One night, about 9.30 or 10 o'clock, I was taking a shower, preparing to put on my pajamas
and robe and lounge around a little bit before retiring. I heard someone come in, heard
the door close, the front door, or basement door, I forgot which. But I finished my shower and
I came out of the bathroom and down the hall and I heard a man's
voice, a deep man's voice, but he was reading a children's book,
Sammy the Dirty Dog or something like that. I just stood in the
hall a minute and I listened and this big man's voice was
talking about this little dirty dog and the things he was doing,
and he'd run away from home and got in the coal pile, and then
he got in a mud puddle, and then he came home and the children
didn't recognize him. And I thought, who is that? And
I walked into the room, and Darce was sitting over here on this
sofa. And Carrie Grace was just three at that time. She's got
a birthday this week. She was three. And sitting beside
her, With this book open in his lap was the vice president of
C&O Railroad with an office on the 14th floor of the terminal
building in Cleveland, Ohio, a man who deals in millions of
dollars in computers and figures and facts and railroads and miles
of tracks and engines and all these things, reading that little
Sammy the Dirty Dog to my little granddaughter. I just had to
stand there a minute and watch. And something occurred to me. How marvelous and gracious is
our Lord, who thunders upon the mountains, who speaks with the
smoke and the lightning and the majesty and the power of God,
who knows all things. We talk about knowing how to
shoot a rocket to the moon. He knows where the other moons
are. their orbit, their course, their direction, their fate,
their end. He knows all things, holds the
universe in his hand and all the galaxies, all of how many
of them there are. Speaks on the wind, rides upon
the storm, holds the nations as a drop in the bucket. And
yet he comes down here and talks to me in my language. in stories. That's what it says in verse
1, and Jesus answered and spoken to them by stories. Like that big man, compassionate
enough and loving enough and affectionate enough to sit and
talk in the language of a three-year-old. And she sat there and carried
on a conversation. I just went on and sat in my chair and listened
to them. And she talked to him, he talked to her, and they got
right down in the mud puddle with Sammy the dirty dog, you
know. It was astounding, but not nearly as astounding as this.
When my Lord Jesus Christ comes and Charlie talks to me in language
I can understand. I don't know why we preachers
want to get so eloquent and lofty and intellectual. We're not like
our master, nor are we doing the work of our master. Our master
came down here and spoke to them in language they understood,
at least in their heads. Oh, that I had a heart. Oh, that
I had a heart to come down off my high horse and sit at his
feet like Mary and learn. You know, someone said, he that
is willing to learn has already been taught of God. But it's
hard to find somebody willing to learn. See, so most everybody
knows everything. That's my problem. It's not that
I don't have anything to say, and I don't have anybody to say
it to. No ear. No ear. Oh, for an ear. Oh, for an ear to listen to His
words. I'm not asking you to listen
to the voice of a man, but these are His words. This is His message.
Oh, for a heart to sit at His feet, to love Him like Mary,
to just hang on every word. Oh, for a teachable spirit. willing
to be taught. Lord, here am I, just a child,
teach me. And Jesus spake unto them in
stories. There's so many lessons in this
parable, I feel totally inadequate. I could never exhaust the message.
If I spoke for years, I'd never exhaust this message, but there's
some things I see here. I'm going to try to cover six.
There's six things I'm going to try to bring out from this
parable. Number one, and most important
of all, I think the first one is most important. The king is
going to honor his son. If we learn that this morning,
we'll have learned a valuable lesson. The king's going to honor
his son. The next thing is the method
by which he'll honor his son. Now, this is very unusual, the
method that he chooses to use, to honor his son. Then thirdly,
we're going to see the king refused and dishonored. And fourthly,
so the king sends an effectual invitation, an effectual call.
