Everybody sing it out real loud on the first.
Jesus, what a friend for sinners.
Jesus, lover of my soul.
Friends may fail me, foes assail me.
He, my Savior, makes me whole.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Saving, keeping, keeping, loving.
He is with me to the end.
Jesus, what a strength and weakness.
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing.
He, my strength, my victory wins.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Saving, helping, keeping, loving.
He is with me to the end.
Jesus, what a help and sorrow.
While the billows o'er me roll.
Even when my heart is breaking.
He, my comfort, makes me whole.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Saving, helping, keeping, loving.
He is with me to the end.
Everybody sing it out on the fourth.
Jesus, what a guide and keeper.
While the tempest still holds high.
Storms about me, night o'er takes me.
He, my pilot, hears my cry.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Saving, helping, keeping, loving.
He is with me to the end.
Oh, Jesus.
Not now receive Him.
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness.
I am His and He is mine.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Saving, helping, keeping, loving.
He is with me to the end.
All right, great job, everybody.
Let's go ahead and pray together.
Thank you, Father, for this service, Lord.
Thank you for Steadfast Baptist Church.
We ask that you bless this service now
and help us to be edified today, Lord.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
All right, for our next song,
we're going to go to the handout.
We're going to do Holy, Holy, Holy.
Everybody should be able to find a handout near you.
If not, raise your hand.
We'll get you one.
Holy, Holy, Holy.
Lord God Almighty.
Only in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.
Holy, Holy, Holy.
Merciful and mighty.
God in three persons.
Blessed Trinity.
Holy, Holy, Holy.
All the saints adore Thee.
Hanging down their golden crowns
around the glassy sea.
Cherubim and seraphim.
Falling down before Thee.
Which whose word an art and evermore shall be.
Holy, Holy, Holy.
Though the darkness hide Thee.
Though the eye of sinful man,
Thy glory may not see.
Only Thou art holy.
There is none beside Thee.
Perfect in power,
if and purity.
Holy, Holy, Holy.
Lord God Almighty.
All Thy works shall praise Thy name
in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, Holy, Holy.
Merciful and mighty.
God in three persons.
Blessed Trinity.
All right, great singing everybody.
All right, good evening everyone.
Thank you for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
We're gonna go ahead and go through our announcements
really quickly again.
If you don't have a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand
and an usher will bring you one.
You have there on the front of our bulletin
our memory verse of the week.
Revelation chapter 1 verse 8.
And anyone 18 years of age or younger
who quotes this to myself, Pastor Shelley,
or to an usher will receive a treat
after the Wednesday evening service.
If you open up on the top left there,
we have our service times every Sunday morning at 10.30.
In the evening 4.30 is our Spanish service.
Every Sunday 5.30, our English evening service.
And Wednesday evening is our Bible study.
We have our church-wide soul winning there
as well as our regional times.
You could always see those perspective leaders
as to where those meet and time and all that information.
We do have our soul winning stats there on the bottom left.
And I know today was a great day of soul winning,
really receptive area we went to today.
Also on the upper right, we have the prayer list
for our expecting ladies.
Make sure to faithfully keep them in prayer.
As well as the list of our weekly prayer requests.
And if you have a prayer request at any time,
you could always email the church and send that in
and we'll put it on the list.
And if it's something that's recurring,
please let that be known to us
or just send it in every week so we can know to keep it on there.
Otherwise, we try to update it every single week.
If you look at the back, we do have our announcement
about our baby shower for Miss Rebecca Nogueira.
And make sure to speak with Mrs. Milstead
about the details for that and RSVPing for that.
Also, we talked about the Mother's Day tea this morning.
Since this morning, there has been a sign-up sheet
printed at the front.
So if you haven't already signed up via the WhatsApp group
or if you haven't spoken to Mrs. Shelley about that,
you can sign up at the front over there.
Also, our upcoming events is, let's see, April 1st,
which is next Saturday is our Dallas, Texas Soul Winning Marathon.
Last time we did this, it was a great success.
Had lots of people saved.
And we're pretty much hoping to just press repeat on this.
Same meetup time, same meetup location,
pretty much everything the same as last time.
Same area we plan on going to.
And so hopefully it's just as receptive as it was last time.
We talked about the baby shower.
April 24th through the 29th is our Bahamas Missions trip.
So be sure to either join us
or be keeping us in prayer for that trip.
Should be very fruitful.
And that should be it for our announcements.
We'll go ahead and go to our third song.
All right, for our third song, let's do Psalm chapter 15.
Once again, we'll be found in your handout.
Psalm chapter 15.
Or in your Bible.
Psalm chapter 15.
Let's do Psalm chapter 15.
Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness
and speaketh the truth in his heart.
He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness
and speaketh the truth in his heart.
He that backbiteth not with his tongue,
nor doeth evil to his neighbor,
nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.
He that backbiteth not with his tongue,
and whose eyes a vile person is contempt,
but he honoreth with them that fear the Lord,
and whose eyes a vile person is contempt,
but he honoreth with them that fear the Lord.
He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not,
not out his money to usury.
He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not,
he that putteth not out to usury.
He that putteth reward against the innocent,
he that doeth these things shall never be moved,
nor taketh reward against the innocent,
he that doeth these things shall never be moved.
Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle
shall dwell in thy holy hill.
All right, great job, everybody.
Now, as the offering plates are being passed around,
go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 22.
Matthew chapter 22.
Matthew chapter 22, the Bible reads,
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.
Again he sent forth other servants, saying,
Tell them which are bidden, behold, I've prepared my dinner,
and 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 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.
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.
And when the king came in to see the guests,
he saw there a man which had not a wedding garment,
and he saith unto them, 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.
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 teach us the way of God and truth.
Neither carest thou for any man,
for thou regardest not the person of men.
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, hypocrites? Show me the tribute money.
And they brought unto him a penny, and he saith unto them,
Whose is this image and superscription?
And 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.
When they uttered these things, they marveled,
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 brothers 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,
not 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.
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.
And when the multitude heard this,
they were astonished at his doctrine.
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 greatest commandment in the law?
And Jesus said unto them,
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 greatest commandment,
and the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor 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 thy 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.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank you so much for the opportunity to be in your house this evening.
We thank you for our pastor and his family.
We also thank you for all of the souls won to Christ today
and strategically placing us in such a great receptive area.
