[1.] For the honour of God, to show his magnificence and royalty, and the glory of his exceeding great grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. For thus we find feasts made by great kings and potentates ; as Esther, chap, i, 3, 4, * He made a feast unto all his princes and his servants, to show them the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honour of his excellent majesty.' And so BeLshazzar made a feast to a thousand of his lords, Dan. v. 1. And so the great God, to show the riches of his glorious grace, hath made a feast of fat things, and wines well refined upon the lees ; the choicest blessings. Love is gone to the utmost. Beyond God there is nothing. God reconciled and God enjoyed are the chiefest blessings we can enjoy.
[2.] For the comfort and refreshment of sinful man. When man was banished out of paradise, he had no tree of life by which he might be refreshed, and would perish for need and hunger but that God had mercy on him and prepared a banquet, a rich banquet of grace. His fatlings are killed, his wines are mingled ; the crucified body of Christ, and his blood slicd for the expiation of sins and procuring eternal life ; this is meat indeed, and drink indeed. There is in it all that we can expect in a feast.
A SEKMON ON MATTHEW XXII. 11-13. 15
(1.) Ample satisfaction to every soul that is spiritually hungry and thirsty : Ps. xxxvi. 8, ' They shall he ahundantly satisfied with the fat- ness of thy house ; and Ps. xxii. 26, ' The meek shall eat, and he satis- fied , they shall praise the Lord that seek him ; your hearts shall live for ever.' The poor humble christian shall be satisfied with this spiritual food, and feel the vital effects of it. It shall be to him an eucharist indeed : Ps. Ixv. 4, ' They shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house.' There is no defect or want in God's feast. Here is remission of sins to allay our legal fears, eternal life to satisfy our de- sires of happiness. But many prefer husks before the fatted calf, swinish pleasures before these chaste delights, one morsel of meat before the birthright These besot the heart for a while, but they cannot satisfy it.
(2) Joy, pleasure, and delight. What will clieer the heart and conscience, if reconciliation with God, and the favour of God, and the fruition of God will not cheer us? The pardon of sin is the true reviving thing . Mat. ix. 2, ' Be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee.' And so also the hopes of glory : Kom. v. 1, 2, ' Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.' So that here is heavenly joy, and pleasure unspeakable and full of glory ; Isa. Iv. 2, ' Let your soul delight itself in fatness ; ' and Ps. Ixiii. 5, ' My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.' Did we once drink of this wine and taste of this fatness, how should we walk before the Lord with joy and cheerfulness all our days !
(3.) God useth us as friends. It is a great honour put upon us that we are invited to this wedding, that we may sit down at his table ; this is familiar fellowship. Haman boasted, Esther v. 12, ' The queen did let no man come into the banquet but myself ; and to-morrow I am invited also with the king.' But what an honour is it to sit down at the feast of the King of kings ! It is a token of our reconciliation with him ; for eating together is an act of friendship. Under the law, they were to brmg their peace- ofi'erings on the top of their burnt- offerings , and having offered them to the Lord, they were to eat of their part cheerfully among their friends ; for then they had, as it were, one dish sent them from God's table. This is the true notion of the Lord's supper ; it is a feast upon a sacrifice : Ps. 1. 5, ' Gather my saints together, which make a covenant with me by sacrifice.'
2. What is coming to this feast ? It is to profess ourselves chris- tians, and using the ordinances which belong thereunto. W^hen you submit to be baptized, hear the word, and frequent the sacraments, you come to the feast of God. Every day is a festival with a christian ; for the whole gospel-dispensation is a continual feast. Only some come to the feast — (1.) Eeady and spiritually, they have constant cause of rejoicing ; 1 Cor. v. 7, 8, ' Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened ; for Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us : therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.' (2.) Others outwardly profess