I invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 22, the first 14 verses, we find the parable of the wedding banquet, the third of three parables in succession, the first, the parable of the two sons, the one son, the father said, go into my vineyard, my field to work, he said, I will, and then he didn't, he said to the other son, go, he says, I won't, and And he did. Then the parable of the tenants. The master sent his servants to gather the harvest, that which had been harvested. And they abused him. They killed him. He finally sent his son. And they put to death the son. And now the parable of the wedding banquet. The first 14 verses, which serves as our text as well this morning, as we now give our attention to the reading of the Word of God. Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. But they paid no attention and went off. One to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. Friend, he said, how did you get in here without wedding clothes? The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, tie him hand and foot and throw him outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are invited, but few are chosen. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is nothing like a good celebration. We all, at least most of us, I believe, like to celebrate. In fact, we look for reasons to celebrate. Whether it's the fact that your team has won the big game, or it's a birthday party, or the birth of a child, or maybe something even a lot less significant, we like to celebrate, we look for reasons to celebrate, and our celebrations are times of rejoicing. And the signs of rejoicing are laughing and singing and fellowship and eating and drinking. This parable, of course, is about a wedding banquet. And that's something that we can definitely identify with. A wedding reception is a sign of rejoicing. With all the trimmings, the finest clothing, the bride and the groom and the wedding party all decked out in beautiful garments, And even the guests who come to the wedding, properly dressed for the occasion. It's a time of fellowship and communion and joy and happiness. It's also a time of feasting, a time of provision with the best quality. And plenty for everybody. And much variety. A wedding reception is among the greatest of all of earthly celebrations. And Jesus uses this greatest of earthly celebrations to give us a glimpse of the most wonderful celebration of all. The wedding feast of God's kingdom. Verse 2, The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. And in Revelation 19, verse 9, John is told to write, Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The kingdom of heaven is described as a wedding feast because there in that kingdom is perfect fellowship and communion with God and His saints. Only in the kingdom of heaven does one find the celebration to end all celebrations as God's people rejoice in the forgiveness of sins, the favor of God, God's peace that passes understanding, the great and the precious promises of Holy Scripture, access to the throne of grace, the comfort and the presence of the Holy Spirit, as well as the unfailing assurance of eternal life. This parable is an earthly picture with this wedding banquet that is understandable. It is an earthly picture of the heavenly joy and the supreme happiness that belongs to God's people in fellowship with Him. Now, as we have said before, when it comes to parables, not every detail necessarily has a specific significance. Sometimes the details are given simply for story purposes, but this parable really is quite straightforward. It's quite easy to understand as well. The king represents God. His son represents the Lord Jesus Christ. His servants represent the prophets and the ministers of God. And it speaks of God's gracious invitation in the Gospel, but also, sadly, of the indifference and the arrogant way many people respond to that invitation. And this parable, along with the previous two, the two that come before it, in no way were flattering to the religious leaders of Jesus' day, especially the Pharisees. In fact, these parables were more of an offense to them. If you look at verse 15, we stop at verse 14. Look at verse 15. Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap Him in His words. Not because they were happy with what He said. They were terribly offended. Especially here as Jesus identifies those who receive the blessing of His kingdom. See, these guys were pretty smart. And they put two and two together and figured out that Jesus wasn't talking about them when He was talking about those who would receive the blessing of His kingdom. And Jesus identifies them, first of all, by exposing those who dangerously reject the kingdom. They understood this. It was an understandable illustration. The king's custom of that day was that when he was going to have a great banquet, he would send out, like a wedding feast, he would send out invitations. How complete? We don't know. Maybe it was something like, save the date. Like some of us do today. Save the date. But he would send out an invitation well in advance to the nobles and the elite of society, to the appointed leaders whom he had placed over the districts of his kingdom, to those who were profitable to his rule, to those who were important to him, those who were VIPs. And the invitees then were to be sure to mark their calendars so they could be there. Because nothing was more important than the king's banquet. And that's because no one was more important than the king. And then the king would send out his servants with a message, the time has come, that date, it's here. Everything's ready, so come now. And here we can't help but notice too that Jesus points to the patience of the king. There's a total of three notices given. The servants are sent to whom? To those who had been invited. So when the servants