“And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen.” Matt 22:1-14

I believe the following article should prove of interest to all, but especially to those who having weight the cost are yet still pondering (unsure) of a full consecration to the Lord. I realize of course that what is presented here may seem a bit forward, a bit direct, but with regards as to so important an issue as concerning ones eternal destiny we feel that we would be amiss in our duties as faithful stewards of the Lord’s Word if we were not forthcoming in declaring unto you “the whole counsel of God”. (Acts 20:27) 

Extracts taken from an article by Richard Evans entitled, “Many Called, Few Chosen”

VERSES 1-3 “And Jesus answered and spoke 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“.

THE JEWS

VERSES 3-8 “And they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are called, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: 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, and 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 their city. Then saith he to his servants, the wedding is ready, but they which were called were not worthy.”

These verses describe the reaction of the Jews, the called people of God, to the ministry of Jesus and his disciples. They did not come to the marriage feast; and, consequently, as a people, they suffered greatly.

THE GENTILES

VERSES 9-12 “Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, call 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 on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how came thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.”

The sending of the King’s servants into the highways depicts the call going out to the Gentiles. Paul wrote of this call, “I say then, have they [the Jews] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles” (Rom 11:11)

Many Gentiles responded — the banquet hall filled; but, as indicated in the parable, entrance into the hall alone is not sufficient. It is likewise necessary that each guest put on a wedding garment.

THE LESSON

VERSES 13 and 14 “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.”

Many versions punctuate these verses so the clause “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” is related with “cast him into outer darkness.” This obscures the lesson. The casting of the unrobed guest into darkness is the conclusion of the parable’s narrative. A period, a full stop, should follow the word “darkness“.

The subsequent words are the lesson of the parable. In today’s idiom, they are the bottom-line. They state the point of the parable, a danger the Lord was making manifest.

With the corrected punctuation the text would be better written as “… 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.” (Matt 22:13, 14)

This construction gives meaning to the conjunction, “for” (or because) few are chosen, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the lesson of the parable!

Although many are called, few will be chosen, proven worthy.

TWO CRISIS

In the parable Jesus dramatized two crises his followers must experience. THE FIRST CRISIS is God’s calling, viz.

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”(1 Pet 5:10).

This crisis is resolved in the parable by entering the banquet hall.

In the Christian walk it is resolved by consecration to holy living and obedience to the will of God, (i.e. by taking “the first step”, a “consecration to righteousness”) Typified by the general consecration of the Levites, the believer sets his mind to follow righteousness in all of life’s affairs. As with the Levites, this consecration DOES NOT entail any sacrifice. God has the right to demand that all his creatures love righteousness and hate iniquity, but he does not demand that all sacrifice.

However a life of righteousness sooner or later brings about a tension, a sincere response to God’s call results in conflict with earthly interests, earthly ambitions, and earthly friendships (1 Pet 3:20, 21). In the “present evil world” (Gal 1:4) the path of righteousness ultimately requires sacrifice.

The resolution of this SECOND CRISIS is the putting on of the garment, a SECOND consecration (a “consecration to sacrifice” Psa 50:5, “the second step”) —a consecration as a priest for sacrifice. Typified by the special consecration of Aaron and his sons as sacrificers or priests, this consecration is made by only a few (Luke 22:14). See our study on “The Consecration of the Priesthood” for more on this.

All who desire to follow Jesus should be aware of these crises and understand the inherent hazard. Having turned to God and his ways of righteousness, having made the first consecration, there is a strong temptation to stop, to believe all that is necessary has been accomplished. There is a grave danger of not going on to the second consecration.

This perilous snare was made evident in Paul’s ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-5). The Apostle found there disciples who knew only of John’s baptism, the baptism of repentance, the first consecration. Paul quickly set about teaching the need for a second baptism. This pitfall is also evident in the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Hebrews were in the same provisional (tentative or “in part”) condition as the Ephesians.

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

Repeatedly the writer implored the Hebrews to go forward (take the next step). “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest . . .” (Heb 4:11); “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest . . . Let us draw near with a true heart.” (Heb 10:19-22); “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp…” (Heb 13:13).

In each of these requests the Hebrews were being urged to GO ON to the second consecration.

To illustrate this hazard the writer used the Exodus of Israel. Every Christian who has left his Egypt, consecrated to righteousness, and followed God to the spiritual Jordan, comes to this critical juncture. There is a second baptism, a baptism unto Joshua—a second consecration, a consecration unto sacrifice!

The Ephesians heard and accepted Paul’s message. They were baptized into Christ. They crossed their Jordan. Of the reaction of the Hebrews little is known. They were standing on the banks of the Jordan (Are you still standing on the banks of your Jordan?). The epistle was written to encourage them to crossover take the next step, the “second step” of a full consecration to the Lord (Heb 3:12, 19).

From this picture given by God, we know “few there be” (Matt 7:14) that make that crossing. Of the hundreds of thousands of Jews over twenty years of age who left Egypt, of all that were baptized into Moses at the Red Sea, only two were baptized in the Jordan (Num 14:30) that is the danger! All who desire to be “more than conquerors” (Rom 8:37), all who desire to destroy the enemies in the land, must not only leave Egypt, but must also leave the wilderness. They must cross the Jordan. The great battle in which each Christian must engage takes place in Canaan, not in the wilderness! (Are you still in the wilderness?)

Continued with next post.