The Best of the Portals of Prayer

Read: John 5:39-47

“And sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.”
Matthew 22:3

Why Some Refuse

Nowhere in secular history do we hear of a people so rude to their king as these people in the parable. Most would call it a great honor to be invited to the palace to sit at the royal table. It is only the Lord Himself whom men treat so ill, for it is He who sent His servants to call men to wedding feast, and the King’s Son of whom the parable speaks is our Lord Jesus Christ.
They would not come. That has been the sad story down through the ages. God’s own people in ancient times begged to be excused. This has always been the case wherever the invitation has been given. Some will not come!
Nothing difficult is asked of them. No large sum of money is needed to gain a place in the banquet hall, and no effort is required on man’s part. It is not a weary task that is demanded of man, but rather an invitation to a joyous festival, the marriage of the King’s Son.
It is man’s own unbelief that causes him to refuse God’s wedding invitation. We cannot by our reason and strength choose to believe in the saving power of Jesus, but we have the awful power to refuse. It is man’s own sin that causes him to turn aside and be lost.

October 19, 1942