If you would, take God's Word
and turn with me to the gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 22.
The title of the message today is, Come to the Wedding Feast.
And I want us to look together at this remarkable passage of
Scripture, and I trust that God will light a fire under you and
move powerfully upon your heart and upon your soul. I believe
that this is a divine appointment that we have under God. As we
draw together on this the Lord's Day and now look together into
God's Word, I believe that I am here by sovereign providence
and that you are here by God's appointment and that God has
many purposes for us to gather together here today, and one
of those is that this text, this passage, would explode in our
own hearts and lives. I want to begin by reading the
text, setting it before you, reintroducing you to it, and
then, as is our commitment, we will move through it verse by
verse, explain it, seek to understand its relevance and implications
for our lives. Matthew chapter 22, beginning
in verse 1, Jesus spoke to them again in
parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to
a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and he sent out
his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding
feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again, he sent out other
slaves saying, tell those who have been invited. Behold, I
have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fatted livestock
are all butchered. Everything is ready. Come to
the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and
went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business.
and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed
them. But the king was enraged, and
he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their
city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, the
wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there,
invite to the wedding feast." Those slaves went out into the
streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and
good. And the wedding hall was filled
with dinner guests. But 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." The date was April 29, 2011.
It was the wedding of the new century. It was the much-publicized wedding
of Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton. The royal
wedding was held at the historic, iconic Westminster Abbey in London,
right next to Parliament. The ceremony was viewed by 300
million people around the world, easily one of the most viewed
spectacles in history. And Katharine Middleton was living
the dream of millions of single girls by marrying into royalty,
as she was driven to church down the street that was lined by
cheering crowds. Here in the United States, single
girls set their alarm clocks for two o'clock in the morning.
They awakened. They put on full formal attire. They served one another high
tea and scones, as though they were actually at the wedding
party and entered in vicariously to watch this coveted event. But what is most noticeable,
that captures our attention this morning is what happened after
the wedding. After the wedding, the royal
couple mounted a a horse-drawn carriage, and they were drawn
down the street to Buckingham Palace, through those massive
iron gates, into Buckingham Palace, where the royal family was receiving
them, and there was a special guest list of 650 people who
were allowed. Outside, there were thousands
upon thousands of people cheering and clapping, and on the inside
were the privileged few. There were seventeen wedding
cakes, each one eight tiers tall. There were nine hundred iced
flowers, I counted them, on the wedding cake. The halls of Buckingham
Palace were filled with laughter and happiness and smiles. There were no sad faces, only
the brightest, most bubbly countenances of joyful people in the presence
of the royal couple and the royal family. Now, let me ask you a
question. Can you imagine being one of
those 650 people? who received an engraved invitation
from the royal family to come to the wedding reception after
the wedding, and then simply just discard the invitation.
Decline. Look at one another and go, aren't
we doing something on April 29th? Aren't we sorting our socks that
day or going out for a brisk walk? Of course, it is ludicrous. People, when they receive those
invitations, they are now framed and mounted on walls. And 650 went out, 650 were accepted. What a privilege it was to be
invited to come to the private wedding party reception inside
the palace. And no matter how special it
is or was to receive one of these invitations, though, infinitely
more privileged and special it is for us to receive the invitation
from the King of kings and the Lord of lords, an invitation
that has been dispatched from His throne and has been sent
to us personally by His servants. to come to the wedding feast
of God's own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to come to faith
in Him, and to come to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is no greater privilege under heaven than to be personally
invited to come to the wedding feast of God's own Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what this parable is all
about. And we need to hear this parable
afresh. Some of us here today have not
yet come to faith in Jesus Christ. You may be a teenager, you may
be in your twenties, and you've come with your families, and
your mom and your dad are believers in Christ, but you have not yet
personally responded to this invitation and come yourself
by faith to Jesus Christ. This parable is for you. And
others of us here today who have already received this wedding
invitation and we have come by faith ourselves, we must understand
that we have been commissioned by God to go into the main highways
and to go out into all the world and for us to invite yet others
to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Oh, this parable speaks to each
and every one of us here today. Whether we're on the outside
or whether we're on the inside, this parable is for you and me
today. Now as we look at this parable
and we want to walk through this text, I want you to note several
things. I want to give us several headings
upon which we may set our thoughts today. I want you to note first
the illustration of the wedding feast. That is in the first two
verses. Jesus, who is the great teacher,
gives this parable as an illustration notice what he says in verse
1, Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, now you
know what a parable is. A parable is an earthly story
with a heavenly meaning. And Jesus, who is the great Teacher,
will now tell this story that is so full of truth, and it is
our desire today to understand the meaning of the parable. Now, note verse 2, the kingdom
of heaven. Now, what is the kingdom of heaven?
