So have liberty and Calvary. Thank you, John. Thank you, Sherry. We'll go back to Luke's Gospel,
Chapter 14 now with Luke. Chapter 14. The Lord Jesus Christ was eating
in a Pharisee's house. A chief Pharisee. It says in verse 1, the people
that came in to eat bread watched him. They were curious about
him. They were observing him. And we heard this morning on
the radio, they sat down to watch him there on Calvary's tree.
It's sad, isn't it? Most people are merely curious
and curiously religious and watch rather than looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ. looking to him for help, for
mercy, for salvation. They were observing him, especially
the religious. They were going to try to catch
him up in something. Most people hear the Word of
God that way. They listen to the Word of God
like that. It says the Lord healed a man. He healed a man. It was on the Sabbath day, and
the Pharisees were indignant. This happened in the chapter
previous to that. The Lord healed a man on the
Sabbath day, and they became angry and said, You can't. There
are other days to be healed. And these people, these Pharisees,
were religious and in the name of God and so forth. They weren't about the glory
of God. They weren't in it for the salvation
of souls. They were in it to brag on how
they would keep the law. They were in it to be seen of
men and women, how moral they were, how upright they were,
to see what godly men they were. That's what Pharisees are all
about. To be seen. Not to see Christ's
glory. Not to be shown mercy. Not in it for the salvation of
souls. It's to count heads. Count numbers, so you can brag
about it. And that's that. That's why they
do about everything they do to get people in. It's not to save
the souls. It's to see how many. That's
always the question then. How many? True religion is for the glory
of God. True religion is that men might
be saved. Salvation is being pulled out
of a pit. Our Lord said, which of you having
an ox or an ass, and verse 4, 5, an ass or an ox has fallen
into a pit, you will not straightway pull him out. Salvation is being
pulled out of a pit. Deliver us, the psalm says, from
going down into the pit. Remember the pit from which ye
were digged. God's people, of all they know,
they were in a pit. This world is a pit of corruption. Scripture talks about being saved
from this present evil world. When he said he lifts up the
beggar from the dunghill. Let's talk about this world.
1 Samuel 2. So our Lord, they couldn't answer,
verse 6, when he asked them, which of you would not pull out
your ox or ass? They could not answer. They would
not answer. They knew the answer. They would
not answer. Men and women are willingly ignorant. Peter said, didn't he? 2 Peter
3, willingly ignorant. and will not answer because it
condemns them. Believing what they want to hear,
rejecting the plain truth of God's Word. Rejecting it. It
clears the nose on your face. But reject it. Turn away their
ears from it. Then the Lord began to observe
the people coming in to this feast. In verse 7, he says, he
marked, he observed how they chose out the chief rooms or
seats or places He observed them choosing these chief-run seats.
Why is that? Well, you know how it is when
people go to any kind of a get-together or any kind of entertainment
or party or whatever it may be or any kind of event, they want
to see or be seen. Everybody wants to be somebody
or see somebody that is somebody. be seen with that person, right?
That's man to everybody. Either they want to be rich or
among the rich and famous, or both. The Lord is going to tell
us about the kingdom of heaven. The Lord is going to tell us
about who's going to heaven. Not many wise men of the flesh,
not many nobles. Not many mighty are called. Isn't
that what the Scripture said? There was a queen years ago in
England who knew the Lord, feared the Lord, worshipped the Lord. And she said, I thank God for
the letter M, because it does not say not any noble, but not
many. He was one of the few. One of
the few. The Lord is going to tell us
of the kingdom of God. It's not for the rich and the
famous. It's not for the mighty, not
for the noble, but it's for the poor. Not poor physically. Not a person in this room who
is materially poor. No one. Our Lord said, blessed are the
poor in spirit. That's who hears the gospel.
That's who needs the gospel. The poor in spirit, that is. They don't have anything to commend
them to God. They don't have any righteousness.
They don't have any merit. Their works aren't good enough.
