“Come; for all things are now ready”
Luke 14:16-24
I. THE LOVE WHICH IS SEEN (16-17)
A. Intention which love shows
B. Invitation which love sends
II. THE LIES WHICH ARE SAID (18-20)
A. The deception with their excuses
1. I cannot because of my PURCHASED LAND
2. I cannot come because of my PRESSING LABOR
3. I cannot come because of my PRECIOUS LADY.
B. The rejection in their excuses
C. The clarification about their excuses
III. THE LOSS WHICH IS SAD (21-24)
A. Their pleas are received
B. Their places are refused
Excuses! They are a dime a dozen. They are a lot like opinions: everybody has them.
Benjamin Franklin said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” George Washington said, “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
BACK OF ANY EXCUSE IS A LACK OF DESIRE! There is no excuse for rejecting God’s offer of salvation that is found in Jesus, so men attempt to make one.
In the parable told by the Lord before us, we find people making excuses. Jesus describes the excuses that were given by certain ones when they were invited to supper.
Let’s look at the story and learn how foolish those invited were to turn down the offer that was given to them.
The love is seen in the preparations, the provisions, and the passion of the host.
We read in verses 16-17, “Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.”
Jesus tells a parable of a man that invited many to come to a supper he had prepared. In this supper we have a beautiful picture of salvation and the glorious and gracious invitation that is made to all men to come and be saved.
A. Intention which love shows
Verse 16 says that a “certain man made a great supper.” This man prepared a supper. The idea behind “supper” is more than just an evening meal. It is speaking of a feast. This was a spread that this man was putting on. The purpose is for their enjoyment.
The supper in this parable is wonderful picture of salvation. There are dishes and dishes of forgiveness. There are trays of peace. There are bowls of joy.
When God invites you to come to Him, He is not inviting you to a boring and empty life. He is inviting you to a blessed and exciting life.
Jesus compares salvation to a feast. When you look at some Christians you would get the impression that the Christian life was a fast, a funeral, or a famine. I want to give you some great news. When God invites you to salvation He doesn't invite you to a funeral, He invites you to a feast.
One of the greatest myths we have to battle
with non-Christians, is the belief that somehow for Christianity faith and fun are mutually exclusive. Quite frankly, a lot of Christians give this impression, but it simply is not an accurate.
This “great supper,” or to say it another way, this great salvation, has been prepared for you by God. When God gave His Son – the Lord Jesus Christ – to die on Calvary’s cross for you and me, He prepared this “great supper.”
B. Invitation which love sends
The invitation is again so simple. “COME.”
C –is for children
O-is for the older
M-is for middle age
E- is for everybody
There is nothing you must do but come. Jesus has already paid for it all. The table is set.
It is a “great supper” and the good news is all man has to do is “come!” It will not cost you dime. This great supper is prepared by God, and He is footing the entire bill. All you have to do is come!
God has not only prepared this “great supper,” but He has also sent you a personal invitation.
“And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused,” Luke 14:18.
“with one consent” they “began to make excuse” – making excuses is an ancient art and an universal art.
Matthew says, “they would not come.” When men makes excuses for not receiving Christ, the real truth of the matter is they do not want to come. As our dear Saviour said, “…ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
When ye will not come, you make excuses. How foolish are the excuses they offer. There absolutely is no real excuse for rejecting God’s wonderful salvation in Christ, so men invent some excuse.
AN EXCUSE IS THE SKIN OF REASON STUFFED WITH A LIE. An excuse is a sham reason that one gives in an effort to cover up a lack of desire.
A. The deception with their excuses
Their excuses were a mask for their lack of desire.
1. I cannot because of my PURCHASED LAND
“I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.”
Here is a man who says he has just dropped his entire life’s savings into a wonderful piece of real estate. His problem was his wealth.
Now, I think you would agree with me that it would be foolish to buy property before you looked at it.
Now, the invitation was specifically for a supper, which takes place in the evening. How are you going to view land in the dark.
This excuse was as shallow as it was stupid.
The great supper would be over, but the piece of ground would still be there in the morning.
A man’s love for real estate is often an indication of his real state before God.
2. I cannot come because of my PRESSING LABOR
“And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.” His excuse was his work!
Here’s a man who bought five yoke of oxen to use on his farm, and he says that he needs to check them out to see if they can do the job.
That’s like buying a car at a “Buy Here, Pay Here” place and not driving it first and having it checked out.
By the way, how could he prove these oxen at night?