And then fifthly, we're going to see the feast, but we're going
to see an enemy there. And then we're going to see,
sixthly, the king act as a judge. The king stepping in. Now first
of all, verse two. Our master now, he's He's teaching
us as children in words we can understand, in language we can
understand, but in truth that's profound. You can put profound
truth in simple language, Jim. It can be done. If we want to,
badly enough. If we want to. I've often wanted
to say to doctors, I've often wanted to say to them, why don't
you say that so I can understand it? I think they like to baffle
us. I think they don't know, and
they don't want us to know that they don't know, so they use
some of these words, you know. I really do. I think a lot of
preachers are like that. They can't put it simply because
it's not simple to them. It can be done, and our Master
simply says here, there's a king, a monarch, a ruler, who wishes
to honor his son. That's it. There's a king, he
has a son. He loves him, proud of him, he's
going to honor that son. He's going to honor that son
with a marriage feast. He's going to have a banquet.
He's going to have a great banquet in honor of his son. Now that's
what the king chooses to do, to honor his son. Now here's
what I'm saying to you. And if you get this, you learn
something that will form a foundation for the rest of your understanding
of the scriptures. The grand design The great and
grand design, and Jonathan Edwards has a chapter in his book, The
History of Redemption, on the design of redemption. I believe
that's the book it's in. The grand design of creation,
of providence, and of redemption is to glorify Jesus Christ. Now
that's the grand design of creation, of providence, and of regeneration
and redemption. The design of regeneration is
not just to get you to heaven. I beg your pardon. I hope you
understand that, that God didn't create this world and send his
son to die and do all that he's doing just to get you to heaven.
Or to get me to hell, keep us out of hell. Now that's the great
result of what he's done. His grand design results in you
going to heaven and missing hell. But the grand design, the glorious
design of God in all things, and I say this, Gerald, emphatically,
is to honor Christ. Now let me show you that in a
few verses of Scripture, first of all in John 5, and I want
you to think that over. That's not off the top of my
head, that's not just preaching. That's true. In John chapter
5, verse 23, it says here 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. Turn to Colossians
1, verse 18. Now look at this. Colossians
1, verse 18. While you're turning there, you
know the book of Philippians tells us that God hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
things in earth, things under the earth, and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's God's great design. Now
look at Colossians 1.18. He is the head. Go back to verse
16. For by him were all things created. that are in heaven, that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Christ
and for Christ. He's before all things, by Him
all things consist. He is the head of the church,
the body of the church, which is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that, watch it, in all things He might have thee
pre-eminent. You understand that, boys? You
understand that, young ladies? That's God's design and purpose
to honor Christ. If you think little of Christ,
you can't have any part in God's kingdom because those in God's
kingdom honor the Son with all honor and all praise and all
preeminence. Now, he's already infinitely
glorified in his divine person. He said, Father, glorify me with
the glory which I had with thee before the world was. The scripture
says, let all the angels of God worship him. Christ in his divine
person is already glorified. Put that down. That's so. Already
glorified in his divine person. Secondly, he's already glorified
as creator. We read that in Colossians. All
things were made by him and for him, and by him they consist. As the key said, let there be
light, and there was light. He made the mountains to rise
and the valleys to be deepened and the plains to be stretched
out and the oceans to be filled and this far shall you come and
no farther. He's already glorified in the preserver of all things,
as the preserver of all things. He says the government's on his
shoulder. The government. But there is another area in
which he will be glorified. As I say, get this, his power,
his excellency, his wisdom, his sovereignty, his holiness, All
these things are seen, glorified, and magnified in creation, in
providence, as the preserver of all things. But there's something
missing. You know what it is? His grace
will be magnified. His grace will be glorified.
Turn to Exodus. Let me show you this. This is
so good Bible. This is the heart of this whole
thing. Exodus 33. This king says, I'm going to
honor my son. This is what it's all about.
When the invitation goes out, you won't understand it unless
you know what they're invited to. When they refuse, you're
not going to understand the depths of the refusal, the evil of the
refusal, unless you know what they're refusing, Charlie. See
that, Frank? You've got to know that this whole thing is to honor
Christ. What makes a man's unbelief so terrible is he believes not
God. He believes not the Son of God.
What makes a man's refusal to receive Christ so terrible is
the one whom he refuses to receive. The one whom he refuses to honor.
