Jesus And Religion - [Matthew 21-22]

I've had the privilege of going around the world talking about preaching and the gospel, and I love to ask people the question, who is your favorite preacher?

And I hear all kinds of answers. I hear Martin Lloyd -Jones, I hear John MacArthur, I hear

Conrad Nbiwi when I was in Africa. Who's your favorite preacher, if you had to name one?

And then I ask the question, well that's interesting that you like that particular preacher, but why is it that you did not name

Jesus Christ as your favorite preacher? I think Jesus is my favorite preacher and I bet he is yours as well.

So let's turn our Bibles to Matthew 21 and see the greatest preacher and the greatest Bible teacher ever in the history of the universe as he dismantles works righteousness.

We will be back in 1 Corinthians 11 next Sunday as we address the passage about submission and worship and all those things, marching through 1

Corinthians. We should finish 1 Corinthians this year, but I wanted to take a little detour in Matthew because I love

Jesus' preaching, and I especially love it when he teaches parables, something set alongside of another, teaching that is convicting, teaching that is easy to remember, and teaching that gets the audience to basically condemn themselves.

The punchline is there and is given to the people as they listen, and so we're going to look at Matthew chapter 21 this morning, three parables that talk about self -righteousness, that talk about legalism, legalism in the sense working for heaven.

Now Jesus, when he was around self -righteous people, he blasted them.

He was devastatingly sharp in his delivery. On the other hand, when he was around people who knew they were sinful, who knew they had no righteousness of their own, who knew they needed a savior, what did he do?

He stooped low. He condescended to them. He talked to them. He ate with them.

But when it came to those who would mislead the people of God, Israel, those who would mislead the people who they were supposed to be teaching the

Bible, he blasted them. And today we're going to look at these three parables, and all three of these parables blast religiosity.

They attack spirituality. They go after ritualism.

And it's done in such a way that you'll probably never forget it. And I'm wondering as I preach these passages, these three parables, if you think the same way about religion as Jesus does.

The system of religion should make you mad. It made Jesus mad. He hated religion.

Religion defined as a set of rules or things to do to make yourself acceptable in God's eyes.

He hated that because we're sinful and we need a savior from the outside, the work of another to save us.

We can't save ourselves. And see, we live in a society today where moralism and religiosity and spirituality damns people because you look good on the outside.

You've got a nice car. You've got a nice home. You've got nice wealth. You've got nice health. You've got a good -looking life on the outside.

But you can have a great -looking life and go straight to hell because you must be born again. So you've got these leaders who are after the people of Israel and anybody else who would listen.

And they're trying to say to get to heaven, you've got to be good. You've got to go obey the laws. You have to do what we say.

And Jesus comes along and he just fires these three parables that we'll call scuds this morning.

And you will see what Jesus thinks about morality and about religiosity and about ritualism.

Morality damns. It might make nice neighbors, but it is damning. And I'll ask you the question before I get into the passage.

What makes you right in God's eyes? God sees you. Why would he let you into heaven?

How can you approach a holy God? Because you're religious? Because you pray? Because you're a member?

Because you slept in and went to second service? For what reason can you stand before God? Some of you trying to get merit, you're here for two services.

Our day maybe it's not so much religiosity, it's spirituality. I'm very spiritual. So today you'll see

Christ Jesus attacking legalism. And I hope you say like I say,

God, thank you for saving me from such a plight. I grew up in a liberal, mainline Lutheran church.

And I thought since I was baptized, since I was learning the catechism, since I knew

Luther's smaller catechism, since I'd been confirmed, since I'd been on a mission trip down to Galeana, Mexico, since I'd been on a

Christian backpacking trip in Colorado, I was good. Let's take a look at the context first though in Matthew chapter 21.

And I hope you say to yourself, I am so thankful to be saved by grace alone because of Christ's perfect work.

The context of the parables are very important. You can't really understand a parable unless you understand the context.

So what is the context of the parable 1, parable 2, parable 3? Let's go to Matthew 21, 23 and following as this running controversy is coming to a boil.

