Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter
14. I want to try to bring the message
from verse 15 down through verse 24 of Luke chapter 14. I'm taking the title for the
message from the words found in verse 17. Look at verse 17
carefully. Luke 14, 17. And sent His servant
at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, Come. Come. Come, for all things are now
ready." Come. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, in this great gospel feast, the Lord Jesus Christ has prepared
all things for His covenant people. All things are prepared. The
Lord does not ask us to bring anything. or contribute anything
to His perfect redeeming work, to His perfect righteousness,
what could you bring? What could you add? You'd just
mess it up. The Lord doesn't ask us to bring anything or contribute
anything, but He graciously and fully provides all things for
us." And then he says, come, come. Remember his name is called
Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. And I love that scripture
in Philippians 4 where the Apostle said, my God shall supply all
your need according to his riches in glory through the Lord Jesus
Christ. By way of introduction, you remember
in this chapter, Luke 14, the Lord had been invited by the
chief Pharisee to come home and eat with him, to eat bread on
the Sabbath day, and the Lord did so. The Lord went home with
him. There, the Lord performed a great
miracle, healing that man who was sick and dying, And then
the Lord gave that parable of humility as it says there in
verse 11, Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Then the Lord said
to the Pharisee who had invited him to bread, verse 12 down to
verse 14, he reminded him, don't just invite your friends to dinner,
but also remember to feed the poor. Look what it says in verse
13 of Luke 14. But when thou makest a feast,
you call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. And then he said, you shall be
blessed. Thou shalt be blessed, for they
cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection
of the just." That is, they shall be blessed, those who are justified
in Christ by His grace in that resurrection day, that resurrection
glory. Now, that gets us down to verse
15. And when one of them that sat
at meat, with him heard these things." Now, you think what
this man had saw, what he had seen, and what he had heard? He heard the words of truth from
the Lord. He saw a man who was sick and
dying, completely healed. He heard the Lord talk about
the resurrection of the just, how God justifies the ungodly
in Christ. When one of them that said it
meet with him heard these things, this is what he said. Blessed,
blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."
Evidently, this man sitting and watching and listening to the
Lord paid attention. And the Lord must have blessed
this man with ears to hear and eyes to see the glory and beauty
of Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ declared
the resurrection of the just, this man said, Blessed is he
that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God, in that new heaven and
a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. He must have been
granted faith to believe the gospel and to feed upon the Lord
Jesus Christ, or he wouldn't have made this statement. Blessed
is that man that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. And that
bread that we feed upon is that spiritual manna which is the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He is the kingdom of God. He
is the spiritual food. He is that heavenly manna that
we feed upon. The Lord said, I am the bread
of life. He that cometh to Me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on Me shall
never thirst. Now, it is true. Blessed is that
man that is blessed to feed upon Christ. Blessed is that man who
has tasted of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have by experience
learned that the Lord is gracious. David said this in Psalm 34.
Oh, taste and see. that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in Him." Have you tasted of the Lord's mercy? Have you tasted
of the Lord's grace? Have you trusted Him? You know
that the Lord is good. We have tasted that the Lord,
He is gracious. Gracious. Now, several things
beginning at verse 16. Here's the first thing. Then
the Lord said to this man. Now this sermon, this parable
was directed to this particular man. The Lord prepared this whole
sermon to give to this one man. The Lord has done the same thing
for us today. He has prepared this whole message,
this whole word for you today. It's tailored to meet your every
need. He said unto him, and we can
put it this way, the Lord says to you right now, to you right
now, a certain man made a great supper and he bad or called many
and sent his servant at suppertime to say to them that were bidden
come. Come to the supper. There's a
great supper. There's a great feast. Come,
for all things are now ready." And notice he calls it a great
supper is prepared. You see, everything about the
gospel and everything about God is great. This gospel feast is
what we're talking about of our blessed Lord. God and Savior
is set forth by His boundless grace, the grace of God, to feed
poor, hungry, sinners, poor hungry sinners, prepared by God in eternity
and served up to needy sinners in the fullest of time God sent
forth His Son." You see, everything about the gospel is great, is
it not? Think about it. Everything about
the gospel is great. It's provided by our great God
and Savior, planned and purposed by our great God and Savior.
It's purchased at great cost. What's the cost of this gospel
feast? It's purchased at great cost.
