It is just absolutely marvelous
to be with you. It's good to be with folks who
love the gospel, who love the Lord. We witnessed something just a
moment ago. All of grace. It's the way it
should be. Someone picked up just instantly
when someone else couldn't do it. That's the way it should
have been. One of the best sermons I ever
heard was missionary to Mexico who was passed on, Brother Walter
Groover down at Rescue California. He read a chapter of the Book
of Ruth and broke down and couldn't say a word. Had to dismiss himself
from the pulpit. One of the best messages I ever
heard. He was just, anyway. You know, poets, one man told
me one time, poets often see what theologians miss. And we
sang that hymn tonight, The Lord is King. And there's a hundred
messages in that song about the sovereign grace of Almighty God,
which we find in our Savior Christ Jesus. And I just was thankful
for that song. Would you turn with me for just
a short reading in the book of Romans, chapter 9 tonight? The
Bible is so plain in teaching that God has a people he chose
in Christ before the foundation of the world, before he created
our first parents. He had the names of his children
written down in the Lamb's book of life. And then we find that
he's going to save them through the covenant of grace. And it's
not because of good that they had done. As we read here in
the book of Romans chapter nine and verse 11 for the children,
the children, not being yet born, being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to
election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,
it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it
is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Tonight,
I'd like to spend a little time on how God gets that message
to you and I, how God gets the message to the elect. How does
he do that? Well, we're going to try to do
some of that tonight. But from our standpoint, it is
an impossibility to get anybody born into the kingdom of heaven.
Religion tries that all the time. It was practiced upon me and
I practiced that. It's an impossibility for us
to get anybody into the kingdom of heaven. We cannot educate
people into the kingdom of heaven. We're dealing in a realm that
is only opened up to God, a realm that is only opened up to the
Holy Spirit, and he's going to have the power to do it, do it
correctly, and people will come out on the other side saying,
hallelujah, God has worked a work of grace in me. There are two
parables I'd like to look at tonight. One of them is found
in Matthew Chapter 22, and one of them is found in Luke Chapter
14. So if you'd like to take your bulletin or a marker and
go to Luke Chapter 14 and put it in there, we're going to deal
with Matthew Chapter 22. First of all, we have in these
two parables, and remember, the disciples asked the Lord one
time as he was teaching in parables, Lord, why do you teach in parables? His answer was, because it is
given unto you. It is given unto the elect. It
is given unto the church. It is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom, but it's not given to them. Now,
that's why God does his business that way. Now, we may ask, and
I just want to say, be calm in the world today. It's God's on
the throne. He's on the throne. And you want
to know God's purpose? Read the paper. That's it, right
there, His purpose. His purpose here, His purpose
there. Wherever it is, He is working
out His eternal purpose everywhere. Don't get too caught up. He is
in charge of it all, and He is a sweet God after His elect wherever
they are, and He is intent on bringing them the good news of
Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and when they hear it, they will
rejoice when the Holy Spirit gives them the new birth. In
the book of Matthew chapter 22, I want to begin reading with
verse 1. Matthew chapter 22, and there in verse 1, we have
a parable that the Lord spoke to His disciples. Matthew chapter
22 verse 1, Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables
and said, now remember. The disciples have asked him,
why do you do this? Why do you talk in this kind
of language? Why do you talk in spiritual
language is what he is saying before we find that the natural
man does not delight, does not savor, does have no interest
in the things of God or his word because they are spiritually
discerned. And the Holy Spirit must reveal
these things unto us. That's why we cannot be educated
into the kingdom. We can't teach ourselves into
the kingdom. Nobody can bear us into the kingdom.
It is a work of God and a work of God alone. The kingdom of
heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for
his sons. We have this wonderful picture
given here. In the days and times that the
Lord was bringing this, if we go over to the marriage supper
that the Lord turned the water to wine, we find it was a time
of rejoicing. It was a time of gladness. It
was a time. So the gospel to everyone that has ever heard
it is good news, but nobody wants it. It's the best news you could
ever hear. It's the best news. Christ and
Him crucified, putting sin away for time and for eternity, and
yet natural man doesn't want to hear that. We want to hear
what God doesn't want us to hear. We wanna work our way into the
kingdom. We wanna do something for it. We wanna trade God for
something. But here we find that there's
a kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a
marriage for his son and sent forth servants. Now, this is
the key here. I wanna look at this word, it
has an S on the end, it is plural. Now, when we get to the next
parable in the book of Luke, the S is not there. The S is
servant. Here we have some instructions
for God's people in talking to their friends and neighbors.