This king says, this is my son. I love him. He's the apple of
my eye. He's my well beloved. He's my
only son. I'm going to honor him. I'm going
to exalt him. I'm going to enthrone him. I'm
going to give him a name above every name. I'm going to make
a feast of his glory throughout the whole banqueting years of
eternity. He's going to be glorified, my
son. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
glorified in his divine person. Glorify me with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was. As creator, he made all
things. It has the stamp and mark of
his own person and glory, his wisdom, his handiwork. Everything,
when the leaves start forming on the trees and life, Beautiful,
while I was down in Cherokee, seeing the dogwoods and the redwoods
and standing on those 6,000 foot mountains and looking down on
those valleys. That's stamped with the hand of my master. He
made those things. I said to Doris, ain't nothing
wrong with this world. Not a thing wrong with it except
sin. Get that out and it'll be something. Wouldn't it be something?
My Lord made it. It bears his brand. Like you
can look at a picture. Bob can, I can. He can look at
a picture and tell you who painted it by the brush strokes. by the
style. I can tell you who made this
world by the style. My Lord made this world. It's
beautiful. Oh, I tell you, those floating
white clouds go by and the sun shines and God washes the world
with rain and the snow piles high and bears the brush stroke
of my Lord. He's glorified as a creator and
He preserves all things, but He's going to be glorified as
Savior. Moses said in verse 18 of Exodus 33, Lord, show me your
glory. He said, I'll make my goodness
pass before you. I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord before you. I'm going to be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. I'm going to show mercy to whom
I will show mercy. In verse 6 of chapter 34, look
across the page. And the Lord passed by before
Moses and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. and will
by no means clear the guilty, vesting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children and upon the children's children to the third
and fourth generation, but he will proclaim his name as Savior. His grace will be magnified,
his love will be magnified. Thanks be unto God, he will honor
his son by showing not only his wisdom, his creative power, his
providence, his preserving power and wisdom, but he's going to
show his grace. All right, quickly, secondly, how, the method, go
back to our text, Matthew 22. How does this king intend to
glorify his son? What method does he choose by
which to glorify his son? where these kings of olden times,
if they had one son, a spoiled brat usually, brought up on the
fat of the land. And when the king wanted to honor
that son, he took the army out and conquered a little country
over here and put that little puppet up on the king on the
throne as the ruler of that nation and put the people under the
heels of Junior. That's how he honored him. Or
some king wanted to honor his son and he'd go out and tax everybody
to death. He'd put a tax on everything
in the country and build his son a big palace next door to
his palace with a moat around it, you know, and have all the
people waiting on him and farming for him and making vineyards
and orchards and all these things. Or else they'd go out to the
surrounding kingdoms and say, we're going to honor Junior.
So they would empty their treasure, scared to death that if they
didn't, the king would come and destroy him. And they'd empty
their treasures and bring Junior powerful and rich and elaborate
gifts. But this king, and the God of
glory, Jesus to honor his son, and how does he do it? He asks
no dowry, no tax, no gifts, no bloodshed. He asks nothing. He
himself prepares a feast at his own expense. He prepares a feast,
he prepares a banquet at his own expense, and he sends out
word to the people and says, I'm going to honor my son. I'm
going to foot the whole bill. It's going to be totally free.
Come without money, without price. Just come. Come with an appetite.
Come with a desire to honor my son and meet with me here and
I'm going to give you all of the fruits and blessings and
benefits of my kingdom while you sit around the table and
honor my son. Matthew Henry spoke of this feast
and he said there's four things you might want to jot them down.
He said, first of all, this feast, this eternal banquet is a banquet
of love. of love. It was love that spread
the feast. It was love that chose to honor
the Son. It was love that included me.
It was love that invited me to come. And it's love that keeps
me. And when I gather around the
table of my Lord, it is called a love feast. Secondly, this
feast is not only a feast of love, it's a feast of joy. Now
I get depressed, and I know you do. I don't like that song, Happy
All the Time, simply because Jerry's not so. I'm not happy
all the time. I'd be lying if I said I was.
I think the Apostle Paul, who wrote Rejoice in the Lord Always,
and again I say rejoice, who talked about the joy of Christ,
and that is a continual joy. That's a continual peace, and
that's a continual rest. But he also said, I have great
heaviness of heart. my brethren according to the
flesh. I bleed for them, I grieve for them, I mourn over them,
I pray for them. It's very impossible for me to
have continual outward joy with such heavy burdens of heart.
