Though the parable, when delivered by our Lord, had a more immediate reference to the state of the Jews; yet, as Providence hath distinguished us by a similar greatness of religious privileges; and to abuse and slight these favors is a characteristic of our guilt, as it was of theirs; since, whatever was written aforetime was written for our learning; and it is a matter that involves in it consequences of the most serious nature, whether we receive or reject that greatest of all the favors of Providence, the GOSPEL of the blessed God; I shall take occasion to enforce the important invitation in the text, by considering: I. The nature of the provision to which sinners are invited: II. The extent and freeness of the invitation itself: III. The grand argument to excite obedience to the invitation, viz. “All things are ready.”
1. As to the nature of the provision to which sinners are invited, it is represented under the similitude of a feast; prepared in the counsels of the Trinity before all worlds, and exhibited in the fulness of time, when Messiah, the bread of life, came down from heaven, and “gave himself a ransom for many.” A feast, where all is of God’s providing; and in which, although the entertainment cost an immense sum, and infinitely surpasseth all the delicacies of nature, yet all is offered “without money and without price.” Isa. lv. 1. A great feast, because of the dignity of him who prepared it, the rich provision made in it by the hand of munificent grace, and the multitudes that in all ages have been fed from this exhaustless store. It is called in the context a supper; and the period in which the invitation was given is called supper-time; perhaps in allusion to the period of our Lord’s incarnation, and of the promulgation of the gospel, which happened in the eve of time, and is therefore styled by prophets and apostles “the last days,” Acts, ii. 17. Heb. i. 2, or last dispensation: not, that the blessings of redemption were confined to that period, or commenced only with the manifestation of Christ in the flesh. Abraham rejoiced to see his day; and he saw it, and was glad. John, viii. 56. And the gospel was preached to him, when Jehovah said, “In thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” Gal. iii. 8. The promise made to our first parents after the fall was a virtual exhibition of the gospel feast; and the whole economy of Moses, with all its rites, types, and oblations, but “a shadow of good things to come,” of which Christ is the substance. Heb. x. 1. Israel in the wilderness “ate the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink. For, they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. x. 3, 4. The prophets were raised up at different periods, to unfold the blessings contained in the original promise to preach Christ, and predict his “sufferings and the glory that was to follow.” For, “to him give all the prophets witness,” Acts, x. 43: so that, from the beginning of time, in the family of Adam, the days of the patriarchs, and prophets, and the dispensation of Moses, the same truth was revealed that afterwards shone forth with superior lustre under the gospel dispensation; and believers then feasted by faith on that Paschal Lamb, that was at last actually offered up to take away the sin of the world. But it was not till after a period of four thousand years had elapsed, that the longings of the church of God were indulged with that “feast of fat things,” Isa. xxv. 6, now exhibited in the gospel. As there is but one sun to illuminate both hemispheres, and his rays are sent forth in all directions; so there is but one Sun of Righteousness to both dispensations; and both are illuminated, though with different degrees of irradiation; the light vouchsafed to the church before the coming of Christ, resembling that of the “morning spread upon the mountains;” the evangelical light, like the sun in his meridian brightness. Yet, as the church is one, so is the sun that illuminates her; and that sun is the Lord our righteousness.
Some, guided in their interpretation of scripture, more by sound than by sense, and by the analogy of faith, have supposed, that the feast in the text, to which sinners are invited, is the sacrament of the Lord’s supper; and they have added one fatal mistake to another, by assuming from hence a false authority of giving unlimited and pressing invitations to sinners to approach that sacred ordinance; as if, because, when the bread and wine are prepared for the celebration of it, “and all things” in that sense “are ready,” therefore every man, who receives the invitation, ought to “come.” Without enlarging here on the extreme folly and danger of pressing men to come to the sacrament, before they have by faith come to Christ; I cannot help observing, that the scripture before us affords no room to justify their conduct, or to countenance the absurd comment, on which the temerity of it is founded. Not to say, that the parable looks back to a period long before the sacrament was instituted, and that the extensive invitation before us is absolutely incompatible with the state of communicants in general; it is sufficient to refute the interpretation imposed on the text only to observe, that a parable cannot delineate an ordinance consisting of outward symbols; since this would be to make one set of external images and metaphors explanatory of another; and even to make the latter, the thing signified, when it is itself but a sign. The nature of a parable, and that of a sacrament, may agree in delineating one subject common to both; but they cannot mutually represent each other. Thus, the sacrament of the Lord’s supper is a feast, but it is only so as being in its elements a representation of the body and blood of Christ. These are the “inward part and thing signified.” But to those who receive the sign, without acting faith on the thing signified, the sacrament becomes no feast at all: they have no life or enjoyment in it; and through their unbelief it turns eventually into poison instead of food. So that what is the inward spiritual substance of that institution, constitutes also the divine realities couched under the metaphors in the parable. The supper in both is, Jesus crucified for sinners, with all the riches of his atonement and dying love; on which the soul of a believer feeds, as its richest repast.
