Luke 14

Luke 14:1-6

Chapter 7 The Sabbath Day: The Day Of MercyThe Lord God declares by the prophet Isaiah … “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 58:13-14). Our all-glorious Saviour made the sabbath a delight for many while he was upon the earth, and continues to make the gospel Sabbath, which the old, legal sabbath portrayed, a delight to sinners to this day. Christ is our Sabbath; and we find delight in him. When a sinner is turned from his way, from his sin, from the pleasure of his depraved heart, and from this world to the Lord Jesus Christ, finding mercy, grace, salvation, and rest in him, he finds that Christ, in whom he rests, is a delight, a luxury, and that faith in him is an honour. Indeed, all who trust Christ, delight themselves in him, triumph over all their foes in him, and shall at last obtain the full heritage of the heavenly Canaan, called here “the heritage of Jacob”. “For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” A Sabbath Day Miracle During the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry, the sabbath day was used as a day for healing. By his example, our Saviour displayed that the Old Testament sabbath day was intended and designed by our God to portray this day of grace. “And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him” (Luke 14:1). The Jews commonly held great, lavish feasts on their sabbath day. On this occasion our Lord was invited to the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees, one of the Sanhedrim, one of the primary, best known of that band of self-righteous legalists. Our Lord was not invited to the Pharisee’s house out of courtesy, but because these fine, law-keeping, sabbath-keeping religionists had hatched a plan to trap the Master. So “they watched him”. “And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy” (Luke 14:2). These good, kind religious men baited their trap by setting a certain man before the Saviour who had “the dropsy”. Dropsy is an old term for congestive heart failure. This condition is accompanied by swelling, scanty urine, poor appetite, sluggishness, and debility. The swelling usually begins in the feet and ankles and proceeds up the legs towards the abdomen. It is fairly common among diabetics. In addition to the swelling, the bladder functions poorly, a person loses his appetite and becomes very sluggish. His swollen limbs become debilitating. After a while, it becomes obvious that he is terribly sick and will soon die, if something is not done to help him. It is interesting that only Luke, the physician, records this miracle performed by our Lord. Perhaps he did so because in his day any man found in the condition of this man was doomed to a slow, painful death. There was no cure for him, at least no cure that could be wrought by the hands of men. These men brought this poor, dying wretch to the Pharisee’s house for no other reason than to entrap the Son of God. They cared nothing for him. As religion always does, they were simply using him for their own purposes. But it is written, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Psalms 76:10). And their wrath soon showed forth our Saviour’s praise. These devils were but vassals, by whom the Lord of glory was pleased to bring a certain, chosen, dying man to him that he might show in that man the wondrous, saving power of his mercy, love and grace. “And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?” (Luke 14:3) Though they never spoke a word, the Saviour answered them. He answered their thoughts. They were not merely dealing with a man. They were not attempting to trick a mere prophet. They were dealing with the God of Glory, trying to lay a trap for the omnipotent, omniscient God, and he lets them know it. The Lord Jesus knew exactly what they were up to. He asked them, “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?” “And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go” (Luke 14:4). They held their peace, because they dared not answer. They were trapped by their own trap. They dared not say anything that might show any agreement with the Master. They could not say “yes” without consenting to what he was about to do. And they could not say “no” without denying that works of mercy were permitted on the sabbath day by Moses. Indeed, the sabbath day was designed to portray this great gospel day in which we live, this day of mercy and grace. Once the Master had shamed these babblers into silence, he took the man with the dropsy and healed him. He who could dry up the Red Sea, calm the waves of the raging Galilee, and bring water out of a rock had no difficulty drawing a little water from this man’s body. Immediately, the swollen limbs were made whole, perfectly healthy. Then he who was the real Master of Ceremonies in this Pharisee’s house dismissed the man from the table and company and the company of his foes; and he went home perfectly cured. What a picture this is of our Saviour’s works of grace in chosen, redeemed sinners! He took him. He healed him. He let him go. “And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?” (Luke 14:5). Again, our Master answered the unspoken quibbles of this cruel, merciless, religious crowd that hated him, hated God, and hated men. They were obviously incensed by what he had done, incensed that a poor, dying man was made whole on the sabbath day. Yet, not one of them would allow his own ox or ass to drown on the sabbath day, if he could help it. Our Lord’s obvious, bold insinuation was this: You gentlemen obviously care much more for your property, for your own beasts than you do for a human being. “And they could not answer him again to these things” (Luke 14:6). Other Sabbath Miracles Did you ever notice how often our Lord chose to perform his miracles of mercy upon poor, needy souls on the sabbath day? In the gospels we are given six specific cases of cures wrought on the sabbath day. I need not remind you that man was created on the sixth day. Six is the number of man. Our Lord, by performing these six cures on the sabbath day, seems to be saying, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The case before us in Luke 14 is one. On the sabbath day our Saviour cast the devil out of a man (Luke 4:31-37). Luke 6 tells us of our Lord healing a man’s withered hand on the sabbath day (Luke 6:6-11). In Luke 13 our Saviour healed a woman who had been plagued with a crippling infirmity for eighteen years (Luke 13:10-17). In John 5 we see our Saviour healing a poor, impotent man, a man who had been impotent for a long, long time (John 5:1-9). In John 9 our Lord heals a man born blind, again on the sabbath day (John 9:1-14). There are three special, very instructive features about all of these six miracles that ought to catch our attention. First, they were all performed on the sabbath day. This day is the day of salvation. Oh, may it be for you the day of salvation. Then, you will call Christ our Sabbath and this his day of grace a delight. Second, each of these wonders was performed by Christ alone. Third, not one of these poor souls sought the Lord’s mercy. In every example the Saviour was found of them that sought him not (Isaiah 65:1). The possessed man entreated Christ to leave him alone (Luke 4:34). The man with the withered hand did not think of cure (Luke 6:6). The infirm woman had no hope of healing (Luke 13:11). The man with the dropsy did not ask for the blessing (Luke 14:2). The impotent man did not seek Christ (John 5:5). It was unheard of that the eyes of a man born blind should be opened, and, therefore, he did not expect it (John 9:32). But the Lord of the Sabbath is not bound by men. Omnipotent grace is never withered. The arm of the Lord never waits for the will of the sinner (Romans 9:15). The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save chosen sinners; and save them he will. He has redeemed them by his precious blood. He will save them by his omnipotent mercy. And he will do it without their aid, without their work, without their will, even without their desire. He does it freely! Physicians never come to the sick until someone sends for them. Christ came to us, who sent not for him, which made him say, “I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not” (Isaiah 65:1). He came to us before we ever thought of coming to him. He sought us long before we sought him. He found us before we ever dreamed of finding him. When the physician does come, he expects to be paid for his services, whether or not they are effectual. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10); and he paid all the charge of his long journey. The great Physician now is here, The sympathizing Jesus! He speaks the drooping heart to cheer O hear the voice of Jesus! Your many sins are all forgiven. O hear the voice of Jesus! Go on your way in peace to heaven, And wear a crown with Jesus! All glory to the dying Lamb! I now believe in Jesus. I love the blessed Saviour’s name, I love the name of Jesus. And when to that bright world above We rise to be with Jesus, We’ll sing around the throne of love, His name, the name of Jesus! William Hunter Delightful Sabbath In Isaiah 58:13-14 the prophet of God, with the inspired vision of prophecy, looks beyond the carnal, Jewish sabbath and sees in it a picture of Christ, who is the true Sabbath, and the blessed rest of faith in him[1]. When can we, when do we, “Call the sabbath a delight.” We can and do call the sabbath a delight only when we are made to experience God’s healing of our souls in Christ, only when we are brought to the blessed rest of faith in him who is our Sabbath, when we keep the sabbath of faith, ceasing from our own works and resting in Christ alone for our entire acceptance with God. [1] This becomes obvious when we observe that Isaiah’s exhortation “Call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord”, should read, “Call the sabbath a delight the Holy One of the Lord.” We need to understand that the sabbath God required the Jews to keep was only a temporary, typical ordinance, which represented Christ and our redemption by him. When the Lord God instituted sabbath keeping to the Jews in the legal dispensation, he gave two reasons for it. First, the sabbath was to be kept as a symbol of God’s rest (Exodus 20:8-11). It represented the completion of God’s creation and the satisfaction of God in his work. Though God’s work of creation has been marred by the sin and fall of our race, the sabbath day portrayed a blessed day of glorious rest called “the times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21; Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 1:10), when all things shall be restored to God. Second, the sabbath day was a constant reminder of Israel’s redemption out of Egypt. Hence, it was a picture of our redemption by Christ (Deuteronomy 5:15). In other words, the sabbath day, like all other aspects of the Mosaic law, was a picture prophecy of our perfect redemption by Christ. As the Jews rested on the seventh day of the week from all their works, so believers find perfect rest and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Our Sabbath We can and will call the sabbath a delight only when we understand that Christ is our Sabbath. We do not observe a literal, legal sabbath day, because Christ is our Sabbath, and we rest in him. I know many who pretend to keep a literal sabbath day. Many try their best to delight in legal sabbath work. But I do not know a sabbatarian in the world who really delights in his attempts at sabbath keeping, not a single one. Every sabbatarian I know finds the yoke of their legal observance oppressive and galling. It is a spiritual flagellation they feel they must perform in order to be holy. Sabbath keeping, like animal sacrifices, was a part of the Old Testament law. It has nothing to do with New Testament worship. I know that the sabbath day is frequently mentioned in the four gospels and the Book of Acts, during that transitional period in which the church of God passed from the Old Testament era into the New. However, it is always mentioned in connection with the Jews and Jewish worship in the temple, or in their synagogues. But it is mentioned only two times in all the Epistles (Romans through Revelation). In Colossians 2:16-17 we read, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Here the Apostle Paul, writing by inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, forbids the observance of legal sabbath days in any form. He does so on the basis of the fact that in Christ God’s elect are entirely free from the law (Romans 7:4; Romans 10:4). In Hebrews 4:3-4; Hebrews 4:9-11 the sabbath that remains in this gospel age is called “rest”. Here the Apostle shows us that all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ keep the sabbath in a spiritual way. That is to say, they and they only truly keep the sabbath by faith in him, by resting in him. Finished Work We can and will call the sabbath a delight when we realize that our all glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator, has entered into his rest; and his rest is glorious, because he has finished his work (Hebrews 4:10; Isaiah 11:10). Our Saviour’s rest in heaven is glorious and it is his glory. “His rest shall be glory”! As God rested on the seventh day, because his work of creation was finished, so the God-man our Mediator has entered into his rest in heaven, because he has made all things new for his people, having finished his work of redemption (Romans 8:34; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Hebrews 10:10-14). Behold our exalted Saviour! Do you see him seated upon his throne in heaven? There he sits in undisturbed and undisturbable sovereign serenity! His rest is his glory (John 17:2; Philippians 2:9-11). That exalted God-man, as our divinely appointed Representative, has fulfilled all the legal sabbath requirements for us, even as he did all the other requirements of the law. Now, in heaven he is keeping an everlasting sabbath rest (Isaiah 53:10-12).

