LUKE 14:15-25 GODS INVITATION TO ETERNITY2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 14:15-25 Gods Invitation To Eternity

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013. Well, as we pick up this portion today, Luke chapter 14, verses 15 through 24...

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We are jumping right in the middle of a dinner party. And we saw this over the past few weeks as we began in chapter 14 with Jesus being invited to this dinner party that the ruler of the Pharisees was throwing. He had a big feast. He invited a lot of people and Jesus was one of those that was invited.

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And we began looking at this there in the early verses of chapter 14. When Jesus comes into the feast, the first thing that happens is there's a man there with a disease or a condition called dropsy. And there's this tension in the room because the religious leaders are convinced that healing on the Sabbath is wrong and it's a violation of God's word. And so they're watching Jesus knowing that he likes to heal people, but

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Knowing that it's also the Sabbath, they're watching Jesus to see, will he heal this man, even though it is the Sabbath day? And we know, of course, that Jesus did, in fact, heal the man, because that Sabbath law that they thought was being violated was really their own traditions and not what God had actually declared or required. And so Jesus heals the man,

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And then continues on with the dinner party. Now at that time, the people began to be seated. And as they're being seated or they're seating themselves, Jesus is watching them. And he's noting that they're picking the best places for themselves. Like, oh, there's the best seat. I'm going to sit there. And picking those spots,

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in order to promote themselves or exalt themselves. And Jesus then taught them the importance of humbling yourself and those who humble themselves will be exalted, but those who exalt themselves will be humbled or will be brought low.

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And so this is what's been going on. Jesus has been instructing, you know, the host of the party as well. Hey, when you throw a feast, invite not your friends and family and those who can repay you, but invite those who cannot repay you and pick the right seats. And he's healing this man of dropsy. And now the dinner party is continuing on. And in the midst of this, there's a guy who speaks up and he says, oh man,

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This is going to be great in eternity to have dinner with you, Jesus, in eternity. It's going to be awesome. And so now Jesus is responding to this guy with an illustration about a great feast and

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in order to teach a lesson. So he's at a feast, but he's using an illustration of a feast to really deal with the subject of eternity. And so the title of the message this morning is God's Invitation to Eternity. And there's four points I would like to share with you from our passage today about this invitation to eternity. The first point found in verses 15 through 17 says,

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is that God invites people to eternity. And that's something that we need to let kind of sink into our hearts. God invites people to

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to eternity. The more you think about that, the more amazed you should be. But let's check out what's happening here in verses 15 through 17. Verse 15 says, now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

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And so we get this idea here, you know, Jesus is talking, he's addressing the people, he's addressing the host, and this guy is sitting there hearing Jesus speak. He's hearing all these things that are going on.

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Jesus in verse 13 and 14 was telling the host, hey, when you give a feast, don't invite your rich friends, but invite the maimed and the poor and the lame and the blind. And then you'll be blessed because they can't repay you. And instead, because they can't repay you, Jesus says, you'll be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

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And so Jesus takes their attention to eternity. You're going to be repaid at the resurrection. In eternity, you'll be repaid. And this guy here sitting at the table hears this. His mind is directed towards the resurrection, towards eternity, and he thinks, oh man, a dinner feast in eternity. That's going to be pretty awesome. Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. And so he

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Jesus exclaims this. He says, wow, this is going to be awesome. As he's pointed to eternity by the Lord, he thinks about, wow, there's going to be a great feast in heaven. Now this guy is not wrong. That is correct. There is going to be a great feast in heaven. You can check it out later on in Revelation chapter 19 verse 9, where Jesus

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Well, the Lord points out for us, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That there's going to be a marriage feast as the church is united with Christ there in Revelation chapter 19. And so there's the blessings pronounced for those who are at that feast, for those who are with God in eternity. Amen.

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There's going to be a feast in heaven. And so as this guy thinks about the resurrection, he's thinking about eternity. He says, oh, that's going to be a blessing to be at that feast in heaven. Well, Jesus responds in verse 16 saying, then he said to him, a certain man gave a great supper and invited many.

