Good morning. Good morning, everybody.
Welcome to church. Are you glad you're here today?
You made a great decision to come to church and to be in the
House of the Lord. What a privilege it is that
Jesus has made a way for us to be able to gather together.
And y'all know each other. Do y'all know them?
We one big family. Amen.
I'm glad you're here. I hope you had a great 4th of
July weekend last weekend. We're in the middle of summer.
It's 473° outside. Florida exists to remind people
that you want to choose heaven because hell is bad.
Amen. We're going to talk about that
today. I want to talk to you about
invitation. I'm going to jump right in.
If you're brand new, welcome to you.
If you're watching online, welcome to you.
If you're back and you've been here since the very beginning,
welcome to you. Glad that you're here.
I don't know which kind of invitation you like to receive.
Sometimes we have. I don't know if you've ever
received an invitation to something that's extremely
exclusive. Like the thought that you have
is how can I get in? I'll do anything.
I'll get my first born chicken. I'll see.
I'll give you my Panera. Or in the flip side, I don't
know if you ever got an invitation to something that's
intrusive and the thought is how can I get out of it?
One you want to get in, the other one you want to get out.
Amen. You following me so far?
As an example of something exclusive, I think I've shared
with you before that my dad's best friend, his name is Scotty
Barrett. We call him Boomer.
In 2001, he opened his mailbox and then there was an envelope
and it said Augusta National Golf Club and he opened the
envelope and there inside was a letter that says, hey, due to
attrition, we've opened a one time lottery to championship
badges, Thursday to Sunday, 2 tickets and you won two tickets
for the rest of your life. And essentially they sent us out
to like 200 people. And out of all the people in the
world, Scotty Barrett got them and he said to my dad, we're
sharing them. And since 2001, this most
exclusive, y'all, if you're not a golfer, you have no idea.
The Masters getting a ticket to the Masters is like getting
Willy Wonka's golden ticket. And he has shared those.
We got this exclusive access when you, when there's something
exclusive like a backstage pass or like go to the Oval Office,
like you can take a tour of the White House, but you can't go
there, right? Or the the the secret tunnels
beneath the Magic Kingdom. I called them the humidors in
the first service because a humidor is where like they store
cigars apparently. What's it called?
The Intelidor utilidor. Whatever, I don't want to ruin
the magic for you. Something exclusive access is
wanted. You want to get in.
It's amazing, but it's exclusive so you can't, right?
On the flip side, you know, you've all experienced that.
You open the mail or an e-mail and there's an invitation to
some dogs puppy shower that's 45 minutes away and it's an outside
event on July 13th where it's 104,000,000°.
And your initial thought when you received this invitation is,
man, I really hope I already have something on my calendar
before I go look, I'm going to pray that there's something on
my calendar so I can honestly, with integrity, say, oh, I would
have loved to have come, but I have a previous engagement
called nothing. Yeah, if I accept this intrusive
invitation, it totally impacts my life in a negative way.
How can I get out of it? Exclusive or intrusive?
Do you have those concepts in your mind?
Do you have them in your mind? Mezzanine one guy.
Does it take time for my voice to travel there?
I see you. When the invitation of the
Kingdom of Heaven rings out across the earth, how does it
land on your heart? Is it exclusive or is it
intrusive? When all the earth and all of
its glory speaks to the Kingdom of heaven and the invitation of
you there to come when you see a sunset, it's an invitation,
right? How does it land on your heart?
Is it exclusive, like it's only for the best of the best of
which you are not? It's for popes and guys named
Billy Graham and that's it? Or is it intrusive where it's
like hey, Kingdom of heaven confining and to be honest a
little boring. So I'm trying to see if there's
something else that I had planned for the rest of my life
than to choose the Jesus way. Is it exclusive or is it
intrusive? What if the answer is neither?
What if the answer is the invitation to the Kingdom of
heaven is both inclusive and desirous?
It's somewhere you actually, absolutely, definitively want to
be. And good news for you, you can
go there. What if that were the case?
Well, it is the case, as we're going to find out today or maybe
remind ourselves in a message called Open invitation.
It comes to us from Matthew chapter 22.
If you need a Bible, raise your hand.
One will be brought to you. Otherwise, open your scriptures.
I implore you, encourage you. Bring your Bible to church.
Carry the word of God in your hand.
It's no condemnation if you don't have it today.
It's maybe just encouragement. Bring the word, the sword with
you. Maybe it's on your phone
anathema as you're getting the scriptures ready.
Matthew chapter 22. May I pray say yes, Father in
heaven is refinement. You give it to us so that we
might reflect you better. And Lord, you're worthy of the
best reflection. So refiners, fire, come and do
your work, purify us, make us like you.
