The Parable of The Wedding Feast

The Parable of The Wedding Feast – By Chase Byers

I looked at the GPS to see what kind of

Drive I got ahead of us tomorrow

whenever we go back to Harrisburg and it

is 4 hours to Harrisburg and did you all

know there’s two more hours after that

to get into any other state on the on

the East Coast so I’ll tell you I’m born

and raised in Kentucky and I’m I

continue to be amazed at just how large

the state of Pennsylvania is but I say

that because I’m encouraged at the

multiple congregations that are around

Dave and I were just talking at supper

about how 30 years ago a congregation in

Harrisburg didn’t exist the congregation

where Carl and his that didn’t exist and

countless others that have popped up

since then didn’t exist and so I’m

excited to be a part of the Northeast

work and uh Lord if the Lord Wills we

continue to to hope to grow

congregations in this area and as well

as start more congregations in the

Northeast so I appreciate you all

inviting me to be out here to be able to

talk about a great lesson like this that

Jesus laid out for us and I just want to

remind everyone that I’m continuing to

build on a series of lessons that have

already been presented I Know Carl I

think he did the overview of of The

Parables and I’ll be talking a little

bit about that here in just a second and

going along with the overview of the

parables in Matthew 13 Grady gave a

lesson on the parable of the soils or

the parable of the sewer and I like to

call Matthew 13 the starter pack of

Parables and it’s really fun whoever

picked this Dave said he thinks he

picked these Parables he said he can’t

quite remember back in that planning

meeting but it’s really cool to go from

the parable of the SE all the way over

to the parable of the wedding feast and

we’ll talk a little bit about why here

in just a second because as we begin

looking at a parable like this I want to

look at context clues it’s all good and

well for us to know these Parables and

to just jump right into them read the 14

verses and take away what we can but the

placement of the parables in the

respective gospels are really important

to take note of and so as we in

particular are taking a look at the

gospel of Matthew as we look at this

outline I stole from my cooworker

Stephen he’s way better at outlines than

I am so I don’t like to redo work so I

stole his one of the things you’ll

notice as we’re on the back end of the

Book of Matthew as he’s divided it up

here and if you can’t see that black

outline you’ll see that we are in The

Parables of judgment as we get to the

end of the Gospel of Matthew the tension

is being turned up and so the parables

are no longer just about fun and good

things you should be living and applying

but the parable start to turn and Away

against the people that are going to end

up Killing Jesus Christ and so as we’re

going to be looking at the third of a

series of Parables today I want us to

realize that what is on Jesus’s mind at

this point is what he’s going to say in

chapter 24 which is the destruction of

Jerusalem that these people for the

rejection of the Christ and for

countless years of rejecting Yahweh and

his will for them judgment’s coming and

so we’re building up to chapter 24 and

we’ll talk more about that here in just

a second and so as we look at the back

end of these series of three Parables

just back up in your Bible out of

chapter 22 and I want you to look in

chapter 21 for just a second because I

think it’s important to see what’s going

on in the

context Jesus has just spent some time

after his authority has been challenged

telling a series of Parables that have a

lot to do with uh a lot in common the

first one is the parable of the two sons

in chapter 21 28-32 do you remember the

details of that there’s a man who has

two sons one of them he tells them to go

work in the field or work in the

vineyard and the son says I’m not going

to go but then he regrets it and he

eventually

goes Jesus tells us that there’s a

second son and he’s told the same thing

to go work and that son says he will go

but he doesn’t go and Jesus will ask the

simple question in verse 31 which of the

two did the will of his father and they

said the first and Jesus said to them

truly I say to you that tax collectors

and prostitutes will get into the

kingdom of God before you what’s really

important to understand here is that

Jesus is not talking

cryptically and we we’ll see that a

little bit more in the next Parable

because Jesus goes on to talk about the

parable of the landowner there’s this

guy who plants a Vineyard he agrees to

rent it out to some people there was an

agreement there and the Harvest time

approaches and he sends his slaves to go

and collect some of the produce and you

remember how The Story Goes they beat

