Good evening. If you would, open
your Bibles to Matthew chapter 22. We'll start reading the first couple
of verses here. And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by
parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain
king which made a marriage for his son." Now, what we're going
to look at tonight is the parable of the marriage feast. And it's
important to keep in mind when we look at the Lord using a parable
What is a parable? A parable is not just a story. It is a story, but it's used
to illustrate as a comparison to something else. So he's using
this parable to say, this represents something else. And it can only
be revealed by the Holy Spirit as to whether we see what that
is at all. And so, when we look at some of the characters who
are in this, we read in those first two verses, Kingdom of
Heaven is likened to a certain king. Who's that? That's God
the Father. And then he said he made a marriage
for his son. Who's his son? Well, that's Christ
the Lord. But we look here and we see that
he made a marriage. So what is a marriage? What does
it represent? A marriage just represents a
union. So he's using this parable to illustrate something that
happened. Marriage represents a union. The two are made one. The father made a marriage. You see the significance of this
word, made. He made a union between his son
and his bride. The father chose a bride for
the son, and he made this union. Now, anyone who knows, who's
gone through the process of being married, you know a marriage
just doesn't happen in a moment. It doesn't just happen like that.
From the time that marriage is planned, There's some planning
involved leading up to that marriage. And with a marriage, it's something
that's agreed upon, that happens long before it ever takes place. There are no unwilling participants
in this marriage. And so, in terms of this parable,
what we're looking at, where the father or the king made a
marriage for a son, God the Holy Father made a union between Christ
and his people. He made this union before time
ever began. This was planned out, transcended
time before it ever began. The father planned a marriage
for his son. For the salvation of God's elect, it's no different.
The eternal union, which was decreed before time began. Now,
this story begins with election. Election, which is another word
of saying God's choosing. It's another word to say election
is God's choosing. 1 Peter 1.2, we read this this
morning, elect according to the foreknowledge of God. What's
that mean? What's it say? Elect according
to the foreknowledge of God. So that would lead us to believe
that the only reason we're elect is because it was the foreknowledge
of God that purposed it. There's no working to get into
one of the elect or, as Todd said this morning, looking down
time to see who would believe. The only reason we're elect is
because it was purposed by God before time. We offer no excuse. We offer no explanation as to
why God chose to save this way. In fact, we proclaim it. Is God
really God? Do I want to get into His heaven?
And let's remember, it is His heaven, so we play by His rules. Can He not do as He pleases?
We spread this news because this is the only reason that you or
I can get into heaven or will be saved. This is the first step
in the process of salvation. God chose a bride for His Son.
He said unto Jeremiah, Before I formed thee in the belly, I
knew thee. I had personality before God,
before I ever was. He knew who I was before I was
ever created in terms of my flesh in this time that we're in. And
he chose to put all those people whom he chose in his son. He
made a marriage for his son. So what I want to do right now
is I want to give you a few points about what the Scripture has
to say about God's elect, because it really doesn't matter what
this church's opinion is or what somebody feels like the doctrines
they put together. I want to know what the Scripture
has to say about God's elect. I want to give you a few of those
right now. First, regarding the elect, it says that they're chosen. How are they chosen? According
to the foreknowledge of the Father. according to the good pleasure
of His will. The only way I ever would have
been chosen was according to His good pleasure. Now, what
that means, we don't know, and we'll never know in terms of
this life, but one day we will. One day the veil will be taken
off our eyes and we'll see when we're on the other side of time.
The second thing regarding the elect is the word called. Now,
called is not the general call we speak of and see in the scripture.
This is a called that's a specific call. It's an irresistible call. It's one when the Lord calls
you, you can't resist it. You know, when the Lord revealed
His gospel to me, if you were to tell me something different
was true, I couldn't believe it. I can only believe that this
is the truth. Everything in me, even if you
were to say that it wasn't true, I'd still believe it, because
God put that spirit in me. God gave us this new man, this
new spirit, that believes His gospel, that gives you ears to
hear, eyes to see, and a heart to receive. When you're given
the new spirit, the words of this book are not just words.
they become life. You see Christ in the Word. You
see Christ all through here, and this becomes no more than
just a series of doctrines and lists of things. This is a living
Word. This is God's revelation of who
He is and how He saves sinners. So the third thing regarding
the elect, it says they're heirs. Heirs to what? Heirs of salvation.