They don't have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. They
don't have any ability to be holy. They need salvation that's
a free gift. That's the poor. Theirs is the
kingdom of God, our Lord said. The poor. And the poor have this
gospel preached unto them. The gospel of a sovereign, complete,
finished work by someone else, freely given and bestowed upon
them. That no flesh should glory in
his presence. That's what it's all about. I
thought about this. If these people coming into this
feast had known who that was there, do you think they would
have been vying for the chief seat? Do you think they would
have been looking for the best seat in the house? God is there. The Lord Jesus Christ is there.
Had they been coming in looking for Him, they would have seen
Him there, and they all, to a man, would have fallen at the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ, saying, we don't deserve to be here.
Here, you take the high seat. You. But they didn't. Neither do men
and women know him now, except he revealed himself. Look at verse 8. Our Lord said
to them, when you're bidden to any man, when thou art bidden
of any man to a wedding, the Lord is going to talk about a
wedding supper. That's what this supper is He's
going to talk about. Heaven is all about. It's a wedding.
You know what wedding that is? What marriage supper we're talking
about? Do you? You've got to know to
bid that. See, when you're bidding to a
wedding, don't sit in the highest room. And he went on to say,
if you take the highest seat and someone come in, the man,
the owner, come in and say, get up. This is for someone else.
And you, with shame, have to take the lowest seat. I did this
one time. I went to a horse show. Catherine, there you are. I went
to a horse show in Roanoke one time. You know all those box
seats down there that they have reserved for the rich and the
famous people that have big stables and all of that? Well, I had
the nosebleed seats. And I couldn't afford those.
I wasn't anybody. thoroughbred farm. Well, I sure
wanted to sit in one of those seats. Well, you know, they were
empty for the longest time. The show was about to start and
I thought, well, they ain't coming. So I went down there and got
in one of those seats. What do you think was running
through my head? They think I'm one of these rich thoroughbred
owners. They think I'm somebody. I'm in this box. Well, here they
came. And the steward came and said,
sir, you're in someone else's seat. So I was shamed. Got up, went back to the nosebleed
seats with the rest of the commoners. I had that in a minute. Our Lord
said, in the kingdom of heaven, you take the lowest seat. You need to realize you're not
worthy to be here. In heaven, one person is spoken
of as being worthy. You know who that is? You know
the song? They're singing it. Worthy is
the Lamb. Every single person there was
unworthy. Thief on the cross, Mary Magdalene,
Saul of Tarsus, Zacchaeus the publican, publicans and harlots. Unworthy. One alone who's worthy
to be there, who deserves the high seat, who deserves all the
accolades, all the honors, all the praise, all the glory. One
person and one person alone. And He is the reason they're
all there. He's the one that made them. He's the one that
saved them. He's the one that redeemed them.
He's the one. Jesus Christ, King of kings,
Lord of lords. It says that when you go, you
take the lowest seat for, verse 11, whosoever exalteth himself
shall be abased. Count on it. God knows how to
abase them and exalt himself. And he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. You know what characterizes our
generation more than any other? The characteristic of our generation
more than anything else. What is it? Pride. And that's as Scripture says.
2 Timothy 3 talks about the last days, perilous times. Men shall
be proud, lovers of self, boasters, heady, high-minded. That describes
man, doesn't it? That describes our day more than
anything else. Listen to Isaiah 2. Enter into
the rock and hide thee in the dust for fear of the Lord and
for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall
be humble. The haughtiness of man shall
be bowed down. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. And you know who's going to be
with Him? Those that give Him all the glory. The unworthy. Now, this is more than just a practical
lesson in humility to these people and to us. The Lord is saying,
nobody is going to be in heaven. the humble, the meek, the lowly,
the unworthy. That's who's going to be in God's
kingdom. That's who this gospel's for.
This gospel is for those that know they don't deserve it. This
gospel of mercy is for the guilty. This gospel of grace is for the
helpless. This gospel of a salvation accomplished
is for the unable, the weak, the helpless, the hopeless, the
damned, the doomed. That's who this gospel's for.
