1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:05,600 Part 83 for anybody who's counting as we've been going 2 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:09,240 verse by verse through Matthew. Hasn't it been rich though? 3 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:12,400 It hasn't been. It hasn't been a lot of glitz 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:17,320 and glamour this week. Our new series is this, but it's 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,120 been super annoyed because the word is anointed and the word is 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,960 so good. Matthew chapter 22. 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,400 We are coming into the third parable that Jesus is telling 8 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,120 against the Pharisees. So remember, final week of Jesus 9 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,560 is life. Jerusalem is packed. 10 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,800 The Pharisees hate Jesus, they're mad at Jesus. 11 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,200 They don't like Jesus. They're jealous of Jesus. 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:40,920 This is the Son of God being rejected. 13 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,320 This is the Lamb of God coming to be slain. 14 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:45,880 He's the man on a mission. They finally come to him after 15 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,440 he overturns the tables and they say about what authority you do 16 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,760 do these things. And he's told one parable 17 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:52,720 against them. He's told another parable 18 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,680 against them. And now he continues and we pick 19 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:00,800 up right where we left off, chapter 22, verse one. 20 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:06,400 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables saying the Kingdom of 21 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,440 heaven may be compared. So here comes the parable. 22 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:12,400 What is the Kingdom of Heaven like? 23 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:15,680 You're about to find out. In a specific context, in a 24 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,000 specific way. I wonder what the Kingdom of 25 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,920 heaven is like. I wonder what the rulership is 26 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:21,840 like. I wonder what the judgement is 27 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,160 like. I wonder what the grace is like. 28 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:25,800 I wonder what the goodness is like. 29 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:27,720 You're about to get a picture of all those things. 30 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:29,360 I wonder what the standards are like. 31 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,680 We're about to find out. The Kingdom of Heaven may be 32 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:40,120 compared to a king OK, who gave a wedding feast for his son and 33 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,560 sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding 34 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,800 feast, but they would not come again. 35 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,040 He sent other servants saying, tell those who are invited see, 36 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,480 I've prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been 37 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,600 slaughtered, everything is ready, come to the wedding 38 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,800 feast. But they paid no attention and 39 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:09,479 went off 1 to his farm, another to his business, while the rest 40 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:14,400 seized his servants, treated them shamefully and killed them. 41 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,720 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those 42 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,520 murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 43 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,800 the wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 44 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,320 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast, 45 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,400 as many as you can find. And those servants went out into 46 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,120 the roads and gathered all whom they found, both good, both bad 47 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,720 and good. So the wedding hall was filled 48 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:51,120 with guests. But when the king came in to 49 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,640 look at the guests, he saw there was a man who had no wedding 50 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:57,560 garment. And he said to him, Friend, how 51 00:02:57,560 --> 00:02:59,240 did you get in here without a wedding garment? 52 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,000 And he was speechless. Then the king said to the 53 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,080 attendants, Bind him hand and foot and cast him out of the 54 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:07,960 out, cast him into the outer darkness. 55 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,360 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, 56 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,080 for many are cold, but few are chosen. 57 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:17,520 God, thank you for your perfect word. 58 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,080 Jesus. Thank you for speaking to us 59 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,800 with clarity and with your with the wisdom of God, so that the 60 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,400 humble can receive, and that the prideful stay prideful as long 61 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:34,760 as a heart chooses to stay hard. God, your grace will not force 62 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,120 them, and yet you will still invite them. 63 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,040 God, I pray for every heart and every listener today. 64 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,320 I pray that they would soften themselves. 65 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:50,040 Help us all to be tender right now, to be humble before you, to 66 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,840 be eager to listen, to respond, to receive all that you have 67 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:55,920 intended for us. We thank you for this feast of 68 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,880 your word now in Jesus name, Amen. 69 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,080 You're wondering what any of that meant. 70 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,360 What we just read. You got to find out. 71 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,800 So the the context in the history lesson, remember Jesus 72 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:08,880 is talking to an audience who understands everything he's 73 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:10,880 talking about. So you and me are going, what's 74 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,880 this wedding feast like? That's not how our weddings 75 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,360 really work. So here's the traditional way 76 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,320 that the wedding would have worked in their context. 77 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:19,519 A king, of course, is wealthy and powerful. 78 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,680 A king has all authority. You did not elect him, OK? 79 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,120 You cannot vote him out in four years. 80 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,840 This king is in charge. You want to stay on his good 81 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:30,720 side. You want the king to like you. 82 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:32,480 You want to have favor with this king. 83 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,480 That makes sense, right? He's wealthy, he's powerful, he 84 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:39,440 rules over you. And he is having a celebration 85 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:40,920 for his son who's getting married. 86 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,400 This is a big deal. He's very excited about it. 87 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,720 And this is crazy. He's invited you. 88 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:50,960 He's invited you to the wedding feast. 89 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,320 The wedding feast is going to be a display of the King's wealth. 90 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:56,840 It's going to be a display of the King's glory. 91 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,600 And it's all going to point towards his son because he loves 92 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,560 his son and he's pleased with his son and he's proud of his 93 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,720 son, and he wants you to honor his son. 94 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,640 He put this whole thing on to honor and to bless his son, to 95 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:12,440 show how much he delights in his son. 96 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,320 He's starting to maybe put together who the king might be 97 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,920 and who the son might be. The king is God the Father, the 98 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,960 sun, and the wedding is the Lord Jesus Christ. 