Luke 14, beginning in verse 16. Now we were in chapter 15 last week, and we're going to be here in chapter 14. We read all of chapter 15 looking at one parable, and there's three parables in this chapter, we're only going to take one. And we also read several verses in chapter 14 last week as well, and we'll read those again this morning. but I'm going to title the message The Great Supper. Notice as we begin reading in verse 16. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper and bade many, and sent his servant at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it, I pray thee, have me excused. And another said, I have bought five oxen, and I go to prove them, I pray thee, have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, the haught, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, yet there is room. The Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of these men which are bidden shall taste of my supper. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this morning, this time that you've given us together again. We thank you for this privilege. And Lord, we ask now your blessings upon the reading of the Holy Scripture. And Father, help us as we come to this parable. And we ask all of these things in Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. Again, we were in chapter 15 last week. We titled that message, God Receive Us Sinners. And we went through the whole chapter. There are three parables in this chapter, and we're going to take this parable here, titled The Great Supper, from verse 16. Now, I mention to you each week the importance of the Lord's parables. About one-third of His teachings are in the form of parables. And this parable here is very similar to Matthew 22, verses 1 through 14. And still yet, I do not believe that it's the same parable. There are those that believe that they're the same. Now, as we come here to this passage, we're taking our title again from verse 16. But if you'll notice back with me, in verse 1, I just want to read just a few verses here. The setting of this parable is that Jesus was at the house of a chief Pharisee to eat on the Sabbath. And he was surrounded by similar individuals as they sat at the table. And at this dinner he spoke three parables. And the first two are dealing with the behavior of guest and host. And the third parable is a reply to verse 15. I'll read it in just a moment. And he deals with the parable of the Great Supper. Now notice as we began reading in verse 1, it says, It came to pass, as he went into the house of a chief Pharisee, to eat bread on the sabbath day that they watched him. And behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? and they held their peace and he took him and healed him and let him go and answered them saying which of you shall have an ass or an ox and fallen into a ditch and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day and they could not answer him again these things. So again there's three parables. The first parable is from verses 7 through 11, and it is a word spoken to the host at this dinner. And he speaks of humility from verses 7 through 11. Notice in verse 11, he said, And whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. In other words, he's dealing in this parable with the guests. In other words, don't try to get a high seat, you know, take a lower seat. So he deals with it from that angle on the subject of humility. But we find in verses 12 through 14, he deals with the host. And what we find here in verses 12 through 14, there is a rebuke to the selfish practice of entertaining only those that can return a favor to you. And what he does here, they're those that would show hospitality only to those that could return a favor. And so here's what he said in verse 13 and 14. He said, but when thou maketh a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. In other words, they can't return a favor. And he said in verse 14, and thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompense thee for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. So those are two parables that, again, I'm just briefly making a statement about them, but notice now as we come to verse 15. Now we got one, I believe one of the Pharisees that we read about in verse 1 through 6. We got one of the Pharisees that he makes a statement. Evidently, this Pharisee understood what Jesus was saying. He had some spiritual discernment and received the teaching of Jesus. Now I went and, you know, when I studied to preach and things of that nature, If I think I don't understand something, I may look at a commentary, and most commentaries say that this was a self-righteous Pharisee, and I don't really see this. Notice in verse 15. This is this Pharisee's response. And in verse 15 it says, And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. In other words, he's responding to the Lord's two parables that we just mentioned. And now notice in verse 16, we're in Luke chapter 14. Notice in verse 16, he says, then. In other words, the Lord Jesus is responding to what this man has said. This man has said, blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. And then the Lord Jesus said in verse 16 and 17, Then said he unto him, a certain man made a great supper and bade many." In other words, he invited many. Notice in verse 17, it says here in this passage, he says, and sent his servant at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, come, for all things are now ready. Now, And that's what I want to do. I didn't want to spend any time on these other two parables, but I want to focus in on this one here, verses 16 through 24 here this morning. Now, this is called a great supper. and many are invited. As we just read down through verse 24, there are those