Who goes to hell? Everyone you ever hear of dying is in a "better" place. They are at rest now. Everyone you talk to believes that they are okay with God. There seems to be no concern over spiritual matters. There seems to be no such thing as a lost person anymore, especially in the buckle of the Bible belt. Virtually everyone you run into has responded to an invitation somewhere, repeated the coveted "sinner's prayer," and are now convinced that they are okay with God because of it.
It was no different in the New Testament. In verse 15 of the 14th chapter of Luke's Gospel someone yells out, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God." It's almost as if he picked up his cup of wine and said blessed is everyone who will be eating bread in the kingdom of God and they all said, "yes." In other words…"I am so glad I'm going to be there and I am glad that you all will be there too!"
Well, Jesus is going to shatter their false hope with a story, a parable. In Luke 14:16-24 Jesus said, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.' 19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.' 20 And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' 22 And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' 23 And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'"
In this parable, we see some different truths about our response to the Gospel invitation. First, we see that Our Words are Not Adequate. In verses 16-17 Jesus said, A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' A man is giving a great banquet. This is a huge event put on by an obviously very wealthy man. Every one of these kind of events had two invitations. The one that let you know you would be invited and then the second when everything was ready. The first was to make reservations and the second to announce that the banquet was beginning. He sends out the first invitation to many.
This invitation would come in a very personal, formal way. It seems that they all accepted the invitation. After all, nobody would have refused. Everybody would have said yes, absolutely. This was the pinnacle of Jewish social life. After all, there was nothing else to do. To have a great feast prepared for you and to be invited by a very prominent person could be the highlight of your life. They all verbally and clearly responded to the invitation. They all made their reservations. And as we will see, that type of response was insufficient, for none of those who were invited would be allowed to taste of the supper. There word was not adequate. They had to actually show up!
Likewise, our verbal response to the Gospel invitation is not adequate, yet this is the extent of what most people make. Most invitations in churches today go something like this…If you have any doubt about where you would go when you die, come forward and repeat this simple prayer and you are guaranteed to go to heaven when you die. First of all, the goal is not heaven. Of course, you would never know that if you listened to most Southern Gospel songs or Gospel invitations. You see, it's not about heaven, it's about God. God is not a means to an end. He is not someone that you use to get to heaven. He is the end. Eternal life is not about heaven, it is about finding and embracing and worshipping God. Our invitations promise people, if they will just come forward and repeat a simple prayer that they wiill have eternal life. This sounds good, so many people respond to it. Of course they are thinking, all I have to do is ask Jesus to come into my heart and then, I can get on with my life. I can pray this prayer, get baptized, have my name added to the church rolls and then continue to live my life like I want to live it, for the goals that I want to live for, and then go to heaven for all eternity. I have actually heard Gospel invitations offered in which the speaker said that coming to Christ doesn't cost you anything. What happened to the following scriptures?
Luke 14:26
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Luke 9:23
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Our invitation is for people to walk down an aisle and pray a prayer to accept Jesus. Has anyone ever thought about this? Accept Jesus? Jesus is very acceptable. It is you and I that are unacceptable. We don't have to accept Jesus. Jesus has to accept us.
We are quick to verbally accept the invitation, but our verbal response is insufficient. Our reservation is null and void if we do not show up for the banquet! Another parable that Jesus told shows the worthlessness of a verbal response to the invitation without an actual volitional response. In Matthew 21:28-31, Jesus said, "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first."
Many, many church people have said yes to God only to ignore his commands and fail to follow his call. Their words are not adequate. Next time, we will see that our excuses will not be acceptable on the day of the Lord.
Until then…
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