99 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:26,040 The bride, which isn't even referenced here is the bride of 100 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,040 Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ, all who, all who will 101 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,440 believe on the Lord Jesus and trust in the Lord Jesus. 102 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,040 So the way this would have worked at this time, an 103 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,800 invitation would have probably already gone out to everybody. 104 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,600 We would have received our invitations and then the time 105 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,200 comes for the actual feast when it's saying, hey, right now it's 106 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:47,840 happening. The groom is going to get his 107 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:49,440 bride because that's the way it would work. 108 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:51,960 The the the groom would go get the bride and then he would 109 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,960 bring the bride to his house where they would seal their 110 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:56,960 wedding vows in the marriage bed as well. 111 00:05:57,280 --> 00:05:58,720 And then they would come back out and everybody would 112 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,200 celebrate. Sometimes a week long 113 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:02,920 celebration, a big deal. We're not talking a couple hours 114 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,320 here and some rubbery chicken, you know, at some random 115 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,000 fellowship hall. We're talking like the best of 116 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,280 the best of the best really good wedding foods. 117 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:15,400 Weddings don't have the the best reputation for having the best 118 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:16,880 food right now. You're not thinking like we're 119 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:18,520 going to have the most incredible food we've ever 120 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:19,920 eaten. The bride and groom want it to 121 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,440 be, but it just never is. You know it what my the food at 122 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,760 our wedding wasn't the best. Maybe yours was, but it was just 123 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,920 OK. You know, we tried hard, but the 124 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,440 thing we're celebrating is the is the groom here, most 125 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:33,560 importantly, and that's the priority. 126 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:37,680 So to reject this announcement, to reject this invitation 127 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,800 whenever the king says, hey, it's time to come after you've 128 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,360 been invited already, you know that this was coming and now 129 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:45,920 everybody goes out. It's time, it's time, it's time 130 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:48,760 everybody make your way to the palace. 131 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:51,600 It's time to celebrate in this giant feast. 132 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,640 It's time to begin to reject. This is a massive, massive, 133 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,800 massive insult, just like Jesus would tell parables and 134 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,960 everybody's kind of scandalized mid parable because he's like, 135 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,640 there's a man who got beat up on the side of the road and all the 136 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:07,560 Jews are listening to this and like, OK, he's a Jewish man 137 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,080 because that's what they're picturing, because that's what 138 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:11,240 they are. So yeah, he's a Jewish guy. 139 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,680 He says, and a priest comes by and he avoids them. 140 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:15,880 And another man comes by and he avoids them. 141 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:17,800 And Jews are, yeah, I could see me doing that too. 142 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,080 And he says, and then a Samaritan comes by and they're 143 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,240 all like, yeah, like that's how they would have heard that 144 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,080 story. And Jesus said, and the 145 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:29,400 Samaritan went and loved the man and cared for the man and 146 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,040 they're all like, what? What? 147 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,040 He messed them up because they hated the Samaritans. 148 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,400 So he messed them up. And in the same way, even as 149 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:39,400 they're hearing this parable and I and the king sends the 150 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,240 invitation and all the Jews in their mind are going like, 151 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:42,680 everybody's going to be so excited. 152 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,880 We're about to eat food that we will never eat again ever in our 153 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:49,040 lives. You and I have access to 154 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:50,960 opulence. We have access to really good 155 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:52,800 steaks. If you haven't had one, don't 156 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,200 make you one. We have access to that kind of 157 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:57,880 thing, kind of on a normal basis. 158 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,520 Maybe not every day, but we could, we could save up for a 159 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,400 big nice steak night and make it happen, right? 160 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,280 They couldn't. Not everybody had a fatted calf. 161 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:08,240 Not everybody had all the feasts that they were being provided. 162 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,400 So the Jews were like, yeah, yeah, King invites them. 163 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:11,720 They're all getting ready to go to the feast. 164 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,320 And Jesus said, but they said, no, I'm busy already. 165 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,920 All the listeners like, this is crazy. 166 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,680 That would never happen. Why is he telling us the story? 167 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:23,960 Because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. 168 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,840 That's what's happening right in front of their faces. 169 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,480 It's time to celebrate the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the 170 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,400 Father invites everybody. He's invited the nation of 171 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:39,600 Israel, and he sends servants. It says go, go, go, go servants 172 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,600 or the prophets. Go tell Israel to honor the Son. 173 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,200 Go tell all my people to honor my son. 174 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:47,840 And now let's start gathering the whole world into my house, 175 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,920 which was Israel's priority anyway, to be the beacon of 176 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:53,800 light that then brings this, the lighthouse that shows everybody 177 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,360 else the way. Not to say, ha, ha, we're in and 178 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,320 you're out, but to say the father calls everyone in to 179 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,200 become his. So the listeners are going, this 180 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,240 is scandalizing. I can't believe they would do 181 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,920 this to the king. So the Jews have rejected the 182 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,200 king and now the king rejects them. 183 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,640 But this parable, interestingly enough, it calls out Jesus's 184 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:20,400 followers as well, those who he had already been redeeming their 185 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,520 made to take notice and those who are just kind of following 186 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,000 in the crowd, they would certainly take notice to a 187 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,160 certain man in this parable. The point is we must come to the 188 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,120 king, but we must come on the King's terms. 189 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,040 What you see here is people who reject the invitation 190 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:38,520 altogether. I'm not coming at all. 191 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,040 I dishonor you and I dishonor your son. 192 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:45,040 I'm not coming at all. Those people are called out. 193 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:46,440 Those are the obvious ones, right? 