Welcome this morning to the proclamation of God's holy word. My name is Fred Lodge, I'm pastor emeritus here. It's my joy to be with you today as our pastor is getting some downtime vacation. Be praying for him. Also, Timothy is playing hooky.

I mean away on vacation, excuse me. He's having some well deserved time that he's away there with Dalton and the baby and all the good stuff there. So this morning, if you will, turn your Bibles into Matthew chapter 22 as we continue the series that pastor have us on about the kingdom parables. Now, it's not all of the kingdom parables, but many of them are involved in this series. And today we'll pick up yet another one.

This one is about kingdom reception. How receptive are we to God's invitation to be the Lord of our lives and to live our lives under his lordship. Now, I'll remind you even now that the Jews who were listening to Jesus were not very receptive at all to what he was saying. As a matter of fact, in chapter 21, the two parables that precede this one about the two sons, one an obedient, one disobedient, and then the evil vinedressers, those were launched in the face of the Jews who were denying him and were actually looking for his opportunities to kill him. So this is what's immediately preceding this particular story.

Now this parable is almost like a play that you see in four scenes. Four scenes. We're going to look at them as we go, these four scenes. But if you will stand with me in honor of God's holy word. And let's read from Matthew 22, beginning with verse one, the word of God says, 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 calf 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. And 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 are invited were not worthy.

Keep that phrase in mind. Not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite them to the wedding. So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found both good and bad. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came to see those guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. And he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot. Take him away and cast him into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

For many are called, but few are chosen. Pray with me, Holy Spirit, again, we come before you because you are the ultimate author of these words. You hovered over them as it was spoken. You saw to it that Matthew recorded them, and you have stood vigilant guard over these words throughout all of the years. Today, come here today as the inerrant word of God to fill the ears and minds and hearts of the people of God.

And so we open ourselves to you, Lord, open our hearts and minds before you in genuine worship as we pray together in Christ's name. Amen.

As you're seated, let me just remind you those two earlier parables, just to refer back to them, Jesus didn't actually explain the parable until he got to the end of those two. This one he starts out by saying, now what I'm about to tell you is about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. Now, let me be sure you understand, when that phrase was used in the ears of a Jew, they understood, oh, this is for us. We are the exclusive ones who have access to. To the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.

But when Jesus began speaking these parables, they also knew beyond any stretch of a doubt, he was speaking to them. No question about that. He had them in the microscope and was looking at them specifically. So he said, this is about the kingdom of heaven. And he wanted to give the most incredible opportunity and the most absurd response.

Now, we'll see that as we go on. In the ancient near east, as even still is true today. In many countries in the Near East, a wedding was the biggest thing that happened in a family, and many times the biggest thing that would happen in that town or community over the course of maybe the entire year.

Wedding feasts were big deals, and it began with a huge banquet. At that banquet, all of those who were invited would come. They would bring gifts to the bride and groom. They would recognize them, they would have prayers over them, dancing around them. All of these things and have this magnificent banquet.

And then while all the party was going on, the bride and groom would be dismissed to go start their lives together in the middle of the compound. Strange, I know, but that's the way it was. But these parties went on for a week. They would be week long with festivities and with all kinds of things going on and more feasting and more meals. This was a week long affair.

Now that's just a regular wedding. Let's take that up a notch to a royal wedding. Now that's a little strange for us. We live in a republic here, we don't live under a monarchy. But you've probably seen some videos, newsreels or whatever of royal weddings, especially in Great Britain and other places.

I mean, it's a big, big deal when it's a royal wedding. Now guests here in the royal wedding, they were invited to come stay in the palace and everything was prepared for them. I want you to understand this very well because this continues today even in some countries. Those who are invited would not have the resources to come and spend a week or two weeks or maybe even a month in the process of these celebrations. And so the king would make provisions for all of those that he was inviting without question.

