Similitudes of the Kingdom, Part 3: March 2021
Table of Contents
Similitudes of the Kingdom, Part 3
The last four parables of the kingdom of heaven give a presentation of the present dispensation while the King is in heaven all the way to the time when the Lord, the King, will come — there will be a separating process of the good from the evil. In Matthew 18 the King freely forgave, but the evil servant abused the forgiveness and came under God’s government. The parable of the laborers in the vineyard (ch. 20) describes how God is the dispenser of grace — He dispenses it however it pleases Him. But the very goodness of God calls out the evil in man, who is ready to charge God with injustice. The parable of the king who made a marriage for his son (ch. 22) is an invitation to participate with the king who is acting according to the riches of his own house in order to glorify his son. It is all about His Son and His grace. The parable of the ten virgins (ch. 25) tells what will happen when the Lord comes and how the church would become drowsy and go to sleep, forgetting to watch for her Lord. The wise enter the bride chamber.
Brotherly Forgiveness
Ten Thousand-Talent Debtors
The 10,000-talent debtor in Matthew 18 instructs us in the way we are forgiven and received into the kingdom of heaven. All of us have been forgiven more than we could ever, in our responsibility, repay. For this reason, it is our place always to forgive in our hearts those that offend us.
The question of Peter, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” prompted a response of the Lord in the form of a parable. The parable teaches us why we should forgive and how often. “Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Seven is the number of perfection, and 70 (seven times ten) is perfection in responsibility. The real meaning of the Lord’s answer is not just until 490 times, but the perfect number of times, which is always.
“Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants” (vs. 23). The parable is a general description of all who are in the kingdom of heaven; it was not just an answer for Peter and the disciples.
A Parable of Wide Application
The parable has a wide application. All who profess to know the King in heaven are a part of the kingdom of heaven. Everyone who enters the kingdom of heaven is received there on the basis of being forgiven. All those in the kingdom of heaven are like the debtor who was forgiven. None enter on the basis of merit. Reception into the kingdom includes those who are real believers and those who are mere professors. Both are in the place of having received governmental forgiveness. Those that are true believers and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them also have eternal forgiveness. But here He is speaking of the forgiveness which all receive from the King in heaven. They are all like the debtor that owed ten thousand talents.
“When he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents” (vs. 24). One person serves as an example of all, because “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We are all reduced to the same level. And God offers forgiveness to all through the Lord Jesus, who died for all.
When the king demanded the payment, “the servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all” (vs. 26). The consequences of not paying the debt and his inability to repay such a great debt forced the debtor to beg for time. This was at least an acknowledgment of what he owed. The king forgave the debtor because he was “moved with compassion,” not because the debtor could repay the debt. This made him debtor to the mercy and forgiveness of the king instead of the ten thousand talents. He still owed very much to the king. The realization of this teaches us why we should forgive. Although Peter found it hard to consider forgiving many offenses, this would make him conscious of how much God had forgiven him and of his obligation to forgive others for God’s sake.
An Unforgiving Attitude
The seriousness of holding an unforgiving attitude towards others is brought out in the following verses, where the servant would not forgive his fellow-servant a much smaller debt. The same words pleading for mercy were now addressed to him: “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all” (vs. 29), yet he would not forgive. He “cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.” Such an attitude was unbecoming even though the 100 pence was rightly owed. It misappropriated the forgiveness he had received from the king and thus misrepresented him to his fellow-servant.
“So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?” (vss. 31-33). The Lord desires that those in His kingdom show the same compassion and forgiveness to others that they have received from Him. If we do not forgive, we are counterproductive to the character and purpose of His will.
The Remedy for an Unforgiving Spirit
The following verse describes the remedy for those who are unforgiving toward their fellow-servants. “His lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him” (vs. 34). This is the governmental dealing of God, allowing “tormentors” to discipline those who are not forgiving to others. This can be done in many different ways, such as sickness, loss of property, loss of work or even being taken away in death. It is not a question of whether they are true believers or not. The sovereign King controls all things and can bring about chastening to cause His servants to cease to misuse His compassion and forgiveness.
The Lord Jesus terminates the parable with the admonition, “So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses” (vs. 35). This word is directed to our heart. While it is true that it is inappropriate to show forgiveness until a wrong is confessed, yet this verse speaks of the forgiveness from the heart regardless of the attitude of the offender. When the time comes that the offender recognizes his wrong, then forgiveness can be extended publicly. We are to forgive from the heart, as expressed in Ephesians 4:32: “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
D. C. Buchanan
Grace in Rewards
Matthew 19 ends with the phrase, “Many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” This clearly brings before us a sense of grace, and in keeping with this theme, the Spirit of God refers in this chapter (Matt. 20) to the sovereignty of God — the counteractive to the self-righteousness that is found even in the heart of a disciple. Peter might say, “We have left all, and followed Thee,” and the Lord might assure him that it would not be forgotten, but He immediately adds the parable of the householder. Here you find, not the principle of rewards or God’s righteous recognition of the service done by His people, but His own rights, His own sovereignty. Hence there are no differences here ― no one is specially remembered because he had won souls to Christ or left all for Christ. The principle is this, that while God will infallibly own every service and loss for the sake of Christ, yet He maintains His own title to do as He will. There might be some poor soul brought to the knowledge of Christ at the day of his death. Now, God the Father claims His own title to give what He may please; he may have done no work, but God’s title is reserved to give to those who have not wrought anything at all (as we may think) just what is good in His own eyes. This is a very different principle from what we had in the last chapter, and exceedingly counter to the mind of man. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard” (Matt. 20:1-2).
