Luke chapter 14, as Nate said. As always, it's a delight to stand before you this afternoon. We're going to continue the series I've been working on going through the parables that our Lord taught during his earthly ministry. Last time we were also in Luke 14 at the beginning. This section is a little interesting. You've got two parables that Jesus uses with similar elements teaching two different things, but in the same situation. This all seems to take place at the same event. He's at a house of a Pharisee and he uses these two parables to teach. and both are centered around a meal. And so we're going to pick up the reading beginning in verse 15 and read through verse 24. So Luke 14, 15 through 24. 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. Then he said to him, a certain man gave a great supper and invited many. and sent his servant at suppertime to say to those who were invited, come, for all things are now ready. 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 you to have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused. Still another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and reported these things to his master. And 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. And the servant said, master, it is done as you commanded and still there is room. Then the master said to the servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper. Let's pray. Father, we come before you and we thank you Lord for this wonderful Lord's day that you've given us. I pray God that as we again turn to your word this afternoon that you would Help us to understand the things contained in the scriptures. Open our hearts and our minds to receive these things. And Lord, may you be glorified as we consider your word this afternoon. In Jesus' name, amen. So this second parable that the Lord tells is really provoked by this man who speaks, maybe he seems to be giving some sort of a toast or not sure exactly what he's doing, but he blurts out with this statement right after Jesus finished the previous parable. Remember, The preceding parable is centered around humility, not taking the prominent seat for yourself, instead allowing your host to elevate you instead of you seeking your own honor. And then he concludes with an application of when you throw a feast, invite those who cannot repay you. Do good to those who cannot repay you. Do not only be concerned about what will benefit you in this life in the eyes of men, be a blessing to those who cannot And Jesus ends that in verse 14, you'll be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. In verse 15, this man seeming to be enthused because of what the Lord has said there, pronounces this blessing, this benediction, blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Connecting the resurrection of the just with the kingdom of God. He knew that there was a resurrection coming and that that would be connected with the rule of God in history. He was pronouncing a blessing on all those who would partake of this great feast of the end of the ages in the kingdom that the Messiah was going to bring. What a blessing it would be to feast with God and with his people in the age of the Messiah. That's what he's saying. Now, maybe he understands who Jesus is. Maybe he doesn't. I don't know. But he proclaims this blessing on all who will feast with the Messiah. Most likely, as good as his motivations may have been, he probably did not fully understand what the kingdom of God would be like. We see this problem over and over. That's why almost all of the parables the Lord taught were centered around what is the kingdom of God like? Because the nation of Israel had as a whole misunderstood what it means to be part of the kingdom of God. They had misunderstood what the Messiah would do. There was an expectation among the people that there would be an earthly king who would come. He would help free the Jews from the Romans and establish a physical earthly kingdom that would then usher in the eternal state. There was a great confusion about what the Messiah would do, what his reign would be like, and what the kingdom of God would be like in the world. There was much confusion. And I think that's why Jesus responds with this parable. Because what this parable does is it is pointing out that the kingdom of God, the rule of the Messiah in the world, is not going to be like what the Jews of that day expected. The expectation was among the people was that they, simply because they were sons and daughters of Abraham, that they, being the children of the covenant, would enjoy this kingdom feast simply because of their lineage. That they had this special place because they were the children of Abraham. But Jesus overthrows this entire theory in this parable. So I'm going to read through it again and I want us to look at a few key elements as we go through. I'm going to read it again and then we'll look at these elements one at a time. So beginning in verse 16, a certain man gave a great supper and invited many. And he sent his servant at suppertime to say to those who were invited, come for all things are now ready. 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 you to have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask that you have me excused. Still another said, I've married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported these things to his master. 