"But when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
And He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many. And at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ And when the slave came back, he reported these things to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the fences, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’"
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining us today, whether it's your first time or you are a faithful member of our family in Christ, your presence is acknowledged and truly appreciated. If you have recently received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, whether through this ministry or some other, please contact us so that we can include you in our prayers. If you haven't yet received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, won't you consider crying out to Him today, while there's still time? We are continuing to experience tremendous increases in areas previously never believed to be possible, which is evidence of just how critically important your prayers are but that God not only hears but faithfully answers our prayers according to His good pleasure. Thank you for helping to make this possible through your faithful prayers and sharing the website. God has graciously rewarded your efforts. Won't it be exciting to one day meet those in Heaven that you had a hand in bringing to Christ? We never know how many lives we are impacting when we faithfully share the Gospel. Thankfully, the results of those encounters aren't left up to us.
We are forever and always being increasingly enriched the tremendous Truths in God's Word. Sometimes, it sweeps you off your feet and carries you away to glories in the very presence of God Himself. I cannot always find the words to give you all of the things that are found here in His Word, or even all of the things that I feel, they and can only be understood with an open heart and with an open mind. There are times it's beyond expression, and must be savored. The Word of God reveals Christ, we're willing to give up everything —often in ways too deep for words. Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, none of us would never have been born-again. The Holy Spirit is not an "it," He is a distinct Person, the third member of the Trinity, equal to the Father, equal to the Son in deity, sharing the same divine essence and attributes. He is actively involved in the ongoing work of salvation and sanctification in believers. Where doctrine is internalized and truly embraced through divine grace, the heart can't help be transformed.
If you study the Bible, faithfully with an open heart, you will begin to find that the Holy Spirit, Who knows the deep things of God, will possess your mind, your emotions, and your will. Scripture teaches us that the Holy Spirit was active in creation, He was involved in the birth of Jesus, in His baptism, His temptation, His teaching, His miracles, His death and His resurrection. He convicts men, He calls them to Himself, and He indwells and fills us as believers and enables us to serve God and is actively is engaged in our glorifying Christ. Charles Spurgeon emphasized that creating a Christian is a greater miracle than creating the world not merely to convert them, but the ongoing supernatural effort required to maintain our faith against the persistent pull of sin and resistance of self-will. Thanks to the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit, those of who belong to Christ will never experience condemnation for our sin because we are made righteous in Christ.
Before you can really understand just how magnificent it is to have no condemnation, you must first understand that the incomprehensible wrath of God upon the wicked is just as intense as His love is to the saints. God’s Wrath is His holy, righteous, and just anger all wrapped up together coming full force against sin, rooted in His perfect holiness and justice because He cannot tolerate unrighteousness. It is just and deserved punishment that is so horrific that even the strongest human beings cannot endure it, it is unending intolerable torment for all of eternity in a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's a glimpse of what it means to be condemned. But because Christ bore the wrath we deserved, we who are redeemed, are free from condemnation, not because we are good, but because God poured out His wrath on Jesus, His Son, the sinless Lamb of God and granted us His righteousness. Some say we shouldn’t be concerned about judgment and Hell, but I believe we should be on our knees praying for the lost souls in our nation and around the world. Why anybody would choose the temporary pleasure of sin over God? I believe the allure is the human tendency to pursue immediate gratification, which in the moment can appear more appealing, they can't see beyond the momentary thrill, the excitement and the fleeting pleasure that sin offers to the long-term fulfillment, the eternal reward of the kingdom of Heaven. The immediate gratification of sin is reinforced by our brain's chemistry—particularly the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to pleasure and reward. However, they will soon discover that choice, often described as the pleasure principle, comes at a very high cost.
There have always been and there always will be those who operate out of the kingdom of darkness, pretending as though they are the messengers God who will readily affirm people in their sin, as if God, Who is unchanging, has somehow changed His mind about sin. Psalm 7:11 clearly states that "God is a righteous judge, God is angry with the wicked every day." Paul warned us of this day would come in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, when he wrote "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." But, the Holy Spirit sets us free from sin's power, transforms us into new creations, changes, changing our nature, and empowers us for victory, confirming our adoption. Then He begins to produce in us the life of holiness so that a disobedient Christian has to fight against himself. If you're like me, you understand that the struggle is a daily one, but thankfully, the Holy Spirit provides us with the ongoing strength to put to death the deeds of the body and progress towards holiness. That's why He called us, to make us righteous, to please Him, and to do His will. There comes a point in every believers life when we recognize we must lay it all down for the service of Jesus Christ. Mine was when I was lying flat on my backside in a hospital bed, looking up and saying "Lord, You win! I'll do whatever You want me to do. I no longer want to be in control of my life. Have Your way in me." My life has never been the same from that moment on, it's been a constant daily process. The Lord has a way of accomplishing what He wants, doesn't He? Why do we do that? I'll tell this, if I had it to do over again, I would have surrendered my life to Him much sooner, it would've saved me a lot of problems.