that were invited of the Jews, and then there are others that were invited, and eventually all were invited. Now as we think about the Great Commission that is mentioned to us in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, We find that the Lord tells his disciples, we call it the Great Commission today, to go in all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. But he tells his disciples, begin at Jerusalem, and they did, and then go to Judea, and they did that, and then Samaria, and then go to the other most parts of the world. And that's exactly what we're seeing in our parable here this morning titled The Great Supper, is that this has to do with a spiritual feast. Now, many believe that this is the marriage supper of the Lamb. I believe it's different, and we were closed this morning in some verses in Revelation dealing with the marriage supper of the Lamb. But this supper here is a spiritual feast. In other words, spiritual nourishment that you would get from this supper. And it speaks of the gospel invitation. In other words, it's dealing with the entrance, how that we enter into God's kingdom. It is the great opportunity provided for all based upon the merits of Jesus Christ at Calvary's cross. So it's not the marriage supper of the Lamb, but it prepares us for the marriage supper of the Lamb. This supper here is symbolic of salvation. Again, it goes to the Jew first, and then it goes to the Gentiles. We find that when we think about this, Jesus said in John 6 that He was the bread that came down from heaven. In other words, spiritually speaking, when we accept Christ as our Savior, we believe the gospel, we are feasting upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in John 6, unless you eat this bread, and drink of me." In other words, his blood, which he's not talking about literally doing that, he's saying, receive me spiritually as you would receive food and drink physically. We find in Psalms 23 five, we went there and read, we just sang it, but we went there and read that last week. And in Psalms 23 five, it says, thou preparest a table for me in the presence of my enemy. And then the Psalm 78-19, the question is asked, can God furnish a table in the wilderness? And He can do that. He furnished a table for the children of Israel for 40 years, the food and drink and their clothing and all those kind of things. Now, he said in verse 16 again, he said, then said he unto him, a certain man made a great supper and bade many. In other words, there's many invited. And again, we're gonna see that he starts off with certain ones, and I believe Jews, and especially Pharisees, scribes, and all that was in the nation. And we know that the majority of those rejected the gospel, but there was that remnant. Peter, James, and John, and Paul, they're all part of that remnant. So there were thousands that believed in the first century of the Jews, but the majority of them rejected the gospel and they were destroyed in A.D. 70 by Titus and the Roman army. So he says in verse 16 again, he says, then said he unto him, this is in response to the individual in verse 15, a certain man made a great supper and bade many. In other words, invited many to come. And then notice in verse 17, In verse 17, "...and sent his servant," and this servant here obviously would begin with John the Baptist, it could include his apostles, Jesus himself, he preached also to many, it can include this, "...but he sent his servant at suppertime to say unto them," again, beginning with the Jewish nation, "...that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready." In other words, when we think about what Jesus Christ accomplished at the cross, He accomplished redemption for all of humanity, and so this supper is centered around the gospel, an invitation to be saved, an invitation to enter into God's kingdom, and so it's referred to here as a great supper which many were invited. Think about this. It's called great, I think, because of the multitude of people that are invited. In other words, it really expands out to the whole world, as we just read a moment ago. But he invited them, and the word come Notice he said here in verse 17 again, And sent his servant at suppertime to say unto them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. We see this invitation all through the Bible. In Genesis 7-1, after the ark was finished, God said to Noah and his family, come into the ark. And in verse 16 of that chapter, after they entered into that ark, God himself shut the door. The invitation was open, and then later it was closed. As we read through the scripture, we find that there's many invitations. The Lord Jesus said in John 6 37, He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. In John 7 and verse 37, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. In Matthew 11 verse 28, The Lord Jesus says, come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest for your soul. In Isaiah chapter one in verse 18, the Lord's speaking to Israel in the Old Testament. He said, come and let us reason together, saith the Lord. And he said, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 55 verses 1, 2, and 3 is a wonderful invitation, and he speaks of the everlasting covenant there. Revelation 3.20 says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sump with him, and he with me. I'll make mention of that verse again a little bit later. Revelation 22 17 and the spirit we're going to read this in closing and the spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely and then in verse 18 and 19 there's a warning to all of those that will reject the word of God. So notice again, as we read verse 16 and in verse 17. Again, we got this great supper and people are beginning to be invited to this