went and said, it's time, that was the second announcement. And then when those invited refused to come, more servants were sent out. So this is number three. And this time describing the abundance, the bounty, the blessing that was waiting for those who would come. As we read in verse 4, tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. In other words, it's going to be great. you don't want to miss this. Beloved, this of course points to the history of God's chosen people. To the Israelites who enjoyed a privileged position. They were chosen of God from among all the nations of the earth. He had set them apart. He had set His favor upon them. They enjoyed the blessing of His Word. And they were told time and time again through the types and the shadows and the ceremonies of the law, they were told, those things all pointed forward to the wedding feast of His Son that was coming. God sent out the multitudes of His prophets. He sent out John the Baptist. He sent His own Son, Jesus Himself, preaching the Kingdom. Jesus sent out His apostles. He sent out the seventy two by two time and time again. The people. including the Jews, the religious leaders of the day, heard the blessings of the kingdom preached with a call to repent of their sins and believe. And so many of them rejected the kingdom. They rejected her king. In fact, John in his gospel in chapter 1 already, verse 11, says, He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. John goes on in verse 12, Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. How wonderful! Yet we're left with that phrase, His own did not receive Him. And in the parable, we can't help but notice the unmistakable rejection. And it's put before us in two ways. One of the ways is found in verse 5. But they paid no attention and went off one to his field, another to his business. We might call that ignorant neglect. these did not see the kingdom as the pearl of great price that's worth everything. Instead, they were preoccupied with their own business. And they neglected God's business. They failed to see that all of life, all of life is God's business. In Luke 14, we find the parallel account of this parable. And Matthew gives more detail. It's more comprehensive in some ways. Yet Luke gives a little different flavor with regard to some of the details. And he gives some of the excuses. Remember those? One said, I've just bought a field. I have to go check it out. The other one said, I just bought five yoke of oxen. I've got to go try them out. Imagine that, going to work instead of a celebration. The other one said, I just got married. I cannot come. Notice, not even getting married is a good enough excuse to reject God and His kingdom. Not even getting married is a good enough reason to skip the worship of God's people. These people put their own affairs and their own life in first place and they put the things of God and God Himself, the giver of life, in second place. They were fully engrossed in the pleasures and the treasures of this life, and at the very same time, they were ignorant of the meaning and of the importance of the blessing of the kingdom. And Peter speaks of this very ignorance in connection with killing Christ. In Acts 3, verse 17, he says, Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. See, beloved, to be sure there are some who reject the Gospel, but they do so not so much because they actively hate it. They hate it as their actions show. But they don't so much actively hate it, but they simply love the world more than they love the Gospel. They have no feeling one way or the other toward the Gospel. They see no need for themselves for the Gospel. Maybe later. It might come in handy later. And there are so many things in this world and this life that imprison the souls of many people and keep so many from faith in Jesus Christ. And sadly, so many are too busy for God and the things of God. But when the time comes, they will not be too busy to die. And then what? And sadly, even in the church today, there are so many lukewarm and indifferent Christians. Like the church in Laodicea that our Lord spoke of in Revelation. Those who in essence just don't care. And when it comes to the church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom concerns, for them it's a matter of convenience. They'll get involved if it fits their schedule. If it costs them nothing. If there's something in it for them. Yet they take pride in the least little bit involvement in the life of the church. Well, I contribute financially. I send in my check faithfully. You get it in the mail every month. Or I attend at least one service unless there's a weekend getaway that I've got planned. And they also at the same time want others to think that they are totally committed to the church of Jesus Christ and His kingdom. But the truth is they are more interested in their good credit than in Christ. They are more interested in their own life than in the life of Jesus Christ. They spend more time reading business news and novels in the Bible. Yeah, but preacher, what if they're Christian novels? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. They're happy just giving their least for the kingdom. Praise God, beloved, He did not give us His least. He gave us His best. His most. But there's another attitude of rejection reflected in the text. Verse 6, Where we read, the rest seized His servants, mistreated them, and killed them. Ignorance, ignorant and neglect on the one hand, and now willful opposition. There are those who violently oppose the Gospel. They hate God. They hate His Son. They hate the church. They hate His people. They hate His Word. Because the Word of God is indeed a two-edged sword that dissects away at man. Indeed, it's the power of God unto salvation for those who believe, but it also attacks pride. It offends self-righteousness. And the Word of God fully exposes the sin in the evil heart of man. And when one is told, well, there is forgiveness for your sin. Do you hear the implication? That automatically means, and they get it, that they are being told they're a sinner. That they are condemned in the sight of God. And they don't like to be told that because they don't see it that way. Once again, in history, the prophets were treated cruelly by the hands of God's people. They were tortured. They were stoned. They were killed. They were sawn in two, as Hebrews 11 says. And as tradition says, Isaiah was sawn in two. Of course, our Lord Jesus Christ was put to death because He was rejected. In Matthew 23, Jesus says that the scribes and Pharisees are descendants. In fact, He says that they, in essence, give testimony. They don't mean to, but they give testimony to the fact that they are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. And the word mistreated in this text has the idea that these servants were openly and publicly insulted and humiliated. And the book of Acts, we know, is filled with evidence of cruel treatment that was suffered by the servants of the risen and the ascended Lord Jesus Christ even unto death. And there are books out written. Fox's book of martyrs written about the martyrs, especially at some of the time of the Reformation, who gave their lives for their faith. Without concern, they gave their lives. And we know that there are people today too in some parts of the world who are still put to death by those who hate God. We don't struggle with that, fortunately. But yet even in our own country, there are many who take their hatred for God out on His servants. Our society loves a good scandal in the church. When a so-called preacher, maybe a high-profile evangelical preacher, falls from grace, as it were, That's more important and more newsworthy than a high-ranking official who has committed some gross sin. And the world looks for inconsistencies in the lives of Christians. May we not give it to them. But indeed, they still take out their hatred for God upon His servants. When I was still in junior high, walking to school, going to the Christian school, many times the public school bus would drive by and the windows would open up and things were thrown out the windows at us. Physical things, as well as words that were cast at us. They didn't like us. Because they thought that we thought we were a little better than they were. The invited guests clearly misunderstood the command. You say, where's the command? There's a command here. You see, the guests thought that their attendance was optional. They thought that it was their right to decide whether or not to attend this feast. Kind of like we're accustomed to. We send out an invitation with an RSVP, which in essence says, I'm inviting you to my party, to my gathering, so please let me know. Do me the courtesy of letting me know if you will come or not. For us, it's optional. But with the kingdom of God, it's not an option. The people on the guest list, they did not see the invitation as an honor. that they were expected to respond to by showing up. You see, beloved, God's invitation to repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not an option. It is a command. Why? Because it is for our eternal good. It's the most important thing we need. These calls of the King in this parable were not calls begging the people to come. But they were commands. even as Paul says in Acts 17 verse 30 truly those times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent and we notice the destructive result because of their actions these first invited guests demonstrated their unworthiness by their actions the punishment was that they were destroyed their city was burned Some say that here Jesus is pointing forward to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by Rome, and that may very well be. But ultimately, it points to the destruction of hell for those who reject Jesus Christ. That's the only thing left for those who reject Him. The destruction of hell. Yet, beloved, the feast was ready. And the king would not have his table left empty. And therefore, in the second place, Jesus identifies those who receive the blessing of His kingdom by including those completely unworthy of the kingdom. And you say, well, wait a minute. Now, weren't these first ones unworthy? Absolutely. Everybody. All were unworthy, as these rejecters demonstrate. But here we're talking about those who were unworthy in the sight of man. Again, the king sent out his servants now. He said, gather everybody. Whoever you see, if they need help coming in, whatever the case, bring them in. And those who were brought in, the text says, were both good and bad. Again, not in the sight of God, but those who were good and bad in the sight of men. And in Luke's account, again, he says that these were drawn, he makes it clear that these were drawn from the poorest ranks of life. The crippled, the blind, the lame. Those who were considered to be of no use to and no use in society. Those who were helpless and needy and dependent. Because we all know that a king deserves to be surrounded by the best. He deserves to be surrounded by the great, by those who are influential, by those who are powerful, by those who are profitable to him, by those who support his rule, his administration. But here in the parable, we have really what we might call a smorgasbord guest list. It includes a little bit of everybody, of every kind. And the point is that all who came, came not because of any previous history or certain condition that made them worthy to come. They were all unworthy. The people who were brought in were not those who were important or strong or wise or mighty in the eyes of the world, but they were those who came from every class and condition irrespective of their former