Our Contribution
The common application of this parable to the salvation of the soul is a mistake. For this is that which Christ wrought for, suffered for, and lives for, independently of man. The poor sinner has just to give himself up to be saved by Christ. When brought to an end of himself, acknowledging that he deserves nothing but hell, how sweet that God brings before such a soul that Jesus Christ (and this is a faithful saying) came into the world to save sinners! When content to be saved as nothing but a sinner and by nothing but Christ, there and then only is true rest given of Him. Wherever we feel that we have to contribute our part, it will be only uncertainty and doubts and difficulties. And where does the salvation of God shine forth? Christ alone is salvation. The man that is saved contributes nothing but his sins. But God is delighted (and not the less so because it is the fruit of His grace) to hear a poor sinner acknowledge that Jesus is worthy to bring him, freed from sin, to heaven. But in this parable the question is not this. There is nothing in it about believing in Christ or His work. It is positive work that is done. There you may think, Surely the Lord will reward the work according to its kind and degree. This we have seen, but there is another principle not always understood, namely, that God reserves in His own hand the right to do as He pleases, and He never makes a mistake. It may seem hard that a man should be toiling for 50 years and that another, brought in just at the close of his life, should be honored in heaven as much as himself. But God is the only righteous, the only wise, Judge of what is for His own glory. If He pleases, He will put all upon an equal footing. He will reward the work that is done, but He will give as He will.
The Goodness of God
“When he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way” (Matt. 20:2-4). It is not grace in the sense of salvation here. “Whatsoever is right I will give you.” It is God that judges what is becoming. “Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.” And amazingly, “about the eleventh hour he went out.” What a heart this tells of! What infinite goodness, that God, who recognizes every service and suffering done for Himself, yet keeps intact the prerogative of going out at the last moment to bring in souls and occupy them with what might seem to be a little service! But He can give grace to do that little service well.
“About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first” (Matt. 20:6-8), “beginning from the last” in the perfect wisdom of God. And why is it that “the last” are made so much of in this parable? What makes it the more striking is that, in the close of the preceding chapter, it was not so. There, “many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first” (Matt. 19:30). But here the last are always spoken of first. So the steward is told to begin from the last unto the first. And again, when the master of the vineyard has to speak himself, it is the same thing: “The last shall be first, and the first last.”
The Sovereignty of Grace
It is the sovereignty of grace in giving as He pleases; not alone in saving, but in rewarding in the time of glory, for this is what is spoken of. Of course, the last received their wages thankfully. But when the first heard about it, they began to think themselves entitled to more — they who had borne the burden and heat of the day. But the master reminds them that all was a settled thing before they entered upon their work. In their selfishness, they forgot both the terms and the righteousness of him with whom they had to deal. If, out of the liberality of his heart, the householder was pleased to give others, who had worked the twelfth part of what they had done, as much as he gave themselves, what was that to them? It was his affair entirely. God maintains His own rights.
It is of the greatest importance for our souls that we hold to the rights of God in everything. Persons will argue as to whether it is righteous for God to elect this person or that. But if you go upon the ground of righteousness, all are lost, and lost forever. Now, if God is pleased to use His mercy according to His wisdom, and for His glory, among these poor lost ones, who is to dispute with Him? Who art thou, O man, that repliest against God? God is entitled to act according to what is in His heart, and “shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” Is He entitled to act from Himself? He cannot act from man on the grounds of righteousness. There is no foundation on which He can thus deal; it is entirely a question of His own good pleasure. And we must remember that there is not a man that is lost but rejects the mercy of God — despises it, or uses it for his own selfish purposes in this world. The man that is saved is the only one that has a true sense of sin, the only one that gives himself up unto God as really lost, but then he falls back upon His infinite mercy in Christ to save a lost sinner.
The Judaizers’ Complaint
In the case we have here, when the first came and complained to the goodman of the house, he answered them, “Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” (Matt. 20:13-15). There comes out the whole secret. Man, even a professing disciple of the Lord, a laborer in His vineyard, may be disputing because he is to have no more than another who, in his opinion, has done little as compared with himself. It was the same principle that made the Judaizers so jealous about the Gentiles being brought in. So, says the Lord, “the last shall be first, and the first last.”
The “Last” and “First”
Let me just ask, Why in chapter 19 is it, “Many that are first shall be last, and the last first,” and here, “The last shall be first, and the first last?” In speaking about rewards, according to the work done, the failure of man is intimated, for indeed weakness soon shows itself; the first shall be last. But in this new parable is the sovereignty of God that never fails. Consequently here “the last shall be first, and the first last.” “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” There was a first, we may say, who became last — a laborer for the Lord, who had not given up Christianity, but had grown tired of the path of unremitting service for Christ. If, instead of honor now, the thousands of those who are engaged in the service of Christ were to receive only scorn and persecution, there would be a real thinning of their ranks. The present return should be shame and suffering. This must be looked for by him who intelligently seeks to serve the Lord faithfully in this world. Demas may have been a believer, but the trial and reproach, the love of ease and other things all came strongly over his spirit, and he abandoned the service of the Lord. “All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s”: There is a similar principle.
