1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,120 In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,840 Spirit, forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,720 mercies which sent you to us, O Christ, the light of the world 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,480 and the life of all. Give us wisdom by your law and 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:16,480 enlighten our impulses by Your knowledge. 6 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,560 Sanctify our souls by Your truth and grant that we may be 7 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,040 obedient to Your words and may fulfil Your commandments at 8 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,320 every hour. O You who enlightens the 9 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:31,480 rational with the knowledge of Your greatness, do enlight, O my 10 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,320 Lord, our thoughts, that we may meditate upon Your holy and 11 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,680 divine Scriptures at all times. O Lord of all, Father and Son 12 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,400 and Holy Spirit, forever. Amen. 13 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,720 When receiving a wedding invitation, we all do the famous 14 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,760 Assyrians weddings, especially the the outpour after the Great 15 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,880 Lent. There are generally 2 reactions. 16 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,400 It's oh wow, how nice or it's it's Oh no, not another one. 17 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,080 And we start thinking dollar signs right? 18 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:26,480 But when we Reebonde or is it the Reebonde silver play? 19 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,320 It's French for please respond when we Reebond. 20 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:36,520 It's then clothed shopping time, you know, especially my dear 21 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:41,200 sisters, not content with the 105 that were, you know, dresses 22 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,840 we have in the in the wardrobe or the closet. 23 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:48,320 We go out and we go clothes shopping, shoes shopping because 24 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,240 we have a wedding coming up. But As for men, a new tie or a 25 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,520 shirt basically does it right? Convenient contentment. 26 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,960 I think contentment and convenience came about when men 27 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:03,280 was created, right? But that's not going to be our 28 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,480 discussion today. We're going to have a look at a 29 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,080 wedding feast. In the Holy Scriptures, Jesus 30 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,320 tells a parable or a story of a wedding feast. 31 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:16,480 And in this wedding feast, there is one guest who's not properly 32 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,800 attired. He did not have he did not have 33 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,320 on wedding clothes. And this is in Matthew chapter 34 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:31,480 22 verses 11 to 14. And here, unlike Luke chapter 14 35 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,840 verses 15 to 35, which is another story of the wedding 36 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:40,080 feast in Matthew, the the marriage feast or the wedding 37 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,880 feast and the IT represents the church, the church as at the 38 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:51,120 present time, as opposed to Luke in chapter 14, which is the end 39 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,520 time wedding feast. Let me read it to you. 40 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,120 And Jesus answered again, and this is Matthew chapter 22 41 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:01,240 verses 11 to 14. And Jesus answered again by 42 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,440 parables and said, the Kingdom of heaven is like a king who 43 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,320 gave a marriage feast for his Son, and he sent his servants to 44 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,440 call those who are invited to the marriage feast, but they 45 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,960 would not come again. He sent other servants and said, 46 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,800 tell those who are invited, behold, my supper is ready, 47 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:23,160 that's the Holy Eucharist, My supper is ready, and my oxen and 48 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:28,160 fattened are killed as Christ himself and everything is 49 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,680 prepared. Come to the marriage feast, come 50 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:35,600 to church on Sundays basically. But they sneered at it and went 51 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:40,520 away, one to his field and other to his business, and the rest 52 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,680 seized his servants and mocked them and killed them. 53 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:46,960 When the king heard. When the king heard it, he was 54 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,600 angry, and he sent out his armies and destroyed those 55 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:56,080 murderers and burnt their city. Then he said to his servants, 56 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:00,360 Now the marriage feast is ready, and those who are invited were 57 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,480 unworthy. Go therefore to the main roads, 58 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,160 the crossroads. Go therefore to the main roads, 59 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:10,080 and whomever you may find, invite them to the marriage 60 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,800 feast. So the servants went out to the 61 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,279 roads and gathered together everyone they could find, bad 62 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,880 and good. And the banqueting house was 63 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:24,280 filled with guests. So everyone was invited to the 64 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:27,440 church. When the king entered to see the 65 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,960 guests, he saw there a man who was not wearing wedding 66 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:36,120 garments. And he said to him, my friend, 67 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,520 how did you enter here when you do not have wedding garments? 68 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,160 And I love this. He was speechless. 69 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,560 He couldn't say anything. Then the king said to the 70 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,440 servants, bind his hands and his feet and take him out Into 71 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,840 Darkness. There shall be weeping and 72 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:57,720 gnashing of teeth. Let's stop. 73 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,040 Oh, for many are called and a few are chosen. 