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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e than welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Song of Solomon for our call to worship Song of Solomon Chapter 5 while you're turning there I'll remind you what the book is about I'll take it from John Owen I with whom I agree the whole book of canticles is designed to no other purpose but variously to Shadow forth to insinuate and represent the mutual love of Christ and the church blessed is he who understands the sayings of that book and hath the experience of them in his heart well in song 5 beginning in verse 10 my beloved is white and Ruddy Chief among 10,000 his head is like the finest gold his locks are wavy and black as a raven his eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters washed with milk and fitly set his cheeks are like a bed of spices Banks of scented herbs his lips are lies dripping liquid myrr his hands are rods of gold sat with Barrel his body is carved ivory inlaid with sapphires his legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold his countenance is like Lebanon excellent as The Cedars his mouth is most sweet yes he is altogether lovely this is my beloved and this is my friend oh Daughters of Jerusalem where has your beloved gone oh fairest among women where has your beloved turned aside that we may seek Him With You amen well please turn in your hym books to Psalm 100 Psalm 100b as in bravo and we'll stand as we sing together sing to the Ser his PR for is he us all we are the be she his his [Music] the his Mercy is for [Music] let us pray our blessed God and Holy Father we gather together again on this Lord's Day evening to acknowledge that you are indeed the most high that you are from Everlasting to Everlasting that you are Father Son and Holy Spirit glorious and wondrous and worthy to be praised we acknowledge your handiwork in the created order we bless you for that wisdom and that power and that goodness that is displayed in creation we acknowledge your power and Providence wherein you govern all your creatures and all their actions and we as well Marvel at Redemption at that Grace and that Mercy that you have given to us the fact that you have sent your son into this world Sinners to save we Rejoice that you have included Us in that blessed lot we pray that you would be enthroned upon the Praises of your people here tonight we pray that the Holy Spirit would guide us and direct us and cause us to worship you in spirit and in truth and may we approach you with that reverence that is due to such a holy and glorious God but may it be mingled with great joy with Thanksgiving and gratitude that you have saved us by your grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that one who came down from heaven who assumed our Humanity who lived for us who died for us and who was raised again for us we rejoice in the gospel of our salvation and God may it be the case that you would encourage and strengthen and build us up in our Most Holy Faith cause us to walk in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit cause us to be faithful in terms of witness and testimony as this bride describes the bridegroom to the daughters of Jerusalem and then they are desirous to find him as well we ask that you would forgive us now for all of our sin and transgression we pray for cleansing in the Precious Blood of the Lamb we thank you for the promises of scripture that if you Lord should Mark iniquities oh Lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared we Rejoice that you are good to us and merciful to us and that we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous we do pray father for those who've come here amongst us tonight that are dead in their trespasses and sins that you would awaken them they would hear of Christ that one who's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 and they would be called out of Darkness into Marvelous Light confessing faith in him alone we pray for your blessing upon other churches in our community we thank you that we're not here alone we pray that you would Prosper them that you would bless bless them that you would dwell in the midst of the assembled people of God in various churches we pray for the brethren in Suri and in Armstrong and in dren we thank you as well for the church in Sig toek and pray for John and Melena we also pray father for your blessing upon the Grace Baptist Church in eldoret the Grace Baptist Church in kumu we pray for your mercy to be upon that land of Kenya and God we ask that throughout this Earth your gospel would go forth that you would be pleased to bless that word that you would call Sinners out of all these different tribes and tongues and peoples and Nations we have great confidence that the knowledge of the Lord will cover the Earth as the waters cover the sea we know that Christ must Reign till all of his enemies are made his foot stol and in that that time we pray that the church would be about that Great Commission going and and and calling Sinners to repentance and Faith baptizing them and teaching them with that great assurance that Christ is with us even to the End of the Age We ask for your blessing God to be upon our church in terms of our various needs we pray for those who are not well physically we pray father for those who are struggling spiritually which often times includes each and every one of us we pray that you would increase our faith in the Savior cause us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior cause us to be faithful unto you as well we thank you for our many children and for the the the young people in this congregation we pray that they would heed the the Solomon's word that they would remember their creator in their youth as well we pray for the many babies in the womb we pray father that you would bless these mothers bless these little ones and in your time may they come forth God be merciful to us now continue with us in this glad hour and we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen will you can turn with me again in your hym books to number 381 381 we'll stand as we sing together BL and and glory and power and riches [Music] the king the and the the Earth great glor and and and his of his the S and the joy