The kingdom of heaven is the realm of God's sovereign rule
by grace. It is the realm of redemption.
It is the sphere of salvation. into which all the redeemed dwell. In fact, Jesus said in John 3,
verse 3, except you be born again, you shall not see the kingdom
of God. Except you be born again, you
shall not enter into the kingdom of God. This kingdom is the sphere
of God's saving grace as He rules and reigns over it all. the kingdom
of heaven may be compared or likened unto a king." Now, we
know who this king is. This king is the king of kings
and the Lord of lords. This king is none other than
God the Father Himself, who is the supreme being upon His throne
in glory. compared to a king who gave a
wedding feast for his son. Now, we know who his son is.
His son is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man,
the Son of David, the eternal Son of the living God. And here,
salvation in the kingdom of heaven is being compared to a wedding
feast that God gives for His Son. Now, this is wonderful because
salvation is being represented to us here as a joyful thing. Sometimes people say, oh, it's
hard to be a Christian. Are you kidding me? The Bible
says the way of the transgressor is hard. It is glorious to be
a Christian. It is to leave the funerals of
this world and to enter into the wedding feast of God Himself,
and to be in the presence of the Father and the Son, and to
behold their majesty, and to be served, and to have the sufficiency
of our desires met. The greatest thing that you and
I could ever do with our lives is to give our life to Christ
and to respond to this invitation. What a glorious picture, Jesus'
painting of the kingdom of heaven. But the principal purpose of
this wedding feast is, note the last three words of verse 2,
it is for His Son. God the Father so loves His Son
and so admires His Son that He wants to magnify and exalt His
Son, and so the Father in this parable is throwing this wedding
feast so that others may come in and share the joy that He
has for His own Son. Everything here is for the glory
of the Son. All who come to this wedding
feast are to have their eyes set upon the Son, and the Father
is glorified in the celebration of the Son. This is the purpose
of everything. that Jesus Christ might have
the honor and the glory in this world. Philippians 2 verse 9
says, that for this reason God, meaning God the Father, highly
exalted Him, God the Son, and bestowed on Him the name which
is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee
will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father." It glorifies the Father
for the Son to have the place of preeminence, and the Father
is holding this wedding feast so that His Son will be adored
and admired. This is the reason for our salvation. It is for the glory and the magnification
of the Son of God, that there will be a bride for the Son,
and that the Son will be worshiped and adored throughout all of
the ages to come. This is the principal purpose
for everything in our lives as well. And no matter what decisions
we make, no matter what we do in this world, the overriding
principle behind and over everything is, what will glorify the Son? What will in my life most magnify
and honor the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ? He is to have
the place of preeminence in every aspect of my life. This is the illustration of the
wedding feast. It is this parable that Jesus
Christ alone would have sole preeminence in realms of salvation
and in every aspect of our lives. Now, I want you to note second,
the invitations to the wedding feast. There are three invitations
that are extended by the king to come to the wedding feast,
and they unfold in successive style. The first begins in verse
3. Please note that this begins,
the first invitation is sent out to an exclusive guest list. In verse 3 we read, and he, referring
to the king, sent out his slaves. These slaves existed at the bidding
of the king, and they represent the king in various places in
his kingdom. In this parable, these slaves
refer to the Old Testament prophets who have been dispatched from
the throne of God. And these are prophets like Moses,
and Elijah, and Elisha, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, these
great men of God who were slaves of God commissioned and sent
out to call To call means to invite, to summons, to go to
people where they are and to invite them to the wedding feast. And so, he, the king, sent out
