The great gospel feast

Let's turn please to Luke's gospel in chapter 14. I want to note particularly with you in verse 16, the statement that we have here concerning the one who made the great supper. I want to note particularly with you in verse 16, the statement that we have here concerning the one who made the great supper.

A certain man made a great supper. And I would like to note with you, friend, three reasons why you should trust this man. even as what we've been hearing of already from God's Word tonight.

And I'm sure that you have heard the gospel on many occasions, and you've thought it over, you've thought of it on your bed when you're alone, you've thought of it at school when you're all alone, you can't seem to get away from it. But there's something, there's something that hinders you from responding as we've been hearing. What I would like to do tonight, friend, in closing the meeting, is occupy you with this man.

A certain man made a great supper. There are four things that I usually look at when I'm looking at this passage, and it is, first of all, the amazing person. A certain man.

You know, the Lord Jesus, when He was speaking to the people, He spoke about Himself many different times. But it's really amazing how not once did He ever present Himself as someone who was demanding something from them or else. He always presented Himself in the character of His grace that brought Him into the world.

And dear friend, tonight, that is what the gospel is seeking to present to you. The eternal Son of God, who took humanity, born of the Virgin in Bethlehem, the sinless One, conceived of the Holy Spirit, God, manifest in flesh. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

God so loved the world, He gave His only Son. And friend, that's what we must look at in this passage. And the amazing thing is, as we look at it, we have a very alarming moment.

That there were people who pondered the invitation. They knew the man. They pondered the invitation.

But not one of them could give a reason to them why they should not come. All they could do was excuse themselves. So sadly, foolish excuses.

How sad it is, friend. But let me notice with you again the character of the man as we look through this passage. But first of all, friend, I wanted to occupy you with the Lord Jesus speaking of Himself as a certain man.

First of all, let me notice with you who this man is. As we have mentioned already, relative to His coming into the world. He is a man of two distinct natures.

In one person. He is God and never ceases to be God. And He took humanity.

He is man. Sinless man. Unique.

Friend, you should ponder that. Because that is absolutely essential if there is going to be a provision made sufficient to meet the vastness of your eternal need and mine. You must look at Him.

Because as we look at this blessed person, the Lord Jesus. He is God who has stepped from the bliss of heaven amidst the praises of angels. From the bosom of the Eternal Father.

He comes giving expression to the heart of God. Go, my son. He sends Him.

He comes into our world. He is born in poverty. He comes from a virgin sinlessly.

Friend, these are truths that are absolutely essential to the truth that we have been hearing of, of a salvation for sinners. And can I point out to you tonight, that's the one who's saying to you, Come. Come.

It is God, friend, as we've been hearing. The person of the Lord Jesus. Let me notice with you the character as well as the essential character of the Lord Jesus to be the mediator of whom we've been hearing.

He must be a sinless man. And that is very precious for you tonight, friend. Sinless man.

That's the credential for Him to be a mediator. That He might stand in the breach. That He might be able, friend, in the sinlessness of His nature as a man.

In the greatness of His nature as God. He knows every need that heaven's throne requires against sin and against the sinner. He is God.

That's so beautiful. I'm thankful I'm trusting that man tonight. The Lord Jesus who says, Come.

Come now. For all things are now ready. Friend, tonight, that is the very essential characteristic of one who is able to save.

Every feature of the power of sin and of death and of the realm of Satan all must be conquered. All must be broken. All must be annulled.

If there is ever to be a door of grace opened and the great feast that is set here it is all ready. It must be God. And the person of our Lord Jesus, friend, you must trust Him.

You must listen to Him differently than you are presently listening. He is God. And He is a sinless man.

And as the sinless man, as a mediator, He's able to represent me. That's the wonder of it. He chose to take the humanity, take humanity as of a sinless nature so that He may be able to represent me in all my inability, in all my sinfulness.

Friend, that's why I love Him tonight. That's why I trust Him. He is God and He is a sinless man.