glory and praise is the K of the and PR the GL and praise to the L take and the Heart the sing the song of The L was well turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew's gospel Matthew chapter 22 Matthew chapter 22 we're going to look at the parable of the wedding feast in verses 1 to4 but of course it's in a context and basically that context begins in chapter 21 with the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus Christ and then we see that jesus' Authority is questioned by the religious leaders notice in chapter 21 specifically at verses 23 to 27 following that there are eight confrontations between Jesus and the religious leaders you've got uh the confrontation followed by three Parables and then four questions and again it's the unbelieving religious leaders in Israel that were upset because of the great reception that our Lord got when he came into Jerusalem so as I said these parables are focused primarily against the religious leaders though the one we're looking at is a bit more expansive than that and then of course the question and answer and confrontation in chapter 22 between our Lord and between those religious leaders this then goes to chapter 23 where Jesus makes a prophetic condemnation against the scribes and the Pharisees he pronounces woes upon them and then in chapter 24 we have the olette discourse where Jesus then prophesize the destruction of Jerusalem in ad70 so this section is probably or most likely Tuesday of the passion week so I'll read beginning in verse one in chapter 22 and Jesus answered and spoke to them again by Parables and said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain King who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding and they were not willing to come again he sent out other servants saying tell those who are invited see I have prepared my dinner my oxen and fatted cattle are killed and all things are ready come to the wedding but they made light of it and went their ways one to his own Farm another to his business and the rest seized his servants treated them spitefully and killed them but when the king heard about it he was Furious and he sent out his armies destroyed those murderers and burned up their City then he said to his servants the wedding is ready but those who were invited were not worthy therefore go into the highways and as many as you find invite to the wedding so those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found both bad and good and the wedding hall was filled with guests but when the king came in to see the guests he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment so he said to him friend how did you come in here without a wedding garment and he was speechless then the king said to the servants bind him hand and foot take him away and cast him into outer Darkness there will be weeping and nashing of teeth for many are called but few are chosen amen well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for the written word we thank you that the spirit who gave it to us by uh revelation of God we thank you that he illumin us now and we pray for that we pray that you would guide us and lead us and cause us to reflect upon the Privileges that are ours in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for his Precious Blood we thank you for that imputed righteousness we thank you that you have fit us and prepared us to enter in to the marriage supper of the Lamb again bless us now by your spirit forgive us of all of our sins and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well this is similar in nature to what Jesus teaches in Luke 14 at: 15- 24 but it's not the same Jesus Remember was an itinerant preacher so often times or we can suspect that often times he used similar messages when he was speaking to various audiences so basically what we have in verses 1 and 2 a is the subject of the parable and then we'll investigate the teaching teaching of the par Parable in verses 2B to 14 but notice first in terms of the subject in verse one Jesus answered and spoke to them again by Parables and said looking back at chapter 21 in verse 28 but what do you think a man had two sons and he came to the first and said Son go work today in my Vineyard he's speaking a parable there notice in chapter 21 at: 33 here another Parable there was a certain landowner who planted a Vineyard and set a hedge around it dug a wine press in it and built a tower so Jesus is teaching them in by way of parable specifically with reference to condemnation if you look at each of these it's about entrance into or non- entrance into the kingdom of God look at chapter 21: 31 assuredly I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God and then of course in verses 33 to 40 we have what is called the parable of the vineyard of course the vineyard is God's and if you are excluded from it you are excluded from the presence of God so in 221 we see the same emphasis the Jesus answered and spoke to them again by Parables and said the Kingdom of Heaven is light so he's speaking a parable to underscore the Judgment of God that is coming upon that particular generation for their rejection of the Savior so as I said the location they're in the temple he is disputing and debating with the religious Authority this is Tuesday of the passion week and obviously it is the religious leaders they had questioned his authority in chap 21: 23- 27 and so Jesus goes on a counter offensive to indicate and underscore the Judgment that is theirs so the kingdom of God is the subject and then in terms of the identification of the parties involved I think it's pretty simple it's pretty obvious the certain King is God the Father his son is the Lord Jesus Christ The Wedding Feast is the gospel El Covenant as Matthew Henry describes it I think he's right the servants are the prophets and apostles the first guests called are the Jews and the second set of guests are Jews and Gentiles the emphasis there specifically on Gentiles so a parable designed to show their further condemnation but as I mentioned the expansion of gospel blessing to the uttermost parts of the earth remember in that great Epistle of Paul to the Romans and Romans 1: 16 and 17 he says I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek and in this particular Parable