his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding
feast. And in the analogy of Scripture
and in the overall big picture of the Bible, these guests who
are being invited to the wedding feast, this refers to the nation
Israel, as the prophets of God were raised up from among God's
chosen people, and they were calling out to the people of
God with the message of salvation to come to God by faith. Isaiah
55 and verse 1 really is the principal text that reveals this
free offer, this free invitation of the gospel in the Old Testament. So in Isaiah 55 verse 1 we read,
"'Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have
no money, come, buy and eat. come, buy wine and milk without
money and without cost. Seek the Lord while He may be
found. Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return to the Lord." The fact is, anticipating the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, as this invitation goes out,
Everything would be prepared. All of the food would be made
ready. The table was set. There was nothing for people
to bring. There was nothing for them to
measure up to or to deserve or to merit or to earn. All they
had to do was to come. Everything was ready. Simply
answer the invitation and come to the wedding feast. But notice
what verse 3 continues to say, and they, referring to Israel
and those who principally and primarily were the recipients
of this extended invitation, and they were unwilling to come. They were circumcised in their
body, but their hearts were uncircumcised. This shows the radical depravity
of the human heart. That they were unwilling to accept
the free offer of the gospel that was extended to them through
these servants. There is none who seeks after
God. No, not one. All have turned aside. And nowhere
was this more evident than in the nation Israel. In fact, this
one verse, verse 3, tragically, succinctly summarizes the entire
Old Testament. It was, by and large, God's gracious
offer to the nation Israel and Israel's repeated rejections
of God's many invitations. In Romans 10 verse 21, Paul succinctly
summarizes all of this rejection of the gospel when we read, but
as for Israel, he says, All the day long, meaning throughout
this entire span of time, all the day long, God says, I have
stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people. They refused
to respond as God had indicated they should respond by faith. So, notice verse 4. The second
invitation goes out. This king is so gracious. He
is so slow to anger. He is so patient. Notice the
first word of verse 4, again, how patient of this king. as
He continues to extend His arms all day long to this people. Again, He, the King, God the
Father, sent out other slaves. There were other slaves who would
follow the initial wave of servants. These latter slaves were John
the Baptist and Jesus Christ Himself, who is the greatest
evangelist this world has ever seen. and the apostles, Peter
and Paul and John and Stephen. These are the servants represented
in verse 4. Again, He sent out other slaves
saying, tell those who have been invited, they are to go to the
same group of people, and tell those who have already been invited
that the invitation is still being extended. Tell those who
have been invited, behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and
my fatted livestock are all butchered and Everything is ready. This speaks to the finished work
of Jesus Christ upon the cross. This speaks to the sin-bearing
death of Christ as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin
of the world. Jesus went to Calvary's cross,
was lifted up to die, And the sins of all those who had believed
upon Him were transferred to Jesus Christ, and Him who knew
no sin, God made to be sin for us. And upon that judgment tree,
upon Calvary's cross, Jesus absorbed the wrath of God upon each and
every one of our sins. And at the end of the six hours
that He endured upon that cross, in John 19 we read that Jesus
cried out, it is finished. He had paid in full the entirety
of our sin debt upon that cross. And so in that sense, as we look
at verse 4, everything was ready. There was nothing that anyone
needed to bring. They did not need to bring any of their own
self-righteousness. They did not need to bring any
of their own good works. They did not need to bring any
of their own religiosity. The table was set. The food was
prepared. The atonement had been made.