Because we are children of God, He has made us heirs unto salvation. Because we are children of God,
He has made us heirs to all that is coming to Christ. What's coming
to Christ? Everything. all the glory, all
the honor, all the benefits of being without sin, that's what
we're going to be given. I can't even imagine what it's
like to be without sin, but I am heir to that. And that means
that God gives it to me because it's the only right thing to
do. Fourth thing regarding the elect. It says they are upheld. So if God went as far to choose
you before time began, and in time, found you where you were,
and called you unto His gospel, gave you the new spirit, gave
you the new man, by the preaching of the Word, will He not also
uphold you? Is there any way that you can
fall away if He's done all those things, and Christ still hath
His glory? Events before time, in time happened,
He will keep us even after time. These are things I think we believe,
but in our experience, in our flesh, in our sin, we find unbelief
saying, you know, I believe now, I hope I do later. The Lord will
uphold us. This is not for us to uphold
anything. If it were up for you or I, we'd fall, that's for sure.
But if the Lord upholds us, we will persevere. The fifth thing
regarding the elect. It says that they won't be deceived.
You know, one of the things when you hear something preached,
you know the truth when you hear it. Now, there are times where
I've heard other people speak, not in this church, but I've
heard other people speak, and I knew there was something funny
about what they said. It just didn't click with me,
there's something wrong with it. I couldn't pick out what
it was, but I knew it was wrong, because something was either
being left out or added to the gospel. you will know the truth
when you hear it. That's part of the new spirit
and the new man that Christ puts in you. It gives you the ability
to have discernment. He gives us the ability to see
Him in His Word. And so these things only come
by the giving of the Holy Spirit. That's why we pray for the Holy
Spirit to be here doing what we're doing right now. If he's
not here, if he doesn't bless it, it's all for nothing. We
must have the Holy Spirit to have the Spirit of Revelation.
And that's what it's saying here, they elect, they will not be
deceived. The sixth thing, it says that they'll be gathered
together. Now, this speaks of end of days. And one of the things
that we always think of when we try to imagine end of days
is, you know, if we're able to live until the end of time, the
end of days, is the Lord comes back. His angels come with Him.
He's coming to collect all of His people. I hope He doesn't
forget me. What if He gets everybody else,
but I'm not there? He says that won't happen. Whenever
His angels come and He comes with them, He's got the nail
prints for my sin in His hands. Everything that He died for,
my nail prints are in His hands. He can't forget me. He chose
me before time. He came in time to die for me. Is there any way He could forget
even one? He said to the Father, not even
one of them is lost. The seventh thing regarding the
elect, it says, there shall be none that lay anything to their
charge. Why? It's because they're justified. How do we know this? It's Christ
that died. The only reason that I can stand
before God and that no one can lay anything to my charge, because
rest assured, the accuser of the brethren, he accuses them
night and day. Look what he did. He did it again.
How can you turn your head to this? He did it again. Christ
paid for those sins. Those sins not only are gone
from me, but they're forgotten. I won't have to stand before
God knowing what I did was forgiven, but He still knows I did it.
That's gone. God is so holy in terms of the
way He's put all of this stuff together that He even forgets
our sins. They're taken away, the Scripture
says, because it's Christ that died. And of the elect, it says
that they shall be avenged. In this life, we will suffer
many things by wicked powers and wicked people and the own
wickedness in our own hearts. And the Lord says regarding the
believers, those who are His elect, there's nothing that will
go unavenged. He's saying that vengeance is
mine. I will repay. It's not in me to take out vengeance
on somebody else because they did me wrong. The Lord sees that.