194 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:48,440 But there's another person in this parable. 195 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,560 There's a man who went into the wedding feast. 196 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:55,280 What was his problem? We'll get to him later. 197 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,000 But his problem was he said, I want all the blessings of this 198 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,920 feast, but I won't abide by the standards of this feast. 199 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:05,720 And that was the call out for all those who are listening and 200 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:06,880 watching. Oh, yeah, I'm going to come to 201 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:08,080 the feast. I'm going to come to the feast. 202 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,280 If you want to come to the feast, by the way, you're 203 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,600 invited. There's a way to come to the 204 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:17,280 feast, and if you don't come to the feast the way the king says 205 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,880 you must come to the feast, then we see what happens to that man 206 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,560 as well. Let's walk through it. 207 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:24,240 Verse 5, verse, we're in verse three. 208 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,040 He sent his servants to call those who were invited to the 209 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,160 wedding feast, but they would not come again. 210 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,200 Insanity. Already things have gone off the 211 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,680 chain. This is wildly, ridiculously 212 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:38,320 crazy. This wouldn't happen, but this 213 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,120 is exactly what happens in the Kingdom of God. 214 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,520 He sent servants to call those who were invited, but they would 215 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:46,840 not come. It could be the Jews, could be 216 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:52,480 you could be me, could be anybody who says I got stuff to 217 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:57,000 do, I'm living my life, I like what I have going on. 218 00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,480 I've got a farm. Come on. 219 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,720 Farmers are hard workers, right? That's a legitimate thing, isn't 220 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:04,520 it? And yet there's a time and a 221 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,840 place to set work aside and say it's time to honor the Lord. 222 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:10,960 Sunday morning is a time to do that. 223 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,960 There's other times to do that other other work. 224 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,080 You got emails. They legitimately have to be 225 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,880 answered. You got stuff you actually have 226 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,400 to do. Mamas have to take care of 227 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,200 babies. People have things that they 228 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,000 have to do It's legitimate. The king isn't saying you have 229 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,200 nothing to do. The king is saying you need to 230 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,680 choose the right thing at the right time and you need to 231 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:35,520 prioritize what matters most. This is what they've missed out 232 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,640 on. Verse 4 again. 233 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,400 He sent other servants already. That's another crazy thing. 234 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:47,080 The king sent servants a second time to invite you. 235 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:52,080 You, the King's like, please come to my party. 236 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,120 That's not how kings behave. Kings aren't desperate. 237 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:58,120 You don't have anything that they need. 238 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,600 Everything is theirs. They can take everything you 239 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:05,000 have if they want to. So the kings have all the power 240 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,720 and they're saying, come. And you said that and they send 241 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,760 servants again. This is the great mercy and 242 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:15,640 kindness of God to you and to me over and over and over, in his 243 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,280 patience, in his grace, in his kindness, in his goodness. 244 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:21,640 Hey, come, please come to this feast. 245 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:24,520 And he said, tell those who are invited. 246 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:26,960 He's like, maybe I need to sweeten the deal and make sure 247 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,040 they understand. I've prepared my dinner. 248 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,040 My oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered. 249 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:37,240 Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. 250 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,560 The bread is done. It smells amazing. 251 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:42,160 The meat is falling off the bone. 252 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,560 The banquet hall is decorated. The groom has gotten the bride. 253 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:51,880 Come feast, rejoice. Honor my son and remember, 254 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,120 that's what it's about. The feast is first about the 255 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,440 honor and joy of the son. And everything in the Kingdom 256 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:01,520 revolves around him. Verse 5 but they paid no 257 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:06,280 attention and went off 1 to his farm and another to his business 258 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:10,160 distractions that they could justify not wickedness for the 259 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,800 these folks weren't wicked. Doesn't seem like it. 260 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,920 It's just like I hope it's a beautiful day. 261 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:17,840 I hope you all have a great feast. 262 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,680 I wish you well. Tell tell the king I send my 263 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,120 regards. That wasn't the invitation. 264 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,800 The invitation was not a pat on the head to the king and to his 265 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:28,960 son. The invitation was to come honor 266 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,480 the son completely in a participatory way, not a wink 267 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:35,600 and a nod and say, oh, the king understands. 268 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,160 I'm a real busy farmer. The king understands. 269 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:43,160 My schedule's just crazy. Have you met anybody who's ever 270 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,480 said how you doing? And they say super busy. 271 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,080 Of course you have. Haven't you been that person? 272 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,880 How you doing, man? I'm just slam, slam, slam. 273 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:54,920 I can't find anybody who's not crazy busy. 274 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:57,760 I can't find them. I'm not because I'm, I'm 275 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,800 ruthless about trying to kill that busyness, but it's hard to 276 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,160 find and it takes real deliberate effort to build a 277 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:06,080 life that actually has margin and space in it. 278 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:08,320 But you need to do it. It's not normal. 279 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:10,800 It's not normal to do it. But you don't want normal 280 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,600 church. Normal is normal's not good. 281 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,320 Normal's not good in any area of life. 282 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,480 Normal's not good physical health if you're normal. 283 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:20,720 Normal's not good marriage if you're normal. 284 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:22,960 Normal's not a good spiritual walk if you're normal. 285 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,640 We don't want normal, we want God's bullseye. 286 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:27,280 We want his highest and we want his best. 287 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,800 Margin is a part of normal living. 288 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:35,160 And for up until about 5 minutes ago in human history, everybody 289 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,160 had margin in their life. Because when the sun went down, 290 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,320 work had to stop and you had to be in the house and you had some 291 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:47,040 candles lit and somebody played some violin and somebody read 292 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,160 something and somebody played a game. 293 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,960 And then we all kind of got sleepy and maybe we prayed 294 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:58,400 together and we went to sleep. But now the sun goes down and 295 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,600 you and me, we got screens. It's time for Netflix. 