God Invites All To Heaven! Accept And Rejoice! Series

We noted last week from Luke 14 that selfish pride ignores God and will lead to troubles. The ultimate trouble of course is to be completely separated from God and be tormented with judgment forever. Sadly, many today do ignore God and this ultimate trouble may come to them soon. Do we see people the way God does, with an eternal perspective?

We also noted last week that one of the people Jesus was talking to tried to change the subject in Luke 14:15. Instead of agreeing with Jesus about dealing with selfish pride, he made a comment about heaven (as if he really knew what he was talking about); but Jesus continued to teach how pride can mess up priorities in life. Remember that Jesus was speaking to Jews in Luke 14; and He was speaking primarily to the Jewish Leaders, the Pharisees. What did Jesus teach?

Before hearing from Jesus, let us pray our commitment to God’s Word…..

Open your Bibles now to Luke Chapter 14; and again, note that Jesus was speaking to Jews and He was speaking primarily to the Jewish Leaders, the Pharisees. Read along with me now verses 15-24…..

Let us summarize the story Jesus told in response to the person citing heaven. Jesus told a story with a lesson, a parable.

v16: a certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many

v17: a servant was sent to bring in the guests

(a quick thought to consider: who is the greatest servant of God??)

v18: all who were invited began making excuses not to come

v18-20 lists the excuses; were they legitimate excuses?

One had to take care of a field; one had to take care of his oxen; and another one just got married. How did the Owner respond?

v21: the excuses may have been legitimate but the Owner was furious at those who refused the invitation!

Why do you think the Owner was so angry at those who made excuses not to come to the banquet??

If we look back at v16, the guests were invited a while back; the guests to be were given plenty of time to arrange their schedule for the great banquet!

The people initially invited were given plenty of time to prioritize their lives for the GREAT Banquet! Who was Jesus speaking to??

Jesus was speaking to the Jews, especially to the Jewish Leaders who should know what the Great Banquet is about! Do we get the picture? The Great Banquet is the Eternal Kingdom of God and Jesus said repeatedly to people that the Kingdom of God has come through Him!

And so because those initially invited decided not to come to the Great Banquet, what did the Owner do in v21 of Luke 14 besides getting angry? He invited the poor, crippled, blind and lame.

Who were the poor, crippled, blind and lame? Again, Jesus was speaking mainly to the Pharisees who were well to do and knowledgeable. Being a Pharisee and a Jewish Leader meant you were in the “inner circle” of society.

v21c: basically meant, invite those outside of the “inner circle”!

God invited the Jewish Leaders to Christ’s Kingdom but they rejected Him and so God invited the simple folks of Israel (those who were humble in spirit).

Does God stop inviting people after inviting His Chosen People Israel? What can we note from v22-24 of Luke 14?

v22: There is plenty of room in the Great Banquet.

v23a: Invite those outside of town!

v23b: the Owner wanted his house to be full and desired to have all kinds of people to be there!

And Jesus ends with a warning:

v24: Those who refused the Owner’s invitation will not be allowed in.

Any of these apply to us today? Yes the parable of Jesus was mainly for the Jews. Many of the Jews rejected Jesus Christ but some did receive Him as God and Savior. But again, like the Master who invited many for a banquet, God invites all people to His Eternal Banquet in heaven through Jesus Christ.

Just in case some of you today have not gotten God’s invitation to His Eternal Banquet, consider yourself invited right now! The Eternal Banquet of God has come through Jesus Christ! Have you personally come to God by believing in Jesus Christ alone as your entrance to heaven? Believe in Jesus Christ as your only God and Savior and live the eternal banquet of God!

Now, most of us have personally accepted Jesus Christ as our only God and Savior sometime in the past. What Biblical principle can we apply to our lives from this passage? What is the general principle from the passage? God invites all people to celebrate with Him now and forever but if people refuse they will not be able to even taste God’s eternal blessings!