They made light of it”
Matthew 22:1-14
Man has not much changed since his creation. That which was recorded in history as having been done by man centuries ago, might be written again, for "there is nothing new under the sun." The same class of men is still found (although, perhaps, differently dressed) as that which existed ages long gone by. There are still men today who have the same disposition as men in the Savior’s day. "They made light of it and went their ways, one to his field, another to his merchandise.” Men are still making light of the glorious things of the gospel.
To “made light of it” literally means that they paid no attention to it. It means to treat with contempt, as a thing of no consequence. They paid no attention and gave it no heed to it.
So do far too many in this day.
I. WHAT IS IT THAT THE SINNER MAN MAKES LIGHT OF?
According to the parable, the person alluded to paid no attention to a marriage banquet which a king had provided, with all kinds of delicacies, to which they were freely invited, and from which they willfully stayed away from. Salvation is a feast not a fast, funeral, or a famine. This is not an invitation to a funeral, even though some people act as though becoming a Christian is equivalent to being soaked for a week in formaldehyde. It is an invitation to joy.
The spiritual meaning of this is easy to discover. In this particular parable the Lord Jesus talks about salvation, and He indicates to us that salvation is really like an invitation to attend a wedding. God has an only Son, His name is the Lord Jesus. God the Father loves His Son so very much that He wants Him to have a bride. So, He is extending an invitation to every person in the world to come and be the bride of His Son. Those who pay no attention to the invitation of the Father express their contempt of a glorious banquet of salvation which God has provided for us in our reception of His Son.
What a feast salvation is! The feast salvation spread includes pardon of sin, favor with God, peace of conscience, access to the Throne of Grace, the comforts of the Spirit, and the well- grounded assurance of eternal life. Here is a feast of unbelievable and inconceivable delights.
By refusal you are making make light of some things. This is solemn ground to tread upon.
A. They manifested disloyalty to the Sovereign (2)
They king who made the marriage feast is the heavenly Father. God the Father planned for it; He prepared for it; and He provided for it.
B. The manifested dislike for the Son (2).
Some of them fancied that the fattened cattle, and other provisions that would be on the table, would be no better than what they had at home. They thought that the royal banquet would be no big thing for which to give up their business for a day or to renounce their farming even for an hour. Oh! sinner, when you neglect the great salvation, think about what you are making light of. You are making light of justification by faith; you are making light of the cleansing in the of Jesus; you are making light to the road to heaven.
It is a serious thing to make light of the Son. It was his marriage, and inasmuch as they stayed away, they dishonored the glorious One in whose honor the supper was prepared. They slighted Him whom his Father loved. Oh! sinner, when you pay no attention to the gospel, you pay no attention to Christ - the One before whom glorious celestial spirits bow; you are paying no attention to Him with whose praise all of heaven rings. It is a solemn thing to pay no attention to Christ. Think lightly of a prince, and you will have little honor at the king’s hand for it; but think lightly of the Son of God, and the Father will have vengeance on you for his slighted Son. Think lightly of a man’s offspring, and you have insulted the man himself; reject the one and only Son of God, and you have rejected the eternal One himself.
If you think lightly of Christ, you have insulted the only One who can save you.
B. They manifested disregard for the servants (3)
Every sinner who neglects the great salvation of Jesus Christ and pays no attention to the gospel minister who brings the message, is a big insult in God’s estimation. It is never considered a small offense by our great nation, if our ambassador is treated with indifference. Likewise, it is no light thing with God if you despise the ambassadors He sends to you.
The servants brought the invitation. “Come” is the invitation. In the first invitation, those invited “would not come.” They were honored by the royal request but treated it some what indifferently. In the East, it is the fashion to give a preliminary invitation of a feast. Somewhat indefinite as to the day or the hour, but then follow it up later with a definite invitation when the feast is actually prepared. However, those in the parable receiving the first invitation decided to abstain from attending before the second one arrived.
The second invitation was more explicit and urgent. The dinner was prepared, and all things were ready for the marriage celebrations. However, business meant more to them than their attendance at a marriage festival.
