Well, I want to turn your attention
this week to Luke's Gospel, chapter 14, and the parable in the middle
of it. And you might wonder, in the
middle of a series on the Psalms, or what became a series on the
Psalms, how did we arrive here? Well, the texts I was thinking
of preaching on were Psalm 109, verse 31, for one of them which
says this, for he, this is speaking of the Messiah, of the Christ,
he shall stand at the right hand of the poor to save him from
those that condemn his soul. Salvation for the poor. But who
is poor enough to seek salvation? And then that was the other text
I was looking at was Psalm 110, overall, but particularly verse
3. Those who are made poor by the
grace of God, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power. Thy people shall be willing,
made willing, made willing to be poor in the sight of God,
to be saved. to stand at His right hand, to
be saved by Him from those that condemn His soul. And thinking
on those things, I was led to think on this parable, which
is the parable of the Great Supper from verse 15 down to verse 24
of Luke chapter 14. So that's what I want to look
at this morning. Let's read these few verses together. And when one of them that sat
at meat with him, with Jesus, heard these things, he said unto
him, blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then said he unto him, Jesus,
unto the man that had just said that, a certain man made a great
supper, and bade many, and sent his servant at suppertime to
say to them that were bidden, come, for all things are now
ready. And they all with one consent
began to make excuse. 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 another said, I have bought
five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. I pray thee, have
me excused. And another said, I have married
a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and
showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house,
being angry, said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets
and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, there they
are, the poor, the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and
the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it
is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the
Lord said unto the servant, go out into the highways and hedges
and compel compel them to come in and there it is again Psalm
110 verse 3 made willing in the day of his power compel them
to come in that my house may be filled for I say unto you
that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper this was prompted by the man in verse 15. You have to
read the narrative of the rest of the chapter, the earlier parts
of the chapter to see what was going on and how the Pharisees
were watching everything that Jesus did. But there was one
man who'd been listening to the gracious words that had been
coming from his lips, and this man said, Blessed is he that
shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Blessed is he that shall
eat bread in the kingdom of God. Blessed, truly happy, made happy
by God, is the one who will sit down and dine on heavenly bread. This isn't something physical,
this is heavenly bread. This is spiritual bread. This
is to sit down in a state of eternal peace and satisfaction. Blessed is that man that shall
eat bread in the kingdom of God. Blessed is that man that shall
be blessed with heavenly things. Is that not true? Blessed is
it to be in the kingdom of God, to know that there is a place
for you, that Christ is in His Father's house and many mansions,
and He's gone, and He's preparing a place. This is your eternal
destiny. When this life comes to an end,
whenever that may be, This is a blessed state to be in, to
know that you sit there like that blessed man of Psalm 32,
the one whose transgression is covered, whose sin is covered,
to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. Blessed is that man. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful
to have lots of money? Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord does not impute iniquity. That's it at the end of the day.
At the end of life, when the judgment comes, all of these
things, that rich man that built barns and filled it because he
had so much stuff he didn't know where to put it, and he was going
to say to his soul, rejoice, eat, drink, and be merry. You've
got everything you need. And that night, God said, thou
fool, your soul is required of you, and took him into eternity. I know it was a parable, but
the lesson is very, very true. And when you get there, all of
those things that you've saved, all of those things that you've
put value on, all of those things that you regard so highly in
this life, will be worthless. Will be just things that moth
and rust corrupts, but there will be nothing of eternal treasure,
eternal value. Oh, blessed is the man who shall
eat bread. the bread of life, the bread
that came down from heaven in the kingdom of God. Now how do
you get there? How do we get there? I want you
to listen so carefully to this this morning. This parable has
got such a powerful message for the day in which we live. First
of all, I want to see a general call, then a general excuse,
and then some more worthy guests, and then some compelled volunteers.
So first of all, a general call. Verse 16, then he said unto him,
this is Jesus, starting the parable, he says, a certain man made a
great supper and bade many. invited many to come to his great
supper. But what is his great supper?
Well, first of all, the certain man in this parable of Jesus,
the certain man is God. This is God. It's a picture of
God. God made a great supper. What
is the great supper he's talking about? Well, let me dismiss to
start with. It is not the supper of the Lord's
table. He's not talking about that.