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So Jesus now says, okay, good point. Let me tell you a little bit more about that. Let me give you this illustration to help you better understand the feast in heaven or to better understand eternity. There is going to be a feast, but there's some things you need to know about that because it might not be exactly what you are thinking. In that, there's going to be people who

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that you would expect to be at the feast who are not going to be at the feast. And there's also going to be people that you would not expect to be there, but they're going to be there. And that's what Jesus is about to explain in these verses we're studying today. So he's using this illustration to show, hey, it might not be exactly what you think in that some people will be there that you didn't expect. There's going to be some surprises.

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But then also some people that you expected to be there will be there. And I think the challenge for us as we look at these things is, where do we fit in that? Will we be at this feast in eternity? Well, he says there's this certain man. He gives a great supper, a big feast, and he invites many people. There's a lot of invitations that are sent out. Then in verse 17, and he sent his servant at suppertime to say to those who were invited, come.

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For all things are now ready. So the invitations were sent and now the servant is sent to say, okay, it's time. The dinner's ready. The food is ready. The tables are set. Come. It's time for the feast. Now, we may not quite get it immediately as we look at this, but they completely understood this illustration that Jesus is giving because of, you know, he's...

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addressing them within their own culture. In that day, they didn't have, you know, clocks on every wall or phones that told them what time it was or watches. And so they were less tied to the time of day than we are. You know, today if you're going to throw a great feast or maybe you're going to, you know, have a wedding reception or something like that, you send out an invitation. The invitation has the date, it has the time, it has the location. And

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And then if the person responds and says, yes, you know, I RSVP, I'm going to be there. Then you expect that they will be there on that day, at that location, at that time, you know, give or take 20 minutes. And, you know, it's kind of normal in our culture, you know, not exactly on the minute necessarily, but they're going to be there on that day, on that time. And so that would be the communication that is given. You give the invitation, they RSVP, and then you expect for them to be there.

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Now in Jesus's day, in their culture, it was a little bit different. There would be the invitation that was sent out. So they send out the mailers, you know, it's like, okay, save this date. But the time wouldn't really be specified. And so instead what would happen is people would respond and say, oh yeah, I'm free that day. I will attend your feast. And then certain amount of time would pass depending on how much preparation there was. And then the servant would be sent out

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whenever it was actually ready. And so there would be two invitations, really. The first invitation, where the people agree and say, yes, I will attend. And then to all those who agreed to attend, the servants are sent to say, okay, now's the time. It's time to come. So come to the feast that has been prepared. And so in verse 17, that's what's happening. The servant

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is going out to those who already agreed to attend and saying, all right, it's ready. The table's set. It's time to come for the feast. Now again, Jesus is giving this illustration not to just tell a random story, but it's a picture of

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of eternity. The guy introduced it as Jesus talked about the resurrection of the just. He's talking about the dinner party in heaven, that marriage supper of the Lamb. And so as Jesus is giving us this illustration, we see it's a clear parallel to eternity. And what we see here is that God invites people to eternity in the same way that this man sent out invitations to invite people to the feast.

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God has sent out invitations to invite people to eternity. Now here's the thing about eternity that we need to understand. It belongs to God. God owns eternity. It's His. Eternity is His party. He owns heaven. That's His home. And so He can invite to eternity, He can invite to His home, whomever He chooses.

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That it's not our right to enter into eternity with God. It's not our right to enter into heaven. We don't have an automatic entrance into the kingdom of God. But God, being the master, being the Lord of eternity and the Lord of the house, He invites people to eternity. I think we should probably stop and consider how amazing that is.

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God invites you to eternity. He doesn't have to. He's not required to. He chooses to invite people to eternity. I think it's kind of amazing that God invites anybody at all. I mean, take a look around. I mean, we're taught, you know, we're trained by the scriptures to see the potential of what Christ can do in a person's life.

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But apart from that, you look around and you think, how many of these people do I really want to spend forever and ever and ever with? But God, being perfect, He looks and He says, I want to invite these people to spend eternity with me. It's an invitation that is given by God.

