Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Jesus told a parable about a man hosting a banquet.
When the invited guests begged off, he found anyone he could to sit at his table. God seeks the lost, just like this man sought people to feed. Today, an inspiring lesson on reaching people who need the Gospel. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, this lesson reminds me of how D.L. Moody would not go to sleep at night unless he had spoken to at least one lost person about the Gospel. Dave, I have to tell you that the more I know about D.L.
Moody, the more I realize that his life cannot be explained apart from the grace and the intervention of God. His burden for souls was so evident, as you already implied in your comment, and it's something that you and I ought to have as well. I always say that we here at Running to Win are also committed to the Gospel, getting it to as many people as possible.
And of course, we use technology to do that. You know, we're coming to the end of our fiscal year, and we want to thank the many of you who support this ministry. Right now, we're in the midst of a matching challenge, and every gift that you give will be doubled. Here's what you can do. Go to RTWOffer.com.
RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now, as we listen to this message, let us ask God to give us a burden for people just like D.L. Moody had, a burden that Jesus describes in this parable. So how are you all doing today?
Are you holding up okay? Everybody glad that you're here walking in the Spirit? You know, Jesus was such a controversial teacher. The more familiar we are with the Gospels, the more we sometimes don't realize it, but really he stirred up people with his teaching, the Bible says. And sometimes his confrontations, his confrontations were very direct, almost unexpectedly so.
I'm sure they were always loving, but they were very plain and sometimes very hurtful to the people who heard them. For example, in Luke chapter 14, and there's the passage to which you may turn, the 14th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, it opens by saying that Jesus was invited to the home of a Pharisee and they watched him, the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. They were watching him carefully because they wanted to trap him. They wanted to catch him.
They wanted to discredit him and they were trying to find out reasons why they could do so. In the next verses, the Bible says that there was a man there who had dropsy. He had an illness and Jesus said, shall I heal him on the Sabbath day?
And they were quiet. And so Jesus heals him. And then Jesus says, you know, don't you think that on the Sabbath we ought to do good?
You see, they criticized him in other texts like that. They criticized him for doing work on the Sabbath. To heal somebody was to work on the Sabbath. Jesus was pointing out that no, if you work on the Sabbath to earn a living, that's one thing. But if you help somebody on the Sabbath, that's what the Sabbath was for. It wasn't simply as a holy day. It was a holy day, but one way to exercise your holiness is to help people. And then if that wasn't enough, here he is at the feast and the scripture says that he was observing people. He was observing how they chose places of honor.
This is verse 7 of chapter 14. We can almost visualize it. The doors open and everybody rushes to be at the best seats. Everyone wants to be next to the host, to be at his right or at his left. And so they're kind of pushing over one another, itching and elbowing each other to get to the best place. We've seen that happen, haven't we, when you have a banquet and you open the doors and all of us have been in a position where we want to rush to the front to get the best seats.
And Jesus is seeing this. And so right there in their face, he rebukes them and he says to them, when you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him. And he who invited you both will come and say to you, give your place to this person. Then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place so that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher. Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. He who humbles himself will be exalted.
He's talking to the very people who are frantically scrambling to get the best place. And what an amazing statement that those who are humble are going to be exalted. I remember sitting in a meeting years ago where someone quoted Jeremiah chapter 45 verse 5, seekest thou great things for thyself, seek them not. And right there, I prayed to the Lord that I would never elbow my way up in the kingdom of heaven. If God desires to give someone a place of prominence, let God do it and don't be there manipulating and initiating it on your own.
Now, Jesus isn't finished. He continues and he's speaking now directly to the man who invited him. He says, when you give a dinner or banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot pay you back and you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. And Jesus is not saying we should never have those kinds of friends over who might repay us, but don't make that your emphasis. Invite those who can never pay you back. In other words, go out of your comfort zone and find the lame and the blind and the crippled.
I wish I could say that we've done this more often, but I remember many, many years ago a Thanksgiving dinner that Rebecca and I had in our home and basically it was all people who could never possibly repay us. And what a sense of delight and freedom and joy to be able to give to people even though you know that there's no way they could ever give it back. Jesus said, use those people and give them an opportunity to be with you. And by the way, you'll be rewarded at the resurrection of the just. Years ago I preached a sermon on what Jesus will be looking for at the judgment seat of Christ. There are at least 10 different items that are mentioned in the Bible and this is one of them. Have you shown hospitality to people who can never pay you back, people who are marginalized, who need your love and your grace and your mercy, who least expect to receive it.
Now I have to visualize the scene. Jesus has spoken to all the people. He's spoken to the person who invited him to the feast. And you can imagine after this total silence, total silence.