Let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for Your Word, for Your indwelling Spirit to teach us the deeper things, we need to be taught, we confess, we need to be humbled and made aware of our sin. Help us to commit our lives to obeying the voice of the Spirit who leads us to fulfill all righteousness. We trust that You will help us to see and hear what You’re saying to us collectively and individually. And we pray that You’ll graciously unfold that Truth to us as we study Your Word today. Lord, touch the hearts of those who do not yet belong to Christ, open their eyes and ears that they might believe and come to Him even today. We ask and pray these things for Your glory and for Christ's sake.
Amen.
Today's Message: God Invites the World to Dinner
due to societal attitudes, which often causes significant difficulties in forming healthy relationships. Children now represent nearly 40% of all identified trafficking victims, with an astonishing 31% increase in child victims since 2019. 65% of identified child sex trafficking victims were recruited through social media with Facebook being the most commonly used platform. It would appear as though every time a child is born into this world, sin and a predator eagerly await to greet it upon its entrance. While sin and danger await every child, the Christian message is not one of despair but of hope, God’s redemptive plan, offers rescue and renewal, culminating in Christ's glorious return. Throughout Scripture, Jesus emphasized the necessity of spiritual rebirth for entry into the kingdom of God.
Open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14, verses fifteen through twenty-four. I hope and pray that you will follow along with me as I read these ten verses with an open heart to set the text in minds. Luke 14:15-24.
"But when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
And He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many. And at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ And when the slave came back, he reported these things to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the fences, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’"
For 34 years, nearly half a century, a Louisiana-born American expatriate in Paris, hosted what became known as one of the world’s most legendary dinner parties. Believing in the transformative power of human connection, he invited over 130,000 to 150,000 people from around the globe, from all walks of life—and welcomed them into his home every Sunday for dinner. Anyone could attend by either emailing or calling to reserve a spot—with no formal charge, though a 25 euro donation was suggested, the equivalate of approximately 30 US Dollars, to cover food and drink, often including notable figures like Yoko Ono and Germaine Greer, Allen Ginsberg, R. Crumb, and Molly Ivins. His invitation was simple: the first 60–75 people to respond could come. The event was temporarily canceled due to Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and Mr. Haynes passed away on January 6, 2021, at age 87, but today, the tradition continues to live on through the Jim Haynes Project, which inspires similar gatherings worldwide offering acts of generosity and radical hospitality.
Let's look at verse 15, "But when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" Luke's statement reminds us that He's still at the at the house of the Pharisee where He was invited to a luncheon where religious leaders were watching Him closely, hoping to catch Him violating Sabbath laws by healing a man with dropsy in order to prove in their minds, that He wasn't from God, prompting the debate in verses 1 through 6, overturning their intentions to trap Him and silenced them to the point they could say nothing, revealing they were really hypocrites. Which led to His teaching on humility and generosity, advising the other Pharisees and scribes not to seek places of honor and but to invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind—those who cannot repay them—so that they may be blessed at the resurrection. So, verse 15 really serves as sort of a bridge to Jesus’ next parable. Then one of the guests, Luke doesn't tell which one but its likely a Pharisee, says "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
Rather than grappling with Jesus' radical call to humility and generosity, this particular guest attempts to shift the focus to the future reward. Why would he just blurt that out such a thing? Because they were convinced they were going to be the resurrection of the righteous. They actually believed that the more rules they kept, the more they assured their place in the resurrection of the righteous. They were fastidious, relentless in keeping the law, right down to the minutia, no matter how minor. They were known for their strict adherence to both the written and oral Law. They saw themselves as the guardians of the Jewish Law in faith and in practice. Of course, they'd be at the resurrection of the righteous. They were always and ever achieving the resurrection of the righteous. Jesus criticized them weighing people down with such heavy burdens, calling them "blind guides" those who "strain out a gnat but swallow a camel," highlighting their disproportionate focus on keeping small rules while neglecting "the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness." In other words, they obeyed the letter of the law but missed its spirit. To be clear, Jesus did