that first set of invitees are the Jews and the second set of invitees are the Gentiles so that brings us then to the teaching of the parable in verses 2B to 14 note the first invitation this is in verses 3-7 the Jew first notice verse two the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain King who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding they had already been called or already been invited to the wedding how had they been invited to the wedding their own documents the law the writings the prophets the Old Testament was a Messianic document through and through promising the Advent of Messiah promising the champion of Israel promising the one who would be the deliverer promising the one that would come who would assume our Humanity who would live for us who would die for us and would be raised again for us so he sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding so there is this uh uh invitation that goes out to Old Covenant Israel in the old co uh Old Testament but then notice their response in verse three sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding and they were not willing to come John announces this in his prologue in John chapter 1 it tells us that Jesus came to his own and his own received him not you can see throughout the gospel records that the Jews the unbelieving Jews resisted him they rejected him they cried out away with him away with him crucify him they asked for Barabas and insurrectionist a a murderer they would rather have that man free than the Lord Of Glory even our Lord Jesus Christ you trace through the book of Acts where does the first uh wave of opposition to the gospel come it comes from unbelieving Israel and so this is what Jesus is doing he is underscoring the condemnation that belongs to these men for rejecting and resisting the blessings that God had promised in the old Covenant they had missed it they had rejected it they had resisted it and this is the account so he sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding and they were not willing to come now notice in verse 4 there is this descriptive invitation it's an enticement to them it is a an invitation that is designed or calculated to promote in them a willingness to come and as I mentioned Isaiah 55 this morning think about it again how everyone who is thirsty let him come God promises wine he promises water he promises milk he promises blessings Untold to all those who come to the Blessed Lord Jesus so the same thing is here notice in verse four again he sent out other servants saying tell those who are invited see I have prepared my dinner my oxen and fatted cattle are killed and all things are ready come to the wedding so what we find here is this gracious invitation on the part of the father for those that have been invited to attend attend this wedding feast and to stop at the marriage supper of the Lamb it is God's grace it is God's blessing and again conveyed by those Old Testament prophets the psalmist and the the the lot sell for the Torah and so then we find that the the the invitation is refused so notice the the means of or rather the manner of their refusal so there's a general statement in verse three they were not willing to come but in verses 5 and six we see that drawn out a bit more so with reference to the unwillingness of these invite invitees it's an affront to the king imagine if you're the king and you've set up this gracious glorious Bounty and you confer this benefit upon all of your subjects and they say you know we're just not interested in coming I've got other things to do I've got paint to watch dry I've got grass to watch grow I've got a whole host of other things that occupy my attention that unwillingness itself is a bad thing as Carson mentions they slight the king whose invitation is both an honor and a command and the marriage of whose son is a time for special Joy but then notice they're indifferent according to verse 5 but they made light of it and went their ways one to his own Farm another to his business they made light of the king's invitation now if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ tonight I'm not trying to pick on you but I want to encourage you to not be unwilling and not to make light of the gracious invitation in the external call of God's holy gospel in other words it is a privilege to receive the invitation it is a privilege to sit under the gospel it is a privilege to hear these things there have been multitudes that have lived and died and gone off to Hell who have never even seen the Bible who have never heard special Revelation they've never heard a gospel sermon they've never read CH Spurgeon morning and evening they've never had Godly Parents they've never had faithful pastors they've never had anybody pointing them to the man who hung on the cross for Sinners and it was raised again for them so when it comes to these privileges don't be unwilling and certainly don't make light of it but as well notice they went their ways to farms and to businesses which of themselves are not bad Jesus isn't condemning Farmers he's not the government Jesus is not condemning business he's not the government Jesus is pro those things but it's preoccupation with that over and above the occupation with our Lord that each of us ought to have Bruner says legitimate occupations become Sinister when they are preoccupations Riyal says open sin May kill its thousands but in different and neglect of the Gospel kill their tens of thousands so on the one hand if you're not a Believer tonight I want you to pay attention because you are under privilege you are blessed with the general call of God's gospel and for believers we ought to appreciate the privilege that is ours not only the general call but the effectual call unto everlasting life by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit who has saved us who has caused us to be born again given us the grace of faith and repentance and invited us tonight to participate in this down payment of the great marriage supper of the lamb but it doesn't stop there they're unwilling they're indifferent and then notice in verse six they are violently opposed violently opposed to the son uh to the King and his son verse six and the rest seized his servants treated them spitefully