The Gospel of Matthew, the 22nd chapter, the first 14 verses. May this be received as it is the Word of God, and may the power of the Spirit accompany it. Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son. He sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, tell them which are bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come unto the marriage. But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise, and the remnant took his servants, and treated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, the wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found, both good and bad, and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen." In the word of God. This account opens there in verse one, in which it reveals to us that the Lord is now speaking a parable, a story in which in one sense, things are hidden. Things are hidden from the wise of the world and the strong of the world, but they are revealed. unto those that are his children through that inner working of the Holy Spirit and the illumination of their minds and working upon their hearts. May the Lord give us wisdom to hear and ear to hear. And this parable, as verse two declares, this story, this parable is descriptive of the kingdom of heaven. And so we are not left to speculate as to something of the nature of this parable. It is a story, it is a parable. It is an extended illustration of something or to teach something about the kingdom of heaven. And clearly in this context, the kingdom of heaven here is parallel to the kingdom of God. And it is that work of God upon earth now in the days of Christ, in the days of the Messiah, the visible kingdom of God. As we'll see as we go through this account. And verse two likewise tells us central to the parable is about a certain king which made a marriage for his son. Now even a babe can understand at least the general tenets of the account here. The king is God. The son is the eternal son of God, the one who stands and takes unto himself our human nature. His son, now the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the bridegroom in the story. because this is a parable about the kingdom of heaven and the visible kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ as well upon the earth in relation to the church, his body. Which by the way, as you're looking through these 14 verses, wherever you see the term marriage or see the term wedding, it's identical. There's not two different terms there. It is a marriage, it is a wedding, And this account centers around the preparation for it, the invitation to it, and the provision that the great king makes for all that is needed. And so we have here before us the invitation to the marriage as well as subsequent to the invitation to the dinner. Tell them, tell them which are bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner. And in some ways, the dinner, the wedding feast, stands as an image of the whole, of the whole ceremony as well, the wedding and the marriage feast. This is what is before us. And we will consider first the preparation that the great king has for this wedding and for this wedding feast. And second, we'll take note of the invitation We will spend less time on the invitation. We will focus more on the preparation, second, the invitation, but then more so on the third, provision. So we have the preparation, the invitation, and the provision for the wedding, for the wedding feast, for the marriage of the son. So first, the preparation for the wedding. This is a preparation which your preparation or whatever secondary causes per se the Lord may use. This is a focus, central consideration of the preparation by the king. Notice verse four. I have prepared my dinner. Or as we noted in verse two, a certain king which made a marriage for his son. The one active in making the marriage for the son is the great king. It is God himself. Verse four again, I have prepared my dinner. The preparation in view here is all that the king himself has done. As he notes, it's also in verse four, All things are ready. Everything is set in place. Everything has been prepared for. Or again in verse 8, the wedding is ready. Everything is ready for this wedding. And then verse 10, the wedding was furnished with guests. It was made full. It was filled up with guests. All of this is the doing of God. the preparation of the wedding by God himself. As we noted, this is a parable, a teaching story about what? About the kingdom of God, about the kingdom of heaven, about the preparation for and the coming of the Messiah, the Son, about all that has been set in place regarding that one mediator between God and man, man, the man, Christ Jesus. And so it is proper for us then, rather than extensive examination of food itself or of dinners itself, all of this is set to what? To teach us about the kingdom of heaven, about the kingdom of God. And so we have warrant then to begin to ask ourselves regarding the kingdom of God and this preparation. I have prepared my dinner. The wedding is ready. What preparation may be in view here? What all has been set and made ready? Well, there are quite a few things that we may focus on. We'll just point out a few. of what the Lord has done in making preparation for this wedding feast, in making preparation for this marriage of his son. First, consider the preparation in eternity, in eternity past, before ever you or I was born. Before ever Adam breathed his first breath, before the heavens and the earth was created, the Lord did make preparation for this wedding for his son. We have a preparation in eternity, in eternity past. And I have in mind here the covenant of redemption. God the Father, entering into covenant and bound agreement with the eternal Son of God, God the Son. To covenant, to give the Son a people, to give the Son a seed, to give the Son those whom the Father has set his electing love upon. And the Son, the eternal Son of God, in preparation for this wedding of which is spoken of in our