December 4, 2022
Sermon Series: Believers Are To Sow The Gospel Seed
Sermon # 16
YOU ARE INVITED TO THE GREAT SUPPER
Luke 14:15-24
How many of you have gotten an invitation to something in the mail?
Maybe a birthday party, graduation, or a special dinner to celebrate someone else and their accomplishments.
Maybe someone invited you to church today.
Maybe many of you yourself have given an invitation to someone else.
Every one of us here today has been given the greatest invitation that could ever be received!
We have all received an invitation to spend eternity with Jesus Christ in the place he has prepared called heaven
Look at someone and tell them, YOU ARE INVITED TO THE GREAT SUPPER!
In the passage of Scripture, Jesus was in the middle of a Sabbath dinner that had grown more and more tense. The tension escalated when he healed a man suffering from a physical ailment in verse 2 on the Sabbath, then silenced His critics by exposing their hypocrisy.
By now, the tension must have been almost unbearable. Then, someone in the room blurted out (v. 15), “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
The Pharisee saw himself and the Jewish nation only as being invited to God’s Great Supper. No outsider, no Gentile or serious sinner, would ever be an invited guest. Jesus knew what was in mind of the Pharisee, so He sets out to correct his misconception of the Great Supper of God. The Great Supper is an invitation to all people.
Jesus tells the man who posed the question and all who were listening, “If you do not accept the invitation being given to you right now, you may find the door to kingdom shut in your face.
Now, Jesus has given us this parable to help us recognize the invitation to salvation is to all people.
In these verses, Jesus compares salvation to a feast. Now, watching sone Christians, you might think salvation was a funeral. They walk through life like a tombstone under one arm and a coffin under the other. When you come to Jesus, you are going to a feast and not a funeral.
Think of it! When you sit at the Lord’s salvation table, you can see a dish of forgiveness; there is a tray filled with grace and peace; bowls of joy are sitting here and there; and plates of sweet love are all over the table.
This passage gives us a clear picture about a precious invitation to come to this great and wonderful table of salvation. YOU ARE INVITED TO THE GREAT SUPPER!
I. THE INVITATION IS EXTENDED v. 17
A. The invitation is simple – “Come”
B. The invitation is solid – “All things are now ready” – God did it all when he sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins.
C. The invitation is serious – “Now” – Don’t put it off. Later may never come.
II. THE INVITATION IS EVADED v. 18-20
(Invited guests make excuses)
A. Excuse 1: Too involved in business v. 18
B. Excuse 2: Too wrapped up in new purchases v. 19
C. Excuse 3: Too wrapped up with family v. 20
Excuses appear reasonable on the surface; in truth, they are absolutely foolish and unreasonable! Sinners are left without excuse before the Lord.
III. THE INVITATION IS EXPANDED v. 21-23
(How salvation came to us)
A. The Lord became angry at the busy guests who rejected the invitation.
B. The Lord sends invitation to out siders ----quickly.
1. The Lord still had a difficult time in getting enough people to accept the invitation v. 22
2. He demands a double, strenuous effort v. 23
3. The guest who rejected are excluded v. 24
What will you do with His invitation? If you come to Jesus, you will
be part of an eternal feast in heaven.
Responsive Reading: Luke 14:15-24