So you didn't have to worry about getting time off. The king ordered the time off. Your boss couldn't very well fire you for that, but he would also see to it that you had all of your wages, all of those things that you had time away. And then you would probably say, especially your ladies would say, what do I wear to an event like that? And so, not a problem.

Not only were your rooms prepared, your meals prepared, your place where you did at the table, but the actual clothes you would wear for each event had already been bought in your size, laid out in order where you would wear each of these outfits to whatever event it was going on. So everything is taken care of in this situation. That's a royal wedding. Now let's take that up one peg higher. And this is the king putting on a celebration, a wedding for, for his son.

Now all of the stops are pulled out. So what Jesus is presenting here is the most incredible celebration that you can possibly imagine. But again, because we live in a republic and not in a monarchy, that still is kind of strange for us. So can I put this a little bit closer to home? Consider your favorite and the most respected president that you've ever sat under, whether he's living or dead.

Just choose the one that has meant the most of you. That's most like you, whatever. Doesn't matter which one it is. Okay, so one morning you hear a knock at the door and you go there and there's a courier from the White House that has credentials with your name on it, a seal that only you can break. And it is your invitation to the inauguration of that President.

Now that's not something that happened. Just for one moment when he stands there, puts his hand on the Bible, raises his hand and promises again. This is a week long event and it has to do with all these celebrations. Dignitaries from all the way around the world. And you, you have been invited.

Me? Why would I be invited to something like that? I want that weight to hit you. Because none of these people who were invited were worthy of going. They weren't invited because they were the, you know, the big shots in the, in the country.

But out of the Cree, the King's big gracious heart, he chose you. The President chose you out of all the population to come and be with him on this inauguration. And again, you would say, I can't take that much time off work. I'll take care of it. I don't know what to wear.

Don't worry about it. I've got that taken care of. Your room is prepared. Your clothes are all prepared. Your food is prepared to your liking.

I know how you like your steak. I know whether or not you like oysters. I know all of that. Don't worry about that. Come, Just come.

So get this sense for a moment and maybe we can Americanize this just enough to where you can get a feeling. Feel for what all is going on. This is a big, big deal. Now, it says here that he sent the servants out to those who were invited. What this means is you had been pre invited.

These people had been pre invited. The, the couriers had already come to them and had told them, the King is inviting you to this. This is a big shindig and you're it. And so they had already RSVP'd, thank you very much, we'll be there. All of that good stuff, they knew about when it would be, all of this.

And now you and I would plan our calendar around that. And you would expect that, wouldn't you, that for something this big a deal, you would plan your whole calendar around this event that you've been invited to. And all this preparation, personalized preparation, has been made for you.

The Jews were the ones who were pre invited. How was it they were pre invited? God chose them as the people that he was going to not only bless, but through Them bless the entire world. And they were given the law, they were given the prophets, they were given all of these things to let them know way in advance what the kingdom of heaven was all going to be about. And in all of their worship services, they were saying over and over again, yes, we, we accept this invitation, we're coming into your kingdom.

And we bless your name, O Lord. And recognizing his sovereignty and his lordship, that's what the Jews were doing all this time. But then the time came.

God sent forth his Son, born of a woman to live a perfect life, a sinless life. And here he stood before them as the very Son of God.

And rather than receiving him, they rejected him. And this rejection is really what this parable is about. And the absurdity of this rejection is specifically the center of the target that Jesus wants us to get right here. You see, this was the most amazing thing that was ever going to happen in their lifetime. Nothing had happened in the past this big.

Nothing would ever happen in the future this big. And they were invited. So let's see how they responded.

The scripture tells us here a most amazing thing. He sent out all of his servants, tell them, come, everything is ready. And they were not willing to come. They were not willing to come. The biggest event of their lifetime, incomprehensible in all that was being offered to them.

They just ignored it. And so now let me ask you something. If you were. We don't live under a monarchy again. But let me tell you, kings, when they get snubbed like that, get ill, okay?

