Let us turn again to God's Word
and turning to the portion that we read in Luke chapter 14 and
here at verses 16 to 24 we have the parable of the Great Supper. The Lord is continuing here his
ministry. And that may not be so often
by means of parables. As we see at verse 7, He put
forth a parable to those which were bidden. The parable of the
Great Supper then is what subsequently follows at verse 16. following. The words that I want
to send to your attention upon most particularly for our text
are found here in the 17th verse. The end of that verse we read
the words come for all things are now ready. Reading it in the context then,
verse 16, Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper,
and bade many, And sent his servants at suppertime to say to them
that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. The content of the parable The
parable of the Great Supper is, of course, very similar to what
we read also in the 22nd chapter of Matthew's Gospel. And there,
in the opening ten verses, we read of the marriage of the king's
son. And again, the Lord is setting
forth a parable. As we see in the opening words
of that chapter, Jesus answered and spake unto them again by
parables. So many times we see that this
was the manner of the Lord's teaching, parabolic. And what is the significance
of the parables? Well, they contain deep lessons,
spiritual lessons, And yet strangely by means of these parables the
Lord in a sense is concealing the truth from some whilst he
is revealing the truth to others. Matthew 13 is the great chapter
containing a good number of parables. And what do we see there in Matthew
13 at verse 10? We are told how the disciples
came and said unto him, Why speakest unto them in parables? He answered
and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not,
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them
is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing
ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall
see, and shall not perceive, for this people's heart is waxed
gross. Their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed, that at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. But blessed are your eyes, for
they see, and your ears, for they hear." How there we see
so clearly the discriminating nature of the ministry of the
Lord by using these parables. It is that the truth be hidden
from some, whilst at the same time it is revealed unto others. O the Lord grant that we might
be those then who are granted an understanding of what Christ
sets before us in the course of his earthly ministry. Turning
then to this particular parable that's recorded here in the 14th
chapter of Luke from verse 16 following. What is the historical
context? What is it that lies behind this
ministry? Well, the Lord in many ways is
very mindful here of the Pharisees. We're told in the opening words
of the chapter that He came to pass as He went into the house
of one of the chief Pharisees to eat breads on the Sabbath
day. and they watched him. He goes
into the house of a particular Pharisee and he goes there because
doubtless he was invited, he was to partake of a meal and
they're all watching him and watching him very closely and
we're told here at verse 15 that there was another who sat there
with him One of them that sat at meat with him heard these
things, the things that the Lord had just said previously. He addressed that pharisee who
had bidden him into his house, when thou makest a dinner or
a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy
kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours, he says, But when thou makest
a feast, call these poor, the lame, the blind, and they shall
be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, and so forth. And one of
them that sat at meat with him heard these things, and said
unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom
of God. And then this particular parable
of the great supper follows at verse 16 and the following verses. Oh, the Lord here is clearly
very mindful of the Jew, particularly the Pharisee. He speaks of a certain man making
a great supper, bidding many, sending out his servants, that
those that were bidden should come, for all things are now
ready. Who are those that were bidden?
Those that were bidden would be the Jews. These were God's
ancient people. These were those that were the
faithful, treated so differently to the other nations of the earth. As Paul says to the church at
Rome, there in the ninth chapter of the epistle, he speaks of
the Israelites. to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of
whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all
God blessed forever. All these favoured people that
were bitter, remember the language of the prophet Amos, you own
them, says God through his servant Amos, speaking again to the Jews,
you only have I known of all the families of the earth. And the Psalmist, you remember,
also speaks about these Jews were those who were so singularly
favoured. In the end of the 147th Psalm
he showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments
unto Israel, he hath not doubt so with any nation. And as for
his judgments, I have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. It was so in the Old Testament
that those who were of Israel, those were the fivered people,
that was God's nation. And he set his lot upon them,
not because they were greater than any other of the nations.
