Taking It To The Streets

September 8, 2013

Taking It To the Streets

Luke 14:15-35                             NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS—If filling up God’s church with new believers who are loving and serving God is not your “top priority,” you are living in disobedience.

VIDEO:  Unanswered Calls from God

When I was growing up one of the most painful memories I have is learning that one of my friends had a party and I was not invited.  This nearly crushed my spirit each time it happened.  Receiving an invitation to someone’s party or gathering signifies that you are really important to that person.  Today, we are going to look at the Greatest Invitation every given by the Greatest One Who Has Ever Lived to the Greatest Party that will ever be held. 

God has invited everyone in the world to attend a Great Banquet.  That Great Banquet is an eternal party that will take place for all eternity in heaven.  Our text reveals a shocking truth about this invitation:  many people simply did not respond.  This both breaks God’s heart and sparks His wrath.  Let’s read about this invitation:

LUKE 14:15-24

Now, many sermons have been preached regarding the broadness of God’s invitation to salvation, and rightfully so.  In this parable God is represented as a man giving a great banquet.  That invitation represents an invitation to eternal life.  It is almost unfathomable to me that anyone could reject an absolutely free invitation to eternal life—but many, in fact most, have and will continue to reject that offer.

Rather than focus on the great invitation to salvation I want to focus on the passion for souls that characterizes God’s character, as evidenced by the fact that in verse 23 God, represented by the master of the house, declares in what seems to be forceful language:

²³ “Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

This gives mankind insight into the very heart of God Almighty.  What really drives passion of God?  What so moves the heart of God that “He sent His only begotten Son” to die on a cross to provide the means by which all mankind could be offered an invitation to eternal life?  We are told what drives the heart of God to do such a thing:

“For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son.”

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter declared boldly:

^{2Peter 3     9} The Lord does not delay His promise,  as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any  to perish  but all to come to repentance.

From Genesis to Revelation the Bible unfolds the passion that God has for saving souls.  At the Cross—on the cross—the passion of God for reaching His lost children reaches its zenith. 

Nothing drives the heart of God more than His love for His lost children.  This is the message woven throughout this Parable of the Great Banquet.  Last week we spoke of the Five Crowns Christians can win.  We learned that these “crowns” expressed five virtues or activities that God highly valued.  If you remember the Fifth Crown was the Crown of Boasting.  It reminds us that God highly—and I stress, “highly”—values soul-winning.  1Thessalonians 2:19:

⁹ For who is our hope or joy  or crown  of boasting  in the presence of our Lord  Jesus at His coming?  Is it not you?

What caused Paul to rejoice and gain the Crown of Boasting?  It was the Thessalonian Christians that had been won to the Lord as a direct result of Paul’s ministry of soul-winning. 

God values the souls of mankind so much that He watched

Knowing this, a church with more pew than people is an affront to God, Himself.  If filling up God’s church with new believers who are loving and serving God is not your “top priority,” you are living in disobedience. Now, I realize that is a very, very strong statement and one that “stings” a little like salt on an open wound.  But, the truth is the truth and the sooner we as a church align ourselves with the truth of God’s Word in sacrificial obedience, then the sooner we will begin to see unimaginable blessings fall upon our church, our families, and our community—indeed, our world.  I think I should say that again: 

The truth is the truth and the sooner we as a church align ourselves with the truth of God’s Word in sacrificial obedience, then the sooner we will begin to see unimaginable blessings fall upon our church, our families, and our community—indeed, our world.

This is the foundation for our new church vision beginning this Sunday:  TAKING IT TO THE STREETS!  This is what our text commands us to do and we simply must “get it done.”  God has given me three components from our text that are essential if we are going to see God’s blessing fall like rain from heaven.

1.  There is a SPIRITUAL Component (v 15)

¹⁵ When  one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God  is blessed!”

The background for the Parable of the Great Banquet is an actual meal at the at “the house of one of the leading Pharisees” (14:1).  They were reclining around a low table as was the custom of the day.  When Jesus spoke about a “person being blessed who eats bread in the Kingdom of God,” the Pharisees would have naturally assumed that “they were those who would be so blessed.”

There were no people on earth at that time that were more “religious” and “righteous” than the Pharisees.  Now, everywhere in the N.T. Jesus interacts with the Pharisees, for the most part, it is not a pleasant interaction.  In fact, some of the harshest condemnations Jesus ever spoke, He spoke to and about the Pharisees.

