationship with him is the answer. He is the promise of hope. A relationship with him brings hope.
The Fulfilment of Hope ¡V I Thess. 413-18; Rev. 211-8; Rev. 196-9.
Hope for the Christian is future certainty grounded in present reality. Our present reality is the faithfulness of God. He has kept his promises in the past and we know he will remain faithful in the future. But what is the fulfilment of our Christian hope?
In I Thessalonians 413-18 Paul writes to Christian believers who were beginning to lose hope. Some of their brethren had died and they now were wondering what would become of them when Christ returned. Paul writes to them because as he states he would not want them to remain ignorant. Can I just add a little aside here ¡V ignorance is not a Christian virtue. Ignorance of the Scriptures, what they teach and how that teaching should be applied and daily lived is a sin ¡V it is not a virtue. Paul would not have them ignorant and so he goes on to point out to them that when Christ Jesus comes again the bodies of those who had ¡¥fallen asleep in Christ¡¦ will rise and be reunited with their souls. But I want you to note they come with Christ ¡V they are already with Christ ¡V they continue their relationship with Christ after death in heaven whilst their bodies remain in the grave. Then those who are left will be caught up to meet him in the air. I do not know if you realise the significance of that statement. The ¡¥air¡¦ is supposedly the place of satans¡¦ present reign. When Christ comes he and his people will meet in the enemy¡¦s territory because the fulfilment of the victory will be declared for all to see. But let us move on. The fulfilment of our hope will be when Christ comes again. The second coming of Christ is mentioned 300+ times in the NT. We read that it will be a personal return, and it will be visible to all. He will come for his people as saviour and for those who are not his people he will come as judge. It will be a day when we least expect it. As Jesus said in the gospels two men will be walking up a hill one will be taken and the other left etc. It will come like a thief in the night. The day and hour are known only to the father. So when he comes again how will our hope be fulfilled? Listen to these words Read Revelation 211-8. The new Jerusalem (see vision of Isaiah 60 and 65) and a new Temple (see Ezekiel 40-48). There are also allusions to Genesis 1-3 in this revelation to John. When Christ comes again he will bring a new heaven and a new earth into being. Now I want you to listen carefully to me at this point. The Greek word for new is ƒ»ƒÑƒÙƒÞƒÕ (kaine)¡V it means new in quality, fresh rather than recent or new in time. It is a new heaven and a new earth ¡V it is not a second heaven and earth. It is one made new ¡V where there is no more pain, no more death, no more tears ¡V nothing of sin which mars, corrupts and destroys this present world. And the reason for there being a new heaven and earth is because God now dwells with his people. It is the Garden of Eden all over again when God walked with man in the cool of the evening. Sin no longer separates God and man. God will dwell once again with his people. God speaks and declares that it is so because he is the Alpha and the Omega ¡V he is the source and fulfilment of all things. He alone is in complete and absolute control. And listen to these words read verse 6. It is the water of life which he brings to fulfil the promise that he made to the disciples, to Nicodemus, to the woman at the well, to the thief on the cross, to the 3000 on Pentecost and to you this evening. Listen to me the choice is yours ¡V you can be in the great multitude of the redeemed (Revelation 196-9) praising God, inheriting this new heaven and new earth (verse 7). Or you can be these people ¡V read verse 8. Now these people receive only damnation, a lost eternity in the lake of fire. Listen to me ¡V the cowardly ¡V those who have no steadfast witness to the lamb who was slain. There are some of you who because of fear of persecution, fear of not being popular, of not being in with the in crowd have not responded to the invitation. Those of you, and there are many of you in here this morning, who want to live with a foot in both camps ¡V you are the cowardly spoken of here ¡V the cowardly along with the other vile sinners mentioned here ¡V God classes you all together and it is not a new heaven and a new earth you inherit but hell. Friends you choose. God says here the cowardly are not his people. The foot in both camps you are not his people. You are along with the murderers, the immoral, the sleazy, the vile ¡V you¡¦re there friends. You are the invited guest who came without the wedding clothes. You are the invited guest who came but you never washed your robes in the blood of Christ for if you had you wouldn¡¦t be where you are spiritually this night. You are the invited guest and you treat the invitation with contempt because the clothes you are wearing are not the white linen of Christ that speak of glory and purity ¡V no more like a soot covered wee urchin. You see the multitude of the redeemed that will see their hopes fulfilled in the coming of Christ and in the new heaven and the new earth ¡V they are the faithful, the loyal, the obedient, and the brave. They are not the cowardly who will not stand up for Jesus. They are not those who pay lip service to Christ but heart and life service to the gods of this world. Listen to what God says here ¡V listen and do something about it.
The challenge of Hope ¡V John 316; 414 or Revelation 218
Which is it going to be this morning? The wedding invitation has gone out. You are all invited to the banquet feast of the lamb. Your name is on an invitation ¡V RSVP The Son of God. You require a wedding garment to enter the feast ¡V that wedding garment is Christ Jesus ¡V Revelation 713-14. Friends it is repentance of your sin, commitment of your life to Christ, obedience to his will, loyalty to his way and faithfulness in your walk. People who are without hope despair. Faith without hope collapses under disappointment and delay. Love without hope dissolves under the acids of frustration. Hope fortifies love and lends it resilience. Hope stiffens faith and forestalls collapse. The Christian hope, the Hope which Christ alone brings is a future certainty grounded in present reality. The present reality is a relationship with the God of faithfulness found in and through Christ Jesus alone. The future certainty is that one day he is coming to claim his own and to bring a new heaven and a new earth. Today where is your hope based? What are you doing with the wedding invitation? What are your robes like? Are you a coward or a brave warrior? Will your inherit heaven or hell?
Friends the Wedding invitation awaits RSVP Jesus Christ. Amen.