You can just feel it as you read chapter 21, triumphal entry, cleaning the temple, cursing the fig leaf, and now these religious leaders come to Jesus.

And they're going to try to get him and they're going to try to get at him. Verse 23, the text says in Matthew 21, and when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him and he was teaching and said, can you imagine asking

Jesus, the eternal God, by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?

You don't have any authority to do this. Who do you think you are is the question. Scribes didn't like Jesus, Pharisees didn't like Jesus, Sadducees didn't like Jesus, Sadducees didn't like Pharisees, Pharisees didn't like scribes, but they all hated

Jesus enough to come together as a band of brothers to go after him. Who do you think you are? And basically

Jesus is taking away their jurisdiction. They're running the shots, they're controlling everything, they're the power brokers and now

Jesus is coming over with his teaching and with his life and he's slitting the jugular vein of these false teachers, rightfully so, and they don't like it.

I'd hate to be on the receiving end of these next verses. Verse 24, what does

Jesus say? How does he respond? Jesus answered them, Matthew 21, 24,

I will also ask you one question and if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority

I do these things. Now this is a common rabbinical style, but I like it that Jesus wasn't backing down,

I like it that he wasn't afraid, I like it that he wasn't somehow this meek and mild Jesus that has to back down to these false teachers.

Jesus isn't looking for information, that's not why he asked the question. Verse 25, the baptism of John, from where did it come?

From heaven or from man? Now you can see them all step to the side, we have a little conference here.

And they discussed it among themselves saying, if we say from heaven, if we say it's divine origin, he will say to us, well then why did you not believe him?

If John came with the stamp of God himself, then why didn't you follow

John? But if we say from man, he's just making it up on his own, we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.

Jesus now staking his authority on John the Baptist's authority. Mark 11, it says, Jesus said to them, answer me with a demand, you answer me.

If I'm from heaven, if John the Baptist is from heaven, then you should follow. But they were cowards, and so that leads us into these three parables.

Let me call them three judgment parables that talk about religion, that talk about more specifically leaders that teach religion, that aren't teaching grace, that aren't teaching substitutionary atonement, that are getting people off the track.

Parable one, the parable of two sons. Jesus is going to be delivering these parables right to these leaders.

Parable one, two sons, found in verse 28. How do you demonstrate that you're a son of the kingdom?

Just all talk like the religious leaders? Let's find out. Verse 28, what do you think?

Put your thinking caps on, is what he's saying. What do you think? The man had two sons, went to the first and said, son, go and work in the vineyard today.

And he answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he changed his mind, he repented and went.

I won't go, but he does go. And he went to the other son and said the same, and he answered,

I go, sir, but did not go. Which son do you think represented the religious leaders?

We'll obey you, God, we'll do the right thing, but we'll never go do it. He's saying, you guys are the second son.

You guys are the second son. You say you'll obey, but you don't obey. You're all talk. Who does the first son represent?

The one that says, you know what, I'm not going to go, but goes anyway. Who represents the one who says,

I'm not going to repent and believe, but gets convicted, hears the word and says, now I do believe. And Jesus is going to compare the false teachers to these other people, and it's going to be disastrous for them.

Who's better than the false teachers? Well, let's find out, verse 31. Which of the two did the will of his father?

I mean, they have to answer, and as they answer, they're going to condemn themselves. What a great teacher. They said, the first.

Jesus said to them, truly I say to you. The tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of heaven before you.

No wonder just in three short days here we're going to try to kill them. The plan was hatched. The prostitutes are better than you.

The tax collectors, the scum, the dregs are better than you. Because they were first saying, no, we won't go, we love our sin, but then heard the word and got convicted and then responded.

Whereas you leaders, you know, you say you will obey, you are teaching these things, and then you don't obey.

Before you, they go to heaven. And this language, tax collectors and prostitutes, it just talks about the epitome of dirtiness and filth and riffraff.

It's like Jesus would say today that pedophiles, rapists, and suicide bombers would go to heaven before liberal bishops, imams, and popes.

Samuel said, has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the

Lord? Behold, to obey is better than what? Sacrifice. James says what?

