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Ambassador Baptist Church
1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412)477-3210
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Pastor's Pen - October 11, 2007
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October 11, 2007

Matthew 22-23
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Following Scripture Verses
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Matthew
Chapter 22
  1. And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
  2. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
  3. And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
  4. 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.
  5. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
  6. And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
  7. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
  8. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
  9. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
  10. 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.
  11. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
  12. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
  13. 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.
  14. For many are called, but few are chosen.
  15. Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
  16. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.
  17. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
  18. But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
  19. Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
  20. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
  21. They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
  22. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
  23. The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
  24. Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
  25. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
  26. Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
  27. And last of all the woman died also.
  28. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
  29. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
  30. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
  31. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
  32. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
  33. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
  34. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
  35. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
  36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
  37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
  38. This is the first and great commandment.
  39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
  40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
  41. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
  42. Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
  43. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
  44. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
  45. If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
  46. And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.


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Matthew
Chapter 23
  1. Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
  2. Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
  3. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
  4. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
  5. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
  6. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
  7. And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
  8. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
  9. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
  10. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
  11. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
  12. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
  13. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
  14. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
  15. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
  16. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
  17. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
  18. And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
  19. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
  20. Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
  21. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
  22. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
  23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
  24. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
  25. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
  26. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
  27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
  28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
  29. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
  30. And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
  31. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
  32. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
  33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
  34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
  35. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
  36. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
  37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
  38. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
  39. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.


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Thought for the day:
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 Matthew 22 opens with a parable that speaks of salvation. While the primary aim of this story deals with the Jews, there certainly is teaching in it for us today. The story opens with a statement that a king had made a marriage for His son. Obviously this refers to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. When it was time for the wedding to take place, the king sent his servants out to inform those who had already been invited that it was now time to come. Those who had already been invited were the Jews. The invitation had been given to them for centuries by the prophets who repeatedly told them that the Messiah was going to come, and that they needed to prepare themselves. When He did arrive, angels heralded His birth, John the Baptist proclaimed His presence, and the Lord Himself proved Who He was through His teaching and His many miracles. Yet Israel rejected Him. When they were finally bidden, they would not come. They mocked the King, ridiculed the message, and executed the servants. They all had something more important to do than respond to the invitation.

 This truth is also relevant to our world today. People have heard for two thousand years about the birth, life, death. and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. In our Western society virtually everyone has heard about the Bible and its message. Yet when people are confronted with an invitation to receive Jesus as their personal Saviour, most of them have absolutely no interest. They make fun of it, and particularly enjoy making a mockery out of the one who delivers the invitation to salvation. They seem to have other things to do that are more important, like making money and spending it on themselves.

 The Bible tells us that the king was angered by this, and judged these people harshly. Again, the destruction of Israel is in view here, but it is also true that those who reject the gift of salvation as offered through Jesus Christ will also be destroyed in Hell, for there is no salvation apart from Him.

 When those who were initially invited turned down the invitation, the king sent out his servants to find others who would respond. In the parable, these are the Gentiles. The present day application is that we who are the Lord's servants need to go out into society and invite all that we can find to salvation. Note the commands of verse 9: they were to go, they were to go wherever they needed to go in order to get the job done, and they were to invite everyone that they came in contact with. What a good lesson on personal evangelism! The command for Christians to evangelize has been given, we are to go wherever necessary in order to fulfill the command, and every person that we see ought to receive the Gospel message. Verse 10 states that both the good and the bad were invited. It does not matter what a person's background may be, for all need the Saviour. People who come from good Christian homes need to be saved. Moral people need to be saved. Those who were raised in false religions need to be saved. Criminals need to be saved. Every person is a sinner, and every person needs to repent and receive salvation. Our instructions are to go to them all.

 There is one last part to this parable, and it is very important. In verses 11-14 the king was mingling with his guests and saw a man who did not have on a wedding garment. These garments were provided by the king, and were required for admission to the feast. Anyone who was invited, but attempted to enter without the proper attire would be removed. The illustration here is of those who want to go to Heaven, but they don't want to go God's way. The Jews wanted a Messiah, they wanted a kingdom, and they wanted Heaven. They just didn't want to get them the way God said. Therefore, they were rejected by Him. Most people today want to go to Heaven, but they want to get there through good works or through religious rituals and not through Christ. They may have been invited, and they may want to go, but unless they come by repentance and faith as spelled out by the King Himself, they will be cast into the outer darkness of Hell forever. Many are given the invitation to Heaven, but few respond properly.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery

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