LUKE 14 (PART 2): THE GUESTS

Yesterday I said
I had a word to release
about the two types of guests
that are invited to the wedding feast.

I thought I was ready to go,
but tonight when I opened Chapter 14
in the Book of Luke,
I noticed something
that I hadn’t noticed before.

“One Sabbath day
Jesus went to eat dinner
in the home of a leader of the Pharisees,
and the people were watching him closely.”
Luke 14:1

Jesus had been invited into a den of foxes,
but instead of being frightened,
He used this as an opportunity
to speak the truth in love.

He asked the Pharisees
and experts of the religious law,
if it was permitted, in the law,
to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not.

I always thought of Satan 
as casting the bait,
but here we see Jesus
as a fisher of men!

But these men refused to take His bait,
the truth in love was something
they did not want to taste!

Jesus extended a miracle they could not debate.
He healed a man
whose arms and legs were swollen,
and then sent him away.

He turned to the men and said,
“Which of you does not work on the Sabbath?
If your son or your cow falls into a pit,
don’t you rush in to get him out?”
Luke 14:5-6

Instead of telling them what to think,
He asked them a question they could not refute.
But their hearts were so hard,
they would not answer Him,
and they refused to believe!

Scripture shows us two types of men
that are the same,
men with hearts like Pharaoh,
and the Pharisees.

And this is how Jesus introduces us
to the first kind of guests
who are invited to the Banquet Table
of the Wedding Feast.

Hard-hearted men who refuse to believe Christ,
even though it appears that they do have faith.
Hard-hearted men who refuse to submit,
no matter the destruction
that comes from God's wrath.

These are the empty hearts
that have been filled with SELF.
They are subject to the spirits of pride and doubt.

You will know them, by their fruit,
because they produce manipulation,
stubbornness and control.
They jockey for position
like they did in Luke 14 verse 7.
They will run over each other,
just to get to the seat of honor.
And they certainly don't even see,
the guest of honor,
who is standing right in front of them.

Vanity - It’s the Mirror of Deceit.
Which is another character trait
of humans that resemble people like
Pharaoh and the Pharisees.

The inability to see anyone but themselves,
not even the true version of Jesus Christ!

And you can’t have vanity, without underlying lust.
It’s an unsatiable desire that causes covetousness.

"My Precious!"
It reminds me of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings,
he would die alone holding on to deceit!

Hypocrisy, vanity and lust;
Manipulation, control
and covetousness -
These are signs that tell us
that we are spiritually lost!

Yet,
Jesus still goes to them, and casts out His bait,
which we already identified as the truth in love,
because He is a Fisher of Men, who does not discriminate.

He paid the price for everyone,
not just the ones who look like
the lost, lonely and broken-hearted.

Any one of those men
could have eaten the bait!
Any one of the Pharisees
could have believed him.
But we see in Luke 14, that none of them did.

Despite the lesson on humility,
found in the Parable of the Great Feast,
the Pharisees and religious men
continued to make excuses,
and stayed away from Him.

This is when I am reminded
to shake the dust from my feet,
and to leave the person or the place
that won't accept the truth in love.

I will not change the gospel
to get a man to believe,
I will twist the WORD,
the truth in love.
Why?
Because this is NOT what Jesus did!

I think this is what upsets me the most,
men who rationalize their own ways,
and their own thoughts IN LOVE,
instead of declaring the truth of God's WORD.

Even though Jesus was invited to THEIR table,
He was not under THEIR control!
We hear Him speak the truth in love
when He says,
“When you are invited
to a wedding feast,
don’t sit in the seat of honor.
What if someone
who is more distinguished than you
has also been invited?
The host will come and say,
‘Give this person your seat.’
Then you will be embarrassed,
and you will have to take
whatever seat is left
at the foot of the table!
“Instead, take the lowest place
at the foot of the table.
Then when your host sees you,
he will come and say,
‘Friend, we have a better place
for you!’ Then you will be honored
in front of all the other guests.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭14:8-10‬ ‭

Wow! What a revelation!
The world is not Jesus’s kingdom.
He reigns over the Kingdom of Heaven.
He was an honored guest of this world,
who came to show us the truth in love.
And in this passage,
He totally reminded me 
that we are still living under the curse,
and not the blessing.

Do you remember what Jesus said,
when Pontius Pilate asked him who he was,
and what he had done?
Jesus answered, 
“My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, 
My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. 
But now, My kingdom is not of this realm.” 
“Then You are a king!” Pilate said.
“You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered.
“For this reason I was born and have come into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”
John 18:35-37

Much of humanity enjoys living in the den,
so much so that they are not willing to keep God's Word.
They think they own what they have,
and they think that honor and glory is theirs to be had.

It’s so crazy to me, that the Son of God
is standing in front of them,
and they don’t have the eyes to see Him!

