The Wedding Guests

Call to Worship: Ephesians 4:4-6 // Prayer

Adoration: Our God and Father, you are over all and through all and in all of your people. You are over us in your sovereign right as our Savior-King to rule our lives, and you are over us as our shield and defender through all this life; you are through all things, working them for our good and sustaining us in every event and season of life; and you are in all, with us through your Son by your Spirit—calling us your children and showing us your glory and receiving our worship. We praise you, our God and Father!

Confession: And we praise you because you even receive, with tender compassion, our confession of our sins. And so we confess to you a lack of zeal in our faith, a lack of love for those you’ve put closest to us in our lives, a lack of reverence toward you, a lack of the childlike trust that you are worthy of, that we ought to place in you. Father, forgive us, for we have sinned against you.

Thanksgiving: Yet we have confidence to enter your presence by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have him as the great high priest over your house, we draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water in our one baptism, symbolizing to the whole world how we’ve been forgiven and united to your Son.

Supp: And standing in this forgiveness, and in union with your Son, we ask that you might fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that we might walk in a manner worthy of You, fully pleasing to You: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in knowing You; being strengthened with all power, according to Your glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to You for qualifying us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For You have delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of Your beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins // and we pray this not only for ourselves, but also for the saints of Hinson Baptist: we ask that you would also increase their good works and their knowledge of you, strengthening them by your power that their witness might bring many to the gospel // and we bring before you Mayor Beaty of Beaverton: we ask that you bless her and her family, and that you give her wisdom and justice in all her governing work, that your people in Beaverton might live quiet lives and be free to share the gospel, for the glory of your name // and we ask for our brothers and sisters in Japan: we ask that you might strengthen them in sound doctrine, and in courage to witness, knowing that the honor of your name is worth all the dishonor they may face in their society // and now, as we hear from your Word, we ask that your Spirit might cause it to shape our hearts and lift our eyes to you…

Announcements

Riot & Dance: Water movie night June 27, food provided… please RSVP & feel free to share with friends

Change for the Summer: Small Groups combining into one Thursday Night Bible Study @ 7 pm in the sanctuary, same curriculum (on back table)

Walker membership

Benediction

1 Timothy 6:15–16 ESV

[He] is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

[660]

Sermon

Introduction

We have many things in the West, but we’re still looking. We’ve invented many things, built many things, figured out many things—but we’re still trying to find that elusive resting place for our restless hearts. And as it turns out, that resting place isn’t something we can build or invent.

That resting place is God himself.

And that’s a simple thing to say. But how does it actually work? How do you actually find rest in God?

One of the ways to answer that question is this: Respond to the invitation to the divine wedding feast. Go to the feast. The feast is a symbol of the fellowship with God that God’s people have when their sins are forgiven and they’re brought into his presence by the blood of Christ. The feast is the place where the heart rests in God.

All that other stuff—electronic gadgets, nice houses, a respectable place in your circle of society—you don’t really need any of it. But you do need this feast. And as it turns out, the invitation to this feast goes out to all people. Everyone’s invited. Yet, most who hear the invitation never actually end up as guests at the feast. Why is that?

Well, in our Scripture passage this morning, we’ll see that it boils down to two problems: most people either:

reject the invitation, or

wrongly presume they have a spot at the feast without God’s work to change their hearts to make it so.

And that’s our main point this morning: Jesus’ wedding feast is neither for rejectors nor presumers, but for those God changes.

Rejecting Passively and Actively (Jerusalem Establishment, Israel)

***So let’s dig into the text and see how this plays out.***

Well, the promise of a wedding feast for God’s people is found in several different places in the Bible. And for us, this morning, it’s right there in verse 2:

Matthew 22:2 ESV

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son...

And I just said that this feast is the true resting place of the human heart. How so? Well, back in chapter 9, we saw that Jesus is the Divine Bridegroom—he is God in human flesh, come to claim his people as his beloved bride. And to make a long story short, to be a guest there is to share in this Divine Love. To be a guest there is to see the endless glory which the Father has lavished upon the Son from eternity past, and which the Son now gives to his bride.

And it’s an analogy, of course. But it’s an analogy in the sense that if you imagine the greatest human wedding you’ve ever seen—the most radiant bride, the most noble and glorious groom—it was all only a dim shadow of this feast.

And this means that the love which is shared there, and the radiance of the splendor which will be seen there, will fill up our little human hearts far past overflowing in exultation and true rest forever… the rest that our hearts were always designed to have.