I weep over them. And so I'm not saying that I'm
happy all the time, but I do question that religion that makes
a man miserable. I question that religion that
makes a man so strange and peculiar that no one loves him and no
one likes him and no one enjoys his presence. I question that
religion that puts a person constantly in a state of depression and
of doubts and fears where he has no joy of the presence of
the living God. Enter into his presence with
thanksgiving, enter his courts with praise. I'm not telling
us to put on that phony praise the Lord, hallelujah, all this
stuff, but there's a quiet sense of joy and rest and peace and
happiness in knowing Christ, in walking with Christ. And it
ought to be manifested in our lives, in our expression, in
our countenance. It's a feast of joy. Let me move
on. It's not only a feast of love and a feast of joy, but
it's a feast of fullness. Everything I need, all my needs
are met. The hungry are filled, the thirsty
are satisfied, the lonely have company. We have peace and rest. All the fullness of God dwelleth
in him, and in him we have all that we need. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. And not only that, but it's a
feast of fellowship. He said we have fellowship with
him. Truly our fellowship is with the Son and with the Father.
So the King is going to honor the Son. The living God will
honor His Son. His well-beloved, His only begotten.
Christ is going to be honored. Christ is going to be glorified.
This is the heart of the whole thing. The means, the method
by which you'll honor Christ is your guilt. He'll give. He'll treat us. He'll bless us. He's invited us to a banquet
feast that He has spread. And He sent out word. All right,
let's read verse 3. And He sent forth His servants to call them
that were bidden to the wedding, to the feast honoring His Son,
to the banquet honoring His Son. Come, we're going to honor My
Son. Come, we're going to glorify My Son. Come, we're going to
exalt My Son. But they would not come. When the people heard of the
King's Feast, and they heard of it, and I know the first invitation
was like this, he said come. The second invitation was that
everything's ready. And when they heard the words
of the King's Feast, when they heard the purpose for it, I'll
honor my son. when they heard the purpose,
when they heard that they were invited to come and join in this
great feast, honoring the Son. It does not say they could not
come. It says they would not come.
Now brethren, I've got hold of something here. I've got hold
of something. The first thing this shows, I
know we excuse a man, well, He's confused about religion.
I know we excuse a fellow. We say, well, he was raised in this doctrine
or that doctrine or some other doctrine, and he doesn't understand
the truth of what salvation is. I know we excuse all these things.
But let me tell you something. This is clear as a bell in God's
Word. God's going to honor Christ. And the call goes forth, I have
prepared my feast, all things are ready. You are invited to
worship my son, to glorify my son, to exalt my son. And I'm
tired of preachers inviting people to the front, to even a doctrine,
or to a law, or to an ordinance, or to whatever. That's not the
invitation, it's to honor his son. Now when that invitation
is sounded loud and clear, and that's sounded here, We're not
inviting you to a catechism or a creed. We're not inviting you
even to a social club. We're not inviting you to a ball
game. The invitation extended from
this pulpit is the same one extended by this king. You come with me
to honor my son. Now that's, and that's, this
is what made the king angry. Number one, this is what they
said when he didn't come. We don't care for your son. That's
it, Bruce, that's what this is. We don't care for your sons.
We don't intend to be numbered among those honoring your son. We don't intend to be numbered
with those who praise your son. Well, I don't go there to church
because I just don't like the way they sing. I don't go there
to church because I go somewhere else to church. I don't go there
to church because there's not enough parking. I don't go there
to church because they don't have enough celebrations for
the young people. I don't go yackety-yackety-yack.
Let me tell you something. We're here to honor His blessed,
glorious, well-beloved, only begotten Son. And you liar, you
don't honor Him because you don't care for His Son. Why don't you
quit lying on God Almighty? That's the way the whole thing
is. That's where it stacks up. That's what it's all about here.
Is that the truth, Jim? That's what it is right there.
Forget your excuses. That's what they did. It says
up here, verse 5, they made light of it and went their ways. One
to his farm, one to his merchandise. They had other things more important
than honoring his son. I'm hitting on this thing now.