the slaves they kill another and finally

they end up killing his

son and what does Jesus say in verse 43

therefore I say to you the kingdom of

God will be taken away from you and

given to a people producing the fruit of

it and he who falls on the stone will be

broken to Pieces but on whoever it falls

it will scatter him like

dust there’s a recurring theme in these

two Parables you have people who are

going back on their agreed word there

was a son that did not do the will of

the father who said I will go into the

vineyard and work but he didn’t in the

parable of the land owner you have these

people who agreed we’ll give you some of

the produce they go back on

that and they pay the consequences for

it but what I specifically want to focus

in on is verse 45 and

46 cuz it says when the chief priests

and the Pharisees heard his Parables

they understood that he was speaking

about them and when they sought to seiz

them they feared the people because they

considered him to be a prophet now did

Carl did you use Matthew 13 as your text

or did Grady did he use Matthew 13 or

did he use Mark for Matthew okay

excellent so what you all might recall

in Matthew the 13th chapter is there was

a little bit of confusion as to what the

Parables were they were asking what is

the purpose of these Parables and Jesus

will kind of cryptically say Well it’s

it’s for those that want it it it’s

going to separate the wheat from the

chaff those who want to know who I am

and know what this kingdom is like

they’re going to have to research

they’re going to have to come and ask me

they’re going to have to really want it

and so at times Jesus is going to say

some Parables and others are going to

laugh at it but others are going to go

to Jesus and say we need you to explain

this to me I want to know

more like the parable the

Ser is that the case with these Parables

here do they need to go up to Jesus and

be like Jesus I need you to explain that

one to me that’s what diff that’s what

is different about these three

Parables they knew exactly what Jesus

was trying to say did you see it when

they heard these Parables they

understood that he was speaking about

them it wasn’t cryptic it was clear

judgment is

coming because you’re denying the

Christ and they want to seize him verse

46 tells us but they feared the people

because they considered him to be a

prophet the tension continues to turn up

and so that is the context where we get

chapter 22 it comes on the tail end of

this tension and as we look at the

parable of the wedding feast and so my

approach to Bible reading and teaching

is really simple you read it you talk

through it you make applications so

that’s what we’re going to do tonight

let’s go ahead and read the whole

Parable Matthew 22 starting in verse one

Matthew

22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in

Parable saying the Kingdom of Heaven may

be compared to a King who gave a wedding

Feast for his son and he sent out his

slaves to call those who had been

invited to the wedding feast and they

were unwilling to come and again he sent

out other slaves saying tell those who

have been invited behold I have prepared

my dinner my oxen and my fat and

livestock are all butchered and

everything is ready come to the wedding

Feast but they paid no attention and

went their way one to his own Farm

another to his business

and the rest seized his slaves and

mistreated them and killed them but the

King was enraged and he sent his armies

and destroyed those murderers and set

their City on

fire then he said to his slaves the

wedding is ready but those who were

invited were not worthy go therefore to

the main highways and as many as you

find there invite to the wedding Feast

those slaves went out into the streets

and gathered together all they found

both evil and good and the the wedding

hall was filled with dinner guests but

when the king came in to look over the

dinner guests he saw a man there who was

not dressed in wedding clothes and he

said to him friend how did you come in

here without wedding clothes and the man

was speechless and the King said to the

servants bind him hand and foot throw

him into the outer darkness and in that

place there will be weeping and nashing

of teeth for many are

called but few are

chosen we’re still in this series of par

Parables and it presents to us kind of a

fun one if you ask me it’s about a

wedding the New Testament and The

Parables of Jesus Jesus uses the wedding

analogy a good bit we’ll talk a little

bit about the differences between this

one and the one in Luke 14 a little bit

later on but also in Mark chapter 2 uh

yeah Mark chapter 2 he uses a couple of

illustrations about a marriage and a

wedding it’s pretty customary but I

think it is important to understand that