Notice the invitation “Come”
1. COME indicates the simplicity of salvation
2. COME announces the availability of salvation
3. COME suggest the responsibility for salvation
The responsibility for accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour lays on the shoulders of man (John 5:40). The WILL is where the battle is fought.
The only reason why sinners die is because they will not come to Christ for life and happiness: it is not because they cannot come.
II. HOW IS IT THAT SINNER MAN MAKES LIGHT OF?
A. It is making light of the gospel when you hear and yet do not heed it.
You are guilty of making light of God’s gospel, when you sit under a sermon without attending to it! Oh! what would lost souls give to the hear another sermon! What will you give, one of these days, that you might have one more warning and opportunity listen to the wooing voice of God’s minister! We make light of the gospel when we hear it, without solemn attention to it.
See Matthew 7:24-27.
People do not want to hear the message (6).
Many years ago, while on a visit to America, a wealthy Chinese businessman was fascinated by a powerful microscope. Looking through its lens to study crystals and the petals of flowers, he was amazed at their beauty and detail. So he decided to purchase one of these devices and take it back to China. He thoroughly enjoyed using it until one day he examined some rice he was planning to eat for dinner. Much to his dismay, he discovered that tiny living creatures were crawling in it. Since he was especially fond of this staple food in his daily diet, he wondered what to do. Finally he concluded that there was only one way out of his dilemma -- he would destroy the instrument that caused him to discover the distasteful fact! So he smashed the microscope to pieces. "How foolish!" you say. But many people do the same thing with the Word of God. They it and would like to get rid of it because it reveals their evil nature.
B. It is making light of the gospel when you hear but yet try to help it (attempt to add something to it).
Ephesians 2:8,9.
Man is justified with out the deeds of the law and without works. “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Titus 3:5
Salvation is apart from the works.
Some say you must “D-O,” because they teach that people have to do a bunch of religious rituals to try to please God. But the Bible declares “D-O-N-E” because Christ has done it all on the cross.
III. WHY IS IT THAT SINNER MAN MAKES LIGHT OF?
They did so from different reasons.
A. Some make light of it because of blindness (ignorance).
1. They did not know how good the spread is.
2. They did not know how gracious the Sovereign is.
There are many who think lightly of the gospel, because they do not understand it. Many think lightly of it simply because they do not comprehend it; it is a thing beyond them. ”The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not”
If you only knew what a blessed thing the gospel is. O, taste and see that the Lord is good, and so sure as ever you taste, you will see his goodness. I will venture to say, again, that there are many who make light of the gospel, simply through ignorance.
B. Some make light of it because of haughtiness (pride).
"What do you bring me that invitation? Step into my house, and I will show you a feast as good as any you can tell me of. “
So some will not go, out of pride. Be washed in the ....no, you were never filthy; were you? You need to be forgiven! Oh no! you are rather too good for that. Why, you are so awfully pious in your own conceit, that if it were all true, you would make even the angel Gabriel blush to think of you. You do not think even an angel capable of holding a candle to you. What! you seek for mercy? It is an insult to you. "Go and tell the drunkard," you say, "go and fetch the harlot; but I am a respectable man; I always go to church; I am a very good sort of fellow; I may frolic now and then, but I make it up some other day; I am sometimes a little slack, but then I put the brakes on and make up the distance afterwards; and I dare say I shall get to heaven as soon as anybody else. I am a very good person."
Well, my friend, I do not wonder that you despise the gospel, for the gospel just tells you that you are entirely lost. It tells you that all your righteousness is filthy rags. Many makd light of the gospel because of Satanic pride.
C. Some make light of it because of unbelievingness.
Many make light of the good news, because they did not believe the messenger. "Oh!" they say "stop a moment.....what! a free dinner.... I do not believe it. I do not believe it; this is incredible."
"What!" they say, "Jesus Christ died to wash men from their sins? I do not believe it. What! A heaven. Who ever saw it? A hell! Who ever heard its groans? What! Eternity. I do not believe it.” It is unbelief that makes men think lightly of Christ; but unbelief will be so by-and-bye. There are no infidels in hell; they are all believers there. There are many that were infidels here, but they are not so now; the flames are too hot to make them doubt their existence. It is hard for a man, tormented in the flame, to doubt the existence of the fire.
