14 Our Lord Jesus had gone to the
house of one of the chief Pharisees and he had gone to a supper there
and As he said he had healed somebody
and And as he sat there, somebody said this in verse 15, when one
of them that sat at meat with him heard the things he said,
he said unto him, blessed is he that shall eat bread in the
kingdom of God. That's true. That is true. But our Lord Jesus gives a warning here. He sends
forth a general call in the gospel, a command to believe on his son. And he speaks here of many who
refused. This is what the Lord was speaking
to the Pharisees who had refused him. And he's speaking of this
call to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The Lord Jesus has
made a great supper. He said there in verse 16, a
certain man made a great supper. This certain man is our Lord
Jesus. It's God our father who sent
his son and Christ Jesus who's made this supper. We've been
called, we're on our way to the marriage supper of the lamb.
And for now we're partaking of this gospel feast that he's prepared
for his people. In this mountain, the Lord said,
in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people
a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the leaves, of fat
things full of marrow, of wines on the leaves, well refined. Christ is the master of the house.
He's the master of this supper. He's the one who prepared everything. And it's a supper. It's called
a supper. You know, you have supper at
the end of the day. And Scripture tells us, now once in the end
of the world, it's the end of time, when Christ came, now once
in the end of the world, hath He appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself. That's why Christ came. That's
what He accomplished. When He had by Himself purged
our sin, He sat down at the right hand of God. He prepared this
supper. It's a great supper because the
King of kings and Lord of lords is the one who made this supper.
He prepared it. It's great because of the great
cost to prepare it. God gave His only begotten Son.
Our Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life in place of His people
under the wrath and justice of God. A great cost. Doesn't cost
you and me anything, but it cost Him everything. It's great because
He prepared it for a great multitude. A multitude no man can number.
A multitude God chose from before the foundation of the world.
It's a great supper. And you know what you do when
you eat supper? After you eat supper, you rest.
That's why he's calling his people to rest, to rest in Christ, to
rest in Him. Now the call goes out, he said,
verse 16, and he bade many. And he sent his servant at suppertime
to say to them that were bid and come for all things are now
ready. That word bade, that doesn't
mean invite. Our God is not inviting. You
know, we're talking about Christ the King. A king doesn't invite
you. A king sends you the command
to come. And that's what Christ does.
He commands all men everywhere to repent. And through the preaching
of the gospel, he's calling, he's commanding through the preaching
of the gospel. And this call goes forth to everybody. It's a general call, everybody
hears it. God in Christ has made this supper, and Christ sends
His servants preaching the gospel, just like He did here. He sent
His servant. God the Father sent His Son,
who served Him, who honored God, who saved His people, and Christ
now, risen, sends forth His messenger, His preacher, preaching this
gospel. He said, I, Jesus, have sent
mine angel, that's his pastor, to testify unto you these things
in the churches. I'm the root and the offspring
of David. He was before David, he bore
David, and he came through David's lineage as a man. He's the root
and offspring of David. He's the bright and morning star.
If we're going to have light, it's going to be by Christ. He's
the son of righteousness, risen with Helot in his wings. The
Spirit and the bride say, come. The Spirit and the bride, the
Spirit of God and the church together, we're preaching this
gospel together. We're saying to come to the marriage
supper, come to this gospel feast. Let him that heareth say, come,
and let him that's athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely. This is cause going forth to
everybody. And here's the message of this
call. Verse 17, for all things are
now ready. That's the message, all things
are ready. That's the good news of the gospel. All things are
now ready. You know, when God made the first
creation, He made everything. He prepared everything. He made
the garden. He prepared it all. And then
He gave Adam life. and showed him, it's all ready.
It's all done. There was nothing left for Adam
to do. It was ready. And in this new
creation, when he calls one of his children, the good news of
the gospel is all is done. All has been made ready by the
Lord Jesus Christ. Come, all things are now ready. Our Lord Jesus finished the work
the Father gave Him to do. He finished the work. He's the
bread of life. We don't have to make the bread.