And Lord, I pray the spirit of truth is in the room today.
No more confusion or deception about who you are and what your
Kingdom is like in Jesus name, Amen.
We're talking about the parables in this series called The
Kingdom Unveiled. Jesus didn't just come to save
us, but to reveal to us the now and future present Kingdom of
heaven that is on the earth. John the Baptist went around
saying repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And then Jesus showed up and the Kingdom of heaven arrived.
And Jesus spends a lot of his ministry trying to express to
people that would have ears to hear and eyes to see the reality
of the Kingdom of heaven as it's right around us here in 2026, as
it was in Jesus's day. And so we have these parables,
these earthly stories with heavenly meaning so that we can
better understand and grasp it. And you'll see right in verse 2
here, Jesus says like this is what the Kingdom of heaven is
like. If y'all are wondering if you
want to know the reality of it, this is what it's like.
Verse one. Jesus spoke to them again in
parable saying the Kingdom of heaven is like what?
A king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
He sent his servants to those who had been invited to this
wedding banquet that the king had prepared for his son to tell
him to come. But they said, Nah, no thanks,
they refused to come. Now look at the mercy of the
Lord. He sent more servants and said
to the same people who had already rejected them, Tell
those who have been invited that I prepared my dinner.
My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered and everything is
ready. So come to the wedding banquet.
But they paid no attention and went off. 1 to his field,
another to his business. The rest of the people seized
his servants. The ones that were doing the
inviting get seized. They're mistreated, and then
they're killed. Verse 7.
This may mess with some of your theology, your understanding of
God. The King, who is God in this
story, was enraged. God gets enraged.
Is that the God that you understand?
This is Jesus speaking. It's not a pinion of a preacher
or even one of the disciples. Jesus says the king was enraged.
He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their
city. Does that fit into your
theology? Verse 8 Then he told his
servants, the wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did
not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and
invite the banquet to the banquet, anyone you find.
So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the
people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the
wedding hall was filled with guests.
Hallelujah. But verse 11, when the king came
in to see the guests, he noticed the man there who was not
wearing wedding clothes, Imagining he's like got a
swimsuit on at a wedding, like doesn't quite fit.
He asked, how did you get in here without wedding clothes,
friend? The man was speechless.
Then the king told his attendants, tie him hand and
foot and throw him outside Into Darkness, where there would be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are invited, but few
are chosen. The Kingdom of heaven is like
this. And you might say, like what?
Well, three things we see in this passage.
We see many things, but three things I want to highlight
First, a banquet. I want you to know that the
Kingdom of heaven is like this banquet, and it is mesmerizingly
beautiful. We also see an invitation.
Really. 3 invitations and I want you to know that the Kingdom of
Heaven is like this invitation and then we see some RSVPS and
the Kingdom of Heaven is like not like the RSVP because that's
our part, but the interaction, the response to the RSVP.
So the Kingdom of Heaven is like RSVP.
You know what that stands for? Respond Cebu play is French.
It just means please respond. Let me know.
So let's talk about the banquet first and then the invitation,
and we'll finish with the RSVP. Are you ready to say yes?
I want you to know that this banquet is to die for.
Look at your neighbors. Say to die for, Say with a
British accent. You'll sound better to die for,
darling. Yes.
I don't know where this term came from.
It feels to me like it got famous in the last 10 years, but
it might have been around for like hundreds and hundreds of
years. And I'm just slow on the pickup.
But essentially the concept here is that something is so worthy
that you're willing to give your life for it.
But think about how ridiculous that is, how the brownies to die
for. Sign me up, kill me, then give
me the brownies. Except this is exactly what
Jesus did. Jesus in heaven God said, for I
so love the world that I'll get my son.
Jesus says, are they worthy? And God said they're to die for.
Wow, I love this Jesus. Do you love this Jesus to die
for? The banquet is to die for and
Jesus died for it. Romans 58 Hall of Fame verse.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this God said, I
want to show them how I love them.
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Glory to God. Wow.
Even here in Matthew chapter 22 verse 4, the king says I have
butchered the ox and the fattened calf.
Symbolic language for God's saying in order to prepare the
feast, I made the sacrifice. And now because the sacrifice
has been made, the feast is ready.
So please come RSVP. The invitation goes forward.
And oh, by the way, you too. And I too.
We die. This banquet is the die for, and
we die too. Everybody clap your hands.
Woo, woo, woo. Yeah, no one likes dying, except
when I tell you the parts that die in us are things like sin,
shame, death. Amen.
Colossians 3. Since then you have been raised
with Christ. Set your heart on things above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthy things, for you
died and your life is now hidden with Christ and God.