W. Kelly (adapted)
Laborers in the Vineyard
The Two Classes of Laborers
It is essential to observe that this parable in Matthew 20 relates to service, for the laborers are sent into the vineyard. There is also no doubt that it sprang out of Peter’s question in the previous chapter: “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?” In reply, the Lord graciously told His disciples that they should have a special place in the kingdom and should sit on 12 Thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel; moreover, that everyone who had forsaken anything for His name’s sake should be abundantly recompensed. He then added the significant warning that many who were first should be last, and the last first. This He proceeded to explain in the parable in chapter 20, “for,” He says, “the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard” (Matt. 20:1). We have then a description of the several laborers, with the different hours at which they were hired. But, in fact, there are only two classes—those who agreed upon the amount they were to receive, and those who left themselves in the hands of the Master to give what he deemed right. The former, we apprehend, are the “first,” and the latter the “last” of Matthew 19:30. No doubt the former also represent the spirit of Peter, as expressed in his question, “What shall we have therefore?” The Lord thus brings before us the right and wrong spirit of service; the wrong spirit finding its motive in expected reward, whereas the right spirit draws the spring of its activity from the will of the Master and is content to leave every other question to the grace which has called. The one thinks of the value of the labor rendered, the other of the Master for whom the service is done. Those who agreed for their penny were, in a word, legal servants, whereas those who left themselves to the One who had called them were under the power of grace. To the first, the labor was a means of recompense; to the last, it was a privilege, and hence they prize it in and for itself, knowing something of the grace that had bestowed it.
The Sovereign Rights of Grace
All this is brought out when the steward settles with the laborers. In obedience to his lord, he begins with the last, and everyone received a penny. This excited the anger of the first, for if the last received a penny, surely they were entitled to more. The answer was that they had received what they bargained for, that the master had the right to do what he would with his own, and that their eye was not to be evil because he was good. The exhibition of grace, with all its sovereign rights, only excited the envy of the natural heart. Hence, we see the enmity of the Jew when the gospel was proclaimed to the Gentile, and thus, though the “first,” he also became the “last.” So with these laborers: Those who went to labor last in the vineyard left the master’s presence satisfied with his goodness, and so became “first,” while those who were first in their labors left his presence with murmuring in their hearts and on their lips, still strangers to grace. Hence the conclusion is: “So the last shall be first [referring to Matt. 19:30], and the first last: for many be called [as all these laborers had been], but few chosen.”
E. Dennett (adapted)
Working for Love
Some people, and even little people too, work for love, others for money. Happy is the child who takes real pleasure in helping his parents or those who cannot help themselves! We know a poor Christian woman who is sick and cannot go out on her own errands, and we know the little boy who every morning comes to her room to run her errands for her. The kind boy’s face, as he calls each morning at her house, is like a gleam of sunshine to the invalid. A rich person said to the little boy’s mother, “Do let me pay you for your kindness,” but the mother answered, “It is our joy to do this little thing for our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Lord will remember in heaven all those who work for love to Him.
What do we have in the parable in Matthew 20:1-16? A number of men hard at work in the winepress; some treading the grapes, others bringing them from the vineyard to be trodden, and in the front a man gathering them up to cast them into the press. The Lord Jesus tells us how a householder hired men for his vineyard — men who were standing about idle in the marketplace. They were like many Christians, for they did not know what to do. “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” said the householder to them, and he sent them into his vineyard to work. If you wish not to be idle, listen to the Lord’s voice, and you shall hear what you are to do, for He has some sort of work to be done by you, and by nobody else in the world. There is much to be done, and there are few to do it: “Go ye also into my vineyard.”
The householder was very good; he went first early in the morning to the idle people, he went again about nine o’clock, again at noon, and then once more about three o’clock, and every time he went, he found idle people. And just as the day was about to close and when all opportunities for work were nearly over, at the eleventh hour — that would be just before sunset — again the householder went out to the idle people in the marketplace and said to them, “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” And thus, by his own earnestness for their good, he sent many to work in his vineyard. If he had waited till these idle people had knocked at his gates for work to do, he would not have had many laborers in his vineyard.
The Lord is like this householder; He says to the young, the middle-aged, and the old, who love Him, “Go ye also into the vineyard.” He says this to all who love Him, from early morning till the eleventh hour, for His people are sadly given to the sin of idleness. Idle children are generally into mischief. They get selfish and grumbling and quarreling. God has made man to work, and the Lord in His tender grace asks us to work for Him.
Now when the day’s work was over, the laborers came to be paid. And some thought a good deal of all the work that they had done. They spoke of the burden and heat of the day and thought that their work was worth a great deal of money. Poor foolish men! It was the grace of the householder which was so precious. Why should the Lord allow us the privilege of doing anything for Him? Why should He take the trouble of seeking us and stirring us up to labor for Him? It is your privilege to work for the Lord; the favor is from Him in asking you to go and work in His vineyard. So these men were quite in the wrong. All received the agreed-upon wage, the Eastern penny, which was a full allowance for a full day’s work. The lesson taught us is that it is all grace in the Lord who rewards His people, and He does not forget a cup of cold water given to a disciple in His name.
