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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

If you have a Bible, we’re going to look at it. What are we going to study tonight? Let’s see here last Sunday night we talked about Somebody has to go get the donkey And then on Wednesday night we spoke on who needs the donkey or something like that So today we’re gonna have a little continuation But it has nothing to do with the donkey not tonight But take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew and Chapter 22, Matthew chapter 22.

Now you know when somebody has been offered so much and then they refuse, there’s a price to pay. The Lord says that they will come when every man will give account of even every idle word. Every idle word will be brought up in the judgment. I believe by the time that the Lord gets through, proven to everybody that stands at the great white throne judgment, there won’t be much for anybody to say. They’ll probably be speechless. Nothing to say.

Ever met any women that were speechless, I’d just change that. Matthew chapter 21, look at verse 1. Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables. Now, the show is not over. He’s done told them and made an offer of legitimate offer of the kingdom to the nation of Israel, and the people keep telling them no. And they wouldn’t believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be. They didn’t believe the prophecies. They didn’t believe the miracles. And he even astonished them by the words that he said to them with the way he was able to answer questions and all of that.

So you’d think that they would have learned their lesson by now, but no, they had to learn. So he gives them a parable about the kingdom of heaven. Now the kingdom of heaven, we believe, is a reference to the thousand year reign upon the Earth is where the king comes from heaven and sets up his kingdom. Well that’s what he was going to do when he came the first time, but he was rejected. And the Bible says in the book of Matthew, and of course where is he that is born king of the Jews, the king of Israel?

And it tells us how he qualifies to be the king. And that’s why they had the certain genealogy that goes back to the Son of David. Then he also tells us about him picking his cabinet. And then in chapter five on it talks about the Constitution, how he’s going to rule and reign upon the earth and what he’s going to require. And he even told the Pharisee, he says, “‘Unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall have no wise enter to the kingdom of heaven.”

So you had to have a righteousness given to you that was better than what the Pharisees had. Well, what did they have? Well, they had the law and that wasn’t good enough. So you got to have something that’s better than that. So here in Matthew chapter 22, he says there in verse 1, he’s speaking in by parables, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his Now remember in a parable you don’t make everything mean something.

You can get so spiritually minded you can forget about the point of what he’s trying to explain. And so he says in verse three and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come. Now remember we read a verse this morning in the book of Matthew in chapter five where he talks about in verse 40. You will not come unto me that you may have life, not that they couldn’t come, but they wouldn’t come.

Remember we’re in the book of Matthew and there’s things that when you want to look at something that seems to be a little hard to understand. The context is so important. And in Matthew, the context is the book of Matthew. So if you look in different parts in Matthew, sometimes you’ll find that like a little peded unlocks the scripture and helps you to understand what it’s talking about. But it’s very easy to get lost and bogged down in some of these stories and illustrations and so forth.

But what I try to do is just back up from it and look at it as a whole thing that’s what he’s doing, that’s where he’s going. Or I can zoom in on one little word and totally get lost. Kind of figure, now what does that one word mean? Well, those words are in a sentence. And so there’s thoughts throughout this thing here that kind of helps you to see and understand the scriptures. So he had told him, he says, now, they’re gonna be a wedding and I want you to bid everybody to come.

But as it says here, they would not come, they would not. that they could not. They were biden. So Jesus is telling this and saying that they could, but they wouldn’t. Now in the book of Luke in chapter 14, you’ll have also the parable of the wedding, but they gave one excuse after the other of why they couldn’t come. Well, people have excuses, a lot of reasons. Jesus has done what needed to be done to eliminate all these excuses on why they shouldn’t believe on him.

And so he proved over and over again that he was the legitimate heir to the throne. And he did the miracles and he raised the dead and he walked on the water and supplied the food and did things no man has ever done before. Forgives sins, which they said only God can forgive sins. Well, he was God. That’s why he could do it. So he He says here in verse 4, again, he sent forth other servants, saying, tell them which are bitten, behold, I have prepared my dinner.