296 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:03,640 How many episodes can I binge tonight? 297 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,120 How much can I doom scroll? What's going on in this room? 298 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,280 I don't know where the kids are. What's going on that like we're 299 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,920 just turn on all the lights in the house and we can keep 300 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,080 ourselves up and keep ourselves engaged. 301 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:16,360 What's happening on the schedule? 302 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,520 This sport is coming up, but that practice is tomorrow. 303 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:22,240 We've got this appointment here and there and everywhere. 304 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,840 If you want margin in your life, and you should, you will have to 305 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,240 feel like it will feel like you're ruthless. 306 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,320 Everyone else will think you're like crazy and you're really, 307 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,960 you're just living like your great grandparents lived and all 308 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,400 of your descendants before them. Everyone today will think you're 309 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:41,760 crazy. But then they'll start to see 310 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,880 the fruit of your life and they'll go, that looks really 311 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:46,400 nice and you go. It is. 312 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,120 It's such a relief. And they'll go, how do you do 313 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:49,560 it? You go. 314 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:52,600 Well, you called me crazy for a long time. 315 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:53,960 I don't know if you remember any of that. 316 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:56,360 And you thought it'll never work. 317 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,040 And here it is working. And it's really nice. 318 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,120 Oh, like, what do you do? Like me and my wife, we like, 319 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,000 sit on the sofa and talk. It's kind of cool. 320 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:10,160 We like, have time to think. We can, like, go for a walk. 321 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:12,920 I took a nap the other day. A nap? 322 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,960 What is this thing you speak of? Like it's it's again, it's been 323 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,200 a part of normal human history since Adam and Eve. 324 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,040 But now we're like, I'm not, I'm not some lazy person. 325 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,720 I'm busy. I'm somebody. 326 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,080 I'm important. I have many text messages. 327 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,760 I have many emails. You have no, my inbox. 328 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,440 Oh, your inbox. Oh, you think you're in? 329 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,000 I've seen it. I've seen business Bros like 330 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,960 Measure the inbox, my I came back from vacation and 2000 331 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,120 emails. Oh, I came back one time at 332 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,000 3500. Not that we can't talk about 333 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,040 those things and laugh at the ridiculousness of it. 334 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,040 That's OK. But whenever it's a source of 335 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,560 I'm somebody. You're somebody because you were 336 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,560 invited by somebody to a feast. That's it. 337 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,319 That's why you're somebody because you're loved by God and 338 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:07,760 he invites you. That's it. 339 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,599 Not because of your farm and not because of your business, not 340 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:13,839 because of all the other work that you and I was a I'm a 341 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:16,680 farmer, Lord, I can't come enjoy it. 342 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,319 It must be nice to be able to go to a wedding feast. 343 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:22,599 Must be nice, but some of us got real stuff to do. 344 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,680 That's not the flex. You're you're posting your L for 345 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,400 everybody to see. You're you're playing yourself. 346 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,640 The win is going to the feast. That's the win. 347 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,280 You're taking the loss and bragging about the loss. 348 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,400 Margin is victory. Margin is a blessing. 349 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,440 All this was free today. None of this was in the notes. 350 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,640 But the Holy Spirit loves you, and he wants you to take a nap, 351 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,720 just like Jesus did in the middle of a storm. 352 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:52,920 The ultimate servant leader himself. 353 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,840 While the disciples struggled through the storm, He slept in 354 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:00,280 the boat while they rode. And they're like, Lord, don't 355 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:01,360 you care? I do care. 356 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:03,240 Well, she hadn't woke me, but I do care. 357 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:06,560 He settles it all down. The Lord wants you to have a 358 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:08,240 life of rest. One thing at a time. 359 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:10,360 Don't go drop a nuclear bomb into your life. 360 00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:12,040 But you've got to start to build towards this thing. 361 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:13,760 You got to have a bullseye. You got to have a target. 362 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:16,720 And you need to know whenever you live in Crazy Town all the 363 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,280 time, you need somebody who doesn't live there to go. 364 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:24,880 Hey, friend, just so you know, you live in Crazy Town like, no, 365 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:26,440 everybody here is like that. I know. 366 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,080 I'm telling you, the whole town's crazy. 367 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,320 It's called Crazy Town. Everybody's doing it. 368 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,920 But yeah, you need to move out. You need to move out. 369 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,880 So Pastor James telling you, move out of crazy town, get 370 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,920 margin, get time to hang out and just be. 371 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:40,200 I don't want to be alone with my thoughts. 372 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,560 I know that's the problem too. So let's walk that in deeper 373 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:46,200 into prayer. Let's talk with the Lord about 374 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,400 that instead of just running from things. 375 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,280 All right, all that's free. Y'all got to hurry up now and 376 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:59,120 listen faster. Verse 5, they paid no attention, 377 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,320 went back to their work, went back to their distractions, all 378 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:07,400 the things they could justify other so-called followers of 379 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,320 Jesus distract themselves with as well. 380 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:11,000 Followers of Jesus have done it as well. 381 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:12,520 What takes you away from His Kingdom? 382 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:14,200 What takes you away from His word? 383 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,000 What takes you away from His presence and prayer? 384 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,840 What takes you away from His gathering on a Sunday morning? 385 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,120 These are the things that we want to get rid of, trim off and 386 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:26,080 properly prioritize the feast with the sun. 387 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,720 That's what makes you somebody. That's what makes you special, 388 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:32,200 not your work. Take away Salt Church and Pastor 389 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,320 Joe Michael. Man, that stinks, but I'd still 390 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,040 be John Michael. If you take off the pastor, I'm 391 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:40,600 still John Michael, son of God, loved by God. 392 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:45,280 Take away Natalie and the boys, that'd be devastating, but I'd 393 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,160 still be John Michael. Take away the family captain. 