As you can well understand and imagine that they would. This is a personal insult. And so would you expect him to do something about it right away? But he does. What does he do again?

He sends out this invitation yet again. He says, oh, come on, you don't understand. Everything is ready. The oxen have been butchered, the fatted calf has been butchered. You know, the Barbie's going, and it's just about ready.

You just need to come on. And in that original language, you can almost hear the pleading pleasure, please, come on. This is the biggest event that you can conceive of.

And look what it says. The Bible says that some of the people just said, ho hum. And they went about their farming, they went back to their business, their everyday lives was more important than this huge opportunity of lifetime. They just walk by it. Now the king gets ill. We're going to get to that in just a moment.

Please understand. It's incredibly clear what the Lord Jesus is talking about here. To grasp what's going on.

He had prepared heaven. He prepared a new heaven and a new earth.

The Bible says, I go to prepare a place for you. The place was prepared. And even the Jews understood that when the kingdom of heaven would come, it would be inaugurated by a huge banquet, a huge feast. He's saying, this is it. This is it.

Please understand. This invitation still goes out today, that God has a wonderful future planned. He has eternal life that he offers. He's got that eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth. But it starts even now, at this point in time.

But this invitation carries with it the necessity of a response.

Each and every one of the people mentioned here in this passage had the freedom of choice. They could choose to say, okay, Mama, get the babies, come on, we're going. You know, they just called us. It's time to start. That was one choice.

Others chose to anyway, whatever.

Others got ill.

They thought it was an imposition, that the king would remind them yet again.

And out of their fury about being them being insulted, they abused the messengers. You've heard the old story. Don't shoot the messenger. There it is. They abused the messenger and even killed some of those that happened.

John the Baptist. What did they do to him? Jesus? What did they do to him? The apostles, what did they do to them?

See?

And so Jesus had the generation of Jews at that time in the crosshairs, and they had no question but that Jesus was talking to them. I am the eternal Son of God. God has sent me to inaugurate the kingdom, to invite you to come.

And you're rejecting the only hope that you'll never have offered. I want you. That's absurd, isn't it? Wouldn't it be crazy to get that presidential invitation for you that you've been so proud of, that you've showed it to all the neighbors and everything like that? And then when the time comes, you know, you got to cut the grass.

You hadn't done laundry yet. The kids have got baseball practice. Really? Really.

And yet some of you here today will hear the gospel and will yawn and walk out of the doors and take this as if it's just nothing.

And just me saying that makes some of you angry. And you want to shoot the messenger.

This is the word of God being spoken to the people of God. So this first scene comes to a close in a rather bizarre kind of way. So the second scene opens up where these rejecters are punished. You see, God has a limit to his patience.

He spoke way, way back in the times of Noah. The spirit of God will not always strive with men. And that happened in Noah's day. Noah had been preaching for hundreds of years, preaching repentance, preaching God's call to people to come and to be saved. The ark.

And everybody ridiculed him, made all kinds of fun of him. All of this is what happened. And so finally one day, God said, noah, get the boys and all your wives on the. On the ark. And he shut the door.

God shut the door. And then the rains began. And Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth heard people banging on the walls. Let us in. Let us in.

We believe you now. We believe you. Us in. The rains are coming.

Slowly the cries died out because those screaming died.

There's a limit to God's patience with you, my friend.

There's a limit. He will only take our insults so long. He'll only take our rejections so long. And the time is coming, according to the word of God, when the opportunities will be no more. And again, there will be those screaming, oh, now we believe.

Now we believe. But according to the word of God, there's a time limit on this, folks. You don't have tomorrow, you don't have next week, you don't have next month. All you and I have is right now. Right now.

Right now, we're free to choose. But hear me, even the most merciful and gracious God, there is a limit to how much insult and how much refusal that he'll take. Look what he said right here. He said, I want you to go find those murderers, those who abused my. My servants, destroy them and burn their town to the ground.

That's what the king said.

