That My House May Be Filled Luke 14:16 24 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Lk 14:16-24 is about the marriage supper. The context is the blessing of eating bread in the kingdom of God. The man wanted his to be full for the supper. The practical application for us is that we are like the servant, whose duty it is to keep inviting guests until the house is full. This work of bringing people to the Lord will not end until the Lord’s house is full [Eph 4:13-16; 2:19-22]. Now notice some things in the passage that help us as we tell others about Christ.
The Lord wants them to come – Lk 14:17 – “Come.” Come unto me [Matt 11:28]. Not willing that any should perish [2 Pet 3:9]. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,” [Rev 22:17]. “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” [Jn 6:37]. He makes every way possible for them to get to him.
The Lord sends his servant to bid them to come – Lk 14:17 – “sent his servant.” Rom 10:14-15 how shall they preach except they be sent? They turned the servant down. So, the Lord sent him again “Go out quickly,” [Lk 14:21]. Still there was room [Lk 14:22]. And the Lord sent him yet again [Lk 14:23]. This shows us that inviting people to come to the Lord is met with many, many more rejections than acceptances. If we stop at the first attempt, we’ll never get much done. Takes persistence.
They have many excuses for not coming – Lk 14:18-20 – the excuses are lame by comparison to the offer. The Lord offers eternal life and they excuse themselves for temporal possessions, inconveniences, and obligations. These excuses are contrived. You don’t buy land before checking it out. You don’t buy oxen before you prove them. Only the third excuse is probably true, “My wife said I can’t come.” Notice the man bade them to come in verse 16 and then sent his servant to tell them that were bidden that supper was ready. In other words, they knew about the invitation.Then when it came time to go they came up with these excuses. Notice, the servant didn’t argue with their excuses.
So, the servant increases his invitees – Lk 14:17, 21, 23 – he went to them that were bidden, the streets and lanes of the city, the highways and hedges. That’s like Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth [Acts 1:8]. We do this here with personal contacts, nursing homes, public ministry, tracts, radio, port, missions. What we’ll do is make a list of names, pray for the names on the list, make contact with them and invite them [Tuesday night suppers or get togethers], look for opportunities to open the Bible and tell them about Jesus. We’re prepared for most to say no.
The ones who come are the ones who need it – Lk 14:21 – the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind. The poor realize that they are spiritually bankrupt. The maimed realize that they have been beat up by sin. The halt realize that they cannot enter in on their own without the Lord. The blind realize that they cannot see the kingdom of God without faith in Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the Lord gets what he wants… a house full of guests. And ultimately, the servant accomplishes what he was sent to do.
Conclusion: There are some differences in this great supper and what we do. We’ll invite some folks to come to church and if they turn us down the first or the second or even the third time, some will eventually come. This is not a one-shot deal like the marriage supper. Also, we’ll mostly be inviting folks that we know well, not strangers in the highways and hedges. We are building relationships with them that will give us opportunities over time to speak with them on more than one occasion. Our house doesn’t have to be full to have a successful service. The success is in inviting them, praying for them, opening a Bible with them, getting something started that the Lord can use to bring them to him.