Alistair Begg says it's something like after you've been at a feast and you're gorging yourself and you have three different desserts and then someone says, well you know that if we'd have cut back on what we were eating today, if we had eaten only half of this, it would have been able to supply food for a family starving in Ethiopia for a week. So after that, just silence. Somebody has to break the silence. Somebody needs to say something. And I can visualize that at this feast, sitting off in a corner, my imagination tells me that it's an old man who is speaking, a pious old man who has kept all the rules and gone to synagogue regularly. And so somebody needs to say something so he does. It says in verse 15, when one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, after clearing his throat, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. You can almost imagine the way he said it.
Everybody will have somebody said something to break the silence. Jesus picks up on this and now we get to the parable. This is a series on parables and here goes. Jesus says, a man once gave a great banquet and invited many and at the time of the banquet, he sent his servants to say to those who had been invited, come for everything now is ready. Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven is like a banquet. By the way, when you come across kingdom of heaven, what it means in scripture is the fact that in the Old Testament, God predicted a kingdom. He predicted a time of peace. It was to be a golden age that we believe is still going to happen, that Jesus is going to still rule from Jerusalem over this earth and the knowledge of the Lord will be over the earth as waters cover the sea. It's going to be time of joy, a time of refreshment, a time of eating and feasting. It is going to be a very, very blessed time.
So the old man was right. Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom. But Jesus said that a certain man had a feast and this feast was prepared and he invited people to it. Now we have to look at the text of scripture very carefully. The Bible does not have one loose word. You'll notice that he sends servants and it says they went to those who had been invited and they said come now all things are ready.
See in those days you didn't have cell phones and emails. So the way in which you invited people is you sent out servants and these servants mentioned that there would be a feast on a certain day but no time was given because there were so many different contingencies that could change the time. And so the time of the feast was uncertain but it was kind of like a save the date relationship. And apparently everyone who was invited says yes I'll come. Of course in context it's a reference to the Old Testament prophets. They came and they were the first ones who told Israel there's a great feast coming. Messiah is coming and everybody said we're happy for that day and when Messiah comes we'll accept him. But now what can we say about this feast? First of all it was very lavish. The Bible says that it was a great feast. Visualize a large room and you cannot even see to the end of it and along the way there are these beautiful tables with white linen cloths and candelabra and this is a feast that God throws. And so it's a very lavish feast. It's also a free feast. You don't have to bring anything. You know sometimes we have potluck dinners and somebody says well I'll bring this dish and you bring that one and we'll put them all together.
Not this one. You don't have to bring anything because the table has been spread. It's been laid.
Everything that you need is here. Just come. But it's also an urgent invitation because the text says come for all things are now ready.
If you're going to come do it soon because the opportunity will not be endless. It will come to an end and so the text says come now because all things are ready for the feast. Now because this is a banquet thrown by God as Jesus was illustrating what would you and I expect? We'd expect everybody to rush to it and say absolutely we're going to be there. If there was ever a time when you'd expect people to be elbowing their way into the banquet room it would be this time.
Surprisingly that's not what happens. People notice that the scripture goes on. Jesus tells the story.
Verse 16. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him I have bought a field and I must go and see it. Please have me excused. And another said I have bought five yoke of oxen and I go to examine them. Please have me excused. And another said I've married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported these things to his master and the master of the house became angry. Look at their excuses and they were excuses.
They were not reasons. I mean are you kidding me that somebody is going to buy a field before he even sees it? It's unthinkable. Jesus is talking to shrewd people.
Who would do that? Are you telling me that somebody would buy a yoke of oxen, five yoke of oxen in fact, and not even see them? And so he says I bought them and now I have to go look at them. Reminds me of one of our politicians who says we have to pass the legislation to see what's in it.
I mean are you really, are you really telling me that you're going to lay down good money and then after that find out what you bought? I don't think so. When I was looking at this my father many, many, many years ago bought a horse from a very close friend and the friend vouched for this horse, a good horse. My dad bought it and the horse was absolutely worthless. He would not take a harness. He would not pull anything and eventually we got rid of the horse and by the way the man who did that died not too long ago.
Isn't that interesting? That came back to my mind and he was a good man but we often wondered, you are our friend. Why did you sell us a horse that you knew was no good? Clearly this person is not going to do that. Of course he knew what these oxen were like and then another man says I'm just newly married and in the Old Testament if you were newly married you were supposed to stay home a year and minister to your wife and get to know each other.
Great idea by the way. You weren't to go to war. That is an actual physical war. I think it was General MacArthur who used to say to his troops gentlemen don't even think about marriage until you have mastered the art of warfare. But you were not supposed to go to war but he could have brought his own wife.