He redeemed us and He bought us with His own blood. This gospel
feeds produces great results. Feeds all of His people. Call
His name Jesus. He shall save His people from
their sin. The Apostle asked this question,
how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? You see, this great supper was
prepared by God in eternity and served up by the Lord of hosts
to His covenant people. With the Lord there is great
mercy. With the Lord there is great
love. Without the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no mercy, there
is no grace to help in time of need. But God who is rich in
mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, trespasses and in sin. You see, this is a great
supper. prepared by our great God to
meet our every great need that we have. With the Lord there
is great pardon from all our sin. With the Lord there is mercy. Without Him there is no mercy. Without Him there is no pardon.
130 says this, "...let Israel hope
in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him
is plenteous redemption." Now watch this, the second thing
we see is verse 17. Here is what the gospel servant
declares to those who are in need. And he sent his servant
at supper time to say to them that were bidden, He says, the servant of God says,
come, come, for all things are now ready. Now here's what the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ declares to every sinner about
this great gospel feast. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
right now. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
right now and don't move a muscle. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
by faith in Him. All things are ready. All things
have been prepared. As I said in the introduction,
don't bring anything. He says, all things are ready. All things are prepared. Come
just as you are. Sinners in need of His grace.
Sinners in need of salvation. This is what the gospel servant
does when he's sent of God to declare the gospel. Salvation
is done. Salvation is not something you
do. Salvation is accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what a gospel servant declared. Salvation is finished. Salvation
is of the Lord. Therefore, we say that salvation
is not something we do. Salvation and the Gospel is a
declaration of what Christ has already accomplished for us. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. We declare what the Lord has
done for us, not what we must do for Him. Come, all things
are now ready. You remember Psalm 57 declares,
I will cry unto God Most High, unto God that performeth All
things for me come. He says, all things are ready.
Now I mentioned, I've written down here four things. Righteousness
is established by His faithfulness. All things have been prepared.
Redemption accomplished by the shedding of His blood. He obtained
redemption for us with His own blood. Righteousness has been
established by His faithfulness. All things are done. Redemption
accomplished. Reconciliation complete by the
great atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. He reconciled us to God
by His own blood. Hearing His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sin. He reconciled us to God. All
things are ready. All things are done. Regeneration? How does that happen? All things
are done, all things are ready. Regeneration is performed by
the mighty power of God the Holy Spirit, quickening us, raising
us up from the dead. Now seeing all things are prepared,
all things have been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, now,
what? Come to Christ. Look to Him. Now what is it to come to the
Lord Jesus Christ? What is it to come to Christ?
It's not to walk down front. That's not coming to Christ.
What is it to come to Christ? And how do I come to Christ?
By faith. By faith. By believing on Him. By believing on Him. Now, I quoted
this verse earlier, but I want you to turn and read it with
me. Turn over to John chapter 5. The Lord said, all you that
labor and heavy laden, He said, come unto Me, and I'll give you
rest. He said, oh, everyone that's
thirsty, come, come, come to Me. John 5. Excuse me, John chapter
6, verse 35. That'll work better. John 6,
35. John 6, 35. What is it to come to Christ?
Look what He says right here. John 6, 35. I am the bread of
life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. You see, coming to Christ and
believing on Him is the exact same thing. We come to Him by
God-given faith, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, notice
what happens. Verse 18, 19, and 20 in Luke
14. Here's the third thing we see.
Excuses made. Excuses made. All things are
ready. Come! Come! And verse 18, And
they all, with one consent, began to make excuse. The first said
unto him, I bought a piece of ground. I must needs go and see
it. I pray thee, have me excused."
You bought a piece of ground before you went and looked at
it? Now you have to go look at it? I pray thee, he said, have
me excused. Verse 19, another said, I bought
five yoke of oxen, I go to prove them. I pray thee, have me excused. All these different excuses.