And if you catch even the slightest glimpse of the goodness of that right now, I hope it sounds like an understatement to you when I say, It matters to know if you will be at that feast!

And as it turns out, in the very next verse—verse 3—we see that there were folks who had already been invited to the feast. It says that the king,

Matthew 22:3 ESV

…sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast…

Who were these folks?

Well, they were those who had already received the promise of a Divine Wedding to come—a promise given to Israel in many places in the OT, such as Isaiah 54:5 which described the future of God’s people like this: “Your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name.” That verse written centuries before Jesus arrived. And so it was a promise given to Israel far in advance of the actual wedding date. It was an invitation.

So, when Jesus talks about those who “were invited” in this parable, it’s a reference to God’s people under the Old Covenant—to Old Covenant Jerusalem, you might say.

But it says that the King sent out his servants to call these who had been previously invited, and they would not come.

In modern terms, we might say that these are the folks who got the ‘save-the-date’ notice in the mail and received the formal invitation and RSVPed “yes” and even bought gifts off the registry. But then, on the day of the wedding, suddenly, none of them will come.

And in the parable, again, these folks symbolize Israel as a national and religious entity. They were God’s people by covenant, and they had received this incredible promise of a coming divine wedding feast—but here they are, and the bridegroom has arrived, and they’re unwilling to come.

And so this parable is really about a unique moment in history:

It’s about the moment when the Jewish Leadership would reject and crucify their Messiah, and as a result, would be judged by God and would lose the kingdom.

And from this, as we saw last Sunday, God’s kingdom changed shape from a sort of national-religious entity called Israel, to a people made up of both Jews and Gentiles, spread throughout all the various kingdoms of this world—a people united to their king by faith.

But again, as we saw last week, Jesus was telling this parable directly to the religious leadership in Jerusalem. And as he told it, he was directly inditing them for rejecting God’s offer of redemption through him. But notice, also, how patient the king is in this parable. His servants are rejected, so in verse 4 he sends out more servants to tell these folks just how good the feast is, and that it’s ready for them right now. But still, they do not come.

But notice here, there’s really two different ways that folks reject the call to the wedding feast:

First, some reject it passively.

Verse 5 describes this, saying, “But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business...”

There’s no open violence against the King here. But it’s still a highly provocative move. It’s really very shocking behavior. To refuse an invitation to a royal wedding feast back in the day was to tell the king that your allegiance was elsewhere. It was a hostile thing to do. It was passive, but it was most certainly not a neutral move.

But in this parable, the King symbolizes God, the Creator and Sovereign Lord of the universe. If anything, rejecting his invitation is much worse. He designed you enjoy his love and display his glory and to live for him. To decline his invitation to the divine wedding feast while he continues to supply you with life and breath is not a neutral move. It’s a hostile move toward God.

And so the Jewish leaders were making themselves into God’s enemies.

But second, some rejected it actively.

Verse 6 says that the rest of these folks—the ones who had been invited—‘seized the king’s servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.’

And that’s a reference to how, with the many prophets that God sent to his people, so many were treated shamefully or killed, all the way up to John the Baptist himself, the forerunner of Jesus.

And Jesus himself also came with this message of redemption and life—this invitation to fellowship with God—this gospel of redemption and forgiveness of sin. And they reacted by crucifying him.

They violently rejected the invitation to the divine wedding feast.

Now, what was the result of all of this? Well, we will get to the positive result in a moment. But first, the negative result. Verse 7 says that,

Matthew 22:7 ESV

The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

This was a prophecy, within the parable, of what would happen just about 4 decades later, when Jerusalem would be burned to the ground by a Roman army.

Jerusalem had rejected all the various prophets that God sent to her, one by one, all the way up to rejecting Jesus himself. And so often, this rejection was violent and murderous—high handed rebellion against God himself and cruel treatment of God’s servants. For this, Old Covenant Jerusalem would be rejected and destroyed.

God’s mercy is rich and deep, and his patience is long. But his justice is also perfect. Thus, in the end, those who rejected the call to the wedding feast were themselves rejected and destroyed.

And once again, this is all about a particular moment in history—the moment the Divine Bridegroom arrived and was rejected by Jerusalem. But we should not, for that reason, think that we are immune from making the same mistakes.

For folks today, the same danger remains of hearing the call to the divine wedding feast and rejecting it with hostility.

