Why Should Christians Share Jesus
Luke 14:15-24
15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 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. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
Introduction
Why is it so important that the Church shares Jesus? Why is it important to keep reaching out and inviting others to Jesus? Many years ago, one of our supporters sent me an outline of this text that helps explains why we are to keep sharing Jesus. I wrote him for permission to use this outline, and he sent me the whole manuscript. By the way, if any of you have a good outline, send it to me. I promise you won't know them by the time I finish butchering it. But why do we want to keep sharing Jesus? Let’s look at our text.
1. Because the Banquet is ready
He didn’t tell this servant to say to one; you bring southern fried chicken, and to another, you bring vegetables, etc. The message was COME, all things are now ready. (Luke 14:17b) GOD’S Banquet cost men nothing. This Banquet was paid for on Calvary by the blood of JESUS. That little bowl of self-righteousness, that plate of good works, that stack of faithfulness to the church that man tries to bring are an insult to God. GOD'S banquet is free to all who will come.
But banquets are expensive. For the first three years, Jesse Crookes ministries has put on a banquet for our supporters. Then, for a while, we have our “Supporters Day in the Park.” I’ve learned that even if you cut corners, banquets are expensive. One year a group of W. M. U. Ladies prepared our meal for us. So, our banquet that year didn’t cost the ministry one dime. I am sure it costs those ladies a great deal considering their time etc. Listen, God’s banquet cost us nothing, but it cost God his only begotten son. It cost God everything.
Now suppose that those ladies had gone to all that effort to prepare that meal, and for some reason, no one came. Suppose the reason no one came, was simply because I forgot to invite anybody. Shame on me; they went to all that effort, but I got busy and forgot to invite anyone.
Friend, I would be hard put for a meal next year, and rightly so. Shame on us if we get too busy to invite people to GOD'S banquet.
2. The second reason we should be bringing people to Jesus is because the p1ace is roomy.
If everyone that we invited to Church had chosen to come tonight, we would have had a space problem.
I’m a Crooks, you know. I like to get folks excited. I tell we got problems at our church! They perk up their ears and move closer. You’ve got problems, have you? Oh yes, we need more Sunday school rooms, and more parking spaces, and if keep growing, we will need a bigger sanctuary. Good problems to have, right?
The Lord doesn't have a space problem. There's room at His table for all who will come. The servant went out and brought a lot of folks in. And when he got back to the banquet hall, the master said, "There is still room"; go out and get some more. The servant bought more folks, and still, there was room. Go out and get some more. The servant brought more folks, and still, there was room. (Luke 15:22&23)
There’s room for everyone. The good news is that there’s not a person alive that can’t come to Jesus. If I believe any different, I will close this book and go home. Whosoever will come! (Rev. 22:17)
To quote my friend, the Bible is a book of invitations reaching to people, saying y’all come. The rich, poor, the blind, the lame, “whoever will let him come.” There is room for everyone. Friend, we can invite everyone we know and meet to come to the banquet of our Lord. There’s room. The Bible teaches that anyone and everyone can come.
3. The third reason that we ought to bring people to Jesus is that the atmosphere is radiant
Anywhere Christians come together, they have great fellowship. When we invite people to Jesus, we invite them to enjoy our radiant fellowship with one another and with Jesus.
My friend talks about being in Atlanta, Georgia, and seeing the signs outside the bars “Happy hour 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Aren’t you glad we don’t have just two hours a day to try and be happy? At the banquet table of our Lord, there is happiness, joy, and radiant fellowship all day long. People without Jesus are missing this radiant atmosphere.
4. The fourth reason we should invite people to our Lord's banquet is the tragedy of refusal.
Our text says that those without Christ will not even have the opportunity to walk through heaven's kitchen and lick the pans or get the crumbs off the floor. We know it’s worse than that. Matthew says bind hand and foot and cast them into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Need I say more, folks? That’s an eternity without God, without hope. That’s an eternity and the Devil's hell.
My friend ends with a parable that goes like this. Suppose that time had ended and that a great banquet of heaven had begun, and we are sitting there at the table of our Lord. The table may be several miles long, and we are enjoying the great banquet. In walks Jesus! As Jesus walks down the table, he’s talking with different people about how glad He is that they are there and they made the journey. Next to us, there’s an empty chair; Jesus turns to the recording angel and asks who is to be there. After checking the number on the chair with the name and the number in his book, the angel calls out the name of someone we knew. Some friends or some loved ones, we should have talked about Jesus. I don’t know that it will be that way. It’s not in The Book. But you don’t know that it won’t.
Conclusion
Folks, are we sharing Jesus with people? This is the most important thing a Christian can do. Listen, some of us need to hear and repent of our lack of concern for the loss people and ask God to give us compassion for the souls of lost men, women, boys, and girls.