Some have their thoughts on reward; they are working for the penny. Others have their thoughts on their Master; they are working for love. Are we working for the Lord, or are we still standing idle in the marketplace, Satan finding some mischief for our idle hands to do? And if we are working in the vineyard, are we working for love or reward?
The little boy who ran the errands for the poor invalid teaches us a lesson, for as his mother said, “We love to do it, to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.” Happy are the people of God who are working in the Lord’s vineyard out of love to the blessed Savior who died for them and who will very soon take them to His rest!
Faithful Words for Young and Old, Vol. 3 (adapted)
The Marriage Supper
“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” (Matt. 22:1-3). Observe the character of this parable. It is not God’s dealing with natural conscience, nor His looking for fruit as the owner of the vineyard, as in the preceding parables; it is the king purposing to honor his son out of the riches of his own house. The king is not making claims; he is giving — he is inviting. He who gives a feast provides everything. Moreover, the king presents the wedding garments by which the guests are distinguished. There must be nothing which the king does not give — his bounty will richly supply everything.
Honor His Son
Still, while the king’s chief thought is to honor his son, he would have the guests enter heartily into his joy. He desires that there may be full blessing at his table — happy faces around it — hearts without anxiety. Such must be the accompaniments of the marriage supper of the king’s son. How simple and evident is the application of all this in the light of what has gone before! Man has altogether failed, but God has in His purpose, through man, to glorify His Son, and His resources will effect this, notwithstanding man’s ruin.
We have to consider the treatment of the invitation by those to whom it was first sent, and then God’s further counsels. One design of the parable is to bring out fully the implacable enmity of the carnal mind against God, in the face of the utmost advances of His love.
The First Invitation
God’s invitation is first given to those who had “the promises” — to the Jews. “And they would not come.” Under such circumstances, we would not be inclined to repeat the offer, but God does repeat it. Fresh messengers are sent again to call them, and the preparations are detailed: “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” (vss. 4-5). They went “one to his farm, another to his merchandise.” Yet even worse: “The remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.”
The counterpart of all this is to be found in the book of Acts. The message of the apostles after the crucifixion was, “All things are ready”; abounding grace offered pardon even to those who had killed the Prince of Life. The Jews’ estimate of such glad tidings is to be found in the language of Paul (then Saul of Tarsus), before he was saved: “Many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities” (Acts 26:10-11). The conduct of individuals may have varied, but in principle it was the same. The carelessness that would make a sinner slight the King’s invitation to the feast is precisely the same in kind that would lead him to kill His messengers, or even His Son.
God’s righteous judgments must surely follow, so in this instance, “When the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (vs. 7).
The Second Invitation
But now we come to a most blessed truth. God has not given up His love or His purpose regarding His Son. His house must be filled to honor His Son’s marriage. Fresh guests must be found. “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” (vss. 8-10). Here we see the sending out of the invitation to the Gentiles. His love goes out in simple grace to find “good or bad” to partake of the goodness of His house. Such is the principle on which God is acting in the gospel today.
When we understand that God is glorifying His Son Jesus, it makes us put aside every other thought. We may be the most vile sinners in ourselves, but all anxiety will be taken from our hearts because of the invitation. It is God’s invitation, and He provides everything that is needed.
Any hesitation to accept God’s invitation is to cast dishonor on His power or on His love. The invitation is our sole title, and, coming from One who knows it well, it merits our entire confidence. It is for all in “the highways,” whether it meets us as beggars or princes. The servants “gathered together all as many as they found.” No exception was made; none were to be passed by uninvited. The king’s command is clear: “As many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.” The only real question for those who hear the gospel invitation is, Has the conscience submitted to the righteousness of God? Is the invitation accepted as one of the purest grace? If so, it is theirs to cast aside all the anxieties that sin occasions and to enter into the joy of the King in the happy assurance that their place is to sit at His table. Blessing is secure through His sufficiency and His grace.
The Wedding Garment
There is a sad incident which must not be overlooked. “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” (vss. 11-12). Grace has been mocked at by this man, for he had not obtained the indispensable wedding robe, doubtless thinking that his own was good enough. The instruction from this is evident. God has, at infinite cost, provided a robe for us, such as is alone suited to His holy presence, and great indeed is the presumption that despises this gracious provision. “He was speechless.” Judgment proportionate to guilt shall follow, and heavy surely it will be in the cases of which this is an example. “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” (vs. 13).
On the other hand, if we acknowledge our guilt and accept that which God gives, our fears will vanish, and our lips will be opened to render to Him the glory and to rejoice in honoring His Son. Are our hearts thus in the spirit of the wedding? Are our thoughts in unison with those of God regarding Christ? If not, however near to Him we may think ourselves, we have nothing to do with the wedding. The principle of the whole matter in question is: “How camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?”
