I. A MONARCH'S CELEBRATION OF AN INTERESTING EVENT.

1. The king here referred to is evidently the Most High. The human kingship is really but a lower form of the heavenly.

2. The king had a son who had taken to himself a bride.

3. On the occasion of his marriage a splendid banquet was provided. Royal feasts are sumptuous and abundant.

II. THE MUNIFICENCE DESPISED BY HIS UNGRATEFUL SUBJECTS.

1. The invitation he sent, and the way in which it was responded to.

2. The causes of their rejecting so kind an offer.

(1)Indisposition. "They would not come."

(2)Love of the world. "One to his farm," etc.

(3)Open malignity.

3. The consequences that ensued.

III. THE ROYAL BOUNTY AT LENGTH APPRECIATED.

1. The messengers were entrusted with a fresh commission to a totally different class.

2. The response which their message received.

IV. THE ASSEMBLED COMPANY INSPECTED, AND THE CONSEQUENCES THAT ENSUED.

1. The spectacle which was beheld: "He saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment."

2. The question proposed.

3. The doom pronounced.

(Expository Outlines.)

Four different ways of treating God's invitations in the gospel are here set before us.

1. We have it complacently ignored by those who went their ways to their farms and to their merchandise.

2. We have the gospel offer violently rejected. There is still a violent rejection of the gospel by open infidels.

3. The inconsistency and insolence of the man who professed to accept the invitation, and yet failed to comply with the conditions on which alone true acceptance of it was possible. He pushed into the festive hall without having on a wedding garment.

4. We have the gospel invitation sincerely and heartily accepted.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

I. A magnificent banquet with A GRAND OBJECT IN VIEW. The person is Divine. The occasion a subject of delight to us personally; it is a marriage with our nature; not with angels. The royal descent of the Bridegroom. His character; His achievements.

II. Here is a GRACIOUS METHOD of accomplishing the design.

1. A feast for joy;

2. A feast for fulness.

3. A feast for fellowship.

4. All the expense lies with Him.

5. How honourable is the gospel to those who receive it. A monarch's entertainment.

III. THE SERIOUS HINDRANCE.

1. They were disloyal.

2. They slighted the king.

IV. THE GRACIOUS REJOINDER,

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

If I were in a boat on the river in the rapids, it would not be necessary, to insure my destruction, that I should enter into violent controversy with those who would urge me from the shore, to take heed and come to land: all I should have to do would be to shut my ears to their entreaty, and leave myself alone; the current would do the rest. Neglect of the gospel is thus just as perilous as the open rejection of it. Indeed, half the evils of our daily life in temporal things are caused by neglect; and countless are the souls who are lost for this same cause. Leave your farm for a little, then; let your merchandise alone for a season; settle first, and before all things else, what you will do with this invitation which God has given you to the gospel banquet: then, that accepted, your farm will become to you a section of God's vineyard, and your business will be a means of glorifying Him.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

I. THE FALSE HOPE INDULGED. The man without the wedding garment represents the person who believes that he is reconciled to God, who has not God's righteousness. This hope may be designated

1. A self-righteous hope.

2. An impenitent hope.

II. THE SOUL STRIPPED OF ITS HOPE AND ITS PRETENSIONS.

1. Here is the dumbness of true conviction. No excuse.

2. The speechlessness of amazement. Amazed that all his efforts are of no avail.

3. The dumbness of awe and terror. He has met his Maker.

4. The speechlessness expresses despair.Learn:

1. The first duty of every one is to determine what is a suitable preparation for heaven.

2. Sincere ignorance will save no man.

3. Now is the time for self-scrutiny.

(E. N. Kirk, D. D.)

1. From the whole of our Saviour's parables and predictions relative to the Jews, we may infer both His prophetic wisdom and singular humanity.

2. That the Jews were under a peculiar economy of Divine providence, and were more directly, immediately, and judicially rewarded with national prosperity, or punished with national calamity and ruin, in proportion to their piety and virtue, or impiety and wickedness, than any other nation.

3. That the spirit of pride, malice, and revenge, with which the Jews were possessed and instigated to their own destruction, is the worst that can possess the human breast, most injurious to society and pernicious to them who are actuated by it.

4. That we ought to congratulate ourselves, and be thankful to the providence of God that we live in an age and nation wherein this malignant spirit, which has been seen to prevail so much, and produce such terrible effects, not only amongst Jews, but Christians also, is happily abated, though not entirely extinguished.