their wedding Customs were a little bit

different than our ours today um and

mean even when you look in my own

generation the way weddings were being

done around the time I was probably born

are completely different than what than

the way that you do them now but this

wedding in particular was a big and not

only was it a big event it was a royal

event I don’t want us to overlook that

this was no ordinary

wedding this was the wedding of the

King’s son the prince of the land was

getting married and there were people

that were getting invited to it how

exciting is that it’s one thing to be

invited to Simon the Tanner’s son’s

wedding some people might not be all

that excited about that it’s another

thing to get EX to get invited to the

king’s son’s wedding I mean can you

think about what kind of aair that’s

going to be think about the celebration

the

excitement and we need to realize that

those invitations went out very similar

to our RSVPs would and we expect people

once the invitations have gone out to to

be willing to come and maybe have given

their word to come but there is no be

here at

6:00 cuz there’s really no way to tell

if it’s 6:00 or 6:30 or 7 or whatever

have you and so what would happen is

whenever the feast was ready the king

would send his servants out or whoever

was throwing the party would send

someone out the messengers would go and

tell everyone everything’s ready it’s

now time to come and celebrate that this

is what you agreed to come to you knew

what day it was but now it’s time for

you to come

you’ve made a commitment and so these

invites have been sent out prior to the

event what’s really unique I think about

this story uh is that we’re told that he

actually sends him out again because in

verse three you have some that he goes

out and tries to convince and it says

that they were unwilling to come but

then he sends other slaves out in verse

four and he tells them again twice tell

those who’ve been invited behold I have

prepared my dinner my oxen and my fatten

livestock are all butchered and

everything is ready come to the wedding

Feast I did a little bit of digging on

this as well it was customary to send

out a second invite to say hey it’s time

but did you notice how more specific he

is in verse four opposed to what he was

in verse three he expounds on it a

little bit not only are all things are

ready do you realize what I’ve prepared

for this dinner and I think we all

realize the excitement that can come

when you know what’s on the menu uh I

love my wife’s cooking

but there are certain things on the menu

that excite me more than others and so

if I know she’s just cooking you know

the meal I’m not as excited for versus

oh she’s grilling steak tonight that’s

what’s on the menu tonight there’s a

different level of excitement that comes

I I need to get there I need to get

there right now I think you see Mercy on

the part of the king hey what did they

not hear him right the first time I said

everything is

ready already reminding me of John the

Baptist out there right he he’s telling

them hey guys it’s coming he’s here he’s

almost here okay now he’s really here

you need to straighten

up some believed some did not and so

everything is ready it’s time to come no

more

hesitating and in verse 5 and six you

see a couple of different responses to

this I call one of those

indifferent they just kind of don’t care

about it anymore they just kind of pay

it no mind in verse 5 uh they just

whatever one went to his farm another to

his business it doesn’t sound like there

was really anything urgent that they

needed to be even doing at work but I

don’t want to be at this feast and so

I’m just going to go on my way back to

the farm and keep on

working but what to me is the most

startling Revelation in verse six it’s

really when the parable takes a turn is

that you do have some who are just like

yeah I don’t really feel like coming in

anymore to people doing what in verse

six seizing the slaves and mistreating

them and killing them harmfully treating

The Messengers that came out to say It’s

Time come on

in and what does this really say this

harmful treatment what does that really

say about their view of the

king what does that say about those

people couple things and we’ll talk more

about it in a little bit but number one

is they don’t know who he is and number

two if they do know who he is they are

completely underestimating what he is

willing to do for the sake of missing

the dinner they said they would come

to and who does that sound very

reminiscent of but the

Pharisees they don’t know who the king

is they don’t know who God is they did

it one time but they don’t

anymore and Jesus is going to say that

very more specifically in chapter 23

chap chap 24 we’ll talk more about that

here in just a little bit and so moving