He's not talking about the marriage supper of the Lamb at the end
of time. He's talking about the gospel
supper that is in these last days. What are the last days?
that all of the days from when Christ returned to glory, having
accomplished salvation, to when he comes again to take his people
to be with him. All of these days, the last 2,000
years, these are the last days. And however much longer they
go on, these are the last days. And this is a great supper for
these last days. It's a supper of gospel grace. It's a gospel feast of grace
in these last days. This is the great supper. that
the God of the universe has made. For this generation today, he
made a great supper. What is it? It's a supper of
gospel grace, of good news grace in these last days. It's a supper
of bread, of meat, of food from heaven, of wine, heavenly wine. Jesus said, I am the bread which
came down from heaven. What did he do? God, our God,
in glory, the second person of that glorious trinity, took on
him a body. A body was prepared, a human
body, like unto his children. He had to be made like unto his
children, unto his people who he came to save. A body was prepared
because justice had to be satisfied. And so he put his people, his
people were put in eternity, in union with him before the
beginning of time. And he, as their federal representative,
as their head, as their substitute, as their surety, he came and
he made satisfaction to the justice of God. This is what justice
demands. The justice of God demands satisfaction. It must be satisfied. And He
made that satisfaction. He made satisfaction for the
sins of His people in the blood of His cross, by shedding His
blood. so that God remains just, absolutely,
unmovably just, unchangeably just. He is just. He is the judge
of all the earth. He is just. He is holy. He is
pure. And yet, He is the justifier. Justifier, maker. He makes them
just. These people who were sinners
by nature in their flesh, He justifies them in what He has
done. In His blood, He paid their redemption's
price. He paid the price of justice,
so that He would be just with God. So that, how shall a man
be just with God? By the Son of God coming, His
surety, His substitute, to pay redemption's price. And this
is soul food. This is food from heaven. This
is salvation to the uttermost. This is salvation from the certain
terrible judgment of God on sin. This is salvation to the uttermost.
Here is a supper. Here is a table spread before
us. It's a table in spiritual things,
but as Psalm 23 said, you spread a table before me in the face
of all my enemies. Here's this table spread. Isn't
it good to go to a banquet where there's no preparation to do?
It's all done for you. You just go there and there's
a table and all the food's there and all you have to do is sit
down and eat. There's a table spread in this
gospel supper. A table of gracious salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. A table spread with nothing to
do. This is the great supper. that
God has made in these days, a gospel supper, a good news supper of
redemption accomplished in the blood, the broken body and the
shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, satisfying justice, that
his people might be made the righteousness of God in him.
For we must follow after righteousness, holiness, without which no man
shall see the Lord. But he's done it, he's accomplished
it, he in being made sin. He did that that we might be
made, his people might be made the righteousness of God in him
and thereby be accepted with him, thereby there be a way,
thereby he has accomplished salvation. Here is a supper, a table spread
with nothing to do. And verse 17, so he sends his
servant. God sends his servant at supper
time. The time is now. Today is the
day of salvation. To say to them that were bidden,
come, come, for all things are now ready. He sends his servant. Who is the servant? Well, it
could be referring to John the Baptist. He was the one who prepared the
way for Christ. Could be Christ himself. He could
be talking of the apostles. He could be talking of preachers
who have followed on from the apostles in the apostles doctrine.
He could be talking about the Holy Spirit who was sent to convince
the world of sin. Surely it's all of those things.
It's elements of all of those things. It's the proclamation
of the gospel, which is the servant going at supper time to say,
come, for things are now ready. Come, here's a gospel feast.
I am going to die and I must face God in judgment. And it's
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,
for our God is a consuming fire. And he must, must punish sin.
And the punishment of sin is death, the second death. It's
an eternity of hell. This is the punishment of sin,
that his justice might be satisfied. And yet, here is a great supper,
that the Lord Jesus Christ has come, and stood in the place
of his people. And he puts out this call, this
general call, and many hear it, many hear it with the hearing
of the ear. if not with the hearing of the heart, they hear it with
the hearing of the ear. And it's sounding out all around. Creation is sounding out to leave
men and women without excuse. Although people say that they
follow the ideas of science falsely so-called, as the scripture says,
yet all around the creation is crying out that men and women
are without excuse. for neglecting, for rejecting
the call of God. The conscience that God puts
within each one of us, even in people whose conscience is somewhat
seared, somewhat burned, somewhat cauterized, there's a conscience
there that knows the difference between right and wrong. You
know, the animal kingdom doesn't know the difference. It has no
concept of right and wrong. We do. We're sentient beings
made in the image of God. We have a conscience and it calls
out But there's this call to all by the scriptures and by
the preaching of the gospel of grace, a call to all without
distinction, without distinction of type, without distinction,
male or female, bond or free. social class, social status,
time of history. There's a call to all, and it's
a whosoever call. Whosoever. Here is the call.
