Second Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
O |
LORD, who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Collect
Perhaps beyond any other consideration, it is the SECURITY of the believer in Christ that gives the greatest comfort and confidence. We have an unfailing LORD who is able to save to the uttermost, and He will not lose any soul placed in His hands by the Father. The process by which our security is assured is through the means of His great help to those who call upon Him, and in His righteous governance in the hearts of those who claim Him as Sovereign of their souls. This governance begins in the fear which a lost soul feels for his unforgiven sins, and is consummated in the deep love that the sinner feels for His Savior once he has repented and come to claim that grace and mercy made available through the works of
Christ. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Tim 1:7) Fear does not come from God, but from the knowledge of one’s sins. When we have come to know God intimately, that fear engendered by our carnal sins is turned to love, and a sound conscience, in that state of forgiveness and justification that comes by the Blood of Christ. O LORD, who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love. Please note the order of emotions offered in this first line of the prayer – fear PRECEDES love, but love is the finality and victorious emotion that we have in Christ….and it is steadfast! Fear, conditioned by forgiveness and mercy, is converted to an increasing love much like the poisonous gas, chlorine added to sodium, results in an essential compound for life. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)
Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, Yes, we are dearly ‘kept for the Master’s use.’ Regardless of the vessels we represent in the Lord’s Vineyard – whether of wood, stone, gold, or silver – each vessel has a place in a great house. It is not the nature of the vessel that is most important, but the treasure which the vessel contains that lends meaningfulness and usefulness to the vessel. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. (2 Tim 2:20-21) I should prefer to be an earthen vessel of clay, filled with precious souls of children brought before the LORD on the Last Day, than a vessel of pure gold filled with the unprofitable works of this world. A vessel of clay in the Master’s House is of far greater worth than those of silver and gold which will dissolve in the fervent heat of Hell. Being kept by God under His providential protection is the safest of all places regardless the external circumstances of our lives. He knows all things – future, past, and present – He, therefore, knows the very best course for our lives.
. . . . make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name. This is not the same kind of fear mentioned prior to salvation – it is the kind of fear a son or daughter feels toward their parents in not wanting to disobey them or bring humiliation and shame upon their name. Honoring our parents makes their name respectable, but that respectability does not come close to the Holiness that attaches to the Name of our Almighty God. Our concern for not violating the Holiness of God’s Name must not be a mere passing whim, but it must be a matter of perpetual consciousness in our hearts. It is this kind of fear that increases love at the same instance. No man can love that which he does not respect, but high regard for loved ones always increases our love for them. It is for this reason that we are commanded to honor our fathers and our mothers. Such honor places them above the common plain of familiar affection. As you will know, there are two Tables of the Law of Commandments. We often believe the first four to reflect our duties to God, and the last six our duties to man. But I believe the first five reflect our whole duty to God – because God is our ultimate Father. So the fifth Commandment is a transition Commandment between our duties to God and man – it reflects both our duty to God and our duty to parents.
. . . through Jesus Christ our Lord. Need this phrase be explained? At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. (John 16:26-27) All prayer must be made through the onlyt Redeemer who has made answer to our prayers possible – the Lord Jesus Christ! You may recall that the very last word of the Old Testament seals the meaning thereof: the word is CURSE, because the Law is a curse to us in our frailty and inability to obey. However, the very last line (and prayer) of the New Testament answers, the meaning of that Gospel taught to us by Christ and propagated by the Apostles: GRACE! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Rev 22:21)
The Sermon
L |
ET us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (Revelation 19:7-9)
T |
HEN said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 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. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. (Luke 14:16-24)
Point One
A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
Only a man of means, a great man, can provide such a supper.
That Supper is the Lord’s Supper which Christ instituted the night before His death and crucifixion.
First
The feast. This is the Gospel which God has provided for mankind, sinners. It is a feast (1) in respect of the excellence of the provision which it sets before us; (2) in respect of abundance, for the supply is inexhaustible; (3) in respect of fellowship; (4) in respect of joy.(try to visualize the great hurt caused to the Great Benefactor who has gone to the greatest extreme of offering up His own life for us to provide the Communion Supper that we may all freely enjoy with Him – my thoughts.)
Second
The invited guests. We have received the invitation. This, therefore, is not a mere matter of antiquarian interest, or of curious exegetical importance. It concerns our own spiritual and immortal welfare; for, though the invitation is given through the instrumentality of a servant,—the preacher,—it comes from the great God Himself, and on that account it is not to be trifled with or despised.