into verses 7-9 the king doesn’t stop

there obviously he doesn’t just say well

that’s unfortunate no one wants to come

it’s time to close down the feast no the

king shows wrath in verse 8 uh or verse

7 rather the king is enraged and he sent

his armies and destroyed those murders

and set their City on fire again I do

not believe Jesus is coincidentally

saying the city is going to be set on

fire here when in two more chapters he’s

going to record how in the year of

870 this very city is going to be

destroyed with

fire judgment’s coming to Jerusalem

whether they like it or not and the king

is upset about this this judgment is now

here but the king gives reasons why in

verse eight he says to his slaves uh the

wedding is ready but those who were

invited

were not

worthy Now by whose own admission were

they not

worthy really by their own they got the

invite but they didn’t think it was

worth even

going they were not excited they were no

longer excited about the feast that the

king put

together and so the king makes it clear

what his will is go to the main highways

in verse 9 as many as you find there

invite to to the wedding Feast although

the king shows wrath in the destruction

of the city of those that refuse to go

the King still shows

Grace like I said at the beginning of

the section I think any one of us would

have been tempted to just say forget it

you ever had someone not show up to your

party have you ever had like everyone

who said that they were coming to your

party not show up to your party I’ll be

honest I don’t think I’ve been in that

position before but if that were to

happen to me what would it be tempting

to do all right

well guess I’m having a me night tonight

you know got all this guacamole I got

all this stuff it’s all about me but no

the king says go tell other people it’s

still ready that that fact didn’t change

the feast is happening the food is now

ready we got to get people here and so

go everywhere he doesn’t cancel the

feast he he rather opens up the

invitation and I love how it says that

uh it was

full they went out and it the hall was

filled with dinner guests and so that’s

where the slaves go they go out to

everywhere they go out to

everyone and specifically it points out

to us in verse 10 that when the slaves

went out to the streets and gathered

together all that they find they found

both evil and

good it was impartial the invitation

they did not get to pick and choose who

they bring this message to that the

feast is now ready but that the feast is

ready whether they want to come or not

whether they’re good or evil or not was

not up for them to

decide as slaves they just

go and so the wedding hall is now filled

how exciting as you picture what that

would have looked like for everyone to

be there to celebrate this joyous

event and when you come to the end of

verse 10 what do you expect to happen

the parable to be

over but that’s not what

happens and verse 11 if you can just

kind of think about the curtain closing

on the parable there’s an epilogue it

feels like and the King comes out from

behind the curtain to look over the

dinner guests he’s doing an inspection

he’s walking through he’s looking

everyone

over and he stumbles across a man in

verse 12 and verse 11 who’s not dressed

in wedding

clothes he didn’t dress for the the

occasion and I’ll say on the front end

of this that some argue that this

section of the parable was a later

addition there is no basis for this

whatsoever um I I would contend that the

whole point of this Parable is found in

these later verses and what he is trying

to point to point out to everybody and

some have suggested in this section as

well that the reason why the king is

upset is because he would have provided

the clothes and so the man willfully

chose not to wear the clothes and now

he’s in trouble because he didn’t wear

the clothes that the king provided but

either way you want to look at

it what did the king expect that’s what

we’re looking at he expected him to be

clothed for the wedding which means I

believe the king would have thought he

had ample opportunity and and ample

material to be dressed for such an

occasion but he’s not he’s dressed

inappropriately and so the king in verse

12 addresses him as friend it’s

interesting the times you see that in

the scriptures it’s very

limited and he says how did you come in

here without wedding clothes I really

want you to put yourself in the shoes of

this man I mean have you ever been

somewhere where you were underdressed

and you feel it oh yeah have you ever

had someone come up to you then and say

why are you so underdressed you know

that’s an awkward thing to have to reply

to and so he just stops talking he just

doesn’t know what to say he’s speechless

I I can’t believe someone would call me