A great supper is made, a gospel supper. And the servant goes
out and says, come, all things are made ready. And the prophet
cries out in Lamentations 1, verse 12. Is it nothing to you? Who? You. All of you. Is it nothing
to you? All you that pass by? He's talking
about the words of Christ from the cross, accomplishing salvation,
and saying to those that passed by, Roman soldiers, Jews, the
Pharisees, all of these different people, people from different
countries, is it nothing to you, all you that pass by, and that
cry is for today? Is it nothing to you? Does this
not matter to you? Oh, this is for other people.
This is for certain religious relatives. No. Is it nothing
to you, all you that pass by? Ah, but you've taught me again
and again that it's only for the elect. Can you tell me what
is it that excludes you? Yes, the gospel is for the elect,
but can you tell me what excludes you? Is it nothing to you, all
you that pass by? Listen to this. Listen to these
words. These are the words of God by
the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 55, verses 1 to 3. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Did you see anything in that
that excluded you? Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Come ye to the waters, and he
that hath no money, I haven't got the money to come, no, he
that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine
and milk without money and without price. Wherefore, why do you
spend money? For that which is not bread.
It won't do you soul any good. It's not bread. And your labour
for that which satisfieth not. hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me, here and your soul shall live. Did you hear that? Here
and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Did you see that? You
say it's only for the elect. What excluded you there? Oh,
everyone that thirsts. John 3.16. John 3.16, the Arminian's
favorite verse. For God so loved the world. And that means the world without
distinction of race. Not just Jews. Gentiles. of every tribe and tongue and
kindred. God so loved a world of his people
without distinction of human divisions, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Did you
hear anything there? that on the grounds of election
meant that you were not to listen to that? He says, whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Matthew
11, 28-30, Come unto me, all ye All ye that labour and are heavy
laden. Oh, I know the distinction. It's those that labour and are
heavy laden. And why do they labour and are heavy laden? But
listen, he says, come unto me. That call goes out. That call
is like verse 17. Come, for all things are ready
at this supper. John 6, 37. None can come unless
the Father draws him, but him that cometh to me. Whoever he
is, I will in no wise cast out. Oh, I daren't come because I
don't know if I'm amongst the elect. He that comes to me, whoever
he is, I will in no wise cast out. Jesus stood, John 7, 37,
on that last great day of the feast, and he stood and he cried,
saying, if any man thirst, if any man thirst, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. the verse that's about four or
five verses from the end of the whole scripture revelation 22
17 and the spirit and the bride say come And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst,
Come. Listen to this. And whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely. Now you tell
me, did you hear anything that said you were excluded on the
grounds of the sovereign grace of God? Not a word of it. He
says, Come. Come. All things are now ready.
Will you have anything When you stand before the judgment seat
of Christ, will you have anything you can use as a viable excuse
if you stand there, outside of Christ, charged with your own
sins? Will you have anything? Will
you be able to say, oh, election kept me out. He has said, whosoever
will, let him come and take of the water of life freely. But,
here we come to our second point. Men and women make a general
excuse, generally. Look at them, verse 18 to 20.
