* If you want to enjoy the party you have to honor the spirit of the party.
* If you want to enjoy the kingdom, you have to honor the spirit of the kingdom.
* That means you have to honor the king.
* How do you honor the king?
* Two ways - presence and posture.
* Presence = readiness
* If he’s throwing a party, you say “yes” then you get ready!
* Posture = reverence
* When you get to the party, you have to honor His code.
* Jesus gave an analogy of a king hosting a wedding banquet to show what access to the kingdom looked like.
* vs 1-10 - the first people he invited didn’t come.
* This represented the Jews who refused to accept the invitation of the kingdom.
* They were not willing to inconvenience themselves to be at the wedding.
* This showed the king that he was not very important.
* EX: close friends refusing to come to your party.
* If you’re ready for God to show up, He will!
* Staying ready is looking and listening for God in all things.
* vs 11-14 - in vs 10 the call of the master to his banquet appealed to both good and bad people - those with good intentions and those with bad.
* This is why there’s a qualifier to the parable in vs 11-14.
* Yes, the call will attract people with selfish motives, but there’s a “weening out” that will take place before they’re allowed in.
* You can’t just show up and do your thing your way - you have to conduct yourself according to the master’s standards.
* The application is clear - God’s offer of eternal life will attract lots of people, but only those who are willing to clothe themselves with righteousness will get in.
* If you wear your self-righteousness you will be thrown out.
* EX: the rich young ruler - he was attracted but not submitted.
* He wasn’t willing to part with his stuff, so he didn’t get the eternal life he sought.
* The Passion Version says that the wedding clothes were provided to the invited guests as a part of the tradition of the time.
* This would imply the person was not willing to part with his thing for the groom’s thing.
* He was more comfortable in his old clothes than his new ones.
* If you want to enjoy the kingdom, you have to honor the spirit of the kingdom.