not oppose law-keeping itself, but He took issue their strict obedience because it was external, prideful, and self-serving, lacking genuine transformation of the heart. That's why in Matthew 23:27, He called them whitewashed tombs—appearing beautiful and pure on the outside, but inwardly filled with death and uncleanness on the inside. This is true in any religion, with the exception of Christianity, because we know we could never achieve the kind of righteousness necessary to enter into the Kingdom of God. However, there are a number of professing Christians who like to say "If more sin generates more grace, then should we just continue on sinning now that we’re redeemed so God can be more gracious. After all, if God is glorified in the dispensing of grace, then we're just giving God all kinds of glory by giving Him plenty of opportunities to show off His grace. The greater the sin the greater the grace, right? By not sinning, we'd actually be denying God the opportunity to exercise His grace!" My dear friends, that's a bit much, that's what I call extreme libertinism. And that's just an absurd attitude toward God's gracious grace. Genuine love sets limits. That's a whole other message. According to Jesus in Matthew 7, there's a whole lot of people who think they're going to be sitting at the great banquet of God that are going to be disappointed. "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter......I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" Jesus never puts His arms around anybody who is living in delusion that they're headed for Heaven when they headed to Hell, He always shattered their false sense hope with the Truth. Damning error needs to be corrected immediately. A lesson I believe many pastors would do well to learn today. I don't want to hear about your faith, everybody's got faith in something, I want to hear about your relationship with Jesus Christ. Unless your faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, your faith is absolutely worthless.
Verse 16, "And He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many." Jesus responding to this guest’s comment about being blessed by beginning a parable to illustrates God’s generous invitation to salvation through the Gospel. Obviously the man in the story is God the Father and the "big dinner" symbolizes the abundant spiritual provisions of God’s kingdom—forgiveness, peace, and eternal life—offered freely to all, this is going to be a huge event on a grand scale. The many He invited represents the Jewish people who were initially called to receive God’s grace. This is a scenario that the Jews can easily see themselves in, however, He's about to challenge their assumptions about who will actually attend this grand feast. This is a fascinating story about a Gracious Invitation, lame excuses, unexpected inclusion, and surprising exclusion. God has always been a gracious Host. He has extended many invitations, whether a modest meal of fish and bread or an elaborate feast with an abundance of sumptuous foods and a bottle of wine. In Isaiah 55:1–2, God calls all who are thirsty to come and eat, offering water, wine, and milk without cost—emphasizing His abundant provision and desire for fellowship. This wasn't luncheon after a Sabbath service at somebody's house like they were experiencing here, this a spectacular banquet beyond our greatest imagination, similar to the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22. This is a story they really get into, the Pharisees loved banquets, and they loved to sit in the places of honor, they were probably sitting on the edge of their chief seats salivating. This would be comparable to being invited to a lavish spread at the White House, Buckingham Palace or to the home of the celebrity of your choice today, with great entertainment. Except in this case, the dinner is not merely about food, since this is not common meal but the spiritual feast, to live each day in eternal fellowship with God, and the invitation is the greatest of a lifetime, an offer filled with grace and a call to respond.
Verse 17, "And at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’" When the long awaited dinner is finally ready, the lavish feast has been prepared, all that's left is for guests to arrive. So, the man sent his slave to inform the pre-invited guests, it's time, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ This reflects the readiness of God’s kingdom, the Messiah has come, salvation is complete, and the invitation to come is urgent.
Verse 18, "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’" You would think those invited would be living in anticipation, waiting for the moment this great event would begin, but instead, they are asking one another, "It's been such a long time since we received our invitation. When do you think this going to finally happen?" Some say, "Soon. I don't know, maybe today or tomorrow." As time goes on, the excitement begins to fade, the guests become complacent and return to "normal life," eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, revealing their priorities lie elsewhere. That's why Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:31, calls believers to sanctify even basic acts like eating and drinking, doing everything for the glory of God while we wait. Then, the most shocking thing happen, the excuses begin to pour in, and the first ones invited said "I can't make it, I ask you, consider me excused."