character or their present rank, no matter what they were like. No sin was too great. They didn't have to be able to afford $2,500 a plate to hear this politician. They were all brought in to celebrate with the King. And again, the book of Acts is a beautiful picture of the Gospel going on to the Gentiles, to the nations. In Acts 13, verse 46, in Antioch, Paul says to the Jews, it was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. No, they didn't judge themselves unworthy. I mean, they wouldn't see themselves that way, but Paul's saying by the very fact that they rejected the Word of God, they in essence judged themselves unworthy. And he says, Behold, because of that, we turn to the Gentiles. You see, beloved, in the sight of God, it's a very different sight. It's a very different picture. That external call goes indiscriminately to all men, to all people who hear the Gospel with the command to repent of their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No longer is it a particular nation or earthly designation or class or culture of people that have a special standing before God when it comes to these things. As Paul says in Romans 10, For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him, for whoever calls in the name of the Lord shall be saved. That is one of the most comforting verses in the Bible. whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And you know what that points to? That points to a full banquet. Jesus says in John 6.37, all that the Father gives Me will come to Me. That points to a full banquet. It is to be comforting to you and Me that the house will be full. As verse 10 says, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Beloved, God's plan cannot and will not be altered or frustrated by those who reject Him. Jesus Christ did not die for nothing. He died effectively for those whom God has chosen. He will bring into the blessing of His kingdom all those whom the Father has chosen from eternity. And that choice is not based on who you are or who your friends are or the achievements you have made in this life or what you can do or did do, boys and girls and young people, you need to understand what a privilege you have been given. You need to understand what a privilege you have been given. That God has placed you in a Christian family with parents who love the Lord and desire that you be saved. That God has placed you in a Christian church to be fed, Lord's Day by Lord's Day, feasting on His Word. That God has provided with you a Christian school with teachers who love the Lord and desire that you grow in grace and truth and hope. But you need to understand that those privileges do not save you. Just because you are associated with Christian parents or attend the Christian church or Christian school. None of that saves you. But you must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because you are sinners. Just like every one of us. You are sinners in need of salvation. And you are called to repent of your sins and believe on Him, profess His name and become a part of the church of Jesus Christ, the visible church, even as He makes you a part of His universal church. It's not because of what you and I have done that God has chosen us, but because of what He has done. And therefore, Jesus identifies in the third place those who receive the blessing of His kingdom by revealing those graciously prepared for the kingdom. And we want to notice that by looking at the hard lesson of the hard lesson of being unprepared. Now look at verse 11. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. The king came in to enjoy his guests. And one caught his attention. This man was a picture of blind confidence. See, one could only come into the king's presence properly prepared and that including the right clothes. If you get invited to a formal with the president or the queen or the king, you've got to wear the right clothes. You've got to be dressed properly. And it was a custom again that the king himself would provide wedding clothes. He didn't even have to go out and buy new ones. They would be given to you. But this man refused them. And therefore, he was unprepared. He was unfit for the king's presence. He decided that his own clothes were good enough. He decided that the king was only worthy of his everyday clothes. And he has a picture of the truth that there are frauds, there are fakes in the visible church. There are those in the church on this earth who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and who try to sneak into the kingdom by their own worthiness. There are many who see themselves as worthy of God's kingdom blessing based on their own righteousness or on their own good works or on their own honest and good and law-keeping life. They believe that the good that they have done outweighs the bad. And surely that is enough to reserve for them a seat at the heavenly banquet table. When I was young, maybe 8 or 10 or 12, I don't remember exactly, but when starting to understand some of these things, it started to bother me. I knew that I hadn't been good enough. Yet I hope that I hadn't been so bad. I trust you see the vanity of that way of thinking. By the very fact that I knew that I hadn't been good enough, disqualifies me completely. Scripture is clear that our spiritual robes, that is those of our own making, are unbelievably ugly. That all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. That the garments of our good works are torn and tattered and stinking and are unworthy to stand in God's presence and to partake of the blessing of His kingdom. We know that by this man's speechless response. Look at verse 12. Friend, the king asked, How did you get in here without wedding clothes? The man was speechless. Those four words are just pregnant with meaning, as we would say. The man was speechless. This man rejected the