Not for the righteous. Look for the ungodliness of the
sinner. You've got good news for the sinner. We've always
wanted to put on our sign out there, no good people need apply
here. They have nothing for you. Sinners only. Sinners only. Well, in verse 12, this is where
the story of the supper begins, the Lord gave this parable He
said, when you bid a man to suffer, you call the poor and the lame
and the blind, and they can't recompense you, but you'll be
recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Now, our Lord Jesus
Christ did just that. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repent. This man received a sinner.
The publicans and the harlots is who he came for. Is that you? I said, I've never been to Harlem.
You've never sold your body to sin? I don't think you know anything
about sin. Publican. That is, he cared more
for money than God or anything else. Money was his idol. You mean to tell me that you
weren't totally given to materialism? Every one of God's people believe
that of themselves. Well, our Lord said that that's
who's going to be the one who bids those who can't recompense
them, and she's going to be blessed. And isn't that what the Lord
Jesus Christ did? He didn't come to save people
that could help him out. God doesn't help those who help
themselves. He helps those who can't help themselves. Doesn't
say that in the Bible anywhere. God helps those who help themselves.
That man made that up. God helps the helpless. The other
ones that need him. Saves the lost. That's the other
ones that need him. So they can't help him. He doesn't need them. Then why
did he save them? They need him. And they're going
to give him all the glory for it. You see? They're going to
give him all... If you did something, you had something that was so
rare and so valuable, and it's the only thing that could help
someone, who would you give it to? Those that didn't want it,
didn't need it? Those who said, no, I'll be alright,
just help me out a little bit. Those that would greatly appreciate
it, those that needed it the most. That's who God gives His
salvation to. And therefore, God the Father
hath called him blessed and giveth him all the glory, because he
laid down his life, not for the righteous, not for the good,
but for ungodly and sinners, the poor, the lame, the halt,
and the blind. That's who Christ came to save. And a man sitting there at the
feast, verse 15, said, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in
the kingdom of God. That's true. Whether that man
knew what he was saying, I don't know. I don't know. But it is true. Here's what the
Scripture says. It says, Blessed are they which
are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation
19. That's true. Oh, how blessed are they that
are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The Lord gave this
parable not only to condemn those who make excuses and those who
think they belong there, who won't be there, but for the comfort
of the poor, blind, halt, and lame to tell us how blessed we
are if we've been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb,
to tell God's people how so very blessed. We talked about that
high calling, heavenly calling, infinitely higher and more glorious
than if the President of the United States or the Queen of
England would invite us to sit at their table. I better be careful. I really, I don't want to be
there. But there is a table that I do want to sit at. And if I
could just have the lowest seat. By the way, there are no bad
seats there. There aren't. But this is infinitely
higher, heavenly calling, God. And men think that, you know,
God ought to save them at their work. They don't know themselves, and
they don't know the God of the Bible who is infinitely holy. What does God mean with worms?
Tell me. Well, this man, I don't know
if he knew what he was saying, but he said, Blessed is he that
shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. And oh, how blessed.
And we really don't know. Eye hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things that
God hath prepared. for them that love him, because
he first put them there, because he called them. Oh, my dear Bishop,
about as close as we can come to understand it, when David
called him and said, Who am I that you should show such mercy to
a dead dog? Like a dead dog on the side of
the road, you came and picked me up and gave me life and sat
me as one of the king's sons at your table. He never got over
that. Neither will God's people get
over it in glory. Oh, how blessed are they that
are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. My, my. He said,
a certain man, verse 16, a certain man made a great supper and bade
many. Now hold it right there. The
word bade does not mean invite. Look it up. The word invite is
not in the Scripture. Not concerning God and men. God
doesn't invite people. It's not there. The word bade
means pronounce it. Make an announcement. Many are
called. What does that mean? They hear
the call. They hear the pronouncement.