Verse 21, "And when the slave came back, he reported these things to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’" The man who put forth such a tremendous act of generosity and kindness in preparing such a great dinner, only to have their efforts returned with indifference and disdain despite their prior acceptance would surely be justified in their anger. His reaction was not mere expression of frustration, but a divine reaction of sorrow and anger to rejected grace, ingratitude and spiritual pride. The key to all this is grace rejected leads to grace redirected, "Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’" The preparations have already been made, I'm not cancelling this event, I want every seat filled, go out and invite even the most unlikely people! We're talking about the outcasts, the poor, the beggars, those who have absolutely no ability to repay the host, their inclusion in this magnificent event is based solely on unmerited favor, reflecting divine justification by faith. I guess my question is, are we responding to God’s invitation with gratitude and obedience, or are we making excuses?
Verse 22, "And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’" The slave did exactly as his Master commanded, but the seats were still not filled. Keep in mind, this is a very, very big place, and a very big dinner. Beyond that, I believe the "still there is room, " reflects the infinite mercy of God and the urgency to extend the gospel call to the marginalized and overlooked, and emphasizing that salvation is available to all, even after the initial invitations are rejected. Though the slave was obedient to his Master's command, his obedience alone was not sufficient, the mission to invite others into the kingdom still continues, even unto today.
Look at verse 23, "And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the fences, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled." The Master refuses to accept a partial fulfillment of the original redemptive plan, and immediately commands His slave to "go out into the highways and along the fences, and compel them to come in, "so that my house may be filled." We're talking about compelling the lowest of the low, the dregs of society, the tax collector, the prostitutes, the homeless, those who scattered and harder to reach and compel them to come, so that my house may be filled. I am convinced this further illustrates God’s inclusive invitation to salvation, emphasizing that the kingdom of heaven is open to all, even to those outsiders considered spiritually destitute within Israel, like the Gentiles. I believe that Satan seduces our minds to convince us that "those people," whoever they might be, do not deserve to be in the Kingdom so that our consciences are no longer bothered by excluding them. I find this particularly true, when it comes to homosexuals and transgenders and those listed in 1 Corinthians 6, but thankfully Paul lovingly reminds us in verse 11, "And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." The exclusion from God's kingdom in verse 9, is not for those who struggle, but for those who persist in unrepentant sin without turning to God.
That my beloved friends, brings us to verse 24, "For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’" Here, Jesus moves from the story, which has previously been in the third person, to the present by directing the application of the story to His audience redefine who will actually partake in the Great Kingdom Banquet. We're no longer talking about a story about a man, a dinner and his invited guests, we're talking about Jesus and the lavish Messianic dinner in the Kingdom of God for the resurrection of the righteous. The Jewish religious leaders believe that they were God's chosen, they will surely be the recipients of all the Old Testament promises. So, Jesus issues a scathing indictment, The phrase "For I tell you," 'legō gar humin' in the Greek, is often used by Jesus to introduce very weighty spiritual truths as One Who speaks with Divine Authority, and signals an unchangeable decree, that "none of those men who were invited" meaning Israel, the chosen people of God who killed the prophets that were sent to invite them to God's glorious heavenly banquet, especially the religious leaders who, despite their privileged position, reject God’s final invitation through Christ, "shall taste of my dinner." Talk about a reversal of expectations. Those assume they're going to be first in the Kingdom, aren't going to be entering at all and those who were never on the guest list—the outcasts, sinners, and Gentiles become prominent in God’s kingdom.
Today, I believe the warning is clear for those who continue to dismiss Christ’s call to live as Christ commanded, pursuing righteousness and holiness, both physically and spiritually, while making excuses to prioritize material gain, personal ambitions, or fleeting pleasures over spiritual commitment to boldly preach the Truth about sin, calling the outcasts, may well find themselves among those who shall never taste of the heavenly feast. The final exclusion is not arbitrary, those who reject the invitation by making excuses ultimately choose their own eternal separation from God.
Have you receive your invitation to join the biggest celebration in human history? If not, the Good News is, today, God's invitation remains open to everyone, there’s no discriminating, God calls both the wicked and the righteous, we all have the same exact opportunity to experience the goodness of God, Who says, "Come and eat, everything is ready," and to live each day in the joy and blessedness of His presence, however, those who persist in unrepentant sin and sexual immorality will not be able to enter God's kingdom unless they are cleansed and clothed with holiness and righteousness through faith in Christ before hand. Once the door shuts, it's too late. Now, the only question that remains is, how will you respond? It is my heartfelt prayer that the stronghold of sin and sexual immorality will be broken in every heart that receives this warning today and they will graciously accept God's invitation to join in the celebration of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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