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. [Matthew 22:11-12 KJV]


The servants of the King of Kings had been sent out to bring in guests into His house, now, His house is full, but with which sort of guests...?


Verse 11

"...came in to see the guests..."


It's like there is a window period between the time these guests came, and the time that the King came in to meet with them, welcome them and to SEE them.
I discovered that the first thing to be presented with, as you come to the king, is not the table, it is not the delicacies, it is not the fatlings and aromatic oxen, rather it is His presence, a place of silence, where the King can meet with man. Even though the feast was ready, the table was set and all kinds of tastefully garnished food were available, those were NOT the first thing to be served with, the King Himself would want to dwell in the midst of His people.

The first thing that God wants to give unto man, is actually the greatest thing, it is the highest thing. The Lord does not confront us first with the first course before the main meal, no, The Lord Himself is longing for fellowship and intimacy with those He has brought into His presence, therefore, He longs to impart Himself fully unto man and reveal Himself unto Him.

The Lord does not send His representatives or ambassadors like the kings of the earth do, to stand in for Him or to represent Him, He is not as busy as not to put first things first, and the first thing in His priority list is 'me'. I am uppermost in His mind, and He longs to have me close to His breast, in His presence. God does not delegate His presence, and His presence has to do with His personality.

God is not interested first in feeding my hungry stomach with the delicacies that He has prepared, rather, He is more interested in feeding my hungry soul with the warmth of His love and affection, because He knows that if I eat of the physical bread, and drink of the physical water, I will be hungry and be thirsty in a short while, but, if I drink of the water of life and eat His flesh, I will not be hungry again, in fact, out of me shall flow rivers of living waters available for one and all.


"...came in to see...he saw..."

You cannot hide it from God!!! Whatever it is, no matter how little it is, God sees it. Before The Lord will reveal Himself to a man, the first thing He's checking is whether your outfit is good enough to withstand the glory of His presence, whether your dressing is clean enough to reflect His beauty. Those bidden actually have a non-transferable garment upon them, given unto them by The Lord Himself. That garment, is the garment of righteousness.


"...had not on a wedding garment"

Nobody can claim to have a wedding garment, who does not have it on. The proof that you possess the wedding garment is not by describing it with mouth, it's not by the knowledge of all the components that make it up, or by being a seamstress versed in the skill of sewing it, no, the proof is in having it conspicuously on everytime, such that you don't need to be asked of it, it is always clearly seen on you wherever you are.

The wedding garment is not for keeps, it is not for the wardrobe, this wedding garment is not an occasional wear, it is not a seasonal garment, or a garment for some specific occasions, no, it must be put on at all times. The robe of righteousness never goes out of fashion, it’s always in vogue. In the day, in the night, at work, in the school, on the road, in and out of church, at all periods, the wedding garment must be worn conspicuously.

The wedding garment is the one the Lord gave you at salvation when you parted ways with sin and self, it is NOT the one you wear due to your good works or efforts, neither is it the one you came to the world with, that one stinks, no matter how beautiful it appears, it can never stand the divine presence. The wedding garment should be worn daily, it is the outing wear, it is also the inner wear, it is the house coat, it is the kitchen robe, it is the night wear, it is the swimming trunk, it is the office cloth, it is the function cloth, this garment must be worn in all manner of engagements, the simple motto is that 'the wedding garment is the garment that once it is put on, it should never be put off for any reason and should never be stained. A man had rather put off all engagements that are incompatible with this garment than put the garment off'. This garment is a treasure.

To be found stripped of the wedding garment, is to have lost it. To be seen without the wedding garment on, is to be naked, because every other garment is fake and transparent, and a man's nakedness will be vividly discovered, without searching or stress, while other alternative garments are put on.

To go out without the wedding garment because you don't want it stained is no excuse, because you ought NOT to even go to places where the garment can be stained.

There are several myriads of garments outside, which a man may use and put on. I believe this young man had a kind of garment on him to have come for the wedding flanked by important guests. O yes, he must have put on his best clothes, he must have dressed very neatly and glamorously, he must have believed in himself that, "oh, how sparkling I appear today", but, suffice it to say, even though there are many garments out there, none of them can replace or substitute the wedding garment, there is no replacement for the garment of righteousness, many garments may look like the wedding garment, but they are not it, other garments may mimic the wedding garment in colour, in the weaving pattern, in its flowing nature, they may even appear very neat and white like the wedding garment, but, it simply is NOT the wedding garment.

Another thing I notice is that when this young man was coming to the wedding with his alternative garment, didn't other people see him?, didn't other guests notice that he had on a different garment from the approved wedding garment?, well yes, other people saw it, but they didn't notice the discrepancies, it was a careful alternative that looked exactly like the real, BUT, it was the counterfeit.

