All Things are Ready; Come to the Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Introduction:

Everyone likes weddings; they represent joy, and happiness, and new beginnings. One day there is going to be a great wedding in Heaven of Jesus and His bride. You are invited to that wedding; will you be there? We want to notice 4 points from our text this morning, which are: 1) What the kingdom of Heaven is like; 2) All things are ready; come to the feast; 3) The response and final state of the those invited to the marriage feast; and 4) Those who are found without a wedding garment.

1. First we want to see what the kingdom of Heaven is like:

1. What is the kingdom of Heaven?

-It is not the church.

-It is all the saved on earth at any given time.

2. Who is the King in our text?

-In this parable the King is God the Father.

-He designed and planned salvation from start to finish.

3. Who is the King’s Son?

-It is Jesus, the only begotten Son of God.

4. What does the marriage feast represent?

It represents salvation of the chosen or elect of God:

-It comprehends union with Christ through repentance and faith in the gospel.

-It includes glorification, the marriage of the Son of God to His bride.

-It also comprehends the millennial kingdom, and the eternal state.

5. Who are those that were bidden first to the marriage feast?

-These are the Jews; God’s chosen nation.

-The gospel is to the Jew first. (Romans 1:16).

6. Who are those that were bidden afterwards?

-These are the Gentiles, which include all other nations of peoples on earth.

-The gospel is also “to the Greek”.

7. Who are the servants in the parable?

-These servants are the Old Testament prophets and New Testament saints.

-John the Baptist, the Apostles, the Church that Jesus Built, and all New Testament saints.

8. What is the invitation to the marriage feast?

-The invitation is the gospel message of Jesus.

2. All things are ready; come to the feast (verse 4).

1. The oxen and the fattlings are killed.

The sacrifice has been made:

-Jesus died, was buried, and rose again from the dead the third day.

-His blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat in Heaven.

-Thus the atonement has been made.

2. All things are ready.

Nothing else remains to be done:

-Jesus did all that was necessary for salvation.

-Jesus paid all that was necessary for the marriage feast (salvation).

-He purchased all the wedding garments with His own blood.

-The wedding garments are Jesus perfect righteousness.

There is nothing to be purchased or provided by the guests:

-There is nothing they need to provide for themselves.

-There is nothing they can provide.

3. The invitation is simply “come unto the feast”.

Come to God by repentance and faith in God’s sacrifice:

-The message of the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for your sins.

-Come with nothing in you hands (nothing in my hands I bring, bur simply to thy cross I cling).

-Come with the wedding garment that God provides.

-This garment is the robe of Christ’s perfect righteousness; nothing else will do!

Yes, all things are ready, will you come to the feast by faith in Jesus as your Savior?

3. The response and final state of the those who were bidden to the marriage feast.

1. Concerning the Jews, God’s chosen nation.

They would not come (verse 2):

-They made light of the invitation (verse 5).

-They persecuted the servants (verse 6).

-We see their final state (verse 7).

2. Concerning the Gentiles.

They are much like the Jews:

-They will not come.

-They make light of the invitation.

-They have persecuted the servants of God for many generations.

-Their final state will also be the same.

3. The marriage feast is filled with guests (verses 8-10).

The servants went out into the highways; that is, throughout the Gentile nations:

-They invited everyone to come to the feast.

-This is primarily the Lord’s church over the centuries.

-They went out; they did not wait for the people to come to them.

-They invited the people by sharing the gospel message.

-They invited all people, good and bad (morally).

-They gathered them, as it were, in local churches.

The marriage feast will be filled with guests!!!

-Through the inviting efforts of the church, the marriage feast will be filled.

-There will be a great multitude of guests.

-Some will be in the bride (the Church).

-Some will be guests at the wedding (who were not in the church).

-But all will be blessed of the Lord!

4. Those who are found without a wedding garment.

They weren’t properly clothed for the marriage feast:

-They appeared to have accepted the invitation through repentance and faith in the gospel; but they really didn’t!

-Some of them will have a garment of an outward profession of faith in Jesus, but they really never knew Him personally in the pardon and remission of their sins.

-Some of them will have a garment of legalism, who tried to enter the marriage feast by keeping the law of Moses.

-Some of them will have a garment of easy believism. These repeated a prayer, or signed a card, or just joined some church.

-Some of them even entered into church covenant with one of the Lord’s true churches through the waters of Baptism.

-All of these will have a garment of good works for salvation.

-They hope that they will be accepted into the marriage feast by their good works- that their good works will outweigh their bad works.

-But they all had one major problem- they didn’t have the robe of Christ’s perfect righteousness.

-They didn’t truly believe in the sacrifice of Christ for their sins.

-This is the only wedding garment that the King will accept!

All who didn’t have a wedding garment were speechless:

-They couldn’t argue that their peasant robes of human works were good enough.

-They now can see that the robe provided by the King is the only one acceptable.

Their end is to be cast into outer darkness:

-In outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

-This is one description of hell where all hypocrites and false professors will go.

Conclusion:

All things are ready; will you come to the feast?

Will you refuse the invitation, or make light of it, or even make fun of the invitation, or persecute the servants of the King?

Or will you receive and believe the gospel invitation even this morning, and be gathered into the Lord’s Church, and one day be among that number at the marriage feast of Jesus.

Many are called, but few a chosen. Are you one who was called and chosen this morning? You will know for sure if you truly believe that Jesus died for your sins, was buried in the tomb, and rose again the third day for you!!!

Believe the gospel invitation, and thou shalt be saved!