The propitiation had been accomplished by Christ upon the cross. And
so, at the end of verse 4, we see the message now. Come to the wedding feast. There is nothing for you to bring.
There is nothing for you to have to go do. It has all been provided. Just come." And this was the
message of John the Baptist when he said, repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. In other words, turn away from
your sin and turn to God and come to Him. These are the very
words of Christ. Jesus said, come. Unto me, all
you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and you shall find rest for your souls, for my burden
is easy and my yoke is light." Jesus said, just come. Jesus
later said, if any man thirst, let him come. unto me and drink,
and out of His innermost being shall flow rivers of living water."
Jesus said, enter by the narrow gate, just come. And this was the message of the
apostles as well, as they stood up and preached on the day of
Pentecost and before the Sanhedrin, and as they preached throughout
Jerusalem. They were inviting people and
summoning people to leave behind their sins and their dead religion
and just arise by faith and take that step of faith and come to
the wedding feast and enter into the glories of salvation. So what was the response to this?
Notice verse 5. You would think there would have
been a traffic jam in Jerusalem. with all of the people rising
up immediately at once to rush into the wedding feast. But notice verse 5, it was to
the contrary. But they paid no attention. That
means they were indifferent, they were callous, they were
hard-hearted, they were blind, their ears were stopped. They
paid no attention. and went their way, one to his
own farm and another to his business. Their religion was just all external.
Their religion really was just concerned with the temporal things
of this world. They gave no true care and concern
for eternal things despite the talk that they professed to have. And then it escalates in verse
6, and their indifference within is exasperated the more they
hear the invitations. And it becomes irritating to
them that they hear repeated invitations to come to this wedding
feast. And so in verse 6, under this
built-up rage on the inside, verse 6, and the rest seized
His slaves. That means they apprehended the
slaves physically, laid hold of them. They threw them into
prisons. They drugged them before the
magistrates. and mistreated them, verse 6
says, and killed them. They did not want to hear the
invitation anymore. They did not want to hear about
the glories of the Son who was being honored in this wedding
guest. This was their way of putting their fingers in their
ears and not having to hear nor deal with this free invitation
to come to the wedding feast. And so, they killed the servants
and slaves who brought this message. They beheaded John the Baptist.
They crucified the Prince of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ. They martyred the apostles. They
attacked and persecuted the church, so much so that they ran them
out of town. So how did the king respond to
this? As the king looks down from portals of glory above. Well, there comes an end to the
patience of this king. This king has been compassionate
and gracious and slow to anger, but there comes an end to the
patience of this king with these who would rise up and refuse
his servants. And so, verse 7, the king was
enraged. He is no stoic sovereign. He
is enraged with righteous indignation and with holy wrath and sent
his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city
on fire. This is what the king did in
response. This city is the holy city. This city is the city of
all cities. This city is the city in which
they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. This city is the city
out of which they ran the church. This city is none other than
Jerusalem. And so God, by His sovereign
providence, working through the Roman army and the Roman general
Titus in 70 AD, God sent His armies, the Roman armies, and
destroyed those murderers. And when we read Josephus and
other ancient historians, we read that as the Roman army came,
they literally torched the city of Jerusalem. They came into
the city, they tore down the temple, not one stone was left
upon another. They killed over one million
Jews and scattered the rest to the corners of the earth, and
behind it all was the invisible hand of God as He was working
through the Roman armies. It was the rage and the anger
of God the Father because of the desecration of His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Consequently, Paul writes in
Romans 11 verse 8, just as it is written, God gave them a spirit
of stupor. Who did this? God, this great
King. God brought about a judicial
hardening of this nation that repeatedly rejected and refused
the message brought from the King. God gave them a spirit
of stupor, eyes to see and ears…eyes to see not and ears to hear not
down to this very day. God blinded their eyes, lest
they see. God deafened their ears, lest
they hear. God hardened their heart, lest
they believe. But this King is a very persistent
King. This King is a very determined King. This King so loves His
Son that the wedding feast will go on. And while these who first
were invited to come rejected the invitations, God in His glorious
providence, according to His own purposes, has determined
that the wedding feast will be filled. And there will be those
who will come and ascribe honor and glory to My Son." So we see
now in verse 8 the third invitation that was extended by the king.
