Put aside your excuses.
That all might believe through Him • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 views“We should be busy sharing the good news of salvation along the way every day. And the plan of salvation should be explained every Lord’s Day in our worship services. This month, as we approach Easter, the Sunday morning messages emphasize who Jesus Christ is and what he has done for us. The theme is “That All Might Believe through Him.”
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Introduction
The parable we will be studying today from Luke 14 highlights excuse making. You will remember this passage; I preached on in the beginning of February. Let’s read it.Luke 14:16-24
Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.
At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
“ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”
The three who sent their regrets had probably told themselves these excuses so many times that they finally thought them to be valid reasons.
Have you ever tried to get out of something, and made up an excuse as to why you can’t do something.
This is what I think these three have done.
People can tell themselves a lie so often that at last they will accept it as the truth; however, a lie is always a lie, and an excuse is always an excuse.
The invitation from God though is spiritual.
Excuses are usually based on the material.
There is nothing wrong with buying land, working, or getting married, but it is wrong to place these things above the invitation of God.
The excuses of the people in Jesus’ parable were foolish in the light of so gracious an invitation. Yet they are no more foolish than the excuses given in our day. Let’s think of these excuses.
You see these three had already agreed to attend the banquet.
Charles Swindoll says in his Living Insights New Testament Commentary on Luke;
“While each turned down the invitation to dine because of pressing issues, they committed a serious breach of etiquette. Because they had committed to the initial invitation, the host made preparations based on their RSVP. While each excuse cited pressing circumstances, none could be considered unavoidable and to renege at the last minute left the host with wasted food. In the end, each guest made a priority judgment that left the host in a difficult position.”
Let’s look at eight excuses that we use to not be at the Lords table.
I. Excuse number one: “I’m too busy.
In Luke 14 the three men who made their excuses were preoccupied.
They were busy with land, oxen, and marriage. Which is most important in the long run: land, John Deere tractors, and romantic love—or eternal salvation?
.Let’s put it this way:
Suppose you owned two businesses. One was worth one thousand dollars and the other was worth one million dollars.
It would not be reasonable for you to give all of your time to the one-thousand-dollar business and none of your time to the million-dollar business.
When you compare heaven and the world, this world is the one-thousand-dollar business.
It is not right for you to spend all your time with the world and be too busy to give any time to heaven.
What would you rather have cubic zerconium or real diamonds.
We need to beware that we don’t sell our life for cut glass when God is offering you rare jewels.
II. Excuse number two: “I don’t understand enough.“
The master who gave this banquet did not expect those who were invited to know everything about it.
He did not expect them to understand all about the food that was being served or about the entertainment.
However, he did expect them to come to the banquet.
Pascal, the French philosopher and mathematician, pointed out that “the supreme function of reason is to show humans that some things are beyond reason.”
With all our knowledge, there are still some things that even the most brilliant person cannot understand.
God does not expect anyone to understand all the mysteries of his kingdom.
That is why the trinity is so hard to explain.
However, He does expect us to come to Jesus Christ and confess him as Savior.
If people understand enough to realize that sin has separated them from God and that God sent Christ to bridge the sin gap, they understand enough to be saved.“
III. Excuse number three: “The great number of denominations is confusing.”
As long as people are people, there will be differences of opinion.
As long as there are differences of opinion, there will be differences of denomination.
What are some of the differences of opinion?
Doctrine
Governance
Worship style
Social views.
The Bible does not forbid different denominations, although it doesn’t promote them either.
It does forbid rejection of Jesus Christ.
God is not so concerned about what denomination you join as he is about whether or not you join yourself to Jesus Christ.
John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (NIV).
IV. Excuse number four: “People at church don’t suit me.”
Some claim that church members are unfriendly and cliquish.
It may be said, in all honesty, that when individuals become Christians and relate themselves to some local church, the people may not run up to them, shake their hand, pat them on the back, or greet them with a holy kiss.
However, they should not be so concerned about being accepted by Christians.
What they should be concerned about is being accepted by Christ.
Some make the excuse that people go to church only to parade their new clothes.
When a Christian man gets a new suit, certainly he wears it to church..
He also wears it to dinner on the town, to work, and to other places.
The clothes we wear will not justify us before God.
The master who sent out the invitations for the banquet put no stipulations on what kind of clothes were to be worn.
Neither does God care whether we come to him in a tuxedo or a T-shirt.
It is not the clothes we wear that count; it is who is on the inside.
Some argue that there are hypocrites in the church.
There are also hypocrites in other areas of life.
Some bankers are hypocrites. Does that mean that when you need money you will not go to the bank to get a loan? Of course not.
Some in the medical profession are hypocrites.
We call them quack doctors.
Does that mean you won’t take your children to a doctor when they get sick? Of course not.
The fact that there are hypocrites in the church does not give people a reason to refuse to come to Jesus Christ and accept him as personal Savior.
V. Excuse number five: “I’m a pretty good person; God will probably accept me as I am.”
Christ never said being good gets you to heaven. Find that in His word and show me.
He did say though:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
2. When you come to Jesus and accept Him; then that is when you will want to do things right.
b.It is not by works that a person is made acceptable to God; it is by faith in Jesus Christ.
c. All must turn from their sins and come to him in faith to be saved.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
VI. Excuse number six: “I’m too wicked.
Thank God for your conviction concerning the power, penalty, and effect of sin.
You should have the same kind of conviction about the power of God to forgive your sin.
John writes to Christians in 1 John 1:9,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
2. When those who are lost confess their sins, God is ready to
forgive them too.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
VII. Excuse number seven: “I’m too timid.”
Some people are more timid than others.
Those who are timid need to heed the warning of Revelation 21:8.
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
2.That word cowardly; what do you think that is. Cowardly is a synonym for timid.
a. Think about that for a second.
b. To be “timid” is to be cowardly
3.Note that the timid person, as indicated by the word fearful, is placed alongside people guilty of horrible sins.
a.People should not allow their“timidity” to keep them from accepting Christ as their personal Savior.
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
VIII. Excuse number eight: “I’m not ready.”
It is apparent that those who refused the master’s invitation to the banquet took that invitation too lightly.
However, the master considered their response very important.
Luke 14:24 indicates that those who rejected the invitation never would have another opportunity to come to that banquet.
To say no to Jesus is a dangerous thing.
It is dangerous because of God’s impending wrath that hangs over the lost.
It is dangerous because one’s heart may be hardened.
Each time a person says no to Christ, it becomes easier to say no the next time.
So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice,
3.To say no to Jesus is dangerous because of accidents and death.
a. How far away is death? It could be just one breath away, one heartbeat away, one malignant cell away, one car accident away.
Proverbs 27:1 says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (NIV).
Conclusion
Now is the time of salvation.”
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Excerpt From
The Zondervan 2024 Pastor's Annual
T. T. Crabtree
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-zondervan-2024-pastors-annual/id6444603221
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