Another man said, verse 20, the Lord heard every excuse, has
he not? Every excuse we could think of. Another said, I've
married a wife, therefore I cannot, I cannot, cannot come. They all, notice it says there
verse 18, they all with one consent began to make up reasons why
They should not come. Why they should be excused? Here we see something of the
total depravity of our own sinfulness before God. Men love darkness,
not light. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. We all with one consent begin
to make excuses why we shouldn't bow to the Lordship of Christ. a piece of ground, a yoke of
oxen, a married man. John describes those same things
this way in 1 John chapter 2. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life
is not of the Father, but is of this world. That's all it
is. All excuses that are ever given
not to trust the Lord Jesus Christ are flimsy and false. Flimsy and false. There's no
good reason not to believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You have no excuse. You should believe the gospel
because it's true. You should believe the gospel
because you need to be found in Him. Someone might say this
excuse, well, you don't know me, I'm just too sinful. Really? The Lord Jesus Christ
died for sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Some might say, well, you know,
I've got a lot of baggage. I'm just too ungodly. When we were yet without strength,
the Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. Some might say,
well, I'm just too busy. Well, maybe at a more convenient
time I'll come to Christ, but right now I'm too busy. You have
no tomorrow. You have no tomorrow. Today is
the day of salvation. Therefore, the scriptures encourage
us and even command us, look to Christ right now. for all
of salvation, come to Him. He said, look unto Me, all the
ends of the earth. I am God, the only just God and
Savior. Beside Me there is no other. Look to Christ by faith in your
heart right now. The Lord says this, verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Now look at verse 21. Here's
the fourth thing. The Lord in this parable reveals
to us something of the inward and holy thoughts about those
who will not bow to Christ for all of their salvation." Now,
something of his inward thinking, of his inward thoughts. Verse
21, So the servant came and showed his Lord these things, these
who made excuses. Then the master of the house,
I know the Lord God Almighty is the master of all things. He's Lord of Lord and King of
kings. He's Lord in heaven and in earth.
The master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, go
out quickly into the streets, the lanes of the city, and bring
in hither the poor, the maimed, the halt, And the blind, verse
22, and the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded.
And yet, yet there is room. Now, notice this phrase here.
The master of the house, the Lord of the house, the Lord God
of heaven and earth was angry, was angry. Those Jewish people
in that day, they had the Law and the Prophets which told them
of the coming of the Messiah. Yet they rejected the way of
salvation, didn't they? They rejected the way of mercy
in the Lord alone. You remember what he says? Turn
back over to Luke chapter 13 verse 34. Luke 13 verse 34. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which
killeth the prophets, All those prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, they
all preached, come to Christ, look to Him. The prophets all
give witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. You stone them which
are sinning to you. How oft would I have gathered
thy children together as a hen doth gather her brood under her
wing, but you would not. Excuses. Behold, He said, your
house is left unto you desolate. Verily I say unto you, you shall
not see me until the time come when you shall say, Blessed is
he that cometh in the name of the Lord. One day every knee
will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now listen carefully.
To hear the gospel of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to
put it from you, and to cast it away, leaves you nothing but... What does it leave you with?
Condemnation. Everlasting judgment. You remember
this scripture? Nothing but the wrath of God.
He that believeth not the Son... He that believeth on the Son
has everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but... What? The wrath of God abides
on them. The Lord's angry with the wicked
every day, it says in Psalm 11. God judges the righteous and
God is angry with the wicked every day. What is His anger? What is His wrath? It's His holiness
stirred in activity against sin. But notice the longsuffering
of the Lord. He said to His servants, the
preachers of the gospel in verse 21, He said to them, go out quickly,
Into the streets, the lanes of the city, the long-suffering
of the Lord, He's long-suffering to us. Go out quickly into the
streets and lanes of the city, bring in hither the poor, the
maimed, the halt, and the blind. Go out quickly and bring in the
poor. You remember back in verse 13,
the Lord repeats the same thing. In Luke 14 verse 13, but when
you make a feast, you go call the poor, the maimed, the lame,
and the blind. Do you know what this is teaching
us? Salvation for sinners. Look one page over in Luke chapter
15, look at verse 1. Luke 15, verse 1. Then drew near
unto him all publicans and sinners, for to hear him. And the Pharisees
and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and
he eateth with them. You see, salvation is for sinners.