No, they were the least of the nations. It all has to do with
the inscrutable mystery of the sovereignty of God. And when
the Lord Jesus comes, we see that His own ministry
is first to the Jew. He says here in the Gospel, in
Matthew chapter 15, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. And when the Lord sends out his
own disciples, he makes it plain that they also are to minister
to those of Israel. We have the calling of the twelve,
there in Matthew chapter 10. And then verse 5, These twelve
Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, Go not into the
way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter
ye not but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel
and as ye go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Here in the parable then the
Lord is clearly very mindful of these people and yet how these
Jews so despised those great favours that God was pleased
to bestow upon them. And he brings it out in the parable.
As the servant is sent forth at supper time to speak to those
that were begun to speak to these Jews, we read verse 18, with
one consent they began to make excuse. The first said unto him,
I have bought a piece of ground and I must need to go and see
it. I pray they have me excused. Another said, I have bought five
yoke of oxen and I go to prove them. I pray they have me excused.
And another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot
come. One after another they make their excuses. They despise. They despise those privileges
that God had granted unto them. As we see in the opening chapter
of John's Gospel concerning Christ's ministry, He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the children of God, even to
them that believe on His name. For He comes to His own, He comes
to the Jew, and they refuse Him, they reject Him. And so here
in the parable, how does the Lord conclude it? Verse 23, the
Lord said unto the servant go out into the highways and hedges
and compel them to come in that my house may be filled for I
say unto you that none of those men none of those men which were
bidden shall taste of my supper and they are cut off because
of their unbelief. Here then is something of the
of the setting, the context in which the Lord speaks this particular
parable. Let us come though to these words
that we have at the end of verse 17 in particular. How that the
message is come for all things are now ready. And first of all
I want us to observe how that these very words come is a great
gospel word, what a remarkable word it is that God should ever
speak such a word to those who were rebels against him, to those
who were in that state of alienation, those who were culpable in their
sin, dead in trespasses and in sins and yet the Lord says to
such sinners, come. It is a great gospel word and
such a contrast with that word that God speaks in his law. The
law in contrast holds men back and forbids men to come. It repulses
me. And we see it, of course, in
the whole context in which we have the giving of the Lord of
God back in Exodus. The Lord is found there, as you
know, in the 20th chapter, but we have the setting in the previous
19th chapter. And what do we see here in chapter
19? How Moses is commanded Verse
12, Thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying,
Take heed to yourselves that ye go not up into the mount,
or touch the border of it. Whosoever toucheth the mount
shall be surely put to death. There shall not a hand touch
it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. Whether it be
beast or man, it shall not live. when the trumpet soundeth long,
they shall come up to the mount." Although God is about to descend
upon the mount and grant His revelation of Himself in the
giving of His holy law, yet the people must stand back, they
must keep their distance. And so we're told there at verse
20 how the Lord came down upon the Mount Sinai on the top of
the Mount and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the Mount
and Moses went up and the Lord said unto Moses go down charge
the people lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze and many
of them to perish or they cannot come near what
is the language of the Lord of God keep your distance stand
back Whereas, when we come to the
Gospel, it is that gracious word of invitation. Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light. Oh, what a difference! between
law and gospel. Again, think of the language
of the Lord Jesus there in that great sixth chapter of John's
Gospel. All that the Father giveth shall come unto me, and he that
cometh unto me I shall in no wise cast out. All the Father
has given him the people. And what is the mark of that
election of grace? They come. if we are those who
come, if we have a desire to come, it is a mark, is it not,
of that sovereign love of God towards our souls, because the
Lord Jesus has said Himself that all that come, He will in no
wise cast out, He will refuse none of those that come. Why,
this is the very language upon which the Word of God concludes
when we come to the closing verses of Revelation 22, the Spirit
and the Bride say, Come! the Spirit and the Bride, that
is the Holy Spirit, that is the Spirit as He is in the Church,
the Bride of Christ. The Spirit and the Bride say,
come and let Him that heareth say, come and let Him that is
at thirst, come and whosoever will, let him take of the water
of life, freedom. Here then we have this great
word of the Gospel, come. for all things are now ready
all is ready all is ready and that is the reason look at the
language that is employed it says come for and that little
word for indicates why one can draw near so freely it's because
all things are ready There is no works at all that need to
be performed. There's no need of any good works. We know that. There are no good
works that can be performed by the sinner before God has worked
in his soul. Those good works can only follow
that great work of regeneration when the sinner is born again
of the Spirit of God. We don't have to perform good
works to make ourselves ready to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
No, by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works. Not of works, lest any
man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. that God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Why those good works? They follow
God's work. As I said, that great work of
regeneration. There's no good works to be performed
by anyone who would know this blessing of the
Gospel. or the sinner can come freely. The sinner can come just
as he is. He comes as a sinner. There's
no good works. There are no preparatory works
of any sort. It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done. But according to His mercy, He
has saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost. No works in the way of preparation. We might look at ourselves sometimes
and feel that we have not the right sort of character. We feel
maybe as we look to ourselves that we're all wrong. Our sins
are too great. How can we come? We're such sinners. We're such regular sinners. And
there are those sins that are constantly besetting us, bedeviling
us. How can we calm the sinners? But then there are others who
think, well, I don't feel my sin deeply enough. I don't know
enough about the conviction of sin. You see, the devil is such
a subtle foe, he'll make some think that their sin is too great
to ever be forgiven. But he'll tell others that they
haven't really known a true conviction of sin. Or let not conscience
make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream. All the fitness
he requireth is to feel your need of him. This he gives you.