Third
The excuses given - Look at the reaction of those first invited to the call which had been addressed to them: "They all with one consent began to make excuse." These excuses were all pretexts. Perhaps they deluded themselves into the belief that they were acting in good faith; but if they had gone deeper down into their hearts, they would have found that they were deceiving themselves, and putting forth as excuses things which, if they had been earnestly determined to go to the feast, would not have kept them for a moment.
18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things.
Fourth
The persistence in declining - Those who persistently refuse to come to the feast shall be forever excluded from its enjoyment. The rejecters of Christ are themselves eternally rejected of Christ. Lastly, finally, this parable reveals to us the fact, that, notwithstanding the rejection of this invitation by multitudes, God's house shall be filled at last. Heaven shall be fully occupied with God's redeemed people, and the saved shall not be few.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 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. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
(One of the primary duties of a preacher is to offer up the invitation – to deliver it to all who will listen – to those who will gratefully respond to the effectual calling of the Holy spirit to life for their salvation, and to those who reject the Master of the Feast to their eternal damnation – my thoughts.)
Men have changed in no respect from the moment of this parable of Christ. It may be that we are even more callous and ungrateful of the courtesies offered by those who wish to lift us up.
Point Two
The Seal of God and the Mark of anti-Christ:
Rev 7 (the Seal) -1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
“This mark is the witness of the Holy Ghost, printed in the hearts of believers. And the Lord would not suffer his people to be afflicted before they were marked, that they might be prepared against all conflicts. And, observe, of those who are thus sealed by the Spirit, the seal must be on the forehead, plainly to be seen alike by friends and foes, but not by the believer himself, except as he looks stedfastly in the glass of God's word.”—Matthew Henry Concise
This is one of the rare moments I disagree with Matthew Henry – a Bible scholar whose life and testimony place him far above my own understanding and witness, however, Matthew Henry was writing during a different period during which the Gospel was advancing on every front.
There is a difference in a Seal and a Mark –
A seal denotes acceptance and approval. A seal of approval is an official acknowledgement on a certificate to certify that the document is officially sanctioned by an authority. The Seal of God is His stamp of approval upon the imputed righteousness we have received by our Redemption in Christ.
The word mark may be used as a verb to mean to consider an issue, but, when used as a noun, is a representation of disapproval and a set-aside for rejection. Timbers are marked by the woodsmen for being cut from the living stand. Academic papers are marked down for errors. Cain received a mark to designate his sin of murder of his own brother – And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. (Genesis 4:15)
Revelation Chapter 13 (the Mark) -
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Christ has a chosen remnant, redeemed by his blood, recorded in his book, sealed by his Spirit; and though the devil and antichrist may overcome the body, and take away the natural life, they cannot conquer the soul, nor prevail with true believers to forsake their Saviour, and join his enemies. Perseverance in the faith of the gospel and true worship of God, in this great hour of trial and temptation, which would deceive all but the elect, is the character of those registered in the book of life.—Matthew Henry Concise
Now note the subtle wording of the references of Scripture to the Mark and the Seal:
Most all modern and erroneous versions of the Bible change the wording to mean ‘on the forehead and not ‘in’ the forehead. This slight change of meaning has resulted in a peculiar blindness of God’s elect.
No mark imposed upon our foreheads by force of arms or threat of death can cause us to lose our identity in Christ. No external symbol can cause us to lose our security in Christ.
The new versions would have you believe otherwise.
The source of all judgment and reason resides in our brain – but specifically the frontal lobe of our brain. It is in this part of the brain that we make value judgments, the part of the organ in which we decide our friendships, our loves, our important choices in life, the
kind of music we prefer, the kind of speech we will abide, etc.
It is in our foreheads – not on our foreheads that these decisions are made. It is here that we make our decisions to accept the supper invitation of the Lamb, or to reject it. It is this organic section of our brain that we make choices to follow Christ, to love Him, and to reject evil.
Our decisions, made in our foreheads, will either seal our future security with God, or Mark us among those who will suffer damnation in the company that we keep, and the actions and values that we produce in our persons.
Which do you have today – a mark of rejection, or a Seal of approval of the Lord our God?
Will you accept the invitation without excuse?
