An Invitation to the Kingdom of God

chapter 14, verse 15. That's in the New Testament,

kind of toward the back third of your Bible,

toward the front part of the New Testament. Luke,

Luke 14:15

chapter 14, verse 15. We've been kind of touching

on some of the parables of Jesus off and on here

over the last couple of months. And this is another

one of the parables of Jesus. The parables that

Jesus told were stories that pretty much everybody

could relate to and understand. A lot of them

had to do with farming. This one has to do with

having a big party, I guess we could call it

that, a banquet. And he tells a story that's

really easy to understand, but they also have

a spiritual application. And that's what makes

Jesus so good, is he was so good at taking something

simple. and make it understandable. Sometimes

us preachers do just the opposite. Sometimes

we take something simple and make it a little

more complicated. It's not an easy thing to do.

Any of you that's ever taught or if you've ever

preached before, it's not an easy thing to do.

So when you see how beautifully that Jesus does

it, it's perfect, I guess. There's no better

way to say it. So we're going to look at one

of Jesus' parables today, and it's one that we

can understand. Hopefully we'll... We'll see

what Jesus is talking about. So let's pray, and

then we'll get started. God, we come to you.

We thank you for your good word. I thank you

for all the beautiful people that are here today.

I thank you for loving us and being good to us,

dear Lord. We thank you for Jesus Christ. We

thank you for your grace and your mercy. And

God, maybe there are some here today, and they

are really struggling. Maybe today is a sad day.

Or maybe they're depressed about something or

maybe they're just tired or whatever it may be,

dear Lord. There's a lot of things in life that

are tough. Maybe there's just good things going

on, dear Lord. Things that's got our mind occupied

and things that may draw us away from you. I

pray, God, whatever we came in here with today,

that for just a few minutes, that your Holy Spirit

would let us hear your word, would let us hear

this invitation that Jesus sends out to us today.

So I pray that you take away any fear or pride

that's within me, dear Lord, that your Holy Spirit

would be among us and that everything that is

said and done would be for your glory. In Jesus'

name I pray it. Amen. Now a little context. You

can go back and read the verses before this in

Luke chapter 14 this week. Good homework for

Luke 14 · chapter mention

you. But Jesus is hanging out. He's eating with

some folks, some Pharisees, some religious folks.

And he notices something about them. Now, this

is pretty easy to notice when you read through

the scriptures. You kind of see these qualities

about these, a lot of the religious folks, a

lot of the Pharisees. They're not good qualities.

One of the qualities that Jesus noticed is missing

from them is their humility. What he sees when

they are having this big party, that everybody

wants to sit in the seat of honor. Everybody

wants to be in the spotlight. And Jesus tells

them a parable, and he says, hold up. He says,

you've got to pay attention to what you're doing.

This is not the way it should be. Those who want

to follow God, those who want to serve God, are

those who need to humble themselves. follow the

examples of Jesus Christ are those who don't

seek the position of honor, but seek the lowly

position. And he talks about that. He talks about

if somebody's having a party, if somebody's having

a feast, don't just invite people for your own

good, right? Sometimes we kind of have that mindset

in this world. I think it's natural for us to

have it. Like, I'll scratch your back, you scratch

mine. I'm going to invite all the people that

I might want a favor from to my party, and I'm

going to treat them really well, so when they

have a party, they'll invite me. So I'm going

to make sure to really take care of others so

they take care of me, and that's what Jesus says.

I'm summarizing in the verses before. But Jesus

says that's not the way it should be. You shouldn't

just do things for people because of what they

can do for you. You should just do things for

people. Because you love them. You should do

things for people because maybe there's a need

in their life and maybe you can help meet that

need. And so Jesus says, hey, you may be tempted

to go after all the rich and the famous and the

powerful people that may have some benefit to

you by inviting them to your get -together. But

Jesus says, here's the ones I want you to invite.

The poor and the maimed and the blind and those

who are really struggling. Now, Jesus turned

everything on its head, at least everything that

so many of the religious people of his day followed.

Now, the religious people of his day, like, they

were really big on sitting in the seat of honor

and dressing good and saying long prayers for

show and making a big deal about their religion.

But Jesus is so good, it reminded them, like,

hey, you've kind of missed what God really wants

you to know. And you better make sure you're

really serving God and you better make sure you're

really loving other people. And it doesn't appear

as though maybe this crowd that Jesus was talking

to was doing those things. And so he uses these

stories about a feast, about a get -together,

about a party to shift the focus and say, here's

the people that God's going to be able to take

care of. Here are the people who are going to

be in the kingdom of God, not those who make

excuses. Not those who think so highly of themselves,

but those who are completely dependent on God.

And that's a little background for the passage

we're going to look at. Luke chapter 14, verse

Luke 14:15

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. Now, this person that was sitting

there with him, that's a true statement. The

one who eats bread in the kingdom of God is blessed.

