Now let's take our Bible and
go back to the bookmark, Matthew 22. Matthew chapter 22. I'm using for a title the words
found in verse 14. The Lord repeated this statement
before in another parable, but he repeats the same message,
the same truth. For many are called, many are
called, but but few chosen. Many are called, but few chosen. I left out that word are on purpose,
because you see it's added. Many called. There are many that
hear the call of the gospel, but not effectually. But there
are those who are chosen of God in that eternal covenant of grace,
and they hear that message in a different light, in a different
revelation. They hear it with the effectual
call of God, the Holy Spirit, who takes the things of Christ
and reveals those things unto his people. There are many in
our day and down through the centuries, many who hear the
preaching of the gospel, to whom the gospel message is just plain
nonsense, just plain foolishness. We read in 1 Corinthians 1, for
the preaching of the cross, the message of the cross to those
who are perishing is foolishness, but unto us which are saved,
It is the power of God, the wisdom of God, and the glory of God.
So there are many who hear, who make light of it, as we read
in the text here. They make light of it. They don't
need a crucified Savior. They don't need someone that
died to put away their sin. While others may hear the same
message and are influenced for a while, but not granted true
saving faith in Christ, Nor are they given a truly repentant
heart. Oh, they may get religious for
a little while. They may be disturbed for a little
while, but no true faith given. No true repentance given. And by and by, they make light
of it as well. But there are some. There are
some chosen of God in that eternal covenant of grace. There are
some who hear the gospel and are given the revelation of the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and eternal life and eternal
salvation is given unto them. These are the few chosen unto
eternal life in Christ Jesus. When did this choice take place?
God hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation. God does the choosing, God determines
who will be saved, and that choice was made by his sovereign purpose,
his sovereign will, and it was done before the foundation of
the world. That's what this book teaches.
a lesson of sovereign grace. We are bound to give thanks to
God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God has, from the beginning, chosen you unto salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto
he called you at that effectual, irresistible call of God, the
Holy Spirit. This is teaching the same gospel
lesson in that parable of a sower. Hold your place there and let's
turn back and read that. It's found in Matthew chapter
13. You remember the parable of a sower the Lord gives in
Matthew 13, 18. Matthew 13, 18. Hear ye therefore
the parable of a sower. When anyone heareth the word
of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart, this is
he which receives seed by the wayside. Verse 20, he that receiveth
seed into the stony places, the saying is he that heareth the
word, and at once with joy receives it, yet he hath not root in himself,
but dureth for a while, For when tribulation or persecution arise
because of the word, by and by, he's offended. He also that receiveth
seed among the thorns. He that heareth the word, and
the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and become unfruitful. So all these had the seed that
were exposed to the seed of the word of God. Look at verse 23. Now here's that effectual, irresistible
call of God. He that receiveth seed into the
good ground, as he that hears the word, understands it, which
also bears fruit, and bringeth forth some hundredfold, some
sixty, some thirty. That seed was sown into the ground
prepared by God. Now you who are farmers or gardeners,
when you plant in the spring, what do you do before you sow
the seed? You plow the ground, you prepare
the soil, and then you carefully take that precious seed and put
it in there, cover it up, and ask the Lord to bless it. And
the Lord in due time will send forth fruit as it pleases Him. So it's the Lord that prepares
the ground of our heart. to receive the word of truth,
the seed of truth that causes it to spring forth. For the fruit
of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness,
temperance, all these things. The son of the Lord Jesus Christ
crucified is nothing to those who are called. Affectionately,
Christ is everything. You remember we read this many
times in 1 Corinthians 1, we preach Christ crucified unto
the Jews, the stumbling block, unto the Greeks, foolishness,
but to them which are called Christ, the power of God, and
Christ, the wisdom of God, and the glory of God. Now, remember,
as I pointed out in the reading, The Lord Jesus Christ was in
Jerusalem, and this is the last week of his life on this earth. And he's in the temple. If you
look back at chapter 21, verse 23, Matthew 21, 23, and when
he was coming to the temple, the chief priest and elders of the people came
unto him as he was teaching and said, by what authority doest
thou these things? Who gave thee this authority? And he says, all power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth. Remember the Lord. in the temple,
and this makes the third parable that he gives. And he gives his
parables unto these Jewish people in way of warning, warning the
most self-righteous religious Jews about the judgment to come
for those who refuse and reject the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they certainly did, didn't
they? And they certainly suffered the consequences of rejecting
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord gives these parables
by way of warning that there is no hope for salvation apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the father that had
two sons, that parable in Matthew 21 verse 28. Now look at verse
32, Matthew 21 verse 32. where John came unto you in the
way of righteousness and you believed him not. But the publicans
and harlots believed that message. What was that message? Behold
the name of God. And when you had seen it or heard
it, you repented not afterward that you might believe him. They
heard the message, but they did not repent. So that was the first
warning. And then you remember the second