(S. Brown.)

Doctrine — the gospel is a large feast, stored with all kinds of spiritual provision in it. Consider —

1. Wherein the resemblance of the gospel to a feast appears.

2. In what respect it is a large feast.

3. What things we have need of against this feast.

4. What is the bill of fare?

5. What excellent properties there are in the provisions of the great supper.

6. What suitableness from God appears in them to the case of man.

7. Why it is a feast with all things in it.

8. What hindrances do make it to many ineffectual.

(Joseph Hussey.)

Doctrine — that God makes an invitation to sinners in the preaching of the gospel to come in to this feast.

(1)It was a gracious;

(2)a free;

(3)a sovereign;

(4)a clear;

(5)a commanding;

(6)an open;

(7)a large and comprehensive;

(8)a pressing and earnest;

(9)a seasonable;

(10)an effectual and saving invitation.

(Joseph Hussey.)

1. Worldly cares, incumbrances, secular business, or the concernments of this life, in providing earthly things.

2. The riches, or love of wealth, or earthly honour.

3. But it appears that sensual satisfaction, or the inordinate love of pleasures, is that which hath the greatest power over men, and which drowns and swallows up the spirit and soul of mortals: for this sort says, "they cannot come."

(Benjamin Keach.)

History tells of a banquet given by Henry VIII. to the French ambassadors. The best cooks in all the land were engaged. Privateers went through all the country to gather all the costliest viands, and when the day arrived the guests were kept hunting in the park so that their appetites might be keen, and then, at the right moment, to the sound of the trumpeters, they entered the hall, and sat down to the table, agleam with imperial plate and ablush with the costliest wines, with gold candles with a hundred tapers as large as torches. But I have to tell you to-day of a more wonderful entertainment. The Lord Jesus Christ is the banqueter; the angels of God are the cup-bearers; pardon, and peace, and life, and heaven are the viands; palaces hung with gardens of eternal beauty are the banqueting place; the chalices of God are the plates; and I am one of His servants, and I come out with the invitation to all the people — a written invitation to every man, woman, and child in all this audience.

(Dr. Talmage.)

A celebrated preacher of the seventeenth century in a sermon to a crowded audience, described the terrors of the Last Judgment with such eloquence, pathos, and force of action, that some of his audience not only burst into tears, but sent forth piercing cries, as if the Judge Himself had been present, and was about to pass upon them their final sentence. In the height of this commotion the preacher called upon them to dry their tears and cease their cries, as he was about to add something still more awful and astonishing than anything he had yet brought before them. Silence being obtained, he, with an agitated countenance and solemn voice, addressed them thus: "In one quarter of an hour from this time the emotions which you have just now exhibited wilt be stifled; the remembrance of the fearful truths which excited them will vanish; you will return to your carnal occupations, or sinful pleasures, with your usual avidity, and you will treat all you have heard 'as a tale that is told!'"

(Cheerer.)

n: — Another proof of the earnestness of God in His invitation is His wrath against the murderers who had refused it. You are not much offended at one who refuses an invitation you have given in jest, or, for form's sake, half hoping it would not be accepted. God is angry because you have treated in jest and made light of what has been most earnest to Him; because you have crossed Him in the sincerest purpose to bless you; because after He has at the greatest expense, not only of wealth and exertion, but of life, provided what He knows you need, you act towards Him as if He had done nothing that deserves the least consideration. This acceptance or rejection of God's offers that we come and talk over, often as if the whole matter were in our hands, and we might deal with it as we arrange for a journey or an evening's amusement, is to God the most earnest matter. If God is in earnest about anything, it is about this; if the whole -force of His nature concentrates on any one matter it is on this; if anywhere the amplitude and intensity of Divine earnestness, to which the most impassioned human earnestness is as the idle vacant sighing of the summer air, if these are anywhere in action, it is in the tenderness and sincerity with which He invites you to Himself .... To save sinners from destruction is His grand purpose, and success in other parts of His government does not repay Him for failure here. And to make light of such an earnestness as this, an earnestness so wise, so called for, so loving, pure, and long-suffering, so Divine, is terrible indeed. To have been the object of such earnest love, to have had all the Divine attributes and resources set in motion to secure my eternal bliss, and to know myself capable of making light of such earnestness as this, is surely to be in the most forlorn and abject condition that any creature can reach.