Don't just be hearers of the word who delude themselves, but instead be what? Doers of the word.

You hear the word and you do it. They're teaching people to do it and they don't even do it themselves, these false teachers. And Jesus says, let me make myself clear, verse 32.

He gives more explanation. Again, tying his ministry to John the forerunner.

John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him.

And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your mind and believe him. You are just like that son that says,

I will go but don't. Actually, doesn't actually obey. I could ask you the question, are you like the first son or like the second son?

Are you a doer of the word or merely just to hear only? Are you one that's all talk? Trusting in your baptism like I did for 29 years, your confirmation, your being good, your church attendance.

Not as bad as the person down the street. Friends, it is true that if you're all talk when it comes to religion, you will hear this talk from Jesus.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

Jesus is after heartfelt obedience in response to his grace, not just lip service.

He is desiring repentance and faith, not just I know these things by rote.

Maybe someone young is sitting here and they just looked at that parable and said, Oh, you know what? Sounds like if I say no a lot now and sin a lot now,

I can still later go repent. The tax gatherers and the prostitutes, after all, they sinned at the beginning and still they could find repentance.

So if you're thinking, you know what? When I'm as old as Mike is, then I'll repent and so I'll sow my oats now.

I'll live life now as I want and then later I'll repent. That would be a bad way for you to interpret this parable.

There's no guarantee that you live one more day. No guarantee that you're able to come to Christ Jesus because today is the day of salvation.

Well, what's the second scud kind of parable? Maybe this one's even more intense. I'll call this one maybe a patriot missile. This one's going to zoom over.

Parable number two, the rejection of the landowner's sons. And you're going to see these people have no need for substitutionary atonement.

Our life is too good. Who needs the atonement? By the way, before I start, I have to make sure I remind you this.

Don't ever evangelize this way. Come to Christ and get a great marriage. Come to Christ and have all your finances taken care of.

Because some people you'll meet, I know people who have better marriages, who are both unbelievers, then believers who have marriages are a believer and an unbeliever.

Some people's marriages are nice. Their families are nice. Everything about them is nice. And if you say, here's

Jesus, this will take care of your problem for nice, they don't need nice. But what every unbeliever does need is what?

Forgiveness, full and free. You need to be forgiven. And even though you can have a nice life now, you will stand before God and, like the prophet

Sable, consider your ways. Consider your latter end. Hear another parable, chapter 21, verse 33.

Remember, Passion Week is here. It's coming. We're in the middle of it. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it.

He did all kinds of great things. He dug a wine press, everything it needed. Built a tower, leased it to tenants, and went away into another country.

Now, if you're thinking like a Jew, you'd be saying this, Oh yeah, Old Testament, Israel's like the vineyard.

Isaiah chapter 5, there's a vineyard, it's Israel, and God did everything He could to Israel. He didn't hold anything back.

He figuratively gave it a tower for protection, and He hewed it and did all the dirty work, and dug all around it and removed the stones.

He did everything. But there were some people who were tenants over this vineyard, these false teachers, and they were teaching the wrong thing.

Let me read you Isaiah 5 just for a second so you can get the connection. It says in Isaiah 5, verse 7,

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. So if you're a

Jew, you're listening to Jesus, you're the religious leader Jew, listening to Jesus, you'll say this. He's talking about the vineyard now in this parable of the vineyard, and I'll easily associate several things.

The vineyard is Israel. Who's the owner of the vineyard, do you think? God's the owner.

The tenants are the Jewish leaders who were teaching the wrong things. And the servants that are going to arrive are

God -sent servants called the prophets. Let's take a look at it, and you'll just see it unfold. It's an easy parable to understand, almost having more of an allegory flavor to it than a parable.

Verse 34, again, Jesus going straight for the religious leaders. That's why He's talking. That's the situation and occurrence for the parable.

When the season for fruit drew near, He sent His servants to the tenants to get His fruit. And so, if you're thinking just fruit like lemons and avocados in the

Middle East, and almonds or something, that'd be fine. But here's the fruits of spiritually repentance, the fruit of the

Spirit. It's time for the fruit of faith and obedience.