Gee, there’s another character trait -
they are spiritually blind.
They are the walking dead!
Eternally damned
if they don’t break the eternal curse
that was spoken by Word of God.

They made so many excuses not to partake
these men described in the Parable of the Great Feast.
And there is another trait,
they are fools who are spiritually dumb!

We see it in Luke 14:16-20,
where Jesus tells a story of a man
who sent out many invitations.
And when the banquet was ready,
he sent his servants to tell them,
“Come, the feast is ready.”
But they all made excuses
and did not come.

Thank God
the Parable of the Great Feast
is changing,
because I don’t think I can take much more
of human spiritual stupidity!

It’s complete hypocrisy and absurdity
to believe that our thoughts
and our ways are the truth!
Once again, this is NOT what God's Word says!
Isaiah 55:7-9 says,
"Let the wicked man forsake his own way
and the unrighteous man his own thoughts;
let him return to the LORD,
that He may have compassion, and to our God,
for He will freely pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
neither are your ways My ways,” 
declares the LORD. 
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Now that Jesus has shown us what kind of men,
choose not to participate in Banquet of the Lord,
He introduces the second kind of guest,
the ones who accept the truth in love.

He says,
“The servant returned
and told his master
what they had said.
His master was furious and said,
“Go quickly into the streets
and alleys of the town
and invite the poor,
the crippled,
the blind
and the lame.”
After the servant had done this he reported
there is still room for more,
so his master said to go
out into the country lanes,
and behind the hedges,
and urge any when you find to come
so that the house will be full.
For none of those I first invited
will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.”
Luke 14:21-24

So if you hear the Word of God
and it does not make sense to you,
then this is an indicator
that you have more work to do.
It is time to soften your heart,
repent, accept the truth;
and forgive yourself and your fellow man,
and tell Jesus you are ready to return to Him.

He says that when we prepare a feast,
we should not invite our friends,
brothers, relatives or rich neighbors;
lest they also invite you back and you be repaid.
If we did this, our hearts would be questioned
because it may show that our selfishness still exists.
‭‭Luke‬ ‭14:12-14‬

My God,
don’t you see the humility in this?
It is never about us!
It's always about Jesus!
If the self-righteous don’t want to bite,
then take the truth in love 
to the ones that humans have outcast!
For surely they will believe!
They have learned a thing or two
about humility!

This is such a revelation to me!
We think we are extending 
a hand of human love
to our fellow man,
but even that rationalization
is spiritually dumb!
Because it’s still about us!!!

God help us!
The deceit that lies beneath the human crust
is finally becoming obvious to me. 
I pray that Holy Spirit
will continue to dig it all up!

Everything is about HIM!

Even helping the poor
is not about me, or even them!
It’s about God showing up
through His essence of love
to present the truth, in love!

It’s about inviting all men to the wedding feast!
It’s casting a net so that everyone can eat!

It’s about turning two loaves of bread
and five fish into a feast!
It's about turning us into something complete.

“In the beginning
the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created
except through him.
The Word gave life to everything
that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness
can never extinguish it.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:1-5‬

I will forever be faithful to God!
I will stand courageous and bold!
No one can shake me, or make me fall,
because I stand rooted in God’s love!

Jesus IS TRUTH, in love,
and He IS the Word of Almighty God!
There is nothing that can be taken out!
Because it’s not possible to negate Him!

He existed from the beginning of time,
and He is the ancient of days!
You are a vapor in the wind,
but He is eternal and never ending!

He is God!
Alpha and Omega!
And it’s in HIS WORD that I stand!
And I am a Fisher of Men,
and I am casting out the TRUTH, in LOVE.

My only ministry is the reconciliation of men,
speaking to the truth in love
to reconcile hearts back to Him!

It’s the same line that was finally cast to me,
the line that the WORD of God
was with us from the beginning of time,
and that we must consume the inspired Word.
We must eat the whole sacrificial lamb,
and put the blood of Christ on our hearts.
Without Him, we are eternally damned,
and once that happens
there is nothing that can bring us back to Him.
Once we accept Him,
we must change our thoughts and our ways,
and that is why Holy Spirit came.
He guides us and comforts us
through the rest of our days,
until our Father is ready to bring us home.
This fishermen line can not be changed.
It is the same line every time!
It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So I ask you, will you take the bait?
Do you believe that Jesus came, and died for you?
Do you believe He was ransomed and redeemed?
Do you believe that He is the Son of God?
Do you believe that He is the Spirit of Truth?
Do you believe He came in Love?

If you do, then present yourself to Him.
He will accept you just as you are.
His blood purifies all of your past,
and His purity makes you white as snow.
He will transform you, and make you His virgin bride,
who keeps her lamp burning and is ready to go home.

If you have no idea what I say,
then I encourage you to pick up the Word of God.
All you need is a mustard seed of faith,
and He will do the rest.

It's time to decide,
what kind of guest do you want to be?