D. Still others make light of it because of worldliness.
They have so much to do. I have a farm to attend to. I have merchandise to trade. I have some business interest to attend to. They are so busy they declare. The farm and business demand attention. Some people are preoccupied with their profits.
Worldliness is a demon that hath wrung the neck of many souls; God grant that we may not perish through our worldliness!
E. Some make light of the gospel because of sheer presumptuousness.
They suppose every day will continue as this, because they have not died yet, they think they will never die. And so out of sheer presumption, thinking "all men mortal but themselves," they go on making light of Christ. Tremble, ye presumptuous, you will not always be able to do that.
Proverbs 27:1
F. All make light of the gospel because of willfulness.
No matter what the excuse is, the bottom lines is simply man makes light of the gospel because they want to. The responsibility for accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour lays on the shoulders of man (John 5:40). The WILL is where the battle is fought.
The only reason why sinners die and go to Hell is because they will not come to Christ for life and happiness: it is not because they cannot, but because they will not.
Here is the true reason declared for us why sinners miss salvation in Jesus Christ, which has been so wonderfully provided for them, and is so freely offer unto them, and that lies in their own willfulness and obstinacy. "Ye will not come unto me."
The only true reason why so many sinners miss of salvation and eternal life, after all that Christ has done and suffered for them, is their own stubbornness and unwillingness to come to Him.
Conclusion:
The year 1899 marked the s of two well-known men-Dwight L. Moody, the acclaimed evangelist, and Robert Ingersoll, the famous lawyer, orator, and political leader.
The two men had many similarities. Both were raised in Christian homes. Both were skilled orators. Both traveled extensively and were widely respected. Both drew immense crowds when they spoke and attracted loyal followings. But there was one striking difference between them- their view of God.
Ingersoll was an agnostic and a follower of naturalism; he had no belief in the eternal, but stressed the importance of living only in the here and now. Ingersoll made light of the Bible, stating that "free thought will give us truth." To him the Bible was "a fable, an obscenity, a humbug, a sham and a lie."’ He was a bold spokesman against the Christian faith. He claimed that a Christian "creed [was] the ignorant past bullying the enlightened present."’
Ingersoll’s contemporary, Dwight L. Moody, had different convictions. He dedicated his life to presenting a resurrected King to a dying people. He embraced the Bible as the hope for humanity and the cross as the turning point of history. He left behind a legacy of written and spoken words, institutions of education, churches, and changed lives.
Two men..... Both powerful speakers and influential leaders. One rejected God; the other embraced him. The impact of their decisions is seen most clearly in the way they died. Read how one biographer parallels the two s.
Ingersoll died suddenly. The news of his stunned his family. His body was kept at home for several days because his wife was reluctant to part with it. It was eventually removed for the sake of the family’s health.
Ingersoll’s remains were cremated, and the public response to his passing was altogether dismal. For a man who put all his hopes on this world, was tragic and came without the consolation of hope.
Moody’s legacy was different. On December 22, 1899, Moody awoke to his last winter dawn. Having grown increasingly weak during the night, he began to speak in slow measured words. "Earth recedes, heaven opens before me!" His son Will, who was nearby, hurried across the room to his father’s side.
"Father, you are dreaming," he said.
"No. This is no dream, Will," Moody said. "It is beautiful. It is like a trance. If this is , it is sweet. God is calling me, and I must go. Don’t call me back."
At that point, the family gathered around, and moments later the great evangelist died. It was his coronation day-a day he had looked forward to for many years. He was with his Lord.
The funeral service of Dwight L. Moody reflected that same confidence. There was no despair. Loved ones gathered to sing praise to God at a triumphant home-going service. Many remembered the words the evangelist had spoken earlier that year in New York City: "Someday you will read in the papers that Moody is . Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now.... I was born of the flesh in 1837, I was born of the Spirit in 1855. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit shall live forever."’
“They made light of it." How many of you today, are making light of Christ? Many of you are, no doubt. I will give you, then, just one warning, and then we will dismiss.
Make light of Christ, sinner! let me say, again, and you will regret the day. It will be a sad day when you find yourself in hell, and then to know that you cannot get out.
