We'll now take your Bibles and
turn back with me to Matthew chapter 22. Matthew 22 verses 1 through 14
is a parable. A parable is an earthly story
to illustrate a spiritual truth. That's what these parables are. And I want to say some things
before we get into the parable itself. I know and believe in
God's testimony concerning the doctrines of eternal election
and particular redemption. I know these to be according
to the Word of God. The scriptures tell us plainly
that God hath from the beginning Chosen us to salvation. There's no denying that. Those
are not big words. Those are not words that we have
young people here today. There's no reason why a young
person here today can't understand what I just read. God has from
the beginning chosen us to salvation. That's just a fact. It's a fact
according to the Word of God. And then in Ephesians 1, 3, and
4, he tells us that the God and Father by Lord Jesus Christ blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
according, upon this basis, according as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world. Our Lord said He was given power
over all flesh. This is what He prayed to His
Father in Heaven before He went to the cross. He said, Father,
glorify Me with Thine own self, with the glory that I had with
You before the world was. He said, as Thou hast given Me
power over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given Me. And then in John chapter 10 verse
11, he said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And then listen to this in John
6, 37 through 39. 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 my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which
He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day." Is there anything in any of those
statements to cause confusion? Not one thing. They're very simply
stated, and they're exactly according to the Word of God. Now to deny
these things is to make God a liar. It's to make God a liar. So I
know and believe God's testimony concerning the doctrines of eternal
election and particular redemption. These are irrefutable Bible truths
which are stated clearly throughout the scriptures. I just read a
few. And this is sound doctrine. When
you preach election, you're preaching sound doctrine. When you preach
particular redemption, you're preaching sound doctrine. And these things are a fundamental
part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So many today who can't find
any reason not to believe in them say that they just don't
believe they need to be preached and incorporated into the gospel.
They're a fundamental part of the gospel. I preach these doctrines as did
the apostles and prophets upon which we're built, and I question
the faith of any who do not receive these doctrines. For a man to
believe that there's some in hell for whom Christ died is
unthinkable. That's unthinkable. You think about what I just said.
This is what they're preaching from the pulpit. For a man to believe that there
are some in hell for whom Christ died is to reveal the heart of
an idolater. And any man who asserts that
God loves all men alike and that Christ died for all men without
distinction confesses that the blood of Christ was not sufficient. It was not sufficient enough
to save them or put away their sins, but it's only made effectual
by your decisions and your free will and your submission or your
baptism or something else. Can you even imagine in your
wildest imagination adding anything that you do or think to the blood
of Christ? Huh? Well, I'll tell you this,
when that blood and type was taken beyond that veil, there
was nothing added to it. Nothing added to it. It was sufficient
of itself. Our many and free will works
religion makes the death of Christ an offer, a down payment, and
at the very best, a partial offering to God. Whereas the scriptures
declare it this way. Listen to this. See if you hear
a distinction in this. By his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Huh? Does that sound like what's
being preached in the average pulpit? No. No. You can find that in Hebrews
9, verse 12. Listen to this one, Romans 4,
25. He was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. By the accomplishing of the redemptive
will of God, we're sanctified, it says in Hebrews 10, 10, through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And then again in verse 14, for
by one offering he hath perfected forever, then that he sanctify. And then what about these verses?
I read this to a guy, oh, about a year or so ago, and he just
looked at it and didn't know what to say. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God who justifies. Who is
he that condemneth? Condemneth who? God's elect. It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who
also maketh intercession for us. My friends, Christ died for our
sins according to the apostle, according to the scriptures. It's not according to man's reasoning
or man's concepts or man's imagination or man's religious traditions.
It's according to the scriptures. You want to know why Christ died
and for whom he died, read the Bible. It'll tell you. And I believe and preach the
testimony of God concerning the doctrines of God's eternal election
of grace and the particular redemption of Christ. I make no bones about
it. I preach it as hard, as strict
as I know how to do it. But I also preach this, and these
two are not contrary to one another, regardless of what you think.
