Matt 22:1-14, Jesus the Christ Chapter 30 notes 4 and 6

1 AND Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
11 ¶ And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 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.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

4. The Call to the Marriage Feast --The Calling of the guests who had been bidden aforetime is thus commented upon by Trench (Parables, pp. 175-6): "This summoning of those already bidden, was, and, as modern travellers attest, is still, quite in accordance with Eastern manners. Thus Esther invites Hamon to a banquet on the morrow (Esth. 5:8), and when the time has actually arrived, the chamberlain comes to usher him to the banquest (6:14). There is, therefore, no slightest reason why we should make 'them that were bidden' to mean them that were now to be bidden; such an interpretation not merely violating all laws of grammar, but the higher purpose with which the parable was spoken; for our Lord, assuming that the guests had been invited long ago, does thus remind His hearers that what He brought, if in one sense new, was in another a fulfilment of the old; that He claimed to be heard, not as one suddenly starting up, unconnected with aught which had gone before but as Himself 'the end of the law,' to which it had been ever tending, the birth with which the whole Jewish dispensation had been pregnant, and which alone should give a meaning to it all. In His words, 'them that were bidden,' is involved in the fact that there was nothing abrupt in the coming of His kingdom, that its rudiments had a long while before been laid, that all to which his adversaries clung as precious in their past history was prophetic of blessings now actually present to them in Him. The original invitation, which had now come to maturity reached back to the foundation of the Jewish commonwealth, was taken up and repeated by each succeeding prophet, as he prophesied of the crowning grace that should one day be brought to Israel (Luke 10:24; Pet. 1:12), and summoned the people to hold themselves in a spiritual readiness to welcome their Lord and their King."

6. The Called and the Chosen-- Edersheim's reflections upon this subject follow in part (Vol. 2, pp. 429, 430): "The King entered to see His guests and among them he descried one who had not on a wedding garment... As the guests had been travelers, and as the feast was in the King's palace, we cannot be mistaken in supposing that such garments were supplied in the palace to all who sought them. And with this agrees the circumstance, that the man so addressed 'was speechless.' His conduct argued utter insensibility as regarded that to which he had been called -- ignorance of what was due the King, and what became such a feast, For, although no previous state of preparedness was required of the invited guests, all being bidden, whether good to bad, yet the fact remained that, if they were to take part in the feast they must put on the garments suited to the occasion. All invited to the gospel feast; but they who will partake of it must put on the King's wedding garment of evangelical holiness. And whereas it is said in the parable that only one was descried without this garment, this intended to teach, that the King will not only generally view His guest, but that each will be separately examined, and that no one -- no, not a single individual -- will be able to escape discovery amidst the mass of guests, if he has not the wedding garment. In short, in that day of trial, it is not scrutiny of churches, but of individuals in the church... The call comes to all; but it may be outwardly accepted, and a man may sit down to feast, and yet he may not be chosen to partake of the feast, because he has not the wedding garment of converting, sanctifying grace. And so, one may be thrust even from the marriage board into the darkness without, with its sorrow and anguish. Thus, side by side, yet wide apart, are these two -- God's call and God's choice. The connecting link between them is the wedding garment, freely given in the Palace. Yet, we must seek it, ask it, put it on. And as here also, we have, side by side, God's gift and man's activity. And still, to all time, and to all men, alike in the warning, teaching, and blessing, is it true: Many are called, but few are chosen!" Many words of related meaning, both Hebrew and Greek, are translated "Garment" in our English Bible. The Greek original in the mention of the wedding garment is enduma; whit does not occur in other Bible passages as the original of "garment". The noun is related to the Greek verb enduein, "to put on, as a garment." Compare Luke 24:49, 'until ye be undued with power from on high."

I found these parables absolutely fascinating and I thought about how this is very similar to Christ's church missionary work today and our temple. The later-day missionaries have been out now for almost 200 years and some of those first missionaries were beaten and some even killed. And before the Restoration of Christ's church in our day there were a great many who were killed for their testimonies of Jesus. (Stephen and Abinadi are two that come right to mind) But the message that the martyrs died for and the message today will lead on a path, that if followed to its full possibilities, will in fact grant the said person a new set of garments of "evangelical holiness".