”
Matthew 22:1-14
Man has not much changed since his creation. That which was recorded in history as having been done by man centuries ago, might be written again, for "there is nothing new under the sun." The same class of men is still found (although, perhaps, differently dressed) as that which existed ages long gone by. There are still men today who have the same disposition as men in the Savior’s day. "They made light of it and went their ways, one to his field, another to his merchandise.” Men are still making light of the glorious things of the gospel.
To “made light of it” literally means that they paid no attention to it. It means to treat with contempt, as a thing of no consequence. They paid no attention and gave it no heed to it.
So do far too many in this day.
I. WHAT IS IT THAT THE SINNER MAN MAKES LIGHT OF?
According to the parable, the person alluded to paid no attention to a marriage banquet which a king had provided, with all kinds of delicacies, to which they were freely invited, and from which they willfully stayed away from. Salvation is a feast not a fast, funeral, or a famine. This is not an invitation to a funeral, even though some people act as though becoming a Christian is equivalent to being soaked for a week in formaldehyde. It is an invitation to joy.
The spiritual meaning of this is easy to discover. In this particular parable the Lord Jesus talks about salvation, and He indicates to us that salvation is really like an invitation to attend a wedding. God has an only Son, His name is the Lord Jesus. God the Father loves His Son so very much that He wants Him to have a bride. So, He is extending an invitation to every person in the world to come and be the bride of His Son. Those who pay no attention to the invitation of the Father express their contempt of a glorious banquet of salvation which God has provided for us in our reception of His Son.
What a feast salvation is! The feast salvation spread includes pardon of sin, favor with God, peace of conscience, access to the Throne of Grace, the comforts of the Spirit, and the well- grounded assurance of eternal life. Here is a feast of unbelievable and inconceivable delights.
By refusal you are making make light of some things. This is solemn ground to tread upon.
A. They manifested disloyalty to the Sovereign (2)
They king who made the marriage feast is the heavenly Father. God the Father planned for it; He prepared for it; and He provided for it.
B. The manifested dislike for the Son (2).
Some of them fancied that the fattened cattle, and other provisions that would be on the table, would be no better than what they had at home. They thought that the royal banquet would be no big thing for which to give up their business for a day or to renounce their farming even for an hour. Oh! sinner, when you neglect the great salvation, think about what you are making light of. You are making light of justification by faith; you are making light of the cleansing in the of Jesus; you are making light to the road to heaven.
It is a serious thing to make light of the Son. It was his marriage, and inasmuch as they stayed away, they dishonored the glorious One in whose honor the supper was prepared. They slighted Him whom his Father loved. Oh! sinner, when you pay no attention to the gospel, you pay no attention to Christ - the One before whom glorious celestial spirits bow; you are paying no attention to Him with whose praise all of heaven rings. It is a solemn thing to pay no attention to Christ. Think lightly of a prince, and you will have little honor at the king’s hand for it; but think lightly of the Son of God, and the Father will have vengeance on you for his slighted Son. Think lightly of a man’s offspring, and you have insulted the man himself; reject the one and only Son of God, and you have rejected the eternal One himself.
If you think lightly of Christ, you have insulted the only One who can save you.
B. They manifested disregard for the servants (3)
Every sinner who neglects the great salvation of Jesus Christ and pays no attention to the gospel minister who brings the message, is a big insult in God’s estimation. It is never considered a small offense by our great nation, if our ambassador is treated with indifference. Likewise, it is no light thing with God if you despise the ambassadors He sends to you.
The servants brought the invitation. “Come” is the invitation. In the first invitation, those invited “would not come.” They were honored by the royal request but treated it some what indifferently. In the East, it is the fashion to give a preliminary invitation of a feast. Somewhat indefinite as to the day or the hour, but then follow it up later with a definite invitation when the feast is actually prepared. However, those in the parable receiving the first invitation decided to abstain from attending before the second one arrived.
The second invitation was more explicit and urgent. The dinner was prepared, and all things were ready for the marriage celebrations. However, business meant more to them than their attendance at a marriage festival.
