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We're going to take a break from
our normal journey through the 

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Gospel of Luke, and we're going 
to look at a passage in the 

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Gospel of Matthew in Matthew 
chapter 22. 

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And so as you're turning to 
Matthew 22, let me start out 

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with two questions for you. 
This summer. 

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At some point, or maybe, you 
know, leading up to summer, did 

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you get one of those beautiful 
invitations in the mail that 

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told you that you were being 
invited to come celebrate a 

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wedding where someone you knew, 
maybe two people, man and woman,

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that you knew, decided to make a
public declaration for all to 

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see that they were in love and 
they're committing to each other

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for the rest of their lives? 
And the second question I have 

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for you is did you actually go? 
Because just getting the 

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invitation doesn't always 
guarantee that you're able to 

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make it. 
In fact, I'm actually thinking 

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about this, this passage and and
this invitation in my own life 

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because I recently got back from
one of the most beautiful 

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weddings I've ever been to in my
life. 

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There was a number of us from 
the church and our own Pastor 

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Parker officiated the wedding 
and the invite came in the mail.

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And it's two people I love and 
they invited me and my whole 

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family. 
But it was a destination 

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wedding. 
They wanted me to drive 10 hours

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and meet them on an island in 
Washington to celebrate and to 

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feast and to actually stay 
overnight at the wedding. 

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And, and it's one of the most 
joyful things you can do is to 

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be with friends and family. 
Some of the closest people in my

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life were going to be there, two
people I love to watch them get 

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married. 
And yet my initial reaction was,

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I don't think I can make that. 
That is going to be a big burden

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to figure out how to get up 
there and, and get all my kids. 

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How do I get my car on a ferry? 
And how do I, how do we stay 

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overnight and get ready for a 
wedding? 

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So my initial thought was, I 
don't think I would make that. 

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I'm so glad I did because as I 
said, it turned out to be one of

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the most beautiful weddings I've
ever been to. 

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And I'm sure you've had 
experiences in your own life 

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where there's an amazing 
invitation to do something that 

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would be so fun on paper, but 
the logistics of actually 

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getting there are kind of 
challenging. 

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And with that picture in your 
mind, we're actually going to 

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find an exact overlay for how 
Jesus describes what it's like 

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to come into the Kingdom of God.
And that's something that we're 

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going to talk about today at 
Church in the Park. 

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And that's something we're 
actually going to invite people 

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into, to come into the Kingdom 
of God. 

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I'm going to send an invite to 
the whole park that they are 

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invited to be members and 
citizens in the Kingdom of God. 

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And to do that I'm going to 
share a story that Jesus shares 

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about a wedding. 
And so read along with me in 

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Matthew chapter 22 it says and 
Jesus answered and spoke to them

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again in parables and said the 
Kingdom of heaven is like a 

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certain king who arranged for 
his son to be married. 

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And so every parable we do our 
best to not over interpret, but 

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to try to figure out who is 
being represented in the stories

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of the parable. 
And very simply, as we go 

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through this, I just very on the
outset, you can see that Jesus 

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is about to describe something 
that is going to be represented 

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in the Father and the Son and 
those who he invites into the 

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Kingdom. 
He says the Kingdom of heaven. 

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It's like a certain king, this 
is the Father God and he's got a

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son, this is Jesus. 
And he's inviting people to 

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celebrate a union with Christ. 
So this is a message of 

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salvation. 
This is a message that goes out 

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to say the Father has sent his 
son into the world and 

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everybody's invited to to be 
part of the feast coming 

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together with Jesus. 
And so he sends his servants. 

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In this story it says in verse 
3, the servants go out to call 

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all those were invited to the 
wedding and yet they were not 

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willing to come. 
They get the invite, they hear 

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the message and they aren't 
willing to come. 

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That'll be true this event that 
we have today at church in the 

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park that there will be an 
invite to experience the radical

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love of God, the free gift of 
salvation to be one with God and

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be entered into his Kingdom. 
And no doubt there will be some 

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that here that don't want to 
come and and Jesus will tell us 

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why that is. 
Why is it that some people could

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hear that there is a free gift 
of salvation that gives them 

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access to the Kingdom of God and
citizenship in heaven, and yet 

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they won't come? 
It says that he sent out his 

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servants. 
Some were not willing. 

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They just didn't want to come. 
They were totally uninterested 

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in the message of the Gospel. 
They were totally uninterested 

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in a wedding. 
They, they just, they got the 

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invite and they thought, no, I 
really don't want to go 

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celebrate. 
I don't want to go to a feast. 

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I don't want to hang out with 
the king. 

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I don't want to be in the, in 
the presence of the sun. 

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And it isn't that the case. 
You know, right now, for the 

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last month, we've been inviting 
people to come, in a sense, to a

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big giant feast and to enjoy the
invitation to see people become 

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members of the Kingdom, to watch
people give their life to 

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Christ, to be part of some of 
those people who wouldn't. 

