And yet there is room
Luke 14:22-23 “And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled.”
I want to speak for a moment about: the compelling time.
In this parable, Jesus tells that every effort had been made to bring the invited guests to the “Great Supper”….but they had refused to come.
(This we know was Israel refusing their Messiah)
So the Master of the house had told His servants to go into the streets and lanes of the city (Jerusalem), and bring in the poor, the maimed, and the halt and the blind.
(This we believe is the first of the believers under the power of the Holy Spirit, being brought into the church on the day of Pentecost….and ever outward.)
The church down through the ages have been made up of those that know they are poor and in need of Christ’s life…
……or maimed, or halt in need of Christ to make us whole….
……or blind and in need of Christ’s sight.
But then the servants come and tell the Master that there is still room! After all the going out and bringing in….there is still room.
And yet there is room.
So what we will deal with….is what the Master says to the servants, now. What should be done? Are the places at His great supper to be only partially full?
Luke 14:23 “And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled.”
This, I believe, is the Master’s final call, through HIs servants,…. to a world…..
highways: those traveling down a weary road,….or speeding along in the fastest car…
…and hedges: those hiding behind fences, walls, or hiding from the truth.
The servants of the Lord are to go out and stop them….seek them….and compel them to come into the Lord’s house.
Compel here means to necessitate….to constrain.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit….through us.
We must concentrate on the fact that we are the Lord’s servant….what we are doing (whether preaching, teaching or witnessing) is because the Lord wants us to.
Because the necessity, the constraint is upon us……we must show Jesus Christ…..or speak about the Lord Jesus Christ….to all we meet…lest we find ourselves with bloody hands when we stand before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ…
….having failed to be what we should have, or do what should have been done….or failed to speak what should have been said.
(One time, my daughter and I went to visit a lady that absolutely did not want to hear anything about the Lord. Several times we had talked to her, she had pretended to fall asleep! Or tried to change the subject!
Praying about going to see her, I received that I should go through all the verses that we use to bring someone to the Lord….whether she acknowledged them or not.
So, we went and talked for a while…..
….. and then I just started to read the scriptures about Jesus saying all must be born again (John 3:7-8)….about all being sinners (Romans 3:23)…that the wages or what we earn from sin, is death….but that God has offered a free gift of Eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
That when a person receives the Lord Jesus, God gives the power (grace) to become born again (John 1:12). That to all who would receive Him, they must believe in their heart and confess with their mouth (call upon Him) and they would be saved (Romans 10:8-13)!
At the beginning she closed her eyes….I did not ask if she understood what I was reading, but let the Lord speak to her through HIs Word.
By the middle, I frankly thought that this was useless….but I kept at it, as the Lord had said.
By the end, when I would normally ask if they wanted to receive Christ Jesus and if they would pray and ask Him to come into their heart and life…I went to stop and the Lord said….ask her.
Now I will tell you, that she had pretended to not listen….she still had her eyes closed….but I did what I was told…
….and she said, “yes, I will pray!” And so she did, confessing that she was a sinner, and asking the Lord Jesus Christ into her heart and life!
Truly a miracle! Truly the Holy Spirit compelled her to come into His house!)
The time is short (Romans 13:11-12)….and the Lord has prepared a great supper for all the elect. The places are set, things are prepared…
….shall we, as HIs servants, go with that compelling invitation?
If we would stress the Sovereignty of God…and indeed He is Mighty to save!….
…..we must also stress the responsibility of man….for God has ordained us to walk in good works.
And the greatest “good work” is to:
Pray for, witness to, and lead someone to Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior.
2 Peter 3:9-11 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,”
Let me remind all of us……there is still room.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 