This reasoning is further strengthened by the consideration, that in the corresponding parable in Mat. xxii. the kingdom of heaven is said to be like unto a man making a great supper or a wedding for his son. Now, the kingdom of heaven never signifies a sacrament; but is used, when occurring in parables, to represent the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah; or, the manner in which he conducts the affairs of his church at large, with respect to the dispensation of the gospel, and the influence of his grace. And this observation leads us of course to examine one most striking circumstance introduced by St. Matthew into the correspondent parable, as stated by him; which is, that the feast was made upon occasion of “a marriage which a king made for his son.” [138] The marriage is the union between Christ and his church, which he espoused to himself from all eternity in “the counsel of peace which was between” the Father and him. Ephes. v. 32. Zech. vi. 13. He agreed to be the church’s bridegroom; to take her into covenant relation, and into a most sublime and intimate union with himself. He stipulated to purchase her with his blood; and to transfer, as a dowry richer than heaven and earth, the glorious righteousness which he was to bring in by his life and death; together with all the personal excellencies and divine perfections, which make him the chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely. The day of his nativity was the day of his espousals; and the hour of his death, the important hour of her redemption. Each ransomed sinner in his regeneration exemplifies this spiritual marriage; and Christ does that actually in time, as fast as his redeemed are called, which he did decretively before the foundation of the world. And when all the purposes of his grace shall be finished, and “the number of his elect accomplished,” then shall the grand and final solemnization of the nuptials between the heavenly bridegroom and his church take place; and heaven and earth shall sing, “Let us be glad and rejoice: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his Wife hath made herself ready.” Rev. xix. 7.
It is, from hence, easy to perceive, that the high entertainment provided for sinners, elected, redeemed, regenerated, and united to Christ, is, the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, of which he is the messenger and the mediator; the conditions whereof were fulfilled by his perfect obedience and meritorious death and passion; and all the blessings comprehended in which, are as sure as the stipulation of the glorious Trinity, the inviolable oath and promises of Jehovah, and the redemption of Christ Jesus, could possibly make them. This gracious covenant is the eternal charter of all their privileges; and is, therefore, all their desire and all their salvation. 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. They consider it as incapable of being ever invalidated by the requisitions of law or justice, the accusations of Satan, or the demerit of the foulest iniquity. “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth: Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died.” Rom. viii. 33, 34. They behold the contents of this mysterious volume unfolded in the person of the Mediator—for, none in heaven or in earth was found worthy so much as to look upon, much less to open, the book with seven seals, but himself, Rev. v. 3,—and they see, with rapture, its glorious ratification by his testamentary death. Herein they read, not only their exemption from guilt, but also their well-grounded title to everlasting glory, through the imputed righteousness of God manifest in the flesh. O what a rich feast is this covenant to him who “takes hold” of it by faith, Isa. lvi. 4, to save him from sinking in the gulf of perdition, and to secure his everlasting salvation! With such a hold, he stands the shock of earth and hell, maintains his ground amidst ten thousand difficulties and dangers; sees his enemies all under his feet; sings in the ways of the Lord, that great is the glory of the Lord; and, “although the fig-tree should not blossom, or fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive should fail, and the fields should yield no meat, the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there should be no herd in the stall: yet,” participating of such a banquet, and standing upon such a rock, he “rejoices in the Lord, and joys in the God of his salvation.” Hab. iii. 17, 18.
The covenant agreed upon between the persons of the Trinity, is the feast prepared: the covenant revealed, is that feast exhibited. But, O what a mysterious and gracious exhibition! Behold it in the person, in the obedience, and death, of the Prince of Peace! in that profound mystery, “God reconciling the world unto himself, by bearing their sins in his own body on the tree,” and putting himself in our law-place, to endure the dreadful curse and wrath of Jehovah! 2 Cor. v. 19. 1 Pet. ii. 24. Gal. iii. 13. When the Jews asked, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus answered, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” John, vi. 52, 53. His flesh and blood are the life, the feast, the salvation of sinners. The rending of the one, and the effusion of the other, constituted that great propitiation, by which sin is fully expiated, and inexorable justice completely satisfied. Remission of sins, peace with God, and peace in the conscience, all spring from this mysterious source. When the eye of reason, blinded by unbelief, views the Saviour in his humiliation, his poverty, his sorrows, his death; it sees no form nor comeliness in him, to make him an object of desire or attraction; pride abhors the sight, and self-righteousness turns away with disgust. But in that man of sorrows, covered with blood, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the accursed tree, the believer beholds the most glorious and beauteous object in the whole universe of God; because he considers and trusts in him as that great sacrifice, in the offering up of which all the perfections of Deity shine forth in the most stupendous exhibition. Faith beholds ten thousand charms in a dying Christ, that captivate the heart, and fill it with love and amazement. The beauty and glory of all creation are eclipsed by the superior excellence of this bleeding Prince of Peace. “The chief among ten thousand, the altogether lovely,” are the favorite epithets, by which the enraptured soul speaks its love and admiration of Jesus: and “WHAT SHALL I RENDER?” is the astonished question it utters for a gift so great. What faith sees, and admires, it feasts upon. The flesh of Jesus is meat indeed, and his blood, drink indeed, John, vi. 55, when that appropriating grace is in lively exercise. Hence, every thing that belongs to the crucified Jesus, becomes a feast, for food and delight, for strength and refreshment. His blood and righteousness, his offices, and relations to his people; his several titles that characterize his compassion, and delineate his affection towards them; afford so many inexhaustible themes for delightful meditation; by which the souls of the weary are satiated, and the conscience of the burdened sinner calmed, and set at liberty. His agony and bloody sweat, his cross and passion, are healing springs, from whence ten thousand salutary streams of life, peace, and salvation, flow.