The first two go to an exclusive guest list. But now this king
determines to send it to an expanded guest list. And he opens up,
if you will, the party. He opens up the wedding feast.
because He desires that His palace be filled with those who will
honor and magnify His Son. So, we read in verse 8, then
He, the King, sent to His slaves, the wedding is ready. The table
has been set, the food has been prepared, the atonement has been
made, the wedding is ready. But those who were invited, that
refers to Israel, were not worthy. They were not worthy of any more
invitations, at least not now. Verse 9, this is what God says
to the slaves, this king, go, and you can hear the great commission
in this, to go into all the world and to make disciples. He commands
them with sovereign authority. Go, therefore, to the main highways."
The main highways are these major arteries that carry international
travelers who are coming from a far land and who are passing
through the land bridge that is known as Israel. Israel stands
so uniquely at the hub of three continents, Europe, Asia, Africa,
and these international trade routes are filled not with locals,
Not with fellow Jews, they are filled with Egyptians and with
those from Rome and those Assyrians and Babylonians and those who
come from distant lands. And so the king says, I want
you to now go, not to the restricted guest list, but to an expanded
guest list. Go out to the highways where
all of the international travelers are. And as many as you find
there, as many as you find there, invite them to the wedding feast. Here is the free offer of the
gospel of Jesus Christ that is to be extended to whosoever will. It is to be extended to everyone
who hears the gospel. They are to be personally invited. Note, invite them to the wedding
feast. It's not enough that you tell
them about the wedding feast. It's not enough that you tell
them how great and glorious the King is. It's not enough that
you tell them of the majesty of the Son. You can describe
the wedding feast all day long, but you will pull up short if
you do not invite them to come. Persuade them and urge them to
come. It's not enough just to throw
the net out there like a fisherman. You must draw the net, and you
must invite them and urge them to come. In fact, plead with
them to come. Beg them to come. This is your
duty. So verse 10, those slaves went
out into the streets and gathered together. All they found, both
evil and good. This includes all kinds of people,
anyone and everyone that you meet. both religious and non-religious,
both moral and immoral, both civilized and uncivilized, no
matter who they are, no matter where they are, no matter what
their background, no matter what their status, no matter what
their condition, no matter what their state in life, you go up
to them and tell them that the king has personally invited them
to come to the wedding feast. And this is our duty and responsibility,
all of us, in the body of Christ. We are to go, and we are to invite
people to come to the wedding feast, which is salvation in
Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, I want you to note third.
We've seen the illustration, and we've seen the invitations.
And let me just remind us what an inviting God we have. God
is constantly inviting people to come to His wedding feast.
God is continually sending out His slaves and His servants to
personally invite people to come. We work in partnership with the
great King of heaven when we are in the business of inviting
people to come to the wedding feast. But I want you to note
third, the indignation. The indignation at the wedding
feast. This parable now takes an unusual
turn at the end because not all in the wedding feast actually
entered the proper way. Notice verse 11, But when the
king came in to look over the wedding guests, oh, the king
sees everything. The king not only looks at his
guests, he sees into his guests, he sees through his guests. There is nothing hidden from
the gaze of this all-seeing, all-knowing king. He saw a man. Out of the crowd, he sees every
individual. Out of the large gathering in
his palace, he sees this one single man, as he sees every
single person. He saw a man who was not dressed
in wedding clothes. All these had been hastily gathered
up in the streets. They did not have time to go
back to Egypt or to go back to Europe to get their wedding clothes.