They're not. I also preach that anyone and everyone that seeth
the Son and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life. And
Christ said, I'll raise him up at the last day. I believe and preach that any
thirsty sinner who desires to do so can come and take of the
water of life freely. Come and get it. The Spirit and
the bride don't say, whoa, whoa. The Spirit and the bride says,
come. Not to me, not to a church, not
to a doctrine, Come and take the waters of life freely. The question is, are you thirsty?
Huh? Any thirsty sinner can come.
Isn't that what our Lord said at that great feast? Anybody thirsty? I know you're
religious. I can see that. But is anybody
thirsty? I don't know who God's elect
are. I don't know where they are. And I don't know when He's
going to call them. I just know that He will. And He does. Whom He did predestinate, it
tells us over there in Romans chapter 8, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. He's going to call them. That's
Romans 8, verse 30. And our commission as a church
is to go into all the world and teach all nations and preach
to all who will give us a hearing. I don't care who they are, black,
white, yellow, red, I don't care. Rich, poor, makes no difference. And God himself will make his
call effectual. He'll make it effectual after
telling us that according to all you think about but God,
who is rich in mercy. He tells us what we were, dead
in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this
world. You all know that scripture very well. And then he said,
but God, who is rich in mercy, and for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins,
has quickened us to gather with Christ. put us into a holy union
with Him. And when He came into this world,
we were in Him under that law, obeying that law, working out
a perfect righteousness. And when He died, we died with
Him. We satisfied the law. We satisfied
the righteousness of God. We satisfied all things. Everything
that God required was satisfied in Christ, and we were in Him,
quickened with Him. And then God raised Him from
the dead. And you know what? It says He raised us up with
Him. And then He ascended into glory. But we didn't stay here. We were
with Him. And we're seated with Him in
glory right now by that eternal covenant union whereby God quickened
us together with His Son. And He did all this, He says,
in the ages to come. I'm reading from Ephesians chapter
2. In the ages to come, He said,
that I might show to my saints, these saints abiding in Christ,
the exceeding riches of my grace and my kindness toward them through
Christ Jesus." That's what he's going to do. And he said, therefore,
therefore, by grace are you saved through faith. You see that? God's eternal grace. So God's election and particular
redemption are revealed by divine calling. Who are God's elect?
I don't know until he calls them. When he does, I can look at him
like Paul did and said, I know your election of God. Until then,
I don't know who they are. So I preach to them the same.
Preach to them the same. God's election and particular
redemption are revealed by divine calling, and this calling is
a gospel calling. I quote this to you all the time,
but I want you to turn with me and read it for yourselves. Turn
with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. I don't have time to go through
this whole chapter here in Thessalonians and show you the influence and
beguiling power of Satan, over the nations and especially a
false religion with all of its power and signs and lying wonders.
But you can read it for yourself after a while. Suffice it to
say down in verse 12 that they all will be damned who believe
not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness, that is,
self-righteousness. But then he tells us in verse
13, listen to this. He said, but we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of God.
Because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now
watch this. Whereunto He called you. He called you. How did He call you? By our gospel. To what end did he call you?
To the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do
you see that? This election and particular
redemption is manifested and revealed in your calling, in
your calling. All right, now I'm going to come
back to my text. You need to understand these things to understand
this text because that's what this text is all about. Now picture,
if you will, a great kingdom. Just try to picture in your mind
for a minute. A great kingdom. A reigning kingdom. A glorious kingdom. Ruled over by a great and uncontested
sovereign. An almighty king. A benevolent
king. A gracious and merciful king.
A wise and just and righteous king. A king who reigns in generation
after generation, that's what Nebuchadnezzar saw, he just keeps
reigning, just keeps reigning. And he's so wise and uncontested
that no man can say to him, what doest thou? He does everything
according to his own will and everything is right and just
and holy and good. And he's uncontested in it. You
can't stop him from doing what he's doing. Picture this great
kingdom and this uncontested sovereign ruling over the kingdom.