And the tenants took His servants, verse 35, and beat one, killed another, stoned another.

Bring that message back to the owner. And again, He sent more servants. Look at the patience, the generosity of that landowner.

Over and over and over, getting wrong but doing the right thing. Vicious men, yet graciously,

He sends another, and He sends another, and sent more than the first, and they did the same to them.

You know, one thing about Jesus in His preaching, you never really know where He stands. He doesn't mince words, does

He? You know exactly what He's talking about, to whom He's talking. And in the Old Testament, you can read of Elijah, who was sent to talk to Israel, and what did they do to Elijah?

They drive him into the wilderness. You can read how Isaiah was sent to Israel, and the religious leaders, what?

By tradition, saw him in two. Zechariah, stoned to death. So you've got

God, the landowner. You've got the vineyard representing Israel. You've got the tenants who are the false teachers and the leaders.

And then you've got God sending in people like John the Baptist. He gets his head chopped off. Legend says

Amos got killed, Micah got killed, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Habakkuk, all killed.

Stephen said in Acts 7, Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one.

But the climax of the parable happens now. You'd think it was already climactic enough, but now verse 37.

And you can just hear the empathy and the compassion and the love of God just ooze out of this passage.

Finally, He sent His Son to them, saying, They will respect

My Son. Mark calls Him in this passage the Beloved Son. Reminds you of the

Transfiguration, doesn't it? This is My Beloved Son. This is the best I have.

I'm not sending someone else. I'm sending My own flesh and blood, as it were. I'm sending My own kin. I'm sending My Son.

This is the love of God as He acts towards sinners. I'll send My Son.

But when the tenants saw the Son, the Son that was sent by the Father who so loved the world, what did

He do? What did they do, rather? They said to themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.

And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. We wouldn't want to damage the crops or anything and have anything ceremonially unclean, so we'd hate to kill him in the vineyard, so let's take him out of the vineyard before we kill him.

But let's kill him because there'll be no more owner. We will own the land because we have occupied the land.

Occupation, vineyard. Right? That's what this is. The original occupiers. Still just as stupid as the new ones.

Sorry. I'm always in trouble when I talk about any kind of political thing.

That's why I stick to the Bible. I just got recently an email from a No Compromise radio listener, and they said, When you teach the

Bible, you're right on. But when you talk about science, you don't have a clue what you're talking about. Stick to the

Bible. There probably is some truth to that. I should tell you the other scathing things they said, but that'll be for another sermon.

But even those comments that I just gave you, left to ourselves. When somebody does something against us, my nature wants to get them back.

I'll teach you to mess with me. I'm going to teach you a lesson. And what does God do? He's just arms wide open.

God's sending one servant, and another servant, and another servant. And finally, He sends His Son. They kill

His Son. It's the unmerited grace of God. Sovereign grace.

By the way, they didn't kill the Son because of mistaken identity. They knew who the Son was exactly. And they wanted to control the nation for themselves.

They wanted the property. They wanted Israel. And so they'll arrange for His death very soon.

Conspiring together. Verse 40 of Matthew 21. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, we know that's

God. What will He do to those tenants? Now remember, Jesus is asking these people. And they're going to condemn themselves.

It's such a great way to teach. All the listeners would know, and they know. When that owner comes back, what's

He going to do to those tenants? They said to Him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give

Him the fruits in their seasons. He gets them to give the answer.

That final murder is not going to go unpunished. They know justice must be given.

And He makes an application. Verse 42. We've just had Jesus coming in on Palm, literally

Monday, where this was sung. And so they should have already read it earlier in the week.

Here we have this Messianic Psalm. Psalm 118 found in verse 42 of chapter 21.

Jesus said to them, by the way, this is like saying to the Bible teachers of the world, have you never read the

Scriptures? You don't even know the Bible. You've got that funny looking hat on, saying that you're the father of the church.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. So you're building this building, you think, you know what, we need a cornerstone, which is the most important part of the building.