It's not for good folks. He didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners. Sinners to repentance. The poor. those who are spiritually bankrupt,
the maimed, those who are enfeebled by sin, unable, with no ability
to believe the gospel in themselves, the halt, those who are lame,
limping along with sin, those who are blind, who cannot see. These are the ones the Lord says,
go out and bring them in. Call them to the supper. Now,
here's the fifth thing, verse 22 and verse 23. And the servant
came back, the servant was sent by the command of the Lord, and
the servant said, Lord, it is done, as thou hast, and I love
this word, commanded." You see, the Lord sent them out to preach
the gospel, and the Lord blessed His word. He said, My word will
not return in me void. The servant said, Lord, it is
done as thou hast commanded, and yet there's room. And the Lord said unto the servant,
Go out into the highway and hedges, and compel them to come in, that
my house may be filled. Yet there is room. The servant's
report, he came back and he said, it's done, we preached the gospel,
multitudes have been called, multitudes have been regenerated,
and made new creatures in Christ as thou hast commanded. You see
it pleased God through the preaching of the gospel to call out His
people. And yet this servant comes back and he says in the
last part of verse 22, We have done as you have commanded, going
to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. We
have done as thou has commanded and you've blessed your word,
you've called out your people. Verse 22, yet there's room. There's room. There is room then
and there's room now. There is room. Is there room
for such a sinner as me? Yes. Yes, there is. Is there room for me in the presence
of the King of kings and Lord of lords? Yes, in the Lord Jesus
Christ there is room for me. Is there room for me? Is there a place in the kingdom
of God for a sinner such as me? There is room for a sinner given
to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is room for all those given
to Christ in that covenant of eternal grace. Turn over to John
chapter 6 one more time. John chapter 6, one more time,
verse 37. John 6, verse 37. There is plenty
of room in glory for every sinner for whom Christ paid their sin
debt. There is plenty of room in the
kingdom of God for every sinner given to the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 6, verse 37. All the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out. For I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the
will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I
will, Raise Him up at the last day. Is there room for you? There
is room for those called and regenerated by the Spirit of
the living God. Now, look at verse 23. And the
Lord said to His servant, Oh, there's room. And the Lord said,
Go out into the highway and hedges, Find some more sinners and compel
them to come. Now, how do we compel them to
come? By preaching Christ. He said, if I be lifted up, I'll
draw men to me. Compel them to come in that my
house may be filled. So we go. The servants of the
Lord go out into the highways, the hedges, and compel sinners
to come to Christ. so that the Lord Jesus Christ
may have a full house, none missing for whom Christ died. One old
preacher used to put it this way, there's no vacancies in
glory, but there's plenty of room. Plenty of room. No vacancies, but plenty of room. How do we compel sinners to come
to Christ? by preaching the gospel, and
he compels them. No man can come to me except
the Father which sent me draw him. We go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature, and he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. How do we believe? According
to the working of his mighty power. And the Lord said unto
the servant, Go out into the highway, verse 23, the highway,
the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be
filled, that I may receive all the honor and glory." Now in
closing, look at verse 24. Well, I say unto you that none
of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper." Now,
here's a word of warning. The Lord gives us a sound of
warning and a word of warning. To those who refuse to bow to
Christ, those who make excuses not to come to the Lord Jesus
Christ, they shall not taste of mercy, but they shall taste
of judgment. that none of those which were
bidden shall taste of my supper." Remember, it's a supper of grace.
It's a supper of mercy. To believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is to have life. To reject the gospel of Christ,
look at this scripture right here. Hebrews chapter 10. Turn over there. Hebrews chapter
10. To reject the gospel of Christ, there is nothing left but a righteous
judgment of eternal condemnation. Hebrews chapter 10, look at verse
28. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. Those who despise
the law of mercy, the law of Moses rather, died without mercy.
Of how much sore punishment, suppose you, shall be thought
worthy who have trodden underfoot the Son of God and have counted
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified in an unholy
thing? and a dung despite to the Spirit of grace? For we know
him that has said, Vengeance belongeth to me. I will recompense,
saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God, to reject the gospel of
Christ. There is nothing left but eternal
judgment and condemnation. May the Lord be pleased by His
grace to call us and to compel us to come to Christ and to reveal
the Lord Jesus Christ to our heart. May He grant us faith
in Christ and may we willingly by His power bow to the Lordship
of our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me close with
this scripture in Psalm 2. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. Psalm 2 verse 12. Remember, it's the Psalm of Christ. He said, I've set my King upon
my holy hills, Zion. Remember? And then the Lord said,
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry. Bow to the Son, lest he be angry. There is that holy anger of God
again. Kiss the son lest he be angry,
and he perish on the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Oh, but he said, blessed are they that put their trust in
the Lord. Oh, for grace to trust him now,
and if you do now,