out for

that but that someone who called him out

wasn’t just

someone it was the king it was the one

that had invited

him but he doesn’t say anything and it

doesn’t say he says

anything because the next thing that it

tells us is that the king says to his

servants in verse 13 bind him hand and

foot and throw him into the outer

darkness in that place where there will

be weeping and nashing of teeth the

king’s response forgive me for being

behind on the PowerPoint but is judgment

very similar to the ones who refused to

go to the be at the very beginning now

he’s got people coming and he’s throwing

them out too how is that fair we might

be tempted to

ask and so Jesus concludes this in verse

14 with for many are called but few are

chosen there will be some who still make

it to the

feast but are they really

in there’s going to be some who accept

the invitation

come but they’re not going to be asked

to

stay they’re going to be asked to

leave so what do we do with this what

are the applications that we’re to take

away from a parable like this and so I

really struggled with organizing all the

countless applications that I Believe

come out of this one of the things I

don’t want to do I was expressing this

to Dave over supper is I think if you’re

not careful and maybe Carl talked about

this in his intro you can squeeze things

out of Parables that aren’t NE

necessarily there and if there’s one

that’s easy to do that with it’s this

one as you focus on on so many different

phrases and so for the sake of our

applications we’re going to make four

applications by going and looking at

four different

lenses of the folks and the characters

in this Parable that Jesus lies um let

me rephrase that a little more clearly

we’re going to look and be in the shoes

of four different people in the parable

uh to make our applications we’re going

to look at those that were invited

initially we’re going to look at those

who refused the slaves who did the

inviting and the one who showed up uh to

the wedding without the proper clothes

on we’ll look at those four different

perspectives here and we’ll start simply

with just looking at those who’ve been

invited to a wedding Feast because we

must understand as this is a parable of

the Kingdom of Heaven verse

two we have also been invited to a

wedding

feast and this idea as I thought about

it more is really profound because the

idea of communing with God or being in

invited to be with him is not exclusive

to Matthew

22 that is a huge biblical idea starting

as simple in the garden what was God’s

whole intention of creating this garden

with all these different things to eat

and all these different things to do but

to be with his people because whenever

Eve and Adam had sinned and they were

hiding them themselves we know that God

was walking around in the garden he went

looking for them and what does he ask

them

where are

you wh why can’t I find

you God wants to be with his people he

wants to commune with them he wants to

be with them he wants to eat with them

and we see that they didn’t care about

that do we understand that it is the

king of Heaven who is inviting us to a

feast like this the king of all Heavens

is inviting us he is some summing us to

come and be a part of him and to eat

with

him how dare we refuse an invitation

like that and we understand even on a

worldly perspective how exciting it

would be to be summoned by I realize not

everyone loves President Biden but if he

were to invite me to a meal I would be

excited that’d be fun oh yeah I’m going

to go meet the president and I if I got

to go rent a expensive tuxedo that’s

what I’m going to do to fit the occasion

and yet there are a lot of people who

aren’t excited that the king of Heaven

summons you to a

feast the king of all the universe wants

to have a meal with

you how touching is

that and this Feast that he’s inviting

us to may we not Overlook it why are we

celebrating all

this because his Prince his son is

having a

wedding the prince of Heaven Jesus

Christ is being

celebrated will you celebrate with Jesus

will you celebrate with the king in his

son becoming not only this Prince and

this King but being married and whether

you like it or not or whether I like it

or not everyone’s going to celebrate

this at some point or another as Paul is

emphasizing the deity that Jesus uh had

in Philippians the second chapter as

he’s explaining the humility that Jesus

went through one of the things he will

wrap up and say in verse 9 is that for

this reason God highly exalted Jesus

bestowed on him the name which is above

every name so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow and of those who are

in heaven and on Earth and under the

Earth and that every tongue will confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory

of the father everyone’s going to

celebrate this everyone’s going to

confess it whether they like it or not

so why not get on board

early because the king’s inviting

you be excited that the prince has come

celebrate with the

King and I think it’s worth asking what

do we bring to a feast like this that’s

customary right someone invites you over

to their house and you say what can I

bring you know normally we mean the

salad the dessert you know some kind of

side dish same thing with

potlucks but when we turn to our God

after he sends us this invite and is

summoning us and we say God what can I

bring God kindly looks at us and says

there is nothing you can

bring that’s the problem you don’t have

anything to bring for a feast like

this I’m supplying all of it did you see

that emphasis in verse four as he sent

back out behold I have prepared my

dinner my oxen my fat and livestock are

all butchered and everything is

ready come to the wedding

feast and we experience that when we

reciprocate ate to somebody and say

thanks for having us over what can I

bring and they say just

yourselves that’s what God is asking for

I need you bring all of you not just a

part of you bring all of

you but that’s all I

need and we too often we want to help

God out we want to add to his Feast we

want to bring more than what he’s

telling us we need just trust that the

Lord prepared everything and from the

foundation of the Earth the Lord

prepared

everything this is no ordinary Feast

this is one that has been pre-planned

and deliberately thought

out so why don’t we appreciate him for

that it’s also important for us to Think

Through the possible responses to these

things uh did you notice the ones that

were unwilling to come there at the end

of verse three uh for starters there’s

just a refusal to want to participate at

all an outright Rebellion to the king

we’ve met folks like that they don’t

want to hear the idea that there’s even

a feast for them to be a part of and

maybe they’ve heard the invitation but I

don’t want anything to do with that

there’s no way anyone is going to be

able to get me to come the atheist the

agnostic those that that just don’t want

to know about Yahweh they don’t want to

know what God has to

offer but the invitation still went to

them or how about those who are just

preoccupied with the farm with the

business

you can see Luke 14 uh he spends a

little bit more time in that Parable

that’s similar to this one exploring the

different excuses so I don’t want to

squeeze that one out of this one while I

think that’s the intention of Luke 14

but still the point remains that there

are things that distract us from

appreciating the

feast that the Lord has offered

us maybe it is your work that’s getting

in the way of the feast maybe it is your

family maybe it’s something something

new that you got like Luke 14 expounds

on and you can look at that on your own

time if you’d like

to but then there are those who like we

said earlier who I just I think just

outright Don’t Fear the king at

all they just don’t care they don’t know

who this God is that they’re

refusing and if you’re struggling to

know who this God is if you’re refusing

his invitation or you’re having Bible

studies with people who are refusing the

invitation just because they don’t know

who this King is I would encourage you

to take them to Genesis 1-4 Carl’s been

influential in my life with that text in

Bible

studies because that outlines exactly

who this king is that we’re talking

about and how we can submit to him and

how we need to fear Him and respect

him number two let’s look at the lens of

those that refused um I think it’s

important to realize that there are some

that that just don’t go like we talked

about but don’t overlook the fact that

Jesus includes that there are some in

verse 6 who sees the slaves mistreat

them and kill them there are some that

have to go as far to harm the slaves and

this is exactly what we see in the book

of Acts I appreciate this detail in the

parable because disciples need to know

what they’re getting into before they

get into it when you go out and

evangelize to somebody there’s really

one of three responses you’re going to

find one is just outright indifference

and just I don’t like this I don’t want

this and that’s going to happen we’ve

got to deal with that and there’s a

whole another sermon I like to do on how

to face rejection you’ve got some people

who are going to be excited about this

and they’re going to join into it and

and they’re going to believe in the Lord

and we’re excited for people like that

but then there’s this third category

where it’s not just an outright

denial but it’s

hostility and that’s exactly what we saw

in the book of Acts in Acts

17 this was in thessalonica some of them

were persuaded and joined Paul and isus

along with a large number of the

God-fearing Greeks and a number of the

leading women praise God how

exciting but the Jews becoming jealous

and taking along some wicked men from

the marketplace formed a mob and set the

city in an uproar and attacking the

house of Jason they were seeking to

bring them out to the

people persecution and suffering is a

part of accepting this

invite and it’s a part of being those

who take the invitation out

but we need not forget that the story

did not end in verse

6 because there was Justice for those

that died on behalf of getting this

invitation

out and it wasn’t Justice from these

slaves rising up together and going out

and murdering and killing those that did

that to their fellow

slaves but it comes from the king in

verse 7 on his orders and on his command

he sends out the armies and Destro

destroys those murders and sets the city

on fire there is immediate judgment that

came and that judgment is for the king

to deal out not the

slaves and the King will handle them he

always will God will always handle our

enemies you best believe that he might

not do it exactly in the way we want but

that’s why he’s God and I’m not because

he sees things and he sees people

differently than I

do and so in chapter 24 again I know I