He's ruling over the kingdom. And this great king arranges
a marriage for his son. He's going to glorify his name. He's going to glorify His kingdom. He's going to show you His glory
in everything that He does, and this was His design, to arrange
a marriage for His Son. And His Son has been appointed,
He tells us over in Hebrews chapter 1. He's been appointed heir of
all things. He tells us the Son is the brightness
of His glory. He's the very express image of
his person. To know the son is to know the
sovereign. To see the son is to see the
father. To know the son is to know the
father. To come to the son is to come to the father. But the father was pleased to
give his son the preeminence over his kingdom. He's going
to give him the whole kingdom. And what was this giving the
kingdom all about? About a marriage that he arranged
for his son. That doesn't give us any details
in here, but I'm sure, because I know the truth, that the bride
that the king chose was nothing that we would choose.
Huh? You think about it. Had no influence. Had no wisdom. Fact is, she was a tiny baby,
cast out, he tells us over in the Old Testament. Cast out in
her blood. Wasn't swaddled. Wasn't salted.
Wasn't cut. Just a newborn baby nobody wanted. Threw it out in the dirt. Left
it laying. And when he passed by, it was
a time of love. That's the bride he chose for
his son. Now, picture, if you will, certain
men highly favored of the king. These Jews were highly favored
of God, weren't they? Didn't Paul tell us that out
of the Jewish economy came the prophets, our fathers, what he
calls the fathers, that's who wrote the whole Old Testament,
and the law and the covenants, Everything was by them. These
were renowned men. These were wise men. These were
men highly favored of the king. Men who by his permission owned
land, had businesses, held offices in the kingdom. Men of reputation
and nobility. Wise men after the fledge. And
the king calls his trusted servants and he gives them sealed letters.
Here they are. Got this letter in the hand and
back then they took wax. The king would take that hot
wax and put it on there and he'd take that ring and he'd seal
it. And here's a sealed letter. I want you to go to Ralph W. Smith. And when you get there,
don't open that letter until you get there. When you get there,
open the letter and read it to him. Okay. Off went the servant. And you picture now in this kingdom,
these are men, these are somebody. And he comes and he opens this
letter. And boy, when he sees the servant dressed in the king's
apparel and knows what they are, knows these are the messengers
of the king, come. And boy, they sit back and they
think the king's going to honor us. That's why he sent these. He's going to give us a medal
of commendation. Because they don't know what's
in this envelope. And they sit there expecting to hear this,
some renown that King's going to give them some high station. He's going to honor them, and
their nobility is just going to go out the roof. And they
sit here and listen to him, and he opens that letter, and he
said, the King has arranged a marriage for his son. And this woman of ill repute
is going to marry the son. And your permission is required
at the wedding. We want you to come and sit down. And this whole parable now, it's
not talking about heaven. It's not talking about the kingdom
of God in its completeness. It's talking about the active
kingdom right here on this world. And it's talking about the assemblies
of the saint assembling together to celebrate this marriage. That's
what he's talking about. And he's talking to the Jews.
Every time they come, they had something picky to say, something
spiteful to say, and now he's addressing them with this parable. King calls his trusted servants
and gives them sealed letters to be read only to them, nobody
else. See, nobody else got the letter
but the Jews at the beginning. And these were sealed letters.
be read only to them, letters with the king's seals. And so
his servants go as they were charged by the sovereign, and
they find these men, and he tells them they have letters from the
king. And he reads these letters to them. But as these letters
were opened, there was instead a gracious summons to come and
honor the son and celebrate his wedding. And when they heard
the king's servants say to them these things, They said, we're
not going. We're not going. We don't want
to go. We're not interested. We're not
interested. How many people have you invited
to this church over the years? Think about it. Relatives, friends,
neighbors, you invite them to come. We're not coming. We're not coming. That's what
these guys did. They said, we're not coming. Matthew 22, 4. Oh, what a gracious
king. Listen to this. Again, he sent
forth other servants, saying, tell them what you're bidding.
Behold, I've prepared my dinner. Everything's prepared. Maybe
you misunderstood what I said. I've prepared my dinner. My oxen
and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to
the marriage. You're not expected to bring
anything, provide anything, or sacrifice anything, or commit
anything. Just come to my house and celebrate
my son's marriage. Will you come? But these favored men, these
men who had every advantage given to them of the king, Made light
of it. I personally cannot imagine a
greater provocation to God than for someone to hear his gospel
and make a joke out of it. I shiver all over when somebody
does that. They laughed at God's servants
and made light of the message. They made light of it as if it
were written by a fool. And they turned their backs on
the king's servants and went their way, one to his farm and
another to his merchandise. He had wells to dig. He had beasts
to field. He had fences to build. He had
stuff to do. The other had a business. He
had to go tend to his business. I said, just tell the king we're
not coming. We got things we have to do.