He's speaking this to people who are not currently dead, but
because they put their faith in Jesus, it's no longer they who
live, but Christ who lives in them.
And now they are cloaked in Christ, and Christ is seated at
the right hand of God. So anyone who's put their faith
in God is now seated with Jesus, clothed in Jesus at the right
hand of God. So let's set our minds on
heavenly things, things above. This meal is so beautiful, this
banquet, that I believe it is the devil's scheme to get you to
skip this meal. You ever done a meal skip you
like I had breakfast. I'm a skip lunch because Chuy's
is for dinner. Glory to God.
I mean, have you ever been to Chuy's?
It's enough. It's enough food for like 6
people for six days, 600 years. That was just 666I strike my
words. He wants you to skip the banquet
and therefore he's blinded our eyes to the glory of this
banquet saying to us, hey bruh like skip it not worth it.
The food is lame, it's terrible. The invitation is intrusive on
what we got going on so pay it no attention.
You need to find a way to get out of this Kingdom invitation.
You need to rationalize or find options that are contrary
different to other than this invitation.
You got to beg your way out of it like ah, sorry God I can't.
I got something else going on for eternity.
So today I want to correct our perception of this banquet with
some truth if you are willing to hear it.
Amen. I'm telling you now that this
banquet is worth dying for, Darlene, for sure.
I want to read to you 2 passages, one from the Old
Testament, one from the New Testament, so that we can see
that this banquet has been part of God's plan for a long, long,
long, long, long time. He's been telling us about it,
and it'll be the cataclysmic end for all those who believe in
Jesus. As I read through these
passages, I'm going to be doing some teaching along the way.
So you're going to feel a little bit of neck up, down, up, down,
up, down, up, down. And I apologize for that.
Just consider it Christian calisthenics as we go through
it. But let's look first at
Revelation chapter 19, verse 9. There's much more in the Book of
Revelation. By the way, we'll be teaching a
series on Revelation beginning at the end of August.
I hope that you'll be here. It's time that you understand
that the end is good for you if you're a follower, Jesus.
Revelation is not a book to be afraid of, nor is the end
something to be afraid of because Jesus will be there in
all his glory. And Jesus I was going to say
Jesus will win, but Jesus has already won in Jesus name, Amen.
So I hope you be here end of August, but just a foretaste of
glory of divine revelation. 19 nine.
Then the Angel said to me, the me here is John who's writing
down the revelation. She, the Angel says write this
and you know what John did because we're reading it.
Look at these words. Blessed are those who are
invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.
And he added, these are the true words of God.
We don't get this phrase. These are the true words of God
really anywhere else in Revelation.
So why does God attach it to this particular portion?
Maybe because the enemy has tried to get us to think that
the wedding invitation is something to you to suffer
through and to endure here on the earth in hopes that one day
we get there, or to ignore completely.
Not worth your time. And so the the the excuse me,
the Angel said make sure you add the these are the 2 words of
God. Blessed are those who are
invited to the wedding supper of the lamb.
This verse is looking at the end from the beginning.
This is the exact feast that Jesus is speaking about in this
parable in Matthew 22. And it is the final destination
of All Souls who place their faith in Jesus Christ, this
incredible wedding supper of the Lamb.
And it's extremely magnificent. It's not merely an abstract kind
of state of being detached from history, nor it's is it a purely
literal future dinner. It is a powerful symbolic
depiction of the real future, the eternal blessedness of being
perfectly united with Christ Jesus, full of joy, full of
love, full of belonging, full of celebration.
This supper, it's much more than a supper, pictures the ongoing,
unending feast of life in God's glorious presence.
This is why the Angel says, blessed are those who are
invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Imagine yourself at home one day.
You get out your mail, you bring it into the house and you got
some friends there. And you start opening your mail
and they look in like, dude, you got a letter from heaven.
And you're like, what? And you open it up and it says
you are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
And they're like, you are so blessed.
I don't think you're convinced yet.
Let's look at Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 25, the supper
Jesus speaks of was also prophesied by Isaiah 600 years
before Jesus even walked the earth.
In the middle of Isaiah, there's a section chapters 24 to 27.
It's called the Isaiah Apocalypse where Isaiah
prophesized the end of time. And in the middle of this
apocalypse, Isaiah speaks about what Jesus speaks about in 22,
Matthew 22 and what the revelation is at the end of time
in Revelation 19. Now we're going to do a lot of
up downs here. Matthew 25 verse 6 on this
mountain, pause. What mountain?
It's a specific mountain, It says on a mountain, it says on
this mountain, this mountain is actually Mount Zion.