parable of the householder. And you remember what the end
of that story was? Matthew 21 verse 42. Did you never read in the scriptures
the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become
the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I say unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation,
bringing forth fruits thereof. For whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken, but whosoever it shall fall, it will grind
him to powder. When the chief priests and Pharisees
heard this, Heard this, his parables, they perceived that he spake
of them, and he was speaking of them. When they sought to
lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took
him as a prophet. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ will either be a trophy of his grace to us, a trophy
of his love, a trophy of his mercy, or it will be a trophy
of God's holy justice and judgment against all unbelief. Exposing unbelief exposes us
to the holy wrath and eternal condemnation of God. He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. The gospel will either be a saver
of life unto life unto you, or it will be a saber of death unto
death. The Lord is determined to get
all the honor and glory. Now here's the third parable
the Lord gives as he's teaching in the temple. This is just days
before he goes to the cross. to accomplish salvation for us,
his covenant children. Matthew 22 verse one, and Jesus
answered and spake unto them again by parable. Now, you see
the long suffering of the Lord. They hated him. They sought to
kill him. They sought to persecute him.
And yet he says, he spake to them again by parable. with this
message of salvation in Christ. And then he gives this parable,
and we see in this parable seven valuable lessons for us to hear,
to take home, and to consider. And the chief point and the bottom
line in this parable given here about the king who is preparing
a marriage supper for his son, The main point and emphasis is
the glory of the Son. God is going to honor the Lord
Jesus Christ in all things. The glory of the Son. The glory
of the gospel of God is all about the gospel of His glory, is it
not? His person, who He is. His work,
what He accomplished. All to what? All to what end?
To His glory. Of Him and through Him and to
Him are all things to whom be what? Glory. both now and forever. Well, seven points. Here's the
first one. I'll try to get through this
in a normal measure. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is likened to a wedding feast that a father gives to
honor his son. And we know he says they're the
kingdom of heaven or the king of salvation, The kingdom of
heaven or salvation that is of the Lord is likened to a certain
king which made a marriage for his son. And he sent forth his
servants and called them that were bidden to the wedding and
they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants
saying, tell them which are bidden, behold, I've prepared my dinner. I've prepared all things. My
oxen have been slain. My fatlings are killed. A sacrifice
has been made. The blood has been shed. All
things are ready, come, come. And they made light of it and
went their ways, one to his farm, another back to his merchandise,
another back to his store. They didn't have time, they just
made light of it. The grand design of God in creation,
providence, salvation, and redemption is the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The whole thing is about the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the design of the gospel
is about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this
scripture, Colossians 1 verse 18. He is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence. In all things. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness Dwell worthy as a lamb. Turn back to
John chapter five. Over to John chapter five. I'll
get going the right way in a minute here. John chapter five. Worthy
as a lamb that was slain to receive all honor, blessing, glory, and
power. Look at John chapter five for
just a moment. Look at verse 21. For as the
father raises up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the
son quickens whom he will. You had thee quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sin. Verse 22, for the father judgeth
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son, that all
men should honor the son, even as they honor the father. He
that honoreth not the son, honoreth not the father which hath sent
him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come in condemnation, but is passed from death unto
life. All men should honor the Son,
even as they honor the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is worthy
of all honor, glory, blessing, and power, both now and forever. The Father loveth the Son and
hath given all things into his hand. We know that Christ is
the bridegroom and his bride is the church of whom Christ
gave himself to redeem. He bought us. He bought his bride. He bought his church with his
own blood. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. He laid down his life for us,
his elect. The gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ is a marriage covenant. between Christ and
his covenant children. It's a union, just as a husband
and a wife come together and they form a union. Christ and
his covenant children are in union together. His elect and
Christ are one together. I in them, thou in me, that we
may be made perfect in one. His elect and that marriage is
an arranged marriage. We used to have that years ago,
didn't we? Years ago, they would have an arranged marriage. Well, this marriage of the bride,
the church, to the Lord Jesus Christ is arranged, prearranged,
preordained, foreordained, predestinated by the almighty purpose of God. It's a preordained, prearranged
union. Ordered this covenant of grace
is ordered in all things and is sure. He said, all that the
father giveth to me, they'll come to me and those that come
to me, I'll never cast them out. I came down from heaven, not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the will of him that sent me with everyone which seeth
the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and
I'll raise him up at the last day. All things in this wedding
feast, We're prepared. You see that in verse 4. Again,
he sent forth other servants saying, tell them what you're
bidding. Behold, I prepared my dinner.