And his rest, which is his glory, tells us that he has finished his work (John 17:4; John 19:30), the salvation of his people is certain (Hebrews 9:12), and all his enemies shall soon be made his footstool (Hebrews 10:13). There is no more work to be done. Christ did it all! And when all the work was done for us, our blessed Saviour entered into his rest. Now, all who find rest in him call that sabbath a delight! Sabbath Rest All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ keep the sabbath by faith (Hebrews 4:3), because we have entered into his rest; and we call this blessed sabbath rest of faith in Christ a delight, the delight of our souls. We do not yet keep the sabbath perfectly, because we do not yet trust our Saviour as we should. We do not yet trust him perfectly. But we do keep the sabbath truly and sincerely by faith. Our sabbath observance is not a carnal, literal thing. We do not keep a sabbath day. God forbids that (Colossians 2:16-17). We keep the sabbath spiritually by faith. Remember, the sabbath day was ordained by God in the ceremonial worship of the Jews in the Old Testament as a symbol of God’s rest after creation and as a reminder of the Jews redemption out of Egypt. The essence of sabbath observation was self-denial and consecration to God. Anything personally profitable or pleasurable was expressly forbidden (Isaiah 56:2; Isaiah 58:13; Ezekiel 20:12; Ezekiel 20:21). Sabbath observance was, in its essence, an unconditional, all-encompassing, self-denial. It was a renunciation of self and a dedication of one’s self to God. That is exactly the way we observe the sabbath spiritually by faith in Christ, not one day in seven, but all the days of our lives. The believer’s life is a perpetual keeping of the sabbath! The Lord Jesus Christ gives rest to every sinner who comes to him in faith. He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Are you labouring and heavy-laden under the load of sin and guilt? Do you long for rest? In your inmost soul do you struggle hard with sin, longing to find peace with God? Will you hear what the Lord Jesus says? “Come.” That is: believe, trust, rely upon me. “Come unto me”! Not to the preacher. Not to my church. Not even to my doctrine. But “Come unto me, and I will give you rest”! When a sinner comes to Christ, he quits working for God’s favour, because he rests his soul upon the finished work of his Substitute (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). Yet, this sabbath of faith involves more than a ceasing from our works and the remembrance of our redemption by Christ. It also involves, in its very essence, the consecration of our lives to our dear Saviour (Matthew 11:29-30). We keep the sabbath of faith and find rest unto our souls as we wilfully, deliberately, wholeheartedly surrender to Christ as our Lord. If we would keep the sabbath, truly keep the sabbath, it will take considerably more than going to church on Sunday and reserving one day a week for religious exercises! We keep the sabbath by putting ourselves under the yoke of Christ’s dominion, submitting to his will in all things, learning of him what to believe, how to live, and how to honour God. As we do, we find that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. When we submit to Christ’s dominion, when we bow to his will, we find rest for our souls and “call the sabbath a delight”! While he walked on this earth, our Lord Jesus performed so many miracles of mercy on the legal sabbath day to teach us that “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27), to teach us that the dawning of the true Sabbath is the day of mercy for chosen, redeemed sinners.

