Action Speaks Louder Than Words, Part 3: Worthy

Oh, hallelujah Glory to the God who changed my life (glory to the God who changed my life) And I will praise you (forever) I'll worship you (forever) I'll give you glory (forever) Because I am (because I am free) (Because I am whole) (And I will tell everyone I know) come on help me say

2015 off the album “Everyday Jesus”

Transition To Body- Living As Worthy Followers Of Jesus Christ

In Our Text Today- Those Invited Were Not Worthy?

Matthew 22:8 ESV

8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 65.17 ἄξιος, α, ον; ἀξίως

pertaining to having a relatively high degree of comparable merit or worth—‘worthy, comparable, of comparable value, worthily.’

Walking In A Manner Worthy of the Calling

Ephesians 4:1–3 ESV

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Diligent To Confirm Your Calling & Election

2 Peter 1:5–9 ESV

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

2 Peter 1:10–11 ESV

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Godlessness in the Last Days

2 Timothy 3:1–5 ESV

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Matthew 22:1–2 ESV

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,

Symbolism of the Banquet

the blessings of God’s salvation

Heart of Gratitude

Psalm 9:1 ESV

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 136:1 ESV

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

2 Corinthians 9:15 ESV

15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Body- Action Speaks Louder Then Words…

Rebellious Nature Of Called People Against Our Gracious God (Matthew 22:1-7)

Matthew 22:3–7 NLT

3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! 4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. 7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town.

Coming to a wedding feast required some commitment of valuable time on the part of guests (Jewish hearers would assume a feast lasting seven days, and a king would expect his guests to remain throughout the feast); this commitment would be difficult for peasants working the land. But the honor of being invited by a king—and the terror of displeasing him—would have motivated intelligent invitees to attend. The invited guests may have been aristocratic landowners anyway (22:5), who had the leisure for such activities.

Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 22:1–2.

Invitation Notification

Ignoring King’s Invitation Notification

Insulting the King’s Servant

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Rebellious Nature Of Called People Against Our Gracious God (Matthew 22:1-7)

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Unexpected Recipients And Respondents Of The Gospel Message's Proclamation (Matthew 22:8-10)

Matthew 22:8–10 NLT

8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

Unworthy Guests Vs. Worthy Guests

Invite Everyone You See

Good & Bad Alike

Banquet Hall Filled With Guests

Preparations for the wedding of a king’s son would be massive, and it would dishonor the son not to have guests present. Thus, as a last resort, the king invites commoners.

Disciples Don’t Dishonor Jesus Christ by failing to obey

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Kingdom Belongs to the Humble, Not the Proud

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

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Rebellious Nature Of Called People Against Our Gracious God (Matthew 22:1-7)

Unexpected Recipients And Respondents Of The Gospel Message's Proclamation (Matthew 22:8-10)

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Those Inside The Church May Also Dishonor God's Grace (Matthew 22:11-14)

Matthew 22:11–14 NLT

11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

A wedding garment is not a special type of garment, but the clean clothes (preferably white) which would normally be worn on a special occasion; to come in dirty clothes is an insult to the host.

And that lesson is that, though entry to God’s salvation is free for all, it is not therefore without standards, or to be taken lightly.

It was the claim to belong without an appropriate change of life which characterized the old Israel and brought about its rejection; the new people of God must not fall into the same error.

The garment is simply a life appropriate to one of God’s new people.

R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1 of Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 316.

This wedding guest did what many people do today: they profess Christ while their lives show no evidence of saving faith.

Romans 3:3–5 ESV

3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” 5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)

Romans 3:6–7 ESV

6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

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Rebellious Nature Of Called People Against Our Gracious God (Matthew 22:1-7)

Unexpected Recipients And Respondents Of The Gospel Message's Proclamation (Matthew 22:8-10)

Those Inside The Church May Also Dishonor God's Grace (Matthew 22:11-14)

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Transition To Close- All Have Sinned…

VICTOR Frankenstein is known for bringing a lifeless creature to life. If you don’t know about Victor Frankenstein, you know about his creation because the monster became synonymous with his creator’s last name. The word Frankenstein conjures up thoughts of the monster, not his creator. After going through a tragedy, Mr. Frankenstein desired to do something good. He decided to take lifeless items and make them come alive. He went to slaughterhouses, graveyards, and even coroner’s offices to steal what he needed for his creation. He then put all of his materials together and brought his creature to life. This lifeless, dead entity did come alive. His goal was to take this monster and give it life. Well, he did it. He created it, and these days we know it by his last name—Frankenstein. What he didn’t know is that he had created a beast. The tragedy of Frankenstein is that after he was created, after he was given life, after he was nothing and then made into something, he turned on Victor and made his maker a victim of his own creation. Frankenstein became a monster because he took the life that was given him and used it for his own purpose. You and I have been given life by our Creator. Yet many of our lives are nothing short of monstrous because we have taken the life that He has given us and used it for something other than the Creator had in mind.117

John 1:10–14 ESV

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Close- By Grace You Have Been Saved

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

1 Peter 2:1–5 ESV

1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

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