He did all the preparation work. It's my dinner. It's my gospel. My oxen have been killed. Cattle
have been killed, a sacrifice has been made, all things are
ready, and he says, come. All things are ready. Don't bring
anything. You would insult the king if
you brought something, wouldn't you? You'd insult the king. This wedding feast, all things
are prepared by God for the bride, the Lord Jesus. Turn over here
to Matthew 25. Matthew 25. Let's begin reading at verse
31, Matthew 25. When the Son of Man shall come
in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered
all nations, he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats. Matthew 25 verse 33, shall set
the sheep on his right hand, the goats on the left. Then shall
the king say to them on his right hand, come, come you blessed
to my father, inherit. That's an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fades not away. The kingdom of God is prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. It's prepared for
us. All things are ready. Come, don't bring anything. Don't bring anything, all things
are ready, all things are furnished. Jehovah-Jireh, remember Genesis
22, the Lord will provide. He has never not provided for
his children. He's always provided for us.
In the gospel of God concerning Christ, all things are prepared,
righteousness established, redemption by his blood, righteousness established
by his obedience, Righteousness established, redemption established
by the shedding of His blood. In the gospel, all things are
prepared, all things are provided freely by His grace. Don't bring
anything, not your works, not your goodness, not your righteousness. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Philippians 4 verse 19. Now look at verse 5. The call of the gospel is represented
by those servants sent by the king. Verse 3 said he sent forth
servants, verse 4 he sent forth more servants, and then in verse
5 He said they made light of it. They made light of it. The
call of the gospel is represented by those servants sent by the
king, calling them that were bidden to come to the wedding
feast. And these servants here represent gospel preachers, all
who hear All who hear the gospel are commanded to look to the
Lord Jesus Christ, come to the Lord Jesus Christ for all salvation. Our Lord said, come unto me all
ye that labor heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Saving faith
is always looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, always coming to
him. The Lord graciously sends out his servants. It pleased
God through the preaching of the gospel to call out his people.
But look what happened here in verse five, the coldness and
and carelessness and harshness and vile treatment these servants
of God received and the gospel message. But they made light
of it and went their ways. One to his farm, another to his
merchandise, and the remnant took the servants and entreated
them spitefully and killed them. Now you can look back through
history and this has been verified many, many times. They made light
of it and they went their own way, loving darkness and hating
the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a similar parable to
this if you'll find Luke chapter 14. A similar parable about a
great supper. In Luke chapter 14, notice verse 16. He said unto
them, a certain man made a great supper and bade many and his
servants at supper time to say to them that were bidden, come
for all things are ready now. And they all with one consent
began to make excuse The first said, I bought a piece of ground. I need to go and see it. I pray thee, have me excused. Another said, I bought five oxen
of yoke, and I need to go prove them. I pray thee, excuse me.
Another said, I've married a wife, and man, I'm just busy. I don't
have time. They all made light of it, didn't
they? When the call was sent out, they
made light of it. There is a way that seems right
unto men. The end of that way is death.
The remnant there in verse 6, referring to the religious Jews,
mistreated God's servants that were sent by the king. They killed
most of the Old Testament prophets and the apostles, and even they
killed the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember in the parable before
of the householder? Look back at Matthew 21. Verse
37, last of all, he sent unto them his son saying, they will
reverence my son. But when the husbandman saw the
son, they said among themselves, this is the heir, come, let us
kill him and let us seize the inheritance. And they caught
him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. There he's telling
us in that parable about his own death. So, left to ourselves
because men love darkness and hate the light, we have no need
for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the fourth thing,
verse 7. Divine judgment fell on them for their persistent
rebellion. But when the king thereof, when
the king heard, he was angry. And he sent forth his armies
and destroyed those murderers and burned up the city And he
say it to his servants. Again, he sends out more servants.
