Welcome to the official podcast of the Church
of Christ Wheeler area. We're so glad that you've
tuned in for today's message. Whether you're
on your morning commute or if you're relaxing
at home, we're here to share the strength and
truth of God's Word with our community. If you're
in the neighborhood, we'd love to meet you in
person. Come see us at 1500 South Allen L. Bean
Boulevard right here in Wheeler, Texas. We gather
every Sunday morning at 1030 a .m. and in the
afternoon at 230 p .m. We meet again on Wednesdays
at 7 p .m. Right now, let's open our Bibles together
and dive in to today's sermon. We're going to
be primarily in the book of Luke. Luke chapter
14 will have another couple of passages mostly
going to be in Luke today. So if you want to
turn there and it's one of the great parables
that Jesus taught and most of the things we're
going to talk about today are going to revolve
around things that Jesus said and so in this
parable well in in the parable that's in the
chapter he talks about obviously a man who has
a great supper and if we've all had invitations
to supper from time to time I got one last week
and I went to the supper and I didn't eat nothing
But that is unusual for me, but I'd already eat
supper once that day so I didn't need two suppers
But when we think about the words and teachings
of Jesus They have of great importance to us
and in the studies that we do in book of Luke
14 It said now it happened as he went to the
house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to
eat bread on the Sabbath day, they watched him
closely. This was pretty common for Jesus. The
Pharisees didn't like him. They always had their
eye on him. And if you'll notice specifically
the context of the chapter, it is the Sabbath
day. And so... in their law or their belief in
their law. They couldn't be doing any kind of
work. And so if Jesus was to heal someone, they
would have considered that work and they would
have condemned him for that. But I want you to
notice he went. to eat bread on the Sabbath and
they're watching him closely. That's the context
of what's going on in this passage of Scripture.
So he receives this invitation. It happens to
be on the Sabbath day. Now it says, behold, there's
a certain man before him who had dropsy. What
is dropsy? I've read this passage all my life.
hundreds and hundreds of times, and I thought
Dropsy meant to be paralyzed. I've learned that's
not the case. Dropsy, in ancient times, was the
abnormal accumulation of fluid in the body. Today
it's known as edema. Well, I'm not a medical
person, but there's some medical people here,
so I'm sure they will know what edema is. Basically,
it's swelling in the limbs. especially the hands
and the feet and indeed all over and it's a bad
condition and I don't know how well you can see
this guy here but his feet are all swollen up.
He's got dropsy. It's his problem. Dropsy was
a sign of heart failure. or liver disease or
kidney failure. That is what Dropsy was. Dropsy
wasn't just some insignificant kind of problem
that you had accidentally. It was a sign that
you had a real serious problem and the fact is
that this man with Dropsy has a terminal disease.
This man's dying. That's what's happening. And
I've known several people over the years that
their health really grew bad and towards the
end of their lives or in their final days of
their lives, they would, you know, put them on
a machine and remove fluid from their body. And
a good friend of mine, they took eight liters
of fluid off of him just a few days before he
died. Well, that was because his heart had grown
so weak, it just couldn't move. the fluid through
his body and through his kidneys and that's what
drops he is and so here's Jesus he's been invited
to this supper he's at this supper it's on the
sabbath day by the way they look at that he shouldn't
heal anyone and they put him in front of him
a man who's dying what do you think Jesus is
going to do he's going to use the instance to
teach he answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees
saying is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath. He
knew the answer. He knew what they were gonna
answer, but they kept silent. And he took him
and he healed him and he let him go. So Jesus,
he's gonna heal this man. That's what Jesus does.
He helps people. He heals people. It's the nature
of our Lord. It'd be like telling a kid, don't
run out there in the foyer of the church. All
right, time out. I'm glad James is not here because
I dropped the remote the last time I was preaching
too. So y 'all don't tell him, okay? Where was
I? Oh yeah, kids running in the four -year. Okay,
so this is a very natural thing for Jesus to
do and you know what? It was the right thing
to do, wasn't it? If you have the ability to
heal someone who's dying, isn't it the right
thing to do? If you have the ability to do CPR
on someone who's dying, isn't it right? Isn't
it right for you to save someone who's drowning
if you can save them? Isn't it right to go into
a burning house and pull them out of the house
if you can? Isn't that right? Wouldn't it be
wrong to go, well, it's Saturday. Jesus said,
God made the Sabbath for man, not man for the
Sabbath. And so where there were limits to how
far that was to be taken. Verse five, he answered
them saying, which of you, having a donkey or
an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately
pull him out on the Sabbath day? So he asked
a question. If your ox is in a pit on Saturday,
won't you go pull him out? Of course you would.