keep alluding to it Jesus will make it

clear that judgment is coming for those

who set the slaves uh uh excuse me

killed the slaves and treated them in an

awful

way and so those that refuse don’t be

surprised whenever you encounter them

and don’t be surprised if they’re even

hostile this was something that Jesus

said would happen as a result of being

invited to a wedding Feast like

this number three and probably uh one of

my favorite points to make from this

Parable is that the slaves are the ones

that are called called to invite I don’t

want to overlook that and we can

understand this point just by

highlighting a few of the verses that

are in the text he said go therefore to

the main highways and as many as you

find there invite to the wedding Feast

the parable could have been vague and

just said you know go invite other

people but I think there’s something to

be said about

the depths that the people are willing

to go through to help people get to the

wedding Feast how far do we go to invite

others to the same Feast that we get to

be a part of and I hope we understand

that the feast is just that it’s God’s

Feast not ours we too often see church

and the kingdom of heaven as a whole as

our club you know this is my posi we try

to grow the club locally and get the

contributions up and maintain what we

got but that’s not how this kingdom was

working in Matthew

22 he’s told to go everywhere

and as I look over at some of our

seasoned Brethren here I do know that

one of the more common views especially

back years ago was that a preacher stays

located and he stays with his local work

and that he is just working here and you

know expected to grow the congregation

in this local

area but the biblical idea of an

evangelist is he goes where he needs to

go to

preach if that means in a local place

great if it means far and wide great

and I’m thankful that I’m surrounded by

Brethren where I get to do work pretty

much wherever I’m located in

Harrisburg but if there’s someone that

wants to have Bible studies down in

Maryland I go down to Maryland and just

a few months ago we actually baptized a

young man in Maryland and he worships

with the Saints at wer coft where Jeremy

Hodges is and several other Brethren and

that’s where he goes but Chase he’s not

a member of the Church in Harrisburg who

cares we go to the highways and the

byways we go wherever we’re called to

get this invitation out that the feast

is here and that all things are ready

it’s time to

come don’t get too territorial about

this Kingdom it’s it’s big he wants you

to go everywhere and tell everyone about

this do not limit

yourself but go to the main highways go

everywhere it’s also worth noting that

those slaves went out into the streets

and gathered together all they found

both evil and good we do not get to

decide who this invitation goes out

to and I have been sitting in some Bible

studies where I’m looking across the

table going wow that person’s

evil they’ve done some pretty bad

things and they don’t really feel sorry

for

it I want to be done with this Bible

study that’s not up to

me I take the invitation

out I’m not the one that can see into

the

heart because for all those Bible

studies I’ve had where I’ve been sitting

across from the kitchen table and

talking to them going this is going

nowhere I think God laughs in my face

because on one occasion a couple weeks

later that person was baptized to my

surprise we take it out to the evil and

to the good and there have been

countless times probably more than the

other where I thought I was studying

with good but it turned out to be

evil that’s why it’s not my job to pick

and choose and it’s not your job either

you take the invitation out imp

partially to everybody both evil and

good Jesus Took the message to the

Sinners and tax

collectors a group that most people were

hesitant toward the question remains for

each of us what group are you hesitant

to take the gospel message

to you better correct that I love to use

the Apostle John as an example with the

city of Samaria when Jesus is talking to

the woman at the well John is just one

of those 12 disciples that walks up and

says why are you even talking to this

lady in Luke the 9th chapter a little

bit later on John and James will want to

call down fire on the city of of

Samaria but in Acts 8 after Jesus has

risen from the dead and went into heaven

and Peter and John are all out doing

their preaching and teaching there’s

some brethren that obey the gospel in

Samaria and you know who sent there to

lay hands on them to receive the gifts

of the holy spirit

Peter but also the Apostle

John he he changed how he viewed those

people because he knew the invitation

needed to go out to

everyone whatever your group is better

change your way the way you think about

them number three the text says that the

rest seized his slaves and mistreated

them and killed them we already talked

about this earlier but we need to be

prepared that we can be mistreated and

even

killed the shoot the old cliche of shoot

the messenger right that’s going to

happen I’ve been in my fair share of

Bible studies where that’s happened and

it

hurts but it’s not your

invitation it’s the Lord’s remember

that and then lastly here when the king

came in to look over the dinner guests

just a further emphasis that it’s the

king looking over the dinner guest not

you even on that day of judgment no

matter how good you were at inviting

other people we’re not the ones looking

over the dinner guests that’s the king’s

job and sometimes we try to look over

people before we get to that day

remember that that’s not your job

and then lastly a simple question that

gets back to what we’re talking about

are you dressed for the

occasion and I just want to point out

that our King provides new clothes

whether that was what was going on in

that day and age and that was the point

I I know that the Lord provides us new

clothes he’s good at that and there is a

dress code to join God’s wedding

feast and you’re not left wondering what