They were disloyal to the king. They were insulting to the son.
They despised and rejected his grace and his love, and therefore
they're going to feel his wrath. This is where it is, Eddie, right
here. This is where the whole thing is, right here. I'm tired
of hearing people talk about, go to church, go to church, phooey.
I'm tired of hearing people talk about religion. I'm tired of
hearing people talk about all these rules and regulations and
all these different things. The whole essence of this thing
right here is this. God Almighty says, bow down and
honor my son. The question is my son. The question
is his honor, his worship, his glory. I prepared a feast. All
the things I read didn't tell you to bring anything. Well,
I hate to go down there. They're always taking up an offering.
I didn't tell you to bring anything, God says. If I was hungry, I
wouldn't ask you. The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.
The gold and silver, it hadn't been mine. He said, I'm telling
you to come honor my son. I'm going to honor my son. Christ
is going to be praised. Even poorly, but he's going to
be praised. Christ is going to be honored. Christ is going to
be exalted. Christ is going to be glorified.
Christ is going to be worshipped. And if you refuse, God says,
I'll deal with you. Listen. He was angry, verse 7. He sent his armies and destroyed
those people and burned up their cities. burned up their cities. Oh, I
tell you, this is the reason I said if you don't get point
number one, you're going to miss the whole essence of this story,
this message. Our Lord Jesus Christ is sitting
down here dealing with us as a child, as a father deals with
a child in compassion and concern. He said, this is the way it is.
There is a great king, the living God, and he's going to honor
his son. He's prepared. The whole question
is his son. The thing revolved around his
son. That's what the marriage was about. That's why it was
prepared. That's why the feast was spread.
That's why the celebration was there. That's why the orchestra
was hired. That's why the people came. He said, come on now, and
let's honor my son. Let's honor my son. And they
said, not us. We ain't going to honor your
son. We're not going to honor your
son. All right, so he says, well, somebody's going to, verse 8,
so he called his servants. The fourth thing, the effectual
call goes forth. He called his servants, and he
said, my wedding is ready. We're going to have a wedding.
We're going to have some guests. And those that were bidding were
not worthy. You go out into the highways, and as many as you
find. You bid them to the marriage.
Over in Luke it says you go find the lame, and the halt, and the
blind, and the naked, and the beggars, and the poor, and all
of them. And you tell them to come. Go out and find the needy,
the hungry, the poor. They'll come. They'll come. Because
they need my son. They need to whom much is forgiven,
he'll love much. I find this, that a man's love
for the word, is motivated by his love for Christ, the author
of the Word. I find that a man's generosity is motivated and in
direct proportion as he understands God's generosity to him. That's
right. A man's attitude toward others
in a forgiving spirit, generally, is in proportion as he feels
forgiven and has he been partaker of God's mercy. That's all in
connection with Christ. I find a person's loyalty and
faithfulness to the kingdom of God depends upon his loyalty
and faithfulness to the Son of God. It all depends on need. I need
thee, precious Jesus, for I am full of sin. My soul is dark
and guilty, my heart is dead within. I need the cleansing
fountain where I can always flee. The blood of Christ most precious
is my only plea. I need the precious Jesus. I'm
very poor. I'm a stranger and a pilgrim.
I have no earthly store. I need the love of Jesus to help
me on my way, to guide my doubting footsteps, to be my strength
and stand. I need him. I'm here because
I'm needy. I'm here because I find a filling
for an empty heart. That's why. That's why. Now this is the basis of it.
God says I'm going to honor my son. I'm going to honor my son. I'm going to glorify my son.
Everything's going to be for his preeminence. You're invited,
but they didn't need him. They said, no, we don't have
any use for your son, or you either one. We're not interested.