And here, divine judgment fell on these folks for their persistent
rebellion against God. In the days of Jeremiah the prophet,
God raised up the armies of the kings of Babylon. and came and
destroyed Jerusalem. Why did God send the armies of
the enemy to destroy Jerusalem? Because they made light of the
gospel of Christ. You remember what happened? They destroyed the armies of
Babylon, destroyed Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, took all
those holy vessels of the temple away and misused them. And God
kept that nation in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. When we studied Ezra and Nehemiah,
God, in his mercy, after 70 years, allowed some of them to go back
and rebuild the temple. In the days following the Lord's
crucifixion, God sent the Roman army into Jerusalem in the year
of 70 AD. And what happened? He destroyed
it again. Why? For their persistent unbelief
and rebellion against God. If you turn over here to Matthew
24, we're going to see this. In Matthew 24, when the Lord
is through teaching in the temple, Matthew 24 verse 1, Jesus went
out and departed from the temple and His disciples came unto Him
for to show Him the buildings of the temple. There all, they
were impressed with the The buildings of the temple, all that was going
on there, and look what the Lord said. Verse 2, Matthew 24. See ye not all these things?
Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left one stone upon
another that shall not be thrown down. Destroyed. God destroyed that nation and
scattered it. Scattered it, still scattered.
Remember they said, away with him, crucify him, let his blood
be on us and our children? Judgment's still on those people.
And it will be until the end of time. I had an interesting
conversation. We were somewhere on our vacation,
and I took a ride on this little trolley. And I just caught the
last two seats. And the guy said, come on over.
There's a seat right here. And I sat down next to him. You
know how often when you're out in public, you have to say, well,
where are y'all from? And he said, oh, I'm from Lebanon.
Well, I'm thinking, Lebanon, Tennessee? I mean, you look like
a Tennessean to me. Are you from Lebanon, Tennessee
or Lebanon, Kentucky? He said, no, I'm from the country
Lebanon. I said, oh. I said, well, your
country's in a turmoil right now. I said, it's been that way
for a long time. He said, yeah, about a month
now. About a month now. And I tried to tell him about
Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael. Those two boys have been fighting
for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. And it will
never end. There'll never be peace. until
the Prince of Peace comes and ends this world as we know it. But judgment coming. In the last
days, the Lord again will send his righteous judgment on this
world, and his holy wrath shall destroy this world with a righteous
and holy anger against all sin, against all those that reject
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, those things
that happen to us when we just seem like we bump into somebody,
They happen by purpose, by purpose, by purpose. Now, a lot of people
are concerned about global warming. All upset about global warming.
I don't believe in global warming. I believe in global burning.
God's gonna burn this earth as we know it and he can make a
new heaven and a new earth. We're in dwelleth righteousness. Now, let's go back to Matthew
22, back to our story. Verse 8, then, saith he to his
servants, again, you see the long-suffering of the Lord. He
sends forth his servants again. He said unto his servants, the
wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find,
bid them to the marriage. So the servants went out. went
out because they were sent by the king. They went with the
king's message into the highways and gathered as many as they
found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with
guests. God's going to furnish his bride
with all things. The gospel was sent unto the
Gentile nations, and that's what we get from this. The gospel
was sent to the Jew first, and they considered themselves too
proud, too self-righteous, too arrogant. They preferred their
own religious tradition and ceremony, and they cast away the gospel
of Christ. The gospel message was to the
Jew first, and then to the Gentile. But the Lord our God is determined
to have a people to honor his son, and the king sent out more
gospel servants to bid as many as you can find to the marriage
feast. He sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel, and his sheep will hear it, and they
will follow him. Again, the message is the same.
Verse 8, the wedding is ready. All things are prepared and furnished.
But they which were bidden were not worthy, and none of us are.