And Lord, I just pray that the power of the Holy Spirit
will rest upon brother Naeem and that he will preach with boldness
and fire and authority and that we would all have ears to hear tonight
and be edified and come out of here better Christians
and we pray these things in Jesus name.
Amen.
Amen, we're there in Matthew chapter 22
and let's look at verse number one to start.
I want to begin by thanking Pastor Shelley
for the opportunity to fill in for him today.
The Bible says there in verse one,
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.
Jesus speaking to the chief priests, to the Pharisees, to the Jews here.
He brings forth a parable.
He spoke by parables and often they were offended at these parables
because they knew exactly the point he was trying to make
which was in opposition to them, in opposition to their doctrine.
That's why they were offended.
That's why they didn't like it.
And in this parable here, we have in Matthew chapter 22
with a similar one in Luke 14, the parable of the wedding feast.
And I wanted to do a Bible study about this parable here.
Let's dive into it.
Let's learn some doctrine.
Let's see what the Bible is trying to communicate to us
through the parable of the wedding feast
and then at the very end I'll make an application and we can all go home.
But I want to take this a step further than maybe what you've heard before
in the sense that this parable often is used to teach the doctrine of imputed righteousness,
the idea that those who believe in Christ receive the imputed righteousness of Jesus
and that's 100% true and I'll go over that here over the course of the sermon.
But I believe there's more to it than that.
There are several different layers to this
involving a doctrine we believe in at Steadfast Baptist Church called replacement theology.
Now what is replacement theology?
It's the idea that, the radical idea I guess, that the New Testament replaced the Old Testament.
The physical, unbelieving Jews have been cast out.
They're not God's people.
It's physical Israel that's been replaced by spiritual Israel as God's people
and I think we will see that evident here in this parable.
And so the title of my sermon is Israel in the Parable of the Wedding Feast.
Israel in the Parable of the Wedding Feast.
And the first thing I want to call your attention to is the end of verse 3
where it says, and they would not come.
So we have a king, he sends forth his servants that are bidden to this wedding.
They were invited and yet they would not come.
They did not accept this invitation.
The king we could look at here in this parable as God the Father.
His son is paralleled with the Lord Jesus Christ or symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ
and you could look at the servants in this parable as soul winners.
Soul winners sent out to go and preach the gospel.
These soul winners I believe are pictured as servants in this parable.
Now turn if you would to Luke chapter 7.
Luke chapter 7.
Again, they would not come.
That's the first thing I wanted to call your attention to.
They did not want to attend this wedding feast.
And the same is true for Israel.
I want to show you, I want to talk about Israel here in the Parable of the Wedding Feast.
There are so many different parallels between the nation of Israel and this story in Matthew chapter 22.
Hebrews 2 tells us, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God
should taste death for every man.
I know there's Calvinists out there who pretend that Jesus only died for the quote-unquote elect,
but I'm here to tell you that the Bible is clear.
He died for every man and every man means every man.
We could take the text at face value.
Jesus died for the entire world and yet in spite of that some refused to believe.
And that's sad.
After the blood was spilt at Calvary, after the physical anguish that he withstood,
the spiritual anguish that he withstood and yet some people do not want to get saved.
And yet you knock on people's door and they'd rather play Xbox.
Imagine regretting that for all of eternity.
Too busy playing Call of Duty. What a shame.
He was rejected by some. Luke 7 is where I had you turn
and I'm trying to draw a comparison between how in the end of verse 3 in Matthew 22,
it says that they would not come and we see the same thing regarding Israel.
Luke 7 says in verse 28, Luke chapter 7 in verse 28, the Bible read,
For I say unto you, among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist,
but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
And all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God being baptized with the baptism of John,
but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves being not baptized of him.
The Pharisees, they rejected the preaching of John the Baptist who came to point them to the Messiah.
They wanted nothing to do with him. And even further than that, they hated him.
They despised him. This is the main reason why our church, praise God for it,
stands vehemently against the false religion of Judaism.
It wasn't your average rejection of the gospel by these people. They crucified Christ.
They hate Jesus to this day. They believe he's burning in hell in his own excrement.
And I didn't like saying that. I've never even said it behind the pulpit before, but it's like that's bad.
That's evil. That's disgusting. That's abominable.
They're enemies of the gospel and the Bible paints this picture over and over and over again.
And in Luke seven, that's not an exception. Turn to John Chapter five, if you would.
John Chapter five about Jesus. The Bible tells us he came under his own and his own received and not.
And we can relate to that. There are people you're related to by blood physically that you came to
and they rejected you. Guaranteed. It's happened. It's happened to me. Jesus, his own nation, the nation.
They didn't want anything to do with him. They refused his message.
And in John Chapter five, we have another example of this happening.
They wouldn't hear what he had to say. And look at verse 15. The man departed.
John 5 15. The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole.
So we have a man who is healed here and verse 16 will continue.
And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.
But Jesus answered them. My father worketh hitherto and I work.
Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath,
but said also that God was his father making himself equal with God.
The Bible says the Jews they sought to kill him.
Their invitation, if you will, to the wedding feast refused in the harshest way possible.
Instead of believing in Christ, they wanted him dead.
Instead of accepting the free gift of salvation that they were offered first.
No, they want to kill him. And that's exactly what they did.
That's what they ended up doing. They would not come to the wedding.
They would not come to the wedding.
And that's the verbiage in Matthew 22.
And I'm connecting it to the Jews rejection of Jesus.
Turn, if you would, to Matthew Chapter 10, Matthew Chapter 10.
I'm going to flip around a lot in the Bible. So try and follow along here.
More of a Bible study this evening, but doctrines important.
We need to emphasize doctrine. And we do.
At Steadfast Baptist Church. And that's a good thing.
Because, I mean, every other church seemingly doesn't.
They don't care.
Romans 9 tells us, as you turn to Matthew 10, I'll quote this for you.
It says, What shall we say then that the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness,
have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith?
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness,
hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith,
but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Israel sought after their own righteousness by the law.
They rejected the gospel by faith alone.
They killed the Messiah. They wanted nothing to do with the Messiah.
And, like I said, probably the harshest way to refuse salvation.
And yet people will still say, Well, you just don't understand.
The Jews, they're very much like we are.
They believe in the Old Testament. They just don't believe in the New Testament.
False.
And let me explain something. Jesus debunked that.
He said, For had ye believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me.