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This is just how it goes. 
Some people are like, don't 

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care. 
I don't care about church. 

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I don't care about God. 
I'm totally indifferent. 

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And maybe some of you felt that 
way in your life before the the 

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Lord opened your eyes to what 
was actually being offered to 

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you to eternal life and the joy 
of heaven. 

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You may have sat in church over 
the years or came to youth group

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as a kid or heard someone talk 
about Jesus and said, I just 

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don't care. 
And so there will be more 

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servants that go out. 
Another round of invites in 

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Matthew chapter 22, verse four. 
And again, he sent out other 

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servants saying, tell all those 
who are invited, I've prepared 

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dinner, my oxen, my fatted calf 
are killed. 

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All the things are ready, come 
to the wedding. 

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Jesus uses parables to try to 
describe the indescribable. 

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So he's giving a picture of the 
best thing you could ever be 

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invited to. 
He says the fatted calf in their

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day, that's the best feast you 
could have. 

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He says that I've got it all 
ready for you. 

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It's just come. 
I just want you to come into the

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wedding. 
And heaven is indescribable. 

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This is a picture to describe 
something we can't imagine. 

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Jesus says it's already come to 
heaven, receive eternal life. 

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I have taken care of everything 
for you. 

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All you have to do is say yes. 
But we get another response in 

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verse 5. 
It says, but some made light of 

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it and went their own way, one 
to his own farm, another to his 

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own business. 
So we've got uninterested and 

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unimpressed. 
They just totally are like, it 

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doesn't sound that great. 
I'm not that I, I make light of 

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it, whatever and it and then it 
says something that all of us 

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have to deal with when God gives
an invitation to our life to 

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enjoy his joy. 
Says they've got farms to take 

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care of and businesses to tend 
to. 

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So they're busy with work and 
making money. 

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And no doubt I'm inviting some 
of you online. 

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I'm inviting everyone from 
church and everyone's inviting 

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their friends. 
And some people will respond by 

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saying, do you know what I could
accomplish with five hours on a 

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Sunday in my life? 
I could do so much. 

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I could get work done ready for 
the work week. 

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I could spend money and make a 
little extra money and store up 

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for myself many goods. 
And it's not just one Sunday and

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one day of the summer. 
It's why people don't give their

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life to God. 
Do you know how much I could 

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accomplish if I just kept living
my life the way I want to live 

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it? 
I could do all the work and make

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all the money, and So what the 
heck do I want to worry about 

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heaven for? 
What the heck do I want to 

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reorder my life around some 
distant day that is described as

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indescribable joy when I could 
be busy making money and doing 

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work? 
Now and then we get more 

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examples of why people could get
the invitation and not actually 

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show up. 
It says in verse 6. 

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And the rest seized his 
servants, treated them 

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spitefully and killed them. 
So we have those that are 

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uninterested, those that are too
busy, and those that are just 

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plain hard hearted against God. 
The King has invited the people 

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of the Kingdom or the people all
around this feast to come and 

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enjoy a feast. 
He'll cover the bill. 

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They just need to show up and 
with that message, some people 

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respond not just with 
indifference, but actual 

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violence, hard in their heart, 
shake their fist at God, angry. 

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And you know, they're certainly 
in the beginning. 

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We see some people who could 
tolerate church. 

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Some people could sit in through
church in the park, show up for 

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the food and be like your 
message is fine for you, not 

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really interested, but no doubt 
other people cannot. 

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There are some people that would
say as soon as you mention God, 

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as soon as I hear the name of 
Jesus, as soon as you start 

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talking about my need for 
salvation and the the solution 

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for my sins, I am going to 
violently oppose you. 

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I'm going to storm out of here. 
I'm going to tell everyone how 

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evil you are. 
The Gospel of John says everyone

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who practices evil hates the 
light and does not come to the 

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light lest his deeds should be 
exposed. 

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And for many of you, I can say, 
remember those days when you 

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didn't just find church 
indifferent, you found church 

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dangerous. 
You found those who believed 

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members of cults. 
You thought that the message was

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absolute foolishness to the 
point that you had to fight it. 

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And so you have the uninterested
and unimpressed, the too busy 

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and the angry. 
And no doubt I'll be preaching 

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this week, this, this day, this 
afternoon to all four of those 

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categories. 
No doubt that those categories 

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will be people that all 
believers interact with in their

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own representation of the 
gospel, with their lives. 

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And the message for them is not 
yours to deal with. 

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There are only 2 ends to every 
story. 

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You will accept the free gift in
the invitation of salvation unto

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heaven or you will be judged. 
That is the reality of the 

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response to the message. 
You respond by accepting the 

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free gift or you respond by 
accepting the coming judgement. 