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Now it's not based on our own merits. We know that. We can't earn this invitation. He gives this invitation by his own grace and mercy, his own goodness. He says, I want you to be with me. And I want you to be with me so much. We know, of course, he sent Jesus to die upon the cross so that we would have the opportunity to be invited and to receive the invitation and respond to his call to heaven with him.

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And so first we see here as Jesus begins this illustration that he's inviting people. It's his. He doesn't have to, but he invites people to eternity. But not everybody responds well to that invitation. And that's what we see in the next couple verses, verses 18 through 19. Point number two is that God lets people refuse his invitation.

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He invites people. That's pretty amazing. But not everybody is very impressed with this invitation. And some people refuse the invitation. And that's what we see happening here. Verse 18 goes on to say, But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask that you have me excused. So the servant is sent out at the time of the feast.

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First of all, he sent to people who already agreed to come to the feast. So it's not that it's their first time hearing about it. They already responded back. They sent their RSVP. Now when it's actually time for the feast, it says there in verse 18, they all with one accord began to make excuses. They were invited. They agreed to attend. But when the time came, they all backed out.

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When it says that they made excuses, it means to beg to be excused or to refuse. The idea here is that they refuse the invitation. They're doing their best to get out of what they agreed to do. And we have here three examples of their excuses.

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Now, these are just examples of their excuses because it tells us all with one accord were making excuses. And also earlier that the master sent out many invitations. So many people were invited, more than just these three. But these are three examples of the excuses that were made.

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I think what Charles Ryrie points out is really important to consider. He says, since the excuses involved pre-planned activities, the first invitation should have been declined. All the excuses boiled down to, I have something better to do. He says, look, the first invitation should have been declined because all of these things that they say are not

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spontaneous, you know, I didn't realize, but you know, there was this huge emergency, you know, my mother's in the hospital, you know, it wasn't some kind of unforeseen event, but it was something that would take some planning and preparation. And so they should have known that and responded appropriately at the initial invitation. But regardless, when it came down to it, their statement was basically, I have something better to do.

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than to attend this feast that you've thrown. The first excuse we find in verse 18, again it says, I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. Excuse number one, I must see this property that I've purchased. Now this is an interesting excuse. I mean you can consider it from a variety of angles if you want to really analyze it a lot. First of all, you can think about, well,

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Is he saying that he bought a piece of property, he hasn't seen it yet, and so he's got to go check it out? If that's what he's saying, then first of all, we would say like, that's kind of foolish. Who buys a piece of property without ever seeing it, without ever knowing about it or checking it out?

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So if that's the case, he's foolish. But maybe that's not really what's going on here. Maybe that's not, you know, the point that Jesus is making in this illustration. It could be, and maybe you're like me, you know, when you get something new, you're

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It's real easy for that to kind of consume your life, right? It's like, oh, I'm so excited about this land that I've bought. So let me go walk the perimeter and maybe dig in a couple spots and see if there's some treasure left behind by the previous owner. And let me just, you know, figure out what can I do with this property or what can it accomplish for me?

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And so maybe he's just so excited about this property that he got that I'll go to the feast later maybe or I don't know if I can go but I got to go check it out because I just got this. I'm so excited and I want to spend some time on this property. So he makes the excuse and he does not attend. Then the second excuse in verse 19, it says, Another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.

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And so this guy says, hey, I must check out, I must test out the oxen that I purchased. Now, kind of similar thoughts from the first one. You know, we would liken it perhaps to buying a used car, you know, as he bought the oxen or a used truck, you know, for work. And so the idea is like, well, do you test drive the vehicle after you purchased it? Do a lot of people do that? No, that's not a very wise thing to do.

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So if he's saying, you know, I haven't seen the oxen yet, but I bought them, so I got to go look at them. That's a foolish move. Or maybe he's saying, hey, I got these oxen and I want to see what I can do with them. I want to see how much field can I plow with these new oxen? What can I get accomplished? What kind of, you know, rewards can I get or wealth can I attain? What kind of crop can I, can I sow or plow? You know, what kind of work can I get done?

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with these oxen that I have purchased. And so I'm going to do that. I'm going to work on that. I'm going to see what can be done. So please excuse me. Now then another said in verse 20, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So here's the third excuse. My wife said I can't go. I've married a wife. Hey, I'm on my honeymoon.