That's what he said.
He said, And if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
How in the world could you say that a bunch of Christ-hating, Christ-rejecting Jews
who want nothing to do with him, they believe the Old Testament,
the Old Testament that from beginning to end points to the Messiah,
points to Calvary, points to salvation by faith,
and you're going to tell me they accept that, but not its fulfillment?
Give me a break.
And that's what the Zionists love to push.
Well, you know, they believe the Old Testament, but not the New Testament.
Is that why so many of them are evolutionists?
Boy, that certainly screams believing the Old Testament, doesn't it?
Like, they don't even believe the first chapter.
Matthew 10, where I had you turn.
Remember, this nation chose their works instead.
They chose Judaism.
Judaism.
Matthew 10 says in verse 5,
So again, let's think about our parable in Matthew 22.
There's a certain group that was bidden to the wedding feast.
They received that invitation, and they refused it.
And here we see that it's Israel that's getting the benefit,
or Judea that's getting the benefit before the Gentiles do.
Look at verse 6,
So those who were bidden in Matthew 22,
I think picture the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
who Jesus, he's telling his disciples to go preach to them.
Go not into the way of the Gentiles,
but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
They were bidden to the wedding feast.
They had their chance to be saved.
They had their chance to accept the Messiah.
This is who Jesus sent his disciples to go and preach to.
Verse 16, skip down to verse 16.
Let's see what happens.
What else does he say?
He says,
For they will deliver you up to the councils,
and they will scourge you in their what?
Synagogues.
Let's put our brains together.
Who worships, quote unquote, in a synagogue?
I think we all know the answer to that question.
Now in verse 16, the disciples are commanded by Christ
to be wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves.
That's a soul winning tip for us.
We need to love people when we go out and give them the gospel.
We need to care about souls.
They're not just an innocuous number
that you can write down in a notepad.
That's a living, breathing human being
whose eternity is at stake when we're preaching to them.
Now, he says you will be scourged in the synagogues
because many of them would refuse the gospel message.
They would not come to the wedding feast.
Turn back to Matthew 22.
Many of them would hate the gospel message,
and they would persecute the disciples for preaching it.
And the same thing is happening in the modern era.
Where do you think all this opposition is coming from?
Against us.
Spiritual wickedness in high places.
How about three letters?
ADL.
Writing entire articles about the new IFB.
You know, I wouldn't be surprised if one day we see
the ADL write an entire article condemning the New Testament
itself because of what it says about Judaism.
That day is coming, folks.
It's going to happen.
I'm surprised they haven't done so already,
but they're still trying to cloak all of their propaganda
with the left-wing slogans of love and tolerance.
One of the most hateful people on the planet.
Revelation 2.
Revelation 2 says in verse 9, I'm going to quote this for you.
I had you turn back to Matthew 22.
They're not Jews.
You know who's a Jew?
Me.
You say you look like one.
Well, I'm talking about spiritual, all right?
Romans chapter number 2 tells us we are spiritual Jews.
These people call themselves Jews and they are not.
They're the synagogue of Satan.
And let me tell you something right now.
I hate them.
I hate the synagogue of Satan.
I hate their false religion.
I hate their blasphemy.
You say you can't say that.
Well, I just did.
And I'm going to continue to say it.
Now, look, there are some who aren't reprobate yet.
I love the Jews that can get saved.
All right, ADL?
I love the Jews that can get saved.
But here's the reality is that it's a minority.
It's a minority.
You know, there's a large contingent of reprobate Jews who are going to stop at nothing to stymie
the gospel message.
And we see that in Matthew 22.
Let's look at verse four together.
Matthew 22, verse four.
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.
You have to be careful with parable.
A lot of false prophets, they love parables because they can twist it, say whatever they want.
And so with this one especially, and we'll get to it later.
Make sure not to do when you're studying your Bible, you're trying to interpret some of this.
Don't go overly literal or you'll find yourself wading into false doctrine.
Right?
But my point is this, that there are sometimes a lot of different spiritual truths packed into the same parable.
Notice my oxen and my fatlings are killed.
Jesus Christ, our Messiah, he was killed like the oxen, the fatlings here in Matthew chapter 22.
And afterward, servants were sent to preach about that, to get people saved, yet many of them refused the message.
The Messiah was killed by, of course, this nation that didn't want anything to do with the gospel.
But again, it was the Jew first that received it.
Those who were bidden in this marriage, those who were bidden to be invited to the wedding feast.
Picture the Jews who received the message first, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek the Bible says.
Look at verse five.
But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise.
This is what I was talking about earlier.
People just, well, I'm sorry, I'm too busy.
I'm playing PlayStation.
They don't take it seriously.
But then look at verse six.
And the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully and slew them.
Matthew 22, verse six.
The servants who were sent out by the king to reconcile people spiritually, to invite them to this wedding feast, they are slain.
They're entreated spitefully, the Bible says.
The remnant.
You can call these reps, straight reps, like they say over in the ghettos in Duncanville when they're talking doctrine with their friends.
Straight reps is what these people are.
Look, some made light of it.
They didn't care.
But then there was a remnant who were so vicious, according to this parable, they entreated the servants spitefully.
They slew them.
Turn, if you would, to 1 Thessalonians chapter two.
You know who else is guilty of slaying servants of God?
Jews.
And I could preach a whole sermon just on that point if I wanted to.
The Bible says it over and over and over again that they are responsible for slaying the prophets of God, the servants of the Lord.
And in this parable here, we see another parallel between them and unbelieving Israel.
And what's the title of the sermon?
Israel in the parable of the wedding feast.
And another parallel we see here in this parable is that the remnants, they took his servants sent by the king.
They entreated him spitefully and they slew them.
Now, watch what the Bible says about these Christ hating Jews.
It says in verse 14, for ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God.
1 Thessalonians chapter two, verse 14, for ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus.
For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us.
And they please not God and are contrary to all men.
Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved to fill up their sins always, for the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
They slew their own prophets, it says in 1 Thessalonians chapter two.
Just like in Matthew 22, how the servants are entreated spitefully and they were slain by those who were bidden to the wedding feast, the remnant, the reprobates.
Well, we see the same thing here in relation to the Jews.
They took out physically the prophets of God, their own prophets who were sent to preach to them to give them the most precious gift imaginable.
And in response, they're killed.
Look at Matthew 23, Matthew Chapter 23.