Luke 14:7-11

Chapter 8 “Take The Lowest Room”Our Lord Jesus is not here giving us a lesson about the excellence of behaving with humility before men and moral virtue. This is obvious for three reasons: He is addressing a band of lost, self-righteous religious Pharisees. That which he says here simply is not true with regard to earthly things. In this world, if you want to get ahead, you must push your way ahead. If you want the highest seat, you must take it. If you are willing to settle for the lowest place, you are sure to get it. Everyone around you will gladly accommodate your wish. In his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1-8), our Saviour taught us plainly that we must never attempt, in any way, to show our religion, to show godliness, or to show spirituality and devotion to God by any outward action. Let us adorn the gospel (Titus 2:10) by our behaviour, always. But we must never make a show of godliness. Believers, men and women who live for and seek the glory of God must never behave as proud worldlings do. Let it ever be ours to seek the glory of our God, the good of men, and the welfare of our brethren, each preferring the other better than himself, each submitting to the other, each promoting the other, and each serving the other. But we do not attempt to act religious or make a show of godliness before men. Christ’s Example Clearly, our Lord teaches us by the parable in these verses, throughout the scriptures, and by his own example that we ought to be and always behave as truly humble people. One passage will be sufficient to show this: Philippians 2:1-11. “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:1-11). Here in Luke 14:7-11 our Master teaches humility in two ways. First, he tells those who are bidden to a wedding to “sit down in the lowest room”. Second, he declares a great principle, which frequently fell from his lips: “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” The Key The key to this parable is found in Proverbs 25:6-7. “Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.” The Lord must have had this passage in mind when he spoke this parable. He is the King to whose wedding feast sinners are bidden, before whom we must come in humility. The shame and confusion of face which in this parable is represented as the lot of mortified pride does not always follow it in this world. Self-assertion, self-assumption, forwardness, and boasting, do not always entail a disgraceful fall upon the person who behaves arrogantly. The meek do not as yet “inherit the earth”, though they assuredly will. David said of the ungodly, “with their mouth they speak proudly” (Psalms 17:10), and “speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous” (Psalms 31:18). Men who are ambitious and self-seeking at times attain to the height of their ambition, provided, of course, that they have other qualities, such as prudence, cleverness, and perseverance. But a day is coming when the words of Christ with which the parable concludes (Luke 14:11), will be verified in the case of every man. He is the King before whom all pride displays itself, and before whom it will be abased. And there is the greater reason that he should do so, for when he had the highest place in the universe next to the eternal Father, he abased himself, and took the lowest place, even the place of the cross of death (2 Corinthians 8:9), in order to save and exalt forever all who humble themselves before him. The Judge at that day will remember and humble every act of pride, just as he will remember and reward those who humble themselves before him. He will bring every idle word into judgment, and make manifest the secrets of all hearts. God’s Work Yet, this humility is so contrary to our nature that we can never attain it. We can never perform it. We must be humbled by our God, or we will never humble ourselves before God. A humble man is a humbled man. We will never bow before the throne of grace until God himself bows us by his grace. Oh, may God graciously humble us here rather than hereafter! It may be very bitter to have our pride mortified now, but it will be indescribably more bitter to have it mortified before men and angels, and before the presence of the great King and Judge of all the earth. To know our own sinfulness and weakness and to know our need of Christ is the very beginning of salvation. This thing called “salvation” begins with the conviction of sin. Abraham, and Moses, and Job, and David, and Daniel, and Paul were all truly humbled men. They were men who knew themselves sinners before the thrice holy Lord God; sinners chosen, redeemed, called, forgiven, justified, and accepted in Christ. Humility What is humility? One word describes it. The root of humility is right “knowledge”. It is wrought in us by the revelation of Christ to us in that day when the Fountain of redemption is opened to us (Zechariah 12:10; Zechariah 13:1). The man who really knows himself and his own heart, who knows God and his infinite majesty and holiness, who knows Christ and the price with which he has been redeemed, that man is a humbled man. He counts himself, like Jacob, unworthy of the least of all God’s mercies. He says of himself, like Job, “I am vile.” He cries, like Paul, “I am chief of sinners” (Genesis 32:10; Job 40:4; 1 Timothy 1:15). He considers anything good enough for him, and indescribably better than he deserves. In lowliness of mind he esteems his brethren better than himself (Philippians 2:3). Ignorance, nothing but sheer ignorance, ignorance of self, of God, and of Christ is the cause of all pride. From that miserable self-ignorance we should daily pray to be delivered. He is the wise man who knows himself; and he who knows himself will find nothing within to make him proud and everything to humble him. But our Lord does not here set humility before these Pharisees as a virtue to be cultivated. Rather, he is here exposing and rebuking the pride of that self-righteousness and unbelief that keeps sinners from trusting him. Context Look at the context in which this parable is given. Our Lord has just healed a poor, despised, needy man of the dropsy on the sabbath day, thereby condemning the Pharisees who used him to bait a trap, by which they hoped to destroy our Lord’s credibility as God’s prophet (Luke 14:1-6). Then, notice that the opening word of Luk 14:7 is a conjunction “And”. When the Pharisees could not answer him, we read, “And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms” (Luke 14:7). Then, after giving this parable, the Lord declares to the proud Pharisee who had invited him to dinner that true humility, true goodness serves those who can give nothing in return, from whom no benefit can be derived (Luke 14:12-14). Obviously, he was not teaching this work monger how to earn God’s blessing in the resurrection. Rather, he is teaching this man and us how God dispenses his favour freely! The gospel of Christ is likened to an invitation to a great feast. And the Lord God, our great Saviour graciously calls the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, those who cannot recompense him, to his banqueting table. One man in the crowd understood exactly what the Master was saying. Look at Luke 14:15. “And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” Then, our Lord continues his instruction. Remember, he is still in the Pharisee’s house. He is still talking about how men are to behave when they are invited to a wedding feast. Specifically, the Lord Jesus is here telling us how poor sinners must come to God’s great wedding feast. “Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things.