it is my wife and I’d imagine a lot of

the women in here are like this but

we’re going to some event to some

occasion and what’s the first question

they ask what should I wear is it this

level or is it that you know I’m trying

to sort out what do I

wear God does not leave us wondering

what we need to wear he tells us in his

scriptures very plainly and

clearly and if I can just look at a few

of those and in Galatians 3:27 for all

you who were baptized into Christ have

clothed yourselves with Christ you need

to be immersed with Jesus clothe

yourselves with him both in the waters

of baptism in terms of having your sins

forgiven like acts 238 talks about but

also in the sense of walking around

clothed with Christ Romans Paul puts it

this way in Romans 13:12 therefore let

us lay aside the Deeds of darkness and

put on the armor of light later down in

verse 14 put on the Lord Jesus Christ

that is what you are wearing that is

what covers you and it is

sufficient because God said it is amen 1

Corinthians 6 as Paul is talking to a

group of people is a passage many of us

in here probably know well some of those

homosexuals the adulterers all of those

others what does he conclude with them

but that some of you were this but you

were washed you were Sanctified you were

Justified look what God did for you

now and so why in the world after he

clothes us and gives us what we need to

wear to the wedding would we take that

off and put back on what we

had how foolish does that look to the

king and so if you can imagine this man

sitting there and I like to think he’s

probably wearing a tank top and a pair

of shorts at this wedding completely out

of place place and the King walks up to

him and says what are you

doing he’s speechless doesn’t have

anything to

say and I like to think that there are

going to be a lot of people on the day

of judgment who are just as shocked as

this

guy whenever the king walks up to them

and says what are you

doing why did you think that that was

okay and what might they say on the day

of judgment if they’re sitting there

speechless and and let’s say they can

utter some words to God as they’re

sitting there clothed the way that they

are what might be some things that they

say on why they’re wearing what they’re

wearing well my preacher said this was

fine all the other churches I go to they

said that I was fine to wear this they

said it’s

okay is that going to be

sufficient what if they finally get some

words out and they say well I just

thought you loved me no matter no matter

what I I thought you just didn’t

care what is the king going to

say and what if they get some words out

and they say I really just thought I

felt deep down that this was going to be

all

right what is the king going to

say he’s going to say I told you what to

wear why didn’t you

listen why didn’t you put it

on there needs to be an emphasis here

that the clothes are provided by the

king and we don’t have to be left

wondering or nervous I’ve talked to

Brethren who have lived long Godly

faithful lives and I’ve asked them where

are you going to go when you die and

they say man I don’t

know

really you don’t trust

God you don’t trust that he told you

what to wear and if you wear what he

told you to wear you’re going to get in

trust

him just wear what he told you

to and put on what he says to put on and

by the way if you want to continue this

point uh if you have a Bible Software

just search the two words put on and go

through the New Testament and look at

the different things he’s telling you to

literally put on to clothe yourself with

that’s what you’re supposed to

wear and then of course as he’s sitting

there speechless the king launches into

what’s going to happen to him bind him

hand in foot throw him into the outer

darkness and in that place there will be

weeping and nashing of teeth it’s clear

that there is Judgment

coming for the man who gets in like

this and again as I love context and

especially love to take a look at the

gospels as a whole judgment in Matthew

is a theme it’s a theme in the other

gospels but it’s really a theme in the

gospel of Matthew as well and here’s all

the different passages where some kind

of judgment is either specifically

alluded to or more generally alluded to

in the gospel of Matthew Jesus does not

sugarcoat

it he says a lot about

hell but he equally says a lot about

what to do to avoid

it and so he says he who has ears to

hear Let Him

hear and when does he say that the

most in The

Parables listen to

them Ponder them study

them so that you’ll be

ready when he says it’s time to come

home and he lastly he ends this with for

many are called but few are chosen it’s

been emphasized but everyone in here

that is a Christian that’s been baptized

you’ve been called you you’ve put on

Christ but will you keep Christ on will

you be one of the chosen that are there

and are you excited for it are you

exciting for a feast like this I

appreciate your all’s kind

attention but the reason why I made that

the last point for the sermon is because

we all need to ask ourselves is am I

ready God is ready we’re about to sing a

song all things are ready to come to the

feast I was hoping that that would be

the invitation song I don’t know what

other invitation song There Is In the

book that matches up with this is

perfectly but are we ready to meet him

if you’re not what’s keeping you

back maybe you’ve not been clothed with

Christ I don’t know everyone in here

maybe you’ve not been baptized maybe you

need to have your sins forgiven and put

on Christ in baptism I just learned that

that’s a baptistry I didn’t know what

that was but that’s a baptistry if you

need to be clothed with Christ this is

an opportunity to do that but there are

a lot of you in here that are Christians

maybe you took the clothes that Christ

gave you

off and you need to

reset you need to get those clothes back

on and you need to ask God God to

forgive you and ask your brethren to

help you they’ll help you they love you

here if we can help you tonight won’t

you come forward now as we stand and as

we

sing