My oxen and the fatling are killed and all things are ready. Come unto the marriage. In other words, I’ve got everything ready. Everything is prepared and they wouldn’t come. Now even today when we read the book of Revelation, the last chapter, and it says in the Spirit says, come and the bride say, come, Jesus says, come and everything’s ready. You see, the payment for sin has been made, everything’s ready, it’s finished. All the work has been done and wouldn’t it be great if everybody would just come to Christ, trust Him as their Savior, below they won’t.

So in the previous chapter that we’ve already covered, Jesus now wants them to understand there’s a price to pay for your rejection. Your rejection is going to cost you. It’s going to cost you dearly. And so I believe this little parable is to let them see how they’re going to be left speechless with nothing to say but the end results. Was there going to be an eternal separation from God in a literal fire burning hell. So he says here in verse 5, but they made light of it, didn’t take it seriously, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise, so everybody has something else to do, nobody has time.

See there’s a thing called perspective, a divine perspective and a human perspective and everything that you see and do. And you and I live according to that same thing. We either see things through God’s eyes or we see things through man’s eyes. When you only are focused upon what you want out of life and the things of God that you will not take it very seriously. You take it very lightly. And I believe we have a lot of Christians today that do just that.

So there’s a price to pay. Of course the payment for the Christians, disobedience is never held, but the chastening hand of the Lord, the loss of rewards of what they could have had. So look at verse 6, and the remnant took his servants and entreated them spitefully and slew them. But when the king heard thereof he was robbed and he sinned forth his armies, destroyed those murderers and burned up their cities. Now, before you know these other illustrations, you send a son, but this one, it doesn’t say that.

Then said he to his servants, the wedding is ready, but they which were biden were not worthy, they would not come. Go ye therefore into the highways and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage. Now, Jesus has come, and he has come to those who are supposed to be worthy. There were those who were supposed to be, well, righteous. You know the up and the up, as he’s seen in the last chapter, those who thought they were somebody, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and the lawyers.

And now even the Herodians, everybody thinks there’s something. And they look down their nose at the harlot and the publicans, the tax collector of the common man and those that you would think should come, they wouldn’t come. So he says, go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come. That’s the word he uses in the book of Luke chapter 14. But notice what he says. He says in verse 9, go ye therefore into the highways and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage, as many.

Everybody you can find them. And I believe there’s certain places we won’t have time to look at it right now, but many means all. Many means all. Ten mean all. Doesn’t necessarily all the time, but look at the context. So go and find everybody you can. Get them all to come. And so the verse 10, 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.

When the king came in to see the guests he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. Uh-oh. And he said unto him, friend, how came his thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And this is the part that I want you to underline because this is the part that I’m going to talk a little bit about. He was speechless. He didn’t have anything to say. In other words, even though all were invited, the Bible uses statement on the verse 14, many are called, few are chosen.

Some people read that, many are called, and few are frozen. For many are called. Everybody can come, but it’s like only those that believe are those that are chosen. He chose to save all of those that believe. Now this wedding garment, well let’s just take a peek back there in the book of Isaiah 61. Go back to Isaiah chapter 61, Isaiah 61, and you look there in verse 10, this is on page 7, 66, and an old school for a reference Bible.

In verse 10 says, and I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul Oh, shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garment of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.” Now, notice the connection as a bridegroom, decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorned with herself with her jewels. So he says here, “‘For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causes to things that are sown in it to spring forth.

So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. So the righteousness, I believe, that they needed to come into the wedding was the robe of righteousness that Christ gives to all of those who believe on Him. But what is the punishment for those who try to get in some other way. They’re not really ready for the wedding. See everybody in the world is invited to come and to have this free gift of eternal life, to have salvation, to go to heaven when they die.