And when you read the Bible in Mount Zion, it's it's kind of
encapsulates both actual Mount Zion and Mount Moriah, which are
right next to it. If you're standing there, you
might even be able to tell the difference.
But this is biblically the location of the temple of the
Lord. This is biblically the the
encompassment of His royal city. This is the place of Jesus's
death and His resurrection. It is on this mountain on the
holy hill of the Lord that this supper will be prepared.
Has has been prepared in Jesus already.
And then it says this. The Lord Almighty will prepare a
feast of rich food for all peoples.
I want you to notice these 3 words for all peoples all means
all and that's all. All means.
You heard that before, so raise your hand in here if you're not
included. This is a theme we see
throughout the Bible. I have much more to say about
this in the second point, but I just wanted to pause here and
make note. And, and in the the scripture
read the good and the bad. So the people that you were
violent under your breath when you're reading social media,
people that believe differently, you behave differently than you
people have different faith than you.
People you might consider terrorists.
God's like. They were invited too.
The oxen was butchered, the cattle was butchered, my son was
butchered for them. And then we get the list of
what's on the table, a banquet of aged wine.
Very descriptive. Not just wine.
Wine is the biblical symbol of both joy and celebration.
Aged wine means that it's the best of joy and the best of
celebration. I don't know a lot about wine,
but I know if it's aged, it's better, right?
Is that right? You're like, I don't want to
answer because anything. So I drink wine, but we're not
talking about Walmart wine here. Something that has been in the
Cellars of heaven for a long, long, long time.
And God is bringing it to the banqueting table.
The best of joy, the best of celebration.
You may remember that Jesus's first miracle was to turn water
into and was it good wine or the best of wines?
It's the best of wines. And he happens to be at a
wedding banquet. His first miracle, another
picture of this eternal picture, this table, this fellowship, the
renewal, the joy and celebration of the wine that he and he
himself is inviting us to. Then we get the best of meats
and meets biblically as a representation of provision.
Jehovah Jireh is his name. The Lord God will provide and in
Jesus he has provided and in the picture of the wedding feast, he
will continue to provide. It's who he does.
It's what he is that we sit with open hands and say, God,
whatever you provide is what I need.
The choicest of meats, the best of meats.
And then it says something interesting, a banquet of aged
wine, the best of meats and the finest of wine.
So I'm like, you already said that.
Why you saying it again? You said wines and now you say
wine, wine, wine. I'm going to have some wine and
then wine. Some of you like, yeah,
repetition here of wine speaks to abundance.
You're not just going to have some.
There's going to be a lot. And remember, we're talking
about joy and celebration, but also it's the finest of wines,
again, which speaks to something.
It's descriptive. It's not just wine.
It's the finest of wines, and it speaks to the process.
Good wine takes time, but it will come.
The fulfillment of God's promises are a process that
takes time, but it will come. Somebody needs to hear this
today. You're in the middle of a
waiting season as a promise of God spoken over your life
through the Word of God. It's just going to take time,
but the promise will be fulfilled.
How do I know? Look at the next verse, verse
7A. Promise that has already been
fulfilled, that was prophesied by Isaiah 2600 years ago, has
come to fruition. And if this has come true, then
the rest that we just read will also come true.
Amen. Here's what's already come true
on this mountain. He will destroy the shroud that
unfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations.
What's the shroud? What's the sheet?
Well, the next verse tells us he will swallow up death forever.
This is the shroud. This is the sheet that he has
destroyed in Jesus Christ. Now look at the last part of
her. Say the sovereign Lord will wipe
away the tears from all the faces.
What a picture, Jesus wiping away the tears, Hallelujah from
your eyes. And then even better, wait for
it. He will remove His people's
disgrace from all the earth. He's not putting it in the next
room down the street. He's heavenly, vacuuming it from
the earth. If the second prophecy has come
true, then the first will also come true.
Jesus has come. He has destroyed death.
And one day there will be a wedding supper with aged wine
and choice meats and the finest of wines.
We're being invited to this feast where you can feast upon
the delicacies of joy and celebration, where there's
abundant provision, where there's free refills of blessing
and promises fulfilled. And these are just the
appetizers. The main course is freedom from
sin, freedom from death and its entrapments.
I don't think we're understanding how wonderful it
is to sit at the table and have no shame or regrets.
One of our staff members was sharing this week about going to
evangelize down at Disney Springs.
And while they're they run into the the phrase, and maybe you've
heard this before from other people or maybe you said it
yourself, If I walk into the church, the walls are going to
collapse or the place is going to get on fire, right?
Well, I see about 1000 senators who just walked in and the walls
are up and nothing's on fire, right?