They all with one consent, they all agreed on this, began to
make excuses. Humankind, they make excuses. Here's a gracious gospel feast
spread in these last days, but people make excuses. One says,
I've bought a piece of ground, I must go and see it. Please,
please excuse me from your feast, from your supper. I've got things
to do in the world. Another said, I've bought five
yoke of oxen. I bought myself the latest gadget, whatever it
might be. I must go and try it out. Please
have me excused." Aren't they pathetic excuses? Any of you
ever bought a parcel of land? Any of you ever bought, I wouldn't
say five yoke of oxen, but you know, the modern technological
equivalent of five yoke of oxen. Any of you ever bought any of
it? and you've paid for it before you've tried it out. What pathetic
excuses, aren't they? These are the excuses that the
heart of the natural man, the fallen heart of the natural man
makes for rejecting the invitation. of the God of the universe to
this great gospel gracious supper that he spread. Come, all things
are ready. Oh, I've got this to do and I've
got that to do. I've got these things that I
want to go and look at. Isn't it amazing how people reject
such grace? One says, I've married a wife
and I can't come. I've got this now new human relationship
and I can't come. Isn't it amazing? the sinfulness
of sin and the blindness of the natural human heart. Isn't it
amazing that we know what we are by nature created in the
image of God and we know that we're accountable to God and
we know that we must die for it's appointed to man to die
once and then the judgment and there is such a gracious gospel
supper spread. There's a supper of grace of
all things accomplished. There's a table spread before
us. We've just to sit down and eat for everything is done. and
we make excuses in our natural state. It's amazing how people
reject such grace when it's so clearly set forth. Pathetic excuses. Land bought without seeing it,
oxen bought without trying them, a wife Look at verse 26. If any man come to me and hate
not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. If anybody puts human relationships
above that, most important relationship. Do you know, we all want to have
good human relationships. We all want to have good relationships
with one another, in families, with husbands and wives, with
children, with all of the, we all want these things, but do
you know, Do you know, by far, the best such relationships are
when Christ is loved above every single one of them. When Christ
is put first before every single one of them, all those other
things are taken care of. And that which the world strives
for and says it has no time for Christ, for it must look after
its relationships, look what a mess it universally makes of
its relationships. Well, what is your excuse? What
is your excuse, if you have one this morning? things of this
world, the allure of riches, the pleasures of sin. Moses rejected
the pleasures of sin for a season to throw in his lot with the
people of God, to follow Christ. This is what Hebrews tells us,
Hebrews 11. Is it human relationships that will keep you from following
the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you be excused, the gospel
supper, because of human ties? People say this, don't they?
They say, I know what you're saying is true, I know it probably
applies to me, but if I came to this supper, this gospel supper,
if I believed Christ, then everything I count dear in this life would
be ruined. My family, my relationships,
my ambitions, it's all going to be ruined. Jesus says this,
verse 24, I say to you, those that come up with their excuses,
that none of those men which were bidden and made excuses
shall taste of my supper. None of them that were bidden
and made excuse shall taste. Oh, taste and see, Psalm 34,
verse eight. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. Have you heard that gospel invitation?
Have you made excuse? Beware. If you remain in that
state, if you remain there, you shall not taste. This is what
the Lord Jesus Christ has said. You shall not taste that supper. It will not benefit you. Whatever
might be said concerning the doctrine of election and the
doctrine of reprobation, which are true things revealed in the
word of God, the fact is that if you reject, You didn't come,
it wasn't because of those things, you didn't come because you didn't
want to come. That's the reason. You didn't
want to come. Jesus said in John 5 verse 40,
and ye will not come to me that ye might have life. You will
not, you don't will to come to me. Your will, your fallen hardened
will. will not come to me that you
might have life. And you can't deny it. And it
will be undeniable on the day of judgment. It's willful unbelief. It's willful rejection of God. Proverbs 29 verse 1 says, He
that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed
and that without remedy. Doesn't the scripture say broad
is the way that leads to destruction? And many there be that go that
way. many there be. So, the third
point, there are more worthy guests at this supper. Verse
21, so the servant came, the preacher came, and showed the
Lord these things. Concern for those to whom he
preached. Concern, like Jesus the man weeping
over Jerusalem. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how
often would I have gathered you. as a hen gathers her chickens
under her wings, and you would not come. And the servant, with
compassion and grief in heart because of these that rejected,
came and showed his lord these things. Look, they've rejected.
They don't want to come. And the master of the house,
being angry, for God is angry with the wicked every day. Being
angry, said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets
and lanes and bring hither the poor and the maimed and the halt
and the blind. The preacher says, I've proclaimed
the gospel, but none of them have come. He's angry. God is
angry. Angry with the wicked every day.
What is the wicked? The wicked heart, the evil heart
of unbelief. It's unbelief which is, God can
forgive all sins, but not the sin of rejecting salvation. Not
that sin. That cannot be forgiven. How
can you forgive the sin of rejecting the only way of salvation? That's
the unforgivable sin. All sins can be forgiven. All
blasphemies can be forgiven. but not that one of rejecting
the Holy Spirit's call to believe the gospel of grace. And our
God is a consuming fire, and it's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. He's angry, but he says,
go out quickly. Don't waste more time. Today
is the day of salvation. Don't put it off. Don't procrastinate. Today is the day. He says to
his preachers, those proclaiming the gospel, he says, don't waste
time on those generally bidden. Bring here the poor and maimed
and the halt and the blind. There are plenty of these out
there. Go and bring them. It's these. It's these. The poor,
the maimed, the halt, and the blind that Christ came to redeem. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. Not that which was comfortable
where it was. That which was lost in terms of eternity. Those
who are poor in spirit Blessed are the poor in spirit. Psalm
109, verse 31. For he shall stand at the right
hand of the poor. He's talking about the poor in
spirit. You hear that the churches of the world, like the one I
was listening to this morning, the poor are the poor who are
on benefits in Birmingham. That's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about the poor in spirit. It's the poor in spirit.