A wond’rous feast his love prepares,
Bought with his blood, his groans, and tears!
Hence, the promises are a feast, because they are all sealed with his blood; and the gospel is a feast, because it publishes a free and complete salvation through his name;—that dear name, which, “like ointment poured forth,” diffuses an exquisite fragrance throughout all the promises, and communicates a preciousness to the gospel, which makes it a rich savor of life unto life. And, when in that sacrament, which, by sacred and significant symbols, exhibits his dying love, the soul is enabled to eat the bread of life, and drink that stream that gushes from the smitten Rock, 1 Cor. x. 4; it then joins issue with the experience of the church in the Song of Solomon, “He brought me into the banqueting-house, and his banner over me was love.” Solomon’s Song, ii. 4.
As the provision, which God hath been pleased to lay up in the covenant of grace, and the redemption of his Son, is calculated to communicate entertainment infinitely more exalted and refined, than what can be derived from the highest gratification of the senses; it follows, that the feast we are considering, is of a spiritual nature: it is a feast for the soul, that nobler part of us, which constitutes our real selves, and in which are lodged the quickest perceptions and most permanent susceptibility of pleasure. For, as the soul, in the extent of its desires, the capacious powers of its exertion, and the resources of its enjoyments, surpasses, in so great a degree, that earthly vehicle in which it dwells, and by an union with which its immortal vigor is so much repressed and circumscribed; so are the pleasures of the mind capable of being proportionably more pure, more lasting, more refined, and more sublime. But, as the senses are so intimately connected with the rational faculties, and form those inlets by which various pleasing sensations are conveyed to the soul; hence the enjoyments of the latter are called, in scripture, by those very terms which describe the exertions and distinguish the nature of the former. Thus believers are said, “to taste and see that the Lord is good,” Psal. xxxiv. 8; to “handle the word of life,” 1 John, i. 1; to “drink the river of pleasures,” Psal. xxvi. 8; and to “eat the bread of life.” And those objects in creation which strike the senses with the most exquisite delight, or are best calculated to convey strength and nutriment to animal nature, are selected, by the inspired writers, as symbols of those resources, from whence the rich variety of a Christian’s pleasures are derived. The blessings of redemption are compared by the prophet to wine and milk. Isa. lv. 1. This, the most nutritive—that, the most exhilarating—liquid in nature. The delicious droppings of the honey-comb were inferior in sweetness, in the opinion of David, to the word of God; and even “the most fine gold” had, in his estimation, no value, when weighed in the balance with that sacred treasure. What object in nature is so celebrated as the rose, for its fragrance? the lily of the vallies, for beauty? and the sun, for grandeur and utility? Yet, the pleasure, which the senses imbibe from the splendor of the one, or the perfumes of the other, is languid and transient, compared with the superior satisfaction which the enlightened soul feels, when contemplating the amiable perfections of that Redeemer, who was white in immaculate innocence as the lily; who, as the rose of Sharon, blushed in blood; whose sacrifice sends up an odor before the throne of God, that perfumes the heavens and the earth with the sweetest incense; and who as the Sun of Righteousness, risen with healing in his wings, irradiates and cheers a world, naturally sunk in misery and sin.
From hence it follows, that there is a divine reality in true religion, of which the soul of a Christian is as sensible, as when the eye beholds a beauteous object; the mouth tastes delicious food; or the ear is charmed with harmonious sounds. To dispute or deny this, would be to rob Christianity of its essence, the gospel of its power, Christ of his preciousness, and the soul of its heaven upon earth; and to place the sordid gratifications of the epicure and the brute upon a level with the enjoyments of a Christian living in happy communion with his God, exulting in a sense of his favor, and anticipating the prospect of everlasting felicity. But what pleasure is comparable, then, with that of all the faculties of the mind, engaged in intercourse with a reconciled God? The understanding is feasted with views of the unsearchable riches of Christ. The will is captivated with sweet complacency in the plan of salvation through him. The affections banquet on the sense of pardoning love. And the memory is a repository of ten thousand sacred sweets, collected from that bed of roses, the scriptures of truth, and treasured up there, for the purpose of feeding and regaling each spiritual sense. Thus is the whole soul feasted. And this is the feast of saints on earth; and this, the banquet of the skies.