Tis the Spirit's rising being. Or we're not to think of any
fondness in us, any sort of preparation necessary on our part. Why the Lord Jesus is that one
who came to save sinners. And he says as much, the whole
have no need of the physician but they that are sick. I came
not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And how these Pharisees, and
as I said here we see him, he's entered into the house of one
of the chief Pharisees. How these Pharisees despised
him. We read in chapter 15 how the
Pharisees and the scribes murmured saying, this man receiveth sinners
and eateth with them. Oh, there's no works at all on
our part that are necessary in any way to make us those who
are fit to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. We come just as we are.
There is just one work that we need to be aware of and that
is the great work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at what it
says here. A certain man, we read in verse
16, made a great supper. Why the supper is made, the table
is spread, and that is the great gospel table, and it's full of
the most rich deities. He has made the supper, and as
we read at the end of our text, come for all things are now ready. Everything is done, nothing is
wanting. It reminds us, does it not, of
the great truth of that word that Christ has accomplished. I have glorified thee on the
earth, he can say to his father as he comes to his great prayer
in John 17, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work that thou gavest me to do. And so there upon the
cross as he comes to die and he it is who lays down his life
No man is able to take that life from him. He has power, he has
authority to lay that life down. He has power and authority to
take that life again. This is the commandment that
he has received of his father. And in dying, he is very conscious
that he is obeying the command of the father. He lays down his
life. And as he lays it down, as he
gives up, it goes. as He commends His Spirit into
the hands of His Father, what does He say? It is finished. All that great work He has accomplished
by His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross,
this is the great work of the Lord Jesus. This is the only
work we have to be aware of when we come for salvation, because
salvation is of the Lord. for all things are now ready
why the work is done seize from your own works bad and good and
wash your garments in my blood the language of the hymn as it
were the Lord Jesus himself inviting the sinner a cessation from every
work and a resting in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ alone
All the work is done, the supper is made. A certain man made a
great supper. Remember last Lord's Day morning
we considered for our text those words in Jeremiah 15, 16 and
sought to say something of what it means for us to be those who
as we come together in this fashion of feeding. are feeding upon
the Word of God. What does Jeremiah say in that
text? Thy words were found and I did
eat them and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my
heart for I am called by thy name. All the words were found. We have to seek the Word. We
all have to seek the Word. Seek and ye shall find it says.
