Illustration: Royal Society in London, 2016: Natural selection does not lead to the kind of mutations and variations to execute major changes in the history of life.

Evolution fails to explain life. There is a God.

Science fails to explain origin. You cannot be intellectually honest and hold onto the view that there is no God.

It is one thing to believe in God. It is another to believe that He has revealed Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

God’s story is a story of redemption.

(1) God created.

(2) Man rebelled.

(3) God sent a redeemer.

Joseph was rejected by his brothers, falsely accused and then exalted to save many lives. Jesus was rejected by his brothers, falsely accused by his own and exalted on the cross to save us.

Moses led the Israelites out of the wilderness into the Promised Land.
Jesus came to lead us out of darkness into light.

David slew Goliath as a Champion and Representative of the people. His victory became theirs.
Jesus served as our champion in defeating sin and death and now His victory has been imputed to us.

Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish before saving the Ninevites from their sins.
Jesus spent three days in the belly of the earth before rising from the dead and saving us from our greatest enemy—death itself.

The Passover lamb’s blood over the doorposts saved Israel from God’s judgment.
Jesus is the ultimate and final Passover lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

Jesus offers an invitation for you to receive forgiveness of sins, enter His kingdom, live in His city, and live eternally with him.

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. Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 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.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 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.’ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 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.'

-Luke 14:15-23 (NIV)

First: All things are ready!

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.'"

-Luke 14:16-17 (NIV)

Two Invitations:

(1) The official invitation to what will happen soon.

(2) The announcement that the banquet has arrived. To reject the second invitation was a great insult!

This represents the Kingdom of God/Heaven.

Everything is ready. You are invited to come in.

Why have you refused to come?

Second: All make excuses!

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.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

-Luke 14:18-20 (NIV)

You can’t hear Jesus’ audience laughing but they would have been.

Why have you never responded to Christ’s invitation?

(1) I am not certain God exists.

(2) I choose to remain unaffiliated because all roads lead to God.

(3) I prayed and God did not answer.

(4) I am afraid.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

-1 John 1:9 (NIV)

(5) Christianity is just too exclusive for me.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

-John 14:6 (NIV)

The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.

-John 6:29 (NIV)

Third: Everyone Can Come!

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.’ “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 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.

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The Kingdom is for those we least expect! What kind of King invites non-dignitaries, non-royalty, the lowest of the low to a lavish banquet?

A King of staggering generosity!

Illustration: The Prince

...made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant… and humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:7-8 (NIV)

Jesus laid aside His heavenly glory, came as a servant, and lived among us to win our hearts through love, not force.

Do you reject the offer of the King? Why?

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

-Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV)

At these lavish banquets, The bridegroom provides the clothing.

Who is the bridegroom? Jesus. He supplies the garments.

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

-Isaiah 61:10 (NIV)

The "Gospel of Moralism" is the greatest enemy to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can make my own robe!

Illustration: Holiness vs Love

No one is above God’s holiness. No one is out of reach of God’s love.

...Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

-Hebrews 9:22b (NIV)

RSVP: Please come to the Banquet to Live forever.

R: Repent

S: Say you’re sorry

V: Verbalize your trust

P: Plunge your past

Make a Decision