And you know what? They knew that was true because
they couldn't answer. They didn't say anything.
And so Jesus, he knows what's going on in their
minds and he's convicting them. They put him
in this situation on the Sabbath day at this
meal in front of a guy who's dying. He heals
them and they want to condemn him for it. But
you know what? He's a lot sharper than they were.
So he opposes the hypocrisy. I want you to remember
this as we go through. Jesus knows hypocrisy.
He knows it before it happened. He can see through
those kind of things. They knew the answer to
his question. They would all take that same action.
the Sabbath day they had no compassion for the
man with dropsy and the truth is they couldn't
probably help him this man with dropsy but they
used him they used a dying man to try to make
a point about Jesus verse 7 so he told a parable
to those who were invited when he noticed how
they chose the best places saying to them okay
he's gonna address their pride now When you are
invited by anyone to a wedding feast do not set
down in the best place Lest one more honorable
than you be invited by him and he who invited
you and him come and say to you give place to
this man and Then you begin to wish shame to
take the lowest place This parable He looks at
all the wealthy and the The lawyers, the Pharisees,
the doctors, they're sitting in the best spots,
the best seats maybe, the most comfortable, closest
to the food, the closest to the service, I don't
know exactly. He says, when you're invited, go
sit in the lowest place so that when he who invited
you comes, he may say to you, friend, go up higher.
Then you will have glory in the presence of those
who sit at the table with you. He's teaching
us a lesson about basically humility, isn't he?
You should be humble. Shouldn't expect the best
seat or the... closest to the good service or
all those kind of things. He's showing something
that's the exact opposite of their hypocrisy
and their pride. They brought Jesus to this meal
to try to entrap him and ensnare him. They felt
like they could do that. They couldn't do that.
So he begins to use the situation which Jesus
was a master at to teach them about their own
pride and their own hearts and a problem within
their own hearts. He says whoever exalts himself
will be humbled and he who humbles himself will
be exalted. That's a very true that is truth
all throughout scripture taught many different
times in many different ways and you know what
it's true today listen carefully if you exalt
yourself you will be humbled it happens every
time and it's a very dangerous attitude pride
is a very dangerous thing and pride cause these
people who came to this supper And I want you
to understand this with me just for a minute
these people who were dying in their sins Do
not think about the problem they had They couldn't
look at their own problem they couldn't look
at the fact that they were dying That they were
drowning in their own sins and their own pride
is so great that the only thing they can think
of is we got to trap this guy Who's wanting to
work on the Sabbath day? We've got to ensnare
this man. That's what they're thinking And so
he teaches about those dangers of pride and how
it's going to end in your own humiliation now
verse 12 Then he also said to him who invited
him whoever this was that invited him when you
give a dinner or a supper Do not ask your friends
Your brothers your relatives nor your rich neighbors
lest they also invite you back and you be repaid
don't ask those people he says But when you give
a feast invite the poor the maimed the lame and
the blind Well, we do just the opposite don't
we? We invite our friends We invite our family
we we invite people who maybe are popular all
those kind of things and he says don't do that
invite invite the downcast invite the low notice
what he says you will be blessed because they
cannot repay you for you shall be repaid at the
resurrection of the just and so in his teaching
he teaches about the righteousness and blessings
that come from helping the helpless isn't that
what God's all about Helping people who can't
help themselves Isn't that the mission of Jesus?
To help you with your sin problem who you cannot
pay Help you with the challenges in your life
that you cannot overcome To help the person with
dropsy who cannot help himself. That's who Jesus
helped And he says if you're gonna have a dinner
we'll invite people who can't repay you that's
right, that's good Help those who can't help
themselves. That's the teaching that he's saying
here the just he says will help the helpless
the poor the maim the blind and the reward will
be in eternity The reward will be in heaven now
verse 15 when one of those who said at the table
with him heard these things He said to him blessed
is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God
Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom
of God's interesting statement in it Evidently,
this man was the first person to speak other
than Jesus in this whole sequence of events.
They had sat down at this meal. He had addressed
the man with dropsy. He spoke to them about their
feelings about him. When they hadn't said a word,
he asked them questions they didn't even answer.
And now down here towards the middle of the account,
this man says, Blessed is he that each bread
in the kingdom of God's the first person to speak
in this situation and he states a commonly held
Jewish maxim a Jewish saying of wisdom Which
is blessed as he shall eat bread in the kingdom
of God They said it was frequently said among
the people and you know what he's saying Happy
is the person who gets to experience all of heaven's
joys the person who's truly blessed is the person
who ultimately makes it to heaven and enjoys
all of heaven's joys. To be truly blessed, folks,
is to not be invited to a great supper, but to
experience the eternal supper in heaven, to hear
God say, well done. That's what true blessings
are. And then he's gonna give another one of
the greats along the way. Luke 14 verse 16. A
certain man gave a great supper and invited many.