He's the bread of life. His blood is the wine. He said,
except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in
you. He even provides you the wedding garment. He provides
you the robe of His righteousness that you can come into this supper,
marriage supper. Everything's made. It's a feast
of free justification. It's a feast of free righteousness
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. All is free. All things are now ready. This
has been the message from the beginning. This is the message
by which God saved Abel. The works were finished from
the foundation of the world in Christ our surety. The message
has always been, come, all things are ready. God says, ho, everyone
that thirsteth. See, this is the issue. We've
got to be thirsty. Thirsty. Thirsty for what? For
Christ only. For the water of life. Oh, everyone
that's thirsty, come ye to the waters. He that hath no money. No money. Come ye, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price. It would be a bad situation if
you were invited to a marriage supper. and you had to pay for
it. All things are ready, come. May
free come. The good news are to make all
come. But the natural heart is cold,
it's lifeless, dead, hard, that's the natural heart. So here's
the second thing. We see here the excuses of those
that were bidden. The excuse says, look here in
verse 18, and they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I bought
a piece of ground, I must need to go and see it. I pray that
you have me excused. Who gave the ground? God did. Who gave the ability
to purchase a piece of ground? God did. And yet here's an example of
one making an excuse that that's more important. I need to go
to that rather than come to Christ, rather than come to hear the
gospel. And another said, I bought five
yoke of oxen. I go to prove them. I pray they
have me excused. Another said, I've married a
wife, therefore I cannot come. These excuses can be compared
to excuses that men make for not coming to Christ, for not
coming to hear the gospel, for not being watchful and waiting
on the Lord's return to come to the marriage supper. Some
might say, you know, I can't believe on Christ because I've
never seen Him. And here's an example of a man
who bought a piece of ground, he hasn't seen it. He's got to
go see to it. Here's an example of somebody
who bought some oxen. They've never proven those oxen. You hear a lot of times people
say, I need a sign. I need proof. Then I'll believe. Here's a man who bought some
oxen. He hadn't proved them. Here's another who married a
wife, and he didn't come. Now, these examples here. are illustrating all the fleshly
excuses that men have, worldly things that men are hungry and
thirsty for, rather than the Lord Jesus and his gospel. This is what he's saying, look
down at verse 25. There went great multitudes with
him. He leaves this supper at this Pharisee's house and great
multitudes are following him. And he turned and he said to
them, if any men come to me, And hate not his father, and
mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters. Yea, in his own life also he
cannot be my disciple. And who served doth not bear
his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. You see, the
evil is when the heart becomes set on things God's made, things
God's given, things of this world, things of this flesh, and they
come between God's child and Christ. That's the evil. And for the unregenerate, everything
comes between them. Everything comes between them.
It's always somebody else's fault. It's the preacher's fault, it's
the people's fault, it's the color of the drapes, whatever.
But it's always somebody else's fault. But really and truly,
when men are not hungry for the gospel and they leave the gospel
or they let any little thing interfere with the gospel, it's
just an issue of what's already there. There's not a hunger,
there's not a thirst. God bids us come empty, He bids
us come hungry, come with a need, come with a need, that's what
He's saying. Come to be fed and nourished and saved by the Lord.
He doesn't tell us to make ourselves ready to come. He says He's made
all things ready, now you come. When the Lord heard They were asking about why the
Lord Jesus was sitting with publicans and sinners. And when he heard
that, the Lord said, they that behold me not a physician, but
they that are sick. And he said to them, go learn
what that means. Go learn what that means. I will
have mercy, not sacrifice. I'm not come to call the righteous
but sinners to repentance. And for the believer who has
a need, for you here that have a need, remember this. We have
a high priest who's touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
He knows our weakness. He's been touched. He was tempted
in all points like as we are yet without sin. And his throne's
a throne of grace. Let us come boldly to his throne
of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. But here's the certain thing.
There's not going to be one place at this table that's going to
be vacant. Not one place at our Lord's table
is going to be vacant. God chose who he would save. He predestinated us to the adoption
of children. Christ redeemed us. He is able
to call his people affectionately, and he will call, and there will
be no empty spaces at his table. If any can come, And if any are
hungry and thirsty for Christ, and they want to come, and they
keep coming, and they come to Christ and continue to the end
trusting Christ, it's because the Lord did it. It's because
He made you hungry. It's because He made you thirsty.
It's because Christ is the great physician who's healed you. And
you have a need. You have to have Christ. Now,
let's see what the Master's response was to those who would not come.
Verse 21. So that servant came, and he
showed his Lord these things. He came to the master and he
told him about these people that were bitten that made all these
excuses. And then the master of the house
was angry. You know, God the Father, just
think about this. God the Father gave His only
begotten Son. He gave His only begotten Son.
God the Father sent his gospel. He established his gospel in
this place. And God's angry when sinners
refuse his son and refuse his gospel. That anger is God, justly
so. Brother Henry used to say, we're
not only responsible for what we have heard, for what we could
have heard. Listen to the master of the house.
He being angry, verse 21, he said to his servant, Go out quickly
into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the
poor and the maimed and the haught and the blind. The Pharisees
had invited him to their table, this chief Pharisee, and he went
there. And while he was there, this is what the Lord Jesus said
to them. Look there in verse 7. He told them, when you're bidding
to a wedding, I'm sorry, verse 8, he said, sit not down in the
highest room. They came in and they all were
choosing out the chief places to sit, the chief seats. And he told them, he said, don't
go to a wedding, don't sit in the highest room, lest a more
honorable man than thou be bidding of him. And he that bid thee,
come and say to thee, give this man the place. And now begin
with shame, but take the Lord's seat. But now watch this right
here. Watch this right here. When you're bidding, go sit in
the Lord's room. And then He may come to you and
say, friend, go up higher. Then you'll have worship in the
presence of them that sit at meet with Him. for whosoever
exalteth himself shall be abased, he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted. Now listen to this right here.