I discover that there are several garments that resemble the wedding garment, and they can easily deceive a casual looker. Men are generally blind and cannot figure out if the garment you are wearing is actually the wedding garment, or just a perfect alternative, but one beautiful thing is sure, you may deceive others to think that you have the wedding gown on, but you can never deceive the king.
There are alternatives to the wedding gown, there are the garments of ministry, there are garments of sanctimony, garments of zealousness, garments of pulpiteering (the holy form you put on while you mount the pulpit), garments of nomenclature (having a name that you are alive - a pastor, a bishop, born again, treasurer, evangelism secretary, coordinator, overseer, Instructor, Women Leader - , but are dead) and several others, these may resemble the wedding garment, but it's a pity, they cannot replace it.


"...had not on..."

Here, the expression used is that "he had not on", the Bible didn't say "he had not". Well both may be the case, he may not have had at all, hence he couldn't put on what he simply did not have, or he could have had the garment, and chose other garments in preference to the wedding garment - maybe the wedding garment has suddenly gone out of fashion before his eyes, and other garments - other reigning garments were beginning to have more attractions unto him, he was beginning to exalt the world and to feel among...hmmm, 'a backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways'.

The way the Bible sounds here appears to me as if this man actually 'once' had the garment given unto him, holiness once clothed him but he later put it off. Righteousness was his meal, but he has lost appetite for it, he got his garment stained, maybe he got it torn, maybe he bargained it in exchange for worldly goods, pleasure seeking had become his way of life, he must have given grace up for some gains and gold, for some fame. Even though he now became rich in those things, those gains which he has replaced the garment with, yet, what a pity it was, he became naked (though sinfully clothed), he became empty and poor, he became a castaway.

There is no gain so great, no goods so mighty, no fame so far reaching that can worth anything in comparison to the wedding garment, to lose it, is to lose all.
God is not in sympathy with any man, no matter what degree of religious height he may have attained, whose life is only a show of the form of godliness, but the power of grace has fizzled out.

"...Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away [2Timothy 3:5]


Verse 12

"...Friend, how camest thou in hither..."


The question that The Lord asked here is my point of notice, "...how...?". It's like The Lord Himself is surprised at the audacity of this young man, The Lord wonders at his cunningness, his tricks, his subtle nature, his hypocrisy..., "Friend...", the king even used a capital letter "Friend" for him, to show that he was a man of great dubious character.

Friend, how did you achieve such a height in the Christiandorm, yet, you never met the Lord?, what brilliance and charisma did you employ to deceive everybody, yet you are still in your sins? You know all the good language of faith, all the songs of the church are in your head, your voice reverberates like thunderbolt when you preach, but you are a silent hypocrite, everybody around you see a garment of ministry upon you, but it’s just a cover up of your internal corruption, how manage?

Friend, how did you deceive everybody?, how did you gate crash, how did you pass security...?. I think this is also a big slap to those servants of the king, who just went and gathered together all - both good and bad. Beyond that, were the servants, the securities, the protocol people... all so blind that none could see the subtleness and hypocrisy of this young man, or is there some sort of compromise also among the king's servants?, "how could he make it up to this point without discovery?"

Well, if even the most trusted servants of the king could be fooled, I begin to wonder today, how many men are on our pulpits, not having on, the wedding garment, and yet they are going far ecclesiastically? I think one of the greatest questions is that "Do you even have a wedding garment on, or you’re living on past glories?"


"...he was speechless."

This man allowed his hypocrisy to get to the point of the king, he had gone too far, if he was discovered at the gate, there might have been some remedy, if it was even discovered inside before the king came in, they might have smuggled him outside for a quick change of garment, if he had judged himself before he allowed the king to judge him, there would have been a remedy, if he examined himself while the message of the cross pricked his soul, he would have been helped.


Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? [2Corinthians 13:5]


Alas, this man waited until it was too late, he didn't judge himself, he didn't give anybody chance to judge him, he was too perfect in enclosing, sealing up his true identity, he believed his position and skills would do, he hoped his right would outweigh his wrongs, until God came and judged him, it was too late.

The Bible says, he was speechless. At the presence of the King of kings, mouth cannot speak for you, explanation cannot account for you, it is what the King sees that matters, it is the life you carry that speaks for you.
The Lord does not hear the voice from the lips, so whatever a man would say, is immaterial, God only hears the voice of our lives. Our lives speak volumes before His presence, and that is all that counts.
Eloquence, church activities, zealousness, nomenclature, all are impotent before the King, only the white, unstained garment of righteousness can avail for any man...