Introduction: Have you ever been to a wedding banquet? What I mean is the royal wedding banquet. I guess most people here have not had a chance to attend a royal wedding , I certainly had not. But the most recent royal wedding happened in 2018, which was Prince Harry and Meghan wedding. I watched the this wedding on youtube in preparation for this sermon today about how royal wedding looks like.
It is the most amazing wedding which ever I see in my life, It was almost two and half hours video I watched online. Even though I was not there in person, through the video, I can still feel the Joy and happiness from the people and guests, and royal families.
Peak viewing figures of 27.7 million were reported in the UK, About 29 million were reported to have watched in the United States. The overall cost was expected to be around 32 million. The guest list included 600 people, most of whom have a "direct relationship" with the couple. Also, 200 close friends of the couple were invited to attend the evening reception at Frogmore House.
About 1,200 members of the public were invited to greet the couple outside the chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Then the men who were invited by this wedding were dressed up in their best suits for joining this royal wedding, and all the women were also dressed up in their most beautiful dress and decorated hat, purse with them for showing their honor and respect of this royal wedding.
Just like this fantastic wedding Banquet, the bible text today will be talk about God’s Son’s wedding banquet, The Heavenly King has ready for the Wedding Banquet for us because of His son. The Heavenly Banquet has been prepared for us.
This parable was told by Jesus right before the holy week, Jesus is using this parable to warn Jewish leaders and people and also for illustrating what the heaven’s invitation looks like.
There is a big event going on through the whole country now. The King’s son, who is a prince will get married and the prince’s wedding banquet is ready. The Father King sent his servants to people who had been invited to come to join this banquet. But unfortunately, these people who were invited refused to come. But the Father King was still patient, then he sent some more servants and invited them again, with more details message “The banquet is ready, and more the best food and meat are waiting for you, everything is ready for you, just come and enjoy with me.”
But the things went against the King’s expectation again, because the people who were invited, some just ignore the invitation, and some were gone for their own business, and some people even seized the King’s servants, insulted them or even killed them.
And then the King was enraged and send his army for punishing their city, and ordered his servants to go to street for inviting others to come to his son’s wedding banquet. Both evil and good were invited, so that the wedding hall could be filled.
When we are reading through the Old Testament, one of the images we get is , God is calling Israelite to repent and promise He would send the Messiah for saving them from their transgression, and the salvation and eternal peace would be for them.
But the way Israelite treated God’s servants just like the people who were first invited to Prince’s wedding Banquet in this parable, sometime Israelite as God’s people, reject or ignore Messiah’s message, Sometime they persecuted God’s servants just like they treat prophet Jeremiah, sometimes they even try to killing God’s servants , as Elijah was persecuted by Israelite noble family and people, and always living in bitterness and with insecurities.
When we are reading through this text, most of us will focus on the people who rejected King’s Banquet again and again, and thinking that the way they treat the royal wedding invitation is so impolite and rude.
But let’s turn our focus on the this Great King, he sent the servants again and again for inviting people to come to his son’s wedding Banquet, although the people rejected him many times. He still show his patient and sincere heart to those people. Not only He had send his royal servants many times to those disrespected people, but also he had prepared the best food for the guests. Verse 4 said “I have prepared my dinner; My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, everything is ready, come to the wedding banquet.”
There is nothing you need to prepare for coming to this best banquet, all you can do is just hear the invitation message, come to the wedding banquet, even the luxury garment which need to dress up to enter this royal banquet is provided for you, then you can enjoy the best meat and wine, be joyful with this royal family.
Jesus was telling this parable for us today which was exactly revealing God the Father’s heart for the this world. The Heavenly Banquet have been ready for this world, which is the best food , best view and eternal happiness and joy have been waiting for us all the time. Heaven is the place where there is no sadness and no more tears , we are all like little children are embraced by God’s arms, playing and singing inside of the God’s glory and love. (Image the heaven of joy)
You don’t need to do something for earning this Heavenly privilege ticket, all you do is hear God’s invitation message and believe it. And even the righteousness garment for entrancing the heaven have been provided for everyone in this world.
This righteousness garment which is mentioned in verse 11 “wedding cloth..”is provided by Jesus Christ, who was send by God the Father, who lived a perfect life in this world, punished on the cross for our sin and proof his righteousness in front of God. This is way how the righteousness garment was made.