and killed them again this is similar to what you find in chapter 21 at the parable of the vineyard the the the the owner of the vineyard sends out his his Messengers his servants and notice specifically in verse 34 of chapter 21 now when the V uh when vintage time Drew near he sent his servants to the vine dressers that they might receive its fruit and the vine dressers took his servants beat one killed one and stoned another again he sent other servants more than the first and they did likewise to them then last of all he sent his son to them saying they will respect my son but when when the vine dressers saw the sun they said among themselves this is the air come let us kill him and seize his inheritance so they took him and cast him out of the vine Vineyard and killed him therefore when the owner of the Vineyard comes what will he do to those Vine dressers well these men were wretched they were vile they were Broods of vipers but they weren't altogether moronic they understood he will destroy those wicked men miserably and Lease his Vineyard to other Vine dressers who will render to him the fruits in their in their season again it's the same message packaged in a bit of a different way the parable of the of the vineyard the parable of the great wedding Feast is designed to show the coming Judgment of God upon that rebellious nation in 870 but it doesn't stop that uh stop there because there's Eternal condemnation at the end of days now when it comes to this particular situation the Pharisees and the chief priests understood that he was speaking of them they could teach many in the church today because we often times get this wrong well he must be talking about something in the future because it's somewhat connected to the ol ofate discourse it must be in the future no it was a particular contemporary application for the ones that Jesus came to his own and they received him not they had the prophets they had the writings they had the law they had all of this by way of invitation and yet they refused they rejected they despised and they violently opposed God and His Christ then notice under this first invitation still the punishment inflicted see there's privilege but there's liability as well it's a privilege to come under the sound of the Gospel it's a privilege to hear the truth as it is in Jesus it's a privilege to grow up in a land that has Bibles a land that has churches a family that has religion a desire to take their children to the church to hear the gospel there is privilege but attached to that is liability and that liability is liability to judgment and notice in verse 7 but when the king heard about it he was Furious and he sent out his armies destroyed those murderers and burned up their City again the same thing that the Pharisees uh described themselves in chapter 21 at verse 41 and on the heels of that Jesus then says in verse 43 therefore I say to you the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it in other words this is not going to go well for those uh uh unbelieving Jews relative to God most high the kingdom is taken from old Covenant Israel it is given a New Covenant Israel the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ with reference to this statement in verse 7 it is a a description of what's going to happen a generation later from the time of Jesus not from our future but from the the time of Jesus France says the phrase their City thus depicts the devastating result of the failure of Jerusalem's current leadership Jerusalem is now no longer God's City note that shift but when the king uh heard about it he was Furious and he sent out his armies destroyed those murderers and burned up their City Jerusalem was God's holy city you see this often or at least a few times in the book of Deuteronomy when God is dare I say upset I speak in the manner of men with the children of Israel he will call Israel Moses people that is very conspicuous in terms of God's approach it's not that he's changing his mind it's not that he's shifting in his Covenant obligation it is simply a literary technique to show the Judgment of God they are not my people Moses they are your people this is not my city this is their city so back to France Jerusalem is not France this the country but RT France the commentator Jerusalem is now no longer God's City but theirs and the community as a whole is implicated in their rebellion and its punishment as had so often happened in the past when Israel's sin had led to the city's destruction by invading armies as I've mentioned before we preach I preached through the ol of it discourse and a few messages a few years ago we have to understand that this is not in a vacuum what Jesus is doing here is very much symptomatic of what the old Covenant prophets did relative to Israel when God brought judgment to Bear upon the northern tribes via the Assyrian armies we see similar language used when God brought judgment to Bear upon the southern Kingdom of Judah via Babylon we see similar language used so what Jesus is doing is that Jesus is Prosecuting the terms of the Covenant they had filled up the measure of their guilt the time for vengeance was at hand it had been written in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 it is going to come upon this generation Spurgeon says in these terrible words The Siege of Jerusalem the massacre of the people and the destruction of their Capital are all Des red the Roman Emperor thought that he was sending his armies against the Jews but he was unconsciously working out the Eternal purposes of the most high even as the kings of Assyria and Babylon had been in the olden time the instruments by which the Lord had punished his rebellious people he's got a couple of citations there in terms of proof text Brethren this is not a new thing this is what we would expect when the Messiah comes to his own and his own receive him not they are invoking upon their own heads the Wrath the fury and the Judgment of God most high and before you say well that doesn't seem fair I've already mentioned Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 they knew the terms of of the Covenant they swore Fidelity at the base of sin in Exodus 24 all that Yahweh has commanded we will do well no they didn't and that's why we have the Assyrian