Notice the invitation “Come”
1. COME indicates the simplicity of salvation
2. COME announces the availability of salvation
3. COME suggest the responsibility for salvation
The responsibility for accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour lays on the shoulders of man (John 5:40). The WILL is where the battle is fought.
The only reason why sinners die is because they will not come to Christ for life and happiness: it is not because they cannot come.
II. HOW IS IT THAT SINNER MAN MAKES LIGHT OF?
A. It is making light of the gospel when you hear and yet do not heed it.
You are guilty of making light of God’s gospel, when you sit under a sermon without attending to it! Oh! what would lost souls give to the hear another sermon! What will you give, one of these days, that you might have one more warning and opportunity listen to the wooing voice of God’s minister! We make light of the gospel when we hear it, without solemn attention to it.
See Matthew 7:24-27.
People do not want to hear the message (6).
Many years ago, while on a visit to America, a wealthy Chinese businessman was fascinated by a powerful microscope. Looking through its lens to study crystals and the petals of flowers, he was amazed at their beauty and detail. So he decided to purchase one of these devices and take it back to China. He thoroughly enjoyed using it until one day he examined some rice he was planning to eat for dinner. Much to his dismay, he discovered that tiny living creatures were crawling in it. Since he was especially fond of this staple food in his daily diet, he wondered what to do. Finally he concluded that there was only one way out of his dilemma -- he would destroy the instrument that caused him to discover the distasteful fact! So he smashed the microscope to pieces. "How foolish!" you say. But many people do the same thing with the Word of God. They it and would like to get rid of it because it reveals their evil nature.
B. It is making light of the gospel when you hear but yet try to help it (attempt to add something to it).
Ephesians 2:8,9.
Man is justified with out the deeds of the law and without works. “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Titus 3:5
Salvation is apart from the works.
Some say you must “D-O,” because they teach that people have to do a bunch of religious rituals to try to please God. But the Bible declares “D-O-N-E” because Christ has done it all on the cross.
III. WHY IS IT THAT SINNER MAN MAKES LIGHT OF?
They did so from different reasons.
A. Some make light of it because of blindness (ignorance).
1. They did not know how good the spread is.
2. They did not know how gracious the Sovereign is.
There are many who think lightly of the gospel, because they do not understand it. Many think lightly of it simply because they do not comprehend it; it is a thing beyond them. ”The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not”
If you only knew what a blessed thing the gospel is. O, taste and see that the Lord is good, and so sure as ever you taste, you will see his goodness. I will venture to say, again, that there are many who make light of the gospel, simply through ignorance.
B. Some make light of it because of haughtiness (pride).
"What do you bring me that invitation? Step into my house, and I will show you a feast as good as any you can tell me of. “
So some will not go, out of pride. Be washed in the ....no, you were never filthy; were you? You need to be forgiven! Oh no! you are rather too good for that. Why, you are so awfully pious in your own conceit, that if it were all true, you would make even the angel Gabriel blush to think of you. You do not think even an angel capable of holding a candle to you. What! you seek for mercy? It is an insult to you. "Go and tell the drunkard," you say, "go and fetch the harlot; but I am a respectable man; I always go to church; I am a very good sort of fellow; I may frolic now and then, but I make it up some other day; I am sometimes a little slack, but then I put the brakes on and make up the distance afterwards; and I dare say I shall get to heaven as soon as anybody else. I am a very good person."
Well, my friend, I do not wonder that you despise the gospel, for the gospel just tells you that you are entirely lost. It tells you that all your righteousness is filthy rags. Many makd light of the gospel because of Satanic pride.
C. Some make light of it because of unbelievingness.
Many make light of the good news, because they did not believe the messenger. "Oh!" they say "stop a moment.....what! a free dinner.... I do not believe it. I do not believe it; this is incredible."
"What!" they say, "Jesus Christ died to wash men from their sins? I do not believe it. What! A heaven. Who ever saw it? A hell! Who ever heard its groans? What! Eternity. I do not believe it.” It is unbelief that makes men think lightly of Christ; but unbelief will be so by-and-bye. There are no infidels in hell; they are all believers there. There are many that were infidels here, but they are not so now; the flames are too hot to make them doubt their existence. It is hard for a man, tormented in the flame, to doubt the existence of the fire.