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. And the servant said, master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room. Then the master said to the servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper." And so there are a few things that I think are the key elements here. First, you have the supper itself. A great supper, a great feast has been prepared. There is the invitation that has gone out. Many have been invited. And then a servant is sent out to announce that the time for the feast has come. Those who are invited make excuses. Then the master sends out his servant to bring others into his house. And those who were invited are rejected. These, I think, are really the six main elements of this parable. And so we'll go through these one at a time. First, a great supper is prepared. Now, this idea of a supper, a great feast, is a common element we see in Scripture. At the time, this was pretty much the universal expectation, or the universal picture, at least, of what the Jews would expect for the kingdom of God. They portrayed it as a feast, a time of rejoicing, a time of enjoying the good blessings that God has given. Scripture communicates this to us several times. Even earlier in the preceding chapter, Luke 13, 29, Jesus himself used this language, that people will come from east and west and north and south and recline at the table in the kingdom of God. Of course, the Bible itself ends in Revelation where John writes, Then he said to me, Write, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, these are the true sayings of God in Revelation 19, 9. And so we have this idea throughout scripture of we have a great feast to look forward to. The rule of God is not drudgery. It's not tyranny. It is a feast. It is a time of delight. It is something to look forward to and expect and a time that we will rejoice in like never before. That is how the people of God have always expected and anticipated the rule of God in the world. It's not hard but it's a feast. It's a delight. It is something to look forward to and then Jesus picks up that imagery for this parable and he says that many are invited to this supper. Now here I believe that many are a picture of the old covenant people of God. Israel or the Jews, they had received God's covenant, they received the promises, and they were told through the prophets, through the messengers in the scriptures of the life to come. God had communicated his word in a way that he had communicated with no one else. And so in that sense, Old Testament Israel was invited in a unique way to this feast, the feast of the kingdom of God. And God himself uses this language of an invitation in Scripture, right? He says over and over that he has stretched out his hand to a hard-hearted and rebellious people. He's called them to himself, and they ultimately have refused repeatedly to come. Now, there is a parallel to this parable. in Matthew chapter 22 where it's slightly tweaked. It's a wedding feast but it is parallel to this and there's a few extra elements. I thought about putting them together and I simply don't have enough time to do both today. We'll look at that one later because there's a slight change in emphasis but In Matthew 22, in the parallel, it is clear that those who were first invited to the feast make excuses. In the parallel, they mistreat the servants of the king. It is clear that that is a reference to the Jews. It is clear that it's a reference to the Old Testament people, because immediately preceding that parable, it says the Pharisees and the scribes knew that he was speaking about them. They had mistreated God's messengers throughout history, and the message was that they would then be rejected. And this being the parallel passage, I think we have to take this invitation, those who were first invited to be the same people. It is the old covenant church. There's another sense this could be applied to all. All people, as we saw in Romans 1, have some knowledge of God. They have some sense that there is a God who has made all things. And in a way, general revelation is a call to all people, but we know that it is a insufficient call, ultimately, because there's only the gospel that can save. All people have turned aside from the call of God, and this parable condemns those who have rejected God's invitation, the general invitation to all mankind, but especially this unique invitation that went out to Old Testament Israel. So those who were invited are now to be told that the time for the supper is at hand. The servant is sent out to announce that the feast is ready. They are now to come and fill the master's house to enjoy his supper. Who is a servant? Well, I believe this servant proclaiming the time to come is a picture of the prophets and ultimately a picture of the Lord Jesus himself. The prophets prepared the way we could consider that possibly the initial invitation that apparently had gone out before that they would know that this supper was coming. But now Jesus has come in his earthly ministry to tell them that The kingdom of God is near. The kingdom of God is at hand. Come and enjoy the kingdom that God has been telling you about. They should rejoice. Their king has arrived. He's bringing the rule of God. He's bringing the fulfillment of all the scriptures. The servant, the ultimate servant of the master has come and invited and calling those who were previously invited. But what happens? Those who were invited make excuses. And again, the parallel in Matthew 22, they mistreat and even kill the servants. Here, we're simply told they make excuses. As mentioned earlier, God has repeatedly stretched out his hand, an open hand to a rebellious people. He had set a unique affection on this nation and they continually and consistently rebelled against him and rejected him and his word. And now their rebellion reaches its apex. Pictured here as those who were invited with one accord making excuse after excuse. Their excuses involve this world concerns, land, property, family. The Jews had an expectation of an earthly kingdom filled with physical wealth and