394 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,240 I'm a coach to that. These are important parts of my 395 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:52,680 life. We're not trying to minimize 396 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,440 them, but they come secondary to my identity in Christ. 397 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:58,960 When I live that way, I'm blessed by it. 398 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,000 When I forget that, I start to build little idols out of 399 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,880 Natalie or my children or you or the church or success in 400 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:11,000 business, but I want to continue to eat the feast that the Lord 401 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,120 has provided and honor the Son in doing so. 402 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,000 Verse 6. This thing just gets ridiculous 403 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,160 at this point. Other servants get even worse. 404 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,600 While the rest seized His servants, they grabbed his 405 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,640 servants. That's crazy. 406 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,200 Would not happen, but it happens in the Kingdom of God. 407 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,080 And they treated them shamefully and killed them. 408 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:32,040 So now he's talking about the Jews who killed the prophets. 409 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,520 Again, he's telling parables against the Jewish leadership. 410 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:37,280 But what authority do you do this? 411 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,120 And Jesus is blasting them in front of everybody. 412 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,120 And they know after the second parable, it says they knew he 413 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:46,080 was telling them the parables against them. 414 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:48,560 And now this third one, they know it's against them. 415 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,960 And now he's just twisting it in even deeper in front of 416 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,200 everybody. They're going, what? 417 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:56,440 This is what the Kingdom of heaven is like. 418 00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:59,800 And he's already said the prostitutes will come in before 419 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:02,600 you, the tax collectors will come in before you. 420 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,600 You rejected the King's invitation to honor the son. 421 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:09,800 He's been calling himself the Son of Man the whole time. 422 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:11,680 They know that he's saying he's the son. 423 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,760 They know that he's saying it's his wedding feast. 424 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,240 He's telling this all right to their faces. 425 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,080 Everybody understands all the Messianic language and all the 426 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:22,440 weight of what's taking place here. 427 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,640 And Matthew's readers remember Matthew wrote his Gospel to Jews 428 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,440 as well, so they understand nobody's missing anything, 429 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,160 treated them, seized them, and then killed them. 430 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:39,360 Notice the King's patience. He was patient. 431 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,720 He sent multiple times, multiple servants. 432 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,680 He sends people twice before his judgement. 433 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:46,960 His mercy precedes his fury, thankfully. 434 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:51,520 And then in verse 7, the king was angry and he sent his troops 435 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,160 and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 436 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,080 This is likely referencing what's going to happen 40 years 437 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:04,360 later. 40 years later, the king sends people into Jerusalem, and 438 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:09,720 Jerusalem is burned and destroyed completely and all of 439 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,080 the ruling class is murdered and their families. 440 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:19,280 He burned their city because they rejected the Son when it 441 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:23,320 was time for his feast. This whole story has taken a 442 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:24,880 wild turn, right? It's supposed to be a wedding. 443 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,400 You're invited to the party. And now cities are being burned 444 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:28,840 to the ground and people are being killed. 445 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,720 Hating the gospel and hating the servants of God brings God's 446 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:38,040 judgment because God takes very seriously the honor of his Son. 447 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,000 God says about his Son Jesus that he's going to make the 448 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,520 nation's his footstool. So you can either sit at the 449 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,160 right hand of Jesus or Jesus will prop his feet up on you. 450 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,360 You don't want to be the footstool. 451 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:51,160 You might think, I don't mind anything for Jesus. 452 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,400 That's not what it means. It means you're going to be the 453 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,120 one broken with the rod of iron. It means you either submit to 454 00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:00,520 him and say, yes, Lord, I'm yours, or your city is 455 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,000 destroyed, or you're like this other man we're going to come to 456 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,360 in just a moment, who somehow seems to be in the party and 457 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:11,160 then is ejected from the party. Verse 8. 458 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:17,440 Then he said to his servants, the wedding feast is ready, but 459 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,800 those invited were not worthy. I invited the Jews. 460 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:27,760 They were not worthy. Now I want you to go get the 461 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,560 Gentiles, get everybody in my house. 462 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,360 And this is again, scandalizing the Jewish leadership. 463 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:35,720 They're going, you're bringing in who? 464 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:38,280 And he's saying, and the Jewish leadership also thinking like 465 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:43,480 Pharisees, scribes, priests, we're the ones who invited the 466 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,080 party. And he's saying, give me the tax 467 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,480 collectors now you know what? Get that homeless guy at that 468 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,920 stoplight that I see when I come through the city and get that 469 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,240 other guy too. Fill the party. 470 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,320 That's your only mission. Fill the party with the good and 471 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:03,800 with the bad. Those invited were not worthy 472 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:06,440 here. Worthy doesn't mean that they 473 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,400 could have earned it, it just means that they refused the 474 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,320 King's terms. Worthiness is simply coming when 475 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,200 called and being clothed as he requires. 476 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,720 Verse 9. Go therefore to the main roads. 477 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,400 Invite the wedding to the wedding feast, as many as you 478 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,720 can find. And those servants went out to 479 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,000 the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. 480 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:29,040 So the wedding hall was filled with guests. 481 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,280 Go wherever you can. We're going to celebrate, we're 482 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,400 going to feast, we're going to party in this house. 