74 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,000 So basically, that's the story behind what we're going to speak 75 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,680 about today. Again, this is the present 76 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,000 church we're talking about. And in Luke chapter 14, verses 77 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,240 15 to 35, if you want to read it, there is a dinner 78 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,760 representing the final and eternal banquet. 79 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:21,600 Two things that catch my mind and we will discuss amongst 80 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,560 others is #1 the wedding clothes. 81 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:30,600 What are these wedding clothes and the speechlessness of the 82 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,000 guest. What is meant by the wedding 83 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,080 garments? If we say it's baptism or faith? 84 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:42,120 The question is, is there anyone who can enter the marriage feast 85 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,840 without them? Can anyone be a member of the 86 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:50,800 flock of the church without believing and being baptized? 87 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,600 You know a person is outside of the church because he or she has 88 00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:00,240 not come to believe in Jesus Christ and to be baptized in the 89 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:03,560 name of the Holy Trinity, which is also referred to as the 90 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,120 baptism of Jesus Christ. In Mark chapter 16 verse 16 we 91 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:13,760 read whoever believes and is baptized has life and whoever 92 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:19,680 does not believe is condemned. Galatians chapter 3 verses 26 to 93 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,360 27. Saint Paul writes For you are 94 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,680 all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. 95 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,120 For those who have been baptized in the name of Christ have been 96 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:35,320 clothed with Christ, there is neither Jew nor Armian, there is 97 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,040 neither a slave nor free, there is neither a male nor female. 98 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,680 For you are all one in Jesus Christ. 99 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,440 So if you belong to Christ, then you are descendants of Abraham 100 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,440 and his heirs according to his promise. 101 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,120 So we can't say it's talking about baptism or faith, because 102 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:57,040 this guest would not be in the wedding feast in the church. 103 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,920 What then must we understand by the wedding garment? 104 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:09,400 What can it be, except one of the Father's rights is love? 105 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:15,680 You see, the guest enters the marriage feast, but without 106 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:21,680 wearing a wedding garment, though one may be present in the 107 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,960 Holy Church. He may have faith, he may be 108 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,480 baptized, but he does not have love. 109 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:32,120 That's what Christ is talking about. 110 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,400 Why love? Why not other things? 111 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:40,760 Why is it that the the garment is likened to love or signifying 112 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:44,720 love? Because that is what our Creator 113 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,680 himself possessed when He came to the marriage feast. 114 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:53,320 You know Christ came down. Christ came down from heaven. 115 00:07:54,120 --> 00:08:00,320 The Father had a bride prepared for the bridegroom, and the 116 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:06,560 bride was a dreadful, stinking, stenchful bride, which was us. 117 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:11,520 And he took that bride, as Saint Paul writes in Ephesians, He 118 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,560 took that pride. He took the church and he 119 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,520 cleansed it. He washed it with his blood and 120 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,440 he made it clean. See, there is a marriage feast 121 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:23,880 there. And what, what drove Jesus to 122 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:28,760 come down? What drove God, the Word, God 123 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,559 Incarnate, to take flesh and come down and take the church 124 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:37,240 for himself. But love, you see, there's only 125 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,200 God's love that brought it about, that His Son, His only 126 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:47,600 begotten Son, united the hearts of His chosen to Himself, His 127 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:53,200 chosen, which are in His church. John says that God so loved the 128 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,840 world that He gave His only begotten Son for us. 129 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:03,920 God so loved the world that He betrothed us to His Son, His or 130 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:09,200 our heavenly Bridegroom, and we being the Church, the bride. 131 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:16,760 So being in the Church, beloved, entails not only faith and 132 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:21,720 baptism and donation and being committed and helping in the 133 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,320 church and etcetera, but most importantly, love. 134 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:29,280 See, there are many in the church. 135 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,960 There may be many in the church again believing, baptized, 136 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:37,480 helping, donating, you know, aren't giving but lacking love. 137 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,000 And that's the garment that Christ is looking for within his 138 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,040 church. John chapter 13 verse 35, Jesus 139 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:50,680 says to his disciples and remember we are the disciples of 140 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:57,440 the disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus disciplined his disciples. 141 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:02,000 He taught his disciples, he empowered them with knowledge 142 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,560 and they went out into the four regions of the world and 143 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:09,720 empowered us who are their disciples. 