Let's freely apply the parable. ‘But when thou art bidden’ – when you are invited by Almighty God, when you're called to him, that's what this is about. The invitations in olden times would go out long in advance. You were called, then the long period of notice, and then finally the wedding came. That's a wonderful picture of life. God calls us by the gospel, ‘Come, needy souls, repent of your sins, come and seek me and find me. If you humble yourself, and you trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour, I will wash your sins away and give you a new life.’ Sometimes we are not interested. We ignore it. We turn our back on the invitation of the Christian faith. ‘Oh,’ says the Lord, ‘when you are bidden to a wedding, go; go to the feast. When you get there, go humbly. Go in this attitude, this frame of mind: ‘How did I ever get invited to this feast? I shouldn't have been invited. I've been an enemy of this family all my life. I've spoken against them. I have slandered their character. I have seized their property and rebelled. And yet they have invited me. This is kindness itself. I am amazed that they will even have me there. Surely, I should occupy the very lowest place at the feast.’ This is a picture of how we come to God. When we hear the call of the gospel, we don't say, ‘Oh, God wants me. He would be quite pleased to have me there. I am a superior person and a special person.’
We hear the call of the gospel. We hear God saying, ‘Come, and I will forgive you. I will give you a new life. The Saviour has come from heaven to earth to die on Calvary to take the punishment of sin for you, so that I can forgive you.’ And we ask ourselves, ‘How is it that I have ever heard the call of God? I, who have rejected God all my life. And yet he is ready to have mercy upon me. I must come humbly. I come acknowledging that I'm a lost sinner with no merit. I do not deserve to come. I have no spiritual life in me. I have no claim on the mercy of God.’
What happens when I come like that? God, by rights, should just condemn me. But look at the wonderful picture. If we come like that he will say to us, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ That is the way to be converted. He raises you up. He makes the difference. I come to Christ and I say, ‘Lord, I'm nothing at all. I'm just a lost sinner. I deserve eternal condemnation. Forgive me my sins’, and he almost interrupts me and he says, ‘Your sins are forgiven. And I make you a son. I make you a daughter of the most high God. I adopt you into the family of heaven.’ You come humbly, and God forgives you, and makes you what you never deserve to be. He changes your nature; he makes you an ambassador of heaven.