Now, the kingdom of God is not just heaven. Now,

the kingdom of God is going to be our eternity

with God, but the kingdom of God is here now.

Those who trust in Jesus Christ is part of the

kingdom of God. The love and the joy and the

peace and all the things that God pours out on

us, there's just a certain happiness that comes.

when you follow Jesus Christ. I'm not saying

that every day you're just happy, happy, happy,

all is good, nothing ever goes wrong. There's

hard days, but there really is a certain sense

of peace and a certain sense of joy. To be part

of the kingdom of God means that you're living

for the king, for King Jesus. And that's the

opposite of being part of the kingdom of this

world. Now, there are lots of people who are...

In the kingdom of this world that have not followed

Jesus. But that's what being a Christian is.

You say, okay, in the world, I can just kind

of be the king of my own life and do what I want

to do when I want to do it. And that's how I'm

going to live. And there are a lot of people

who live that way. Maybe even some of you in

here or some listening online. But when we talk

about the kingdom of God, what we're talking

about is that through Jesus Christ, God has established

a kingdom that Jesus is the king. And when we

say, hey, I want to be part of that kingdom,

we're saying, I want to follow Jesus Christ as

my king. So therefore, I'm not going to do what

I want to do. I'm going to do what Jesus calls

me to do. And so we're no longer living for ourselves.

We're no longer living for the world. We are

living for Jesus. So once we put our faith in

Jesus Christ and we begin to trust in him and

listen to him and follow him, then we become

part of the kingdom of God. And there is great

blessing in the kingdom of God. And we see some

of God's blessings here in this world, praise

the Lord. We see his grace through Jesus Christ

that our sins are forgiven. Those who have trusted

in Jesus Christ, you've experienced his strength.

You've experienced his joy. You have hope. You

look around, you see bad stuff going on, but

just you still have hope because you read these

words in the scripture and you say, okay, I believe

that God is good and he keeps his promises and

I know he's with me because my life has been

so hard and he's helped me through those hardest

times and that kind of peace and that kind of

strength is found. in the kingdom of God. Now,

we'll experience God's grace and the fullness

of God's glory one day when we get to heaven

and get to be with him. But the kingdom of God

has come near through Jesus Christ, and we can

enter into the kingdom of God today. And this

guy, he says, hey, look, the one who gets to

eat bread at the table in the kingdom of God,

that dude's blessed. And he's right. It is a

blessing to be part of the kingdom of God. But

since Jesus is on the topic of having a big feast,

a big eating, he uses the opportunity to offer

an invitation. It says in verse 16, Then he told

him, A man was giving a large banquet and invited

many. At the time of the banquet, he sent his

slave to tell those who were invited, Come, because

everything is now ready. Simple, simple. The

story is set. We understand it. Anybody in here

ever hosted a big party? Probably so. I just

went to a big party for the 4th of July. It was

a big shindig. Lots of food. Lots of people are

there. And I was invited. And some of you were

invited. A lot of people were invited. And praise

the Lord, a lot of people showed up. So we understand

what it's like to have a big party and to work

hard and to invite everybody and for people to

show up. It's a lot of fun. Everybody just loving

it and hanging out. But you know what's a bummer?

And you might have had this experience too. If

you ever had a party or hosted something at your

house and you invited a bunch of folks and not

hardly anybody showed up, that's kind of a bummer.

When you've done all this work and you're so

excited and you want to feed the people and you

got all the chairs out and you got fans out so

they won't get hot, you got everything they could

possibly want to be comfortable and to be provided

for and you've worked so hard and you invite

them and nobody comes. That's kind of disheartening.

Maybe you've had that experience before. Well,

that's the experience that Jesus is setting up.

Now, of course, it's representative. It's talking

about God. It's talking about those who are invited

to come in to God's kingdom to follow Jesus Christ.

And God's prepared everything for us. And God

says, come on, I want to take care of you. Everything

is ready to go. So invitations were sent out.

Let's see what those who received the invitations

said. Verse 18, but without exception, they all

began to make excuses. The first one said to

him, I bought a field and I must go out and see

it. I ask you to excuse me. Another said, I have

bought five yoke of oxen and I'm going to try

them out. I ask you to excuse me. And another

said, I just got married and therefore I am unable

to come. Now here's this great banquet that's

been prepared, and all the ones that were invited

made an excuse. Now maybe these were things they

really were going to do, or maybe it's just an

excuse. You've probably done that before. You

get invited somewhere, and you say, man, I feel

like going somewhere today. And they're like,

hey, why don't you come to the party tonight?

And you're like, well, I would, but I've got

to water flowers tonight. Or you just come up

with something. Like something that really, you

can wait. But you just, you got to say something.