144 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:16,440 So John chapter 13 verse 35 is not only to the direct disciples 145 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,720 of Jesus Christ, but also to us who are the disciples of the 146 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,960 disciples of Jesus Christ, which makes us immediately or directly 147 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,280 also the disciples of Christ because we adhere to his 148 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:32,800 teaching and his discipline. He says by this they will know 149 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:37,720 that you are my disciples, that you love one another. 150 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,720 So the garment, the most important garment, and Paul 151 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,600 talks about this in one Corinthians 13, the most 152 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:50,200 important garment is not just faith and obedience. 153 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:55,240 The greatest is love because when there is love for God, 154 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,480 beloved, remember we spoke about this in one of the episodes when 155 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,840 we spoke about why we pray. It's not just entering the 156 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,200 presence of the Lord. It's not just speaking with the 157 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:11,160 Lord, communicating with the Lord, having time for ourselves 158 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:15,520 with the Lord, but when we pray to the Lord, it's that we love 159 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,960 the Lord and we want to speak to the Lord out of our love to the 160 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:24,680 Lord. So love is the garment, beloved. 161 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:32,040 Now in verse 22, we read that it was the master of the house that 162 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:36,960 came to the wedding feast and looked at the guests and he 163 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:41,320 examined the guests. So it wasn't the servants. 164 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,120 The servants let anyone in, right? 165 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,760 Who are the servants, beloved? The servants are the church 166 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:53,000 leaders. The servants are the stewards in 167 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,840 the church. You know, we are posed many 168 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:57,800 questions and one of them is Robbie. 169 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,320 Do you think that all those people that come to church are 170 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,360 worthy? Do you think that all those 171 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,320 people who come to church, who are in the church, are holy and 172 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:14,200 pleasing, are all good people? And our reply is no, of course 173 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:19,400 not. Me, the first of the worst, the 174 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,520 first of the worst. That's why I attend church. 175 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:26,440 Yes, I have an obligation as a priest and my brother priests 176 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:31,160 have the obligation to serve the altar to be the soul of Jesus 177 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,640 Christ. But hey, I'm also there. 178 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:40,240 The priest is also at the altar kneeling with a silent prayers 179 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:44,600 and beating his breast or beating his forehead and saying 180 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:50,760 me also, Oh my Lord, me also, Oh my Lord, I also, Oh my Lord, who 181 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:55,800 are wicked and are not worthy to be standing at this place. 182 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:06,240 Yes, those who attend May not be worthy, may not have the the 183 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:10,840 right, the meet, wedding, feast, clothing, but that's not yours. 184 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,400 And I beloved, that's not yours and mine to judge. 185 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:20,200 Now, though, the servants again being the Church through her 186 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:26,320 authority vested by Christ through the Holy Spirit, through 187 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:33,000 her canons and laws and liturgy, when the Church knows that there 188 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:39,560 is one guest in the Church that is not equipped with the wedding 189 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:44,640 feast clothing, which is love, what we're talking about knows 190 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:49,200 that there is a discrepancy. Well, then the Church by the 191 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:54,680 authority vested to her through Jesus Christ has the authority 192 00:13:54,680 --> 00:14:00,400 to reprimand and to apprehend. But we don't stand at the door 193 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,040 and make sure that every person has love in their hearts. 194 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,080 We don't stand at the door and make sure that every person the 195 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,880 night before coming to church and to draw knee to the the the 196 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,760 Holy mysteries and to celebrate and honor Jesus Christ through 197 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,080 the mysteries have are befitting. 198 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,560 We don't do that. We allow that to the master of 199 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:25,440 the feast. But again, in the event when we 200 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:31,680 know that there is a person that is a guest of the church or a 201 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,760 member of the flock of the church who is living a life 202 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:41,520 contrary to the commandments and the holiness that God has called 203 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,920 us to, yes, the church has the authority to reprimand and to 204 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:49,760 apprehend. So now we know the the clothing, 205 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:55,560 the wedding clothes, we are likening, likening it to love, 206 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,960 and we know that it is the Master who will examine the 207 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:02,080 clothes. We can't read hearts. 