Here we have some instructions for God's preachers in talking
from the pulpit. This is what the Holy Spirit
has called on us to do. We are servants. The pastor is
a servant. I'm a servant of the king and
I love him and I love to serve him. We're not doing this for
rewards, we're doing this because we love him. We love him so dearly
because he plucked us out of a horrible pit. He placed us
upon a solid rock. He established our goings and
put a new song in our heart. We love him because he's done
all of that. He quickened us and made us alive. He brought
us out of the graveyard, if you please. He created in us the
life that we now have. So he sent for the servants to
tell us we have good news. We have good news. We have good
news. I want everybody to hear good news. I'll never forget
hearing Brother Scott Richardson say, I'm just nobody trying to
tell everybody about somebody who can save anybody. Like that
that's our message. You know we are nobodies But
it is our delight to preach the gospel, to share the gospel with
our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our dads, knowing full
well what was told to Isaiah. They won't hear you. They won't
hear you, but do it anyway, because I have the power to make what
you have to say effectual to them. And those that are mine,
I will make that word effectual to them. We've been studying
in the book of numbers for some time and a couple of Sundays
ago, we got to the two silver trumpets that were made out of
one piece of silver for one trumpet and it pounded out of another
piece of silver for another trumpet. I listened to a man on the YouTube
about trumpet playing and he showed me that if you don't have
a trumpet, you just go. We called it raspberries when
I was a kid. Not very pleasant sound. But he took that raspberry
and put that trumpet up there in a clear sound. The voice of a trumpet. That's
one thing about God. He has a voice clear as a trumpet. It catches our attention and
it is brought to us by someone but left by themselves that just
go, can't say a word correctly. But when it goes through the
gospel trumpet, when we point people to Christ, there's a difference
made. and it's not looking to us, it's
looking to the voice that's coming out. So they sent forth his servants
to call them that were bitten. We got an invitation to go out.
Go out and tell your friends. Go out and tell your family.
Today, sermon audio. Tell them about Zoom meetings.
Tell them. We got good news. Nobody's going
to pay any attention though. That's just the way it is. Don't
be afraid. Because we got somebody that
is all powerful to take care of his business. And it says
there, he called them that were bidden to the wedding and they
would not come. Food, festival, love, all these
things that happen at a wedding, just think of the food. If nothing else, just think of
the food. Don't worry about the man and
the lady, they're going to get married. The food. No. But they made light of it
and went their ways. One to his farm, another to his
merchandise, and the remnant took his servants. Now, we find
this all the way through the Old Testament, those prophets
paid dearly to preach the gospel. We find that during the time
of Christ, they paid dearly to preach the gospel, but they did
it because they loved God, they loved Christ, they loved his
word, and they loved the command to preach the gospel. They went
out and preached, and they were sorely mistreated. Just as we
find here, these people that went out with the best news in
the world, come down for some good free food, and they wouldn't
come. But when the king heard that
they'd been spitefully mistreated and slew them, when the king
heard thereof, he was wroth and he sent forth his armies and
destroyed those murders and burned up their city. And he saith he
to his servants, again, his servants, they couldn't change anybody.
They couldn't change a thing. They couldn't make anybody believe.
They couldn't, they couldn't, they couldn't. We just, well,
you know, the freest thing I ever found after the Lord called me
to the ministry, it's not my job. It's not my job. I can only invite them to lunch. I can only invite them to the
meal. I can only invite them to Christ. But the results will
be the same unless God Almighty deals with them just like He
has dealt with everyone here tonight that know Christ. It
had to be a work of grace. Nothing else would do. We tried
the other. Go ye therefore into the highways,
and as many as shall find, bid them to the marriage. 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. And when the king came in," and
now this is what happens when we do this. There's going to
be some come in that don't know the first thing. There's a man
that doesn't have the wedding garment on. Now, they couldn't
tell it. The servants couldn't tell it.
You know, that's good. That's good. The disciples one time
said, Lord, shall we go out here and get all of these tares out
of the field? He says, just leave them alone.
I'll take care of it. Well, here, there was a guest
that came in. He didn't have a wedding garment
on. They couldn't tell it. I was asked by a young preacher
the other day, Southern Baptist Convention preacher I've been
talking to for about two years. He wanted me to tell him if he
was saved or not. I said I wouldn't even tell my wife that. That's
not my business. That's between you and the Lord.