Did you know that historically actually happened some 40 years after these words were penned?

Rome had had enough of the Jewish revolt. They surrounded Jerusalem, they killed everybody inside, they burned it to the ground and toppled the temple to where no two stones were left on top of another, just 40 years after these words were spoken. But that was just the foreshadowing of what one day would come when men and women, boys and girls, would persistently look God in the face and say, you won't find that in the Bible. That's Fred Lodd's interpretation.

How many times do we slap the face of Holy Spirit and saying, oh, I sense you moving. I know what you want. I know you want me to surrender my life to Christ. I know you've got freedom for me and you've got forgiveness of my sins, but I'm not going to do it. I'm going to walk out Those doors.

And I may not ever come back again if this is the way I'm going to be treated.

That there in that passage too.

Because some people just get mad when they're confronted with the reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And they take aim on the messenger, by the way, when that happens.

So this scene ends in a very painful way because they didn't have to go through that. They didn't have to experience that. They could have been at the banquet. They could have been with the king forever and ever.

Listen to me. God is a gentleman. He's not going to twist your arm behind your back until you finally give him your heart and crown him the Lord of your life. He will allow you that choice, but you will bear the responsibility and the consequences of that choice, both now and for all eternity. The third scene opens up in verse nine, where new guests are invited.

None of those who had been pre invited, none of those who responded with their RSVP and saying they were coming. None of them would show up. And the meal was prepared and everything was ready. And so the king said to his servants, go out into the highways, and anybody and everybody you find, invite them to my banquet. I want this palace full of people who want to be here, who choose to be here.

And they went out and found everybody. I mean, some of them were morally good people. They were outstanding. They were good citizens in the community. Other ones was riff raft, you know, gutter scum.

You know, you look at them and say, what did you invite them for? Because the king said, whoever I could find.

Sounds very much like Matthew 28:19 when he says, go you into all the world and make disciples of all nations.

This is where you and I come in, folks. This is where you and I come in. Why do we come in here? Because none of us here probably have any Jewish heritage, Jewish blood or Jewish nationality. I don't think any of you do.

I know I don't. That's what the first two scenes are about. But here's where the door is open to the Gentiles. You know what the word gentile means? Not a Jew.

Okay, you can handle that? All right. That's us, folks. Here's where the. The King of glory says, go out there.

I don't care if they're Jews. I don't care. I don't care. Wherever you find them, give them my invitation. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin.

Come into my banquet. I am prepared for you. I am prepared for you personally. Come into my kingdom. Come into a Love relationship with me, that's me and you.

That's where we hear the gospel. And not because we have a long term lineage of Jewishness or whatever. We didn't have that advantage from all of the Old Testament and the law and the prophets and all of that, but we get to hear the gospel. The gospel is that God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whoever would believe on him would not perish but have eternal life. The scripture says us that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death.

But oh, I like that word. The gift of God. The gift. The gift of God. Not what we deserve.

What we deserve is hell. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The gospel is that if you will come and surrender yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ, your sins are washed away. And as we learned in our Bible study groups this morning, your very life is put into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he curls his fist around you and no one can snatch you out of his hand.

And the Father, who is greater still, puts that hand under his hand and wraps it up. And no one can pluck them out of my Father's hand. You have eternal life because you deserve it. Oh heavens no.

The Jews didn't deserve it. Even though had they had the advantage of the law and the prophets.

What makes you and I worthy? It says that the Jews were not worthy. Why? Because they refused to come.

What makes you worthy? Well, it goes back to the wedding garment. Goes back to the wedding garment. You see all those people that were out of the highways and hedges, they're just plain folks like us. Some of them dirt poor, some of them got a little bit, some of them might even have a lot.

But none of us have the kind of clothes we need to wear to a royal, royal wedding. Okay. But the King had already made those provisions. He'd already laid out those beautiful suits and those wonderful dresses, made arrangements to have the hair done and the beards trimmed and all the rest of that. Everything is provided.