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 in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 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. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper” (Luke 14:16-24). The Message The purpose of our Lord Jesus in this parable is to teach us how sinners seeking mercy must come to God. Here is the message of the parable. We must come to God, we must come to Christ as humble, worthless, doomed, damned, helpless, bankrupt sinners, taking our place in the dust before him. We must bow before him in shame, taking the lowest seat in the dust before the throne of grace. “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” This is a mystery that natural men do not understand. This is something no man will ever understand until he is born of God and taught by his Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:7-14). In the natural world the way up is up, but in the spiritual world the way up is down. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” In the natural world, to live is to live, but in the spiritual world the way to live is to die. “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). In the natural world men find satisfaction in their own strength, but Paul declared, “when I am weak, then 1 am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). The greatest thing God can do for a person (whatever the cost) is to show him in heart and soul the vanity of all things in this world (Ecclesiastes 1:2; Ecclesiastes 1:14), and to turn his interest, affection, love, and concern from the world to Christ (Matthew 5:3-12). To be full is to be emptied of self. To be wise is to become a fool for Christ’s sake. To be clothed we must be stripped. To be rich we must be made poor (Proverbs 16:18-19; Matthew 5:3; Matthew 11:29; James 4:6). Would you come to God and obtain the mercy and grace that he alone can give? Come to Christ. Come, taking the only ground he gives, as a poor sinner with nothing to give, trusting Christ alone for everything (1 John 1:7-10). Let us ever come to God just as we came to him in the beginning. “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Colossians 2:6). Naught have I gotten, but what I received. Grace hath bestowed it, since I have believed. Boasting excluded, pride I abase I’m only a sinner, saved by grace! James M. Gray

Luke 14:12-15

Chapter 9 Living For Eternity It is Saturday evening, the Jewish Sabbath, and the Lord Jesus has been invited to dinner by one of the leaders among the Pharisees (Luke 14:1), the most zealous of the zealous law-keepers among the Jews. There is no indication that I know of that our Saviour was ever invited back a second time to a Pharisee’s house; and it is not hard to see why. It appears that every time he opened his mouth, he undressed someone’s hypocrisy. There never was another man whose words were so penetrating and so exposing. When our Lord spoke, he opened and exposed the hearts of men (Hebrews 4:12-13). When our Lord spoke, he spoke as one having authority, divine, penetrating, omniscient authority. The Pharisees once reported of him, “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46). It seems that every time our Lord spoke in a crowd, large or small, there was a division because of his words. Those who are “of the truth” listen and obey. He tells us, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27). Those who are not of the truth do not have ears to hear or eyes to see. The Lord says to them, “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word … he that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8:43; John 8:47). The Healing The first thing our Lord did at this Saturday dinner was heal a man of dropsy. He asked the law-experts and Pharisees if they thought healing on the Sabbath was lawful. They did not answer, but their silence clearly meant, “No it is not lawful.” Back in Luke 13:14 the synagogue ruler spoke “with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.” Our Lord responds to their silence here the same way he responded to that. “And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?” (Luke 14:5) Again, they gave no answer. Hypocrisy Undressed The Master leaves it for them and us to draw the inference. It is unmistakable. Religionists, legalists, and self-righteous Pharisees have a keen interest in their own welfare. When the things of God seem to stand between them and their personal interests, they have no difficulty bending the Word of God and compromising the things of God to accommodate their interests. The preservation of their own interests is clearly more important than the will of God, the Word of God, and the worship of God. But when it comes to another person’s need, whose illness, pain, or loss is no skin off their noses, they become conveniently rigid in their hardness, that is to say, in their spirituality! The meanest, most wicked, hard-hearted people in this world are religious people who have no idea who God is, “whose god is their belly”! Our Lord held such men in utter contempt; and I do, too. The first lesson for us to learn from this event in the earthly life of our Lord is this: Religion without Christ makes men and women twofold more the children of hell than they were before. The first thing our Lord did at this dinner party was heal that poor man with the dropsy, exposing the hard-heartedness of his religious host. He publicly undressed the man’s hypocrisy. Not the most ingratiating thing to do to your host, but certainly the most gracious. Pride Undressed Then, the second thing he did must have been even more shocking. Our Master publicly undressed the pride of the dinner guests, right there in front of everybody. He has been sitting there watching them come in. And what does he look for? How they are dressed? Where they are from? What are their jobs? No. He looks for what they love. The keen eye of omniscience knows where our treasure is. Sooner or later, he will expose it. Where our treasure is there our hearts are. So the Lord watches and sees what the treasure of these religious men is. Here it is: They love the praise of men. They love to be esteemed for occupying the seats of honour. He watches as they move in and out of conversations, weaving their way, unnoticed by others. What does the Son of God think of this love of honour and esteem, this love of distinction? He says, “Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets” (Luke 11:43; See Luke 20:46-47). Two things always go hand in hand with loving the place of honour: the exploitation of the weak and the condemnation of those deemed less honourable. If you crave the praise of men and a widow’s house stands in your way, you will devour it without a thought. But in the end your own house will collapse in the flood of God’s judgment. If we pursue the seat of honour on earth, there will be no seat for us in among the redeemed in glory (Luke 14:11; Matthew 5:3; Matthew 5:5; Matthew 5:7; Matthew 18:3). “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Motive Undressed You might think the Lord has ruffled enough feathers for one evening. He had publicly undressed the hypocrisy of the legalists and their pride. Our Lord knew how to spoil a dinner party. But he is not done. Up to this point, he has been talking in general to the guests at the party. Now, he turns (Luke 14:12-14) to address the host. Here, he undresses the man’s motive, the motive of his heart, before all his guests. “Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” What an unusual way of thinking! What strange reasoning! The Lord says, “When you have a lavish dinner party, don’t invite your relatives, friends, and rich neighbours, who can repay you, but those from whom you can expect no gain or advantage of any kind.” Our Lord could not have been more coarsely blunt if he had put his