What's the pronouncement? Right here. Hear ye, hear ye. As we said, kings don't ask people
things. People don't have a clue about
sovereignty. It's been so long since there's been an absolute
sovereign, a despot reigning and ruling, doing as he will
with whom he will. That's who the God of the Bible
is. God doesn't want anything. God wills. God will do all His
pleasure. God doesn't hope anything. God
worketh all things. God isn't dependent on anyone
or anything. That's what Jehovah the name
means. Independent, self-sufficient. reigning, ruling, sovereign over
all, sovereign, doing as He will, working all things after the
counsel of His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay His hand to say, You can't do
that. That's the God of the Bible that very few people are acquainted
with today. That all of God's people, He reveals Himself as
such to them. And that he turns them from this
idol to serve, to fear, to serve the glory and the honor of the
living and the true God, who is God. And God Almighty, the
Scripture says, commanded all men everywhere to repent. Doesn't
ask, doesn't invite. Won't you accept my son as your
personal Savior? That's not in the Bible anywhere. preacher ever stood up and said
those things? Not one. Those of you who know the Scriptures,
it's so, isn't it? Not there. The book of Acts,
the word love is not mentioned one time. All the public sermons by the
apostles recorded in Acts, love is not mentioned one time. They
never stood up and said, God loves you and Jesus died for
you. Because it's not so. God is angry with the wicked
every day. There are some whom God hates. Ask Esau. Jesus Christ said, I lay down
my life for the sheep, not goats. Sheep. He does as he will. That's the God of the Bible.
What does that create? Fear. The fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom. Fear. in men and women who know
themselves to be unjust, sinners, deserving of wrath. Huh? Fear
causes them, by God's grace, by God's Spirit, to call upon
this God, have mercy on me, O Lord. Will He do it? Yes, to every
single one that calls. Why do they call? We've already
said that. Because He called them. by our gospel, which I'm
preaching right now. Certain man bade many. Many are
called, but few are what? Chosen. Blessed are the chosen. Christ said to the disciples
one time, He said, You didn't choose me. I chose you. They knew that. To a man. So does every one of God's disciples.
They know that. I didn't choose him. And I believe
he chose me. He bade the marriage supper of
the Lamb is a pronouncement. There's going to be one. Who
hath not heard? Didn't Paul say, have they not all heard? Yea,
barely. The sound has gone throughout the earth. Christ said of men,
you will not come unto me. You will not come unto me. He
said, come, but he said, you will not come unto me. Men will
not come unto him. Why? They said, we will not have
this man reign over us. But Psalm 110, verse 3 says,
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. In the
power of God, the power of His Holy Spirit, the power of His
Word, when God Almighty sends it in power, He breaks that obstinate,
sinful will of that son of Adam who will not have this man reign
over and makes him willing in the day of his power. Causes
him to fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ and hate themselves. causes him to call on God for
mercy, for salvation. And God who is rich in mercy,
God who delights to show mercy, has mercy on every one of them
that call. And all that the Father giveth me, Christ said, shall
come unto me. That's the elect. That's what
God's Word said. To the praise of the glory of
His Grace is sovereign, redeeming, electing, saving, keeping, restraining,
constraining grace. We've got grace on this sign
out here. What does that mean? That means salvation is completely
an act of God, a gift of God. Not an offer of God, but an act
of God. Noah found grace. That means
God was gracious to him. And I did too. It's a marriage. A certain man made a marriage,
a marriage supper. Marriage is one man and one woman,
isn't it? Boy, do people hate this. Paul
said man's a head over the woman, didn't he? Didn't he? That's God's Word. Christ is the head of man and
man's the head of the woman, isn't it what it said? What do
you think about that? Well, it's so. It's so. Well, what that is, though, Paul
said in Ephesians 5, I'm speaking of a great mystery. I'm talking
about Christ and His church. And all of God's people are the
weaker vessel. All of God's people are the female.
Christ is the head. He's the Lord over the house. And they love to have it so.
They're willing, as we said. To a man, to a woman, to a person,
they all say, we will have this man reign over us. Be thou our
head. Rule over us. Well, God made
marriage as a type of that, a picture of that. God instituted marriage. The man was not of the woman,
but the woman of the man, right? That's Christ. We don't give
birth to ourselves. Christ gave birth to us. He presented
the woman to the man. Well, God made a marriage before
the world began. He made a marriage in heaven.