We're rich and increased with goods. We've got a fine garden
over here, and a farm, merchandise, and stores, and all these things. We don't, you know, you go and
get somebody. All right, he said, I'll get
somebody to honor my son. I'll get somebody to honor my
son. And that person that honors my son is going to be the one
who needs him. One who finds in Christ his healing, and finds
in Christ his dress, and finds in Christ his peace, and finds
in Christ his joy, and finds in Christ his rest, he'll honor. Oh, he'll honor Christ with his
heart. He won't be just saying Lord with his lips, but Lord
with his heart. All right, let's get to the next
thing, five, quickly. And when the king came in to
see the guests, verse 11, now it seems to me that those who
were invited, those who came to the feast, were poor. They
were dirty and ragged and maimed and hauled. Their garments just
would not do for this occasion. Their garments wouldn't do. The glory of the occasion, the
surroundings, you just didn't come in dressed like they were
dressed. And even so, the presence of
the Lord demands holiness. The presence of God demands righteousness. The presence of God demands purity. The presence of God demands a
glory like His glory. So all of us, and we're willing,
boy, I'm willing to drop my old shattered, tattered, ragged garments
and put on His robe of righteousness, aren't you? I'm not fit to, I'm
ready to be cleansed and washed and purified in His blood. I
must be. I don't want to come into the
presence of the King except clothed in the righteousness of Christ,
clothed in the beauty of Christ, clothed in the wedding garment
of faith in Christ and love for Christ and the righteousness
of Christ and the holiness of Christ, cleansed and made pure
and covered all of my wretchedness and leprosy and corruption, covered
and in a garment just like the Son's garment. I'm going to be
just like Him. Now all the guests, there the guests are, they come
to honor the son. They come at the invitation of
the king. They come empty-handed, with nothing. They come to partake
of all his blessings in honor of his son, to glorify his son.
I'm here because I love the son. He's done so much farming. Well,
some fella came in, it says, and there was a fella there that
had not on a wedding garment. He was clothed in his own clothes. He didn't have on a wedding garment.
Now this man was there to share the food. He was there to enjoy
the music. He was there to see his friends.
You feeling all this in? A lot of folks that want pie
in the sky and the sweet by and by. They'll be glad to share
in the pie. They tell me they're going to
eat 12 manner of fruit. in all its season, and the music. I hear people talk about the
music in heaven. It's going to be something, David. And this
fellow wanted to hear that music. He heard they had the real music. And he wanted to see mom. He
missed his mom. She died. And he wanted to see
mom, and he wanted to see his neighbors. And he sure wanted
to see them straits of gold. The ones with the potholes down
here, asphalt, just don't appeal to me much. I want to see them
smooth, woody straits of gold. And those gates of jasper, and
walls of precious stones, and those mansions. That old boy
wanted to see every one of those things, but he wasn't there to
honor the sun. Because he wasn't dressed like
the sun. He wasn't there to honor the
son. He was there for the music. He was there for the fellowship.
He was there for the food. He was there for all the things
they were handing out. He was there, but he, when he
came to that feast, he came clothed in his own righteousness. My
garments. This is what it's all about.
It goes back to that second verse. The king says, I'm going to honor
my son. And those that come in my presence
will be dressed like him. They'll be holy like him, they'll
be cleansed like him, they'll be conformed to his image, and
they'll be delighted to be that way. This man came in, and the
king walked in, and he said in verse 12, my friend, how did
you come in here, or why did you come in here not having on
a wedding garb, why? I ask you this, I know there
may be right here in this congregation this morning, there may be people
who are not looking to Christ alone for salvation, and you
pray, you talk to God, you come into God's presence, and I ask
you, why? Why do you do that? The king
came in here and the purpose of the thing was to honor his
son. The banquet was purposed, planned, prepared, and provided
to honor his son. That's what it's all about. That's
the way it started. That's the way it was completed. That's the way it ended. This
is what it's to honor my son. Now he comes to him and says,
why'd you come in here? You could have gone down the
street. You could have desecrated some other place. This banquet's
for Christ's sake. This glow is for Christ. This
whole thing is for Christ. Why? He said. Why? You see what
I'm trying to get across? You can have your works, but
have it somewhere else. You can have your ragged fig
leaf aprons, but have it somewhere else. This is to honor Christ.
You can play ball. You can whoop-de-doo. You can
jump-pews. You can throw songbirds. Do it
wherever you want to. You can pipe-wash the flesh.