again, that is to be invited to spiritually feast with the Lord through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he said in verse 16, 17, then said he unto him, A certain man, that would be God, made a great supper and bade many. And he said in verse 17, And sent his servant at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. Everything was accomplished through Christ when he went to the cross to die for our sins so that we could have eternal life and so that we could enter into the kingdom of God. Now, I want you to notice verse 18 through 20 that we read a moment ago. They're those that made excuses, and we hear people make excuses today. There's not hardly a week goes by that I don't get to witness somebody and sometimes they listen and sometimes they're just filled with excuses. I invite people to church and they fill with excuses. But notice he said verse 18, 19, and 20. He said, and they all with one consent. That's interesting. They all agreed, even though there's different excuses here. There is one man united in rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says in verse 18, And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it. I pray thee, have me excused. And another said, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them, that is to test them, and I pray thee, have me excused. Verse 20, and another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So there's three different excuses here that is given. And again, this would begin with a nation of Israel, all but especially, you know, the Pharisees and scribes and those that literally rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when we see this here excuses, the invitation to come to this great supper is being rejected. And there's three excuses that represent the excuses of all humanity. In other words, they refuse fellowship with God when they're saying, you know, excuse me, I cannot come to this, I've got better things to do. And each is different and yet all come to the same conclusion. As we're going to read in verse 24, they end up in hell because they have rejected the invitation of God. We find that the self-serving excuses here. In other words, they got better things to do. They're too busy to be attentive to the things of God. WE FIND THAT THEY PUT PERSONAL BUSINESS ABOVE HEAVENLY BUSINESS. THEY PUT PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OVER HEAVENLY RELATIONSHIPS. and there is no excuse is accepted with God. We'll see that as we read through this and especially when we get down to verse 21 and also verse 24. There's an urgency in our passage for those, for people to be saved and for people to be invited to this, there's an urgency here in our passage. Now notice in verse 18, We have here the first excuse, and this is, I call this the possession excuse. In other words, they're more concerned about their property than they are responding to the Lord's invitation. In verse 18, he said, and they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground and I must needs go and see it. He's already bought it. He just wants to see it. He wants to admire it. And he says, I pray thee, have me excused. I got a message, by the way, about 10 or 12 years ago titled, Excuses. And it's from this text, so I just titled it, Excuses. So we find here the first excuse, someone has bought some property and they got their eyes fixed upon it, they're admiring it and so forth, and that person allows that to keep them from coming to saving faith in the Savior. The second excuse is the business excuse. We find in verse 19, another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I must go to prove them, that is to test them, I pray thee, have me excused. So we find here, put business above the invitation of God, to have fellowship with God. Then verse 20, here's the other excuse, the family excuse, relationships. He said this, he said, another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. Well, I'd say bring your wife to church. Take your wife and bring her with you. And so we have here the possession excuse, the business excuse, and also the family excuse. We've all heard them, we've all seen them, and especially as we witness to people and try to bring them to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, we as human beings can come up with many, many excuses. I mean, we've all done it. Now, notice with me, as we drop down, I'm going to read a few verses that we read last week. And I'm going to beg of you to go and look at the context. And if you want me to, I'll preach another message on this. 2008, I preached a message from verse 25 through verse 33. We read these verses last week in our sermon and just made a few comments on them. But I preached a message in 2008 titled Discipleship, wrote an article on that, and this is one of the most important subjects in all the Bible. But let me read three verses that we read last week. Well, I'm going to read four. Notice in verse 25, And there went a great multitude unto him, and he turned and sat in them. Now, I want you to really meditate on these verses for the next 10 years. or at least the next week. Notice this right here, notice the seriousness of the Lord Jesus. He said in verse 26, if any man come to me and hate not his father, and his mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life. I'm glad he put that in there, that clarifies some things. We're talking about herself. He said, in Hades' own life also, he cannot be my disciple. In other words, we find here that we're to deny all. The Savior is never ever to be put above anything or anyone, not even our own self-interest. The Savior, the Lord Jesus, is never to be put even above ourselves. When he uses the word hate here, he's not using it in a sense that