Well, what spiritually, what in heaven, what do I wear that makes me acceptable to the King of Kings? Jesus said, I clothe you in the robe of my righteousness. My attire. Jesus says, come over here to my closet, son. I'm going to take care of you right now.

And your elder brother, the one who gave his life for you, clothes you with his very own righteousness. How can he do that? Because he washes your sins away in his Blood. And he rose again to make this happen. This is the offer.

And whosoever will can come. But the story's not over yet. It's got a couple more verses because scene four is where the intruder is expelled. Verses 11 through 14. There's an intruder in the room.

What do you mean an intruder? Somebody who obviously doesn't. Isn't supposed to be here. And they're very obvious. How obvious are they?

Like a giraffe at a mouse parade. Okay. Just think of a giraffe at a mouse parade and you'll see how obviously he stands out. How does he stand out? Everybody else there has the wonderful royal attire, but that the King has provided for them to wear, except this one dude wearing flip flops, cut off jeans and a tank top.

Let me tell you what that means in just a few words. He wanted to come, but on his own terms. He wanted to be at the wedding. He felt he deserved to be at the wedding, but on his own terms.

I don't know about this confessing any sin. I don't know about changing my lifestyle. I don't know about surrendering to you as Lord, but I'm going to be there because I'm going to come on my own terms. That's the message of the modern philosophy of mankind worldwide right now. God, I'll be there, but I'll come when I'm ready.

I'll change my life to the point that I'm willing to. And you're just going to have to like it.

Can you imagine somebody saying that to almighty God and King of the universe?

And yet people do every day.

Look what happened. The king could have looked out and easily seen this guy, you know, the giraffe at a mouse parade, okay, Turn to his sergeant of arms and say, okay. And it could have been done. But he didn't. Do you notice what he did?

He went up to this guy and he said, how is it that I've provided you the royal apparel to wear at my son's wedding and you're standing here in flip flops, cut offs and a tank top.

Now, the guy could have said, oops, I didn't get here in time. Will you excuse me just a minute? I go change. But he didn't say that, did he? What does it say in the Bible?

He remained. What's the word? Speechless.

Speechless. When you lay out your terms to God and he lays out the blood of his son, Jesus Christ, we're speechless. We're speechless. And what it says is, anyone who wants to come into the Kingdom of heaven. You got to do it God's way, or you don't get in at all.

What happened to this man? He had the sergeant of arms, tie him hands and feet, throw him out in the gutter where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. He had the absurd inclination that God, I'll come to you on my terms.

And God says, afraid not.

Jesus put it this way. He said, I am the one and only way. I am the one and only truth. I am the one and only life. And no man will come to the Father except by me.

The most exclusive words in your New Testament.

So what's all this mean? Let's pull it together. Let's pull it together. God, right now, worldwide, in churches, on every continent, in every country, is having his missionaries and pastors preach the gospel, the kingdom that God loves us incredibly, but our sin separates us from Him. But he has died our death and taken our punishment to take our sins away and washed us in his blood.

And he rose again that he might give us his life, his eternal life.

Many people are hearing that gospel right now, like you are right here. Some of them are hearing it for the very first time. Some of it maybe are understanding it for the very first time.

Some will say, God, I had no idea how much you loved me. I had no idea what my eternal life was going to look like. I had no idea. But right now, God, I want to give all of me that I know to all of you that I know.

I just want to put my life in your hands. I want to come under your kingship. Your lordship, we're talking about parables of the kingdom. That means that we have a king that is over us and that calls the shots in our lives. I'll put myself under your divine authority, Lord God, because I dare to believe that what the Bible says is true, that Jesus died to take my sins upon himself and rose again, that I might have this quality of life.

Some will make that decision today. Some of you may make that decision today. But this parable also says there are others here who say, well, I've heard that so many times. It's kind of getting late. I'm getting hungry.

Where you want to go? Eat honey.