Forbidding to speak to the Gentiles, it says in that passage we just read.
No, they deleted their YouTube channel hate speech, hate speech.
You know, sometimes I like me a little hate speech, to be honest with you.
When I hear hate speech, I hear some pretty good preaching.
As you turn to Matthew 23, I want to quote for you something from Jeremiah Chapter seven to drive the point home.
It says in Jeremiah Chapter seven, verse twenty five.
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants, the prophets.
So in Jeremiah Chapter seven, Judah is rebuked and they rebuked with this message.
Hey, I sent you my servants.
And here's what happened to them.
The prophets daily rising up early and sending them.
Yet they harken not unto me, nor incline their ear, but harden their neck.
They did worse than their fathers.
So God sent him his servants.
He sent the southern kingdom of Judah.
He's talking to here.
He sent them the servants.
He sent them the prophets.
And yet they did worse than their fathers, the Bible says.
I had you turn to Matthew Chapter twenty three before we read there a quote, something from Acts seven, which says, which of the prophets, this is Stephen talking, have not your fathers persecuted over and over again?
They're credited with persecuting, with slaying the prophets of God, just like how in Matthew twenty two, those servants were slain by those who rejected the message.
Matthew twenty three, where I had you turn.
Notice verse thirty four.
Stephen, of course, is then stoned to death by an angry mob, by the way.
Matthew twenty three, verse thirty four.
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes and some of them you shall what kill.
Just like again, Matthew twenty two, those servants were slain.
We'll hear Jews accused of killing prophets, wise men, scribes.
Let's continue the verse and crucify.
And some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city.
In spite of the wedding invitation, what happened?
Slain.
Jesus Christ makes that exact same point a few chapters later in this scolding hot, this this this incredible passage in Matthew Chapter twenty three, rebuking them to their face.
Verse thirty five.
That upon you may come all the righteous bloodshed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel under the blood of Zacharias, the son of Barakas, whom he slew between the temple and the altar.
This has always fascinated me because the Jews are being credited with all of these murders here.
They're being credited with the blood of righteous Abel, the blood of Zacharias, the son of back of Barakas.
It says whom he slew between the altar and the temple from Abel all the way to Zacharias.
Why?
Because the audience that he's speaking to are of the same spiritual family as Cain.
They're of that same spiritual family.
They are children of the devil.
They are the seed of Satan.
And when he's speaking to that same family, that's why I believe he uses this verbiage here.
Now, go back to Matthew Chapter twenty two, Matthew Chapter twenty two, the same spiritual family.
That they are a part of credited with.
The slaying of Abel all the way to Zacharias.
Now, Matthew twenty two says in verse seven, but when the king heard thereof, he was rough.
So when the king hears in this parable of his servants being slain, he's rightfully angry.
He was wrong.
It says, and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and notice and burned up their city.
So the king hears that his servants are slain, his servants who went to preach to those who were bitten that come to the wedding feast to take part in the wedding feast.
And what happens?
Well, they're slain.
They're killed.
First, they're rejected and they're basically their message is not taken seriously.
And then a remnant slays them.
As a result, the king burns their city.
Their city is burned, it says in Matthew Chapter number twenty two.
Judgment is executed upon the city that slew the king's servants here in this parable.
And there's a direct parallel between this and Jerusalem.
There's a direct connection between this and Jerusalem.
We see Israel in the parable of the wedding feast through the destruction of Judea, through the destruction of the nation of Israel.
You say, well, hold on a minute.
It still exists.
What happened? Isn't there a nation of Israel today that we could go travel to?
Yeah, it's fake.
That's something that the devil has set up.
That's a nation that Satan has set up in order to one day have it be ruled over by the Antichrist, who's going to invade at the middle of Daniel's 70th week.
And he will rule the entire planet from there.
The abomination of desolation will be set up in Jerusalem.
There has to be a nation there in the Middle East for those prophetic events to occur.
But this city getting burned in Matthew 22 is a direct correlation to something that occurred in history.
In the first century A.D., you had the Roman Jewish war, the seven year Roman Jewish war.
And the climax of it was the Roman siege of Jerusalem, where the city was burned, where it was invaded by the Roman Empire.
Daniel chapter nine speaks to this.
And if you would turn to Luke chapter 21, Luke chapter 21.
Just as sure as the city of those who slew the king's servants in Matthew 22 is burned, it was Jerusalem that was burned by the Roman Empire in 70 A.D., in 70 A.D.
And this is why their temple no longer exists.
Jesus prophesied that one day there wouldn't be a single stone left upon another.
And that happened at A.D. 70.
The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 21, for I've set my face against this city for evil and not for good, sayeth the Lord.
It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall burn it with fire.
So in Jeremiah, the Bible talks about the Babylonian Empire led by Nebuchadnezzar coming in and burning the city with fire.
The same verbiage used in Matthew 22.
And then we have in 70 A.D. another quote Babylon, which I believe Rome did have the spirit of Babylon upon it at one point.
And it was Rome that came in and did the same thing that Nebuchadnezzar did, the same thing burning that city with fire.
It was a day of vengeance against those who hate God, against those who hate the gospel, against those who have been guilty of slaying the prophets, the prophets of the Lord.
Again, I may have mentioned this earlier, but you have Daniel chapter 9 also alluding to this event in history, specifically verse 27.
This is where we would get the concept of Daniel's 70th week in Daniel chapter 9.
And when you're looking at prophetic passages in scripture, you have to look at them through the lenses of the principle of dual fulfillment in Bible prophecy.
The Bible has so many layers to it.
And when it comes to prophetic passages, there is an element of dual fulfillment involved when it comes to interpreting them.
For example, in Isaiah Chapter 10, it refers to the king of Assyria.
And yet this king of Assyria is going to leave Jerusalem desolate.
He's going to leave the nation of Israel in a state of desolation.
And this is pointing us to the Antichrist.
So you have a shadow fulfillment there. Daniel Chapter 9, same thing.
The quote Daniel 70th week that we often preach about.
Yeah, it has a fulfillment coming in the end times through the Antichrist.
There's no doubt about that.
But there was a Roman emperor named Titus who orchestrated a Roman siege of Jerusalem,
which I believe was God's wrath being poured out on a disobedient and Christ hating nation.
Luke 21 points us to this event.
It says in verse five, Luke 21, verse five.