finger right in this proud Pharisee’s face. He said, “You, sir, hope to go to heaven because of your goodness, and there’s no goodness in you. You are motivated, in all your displays of goodness, by your own, personal interest. Everything you pretend to do for others, you really do for yourself. And that shall be your eternal ruin.” Who on earth would talk like that? Probably someone whose Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36); someone who knows that 1000 years on this earth are like yesterday when it is gone (Psalms 90:4); someone who knows that our life is but a vapour that appears and in a moment vanishes away (James 4:14); who knows that he who saves his life now will lose it, and he who loses it now in love will save it (Mark 8:35); and who knows that the resurrection, the Day of Judgment, and eternity are real. That someone is the Son of God, our Saviour. No man ever spoke like this Man. Lessons Intended But why did our Lord speak as he did at this dinner party? Why did he do the things he did? Was it merely to show up these men? Was it simply to expose their condemnation? Was it just to publicly humiliate them? Of course not! Our Master’s purpose in his behaviour and in his speech, here and always, was to teach and instruct us in very important spiritual things, to set forth the gospel of God’s free grace in him. Let me show you some of the obvious lessons our Lord would have us learn from this passage. The first thing to be learned from our Master here is the fact that the Son of God came into this world to seek, serve, and save poor, needy sinners, from whom he could never receive any recompense. Be sure you do not misunderstand me. There is no doubt that our Lord teaches us, indeed the grace of God experienced in the heart teaches us as well as the whole of holy scripture, that we ought always to care for the poor and needy among us, particularly for those who are numbered among the saints. “The poor shall never cease out of the land” (Deuteronomy 15:11); and those who are able ought to be forward in assisting them. Not to do so is to hate and despise them; and those who do not love their brethren do not know God (1 John 3:14-17). As we ought to care for the poor, so, too, we ought to give particular care and attention to our weaker brethren. Bearing one another’s burdens, we fulfil the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). But out Lord is not teaching this Pharisee a lesson in moral uprightness. His aim is much higher. Like the man described in Luke 14:2, who had the dropsy, you and I are poor, helpless, perishing sinners. We could do nothing for ourselves. We could not help ourselves. And no one else could help us, if they were so inclined. When the Lord first begins his work of grace in us, it is not because we want him, or have come to him, or have prayed for help. Not at all! This man apparently expected nothing from the Lord Jesus. There is no indication that he even looked at him. But the Master took up the rich Pharisee’s invitation to dinner, because that poor man with the dropsy was there, for whom the time of mercy had come. The second thing that is obvious here is the fact that in order to save such poor, needy sinners as we are, the Son of God took the lowest place among men. Humility is a gift of grace. The grace of God humbles men. But our Lord is not teaching this crowd to make themselves humble, that they might be exalted and recompensed in the Day of Judgment. Indeed, such self-serving humility is not humility at all, but a mere show of humility. Our Lord is describing true humility, his own (Philippians 2:1-11). His humility is exemplary. We ought to be of the same mind. But he is the pattern. His humility was voluntary. He humbled himself unto the very lowest, not that he might be exalted, but for the love he has to us and to the glory of God. For that, he has been exalted and shall be recompensed in the Day of Judgment (2 Corinthians 8:9; Isaiah 45:20-25; Isaiah 53:10-12). The third thing our Redeemer teaches us here is that there shall be a Resurrection Day and a Judgment Day. Everything our Saviour did in this world he did with eternity before his eyes. He lived in the constant awareness of eternity. Oh, may God give us grace to do the same! “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 4:17 to 2 Corinthians 5:1). We are immortal souls. We are all dying creatures, moving rapidly to the grave. There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust, a resurrection of life and a resurrection of damnation (John 5:28-29). There shall be a Day of Judgment, at which we shall all be recompensed for all that we have done forever (Acts 17:31; Revelation 20:11-15). The Judge of all in that great day shall be that Man who was crucified at Calvary, that Man who is seated on the throne in heaven, that Man who is God, the God-man, our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. The basis of judgment shall be the record in heaven, the books of God’s remembrance, and another book called, “the Book of Life”. All shall perish, all shall be forever damned whose names are not found written in the Book of Life. The torments heaped upon the damned in hell shall be a just recompense, an exact recompense, and an everlasting recompense of Divine justice; and the damned themselves shall be forced to acknowledge this. Let us learn to live every day in the immediate prospect of the last great day, when the dead shall be raised to meet God in judgment. There shall be a resurrection after death. Let this never be forgotten. The life that we live here in the flesh is not all. The death of these bodies is not the end of our existence. The visible world around us is not the only world with which we have to do. All is not over when the last breath is drawn, and men and women are carried to their long home in the grave. The trumpet shall one day sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. All who are in the grave shall hear Christ’s voice and come forth: they that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation. Let us live like men and women who believe in a resurrection and a life to come, and desire to be always ready for another world. So living, we shall look forward to death with calmness. So living, we shall take patiently all that we have to bear in this world. Trials, losses, disappointments, ingratitude will affect us little. We shall not look for our reward here. Knowing that all will be rectified in that great day, and that the Judge of all the earth will do right, we shall patiently await that day (Genesis 18:25). But how can we bear the thought of a resurrection? What shall enable us to look forward to death, the resurrection, the judgment, and eternity without alarm? Faith in Christ! Believing him, we have nothing to fear. Our sins will not appear against us. The demands of God’s law will be found completely satisfied. We shall stand firm in the great day, and none shall lay anything to our charge (Romans 8:33). All whose names are written in the Book of Life, all who stand before God in Christ, washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness, shall be forever blessed. And the bliss and glory and blessedness heaped upon the saved in heaven shall be a just recompense, an exact recompense, and an everlasting recompense of Divine justice (Jeremiah 23:6; Jeremiah 33:16; Jeremiah 50:20). There seems to have been one man in that crowd who heard and understood our Lord’s words. Perhaps everything recorded in this passage came to pass specifically because the Lord Jesus had come to this place, to this Pharisee’s house to seek and find this one sinner, whose time of love had come. Look at Luke 14:15. “And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” I have found it so. Have you? “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 14:15-24