we use it today. The word hate here is like we find in Genesis, to love less. In other words, we're to love God above even our wives, our children, our relatives, our spouse, because if we love God like we should, we will love them. So he's talking about denying all others and you let God be number one. Notice the second verse in verse 27, and whosoever do it not rather bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. I'm going to tell you, I've spent multiple hours many times over the years studying these things because I want to know what he means. because he says no one can be a disciple. And while I was speaking of disciple, we use the word Christian, and it's a good word, we should use it. I tell people all the time, I'm a Christian, can I talk to you about the Lord? But the word Christian is mentioned three times in the New Testament, that's all. The word disciple is actually used over 250 times. And we find in the book of Acts chapter 11, the disciples were called Christians. And I think we ought to use this word a little bit more, because the word disciple is related to the word discipline. I want you to think about that. And it identifies those who are truly committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the word disciple means a follower, a learner, someone who is absorbing the truth of the Savior and they're following in his footsteps. That's what the word means. And we shouldn't be afraid to use it if we love the Lord. And so he says in verse 27, And whosoever doeth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. So first of all, verse 26, we're not to put anything or anyone above the Lord. Second, we're to be willing, verse 27, to suffer for him. Matthew 16, the latter part of the chapter, take up thy cross and follow me. And so that just simply means that the cross speaks of suffering and that we're to be willing to suffer for the Lord Jesus and never deny him and not be ashamed of him. Then the third thing is in verse 33, and he said this, and I read these last week in reference to chapter 15, verse one, two, and three, the parable there that the Lord gave. So he says in verse 33, so likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. In other words, we find here that we're to hold loosely to this world's goods because one day we've got to give it up when it comes time to die or the rapture takes place. We're just to hold loosely to these things. Now, notice here as we come to verse 21. Now notice in verse 21, I want you to see the severity of what we're looking at here in verse 21. So that servant came, and showed his Lord these things, in other words, the excuses. And he said, then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servants, go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind, as we read just earlier in verse 13. You say, what is all this about and why is the Master angry? Well, the Master is angry. This is God Himself, God the Father. And when you think about Him sending His Son to this earth, John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And you think about the sacrifice that His Son made at Calvary's cross, hung on this cross, bled and died for all of humanity. And you can read the stories in all four Gospels, especially not the last chapter, but the chapter before each one, you'll read about the crucifixion and the seven times that Jesus spoke from the cross. First time, forgive them for they know not what they say or what they're doing. And but also Jesus cries out from the cross, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? In other words, our sins was placed upon him and he paid for them. And so when you read here and it says that the master of the house being angry, angry in the sense that he planned this out from eternity past and worked it out throughout the ages, that his son would come, be born of a virgin and grow up and go to the cross and die. In other words, He has prepared this great feast, as we just read in verse 16 and 17. Everything is ready. In other words, salvation is accomplished, and it took the death and the agony of His Son on Calvary's cross. And it says that He was angry. In other words, when this invitation is rejected, there's not another one. This invitation brings us to the marriage supper of the Lamb, but those that reject this invitation will never participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb. And when I think about this, if you want to write these down in Matthew 22, verse 7 and 8, you're going to see a similar parable, but you're going to find that God took his army, which was a Roman army at the time, and destroyed Jerusalem. And that literally happened we know looking back in history in A.D. 70. There's over a million people died in that siege of Titus and the Roman army. So God was angry. And you also read in Psalms 2, verses 5 and 12, the whole Psalm is messianic. Every bit of it's about Jesus Christ and God the Father. And you'll find that His wrath, again, the princes of this world, the Jewish leaders, the Gentile leaders, they stood against the Lord Jesus Christ Psalms 2 is quoted in Acts 4 verse 27, and we find that again the Lord was angry in His wrath upon them because they had rejected His Son. So that's why we have this strong language in verse 21, and so He said, The master of the house, being angry, said unto the servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halted, and the blind. In other words, go quickly. That is, there's an urgency. Don't waste any time. Go into the streets and lanes, that's in the city and the countries and wherever people that live. And notice he also said in verse 23, the latter part, he said, and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. The word compel here has the ideal of urgency, to urge