That's the Lord's to handle. And he says of his elect, there's
going to be nobody that does anything to you that won't be
avenged. The knight thing, the elect, it says they're going
to be saved. That's the whole concept of being elect, is that
we want to be saved. You obtain salvation, which is
in Christ Jesus. And when we are saved, There's
going to be no surprises. There's no surprises in heaven
as to who's saved. Those names were written in a
book. There's no eraser up there. There's no additional pages left
for room for people that make the list. The book is sealed. The book was sealed from the
foundation of the earth. All those names that were in
there, there is no changing the names in that book. So if your
name was written in that book, there's nothing you can do and
your power to take your name out of that book. It's God's
power to quicken you, and cause you to believe, and He'll cause
you to persevere, and He'll bring you home. Regarding the elect, it also
says, the elect shall greet thee. One of the things that we need
to keep in mind, I think we have a close church family here. We're
part of a much bigger family. I've had the opportunity to visit
many other churches to preach, but also just to sit and listen
as I've traveled for my job. And you know what? One thing
we have in common is we love the same person. I don't know
these people, I've never met them before, but we love the
same person. And that gives me the confidence
and ability. I have a connection with you.
You love the person that I love. What more do we need in common
than that? It's to love the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm right at
home. They greet thee. We're welcoming to people we
don't even know because they love our Lord. Two more. Regarding the elect, it said
that they will enjoy. What are we going to enjoy? The
blessings of our Lord. We're going to enjoy eternity,
these things in eternity, but also in this life. You've had
the gospel revealed to you. You've had the gospel revealed
that tells you that Christ has paid it all. You don't have to
do anything. The Lord will accomplish everything
required in order to bring you home. That's a blessing that
we can enjoy in this life. I don't have to worry about,
have I done enough? Is there something that I'm doing
or not doing that's going to keep me from sliding in and out
of this okay zone? No. I have the blessing of knowing
I'm saved, that the Lord paid for my sins, and that my name
is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and I'll never have
to worry about that. That's a blessing for the elect. And the last thing
regarding the elect, the words of the Father that say, they
are whom I love. You and I, if we are elect, we
are not just a number. You are a person before God,
if I'm elect, that He loves. Can you even fathom that? We
can't, because we know the way that we are. I know what I am.
I know what I've done before God. I imagine how He must see
me. But I'm so thankful that He sees
me through His Son and doesn't see me apart from Him. And because
He sees me through His Son, He can say unto you that I love
you. This is something that transcends
our ability to really even grasp what this is. And after hearing
all these things, that God has done for His people before time,
in time, promises even after time. I want to be one of those
people. That gives me no ability to say,
I don't meet up to this. I want to be one of them. And
anyone who has a problem with election or the way that God
saves after all these things that He said He had done for
His people, they ought to be cast into outer darkness. This
is the greatest thing that we have ever heard. This is the
only way that we can be saved. and we're to rejoice in it. Election
is the first thing that God does for you, but it's the last thing
that you'll ever know. And we don't know until we're
on the other side of this time. So let's continue on with our
story here. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which
made a marriage for his son. It was done before time. And
he sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to
the wedding. So he sent forth his servants. So who are servants?