Chapter 10 The Great Supper Our Lord Jesus is in the house of one of the chief Pharisees. He had performed a great miracle on the sabbath day, healing a man of the dropsy. The Pharisees and religious legalists, of course, were terribly offended by that act of mercy (Luke 14:1-6). Then, the Master gave out a parable declaring his method of grace and salvation (Luke 14:7-11). In Luke 14:12-14, he very pointedly applied the parable, speaking directly to the Pharisee who had invited him to dinner, exposing that man’s hypocrisy. There was at least one man in the crowd who heard and understood what the Saviour was saying.

When he heard the Saviour’s words, that man said to the Master, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15). It is in response to that man’s assertion that our Lord spoke the parable recorded in Luke 14:16-24.[2] This is a parable full of instruction. May God the Holy Spirit now teach us its meaning and apply it to our hearts. [2] Though there are clearly points of similarity between this and the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22, these are two distinct parables, spoken on two separate occasions. A Great Supper “Then said he unto him” to the man who had declared, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” “A certain man made a great supper.” This is not the Lord’s Supper, which had not yet been established. And this is not the marriage supper of the Lamb, which will take place at the end of time. This great supper is the gospel feast of the boundless grace of God set before poor, needy, hungry sinners in the preaching of the gospel. It is called a “supper”, because it is made in the end of the world, in the last days. It is called a “great supper”, because he who made the supper is the King of kings, and Lord of lords. It is a great supper, a feast of fat things, of wine upon lees well refined. This great, gospel feast is a supper provided by the great God, spread at great cost (the precious blood of Christ), a supper with great provisions of mercy, love, and grace, a supper for great sinners with great needs, a supper for a great multitude, and a supper that is to last a great time, until the end of time. “And bade many.” Certainly, the reference here is to the Jews, the many physical descendants of Abraham, to whom alone God sent the gospel throughout the Old Testament. By the law and the Prophets, by John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus himself, and by the Apostles, the people of Israel were bidden to the supper and refused to come, refused to believe God. But we dare not limit the parable’s message to the Jews. This word from God our Saviour is to be applied to all who are privileged to hear the gospel of the grace of God. The King of Heaven has made a great supper and bids you and me come to the supper. The Servant “And sent his servant at supper time.” The servant here may refer to John the Baptist, or to the Lord Jesus, to the Apostles of Christ, or to the Spirit of God[3]. Certainly, the servant is representative of every servant of God who is sent forth to preach the gospel of the grace of God to perishing sinners. “To say to them that were bidden, come.” Gospel preachers are God’s servants, sent forth into the world to call sinners to the table of grace, to call sinners to Christ. [3] A. W. Pink wrote, “In Luke 14:16 we read, “A certain man made a great supper, and bade many.” By comparing carefully what follows here with Matthew 22:2-10 several important distinctions will be observed. We take it that these passages are two independent accounts of the same parable, differing in detail according to the distinctive purpose and design of the Holy Spirit in each Gospel. Matthew’s account in harmony with the Spirit’s presentation there of Christ as the Son of David, the King of the Jews says, “A certain king made a marriage for his son.” Luke’s account where the Spirit presents Christ as the Son of man says, “A certain man made a great supper and bade many.” Matthew 22:3 says, “And sent forth his servants;” Luke 14:17 says, “And sent his servant.” Now what we wish particularly to call attention to is, that all through Matthew’s account it is “servants”, whereas in Luke it is always “servant”. The class of readers for whom we are writing are those that believe unreservedly, in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, and such will readily acknowledge that there must be some reason for this change from the plural number in Matthew to the singular one in Luke.

We believe the reason is a weighty one and that attention to this variation reveals an important truth. We believe that the servants in Matthew, speaking generally, are all who go forth preaching the Gospel, but that the “Servant” in Luke 14 is the Holy Spirit himself. This is not incongruous, or derogatory to the Holy Spirit, for God the Son, in the days of his earthly ministry, was the Servant of Jehovah (Isaiah 42:1). It will be observed that in Matthew 22 the “servants” are sent forth to do three things: first, to “call” to the wedding (Luke 14:3); second, to “tell those which are bidden … all things are ready; come unto the marriage (Luke 14:4); third, to “bid to the marriage” (Luke 14:9); and these three are the things which those who minister the Gospel today are now doing. In Luke 14 the Servant is also sent forth to do three things: first, he is “to say to them that were bidden, Come: for all things are now ready” (Luke 14:17); second, he is to “bring in the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind” (Luke 14:21); third, he is to “compel them to come in” (Luke 14:25), and the last two of these the Holy Spirit alone can do! In the above scripture we see that “the Servant”, the Holy Spirit, compels certain ones to come into the “supper” and herein is seen his sovereignty, his omnipotency, his divine sufficiency. The clear implication from this word “compel” is, that those whom the Holy Spirit does “bring in” are not willing of themselves to come.” All God’s servants proclaim a feast of God’s providing “for all things are now ready”. For all who come to the feast, for all who trust him, there is in the Lord Jesus Christ a righteousness ready to wear, pardon freely bestowed, a redemption fully accomplished, and a full and perfect everlasting salvation. There is in Christ a sonship for sinners in union with him. But this is one wedding feast at which no gifts are accepted. Everything is freely provided! Excuses for Unbelief “And they all with one consent began to make excuse.” Unbelievable as it may appear, all who are called to Christ make excuses not to come. And all who are called make the same excuses. All who are called of God by the gospel to life and salvation in Christ, all who are called to believe on the Son of God, all who are bidden to follow Christ, have (in their own minds) completely reasonable excuses for disobedience. Rather than praying to God for mercy, they say, “I pray thee have me excused”! “The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it.” What fool would buy a piece of ground, and then go see it? He bought a piece of ground from a man without seeing it. What confidence he must have had in that man. But he has no confidence in God! The second was worse. “And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them.” He bought five yoke of oxen without knowing whether they could bear a yoke or pull a cart, taking a man’s word for it. Men will do that; but none will believe God! The excuse made by the third man is the worst of the three. “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” Had he said, I will not come, he would at least have told the truth. It is not only man’s impotence that keeps him from Christ, but also his will. He has no will to trust the Son of God. It is true that no man can come to Christ, except as God gives him grace to come (John 6:44). Yet, none will come (John 5:40). That is a matter of personal, deliberate choice and responsibility for which all will be held accountable in the Day of Judgment (Proverbs 1:23-33). He who has married a wife is doubly responsible to come to the feast. He is responsible for himself and his wife. If his wife will not come, he is a fool to let her keep him away. They that have wives must be as though they had none. We must not allow carnal unions, sentiments, and affections to keep us from following Christ. Adam paid a very high price for hearkening to the voice of his wife. Our Lord requires that we forsake husbands and wives, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, as well as houses and lands, if we would be his disciples. The Servant’s Report “So that servant came and showed his Lord these things.” Gospel preachers watch over the souls of men as those who give account (Hebrews 13:7; Hebrews 13:17). “Then the master of the house being angry.” Multitudes think it is a light thing to trample the blood of Christ under their feet, but that will not always be the case. God Almighty will soon make all men see how offensive unbelief is to him (Proverbs 1:23-33; Proverbs 29:1). “And said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city; and bring in hither the poor.” We preach the gospel to the poor, those who have no bread for their souls, those who have no righteous garments, but only filthy rags, those who have no money to buy, no means to pay their debt. That is to say, the gospel of God’s free grace in Christ is good news to those who are poor in spirit. “And the maimed.” Grace is for the needy, poor, impotent, helpless sinners, without strength, without hope, without life, without help. “And the halt.” Christ saves the lost, those who are halting because they do not know where to go for grace and mercy and help, and do not know the way. Sinners are not only poor, lost, and ignorant, but cripple too, being maimed by a terrible fall. “And the blind.” Yes, the Lord God bids us go out and call poor, maimed, halt, blind sinners to the feast of grace, the blind who cannot see, the halt who cannot come, and the poor who have nothing to bring! Plenty Of Room “And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded; and yet there is room.” There is plenty of room in the house of grace and plenty of bread for hungry sinners. In Revelation 4 John saw twenty-four seats around the throne of God. Each of these seats were filled with the twenty-four elders sitting before the throne. They were all clothed with white garments, and they all wore crowns of pure gold on their heads. The twenty-four elders represent the whole church of God. As the twelve patriarchs represent the whole church of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles represent the whole church of the New testament, these twenty-four elders represent all of God’s elect, the whole church of God, the Israel of God (Revelation 21:12-14).