He said also with them that bade him, when you make a dinner or
a supper, call not your friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy
kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again
and a recompense be made thee. In other words, He's saying,
don't just call people that can pay you again and return the
same favor to you. He's speaking about who he's
calling to this marriage feast. Who he's called to this gospel
feast. Look here, he said, but when
you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind,
and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee. They can't give you anything.
That's who Christ is saying. I call people that can't give
me anything. You'll be recompensed at the
resurrection of the just. God calls His people who are
sinners. Poor, maimed, halt, blind. What does it mean to be poor?
It means to be absolutely, totally, thoroughly bankrupt. unable to
pay anything for acceptance with God. To be totally, thoroughly
poor, maimed and hauled. Remember Mephibosheth? Dwelt
in loaded bar, no bread, that's what it means. He was crippled
on both his feet. He couldn't do one thing for
David. But for Jonathan's sake, David said, you go fetch him.
Set him at my table, give him meet the rest of his days, everything's
provided for him. He couldn't give David anything.
Those the Lord is saving, we can't give him anything. We've
been maimed by the fall, mangled. We're crippled by the fall. We're blind by nature. Fallen
in sin, conceived in sin, sinners in need of Christ to be all in
salvation. That's what he's talking about.
That's who he's calling. These others, you know why they
didn't come? Because they weren't maimed and
halt and blind. You remember blind Bartimaeus? He called and cried out because
he had a need. Those that couldn't work, those
that couldn't do anything to provide a living, or the poor,
and the halt, and the main, and they delighted when Christ came
by and healed them. The Master says, come. This is
who He said, come, all things are ready. He's the bread who
gives you life. He's the wine who washes you
from all, the blood that washes you from all your sin. What has
He made to the haught and the maim and the blind? Wisdom. We're blind, we can't see, we
can't understand. He's wisdom to us. Wisdom with
God for us. To represent us to God. He's
righteousness for us. Righteousness so that God will
look upon us and say, well done, my good and faithful servant.
Because Christ did it all. Sanctification who came and gave
you a new heart and called you to this supper and separated
you unto Him and keeps you separated unto Him when you would go right
back if He didn't. and redemption were His purchased
possession. He bought us from the slave block
of sin. He said, You're mine. The Spirit of God's calling those
He redeemed, and He's calling His people internally. He's calling
His people effectually. We've been talking about the
general call going forth, and we see what happens when the
general call goes forth. Excuses, excuses, excuses. But He's calling internally.
He's calling effectually through this gospel. And he won't stop
till all are called in. Verse 22, the servant said, Lord,
it's done as thou has commanded, and yet there's room. He called
in all these haught and lame and maimed and blind, and yet
there was still some room at the table. And the Lord said
to the servant, go out into the highways and the hedges and compel
them to come in. That word compel means force
them that my house may be filled.
See, God has a big table. God has a big table, and there's
still some seats vacant. There's still room. There's still
room. How do you know there's still
room? Because the gospel's still going forth, and the Lord hasn't
returned yet. And he won't return till he's
called each and every one of his people. Come, all things
are now ready. If he speaks that word into the
heart of a sinner, you will come. You will come. Only the Spirit
of God can compel men affectionately. Only He can do it by giving you
a new heart and a new will and a hunger and a thirst to see
that you are maimed and haught and blind. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, He's the riches that God has provided. He's the physician
who heals. He is the balm of Gilead. He is everything in our salvation. the gospel's gonna go forth to
every seat's filled at God's table. Listen to what our Lord
said in John 6, 37. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which is sent me. Of all which he given
me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. He that, this is the will of Him that sent me. Everyone
that seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life,
and I'll raise Him up at the last day. This is what Christ
declares when He sends forth this word effectually to draw
His people to His table. He says, come unto Me, all you
that are laboring and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That's
His promise. That's his promise. Just like Mephibosheth was fetched
to the table, to David's table, he went fetched there and then
told, now everything's not ready. There's some things you need
to do. He was fetched there and he was given rest at the master's
table and provided everything he needed. Christ said, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. I'm meek and lowly in heart. You'll find rest to your
souls. My yoke's easy. Why is it easy? Trusting Christ by his giving
you faith. Trust Christ and the whole righteousness
of God is made to be yours freely. You talk about a bounty, you
talk about a feast of fat things, God imputes the righteousness
of Christ to you. His burdens light. What does
He say to do? He says, go tell sinners about
this. Tell them to come to the table.