And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,
As for these things which ye behold, the days will come in the which there shall not be left,
one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.
It doesn't get more clear than that.
And what happened during the Roman siege?
That temple was brought down.
And in fact, it was at the midpoint of the seven-year Roman Jewish war that you had Emperor Titus and his armies come in.
You had the Roman Empire come in and they engaged in a sort of abomination of desolation at the midpoint of Daniel 70th week.
That temple was left desolate and destroyed and the sacrifices taking place there ceased, right?
So that was a shadow fulfillment of what's going to eventually happen at the end times,
during the end times, prior to the millennial reign of Jesus.
Now, here's where people get all mixed up.
Is they say, well, the pre-tribulation rapture is wrong, which it is wrong.
The Bible does not teach a pre-tribulation rapture at all.
It is nowhere to be found in Scripture.
We do not believe in the pre-tribulation rapture at our church.
Yet they throw the baby out with the bathwater.
They say, well, the pre-tribulation rapture is false.
Therefore, every single prophetic passage in Scripture has been fulfilled.
This is called preterism, and this is a denial of the fact that there are still future events still to come,
dealing with the second coming of Christ, dealing with the millennial reign of Christ.
You have the battle of Armageddon.
Before that, three and a half years of God's wrath being poured out on this planet for all of its iniquities,
all of its wickedness, that is all still to come.
When you read the book of Revelation, from chapter 4 on, you're reading about future prophetic events that have not yet happened.
And we need to be ready for those events.
Preterism, this idea that it's all been fulfilled, it leads people to be apathetic, just like the pre-tribulation rapture,
because in their mind, they're thinking, well, none of this is going to happen.
What we're looking for next is Jesus actually setting up, bringing in the kingdom and setting up his kingdom on this earth.
That's a very dangerous doctrine, because the Antichrist is who's coming before Christ, before Jesus.
It'll be an imposter who arrives before Jesus.
And that was a rabbit trail.
But my point is, look at verse 20. Let's get back on track here.
Jesus foretold of a day when the temple would be brought down.
And my whole point is that this is simple.
What happened in Matthew Chapter 22 is symbolic.
This parable that we've been reading, it's symbolic of 80-70.
It's symbolic of the desolation of Jerusalem, the desolation of the temple through the Roman Empire.
Look at verse 20.
This happened in history.
Yes, it will happen again in the end times, at the middle, during the midpoint, at the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week.
The Antichrist will invade Jerusalem, and this will happen again.
I believe that.
But there was a shadow fulfillment, if you will, in 80-70 where the Roman Empire had come past Jerusalem with armies.
Verse 21.
And let not them that are in the countries enter there into, for these be the days of vengeance, the Bible says.
Highlight that word.
If you write in your Bible, you can underline it.
We're all looking forward to the vengeance of God upon those who hate him, who hate righteousness, who hate the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well, here we see that it happened in 80-70, and make no mistake, it'll happen again through the Antichrist's armies.
He actually uses them to persecute and to avenge and to pour out his wrath on the Jews, to avenge the saved against the Jews.
Look what it says.
Let's continue reading there in Luke chapter 21, verse 22.
For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
The Roman Empire accomplished this.
Let's go back to Matthew chapter 22.
Matthew chapter 22.
And I also believe that in the end times, it'll be the Antichrist's temple that is also destroyed, but I think it'll be destroyed by Jesus Christ.
And it's an imposter, and I think Jesus will create his own temple.
And I guess a whole different subject for a different time.
Matthew 22, verse 8.
Then sayeth he to his servants, the wedding is ready, but they which were bidden, notice, were not worthy.
Those who were bidden to this wedding were not worthy.
Verse 9.
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage.
So you have a group that is not worthy, that did not accept the invitation to this wedding feast.
So what happens next?
Well, in verse 9, they're instructed to go to the highways.
They're instructed to find other people who would actually accept this invitation.
Verse 10.
So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found, pay attention to this, both bad and good.
And the wedding was furnished with guests.
Bible says God commendeth his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
No matter how many sins you have on your account, you can be saved, whether it's a few sins or many sins.
God commended his love toward us and that those who are both bad or good, those who have sin, those again, no matter how small or large they are, can accept the gospel and be saved.
But the big deal here for me is how he tells these servants, go to the highways, find as many as you can to come to the marriage feast, to come to the wedding feast.
Remember verse 8, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Remember that in your mind here and let's go to Acts chapter 13, Acts chapter 13.
But they which were bidden were not worthy.
We see Israel in the parable of the wedding feast.
They're represented by those who were not worthy.
They were not worthy.
And that's exactly what the Bible tells us in Acts chapter 13.
Notice verse will start in verse 45, Acts chapter 13, verse 45.
The Bible says there, but when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Man, is that frustrating to deal with when you're trying to evangelize and you've got somebody contradicting and blaspheming to stop you from getting another soul saved.
Ministers of Satan is who we're dealing with here in Acts chapter 13.
And it happened today, by the way.
I'll tell you more about it after the service.
I don't have time right now.
Verse 46, then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you.
But seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Remember Matthew 22, verse 8, they which were bidden were not worthy.
Acts 13 says in verse 46 that these these Jews, they judged themselves unworthy of ever lasting life.
The exact same word used in both places.
I don't believe that's a coincidence because that parable is trying to point us to unbelief.
It's teaching us a lesson and pointing us to unbelieving Israel, Israel in the parable of the wedding feast.
And a lot of the parables do that.
Probably you could find it in probably all of them that there's some kind of lesson to be learned with regard to replacement theology.
But they say in boldness, you judge yourselves unworthy.
And what do they do next?
They go to the Gentiles.
And in our parable that we were looking at in Matthew 22, those who were bidden to the wedding, unworthy.
And so they were sent to the highways.
They were sent to the Gentiles.
In other words, those who are in the highways and the hedges represent the Gentiles, I believe, in this parable.
Let's go back to it.
Let's go back to Matthew chapter 22.
The servants are told, look, those who were bidden to the wedding feast that you invited to come to accept this garment to be part of the wedding feast.
They're unworthy.
Go to the highways instead.
Go find people who want to hear this message.
And in Acts 13, we see the same thing.
Unbelieving Israel, they're unworthy.
And so they turn to the Gentiles, or at least they should have.
You see Paul kind of continuing to go back to the Jews over and over in the Book of Acts.
But we know he eventually ended up preaching to the Gentiles.