prosperity and the elevation of Israel above all the other nations of the earth. They did not understand and they did not want the spiritual kingdom that Christ was offering them. Now that isn't to say that these things in themselves are bad, obviously. Land and property and family, these are good things. These are gifts from God. Consistently throughout scripture, these things are seen as good things that you even ought to pursue. God gives explicit instructions on how to acquire and to even use and honor him in all these things. So the problem isn't that they have these things, but that these things were a distraction. That they were pulling their hearts away from this greater thing coming. Their hearts were too set on the concerns and the things of this world. That they could not see the glory that was offered to them in Christ. They did not understand what Paul says in Romans 14, that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. They wanted this world's goods rather than the glory of God. Rather than having the blessings of God be a means to provoke them to seek out the gift giver, they let the blessings of God be hindrances to them. They focused on the gift and not the one who gave it. And in history, we know that this is a picture of their ultimate rejection of God. They crucified their Messiah. Through the hands of the Romans, they put their king to death. Now what happens when they reject the invitation? Does the master of the house just throw up his hands and say, well, it's pointless. It's fruitless. We'll just try next time. Although as we've been reading in Romans and Romans 8 and 9, God is sovereign. He has had a plan from the beginning. God's will is not thwarted. And we know from the rest of scripture that ultimately this is what God always intended. The Old Testament is replete with passages saying that God would bring in all the nations, that the blessing of the God, the kingdom of God, the rule of God over his people would not just be limited to a small group of people in the Middle East. It would reach everywhere. so that the glory of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And so in the parable what happens when those who are invited reject the invitation? The master sends his servant out two more times to bring in the rejects of society, to bring in those who have been abandoned, who've been mistreated, who've been ignored and who have suffered. First, he sends a servant to the city streets. He says, go out to the streets in the lanes of the city. And the servant comes back and says, done, but there's still room. The master sends him out again to the highways and hedges. This would be the country roads, the roads that surround towns and connect them. and the greenery that would surround these towns, often where the homeless would make their shelters and where people would travel from place to place. He says, okay, well, we've got everyone we can from the city, go out into the country, compel them to come in, bring in as many as you can find. The poor, the lame, the maimed, and the blind. Now remember, this is the same group of people that Jesus said you should invite when you have a feast. Those who cannot repay you. I believe this is a picture of salvation by grace through faith. These people cannot repay this master for his kindness. They did not earn this invitation. They did nothing. They were doing their own business and an announcement came to them that they had nothing to do with. And this is a picture of the gospel. When we were dead in sin, Christ came. The message of the gospel was proclaimed that God has prepared a feast for you. Come in, fill his house. You cannot repay him. You did not earn it, but it's given to you freely. And so these four groups, this people that could never repay this gift, this kindness, this is a picture of the sinner saved by grace. And the servant goes out into the city, he goes out into the country, he's told to compel them to come in. And this is a picture of the gospel going out to the nations. This is the evangelization of the world. The Gentiles rejected by the Jews, as Paul says in Ephesians, that they were strangers to the covenants of promise, but they've now been brought near. The message of the kingdom is not merely for Israel, but it's for all peoples. Previously excluded now, The Gentiles are invited to come in, fulfilling what the scripture said repeatedly would happen. Think of Isaiah 11, there shall be a root of Jesse who will stand as a banner for the people, for the Gentiles shall seek him. Those who were first invited spurred the invitation. And so the master of the house says, no, my house will be full. I will fill it." And so he brings in those who could never have earned it from all over. This is a picture of grace and a picture of a gospel that will change the world and reach all peoples. That's what we have here. And it's interesting, this language of compelled, they are compelled to come in. Obviously, This word compelled can mean forced, and even to use physical strength to cause someone to submit to a command. However, it can also have a weakened sense of invite or urge to strongly press on to someone. And that's the sense that this has here. We cannot force anyone to believe. Compelled belief is not real belief. Forced belief, forced confession of faith is not genuine. But we are to compel as best we can through preaching the gospel, through living a life of holiness, through our arguments, through our words, through our prayers. We are to compel men. We're to pray for them, we're to argue, to reason with them, to present the gospel and tell them you have only one hope. come to this feast. And so those outside are compelled to come in, and those who were previously invited are