There'd have been room for her at the banquet. What's going on here in the text? Fact is they don't want to go. They think to themselves that they're not as hungry as they may perceive themselves to be.
They are eating junk food. They're going through the rituals. They're praying the right prayers. They're attending synagogue. They have long robes and they can sit there and they can pontificate and they're very content with themselves.
Thank you very much. They had no idea what it was that they were saying. Why is it that people don't come to saving faith in Jesus Christ today? It's excuses. You know they could have said we don't want to come to your party but they didn't say that so they made excuses excuses excuses. Like a girl I read about a boy phoned her and said you know I'd like to take you out on Friday night and she said no she said I'm going to have a conflict on Friday night and as soon as I hang up the phone she said I'm going to arrange it.
So I hope he I hope he got the message. Excuses. One reason is because of fear. People fear their friends and they think if I come to saving faith in Christ what are my friends going to say? Or maybe it's fear even of God or fear that they have to give up some sins. I mean they come and they have all these rationalizations and God says here is a feast that you can participate in. Now what happens is the master becomes angry.
We don't usually think of God as being angry but when you read the Old Testament you discover that God was frequently angry with unbelief and the great insult that this was that people would not accept the invitation to his banquet. And so what the man did is the master of the house said to his servants go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor the crippled the blind and the lame and the servant said sir what you have commanded has been done and still there is room and the master said to the servant go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be filled for I tell you none of those men who were invited shall taste of my banquet. What powerful sobering words. Well my friend Jesus often spoke very sobering words and we need to hear what he has to say and we here at Running to Win want to be faithful to make sure that we convey the message of Jesus to as many people as possible. I'm holding in my hands a very encouraging letter. This person says as I was trying to think of something to say from my heart all that I could say was healing. Your messages have brought healing to compartments of my life where I don't go. When I heard that there was a father God who loved me regardless of my background it's a promise I grabbed.
My friend you are a part of testimonies just like this. Running to Win does not belong to a church it does not belong to an organization or a person. It is the ministry of God's people together. Would you consider helping us? We're in the midst of a matching gift challenge and by the way we're coming to the end of our fiscal year.
Your help would be deeply appreciated. Some of our friends have said that they are willing to match dollar for dollar the gifts given during this period of time up to 90,000 dollars. Here's what you do go to rtwoffer.com. Let me give you that info again rtwoffer of course is all one word rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 become a part of the Running to Win family rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 It's time once again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. When life gets tough it's common to doubt the assurances we read in the Bible that God cares for us. Sheri has gone through quite a lot and wants to get your reaction Pastor. She writes this past year I've lost my job had to quit my education and lost a dear friend and aunt to death both were strong Christians and always claimed their healing since they died I've struggled with God's promises promises like by his stripes we are healed and he will give you the desires of your heart I find myself with no peace no purpose and no companionship life is so disappointing full of broken promises and no hope what do I do now that I doubt God's promises Sheri first of all as a pastor I want to extend my heart to you I sympathize with your situation and I do hope that it becomes better and I'm sure that someday the sun will shine but now to your question I think it's a great mistake to think that the Bible teaches that we can have healing whenever we wanted and we can insist on our healing I know that there are certain TV preachers who preach that but that is actually a distortion of God's Word so let me be clear I believe that when Jesus died on the cross he died for us body soul and spirit redemption is complete but we don't inherit all of these blessings we don't inherit them until after we die when we get our new bodies you know the Bible says that Jesus came to destroy death well you and I know that all Christians die so there are promises that God makes that really have to do with eternity and not in this life and when it says by his stripes we are healed in context it has to do also with the inner healing with the healing of our emotions the healing of our souls that's the best way for me to put it it does not mean that we can claim instant physical healing whenever we are sick with reference to the promise we've all struggled with it when you refer to the verse that says he gives you the desires of your heart that's difficult but I do believe that as we submit to God over a period of time our desires are so in tune with him that we are willing to accept whatever it is that God gives us so Sherry the bottom line is go back to the promises that are for us claim them go to Romans chapter 8 nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ tribulation distress etc you can read it there for yourself there are so many of God's promises I'm thinking of Hebrews chapter 13 have no fear I will never leave thee and forsake thee cleave to those promises and you can be assured that God is going to help you he's going to give you grace for the days ahead again my heart goes out to you and I know that healing will be in your future thanks Sherry and thank you Dr. Lutzer if you'd like to hear your question answered you can just go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us at Running to Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614 Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life in the story of this great banquet the host invited the poor those who could never repay him that's because the invited guests made excuses as to why they could not attend next time on Running to Win how this parable should affect how we share the gospel with others thanks for listening this is Dave McAllister Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church
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