He shall stand at the right hand of the poor in spirit to save
him from those that condemn his soul. That's why Christ comes
to save his people from their sins. I came not to call the
righteous, not to call those that were well, but sinners to
repentance. These guests, these guests at
this gospel supper, they have no worth in themselves. You know
how for a supper, for a big event, we all like to dress up. Nothing
wrong with that, don't worry, I'm not saying a solitary word
about that. But you know, that's what we like to do, don't we?
We like to put on the glad rags. But these at this gospel feast
have no worth in themselves. They have no strength to make
themselves righteous. They know that all their righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. worthless, filthy rags in the
sight of God. They know that they're blind,
as far as their own ability to see God's light is concerned.
They know if He does not give light and sight, they cannot
see. They've come, like the prodigal,
to an end of themselves. There's nothing else that they
can call upon. They've got no resources that they can call
upon. God, by His grace, has made them poor. They've been
sanctified by the Holy Spirit, set apart by the Holy Spirit,
stripped of all their eternal self-worth. You know, people
naturally have got their own view of their eternal self-worth.
Oh, we'll be all right. We'll be alright. When it comes
to, yes, when it comes to the day of death, we'll be alright.
Eternal self-worth. But the poor have been stripped
of it. They've got none. The supper of gospel grace is
for these poor. It's for all who are made poor
spiritually. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
For theirs is the kingdom of God, said Jesus in the Sermon
on the Mount. Verse 15, what the man said that
prompted this parable. Blessed is he that shall eat
bread in the kingdom of God. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
It's for the poor. How many of them? How many of
them? Is there limited seating? Are there limited places? You
know how we, if you're organizing a wedding reception, you know,
then who's coming? Who's invited? And, you know,
the worst thing of all is to have somebody turn up who's not
invited and they try and insist on having a place and there's
no place because it's limited seating. there will be exactly
the number the Father gave to the Son when all are there at
the end of time. There will be exactly, not a
solitary one more, not a solitary one less, all. But while, listen
to me, while these last days remain, Whilst we're still in
these last days, it can always be said, and yet there is room. And yet there is room. End of
verse 22. And yet there is room. Still,
today is the day of salvation. And yet there is room. How is
the master's house going to be filled? There are going to be
some compelled volunteers. Verse 23, the Lord said to his
servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to
come in that my house may be filled. Go out anywhere and everywhere. Go into all the world and proclaim
the gospel and compel them, compel them. Even in these days, you
know there's been great missionary movements, but even in these
days, think what is happening via this medium of the internet
in these days, how the gospel of God's grace is reaching places
that we never would have imagined it'd reach. How is it that God,
the Holy Spirit, compels sinners to come to Christ? to this gospel
feast of gracious salvation? How is it, through God's preachers,
that he compels them? Well, you know, we think in terms
of the military. The military always says it would
far rather have five volunteers than 50 pressed men. He would
far rather have five volunteers, so what does God do? How does
he compel his people? He makes them volunteers. He
makes them volunteers. Psalm 110 verse 3, thy people
shall be willing. Here they are, just like the
rest. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Not
forced against their will, but given a new will. To desire God's
gospel supper. Has he put that desire in you?
Has he given you a desire to sit down at this table of gospel
grace that is set out before us? This is how the room will
be filled up. This is how the banqueting hall
will be filled up. This is how my house may be filled. He compels them. He gives them
a new heart to believe Him and trust Him. And so, all Israel,
all the people of God, shall be saved. Every single one. Where
does that leave you? You've heard it. You've heard
it clearly. You cannot deny it. You've heard
this Gospel call clearly. Where does it leave you? Let
me quote this to you from Hebrews 3 verse 7. As the Holy Ghost
saith, today, if you will hear His voice, Harden not your hearts. Think on these things. Today
is the day of salvation. Today, even today, is the day
of salvation.