text, did agree. The eternal Son of God was most willing to agree to receive this seat. He did agree to take upon himself their nature. He did agree to forever be united in that union. with body and soul, with a human nature, even now as he sits upon a throne, that union will never be dissolved. You and I, when we think of preparation, or perhaps even this morning, maybe you put things off to the last minute, or maybe you started preparing most focused on the feast the wedding dinner, as it were, seven days ago. And perhaps that seemed like a long time to you. Or maybe the years in which you've walked this earth. Maybe it's three score in 10, if by reason of strength, four score, and the days can seem very long. We are talking about this wedding, this dinner, all things are ready. There was that preparation in eternity amongst the members of the divine Godhead for this wedding, for this feast, for this dinner, for this marriage between sinners and his son. It is no light word we read here when the king says, I have prepared my dinner. This was no little snack, as it were. whipped up in just a moment or two. We have a preparation in eternity. And second, we also have a preparation in providence. In providence. In creation and in the Lord's providence in that creation. What special act of providence do we read of in our shorter catechism? What special act of providence that God enter into with man. He made a covenant of life. Now we could speak a moment about that covenant of works which was broken, but I have here especially in view, especially in view, is that covenant of grace, that covenant of life in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a covenant that is enacted in time with men. Even as you had those words spoken to Adam upon the back of his sin and the fall of all in him of a promised seed. And we know who that seed is, don't we? That seed is one. And as we see the unfolding of the providence of history, it all centers around and moves forward this preparation. and implied also the provision of this seed. Do we not read in Galatians that in the fullness of time God sent forth his son? What we see here in the preparation and providence and through time and with men, that with every drop of sand in the hourglass, or now with every movement and tick of the second hand upon the clock. Every movement in providence was a preparation for that in the fullness of time, and God working all things and moving nations and moving kings, so that at just the exact fullness of time, in the rightness of time, at just the right time, with everything working and preparing toward this, comes the sun, and everything moves in the same vein as well. A preparation of every atom that moves in the universe for this wedding. I have prepared my dinner, and that dinner has been prepared with every movement in the course of history. Oh, the wisdom of God. You and I can barely get two, three things in a row to always work out just right. Working on the watch and getting all the springs in there and they just pop out everywhere. This preparation, done to perfection, to set everything for that dinner of which we have a token before us, and for that wedding which occurs now in its espousals. The Apostle Paul, right into Corinth, of that espousal. The espousal to one husband, even Jesus Christ, in everything moves towards this. A preparation in providence. And third, Preparation in promises. I have prepared my dinner. The wedding is ready. All of the promises are yes and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we spoke about the preparation in Providence, we made reference to that first gospel promise of a seed. And that promise unfolds and develops throughout the revelation of God, throughout God's dealings with His people, even as when that invitation and that bidding goes forth. These things are emblematic of promises. We read in Isaiah 55, promises. That invitation of those that are thirsty and hungry and have no money, but to come and buy without price, and then moves right into those sure mercies of David, that everlasting covenant, that one, as he speaks of elsewhere, as a covenant for the people. Promises. God's sure word held out to lost sinners. And the preparation in these promises, it just grew and grew and grew, didn't it? A seed of a promise and the promise of a seed there given to Adam. And what do these things mean? And then angels longing to look into these things and see the unfolding as every stage is set. Everything is prepared and the promise, everything's set for the revelation and the bringing to pass the promise. Father, Here's the wood. Father, here's the fire. Where's the sacrifice God will provide? And the continuing unfolding and giving forth of these promises. We sacrifice these bulls and goats. This is the unfolding of the promise to speak of that all-sufficient blood of the Savior. This dinner is ready. As God has prepared, I have prepared my dinner and my feast, and so that you have an understanding of what type of food is this. You have the free, gracious promises of God, of a Savior, of a Redeemer. the redeemer that you may know assuredly that he lives and he has stood now upon earth in the latter days and he will come again. Promises, many precious promises have been brought to pass in the preparation of this dinner for everything to be ready for the wedding. And fourth, consider as we Ask ourselves, what do these words teach us about what the kingdom of heaven is like, what the kingdom of God is like? Fourth, there was a preparation of administration of these promises. They weren't, as some might put, a message in a bottle and set out on the sea and see where it may end up or whatever the case may be. There was such careful preparation in housing these promises or bringing them unto a people. And we see God administering this covenant of grace in various dispensations or sections or portions of time. We see God's dealings with the patriarchs. And then that administration of the covenant of