Let's pick this one up. Nah, this one's no good. And so you chuck it in a pile. You make a big pile of rejected stones.

The leaders took that rejected stone and chucked it, but God in His plan took that rejected stone and made it the cornerstone.

They reject Jesus. Jesus is the cornerstone. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Peter talks about this in 1 Peter 2, in Acts chapter 4. And who was sovereign over all this?

Was this accidental? Was this kind of serendipitous? Was this just lucky?

By chance? Everything regarding the Son of God has been decreed in eternity past and fleshes itself out.

God knew exactly what He was doing and how He was doing it. It was all going to plan. That this was the

Lord's doing. Yes, it was the Lord's doing that this stone was rejected, but then be used for the cornerstone.

All in His plan. These men did it by their own will, yet God did it and overrid it by His own will.

And what does He say there in verse 42 towards the end? This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.

How can you take a bunch of murderers and kill the Son of God, yet that's actually part of the plan of God where He comes and sends

His Son, dies for sinners? Who can come up with that? Who can innovate that? Jesus makes them think about a psalm that they should have just read during Passover.

The rejection of Christ Jesus, but then the exaltation of Christ Jesus. Sinclair Ferguson said,

Jesus, who would be despised and rejected by these leaders, was actually essential for access into God's presence.

Isn't that good? The patience of God sending the Son. We need the Son so we can have access to the

Father. It was marvelous in our eyes. The sovereign grace of God.

Verse 43, Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God, Jesus said, will be taken away from you and given to people producing its fruits.

And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. And when it falls on anyone, it will pulverize them.

The disobedient leaders. Having the ministry yanked from them and then having it given to the apostles.

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they might have been stupid, but they weren't dumb.

They perceived that He was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest

Him, they feared the crowds because they held Him to be a prophet. Not they, the leaders, but they, the crowds.

These people were so religious, who needs Jesus's death? This is good for us to sit and reflect on for just a moment.

Some people are so religious, they don't think they need the death of Christ. Because they've got all their religiosity wrapped up.

And all their moralism wrapped up. And they believe in kind of a, as Christian Smith said, a moralistic deist, who is very good when it comes to therapeutic issues.

Moralistic, therapeutic deism. And I have this God and I don't have a sin that I'm guilty of. Many sins that I'm guilty of.

The sin nature that I'm guilty of. Adam's sin that I'm guilty of. And I need a sin bearer.

I need relief. I need rest for my soul. I need someone else to pay the punishment. If you think you can be good enough to get to heaven, why did

Jesus die? Why did God the Father kill the Son when you could be good enough to get to heaven? Because you could just try to be good enough and then we never have to kill the

Son. But because the Son had to die, it shows us that that's how bad sin is when the

Father has to kill the Son in our place. Even though He didn't sin, He was bearing our sins. And that deserves death.

I'll never forget it. One writer said, one sin deserves for you to be hung up on a cross, naked and tortured forever.

Because it's against a holy God. And here Jesus dies on Calvary for us.

But Jesus isn't done. One final parable, chapter 22. If I knew another kind of missile,

I could say this is the third missile. We've got a Scud, we've got a Patriot. Who knows here another kind of missile? Cruise missile, thank you.

Cruise missile. Now some of you might be asking the question that they ask. If the religious leaders are missing the kingdom, how do

I not miss it? If they're teaching the wrong things, I want to make sure I'm going. How do

I have access to God? If the way they're teaching religiosity, ceremonies, rituals, spirituality, if that makes you miss by a degree but will cost you eternity,

I don't want to miss. I want to make sure I have access to God. Don't you want access to God? When I do your funeral and I bury you and they put you down in the ground, you'll be standing before God and how will you get access?

We went to church. We read the Bible once in a while. How can you be in God's presence with this holy gaze that penetrates your soul when you have any vestige of sin?

So this parable answers the question. It's called the Parable of the Wedding Feast. The Parable of the

Wedding Feast. What does it take to get into the kingdom? Chapter 22, verse 1.