483 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,480 My house will be filled. Call the good, call the bad. 484 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,240 That's the Jew, that's the Gentile, that's everything in 485 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,760 between. Those who come on the King's 486 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,480 terms are counted worthy, and they will sit at my table and 487 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,560 they will honor my son. Aren't you thankful that God 488 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,320 invited you? He invited everybody. 489 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:57,280 Everybody is invited. Everybody is loved and cared 490 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,400 for. The bad like me, like you, who 491 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,920 would never have an opportunity like this before or after they 492 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,160 are brought in to have food that they would never tasted in their 493 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,160 lives to see the glory of their king. 494 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,320 Verse 10 Notice just here the word gathered. 495 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,200 A simple point I'll make here. They were gathered around. 496 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,000 Gathering is what the Church of Jesus does. 497 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,520 Gathering is what the Church of Jesus is. 498 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,160 Church means the gathered people of of Jesus. 499 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:31,840 So to say that we love the king, but not to want to gather with 500 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,160 the King's people, it doesn't make any sense. 501 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,640 It's not an actual thing. This is not a virtual feast that 502 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,600 they had over Zoom that there or that they did on YouTube. 503 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,120 People in the Kingdom gathered to worship. 504 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:44,920 People in the Kingdom gathered to eat. 505 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:46,960 Christians gather for fellowship. 506 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,360 They gather for love. They want to keep gathering 507 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:52,440 together. It's really weird to say that 508 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,120 you love the king but you refuse the King's gathering. 509 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:57,840 Those things don't go together and they don't make any sense. 510 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,040 Verse 11, Here we are. Now we turn the corner. 511 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:04,400 So you think the parable's finished? 512 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,320 So I filled the house with guests, and they all lived 513 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,920 happily ever after. Not so fast. 514 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,800 Verse 11 But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw 515 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,800 there was a man who had no wedding garment. 516 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,000 So now he turns to talk about a man at the feast who could also 517 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,520 represent those who said I accepted the invitation. 518 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:32,400 This is those who say, yeah, I'll come and I'm in and I'd 519 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,920 like that blessing. So what you need to understand, 520 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,960 again, historically in this context, this is crazy. 521 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,840 Whenever the king would prepare a wedding feast, the king also, 522 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,520 when you were invited, provided you the wedding garment that you 523 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:51,680 were to wear to the wedding as a show of his grace, as a show of 524 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,440 his generosity. You're receiving this expensive 525 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,440 wedding garment that's a part of the overall decor of the whole 526 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,520 banquet. So everybody comes in looking 527 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,480 how they're supposed to look for with whatever has been designed 528 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:06,360 for whatever, with whatever has been decided. 529 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,960 So you've got to understand this guy who's in the banquet and 530 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,560 doesn't have the right clothes on, this isn't like the homeless 531 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,080 guy they found. And he's like, I'm sorry, I wore 532 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:16,880 my best and the King's like, I don't care. 533 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:18,760 Get out. That's not what's happening. 534 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,800 What's happening is he was invited and said here's the 535 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:23,800 garment to wear to the wedding feast. 536 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:25,880 Here's your garment to wear the wedding feast. 537 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:27,840 Here's your garment to wear the wedding feast. 538 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,440 Here's. And everybody puts them on. 539 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,520 Of course you put it on. Of course you put it on. 540 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,720 First of all, of course you accept the invitation. 541 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,720 That's where it's already crazy. And then of course, you put on 542 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,480 the garment. It's just, duh, it's how it 543 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,960 works. But this guy, I want the wedding 544 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:48,480 feast, but I don't want the standards that are required. 545 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,000 So remember Jesus's actual followers, they're used to him 546 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,920 kind of like bragging about them in the face of the 547 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:03,960 self-righteous. They're used to him defending 548 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:05,640 them in the face of the self-righteous. 549 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,040 He's been throwing it in the Jewish leadership's face. 550 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,040 He's saying I've redeemed prostitutes and they will enter 551 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,120 the Kingdom before you because they thought these are the worst 552 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,160 of the worst. And Jesus goes, but I redeemed 553 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:20,160 the worst, but I change things, I make things new. 554 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,480 You still don't get it. They're like, that's a tax 555 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,680 collector following him. He's like, I know I'm powerful. 556 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,280 I can give a new life. And they were still looking down 557 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,560 on that. So Jesus followers are used to 558 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,680 going like, wow, I've never like felt dignity before. 559 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,560 This is nice. The Lord is actually honoring 560 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:39,400 me, not because of me, but because of him. 561 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:41,520 But I'm not being shamed and condemned anymore. 562 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,000 I'm used to being hated in my own society, and now I'm being 563 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,680 treated with dignity and value and worth. 564 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:48,880 But this is a warning even to them. 565 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,080 This warning makes everybody stops in their track stop in 566 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,160 their tracks because it shows, yes, you were invited, but it 567 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:01,720 clarifies you must come the right way to enter the Kingdom 568 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,640 of heaven is not being a part of some roving band of hippies who 569 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,320 just enjoys the kindness of Jesus. 570 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,120 He's just cool. He's just good. 571 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,560 We're with him. We're still sinning. 572 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,040 No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what's happening. 573 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,280 That's not what's happening when you become a follower of Jesus. 574 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,280 So now we've got a proper wedding banquet, people 575 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:27,640 everywhere, great atmosphere, all is well except for one man. 576 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:34,760 So to accept this invitation but not come with the proper terms 577 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,200 is still just a massive, massive rejection of the king and a 578 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,120 massive dishonor of the son being married. 