208 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,480 We are not examiners of hearts and minds, No, God is. 209 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:11,960 Then the second point we read is that when the Master comes and 210 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:16,080 looks at all the guests, he didn't come and have a vendetta 211 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:17,640 against one guest. No, no, no. 212 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:23,760 He looks at all the guests and he finds one that does not have 213 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:28,160 the right wedding clothes. And look at what he says. 214 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:37,400 And he said to him, my friend didn't call him my son, he calls 215 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,160 him my friend. How did you enter here? 216 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,640 How is it that the servants couldn't see? 217 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:49,960 How is it that you have made it here? 218 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:55,840 How is it that you can be here and not be properly attired? 219 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,880 How can we be a part of a church which is the body of Christ, 220 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,560 which is the Bride of our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ, 221 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:11,160 the heavenly Bridegroom? How can we claim to be a members 222 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:16,280 of this holy body but not be possessed in love? 223 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:22,200 How can we stand in a feast of love offering, in a feast where 224 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,960 the love of God is continuously echoed through the liturgy, 225 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:31,160 through the prayers, when we stand before the Lord and we 226 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:36,480 say, Oh Lord, I am not worthy, In truth, Oh my Lord, I am not 227 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,640 worthy. We stand before the Lord and 228 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:45,760 five times we say, Lord, absolve the sins and transgressions of 229 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:50,040 your servants. Five times we stand before the 230 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:55,120 Lord and we proclaim and we confess that we are sinners and 231 00:16:55,120 --> 00:17:01,360 we are beseeching, pleading your gracious gift of forgiveness 232 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:06,599 which came through your love. We ask for that love, but then 233 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:10,040 that love is not within us. We're not attired with love. 234 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:14,160 It's just just like when Jesus says if you ask God to forgive 235 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,200 your sins, let me paraphrase it. And you haven't forgiven the 236 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,800 sins of your brother. Well, don't expect God to 237 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:25,079 forgive your sins. He was speechless of 'cause you 238 00:17:25,079 --> 00:17:28,319 know, many people think we'll be standing before the, before the, 239 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:34,280 the, the, the, the gracious and well, the, the righteous 240 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:36,760 tribunal and judgment seat of the Lord. 241 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,440 And there's going to be conversation. 242 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:44,160 There's going to be going back. Yes, Lord, but if Lord, but no 243 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:47,200 Lord, but This is why Lord, you know, we're going to have our, 244 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,120 our prosecutor and our defense and we're going to present our 245 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:53,240 case. They're going to fight for our 246 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:56,960 case before the no, we will be speechless. 247 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,320 Speechless. You know why he was speechless? 248 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:05,160 Because the one who posed the question to him, the Master who 249 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:13,400 is Jesus Christ, is one who the servant could not give a 250 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:18,400 deception, a deceitful reply. How would he justify? 251 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:23,720 How could he justify beloved? How can we justify when there is 252 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:28,440 no love in our hearts, when we are not vested with the garment 253 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:32,840 of love as members of this wedding feast, which is the 254 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:37,200 church now, love, I don't want to go too much into that. 255 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,000 We need to really have a look at love according to one 256 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,640 Corinthians 13. Remember, love is not lovey 257 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,840 dovey love. It's not one of those fake 258 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,160 loves. Love must be genuine. 259 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:55,560 Love must be must possess the quality to the point where you 260 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:58,720 can rebuke someone. You can rebuke a brother and a 261 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:03,960 sister in love. Love must possess that quality 262 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,720 where you receive a lobby, loving, admonishment and 263 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:10,600 rebuking. This is the love that we need to 264 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:15,600 be possessing. Love for those who are suffering 265 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:21,080 love, compassion, kindness, mercifulness to those who have 266 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:25,120 heard, who have caused us heartaches and problems. 267 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,640 Love for those who beseech for love. 268 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,520 That is the garment that we need to be dressed with. 269 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:39,000 Beloved, when we are in the wedding feast in the Church, we 270 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,960 must possess this garment. You see, Saint Paul writes in 271 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,080 three Galatians for those who have been baptized, they have 272 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:47,840 been clothed with Christ. Christ is love. 273 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,160 Christ is love, praise and glory to his name. 274 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,120 So if I've been clothed with love, clothed with Christ, I 275 00:19:56,120 --> 00:20:00,320 must be clothed with love. But sometimes, when we take our 276 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:06,440 sight of Christ, when we. When we want our own answers, we 277 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,680 want our own way of dealing with issues and circumstances and 278 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,160 problems, then we give away Christ. 279 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,640 We look away from Christ. Then we've looked away from love 280 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,760 as well. You cannot, we cannot deceive 281 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,680 Christ. Beloved, you could be at church 282 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:30,120 on a Sunday. You could be wearing your 283 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:38,360 headscarf, kneeling before the Lord, beasting, beating on the 284 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:44,800 breast, and it could be seen by others as how humble and how 285 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:51,640 loving and how you know how obedient you are to the Lord. 286 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,360 But there may be no love in our hearts. 