but it's not just seeking and fighting there's also that feeding
I did eat them says Jeremiah and thy word was unto me the
joy and rejoicing of my heart but remember we also referred
not referred not simply to Jeremiah but others it's true in the New
Testament it's John's experience in the revelation he speaks of
the little roll that he has to eat was true also in the case
of Ezekiel as we saw last week. And interestingly there in Ezekiel
3 and verse 2 he says, So I opened my mouth and he caused me to
eat that roll. He caused me to eat the roll. He was unable of himself even
to partake. Just now we'll sing that lovely
hymn of Isaac Watts. And it has that concluding verse,
was the same love that spread the feast, that sweetly forced
us in as we had still refused to taste and perished in our
sin. Oh, the Lord has to cause us
to taste. The Lord has to give us an appetite. and the Lord has to feed that
appetite. The work is the Lord's, in every
sense. The table is spread, yes, but
the Lord is the one who constrains us to come and causes us to partake. All these great words come. Why
do we come? Here's the reason for all things
are now reddened. this great word of the gospel
and we see also the grace of God in this that there's a repetition
there's a repetition of the call God doesn't just call once he
comes and he calls time and time and time again look here at what
it says Later in the parable, verse 21, So that servant came
and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house,
being angry, said to his servants. He came, he told him of those
who had refused the call. He says to his servant, Go out
quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, bringing hither
the poor and the mind and the halt and the blind. And the servant
said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there
is room. that the Lord said unto the servant,
Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come
in, that my house may be filled." Oh, there is room you see. There
is room as we see there in verse 22. Yet there is room. And just
now we had it in that second hymn that we sang. Yield not
then to unbelief? Courage, soul, there yet is room. Though of sinners thou art chief,
calm thou burdened sinner. This is the language of the Gospel
and God's call. There is room, so there is to
be yet another call. And we see it also in that portion
that we read in Matthew 22 in verse 3 We read how He sent forth and
then in verse 4, again He sent forth. He sends forth, He sends
forth again. This is the way of God. How the Lord was pleased to send
His prophets, to send them time after time to the children of
Israel. And how they reminded of God's
goodness. Oh, the folly of those Jews of
old. They're in Jeremiah 25. The Prophet reminds them at verse
4, The Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets,
rising early and sending them. But ye have not hearkened nor
inclined your ear to hear. Oh, He sent His servants so many
times, and yet they had refused them. They said, Turn ye again,
O every one, from his evil way and from the evil of your doings,
and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and
to your fathers for ever and ever. And go not after other
gods to serve them and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger
with the works of your hands, and I will do you no harm. Yet
ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord, that ye might
provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own
heart. The folly of men, they refuse
this gracious word, this gospel word. When the Lord God Himself
comes and comes in the gospel and speaks so graciously, come. For all things are now readily
but in this parable we also see another word that we might say
is a great word of the gospel and we have it there in verse
23 when the Lord says unto his servants go out into the highways
and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be
filled and not only invited with that gracious word come, but
they must be compelled, compel them to come in, that my house
may be filled. Now what is the significance
of this word? Well it has the idea of constraining them, necessitating. That's the force
of the word. They must do this thing, they're
so stubborn. They are so set in their sins. They will never come by the mere
word of invitation. No, they must be compelled. We see then here how that these
people are so worldly minded. And that's indicated in the way
in which they make their different excuses. There at verse 18 following,
With one can sense, we're told. They began to make excuse. They began to make excuse. And what are those words of excuse
that they make? Well, they have a variety of
excuses that they utter. They're excusing themselves.
They won't come. They won't eat. The Word of God,
the invitation of the Gospel. Interestingly, in Matthew's similar
account there in that 22nd chapter, we read at verse 5, "...as they
made light of it." They make light of the gracious Gospel
invitation. And the words or the expression made light
of it, is in fact a single word. It's the word care with the negative
prefix. Literally, they don't care, they're
careless. Isn't that the attitude of men
and women in this great gospel day. Behold now is the accepted
time, says the Apostle, behold now is the day of salvation.
And yet men couldn't care less. They make light of it, they excuse
themselves. Why they are so worldly minded. Isn't that what we see in the
excuses that are recorded? at verse 18 and the following
verses the first said unto him I have bought a piece of ground
I must needs go and see it I pray thee have me excused and then
the other says I have bought five yoke of oxen I go to prove
them I pray thee have me excused and in the third I have married
a wife and therefore I cannot come it is simply the affairs
of this life that occupy all their time and all their attention.
