[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 11th of October, 2020, at Pilgrim Reformed Church. This was an abbreviated service, also streamed live, due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our YouTube streaming channel is:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg. Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
During His short ministry on earth, Jesus very often spent time talking to the religious leaders of the day: the chief priests and elders of the Synagogues, the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes. And by “talking” I mean He usually ended up rebuking them or lecturing to them. Fortunately for us, the Gospel writers recorded these discussions so that we can benefit from knowing not to follow the bad examples set by these leaders.
Our reading this morning holds one such lesson, where Jesus draws a word picture for those chief priests and elders, painting a scenario they should be able to see and understand. Please listen and follow along as I read from chapter 22 of the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, verses 1 through 14, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…
1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 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.”’ 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 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. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 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.11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 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 gnashing of teeth.’14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
--Matthew 22:1-14 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, thank You for sending Your own Son Jesus into this world to invite us to spend eternity with You in paradise. All we have to do is accept the invitation, accept Jesus as our Lord, and we will be changed into a new creation befitting Your presence. Thank You, Father, for Your great love and mercy. Please help us to remain faithful and true, and to not stain or spoil our wedding attire. And Father, please protect us from all the effects of the coronavirus and all the troubles of the world around us. Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us for this day. Make us mindful of the invitation we have received from You, and of the importance of the change in us that attendance requires. Show us Your will through Your Holy Spirit and may He guide us through this life. This we pray under the blood and in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Christian author C. S. Lewis once said:
“When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade, all right; but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in? This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. That will not be the time for choosing; It will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side."
We don’t know when Jesus will return to call His church home and to set the world right, so we must be ready at all times. We must be prepared since it could come at any moment, even while we’re sitting here today. Because when He does come, when the Author of Creation comes riding in on the clouds, it will be too late to say, “OK, I’m with You now, Jesus”. By that point, whether we realize it or not, we’ll have already chosen which side we’re own: the side of righteousness and Jesus, or the side of evil and Satan.
Just as we noted in our church reading a little while ago, we have a fundamental choice. Jesus said we’re either for Him or against Him. Choose wisely now, serve Jesus now, and enjoy irresistible love for all eternity.
Our scripture reading comes right after what we looked at two weeks ago, when Jesus cleared the Temple of the moneychangers and had His authority questioned by the chief priests and elders. He told them parables about the two sons and which had actually done the will of the father, and about what the vineyard owner would do to the evil vinedressers who killed his son. In the parable this morning, He continues warning them about the consequences of their refusal to accept the Son of God as their Lord.
In this story there is to be a wedding, with a sumptuous feast to follow. The king sent out invitations and then followed up by sending his servants to call on all the invitees. But no one really wanted to go, so they mistreated and even killed the servants, just like in the previous parable. This time, though, the king sent out his army to destroy all those evil people and their lands.
Then he extended an invitation to the wedding and feast to anyone and everyone his servants could find. At first, the invitation to a glorious party had been given to a select few, but since they all refused, it was extended to many.
And so it is for the grand party that will be eternity in paradise, in heaven. Jesus came first to the Jews, God’s chosen people, and they rejected Him. So the invitation has been given to all of us, Jew and Gentile alike. All are invited, all may attend. And of course, to accept the invitation, we need merely accept God’s Son Jesus as our Lord and Master.
But note that there is one other requirement in addition to accepting the invitation. As we saw a few weeks ago, we need to be changed before we will be allowed entrance into heaven. We need to be wearing the proper attire, the new creation that the Apostle Paul spoke of. We need to be changed spiritually before we can be changed physically when Jesus returns. And that change occurs only when we truly, with all our heart and soul, accept Jesus as Lord, doing as He tells us to do. For many will be given the invitation, but few in comparison will truly accept it.
So just what is involved in accepting the invitation? What is required on our part? Jesus tells us that all we have to do to be saved is to believe in Him as the Son of God. Truly, fully believe. If we do believe in Him, we will accept Him as our only Lord. And if we accept Him as our Lord and Master, we will do what He says.
Paul gives us some very simple guidelines in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verses 4 through 9, when he says…
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
--Philippians 4:4-9 (NKJV)
Rejoice in the Lord and trust in Him in all things. Pray humbly, giving Him thanks and asking for His help. Be gentle and loving in our dealings with others. Give honor to anything that is true and just and pure and lovely and good and virtuous, and act only on those things.
And all of this can be wrapped up in what Jesus commands us: to love one another. Truly, unconditionally love one another, just as Jesus loves us.
The invitation is still being extended and will be right up until the moment Jesus returns. It's up to us to accept it. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus extends invitations to come, follow Him; come, be with Him; come, accept Him. From the day after His baptism all the way through His revelation to the Apostle John, we are invited to come.
Come to the wedding and the grand feast to follow. Come to the cross, where our dear Savior died. Come to the tomb, and see it empty. Come, and be with Jesus forever in paradise.
In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Savior, the one true Son of God. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, thank You for inviting us all to the wedding of Your Son and the great feast to follow. Thank You for offering up Your Son as a blood sacrifice for us, to wash us clean of our sin so that we might spend eternity with You. Help us, please Father, to be worthy of Your love. Help us to be properly attired when we come into Your presence, to be changed by Your Holy Spirit within because of our true acceptance of Jesus as Lord. And Father, help us be more loving, more trusting, more merciful, and more kindhearted toward others in our daily walk.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You straight from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, You have given us example after example of how we should pattern our lives if we truly accept You as our Master. More to the point, You have shown us how not to live through the parables You spoke and the rebuking of the religious leaders of Your day. Forgive us, Jesus, for those times when we fail to do as You command, when we fail to love as You love. Forgive us when doubts creep in and the impact of worldly events cause our love to falter. Help us, please, to love one another as You love us, to see one another as You see us. Give us Your heart for loving others. Strengthen us, Jesus, through these dark times. And Lord, please heal the divisions between us, that creep in and separate us, even within Your church family. Help us remain faithful and obedient through the storms raging around us, concerned more with the needs of others than with our own wants and desires. This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
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