God’s heart is set upon the glory of Christ, and that glory is connected with the joy and blessing of those who have submitted to His righteousness and welcomed the riches of His grace. If our hearts are occupied with the glory of Christ, we shall not be thinking, in one sense, of what we are or of what we were; our thoughts will dwell upon the Blesser and upon the blessedness into which we have been brought.
Christian Truth, Vol. 9 (adapted)
The Wedding Garment
The parable of the marriage supper (Matthew 22:1-14) brings before us God’s exceeding goodness and man’s hopeless opposition and enmity. God is about to make a marriage for His Son, and He sends forth His messengers to invite men to come to the marriage feast. His object is to do honor to His Son. We are not told in this parable anything about the bride, or the sphere of the nuptials. It is simply a comparison of the kingdom of heaven. We know who the King is, and we know who the Son is; the grand object is to show forth the marvelous grace of God. The question is, Will man come to the marriage feast if he is invited?
We shall soon see the answer. “He sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding; and they would not come” (vs. 3). This occurred in our Lord’s life here upon earth. He sent forth the twelve and the seventy, exclusively to Israel. But, alas, there was no heart for the King, no heart for His Son. Man has been proved a hopeless ruin; he does not want to have anything to do with God or His Son, for a call to a wedding affords no possible ground for excuse. But no one will ever be found there, if he has not been compelled to come. There is not, in the entire compass of the human heart, a single desire after God or heavenly things. Man, if left to himself, would never come to God. He does not want to go to hell, but he has no wish for the presence of God.
The Second Invitation
In the second invitation, the king puts forth much stronger claims upon the hearts of those invited. “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” (vs. 4). Here we have illustrated the second call to Israel, in the preaching of the apostles on the day of Pentecost. After our Lord’s death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit came down, with new power to urge upon the people the blessed invitation. The atoning work was done; all things were ready. “Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, by turning away every one of you from his iniquities” (Acts 3:26).
What was the result, as regards the nation and its leaders? Deliberate rejection. Thousands were bowed in true repentance before God, but, the great mass of the people “made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise” (Matt. 22:5). However, there is more than indifference; there is positive enmity. “The remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them” (v. 6). This is in keeping with the solemn address of Stephen, shortly before his martyrdom — “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye ... Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him” (Acts 7:51, 57-58).
Divine Grace
Every effort of divine grace is met by the determined hatred of the human heart — the law broken, the prophets stoned, the Son rejected and crucified, and the vessel of the Holy Spirit martyred. Nothing remained but for judgment to take its course. “When the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (vs. 7). How literally this was fulfilled in the awful history of Jerusalem, when it was destroyed by the Roman general Titus in A.D. 69-70! The horrors of that dreadful siege are well known, as we read them on the page of history. But as surely as Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, so surely shall all who reject the gospel of the grace of God have to endure the agony of that place where hope can never come. The one is as true as the other, and comes out with equal force and solemnity in our parable.
As Many as They Find
“Then saith he [the king] 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” (vss. 8-10). Here we see the rich grace of God flowing out to the Gentiles. “This salvation of God has been sent to the nations; they also will hear it” (Acts 28:28 JND). In Luke, we have another expression in connection with this subject. “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:23). God says to the sinner, “I will save you in spite of yourself. I will compel you to come. I am determined to fill my house with guests. I have taken the whole matter into my own hands, from first to last, and you shall be, to all eternity, a monument of my saving, quickening, compelling grace.” What matchless grace! God would fill His house with guests, who, if left to themselves, would have turned their backs forever upon Him!
Holy Responsibilities
But there are holy responsibilities flowing out of all this marvelous grace. If grace has compelled us to come within the circle of God’s salvation, what manner of persons ought we to be? If we have gotten the wedding garment, ought we not to wear it? Sad to say, there is a large amount of worthless profession in our midst. The doctrines of grace may be talked about, but how many there are who exhibit earthly mindedness in their daily private life! Some may ask, What has all this to do with the parable of the wedding garment? Let us read the closing sentences. “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. 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” (v. 11-14).
Without the Wedding Garment
How solemn for anyone to appear among the guests, and yet not have on the wedding garment! It is an insult to the King, to His Son, and to the nuptial feast — the very highest offense against the grace of God. The idea of appearing amongst the Lord’s people, professing to belong to Him, and yet not being really clothed upon with Christ, the true wedding garment, is a sin only to be found among the ranks of baptized profession. Sadly, it is characteristic of Christendom. There is no excuse; the man is speechless.
How appalling the end of such! It is the utter rejection of Christ, the neglect of the great salvation, the refusal of the wedding garment; and, all the while, professing to be a Christian. As nothing can exceed the grace of God that is now preached, so nothing can exceed the guilt of those who in heart neglect it, while professing to have it. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3).
“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” (vs. 13). Human exposition would only weaken the force of this verse. God grant that we may not only appear among the guests, but really have on the wedding garment, to the praise of that compelling grace to which we owe our present peace and everlasting glory.
Author unknown
High Time to Wake Out of Sleep
The church’s pilgrimage is fast running to its close, and there is a need to sound out, before it ends, a word of warning and an awakening cry to all our fellow-believers within reach. A very stealthy and unsuspected foe is amongst us. Its presence is not signalized by grave sins or scandals. It gains the ascendancy and holds sway even when the outward religious life of the Christian is conducted with regularity and smooth propriety. Its name is SLEEP.