Marriage made in heaven. He betrothed his son. God has
one son, one only begotten well-beloved son. Purpose for him to have
a bride. What for? Did he need one? Why, no. But this was to the
praise of his glory and his honor. Okay? And God Almighty made this
marriage, purposed this marriage, betrothed His Son as her Head,
as her Lord. You like that? As her Keeper,
as her Provider, as her Redeemer, as her Protector, her Great Boaz. She's just a Ruth. All right? And then He chose the Bride.
God chose the bride. She didn't choose him like Ruth. He chose the bride, gave them
to his son. They're all forlorn women. Every
one of them are forlorn women like the story in Hosea. Hosea
and Gomer. Hosea is Jesus Christ. Gomer
is us. Gomer is a harlot. But God said,
Go marry a forlorn woman. And He did. Bought her off the
auction block. Put her on his arm and said,
look who I bought. Oh, what did you get her for?
My honor. My glory. My praise. She sold
herself. I bought her back. She's mine. To his honor. To his glory. Not
hers. God made this marriage. Chose his bride. And he causes
them to fall in love. Not the son with her. He loved
them before the world began. The son loved his bride. Jeremiah
31.3 speaks of his people. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. They're all drawn. No man can
come unto me except the Father which hath sent me. What? Draw
him. Chords of love. Chords of a man.
Lord Jesus Christ. When God Almighty through the
Spirit preaches this gospel, they all, to a person, fall in
love with, been enamored with. The Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the one I need. That's the one I need. Not this
weak, pitiful Jesus standing outside my heart's door hoping
I'll let Him in. No, sir. I need somebody who'll bust the
door down and take me in His arm and carry me across the threshold,
carry me all the days of my life. That's who you need. I'm lame. I'm blind. I'm haunted.
That's who He saved. Supper. Marriage supper. You southern people know what
supper is, don't you? When do you eat supper? You don't
eat it at noon. That's dinner. I had to get that
straight when I moved down here. I'd say, it's time for dinner.
No, that's lunchtime in the South. Supper is when? That's the last
meal of the day. It's almost over. The day is
almost over. This is called the marriage supper. The last day. The last day. The last time. Behold, he's at
the door. Supper. What do you do at a supper? You eat. Who eats at a supper? Who comes
to supper? Who comes to supper? The hungry. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst. After what? This world? After righteousness. What is
righteousness? It's a person. Go learn what that means. We're
going to get to heaven. He has made unto us wisdom or
righteousness. He's called the Lord our righteousness.
Jehovah's Sake in it. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst. Oh my, the last meal of the last days is this marriage
supper. I want to be there. And it starts
now. And you know what the food is
they serve at this marriage supper? One thing. Lamb. Lamb. Every single feast in the
Old Testament, every single worship service, every single time men
and women got together to worship God, they served lamb. That's by design. That's speaking
of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's no coincidence
that very little lamb is eaten today. that very few people have
a taste for lamb. Ever thought about that? You
go to McDonald's and order, give me a triple lamb burger. I'm not making light here. I'm
just telling you it's no coincidence. Very few people have a taste
for it now. But Jews do. Jews do. When Isaac Abraham and Isaac
were walking up that mountain. Remember? And Isaac was carrying
the wood. Abraham had the fire and the
knife in his hand. And Isaac said to his father, he knew,
he was taught, he was born and raised on the truth. He said,
Father, here's the wood. He said, and there's the fire.
Where's the Lamb? We can't approach God without
a Lamb. We can't worship God without a Lamb. God won't be
approached or be spoken to or will speak to anybody outside
the Lamb. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission
of sin. And that's true now. You can't worship God outside
of Jesus Christ. God won't be worshipped except
through worshippers of the Lamb. Those who know they need a Lamb.
The Passover. Christ our Passover. Passover
Lamb. And Abraham said, son, my son,
God will provide Himself a Lamb for a burn off. And God did. God was manifest in the flesh.