grace is working with such as Noah. and that ark and that deliverance, the rainbow, the bow and the clouds, whereas working with Abraham and dealing with Abraham and calling him out. And then that administration of these promises and this covenant and the preparation for this grand wedding of his son, he calls out a peculiar people unto himself and he has these dealings with Israel. And he sets up this place where his name would dwell. And he gives the ordinances of the house. He gives the exact construction of the tabernacle and later in his dealings with David as well, a preparation and the administration of things. And now in this New Testament administration, we have in a sense, a fullness of these things. The great bridegroom has come. We do not have the consummation of them yet in the kingdom of glory. I have prepared my dinner. The wedding is ready. We earn that covenant espousal to the Lord. we would be quite amiss if we did not fifth, speak of a preparation of a savior, which has been hinted at in everything we have said. The covenant of redemption, the covenant of grace, that preparation of a savior for a people. Already alluded to the fullness of time, the preparation of a savior, the one that took onto himself Our nature, body and soul, the preparation of a Savior, He is called Jesus Christ the Righteous. There is the answer to which Job asked so many thousands of years ago. How can a man, how can a person appear righteous before God? God has brought forth in preparation Jesus Christ the Righteous, the one mediator between God and man. The marriage is ready. And God the King has prepared, as it were, his son for this wedding as well. The son has been prepared in that sense. It is the son that took unto himself body and soul. The son that took unto himself human nature, your nature, so that he would be fit and prepared to enter into marriage with those then like him, the man with the woman. Preparation of a savior. There is also a preparation of an inheritance. Elsewhere we read of the kingdom, Matthew, come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom. prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now there in Matthew 25, a view to the kingdom of glory. Now the kingdom of grace brought to consummation is the kingdom of glory. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. There is the preparation of an eternal inheritance. God who is our portion and we his, his inheritance. God who is our everlasting inheritance that kingdom prepared for you. The Lord Jesus Christ on that night in which he was betrayed. He tells his disciples that he will go and prepare a place for you. I've prepared my dinner, the wedding is ready, and there is inheritance prepared for you. And that in that preparation, as you are espoused to the Son, you will have that everlasting inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, regarding preparation, there is the preparation of the guests, of the bride. Noted verse two, the king which made a marriage for his son. And then verse 10, the wedding was furnished with guests. The word guest just really means or has a reference to those that sit or recline at table. And so sometimes it's translated that way, sitting at meet or sitting at table. This is brought about by the king, he's made the marriage ready. And part of that preparation and preparing the dinner is also making the preparation and getting the guests there. You find it interesting that in this parable, you have reference to the dinner, you have reference to the king, reference for his son, and you have that reference made of the guests. What important person, not as important as the king or as important as the son, but there's someone not mentioned here. Who's not mentioned? There's no mention of the bride. Well, that's because I would say, to put a word to it, that the bride and the guests are one and the same. in that sense. Or as we read in Revelation, and I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Yes, the bride are the guests. The guests are the, is the bride. And God prepares and brings these guests. God prepares the bride, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Preparation for this dinner, my friend, and even in the preparation and bringing of sinners to it and those guests, all is done by God, the King, the first cause, the moving cause, the final cause of all things, the preparation for the wedding by the King. Willison, in his sacramental catechism, speaks of God's preparation, and he speaks of God preparing a rich feast, a complete Savior, a full covenant, a sufficient ransom, a perfect righteousness, suitable promises, sovereign remedies, a glorious purchase, an everlasting inheritance. Just a word now about the invitation. Much time could be spent upon this as well, but just a few words regarding the invitation to the wedding. In verse 3, we find he sent forth his servants to call them, and that were bidden to the wedding. Call and to be bidden are the same word there as well. Verse 9 again, tell them which are bidden. I mean verse 4, tell them which are bidden. And then verse 9, Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid, call to the marriage. And so then in our Lord's explanation of some part, and especially focusing on well in the relation between the call, the external call and the internal call, where we read, many are called, but few are chosen. So one of the key elements in this parable running throughout the account is that of the invite, the invitation, the call, the bidding to the wedding, where servants are sent out, and as we note in verse four, they tell the people, all things are ready, come unto the marriage. All things are ready, which we've considered something of that preparation and things being made ready come unto the marriage. This is a verbal invitation. Now, as this is a parable of the kingdom, we also see, and God has also put this in writing as well. We have the scriptures. And God has his prophets that have gone forth and