Now the Lord has convinced me by his word and by his spirit
that he has saved me by his grace and I don't have to worry about
it. But he's worried about it. Why? Because he believes his
will got him to where he is. And you know what that is? That's
fault. That's faulty. That won't hold
up. So the man was speechless when
he came in. Then said the king to the servants,
bind him hand, foot and take him away and cast him into outer
darkness. And there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth for many are called, but fewer chosen. Now
through this passage of scripture, through this parable, the Lord
is teaching us that there are servants that he calls to go
out and bid people to the gospel. Call them to come to the gospel,
but we have no way of influencing that after it leaves here. We
just can't get to anybody as much as we would want to. My
twin brother went through a divorce. I drove 300 miles to go down
and visit with him, and he let me talk to him for four hours
about the gospel. That's the last word he ever
spoke to me about anything spiritual. It was over. Now, I pray for
him. and every opportunity I could
get, if you'd let me, I'd talk to him about it, but he won't
let me talk to him. We're caught in a trap, my friends, with that
regard. We cannot convince anybody of
anything spiritual, but we're to go. How long are we to go? Till the buildings fall down.
Till this is all wrapped up or we're called home one. I plan
on being the pulpit in the dowels until I draw the last breath. Now, if the Lord does something
else, that's his business, but that's my plan. And I talked
to your pastor and that's the way he is. And I talked to Brother
Donnie and that's the way he is. We're going to be in trumpets
until we die. That's what we plan on doing.
Well, turn with me over to the book of Luke if you would. Now,
over here in the book of Luke, we're going to have some success
because the Holy Spirit, the servant of God, is going to deal
with that same lot of people. In the book of Luke chapter 14,
the book of Luke chapter 14, We have this parable so similar
it shares with us the good news about Christ and then we have
a servant who is able to do what God wants him to do. He is able,
if you please, to fetch. That's what he did with Mephibosheth.
That's a spiritual picture of God coming after his sheep, finding
them and bringing them in. We have another picture during
the ministry of the Lord Jesus about a man who has a hundred
sheep and one sheep is lost. What does he do? He goes out
into the hills and byways and finds him and brings him back. He has power to do that. We are
unable, we're just men, we're just women, we're just born after
our mother and father Adam, and we can't get anything done that
way. It's hard enough just to get a message together, not alone
convert somebody. Have you ever tried to do that?
Oh, I used to try. You get converts, but they're
your converts. Yeah, they're your converts. I remember hearing Brother Henry
Mahan talk about Rolf Barnard. And he was at a meeting someplace
and some man came up to him and says, you remember me? And he
says, no. He says, well, I was in a meeting
and you saved me. And he says, you look like my
work. Now, God does a better job than
that, even good preachers. God does a better job. All right,
here we find in the book of Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14 and verse 16. Then said he unto him, a certain
man made a great supper. Food. We got it again. And made many. And said his servant, Now we've got someone to do something
now. We pray for someone to do something. We've got the Holy
Spirit. He's going to do something. Now
He's not going to go on our directive, He's going to go on His directive,
but He's going to do something. That's what brings success to
the preaching of the gospel is God. God is the only one that
can bring success to the preaching of the gospel. And here we have
the preaching of the gospel, Christ in him crucified, Christ
laying down his life a ransom for many, Christ saying, I am
the good shepherd, the good shepherd giving his life for the sheep.
That message goes out, it is food and sustenance to the believer. And here it is, and we invite
people to that same food. And it says here, he said, and
sent his servant at supper time to say unto them that were bidding
come for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent
began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I bought
a piece of ground. My grandmother reported about
this message. She heard it many, many years ago. And she didn't
know the gospel, but she said this about a preacher that mentioned
this passage. He called it two fools and a
henpecked husband. Yeah, two fools and a henpecked
husband. They began to make, I bought a piece of ground, swamp
land probably. My dad's farm was a part of a
land scam in 1900. They had pictures sent down to
Florida that there was grapes being grown and apples being
grown and oranges and grapefruits being grown at 4,800 feet above
sea level in Northern California. You couldn't grow hardly anything
there. And people bought that land.
And their descendants would come out and look at that land they'd
been paying property tax on and says, buy it up for back taxes.