Sleep is evidently a foe marked by peculiar tenacity during the present dispensation, for the simple reason that watchfulness was intended to characterize it. We are living in the moment in which the kingdom of heaven was likened by the Lord Jesus to “ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom,” and of these He said,
“While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps” (Matt. 25:5-7).
The Return of the Bridegroom
Our Lord’s prophecy in this parable was duly fulfilled. Rejected and condemned to death by His own people, and handed over by them to the Gentiles by whom He was crucified, He took up His place in risen glory, outside every existing institution on earth. Consequently, those who believed in His name and became His followers went forth also outside all existing human institutions, sharing His rejection and awaiting His return. This was the church’s proper and primitive position. They “went forth to meet the Bridegroom.”
Again the prophecy was fulfilled. The Bridegroom tarried and consequently sleep took over. Both wise and foolish, “they all slumbered and slept.” Drowsiness overcame the people of God. First love waned, as we find in Revelation 2:4, and consequently the sleep inducing influences of the world prevailed against them. They lapsed into that condition of insensibility and lethargy which is sleep of a spiritual sort. As the result of the insensible condition of the people of God, every kind of corruption invaded the church, and all the abominations of the Romish system appeared.
The Hope of the Lord’s Coming
We may pursue the parable one step further and point out that the “midnight cry” has gone forth. The coming of the Bridegroom has again become an expectation and a hope and consequently once more its separating power has been known. Saints reverted once more to the original position that they had left, but which should have marked them all along. The cry was, “Go ye out to meet Him;” they obeyed and consequently found themselves where they had been when first they “went forth to meet the Bridegroom.”
And now, especially where this precious truth has been well known, there are serious symptoms which would lead us to fear that sleep is again overcoming many. The world is tolerant, outward persecution is lacking, and circumstances are comfortable in many western countries. How easy, then, while doing nothing that can be objected to by one’s fellow-Christians, to become insensible to the urgent needs of the hour and lethargic as to the Lord’s interests. We may be kindly, amiable and orthodox, and as to the things of God regular enough and quite willing to help, if such help does not involve the setting aside of one’s own interests. Yet we may be asleep in the scriptural sense of the word.
The Need to Stay Awake
We need to awake from dull lethargy and shake off the drowsy influences of the world. The coming of the Lord draws nigh! Shall we then, who are His and consequently identified with His interests and testimony, be frittering away the present opportunity of being wholeheartedly for Him, by immersion in the pursuits and the pleasures of the age? Listen to the words of the apostle —
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day” (Rom. 13:11-13).
Here the exhortation to awake is based upon the fact that the day is approaching which will mean our full and final deliverance from the present age. We are still in the night but we belong to that day and are to walk “honestly” or “becomingly” as in that day — not taking the ways and customs of the night-age as our standard, but walking according to the ways and principles of the day-age, before the day comes.
The Dark Hour of Apostasy
The day, carrying with it our salvation, is at hand! Do we really believe it? Is it plain to us that the night is rapidly approaching its darkest hour of apostasy and the consequent outpouring (once the church is gone) of the long pent-up wrath of God?
The signs of the last days are fully manifested. We have no wish to occupy our readers with the doings of the present evil age, but, on the other hand, it is well sometimes to take a good look at conditions as they are. No doubt many of our readers have learned the blessedness of the true Christian path of separation from the world-system, and perhaps for that very reason they hardly realize how fully the world is approximating in its ways to the days of Noah and of Lot, only on a much greater scale. The days of Noah ended in a deluge of water; the days of Lot in a deluge of fire; the present age will soon end in a deluge, not providential nor provisional, but of the direct judgment of God.
F. B. Hole (adapted)
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
Matthew 25:1-13
It is the Lord Jesus Christ, and no other, who is referred to as the Bridegroom in this parable. The virgins go out to meet Him; He is the one referred to in the midnight cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom!” Those who are ready go in with Him to the marriage. But what is meant by the coming of the Bridegroom, and when does He come? It is the coming of Him who said to His sorrowing disciples, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3). It is the fulfillment of that faithful promise.
Other scriptures abundantly confirm this. The angels witnessed to it as the astonished disciples looked steadfastly up into heaven, their eyes and hearts following their ascending Lord. “This same Jesus,” they said, “which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). It was a visible and personal going away; it will be a visible and personal coming again.