The Lamb of God. John said, behold, the Lamb of
God. And that starts now. Every one of God's people know
that. They realize that. I need a Lamb. Like the children
of Israel in those houses. We're no better than the Egyptians.
If we got what we deserved, we'd be killed along with the Egyptians,
the firstborn of the Egyptians. We need a lamb. Would you please
put the blood of the lamb over our doorpost and let it pass
over us in mercy and grace? Spare us? Would you? God says,
I will. He put the lamb, applied the
blood of the lamb on His people. It's a marriage supper of the
lamb. Well, it says, and stay with
me a few more minutes, okay? That didn't take long. Listen to it. Verse 17. He sent his servant at suppertime
to say to them that were bidding, Come, for all things are now
ready. Come. All things are ready. He didn't
say, Come, bring a little side dish with you. He didn't say,
come, we'll let you help us make dinner. He didn't say, come and
bring what you will. We're all like that by nature.
We're all Arminians by nature. But we invite people over to
our house sometimes. We invite. You know why? Because
we don't know if they'll accept it or not. That's not God. That's why God doesn't invite
people. That implies they have the ability to accept it. They
have the ability to reject it, and they have to a man, but not
to accept it until God makes Him with them. But we invite
people. And when we invite them, they
always say, some in particular say this, can we bring anything?
Southern people do that anyway. Can we bring anything? We say,
no, don't bring anything. What do they do? Almost always,
they bring something. Well, this salvation, we sing
the song, in my hands no price I bring, simply to the Christ
of the cross I cling. Come, all things are ready. This
finished work of Christ, Christ performed it. Christ completed
it. When He hung on the cross, He
said, it's finished. Nothing left to be done. Don't
bring dead works of religion. Don't bring traditions or your
vain conversation. Don't bring anything but hunger,
but thirst, but need. All the fitness He required is
to fill your need. When you come to this table,
just come hungry. Open your mouth. You'll feel
it. Come, all things are ready. The work of salvation finished
by Christ. The Lord is ready to be revealed
from heaven. You see those clouds in the sky?
That's the dust of His feet. You hear the thunder roll? What
does that mean? One time Christ was walking along
and said, Father, glorify thy name. And the Father said, I
have both glorified it and will glorify it again. And the people
said it thunder. And every time you hear it thunder,
you know that. God says, this is my beloved
Son. God said, I have glorified him
and will glorify him again. Clouds of the dust of His feet.
Do you see that He's ready to be revealed from heaven and the
sons of God are ready to be revealed from heaven? Come. Come. Come. Who will? The hungry and those
that love Jesus Christ. But verse 18, they all with one
consent began to make excuse. with one mind and heart began
to make excuse. Those that excuse themselves
from worshiping God and His Son now, those that excuse themselves
now will find themselves excluded. In chapter 13, the Lord said
that. When you yourselves are thrust out, you see them sitting
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those that excuse themselves.
We get the blame. If we miss, we'll get the blame. If we end up in glory, it gets
the honor. So explain that. You don't have
to. That's the way it is. That's the way it is. The kingdom of God, this marriage
of His Son, is for those that love God's Son. Just like we would make a wedding. I had one begotten daughter,
and when she was married, that was all about her and her husband.
And who was there? Those that were there to give
honor. Those who loved my daughter and knew my daughter or knew
the groom. Right? That's who was there. What if some fellow
came in and said, Hey, here I am. Everybody glad to see me? Hey,
hold on here. Give me some of the limelight
here. John, what do you think I'd do
to a fellow like that? Bind him hand and foot and get him out
of here. This is not about him. It's about her. It's about her
bridegroom. See that? Who's there? Those that love Christ. Who will
be there? Those that love Him now. Those
that hunger for Him now. Those that need to hear about
Him now. They began with one consent, that is, one thing in
common, they all had in common, they loved the world more than
they loved Christ. You can't hide that. Verse 18, one of them said, I
bought, look at it, every eye. Verse 18, one of them said, I
have bought a piece of ground, I must need to go and see it.
I pray thee, have me execute. Dirt. He's going to miss the kingdom
of God for dirt. I bought some dirt. That's ironic, and it sounds...