We find another character here in our story. Who are the servants? Servants are the preachers of
the gospel. The servants are the ones who give the call. The
servants are the ones who are called upon to spread about the
good news. It says they were shown here
in verse 3 to call them that were bidden to the wedding. Bidden
is just another word for called. To call them that were called
to the wedding. What was their call? You are commanded to come
and you are commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
in doing so, what will you find? You'll find that you're dead
in sins. You'll find that there's nothing
good that you've ever done. Everything you've done is bad,
it's meaningless before God. And it's bad because you did
it. Because what's inside here, what's inside our heart, that's
the problem. It's not what I did, it's because
of who did it. Because my hands were on it,
therefore it's evil. That's what I found when seeing
His face. God commands all men everywhere
to repent, to change your mind. All that means is change your
mind about feeling the need to do something or not to do something,
or how you feel. Salvation's in Christ. Salvation's
in not how you feel, it's not in what you do. Salvation is
in Christ. Change your mind. and you're
called upon to come unto Him." This is what we find in the language
of this parable, but also in the language of what we're talking
about, a general call. It's a call to all men. He says,
God commands all men everywhere to repent. So this is to all
men everywhere. You are without excuse. You are
called upon to repent. All men everywhere. And what
does it say they did in verse 3? And they would not come. Men rebelled against God. It
started with Adam. I think with Adam, Adam had one
rule. One rule. This speaks to how depraved we
are. One rule. You think about how many things,
if we were to keep the Old Testament law, there is no end to these
things. There's no way that you can keep
it, all the feasts and the laws and the sacrifices and all the
things you had to do. It's impossible to do. That's
why it's given and that means that you can't do this. Adam
had one, one, Don't eat of that tree. You can do anything else. Don't eat of that tree. He couldn't
do it. This shows us that we are incapable
of keeping the law at all before God. Adam couldn't do one thing. Men rebelled against God. Cain. All of Cain's life, what did
Cain see? The blood sacrifice, the blood sacrifice, the blood
sacrifice. And then one day Cain decided,
I'm going to bring something else. Cain knew. Cain knew what was required,
but why did Cain bring that? Something wrong with Cain. Something
wrong in his heart. Uzziah, King Uzziah. He was one
of the most glorious, successful kings in Israel until he was
lifted up. And then he decided, I'm king,
the Lord's hands upon me, I'm going to offer the sacrifice
into his presence. I'm not going to come by the
priest. And what he said by that is, I can come in God's presence
without a mediator. I'm clean enough that I can come
and then he can deal directly with me. I don't want to go through
somebody else. He was trying to bypass Christ altogether and
go straight to the Father. And what did the Father do with
him? He struck him with leprosy until he died. Until the end
of his days, he struck a leper. And lastly, Israel had many other
gods. They rebelled against the Lord
God. After all the Lord had done with them, pulling them out of
Egypt, parting the Red Sea, taking them through the desert, crossing
over into Jordan, yet when they were there in the Promised Land,
all those things, You had to know the stories passed along.
They understood that God did those things for them. They had
the living God with them, but yet they had other gods of the
peoples of the lands mixed in with it as well. God won't have
this. We're not going to have Christ
and something else. It's going to be a pure gospel,
a pure salvation, and they're mingling it with other things.
Men rebelled against God. How has it been in your own experience?
I can speak from my own, I can't even look up. I can't even consider
to compare what I've done shaking my fist at God and walking contrary
to Him in my own experience. And even after all these things,
after Adam, Cain, Uzziah, Israel, Andy Davis, after all this, what
do we see from our Lord? Look in verse 4. He said again,
He sent forth the other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner,
and my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready.
Come unto the marriage. After this, what we find is that
the Lord is longsuffering. If he wasn't longsuffering, where
would you be? Where would I be if the Lord
was not long suffering with me? He'd have cast me off a long
time ago. I'm so thankful that the Lord is not like you and
me. Because if He was, after the 500th time of me not doing
what He said and continuing to send someone to tell me to come,
He'd just say, I'm done with you. You're no good. There's
no change going to happen in you. I'm done. But the Lord is
not like us, says he, long-suffering. He calls unto me to come again. All things are ready. Come to
the marriage feast." My friends, salvation is absolutely free. God has provided everything. And this is what he's referring
to by saying, I've prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fatlings
are killed. All things are ready. Come to
the marriage. Salvation is free. There's nothing
that you have to bring. Everything is prepared. Just
come. There will be a feast. Come. Turn with me, if you would,
back to Isaiah 55. I want to look at passage, first
verse here. This is another general call
to men we find here where he's saying again, come. Men are without excuse before
God because the Scripture is full of His calls. Let's look
at this first verse. He says, Ho, listen up, everyone
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money,
come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. So this is a call from the Lord
unto men. He says, everyone thirsteth.
Does anybody feel left out there? There's nobody that has any excuse.
He says, everyone. What's the one requirement? That
you're thirsty. If you're thirsty, come and drink.