The Lord’s Coming
The great truth of the Lord’s coming in person the second time shines in the pages of inspiration like a great star in the midnight sky. How sad that it has been so forgotten! But the Lord foresaw this and foretold it. “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” Not only the foolish, but also the wise ceased to watch and wait. In time the coming of the Lord ceased to be an object of joyous hope and expectation, and the promise of His coming was either spiritualized and explained away or else it dropped out of sight altogether. In the early days of Christianity, however, it was far otherwise. The Lord’s return, like a golden thread, was interwoven with all other truth, and the youngest convert was led to look at once for the Savior. As 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 states, “Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
Some may say, We have always believed the Lord Jesus would come in judgment at the end of the world; that is nothing new. We are not speaking, however, of that dread appearing. Without doubt He will come to judge, for we are told that God “hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained” (Acts 17:31). When He thus appears, it will be in flaming fire and with the angels of His might to take vengeance on them who know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:7-8). That is solemnly true, but if we were to explain our parable as if it related to Christ’s appearing, we should mar its beauty and pervert its meaning, for it refers to the coming of the Bridegroom, not of the Judge. Guilty criminals may hear with alarm of the Judge’s approach, knowing in themselves that the hour of punishment is at hand, but the Bridegroom’s coming is waited for with earnest desire by those who are assured of His faithful love. Accordingly, at the close of the Revelation, when the Lord Jesus calls Himself the bright and morning star, the Spirit and the bride say to Him, “Come.” And the last word spoken by Him from the glory is, “Surely I come quickly.” To this assurance, so cheering and sustaining, there is the ready response, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Who could even imagine that such language would be used if we looked for Him as Judge?
The Midnight Cry
“At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” From this we understand that a clear testimony was to go forth immediately before the Bridegroom came. Surely that cry has already been raised and, whether men will heed it or not, the fact that the Lord is coming again has been sounded out far and wide. At any moment He may come, and then it shall come to pass that “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Then it will be said, The Bridegroom has come, and they that were ready have gone in with Him to the marriage.
The Danger of Sleep
If we believe that the midnight cry has gone forth and that the Bridegroom is at the door, how needful it is that we should see that our lamps are well trimmed, so that they may burn with a brighter, purer, steadier flame than ever. “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). Again, the same Spirit by the same servant says to us, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him” (1 Thess. 5:5-10). Brethren, we shall do well to heed the Spirit’s word of exhortation, calling us, as it does, to watchfulness and sobriety of mind, to the exercise of faith and love and hope in view of our Lord’s return.
The Foolish
The foolish virgins—the professing but Christless multitudes — were not there. They had no oil in their vessels with their lamps, and they discovered their deficiency only when it was too late to supply it, for while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came. How foolish to forget the one thing that would make the lamp of any use at all! We may have taken our place with the virgins; we may carry the lamp of Christian profession and be enrolled among the followers of Christ, but how serious it is, if our lamp has no oil! We can never have oil unless we first receive forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus and are born of God. The Holy Spirit indwells only those who trust in Jesus. He continues to say, “Come, buy ... without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1).
“The heavenly Bridegroom soon will come,
To claim His bride and take her home,
To dwell with Him on high;
The Bridegroom comes, let no man doubt;
Alas! for those whose lamps are out;
They’ll find no oil to buy.”
H. C. Anstey (adapted)
The Kingdom of Heaven Likened to a Certain King
“Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:21-22).
The Lord likens the kingdom of heaven to a certain king to show what its character is to be in regard to forgiveness. The king reviewed the accounts of his servants. One servant was called who owed ten thousand talents. Having nothing to pay, he ordered him, his family, and his belongings to be sold to pay the debt. The man begged for time to pay, promising to pay all. His promise to pay all was evidence that he was not yet broken. He could never pay all. It is a picture of the unrepentant Jew clinging to his pride. His master, the king, forgave him the debt, having compassion on him.
This servant (the Jew) had a fellow servant (the Gentile) who owed him a hundred pence, a much smaller debt than the one that the Jew owed the king. The Gentile asked the Jew for mercy, but he laid hands on him and cast him into prison.
The Lord of the first servant, hearing that he refused to show mercy to his fellow man, called him, rebuked him and delivered him to the tormentors until he paid all. The Jew now is in prison until Jesus comes to deliver him (Isa. 40:1-2). The Lord said, “So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you [the Jew], if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother [including Gentiles] their trespasses.” Such an unforgiver does not know God.
C. E. Lunden
Merciful
The Lord applies the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35) by saying, “So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses” (vs. 35). It need scarcely be said that this parable does not speak of the salvation of the soul, but of the principles of the government of the King in His kingdom—principles as applicable to the real possessor as to the mere professor. It is an unchanging fact that upon the cross Christ took the consequences for eternity of every believer’s sins, but as to our conduct in this world, it is an unalterable principle in the government of God that “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). Another broad principle of His government is expressed in Psalm 18:25-26: “With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; with the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.” And again, in Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Now which of us, as he reviews his past history, whether as saint or sinner, and thinks of the governmental consequences of all he has said and done, can say, “I stand in no need of governmental mercy”? Do we not rather each feel ourselves to be more like needing the mercy shown to the 10,000-talent debtor?
Let us then remember, if tempted to show a hard, unmerciful, unforgiving spirit to our brethren, that while, through the grace of our God, our sins and iniquities He will remember no more, yet according to His government, “with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matt. 7:2). Let us bear in mind that precious exhortation to the saints at Ephesus: “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).
G. Cutting
God's Goodness
The parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20) vividly brings out the discontent of man. They who had agreed for a penny, received a penny, and therefore could have no just cause of complaint; and yet they could not bear to see others receive as much as themselves. To such it was said, “Is thine eye evil because I am good?” Yes, the very goodness of God calls out the evil in man, who is, in many ways, ready to charge God with injustice. But the God of all the earth will surely do what is right; but He is a sovereign, and will dispense His gifts when and where it pleases Him. In His grace He calls some at the eleventh hour, and gives to them the same as those called much earlier.