captivity the Babylonian captivity and then this final destruction and 8070 well that then brings us to the second invitation in verses 8 to13 notice it begins with an indictment against the first guests then he said to his servants the wedding is ready but those who were invited were not worthy because they were unwilling because they were uh uh indifferent and because they were violently opposed because he came to his own and his own received him not they were not worthy they didn't receive him they didn't believe on him they didn't listen to him they didn't understand the Old Testament scriptures and the Contours of the theology there that they were looking for should have been looking for the Divine Son of God who took on our humanity and what they got rather was judgment so then the Lord directs his attention to the Gentiles to the Jew first and also to the Greek you see a similar situation in pidan Antioch in pidan Antioch the Apostle Paul and Barnabas have preached the word and when they have preached the word in a synagogue of the Jews they are resisted they are rejected they are despised the persons are unwilling the persons are indifferent the persons are violently opposed to them so in Acts 13 at veres 46 and 47 it says then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said to the unbelieving Jews it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first but since you reject it judge yourselves Unworthy of everlasting life behold we turn to the Gentiles for so the Lord has commanded us I have set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth Isaiah 426 Isaiah 496 the servant songs of Yahweh so this was always God's plan we're not supposed to read the parable of the vineyard the parable of the sons the parable of the wedding feast and say oh my God failed God's been fled God's been frustrated God is beside himself what shall he do absolutely positively not from the Oracle of Noah we learn of Gentile inclusion in the Covenant Promises of the god of Israel and all throughout the writings all throughout the Torah all throughout the the the the the the prophets you see that you see a Psalm dedicated and devoted to that very theme in Psalm 117 the inclusion of gentiles in the Covenant Promises of God well it hinges here at the coming of the Messiah when Israel rejects him we see them cut off old Covenant Israel and the New Covenant Israel the church is what is God's purpose and plan notice the book of Acts demonstrates the historical movement of what is spoken in the parable again this is all according to plan this is all what we read in the Old Testament the quotation of Isaiah 42 49 by the Apostle Paul and by Barnabas indicates that this is so this was first predicated of Jesus he would be a light to the Gentiles well for Paul and Barnabas they have no problem co-opting that as Jesus Apostle as a servant of the god of Heaven and Earth as a missionary to the Gentiles they see participation in that mission of Christ Christ was a light to the Gentiles Paul is a light to the Gentiles the issue is not will anyone be at the feast the issue is who will be at the feast and for these wretches who had all of the Old Testament for these wretches who had opposed the very Messiah promised in that Old Testament they're not going to be in the feast they are going to be cut off their city will be burned but even more than that they will be consigned to Everlasting hell then notice after the indictment concerning the the first guest you have instruction given to the servants in verses 9 and 10 therefore go into the highways and as many as you find invite to the wedding what is God saying here God's saying something that the church needs to listen to go therefore and Make Disciples of all the nations we are not to be a staying church now there's a sense where we stay when we gather together for worship and that sort of a thing but Brethren there are a whole host of Sinners out there that need to hear the gospel it's why we pray for evangelism we pray for Missions as we're able we should give why does God need our money no but that's the means that we utilize to advance his cause in this present evil age every tribe every tongue every people every nation and so the Lord God calls his servants to go out indiscriminately with this General call of the Gospel therefore go into the highways and as many as you find in right to the wedding notice the responsiveness The Obedience of the servants verse 10 so those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found both bad and good and the wedding hall was filled with guests I think we should understand the reference to bad and good in light of the Kingdom parables in Matthew chap 13 the good and the bad in terms of Wheat and tears in terms of the good and the bad fish in terms of the uh uh the parable of the net catching those again the idea isn't that some slob actually makes it up into heaven and it's from that Vantage Point that he's cast out to hell this is spoken to us in a way that we can understand it's accommodated to us it is a parable you don't press every detail of a parable well I just can't imagine that somebody you know F finagled his way into heaven and you know it was only found out after the father started investigating the G guests that that that's a pressing beyond the limitations of parabolic interpretation it's given to us in a story form so that we'll understand and track that brings us then to the examination at the wedding hall in verses 11 to13 but when the king came in to see the guests he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment again to press this and say what somebody's going to make it into heaven be it the marriage supper of the lamb and then based on attire he's going to be cast out into Everlasting hell no no no no no no but remember it's a story it's a parable it's something set alongside the truth to illustrate the truth it's like opening the shades on the window to let the light in that's what Jesus is doing here by way of parable so the king Comes To The Feast to inspect the guests if you've ever had a child yet married you don't have them at that age but when they're older child you go to to the the the the reception you Mill about you thank people for coming you shuck and Jive you you you you say it's good