Tell them to come to the feast. That's the greatest love you
can show to another. Tell them to come. All things
are ready. But for those that have the opportunity
to hear the gospel and refuse, for those that refuse to cast
all their care on Christ, this is his promise. Verse 24, I say
unto you, none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper. Those that made excuses, those
that don't think everything's ready and they want to keep working.
He's speaking here particularly to the Pharisees. who were rejecting
him, he knew their heart. He knew their heart. He said, they won't taste to
my supper. What if you prepared a large
dinner and spent all this time in preparation making a large
dinner and you called those you would have come to your table
and nobody came? It made the master of this feast
angry. And when the gospel goes forth,
it's God bidding sinners to come. That's what the preaching of
the gospel is. God bidding sinners to come to Christ. Christ has
prepared all things. God's no beggar. He's no beggar. This is not like some preach
this and beg sinners to come. God's not a beggar. We need Him
to accept us. To say that He invites you implies
you have the ability to come. He's got to make you come to
His table. He does it affectionately. The
Spirit of God will give a new heart. He'll make His people
behold Christ, and beholding Christ, we'll see how maimed
and haught and blind and poor we are. and we'll see everything
we need is in Christ. See, Christ is the master of
the house, it's his table, and he's the feast. He's everything
in this thing of this marriage supper. More needful than our
table food. I've used this illustration many
times. People that don't come, you know, they got excuses for
not needing to hear the gospel. Well then, don't eat your table
food. In no time, however long you
can go, a month or two without hearing the gospel, stop eating
at home too. Stop eating bread and meat and everything else. I bet you won't do it. You know
why? They're hungry for that bread. When a sinner is made to see
he's a sinner, and Christ is everything, he'll be hungry for
Christ, and only Christ. Only Christ. But if we won't
come, now I said to you, God's no beggar. He's compelling his
people to come. And if we come, he gets all the
glory. But now if we won't come, if
we make an excuse, we depart for something else, it hasn't
altered God's eternal purpose, one be it. It's actually fulfilled
it. It's actually fulfilled it. What if some did not believe?
Should their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
God forbid. It hadn't altered God's purpose
whatsoever. Christ Jesus is the only righteousness
God will accept. the only righteousness God will
accept. He will not accept you. You trying to come to God by
some works you've done to add to what Christ has done would
be like a whole mangled man trying to come and do some tasks that
he can in no way perform. Christ is the only righteousness.
God's pleased with His works. It's actually God doing the works. And God's pleased with the works
He's done. He said, I'll uphold my righteousness. I'll magnify
my law. I'll make it honorable. And that's
what Christ has done. For those who have come to Him,
let nothing come between us and our Redeemer. Nothing come between
us and our Redeemer. Continue to come to Christ. Peter
said, to whom coming? We're coming to Christ every
day. Coming to Him every day. We're on our way to the marriage
supper of the Lamb. We continue to hear this gospel. This is how He's feeding us until
that great day. Continue to assemble together
with your brethren. Continue watching the whole time
for Christ's return. He's going to either call us
to Him or He's going to return. Anytime. Anytime. And He said, blessed are those
servants. Look back at Luke 12. I want
you to see this. Luke 12, 37. This is what He
said. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching. For I say unto
you, that He shall gird Himself, make them to sit down to meet,
and will come forth and serve them." See, He's everything in
this feast. It's His house. It's His table. He made all things ready. He's
the server, and He's the bread. Everything's of Him. I pray God
make us come to Him. Let's go to Him now. Our gracious
Lord and our Heavenly Father, What a blessing you've given
to your people. This feast provided, all prepared. And then you sent
and called us maimed, haught, blind, poor sinners. You fetched
us to your table. You made us feast upon these
fat things, these wine on the leaves, well refined. showing
us Christ, You keep teaching us more of Him, showing us more of Your character and Your righteousness
and of our completion in Him. Lord, help us to come to the
table. Help us to come and hear Christ
preached. Keep us hungry. Keep us thirsty. Keep Christ preeminent in our
hearts. Don't let us make any excuses. And Lord, we pray that as the
Gospel goes forth, You indeed would call, command, effectually, Your lost people. Lord, we thank
You that You reveal these things to sinners who cannot recompense You Thankful
Lord that You've called us. May this message and every message
preached from here, may it exalt Christ, may it magnify Your righteousness
and Your holiness. And Lord, help us to live unto
You. Help us to obey You. Lord, if You give us understanding,
we'll live. Forgive us, Lord, for our sins
and for taking the gospel lightly and not being more zealous for
Your Word and Your Kingdom. Help us to bear witness of You
to people we come in contact with. Help us to just do what
You commanded Your servants, to tell them to come. Come here. Hear the Word. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness
to us. Thank you for the bread, the
wine. Thank you for all your blessings. In Christ's name we
pray, amen.