That statement, the walls will come down or the the place will
catch on fire, which we hope it does.
In the name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit fire, Amen.
Amen. But those kind of statements are
statements of regret and shame, like I am too filthy and
undeserving to go in there. If I go in there, I'll be the
one that triggers the wrath of God.
And Jesus says when you sit at this table, you will never feel
that way again. All disgrace removed from all
the earth. I love this Jesus.
He gives us freedom to his bride, the Church, and he is the
bridegroom, this Jesus of Nazareth.
So you don't have to answer out loud, but maybe in your spirit
just begin to ask yourself, is this a feast I want to be at?
I want to remind you that the devil schemes in an attempt to
have us undervalue the goodness of God.
The devil wants you to believe that the wedding feast is worse
than the value menu at the local choke and puke fast food joint.
2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 says the God of this age
lowercase G. The God of this age has blinded
the minds of unbelievers as to the glory of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. So let's just take a vision
check here this morning because the Bible says the devil blinds
people from seeing the glory. Just ask yourself, am I
currently blinded? Like if I'm just being real, I
don't want anyone else to know that I'm actually considering
the things of heaven. But man, I'm just going to think
about it here for a second. Have I rejected God, thought
church, the Kingdom of heaven, is intrusive or exclusive
Because the devil's been blinding me?
Man, I get it. For 13 years I went to church.
I don't want to go. We went because my parents made
us go. I don't like getting dressed up.
Then like sitting there, I was bored to tears.
I would count things like one light, 2 light, three light, 4
light. Is he almost done?
And when he started wrapping up his message, I could feel my
heart soaring like we're almost about to go to Chili's.
My mind was blinded by the God of this age as to the glory that
I was sitting within. I'm sitting at the feast at the
table of the Lord. And I could be, couldn't be, I
could care less. And maybe that's the way you
feel today. And I want you to know,
biblically that is the devil blinding you from the glory of
the gospel. And you get the opportunity to
say, not today, Satan, not today.
I pray that your eyes would be open for your sake to see the
glory of God. Where are we?
This is the feast of the Lord, the wedding feast of the Lamb.
It is the most grand occasion that will happen in all of
history when properly understood.
This is the one event that everyone will want to be at, and
those that don't come, those who reject the invitation will have
FOMO for eternity. Think of that.
You don't like that FOMO for a one night, like I missed it.
You don't want to be saying that for all eternity, which gets us
to the next part, like who is invited?
Who's going to be at the wedding feast of the Lord?
I got good news. The invitation is not exclusive.
It's inclusive. We just read it in Isaiah
chapter 25. All peoples are invited.
We're going to look at the three groups that kind of went through
the invitation process here in Matthew chapter 22.
And you kind of just got to say which one am I?
Which of these three is me? Reflect upon it.
The first group, verses 3 through 8 of Matthew 22,
primarily represent Israel. Especially like the leadership
of Israel, the high priests, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the
the scribes, the elders, the the the teachers of the Law.
These people repeatedly received God's invitation to the Kingdom
of heaven. Read the Old Testament, all the
prophets pointing repent, Kingdom of heaven, Kingdom of
heaven, Kingdom of heaven. Look at John the Baptist.
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent, repent.
Look at Jesus himself making the invitation through his life.
But the people rejected them. In fact, if you read the parable
before the one we're reading in Matthew 21, it's the parable of
the tenants. It's about the people who were
supposed to and they rejected. I mean, it's very similar to the
one we're reading here. These are the ones who are first
invited there, the honored expected guests.
But when the time comes, they refuse to attend and look at why
they refuse it. And maybe we do some
introspection and examine our hearts as to their reasons and
see if it matches maybe our reasons.
But firstly, they have worldly concerns, their fields and their
businesses. In other words, they were
concerned more about what they were building their life on.
Than the thing that could actually.
Give them life. And they held it so dear that
they rejected the invitation. Now I'm going to keep my man
made Kingdom, my lifestyle, my platform, my me, everything's me
centered. I'm going to.
I value that more than the invitation.
So I refuse you once, I refuse you twice.
I refuse you repeatedly and then further.
There were those who had outright.
Opposition to the King. Meaning that refusal.
Escalated from indifference to violence.
They killed the prophets. They.
Beheaded John the Baptist. They crucified Jesus of
Nazareth. This is the first group.
That's their response to the invitation.
Are you in that group? The second invitation goes.
To the people from the streets and the crossroads.
Maybe it's your old school church.
You heard from the highways and the byways.
Anyone remember those words? Yeah.
After the first group refuses, the king sends out his servants
again. These are the prophets.
These are the disciples in our day.