But what is probably more dangerous for our neighbors and friends—for anyone hear that does not belong to Jesus—is this passive kind of rejection. It can feel neutral. “Oh, I don’t have anything against Jesus. It’s just not my thing.’ But if Jesus is the one who gives you life and breath and each moment of the life you are living, and if Jesus is the one you are designed glorify and enjoy forever, then refusing the invitation is not neutral.

Its the little created being turning his back on the uncreated one who made him, and trying to setup his own little kingdom within what belongs to God by rights.

And so, while this parable is specifically about Jerusalem rejecting Jesus, it still speaks to us today, urging anyone who has not surrendered to do so now and be redeemed.

The divine wedding feast is closed to those who reject Jesus

Presuming on a Christian Identity (Sinful Jews, Gentiles)

OK. But I said there was a positive result of this rejection. What is that? Others were invited to the feast.

This is very good news, especially if you’re not Jewish. Maybe one or two of us in here have Jewish blood in our veins. But most of us are Gentiles. And even though this rejection of Jesus by Jerusalem was tragic, and even though those human hearts intended it for evil, God intended it for good, that the gospel might be spread throughout the nations.

So there’s the King, and he’s got a prepared feast, but none of those he invited have come. There’s a massive, empty banquet hall in the parable, ready to go. So he tells his servants in verse 9:

Matthew 22:9 ESV

‘Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’

Everyone the servants could find—just absolutely everyone. Every type of person out there along the main roads. Every type of person without exception.

And of course this is about how the gospel goes forward. The gospel of salvation in Jesus is for every kind of person without exception, and we—servants of the King—are tasked to take it to them. We’re the ones inviting folks to this feast.

And the result of the spread of the gospel is that the wedding hall is filled. Look at verse 10:

Matthew 22:10 ESV

And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Notice that phrase, “both bad and good.” That’s not just a detail sprinkled in to add color to the story. No: it means both the wicked and the nice; both the criminal and the respectable. Because of course all are sinners, all in total need of grace, and all freely welcomed to this banquet of grace through the Son of God, crucified for their sin. This is God’s mercy toward every kind of sinner, and it is beautiful.

And again, this speaks of Gentiles—non-Jews, that is—being allowed into the Kingdom. And why should we, Gentiles, ever expect such grace toward us? But here it is. And in fact, this also was promised long before Jesus arrived:

Isaiah 25:6 ESV

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

But there’s a wrinkle here, too. The proud Jewish Leaders rejected Jesus. And thus they were replaced by a nation of redeemed sinners, both Jewish and non-Jewish. But there’s a more hidden danger that comes with this: a danger that you might outwardly identify with the gospel or with Christianity in some way, without your heart ever being made into a new creation. What do I mean?

Well, there’s this great, joyful wedding feast in the parable, and all these folks from out on the highway are there to celebrate. It’s beautiful beyond words. But then the king comes out see the guests. And here’s what happens in verses 11 and 12:

Matthew 22:11–12 ESV

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

And then the king has him thrown out. In other words, he didn’t have a wedding garment, and that’s symbolic of the fact that he didn’t belong at the feast. But what does this mean in real life? That there are some folks who presume to be Christians, but who are not.

Specifically, the wedding garment itself symbolizes the fact that God has chosen you, opened your eyes to the gospel, and made you a new creation in Christ. You still struggle with sins, yes, but you’re struggling toward holiness. You are still weak in many ways, yes. But you’re learning more and more to cling to Christ in your weakness. As each month and year go by, your life is becoming more and more worthy of the gospel, as your heart becomes more and more humbly dependent on him.

But there are many folks who play at being Christians. And it’s a sincere kind of play. But maybe they really like the atmosphere. Or they think Christian values are useful. Or they enjoy the community aspect of church. Or it’s what they were taught growing up so they’ve learned to externally play the part. But those things are not matched by genuine repentance and faith in the heart. So when push comes to shove, their favorite sins or lies are chosen over Christ’s law or the truth of his gospel.

And the result for these folks is the same as for those who outright reject Jesus: judgement. Verse 13 gives the description here:

Matthew 22:13 ESV

Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Brothers and sisters, that’s sobering. It’s one of those moments where we see that the gospel is a high-stakes message.

Again, God does not grade on a curve. He is absolute and perfect in his goodness and therefore he perfectly hates what is evil. He supremely loves what is true and beautiful, and therefore he hates evil and hypocrasy, pride and selfishness. And he judges them eternally.

Playing Christian will not save you. You must hear the gospel and your heart must be changed by it.