That's exactly what... You know, we spend our lives
trying to claim more dirt, don't we? And the irony of it all is
when it's all over, we get six feet, and that's it. That's ours to keep for however
long. Six feet in the ground. And labor
all your life for dirt. Our Lord said, dust you are,
and that's where you're going. Oh, my. Don't labor for dirt. Don't excuse Miss Christ the
Pearl for dung. My, my, my, my, how foolish can
you get? Verse 19, another said, I have
bought five yoke of oxen. Ten oxen I need to train, I need
to care for, I need to feed, I need to do this, that, and
the other. This man apparently made his living with these oxen.
He was a farmer and a breeder of them, seller of them or whatever,
I don't know. But he didn't have time for this
marriage supper. He had to work these animals. Our Lord one time said, the plowing
of the wicked is evil in his sight. A man out there plowing
his mules or his horses or his oxen. If he does that in place of worshiping
the God who gave him the plow, who gave him the oxen, who gave
him the dirt, who gave him the house, who gave him the health
to do it, who gave him the breath he's breathing at that moment,
who put the sun over his head, who caused the rain to stop when
he's ready to cut his head, and he doesn't drop everything and
go worship that God for just one hour! God said that plowing is positively
wicked. Don't have time. Don't have time. Well, God says, I don't have
time for you. Right? This is our Lord speaking. This is God speaking here. God
speaking. Job had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels,
2,000 oxen, 1,000 mules. Did they need training? Huh? Did they need caring for?
Where was Job? Worshipping God. Worshipping
God. God gave him to them. The Lord
gave. The Lord take it away. He knew
that. And they can wait. But this can't wait. This can't
wait. You know what our prayer should
be? This man said, I pray Thee have
me excused. Our prayer should be, Lord, don't
let me be excused. Don't let me excuse myself. Would
You please? Lord, would You lay hold of me
or else I will excuse myself. I will make every excuse there
is. I will not come unless You sovereignly draw me. Lord, please,
would You stop me? Would you call me by your sovereign
grace? Would you keep me from this world
that has such a strong pull upon me? Would you please, Lord, I
pray thee, lay hold of me and bring me to worship you? And
not dirt me. Please. That should be our prayer. That's why it says pray without
ceasing. Why? Because this world has an
unceasing pull upon us. But it can wait. Look at verse
20. Another said, I've married a
wife. I'm married, I can't come. My
wife doesn't like what you're preaching. My wife wants to go
here, wants to go there. She's not interested in this
gospel. So you're going to go to hell
with her? Don't let her drag you down. You're married to another. The
time remaineth, the Scripture says, they that be married, be
as though they're not. They that have wives, be as though
they had none. Children, jobs, families, possessions. Isn't
that what the Scripture said? The time remaineth. It's supper
time. It's almost over. Verse 21, So the servant came
and showed the Lord, and he was angry. He said, Go out with them. hurry, didn't it? Quickly. If I preach in any other way
than urgency, I don't believe this. You know
that? I don't believe that. Scripture
says today is the day of salvation. I urge our young people now,
don't wait until you go out there I'm calling on the Lord is who
I'm calling on. I'm not asking them to do anything, but I am
pressing upon them the need that now is the day. Today. While
I wait at a more convenient, you don't know if there's going
to be a tomorrow. While I'm married and settled down and have my
career, you don't know if there's going to be. You're going to
have one or not. Quickly. Hurry. This thing's
urgent. Go out in the streets and here's
who you're going to bring. Bring in, verse 21. He didn't
say invite. He didn't say ask them. He said
bring them. Bring in. Bring in. Who? The poor. The maimed. The halt. The blind. Bring in. They're outside. They're
on the outside. They need to be in Christ. Salvation is to be in Christ.
To be found in Him. They're on the outside. Strangers
of this country. They need to be brought by God's
power. Go out, he says, to serve the
Spirit of God through the preaching of the gospel. Go out and find
them. They've got blood on their heads. Go out and find them and
bring them in. Bring in hither the poor. They
don't have anything I need, but I've got everything they need.