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And so I can't go to the feast. I'm sorry, but I will not be able to attend. So there's these three excuses. These three people who refuse, although they initially agreed to the invitation, now when it's time for the dinner, they say, I can't go. I'm unable to attend. And from this, I suggest to you point number two.

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God lets people refuse his invitation. He's not just telling a random story. He's showing a picture of eternity. There is a real wedding feast in eternity that God invites people to. And that's pretty amazing. But some people do not respond. Some people refuse to attend, even if they've previously agreed to attend. So it's talking about people who know about God.

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who know about eternity, who know about the things of the Lord, but when it comes down to it, they are not going to be, well, they're not responding to what God is saying. Have you ever agreed to go somewhere and then later on wish you could kind of back out of it? Like, oh man, I don't know why I said yes to that. Maybe I felt pressured or, you know, I don't know. You're trying to get out of it. Well, here's three good excuses you can try, okay?

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No, that's not the point. These are not very good excuses, but I think we should consider that they worked. These people do get out of the dinner. The master of the house is not happy about it. In verse 21, it says, the master of the house being angry. He's angry over this, but it works. They get out. They don't have to go to the dinner. And so the excuses might be lame, but it works. Now, as we look at these things, here's the primary understanding of this passage.

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This is talking about the Jewish people rejecting Jesus Christ. Jesus is addressing the Jewish nation as a whole...

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They were previously invited by God under the covenant with Abraham. You know, that's what we see throughout all the Old Testament. And so they agreed, we're going to walk with God. We're going to obey God. We're going to follow God. But now the servant is sent saying, the kingdom of God is at hand and the people are refusing to go. They're refusing to follow. They're refusing to believe in Jesus. Okay.

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And so that's the primary understanding of this passage. I want to make sure that's clear. But I would go on to say, I don't think that that's the only understanding that we should have, that there is definitely some application for us to consider. And that is that God will not force you to spend eternity with him.

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There's a parallel here. Because there are many who know about God, who have attended church, who've heard about eternity, they know about the things of eternity, and maybe even have expressed, yes, I want to go to heaven. But then when it comes down to it, as God is calling them to respond to Him, to walk with Him, to obey Him, well, then begin the excuses and the refusal to

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God will not force you to spend eternity with Him. He's not going to force you against your will to spend eternity with Him. You have to make the choice. He will let you refuse if you choose to refuse. He will not force you into heaven. People still make these same excuses. And there are people who will miss out on eternity by making these excuses.

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or similar ones. God, I must see this property that I purchased. Now here's the thing. You know about God. God's spoken to your heart. You've said, yes, I want to go to heaven. I want to be with you, Lord. And then God sent his servant. And it might be in the form of your own personal time with the Lord and your devotions. It might be in the form of your

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In a service and someone is presenting to you or sharing with you like I am today and God is using these things to speak to you and to call out to you and say, now is the time. Here's what I want you to do. Here's how to walk with me. Here's my will for your life. Here's the instruction that I have for you. The question is, are you going to begin to refuse God's call? Are you going to refuse and begin to make excuses saying things like, hey, I got to check out the property that I've purchased.

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Very often we have the mentality, the idea that, well God, I will respond to you. I know you're speaking to my heart. I know there's things that you're calling me to and I know you want me to have a real commitment to you, but I

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Well, first I need to take care of my home, my property. First, I need to get established. First, I need to have these things in order. And then I'm going to be really committed to you and you're going to be amazed at how faithful I am to you. But right now, I got to take care of these things. I need to test out these oxen that I've purchased.

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I do plan to respond to you, God. I do plan to serve you. But I have this business stuff to take care of. Because you see, man, my business is growing and we're expanding. And there's this great responsibility and need. And I really need to be committed there. And so I can't be committed to you like you're asking me to. And so I got to take care of these things and test out these oxen that I've purchased and see how far I can go and how much I can make.