How about this? Do you not have any money? What's
the one requirement? You have a need. You have a need
that you need money to buy. What that need is, he says, come
and buy without money and without price. How can these things be? We understand how things work.
You can't come and buy something without money. The only way that
you can come and buy something without money is if it's already
been paid for. You cannot come and buy salvation. Salvation has already been paid
for. In my house, I've got a cabinet that's completely full of food.
If my son comes and says, I'd like a bag of chips out of there,
if my response to him is, I need three dollars, it's not free,
is it? But if he comes and says, I want
a bag of chips out of there, and I give it to him, you know
why I can give it to him? It's because it's already been
paid for. It's mine to give, and it's his to receive. Now,
if he comes to me and says, here's three dollars, I want to buy
that bag of chips, his money's no good with me. You see, I've
already paid for that. He cannot buy that from me because
I've already bought it. And so, it's mine to give unto
him. Christ paid with his blood. Our currency is no good here.
There's nothing that we can offer unto God for His salvation. We
cannot buy it. He says to come without money,
and come without price, come without anything. or else you'll
be turned away. So come to the marriage. Let's
read verse 5. But it says they made light of
it, and they went their ways, one to his farm, another to his
merchandise. If you would turn over to Luke
14, this is another account of this parable. It gives us a little
more detail around this. I think it's worth looking at. When he says, they made light
of it, it means esteemed is not important. This marriage feast
that the king had set up, he invited them to call them multiple
times, I want you to come, I want you to come, come to the marriage
feast, everything's here. It's not important. It's not
something that I view as worth my time. So, in Luke 14, in verse
17, he said, and he sent his servant at supper time to say
unto them that were bidden, 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, and I must needs go
and see it. I pray thee, have me excused.
And another said, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I need to go
and prove them. I pray thee, have me excused.
And another said, I've married a wife, and therefore I cannot
come. So, excuse here is more than just saying, please excuse
me. Excuse means to avoid, to refuse. They have no interest
in being there whatsoever. And their reasons are very poor. I bought a piece of land, where's
it going to go? You can't go see it tomorrow?
You bought some oxen? You got married, so therefore
you can't come? Come on. We can see that. That's ridiculous.
Even we can see it. We can see the ridiculous nature
of their excuses. Yet, how blind are we to our
own excuses? We're called to come. You're
called to believe the Gospel. You're called to confess Christ.
You're called to be baptized and confess His name. Our excuses
sound something like this. I'm too sinful. I'm too sinful
to come. It's to you the door is wide
open. Christ came in this world to save sinners. You can't be
too sinful. That's who He came to save. Another
one might sound like this. I don't know enough. I don't
understand, so I can't come. Have you really ever given yourself
to know? I fear that far too often this
book's only cracked open on Sundays and Wednesdays. Have I really
given myself to know? Have you sought Him out of desperate
need and He still hid His face from you? Has this been the desire
and motivation of your heart to know the gospel, to see His
face, and yet He still fell short in being able to show you that?
And which of His promises has He fallen short on? To say we
don't know, it's because we didn't ask. We're called to come. How about this one? I need to
believe more. Todd already read this. I want
to turn back to John 20 here. I need to believe more. John
20 and verse 31. But these are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing, you might have life through His name. It says believe,
not believe more. If you believe at all, that's
the entrance requirement. Don't look to the faith of others. If you start comparing someone
else to yourself, you're always going to find holes in your faith.
It doesn't matter what somebody else's faith experience is in.
What matters to you is whether you believe or not. We are called
upon to believe, and in believing, He says we're given life. My
faith, in terms of my experience, is stronger now than when I first
believed because I've grown in grace. The Lord, over time, has
revealed things to me. I've not gotten any more holy.
Because the man inside of me, the new man, he's always holy.
But the Lord, through experience and in time, has revealed things
to me. So my faith today is stronger than it was then. I think that's
why when we see people get baptized, we think, man, I'd like to get
baptized again. My faith's stronger now. I really
didn't know much back then. I think we all feel that way.