He calls the unworthy. He came not to call the righteous,
but sinners who repented. Go ye therefore into the highways,
and as many as you shall find, bid them, bind them, call them,
command them. So the servants went out. into
the highways, into the hedges, and gathered a committee, as
they found both good and bad, and the wedding was furnished
with guests. Now, if you want to turn back to Luke 14, and
we have a little more information here given to us in Luke 14,
verse 21. So, that servant came and showed
his Lord these things, Luke 14, 21. Then the master of the house,
being angry, said to his servants, go out into the streets and the
lanes of the city and bring hither the poor and the maimed and the
halt and the blind. And the servant said to the Lord,
it's done as thou has commended, yet there is room. And the Lord
said to his servants, go into the highway, the hedges, and
compel them to come that my house may be filled. The Lord is going
to have a people His church will be full and complete, and he
will receive all the honor and glory. Go everywhere and preach
the gospel. If some don't come, others will
be made willing in the day of his power to come. Man's willful
rebellion and unbelief will not hinder the eternal purpose of
God, to have a multitude of sinners that will honor his son, Even
so, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. Sinners of all sorts. Bad sinners. Some not so bad. Maybe even what
we would call good sinners. There's none good but God. Or
religious sinners. The Lord came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. This man receiveth sinners, remember?
And eateth with them. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all exceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Paul said, I'm the chief one.
And the wedding was furnished with guests. Now, here's the
next thing. Verse 11, 12, and 13. When the
king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had
not on this wedding garment. And he said unto him, friend,
how camest thou in here not having on a wedding garment, and he
was speechless. And the king said to his servants,
you bind that man that doesn't have the wedding garment, that
wedding garment represents the righteousness of Christ, bind
him hand and foot, take him away, cast him into outer darkness
where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The day
of judgment will come upon those without a wedding garment. This
garment here represents the blood and righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Believers are clothed with that
garment of his righteousness. We read in the beginning in Revelation
19, to her was granted that she should be arrayed with fine linen,
clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of
the saints. Again, we read in Isaiah 61,
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, for my soul shall be joyful
in my God. He has clothed me with the garments
of salvation. He has covered me with a robe
of righteousness. The righteousness believers enjoy
is Christ being imputed unto us. He is the Lord, our righteousness. We're not going about to establish
a righteousness by our morality. Our morality is nothing but filthy
rags. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord imputed righteousness without works. He's dressed us with His
righteousness, and only that which God provides will God accept. No wonder Paul said, I count
everything else lost, but I may win Christ and be found in Him. Now this is an interesting statement
here found in verse 12 of our text. He said unto him, friend, how
camest thou in here, not having on a wedding garment? He was
speechless. He didn't have an answer. But what I noticed was this,
no cry of mercy, no cry for help, no cry of God be merciful to
me, the sinner. He was speechless. He had no
answer. Those not washed in the blood
of Christ and dressed in his robe of righteousness will be
cast out forever. This man that didn't have the wedding
garment didn't come to honor the son, did he? He just came
in to enjoy the food, the phone, and the fellowship. He didn't
have on the righteousness of Christ. Many get religious for
different reasons, some just for convenience sake, some for
pleasure, others to make up for their sorry past. There's only
one reason for any sinner's salvation, and that's the eternal purpose
and grace given in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Their names are written in the Lamb Book of Life before the
foundation of the world by His sovereign grace. Whosoever was
not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake
of fire. Bind him hand and foot and cast
him out. He does not have on the righteousness
of Christ. Revelation 21 says, there shall
no wise enter in anything that defileth, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination or maketh lie, but they which are written
in the Lamb's book of life. Only those who have the wedding
garment on, only those who are dressed in the righteousness
of Christ, only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book
of life. How do I know my name's written there? If I could see
the Land Book of Life, whose name do you reckon I'd look for?
I'd look for mine. But I can't see the Land Book
of Life, and you can't either. But how can I know my name's
written in that Land Book of Life? By faith in Christ. Faith in Christ always looks
to the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb that takes away
our sin. Now we're going to finish with
verse 14 where Well, I started, many are called, many are called,
few chosen, chosen. Why do some truly believe to
the salvation of our soul while others just get religious for
a while? Our Lord said, you didn't choose
me, I've chosen you. I've ordained you that you should
go forth and bring forth fruit. My Lord, the only difference
between believers and unbelievers is the sovereign purpose and
grace of God. God makes us to differ. First Corinthians 4, 7. Who maketh
thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Now, if you did receive it, why
do you glory, as if you would not receive it? You see, it's
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that show mercy. Paul said, I am the least of
the apostles, that I'm not meet to be called an apostle, because
I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God, I am
what I am. and his grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, the grace of
God which was with me. It's God who makes us to differ. It's the grace of God, the sovereign
mercy and the sovereign grace and the sovereign love of God
that makes us to differ. He's called us unto salvation
because he chose us in Christ. before the foundation of the
world.