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And what I can accomplish. And see God. I do love you. And I do believe in you. And I want to be in heaven. But you know. There's this career. And these opportunities that I have in front of me. And you know. These are really important God. And if I can get there man. I'm going to tithe so much. You're going to be so blessed. But I got to focus on this. And I got to do this. And then. I'm going to come and follow you. It's the same excuses that these people are making.

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Or excuse number three, I must stay with my wife. God, I will respond. I think you are speaking to my heart. And I do want to follow you and be committed to you in the way that you're asking me to. But my wife's not really excited about that. My husband's really not on board with that. And so I'm going to wait for them to get on board. And then we can do it together. Or maybe you're saying, I'm going to wait until I have a wife or have a husband. That's most important. I'm going to be focused on that. And then...

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Or maybe you kind of say it more threatening. God, give me a husband and then I'll follow you. You know, whatever it might be. It's this, there's these other things that are more important. And so I'm not responding as you're speaking to me. I'm not going to come when you call out to me because, well, I've got some property to take care of. I've got some business to attend. I've got my family that I must focus on. If you want out...

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God will let you refuse. He will let you. But if you want in, then you must respond. You must respond. The author of Hebrews reminded the people of what was written in the Old Testament when he said in Hebrews 3.15, today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. You want to hear God's voice? Don't harden your hearts. Respond as God speaks to you.

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And notice when he says to do it. Today. So many times we're saying, tomorrow God, tomorrow I'm going to respond to you. But no, if you want God to work in your life, you want to hear his voice, today respond to him. Don't put it off till tomorrow. Make your relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ the most important, the highest priority in your life.

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It's like what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 verse 33. Seek first. That's first in order, first in priority, first in everything. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. All these other things he'll add on. He'll take care of the property and the business and the family. He'll take care of those things. But we must seek first and not refuse his call, not refuse his invitation.

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So God invites us to eternity, but he lets us refuse if we choose. And when that refusing happens, well, we go on now into verse 21. We see point number three. Because of that refusal, God invites unexpected people. Check out verse 21. It says, so that servant came and reported these things to his master.

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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 here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. So the master hears the report back. The servant comes back and says, I went to everybody. They all said they would come originally, but now they're saying they can't come. And so the master's angry. He says, I've got this great feast prepared, this wonderful banquet. So here's your instruction.

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Go out and bring in the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. Now for the people of Jesus' day, this is quite surprising. These are not the people that they would expect at a big feast like this. That's exactly why in verse 13, Jesus instructed the host and he said, hey, next time you throw a big party, don't invite all your friends and family who can pay you back because

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But invite, and it's the same list. The poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. The initial people refused, and so Jesus says, invite the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind. He invites them to a feast that wasn't prepared for them. And again, as we see the parallel that this is not just a story Jesus is saying, but he's picturing for us eternity. We understand here that God invites unexpected people into eternity.

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Now again, going back to the primary understanding of this passage, what Jesus is addressing here is the Jewish people rejecting Jesus, that servant who had been sent to invite them to the feast. And because the Jewish people refused, salvation is then brought to the Gentiles. Now, a Gentile is any person who is not a Jew. So if you're not a descendant of Abraham...

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that means you're a Gentile. So it's just, you know, there's two kinds of people in the world, Jews and Gentiles. So I don't know all of you personally, but generally speaking, we're Gentiles. And so salvation is offered to us. The invitation is to us as Gentiles because, well, the Jewish people, those who were originally invited to the feast, they refused. Now this is kind of a big subject because

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uh theologically and and it could be a little bit hard to grasp but it is the truth consider what jesus said in matthew 21 43 speaking to the jewish leaders he says therefore i say to you the kingdom of god will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it

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The Jewish people rejecting Jesus, he says, the kingdom of God is being taken from you and it's going to be given to the Gentiles who will bear fruit of it. They will believe in me and they will respond to my invitation. And so as Gentiles, we are the unexpected people. We are the maimed and the poor and the lame and the blind. If this is hard for you to understand,

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grasp hold of in your mind, then I would encourage you to spend some time in Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11. And Paul goes through great detail there about the relationship between Jews and Gentiles and the gospel being brought to both the Jews and the Gentiles, but the Jews first and then the Gentiles.