To the to the main roads and St. corners, meaning the common
marketplace where the regular old man and woman are sitting
there and they would invite anyone.
And the Scripture says both good and bad.
This group in Jesus. Day represents the Gentiles.
It's still to this day does, and to anyone who feels like they
are the outsiders of the overlooked in Jesus day, it's
the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the sinners, the
marginalized, all those who are not part of the original
covenant people. But now through this parable,
through the life of Jesus are receiving the gospel invitation
after most people of Israel had rejected it.
And I want you to notice. Remember, this is what the
Kingdom of Heaven is like. People that weren't allowed.
Access now have access. God's mercy is inclusive.
His grace is Invitational. The Kingdom is opened wide.
Salvation is by grace, not by ethnic privilege, not by merit.
When we read the good. And the bad here.
It means that entry into heaven depends on responding to the
invitation, not on our prior righteousness and certainly not
our prior crimes. You can't earn your way in.
You can't earn your way out. All are invited, which means you
too. Everybody in this room has an
invitation sitting in your hands right here, right now.
No one is not included. Is that a double negative?
Yes. The.
Feast awaits the. Bridegroom.
Awaits your response access for you exclusive.
No more everything that's at this banqueting table.
Joy, celebration, promises fulfilled, abundant provision
forever, and the removal of your stains and your sin and your
regret and your disgrace, all of that is within reach for every
person. The invitation is.
Inclusive. And then you got the last
invitation. The man without wedding clothes.
What happens there? I mean this guy.
Accepts the invitation. Somehow he enters the banquet.
We're not really told how but it's found as he's there without
proper wedding attire. I want you to know that it says
the king came and saw, which means the king will come and
see. The heavy term.
Is judgment day. There will be a day where the
king will come and see what clothes you are wearing, and the
king comes and sees he's not wearing clothes, which means
that he has come into this banquet on his own terms and
he's either refused or neglected the host's provision for
appropriate clothing. He's wearing the wrong clothes,
but the host had clothes he could have worn, but he either
refused or neglected them. See, in Jesus Day, culturally it
was appropriate and regular for the host of the wedding to
supply the wedding clothes to the attendants, the people who
are coming. Right in our day.
We get all gussied up and then we go.
In Jesus Day you went and then they gave you the clothes.
How many of you are bridesmaids? Men.
What do they call them? The guys?
Groomsmen. I was going to say bridesmen,
but then whatever. And they're like, hey, come be a
part. Of my wedding, like yes, I'm
like here's a $600.00 dress you need to buy to be part of my
wedding or here's a $400.00 tuxedo to go rent to be part of
my wedding right in Jesus days. Like don't worry, I covered all
them costs. I covered all.
Those costs you. Didn't have to come ready the.
Host made you ready? This is what?
The Kingdom of heaven is like you don't have to get it right
before you arrive. He will make you right when you
arrive. You don't have to wear the right
clothes because He will provide for you a robe of righteousness.
Amen. But there's something you do
need to do. You can't just show up.
We'll talk about that in a minute.
People from around. From any background who profess
to accept the invitation and claim to you a part of God's
people or the church, but lack genuine faith and the
righteousness that God provides in our faith in Christ are
warned in this parable against superficial religion.
You can be in the room. You are in the room.
Are you watching the line? Hello.
But still face judgement if you rely on your own merits instead
of God's grace. And This is why, Jesus
concludes, many are invited, but few are chosen.
Like is this predestination? What are we talking about?
Does God? Pick some and.
Not others like yes, yes, yes, yes.
Is that is that what's happening?
Right, few are chosen. Means that few have put on the
proper garments. By faith.
It could have said all were chosen because all responded,
but because few responded, few are chosen.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
If you don't give me a call. My number is 1800.
Tim Ingram. That's not true.
I don't know why I said that. So where are you?
Which group are you? How have you responded to the
invitation? Before you answer, consider
this. Your RSVP matters intensely.
I want to emphasize. Your This is a personal decision
to respond to the invitation of heaven that no one else can make
for you except for you yourself, by your own volition, your own
understanding, to say yes. Or to say no.
And sometimes not saying yes is saying.
No Israel's. Rejection that we read in
Matthew 22 of Jesus is no different than ours today.
It's the same the tragedy of rejecting God's gracious offer
of salvation in Christ Jesus. The judgement that we read in
Matthew chapter 22 foreshadows the consequences of rejecting
the Messiah. If you remember what we read in
Matthew 22, he says, hey, those people who didn't receive my
invitation twice, I'm. Going to destroy their cities.
And I'll kill them. I know that wrinkles.