Author unknown
The Last Shall be First
We do not doubt that there is another lesson to be learned from the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, because of the last sentence: “So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chosen.” God is the dispenser of grace, and He dispenses it as and when and where it pleases Him. The Jews were first; now they are last. Paul was as one born out of due time, and yet he became a chief apostle. God will not be unjust to any, but He calls whom He will, and of them He chooses whom He will, and He makes them, in His grace, what He will. Let each be content to fill the place in which God has put him. Let each count it all grace to be sent by God to work in His vineyard, and then seek to be faithful therein. While enjoying the grace thus given to him, let him be happy in recognizing the grace given to others whom God may please to choose and endow with greater gifts than he possesses. Let not our eye be evil because God is good.
Author unknown
The First Shall be Last
Peter raises the question with our Lord, “Behold, we have forsaken all and followed Thee: what shall we have therefore?” (Matt. 19:27). Our Lord shows that God will be debtor to no man, and that for every loss on account of His name every one shall receive again a hundredfold and inherit life eternal. But He adds the cautionary words, Many first shall be last, and last first. For as Christ is the motive where faith is, reward is but the encouragement to him that follows the Savior; it cheers him when already on the way. Make the reward the object, and all becomes mercenary. Even where Christ is the constraining power, there is danger of clouding Him under an overly large estimate of our sacrifices for His sake. In every case however God never forgets but assuredly repays.
William Kelly
Four Invitations
There are four parts in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. These may answer to: first, the law, which if a man keep he shall live; second, the ministry of Christ; then, third, the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven in the beginning of the history of the church; and now, fourth, the present eleventh-hour testimony immediately before the coming of the Lord, the riches of His grace, after centuries of dark rejection. Yes, it is an act of grace on God’s part in the last three cases. And the Jew who made his own bargain, as always, murmurs at the grace of God. In His vineyard, grace has shone out more and more. This is the theme of Jesus, but how little they understood Him! He was on the way to die for them—to take the lowest possible place. They were desiring to take the highest in the kingdom! Precious lesson! Everlasting life to all who have believed His Word—to both the Jew and the Gentile, God is seen the Seeker of the needy.
C. H. Mackintosh
The King Glorifies His Son
This parable of the king who made a marriage for his son (Matthew 22) does not bring before us the question of God’s dealing with the natural conscience of man, neither that of the owner of the vineyard looking for and not receiving fruit (the Lord has closed that altogether with the last chapter—Matthew 21), but rather that of the king acting according to the riches of his own house in order to glorify his son.
This was the very thought of the king in preparing the supper. Was it merely that he was going to make certain people comfortable? No; it was about his son. And in order to glorify that son he must have full blessing at the table; as we might say, happy faces around it, hearts without one care, without any shade of anxiety upon them, and free in the full enjoyment of his love. The “marriage” of his son must be honored in having all these things accompanying it.
The application of the parable is as simple as possible: that is, the ground on which God is dealing in the gospel, and not as claiming fruit. I do not say He does not produce fruit, but it is not a ground of claim in any shape. Man has failed altogether, not only in not producing fruit, but also in not owning the claim which God has upon him. And if he does own the claim, he gets into despair on account of it. But now all this is over, entirely over, and God is set forth as glorifying Himself in having others made happy around His Son.
J. N. Darby
The Drowsy Church
The parable of the ten virgins tells how the church would become drowsy and go to sleep, forgetting to watch for their Lord. The wise and the foolish all slept together until a cry went forth at midnight, “Behold the bridegroom.” This parable does not indicate that they would all go to sleep again, but the departure at this present time from revealed dispensational truth is in a considerable measure putting many to sleep. If we allow anyone to put something before our souls, which must take place before our Lord can come, then the expectancy of hope is GONE. We are not then waiting and watching for the Lord.
But truth, no matter how precious, may become dull in the soul, and remain in a cold intellectual form. When this happens, the love of it is soon given up, and ultimately even the form of it is dropped. This is exactly what has happened and what is happening in Christendom today. Many who once possessed the hope of the Lord’s coming for His saints, and day by day thrilled at the bright prospect, now merely hold the doctrine of His pretribulation coming. Thus there is no separating power in it, and the world is embraced rather than being treated as it was by the Paul—a thing crucified (Gal. 6:14).
Paul Wilson
Service
“Father, where shall I work today?”
And my love flowed warm and free;
Then He pointed to me a tiny spot,
And said, “Tend that for Me”;
I answered quickly, “No, not that;
Why no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done;
Not that little place for me!”
And the word He spoke, it was not stern:
He answered me tenderly,
“Ah, laborer search that heart of yours:
Are you working for them or Me?
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.”
If labor flows from a loving heart,
It matters not the pay—
And if I work but one short hour
Or bear the heat of the day;
The Master is just and ever-wise;
He gives His rewards with grace;
The first is last; the last is first;
No room for pride of place;
I ask Him, “Where and how to serve?”
He knows just where I should be;
If I wish His mind in doing His work,
I’ll find it on bended knee.
Selected