You can't just say, no, I don't want to come

to your party. So you make up some excuse because

you just really don't want to go. And these people

all made some excuses. Oh, I bought some land.

I got to go see it. Well, did you look at it

before you bought it? I don't know about y 'all,

but if I'm going to buy some land, I'm probably

going to look at it before I buy it. I don't

know. Maybe you really did want to go check out

his land. Oh, I got some oxen. I want to go do

some work. Let me go try out these oxen. Let

me go get on the tractor and bush hog. Yeah,

I appreciate you inviting me to come to eat ribs

at the Fourth of July party, but I really would

like to get out here in the 100 degree heat and

work on the farm. So thanks, but no thanks. I

mean, who's going to choose to work other than

go to a party where everything is provided for

you there? And one after another, the excuses

just keep on coming. Other guy, I got married.

Well, that's a great thing, praise the Lord.

I got married. It might have been the same guy

in the past year. He might have said, well, I'd

love to come, but I got married. My wife says

I got to go out and work on the farm. Can't do

it. I could have done it when I was single, but

I can't do it when I'm married. I'm going to

tell you guys this. When you get married, you

get a lot more stuff to do. Praise the Lord.

That's a blessing. You get a lot more stuff to

do. Maybe that's what this guy will say. Maybe

all of them were lying. I don't know. Maybe they

just didn't care about the party. For whatever

reason, there was an invitation to something.

beautiful and wonderful that they didn't have

to do anything, but just go and enjoy it and

let the host take care of them and provide for

them. And every one of them made an excuse. But

don't forget what's going on here. This is God

saying, I'm sending out an invitation for people

to come into my kingdom. Would you come into

my kingdom? I have provided for you and I'll

take care of you and I'll give you all you need

if you would just come into my kingdom. That

invitation is still there for you and me today.

Jesus come onto the scene. The scripture says

the kingdom of God has come near. Guess what?

It's still near for you today. The kingdom of

God has still come near. God is still. desiring

to provide for you today, to forgive your sins,

to take care of you, to meet your needs, to strengthen

you. He still wants to do that today. But you've

got to accept the invitation. Let's see what

happens in the next verse, verse 21. So the slave

came back and reported these things to his master.

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. Isn't that interesting? Of all

the people that he could say to bring in, all

right, I sent you to get the ones I wanted to

come, the ones I really wanted to invite first.

Now go get the second best people. But he doesn't

say that. He says the poor and the maimed and

the blind and the lame. Now, these are people

that really would have been completely dependent

on others probably for their survival. I mean,

when you're poor, you're poor. I mean, you struggle.

You don't have much to eat. You really are kind

of dependent on other people to help you. When

you're maimed, if you're missing a limb or something,

well, you can't work. You might not can get around

very good. When you're lame, you can't get around

very good. When you're blind, what are you going

to do other than sit and beg? We see this in

the Scripture. And the people that God says,

go get these people, are people who are totally

dependent on somebody else. And perhaps even

still today, these are the types of people who

are entering the kingdom of God. Blessed are

the poor in spirit. You know, it's great to be

blessed and to have a lot. Maybe some have more

than others, but you start getting a little bit.

You start building up some things. You start

getting some wealth. It's really hard because

it almost seems like the more money you get,

the less dependent on God you are. The more powerful

you become, the more famous you become, the less

dependent on God you are. And when we're in our

toughest times, when things are the hardest,

it seems like that's when we are the closest

to God. And the people who were asked to the

banquet first refused. They had all this worldly

stuff. They had a marriage and they had land

and they had oxen to work the land. And they

couldn't come into the presence of the banquet.

But those who were completely dependent said,

holy smokes, probably. Man, are you telling me

I can go to this feast and get everything I need?

Somebody's inviting me? And they all came. Now

Jesus had just talked about humility in the verses

before. When we get a little money, a little

power, all of a sudden we become a little proud.

Proud people can't enter the kingdom of God.

But those who humble themselves before Jesus

Christ can. So here he uses this example of these

humble folks who are completely dependent, who

are invited to the banquet. And guess what? They

come to the banquet. Now what about your heart

today? Invitation's still there for you to enter

the kingdom of God. Are you one that's proud?

Are you one that's fully yourself? Are you one

that recognizes that you are? That you are poor

and needy. Maybe you're not blind, lame, or maimed.

But it's not just about those conditions. It's

about the heart. It's about what those are representative

of. Those are representative of those who are

humble. It's the humble who recognize their need

and know that they need to be provided for. It's

those who accept the invitation. He says in the

next verse, verse 22, Master, the slave said,

what you ordered has been done and there's still

room. And the master told the slave, go out into

the highways and lanes and make them come in

so that my house may be filled. For I tell you,

not one of those men who were invited will enjoy

my banquet. All right, he sends the slave out.