And in a few moments after Josiah leads us in our final part of worship, you're going to stand up and walk out of those doors and walk away from the opportunity that you had today to receive the kingdom.

There's a third group that this really makes them mad. It really makes a man they don't like to be told that they're doing anything wrong. They don't accept the word sin. They don't accept the word truth. They make their own truth.

They make their own ways in this world. And they don't want anybody telling them what they're doing is wrong or what they need to do. I make my own life. I make my own rules.

They'll stand up in a little bit. They'll be some of the first ones out. Boy, I got you in trouble now, didn't I? They'll be among the first ones out because they're mad. They don't like to be talked to like this.

Can I tell you this? Please hear me. I speak this with a broken heart because heaven weeps every time the gospel is presented. Heaven weeps because of the cost of salvation. Heaven weeps in joy for those who receive it, but heaven weeps for those who refuse it.

I want you to hear this pastor's heart breaking and know that there are those in this church on this staff leaders, small group leaders, deacons, members who care enough to walk you through what it means to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and to follow him to be a Christ follower. That's a term I like to use. People have stolen and besmudged the phrase Christian. But a Christ follower defines itself. I follow after Christ.

That's the invitation for you today. In just a moment, Josiah's going to come and lead us in this final moment of worship. I'm going to lead in a time of prayer and I'm going to pray in relation to all three of those groups that we've talked about this morning. And as after I do that, I'm going to ask you to stand. We're going to have this last worship time.

Your ministers and other leaders are going to be right here at the altar. You may feel led to just come down and take one of us by the hand and say, I need to settle this with God. We can take it from there. You don't need to tell us anymore. Or maybe you want to come to this altar and just kneel down and say, God, I had no idea that I was so rude to you by trying to do things my own way and trying to just.

Just I want what I want. Well, that's the definition of sin. Do you know that? Maybe you want to come and just cry out to God, God, forgive me, God, cleanse me. I ask you to put the blood of Jesus Christ over me and cleanse me of my sins.

I want to surrender my life unto your Lordship, it's okay to do that. We do that here all the time. So I want you to feel that freedom. Maybe you got somebody, you're just deeply burdened for that, you know they'll be among those knocking on the door, Let me in, let me in, let me in.

If they wait too long until it's too late and your heart's breaking like mine is. For those family members and friends that I ache for, the spirit of God is moving. Will you pray with me, Father God, for any person here who would like to surrender their life to your lordship, your kingship, to enter your kingdom where you are king.

Holy Spirit, please encourage them to pray with me right now and just say, God, I confess I am a sinner. I've been doing life my own way. I had no idea how much you loved me. I had no idea what all you had prepared for me.

So right now I just want to come and give you my life, give up my own control and put it under your kingship, your sovereign Lordship. I want you to be the boss in my life. Forgive me, Please give me a seat at your table, a place in your kingdom. I dare to believe you will.

Some here this morning, Lord, are very tempted because this is kind of awkward to make a big decision or whatever in front of other people, and they're going to put it off for another time, for another day, for another week, another month, another year. I pray, Lord, that you'll give them another chance if they don't take it today, that this won't be their last opportunity, that somebody else will share the gospel with them, or they'll just go home and kneel by the side of their bed and cry out saying, God, I didn't want to do it there, but right now I gotta have you in my life. I gotta have the freedom. I've gotta have the cleansing that only you can give God. I pray for those that I've offended this morning.

I didn't want to offend them. I didn't mean to do that. But I know your word is offensive sometimes. And I pray, Holy Spirit, that you'll break down the walls in their lives. Whatever hurt, hang up or habit that's there that's keeping them away from you, that they'll open the door for you one day.

Now it's time for us to do business with you. The word of God has gone forth to the people of God to hear and respond. So our answer is yes, Holy Spirit, draw those who want to come and just pray. Draw those to our ministers who want to come and talk to someone. May this be your time.

May you be honored. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Will you stand, please?