How is it connected with us? How do we possessed it ? As the called worker of Christ, please allow me to ask each one of you one question? Do you already have this Christ’s righteousness garment for entering into the heavenly banquet ? (wait a moment )
Yes ! We have! Every one of us, every believer of Christ already hold this wonderful righteousness garment!
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Through the baptism, Jesus Christ take off his righteousness garment, and so that we can wear this Christ’s garment freely. We as the believers of Christ, God is not enraged with us. instead, He called us a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession 1 Peter 2:9 .
In other words , we already had the ticket to the heaven and enjoy this heavenly banquet with God the father and other believers of Christ. We don’t need to worry about our qualification now.
Although sometimes we can like the people who were invited by God’s Banquet and rejected the invitation in this parable. Sometimes our sinful nature is trying to finding the excuses to avoid and ignore God’s expectation for us, make us more focus on earthly business. Or even sometimes, we just ignore or don’t care about God’s message and His words, we even insult God’s servants and disrespect them, do not treat God’s matters the way we should be. But my brothers and sisters in faith, don’t be worry, don’t be burden, because your sin are forgiven!
Jesus Christ for our sake, had listen to God’s calling, came down from Heavenly throne as God’s prince, giving up his glorious identity, born in a tiny town named Bethlehem in this world, becoming a son of carpenter in Israel, had been lived perfect and holy life according to God’s will for us. And he even crucified on the cross for our disobey sin, and died on the cross as sacrifice lamb to God the father.
When Jesus Christ was said “it is finished” on the cross two thousands years ago, it means he finished his atonement work for all the world, he finished his righteousness garment for every believers, so that the moment when we were coming to the faith, he could put his righteousness garment on us, without hesitation , without regret.
We don’t need to doubt about our qualification of going to heaven, or we don’t need to care what worldly judgement about our faith. Because we already have the guarantee and witness of our salvation, the Christ’s righteousness garment had been dressed on us through the faith in Christ.
As the believers of Christ, I assume everyone who is sitting here and watching on the Internet already has his guarantee about his righteousness garment to going to heavenly banquet today.
So what we should do next. Just sit on His grace and do nothing? NO, of course not! After we obtaining the salvation guarantee, we want to share this good news with others. God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Perter3:9. God’s Love make us invite people to know about Christ and what He had done for the whole world. Do you have family members, friends, or neighbor who don’t know this grace around you? Invite them come to the God’s house and let them know about this heavenly invitation！
Maybe you have done this many times but few people respond to you, just like in this parable, when the King sent out his servants for sharing this royal invitation to his kingdom. Some people ignore it, some people paid no attention for it , some people might turn away for their own business or even insult you with their harsh words.
But don’t give up! I know that you don’t want them in hell someday, where there is darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, separate from God forever!
Please Be patient, love is patient. because God is being patient all the time to us. “Each one reach one”. Make list of people’ names near you, prayer for them consistently, pray God give you the open door to talk about Gospel. Pray that sometime in future, you and him or her will dress up this wonderful Christ righteousness garment together, and enjoying the heavenly wedding banquet with God forever.
Another evangelical thing you can do could be part of our church’s outreached team. Pastor Neil and I are planing two things for the Asian outreach, first thing is making the video for our schools, to promoting and advertising our school in San Diego area. let more Asian immigrants families and kids have Chance to know our school program, send their kids to our school. Let more parents and kids know about Jesus’ love.
The another one is inviting UCSD and UTC overseas students to come to our campus for playing basketball after the working hours, I am in this basketball group now, and it is over 30 young man in this group now.
For using these ways, we are trying to invite more family and people to God’s house, and please pray for these plans that through the work of holy spirit, all the people who are invited could be dress up Christ’s righteousness garment like us, and enjoy the God’s Heavenly Banquet all time with us .
We welcome you to Join us or bring the your ideas!
Conclusion:
Dear brothers and sister in Christ, we see how awesome the Harry and Mechen’s wedding banquet is! But I promise that God’s Heavenly will be hundreds and thousand times better than Harry’s wedding. And God’s Heavenly Banquet is ready for us! As believer of Christ, we are sure that we have been dressed up Christ’s righteousness garment for entering the Heavenly Banquet now. Not because of anything good thing we had done for God or we could earn this righteousness by our good work or merits. It depends on what Christ had done for us on cross. And we want to share this heavenly invitation with more people around us. Because love invites people to know Jesus and his salvation work, we invite people because God invite us first!
In the name of the Father and of the son and of the holy spirit! Amen!