But a lot of people want to go a different way, their own way, and unless they go through Christ and accept His robe of righteousness. For He gives to you and I His righteousness and we go to heaven on His perfection, then they cannot go. But there’s a story here, I believe, that He’s trying to get the point across to these people. He just finished talking about in chapter 21. As you know, He talked about the scribes and the Pharisees, the scribes and the Sadducees, the scribes and the lawyers and so on, and the scribes and the Herodians.

that they all rejected the offer of the Kingdom upon this earth because they rejected the King. Now here in verse 13 he says, then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot, take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and wailing of teeth. You think, well, what in the world does that mean? Well, I don’t believe that as some do that there are believers in that they don’t do right, they will not be able to go into the…

kingdom upon the earth and enjoy the kingdom, they’ll be shut out of the kingdom and they’re not going to be allowed into the kingdom. Now there’s a lot of the illusions that takes that. I don’t teach that. I believe that when he says, and there shall we be with the Lord forever, I believe wherever the Lord is is where I’m going to be. Wherever he is, that’s where I’m going to be. I believe that all of those from Pentecost to the rapture is part of the bride of Christ.

And I don’t believe he has a bride with only one arm or her toes missing or her ear is missing. I believe that everyone who is part of the body of Christ is the bride and we are going to be married to the Son of God at the marriage supper of the Lamb and so shall we ever be with the Lord. And if he comes down into the kingdom, I think I’m coming with him. And if he goes into the holy city, I believe that wherever he goes, I’m going.

And I believe that’s true for every believer. So I can’t take these verses and apply these to the unfaithful believers. So they get a better idea. Now hold your place right here, but look in Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13 it kind of gives us a little bit of an idea of what it could mean and I believe that it does mean that. So look there in Matthew chapter 13 and look in verse let’s just start there in verse 38.

The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom but the tears are the children of the wicked one. So we know who the tears are the tears are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sold them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age of the world and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tears are gathered and burned in the fire, the tears are the children of the wicked one.

These are the tears. So shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. Who is cast into the furnace of fire? It is the tears. It’s the children of the wicked one. It is not the children of God. And where are they cast into a furnace of fire?

There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. I believe it’s a reference to them. If you studied this phrase from the context of the book of Matthew. I think that you’d have to agree to that. Now, notice something else. Just turn your page and look at verse 49, verse 49, because it says the good and the bad. Invite everybody, everybody, good and bad. Well, it also uses that same phrase. Let’s just start in verse 47. And again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into the vessel but the cast the bad away.

The good are those that believe and the bad are those that do not believe. Everybody is invited, even to come to salvation. Doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done. Some people don’t consider themselves that bad. I’m not that bad. Doesn’t matter anybody. But God will only save those that believe. Though the invitation is to all. Then notice what he says in verse 49, So shall it be at the end of the world the angel shall come forth. Severe the wicked from among the just.

Now if this is doing the thousand year reign, we know that this is going to take place. It also will take place at the beginning of the Millennium because it will be the judgment of the nations where those who believe on the Lord enter down to the joy of the Lord into the kingdom. He also says that those who do not believe… The goats are cast into the lake of fire. So you have a division at the judgment of the nation, believers and unbelievers.

Now notice what else he says here in this verse 49. and sever the wicked from among the just. So then it must be the just and the unjust, the saved and the lost, believers and unbelievers. And in verse 50, and cast them the wicked into the furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of tea. So there’s a good possibility that when we read the parable over there, he’s explaining what he’s talking about here. Now go back over there to the book of Matthew in chapter 22.

There’s a day coming when people want to have their day in court that will now have it. And they will be left speechless because the Lord has all the facts. He can also cause them to have perfect recall of everything they’ve ever said, thought or done. And he says here in verse 13, then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot, take him away, cast him into the outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Many are called, fewer chosen. The invitation was to everybody, but not everybody will meet the requirement which is belief in Christ. Do you believe in Him? Will you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior? So now they were left speechless. Now you’ll notice in several of the illustrations that are to follow. In every one of them, it just happens to say something about how they were left speechless. So that you’d have an idea. The consequences of those who are left without a word to say.

