554 –   God’s Purpose Revealed In the Parables

            One Kingdom But 34 Parables Revealing The One Kingdom.

            The Parables; As Eternal Truth Rather Than As Church Doctrines.

October 12, 2013

Five brothers in Venezuela do a two hour radio program every Saturday and there is an opportunity for call in questions. Someone asked about the Parable in Matthew 22 and the wrong garment! There has always been questions about the Parable of the great net and the good fish and the bad fish. In the last Skype meeting we had with that group in Venezuela they ask me to give them an answer to the question about the universal invitation to the wedding feast and the problem with the wedding garment. Of course the good fish and the bad fish problem also applies to these many other aspects of the Kingdom.

I am preparing a brief answer to that question but also to give a broader view of the Parables. We should always remember that no less an authority than Christ Jesus gave us the Parables. Therefore, any bad mouthing of the Parables because they don’t agree with certain doctrines about “salvation” must be evaluated very carefully or rejected as religious ignorance. The problem is that “the doctrines of salvation” cannot cancel out the Eternal Truth of the Kingdom. The answer, of course, is to see “salvation” as part of the Kingdom and not as an exception to the Kingdom message. Teaching Salvation as something separate from the Kingdom of God and His Sovereign Government presents a big problem!

For some examples of this confusion that we hear; “The parables are just stories about events in Israel and cannot be used to set doctrines or reveal truth.” “These parables were told before Calvary and the dispensation of grace so they do not apply to the church but only for Israel.”

Finnis Jennings Dake, the Comentator of Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible and a late teacher of the Assemblies of God Church, reports on Matthew 4 :17 that the Kingdom was rejected (by Israel) and so it was postponed until Christ comes to set up His Kingdom. He said the Kingdom is a dispensational term. The Kingdom is now the realm of profession. These concepts have also been taught by other groups and by some dispensationalists. The thought is that both John and Jesus offered Israel the Kingdom but it was rejected and therefore it was postponed until the 1000 year reign of Christ upon the earth.

Of course if that was really true Paul was really confused because he went around everywhere preaching the Kingdom until his death. Peter, in 2 Peter,1 relates how we may enter the Kingdom now through a process of additions and change. The Book of Acts has many references to preaching the Kingdom long after Pentecost.

In fact, there are many other confusing statements about the Kingdom like these that are taught by the pulpiteers of the visible church today. By making the Kingdom “just for Israel” they have canceled out most of what Jesus, the first disciples and what Paul preached as part of the New Covenant.

In that same way, this same kind of gross ignorance is preached about the New Covenant. This scripture is given as proof that the New Covenant is not for the church but only for Israel and Judah.

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; 9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.

If that was true that the New Covenant in His blood was only for Israel and Judah, then every time the church takes the Lord’s Table they are usurping something that was only for Israel. Since Paul was made a “minister of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit,” his ministry should have been limited just to Israel if the New Covenant was exclusively for them. However, Paul’s call was clearly to the Gentiles. These “doctrines are just excuses” to by-pass the obvious but are not difficult to disprove if we just read the whole New Testament. The main problem seems to be that it is impossible to reconcile the popular doctrines about “salvation” with the demands of the Kingdom.

It is clear that Jesus was NOT wasting His time just telling irrelevant stories about current events in Israel when He told these 34 Parables about the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven is used the same as the Kingdom of God in both Luke and in Matthew Parables so we are not making any distinction in these names. There might be some distinction if the Kingdom of Heaven has always been the Government of Heaven and the Kingdom of God is His Government that is designed for individuals and for the church. The Kingdom is the Kingdom Government of God for all time and for all the universe and that includes both New Heaven and New Earth and the New Jerusalem. His Sovereignty and Absolute Government rules over all peoples everywhere and for all time periods, over Eternity and ALWAYS over Heaven. God is still absolutely Sovereign and He alone determines who He will allow into His Heaven.