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables saying, same group of religious leaders. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

But wouldn't that be great to go to something like that back in those days? You have no

TV and no all the other things that we have. And weddings were the biggest deal. Even now when I go to eastern countries, if I go to India, they have, you know, it's a seven day deal.

Parades, marching up and down. Somebody gets married and it's just all out. The only thing that stops the extravagance is the person's budget.

But now we have a king and his son. The king's going to get married. I remember watching

Princess Diana get married to Prince Charles. And everybody was watching, weren't they? What was the latest royal wedding?

Prince Charles' son named what? Named who? William? William, is that his name? Okay. Everybody's watching.

What if you got an invite to go? A wedding feast.

Boy, this is going to be good. The king is going to get it. And by the way, he's going to try to show off his extravagance. And he sent his servants to call those who were invited.

Can't really text them, so you've got to go back out and remind them. Back in the day, you gave the invite, come to the wedding feast.

And then in case you're forgetting, then they'd send servants out to remind you. It's just very customary. Go remind them, oh, it's coming up.

Okay. You're invited, now come. The people invited,

Jesus is saying, the religious leaders are invited to the feast of God's free forgiveness. But they would not come.

What's the text say? But they would not come. We're not going to go. You think we're going to go to your wedding feast?

I don't care if we're reminded or not. This is a declaration of war. This is rebellion.

You invite us. Who are you to rule over us? We're not going. This is not like the hockey player in Boston that says,

I don't want to really go to the White House for some event. Like that or don't like it, that pales in comparison to this where the king invites you and you say no to the king.

The king that's granted you protection, granted you freedom, granted you probably a wife, granted you land, granted you everything you have.

And the king says, come here and celebrate with me. Look at the grace of the king.

Look at how kind he was. Even though those prophets, one after another, would go and remind them of the great wedding feast and God sends

Isaiah, God sends Zechariah, they all say no yet still. Verse 4, He sent other servants saying, tell those who are invited, it's going to be good.

As we would say in Nebraska, this is mouthwatering. This is lip -smacking good kind of feast.

You've got to come to this. Tell those who are invited, see I've prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fat calves.

They couldn't even eat calves back then, let alone fat calves, have been slaughtered. And everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.

That would be a good way to evangelize. Come to the banquet of God. All His goodness and His riches are yours.

Repent and believe. Lay down your arms and come and say, we're here. The extravagant generosity of the good king.

He outdoes Himself. It's all here. What a patient God.

What a forbearing God. I know what I would have done. First time they killed Elijah or threw him out someplace,

I would have said, that's it. Verse 5 though it says, but they paid no attention.

The leaders, see, they went off. One to his farm, another to his business. While the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

Let's kill the prophets. The king was angry. There's a time where God finally has had enough.

Remember Noah's Ark after 120 years? Some of the metaphors in Hebrew for God and His patience.

It says in Hebrew that He has a long nose. Why does He have a long nose?

The picture is not that God has a nose. The picture is, God's nose is so long, it takes a long time for His fury and His anger to come out of His nose to get to people.

It just means He's long -suffering. The king was angry and sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their cities.

These lame excuses, shallow reasons not to come. God was furious and wiped them out.

Starting in 70 AD, by the way, in Jerusalem. Then He said to His servants, verse 8, the wedding feast is ready, but those who are invited were not worthy.

Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find. The language here is now present tense.

It becomes very vivid. It feels like you're caught up into the story. Well, we've got this big feast. We might as well keep inviting more people.

It's not how the forbearance and the patience and the grace of God keeps coming. Grace upon grace.

Come to the royal banquet. We're going to fill this thing up one way or the other. If you have to go to the streets where the tax collectors are, where the prostitutes are, go get them too.

The royal banquet. God's love for sinners. All walks of life.

All kinds of people. Jew and Gentile, free and slave. And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all they found, both good and bad.

In society, the good people, the bad people. Let them all come. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there was a man who had no wedding garment.

Well, he stuck out like a sore thumb too. What do you mean he had no wedding garment? Maybe he just couldn't afford it. Well, back in those days, you had one piece of clothes.

Typically a robe with a few things. And if you had extra money, you'd have an extra pair. And that's what you had.