They hadn't come and looked at it. Well, here, I bought a piece
of ground. I must need to go see it and
pray that you have me excused. And another said, I have bought
five yoke of oxen. Well, he just bought you a Ford
truck and never even looked at it or drove it. A John Deere
tractor. Five yoke of oxen. And I pray
thee be excused. And another said, I've married
a wife. She doesn't want to go out to dinner. Now my wife said,
he certainly didn't know his wife. What wife doesn't want
to go out to dinner? So that servant came and showed
his Lord these things. Then the master of the house
being angry said unto his servant, go out quickly into the streets
and lanes in the city and bring in hither the poor and the maimed
and the halt and the blind. That's who the Lord saves. Whore in spirit, halt, can't
walk to the Lord. Blind, can't see, can't hear
him. And the servant said, Lord, I've
done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the
Lord said unto his servant, go out into the highways and hedges,
and now look at this word. This is not brought out to the
servants. This is brought out to the servant.
This makes the gospel, the preaching of the gospel successful. This
is what causes God to save his people from their sins. This
is a work of grace. This is what God does as the
preaching of the gospel goes out. There is one here, one there. Wherever they are, the gospel
is going to strike them and it is going to be used by the spirit
to compel them. I like the meaning of that word
compel. It means to get them, to bring
them in. Another thing I heard Brother
Scott say, the Lord saved me against my will with my full
consent. Yeah, with my full consent. You
know, we talk about free will. That young man I've been talking
to, that's all he can bring up. It doesn't matter what you read
to him. It's all he can bring up. And free will is not free
will. It's dead will. It is dead, dead. A brother shared last night,
graveyard dead. Free will is as dead as the person.
When man fell in the Garden of Eden, He fell completely. And I realize that we'll only
realize that after we've been born again. We can't convince
anybody of that, but God can compel us to understand that. God can compel us to believe
that, and God will compel us to do that. Compel them to come
in. Bring them in. Only declare the
word, compel them, constrain them, to necessitate, to drive
to. The Holy Spirit is the one who
calls effectually. That's what we can't do. We can
call, but we can't call effectually. We can't get anybody stirred
up spiritually. Now, we can get them stirred
up fleshly. We can get all kinds of things
like that. That's what most of the old revival meetings were,
just nothing more than trying to stir up something. but God
gets a hold of us, we'll not leave. God hedges us about, we'll
not leave. We'll be there for the long run
because he is the one that is causing us to walk beside him.
He's the one that carries us. So this great gospel that he
has, this certain man represents the father of mercies, and he
calls a great supper, realizing that nobody's going to come.
So in the covenant of grace, the father chose a people for
his son, names him by name, wrote them down in the Lamb's Book
of Life, and the son said, I will go be their substitute, and I
will have all the sins of all my people bore on my back on
the cruel cross of Calvary, and the Holy Spirit says, I will
go find them. I will bring them that precious
word that will go out, and I will compel them to come in. And without
that resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit, we'll still be in
the graveyard. We'd still be dead in trespasses
and sin. So it takes this great power
of God. We're thankful for a sovereign
God, a mighty God, a powerful God. It takes a God The power
to raise his son from the dead is the same power that he exercises
when he raises one of his lost sheep to newness of life. Same
power, it's the power of God. The moment we find out it's not
in us, it just frees us to say a few words, come down to the
dinner. Come in. And they won't come. But you
know what? We don't know what's going to
happen. Because the Holy Spirit is His own mind. He takes His own mind. He goes
where He goes. Not where He's been, but where
He goes. And He'll find every one of His lost sheep. And Jesus
will say in that day, I've lost nine. Not one. They're all brought in. The Father's
choice of all My death for them and the Holy Spirit's giving
them the new birth has been complete and everyone, every last one
covered in the covenant of grace has been set free and those that
were not covered in the covenant of grace will be on the left-hand
side and will hear, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I
never knew you. And you know what they're going
to do? Bow their head and say yes. They're not going to argue
with this God. They will know. They will know.
And so, a parable. Why do you share a parable with
us? Because I want you to know the truth. But for them, it's
not theirs. How precious is that? It's not
because we're better. It's not because we're smarter.
It's not because we did better work. It's because of grace and
grace alone. God's perfect, unmerited favor
to sinners, descendants of Adam, dead in trespasses and sin. And
Lord has mercy to bring us the gospel. A man was sent from Kentucky
to Oregon so this man could hear something he'd never heard before. Never heard it. I had preachers
say, oh, you heard it. I said, no, I never heard that.
Never heard that. So I'm thankful that God is sovereign
and he'll send his preacher to preach and the Holy Spirit will
go fetch, fetch against our will with our full consent. Brother
Wayne.