(Marcus Dods, D. D.)

I. THE NATURE OF GOSPEL BLESSINGS.

1. They are of God's own providing.

2. They are rich and valuable as Well as Divine.

3. These blessings are suitable.

4. They are abundant.

II. THE INVITATION GIVEN TO PARTAKE OF THESE BLESSINGS.

1. A feast so rich is designed for numerous guests.

2. The gospel is made known to mankind.

3. This invitation is free and gracious.

4. It is earnest and authoritative.

III. THE RECEPTION WHICH THE INVITATION MEETS WITH, AND THE FOLLY, GUILT, AND DANGER OF REJECTING IT.

1. The Jews to whom it was first sent refused to come.

2. Some make light of the gospel from the love of worldly pleasures.

3. That the generality of those who hear it make light of it is evident from their conduct.

4. The folly to prefer the world to God who is the Supreme Good.

5. The guilt of to-day is in proportion to the freeness and suitableness of the blessings offered.

6. The blessings of the gospel are as necessary to your present as to your future happiness.

(R. Fletcher.)

I. THE HISTORY OF THE MARRIAGE.

1. The marriage purposed.

2. The preliminary arrangements.

3. The servants sent out.

4. The message.

5. The advent of the king.

6. The inspection.

II. TURN TO Revelation 19. In ver. 7 it is no longer a purpose, but an accomplishment. The marriage of the Lamb is come. In the parable we saw "all things are ready," and the wedding garment was offered without money. Now in the Revelation we read, "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen," etc. In the parable the servants were told to go and invite men (ver. 9). Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The King came to see the guests (ver. 11). "His eyes were as a flame of fire."

(Capel Molyneux, B. A.)

I. THE GLORIOUS BANQUET.

1. The giver of it. The great king. He had provided a banquet of beauty and wisdom in creation for the mind of man — of goodness in providence for the physical need of man. These did not supply the whole of man's need. Hence this feast of redeeming love. In giving it He was moved by love, wisdom, grace.

2. The occasion of it.

3. The chief parties in it. The Divine Father. The equally Divine Son, our Saviour. The Bride, the Church — all who, being penitent, truly believe.

4. The hallowed joy that marked it. The Church rejoicing in the love and grace of the heavenly Bridegroom.

5. The sanctified provisions of it — mercy, love, etc., etc.; abundant, suitable, seasonable, etc.

II. THE WIDE INVITATION.

1. Proclaimed by many tongues.

2. Urged on all people.

3. Enforced by many arguments.

4. Accompanied with gifts. A dress for each to wear offered. A new heart, etc.

III. THE PERSONAL INSPECTION.

1. A royal inspection.

2. A general inspection.

3. A discriminating inspection.

(J. C. Gray.)

I. How THIS UNION TAKES PLACE.

1. The first mover is Christ Himself; but by His sweet constraints we begin to love Him.

2. In the presence of witnesses the covenant of marriage must be ratified. Angels and the Church look on when Christ confesses you to be His.

II. THE CONSEQUENCE.

1. Into Christ you have merged your property, right, name, being, and all.

2. They do wrong who weaken the bonds, chill the feelings, or lower the rule of married life.

3. As Christ has done so much for you, you must be faithful to Him.

(J. Vaughan, M. A.)

I. INVITATIONS OF GOSPEL REPEATEDLY GIVEN. God calls

(1)in every stage of life;

(2)by many voices.

II. PROVISIONS OF GOSPEL FULLY COMPLETED.

(1)Various;

(2)abundant.

III. PROFFERS OF GOSPEL BASELY REJECTED BY —

(1)The proud;

(2)the worldly.

IV. MESSENGERS OF GOSPEL CRUELLY TREATED.

(1)Unlawful seizure;

(2)cruel treatment;

(3)unnatural murder.

V. REJECTORS OF GOSPEL JUSTLY PUNISHED. They —

(1)Excite God's anger;

(2)provoke His vengeance;

(3)incur His punishment.

VI. PROCLAMATION OF GOSPEL UNIVERSALLY COMMANDED. There are —

(1)No bounds fixed — highways;

(2)no conditions.

VII. SUCCESS OF GOSPEL ULTIMATELY CERTAIN.VIII. PROFESSORS OF GOSPEL WILL BE PERSONALLY EXAMINED.

(J. T. Woodhouse.)

