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This is the manuscript of the second sermon in the "Responding to the Parables of Our Lord" series.
As followers of Christ, we need to look to him and listen to him. Jesus spoke powerfully to his contemporaries and to us through his parables.
Scripture
Luke 14:15-24 NIV [15] When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” [16] Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. [17] At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ [18] “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ [19] “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ [20] “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ [21] “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ [22] “ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ [23] “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. [24] I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”
Introduction
Text: Luke 14:23 NIV [23] “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
This sermon is a follow up to the one from last week which was “Don’t Excuse Yourself from God’s Great Banquet’.
You will remember we talked about a parable that Jesus told at a big house party he was invited to. He used that occasion to tell a parable of a man who invited a lot of people to a great banquet and some of those He invited gave excuses for not attending. The man then told his servants to go out into the streets and invite everybody so that his house would be full, and that is our text for today which
Luke 14:23 NIV [23] “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 1
The banquet host, which we said last week is God, told his servant to go out into the streets and invite everybody to the banquet.
Our text serves as an appropriate theme for you individually as a follower of Christ. God gives you the privilege of inviting people to participate in God’s wonderful banquet.
Instead of using the word invite I want to use the Word compel. To compel someone is to urge them, to try earnestly to persuade them.
I. If we are to compel people to come to God’s banquet, we must recognize the nature of God’s invitation.
A. God’s invitation is the most extensive invitation that has ever been extended. We are to go out not only to the highways and hedges but to the uttermost parts of the earth with the good news of God’s love.
B. God’s invitation is the most inclusive invitation that has ever been extended. Everyone is included. Everyone can respond.
C. God’s invitation is the most intensive invitation ever extended. Throughout the Bible we are invited to come to God so that we can enjoy all of the blessings he has prepared for us. God wants everybody to respond affirmatively to this gracious invitation.
D. God’s invitation is the most expensive invitation that has ever been extended. When an invitation is extended, there is always expense involved. When you invite someone to lunch there is some expense involved. When God extends his invitation, we need to remember that the banquet has been prepared at the cost of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
It is to the great redemptive banquet of God that we are to invite people.
(1) Notice what he says.
Luke 14:21 NIV[.... ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
He’s going after the most needy people. He’s going after the people who have the least to contribute. He’s not going after the rich and the mighty, he’s going after the poor, he’s going after people who are crippled, blind, and lame! They can’t even bring themselves. He’s saying to his servants, “Go find them and bring them to my feast.”
You may feel like your life is so messed up, that you’re so broken, so needy, because of your sins or because of family dysfunction or things that have happened in your past, or whatever. You may feel like that makes you unqualified. But look, that’s exactly the people that he invites to the feast.
Look at our text again
Luke 14:23 NIV [23] “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
They’re going not only to the streets of the city, but to the highways and out into the country. What that means is that anybody’s welcome. There’s room, and anybody is welcome to come to this feast.
Who, then, are we to go after?
Who are we to share the gospel with?
Who is it that we invite?
Anyone and everyone. Anyone who is in need; everyone is invited. It’s a free offer, a free invitation of the gospel. We have good news to share, and this news is for everyone.
This banquet is absolutely free. God prepared it. God has invited us to it.
Isaiah 55:1-2 NIV [1] “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. [2] Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.
God’s great banquet is free.
II. If we are to compel people to come to Christ, we must recognize and accept our own helplessness.
A. We cannot coerce a person to come to God.
B. We cannot trick others into coming to God.
C. We must not over persuade others into making an insincere commitment to God.
While we are to try to persuade people, we must never violate their individual freedom. Jesus never coerced people to come to God in the sense of violating their freedom.
Look at verse 23 again.
Luke 14:23 NIV [23] “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
That’s strong language, but it certainly does not mean that we are to use manipulative techniques or tactics, it doesn’t mean that we are to coerce people into the kingdom of God. You can't coerce someone into heart change. But it does mean that we are to be persuasive.
In our Bible study on grace one of the things we learned is that God's grace allows the person to make their own decision after seeing and hearing all the evidence.