Granted my theory here would call for a specified moment of choice and a person's acceptance as to whether or not they would like to be participants at the wedding feast. I feel however I am justified in stating that the missionaries are, even now, asking that question time and again, while on their God-assigned missions, but I would also hope that to those that don't know, or are biased because of ignorance, would be given a second chance. (Because I do not know all things and this is only a theory) I will also include that on the other hand people may only get one chance. This statement is made as exampled by Christ's sending out His servants, and His direction "to shake off the dust of thy feet .. and wash thy feet, as a testimony" against those that did not receive the servants or their Message.
(see Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5; D&C 60:15,75:20)

Let us all hear, seek, and/or knock so we may have opened to us the door to the Kingdom on earth so we may be fitted for our own wedding-feast, garment and sit down to eat with our Savior when he comes again is my prayer, in His name Jesus Christ, Amen.

Power Developed by Prayer and Fasting

2. Power Developed by Prayer and Fasting -- The Savior's statement concerning the evil spirit that the apostles were unable to subdue – “Howbeit this kind goeth not our but by prayer and fasting”—indicated gradation in the malignity and evil power of demons, and gradation also in the results of varying degrees of faith. The apostles who failed on the occasion referred to had been able to cast out demons at other times. Fasting, when practiced in prudence, and genuine prayer are conducive to the development of faith with its accompanying power for good. Individual application of this principle may be made with profit. Have you some besetting weakness, some sinful indulgence that you have vainly tried to overcome? Like the malignant demon that Christ rebuked in the boy, your sin may be of a kind that goeth out only through prayer and fasting. (“Jesus the Christ” Chapter 24, Note 2 by James E Talmage)

Faith a Gift of God

--"Though within the reach of all who diligently strive to gain it, faith is nevertheless a divine gift, and can be obtained ONLY from God (see Matt. 16:17; John 6:64,65; Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 12:9; Rom. 12:3; Moro. 10:11). As fitting for so priceless a pearl, it is given to those only who show by their sincerity that they are worthy of it, and who give promise (to try their best) of abiding by its dictates. Although faith is called the first principle of the Gospel of Christ, though it be the foundation of all religion, yet even faith is PRECEDED by Sincerity of disposition and humility of soul, whereby the word of God may make an impression upon the heart (see Rom. 10:17). No compulsion is used in bringing men to a knowledge of God; yet, as fast as we open our hearts to the influences of righteousness, the faith that leads to life eternal will be given us of our Father." -- Articles of Faith, p. 107 by James Talmage.

This is PERFECT!!! Do you feel the absolute truth of the matter, and it's correlation to other revealed later-day scripture!? We find in Alma 32:25 - 27... "for I verily believe that there are some among you who would humble themselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might.
26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

As it is with Elder Talmage's words above-- have no more then a desire or want to believe, learn to be humble and soft of heart so you will be open to the Word of God, and then let that desire work in you until you can find yourself asking The Father, in the name of His Beloved: Christ, for the required Faith and a testimony, and then the gate will start to open for you to again be WITH God and His beloved in Their Kingdom! (of course on condition of your continuing to seek and nourish your new found faith as counseled by Alma in Alma Chapter 32!)

We're probably doing better then we think we are doing.

I just finished watching the KSL Channel 5 (Utah) video Biography of our late Prophet Gordon B Hinckley and the title of this blog was a quote Sheri Dew said Gordon was fond of expressing.

I thought about this quote and then about a testimony and thought that I had come into my mind last Sunday. In sharing some thoughts to my ward I was impressed to say something to the effect of 'there is a dark cloud over all the earth right now, it is of evil and it is expressed in thoughts and feelings of a dampening nature. This to bring us down and make us feel more miserable. We however have a choice and I have made it when I have these feelings and thoughts I recognize them as evil and not my own and say to the thought, "I am an agent unto myself and I choose not to believe that thought" and then seek out and create other thoughts more pleasant and uplifting.'

This train of thought led me to realize that in much of my own life I have had thoughts that are very subtle and negative and now I question "are those thoughts mine?"

I feel and believe that I need to start asking myself that question more often when my mind starts down the road of bitter or less then kind thinking toward myself as well as other people that I may run across in this life.

Because I believe that it, the LDS church, is true, and thus its scriptures are true, and one scripture in particular reads "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and... my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants (Prophets), it is the same." So this tells me that the Prophet Gordon Hinckley's words of "We're probably doing better then we think..." would fit perfectly into a God given truth that the devils are still fighting a war with His children on this side of the veil, and satan has learned and is practicing a true art of subtle deception that we need to be aware of and combat it one self-controlled thought and realization at a time.

We are agents unto ourselves and we need to simply be aware, fight a good fight, and come off (with Christ's help) conquerors in the end.