to see you you you're not examining them well I don't think you're dressed approp appropriately out out you go but but this is common right at a at a reception the parents of the Bride the parents of the bridegroom they they mingle about they they visit the people they they see what's going on but with reference to this particular situation the king comes to inspect the guests and the King identifies who did not have on a wed wedding garment so again verse 11 when the king came in to see the guests he saw a man there who did not have on a w wedding garment so he said to him friend H how did you come in here without a wedding garment and he was speechless now the lack of evidence that Kings provided garments indicates that persons were most likely responsible for wearing clean clothes when they attended such functions uh with reference to the identif ation of this wedding garment there's been as you might imagine a lot of different views Augustine taught that it was love the wedding garment was Love Luther taught what might you think yep faith in Christ Calvin similarly says faith and the works that come from Faith because they're Inseparable once again I'll go with the patron saint of reformed Baptists everywhere John Gil the imputed righteousness of Christ the imputed righteousness of Christ friend how did you get in here without the righteousness of another how did you get in here without that alien righteousness how did you get in here into my presence without being washed in the blood and clothed in his righteousness Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my soul shall be joyful in my God for he has clothed me with the garments of Salvation he has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns him uh herself with jewels so we see here that the king inspects and the King asks him and notice at the end of verse 12 and he was speechless turn for just a moment to the Book of Romans Romans chapter 3 Romans chapter 3 where I think we see a very similar or parallel thought in the language of the Apostle Paul the word is literally he was muzzled there was nothing he could profer there's nothing he could say well you know the guy in the back let me through I I entered through the exit I you know I I I I built my own righteousness I I I I I did really well as far as I could there's nothing that you can say on the day of judgment there's no work there's no effort there's no no benefit there's no uh h a performance that you can offer to God most high to accept you on that day you must be washed in the blood you must be clothed in the righteousness if you do not have that you do not enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb after Paul summarizes the very fact through Old Testament corroboration that that all men everywhere Jew and Gentile are guilty before god notice what he says in chapter 3 at: 19 now we know that whatever the law says it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God therefore this is the summar uh summarizing the point he started in 1118 he concludes here in 3:20 the universality of condemnation for sin For All Mankind therefore by the Deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin just imagine that day I mean imagine right now you you get picked up for a crime and it wasn't you you hopefully will get your day in court and you'll try to be able to prove that it wasn't you you'll get a chance to argue you at least ideally you should get a chance to argue that's not always the case but but you should get a chance for cross-examination for witness testimony for the presentation of evidence all that stuff should obtain but on that day before God we're we're dealing with the omniscient God we're dealing with the God who knows us better than we know ourselves again no Works no merits no righteousness no performance no I was able to obliterate my sin debt through my own oh no there's none of that all the mouth every mouth will be stopped and all the world or all the world may become guilty before God that's the scene that we're dealing with here in Matthew chapter 22 and then on the heels of that the king executes judgment notice in verse 13 back in Matthew 22 then the king said to the servants now there's a different word used here for Servant it's the same English word but here we're dealing with angels the servants previous were the prophets the apostles the Servants of God at the human level that would go out and tell Israel to come to the Lord Jesus to believe to repent to forsake their sin to know the joy of the Lord as their strength but here we have something different this transcends the ad70 Judgment this transcends the burning of the holy city this is rather the age to come then the king said to the servants bind him hand and foot take him away and cast him into outer Darkness there will be weeping and nashing of teeth so when it comes to these invitations we see similarity in the second set of invite tees there are fakers there are false professors there are those who put on a show there are those who may try to pretend that they're Christians but they will be found out be assured of that the scriptures are everywhere clear your sin will always find you out and it's not the sin itself that finds you out it's the god who's over you that knows these things and so thus concludes the parable except for this last sort of enigmatic statement when Jesus says for many are called but few are chosen the Lord continues here his condemnation of ethnic Israel for their rejection of the promised m mesiah I honest honestly believe that's what it means the many called are old Covenant Israelites living in Israel in the first century th those to whom the Messiah had come and they received him not the statement does not mean that only a few people will be saved for many are called but few are chosen I think that Revelation 7 betrays that there's a great multitude that no man can number for from every tribe tongue people and Nation the statement should not be used as the battlecry for hyper Calvinism well you know the Bible says many are called but but few are chosen if you're a hyper calvinist can I encourage you not to hinge on this particular text I would suggest that the statement does not contradict other passages of scripture in Matthew's gospel look at Matthew 