But yet, in terms of your experience, the Lord will continue revealing
these things to us. But the requirement is not believe
enough. The requirement is to believe
it all. and is evidence where the Lord's done anything for
you at all. And how about this one? I'm afraid I'm not elect. I can see it in others, but I
don't see it in me. John 6, 37 says, all, this is
the Lord speaking, all that the Father hath given me shall come
to me. And him that cometh to me, I
shall know I, and know I is cast out. What more confidence do
we need in this? We're called upon to come. In
coming to Christ, we evidence that the Father gave us to Him.
So if you come, you're evidencing that the Father has done something
for you and that you're one of the elect. Now, my not coming
surely evidences the Father never gave me. And this is the message,
this is the call of the parable. Come. Even the weakest who comes,
the Lord says, I'll never cast you out. You have to come, though. the Lord calls upon us to come."
So, we'll turn back to our text. Actually, put your marker here
at Luke 14. I'm going to turn back to it
once. So, they made light of it and
went their ways. I think we need to understand
what this issue is of making light of the gospel. We make
light of the gospel when we hear it, and when we don't give it
solemn and careful attention when we hear the gospel. Is it
just empty words that fall upon us? Is it just another morning
or evening service? This is salvation. This is the
message of salvation, the good news. Why do men make light of
the gospel? There are three reasons. They
don't know it. They won't know it or they have
something better. First, they don't know it. This
is what Felix said to Paul. He says, I want you to call upon
me another season. I'll call upon you another season
when it's more convenient for me. To call upon another season? You've never seen your knee to
Christ. You're a sinner. You're condemned. There might
not be another day. You're on death row walking down
the hall to the electric chair. There may be no tomorrow. You've
not seen your need of Christ. This is the only means for salvation,
the only means by which we can live. To call upon me another
day because I'm busy with something else? This just shows that we
don't know it. Why do men make light of the
Gospel? They won't know it. To not come because of the cares
of this world. For instance, family. My family
doesn't believe that way. What if they don't? Just because my family puts out
their eyes means I have to blind my own also? This is the truth
of the gospel or it's not. You either are being saved or
you're going to choose to blind your own eyes. To not come because
of the cares of this world My friends will reject me. They
don't believe this. There's no way they'll stand for me believing
that God chose the people before the earth was ever formed and
that's how we're saved. Nobody believes that. My friends
will never accept that. Or it interferes with my pleasure.
I want to do things. I don't want to be here twice
on a Sunday. I want to take a trip and do something else. We're
at conflicts with my ability to further myself in this life,
my career. I'm going to move somewhere to
some other city to take a promotion, a great job. I don't know if
there's a church there, but hopefully I'll find one. What are we saying
when we say this? All we're saying is that these
things are more important than Christ. They won't know it. This is a quote from Spurgeon.
I read out of one of his commentaries on this. He said, A little of
his affections makes light of Christ. For Christ will have
the whole heart, or none at all. They won't know it, because there
are many other things. These are the thorn-choke cares.
They hear the gospel, but there's no root in them. There are many
other cares that come into this life to draw them away, that
are more important than Christ. So, why do men light of the gospel? They don't know it, they won't
know it, and they have something better. What good is a doctor
if you're not sick? I'm not going to go to a doctor
if I'm not sick. There's no point in me going to a doctor. What's
he going to say? I can't do anything for you. You're not sick. Why
do I need to buy something that's free when I have money to buy?
You're offering something that's free that probably means no good.
I've got money to buy something. I don't need that. Remember the demon-possessed
man that was in the tombs, cutting himself? What did he do as soon
as he said the Lord stepped off the boat? He came running. He came running and he kneeled
before the Lord. he had some understanding of
what his need was, he had some understanding of what his ability
was, or lack thereof, and he had some understanding that Christ
was the only means by which he had any hope for being cured.