579 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,520 Everybody knows this. The listeners know it. 580 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,040 Matthew's Jewish readers of this gospel know it. 581 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:50,160 Now you and I know it. This is the, this is the voice 582 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:54,080 of the person saying, I'll take all your blessings, but I reject 583 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,800 your standards. Verse 12, He said to him, the 584 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,440 king said to him, friend. So it's interesting Matthew uses 585 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,520 friend, like when Matthew is his friend, it's not a good thing. 586 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:11,400 So whenever Jesus says to Judas friend, do what you have to do. 587 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,080 And another time Matthew use it or Jesus uses it and Matthew 588 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,400 says so whenever it's friend, it's the actual word used is a 589 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,800 genuine word for friend. But the context shows that like 590 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:27,000 we're actually not friends. I'm being polite, but this was 591 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:28,480 the king. So the king is going around the 592 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:29,680 banquet. This is awesome. 593 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,000 People everywhere. The house is full. 594 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:40,840 My son is being honored. Friend, where's your wedding 595 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,640 garment? The king is. 596 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,480 This is wrong. But let me give him the benefit 597 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,960 of the doubt for half a second. OK, Maybe something. 598 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,680 What's going on? Friend, where is your wedding 599 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,720 garment? And the man was seechless. 600 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:00,760 That's what everybody's going to be. 601 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,440 Who is flexing on earth when they stand before Jesus, when 602 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,280 they stand before the Father and say, where is the covering of my 603 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,280 son's blood on your life? Nobody's going to go. 604 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:25,160 No, it will just be lights out. This is the first time, friend, 605 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,120 How did you get in here without a wedding garment? 606 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,880 And he was speechless. Then the king said to his 607 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:36,640 attendants, Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer 608 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:38,840 darkness. In that place there will be 609 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:43,120 weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are cold, but few are 610 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,400 chosen. The gracious host. 611 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:54,240 What you need, Jim, turn off. I'm good now, OK? 612 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,800 The gracious host waits for some kind of reasonable explanation. 613 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:05,840 Friend, it's a stern warning. He's saying, what's going on 614 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,200 here? Explain it to me. 615 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:15,760 And when he realizes that no explanation is coming and that 616 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:19,840 this man has just been caught as a false insider, then the king 617 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:23,640 takes swift action. He's ejected from what he had 618 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,040 been invited to because he refused to be properly clothed 619 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:31,680 by his host. If you won't be clothed by 620 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,080 Jesus, then you can't be clothed at all. 621 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,640 And if you won't be clothed by Jesus, it's outer darkness. 622 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:41,120 This is a heavy, heavy word. And that's all that Jesus has 623 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,640 been giving lately. Of course, we've been taking it 624 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:45,440 one week at a time. You saying, man, pastor, this is 625 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:46,840 heavy stuff. I need some encouragement. 626 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:48,560 Be encouraged. You've been invited to the 627 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,360 wedding feast and the Lord wants to cover you with the 628 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:55,000 righteousness of Christ and not only the righteousness of 629 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,280 Christ, but with holy living. Those are the two things that 630 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,360 most scholars and theologians as they just because that's the 631 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:04,560 ultimate question that you and I need to be asking right now. 632 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,840 What is the garment? Lord, I accept the invitation. 633 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:09,120 I think that you're already there. 634 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:11,680 Lord, we accept the invitation. What in the world is that 635 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,040 garment? Do I have it on? 636 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,440 What is that garment? That's the question the humble 637 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:17,840 heart should be asking in this moment. 638 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,160 That garment is 2 things. That garment is the 639 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:25,200 righteousness of God-given to you by your faith in Christ and 640 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:27,680 the fruit that comes from that life. 641 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:34,160 It is both and it is the righteousness of Christ imputed 642 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:38,520 to you by God's grace through your faith, and it's also the 643 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:40,560 holy living that proceeds from it. 644 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:42,880 This man is missing that he wants to be around. 645 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:44,840 I want to eat all the steak of the Kingdom. 646 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,120 I want all the bread of the Kingdom. 647 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,440 I want all the wine of the Kingdom, but I don't have any of 648 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,520 the standards of the Kingdom. The king says that's not how 649 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,360 this works. You will be clothed and covered 650 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:57,800 by my son. That's part of being invited to 651 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,560 the wedding feast, and you will have the holiness that 652 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:06,720 accompanies it. God is moving through our church 653 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,760 in a special way. He's also giving false converts 654 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,320 a chance to be real converts, and he is looking for the real 655 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,520 fruits of repentance. This shaking that's happening in 656 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,440 our church is a kindness and a mercy, and it's an extra 657 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:22,199 invitation. That's what it is. 658 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:26,440 It's an extra invitation to say come to the feast, come to the 659 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,840 feast, come to the feast and be covered by Christ fully. 660 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:34,639 Verse 14. Many are called but few are 661 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:38,239 chosen. Many are called and invited to 662 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:41,480 the party but few are chosen. I want to clarify here. 663 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:45,600 Chosen does not mean that God pre selected who would make it 664 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:49,000 into this party. That word chosen makes me think 665 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,920 that it is saying that. And yet the full context of 666 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,560 everything we just read in the parable reveals that is an 667 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,120 impossibility for it to mean that. 668 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,880 So the word chosen here has to do with the fact that the king 669 00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:04,200 approves of them because they answered his call by coming in 670 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,760 and wearing the garment. So that word chosen has brought 671 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:08,480 in confusion for some in this passage. 672 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:12,520 But over and over the the context makes it plain Refusal 673 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:16,520 of the invitation or coming on your own terms leaves you 674 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,560 unchosen. Humble obedience on the King's 675 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:25,200 terms marks you as chosen. And I'm closing Chris and Kayla, 676 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:26,720 can you get us the elements? They're going to serve as 677 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:30,160 communion this morning. Thank you, Chris, you can get 678 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:35,120 that pulled up that Galatians 327. 