287 00:20:55,400 --> 00:21:03,760 That happens when we exit the church and we see someone who in 288 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,840 high school we had a beef with because she took away my 289 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:12,280 boyfriend or, or she's been texting. 290 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:17,520 She, she was being unfaithful to me and and she's hurt me or him 291 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:22,200 or her by the way, and we turn our backs on them and walk out. 292 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,520 Well then, today we learn that Christ is telling you and I that 293 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:30,680 you're not clothed with the proper garment to be in the 294 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,320 church. Now I'm not saying go away and 295 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,240 leave. No, we need to change those 296 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,320 garments. We need to walk away, get 297 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,800 changed and come back to the flock as well. 298 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,120 Because look at what the Master did, beloved. 299 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:48,680 But before we go there, before we go there, we cannot deceive 300 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:50,720 Christ. We cannot deceive Christ. 301 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:53,640 We cannot deceive the Holy Spirit. 302 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:58,240 We cannot deceive the church doctrines and the canons and the 303 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,680 liturgy and the Holy Scriptures. We cannot deceive. 304 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,680 We will be seen, we will be purged, and we are purged. 305 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,600 Each time we are at church. The Holy Spirit isn't, is 306 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,320 present. Christ is present through the 307 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,400 Word, through the Spirit, through the Eucharist. 308 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:19,280 God is there searching our hearts again. 309 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:26,480 We have been invited. We are a part of that Bridegroom 310 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,880 through our faith and baptism. But are we attired 311 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:36,480 appropriately? What can we say to justify our 312 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,080 lovelessness? What can we say to Christ to 313 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,760 justify our unrighteousness? What can we say? 314 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,720 What excuse can we give for our unholiness, Immorality. 315 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,080 Nothing. We will have to be speechless. 316 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:56,280 The only thing we can do is you know we do that with my lips are 317 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:58,680 sealed. Allow me to change my garments. 318 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,840 Help me to change my garments and this and the master commands 319 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:08,440 the servants bind his hands and his feet meaning putting in 320 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,520 check. See, we are put in check 321 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:17,880 beloved, when our garments are not appropriate for the church, 322 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:23,040 when we lack love, compassion, mercifulness, we are held 323 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,680 accountable. See, the accountability that we 324 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,760 have been held by is the same as being bound. 325 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:36,200 What we need to do is we need to again change those garments 326 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,520 because we are held accountable according to the parable and the 327 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,840 art outer darkness that Jesus or the Master is commanding his 328 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:50,560 servants to take out that guest, one of the Father's writes very, 329 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,720 very nicely. The outer darkness speaks of 330 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,960 those things far removed from divine virtue and glory. 331 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:02,440 When there is no love in our hearts, we have forfeited 332 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:07,000 ourselves from divine virtues. So being a guest in the Church, 333 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:14,640 the Bride, the body of Christ, and we are properly attired with 334 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:20,120 love, righteousness, morality, etcetera, then we will not be 335 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:25,880 bound by the contrary to what I just said. 336 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:31,600 We will not be bound and we will not be forfeiting the glory and 337 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:36,120 the virtues, because the good virtues come from the 338 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:41,960 overflowing of love that is in our hearts #1 for God, for 339 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:48,040 others, and for self as well. And when we possess the correct 340 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:54,440 wedding feast garments and the Master Christ who is always 341 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:59,120 purging and examining, then we will be approved. 342 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,000 And if we remain, then we will go to the other wedding feast in 343 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,160 Luke chapter 14, which is the end time feast. 344 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:11,760 Then we will be reclining as the Lord says, and He will serve us. 345 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,560 And what more do we want as service than to be in the 346 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,560 presence of the Lord in eternity? 347 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,280 Praise and glory be to His holy name now and at all times and 348 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,040 forever. Amen. 349 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,240 We hope you enjoyed this week's message. 350 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,280 Please don't forget The to rate and review this podcast and 351 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:57,760 share with your friends and family. 352 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,480 For any future topic suggestions or to give us detailed feedback, 353 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:07,160 please visit our link in the show notes linktr dot EE forward 354 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:10,680 slash double edged sword. Until next time, God bless you 355 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:10,960 all.