It's only when we see Him as all, it's only then that we'll
see that we have nothing. But if we don't see Him as all,
if He's just something in the pecking order of things, He's
not all. He's something, but He's not
all. But to Mr. Spurgeon's point, God will have
all of our heart or He'll have none of it. So, we'll pick back
up in verse 6. And the remnant took his servants,
and he treated them spitefully and slew them. How much love
does the father have for his son? Is there any way we can
even describe what that would be? We can certainly say this.
It's got to be greater than what our own love is to our own children.
The father's love for the son. Consider with what care you treat
your own children. I watch my wife. She orders every
moment of my children's day. Orders every piece and partition
of any experience they may or may not have. You protect your
children. You love your children. And even
more than that, you want others to love your children. I know
this, that it's far better for me to experience ridicule, harm,
and hatred than to come the way of my children. I guard them
with my life." We are made in God's image. Is His love to His Son any different? Is His love different towards
His Son in terms of the care, the protection, the way that
He's ordered out things for His Son? Is it any different? In
Him whom He is well pleased, in Him whom the Father loveth,
in Him who should He dash His foot against a stone, angels
bear Him up. The love for the Father is exactly
similar to, not exactly, but similar to the way we love our
own children, in that we order, we care about everything that
happens with them. And so, considering our parable,
these people have said, we're not coming. Got a bunch of really
bad excuses, we would not come. So, pick up in verse 7. But the
king, when he heard thereof, he was wroth. And he sent forth
his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their
city. And he said to his servants,
The wedding is ready. But they which were bidden were
not worthy." I'm going to read you a quote here out of Isaiah
65 that kind of parallels this regarding being one of those
people who said, I'm not going to come. God the Father says,
Therefore I will number you for the sword, and all of you for
slaughter. Bow down. Because when I called,
I called just like here, you did not answer. And when I spake,
you did not hear. But did evil before mine eyes,
and chose that wherein I delighted not. It is a serious thing to
offend an all-powerful God." And that's what we're reading
of right here. These people say, we will not have this mandarin
over us. We will not bow, we will not come. He says those
which were bidden were not worthy. Who then is worthy? That's what
I want to know, because I want to be one of the people who did
get invited to this feast. Turn back to Luke 14, we'll look
at who they are. In verse 21, So that servant
came and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the
house, being angry, said to the servant, go out quickly into
the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in hither,
this is who they are, the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the
blind. The poor. People who have nothing
to pay. People who, if they're going
to get anything, the only reason they're going to get it is because
somebody gave it to them. They're poor in spirit. I have
no ability to believe. I have no ability to love God,
to see God in His Word. If He doesn't give me a spirit,
if He doesn't do something for me, I won't have it. I'm poor.
I have nothing. It says also the maimed. That
means crippled, disabled. I can identify with this. It
says, unable to do that which I would do. And that which I
would do, I do what I allow not. So the things that I would want
to do, I can't even do. I've been crippled by sin. In
my experience, there's nothing that I can do to keep God happy
with me, because everything that I do is sin. And when I try to
do something right, I look at it and think, I glory in a little
bit, and that right there is sin in and of itself. Sin infects
everything that comes out of me. I am crippled by it, and
I can't defeat it. I can't hold it down. I haven't
had one victory over it ever. Sin has crippled me. It's never
going to go away. When you're crippled, when you're
disabled, it's a permanent injury. It's not something that's going
to go away. It's something you will live with the rest of your
life. This is a picture of sin here. And it says also the halt. They're lame. They can't walk.
Can't walk in a way that's pleasing to God. They're unable. You haven't
kept and I haven't kept one commandment one time. They're lame. You can't
walk before God. I'm ashamed of my walk. I'm ashamed
for God to see me and what I've done. I'm ashamed of it. And
it says also the blind. The blind can't see why God would
love me. The blind can't see why would
God choose me. The blind can't see God and His
Word. The blind can't do anything unless
he gives me eyes. If he gives me eyes to see, then
I'll see. But if he doesn't, I won't have
it and I'll just be blind. I'll be blind to everything.