I call your attention to this because it must be clearly understood that every seat around the throne is filled. Not one of God’s elect will be missing in that great day when Christ presents his redeemed ones in glory. Every chosen sinner, every soul for whom Christ shed his blood at Calvary, every sinner called by the efficacious, irresistible grace and power of God the Holy Spirit will be seated before the Triune Jehovah in eternal glory. Having said that as plainly as I know how, it must be understood and declared by all who preach the gospel that there is plenty of room at the table of grace for any and all who come to Christ. “Whosoever will, let him come”! Compel Them Still, we are aware that none to whom we preach the gospel will come to Christ until compelled by the irresistible grace of God the Holy Spirit in effectual calling. We read in Luke 14:23 “And the Lord said unto the servant go out into the highways and hedges: and compel them to come in.” None but God the Spirit can effectually compel lost sinners to come to the Saviour. Yet, this command in this parable must be applied to gospel preachers, too. Yes, we are to compel, persuade, and force sinners by the persuasive preaching of the gospel to come to Christ (2 Corinthians 4:18 to 2 Corinthians 6:2). This shows us, as John Gill rightly observed, “the nature of the gospel ministry, which is to persuade Japheth to dwell in the tents of Shem; and the power that attends it by the Divine Spirit; the case and condition of souls, who are generally bashful and backward, judging themselves unworthy; as also the earnest desire, and great liberality of Christ, the Master of the feast.” “That my house may be filled.” And filled it shall be! God’s house shall be filled with chosen, redeemed sinners, as a sheepfold filled with a flock of sheep. And each one shall be filled with grace and glory. “And so all Israel shall be saved.” “For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper.” There is an infinite, boundless provision of grace in Christ for all who want it (Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 11:28-30; John 6:37; John 7:37). Christ is the Bread on the table. All who are hungry are welcome to eat. Christ is the Water of Life. All who are thirsty are welcome to drink. If you perish in your sins, if you go to hell, if you will not come to the bounteous feast of grace, you will have no one to blame but yourself. Then your lands and oxen and relations will be fuel for the fires of your everlasting torment. May God the Holy Spirit sweetly force you to come to the Lord Jesus!

Luke 14:25-35

Chapter 11 The One Issue Between God And Man Everywhere I go in the United States and abroad I meet with men and women who see the withered, lifeless condition of the church. They know that something is wrong, both with themselves and with the church. And they are looking for something. They know that something is missing in their own religious experience and in the church, but do not know what it is. The fact is they have never been confronted with the one issue between God and man. The preachers they hear and the churches they attend do not even know what that one issue is. Do you? The issue between you and God is not what you do or do not do. Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that it does not matter how you live. It matters a great deal. God has told us how to live in this world. And we are responsible to obey him. But I am saying the issue between you and God is not what you do. There are a great many people in hell today who lived much better lives than either you or me. The rich young ruler and the Pharisees stand as indisputable examples of that fact (Matthew 5:20). The issue between you and God is not what you have felt, experienced, and done in the spiritual realm. We hear much talk these days about the baptism of the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues, miracles, and emotionalism as evidences of God’s blessings and the absence of these things as an evidence of his disapproval and wrath. But that is not the case at all. In the Day of Judgment many will be damned who felt more, experienced more, and did more in what we call the spiritual realm than you or me (Matthew 7:22-23). And the issue between you and God is not what, or how much you know and believe about the Person and work of Christ. Again, let me be understood. Doctrinal truth, gospel knowledge is vital. You must know and believe the doctrine of the gospel. But accurate, factual, orthodox knowledge is not salvation. A person can believe the truth about Christ and not be saved. A man can believe the doctrine of the gospel and yet be lost. Judas Iscariot, Demas, and Diotrephes stand as glaring beacons to warn us of the fact that the issue between God and man is not what you believe. The Lordship Of Christ The issue between God and man is the Lordship of Christ. The issue between God and man is, who is going to be boss? Who is going to rule? Christ or you? Rolfe Barnard told a story about a young preacher he met who started a church with nine families. In a short while the congregation grew in number and caused the city where they lived to sit up and take notice. That church, Barnard said, was “A fellowship of men and women who lived in the power of the resurrection life of the risen Lord.” When Barnard asked him the secret to his ministry, the young preacher said, “Bro. Barnard, there isn’t but one message to be preached, and that is God’s eternal purpose in Jesus Christ, that on the basis of his life laid down God has purposed to set up his totalitarian rule in the hearts of men.” What a message! If it ever penetrates our hearts, the people around us will sit up and take notice. God Almighty has made Christ Lord of all things (John 17:2; Romans 14:9; Hebrews 10:10-14; Philippians 2:5-11); and he is determined to put all things under his feet, in particular to bring you and me to bow to the rule of his Son. The one issue between God and man is the absolute Lordship of Christ. It always has been and always will be. The issue is not whether you want to go to heaven or to hell when you die. Everybody wants to go to heaven. The issue is not do you want to have peace, or do you want to live in turmoil. Everybody wants to live in peace.

The issue between you and God is his Son. Will you, or will you not bow to the claims of Christ, your sovereign Lord? Everyone is going to bow, either willingly or unwillingly, either now or at the judgment seat. If you willingly bow to Christ now, that is salvation. But bow you will to Jesus Christ the Lord. God has purposed it.