You see in verse 15, then went the Pharisees and took counsel of 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 in true. Sure they do. Neither cares thou for any man, for thou regard us 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. Now their goal is is try to silence Jesus, try to trap Him, try to get Him to say something that the Roman government can nail Him for, get Him in trouble. It wasn’t because they really wanted to know truth and Jesus is smart enough to know that. He says, why tempt me in verse 18, Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, why tempt me you hypocrites? Show me the tribute by Him and He brought unto them, pin Him.

He He said, and whose is this image and superscriptive? They said an emceaser. Then said the end of them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar unto God the things that are God. When they had heard these words and marveled, it left them speechless. They left them and went on their way. So they asked the question, trying to trap him. He turns it against them. And they are the ones that cannot answer. You see, the Lord knows, and that’s why, a little previous before this, they said, we perceive that He was speaking about them, He was, but they didn’t get the whole picture.

There is a price to pay for their rebellion and rejection of Jesus Christ. Now look what He says in verse 23, the same day came to Him, the Sadducees, which said that there is no resurrection. They didn’t believe in miracles, don’t believe in a resurrection. So their question is to try to trap Jesus. So what was their question? Well, there’s a woman that was married and the man she was married to had six more brothers. So he died, and so the next one was supposed to take her to be his wife.

Well, he died, and the next one was supposed to take her. So he died. After all, she finally died. Finally, she died. Seven men. So when she gets to heaven, who gets to be her husband? See, there isn’t a good question, but they don’t even believe in the resurrection. So it didn’t matter what he said, they were not gonna believe it. They’re trying to track him, humiliate him, put him down, shame him. And maybe where he will be totally speechless, but it didn’t work quite that away.

So he makes his statement. In verse 29, Jesus answered and said unto them, ye do heir not knowing the scriptures. Now these are the ones who are supposed to know the scriptures. You don’t know the book. Have you ever met people who try to tell you what James chapter 2 says, and they don’t even understand one verse? first, let alone the whole chapter, James chapter two. And they try to tell you how to go to heaven, and they haven’t got a clue how to go to heaven.

Well, you’ll have that. He says, you do air not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, he believed in it, they neither married nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. Now I don’t know if this means there’s no sex distinctions. It’s just that there’s no marriage going on in heaven and chances are we’re not going to be having kids in heaven for all eternity. Can you believe that?

You finally get to go to heaven and you’ve got to raise kids for the rest of eternity. How many kids could you have forever and ever never. But they’d all be perfect. Yeah, but they still got to have their diapers changed. And that would not be perfect. That would not be heaven. But anyway, as we’re moving right along here, he says in verse 31, but that’s touching the resurrection of the dead. Have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying?

See, the scripture says, and God made the statement, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Well, if there’s no resurrection, those people are dead, then God is the God of a dead man. All the people are dead, and I’m the God of the dead. No, he says they’re alive. They are alive. You are in air. You don’t understand the truth. See, Jesus has a unique way of answering people’s questions, and then he says in verse 33, And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine and they were speechless.

End of that little conversation. Then it happens to them all over again. So it says here in verse 34, but when the Pharisees heard that he had put the Sadducees to what? See, I didn’t make that up. That’s right here in the book. They’re being left speechless. And remember, they could not going to the wedding because they didn’t have on the proper robe, the wedding garment. They didn’t have their robe of righteousness that Christ will give. And so they had all these questions, but they were trying to trap Jesus.

And Jesus was the one that was trapping them and leaving them speechless. And those were the ones that were going to be cast into the burning lake of fire and there’ll be weeping and wailing and gnashing up teeth. He’s talking about them. This is what’s going to happen to you. Are you a new listener to Bibleline? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well, if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel Driven Man.

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Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address, and God bless you and thank you for listening to Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. friend one day it will happen the trumpet will sound and we will be changed caught up to meet the Lord in the air so live today and every day believe in that the Lord is coming soon just keep looking up