Go get all the poor men blind and lame. Servant

comes back and says, I've done it. There's still

lots of room. What do I do? Go get everybody

else. Here's the invitation. If you're out there,

listen and come into my banquet. And that invitation

goes out to you and I today. It's not an invitation

to go sit down and eat a physical meal somewhere.

Although we'll be doing that again in a few weeks

for something. I'm sure we'll come up with some

reason to eat. But this invitation is not about

eating a meal. It's about entering into the kingdom

of God. And the proud resists that. But the scripture

also says that God resists the proud but gives

grace to the humble. This is the greatest invitation

you'll ever receive. The invitation is this,

is that we're sinners. We have done and said

really bad things. We have thought things. We

have done some of the darkest and deepest, most

horrible things you can ever imagine. And you

would cringe today if everybody in here knew

some of the things that you have done, some of

the things that you've thought. Every one of

us would because we're pretty evil. And we've

done some evil things. But praise the Lord that

the scripture says that God sent Jesus Christ

so that our sins could be forgiven. You don't

have to live with that pain and regret. You don't

have to let your sin just weigh you down. Jesus

offers a beautiful invitation. If you'd come

to him, if you were weary and heavy laden, and

he will give you rest. Some of you need rest

today. Some of you are afraid today. Some of

you are just worn down today. Some of you are

overcome with sin and you just don't feel like

you can overcome your temptations and your addictions.

But I want to tell you that through Jesus Christ,

through his strength, he gives you the power

to overcome. You cannot do it on your own. Some

of you today may not have any hope. You look

around and you say, man, life is tough and the

world is bad and I've got all these struggles

and I don't know what I'm going to do. Well,

I want to tell you today that there's hope in

Jesus Christ. And if you'd seek him, you'll find

a peace and a joy that you cannot imagine. And

if you seek him and if you put your trust in

him, you just continue to go back to that well

of living water. You just continue to experience

that peace and joy over and over. You have to

go back there so many times. Maybe some of you

are already a follower of Jesus Christ, but maybe

today you just need to go back to the well. Maybe

today you need to go back and you need to say,

Jesus, I'm really struggling right now. I'm really

having a hard time right now. I just need you

to help me. I want to tell you today that Jesus

invites you to do that. That you're invited to

enter into the kingdom of God and experience

the blessings of the kingdom of God. That invitation

is open for each and every one of us today. Will

you humble yourself? And accept that invitation.

It's not an invitation you want to miss. It's

not an invitation you want to pass up. At the

end of the story. It says those who were invited

first. They're not going to be entering into

the banquet. Because they refused. They missed

their opportunity. They missed their invitation.

Perhaps you've had it. Experiences in your life

where there were things you were invited to,

there were things you could have taken part of,

and you said no, you made excuses. Maybe you

regret some of those things today. It's a bummer

to pass up on a cool experience and know you

may never get to do it again. Well, it's one

thing to miss a get -together in this world and

miss a cool experience in this world because

of your excuses or because... You rejected the

invitation. But this is far more serious than

that. This is God himself. God himself through

his son who died on the cross, Jesus Christ.

It's God himself in this word saying, I invite

you to come and to be part of my kingdom. Would

you humble yourself and enter into my kingdom

today? Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank

you for your good word. I pray, dear Lord, that

you would help us to examine our hearts. Maybe

there is some pride lurking in there today. Maybe

it's hidden beneath the surface. Maybe it's front

and center, God. Maybe we know it's there and

we feel convicted. I pray, God, that you would

not allow us to fall into the trap of feeling

religious and proud in our own works and what

we can do, dear Lord. Because our works are...

Not good enough to please you, God. Our works

can never atone for our sin, but the works of

Jesus Christ can. So, dear Lord, I pray that

you'd be with any today who do not know Jesus

Christ. Maybe today they are in the middle of

a dark valley of a tough time when things are

really hard for them and they don't know where

to turn. I pray today, dear Lord, that they would

have heard through your word that they can turn

to you, that they are invited. to come into your

presence, to enter into your kingdom where everything

that they ever need will be provided for them,

dear Lord. Not that life will always be easy,

but you will always help them. Dear Lord, maybe

there are some that know you. They already know

Jesus Christ, and they just need to seek you

today. I pray that they would. I pray that they

would humble themselves before you this morning.

God, I pray that if there are any that do not

know Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit is working on

them, tugging on them today, that as we sing

this song, that they would just come forward,

dear Lord, and make that decision to follow Jesus.

Maybe even now, as I've prayed, they've repented

of their sins, dear Lord. That's what you call

us to, to repent, to turn from our sins, and

to turn to Jesus. God, maybe there are some today

that just need to pray, that need to come to

you. I pray that as we have this song of invitation,

dear Lord, if anybody's decided to to trust in

Jesus today that they would just come forward

as we sing and confess that to the whole world,

dear Lord. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.