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And this is seen in the story 
today. 

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It says in verse 27. 
But when the king heard about 

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it, he was furious and he sent 
out armies to destroy those 

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murderers and burn up their 
city. 

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Everyone would understand this 
very clearly. 

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It sounds violent to our to our 
ears. 

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But to reject the king is to be 
an enemy of his Kingdom. 

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If the king sends an invitation,
this is hard for us to 

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understand because all of our 
invitation responses can be. 

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You can check the box of maybe 
if I feel like it, but in this 

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day, if a king said show up and 
you said I'm too busy and I 

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don't care, you're an enemy of 
the king. 

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And so he acted accordingly. 
And to to reject God, to reject 

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the message of his love that is 
declared in the invitation to 

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join the Kingdom freely is to 
declare yourself an enemy of 

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God. 
There are only two responses, to

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accept the gift or to accept 
judgement. 

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And here is the gospel good 
news. 

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This message does not end with 
judgement. 

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This message does not end with 
an angry king. 

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This message continues to reveal
the king as a representative of 

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the heart of God. 
So what does he do in dealing 

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with all of the people who 
reject him? 

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He sends out more servants. 
He continues to search for 

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anyone who would respond by 
coming to the feast. 

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He says the wedding is ready. 
He said to his servants the 

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wedding is ready, but those who 
were invited we're not worthy, 

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not because he didn't choose 
them, but because they didn't 

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respond by saying yes. 
So he says they're go, therefore

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go into the highways and as many
as you find, invite them to the 

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wedding. 
And this is the heart of God. 

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Though people be uninterested, 
unimpressed, too busy and too 

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angry, He relentlessly pursues 
people to receive His love and 

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join in the feast of Heaven. 
And this is the good news for 

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all of our lives. 
You may have been uninterested 

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in God and He sent another 
messenger. 

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You may have been too busy for 
God and He sent another 

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messenger. 
You may have been hard hearted 

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and angry. 
You may have sworn against the 

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idea of God all together and he 
sends more messengers. 

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And so if we do find ourselves 
this afternoon preaching this 

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message to those who did, who 
came for the food and didn't 

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expect to join in the feast, the
message is for them also for 

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whoever would hear this message,
they are now being once again 

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welcomed into the free gift of 
salvation, a loving relationship

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with God and citizenship in 
heaven. 

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And the categories don't stop 
with just the uninterested, too 

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busy and the angry. 
We actually now find the most 

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dangerous spiritual condition 
you can find yourself in. 

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And this is going to now point 
us to the beautiful picture of 

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what we're going to do to 
celebrate baptism today. 

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It says in Matthew chapter 22, 
verse 10. 

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So the servants went out to the 
highways and gathered together 

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all they found, both the bad and
the good. 

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It is not there. 
The the the prerequisite to get 

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into the feast is to say yes. 
And in saying yes, we are now 

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going to get another picture of 
something we should all be aware

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of. 
When the wedding hall was filled

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with guests, the king came in to
see the guests and he saw a man 

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who did not have a wedding 
garment. 

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I love the picture of a wedding.
This is imagery we still 

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understand today. 
Any wedding you go to, it might 

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be the last place on earth where
there is a dress code that we 

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all know should not be violated.
If you get invited to a wedding,

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even if it says casual, please 
don't wear sweats. 

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If you get invited to a wedding,
even if it's on a distant island

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and you camp the night before, 
do everything you can to honor 

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the the bride and the bridegroom
by putting on the robes that 

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would be worthy of a wedding. 
And this is where this picture 

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speaks to us. 
The king finds this person who 

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thought he could show up totally
unchanged, just as he was. 

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And he said to him, friend, how 
did you come here without a 

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wedding garment? 
Why did you show up in rags? 

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Why are you coming to this feast
and clearly not respecting the 

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the moment by treating it as 
just another day in the office, 

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another day on the farm. 
And then the king said to his 

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servant, bind him hand and foot,
take him away and cast him out 

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to outer darkness where there 
will be weeping and gnashing him

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thief. 
So he gets thrown out of the 

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wedding and weeping of gnashing 
and teeth. 

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You just get this picture. 
He's like, what have I done? 

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What what what I got thrown out.
This is the most dangerous of 

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all spiritual conditions is that
we could come to the wedding. 

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We could come to the presence of
God, stand before the creator of

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heaven and earth and say Lord, 
I'm coming just as I am, exactly

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clothed in my own righteousness.
I'm coming with my own self 

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righteousness, good enough, just
as I am. 

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The the robe that this picture 
points us to is the brand new 

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robe that all of us receive on 
the day of salvation. 

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This is imagery that Jesus 
audience would have understood. 

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Anyone who knew the Torah would 
have known the imagery of Isaiah

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chapter 61 where it says, I will
re greatly rejoice in the Lord. 