What do all four of these things have in common? Poor, maimed,
halt, and blind? They're all dependent. All completely
dependent in their own means. All to picture are complete and
utter dependency upon Christ. Mephibosheth was still laying
on his feet even when he was in the house of the king. And
every day he had to be carried to the king's table. There wasn't
a day that went past the day David said, you're going to sit
at my table and eat with my family and be with me forever. There
wasn't a day he didn't have to be carried. And in our life,
in our experience, there's not a day that you're still not going
to be crippled by sin. There's not a day that the Lord's
not going to have to pick you up and give you strength, because
the only strength we have comes from him. Well, in verse 10,
let's go back to Matthew 22, verse 10. So those servants went
out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found,
both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. So
the house was filled, all things were ready, all things were provided.
And all those who were worthy to enter this feast looked exactly
alike." Verse 11, "'And when the king came in to see the guests,
he saw there was a man which had not on a wedding garment.'"
In this day, when you had a wedding, you were given a wedding garment.
So if you attended, you'll look the same as everybody else because
you were given this nice garment to look nice in the wedding.
In verse 12, he said, "'He saw a man which had not on a wedding
garment, and he said unto him, How camest thou in thither not
having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Speechless
for the first time because he knew he was exposed. Speechless
because he thought it all would just work out in the end. And
speechless because he now knows my motive. I am found out. When God surveys the vast number
who shall one day stand before him, he had better not find you
or I in anything less than the fine linen, clean and white,
which is the righteousness of Christ, nothing added to it. To not wear the wedding garment
could only signify you thought what you had was something better.
You thought your garment was just a little bit better than
what they had to offer, so I'm just gonna wear my own. I wanna
be different. Anything you or I do, small or
great, which would recommend us to God, choosing to believe,
keeping a commandment, you'll be found in his house wearing
filthy rags. You're going to stick out. You're
not going to be viewed like the rest, and the king will spot
you every time. And what does he say in verse
13? And the king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot,
take him away and cast him out into outer darkness, and there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. All who were worthy
were chosen beforehand. There was a guest list. All who
were worthy were united to His Son. They became part of His
body. And because of that, they're
all going to look the same. We're not going to look any different.
We're going to look the same, we're going to think the same,
because we are the same. We're part of his body. Can you
separate my arm from my body? Can you say, there's your arm,
there's your person, there's your foot? No. This is my body.
It's all connected. There's no way that I can leave
part of my body over here and be viewed separate from it. So
when God the Father sees me, he sees his Son. So I can never
be viewed apart from his Son. And we only found this... To
find this out in the end, you got on a different wedding garment,
something better, it's a travesty, because verse 14, he says, many
are called, but few are chosen. This story begins with the election. This story ends with election. Election is the only means by
which we're chosen and the only means by which we're able to
come. Now, you've been called. The question is, do you fit the
description of those who were worthy to attend the feast? Are
you poor, poor in spirit? Are you maimed, full of sin? Can you not walk before God?
Are you lame? Are you blind? Take heed, because
many called, there were many called. May the Lord deliver
us from making light of His call through many excuses. I want
to be one of those who are worthy. I want to be one of those who
are chosen. And what do they do? What do
those who are worthy do and those who are chosen do? They come
when they're called. I want to have that wedding garment,
don't you? No other way of entrance than
the wedding garment. And what a beautiful garment
it is, the righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ. And one
thing that's peculiar about every believer, and I can say this
with such conviction, every believer wants to have his righteousness
only. Would that be you? Thanks for that message. Let's
pray together. Lord, how we thank you for the
wedding garment provided for us. Deliver us from being that
man who would dare come into the great marriage feast of thy
son with something other than the wedding garment. Lord, we
know you would find us out and deliver us from that. Lord, we
thank you for your kindness that when we refuse, you continue
to send your Son, to send your Spirit, to send your Gospel,
and that you graciously cause us to see ourselves as blind
and maimed and halt, crippled and poor. And Lord, what a blessing
that is. Because by your grace, we see
in our blindness that the only garment we have is the garment
of your dear son. I bless this message for the
Lord's sake. In his name we pray.