someone, to persuade them, to plead with them. It has the ideal to constrain them, to convince them, to lead them. You can add another 20 words to that. But in other words, whatever it takes, bring them to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now think about this, if God is this concern and there's an urgency about lost souls, what about us when it comes to relatives and when it comes to friends and when it comes to neighbors and co-workers and things like that? Shouldn't there be an urgency with us? There's an urgency with God that people get saved. And so we find here that he sent his servant out, and he says, okay, those that made excuses, leave them alone. Go out, branch out, father. Notice, and as we read this in verse 23 again, and the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." So this saying begins in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and Samaria, and that it extends to the othermost parts of the earth. And so we find here that we are included in this latter passage here. Now notice with me as we come to verse 24. In verse 24, we're going to read here, make a few comments, and I want to go to the book of Revelation and bring this to a close. But he said in verse 24, and I think you ought to highlight or underline some of these remarks that are made here, but in verse 24 we have these words, For I say unto you, that none of those men That is those that were originally invited. And again, it can include many of the Jews, but it can also include the Pharisees, the scribes, the lawyers, and so forth. So he says in verse 24, for I say unto you that none of those men which are bidden shall taste of my supper. Now that's some sobering words when you think about it. None of those men, none of their excuses and rejection of the invitation sealed their eternal destiny in hell. I want you to think about that. They rejected and that sealed their eternal destiny. And we find that there's so many verses, Matthew 8 verse 11 and 12. The Lord Jesus said, there'll be those, referring to these that we're talking about, that will not enter into the kingdom, but there'll be those that are far out. In other words, Gentiles that will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. In Matthew 21, verse 43, the kingdom would be taken away from them and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. Who is that nation? It began with Peter, James, John, the other apostles. The 3,000 that were saved on the day of Pentecost and 5,000 later, then eventually the Gentiles are included in that. That is the holy nation that he's talking about. There'd be a holy nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Peter speaks of that in 1 Peter 1 in verse 9. And again, there's so many passages, Matthew 23, verse 7 and 8 speak of this. Matthew 7, verse 13, the broad way leads to what? Destruction. That narrow way that few will find, many will go the broad way that the few will find, and it leads to life everlasting. Well, notice he said in verse 24 again, for I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. Now this word taste here, I think about in Exodus, Numbers, especially Numbers 11 and Deuteronomy, the manna that God supplied for the children of Israel in the wilderness. The Bible says the taste of it was like a wafer made with honey. That sounds good to me. And when we taste of something, we receive it, we experience that, we partake of it. So he's talking about God's salvation, God's goodness. In other words, to taste is to fully experience salvation and the goodness of God. We as humans associate taste with pleasure and satisfaction, do we not? And so this is talking about feasting with God in heaven is what it's talking about, receiving spiritual nourishment, receiving eternal life. So let's read this one more time. I want you to see the joy of this, that God has provided a great supper And we've all been invited. This is the wonderful aspect of it, which has to do with the gospel that went into all the world, that we can enter into God's kingdom spiritually and then in the resurrection enter into it physically. And but notice we see the severity of those that reject it. Why is God angry? Why are these words here? Again, all you got to do is read Matthew 23. I'm sorry, Matthew 27, Luke 23. Mark chapter 15 and John 18 and 19 and you can't read that without tears coming in your eyes to see what Jesus went through just so that we could be saved. I think we ought to read those verses regularly. He went before trial and all the things that happened to him that night and early morning before that he was ever crucified. This is why that God is angry because He sent His only begotten and beloved Son to this earth to die, to suffer our agony and pay for our sins so that we could have eternal life. So this is the Great Supper. He said in verse 24, For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. Those that reject the gospel of Jesus Christ and stay in that condition, they will end up in the devil's hell. Turn maybe to Revelation chapter 19, you can turn loose of the book of Luke. Revelation 19, we're going to close in this book here, but let me read just a few verses before we do that. Notice in Revelation chapter 19, Now, as I mentioned when we started the message, the great supper of Luke 14 is a foretaste, in my opinion, is a foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now notice as we come to this. The marriage supper of the Lamb is the great eternal feast. It's after the resurrection. It's after all things are made new. and it is our eternal existence with the Lord God. It is the eternal union of Christ and His Church. The Bible said in 2 Corinthians 11, 2 that we've been espoused unto Christ. In other words, we have been engaged to