And God will do it. Even if he sends you to hell, God is going to put you in subjection to his Son (Isaiah 9:6-7; Psalms 110:1). This has always been the issue. In The Garden This was the issue in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15-17). The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, whatever it was, was the symbol of God’s dominion, his rule, his authority. When Adam ate of the fruit of that tree, he was saying, “God has no right to be God. I will not have him to rule over me, even if I suffer his wrath forever.” Remember, “Adam was not deceived” (1 Timothy 2:14). He knew exactly what he was doing in his rebellion; and you do too. Your problem is not that you are ignorant, or deceived. You know your depravity, your guilt, your sinfulness. You know who God is and what God requires (righteousness and satisfaction). And you know what Christ has done for sinners. Your problem is that you will not have Christ to reign over you. At Calvary This was the issue at Calvary. That mob of rebels did not crucify the Lord of Glory because they did not believe his words, but because they would not submit to his rule on his terms. They wanted to take Jesus and make him king on their terms, a king whom they controlled (John 6:14-15). But they would not bow to his dominion and be ruled by him. They said, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). Today This is still the issue today. This is the issue with men, with preachers, and in churches. Does God have the right to be God and does he exercise that right? Does God have the right to sit on his throne and do whatsoever he will? The Bible says he does. Does God exercise that right? The Bible says he does (Psalms 115:3; Psalms 135:6). God Almighty will not abdicate his throne. He will not step down. He will not quit announcing his commands, pressing his claims and meddling with our lives. God demands that we surrender, that we give ourselves up to the rule of Christ his Son. Saving faith is nothing less than surrender to Christ the Lord. If I would be saved, I must lose my life to Christ (Mark 8:34-35): not my heart, not my soul, not my mind, not one day in seven, not a tithe, not a little time each morning and evening, but my life! Christ will not have me unless he has all of me. And he will not have you unless he has all of you (Luke 14:33). C. H. Spurgeon said, “No man has truly given himself to Christ unless he has said, ‘My Lord, I give Thee this day my body, my soul, my powers, my talents, my goods, my house, my children, and all that I have. Henceforth, I hold them at Thy will, as a steward under Thee. Thine they are. As for me, I have nothing. I have surrendered all to Thee!’” If we want to understand the mess we are in now, we have to understand how we got in this mess. It all began in the Garden of Eden. When Adam, with his eyes fully open, ate the forbidden fruit, two things happened. First, God’s throne was threatened by his creature. If Adam had won, had he gotten his way, God would have been out of business. God would have ceased to rule the world. And if the sons of Adam had their way today, God would cease to rule. But that cannot be. God will never give up his dominion. Second, man lost his wholeness. The scriptures speak of the “natural man”. That is man in his fallen condition. The natural man is out of kilter. He is depraved, beside himself. He must be brought to himself, or he will never be reconciled to God. As the insane prodigal had to return to the rule of his father’s house before he could enjoy the peace of his father’s house, so we must return to the rule of God, we must bow to the dominion of Christ, before we can be made whole. The throne rights of King Jesus have to be settled and acknowledged in our hearts. Barnard said, “Man’s wholeness was lost in Eden. Man was made to be governed. And there’s never been any government placed on anybody’s shoulders, except Jesus Christ’s! “The government shall be upon his shoulder.” (Isaiah 9:6). This whole outfit has been turned over to him. Nobody now has the right to make the decisions except Christ.” If ever we come to know Christ the Lord, we will surrender everything to his dominion. Christ Must Reign One of these days God is going to accomplish his purpose. It is written of the Lord Jesus, “He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). Sooner or later, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:8-11). That is the Father’s decree (Psalms 110). That is what the Father promised the Son in the covenant (Psalms 2:8). That is the reward of our Saviour’s obedience (John 17:1-2; Romans 14:9). That is the end for which all things were made (Revelation 4) and shall be the everlasting delight of his saints (Revelation 5). Therefore, “He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet”! The one issue between God and man is the dominion of Christ. Who is going to be boss? Man was made to be governed. An ungoverned man is an incomplete man. The only way man can be made complete is by being ruled. The personality of manhood was designed for something greater than a self-centred animal existence. Man was not made to be alone, to live unto himself, but to be lost in the purpose of God. We were made to serve God! Only in his service can we find perfect freedom. Sin is slavery. Rebellion is bondage. To be free, we must be brought under the yoke and dominion of the Son of God. Salvation is nothing less than the restoration of God’s throne in the heart of man. Our Threefold Message If the one issue between God and man is the rule and dominion of Christ as Lord, what must our message to man be? Every gospel preacher is an ambassador of the King of heaven and earth. God has sent each with a message to proclaim to rebels throughout his kingdom. And that message is threefold. First, God sends his servants to declare that Jesus Christ, his Son, is the Lord and King of the universe (2 Corinthians 4:5; Acts 2:36-38). The message of the gospel is not a proposal, a plan, or a proposition, but a Person, Jesus Christ the Lord. God has not sent me to define and defend a doctrine, but to proclaim a Person. To preach the gospel is to preach him for whom, through whom, and in whom God has purposed to fulfil all things. The message which the Apostles preached, by which they turned the world upside down was the Lordship of Christ (Acts 2:36). They went everywhere preaching Jesus and the resurrection[4]. The whole creation shall soon be brought in subjection to his throne. God is going to redeem this world. He is going to restore everything to the rule of Christ (Ephesians 1:10). The gospel is the story of how God has put all his purposes in Christ. It is as broad as Christ and as narrow as Christ. It shuts the door of hope everywhere else, except in Christ. In Christ alone the door is open. He is the Door. [4] In the Book of Acts the words “preach”, preaching”, and “preached” are used 37 times. In every place where those words are found the subject preached was Christ the Lord. The issue of the hour is man’s rebellion to God’s throne. And the message of the gospel is Christ Jesus the Lord, the person in whom God has established and will establish his dominion over his creatures. To be saved is to be in agreement with God’s purpose. To be lost is to be in rebellion to God’s purpose. To be reconciled to God is to be reconciled to his revelation, to his righteousness, to his redemption, and to his rule. Second, the message of the gospel is a word of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). To be saved is to be converted to the rule of God in Christ. To be saved is to be reconciled to the rule of God in Christ. Salvation is the free consent of my heart to the sovereign throne of almighty God. Sin is much more than an act. It is a condition, a condition of rebellion against the sovereign rule of Christ.

And salvation is much more than an act. It is a condition, a condition of reconciliation to the sovereign dominion of God in Christ. The message of reconciliation is redemption fully accomplished by Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). The condition of reconciliation is surrender, unconditional surrender to the rule of Christ. That is what faith is. Faith believes the record God has given of his Son.

And faith acts upon that belief. Faith is belief in action. Salvation is conversion to God. It is the life-long pursuit of God, his will, and his glory. Third, the message of the gospel is a message of God’s rule restored. I know that God rules everywhere and in all things now. He always has and always will. But one of these days, God is going to put down all rebellion and bring everything in captivity to the rule of Christ (Revelation 19:1-6). Two Kinds Of Faith There are two kinds of faith. There is a faith that centres in me, and what I can get from God. And there is a faith that centres in God and his glory. If my faith is primarily concerned with me, and what I want, then the object of my faith is me. I really worship myself. If my faith is primarily concerned with God and his glory, then God is the Object of my faith.

I worship him. Martin Luther once defined salvation as “the realization of God’s will and purpose, whatever it might be, rather than the satisfaction of human need.” He saw that true faith is not seeking something from God, but bowing to the rule of God. Calvin said, “True faith is having confidence in God, regardless of profit or loss.” It is the heart’s willing affirmation of God’s right to be God. This is the one issue between God and man. That is exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ asserts in Luke 14:26-33. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” If we would have Christ, we must surrender all to him. Christianity, true Christianity, true saving faith involves a total surrender to Christ the Lord. Either you will be a servant under the dominion of King Jesus, voluntarily giving up all to his claims, or you will go to hell. Our Lord Jesus Christ requires total and unreserved surrender to himself. Christ will be Lord of all, or he will not be Lord at all. Is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, your Lord? Is he truly your Lord? That is the one issue between God and man.