679 00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:39,000 Just talking about the garment that covers us for as many of 680 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:43,160 you as we're baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 681 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:45,960 Christ is what we put on. Christ is our garment. 682 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,920 And also Revelation 19 to reference the holiness. 683 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:54,120 Revelation 19 verses 7 and 8 says let us rejoice and exalt 684 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:58,680 and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come 685 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:04,200 and his bride, that's us, has made herself ready. 686 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:08,240 I didn't make myself ready, only Jesus made me ready. 687 00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:11,880 That is so good and so perfect theology when it's when we're 688 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:15,320 talking about that thing. But we're not right here because 689 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:18,480 I'm reading the Bible to you. So, so you're not getting some 690 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:20,600 distortion and some turn away from grace. 691 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:24,360 Of course we have to be clothed and made righteous by Christ, 692 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,320 and yet his bride has made herself ready. 693 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,000 There's a making ready that you and I still do. 694 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:35,840 How do we do it? By God's grace, of course, with 695 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:39,080 his help, of course. But there is work done as a 696 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:42,080 Christian. There is effort put in as a 697 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:47,800 Christian, not to earn and not to deserve, but there is effort, 698 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:52,400 there is progress, there is pursuit, there is worship. 699 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:56,280 I'll keep reading. His bride has made herself 700 00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:01,080 ready, and it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, 701 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,200 bright and pure. For the fine linen is the 702 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:08,800 righteous deeds of the Saints. That's the fine linen, the 703 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,920 righteous deeds of the Saints. So it is the righteousness of 704 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,560 Christ covering us. Hallelujah, I'm a new creation. 705 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,320 Old has passed away. All things have become new. 706 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:23,760 And also to be fully clothed. There were righteous deeds of 707 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,760 the Saints. A transformed life is the 708 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,000 garment being referred to here. God is looking for fruit, not 709 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,920 just leaves on the tree. The prostitute isn't a 710 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,560 prostitute anymore. That's the point. 711 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:42,160 The tax collector isn't a tax collector anymore. 712 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:48,240 The liar isn't a liar anymore. The adulterer isn't an adulterer 713 00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:50,960 anymore. The prideful isn't prideful 714 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:55,800 anymore. So that's the question we ask 715 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:58,360 ourselves. Where is my holiness? 716 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,640 Where is my wedding garment? Where is my fruit? 717 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,040 If you were given the righteousness of Jesus in the 718 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:10,880 new birth, then do you bear the fruit to continually preach 719 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:12,720 that? Chris and Kayla, would you serve 720 00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:23,840 us? I'll continue as you do. 721 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,520 The Kingdom of heaven may be compared so all that we just 722 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:33,440 heard is what Jesus compares the Kingdom to. 723 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:35,600 The Kingdom of heaven is just like this. 724 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:37,360 What is it? What did we just hear? 725 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:39,280 You heard about a feast of grace. 726 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:41,680 Don't just skip to the judgement. 727 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:44,800 Notice the feast of grace. Notice the kindness and the 728 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,480 generosity of a king. That's what you should have 729 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:48,960 heard. That's what you should be 730 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:51,280 excited about. I don't have to be the guy who 731 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,920 rejected the invitation easy. And I don't have to be the guy 732 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,680 who refuses to be clothed easy. Nothing but feasting for you, 733 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:01,760 nothing but rejoicing for you. But also, you did see the 734 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:04,320 Kingdom of heaven as judgement for those who refuse. 735 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:06,560 That fills us with fear and trembling. 736 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:09,120 That causes us to pray for ourselves. 737 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:11,160 That causes us to pray for our loved ones. 738 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:12,720 That causes us to pray for our enemies. 739 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:17,280 God, they get thrown out. There's false converts in the 740 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,800 feast. There's false ones who say 741 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,440 they're in and they look like they're in, but when the king 742 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:27,240 comes, he'll say nobody else. The other guests didn't even 743 00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:29,440 notice. The other guests didn't throw 744 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:30,640 him out. The other guests didn't say, 745 00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:33,160 hey, get this guy out of here, get him out. 746 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:35,200 The guests didn't do it. The king did. 747 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:40,760 The king said, friend explain this and he goes, I can't. 748 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:42,600 And he goes, well, that's what I thought. 749 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:46,160 It is what it looks like. It is a rejection of me. 750 00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:49,560 It's a rejection of my son and his honor and the standards. 751 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:53,400 It's judgment for those who refuse. 752 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:57,120 It's rejection for those who want the King's blessing but 753 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:59,360 aren't clothed in the King's righteousness. 754 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:03,800 Thank God when he invites you to this banquet, He provides the 755 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:06,160 clothing that you need. The clothing is the blood of 756 00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:08,600 Jesus. The clothing is holy living. 757 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,440 If your heart is tender and you fear that you're the man who's 758 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:17,360 underdressed, you can come to Christ right now. 759 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:21,800 Receive His garment by repentance and by faith, and he 760 00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:25,080 will clothe you, and He will grow the fruit through you that 761 00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:29,800 He commands you to bear. When Jesus comes, He's not 762 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,040 looking for knowledge. He's not looking for prestige. 763 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:35,480 He's not looking for how great your farm is, or her how great 764 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:40,200 your business is, or how successful you were, or how cute 765 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:41,840 your kids are dressed on a Sunday morning. 766 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:45,800 And my wife had some cute kids dressed on Sunday mornings over 767 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,720 the years. He's looking for fruit. 768 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:54,200 He's not looking for fig leaves. Used to cover and pretend. 769 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:58,480 He's looking for actual figs. So come to the sun today, repent 770 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,640 and believe, be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, and 771 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:06,120 enter the feast. We come to the table, Lord, we 772 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:06,920 come to the feast.