Matthew 22 says in verse 10, so those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests.
So when they went to try and preach to another group who I believe represent the Gentiles, it says that the wedding as a direct result was furnished with guests in verse number 10.
So those who were initially bidden you could say were replaced, just like physical Israel was replaced by spiritual Israel, which consists of both Jew and Gentile, because it doesn't matter.
We're all one in Christ Jesus.
I don't care what color you are.
There's all kinds of colors here.
Now we've got red, green, blue, yellow.
There's all kinds of colors because we're all one in Christ Jesus.
But spiritual Israel replaced physical Israel, just like those who were bidden to the wedding were replaced by those who were found in the highways.
And Jesus Christ confirmed this because what did he say in Matthew chapter 21?
The Kingdom of Heaven shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof.
A spiritual nation would replace the physical nation of Israel.
And it's a spiritual nation of which we are members.
We are members of a spiritual nation.
Everyone who believes in Christ are part of spiritual Israel, which has replaced physical Israel.
The Bible also tells us in a very clear passage.
First Peter Chapter two regarding replacement theology.
It says, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people.
They should show forth the praises of him who had called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people.
But of that, but are now God's people.
It says you are now God's people which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Just like those who were in the highways, they hadn't been given the invitation to the wedding feast.
And then they were.
Matthew, 22, verse 11.
Matthew, 22, verse 11. 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. Remember, you don't want to go too literal here, because then if you if you want to take a super literal interpretation,
you could say, well, the wedding pictures heaven and this guy's cast out of heaven, which no one is going to get.
You know, the devil himself is cast out of heaven to start the seven years of the annual 70th week.
But you don't have unbelievers cast out of heaven. They don't get to heaven to begin with.
Obviously, you need to be careful with going too literal on these.
But what we see here is something that's symbolic of the imputed righteousness of Christ.
This is symbolic of the imputed righteousness of Christ, which is often pictured by a garment.
The Bible talks about garments being put on that are supposed to point us to the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ,
or the idea that when God looks at someone who believed the gospel, it's the perfection, the 100 percent righteousness of Jesus that is imputed on their behalf.
That's the beauty of the gospel.
Turn, if you would, to Judges Chapter 14, Judges Chapter 14.
So this wedding garment. It's symbolic of imputed righteousness.
And we have a king who says, hey, there's a man in here who does not have a wedding garment on.
He does not have a wedding garment on. He said to him, friend, how came is thou in hither not having a wedding garment?
And he was speechless. He had nothing to say in response.
But this man did not have a wedding garment on.
And, well, he was punished for that. We'll get to that. We'll get into that later on here.
But my point is, is that the wedding garment that this man did not have is symbolic of the imputed righteousness of Christ.
And I believe this man represents.
Unbelieving Israel, they rejected the wedding garment.
They did not have all they do not have on a wedding garment.
They do not have the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Judges Chapter 14 has a similar picture involving a garment.
It says in verse 12, and Samson said unto them, Judges 14, 12, I will now put forth a riddle under you if you can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast and find it out.
Then I will give you 30 sheets and 30 change of garments.
And when you see that in your Bible, I believe it's pointing to the imputed righteousness of Christ.
And notice there's a mystery involved with Samson.
And if those who can figure out what that riddle is or this this mystery here that he's talking about, this riddle, this mysterious riddle in Judges Chapter 14, they receive those who can figure it out, a change of garments.
In the same way, those who can understand the mystery of the gospel who have been the gospel, those who've been revealed the truth, the revelation of the gospel.
It leads to a change of garments.
And that change of garments that I'm talking about is the imputed righteousness of Christ.
So the revelation of this riddle led to a change of garments in Judges 14.
That's pointing us to the fact that the revelation of the gospel leads to a change of garments to those who believe in Christ.
And we see the wedding garment in Matthew 22 is a huge part of that parable.
But for now, turn to Zechariah three, if you would, Zechariah Chapter three.
Job says, I put on righteousness and it clothed me.
The same kind of words there.
Verbiage talking about righteousness as a garment, something you can put on.
And also, furthermore, and let's see, this just popped into my head here, but I believe in Isaiah.
Chapter sixty one, as you turn to Zechariah three, I'll quote for you from Isaiah sixty one, which says in verse 10 and the sons of strangers shall build up by walls.
But I'm reading the wrong verse. Here we go.
It says in Isaiah sixty one ten, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord.
My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he had clothed me with the garments of salvation.
He had covered me with the robe of righteousness.
So again, that same kind of symbolic use of the word garment or the, you know, being covered with righteousness garments being used to point us to the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Now, in Zechariah Chapter three, we see the exact same thing again.
In verse three, it says now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel.
When you're not saved, you have filthy garments.
You know, Revelation Chapter seven, we see those who have been rapture, those who are saved.
They have clean garments on that have been washed by the blood of the lamb.
Verse four, and he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from them.
So you have a change of garments. We saw that in Judges Chapter fourteen.
And unto him, he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head.
So they set a fair mitre upon his head and clothed them with garments.
And the angel of the Lord stood by Joshua, clothed with filthy garments.
They're taken away. He receives a change of garments, just like how Samson talked about there in Judges Chapter fourteen.
Those who answered the riddle would receive a change of garments, pointing us to the imputed righteousness of Christ,
which was rejected by Israel, the man who did not have on a wedding garment.
Romans four says, Even as David also describe it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness with out works.
Let's head back over to actually turn, if you would, to Zephaniah Chapter one, Zephaniah Chapter one.
You call on God, you receive Christ's perfection. It's not about your righteousness.
It's about his. It's not about your righteousness. It is about his.
This is why Philippians says, And we found it him not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
And it's offered to us. And I believe that's what the wedding garment represents in Matthew Chapter twenty two.
Romans 10 says, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of God's righteousness
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves onto the righteousness of God.
So in Romans Chapter 10, it's almost like the apostle Paul is writing about the man who walked into that wedding feast
without having a wedding garment on representing this man trusting in his own works.
This guy trusting in his own ability to follow the commandments, to be good enough to get to heaven.
They stumbled, Israel did, at that stumbling stone. They stumbled at that stumbling stone.
They didn't want God's righteousness. They tried to establish their own. And that was permeated through the culture.
This is why Jesus dealt with the rich young ruler the way that he did,
because he was trying to make the point that if that's what you're trying to attain, your own righteousness,
then you better be perfect. And that is not possible, which is why we require the perfection of Christ accounted to us.