Our Lord Jesus has espoused His Church, and there must be a feast at the wedding. A feast would be a failure if none came to it, and therefore the present need is that the wedding be "furnished with guests."

I. THE FIRST INVITATION WAS A FAILURE. This is seen in Jewish history. Among Gentiles, those to whom the gospel invitation specially comes are, as a rule, unwilling to accept it. Up to this hour, children of godly parents, and hearers of the word, many of them refuse the invitation for reasons of their own. The invitation was refused —(1) Not because it involved suffering, for it was a wedding-feast to which they were bidden;(2) nor because there were no adequate preparations — "The wedding is ready";(3) nor because the invitations were not delivered, or were misunderstood — they "were bidden";(4) but because they were not fit for the high joy;

(a)they were not loyal to their king;

(b)they were not attached to his royal son;

(c)they were not pleased with his noble marriage;

(d)they were wrapt up in self-interest;

(e)they were cruel to well-intentioned messengers;(5) therefore they were punished with fire and sword. But love must reign; mercy must be glorious; Christ must reveal His grace; otherwise He has no joy of His union with mankind. Therefore —

II. THE COMMISSION WAS ENLARGED.

1. Disappointment must arouse activity and enterprise "Go ye."

2. Disappointment suggests change of sphere — "Into the highways."

3. A keen invitation is to be tried -" As many as ye shall find, bid."

4. A keen outlook is to be kept — "As many as ye shall find."

5. Publicity is to be courted — "Went out into the highways."

6. Small numbers, ones and twos, are to be pressed in.

III. THE NEW MISSION WAS FULFILLED.

1. The former servants who had escaped death went out again.

2. Other servants, who had not gone at first, entered zealously into the joyful but needful service.

3. They went in many directions — "Into the highways."

4. They went out at once. Not an hour could be left unused.

5. They pointed all they met to one centre.

6. They welcomed all sorts of characters — "As many as they found."

7. They found them willing to come. He who sent the messengers inclined the guests; none seem to have refused.

IV. THE GREAT DESIGN WAS ACCOMPLISHED.

1. The king's bounty was displayed before the world.

2. His provision was used. Think of grace and pardon unused.

3. The happiness of men was promoted; they feasted to the full.

4. The grateful praise was evoked. All the guests were joyful in their king, as they feasted at his table.

5. The marriage was graced.

6. The slight put upon the king's son by the churls who refused to come was more than removed.

7. The quality of the guests most fully displayed the wisdom, grace, and condescension of the Host.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

David, Herodians, Isaac, Jacob, JesusJerusalemAcross, Apartment, Bad, Banqueting, Bondmen, Collected, Dinner, Evil, Feast, Filled, Forth, Full, Furnished, Gather, Gathered, Got, Guests, Hall, Highways, Marriage-feast, Reclining, Roads, Servants, Slaves, Streets, Wedding1. The parable of the marriage of the king's son.
9. The vocation of the Gentiles.
12. The punishment of him who lacked a wedding garment.
15. Tribute ought to be paid to Caesar.
23. Jesus confutes the Sadducees for the resurrection;
34. answers which is the first and great commandment;
41. and puzzles the Pharisees by a question about the Messiah.

Matthew 22:1-10

     2039   Christ, joy of
     5699   guests

Matthew 22:1-14

     4476   meals
     8446   hospitality, duty of

Matthew 22:2-10

     6620   calling

Matthew 22:2-12

     5742   wedding

Matthew 22:2-14

     7936   love feast
     9150   Messianic banquet

Matthew 22:8-10

     2363   Christ, preaching and teaching

Matthew 22:9-10

     5505   roads

Sacrifice to Caesar or to God
Eversley, 1869. Chester Cathedral, 1872. Matthew xxii. 21. "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." Many a sermon has been preached, and many a pamphlet written, on this text, and (as too often has happened to Holy Scripture), it has been made to mean the most opposite doctrines, and twisted in every direction, to suit men's opinions and superstitions. Some have found in it a command to obey tyrants, invaders, any and every government, …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

The Kingdom of Heaven
Chapel Royal, St James'. 1873. St. Matt. xxii. 2-7. "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: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

Two Ways of Despising God's Feast
'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. 6. But they made light of it, and went their …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