Him. Ephesians 5 talks about this bride. John 1, 29 talks about the bridegroom. And so we find that as today we've been espoused to him, but what a glorious day it will be when we're actually united with him in all of eternity after the resurrection. So notice as we come in reading from verse 7, Revelation 19 verses 7 through 10. He said this, he said, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage supper of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. The wife is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the bridegroom, we are the bride. He said, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he said to me, write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, see thou doeth it not. I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. John was weakened by all of these visions that he had of the things that are gonna take place, and he just fell before this angel. Of course, the angel said, you don't worship me, you worship God. He's humbled by seeing all of these truths. And so the marriage supper of the Lamb is a major event to take place in our future. and the fulfillment of all things pertaining to God's people. It's an eternal feast. It is a banquet that we will have in heaven throughout all eternity. We are the bride. The church is described, again in the New Testament, as the bride. And the bridegroom, again, Christ is seen as our bridegroom. It passes like John 3. It's either 129 or 329. Notice with me in Revelation chapter 7, just for a moment. In Revelation chapter 7, and I want you to notice here, I'm gonna start reading in verse 9, see what a gathering that this will be one day, when all is done, new heavens, new earth, new city, new Jerusalem, the resurrection of the saints, This is gonna be a glorious day. Now, when we come to Revelation 7, the first eight verses is dealing with Jewish believers. And if you begin reading in verse one, you'll find that they have the seal of the living God in verse two, and they're sealed in verse three. They have, he said, he sealed his servants, the servants of God, rather, in their foreheads. In other words, they have the Holy Spirit. They're sealed by God. 144,000 that has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. But when you come to verse 9, you find the Gentiles. He said in verse 9, after this I beheld and lo a great multitude. Did we not read about in Luke 14 a great feast, a great supper? Well, here we find a great multitude. This great multitude has come about because the gospels go into the hedges and highways, in other words, go to the other most parts of the world, and so there have been millions over the last 2,000 years that have received Christ as their Lord and Savior. Millions. So he said in verse 9, And after this I beheld in law a great multitude, which no man could number. Notice, of all nations, kindred, and people, and tongues, they stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. And as we read through this, you'll find that in verse 15, they're before the throne of God. God dwells among them. Verse 16, they shall hunger no more, neither shall they thirst. Verse 17, for the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them and lead them unto living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. So those that respond to the invitation of the great supper, the gospel message, the gospel invitation, we find that they will appear at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Those that reject it will not be at the marriage supper of the Lamb, they'll be in hell and the lake of fire. Notice in Revelation 20, Revelation chapter 20, now we're working our way to chapter 22 and we're gonna close. Notice chapter 20, I'm gonna read from verse 11. Two groups of people that live in this world. Those that are saved and those that are lost. Those that are on their way to heaven and those that are on their way to hell. There's not three groups or four groups, there's only two. That's how that God divides the human race. Those that are sheep and those that are goats. Those are wheat and those that are tares. But notice here, as we come to this, He said in verse 11, He said, And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. I saw the dead Small and great stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the books according to their works." Notice you have here the book of life. It's called the Lamb's Book of Life because it's through the Lamb's blood that we get our names written in this book. And then we also have the Word of God. all will appear before the great white throne judgment. He said in verse 13, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. Now here's the two verses I'm after. He said in verse 14 and 15, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. When we die physically, and all of us will if we live long enough, and the Lord tarries, that's not the end. Here he refers to a second death, which is hell and the lake of fire, eternally separated from the Creator. Then he said in verse 15, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This is why people don't love this book. This is why that people will walk away from it. Because God just says it the way it is. But notice in chapter 21, now keep in mind there's a book of life, there's a great white throne judgment, every individual will be judged one day, and the way that we get our names written down in the book of life, because only those enter into the kingdom of God, the way we get our names written down in the book of life is responding to the gospel message as we mentioned in Luke chapter 14. So notice chapter 21, verse 7 and 8. Now here's the two groups of people that live on planet Earth, verse 7 and in verse 8. And he that overcometh, the word overcome has to do with those who are truly born again. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I'll be his God, and he shall be my son. But, notice verse 8, but the fearful and unbelieving, And the abominable, and the murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So notice here, you say, well, I'm not a murderer, and I'm not a whoremonger, and a sorcerer, and idolater, but have you ever lied? And not only that, all unbelievers, all unbelievers and the fearful, those who are fearful of man and not fearful of God. So we find here that there's two groups of people, verse seven and eight, and they're those who overcome through the blood of Jesus Christ, through the new birth, through being born again, and then there are those, again, as in Luke 14, that made excuses and rejected, and they end up in a devil's hell. This could be our sons, our daughters, our aunts, our uncles, our father, our mother, our cousins, You know it can include anyone that rejects the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is where they end up when they take their last breath here upon earth. Now notice in our closing chapter, Revelation chapter 22. In Revelation chapter 22 2. I want to come down to verse 16 through verse 19. I'm going to read these passages and close. Now I mentioned to you earlier, I said I'd read it again, Revelation 3 20, Says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. The word sup has the ideal to dine or to have fellowship, as we just read in Luke chapter 14. No one has fellowship with God unless they open the door of their hearts and receive the truth of God. Now, Revelation 22, beginning in verse 16. Here is where that we'll close. He says here in verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. Now, those churches are mentioned in Revelation 1, 2, and 3, the seven churches of Asia Minor. He says, I am the root and offspring of David and the bright and morning star. Now verse 17, 18, and 19, I want to close with. He said in verse 17, and the spirit and the bride say, come. The bride is the church. And he said, and let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is a thirst come. and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. The first invitation in the Bible is really in Genesis 7.1. We have an invitation, I already read it in Isaiah 1.18, where he's dealing with his covenant people, Israel, and wanting to forgive them of their sins. Then Jesus gave the invitation in Matthew 11, verse 28, 29, and 30. But here's the last invitation given in the Bible. Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely. The spirit is pleading with them, compelling. The bride is pleading and compelling with those that are lost. Then he said in verse 18 and 19, again, some very sobering words. He said, For I testify in every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. Those that add to. And that's just not somebody making a new translation. Those that made excuses were adding to and taking away. They were rejecting what God had said. Verse 19, if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. What's written in this book? Redemption and promises and salvation and forgiveness and eternal life. That's what's written throughout the book of Revelation. People go to this book and the first thing they, Observe is the beast and the mark of the beast and creatures coming out of the bottomless pit. That's not really what the book's about. Now, those things are in the book. Verse one says the book is about the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have promises. This book was written to the churches, the seven churches of Asia, to comfort them in their tribulation in the first century. It was written, they were persecuted. Listen, the believers in the first century, especially the Jews, they were persecuted by their own nation. James was killed by those of his own nation. Stephen was killed by those of his own nation. So they were persecuted by apostate Judaism, but they're also persecuted by the Roman Empire. So this book is written, and I hope that you'll be able to read this book and find comfort and not be scared to death as a Christian. It's not written to scare Christians to death, it's written to comfort them. Those that are lost, they need to be fearful. And so we find here again the Book of Life that is mentioned in this passage. In other words, those who reject the truth, adding to it, taking away, making excuses, whatever, they will miss the opportunity to receive eternal life and have their names written down in the Book of Life. I'm going to leave that with you this morning. The Great Supper. When those that are invited respond to that, that prepares them for the marriage supper of the Lamb. You don't want to miss that. You want to make sure that you know positively that you have been born again, that you have received Christ as Lord and Savior. Would you stand with me this morning? Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for your word. We thank you for the indwelling Holy Spirit. Lord, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to die for us at Calvary. We thank you for, again, the Spirit of God that is our comforter and our peace. Lord, I pray this morning, if there's one that is not sure where they spend eternity, Lord, I pray that they would respond to your invitation. Lord, I pray for each and every one that's saved by the grace of God, that believed the gospel of Christ dying for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day. I pray that you'll give us comfort those of us who have responded to the Great Supper, that we will participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. You have promised that, and Lord, we're grateful for that. We rejoice in that. In Christ Jesus' name we pray, amen.