then his word which is written and that invitation and that call continues even to this day. But we find two different aspects, as it were, regarding this invitation. The first is, as we see, the initial call, and that encompasses verses three through eight. In verses 3 through 8, just to put it short and simple, this is a call sent forth to the Jewish people, to that Israel which was brought into that land, the Israel which then had the temple and the ordinances and references made, as you'll see, with the king's wrath, and to burn up their city. And so you have this reference again to the city. And that's what's in view here. That city which is below. That Jerusalem which is below. This visible people of God. That physical Israel. The twelve tribes brought into the land. And this portion of the parable is the Lord's recounting. How that invitation went out to them. We read Isaiah 55. Who is that initially given to? that physical seat of Abraham. And as it were, with invite after invite, with call after call, with gracious word after gracious word to the thirsty, to the hungry, come, come unto the Lord, come unto the marriage. But what is their response? Their response is similar to the response of the majority that were in the northern tribes in the days of Hezekiah when he sends out an invitation, an invite, a bidding, a call to come to the observance of the Passover. What do we read there in 2 Chronicles 30? They scoffed and they mocked. The same is true regarding those even in Christ's day dwelling in that city. Now in Matthew 22 and verse 5, there were those that made light of it. It was a light thing. What was such a light thing to them? This is an invitation by the king to come on to the wedding, to come on to the dinner. But they had more important things to do, didn't they? Yes, they made light of it there in verse five. And went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. They had more important things to do. more pressing things to do. Now this is that call going forth to that visible people of God. Let us not find ourselves with the same response. The carers of the world choked out all your intended plans for preparation, or all your intended plans to respond to that invitation to come unto the dinner, to come unto the wedding. They had more important things to do in life. They had more important things to do this week than to spend time in the Word and prayer. They had more important things to do than to respond to this call to come unto the marriage of the Son. A sad account, but it gets worse, isn't it? Because in verse 6, way beyond making light of it or way beyond scoffing or mocking as in the days of Hezekiah, they took the servants and treated them spitefully and even slew some of them. Elsewhere, Stephen asked the Jews of his day, the visible Israel of his day, which of the prophets did you not kill? What a sad account. Now, while this killing of the prophets in degree is greater, it still stems from the same disdain for the king in caring little for his son. As I mentioned, we could spend a good bit more time there, but let us look at the second aspect of this invitation, the subsequent invitation, as we see in verses nine and 10. Go ye therefore into the highways. Now in contrast to the reference to the city, those in the city stands for all of visible Israel, but in relation to the city, go outside of the city. Go in the highways, or in a different account, but not the same parable, a different one at a different time. Go out into the hedges. Go anywhere and everywhere. Go out to the ends of the earth, as it were. Well, this is a clear reference to that call going out to the Gentiles, to the nations. It is not that they were forbidden to join themselves to the Israel of God, as Ruth the Moabitess did, but the administration of that covenant and those promises was localized in that visible people, Israel, plus there were laws. dietary laws, laws in the temple which divided these, that middle wall of partition is broken down in Christ and they go forth now to the ends of the earth. Or as Jesus says elsewhere, not for that nation only, that is Israel, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. and go anywhere and everywhere. Good and bad. That's not a statement in reference to an absolute standing with God. This is a statement relative among men. And in relative comparative terms, there are those that have a moral character or habit in life, and at least externally, is far better or in a sense good compared to those murderers and thieves and so on and so forth. But this is an indiscriminate invitation, an indiscriminate bidding, good or bad, any and all, to the ends of the earth, out into the highways, as far as they would take you, and call. Come to the marriage. That's the invitation. That's the bidding. That's the free offer. And on a side note, in relation to that free offer, we'll take a look at this in just a moment. But when you see verse 12, the one that's there now at the table, but without the wedding garment, and we'll see in a moment what happens to that person. He's cast into hell, into the outer darkness. But notice that before that point, see how striking this word is. Or maybe I'll read verse 13 and then back up. Bind this man that he's now talking to, hand and foot, and take him away and cast him in the outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Notice how he addresses him in verse 12. Friend. There's no mistaking the term. It's a strong word for a closeness in that regard. This is a gracious offer. an invitation to good and bad, any and all. And it is an offer of itself that is merciful and gracious. There's no poison or animosity in the offer. Friend, come unto the marriage. and all mercy and grace and goodness and love and kindness is held forth to you with no money, held forth to you that have been eating, as it were, the slop of pigs, or held forth to you that are as bad as bad may get. Friend, come unto the marriage. Come unto the wedding. You