Therefore, the Parables are of extreme importance in evaluating the many things about the Kingdom of God. The greatest problem is that the Kingdom Parables contradict many of the doctrines within the visible church so the Parables are rejected as irrelevant to the church under Grace. Of course, if the Kingdom was actually postponed then the parables become irrelevant along with much of what Jesus, Paul and the Apostles preached. However, it is clear that the Parables are in agreement with the “Absolutes” established by God as the standards and the stability for the whole church age! This includes the ministries, the doctrines and these “absolutes”must certainly take first priority over the doctrines conceived by man. Since the “church doctrines” vary from group to group it is impossible for them to agree with the absolutes which are the same for all churches and for eternity. That is why I am proposing that we should not rely upon the popular doctrines for ultimate truth but to rely upon God’s Absolutes as the foundation for Ultimate Truth. All relative truth (doctrines) must submit to and conform to the Truth inherent within the Absolutes. Why? That is because the Absolutes agree perfectly with the Kingdom of God and God’s Eternal Purpose and are integrate to it.

All doctrines are essential IF they agree with the Absolutes!

No doctrine of salvation by faith or confession is valid if it does not include “You Must Be Born Again” or the other absolutes! Every doctrine that agrees 100% with the Absolutes will agree 100% with the Kingdom and with God’s ultimate purpose. Any other doctrine must be evaluated for its genuineness of truth. If we removed all the stuff in the “doctrine books” about “salvation” which do not agree with the “Kingdom Absolutes,” there might be but a few pages left and the book would just be a small pamphlet. Those who are only doctrine oriented are generally offended by the Kingdom scriptures. There are, actually, dozens of examples of these standards church “doctrines” that conflicts with certain Kingdom Truth.

So we shall begin with the questions asked.

Mat 22:1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son.

Mat 22:3 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

Mat 22:7 “But the king was enraged and sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire.

Mat 22:8 “Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’10 “And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

Mat 22:11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless. 13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

One of the points we have been making for many years is that this “wedding feast” is an “absolute” and is certainly an integral part of God’s Eternal Purpose. In other words this “parable” has a definite fulfillment in Revelation 19 at the marriage feast of the Lamb. The type we see is in Genesis two with perfecting a bride for Adam.

This is not about a universal call “for salvation” but a universal call to God’s people (the redeemed) to attend the wedding feast of the Lamb. The King sent his “doulos” (bondservants) out (The Kingdom Five-fold Ministries) to invite a multitude to attend the wedding of His Son as GUESTS. (THE ARE NOT INVITED TO BE THE BRIDE) This is about the Kingdom and the wedding feast NOT about accepting Jesus as personal Savior. For that reason the application of truth must be adjusted to the Kingdom dimension and is not about being saved or lost. Always relating everything to “saved or lost” by the Evangelical Church is one of the conflicts with the Kingdom parables. Because of the false teaching about the Kingdom being postponed, the Gospel of the Kingdom is rejected or ignored and has been replaced by the gospel of salvation. That IS the source of these many conflicts which exist in the visible church. Just restoring the Gospel of the Kingdom in the visible church will solve many of these senseless controversies among those who are actually “born again” and can “see the Kingdom.”

 

How do we know this invitation is just for guests? Because the wedding feast is already prepared and the bride and the Bridegroom are ready to be joined into One New Man! The bride has already been selected, perfected, full grown and ready. This is NOT a call to get ready (evangelism) but a call to attending the Wedding Feast of the Lamb and His Bride who has already made herself ready.

 

Rev 19:6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 And he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.”

 

There should certainly not be any confusion over who the invited guests are and the bride who has made herself ready. The “great multitude” are not the bride. The bride is one perfected body of our Great High Priest and certainly NOT a multitude. It is really incredible that this could be so confused that the multitude in heaven, that are just guests, could actually be declared to be the bride.