And the fact is, those wedding clothes would not have been acceptable
to come into this wedding feast because this king is so glorious
and his son is so majestic that whatever clothes you would put
on that you yourself have made or that you yourself have bought
would be an insult to this king. You cannot come in a casual manner
into the presence of this King. You may not come just as you
are to come into the throne room of this King. He's too perfect.
He's too glorious. He is too transcendent. No, this
King, who supplies everything, supplies wedding clothes for
everyone who comes in. And they are needed because there
was no time. They were so hastily apprehended
in the streets and urged to come in. that these clothes had to
be supplied by the king. And so, this man came in. He thought, my clothes are good
enough. I look good in the mirror as I behold my own life. This
man decided that he would come just as he is, but he had no
comprehension of how polluted his own garments are, and he
had no concept of how perfect this king is and the high standard
that he requires of all who will come into his presence. And so
in verse 12, he, the king, said to him, this man who is trying
to come in without the king's clothes. And these clothes represent
the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, a righteousness
that we ourselves could never acquire or never achieve, what
Martin Luther called a foreign righteousness that is outside
of ourselves that must be given to us and must be imputed to
us. It is a righteousness that only
the King can provide at the expense of His own Son. And so verse
12, he said to him, friend, notice how gracious this king is. Friend, how did you come in here
without wedding clothes? In other words, what are you
doing in here? You have no place here. You have no right to be
in my presence. You are a trespasser. You are
an intruder. This man has now been exposed
by the king for what this man truly is. He has entered unlawfully. And notice at the end of verse
12, and the man was speechless. He was in shock. His own rags
have always been good enough to go wherever he desired to
go. He is stunned. He is without excuse. He is standing,
as it were, naked before the watching eyes of this King. He
has been weighed in the balances and found wanting, and it has
been said to him that his garments and his righteousness is insufficient
to be received into the presence of the King. This man has offended
the honor of the King. This man has defamed the glory
of the Son. This man has violated every protocol
that the King has required. This man assumed that he could
come, just as he is, into the King's presence. No, this man
thought it to be nothing in the presence of the King, and he
thought it nothing to be in the presence of the Son, as He would
be dressed in the rags of His own self-righteousness. The prophet Isaiah says, all
of our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight. Look at verse 13. This king is
enraged. He is now more enraged than when
the first two invitations were refused. This king now speaks
words of righteous anger and severe wrath. Then the king said
to the servants, "'Bind him hand and foot, bind him with that
which never can be broken, and throw Him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. It is a picture of hell itself. He says, cast him out as far
away from this wedding feast that he will experience the very
antithesis of the joy and the happiness and the fellowship
and the food and the merriment that will be enjoyed in the wedding
feast. Cast him out into the weeping
and the gnashing of teeth because in his arrogance, And in his
presumption, he has assumed that he can boast into the presence
of the King in his own garments. What a fool this man is. And this is what awaits everyone
who is religious but lost, everyone who is in church but who is not
in Christ. everyone who professes religion
but does not possess the Lord Jesus Christ, God says, bind
him and cast him into the eternal flames of hell itself. What a serious thing it is to
hear the invitation of the King. When we come to His wedding feast,
we come on His terms, or we enrage Him, that in our presumption
we assume that we can come on our own terms. I want you to
note finally, in verse 14, the irresistibility of the wedding
feast. Is it possible that this great
King who would give such a lavish party for His Son, as He is met
with these many refusals and rejections and party crashers
and people trying to come on their own terms. Is it hypothetically
possible that the palace will be empty? Is it possible that
Jesus died in vain upon the cross? Is it possible that God, having
sent out this invitation to the highways and the byways, will
have no takers of His invitation? Jesus now adds verse 14 at the
end of this parable. He could have let this go. He
could have just let it stop at verse 13. We could have only
spoken of the free offer of the gospel and just let it go at
that. But Jesus digs a little deeper
here into the soil of truth, and He wants us to see that God
by His own sovereign will will guarantee that there will be
those who will come to the wedding feast and God Himself by His
own sovereign election and the inevitable and irresistible and
immutable fulfillment of His eternal choice, there shall be
a great number in the palace to honor His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Notice verse 14, and we're finished. Jesus says, now this is not A. W. Peake speaking. This is not
John Calvin. This is not Jonathan Edwards.
