iv.what does this mean in 2014?storage.cloversites.com/mountainlifechurch... · 22/06/2014 ·...
TRANSCRIPT
Luke 14: 15-24
Mountain Life Church/Life Pack/June 22, 2014
The BigFeast
The Big FeastSermon NotesJune 22, 2014
I. IntroductionA. The Stories of Jesus
B. Stories in the Bible1. Old Testament2. New Testament
II. ParablesA. Allegory vs One Point
B. Historical Context
III.Luke 14:15-24A. Host
B. First Guests1. Field (Luke 14:18)2. Oxen (Luke 14:19)3. Wife (Luke 14:20;
Deuteronomy 24:5)
C. Second guests1. Streets and Lanes
(Luke 14:21)2. Highways and Hedges
(Luke 14:23)
THE BANQUET OF THE KINGDOMBefore we leave this passage we must note that verses 1 to 24 have all to do with feasts and banquets. It is most significant that Jesus thought of his kingdom and his service in terms of a feast. The symbol of the kingdom was the happiest thing that human life could know. Surely this is the final condemnation of the Christian who is afraid to enjoy himself.
There has always been a type of Christianity which has taken all the colour out of life. Julian spoke of those pale-faced, flat-breasted Christians for whom the sun shone and they never saw it. Swinburne slandered Christ by saying,
" “Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilaean,! The world has grown gray from thy breath.”
Ruskin, who was brought up in a rigid and a narrow home, tells how he was given a jumping-jack as a present and a pious aunt took it away from him, saying that toys were no things for a Christian child. Even so great and sane and healthy a scholar as A.B. Bruce said that you could not conceive of the child Jesus playing games when he was a boy, or smiling when he was a man. W.M. Macgregor, in his Warrack Lectures, speaks with the scorn of which he was such a master, about one of John Wesley’s few mistakes. He founded a school at Kingswood, bear Bristol. He laid it down that no games were to be allowed in the school or in the grounds, because, “he who plays when he is a child will play when he is a man.” There were no holidays. The children rose at 4 a.m. and spent the first hour of the day in prayer and meditation, and on Friday they fasted until three in the afternoon. W.M. Macgregor characterizes the whole set up as “nature-defying foolishness.”
We must always remember that Jesus thought of the kingdom in terms of a feast. A gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms. Locke, the great philosopher, defined laughter as “a sudden glory.” There is no healthy pleasure which is forbidden to a Christian man, for a Christian is like a man who is forever at a wedding feast.
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Luke 14: 15-24From the book “The Gospel of Luke”
By William BarclayPg 192-195
The Jews had a series of ever-recurring conventional pictures of what would happen when God broke into history and when the golden days of the new age arrived. One of these was the picture of the Messianic banquet. On that day God would give a great feast to his own people at which Leviathan, the sea monster, would be part of the food. It is of this banquet that the man who spoke to Jesus was thinking. When he spoke of the happiness of those who would be quests at that banquet he was thinking of Jews, and of Jews only, for the average, orthodox Jew would never have dreamed that gentiles and sinners would find a place at the feast of God. That is why Jesus spoke this parable.
In Palestine, when a man made a feast, the day was announced long beforehand and the invitations were sent out and accepted; but the hour was not announced; and when the day came and all things were ready, servants were sent out to summon the already invited guests. To accept the invitation beforehand and then to refuse it when the day came was a grave insult.
In the parable the master stands for God. The originally invited guests stand for the Jews. Throughout all their history they had looked forward to the day when God would break in; and when he did, they tragically refused his invitation. The poor people from the streets and lanes stand for the tax-gatherers and sinners who welcomed Jesus in a way in which the orthodox never did. Those gathered in from the roads and the hedges stand for the gentiles for whom there was still ample room at the feast of God. As Bengel, the great commentator, put it, “both nature and grace abhor a vacuum,” and when the Jews refused God’s invitation and left his table empty, the invitation went out to the gentiles.
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IV.What does this mean in 2014?A. The invitation
B. Good things can be bad things
C. Never too far away from God
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IV.And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtorsA. Acknowledge my sin and thank God for forgiving me
through Jesus’ sacrifice on the crossB. Forgive and release others for their sins against me
1. Acknowledge that someone sinned against me and hurt me
2. Give the memory of the violation to God3. Cut them loose from all debt they owe me4. Acknowledge that bitterness has NO HOLD on me5. Lavish love on them and pray for God to bless them
V. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evilA. Put on the whole armor of God (Put on the Lord Jesus Christ)
1. The belt of truth (Mentally accept God’s truth over lies I have been hearing)
2. Breastplate of righteousness (Thank Jesus for giving me His righteousness which enables me to boldly enter His presence)
3. Shoes of preparation (readiness) of the Gospel of peace (Take time to digest the scriptures - committing them to memory)
4. Shield of faith (Step out on God’s truth for my situation)5. Helmet of salvation (Thank God that He has saved me
and remember that I am different than the world. Satan has no power over me except the power I give him by believing lies.)