But, and this is important, Jesus did recognize that the Pharisees highly valued righteousness and were fastidious about religious details.  In one text Jesus remarks:

^{Mat5:  20} For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Let me outline just how “righteous” the Pharisees were.  They were:

1.  evangelistic:  You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte,  and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell  as you are! (Mat 23:15).

2.  tithers:  You pay a tenth of  mint, dill, and cumin (23:23).  The Law of God required everyone to give a “tenth,” or a tithe, to the work of God.  Even if a wild herb, like mint, dill, or cumin sprouted up along the walkway of a Pharisees home, he would pick one out of ten and take it to the temple for an offering.

3.  ritualistic:  You clean the outside of the cup and dish. (23:25). The Pharisees followed every ritualistic requirement of their faith—and there were many.  There was even a debate as to whether it was more important to clean the inside or the outside of a cup—and we are talking about “religious” practice, not a hygienic one.  The Pharisees were rigid in their pursuit of religion, and their practice far exceeded all others.

In the first century, if one turned to the Webster’s Dictionary under the heading, “righteous,” there would be a picture of a Pharisee.

Now, Jesus declared that one’s righteousness had to “exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees” in order to get into heaven.  I want to suggest strongly to you that there is “no way” you are going to compete with the Pharisees when it comes to “ritualistic righteousness.”  But, let me go back to our text in verse 15:

Jesus said, “The one who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God is blessed.”  Jesus said this to a Pharisee and it was a rhetorical question of sorts.  Jesus was using irony and sarcasm to suggest that “none of the Pharisees” would be “eating bread in the Kingdom of God.”

You see, blessing, or being in the Kingdom of God is not something we “earn” or “gain” through our religious activities.  Entrance into the Kingdom of God is a “spiritual” matter, not a religious one.  True righteousness is a “spiritual righteousness,” not a “self-righteousness.”

Remember last week I showed you that “true righteousness” is imputed, or placed in us from the outside.  It is a “spiritual transaction.”  The Bible says in 2Corinthians 5:21,

He made the One who did not know sin  to be sin  for us,  so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So, obedience to God—righteousness—is a spiritual matter.  Therefore, “Taking It To The Streets,” has a spiritual component. It is a matter of complete and total surrender to God and obedience to His Holy Spirit on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment basis.  If we do not “get Spiritual”—and I capitalize Spiritual to refer to the Holy Spirit—then we are NEVER going to fill this sanctuary up with new believers who are loving and serving God. 

The “spiritual component” involves prayer, Bible study (including a daily quiet time and Scripture memory), participation in the fellowship of God’s church as spiritual servants, and a Holy Spirit inspired compassion for lost people that motivates us to evangelize.

Without the spiritual component, God’s house will never be full of believers who love Him and are serving Him. 

2.  There is, then, a HUMAN component (vv 17, 21, 23) 

Three times in this passage, the Master commands the servant to go.

1.  ¹⁷ At the time of the banquet, he sent his slave to tell

2.  ²¹ Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’

3.  ²³ “Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

God has limited Himself to work through—and only through—human instruments to accomplish His will.  This Self-limitation is difficult for us to grasp because we comprehend that Yahweh is Absolutely Sovereign and can do anything He pleases—but that sovereignty includes NOT doing something if it pleases Him.  The Word of God has made it clear:  the winning of those whom God has elected to save is the responsibility of those that have been saved.  In a sentence:

we must realize that the gospel came to us on its way to someone else. 

Nobody can be saved unless they hear the Word of God.  Look at Romans 10:14-17:

¹⁴ But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him?  And how can they hear without a preacher?  ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful  are the feet of those  who announce the gospel of good things!

Then the matter is summarized in verse 17: So faith comes from what is heard,  and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

Let’s cut to the bottom-line:  You did not have to accept the invitation to God’s eternal salvation, but once you do, you have accepted the responsibility to “share the message of Christ.”  God will not hold you guiltless for your silence.  Here is one of the most frightening passages of Scripture in the Bible.  Pay very close attention:

33 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land select a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman, ³ and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows his trumpet  to warn the people. ⁴ Then, if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet but ignores the warning,  and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. ⁵ Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but ignored the warning, his blood is on his own hands.  If he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. ⁶ However, if the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn’t blow the trumpet, so that the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives, then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.

“Accountable for THEIR blood.”  Chilling.  Terrifying.  For some of you this is paralyzing.  But, it is the Word of Almighty God.

You say, “But I can’t.”  I say, “But we must!”  We simply “must” do everything within our power to see that our church is filling up with new believers who are loving God and serving Him, or we are “just flat out living in disobedience.” 