And few things could be more relevant for our lives as Christians today than this truth.

When you’re evangelizing, you may need to gently help your friend see that he or she can’t presume to be saved based on a generic outward Christian identity, based on a family history of faith, based on a prayer prayed or a creed recited, based on conservative personal politics, or church attendance, or any other such factor.

You must have the wedding garment—that is, God must have opened your eyes to the gospel so that you believe it. Or as Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, you must be “born again”—another way of saying the same thing. God must give you a new heart which can trust in the gospel.

And church discipline, by the way, exists partly to prevent this tragic moment. If someone is a member of a church but is living in high-handed sin and won’t repent, allowing that person to remain in membership gives a false sense of spiritual comfort. We remove the person from membership in hopes that the person will wake up to his or her danger and run to Christ, so that we may receive them back with joy, as a true guest at the feast.

Synthesis and sub-conclusion: Jesus’ wedding feast is neither for rejectors nor presumers, but for those God changes.

You Must Be Called

And this message may at first seem surprising. The problem is human: we either reject God’s mercy, or we presume to belong to God when we don’t. And so we might expect a human solution. And there is a part of the solution which is human: the gospel call must go out to the nations, and God has given us that task. But that alone is insufficient. The critical thing which makes the difference is God’s action, not ours. God must choose to make the heart new. And that’s what verse 14 is saying—and it’s really the punchline of the whole parable:

Matthew 22:14 ESV

…many are called, but few are chosen.”

In context, the word “called” there means that they’ve heard the gospel from one of God’s people. They’ve heard the gospel call. And in Sunday School class last week, Pastor Jeff pointed out that the gospel call is necessary for salvation. How will they believe if they have not heard?

But the word “chosen” in verse 14 refers to God’s secret work in the human heart—his work where he uses the gospel that you hear with your ears—the message of Christ dying to bring forgiveness to sinners—he uses that message to change your heart and make it new, bringing you to himself.

For the non-believer, or for the pretend Christian, this means that your heart must be made new by God, lest you be a disinterested rejector, a hostile rejector, or a presumptuous pretender.

For the believer, this means that when God acted in your heart, he saved to the uttermost. For while the divine wedding feast is neither for rejectors nor pretenders, it is for all those whom God has made new.

Baptism

What is baptism? So much could be said. But at its most basic level, it is a symbol for entering into union with Christ. Paul says:

Romans 6:4 ESV

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

We are united with Christ in his death and in his resurrection, and so we are brought from death to life. And baptism is a Spirit-illuminated symbol of that.

Also, baptism is a symbol of our union with each other through Christ. Paul also wrote:

1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

In other words, when we first come to Christ, the Spirit baptizes us into Christ’s body, the church. And water baptism is a symbol of that as well. And that’s why, in most cases, getting baptized means also joining the membership of a local church. And so with this baptism, Walker will also be joining us as a member of Scholls.

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Walker, have you understood yourself to be a sinner, in need of God’s redemption?

Have you trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins?

Have you renounced Satan, his kingdom, and his works?

Is your hope in Christ, your King, to bring you safely home to glory, and to one day make all things new?

Because of your testimony of faith, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Lord’s Supper

In Baptism, a believer symbolizes entering into union with Christ, and also, because of that, union with Christ’s body, the church. So baptism is a symbol of entry and of beginning. Then, in a similar way, the Lord’s Supper, as it is practiced regularly over time, is a symbol of ongoing union with Christ and his people. As Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 ESV

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

So, brothers and sisters, to take of the bread and the cup—these symbols—is an act of partaking spiritually in the body and blood of Christ, who is present with us by his Spirit in a special way when we take these elements together in faith. And so, as we partake of the bread and the cup here in just a moment, by faith and in the Spirit, we will be expressing our union with Christ and with one another.

Now, this means that if you are not a believer yet, or if you are a believer who hasn’t yet symbolized the beginning of your faith by baptism, [we are so glad you are here] but you shouldn’t partake in the bread and the cup yet. Instead, you should watch, and think about what these things mean: that Jesus gave himself up to death, so that if you come to him, you also will find forgiveness and be restored to God.

But if you are a baptized believer, and are in good standing with your congregation—whether you’re part of Scholls, or part of a different gospel-preaching church—you should join us with joy, as we participate spiritually in Christ in this Supper.

[invite congregation to come forward //‌‌ passing out the bread + cup]

‌‌‌‌1 Corinthians 11:23-24 “…the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.””

‌1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””

‌‌1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

[prayer]