On the Same Words of the Gospel, Matt. xxii. 42
1. The question which was proposed to the Jews, Christians ought to solve. For the Lord Jesus Christ, who proposed it to the Jews, did not solve it Himself, to the Jews, I mean, He did not, but to us He hath solved it. I will put you in remembrance, Beloved, and ye will find that He hath solved it. But first consider the knot of the question. He asked the Jews what they "thought of Christ, whose Son He was to be;" for they too look for the Christ. They read of Him in the Prophets, they expected Him …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xxii. 2, Etc. , About the Marriage of the King's Son; against the Donatists, on Charity. Delivered at Carthage In
1. All the faithful [2986] know the marriage of the king's son, and his feast, and the spreading [2987] of the Lord's Table is open to them all [2988] who will. But it is of importance to each one to see how he approaches, even when he is not forbidden to approach It. For the Holy Scriptures teach us that there are two feasts of the Lord; one to which the good and evil come, the other to which the evil come not. So then the feast, of which we have just now heard when the Gospel was being read, has …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xxii. 42, Where the Lord Asks the Jews Whose Son they Said David Was.
1. When the Jews were asked (as we have just now heard out of the Gospel when it was being read), how our Lord Jesus Christ, whom David himself called his Lord was David's Son, they were not able to answer. For what they saw in the Lord, that they knew. For He appeared to them as the Son of man; but as the Son of God He was hidden. Hence it was, that they believed that He could be overcome, and that they derided Him as He hung upon the Tree, saying, "If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

The Wedding Garment
The parable may be discoursed upon under five heads. Here is an enemy at the feast; here is the king at the feast; that king becomes the judge at the feast; and hence the enemy becomes the criminal at the feast; and swiftly is removed by the executioner at the feast. I. We see in the text AN ENEMY AT THE FEAST. He came into the banquet when he was bidden, but he came only in appearance, he came not in heart. The banquet was intended for the honour of the son, but this man meant not so; he was willing …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Parable of the Wedding Feast
In order to understand the parable before us we must first direct our attention to the design of the "certain king" here spoken of. He had a grand object in view; he desired to do honor to his son upon the occasion of his marriage. We shall then notice the very generous method by which he proposed to accomplish his purpose; he made a dinner, and bade many: there were other modes of honoring his son, but the great king elected the mode which would best display his bounty. We shall then observe, with …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Making Light of Christ
In the first place, we shall have a few words with you, concerning what it is that the sinner makes light of; secondly, how it is that he makes light of it; and thirdly, why it is that he makes light of it. Then a general observation or two, and we shall not weary you. In the first place, WHAT IS IT THAT THE SINNER MAKES LIGHT OF? According to the parable, the person alluded to made light of a marriage banquet which a king had provided, with all kinds of dainties, to which they were freely invited, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Beatific vision
MATTHEW xxii. 27. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. These words often puzzle and pain really good people, because they seem to put the hardest duty first. It seems, at times, so much more easy to love one's neighbour than to love God. And strange as it may seem, that is partly true. St. John tells us so--'He that loves not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?' Therefore many good people, who …
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

The Eternal Goodness
MATTHEW xxii. 39. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Why are wrong things wrong? Why, for instance, is it wrong to steal? Because God has forbidden it, you may answer. But is it so? Whatsoever God forbids must be wrong. But, is it wrong because God forbids it, or does God forbid it because it is wrong? For instance, suppose that God had not forbidden us to steal, would it be right then to steal, or at least, not wrong? We must really think of this. It is no mere question of words, it is …
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

The Heavenly Banquet.
20th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. xxii. 4. "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come unto the marriage." INTRODUCTION.--The Kingdom of Heaven has two meanings in this parable. It means in the first place the Catholic Church. Into that the apostles and pastors of Christ invite men to enter, and many refuse. In the second place it means the Church Triumphant,--eternal blessedness, and into that the pastors of Christ's Church invite you …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Profession and Practice.
18th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. xxii. 42. "What think ye of Christ?" INTRODUCTION.--Many men are Christians neither in understanding nor in heart. Some are Christians in heart, and not in understanding. Some in understanding, and not in heart, and some are Christians in both. If I were to go into a Temple of the Hindoos, or into a Synagogue of the Jews, and were to ask, "What think ye of Christ?" the people there would shake their heads and deny that He is God, and reject His teaching. The …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