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You're probably familiar with Romans chapter 1 verse 16 where Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation. We often don't hear the last part of the verse though. It says, for everyone who believes for the Jew first and also for the Greek. That there's a priority. The first to be invited to eternity is the Jewish people.

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And their refusal, their rejection of Jesus Christ is what enables you and I to even have the opportunity to be invited. We are the unexpected people. So that's the primary understanding of this passage and what Jesus is dealing with. But again, I would say it goes beyond that. And there's some application for us today as well in that it's important for us to consider that

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That God is still inviting the unexpected people. He's still inviting the unexpected people to eternity. There are a lot of people who are convinced or they would think that, you know, God doesn't really want me.

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I mean, I know what it says and stuff, but I mean, that's good for a lot of people. But really, he's not talking about me. He's not really, I mean, I've done so much. My heart is so wrong. I've been so bad. We have all these thoughts and we begin to think, you know, God doesn't really want me. But if you think that God doesn't want you, the point here this morning is that, well, you're wrong. God's invitation goes out to unexpected people.

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It's not the best of the best that the invitation is going out to. It's the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. Yeah, you're messed up. So am I apart from God. The invitation is to us. We are the unexpected people. If you think you are not invited, you are wrong. This invitation extends to the streets and highways and hedges and the back alleys. It's anywhere. It's an invitation for all.

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Every human being is invited and given the opportunity to spend eternity with God. But we kind of discourage ourselves sometimes because we compare ourselves with one another. Sometimes we encourage ourselves this way and sometimes we discourage ourselves this way. You know, I look at Javier and I go, Javier is like this high and I'm like this high. And God probably doesn't want someone short and small like me. He wants someone big and awesome like Javier. Right?

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So I compare myself to Javier and I think, man, I'm kind of a loser. But then I look at Richard and I go, oh, Richard's down here. We do the same thing spiritually. And we kind of think there's this sign, right? You must be this tall to ride. And so we're like, well, I make the cut, but Richard doesn't make the cut. And Javier says, I make the cut, but Jerry and Richard, they're out.

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We compare ourselves with one another and so either we encourage ourselves and discourage ourselves but we miss the whole point that we're not the standard and the sign isn't you must be this tall. The sign is a lot taller than all of us. So a thousand feet, you must be a thousand feet tall to ride. And here we are quabbling over a couple of inches. No, see the whole point is it's God's grace and mercy completely. Even if someone else is better than you.

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Maybe by an inch. What does it matter in the scope of a thousand feet? It doesn't matter. It's all by God's grace. None of us can earn or can measure up to what is required to enter into eternity. It's all by grace because of what Christ accomplished for us at the cross. He died on the cross for our sins that we might be redeemed and forgiven and be given this invitation to eternity.

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God invites unexpected people. And so it doesn't matter who you are, or what your background is, or what your life is like. God's invitation is to you. Now as we finish up the passage, verses 22 through 24, we see point number four. And that is that God sends servants to invite all people.

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God sends servants to invite all people. Verse 22 says, And the servant said, Master, it is done as you command, and still there is room. He comes back. He gives a report. All right, we went out to the highways. We went out to the byways. We brought in all these people from the city, and there's still empty spaces at the table. There's still room for more people at your feast. And so the verse 23, Then the master of the servant said,

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Or said to the servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. So they went out throughout the whole city, brought in everybody they could find. Now the master says, the house isn't full yet.

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widen your scope go farther go outside of the city go to the highways go to the back alleys go to the hedges now the hedges would be like where people they were homeless they had no place to go but they would just stay out there amongst the the hedges out on the outskirts of the city and he says yeah go out to the outskirts go out to where the people are that are the outcasts of society go to whoever you can and compel them bring them in but he says compel them to come in

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This word compel, it means to necessitate or to drive or to constrain. It could be used in a way that means by force, but it also could be used in a way that means by persuasion or by begging. And so the idea here is compel them to come in. Don't just give them kind of a soft invitation. You know, like,

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Hey, you know, there's this thing going on over there. You know, if you want to come, you can come, but you don't really have to come. So, you know, I just wanted to let you know. I'll see you later. No, the idea is like, hey, there's this feast coming. There's a spot for you. Come on, get in the carriage, man. Get it. Let's go. I'm waiting for you. I'm not leaving till you come. Get in. Let's go. This passion, this persuasion, this compelling them to come.

