Luke 14:21-23
INTRODUCTION
• God is serious about Kingdom building. No excuse for non-participation will do.
• We are Ambassadors (carriers of the message) of Faith
DEFINITIONS
• Compel - To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force.
I. Context - Jesus was conversing with a guest concerning His invitation to the Kingdom of God. He used the parable of a great supper as an example.
A. Luke 14:18 - the Bible says that those who were invited to the supper all began to make excuses why they couldn’t come.
1. One said he had bought property and needed to go look at it.
2. Another said he had bought five yoke of oxen and needed to test them.
3. Another said that he had gotten married and couldn’t come.
B. Luke 14:21-23 - The host of the supper had the servants gather together others who had not been invited previously to the supper.
1. Gather the poor, maimed, halt and blind.
2. Go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
C. Lessons to Learn.
1. God is not keen on excuses especially when it comes to that which He has prepared for us.
2. There’s always a harvest somewhere. Sometimes we try to reap in the wrong places.
3. God wants His house filled. No excuse is good enough for mediocrity. (Lukewarmness)
Revelation 3:14-16
14. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
II. The Message of Calvary is the “Driving Force” of the Gospel
A. I’m concerned that the message of Calvary is getting lost in todays “Spiritual Consumer Culture.”
1. How long has it been since the Church world has heard a message on the Cross that drove them to their knees in either gratitude or repentance?
2. When is the last time that we heard that there is still power in the blood of Jesus?
B. There are so many things being “discussed” from America’s pulpits today and packaged as “The Gospel” that is nothing more than life-coaching. It produces a healthy mentality but an anemic church…
1. Let the psychologist do the life-coaching and let the Preachers... PREACH THE GOSPEL!
2. I’m not a life-coach, I’m a Preacher of the Gospel!
3. Galatians 1:6-10 deals with these “other gospels” quit handily.
Galatians 1:6-10
6. I am surprised and astonished that you are so quickly turning renegade and deserting Him Who invited and called you by the grace (unmerited favor) of Christ (the Messiah) [and that you are transferring your allegiance] to a different [even an opposition] gospel.
7. Not that there is [or could be] any other [genuine Gospel], but there are [obviously] some who are troubling and disturbing and bewildering you [with a different kind of teaching which they offer as a gospel] and want to pervert and distort the Gospel of Christ (the Messiah) [into something which it absolutely is not].
8. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to and different from that which we preached to you, let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)!
9. As we said before, so I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from or contrary to that which you received [from us], let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)!
10. Now am I trying to win the favor of men, or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking popularity with men, I should not be a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah).
C. My prayer is that the Church will get back to the basics of the Gospel.
1. Jesus still, saves, heals, delivers and sets free!
2. Jesus is still the answer for the world today!
3. The blood that stained that Old Rugged Cross is still as powerful today as it was 2000 years ago! (It still reaches to the highest mountain and flows to the lowest valley…)
D. Global Evangelism is the Heart of God!
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
III. The Seven Mountains of Societal Influence (The Highways and Hedges)
A. In 1975, Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade and Dr. Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With a Mission (YWAM), developed a God-given, world-changing strategy. Their mandate: Bring Godly change to a nation by reaching its seven spheres, or mountains, of societal influence.
They concluded that in order to truly transform any nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, these seven facets of society must be reached. - Generals International
1. Religion
2. Family
3. Education
4. Government
5. Media
6. Arts & Entertainment
7. Business
B. This is the first Sunday of 2018. I feel that God is calling us higher. We are to be Ambassadors (carriers of heaven’s messages) to the world.
1. The world needs to hear John 3:16-17 again.
2. The world needs to hear passionate preaching again.
3. The world especially… needs to experience God’s power in demonstration again!
4. God’s prophetic words must ring out from the pulpits of the world again.
C. The time has come for the Church to take her place in the world!
1. God needs us to be…
2. The lost need us to be…
3. Our future generations need us to be… and
4. Our cultures need us to be… THE CHURCH!
Closing: I Still Believe
• That God’s Word is True
• That God is doing what He said He would do
• That we are entering into the greatest Global Revival that the world has ever known!
• In Miracles
• That America’s Mission Seeds Demands her Harvest!
• IT’S REVIVAL TIME FOR AMERICA WHICH MEANS ITS REVIVAL TIME FOR THE WORLD