 

Dakes’s Bible, in the commentary page 301, says that ALL the redeemed from Abel to the Millennial reign will live in the New Jerusalem and are the true bride of Christ. He doesn’t say exactly who will inhabit the New Heaven and the New Earth. However, he said, the New Jerusalem will descend from planet of heaven and become the Capital City for the New Planet Earth. (Page 303) It is simply because of the ignorance of the Tabernacle of God ( which is the reality of the Tabernacle of Moses) that these three places in heaven are hidden. The scriptures certainly do NOT hide them. It is little wonder that the Assemblies of God rejects all Kingdom teaching as being false. If all believers from all ages are the bride of Christ, it is difficult to understand who makes up this great multitude of invited guests.

 

This Wedding Feast of the Lamb takes place before the final battle of the great tribulation so all these people in Revelation 19 were already in heaven so this is NOT about going to heaven, someday! The bride was already in heaven and was already ready as the bride before the wedding east is announced.

 

Multitudes from every dispensation have been invited to be guests at this tremendous end time event. Some responded and some did not respond. We are NOT invited to be the bride! We MUST be prepared, matured, perfected and full grown to qualify as the bride.

 

Mat 22:8 “Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’

 

With this short background of the actual wedding feast, when it happens, it should be easier to understand this Parable about Kingdom of God! The Parable, then, is just about inviting the guests to the wedding feast and NOT about soliciting some concubines for Jesus. But, brother, what about the guy who didn’t have a proper wedding garment? [No! He was not naked. He had on clothes but NOT the right ones.]

 

Mat 22:11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless. (No excuses) 13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

Here is a guy who got as far as the wedding feast and then found himself without the proper garments to be accepted. However, the consequences was quite startling if we believe some of these doctrines about eternal security. Why? ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ What could possibly be the explanation of this very radical judgement? He tells us; “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

To apply this event to include the “salvation” of the thief on the cross presents many problems. Just accept Jesus as your personal Savior presents more problems. Just to be “called” but NOT “chosen” presents other problems UNLESS we fully recognize this is speaking about the Kingdom of God and not about gaining membership in the visible church.

 

If we isolated these strange but demanding requirements for each of the 34 parables and the applied them all to our participating in the Kingdom of God, we would understand what a serious thing this Gospel of the Kingdom really is. Why add to our burden ALL these requirements of the Kingdom?

 

This is extremely important because there are 34 parables that ALL tell us something about the ONE KINGDOM. Each Parable is another viewpoint or requirement established to participate in the ONE KINGDOM. Each demand of the Kingdom expressed in each parable must be added to all the other demands found in the other parables because each of the 34 parables are all relating to the ONE KINGDOM!

 

This is such a shocking idea that it is much easier to just say the Kingdom was postponed and does not apply to the church under grace! For another shocking revelation take this example;

 

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. 25 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. 26 “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. 27 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.” 28 The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

 

Could it even be possible that someone who has ministered in the pulpit and in the streets, with signs following, could then be rejected from the Kingdom because they did it outside the Laws and discipline of the Kingdom?

 

Mat 13:47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

Mat 13:51 “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” 52 And He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.”

 

Mar 4:13 And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?

 

It seems obvious that Jesus was saying that we need or must understand ALL the parables. Why? That is because they might be something important and connected to eternity! But, brother, the parables seem to contradict each other and are so complicated that who can understand them? This may seem even more difficult if we combine ALL the parables together to corporately define something about the One Kingdom. The Corporate Parables describe the Corporate Kingdom.

 

Of course if the Kingdom was postponed none of this is relevant!

 

But, what is so complicated about the big evangelism net being cast out and multitudes of souls are “won” and gathered in. The number of “souls won” are published with great joy. However, when we sort out the good from the bad and the bad thrown into the furnace of fire, the number of the souls that remain may be quite small. Why? Because, many are called but few are chosen ALSO applies to ALL the fish caught (souls). When we understand ALL the parables, it is clear that to be chosen as a good fish (new souls) is NOT the same as qualifying as the bride or of those who are not be counted as worthy of the Kingdom. Now the good fish must begin the preparation to be counted worthy of the Kingdom and to grow to the perfection of the bride!