And that is how people get saved. Now, look at Zephaniah Chapter one.
What's really interesting about this is how it is so similar to our parable in Matthew Chapter 22.
So similar. It says in verse seven, Zephaniah Chapter one, verse seven.
It says, hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand
for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice. He hath bid his guests, just like the wedding feast, had guests who were bidden.
Verse eight. And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the king's children.
And all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
Hey, guess what? Unbelieving Israel. They've got strange apparel, my friend.
They're trying to get their clothing themselves or trying to with their own righteousness.
They did not have on a wedding garment. And so they weren't allowed to be part of that feast.
They didn't have a wedding garment on. Instead, they had strange apparel, you could say.
That's what the Bible is talking about in Zephaniah Chapter one, verse eight. Strange apparel, something weird looking.
Perhaps the mark of the beast. It could be. Who knows? Maybe that's what it's talking about.
But they had the mark of the beast instead of God's righteousness.
That's just a conjecture on my part. But my point is they had on strange apparel, just like the man.
You know, he didn't have on the wedding garment. What he had on was likely strange.
And I think you could look at Zephaniah, Chapter one, verses seven and eight through the lenses of the parable in Matthew, Chapter 22.
But this is directed at Judah right here in Zephaniah, Chapter one. It's directed at the Jews.
And he warns that a day of the Lord is at hand.
And this is another example of the principle of dual fulfillment, because you had days of the Lord back in the Old Testament dealing with God's judgment on Israel.
And yet there is a day of the Lord coming in the future, the rapture, the same day that God pours out his wrath on this world.
Let's get back to Matthew 22 and we'll begin to wrap it up.
Matthew Chapter 22. And we'll look at verse 11 when we get back there as I begin to land the plane.
Matthew 22, it says in verse 11, it says, And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment.
You could argue it was strange apparel, which we read about in Zephaniah, verse 12.
And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither having not having a wedding garment?
And he was speechless and said the king to his servants, bind him hand and foot and take him away.
Israel in the parable of the wedding feast, this man who represents unbelieving Israel, he's taken away.
And that reminds me of Galatians Chapter number four.
Nevertheless, what sayeth the scripture cast out the bond woman and her son?
In other words, take them away.
Unbelieving Israel shall not be heirs with those who have believed the gospel.
They are not our fellow heirs.
They're cast out.
Galatians four couldn't be more clear.
Cast out the bond woman and her son for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.
But we see that in Matthew 22.
Let's finish verse 13.
It doesn't end there and cast him into outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are cold, but few are chosen.
This man representing unbelieving Israel did not have a wedding garment on.
He's cast out of the feast.
The Bible says that he experiences weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Luke Chapter 19 tells us about the beloved Jews.
But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me.
Those are the very words of Jesus.
In other words, they'll be cast out to experience weeping, gnashing of teeth, unbelieving Israel.
I don't even believe is going to exist anymore by the time we get to the millennium.
I believe by the time you get to the millennium, they're all slain.
Judaism will be a thing of the past.
The wicked Antichrist false religion of Judaism will be a thing of the past.
They will be taken out.
They will be slain.
And then all Israel shall be saved.
Now, that's not saying they're all magically just get saved.
You know, Adam Sandler isn't going to magically believe the gospel and get saved.
George Soros, if he makes it to the end of Daniel 70th week, isn't going to magically get saved.
Bernie Sanders is not magically getting saved.
That is a twisting of Romans Chapter number 11, verse 26.
All Israel shall be saved in the sense that the wicked are plucked out.
They're taken out.
They're cast out like the Bible says in Matthew Chapter 22 to experience weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And all that will be left is saved Israel.
And praise God.
In that sense, all Israel shall be saved.
The Bible tells us in Romans Chapter number 11.
And this man who had not on a wedding garment, he represents unsaved Israel.
Make no mistake about it.
And it was physical Israel replaced by spiritual Israel at Calvary.
The death of Christ, which brought in the New Covenant.
And since then, yeah, the nation of Israel, quote unquote, revived in 1948.
But they're fake.
At the Battle of Armageddon, I believe whoever's left from this false religion of Judaism are taken out.
And I think that happens at the Battle of Armageddon, in my opinion.
You have to think about it this way, which, by the way, Armageddon is the ghetto in the Old Testament, points us to the Battle of Armageddon.
But in Revelation 19, it tells us verse 21 is key.
You don't have to turn there.
I'll just summarize it for sake of time.
It says the remnant with regard to the Battle of Armageddon are slain with the sword.
And I believe that's where you have false religion deteriorated before your eyes, eviscerated before our eyes.
And I'm talking about us because we will be there with the white horse, with Jesus Christ.
Now, again, what are we talking about in Matthew 22?
We're talking about a parable of the wedding feast.
And what am I surmising this evening?
That the Jews are taken out.
They are slain prior to the millennium with whoever's left taken out at the Battle of Armageddon.
Well, what event is often associated with the Battle of Armageddon?
Well, that would be the, quote, marriage supper of the land where the dead bodies of the Antichrist's armies are feasted on by the fowls of the air and things like that.
And this is a very important prophetic event.
And so I think that's another parallel here we can look at between the parable of the wedding feast and Israel.
Zechariah 3 says, I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
The wickedness will be taken out and all Israel shall be saved.
And the wedding feast, well, it'll be filled.
That's what happened in Matthew 22.
The wedding feast was filled with those from the highways, those from the hedges, those who accepted the invitation to come.
Matthew 19 tells us in verse 28, and Jesus said unto them, verily, I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jerusalem will contain, will consist of, I should say, 100% saved people.
And this wedding feast, I believe, is trying to help us understand that.
So Israel bit into the wedding, but they rejected the invitation.
The servants are slain, just like the prophets were slain by the Jews.
The city is then consequently burned by the king, just like Israel was burned, just like Jerusalem specifically burned at AD 70 through the Roman Empire.
The invitation then sent to the highways, representing the Gentiles.
It subsequently accepted.
And then this man who had not on a wedding garment, who's cast out to experience weeping, gnashing of teeth.
Well, he points us to the Jews who rejected the gospel and are burning in hell today.
So here's the conclusion, folks.
There's no special pass for those who have the right ethnicity.
Here's your one entry.
Jesus, I am the way, the truth and the life.