8 specifically at verse 11 Matthew chap 8 beginning in verse 10 Jesus heals that Centurion servant and in verse 10 when Jesus heard it he marveled and said to those who followed assuredly I say to you I have not found such great faith not even in Israel and I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven what do you think he's talking about again Gentiles tribe tongue people and Nation he came to his own his own received him not and then verse 12 but the uh the sons of the Kingdom old Covenant Israel will be cast out into outer Darkness there will be weeping and nashing of teeth as well look at chapter uh 26 we're going to read that in a few moments when we transition into the supper Matthew 26 specifically at verse 28 for this is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins so whatever Jesus means in Matthew 22:14 for many are called but few are chosen he can't mean contradiction he can't say many aren't saved and many are saved that's simply contradictory and it doesn't work but even in our text look at Matthew 22 again look specifically at verse 10 the latter part and the wedding hall was what it was filled with guests but then in verse 11 he saw a man seems like it should be just the inverse if Matthew 22:14 is what the hypers tell us it is should be just the opposite there should only be a handful in in that wedding hall there should only be a few as well as I think is correct by Warfield the statement is intended to make an ethical impression not a prophetic declaration other words Jesus is condemning these men he's con confronting them he is dealing with them and absolute honesty about the state of their Never Dying Souls he's not making a prophetic declaration as to how many people are going to be in the kingdom of heaven and I would suggest ultimately the statement refers to the F first group of inv invitees at the time of Christ many were called few were chosen to the Jew first and also to the Greek we cannot deny the apostles and their their Heritage we cannot deny the reality that they would go and preach in Jewish synagogues and some would be saved but for the most part few were chosen they were res uh uh rejected by God most high and I would suggest that the statement also provides warning for us today many are called by the proclamation of the Gospel many are called in terms of a general call or an external call of the Gospel don't just assume that you've heard because you've heard the gospel that you're necessarily going to heaven response to that gospel is to believe that response to the gospel isn't out go out uh go out and do better go out and try harder it's to lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ Christ as our confession says metaphorically it is to receive him and it is to rest upon him that is absolutely crucial well in conclusion there is a pattern for the church here the church must learn from the practice of the king we must go into the highways we must go into the hedges we must go and seek by grace to gather all those who are lost I read Psalm five as a description of Jesus and PSAL 61 what do the daughters of Jerusalem do when they hear that where is your beloved that we may seek him too would to God Almighty that we would describe the savior in a manner similar to that bride in Song of Solomon 5 he's all together lovely he's Chief among 10,000 gospel preachers should be preaching in such a way that they sound like Isaiah in Isaiah 55 oh everyone who thirst come you who have no money come buy and eat we need to insist upon the reality that God is gracious and that God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself there is a great model or Paradigm here for us and in the Song of Solomon and throughout the scriptures and as well the church must learn from the pattern of Israel The Church Must Learn from old Covenant Israel I don't think well there's not going to be a time when the church as church is cut off as a whole but there are those who fake it and claim to be Believers and they're not again your sin will find you out God knows come to the Savior and believe I would suggest as well there is some good doctrine of God's stuff here I think we see his patience we certainly see his patience patience ought to lead you to repentance according to Paul in Romans 2:4 uh Romans 2:4 we see his goodness he not only issues the invitation but he says I've got a fatted calf we've got meat we've got you know everything that will will Delight you Brethren God is patient God is good and God has a plan and he's orchestrated that plan and he will conduct that plan and it will not be thwarted or stopped but as well we see his righteousness we see his judgment both temporally destruction of Jerusalem and eternally with reference to verse 13 bind him hand and foot take him away cast him into outer Darkness there will be weeping and nashing of teeth and then I want to finish with an encouragement for all of us the grace of God is manifested in the external call of the Gospel we have been privileged Brethren when we come to the table or when we have the we still haven't worked that out it's been a busy summer we're going to do that hopefully soon but when we consider this consider again it's a privilege that we have it it's a privilege I'm not a big Bible on the phone guy but man that's a good thing right you you you need a verse and there's your Bible on the phone we are glutted with Bibles we probably all have lots of Bibles at home kids do do you understand the privilege I mean in the history of the world and even presently various person people groups in the world they don't get slept to church by faithful parents on the Lord's day to hear the the call of the Gospel they don't understand they they don't know they they haven't heard as well the grace of God in the effectual call of the Gospel when God opens our hearts when God causes us to see when God causes us to embrace the reality that Jesus is in fact allog together lovely and chief among 10,000 brethren we need to live in light of that reality we have been privileged Paul says we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ I think nights like these times like these when we reflect upon the broken body and the shed blood of our savior are good to ponder the Privileges that we have that we