That great mediator that steps in the breach. But let me notice with you, friend, even in keeping with this parable, this certain man, he himself made the great supper. He has stepped into the breach, friend, capable of meeting every requirement of heaven because of His eternal nature and Godhead.

And capable of representing the sinner. Friend, it's not the Lord Jesus plus something else. It's Jesus only.

That is the wonder of His person. He is able and willing to step into the breach between a sin-hating God and me, a guilty, willful sinner. Marvelous friend.

And this is the part that we see in Him making this feast. He's a willing mediator. He voluntarily paid the price in full that there might be a table of blessing that can be offered to sinners who deserve righteous judgment, are in danger of everlasting fire.

Yet friend, oh be pleased to listen tonight to this man. You must trust him because he has paid the price of this great feast. Look upon that table with me, friend.

He's provided the possibility for you tonight to have a righteous and eternal forgiveness of sin. The page cleansed, purged from every mark of guilt against you. Marvelous friend.

No one else could provide that but this mediator, the blessed person of the Lord Jesus. And as he makes that feast, he's presenting to you peace with God. He accepted the sword.

He accepted the payment. He bowed his sacred head in the condemnation of death. He accepted it, friend, that he might break it and be able to step forward with an invitation and say, come, come, for all things are now ready.

You need not die in your sin. You need not be lost eternally in everlasting darkness, forsaken of mercy and of grace and of God. No friend, this man, you can trust him.

You should trust him. You must look at him, this blessed person. Let me tell you one other thing about this blessed man, friend.

As the mediator, God has already accepted him. And that is why he is opening the door of opportunity here in our little passage. Come, for all things are now ready.

And notice, friend, he's inviting impartially. There are those who have heard the message often, like these invited people. And then there are those who are in the highways and hedges.

They don't have anything they can offer him. Some of them are lame. They could never work for him.

Some of them were blind. What good could they be to him? Impartially, he has opened the door of grace. And, friend, he's looking for you to accept him.

God has accepted him. He has accepted his work on behalf of sin and of the sinner. He has accepted the blessed person of the Lord Jesus, for he is in heaven tonight, a living Savior.

And he has sent forth the messenger, as he did in this passage, sent forth the servants. Go and tell them. Go and tell them.

I'll accept them if they will come, just as they are. Oh, what a blessed person. Let me note with you as well that a character of this person in this feast.

He's giving freely. He's giving freely, friend. Amazing.

That's how I got it. Because it is the gift of divine grace. He gave it to me.

Everlasting life. Eternal, righteous salvation from the penalty of my sin and for me the sinner. Amazing.

That glorious person. God manifest in flesh. That's who I put my faith in.

He said, come. I came as I was, a weary sinner. Friend, he's a giving Savior tonight.

There isn't a reason in the world that you should not take a good, long look at the certain man that has made the feast and sent out the invitation. How can you ever make an excuse? I appeal to you tonight, friend, to look at the afterwards of these people. There are two little classes here.

There are those that received invitation and they made excuse. And friend, can I say to you kindly, whatever you do, don't make an excuse to leave here tonight without Christ. You can't give a reason.

The Lord Jesus has taken away every reason. He's dealt with the question of sin completely. He has opened the grace of the heart of God to receive you like the Father did the prodigal.

Voluntarily, willingly, happily, they embraced one another. You could be embraced with the love of God tonight, friend, in acceptance in the person of the one that made the feast. The moment you take him at his word, come, for all things are now ready.

He's a giving man. And as well, he's impartial in his reception. And if you look at these people that made excuse, oh, friend, the reasons have been taken away.

Excuses are man-made. Could I ask you tonight, what excuse will you use if you leave that bench tonight without the Savior, the Lord Jesus, as your own? What excuse will you give him? You have heard so clearly tonight. Every reason that God requires that a sinner might be saved has been met.

Every reason with humanity in their weakness has been satisfied. There's not a reason that you should not be saved tonight. This man, this certain man, who has accomplished everything that you require, satisfied God, and the arms of grace are open to receive, he will come.