They're poor. No worth. No merit. The maimed. That is,
they've been bruised by the fall. They've been disfigured by sin. The maimed. The halts. That is,
they can't make it if they try it. The lame. The blind. They couldn't find a way if they
knew the way. They're blind. Bring them in. Oh, I thought about this, how
blessed the many blind have been to stumble in here, not knowing,
not knowing, looking for something, but not knowing what. And stumble
in here and hear that the message is not being
preached today. Man's being preached. Man's glory.
People phonies, false prophets seeking money, seeking a name
for themselves. That's what religion is about.
Counting heads. There are so few places now where
Christ is honored and glorified. Like Moses lifting up the serpent
on the pole. So few places doing that and
that only. The only thing to keep dead sinners
bitten, perishing sinners from perishing. One thing. Christ
and Him crucified. The Lamb! Behold the Lamb. Come
back Wednesday, you'll hear, The Lamb! Come back Sunday, you'll
hear, The Lamb! Why? Because that's what it's
all about. It's the married supper of the
Lamb. They said, wait, there's room.
They brought Him in. There's room. There's still room.
There's room for some even lower than that. Lower than the poor? Lower than
the blind? Lower than the hog? Than the
man? Yeah, lower than that. Go out, he said, into the highways
and the hedges. Who's on the highway? Huh? We saw one the other day, didn't
we, Janine? Sitting there with a sign in his hand. Who's on
the highways? That's the fellow who's heading
somewhere. He doesn't know where he's going. Doesn't have a penny
to his name. He's just running and he doesn't
know where he's going. I know from experience. And I
was 17 years old. And I planned this thing. 17 years old, I told my folks.
I was so bound and determined to get out from under that totalitarian
rule of my parents, who were so cruel to me, who loved me so, who cared for
me, who never got anything in return from me, who gave me every
amount of freedom a son could possibly have. No, I want to
be free from that rule. I want to go back and live with
them now. Can I move in now? But when I was 17 years old,
the day I graduated that morning, early that morning, you remember
this much. I'd like to forget it. But I put a backpack on my
back, 17 years old, 5 a.m., headed out the door, went out on the
highway and stuck my thumb out. Where are you going? I don't
know. But I'm getting out of here.
Thank God. He said, you go out on the highways,
and you grab a hold of that fellow. Don't ask him. He's running. Grab him. Paul said, I've been
apprehended. Stop my wild career. Go out on
the highways to that fellow who's running just as hard as you can
to what? Destruction. He thinks he's being
free when he's about to be captive. And you lay hold of him and you
bring him back like that prodigal. And he's going to be forever
grateful for the sovereign, apprehending, powerful, Mercy and grace of
God that lays hold of a hell-deserving sinner and brings them home and
makes them understand, what was I doing? What was I thinking?
What a fool I've been. Thank You, Father. Thank You,
Christ, for dying for me. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for apprehending
me. Thank You, thank You, thank You.
If You hadn't saved me, I'd be lost forever. That's the gospel. Go out in the highways and the
hedges is lower still. Look at him, he's laying under
a hedge in the gutter. He's a goner! No, he's not. Not as long as I'm Lord, Christ
said. Pick him up. Put him on your
shoulders, like Christ said the Great Shepherd would do. Bring
him all the way home to the praise of the glory of that Great Shepherd.
That's the gospel. That's the Christ of Scripture.
He'd better stop us. He'd better stop our will. He'd better violate our so-called
free will. He'd better lay hold of us. He'd
better keep us from excusing ourselves, or we'll be left out
of the kingdom. I pray thee, Lord, don't let
me be excused. Apprehend me. Apprehend my son,
my daughter. Please. They're not interested.
They're just like I was. They're not interested, Lord.
Please, please do something for them. Salvation is up to the
Lord. It belongs to Him. So that's who we ask. That's
who we plead for. Lord save them or they perish.
Alright. That's it. John. Liftoff fan on turn number 272. 272. I hope his fields are nothing
less than fields of righteousness.