And then the remnant, I suspect these were the servants of these
men, the proselytes, if you will, that they had made. The remnant,
that which was left. They took the king's servants
and treated them spitefully. They made a public, publicly
ridiculed these men. Treated them spitefully, and
then they took them out the woods and beat them to death. They
slew them. That's a little. And when the king heard thereof,
verse 7, he was wroth. What in the world does that mean?
Well, God had a day set apart. Cain and Abel came that day to
worship God. They were called to worship,
same as these people were called to worship God. Abel brought
a lamb. as he was instructed, the type
of Christ, looked upon that lamb by faith and celebrated the wedding. Killed that lamb, laid it on
an altar and worshipped God. Cain brought of the works of
his hands, he brought the biggest, finest carrots and beets and
cabbage you ever laid your eyes on. He laid it all out there
and God come by and spit on him. had no respect whatsoever. And you know what happened? Cain
just got fiery mad and red in the face and went off to himself.
And he was Abel's brother. And Abel went over to him and
said, brother, you need to think about what you're doing. And
tried to reconcile him to God. And it said Cain was wroth. And he rose up and killed his
brother. What's this word wrath mean?
It means waxed hot. It means anger from which there
is no deliverance. There is no repentance. There
is no salvation. And the king sent forth his armies
because he was wrath. And he destroyed, now listen,
those murderers, talking about the Jews, and burned up their
cities. He burnt Jerusalem to the ground. Now let me tell you something.
There is a general call and there is an effectual call. And that
is what is being taught in this parable. There is a general call
and there is an effectual call. And what is being illustrated
here thus far by our Lord is the general call. I know this
parable speaks of the Jews who were first called and then of
the Gentiles. But it also applies to the religious
of our days. They, like Israel, had great
advantage. They grew up around the scriptures.
You know, some boys grow up, don't have a Bible, never read
a Bible, wouldn't know what a Bible was if they seen one. But even
out in these Armenian churches, they have Bibles. That's a great
advantage for God to let you grow up with a Bible. And they
read those Bibles. But like Israel, they were ignorant
of the righteousness of God and going about to establish their
own righteousness and did not submit unto the righteousness
of Christ. But this general call, it goes out. And it went out
from the sovereign. It went out by His most faithful
servants. And they delivered it exactly
as they were instructed of the sovereign. But those who heard
it would not come. They would not come. There was
no ill intent on the part of the sovereign. That's hard to justify, isn't
it? But there wasn't. There was no
ill intent on the part of the sovereign. There was no fault
in the message. The servants were the same. And
the servants couldn't be blamed because they declared the whole
council of the king to them. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
1. I want to show you something
about this general call. When God calls men by His gospel,
it is a sincere and genuine call. We get the idea, because we know
what the effectual call is, men get the idea when they hear us
and misinterpret what we say. that God's not sincere in His
call when He calls all men. I beg your pardon. When God calls men by His gospel,
it's a sincere and genuine call. Nothing is held back by the king
or the servant. The preachers are sent, His sealed
letters are opened, and the message proclaimed. I'm proclaiming the
same message to those of you who are God's elect this morning
as I am to those of you who are not God's elect. It's the same
message with the same intensity. And these servants told them
the king's intent to have a marriage for his son, that a bride had
been chosen and she, by virtue of her union with him, would
reign with him and be heirs together of everything in the kingdom.
And I'm sure it was pressed upon them that their presence was
required of the king. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying that election, in particular redemption, is no
excuse for the rebels not answering the call. That's what I'm saying.