This is the King Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. For many are called
This call is the general call of the gospel, the general invitation
that goes out. He says, many are called. All
are not called. There are many in this world
today who have never even heard of the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There are many in liberal churches that do not preach the
one saving gospel of Jesus Christ, and they never hear the purity
of the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many are called,
not all, and those who are born and live and die without hearing
the call of the gospel, when they die, they too will be bound
and thrown into outer darkness with the weeping and the gnashing
of teeth. For many are called, but." And
Martyn Lloyd-Jones has said, praise God for the buts in the
Bible. Many are called, but few are
chosen. And this choice refers to God's
sovereign election before the foundation of the world of those
whom He has purposed to save. And He has given to His Son those
whom He has purchased, those whom He has chosen to come into
this world and to purchase their eternal salvation, and He sends
the Spirit into this world to regenerate all of these who are
chosen. Many are called, but few are
chosen. And the glory of this doctrine
and this truth is is that when the free offer of the gospel
goes forward, though many reject God by His own sovereign grace
and by His own sovereign will, God will overrule in human hearts
and overcome their resistance to the gospel In fact, God will
melt down their hardened hearts, and God will open their eyes,
and God will open their ears, and God will give them a new
heart, and God will give them repentance, and God will give
them faith, and God will raise them up in a spiritual resurrection
that they will believe upon His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is God Himself who guarantees that there will be a vast number
who will come into His palace. and who will give honor and glory
to His Son. They are few in comparison to
the many, but the few in reality are many, as it is a vast number,
a vast throng whom no man can number, thousands upon thousands
and thousands upon thousands who will come into the palace,
that the Son will be honored and glorified. This invitation
is going out this very moment and this very second. This invitation
is coming to your own heart right now. And if you have never responded
to God's invitation, as one who has been sent here by God Himself
to extend this call to you, I call you to come to faith in Jesus
Christ. There is nothing for you to do
physically to get up and walk or raise a hand or anything like
that. Within your own heart, you must believe upon Jesus Christ. Some here today will say, well,
I'm not prepared. I don't have enough good works. I'm not a good person. I haven't
done enough good things that I would try to come. May I remind
you that the King has already provided the perfect wedding
garments for you? All you must do is come, and
by faith you put on these wedding garments, and you are immediately
admitted into His throne room and into His presence. No, you
just need to come to Christ. You may say, well, I haven't
prepared any food, and I don't know what I would bring to set
before myself or before the King to eat. May I remind you that
the King has provided everything. He has provided the Lamb, His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross for our sins. Everything is set. Everything
is ready. All you must do is come to Christ
and believe. You must take the king's wedding
garments. You must appropriate them by
faith. The king is waiting and ready to receive you. The king
has opened arms towards you. The king desires that you would
come The King desires that you would behold inside the palace
the beauty of His Son. He desires that you would join
in the worship and the magnification of His Son. So come. Come to Christ. Come to this
great King. Come to His wedding feast. It
is a place of joy, of happiness, of merriment, as the heavy burden
of sin would be rolled off your back, as your conscience would
be made clean, as your heart would be made new, as the old
things would pass away and behold, new things would come. Just come
to the wedding feast. Come by faith. But as you would
enter in, do not come just as you are. You must put on His
garments. You must put on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you will find a covering for all of your sin in Christ.
You will be accepted by the King. You will be welcomed by this
King. He has provided everything. He has done it all, but in your
heart, you must make the decisive decision. I will come to the
wedding feast, and I will come to this great King and to His
Son. May you come to Christ this day. May you enter in to fullness
of joy.