Some of your theology, but this is what the Kingdom of heaven is
like. And it happened. 40 years after
Jesus ascends into heaven, roughly 40 years, Jerusalem is
destroyed, the temple destroyed, fire, death because of their
rejection of Jesus. The parable warns that.
Privilege and invitation do not guarantee participation if there
is no response to the invitation.
Both acceptance and rejection. Of the invitation have outcomes.
Look at the outcome for the man who.
Was religious. He's in the house, he's doing
the religious things right, but he's not full of faith.
When confronted, it says he is speechless.
And what it really means is. There, he had no defense.
What can I say? I'm wearing the wrong things.
I don't. What's going to happen?
And then the King orders him, bound and thrown into outer
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Remember, this is Jesus speaking.
Should there be any confusion like it wasn't Jesus?
Are you sure Jesus said Jesus is all love.
Like where's my teddy bear, Cuddly God?
I mean, he exists. He does love you, but His love
includes justice, because if it didn't include justice and
wrath, He never would have dealt with sin.
And if he never dealt with sin, you and I would be bound forever
to sin. But because he's a God of wrath
and justice, He came to deal with sin.
It's a part of who He is. It's a reality that cannot be
escaped if you want to understand the Kingdom of
heaven. Those that accept the invitation
of Jesus receive the Feast of Feasts, while those who reject
the invitation of Jesus receive the famine of famines.
No more hope, no. Light.
No erasing of sin or shame or regret.
No relationship with the Father. No presence with the Father.
Forever the famine of all famines.
The group that. Filled the hall.
The good and the bad, the ones. That said, yes, they get it.
They come and run and it says the.
House was full. Can you imagine, like Israel,
the religious institution, intentionally or not, basically
said to most of the world, you're not going to make it
unless you follow all of our 600 and within the laws, not going
to happen. You haven't reached the.
Status of good enough to be entered in.
So keep trying come back and sacrifice.
You need to sacrifice again and sacrifice again and over and
over and over. You're bad you're bad you're bad
you're bad bad and suddenly Jesus comes and says wait a
second, my Kingdom is for you. You are invited, you are welcome
and the ones who have been shut out for so long, don't hesitate
to respond to the invitation. They flood the House of God.
Man, how I wish this was true in our day and age that every
church. That opens the doors at.
Any time would have every seat full.
Look how many people said. No to the invitation today.
See the empty seats? I wish sometimes.
At the end of service, when we open the altar, which is like
the feast table is here and we open it for prayer, that instead
of running to the parking lot, we'd run to the altar because we
have access and it's desirous. Here's the reality of the
Kingdom. Your response to the RSVP
matters. You don't want to get to heaven.
And say one of these two things and this is how we're closing
the day. Number one, you don't want to
get to heaven and say, oh, I, Oh my goodness, I totally forgot to
RSVPI just forgot. Listen, I don't want to.
Scare you into heaven? I'd rather you choose Jesus.
Because of the invitation to abide with him.
Not because you're afraid to spend eternity without him.
But that's the reality. When I was in pseudo ministry,
we used to take a We only went once to something called
Heaven's Gates. Hell's flames, anyone?
Yeah. The idea is it to scare the hell
out of you. Like they, they, they, you walk
into the first room and it's like, hey, and then there's
people and they tell a story and they haven't received Jesus.
The next room, these people haven't received Jesus die.
And they're like dead bodies. And there's arms over there and
heads over there and they'd like make up all this stuff.
And I'm walking these 6th graders through like, their
parents are going to kill me. They're going to be traumatized
from a church event. And eventually you get to the
last. Room and it's like blue and it's
nice air and you've like clouds and like this is amazing.
But man, that was traumatizing. They're trying.
To make me choose Jesus because of how bad hell is is like
trying to make me choose my wife because all the rest of the
women are ugly. That sounds weird when you say
it out. Loud.
I don't actually think that all the rest of the women are ugly.
All I'm saying is like wow, I guess I'll take you because this
other option is bad you. Understand what I'm saying
before you. I saw the Wimberley.
She is beautiful like top. Yes.
Yeah, like I'd rather. You choose Jesus because of His
magnificent love and grace for you and His goodness, not
because you're afraid of hell. However, listen to me.
Come in two weeks. And you hear the parable of the
10 virgins. One day it will be too late.
One day it. Will be too late to decide and.
The reality is. If you have not received the
invitation of Jesus, you will end up in the most wretchably
wretchably. Horrifically dark place Jesus.
Says it's weeping and gnashing of teeth, complete brokenness
all the time with no hope of help.
It'll be your eternal existence. In the darkest pit.
You can imagine it is a reality. Do not be fooled.
Don't get to heaven and say I forgot to RSVP.