6. Sword of the Spirit (Apply the Word to the lies I hear, and the situations I find myself in today.)
B. Run to the Lord for protection (You are my refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust!)1. I set my mind on things above, not on things of the earth2. God has set His love upon me3. He knows my name and will never leave me or forsake
meVI.For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the
glory foreverA. Make your faith declarationsB. Return to praise
This outline inspired by Henry Blackaby & Larry Lea
Life Group Questions for June 22, 2014
Message = The Big FeastIce Breaker: Tell about the best meal you ever ate.
Read Luke 14: 15-‐‑24.
1. What impacts you about this passage?
2. The banquet suggests an invitation to something monumental and exciting. The original invited guests rejected the invitation. How do you think you can relate this message to the people of 21st century America?
3. The three excuses for not aDending are: business, stuff, and family. Do these three things ever come between you and God? Please explain.
4. Does the king reject the original invited guests, or do they reject the king? What do you think about this?
5. What does this parable say to the American philosophy prevalent in today’s society that most people will go to Heaven?
6. If you were an average religious Jew, how would you have responded to this parable the first time you heard it?
7. Pray for one another.
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Prayer Guide
I. Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your NameA. Picture Calvary and thank God you can call Him
Father by virtue of the blood of JesusB. Hallow (lift Him above everything in your life) the
names of God corresponding with the five benefits in the New Covenant and make your faith declarations
II. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done (God, what are you doing? How can I (others) get in on what You are doing?)A. Myself
• Give me awareness of how to meet others’ needs today• I choose to take the initiative to love others
B. My family (spouse, children, other family members)
C. My church (pastor, other leadership, faithfulness of people, the harvest)
D. My nation (city, state, and national political and spiritual leaders, the harvest)
III.Give us this day our daily breadA. Believe that God desires to provide for meB. Be specificC. Be tenaciousD. Talk openly about my worries and give them to HimE. Today’s needs - Tomorrow will care for itself
This outline inspired by Henry Blackaby & Larry Lea516
Personal Devotion PagesThe following pages are designed to help you enjoy a regular time alone with God. We have divided up the curriculum to help us grow wherever we are at in our relationship with God and in our knowledge of His Kingdom.
LEVELS: Since we are a Colorado church, we use skiing imagery to communicate the different levels of intensity and time involved in relating to God.
BEGINNER: If you are new in your relationship with God, we encourage you to try the exercises under this symbol:
INTERMEDIATE: If you have walked with God for some time and would like a little more challenge and more time involvement, try the exercises under this symbol:
ADVANCED: These exercises are for people who have walked with God for some time and display maturity in their relationship with Him.
These exercises provide a practical way to encounter God and His truth on a regular basis. There are no rules here. Please don’t hurry through the process. Slow meditation and memorization seems to soak in better than cramming.
Enjoy!
Benefit Sanctify
Spirit
Soundness
Success
Security
NameJehovah-TsidkenuJehovah-M’Kaddesh
Jehovah-ShalomJehovah-Shammah
Jehovah-Rophe
Jehovah-Jireh
Jehovah-NissiJehovah-Rohi
MeaningJehovah our righteousnessJehovah who sanctifies
Jehovah is peaceJehovah is there
Jehovah heals
Jehovah provides
Jehovah my bannerJehovah my shepherd
Day One1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy
thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately.
2. Slowly read Luke 14: 15-‐‑24.
3. In what way have I rejected Jesus lately? Write down in this space where you’ve rejected Him and ask Him for forgiveness.
Memorize Luke 14: 25-‐‑26. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you insight into the meaning of this verse.
Memorize Luke 14: 25-‐‑27. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you insight into the meaning of this passage.
Memorize Luke 14: 25-‐‑27, and James 1: 27. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you insight into the meaning of these passages.
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And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” And the slave said, “Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.” And the master said to the slave, “Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.”
~Luke 14:21-24, NAS
The parable speaks with stinging indictment against the average religious Jew. Many of them rejected Jesus and His message. As a result, He went after the tax collectors and sinners. And, adding insult to injury, He even opened His doors to the Gentiles - something absolutely unthinkable to this original audience.
Jesus actually tells the religious of His day that their rejection of Him will lead to the Holy Spirit pursuing the Gentiles of Rome. We cannot overstate how offensive this must have been to the average Jew. We struggle to find a contemporary example that would help us grasp this stunning rebuke.
Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, has come to His people - and they have rejected Him. He speaks with rightful indignant tones in response to their rejection.
Father, help me to daily receive Your invitation to the Great Banquet.
Day Five
Day Five1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy
thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately.
