30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 14 15-24 The marriage feast of the Lamb 05 Communicating the message of God’s heart
📖 Luke 14:15-24
11Dec19 - *Communicating the message of God’s heart* - _Luke 14:15-24_ - Bible reading: _Ezekiel 18:30-32_
_Revelation 19:9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."_
_Luke 14:17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.' Luke 14:21-23 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. 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 here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.' (22) And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.' (23) Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled._
Jesus was giving this story of a man, who gave a great supper and invited many. We have been saying that this is about the marriage feast of the Lamb to His bride, the Church. God is inviting many to the feast. The feast is already going on but many of us are giving excuses for not participating in the feast.
In this story of the feast, there is a role of the servant. We are servants of the King, sent out by Him to bring people, who are invited to come to the marriage feast of the Lamb.
The Lord is showing us, as His servants, that the audience to whom He sends us are not going to welcome the invitation, but their response will be lukewarm and hypocritical. _Ezekiel 33:31-32 So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. (32) Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them._
Yet, to such an audience, the heart of God breaks and He longs for them to return to Him. His heart cries as a spurned husband, longing for His bride to return and embrace Him. _Jeremiah 3:14 “Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion._ As His servants, ```this is the pain of God’s heart that we need to carry and communicate to our audiences.```
_Hosea 14:1-4 O Israel, return to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; (2) Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. (3) Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.'_ This is iniquity and the transgression of the people. The iniquity of trusting in Assyria, in horses, in the work of our hands and making them to be our gods. _For in You the fatherless finds mercy." (4) "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him._
As much as we carry the pain of God’s heart to our audiences, we also need to warn people of God’s judgement. _Ezekiel 18:30-32 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin._ Repent from creating and trusting in the gods that we have created. _(31) Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit._ God longs for us to have a new heart and spirit of trusting Him and not the gods that we have created for ourselves. _For why should you die, O house of Israel? (32) For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!"_
God is a God, who relents but people must repent and turn to Him. The role of the servant is to *correctly carry and communicate the message of the Master*, to a hostile audience. _Jeremiah 26:13 Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; then the LORD will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you._
*Thought to ponder*
```Are you being a dependable servant, carrying and communicating the invitation of God, to a hostile audience?```