But there's also this other one you might get to heaven and be
like, where's your RSVP? And like I thought, I did it.
Like, no, we're looking at the lamb's.
Book of life, I don't see your name here.
I thought I did, and this is more like the man.
In Matthew 22, the. Parable that we're reading.
I thought that by going to church and doing good things I
had sent in my RSVP. And here's the reality.
Church attendance does not send in your RSVP.
Amen. Doing good.
Deeds does not send in your RSVP.
Being born in a Christian home does not send in your RSVP.
Your parents faith does not send in your RSVPI.
Used to have kids when they come to student ministry we have them
fill out these intake cards like welcome to youth, we called it
Chew. Long story, welcome to Chew.
Fill out the form and at. The bottom was this question,
are you a Christian? If so when?
And 90% of the kids would write their name and say yes I'm a
Christian. If so, when they would say I was
born a Christian? And what they're meaning is I.
Have a Christian heritage. I I have a family that's
familiar with church and occasionally Christmas, Easter,
maybe more, we go to church. I know that God exists and I.
Know it's yay God. Boo, Devil.
Well, even the devil know that God exists and he's not RSVP and
he will not be at the banqueting table.
Your RSVP has to. Be your choice, your.
Faith. No one else's suitcase of faith.
Will be in your hand when you get.
There. Your choice.
So how do you RSVP It's. Simple faith.
Everyone say faith, here's a scripture won't be on the
screens. Just let it soak in your soul
for it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this not
from yourselves. It is a gift of God, not by
works so that no one can boast. It is not a meritocracy.
It is a grace ocracy by faith you receive the invitation.
So today three things. Number one, I hope that you will
rightly appreciate the banqueting table of the Lord.
Never underestimate its glory and how much it costs God to put
on this feast. And yet He chose it's to die
for. You're to die for number 2.
I hope that you will realize we haven't even really taught on
this. It's kind of the last second
curveball, but the invitation to the banqueting table still goes
out, and that invitation is you. How you live your.
Life in light of your own salvation is an invitation to
the rest of the world, as whether or not they should too
join you at the table as your life is your invitation
inviting. Does your life make it seem?
Exclusive or intrusive because. The invitation of.
God is inclusive. Is your life inclusive?
The invitation is desirous. Does your life make the Kingdom
of God look desirous or like a dirge?
Come join me on the boring journey called Faith.
No thanks. And finally this if you have.
Not RSVP Ed to the invitation. Do it now, here and today.
The whole church is going to pray together with you.
We're going to all speak these words out loud.
And if you're receiving the invitation, maybe you thought
you were covered like I've just been in church this whole time.
No, you need to make a decision. You need to receive the
invitation. To the wedding feast.
Maybe you thought you weren't allowed?
Because you weren't good enough. None of us were are, except for
Jesus. Today's your day, so let's.
Pray, but you bow your heads, close your eyes, every voice
repeating after me, not in a whisper, not in a shout, but
with conviction, saying, Father, in the name of Jesus, I
recognize that I am a Sinner in need of a Savior.
And today I confess and I believe that Jesus Christ is
Lord and that God raised him from the dead so that I could
have new life. I receive your invitation.
Thank you for the wedding feast. I'll be there.
Write down my name. Just take a moment and send in
your own RSVP from your heart to his heart.
Lord, I'm coming, I believe. I want to be sure I don't.
Want to guess when the time comes?
Maybe I did, maybe I want to be sure I have RSVP D.
Here is my response. Lord, yes, yes, yes.
If you prayed that today, I'm going to ask you to do 1 bold
thing. I'd like to say that Jesus was
bold for you on the cross. Be bold for him.
Now here in his church on the, I'm going to count to 3.
And if you've received Jesus as your savor for the first time,
RSVP to the wedding invitation. I'm going to count to 3 and
you're going to raise your hand as high as it will go and hold
it there until an usher can give you something that's crucial for
you to have. So please hold it up there for
just a minute. And I can't stop the church.
When we start raising hands, people just start cheering
because they are so thrilled for your decision, as are the angels
in heaven rejoicing. If that's you today, first time
123, raise your hands nice and high.
Come on, come on. Praise God.
Go ahead. Any others?
We come into you, we see you. I I can't really see you.
I don't have great eyesight. Come on Church, stand to your.
Feet and rejoice with me. For those who are being sake,
let's rejoice. Come on.
Hallelujah. Truly is the single best RSVP
yes you could ever give. And if you made that decision
today, our prayer ministers are going to be lining up the
platform, the altar here. I would love for you to bring
that card and bring your yes and let one of these prayer
ministers agree with you. Celebrate, rejoice and pray over
you. We want to walk with.