But there are those who did not make an excuse. I find that beautiful because that's where I fit in. They're in the highways and hedges, blind, halt, that is, they're paralytic, they're poor, they're living away out there in the byways and hedges, dear knows how they're living, what they're doing, what's up, how they make it.

That's not a question. They heard the invitation once and they came. Why did they come? Because of the man who invited them.

That's that friend. They knew about him. They knew that certain rich man, such was the character of his realm, but never had they recognized an invitation from him previously.

But now, the invitation of grace goes out by the hand of the servant to the people in the highways. Friend, tonight they came. He received them and he's saying there's still room.

Will you come, friend? And take your place as a guilty sinner for whom the Lord Jesus has made complete provision. He says, come. But there's one other thing I must notice with you about this man.

He is the one who determines the destiny of those who come and those who do not come. He is the one who has opened the door, the blessed person of the Lord Jesus in heaven. He has opened the door of grace, friend, an invitation.

And he it is who will close the door. That is a very, very solemn moment. It's incumbent upon the gospel preacher that he must warn.

He must tell the audience. First of all, friend, I found it by experience. And I look back to the Sunday night when for the first time in my life, I realized as a sinner guilty before God, if I didn't get salvation tonight, I'm never going to get it.

Now I'd like to tell you something, friend, concerning this man as well. He never exaggerates. If he says come tonight, he means tonight.

And if that is in your conscience, and that is the burden of your heart, don't make an excuse. He never exaggerates. That would be a lie.

And this blessed man cannot lie. Four times over in the Bible, we read these lovely words. God cannot lie.

We can trust his word. This blessed man, certain man who made the great supper, he determines the destiny of everyone to whom he sends out the invitation and the offer of satisfaction to be at his table. I love that.

And the wonderful part of it is, friend, the Lord Jesus we know is telling a parable here, but I like to look at it and remember, this parable does not say any one of them ever left that came. Never left. They're there at his table, and I'm there every day, friend, enjoying the forgiveness of sins.

Oh, the wonder of it. It often bows my heart. It's brought more than one tear to my eye to think that the God of heaven set his love upon me and was willing to pay the mighty price that I owe, and the blessed Savior died because he loved me so.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord and friend tonight, the offer of this certain man is still going out, for yet there is room. He will close the door. He will determine the everlasting destiny of those who were invited and said no.

Whatever you do, friend, listen to this man tonight. Set your focus on the person of the Lord Jesus, because in him, as we've been hearing his truth, in him is the mediator. He has satisfied God.

He has met the need of the sinner. He has been accepted back into heaven, and he's waiting for you to put your faith in him. Trust him.

Take him at his word and come as a sinner to Jesus. I hope that will be your experience tonight. Just get occupied with that man, not yourself, not even the servant, the preacher that the man sent.

It's the man that made the feast that counts. Look at him, friend. Marvel at the wonder of who he is.

He is God, the eternal Son, manifest in flesh, coming into the world to go to Calvary to settle the mighty debt of sin as the mediator between God and men, and he opens the door for sinners tonight. So I close this meeting, and I ask you, friend, a certain man made a great supper. Oh, the greatness, satisfying every need for time, for death, and for eternity.

Oh, the wonder of it. He says, Come. Come, even though you're lame.

You have nothing to offer him. He didn't ask anything from them. He's going to give to them, and you could leave that bench tonight rejoicing to be able to say, I've got it.

I have everlasting life. I remember a dear man who came to our meetings, and I asked exactly what happened as he sat in the meeting. All of a sudden, he said, I've got it.

What did he get? He got salvation as a gift of the grace of God. He came as he was invited to the blessed savior of sinners. Putting your trust in him, friend, is coming into the house of the blessing of God's eternal salvation with all the wonder of its blessing for eternity, not only for the joy of sins forgiven, peace with God, justified, a right standing in the presence of God, wonder of wonders for such a man as this, this blessed savior who has made the feast.

A certain man made a great supper. He sent out his servants at supper times saying, Come, for all things are now ready. Nothing missing.

Come and be saved tonight. Let us pray.