You had two pairs of clothes. That's it. And so when the king wanted to invite you to a big feast, to the wedding banquet, guess what the king did?

Besides getting the fatted calf, besides getting the oxen, besides getting all the food, he gave you a garment.

Because if I've got all the money in the world and I'm having a feast for my son and you're coming, I don't want to have some kind of skid row smelling, kind of nasty homeless person smell.

I told the story to the first service. By the way, all the good things that I said to the first service,

I'm including for your service. And the things that I thought were dopey, I've just excised out. Seems to be going all right.

When I was in L .A. and worked downtown for the first time in 1983, the guy that trained me selling batteries to these wholesalers, he said, now when you get into your car at about 6 a .m.

after the call and there's a homeless person sleeping on your car, they're just trying to warm themselves up from the engine heat.

And so just get in your car, don't say anything, turn the car over and they'll slide right off when they hear the engine and then just drive off.

So I remember that very vividly and I remembered how homeless people smell because they don't have any way to clean themselves up.

And their clothes, they just live in those same clothes. And so if you're going to have a big banquet, you give clothes.

So the king has given clothes to them. And of course they knew that was the etiquette back then so it didn't have to need an explanation like I'm giving now.

But the guy's got the new clothes, he gets invited and he says, I'm not wearing them. I come to the king on my own terms.

I'm not going to put on those clothes provided for me by the king. I just show up the way I want to show up. The host has been gracious.

The host has been wealthy, kind, giving. And now the guy says, I'm not putting on appropriate clothing.

And so the party's going on, the king's in the other room, the king walks in to see what's going on and sticking out like a sore thumb is a man dressed in his own robe of righteousness.

Thinking he can just saunter on into heaven with his own righteousness. That's exactly what the false teachers taught.

He said to him, remember God has been kind, generous, gracious, friend.

You go, that's kind of nice, friend. Jesus, what a friend of sinners. Abraham was a friend of God.

But when Jesus talks like this, in this particular context, friend is an ironic address that means

I'm going to say something after this that's not too friendly. Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?

And he was speechless. You false teachers think you can saunter up to heaven without any righteousness of Christ and free grace?

They know better. He was speechless. Isaiah 64 says,

Our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. Our best, not our unrighteous deeds are like a filthy garment, but our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.

And you're just going to say, God, you're lucky to have me here. I just died. Welcome me into heaven. I've been good.

They weren't coming to the king on his terms. And beloved, you know this truth.

If you don't come to the king of the universe dressed in the righteous robes of Christ Jesus provided for you based on his life as a representative, death as a substitute, confirmed by the resurrection, you will never enter heaven.

God has it ordained that you get to heaven through a mediator and an advocate. And for those that say,

I don't care about Jesus. I just want to be religious. They're like the people that put their nose up at the king saying,

I come to this banquet any way I please. We need a wedding garment to get into heaven.

You need the righteousness of God to get to heaven cloaked over you. You need to have

Christ's perfect righteousness cloaked over you. I like to think about it, maybe some of the kids can think about it this way.

If God is holy and his eyes are like a laser beam and he can see right through me, I need some kind of asbestos covering.

I need a covering so it will be like a heat shield like on the bottom of the Apollo lunar lander or the space shuttle.

I need something that will be a heat absorber. And so when the wrath of God is justly put onto things,

I need to be covered and cloaked in something. I need the right kind of dress. I need the right wedding garment.

No wonder Wesley translated Zinad and Zorf's hymn and said, Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress.

Mids flaming worlds and these arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head. When we have

Christ's righteousness cloaked over us, what does Jude say? You can stand in his presence, blameless with what?

Great joy. You're not like a guilty person going before a king and they would hook up a knife under people's chins so you'd have to look at the king's eyes when he judged you.

No, we get to enter the glories of heaven with our head up because we're children of God, we're dressed in Christ's righteousness, he's made us born again, it's all his grace and we've come to heaven on his terms through Christ alone.

And these false teachers didn't like that at all. Verse 13, Then the king said to his attendants,

Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Hell forever and ever for those who say, I don't care about Jesus' death, I can get to heaven on my own.

