How is the Marriage Supper Furnished with Guests?

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We are in Matthew 22 where Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven. All of the parables
are about the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the theme of the entire Bible, from
Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22, through the last verse of that book. It is presented to begin with as
a conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent and that conflict actually is
the theme of scripture all the way through.

Matthew 22:1-3 And 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, And sent forth
his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

The ones that are bidden don’t come. The church does not respond to come to the marriage
supper of the lamb.

Matthew 22:4 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.

What are God’s oxen and fatlings? What is he talking about? The meat of the word, he’s not
talking about animals. It is a parable. These things stand for certain things. God’s oxen and
fatlings are the meat of his word. This is not a meal offering, this is a meat offering, a burnt
offering. It is Jesus Christ and the things that are in him, it is his words as opposed to Moses’
words. The words of Jesus Christ are the meat of the word.

Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of
milk, and not of strong meat.

God has prepared his oxen and fatlings and no one wants to have anything to do with it. Why is
that? We are given the reason for it. We understand that God is a sovereign God who works all
things after the counsel of his own will, all things the good and the evil. That being the case, God
still says that he holds us accountable for what we do.

(Additional discussion of Hebrews 5:12-14, Corinthians [carnal babes], Hebrews 6 [6 doctrines,

milk of the word])

Matthew 22:5-7 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 entreated 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.

Isn’t that an interesting story. What do you suppose it is talking about? Exactly what God’s
people have always done to God’s prophets.
Matthew 22:8-10 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 bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

Notice what you are reading. Read the word of God with care. Hunger for the hidden wisdom.
He’s destroyed these wicked servants and he’s furnishing the supper with good and bad. There’s
a winnowing going on here. Even in the marriage supper where the enemies have been destroyed
(the kingdom of heaven), there is a man, let’s just read it here:

Matthew 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not
on a wedding garment:

Everybody know what a garment is in scriptural terms? The white robes are the righteousness of
the saints. Your garment tells people who you are. If you have the white robes of righteousness,
everybody will know it. If you have on something else (other than what the establishment is
wearing), you are going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Very few Christians know what the garments in scripture are, much less have the right garment
on. The parables all concern themselves with the kingdom of God now. What is it that the
wedding is furnished with that has an unclean garment? It is those in our midst who come to see
the things of the word of God and, yet, turn on us and devour us. There are Judas’s who are
picked out of his disciples. That’s this guy with the bad garment.

Matthew 22:12-14 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.

Those words, right there, they are not well received. Many are called is taken to mean that the
whole wide world has been called of God and just a few of them are being converted to
Christianity. That’s a lie because the biggest religion on the face of the earth is Christianity. Back
in ‘97 Christianity was 38% of the world’s population. It has been growing exponentially since
then.

Matthew 22:15-16 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in
his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know
that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou
regardest not the person of men.

There will be those with garments that don’t belong in the wedding supper twisting the word to
keep as many as they can from ever seeing these incredible truths that are hidden in the word of
God.
Matthew 22:17-21 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar,
or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew
me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this
image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render
therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

They could not take Christ in his words. Why was Christ so hard to take in his words? Because
he was speaking the truth! When you are speaking the truth, you don’t have to worry about
somebody tangling you up.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not
conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

If you are conformed to the churches, you will fit in anywhere in the United States or in the
world, if you come out of that, you won’t fit in anywhere.

Matthew 22:22-29 When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went
their way. The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and
asked him, Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry
his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first,
when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also.
Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. Jesus
answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

That is a simple little statement you can say to any minister in the United States who is a part of
an orthodox church: Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. There will be
no daughters of God in the resurrection, it will be all sons. There are daughters now in the flesh
because we are male and female, but in the resurrection, male and female will be a thing of the
past. It will be oneness that we have never known before in God.

Matthew 22:30-32 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are
as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read
that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

What is Christ saying here? Is he saying that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are in heaven? No. The
flesh means so little to God, has such little influence on his thinking or speaking, that he speaks
of those things in the flesh that are not as though they were. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are
coming up in a resurrection, without which resurrection, they are perished, we are told.

Romans 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he
believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though
they were.
God has given life to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all mankind through Jesus Christ. This is a
stated fact of scripture: as in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive. The whole human
race, brought back to God through Christ. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

Matthew 22:33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

The multitude is the multitude of Christians who hear the words of Christ for the first time. It
blows them away.

Matthew 22:34-46 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence,
they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,
tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto
him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. While
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose
son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in
spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make
thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was
able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more
questions.

God is using every event that occurs to fulfill this struggle between the seed of the woman
(which is a few chosen) and the seed of the serpent (which are the many called). That’s what
these parables are all about.