2. Meditate on Luke 14: 26-‐‑34.
3. Take time to pray for your priorities and ask God to show you where you’ve placed other things in front of Him.
4. Finish your Bible memorization today.
Day OneWhen one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;
~Luke 14:15, 16, NAS
In Jesus’ day, most Jewish people possessed a smug sense that all of Abraham’s descendants were going to go to Heaven. It’s one of the salient similarities between the Jews of Jesus’ day and the average American of today.
Most Americans believe in Heaven and feel fairly certain that they will go there someday. The number who believe in Hell is much smaller. Most people do not even think of that destination.
Jesus told us how to get to Heaven. It was a narrow, but delightful and desirous way, but it was nonetheless thin, intolerant, and based on a person, not a formula.
The parable of the Great Feast is a slap in the face of Jewish arrogance and smugness. The average Simon on the street would probably think he was going to Heaven. He would think his chances were better than those of Jacob down the street because Jacob was a tax collector. The Pharisees were the guys Simon would say had a free ticket to Heaven. If anyone was going to end up at the pearly gates, it was those Pharisees!
Yet, this parable was spoken against the average Pharisee and even against the smugness of the average Simon. The parable ends all guess work about who goes to Heaven.
Father, I pray for those in my life who do not know You, but think they are going to Heaven anyway.
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Day Two1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy
thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately.
2. Slowly and carefully read Luke 14: 15-‐‑24 again today.
3. Meditate on what impacts you about this passage.
4. Pray for people on the highways and hedges of your life that you have perhaps not noticed.
5. Continue memorizing and meditating on the scriptures for this week.
Day FourAnother one said, “I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.”
~Luke 14:20, NAS
Jesus made some surprisingly strong statements about people placing family over God. Later in this chapter, Jesus says, 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 14:26, NAS).
Of course, Jesus is using what is known as rabbinical hyperbole - where a rabbi would use exaggeration to make a strong point. He basically tells the people that their great love for their family must look like hate in comparison to their love for God. He challenges them to love God more intensely than anything on this earth - including family.
All three of the excuses are for good things. There is nothing sinful about business, owning some new oxen, or getting married. Yet, when invited to the most important thing in all the universe, they are rather silly.
God invites me to something awesome, overwhelmingly important, and eternal. My daily choice is to receive the invite. My daily challenge is to push away the good when it crowds out the holy.
But, there must not be any law given about what is Holy. The Holy Spirit must give us clarity and God’s wisdom about our priorities.
Father, show me where I place business, stuff, or family above You.
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Day Twoand at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’
~Luke 14:17, 18, NAS
First, let’s consider this - these people are being invited to a feast, and, a feast with a KING! This is not an invitation to come to the dentist to get three root canals. This is not an invitation from a friend to move eight rooms of furniture to a new home. This is not an invitation from crazy aunt Edith who always serves up cold turnip greens and cottage cheese. This is an invitation to eat really well and with someone important!
Yet, the excuses make the invitation seem pedestrian and common. The first one invited tells the inviting slave that he has bought a piece of land and he needs to go look at it.
Umm. Won’t that piece of land look the same way tomorrow?
Of course, the inviting king is God and the slave is anyone sharing the Gospel with people. The invitees are the Jews.
Notice that the king doesn’t exempt people from the party. They excuse themselves. He does not condemn them. Their own priorities condemn them.
The first rejection comes from someone who places business before God. Have you chosen business or busy - ness above Him?
Father, show me where I’ve placed my job and making money above You.
Day Four1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy
thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately.
2. Slowly read all of Luke 14 today. Write down what challenges you about this chapter.
3. Take time to ask God what excuses you have made lately to reject Him by placing other things in front of Him.
4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week.
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Day Three Day Three1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy
thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately.
2. Meditate on Luke 14: 15-‐‑24.
3. Bring at least three friends or loved ones to the Lord and ask Him to bring them to repentance and faith. Ask Him to show you how you can boldly love them and speak the words of Jesus into their lives.
4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this
week.
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Another one said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.”
~Luke 14:19, NAS
This man who was invited to feast with a king has decided that stuff is more important. He has jut bought five yoke of oxen. That’s equivalent to a gigantic tractor today. He’s movin’ on up, getting more stuff, and the stuff is big and exciting, and the stuff is apparently starting to own him.
The first man excused himself to spend more time with his new land. It’s a focus on business and the expense of his spiritual life.
This man too, has become vexed by his belongings. He would rather till up a new field than spend time with the king at a free feast. He’s been invited into relationship with God, but he declines in favor of more stuff, more money, and more prestige.
Imagine, choosing against the most kind hearted, gentle, loving king in order to work harder. The king is not only good, He is a great conversationalist, and his guests are good hearted people too.
But the oxen are calling my name! The temporary has overwhelmed my sense of the eternal. The relatively worthless has preoccupied me away from a relationship that could bring great transformation, freedom, and joy to my life.
Father, show me where I am pursuing the worthless instead of the treasures of Heaven.
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