D. Still others make light of it because of worldliness.
They have so much to do. I have a farm to attend to. I have merchandise to trade. I have some business interest to attend to. They are so busy they declare. The farm and business demand attention. Some people are preoccupied with their profits.
Worldliness is a demon that hath wrung the neck of many souls; God grant that we may not perish through our worldliness!
E. Some make light of the gospel because of sheer presumptuousness.
They suppose every day will continue as this, because they have not died yet, they think they will never die. And so out of sheer presumption, thinking "all men mortal but themselves," they go on making light of Christ. Tremble, ye presumptuous, you will not always be able to do that.
Proverbs 27:1
F. All make light of the gospel because of willfulness.
No matter what the excuse is, the bottom lines is simply man makes light of the gospel because they want to. The responsibility for accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour lays on the shoulders of man (John 5:40). The WILL is where the battle is fought.
The only reason why sinners die and go to Hell is because they will not come to Christ for life and happiness: it is not because they cannot, but because they will not.
Here is the true reason declared for us why sinners miss salvation in Jesus Christ, which has been so wonderfully provided for them, and is so freely offer unto them, and that lies in their own willfulness and obstinacy. "Ye will not come unto me."
The only true reason why so many sinners miss of salvation and eternal life, after all that Christ has done and suffered for them, is their own stubbornness and unwillingness to come to Him.
Conclusion:
The year 1899 marked the s of two well-known men-Dwight L. Moody, the acclaimed evangelist, and Robert Ingersoll, the famous lawyer, orator, and political leader.
The two men had many similarities. Both were raised in Christian homes. Both were skilled orators. Both traveled extensively and were widely respected. Both drew immense crowds when they spoke and attracted loyal followings. But there was one striking difference between them- their view of God.
Ingersoll was an agnostic and a follower of naturalism; he had no belief in the eternal, but stressed the importance of living only in the here and now. Ingersoll made light of the Bible, stating that "free thought will give us truth." To him the Bible was "a fable, an obscenity, a humbug, a sham and a lie."’ He was a bold spokesman against the Christian faith. He claimed that a Christian "creed [was] the ignorant past bullying the enlightened present."’
Ingersoll’s contemporary, Dwight L. Moody, had different convictions. He dedicated his life to presenting a resurrected King to a dying people. He embraced the Bible as the hope for humanity and the cross as the turning point of history. He left behind a legacy of written and spoken words, institutions of education, churches, and changed lives.
Two men..... Both powerful speakers and influential leaders. One rejected God; the other embraced him. The impact of their decisions is seen most clearly in the way they died. Read how one biographer parallels the two s.
Ingersoll died suddenly. The news of his stunned his family. His body was kept at home for several days because his wife was reluctant to part with it. It was eventually removed for the sake of the family’s health.
Ingersoll’s remains were cremated, and the public response to his passing was altogether dismal. For a man who put all his hopes on this world, was tragic and came without the consolation of hope.
Moody’s legacy was different. On December 22, 1899, Moody awoke to his last winter dawn. Having grown increasingly weak during the night, he began to speak in slow measured words. "Earth recedes, heaven opens before me!" His son Will, who was nearby, hurried across the room to his father’s side.
"Father, you are dreaming," he said.
"No. This is no dream, Will," Moody said. "It is beautiful. It is like a trance. If this is , it is sweet. God is calling me, and I must go. Don’t call me back."
At that point, the family gathered around, and moments later the great evangelist died. It was his coronation day-a day he had looked forward to for many years. He was with his Lord.
The funeral service of Dwight L. Moody reflected that same confidence. There was no despair. Loved ones gathered to sing praise to God at a triumphant home-going service. Many remembered the words the evangelist had spoken earlier that year in New York City: "Someday you will read in the papers that Moody is . Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now.... I was born of the flesh in 1837, I was born of the Spirit in 1855. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit shall live forever."’
“They made light of it." How many of you today, are making light of Christ? Many of you are, no doubt. I will give you, then, just one warning, and then we will dismiss.
Make light of Christ, sinner! let me say, again, and you will regret the day. It will be a sad day when you find yourself in hell, and then to know that you cannot get out.