You can do what you want to, but this is to honor the Son. Get it out of here. You can sing,
have a little talk with Jesus, but sing it not to cabaret. Don't
sing it here. You can sing about your mansion
and glory and how you've worked for Jesus and served and dedicated
and done all, but sing it somewhere else. Go somewhere else and do
it. This is for the son. You can preach your intellectualism. Preach it. Nobody cares. Have
your own banquet. Have your own shindig. Have your
own celebration, but this is for the son. Stand up and give
your testimony and brag about what you've done and what you've
given and have you served God in labor and what you've given
up. Do it anywhere you want to. But God said don't do it here.
Why did you come here? That's what I want to know. He
came in. Everybody there was dressed like the sun. Everybody
there was singing about the sun. Everybody there was honoring
the sun. Everybody there was glorifying the sun. Except this
speckled bird sitting right here. And the master came in and said,
why? Why? You could have played your
game somewhere else. You could have desecrated, there's
plenty of places you could have done that. But no, you, just
like those folks that wouldn't come, you're worse off. You came and insulted the son
in his own feast. Now you're two-fold more the
child of hell than they are. Yeah, you've come and brought
your filthy garments. You've come and brought your
rags. You've come with your appetite. You've come with an insulting,
dishonoring spirit right here in the presence of my son. And
so he said in verse 13, bind him hand and foot. And I hate
to be my face frowned like this, but this is sad. This is tragic.
and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. They'd be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. Why? Why? The man was speechless,
verse 12 says. He didn't have any defense. But
you notice something else? He was still too blooming proud
to ask for mercy. He still didn't ask for mercy.
He just sat there. He just sat there. What are you doing here? And
you can do that today. You can rebuke the religionists.
He's not going to say, God help me, have mercy upon me, shut
my big mouth. No, sir. All right, bind him
hand and foot and throw him out. Brethren, I believe, I do believe,
I've asked God, I've cried before him, I've sought the meaning
of this parable. I believe I have it. I believe I have it. The
king says, I'm going to honor my son. I'm going to honor my
son. I'm going to honor Christ. Every
knee's going to bow in heaven, earth, and hell. I'm going to
exalt Christ. That's the design of everything
God's created, everything God's purposed. And he sent out a gracious
invitation. He says, come, all things are
ready. They said, we're not going to honor your son. We don't care
about you, don't care about your son. Well, he said, I'll have
some people. So he went out there and he found
the lame and the halt and the dirty and the ragged and the
blind. King, we're not fit for your presence. I'll make you
fit. We love your son and we want to honor him, but we can't
like we are. We're just in our deformity and
our wretchedness and rags and filth. I'll make you fit. I'll
make you fit. So he put them all on a wedding
garment, gave them all straightness of back, and tenderness of heart,
and strength of limbs, and keenness of eye, and keenness of hearing,
and brought them into the Son's presence, and washed them in
the blood of the Lamb, clothed them in the righteousness of
Christ. Boy, they were singing and praising. And that fella
came in, singing his own tunes, praising his own self, exalting
his own righteousness. And the king came over, and I
know he called him friend, like Judas kissed Christ and called
him friend. He said, why'd you do it? Why'd
you do it? You knew what this was all about.
Why? Nothing to say. Got no alibi. We'll just take him away. Our father impressed this upon
my heart. And upon the heart of every person
here, your great design, your grand and glorious purpose in
all things is to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. That's so evident
from your words. He shall have preeminence. Every knee shall bow. He died
that he might be Lord, both of the dead and the living. He has
all authority in heaven and earth. The banquet of mercy is in Christ's
name and for Christ's glory and throughout all eternity we'll
feast upon him in his presence and for his glory. We'll be clothed
in his righteousness. Teach us this truth. But Lord,
show us that we're among those who need him most. We have no
right to this feast. We have no claim on these mercies. It's in Him and because of Him.
Show us that we are among the halt and the blind. Show us how
empty and wicked we are by nature, and show us how Christ is everything,
and we'll want to come to the feast. We'll flee to the feast.
We'll enjoy the feast. We'll revel in His glory, in
His presence. be so good. We pray it for Christ's
sake. Amen.