have no reason or excuse not to. The only reason you will find is your unwillingness, your hard heart, and your love of the world. What a gracious invitation that those, the bad, are invited to the wedding, to the marriage of the king of all the earth. Well, we've considered something of the preparation, something of the invitation, and third, of the provision that the great king makes. Now, in some ways, everything we said about the preparation is part of the great king's provision. He provides the feast. He provides the table. He provides everything. He provides the son. He's the one that makes the marriage. But there's one key essential that's needed in order to partake of everything that's prepared. And so we pull that out because that's part of the preparation, but it is this provision. There's one key provision that the king gives, that the king provides, that you must have. And you know what that is, don't you? It is the wedding garment. Verses 11 and 12, we see it. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? He was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot, Take him away and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The wedding garment, referred to both in verse 11 and then in the question in verse 12. Essential that this is provided, that you have this garment. Without this garment, you will not partake. The wedding garment, it is provided by the king. That's not stated directly here. And you can't draw that as a necessary truth from historical study. One scholar says, evidence that the host in first century Palestine at weddings furnished appropriate attire is inadequate. However, in the story itself, a reasonable inference may be drawn, especially when the call is now gone out to those that are in the highways Out here and there, the good, the bad, and the bad especially cannot be viewed as already properly attired. And also the fact, the dinner's ready. The marriage is ready. They can't say to the servants inviting them, oh, I need to go home and do this or go home and do that. It's ready. It has come now. So it's a reasonable inference in the story that they don't have time, let alone the ability to put on a wedding garment. Now that's a reasonable inference. It's technically not a necessary one, but it is a reasonable one. But take a look at Revelation chapter 19. We're speaking of the wedding garment and its provision by the king. not by the one that's been invited, not by the sinner, not by those whether good or bad. Revelation 19 and then seven through nine, read this. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. Now one thing we'll note near the end is that the parable in Matthew 22, the guests are all those in the visible church. It includes the Jacobs and the Esau's and all those that have responded. Otherwise you'd never have one taken out of the midst and from that table and thrown into hell. In Revelation 19, what you have I believe here in view is not the church visible in general, but the elect, the invisible church, the true saints of God. Now, one may argue, well, one of the other differences is that in Matthew 25, you have this ongoing throughout the history of Christ before his return and being invited to this table, so on and so forth, and one may argue, In Revelation 19, you have the consummation, the true wedding supper. Some may take the view that's not a necessary inference you need to draw, but that these things can be coterminous, occurring at the same time. Be that as it may, clearly in Revelation 19, it is the elect, that internal invisible bride, as it were, the elect of God, Matthew 22. the broad category, the visible church. But now we're speaking about the wedding garment. Matthew 22, this individual, the one, did not have the wedding garment. All those that are truly in Christ will have the wedding garment. And Revelation 19 verse 8 states clearly that the garment is given to the bride. And to her was granted that she be arrayed in fine linen. The language there is clear. This is not a garment of her own making. This is not a garment of her own provision. It's been granted to her, gifted to her, allowed her, and arrayed in. This is somewhat passive as well. And so between what we just said about Matthew 22, And then looking at Revelation 19, for any guest at that table to have that wedding garment on, its provision must be by the king himself. The wedding garment must be given by the king. It is not a garment you can bring. It is not a garment you can buy. It's not a garment you can make. It's not a garment of your own. It is provided by the king. And second, a word about the nature of that garment, the nature of what kind of garment do we have in view here? We're not told a good deal explicitly in the parable about the nature of that garment. We're told twice, though, once in verse 11 and once in verse 12. It's not just any garment. It is a wedding garment. That's a very literal translation, wedding garment. What kind of garment is it? Well, it's not your work clothes. It is a garment that is descriptive or characteristic or suitable for a wedding. That's what kind of garment it is. Well, as we just read in Revelation 19, We're told some more details about that garment. What kind of garment is suitable for that wedding? We're told very clearly in Revelation 19 and verse 8. Fine linen, clean and white. Well, what is this garment linen depictive of, or we're told explicitly there in Revelation 19.8, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. The fine linen is the righteousness of saints. Early in Revelation they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Let thy priest be clothed with righteousness, Jesus Christ the righteous. This is the garment that the King provides that is suitable for you to have upon yourself. It is the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of God. The gospel is not about the righteousness of man. The righteousness of man is not suitable. We are told But the gospel concerns the