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For me, personally, I could say very confidently that Magic Mountain is the ultimate theme park in Southern California. I mean, it is the best of the best. I don't know if you agree or not. You know, Disneyland, it's really nice. You know, if Kim and I go together, it's kind of romantic. And, you know, they got a little bit of rides and we just have fun together. But there's no, like, awesome adrenaline rush thrill, you know, except for holding your hand. That's a whole different thing though. But, you know, it's a great place.

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Trying to make up for some earlier statements. But anyways, you go to Knott's Berry Farm. Hey, they got a couple, you know, pretty good rides. Okay rides. But, you know, for the most part, it's kind of like ho-hum, you know. It's not much going on there. But you go to Magic Mountain and then it's just like thrill city. I mean, there's so much good stuff that you just ride after ride after ride. Now, I love that stuff. There's no ride I won't go on. But sometimes when I go, people come with me

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Who aren't so excited about the rides. And so then my job is to compel them. And so we took Melissa. Remember Melissa Joyce, Lester and Issa, right? We took her. She went on her first roller coaster with us. We took her on X, which is this crazy, awesome, insane ride. But she's the first experience with it. She's so freaked out. We find out afterwards she's gnawing on the harness. You know, it comes down. She's like the whole time because she's so scared on the ride. One time Pastor Cisco went with me.

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You guys know how adventurous Pastor Cisco is, right? Not at all. But somehow, I compelled him. I was convincing him. I was persuading him. I was like the master evangelist at that time. And I said, let's go on Viper. And he went on Viper with me.

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He got off and was throwing up everywhere, just all freaked out and upset. Never again will I do that. Never again will I listen to you, Jerry. I mean, that's just not going to happen. So about eight hours later, I convinced him to go on Riddler's Revenge. Never again. I mean, it's a standing up ride. He hurt his leg because he was so tense on the ride. He was limping for a couple weeks afterwards. But there is this compelling, I was talking him into it. One last example.

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Kim and I one time went with the Japanese girls. There was a couple Japanese girls visiting, very timid. One was a little bit more adventurous than the other, but they're both real quiet, super polite.

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and they weren't big fans of wild rides, but we took them to Magic Mountain, and I couldn't believe it. Kim talked them into every single ride, even though they didn't want to go on it. No, no, that wasn't her. That was me. I compelled them. I mean, we're in the line for the next one. It's like, okay, this one's not going to be as bad as that one. This one's much better. It's going to be easy. No problem. Okay, okay, we'll get in line then. And then, of course, it's the crazy wild ride. Compelling. Persuading. Yeah.

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The master here sends out the servants to compel them to come in. Don't just, you know, if you want to get in line, if you want to ride, you know, here it is, it's there. But this persuasion, this compelling, you need to respond. The master goes on in verse 24 to say, for I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper. And here we get the understanding that these people who refused will later on come to try to join in the feast. Right?

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But he's saying it's going to be too late for them to respond because my house is going to be full. That this invitation comes with a time frame. There's a time to respond to God's call. And it's while we have breath. It's while we have opportunity here in this life. But beyond this life, there is no more opportunity to respond to God's invitation.

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There is a limited time and you don't know how much time that is. I don't know how much time that is. But here's what I do know. God sends his servants to invite all people because he wants his house to be filled. And I want to remind you this morning that God not only invites us into the kingdom and we get to respond to that invitation, but that then he also calls us as his servants to go out and

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And invite others. To bring them in. To be part of his work. In bringing them into eternity with him. That's what we call and refer to as the great commission. Right? In Matthew 28. Jesus says go and make disciples of all the nations. The highways. The byways. The back streets. The alleyways. The dark areas. And invite others.

