Lord’s Day, Vol. 8 No. 8

All Things Were Now Ready

For God to save sinners, He had to send His Son to die for them, and He had to send forth His servants with the gospel invitation (Luke 14:17a), to bring them in. In the parable of the Great Supper, the invitation was given for men to come for “all things were now ready” (Luke 14:17b).

What was the response of those bidden to come? … they all with one consent began to make excuse (Luke 14:18).

Will God’s plan be thwarted as a result? Not so. His servant was bidden – Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. (Luke 14:21)

Yet, there was still seats for the great feast – the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.(Luke 14:23)

While the Lord tarries, let us go out with the gospel invitation, for His Name’s sake.  

This was the account for our meditation:

¹⁷And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. ¹⁸And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. ¹⁹And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. ²⁰And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. ²¹So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. ²²And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. ²³And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. (Lk. 14:17-24 KJV)

Let us realize that personal witnessing is not an optional but a sacred duty. It is a privilege because Christians are the only people with the true message of hope. The only message of salvation – Jesus saves! You are an ambassador of the King of kings and Lord of lords, a tremendous privilege that He has bestowed upon you.

It is a work that brings eternal reward for the Christian. Christians will all stand before Christ one day at the Bema seat to give an account of stewardship. How will you fare in that day of reward?

Are you prepared? Ready for this mandate that your Master has given to you? Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

We are to prepare ourselves so that we can be made ready with holiness of life to give an answer for the hope that is in us. We are to prepare our lives so that it may be a vessel fit for the Master’s use to declare His worth!

(1) Prayer

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The work of evangelism begins with prayer. We are not to be discouraged with rejection. We do not stop witnessing. 

Rather, we pray for the person and trust the Lord to work out His goodwill in his or her life.

(2) Not Ashamed of the Gospel

Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” If we have understood the true worth and value of the gospel, why should we not want to declare it? Oftentimes, our spiritual life need some spiritual filling to be attuned with the voice of God rather than the voice of the world. A divided heart is often the cause of the lethargy. There may be certain idols in our lives that takes our attention. We need to search our hearts and understand where we have fallen and come back to Him! If we have truly seen the glory of God then we must be like Peter and John who testified:

Acts 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

It is like we have found the cure for cancer. Can we withhold it from those dying from cancer? Sin is the greatest disease more heinous than cancer! It invokes the wrath of God and eternal damnation in hell.

Begin in your Jerusalem, the people closest to you. Start there. Do not stop there if you encounter opposition. Go forth to reach out to others in your sphere of influence. Join the tracting team for weekly evangelism. 

Yours lovingly,

Pastor Lek Aik Wee