righteousness of God, Jesus Christ, the righteous, the God-man, Jesus Christ. This is the righteousness of Christ, that perfect righteousness. He did his Father's will. He did it with all his heart. Everything he did and every thought he had was pleasing. God loves righteousness. He hates wickedness. God is most pleased and delighted with the righteousness of his Son. That is the garment, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, both imputed and imparted. He makes and prepares a bride, and one day that bride is presented spotless unto the Father. the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and chiefly, that imputed righteousness. The Apostle Paul, when he writes to Rome, he says, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 13 and verse 14. Put on. That is simply the verb form of the word for garment. Put on, simply the action form of the term garment. Put ye on the wedding garment, Christ. That is the only suitable garment to this wedding. One says, Regarding the entirety of the parable, wedding garment here has meant Christ, who is at this feast, both the bridegroom and the meat at the feast, and the wedding garment also. He is the feast. He is the bridegroom. He is the garment. And this is the provision that the great King makes for those guests. The marriage of the Lamb has come. His wife has made herself ready. has on that garment. Now contrast this with the garment of your own nature. It's like the garment of a leper. If the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, it's unclean. He shall therefore burn that garment. Or hating even the garment that's spotted by the flesh. What occurs when you have the garment of your own nature on, your own garment? Well, we see what happens, don't we? What happens to this fellow? The king comes and he says, verse 11, came to see the guests and he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. He says unto him, verse 12, friend, how comest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? You notice he was let in. In the visible church, there are those who may make a profession of faith and may make a profession an act of accepting the invitation and the bidding. Concessions cannot judge the heart. Only God sees the heart. Only God truly sees you as you are. And evidently, these servants Didn't notice this man. But only God the King can see you as you are. And what happens? You notice the man, there's no implication here, the man is naked. He's got clothes on. And this is the garment of his nature. This is that polluted garment, it's unsuitable. And what happens to him? Well, you see very well what happens to him. King says, take him out, cast him out into the outer darkness. into hell itself. Your garment, your nature, yourself, your sin, any righteousness you think you have, all unsuitable. In Zechariah we read, now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him saying, take away the filthy garments from him. Unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. See, the true guest, the true bride, will have the garment, which is the part of the interpretive portion of the parable in verse 14. Many are called, few are chosen. The elect of God, the chosen of God, will have the garment of Christ's righteousness. But this one, he was called. He was called to the feast, that external gospel call. He did not have that true effectual calling of the work of the Spirit upon his heart, but he had that external call, come, come to church, come to the feast, come to the marriage, come, profess the name of Christ. And there he is, but he was not chosen. He left of God. Make your calling in election sure. Here's a parable about the visible church here at the table. It's not merely about the Lord's table. It's that table is the entire visible church as well. And visible professors at that table, which we find depicted in the Lord's table. Election is the provision that eternity passed. The garment being given and put on is the provision in this life. The provision of the garment of Christ's righteousness. This is given by God, not wrought by man. Well, what do you say now of the preparation, the invitation, and the provision for this wedding? Do you give your hearty assent that here is a most wonderful, an all-sufficient, a most gracious provision? You look at what God has done in the preparation, and the Lamb provided, God has provided His own Son. Do you look at that provision in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and does your heart reverberate and respond back and say, and Amen. Do you look at the richness of this feast of which we have tokens before us and the bread and the wine. The feast is Christ and God provides all and he provides Christ. My friend, when the invitation goes out to the dinner, this is also an invitation to the marriage. And the garment is Christ and the bridegroom is Christ. Do you see anything lacking? Has God failed to provide anything that your thirsty soul needs, your hunger, your hungry heart goes for? Has He failed to provide in the least? Is there anything lacking? Look at the bridegroom. Look at the bridegroom, all glorious in his power and majesties. He rides forth prosperously as he sits now upon his throne and his glorious throne. And the invitation is, come. What hinders? Are you unworthy? Of course you are. The provision of the garment is given by God. Come. Be married to the son. This is a marriage office. This is a marriage dinner. This is a marriage ceremony, as it were. This is a marriage feast. And God, through his word, through his prophets, and through his servants, and says, come unto the marriage. Wilt thou take this man? Would you be joined unto the Lord Jesus Christ? Would you say, I do. I believe, even though you see within yourself, help thou my unbelief. What do you say? Would you say yes unto the Lord and give him thanks at what God has done and what God has provided? Come unto the marriage. Be espoused unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.