You're not going to plead that before God. And every time I
read this portion of Scripture over here in Proverbs chapter
1, it makes the hair on my neck stand up. And if it don't, there's
something wrong with you. Listen to this. Turn you at my
reproof. Who? Anybody that hears, turn
you at My reproof. Behold, I'll pour out My Spirit
unto you. Oh, you say, God would, He wouldn't
pour out His Spirit. He said He would. Ain't that
what that says? You turn at My reproof and I'll
pour out My Spirit unto you. I'll make known My words unto
you. I'll reveal this mystery to you. if you'll turn at my
reproof." Any man, any woman, any boy or girl that will turn
at God's reproof, He'll give that person His testimony of
truth and enable him to understand it. Now that's what He's saying
here. Now listen, I want you to see this. Proverbs 1 verse
24, Because I have called It wasn't for lack of a call. He
called. And you refused. I stretched
out my hand. No man regarded. But you said
it not, all my counsel. And with none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity. I'll mock when your fear cometh.
When your fear cometh as a desolation, And your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind. When distress and anguish cometh
upon you, then shall you call on me. But I won't answer. You'll seek me early then, but
you won't find me. Because you hated knowledge.
You were given knowledge. You hated it and did not choose
the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel.
They despised all my reproof. Shall they eat of the fruit of
their own way? God will just turn you over to
yourself. Turn you over to yourself. Till you find something you're
happy with, you're content with, and he'll leave you there until
he judges you in the eternal judgment. But isn't this exactly what the
ungodly rebel fights for? Doesn't he fight for his exercise
of his right to decide for himself? Sure they do. They'll fight you
over it. He fights to be the author of his own destiny. What
he's ignorant of is his depravity that will always end the same
way. He will not come to Christ that
he might have life. That's why the necessity of election. And that's why the necessity
of an effectual cause. I want you to pay close attention
to this verse. It's another verse I quote to
you all the time, but I want you to read it for yourself.
1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. But the natural man, that is,
every fallen son of Adam, every unregenerate soul, the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. What on earth would make a man
turn away and refuse the things of the Spirit of God? Here it
is. For they are foolishness unto
him. Absolute, utter foolishness. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. Now that's the general call.
The call goes out, the same messenger, the same sealed letter, the same
message, the same intensity, but they won't come. And when
they're pressed on the second occasion to come or the third
occasion to come, then they get angry and they treat you spitefully. And if it were socially acceptable
today, they'd take you right outside town and stone you to
death. Not a doubt in my mind. But oh, thank God, there is an
effectual call. And this call is an irresistible
call. It's a regenerating call. It's
a call for the dead to live. Our Lord said, He that heareth
My word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting
life. He has it. I've already given
it to Him. and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life." He said, the hour is coming,
and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. The effectual call is the
call of God's elect. He said, I call my sheep by name,
and my sheep hear my voice. You believe not, he said to those
Jews, because you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. Did our Lord not invite them
to come? Did He not extend His hand of
fellowship to them? Did He not preach the same thing
to them with the same intensity that He did to everybody else?
He did. But they didn't hear because
they weren't of His sheep. John 10, 26, you believe not
because you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. It's
not just men that are chosen. When we talk about election,
I'm not just talking about men that God chose. It's also the
means to redeem the men. All of these things are chosen.
It's the means to reconcile them and the power to regenerate them.
The workings of God in the heart. All of these things are ordained
as well. It's not just an election of
men, not just a bunch of names on God's mind and He said, well,
I'm going to say this and this and this and this. Yes, He is
going to do that, but there's more included in it. Listen to this, Proverbs 16,
verse 1. The preparation of the heart
in man. Your heart has to be prepared.
You're not born with that preparation. It has to be prepared and only
God can do it. He has to take out that stony
heart and give you a heart of flesh. He has to give you truth. He has to cause you to submit
to His truth. And in that truth, you're given
a godly reasoning. And you're able to see things
and given an understanding, the preparation of the heart in man. Now listen, and the answer of
the tongue is of the Lord. Of the Lord. And then he says this over in
Psalm 110, verse 3, my people shall be willing. When? In the day of my power. In the
day of my power. Romans 9.23, he said, there are
vessels of mercy which the potter afore prepared unto glory. He said, when he, the spirit
of truth, has come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness,
and judgment. What greater glory could there
be than for God to call, regenerate, and give faith to the chief of
sinners? And that's exactly what he does.