The Image of Self.
23rd Sunday after Trinity. S. Matthew xxii., 20. "Whose is this image?" INTRODUCTION.--Some people are very fond of contemplating their own excellencies, of admiring their good qualities, or their success in life; they will talk to you of what they have done, how they made this lucky hit, how they outwitted so-and-so, how they escaped such a danger by their foresight. But they are not fond of considering their imperfections, of lamenting their faults, of confessing their failures, their lost opportunities, …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Thankfulness to God.
Harvest S. Matthew xxii., 21. "Render--unto God, the things that are God's." INTRODUCTION.--David says in the 8th Psalm, "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him: and the son of man that Thou visitest him? Thou makest him to have dominion of the works of Thy hands; and Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, all sheep and oxen; yea, and the beast of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea." I. The mastery of man is even more extensive than this; he controls …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Love Thy Neighbour
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.--ST MATTHEW xxii. 39. The original here quoted by our Lord is to be found in the words of God to Moses, (Leviticus xix. 18:) "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord" Our Lord never thought of being original. The older the saying the better, if it utters the truth he wants to utter. In him it becomes fact: The Word was made flesh. And so, in the wondrous …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Of Gratitude for the Grace of God
Why seekest thou rest when thou art born to labour? Prepare thyself for patience more than for comforts, and for bearing the cross more than for joy. For who among the men of this world would not gladly receive consolation and spiritual joy if he might always have it? For spiritual comforts exceed all the delights of the world, and all the pleasures of the flesh. For all worldly delights are either empty or unclean, whilst spiritual delights alone are pleasant and honourable, the offspring of …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Thoughts Upon Our Call and Election.
MANY are called, saith our Saviour, Mat. xxii. 14. but few chosen. Oh dreadful sentence. who is able to hear it without trembling and astonishment! If he had said, that of all the Men that are born in the World, there are but few saved, this would not have struck such fear and horror in us; for we might still hope, that though Turks, Jews, and Heathens, which are far the greatest part of the World, should all perish, yet we few in comparison of them, who are baptized into his Name, who profess his …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

The Christian State
Scripture references: Matthew 22:17-22; 17:24-27; Acts 23:5; John 6:15; Matthew 4:8-10; John 18:36-38; Mark 14; 61,62; John 18:33; 19:19; Isaiah 9:6,7; 60:3; Zechariah 9:10; Daniel 7:14; Matthew 26:64; 26:53,54; 16:16,17; 25:31,32. CHRIST AND THE STATE The Relation of Christ to the State.--He was an intense patriot. He loved His country. The names of His great countrymen, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua and David, were ever on His lips. He offered Himself as the national Messiah (Matthew 21:1-17), …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision D. Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son. ^A Matt. XXII. 1-14. ^a 1 And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, 2 The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, 3 and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. 4 Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Cix. Jewish Rulers Seek to Ensnare Jesus.
(Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision A. Pharisees and Herodians Ask About Tribute. ^A Matt. XXII. 15-22; ^B Mark XII. 13-17; ^C Luke XX. 20-26. ^a 15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his talk. ^c 20 And they watched him, and sent forth { ^b send unto him} ^a their disciples, ^b certain of the Pharisees and of { ^a with} ^b the Herodians, that they might catch him in talk. [Perceiving that Jesus, when on his guard, was too wise for them, …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Last Controversies and Discourses - the Sadducees and the Resurrection - the Scribe and the Great Commandment - Question
THE last day in the Temple was not to pass without other temptations' than that of the Priests when they questioned His authority, or of the Pharisees when they cunningly sought to entangle Him in His speech. Indeed, Christ had on this occasion taken a different position; He had claimed supreme authority, and thus challenged the leaders of Israel. For this reason, and because at the last we expect assaults from all His enemies, we are prepared for the controversies of that day. We remember that, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Kingdom of God Conceived as the Inheritance of the Poor.
These maxims, good for a country where life is nourished by the air and the light, and this delicate communism of a band of children of God reposing in confidence on the bosom of their Father, might suit a simple sect constantly persuaded that its Utopia was about to be realized. But it is clear that they could not satisfy the whole of society. Jesus understood very soon, in fact, that the official world of his time would by no means adopt his kingdom. He took his resolution with extreme boldness. …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Royal Marriage Feast.
PART I.--THE WEDDING GUESTS. "And 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: and they would not come. 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. But they made light of …
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord

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