I can be good enough to get to heaven. They're to wear the wedding garment furnished by the king.

And by the way, when you do wear that, it makes us all equal because we're all equally clothed in Christ, we're all equally justified, all equally made born again.

There's no ranks or social divisions or economic divisions. We're all united by, though we were great sinners, we're covered by the righteous robes of Christ Jesus.

I wonder if God took this all by surprise. No. Verse 14, as we wrap up, remember

Paul says in Philippians 3, he's got two full chapters to go, he says in chapter 3 verse 1, finally, so we wrap this up, finally, for many are called, but few are chosen.

God's sovereign over this, sovereign grace, sovereign election. Here's the call. Everyone come to the feast.

Come to Christ Jesus. God is gracious and generous and has provided atonement for all the sinners that will cloak themselves with the righteousness of Christ.

Many are called, come, if somebody's not a believer here, come to the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You want rest for your soul?

Would you like forgiveness? Would you like to be clothed with the righteousness of God so you have access to God through Christ the mediator?

Come. It's a general call. Please come. Everybody who can hear my voice, please come.

Repent. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Many are called, but because sin is so bad, because depravity is so invasive, it will take

God choosing some and energizing them so that they can come. And here we have the doctrine of election again.

But few are chosen. You have to come. You have to believe. You have to repent.

But if you come repenting and believing, you can know something for sure. God chose you before you chose Him. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Israel's leaders rejected her Messiah. Don't reject the Messiah.

If you learn any lesson here, here's the lesson. That when you feel like you want to earn

God's favor by praying, by reading, by doing good, by serving, by attending services, that's the wrong reason.

You don't get God's favor by doing anything. God has favored you only through Christ Jesus. But then out of a heart of gratitude and love and appreciation, then you do things

God has called you to do. You can't earn your way to be a child of God, but once you're made a child of God, you sure can show your appreciation, can't you?

So we like to use legalism even as Christians to say, if I've had my devotions, then

I feel more spiritual today. Do I want you to have your devotions? Absolutely. I want you to read your

Bibles. I want you to pray. But that doesn't earn your favor with God because God favors you based on what the

Son has done. And if you're in the Son, you're favored. My second point of application to leave with is, if you've got a friend or a relative or a loved one caught in religious legalism and morality, they need to be preached to and they need one topic, that is the cross of Christ.

That's all they need. They're going to be good and go straight to hell. Be good, be nice. It's nice to be nice.

It's good to be good. Legalism damns. And so people are like, well, we want America. Do we want a Mormon president? Do we want a

Catholic president? Do we want all these things? That stuff is so meaningless to the kingdom because you must be born again.

I want nicer neighbors. Do I either want a prostitute living next to me or do I want to have a

Mormon? Do I want to have a moralist? Do I want to have a ritualist? I'd rather have the ritualist as terms of a neighbor, but we've got such a great

Gospel that it can take God hating people like us and instead of wanting a certain kind of neighbor, it can change us so we actually love our neighbor.

And if you want to love your neighbor, you tell them the free grace of Christ Jesus offered by the Father to all those who will come.

And you say, come to the feast of God. Christianity is not you can't smoke, you can't drink, you can't go to movies, you can't do this, you can't do that.

You know what Christianity is? Come to the feast. I'm getting hungry for lunch, aren't you? This is a feast of God.

Come to the feast, all provided. The only thing you have to do is you have to be invited, and you're invited today, and you have to be by faith cloaked with the wedding garment of Christ's righteousness.

Come to the feast. Let's pray. Father, thank you for saving us from legalism.

Thank you for saving us from religiosity. Thank you for teaching us free grace.

The greatest preacher who ever lived, Jesus Christ. Thank you that we're not on the receiving end of his blistering condemnations, but because of your eternal love for us,

Father, we're on the receiving end of his righteousness. Thank you for that. Help Bethlehem Bible Church in these days to respond with thanksgiving, with love and appreciation to your free grace, and help us to be good evangelists, loving other people, and telling them the gospel of grace.