The king didn't call off the wedding or postpone the supper
because these self-righteous religionists wouldn't come. No,
sir. He did not. He tells us in Luke's
account of this supper, That the king, this is over in Luke
chapter 14, he said, the king sent his servants to bring in
the poor and the maimed and the halt. Have you ever seen a beggar? I saw one one time that didn't
have any legs. up in Cleveland, Ohio, and he
scooted around on a board that had like a sandpaper on the bottom
of it. And you could hear him when he scooped down the street.
Oh, I just a little feller. He scared the life out of me
when he come around. But he was a nice guy. I mean,
a really nice guy. But, man, he stunk. He could
get in three cars of you, and you, whew. You go find that man
and bring him in here. You don't worry about cleaning
him up. I'll take care of that. You don't have to worry about
his sin. I'll take care of that. You don't have to worry about
what he's wearing. I'll take care of that. You don't have
to worry about him being maimed. I'll heal him. You go out and you find the dregs
of society. You find the very dregs. Go into
the highways and hedges. Now listen to this. And compel
them to come in. I can't stand to listen to a
man preach who got no sympathy and no heart toward those he's
preaching to. Just stand up and preach in a
monotone like, well, if you do, you do. If you don't, you don't.
That's not what these servants were sent to do. They were sent
out to compel them, compel them to come in. Listen to this. Paul said, for
you see your calling, brethren, Not many wise men after the flesh. Not many mighty, not many noble
are called. We don't have any princes or
kings in here, do we? Don't have any presidents or
vice presidents or senators in here. He may call one every now
and then, but there are not many. Not many. Why? Because God hath
chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise,
and God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound
the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world,
and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught things that are. Why would He
do such a thing? That no flesh should glory in
His presence. This marriage is about celebrating
the marriage of the Son. and celebrating the sovereign
who arranged it. That's what it's, it's not about
celebrating you. It's about celebrating him. Huh? Who's going to do that? These
proud religionists? No. No. The hawk, the mane, the
blind, the poor, go out to the highways and hedges. Every man
chosen of God and called of God will come to the house of God
feeling privileged. Oh, there's a beautiful picture
of this. I can't tell you right off the cuff where it's at in
the Old Testament, but there was a man who was left over of
the relatives of Saul who hadn't been killed. And very early,
long before he even come along, Jonathan had made a covenant
with David, and David said he'd spare. He'd spare. And here's
this man. His name's Mephibosheth. And
David calls for him, and he thought, well, this is it. I'm the last
one. He couldn't even walk. They had
to carry him in. And here they come carrying Mephibosheth in.
And he thought, this is it. The king's going to put me to
death. He's going to have me executed.
And they brought in Mephibosheth. And David said, you're going
to dwell in my house forever. Not in the back room. You're
going to dwell right here in the palace. And you're going
to take your supper at my table. You hear what I'm saying? You're going to sit at his table. You have to be carried in because
you won't come on your own. You have to be carried. But I tell you, all the days
of his life, he enjoyed that covenant. He didn't have any
part of it. It was made on his behalf. And
when David come to die, you know that was his dying words? Although it be not so with my
house, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. He said, this is all my salvation
and all my death. Every man chosen of God, called
of God, will come to the house of God. And he'll feel privileged
and blessed of God. And he'll sit there in the king's
attire, sit there in the righteousness of his son, sit there in perfect
standing, dressed in the wedding garment. And he shall with joy
unspeakable celebrate this marriage of the sons. Huh? In his heart. All my soul. Wonder of wonders. The sovereign God of glory brought
me into His house to honor His Son. But you know, when the King come
in, here's all these people. Just imagine all these people
in these royal garments. They've been bathed and cleaned.
sitting there perfect and whole in the house of God and worshiping
God. And he comes into their midst
and here's a man in his old filthy dungarees. And he's sitting there
in the chair. And the king said, friend, why did you come in here without
a garment? They were furnished. But he wouldn't
put it on. He was speechless. He didn't
have anything to say. And he called his servants and
he said, you bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer
darkness. Pastor, what makes you so sure
that this is the message of this parable? Read verse 14. Bar. This is why I'm saying these
things. Bar. Many are called, but few
are chosen.