3. I cannot come because of my PRECIOUS LADY.
“And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”
Now this may be the best excuse of all. Here's a man who has just gotten married. His problem was his wife.
Now you talk about one excuse that won't stand up. Who ever heard of a wife who did not like to be taken out to dinner to a fancy banquet? Most women would love to get all dressed up to be taken to a formal dinner and to socialize with the rich and famous.
In fact, too many women are like the one I heard about who was in a house when a tornado hit, and it took the roof off. The husband and the wife were in the bed, and it lifted the entire bed out of the bedroom; spun it around and sat it down two miles from the house. They were still in the bed, and they were safe.
The husband was excited, but the wife
started to cry. The husband tried to comfort her and said, "Honey, don't be afraid. The tornado has blown over and we are all right."
She said, "I wasn’t crying about that. I'm not crying because I'm afraid. I'm crying because I'm so happy. Do you realize this is the first time we've been out of the house together in five years?"
B. The rejection in their excuses
There is no valid reason, nor legitimate excuse to reject God's invitation! Their excuses were simply a rejection! Their excuses were simply a mask to cover their rejection.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
Two men were out fishing on a Sunday morning when they heard the church bells off in the distance. “John,” said the one man. “You know, we really ought to be in church this morning.”
John quickly replied, “Well, Bill, I couldn’t go to church anyhow. My wife is not feeling well. The excuse was a vain attempt to cover his lack of desire to be in church.
C. The clarification about their excuses
None of these excuses was sinful, in and of itself. There is nothing wrong with buying land or animals (or machinery) to work the land. The Bible commends enterprise and hard work. There is nothing wrong with marriage and the love of family. The Bible says that whosoever findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord.
However, the point is, things that are legitimate in their rightful place can be wrong if they hinder us from coming to God.
It is not just gross, flagrant sins that keep people out of God’s kingdom. Good things wrongly emphasized will do the trick just as well. If a person gets wrongfully caught up with these otherwise good things, he can invent all sorts of excuses for not accepting the Lord’s invitation to His dinner.
I read recently about an old man who was dying in bed, and in the agony of death he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite food - chocolate chip cookies. He gathered his remaining strength and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs gripping the railing with both hands.
With labored breath, sweating profusely, he
leaned against the doorframe gazing into the kitchen. For a second he thought he had already gone to heaven because there spread out on wax paper on the kitchen table, on the floor, all over the dining room were literally hundreds of his beloved chocolate chip cookies.
He began to think to himself, "Am I in Heaven? Am I dreaming? Am I hallucinating? Can this really be? Mustering one great final effort he threw himself toward the table, landing on his knees. His parched lips parted; the
wondrous taste of that hot chocolate chip cookie was almost in his mouth; he could almost feel himself coming back to life. That aged and withered hand shakily made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table. Just as he was about to put it into his mouth his hand was suddenly smacked by a spatula in the hand of his wife who said, "Stay away from those; they're for the funeral."
Well, after the funeral it's too late. You have received God's invitation, and you had better take advantage of it while you can.
A. Their pleas are received
Grace despised may be grace forfeited. The host of the banquet wished to fill his house. All of the provisions had been made, and everything was ready. The only thing required of those invited was their mere presence. However, here were men who felt that their own personal matters were of more importance than attendance at the great supper. Their excuses were accepted!!
Perhaps I am speaking to someone this morning that will offer an excuse in their vain attempts to put off what you know you should do today. You may continue to offer your excuses, as many as they may be, and ultimately you may find your claim accepted.
B. Their places are refused
“For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”
It seems from our text that the Lord was warning the Jewish people that if they rejected him, God would extend the invitation to the Gentiles— and this is just what He did.
However, there is a personal lesson here and that is that you had better not trifle with the Gospel invitation, for the next thing the host did was close
the door to those who were originally invited.
Conclusion:
Eventually all our excuses will be proven lies.
I am reminded of a couple, who were entertaining guest at their home for the first time since the birth of their first child. Everything ran smoothly until one of the father’s buddies arrived with his new girlfriend-a woman whom the mother did not particularly care for.
She beckoned her husband upstairs with the excuse that they had to check on the baby. In the privacy of the nursery, she spoke freely of her disdain for their guest. However, when they went downstairs to rejoin the party, they were greeted with an awkward silence-except for the occasional murmuring of the sleeping baby that came from the infant monitor sitting on the table.
One day all excuses will be seen for what they really are!
