“Come to the Feast”

1. Read: Luke 14:15-24

2. About the Text:

1) Jesus was eating at the house of a prominent Pharisee.

2) While there, they observed a man with a disease.

3) Jesus asked the Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath day and then Jesus healed the man.

4) It was out of the hypocritical judgments that the Pharisees made regarding Jesus, that Jesus called attention to the Pharisees actions regarding their love for the upper seats.

5) They turned their noses up at this poor invalid.

6) Jesus rebuked their snobbery with his words in verses 7-14.

7) It is out of this background that He tells the parable that we have under consideration this morning.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. There is just one invitation and only one opportunity to accept it.

1) Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:28, 29).

2) “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37, 38).

2. And there is just one opportunity to obey that invitation.

1) Paul wrote regarding this invitation, “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

2) James wrote regarding our life, ” Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14).

3. God’s invitation still rings out today—Come to the Christ! “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:7).

1. God doesn’t expect us to make excuses at His invitation.

1) Exodus 4:1, 10, 13 – Moses tried to make excuses.

a. They won’t believe.

b. I’m not eloquent.

c. Send someone else.

d. But God would not accept Moses excuses.

2) We were recently reminded about the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.

a. They didn’t bring enough oil.

b. They were not allowed to enter.

c. The Lord allowed no excuse.

3) We think about the parable of the talents.

a. The man who had one talent said, “I was afraid.”

b. But “fear” is no excuse.

2. God does not want us to RSVP to this invitation, he EXPECTS us to come!

1) We may choose not to come, but that is not God’s desire. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

2) God expects us to attend, in fact, he commands it! “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent….” (Acts 17:30).

3. God does not accept excuses today, but he will forgive if we confess and ask.

1) There is a difference in excusing something and forgiving something.

2) Excuses demand no action on the part of the one with the excuse.

3) Forgiveness, on the other hand, demands repentance of the one seeking forgiveness and repentance demands action (Acts 26:20).

4) God doesn’t excuse, but he does forgive.

4. We preach forgiveness, but NOT excuses!

1. God is love, but when provoked, God does get angry.

1) When one rejects God’s invitation, God gets angry.

2) This is not some out of control, wild, and degenerate kind of anger.

3) It is rather, the anger of a righteous God who applies justice soberly.

4) In Matthew 22:7, 8 we have the parallel account, “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.”

5) The writer of the book of Hebrews says plainly, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31) and “…our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

2. Those who fail to obey God and take advantage of His love, will suffer his anger.

1) “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)

2) “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” (Revelation 19:15).

3. We would be negligent in our duty to evangelize if we failed to mention the anger of God against those who do not obey.

1. God’s love is for all men, everywhere.

1) “For God so loved the world….” (John 3:16).

2) “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).

3) “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9).

4) God has proven His love for all men through sending His Son, Jesus.

2. We note, however, that God’s love is special for those who are downtrodden.

1) Jesus made special note to deal with the downtrodden: “Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.” (Luke 7:22).

2) “Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?” (James 2:5).

3) We read in 1 Corinthians 1:26 “For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:”

4) Those who are truly poor deserve our special love and mercy.

3. One cannot say of God that He does not love. God loves all, rich and poor alike!

4. Are we inviting those whom God specifically said to invite?

1. Come to the feast! Why?

1) Because God Himself has issued his INVITATION.

2) Because God Himself has EXPECTATIONS for our presence.

3) Because God Himself will pour out his ANGER upon those who refuse.

4) Because God Himself has shown his LOVE to all men.

2. Invitation

1) Dear Christian brother and sister, have you been telling others to “Come to the Feast?”

2) We must get out this message!

3) If you are not living faithfully, take heed of God’s anger.

a. You may think that God will accept your excuse, but He will not.

b. You may think you can escape, but you will not.

4) If you are not a Christian this morning . . .

a. The invitation is for you!

b. Accept God’s love and obey the gospel today!

a) Hear the word; Romans 10:17 “Faith comes by hearing . . .”

b) Believe with all your heart; Hebrews 11:6 “For without faith it is impossible . . . .”

c) Repent of your sins (Acts 17:30).

d) Confess Jesus as the Son of God (Matt.16:16).

e) Be Baptized for the remission of your sins (Mark 16:15,16).