We got invited to a wedding the other day, 700
people. Big wedding. A certain man made a great
supper, invited many. And he says to him, who'd
he say it to? I think it was the man who said,
blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom
of God. So this certain, parable he tells, he's
gonna, it's a great one. Alright, he continues
with this supper theme and he teaches this parable
of the great supper. Suppers were by invitation
in the Jewish culture. Typically an initial invitation
was sent and then later a servant would be sent
to inform the guest. that the time for the supper
had come. So maybe typically this invitation
wouldn't say it's on Saturday the 13th at seven
o 'clock. It would just say you're invited to
a supper by this individual. And then later on,
a servant's gonna come to you and he's gonna
say, hey, it's supper time. It's time for it
to happen. And that's the concept of suppers
in the Jewish culture. And so I want to talk
to you about a parable for just a minute, because
Jesus teaches this parable. A parable was a comparison
of a common physical thing to a spiritual teaching.
He used common physical things to teach spiritual
concepts. And so this happened in a lot of places,
but I want you to notice this one in particular.
Matthew 13 verse 24, another parable he put forth
to them. The kingdom of heaven is like a man
who sowed good seed in his field. But while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the
wheat and went his way." And so Jesus tells a
very common story about sowing. And he describes
it as the kingdom of heaven is like. And then
an enemy comes and sows bad seed or weeds in
the field. And then verse 36, his disciples came
to him and said, explain to us the parable of
the tares of the field. They didn't really understand
it. Help us to understand. What are you talking
about? And so sometimes parables are that way.
And then he says this, he who sows the good seed.
is the son of man. The field is the world. The
good seeds are the son of the kingdom. The tares
are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who
sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end
of the age. The reapers are the angels. A very
spiritual teaching, isn't he? He's teaching about
the end. He's teaching about judgment. And he's
using sowing seed in a field to teach about the
judgment. And so, every one of these things that
are so common have a spiritual connection in
this And so he says, a certain man gave a great
supper, invited many. He sent his servants at
supper time to say to those who were invited,
come, for all things are now ready. A certain
man is God. A great supper is eternity in heaven.
Invited many is you and I. the invitation is
the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's using an invitation
to supper to describe the kingdom of heaven is
the gospel. He's describing the blessings of
heaven. Blessed is the man who shall eat bread
in the kingdom of heaven. It's exactly what he's
using. Okay, so you get the setting. Here's all
these Pharisees. these rulers, they're watching
him, they're very proud, they're hypocrites,
they're trying to entangle Jesus, and so he teaches
them about humility, he teaches them about it's
just to help those who can't help themselves,
he goes to teaching them those things, and he
set all this up as the master he is, and he's
teaching this great teaching now. He finally
says, his servants are those who preach the gospel.
I missed that one last click. Okay, verse 18,
but they all with one accord begin to make excuse.
The first said, I have bought a piece of ground
and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me
excused. And another said, I have bought five
yoke of ox and I'm going to test them. I ask
you to have me excused. And still another said,
I've married a wife and therefore I cannot come.
So a certain man had a supper he invites people
they made excuses I bought some land I've got
some oxen. I have a wife. I cannot come this
was the reply This was the answer to the invitation
the invited guests made excuses. We are not coming
You understand we're not coming But when you
put it in the context, it is a refusal. You know
what they're saying? I want to invite you to
supper. No. No, thank you. We're not coming to
your supper. We don't want to come to your supper.
That's what they're saying. So that servant Came
and reported these things to his master then
the master of the house being angry said to his
servant go out quickly Into the streets and lanes
of the city and bring here the poor and the maimed
and the lame and the blind And this master of
the house who no doubt is God is angry by the
refusal of the invited The servants are commanded,
go invite other people. Who should be invited?
The humble. The sick. The hurting. You know who
should be invited? Those who cannot help themselves.
Those who cannot feed themselves. That's who
should be invited. The servant said, Master,
it's done as you have commanded and still there's
room. Then the master said to the servant, go
out into the highways and hedges and compel them
to come in that my house may be filled. I tell
you what, you don't invite any of these other
people again. You go out and invite the poor
maimed and hot blind. We did it. He said, you
go way out there then, way away. Down the highways,
out into the bushes and fields and then you invite
people because my house is going to be full.
I've invited people to a supper blessed as he
that shall eat bread in the kingdom of heaven
And you don't want to eat bread in the kingdom
of heaven. That's fine I'll find somebody who
wants to eat bread in the kingdom of heaven.