authority of the king. He rejected the gift of the king. But when he was brought face to face with the majesty of the king, he was disarmed. He was speechless. And that's how it will be on Judgment Day, beloved. As those who are brought face to face with the majesty and the purity and the holiness of God standing before Him clothed in their own righteousness, they will be speechless. They will have nothing to say. Nothing to offer. No foundation to stand on as the stain of their sin and shame is brought into the clearest of lights. And they will be without excuse. You see, beloved, it's insulting to God when He provides the guaranteed way. It is insulting to God to try to come on our own terms or to present our own merits as worthy or to feel safe in ourself. How dangerous that is. Notice the reward for self-righteousness. This man, he was completely unable to stand in the king's sight and therefore he was removed from all association with the king's goodness and favor. He was cast into torment. Those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ will not celebrate the wedding feast of the bridegroom. But they will dine with the devil. They will suffer real sorrow and torment of hell where there is extreme want. But no provision, no satisfaction. Yet there is hope, beloved, for those who look outside of themselves. We consider that hope in a special way during this season of the year as we look forward to observing Good Friday. and celebrating Easter. The saving sacrifice, the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. My hope is in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And therefore, we cannot miss the beautiful truth of borrowed clothes as we consider the guests who were brought in and clothed. It's only the wedding garment of the King that makes us worthy to partake of the King's blessing. And that garment, very simply, is the white robe of Christ's righteousness. Paul says in Romans 13-14, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Philippians 3, he speaks of a righteousness, not of his own making, but a righteousness that comes only from Christ. And Isaiah says the Lord clothes His people with the garments of salvation. In other words, He covers them with a robe of righteousness. See, the blood of Jesus Christ is the only miracle stain remover that washes me and makes me whiter than snow. Boys and girls, you must understand that your sin is real. Your sin is black. It is filthy. And it stains worse than any stain that could stain your clothing in this life. It stains down to the very depths of your heart. Your sin is deadly. But only the blood of Jesus. But the blood of Jesus is a miracle stain remover that makes me worthy to come into the presence of God. And the blood of Jesus transforms my life and by the power of the Spirit, He causes me to not only be able to say that I'm a Christian, but He enables me to be a Christian. And that righteousness alone is given to those chosen by God whom He makes worthy for the sake of the precious blood of Christ by faith alone. Worthy to partake of kingdom blessings. Jesus closed this parable with these words, For many are invited, but few are chosen. The gospel message. Where the call to repent and believe is to go to all the world. To every ear. But the truth is those who will respond in faith are those whom God has chosen and they will respond in humility by the power of the Holy Spirit as they recognize that they are totally and completely unworthy and undeserving of this call. And them, Jesus Christ, close with His righteousness for a celebration to end all celebrations because this one will never end. Brothers and sisters, this invitation comes through the cross of Jesus. This invitation is written with His blood. His saving sacrifice is the only ticket to this eternal celebration. And there is nothing more important for you and me than this. This life that we enjoy so much is joyless without the confidence of being included in the blessing of the heavenly celebration. And so many, maybe some of you here, so many have heard this call, this invitation time and time and time again, more times than you can count how patient God is. but His patience will not last forever. This call is true, it is sincere, it is no hoax. And many who have heard it countless times have not yet responded in faith. Have you responded? If you have, and I know most of you have, then praise God for graciously preparing you by faith in the Son He loves. But if you have not, then what are you waiting for? Because today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow may be too late. And what a celebration it will be. A celebration, a never-ending celebration of abundance, provision, and fellowship with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Beloved, there is no greater reason to celebrate. And there is no one greater with whom to celebrate than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Come to Him. Let's pray together. Father, once again, we are amazed at what You do for us because of what You have done for us in Christ Jesus. Not only have You chosen a people for Yourself from before the foundation of the world, but You continue to extend Your call, Your invitation, Your command to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And indeed, of those among us, some answered by Your grace earlier than others. Some have not yet answered. And we pray, Lord, that You would work powerfully and effectively in the hearts and lives of Your people, those whom You have chosen who have not yet come to You in faith. Pray, Father, that You would be pleased to bring them maybe even today to work in their heart and their life in a most powerful way. that they might see this most important thing that we need, that You have provided fully and completely in Christ Jesus. Hear us, we pray, O Lord, for Jesus' sake. Amen.