 

Why are you presenting that to us when we are “already saved?” That is because we must take ALL the parables as corporate truth for ALL the Kingdom Government of God. ALL the requirements apply to ALL who will participate in the Everlasting Kingdom. Responding to some evangelistic message is not the same as being counted as good fish to begin training for the Kingdom. Obviously “training ‘fish’ for the Kingdom” is not very rational so other Kingdom Parables must apply that point to the new souls or sons or servants.

 

Then what is the answer to the question about the man who was severely disciplined simply because he neglected to wear proper wedding garments to the wedding feast?

 

Understanding ALL the garments is important when speaking about the Kingdom and the wedding feast. Of course, none can get into that area of heaven without first being “saved.” “Saved” means being only clothed with imputed righteousness which is by grace through faith. However, this must NOT be confused with the “other” garments just necessary to be a guest at the feast. It should be pointed out that priests had on MORE garments than just the breeches (underwear) to hide his nakedness. To be clothed in the fulness of the garments for this tremendous occasion is also very important. Since these things like garments of the priests are not taught to the “church,” any mention of other garments sound like false doctrines and are summarily rejected. However, the wedding garments are for the invited guests and are not the bridal garments!

 

It is a terrible thing to be cast into outer darkness because this is reserved for those who knew the truth but then ignored the truth. They “heard the word” but didn’t act upon it! They had “light” but preferred the “darkness” so they were thrown into Outer Darkness. We cannot identify any of these examples of those rejected as “unsaved” or heathen. Sons, friend or slave identify someone who knew but refused to comply and NOT unbelievers as is commonly taught.

 

Mat 8:12 but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 

Mat 22:12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless. 13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

 

Mat 25:30 “And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

When we take all 150 Kingdom scriptures as a whole, because they all speak of One Kingdom, the demands of the Kingdom shine brightly in contrast to the “gospel of the freebies.” Therefore, it is my opinion that the “gospel of the freebies” should be rejected and the “gospel of the full price” be accepted and the Kingdom of God recognized as the Only True Gospel.

 

Let us examine the commandment to bring in everyone they can attend the wedding feast.

 

Mat 22:9 ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 “And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

 

If we examine this Parable in Luke 14 more information can be gleaned.

 

Luke 14:21 “And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 “And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’”

 

However, the explanation that Jesus gave in Luke 14; 26 onward for this conclusion is even more disturbing.

 

Does this mean that at the last minute that God will accept anyone just so His house can be full. Not at all! Why? Because, they still must have on the proper garments and the good souls have to separated from the bad, PLUS what he said in Luke 14:26 also applies. Why?

 

That is because there are 34 parables but they ALL speak of the ONE KINGDOM.

 

While all this seems very demanding and it certainly appears to lack mercy and grace and forgiveness, we should point out that this is NOT speaking about escaping hell but defines the Kingdom of God. If we just understood the tremendous qualifications involved in preparing the Tabernacle of God, of fulfilling God’s Ultimate Purpose, and preparing a Government for the World Yet to Come, none of this would seem to be unreasonable.

 

The requirements for perfection of the Bride (the perfection of the New Jerusalem) seems quite reasonable when we realize God’s Purpose for her and His Only Begotten Son throughout eternity. The Bride’s garments define her perfection! Please, examine the guests!

 

Song of Songs 6:8 “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, And maidens without number; :9 But my dove, my perfect one, is unique: She is her mother’s only daughter; She is the pure child of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed, The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying, 10 ‘Who is this that grows like the dawn, As beautiful as the full moon, As pure as the sun, As awesome as an army with banners?’

 

Psalm 45:13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within; Her clothing is interwoven with gold. 14 She will be led to the King in embroidered work; The virgins, her companions who follow her, Will be brought to Thee. 15 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing; They will enter into the King’s palace. {but they are NOT the Bride but companions}