Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
3 sermons cite this verse
Thanks be to God. See, there are some Sundays when you say that robustly, and there are some Sundays you're like, ah. This past Wednesday, needing some divine inspiration, I picked up the phone in my office, hit speed dial button number one. A tired sounding voice answered, yes. Um, God? Yes. Scott Black Johnston here, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City. I know. We've got caller ID here. Listen, I hate to bother you, God, but I've been working on this parable, the wedding banquet, Matthew 22. And to tell you the truth, I'm having a bit of trouble with it. I was wondering if you could help me out. Sure. Let's do lunch. You do lunch? Of course. Tell you what, meet me tomorrow on the Upper West Side, Jacob's Pickles, 12 noon. I've been wanting to try their cheese grits. Grits? Absolutely. Grace on a plate, my friend. Grace on a plate. I heard a low chuckle, and the line went dead. So on Thursday, I took the Crosstown bus to the west side. …
Here is our fig tree without a single olive on it! Now let us surround it with olive treesand see what a change that will make in it. The tree is very lonely where it is, so we will see what helpful associations will do for it. It will be another difficult task for us, but we will not shirk it, for we are determined to transplant it right into the middle of an olive gar-den—and we will tie it up to a fruitful olive tree and then, when it has no other trees near it, surely it must bear olives! But will it? Oh no—when the time of figs arrives, it will bear figs unless we have destroyed its fruit-bearing power by disturbing it—but there will be no olives on it except those that fall among its branches when the tree by its side is beaten to yield up its thousands of purple, oily berries. So here is an unconverted man right in the midst of Christian people! He is not very comfortable, for he feels that he is out of his element. He would be much more at home in a public house or at a music hall, or at home reading a novel or the newspaper—yet here he is surrounded by Christians. Possibly, like the fig tree tied to an olive tree, the man is united to a godly wife, yet it is not enough to make him a Christian. He has a gracious, loving daughter—she has persuaded him to come with her tonight in the hope that he may get a blessing here, as I most sincerely hope he may. But, my dear Friend, let me tell you that it is not sufficient for you to have a Christian wife, or Christian children, or Christian parents unless there is a work of Gracewithin your own heart—unless your very nature is changed by the Holy Spirit so that you are made a new creature in Christ Jesus! All these hallowed relationships and associations will only increase your condemnation! I must repeat to you Paul's message to the Philippian jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." And very likely it will then be possible to add in your case as in his, "and your house." God grant that it may be so! …
“How camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? 1. In the verses preceding the text we read, “After these things, Jesus spake to them again in parables, and said, A certain king made a supper for his son. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw one who 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. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 2. Upon this parable one of our most celebrated expositors comments in the following manner: — “The design of this parable is to set forth that gracious supply made by God to men in and by the preaching of the gospel. To invite them to this, God sent forth his servants, the Prophets and Apostles.” — And on these words, — “Why camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?” he proceeds thus: “The punishment of whom ought not to discourage us, or make us turn our backs upon the holy ordinances.” Certainly it ought not; but nothing of this kind can be inferred from this parable, which has no reference to the ordinances, any more than to baptism and marriage. And probably we should never have imagined it, but that the word supper occurred therein. …