They are worldly minded. And we have that word of exhortation
in John's first general epistle. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. interesting
those expressions, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the
eyes and the pride of light, how it reminds us of that sin
that was committed there in the Garden of Eden when the serpent
came to the woman and the language that we have In verse 6 of Genesis
3, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
it was pleasant to the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, a tree to be desired to make one wise, the pride of
life, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto
her husband with her, and ate it. Why, what John is speaking
of is that it is at the very root of sins, all sins, the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life or we're to be those who would
desire above all that we might be delivered from such worldly
mindedness while we look not at the things which are seen
but the things which are not seen for the things which are
seen are temporal and the things which are not seen are eternal
God deliver us from such preoccupation with the things of this present
evil world, this world that lies in wickedness, this world that
lies only in the wicked one. Our affections are to be set
on those things that are above where Christ is, at God's right
hand, to be delivered from worldly mindedness. The emphasis here
is because this spirit is so prevalent they must be compelled
when they hear that gracious gospel word come for all things
are now reddened and they refuse it and they make light of it
and they make their excuses so it is that the servant is commanded
to go forth and compel them to come in that my house may be
filled what is this compulsion? What is his compulsion? Well,
we live in a day of much confusion with regards to just what it
entails. We know that there are those who believe that men have some
sort of capacity in themselves. There are those of course who
believe that men have a will that is free and they can make
their choice. They can make their commitment,
this is the language they choose, they can give their heart to
the Lord, you know, the language that's spoken in those Arminian
circles. But then there are others who,
whilst they would deny the doctrine of free will, yet they believe
certainly in a free offer, a universal offer, and there is a certain
presentation of the Gospel where the impression is given that
you either take it, or you leave it, There's that old duty-faith
teaching that we're so much aware of as if men can do something.
And yet, as we sought to say this morning, it's all done.
We know there are those circles in which there is a constant
repetition of the need to do, to do, to do. And not really
that biblical emphasis upon the great truth that all is done.
that the supper has been made and that all things are now ready. Well, what sort of compulsion
then? Well, there are those who would say they're compelled by
what some would term moral persuasion. You've got to persuade them.
You've got to reason with them. You've got to present your arguments. force these things upon their
minds and seek to show them the error of their ways but at the
end of the day we are told that the natural man receives not
the things of the Spirit of God but their foolishness too neither
can he know them because they are spiritually discerned how can those who are dead in
trespasses and sins be persuaded of these great spiritual truths
No, we must ever be mindful of that great need of the fulfillment
of what was promised to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Eternal Covenant. He is told quite explicitly in
the Psalm, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. All the compulsion comes from
the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. think of that language that we
find back in Isaiah there in Isaiah 26.12 that confession,
that acknowledgement Thou also hast brought all our works in
us it says Thou also hast brought all our works in us O Lord our
God are the Lords beside Thee of our dominion over us by Thee
alone Will we make mention of thy name? Even to make mention
of that name, it's by thee alone. How are men to be compelled?
Men must be brought to the end of themselves. Men must be brought
to feel their complete and utter impotence, spiritually. They
must learn in their soul something of that terrible truth, the awful
doctrine of the sinner's total depravity, to be shut in to what
he is. to cry out in that language of
the Prophet thou also hast wrought all our works in us or as Paul
says we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as
of ourselves all our sufficiency must come from God how there
is to be then in that compulsion the proper preaching of the Lord
of God that law that all men are really under Paul says, We
know that what thingsoever the law said, it said to them who
are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world become guilty before God. God will stop the sinner's
mouth. God will bring that sinner in
guilty. Oh, it's by the law that we come
to that knowledge of our sin. And then, what a great joy to
discover that all is ready. All is ready. Salvation is accomplished. The Gospel feast has been altogether
prepared. and it's set before the sinner,
but then the Lord himself is that one who comes and so graciously,
sovereignly applies it. We need the Lord himself to come,
as it were, and to put that spiritual meat into our very mouths, and
to feed us with the good things of the great supper of the gospel.
Oh, we're told then a certain man made a great supper, and
bade men and sent his servants at supper time to say to them
that were bidden, Come for all things are now ready and then
as we have it here in the 23rd verse the Lord says unto his
servant go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to
come in that my house may be filled. For the Lord grant that
we might know the truth of these things for our soul's eternal
good. For Christ's name. Amen.