No man cometh unto the father, but by me.
And anyone who hates him hates the father.
They don't accept the Old Testament.
They desecrate it with their doctrine.
We'll be finishing up in Luke 14.
That'll be the last place I have you turn.
Luke Chapter 14.
You find replacement theology all throughout the scriptures, and I think the parable of the wedding feast is not an exception to that rule.
It's very strong in there.
I mean, it's so obvious that God is trying to tell us here that unbelieving Israel will be replaced and they'll be cast out.
Now, Luke 14, I'll turn there myself.
We kind of have a parallel passage here where this story is told again, and it says in Luke 14, verse 23.
We'll end it here.
And the Lord said unto the servant, said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled.
For I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
Doesn't sound like the Jews are fellow heirs, does it?
And that's what I think it's symbolic of.
That's what I think it represents.
That's what this story is trying to tell us.
But what's the application for us?
What can we take from this?
Well, remember, you had servants who went, they invited a group of people to a wedding feast.
Some of them were slain.
They were entreated spitefully.
They made light of it.
But what did they do?
Did the king just stop?
Did those servants give up?
Or rather, did they go to the highways?
Did they go to the hedges?
And find people who were interested in coming in.
You know, the application for us as Bible believing Christians is that, you know, sometimes it's tough to get rejected.
We have to remember, though, they're rejecting the gospel and not us as people.
But still, it is tough to go through that, especially when it's your family.
Especially when it's your close friends.
The apostle Paul felt that, which is why he wished that he could be accursed from Christ for those of his kindred.
Yet what we have to realize is, in spite of being rejected by even our own family members when we try to get them saved.
In spite of being rejected by some neighborhood.
Steadfast Baptist Church knows that.
We all know as individuals what it's like to be rejected.
I know what it's like to have someone who you love, someone who you care about, someone who you want to get saved.
You have tears in your eyes trying to get in the gospel, trying to get in to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And yet they treat it like it means nothing.
And that's what we have to realize.
You have tears in your eyes trying to get in the gospel, trying to get in to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And yet they treat it like it means nothing.
And they want nothing to do with the Bible.
They want nothing to do with the doctrines associated with Steadfast Baptist Church and everything we believe.
And weeping, you beg, you plead, you try to get them to understand the truth that if they don't get saved, hellfire is waiting for them.
And yet, well, they still refuse it.
And that's tough.
I can think of people who I know, who I'm related to, people who I have a close kinship with or that are of my nation of Lebanon, if you will.
And they don't want to get saved.
And that's hard.
But here's the thing.
We don't stop when we're rejected.
We don't stop when they refuse the message.
You know, in this parable here, they didn't stop just because those who were bidden slew some of them.
Those who were bidden, they entreated them spitefully.
They didn't stop, though.
What did they do?
They went to the highways.
They went and found people who would listen.
They went and found people who did want to come to the wedding.
They went and they found people who then put on a wedding garment symbolizing the imputed righteousness of Christ and went and feasted at that wedding.
They went and they tried to look for others who were interested.
And you know what?
It is tough.
Let's zoom out a little bit.
As a church, it is tough.
It is difficult.
It is, quite frankly, a very intense test of our patience to be persecuted, to be stopped, to be mocked, to have people who obsessively hate our church,
whose lives revolve around trying to find a way to shut this place down.
It's frustrating dealing with that opposition.
But let me tell you something.
Even if they don't want anything to do with the truths of God's word, we can go find people who are interested.
We can go to the highways.
We can go to the hedges down the street.
There's a whole soul winning area here in this region that need the gospel.
We can still go to the highways.
We can still go to the hedges and we could say nuts to you who were bidden.
You don't want to get saved.
You hate the gospel.
You hate God.
Well, that's too bad for you.
Enjoy hell.
Because there's some other folks out there who want this.
They want this camaraderie that we have.
They want to be saved.
They're waiting for you to knock on their door.
They're waiting for you to give them the good news.
Do not get discouraged just because you've been rejected.
Do not be discouraged just because people who you know and love refuse to get saved.
Do not be discouraged when people mock and scoff at the message of the cross.
Don't be discouraged.
Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on to the highways.
Move on to the hedges just like the servants did in this parable.
You know, Matthew chapter 10 tells us,
and whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words when you depart out of that house or city,
shake off the dust of your feet.
Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the day of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
What happened in the parable of the wedding feast to the city belonging to those who were guilty of slaying the king's servants?
It was burned, wasn't it?
The cities that have rejected Steadfast Baptist Church, they've rejected this.
Woe unto them.
And we know what that feels like, to be told by a city, get out.
All right, we'll go someplace else.
We'll go to the highways. We'll go to the hedges.
We'll find people and compel them to come in.
And there is a plethora of people who want to come in.
They're just waiting for you to reach them.
You know, all we can do as a church when we're told to get out.
All we can do as a church when we're told to leave.
Folks, it's simply this.
We're out of here.
We're going to the highways.
We're going to the hedges.
We're going to the highways. We're going to the hedges.
We will find as many as we can find.
We will find as many as we possibly can, and we will bid them to the marriage.
We will bid them to the wedding feast.
And we'll let them know, hey, I know you've got some filthy garments on,
but there's a much cleaner garment waiting for you.
The imputed righteousness, the perfection of Christ, put it on and come feast with us.
That's all of God.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven, we thank you so much, Lord, for this parable.
And I pray that you would help us not to give up when we are rejected,
when people don't want to hear the gospel.
And Lord, help us to realize that we can go to the highways too,
just like the servants in this parable.
Help us to realize that there are people out there who still need to hear it.
So many.
And Lord, also, help us to be more cognizant of what you're trying to teach us through your word
with regard to replacement theology.
And I pray that you would soften the hearts of those who were still deceived by Zionism.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
All right, in closing, let's go to song number 183.
Song number 183.
Oh, how I love Jesus.
Song number 183.
Oh, how I love Jesus.
Precious blood, the sinner's perfect plea.
Oh, how I love Jesus.
Oh, how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.
It tells me what my Father hath in store for every day.
And though I tread a darksome path, yields sunshine all the way.
Oh, how I love Jesus.
Oh, how I love Jesus,
because he first loved me.
It tells of one whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe,
who in each sorrow bears a part that none can bear below.
Oh, how I love Jesus.
Oh, how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.
All right, great singing, everybody. You are all dismissed.