That My House Will Be Full and The Great Commission Priorities
The Parable of the Great Banquet – Luke 14:15-24
15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “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.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “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.’
22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “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. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
From Verse 21, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
Poor – Those in spiritual poverty (No adequate witness of the Gospel)
The Crippled – Those whose spiritual life has been crippled (By the events of life, circumstances, or the lack of Biblical teaching)
The Blind – Those who have spiritual blindness (Spiritual yes – but not to the things of God)
The Lame – Those who cannot go forward in their spiritual walk (Spiritual growth has stagnated or stopped)
From Verse 21 again, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
Why do we GO? Because our Savior has given us a Commission to Go!
What is a Commission?
Definition: In the military, a commissioned officer’s official document of appointment.
Definition: An instruction, command, or duty given to a person or group of people.
Definition: A group of people officially charged with a particular function.
In Matthew 28: 16 – 20 we have our Savior’s commissioning of His disciples:
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Friends, as believers we are called to the same Commission today that Jesus gave His disciples approx. 2000 years ago! It hasn’t changed. For some of us we may have neglected this and as one preacher calls it, it has become for us the Great Omission instead.
If you are a believer today, you are in the group of people charged with the greatest message for all humanity. The greatest privilege – to confess Jesus Christ and proclaim the Gospel Message to others. To acknowledge and testify to what Jesus Christ has done in your own life to others! To be on board with the greatest mission on earth! To be engaged in the Great Commission!
Friends, as we consider the privilege of being engaged in His Great Commission we must also consider our Savior’s words regarding those who choose not to proclaim Him. Our Jesus spoke some very strong and sobering words to us regarding if we choose not to recognize, confess and proclaim Him as Savior before others. Matthew 10:33: “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Friends, we are really missing out when we choose not to proclaim Christ, when we choose not to confess him, when we choose not to identify as a Christ follower before others, to those who do not believe or have yet to believe.
Speaking of those who proclaim him I so look forward to when people are being water baptized. When they have the opportunity to publicly announce that they are a follower of Jesus Christ. When they proclaim their faith, their testimony, and identify publicly before others as a follower of Jesus Christ! If you’re a Believer and you haven’t been water baptized, I encourage you to do so! A first step in publicly declaring your faith in Jesus Christ to others!
Friends, when we confess our Savior is Jesus Christ and we are willing to identify ourselves with Him before others no matter the outcome, Jesus recognizes us before the Father God: Jesus says in Matthew 10:32: “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. Anyone in the house today want to have Jesus confess you before the Father God? Anybody today want Jesus to recognize you as His follower, his disciple before the Father? Anyone today want Jesus to proclaim you as a son or daughter before the Most High God and that you have kinship or inheritance with Him?
In this, the greatest of commissions, our Savior shares 4 steps we are to implement or carry out to engage the Great Commission. Jesus spells it out for us: Let’s look at these:
- Go – – Jesus calls us to follow Him. To Go, we must first learn to Follow. The calling of the first disciples in Matthew 4:19:
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” – to fish for men. Jesus says if we follow, He will send us out!
John 12:26 – 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
- Make Disciples – To Make Disciples means to be “with others.” Let’s talk about that.
Jesus chose to be with people, to be “with them.” With people, with His disciples, with people who were in physical, mental, relational, and spiritual need. Let’s follow His example to do the same. To fulfill the Great Commission calls us to be “with them.” To be aware of those who need Him and “go” to those in need and be “with them.”
3) Baptize – “repent and be baptized” = Peter’s message on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and 3000 people were baptized – Read Acts 2:37-41: 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
- Teach – Luke 4:18 – 19, Jesus speaks of the priorities of His earthly ministry quoting the Messianic verses of the Prophet Isaiah from Isaiah 61:1 – 2 : We can learn a lot when we draft off our Savior’s priorities for ministry:
- The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
- because the Lord has anointed me
- to proclaim good news to the poor.
- He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
- to proclaim freedom for the captives
- and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
- 2
- to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
- and the day of vengeance of our God,
- to comfort all who mourn,
Friends, this is our savior’s words quoting from Isaiah. This was His Action Plan. Our Savior’s action plan should be our Action Plan – To Go, Raise up disciples, Baptize, and Teach them. To take Jesus’ Action Plan to everyone who needs the experience salvation and the power of the Resurrected Christ in their life.
Look at the Order Jesus put in the Great Commission: This is important:
Go
Make Disciples
Baptize
Teach
From Verse 21, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
Poor – Those in spiritual poverty
The Crippled – Those whose spiritual life has been crippled
The Blind – Those who have spiritual blindness
The Lame – Those who cannot go forward in their spiritual walk.
Friends, we have been called to GO! – John 3:16