Folks—if that statement did not fill you with Holy terror, then you probably are not saved!  To be quite honest, I wish God would have never given me this message.  But, now that He has, I need to get on my knees and stay on my knees until “filling up His church matters as much to me as it does to My Lord!”

We are going to struggle together with this issue of the next year, and I pray to God that we come out on the right side of the issue.

“Taking It To The Streets” has a spiritual component and a human component.  It also has

3.  a FINANCIAL component (vv 25-27)

²⁵ Now  great crowds were traveling with Him. So He turned and said to them: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me  and does not hate  his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross  and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Then it is summarized in verse 33: Therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to  all his possessions  cannot be My disciple.

I don’t know how to say it any clearer:  if anything else, including your possessions, is more important than “filling up the House of God with new believers that are loving Him and serving Him,” then you are not headed for heaven—you have rejected God’s Great Invitation just like the three examples we read about earlier.

Verse 18:  The first rejection came by someone who “had to take care of his own field.”  Verse 19:  The second excuse came from a man who “had to take care of his own livestock.”  Verse 20:  the third one doesn’t really say why, but for some reason “he could not come to God’s banquet because of his family responsibilities.”

When it comes to life you can either choose to be someone who makes excuses, or you can be someone who makes a difference.

Jesus had a lot to say about riches and to rich people and it was always a sobering discussion.  Here Jesus states the matter as plainly as it can be stated:  obedience to God involves one’s “finances.”

“Taking It To the Streets” has a financial component.  Ministry takes money.  It’s that simple.  It is true, “God owns the cattle on a thousand hills,” but it is also true that many of His followers are “cattle rustlers.”  Many of you have God’s cattle locked up in your barn! 

I know these are hard times, but hasn’t every time been a hard time?  You see, wealth is not a matter of how much you make, it’s more a matter of how much, and how wisely you spend it.

The wisest payment, or investment, you can make is to give regularly and generously to the Kingdom of God through the Church—the local church—that is, this local church—your local church.

I am going to be asking for every church family to be involved in what I am calling:  30 for 30!  I’m asking every church family to increase your monthly giving by $30 in order that we can invest it in outreach to win and baptize 30 souls.  $30 for 30 Souls.  Now, for some of you, that would be a great sacrifice, but for many of us, that would be an insult to God.  Let me say that again.  For some of you that would be a great sacrifice, but for many of us, that would be an insult to God.

So, for those of you who can sacrifice more, I’m asking you to give an additional “zero.”  That’s right—if God has blessed you with abundance and you have learned that no man can out-give God, I want you to add “zero” to your 30 for 30 gift!

But, I want you to add that “zero” right after the first zero to make it $300.  God has richly blessed Shari and I so we are committing to giving $300 for 30!  starting this week as the Lord enables us.

There is a saying in the English vernacular that describes a person of great generosity.  We say, “He’d give you the shirt of his back.”  Well, a chiropractor in Tampa, Florida in 1994 did exactly that for his ex-wife.  He had been paying alimony for many years, but finally the last alimony payment came due.  It would be for $182, not a staggering amount in itself but it represented years of grudgingly paying his ex-wife.  He decided to not only make the payment, but make a statement as well.  He made an arrangement with his local bank. He purchased a brand new, pinstriped shirt.  On the back of the shirt he drew a large scale check, complete with account number and routing number.  In the memo line of the check for $182 he wrote this message:  Here it is—the shirt off my back!  His ex-wife took the shirt to the bank and cashed it.

Well, we should never give to God’s work grudgingly.  I wonder, however, how many of us would be willing to give God, “the shirt off our back.” 

“Taking It To The Streets” has three essential components:  a spiritual component, a human component, and a financial component. God has clearly told us what He expects:  “go out into the highways and by-ways and compel them to come in, so that my house may be full.”  If we are not involved passionately in doing that, we are living in disobedience and can expect no blessing from God.

Let’s join together to “fill up God’s house!”

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Word Power: The word, “make,” in verse 23 in the HCSB comes from the Greek word, “anagkazō (ἀναγκάζω). According to a major Greek dictionary it means, “to cause or compel someone in all the varying degrees from friendly pressure to forceful compulsion” (TDNT).  It is a compound word formed from “agKalē” which means “arm as in bended.”  The prefix, “an(a)” refers to repeated action or intensity.  Our common expression in English, “twisting someone’s arm,” is a colloquial equivalent of anagkazō.  The KJV has a better translation using the word, “compel.”  Fulfilling God’s will to fill up His church with new believers is a serious mission that requires making others “uncomfortable” at times.