PRETENDERS: Are they in for a surprise!

"... when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

Matthew 22:11-14

The Associated Press reports a common law couple moved into a nice, empty, two-story $175,000 house. They connected the phone, water, cable and electricity; they added a driveway full of cars, an answering machine, a new computer and a refrigerator.

However, a local real-estate agent suspected something was wrong; he reported it to the police, who arrested the couple. It seems their charade lasted about a month.

Turns out this was his wedding gift to her!

Just as it was possible for this couple to fake ownership of a house for a time, many will attempt to gain entry into the wedding feast of the Son of God, but the truth will be found out!

Christianity, Illustrations,
Religion, Wedding feast

DAYS OF NOAH II: In the wrong bed trying to look innocent!

"And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all."

Luke 17:26-27

A several years ago, Reader’s Digest ran a splendid story which illustrates the similarity between our generation and that of Noah.

It seems a man brought two young dogs to town with him to get farm supplies; one was a German Shepherd, the other a Golden Labrador. He sternly told both dogs to remain in his pickup until he returned.

Later a woman came into the store and asked if anyone owned the dogs which were running in and out of the building next door. Shocked, the man hurried to his truck. When he arrived, he found his dogs faithfully sitting in the truck bed … of the wrong pickup!

Likewise, we're undone; we've no excuse; we're guilty! We shouldn't pretend innocence!

Our generation, the one preceding the Second Coming of the Son of Man, is no different than the one preceding the flood, and is almost identical to the generation just prior to the Son of Man's first coming!

Christianity, Illustrations,
Lasciviousness, Religion

MARRIAGE: What We Should Have The Courage To Say!

"You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together."

Deuteronomy 22:10

With Christmas as one of the most popular times during the year for weddings, we offer the following marriage ceremony between a Christian and a non-Christian for your convenience.

Dear Friends, we are gathered here today to witness a disaster in the making. For reasons none of us can understand, Martha here has decided she wants to be married to Chester.

Martha – church-goer, hymn-singer, happy, raised right – is throwing it all away in order to marry Chet here, a smug, ungodly rascal who gets with his buddies and makes jokes about Christians. Why Chester and Martha want to lock themselves into marriage is beyond me.

You two will be unequally yoked. In Deuteronomy 22:10 God tells farmers not to do that. An ox and a donkey or a mule and a cow are different animals. They can’t work together. Over in the New Testament, in 2 Corinthians 6:14, God tells brides and grooms not to make the same mistake; for Christians not to marry unbelievers.

Now, the reason He addresses this to you, Martha, is because, as a believer, He sort of assumes that you will obey Him. He knows that Chester here doesn’t pretend to do so. But if you choose not to, you shouldn’t bother to call yourself a Christian.

The Lord Jesus once asked some people, “Why do you call me ‘Lord’ and not do what I say?” He does not address this command to Chester here, because since you are an unbeliever, it wouldn’t do any good anyway. You’re not obeying anything else He says. Why would you obey this?

So, what am I doing here performing your wedding? I’ve asked myself that twenty-eight times in the last two weeks. Probably because Martha’s folks are leaders in our church, and I thought it would anger them if I declined. And some people think, maybe we can reach Chester this way.

Frankly, I’m not too sure disobeying the clear teaching of Scripture is a good way of reaching anybody for the Lord.

Well, let us get on with it. In a few minutes Cherry Dunn will sing the song you have selected for this special day: Torn Between Two Lovers and the theme for Titanic. Then I’ll say some religious words over you as we all pretend that somehow God is blessing what He has forbidden. You will exchange rings and vows and saliva, and leave here seeking the lowest common denominator in your values, your beliefs, and your convictions.

If this marriage works out, it may be the biggest disaster of all, because other Christian-pagan lovebirds will point to you as role models. It’s a frightening thought.

So you will understand if I pray for the success of your marriage, while I pull for it to be awful enough to warn away future travelers down this embattled road.

[Joe N. McKeever, “Disaster in the Making,” SBC LIFE, December 1999, p.6]

So let us pray … and pray … and pray … .

The article above is a parody of a pastor’s comments to a supposedly born-again Christian bride and her unabashed, non-believing fiancée, whom he will shortly join in holy matrimony. Since it says what most of us feel, it is provided in its entirety, just as it appeared in the publication below.

Christianity, Illustrations,
Marriage, Religion, Unequal yoke