That's the idea and so his servants go out to
the ends of the earth and This is what he says
I say to you That none of those men who were
invited shall taste my supper Here's the thing.
We take for granted the love of God. We take
for granted the grace of God. And we want to
wait to obey Him. We want to make excuses. And
we're going to tell ourselves, I'll go to another
supper. I'll go to some other supper. I'll do
it some other time. I will submit to God when
I get ready Well, I'll tell you that ain't how
God looks at it I invited you to my supper and
you're gonna say no. I tell you what you'll never
taste of my supper Never There is great danger
in making excuses to God. If you remember one
thing, remember this one. There is great danger
in making excuses for not obeying and submitting
to God. He may just say, you're never gonna make
it. What's Jesus teaching? The excuse makers
will never make it. That's what he's teaching.
A few lessons. Jesus is the great healer. There
can be no question about that. The proud will
be humbled. That's very true. The humble will
be exalted. I believe that's true. Blessed is
he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
I believe that's true. You have been invited.
That's certainly true. Accept the invitation
while you can. You know, you have an opportunity
today. You've been invited to enjoy the blessings
of heaven. And you know where that starts? Right
here. Right here. That starts with accepting
Christ and whatever He asks you to do. You can
make excuses. You can do whatever you want, but
the invitation has been given rejecting the invitation
is very dangerous Because the excuse makers will
never make it into heaven never never And and
you have an opportunity you today Have been given
an invitation by the king of heaven He says I
want you to come and be with me and you can you
can answer two things Yes, I want to do that
or you can say no. Thank you No. And that's one
of the great lessons from this parable. The excuse
-makers won't make it. So I want you to think
carefully about that. Today, if you're here and
you're not a Christian, today, if you've not
obeyed the gospel, you need to think about that.
So I'm gonna show you another attitude that we
find from a slightly different group of people.
And this is the other passage we're gonna look
at, Matthew 20, and it's not very long. This
is Jesus again. This is a little different set
of circumstances. As they went out of Jericho,
a great multitude followed Him. Behold, two blind
men sitting by the road, when they heard that
Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Have
mercy on us, O Lord Son of David. So here's the
setting Jesus is traveling along from Jericho
and all these people are with him and as he's
walking down this old dusty road There's a couple
of blind guys sitting there and they can't see
Jesus They can't tell who's coming but they hear
that it's Jesus and as soon as they hear it's
Jesus They said have mercy Have mercy and The
multitude says be quiet what is wrong with you
be quiet They didn't be quiet. They cried out
in the morgue. Have mercy, oh Lord, son of David.
Now I'll tell you a different attitude we have
from the blind. The blind. There's the attitude
of the rich Pharisee, of the doctor and the lawyer.
Make excuse. I've got a wife. I've got oxen.
I've got land. I can't come. Here's the blind
going, please, please take me. Please. Father,
help me. And when people say be quiet, oh no,
no, no. Just doing that's going to make me a
little louder. And Jesus stood still and he called
to them and said, what do you want me to do for
you? What do you need? And they said, Lord, that
our eyes may be opened. We can't help ourselves.
We can't see. We want to taste the supper. That's
what they're saying, isn't it? Isn't that the
question? We want to go to heaven. We want to
go taste the supper. That's what they're saying.
Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes and
immediately their eyes received sight and they
followed Him. That's what happened. So I want
to talk to you about these two attitudes. One
man going, nah, sorry. Another man going, please,
please, please help me. And you know what? I
can look at all you people and I can see all
your faces, and I cannot tell which one you are.
I have no idea. I'll tell you what, God, Jesus,
looking down from above, knows which one of you
is going, no thanks. And he knows which one is
going, please help me. Please. He knows the difference.
And that's a lesson that we need to take home.
And we need to remember, the humble will be exalted
and set at the table with Jesus in heaven. The
proud, no. He won't accept. You have an opportunity
today. It's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful
opportunity. You can have the blood of Jesus
applied to your heart. You can be cleansed in
that blood. You can name the name of Jesus. You
can confess His name and be washed of your sins
in baptism. You have such a wonderful, I want
to tell you, the price of that ticket right there
is worth millions, trillions. It's worth everything
you have or can have. Because I tell you what,
The day you stand before God and He says, you'll
never taste my supper. You would give it all
up then, just like that. So why not lay it down
today? Thank you for listening to today's sermon
from the Church of Christ Wheeler area. We hope
this message encouraged you and strengthened
you in your faith this week. Don't forget the
door is always open at 1500 South Allen L. Bean
Boulevard. at 10 30 a .m on Sundays, 2 30 p .m
on Sunday afternoons and recharge with us midweek
on Wednesdays at 7 p .m. For more information
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we'll see you next time.