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We are to go and make disciples. And as his servants, we are to compel. Now, that's not force. And it's not like I was doing at Magic Mountain, tricking people into the kingdom of God. But to convince them, to persuade, this is the truth. Eternity is at stake. And God invites you to spend eternity with him. I like what David Guzik says. He says, why did Jesus say compel? I

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These wanderers and outcasts would need to be convinced that they were really welcome. Compel, yes, but in love. It's interesting. He didn't send a servant to compel those who refused. Those who said, no, I'm too busy. I don't want part of it. He didn't say, go compel them. Talk them into it.

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He said, go to those who don't think that they qualify. Go to those who don't think that they're worthy. Go to those who don't think that they're invited and compel them, convince them, let them know God wants you to be with Him in eternity. He wants to forgive you. He's not astounded by your sin and He can't take care of it. He wants to forgive you. Receive His forgiveness. He sends out His servants to invite and compel all people to

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No matter what their condition, what their background, he sends them out to compel them in. Warren Wiersbe says, as his servants, we have the privilege to tell the world, come, for all things are now ready. Even if some reject the invitation, keep sharing it. Those who think they are the least worthy are the ones he wants to have at his feast. Those who think that they're the least worthy, those are the one God says, I'm sending you to talk to them.

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convince them, I really do love them. I really can overcome their sin, their background. I really can bring forgiveness and set them free. I really do want them in eternity with me. That's our call. That's our commission. We're sent out to invite others to eternity. And so this invitation to eternity, it's amazing that God invites any of us at all. But then he goes beyond that invitation to say, now I want you to be part of bringing others in.

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That they would experience forgiveness and everlasting life. And as we wrap up this morning, I just, of course, would have to say, this morning, as I speak to you, I am the servant that is sent out. And speaking to you, I say, come. The feast has been prepared. God's ready for you. He's ready for you to turn to Him. He's ready to forgive. He's ready to wash. He's ready to set you free. He's ready to meet with you. Come.

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He really does love you. Come. He really does want to bestow upon you grace and mercy abundantly. And it's not about how hard you could work or what you could do. It's about what he has done. And we respond to God's call by believing in what Jesus Christ did for us upon the cross. And so this morning, I'm God's servant for you saying, come. And I don't know where you're at,

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Maybe you've been making a lot of excuses. You know about heaven. You responded to the initial invitation. You said, yes, heaven sounds great. I want to be there. But you know God's speaking to you about really making a commitment to walk with Him. And maybe you've been making some excuses. And you've been thinking, well, I've got to take care of this business first. I've got to take care of this property. I've got to take care of my family first.

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And as God's servant, I say to you, seek first the kingdom of God. Respond to God's invitation. Don't miss out on eternity with some lame excuse, thinking that something else is more important. No, put God first. Make a radical commitment to follow Him in that you're willing to do whatever. You're willing for Him to do whatever. You're willing to put Him first and let Him take care of the rest of your life. Come, the feast is ready.

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He's waiting for you. Let's pray. Lord, I do pray for all of us here. God, I pray for those who are believers here this morning who have chosen to walk with you. And Lord, we see this and we recognize we're your servants. And so God, I pray that once again you would fill us with your Holy Spirit and give us boldness that we might go forth and be your servants who compel others to come in. That we would extend the invitation to the world around us.

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But Lord, also I pray for those that you're speaking to right now this morning. You're calling them to respond to your invitation. They've heard about you. They know about you. They've read about you. Perhaps they've even studied you, your work and eternity with you. But Lord, they also know you're calling out to them right now, this moment. And you're asking them to make a real commitment to follow you, to put you first and to seek you first in your kingdom.

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And so God, I pray for each one that you're speaking to. Lord, that you would help them to see how much you love them. So much that you sent your only begotten son to die upon the cross for their sin, for my sin, for our sin. So that we, the unexpected, would be invited. Lord, I pray that you would help those that you're speaking to this morning to see the lame excuses that they're offering.

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Lord, they're not good excuses. They work because you will allow us to refuse. But Lord, help them to see those excuses for what they are. Lord, that they would not continue that, but that they would respond as you speak to their hearts. And so, Lord, I pray that you would help them to believe in you, to surrender their selves to you, and to live their lives for your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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