have received and that we enjoy and as well the grace of God in the two-fold end of justification by faith alone we are cleansed with his blood and we are clothed with his righteousness we will enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb having been washed in that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness and uh clothed with that perfect righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ so as we eat this bread and we drink this cup let us do so in remembrance of the one who is allog together lovely who is Chief among 10,000 and who has saved us from our sins well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the clarity of this Parable and for the context of Matthew all as a whole this section we thank you for the the gospel we thank you for that salvation that you've given freely to us we know we didn't deserve it we didn't earn it we don't uh supplement our faith in Jesus with our good works it's solely and alone by the grace of God Almighty through faith in our blessed savior so now father as we take these things help us to remember help us to count ourselves blessed and help us to Rejoice truly and we pray in jesus' name amen we you can turn over to Matthew chapter 26 we'll read a section there as we take the supper just a few reminders the supper is for believers only it is not an ordinance for unbelievers it's a sacrament of the church therefore it is for the people of God who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ as well the supper is for believers who are dealing with their sin you see that especially in First Corinthians chap 11 there is a call there for examination not examination to verify perfect because none of us are perfect but examination to make sure we're maintaining short accounts with God and with men in the First Corinthians 11 situation is sin against other Brethren so 1 Corinthians 11 indicates that examination and examination again doesn't mean you look at your heart make sure there's no sin there no it's an ordinance or the supper is for Sinners it's a means of Grace to encourage to strengthen and to confirm us in our faith as well the ordinance of the supper is a of Grace but these things remain the same I mean they're moved from uh profane to Sacred use in so in so far as we're using them in the church but the bread remains bread the the the wine remains wine they're not transubstantiated they're not cons substantiated there's no change in terms of the elements or in terms of the substance rather it is rather representative or symbolic when he says this is my body he does not mean physically and literally Contra Rome and to a degree Contra Lutheranism both of which end up with big problems in their christology and then ultimately the supper points us to Jesus Christ there is often the case where we get introspective about ourselves now certainly if you've got sin in your heart confess it to God but don't be consumed about you as Murray says it is the Lord we are remembering so frequently Believers become so introspective that preoccupation with themselves excludes preoccupation with Christ do this in remembrance of Me Jesus said so with that if the brothers will come and pass out the bread we will sing while they do that and once the song is over I'll read the section appropriate in Matthew 26 I'll pray and then we'll take the bread together so please remain seated and we'll sing Psalm 130a as in Alpha Psalm 130 [Music] a lord from the deps to you I Cry Oh Lord to me give there and give attention to my voice My Cry for mercy here if you oh Lord should Mark our sins than who the Lord could stand but Parton can be found with you that you may fear [Applause] command I wait my soul awaits the Lord my hope is in him his word yes more than watch men wait for da my soul awaits the Lord oh Israel in God the Lord for mercy is with him with great redemp he will save his Israel from all SA for [Music] Matthew 26 at verse 26 we read and as they were eating Jesus Took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father we rejoice in the gospel of our Salvation we thank you Lord that you sent the son of your love into this world Sinners to save and as John the Baptist said Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world we know he did that he did does that by his own death on calvary's cross and we rejoice in being beneficiaries of that Great ACT we pray that you would be glorified we pray that you would indeed strengthen us and help us to glorify you each and every day we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll take together again please remain seated and turn to 458 just a reminder if you want uh juice instead of wine the juice is in the outer ring of the dish the wine is in the inner ring we'll sit as the brothers pass out the fruit of the vine and sing 48 [Music] PR for [Music] S we bless you for the for in our we rightousness was for all your [Music] trans [Music] so prous [Music] to we can Contin continue uh continue reading reading in I'm sorry verse 27 then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung A Hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives let us pray our gracious God we have the promise of the New Covenant in various places in the old Old Testament and we Rejoice that in this time the Lord Christ inaugurated that New Covenant in his blood we know the old Covenant was ratified by Blood as well but that blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin it typified that Lamb of God and we rejoice in that blood that does cleanse us from all sin we bless you and we praise you for your kindness and your graciousness and your goodness to us and for this provision of your dear son and we pray now through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll take together together well there in verse 30 it says when they had sung A Hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives likely they sang from the Salter Psalms 113 to 118 so we'll conclude our service tonight by singing 117b as in bravo 117b we'll stand as we sing together s his prise for his TR forever and his love is is is hallelu praise the [Music] Lord oh Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is Mercy and with him is abundant Redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation e e