Charles Spurgeon a famous evangelist and preacher way back in the 1800s who was known and is still, in many seminaries and universities, as the “Prince on Preachers, and who it is believed to have written and preached over 10,000 sermons, preached one on inviting people to God’s Great Banquet. The title was
“Compel Them to Come In.” In that sermon, preached on December 8, 1858, Spurgeon applied the passage like this. He began by talking about the kinds of people who were invited, just pressing the invitation of the gospel. Then he switched from inviting to commanding, and he reminded people that God commands people to believe and to repent and to respond to the authoritative commands of God’s word. Then he switched to exhortation, encouraging people to come to Christ. Then from there he switched to, pleading, and begging sinners to turn to Christ and not to persist in unbelief. From there he switched to threatening and warning, warning people of the consequences of unbelief and turning away from Christ, threats of eternal judgment. Finally, when he could do no more, he said, “The last thing I can do is I can weep and I can pray for you.” Then, finally, he turned to the Spirit in prayer, really kind of praying as he preached, and he essentially said, “Holy Spirit, we can’t compel you to do anything, but we can ask you to compel the hearts of men to come.”
This a model for us of the kind of urgency that we should have in seeking out the lost and seeking to win them to Jesus Christ. Compelling them to come to God’s Great Banquet.
III. If we are to compel people to come to Christ, we must recognize and respond to our own potential.
A. We have the privilege of being spokespeople for God. We are to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.
B. We have the responsibility of inviting others to come to Jesus Christ. This is not optional for those who are true followers of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV [17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! [18] All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: [19] that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. [20] We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
C. We can have the joy of conveying God’s invitation to needy people.
Richard's example.
Rebecca's example
IV. We can be used by God to help other people be saved.
By letting Jesus Christ really live out his life in you. Seek to be genuinely Christian, not only in conduct, but also in spirit and attitude.
B. We can decide that we will really live to help people come to know Jesus Christ and the best things in life.
C. We can cultivate and develop some meaningful friendships with those who are not Christians. That doesn't mean do what they do but be an example. Remember Jesus prayer
John 17:15-19 NIV [15] My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. [17] Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. [19] For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
D. We can tell the people around us what God has done and is doing in our lives. We shouldn't hesitate to give our testimony concerning the joy you have experienced in your faith.
E. We need to recognize the deep needs of those who do not know Jesus as Savior. We don’t often consider the great needs and fears nonbelievers have, needs that can be met only through faith in Jesus Christ. We can help them by sharing God’s love and God’s Word and by praying for them, but we must realize that only the Holy Spirit can compel them to come to God and be saved,
John 16:8-11 NIV [8] When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: [9] about sin, because people do not believe in me; [10] about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; [11] and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Don’t wait to share the invitation with others. Remember you are an ambassador and a minister of reconciliation. Your job as a Christian is to be a representative for Christ, sharing the gospel with others. Who in your life right now do you know who does not know Christ, they’re not a Christian? It may be that nobody shared the gospel with them. Maybe you should share the gospel with them.
Conclusion
If you want to invite people to come to God’s Great Banquet and Jesus Christ, you can do so by a life that serves as an example of what Christ can do when a person trusts him sincerely and obeys him joyfully.
Until you have real concern in your heart, you are not going to be very effective in extending the invitation. Invite others to come to Jesus by telling them how God helps you with your day-to-day problems. Invite them by pointing them to Jesus Christ. Invite them to Bible study or church worship service. Tell them how you came to know Jesus Christ as Savior.
We have family members, we have friends who are lost, and without Christ they will perish eternally. We have the message, we have the answer; God has entrusted that message to us; we have a job to do.
Matthew 9:37-38 NIV 37] Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Don’t wait. Get equipped, get your heart in the right place, and put yourself in position where you have opportunity to share the gospel with others.
Let's pray,
Our God, how we thank you for the generosity and the grace of your heart, how we thank you for the invitations of the gospel, this free offer of forgiveness, of grace, of acceptance, of a place at your table, status in your family, deep satisfaction for the thirst of our souls, eternal life, resurrection from the dead. The promises are almost too good to be true, and we thank you for them. Thank you that you have given them to us and that you call us to respond.
Would you do something in our hearts that changes us, so that this is the natural impulse, to share this news with those around us? Would you fill us with love for you and love for people? Would you open our eyes to the needs of people around us? Would you forgive us for our indifference? How could we be indifferent to the plight of souls, of people who will perish eternally without Christ? God, forgive us for that. I pray that you would fill us with a real, holy zeal and devotion to this task of sharing the gospel.
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