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My soul shall be joyful in my 
God. 

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For He has closed me with 
garments of salvation. 

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He has covered me with the robe 
of righteousness. 

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As a bridegroom decks himself 
with ornaments, and as the bride

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adorns herself with jewels. 
So God in our salvation, we come

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to him in filthy rags, and he 
gives us robes white as snow. 

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And this is now a call to 
baptism. 

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People say, well, why do I need 
to get baptized? 

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And I just believe it in my 
heart. 

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Baptism is your public decision 
declared before God and everyone

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who will stand on the 
riverbanks, that you no longer 

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00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,960
trust in your old filthy 
garments, in your own self 

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00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,200
righteousness, in whatever good 
works you might have presented 

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to your friends and family as to
why you never needed a Savior in

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the 1st place. 
It says in Romans now the 

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righteousness of God apart from 
the laws revealed, being 

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witnessed by the law and the 
prophets that the righteousness 

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of God through faith is 
available to all who believe 

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apart from the law. 
No longer you, you don't get 

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into the wedding because God saw
you from a distant place and 

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00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:57,080
said, wow, look at that guy. 
He looks so great. 

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You come in and he gives you 
brand new articles of clothing. 

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And Paul says, for you are all 
sons of God through faith in 

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Christ. 
For as many of you were baptized

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into Christ, have now put on 
Christ. 

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If you've never given your life 
to Christ, you've never accepted

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00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,320
the invitation to come to the 
feast of heaven. 

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You may have never given your 
life to Christ because you've 

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been uninterested in what heaven
is in the eternal life that God 

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has put on your heart. 
You may have never come to 

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Christ because you were too busy
about your own plans for your 

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00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:37,280
own life. 
You may have never come to 

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Christ because you never wanted 
to believe in God in the 1st 

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place. 
But He has sent a messenger 

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today to tell you that He loves 
you, that He's inviting you to a

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feast of heaven, that he's paid 
the price for the the feast is 

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not by your life, but by the 
life of his Son who died on the 

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00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:59,080
cross for your sins and gives 
you brand new robes. 

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And all you have to do is accept
the invitation. 

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And if you accept the invitation
today, or if you've ever 

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00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:13,920
accepted the invitation and 
never had that moment where you 

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00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:18,480
have gone into the water. 
Representing your old life, your

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00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,800
old filthy rags, your old self 
righteousness, your old hardened

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heart. 
You're old too busy about your 

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00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:29,600
own plans. 
Your own robe has been washed 

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00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:35,880
away and coming out of the water
you are washed and cleanse. 

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Water representing the blood of 
Christ. 

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And as you get out of the water,
you are now presented before God

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in the robes of righteousness. 
That is what we are going to do 

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00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:51,240
today. 
And so I'll end as Jesus ends 

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the story. 
Many are called. 

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00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:57,800
I can invite anyone who can hear
the application of my voice at 

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00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:00,640
the park. 
I can go to those who are at the

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00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:04,640
foot of the stage and they get 
the invitation and they got it 

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00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,440
at church the week before. 
I can. 

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00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:11,680
I could send people all the way 
to the the river where people 

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00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:16,120
sleep out under the stars. 
I can invite everyone within 

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00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:19,520
earshot of the gospel. 
I can say, come to the baptismal

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waters to receive a new robe of 
righteousness, that God will see

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00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:29,120
Christ in you, white as snow. 
But few are chosen. 

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00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,440
Well, who was chosen? 
Who was invited? 

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00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,240
In the story, everyone was 
invited. 

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00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:42,880
Who was chosen? 
Anyone who has the right robe, 

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00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:48,960
anyone who has taken the free 
gift of salvation and now has 

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Christ in them. 
So I'll call any non believer, 

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00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,360
anyone that God is prompting 
their heart. 

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00:21:55,800 --> 00:22:01,120
I will call them to a public 
declaration this afternoon. 

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00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:02,720
I call anyone who's watching 
online. 

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00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,360
I invite you to give your life 
to Christ. 

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00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,680
And no doubt few will be chosen.
No doubt there are some of you 

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00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:14,240
who know that this message is 
for you, and in your hardness or

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in your business you will not 
come. 

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00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,680
But for those who come, we're 
going to pray for them. 

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00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,160
And we're going to walk down to 
the river today and we are going

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to baptize them in the name of 
the Father and the Son and the 

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00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,600
Holy Spirit. 
And we're going to celebrate 

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00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,360
that. 
They are going to be with all of

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00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:37,440
us who believe at the Feast of 
Heaven in the robes of Christ. 

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Thanks for joining us today. 
If you would like to watch the 

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00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,520
full service, check out the link
in the description. 

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00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,760
For next steps and to learn 
more, visit calvaryboise.com.