rejected. Look at the last verse, for I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper. Now, the language of none is obviously hyperbole. Remember the parables do not necessarily correspond perfectly to reality. Hyperbole using an exaggeration for effect. He's speaking an overstated language. But it is true for the most part that generation rejected God and they were destroyed. We'll see this again more when we look at the parallel in Matthew 22. It even says that the king will send his armies and destroy those people and burn their city. It's a reference to Jerusalem in 8070 when the Romans destroyed the apostate nation and burned the temple. But they were, for the most part, an unbelieving people. They saw the incarnation and the ministry of Christ. They saw the glorious works of the apostles and Acts. They saw the hand of God move in ways that had never been seen before. And yet they largely remained in unbelief. Unless God changes the heart, no miracle, no work will cause anyone to believe. It is only by grace, by God granting repentance that anyone ever will believe. These people saw works that had never been done before. They saw their own king come to them, fulfilling prophecy after prophecy, doing miracle after miracle, and yet they rebelled. They were unbelievers, and God judged them for it. They did not taste his supper. Now, is it final? I don't believe so. Our elder, when he gets to Romans 11, can explain it more for us, hopefully. I think that there is a future hope for the Jewish people, partly because I think there's hope for all nations. All of the nations have been given to the Son, including Israel. When that will be, I do know one thing, it will not be until they confess Christ. Because it is only through him that anyone will feast in the kingdom of God. And so that's the message of this parable. God had sent his servants, the prophets, to Israel repeatedly throughout history and finally he sends his son when the kingdom has come, the feast is ready. But Israel rejected the prophets and they rejected their Messiah. And so now this message of the kingdom, the proclamation of this great feast that's been made ready goes out to the whole world and God will not have wasted his efforts, if we can even use that language, God's house will be full. He is redeeming a great multitude. We saw it in Revelation. A great multitude that no one can number from every tribe and people and tongue and nation being compelled to come in through the preaching of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit. So what does this mean for us here today? We see God has brought his kingdom in a way that they did not expect in the first century. Not for lack of communicating, God was very clear on what he was going to do. But because of their unbelief and the hardness of their hearts, the old covenant people were cut off all under the sovereign hand of God. And he actually used their sin, he used their apostasy to kick off the evangelization of the nations. It was their hard-heartedness, their rebellion that led to the salvation that is reached all around the world. The wisdom of God so much greater than we can imagine. So that's what we see here. God has kept his promises in unexpected ways. So we may not know exactly how God is going to bring everything to pass, but we can trust that he will keep his promises. God will be glorified among the nations. God is reaching all people and now we can be a part of this message to go and compel the nations to come in, compel the people in the city lanes and city streets and the highways and the hedges, compelling them to come in to see that they need a savior and God has provided it in Christ. I think there's another application here for us today. Just as Israel had had this invitation, that invitation is going out again today. That invitation has gone out many times to everyone here, you children especially. The invitation has gone out to you. Come to the feast of your God. Submit to his rule. The message has gone out. The supper is ready. Come and feast. How will you respond? Will you be like Israel and turn your back? Will you continue raking the muck while a celestial crown is offered to you? What God did to Israel because of their unbelief, do not let the same be true of you. Do not harden your heart. Today is the day of salvation. If you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. You've been invited. And so do not let the things of this world distract you. Run to Christ and find him to be the perfect savior and redeemer and king that you need. Outside of him is dust and ashes and hopelessness. And in him you will find peace and joy and a kingdom that will never end. Let's pray. Father we come before you again and we thank you God for these words that you've put before us this afternoon. Lord, may we not be like those who hardened their hearts and rebelled and perished. But God, may you draw each one here to yourself by grace. Lord, we thank you that you have prepared a kingdom for us and that even now your kingdom is here. It's among us. As we submit to the rule of Christ and Lord, help us to be faithful heralds of the message of this kingdom. Proclaiming your goodness in your rule. And the forgiveness of sins. Or help us to be faithful. To go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. But we thank you that you have. Drawn us into your house. Lord, may you help us to be faithful messengers to continue filling your house. Until that day. when all people stand before you. We thank you for this day. Thank you for another Lord's Day. May you be glorified in our service today. And as we end this Lord's Day, go with us the rest of this week and help us, Lord, to live for your glory and your kingdom. In Christ's name, amen.