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I. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS OPENED AMONGST MEN. It is here now. We have not to go to it — it has come to us. There is nothing to wait for; all things are ready. The love, the light, the pardon, the mercy, the sonship, the welcome, the plenty, are all waiting.

II. GOD INVITES ALL MEN INTO HIS KINGDOM. The feast was always intended for all. God's own people were to be admitted first, as being members of His household; and they were expected to entertain the strangers who should afterwards come in. But when the time came they failed. So without them, instead of through them, the gates of the kingdom had to be thrown open, and the universal invitation given. They shut themselves out, but not, therefore, would God permit the despised and perishing everywhere to remain uninvited. The feast should not therefore spoil. The abundance of the feast shows it to be for all. The freeness of it says it is for all. Those for whom it is prepared — the stricken and needy everywhere-show it to be for all. Can infinite love be restrictive? Can infinite pity be elective?

III. THE KINGDOM IS NOT YET FULL. We need not be afraid of inviting; and we need not be afraid of coming. There is room yet. Grace will endure a vacuum as little as nature.

(W. Hubbard.)

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KJV: Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

WEB: But he said to him, "A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.