30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 14 15-24 The marriage feast of the Lamb 13 Compel them to come in
📖 Luke 14:15-24
19Dec19 - *Compel them to come in* - _Luke 14:15-24_ - Bible reading: _I Corinthians 9:19-23_
_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 14:23-24 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. (24) For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' "_
Jesus was narrating 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 all to the feast. The Master was sending the servant to go into the highways and hedges to bring people to the feast of the Lamb.
The Lord is asking us, servants, to *compel* them to come in. This is a command that we would, largely, pull away from, in today’s context. Our circumstances tell us that we cannot compel people to come to a relationship with Jesus. Yes, we have to be mindful of our circumstances, yet we cannot ignore the command of the Master. It is only in and through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, that we will be able to accomplish the task entrusted to us.
Let us understand, what our Lord is telling us, in using the word ‘compel’.
_II Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God._ The word compel for us involves the task of pleading with people to be reconciled with God. We are deeply conscious of the consequence for a person not being reconciled with God and therefore we plead with people, on Christ’s behalf. We carry the pain of God’s heart, as we invite people to Christ.
_II Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain._ We are workers together with Christ in this task of inviting/pleading people to the feast.
_I Corinthians 9:19-23 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; (20) and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; (21) to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; (22) to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. (23) Now this I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you._ Paul goes to the extent of saying, “that I might by all means save some”.
This is the ethos that we need to carry on us, as we go out to invite people into a relationship of celebration with Jesus. How will we carry this tenet, in our contexts, is what each of us will have to discover in our journey with the Holy Spirit. There is no formula answer to each of our circumstances.
In any case, let us be prepared that we are called to lose it all for Christ and the Gospel.
*Thought to ponder*
```Is this ethos of *compelling people to come in*, operational in you today?```