This message is one of the Times Square
Church Pulpit Series.
It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times
Square Church in Manhattan, New York City.
Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge,
PO Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771, or calling
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Lord, we're thrilled to be in your presence
tonight.
We're thrilled to be your people.
God, we're thrilled to praise you.
We're thrilled to enjoy fellowship in your house,
and we're more thrilled to open your word.
O God, I would ask for an anointing
of the Holy Spirit tonight.
Lord, I have no strength, I have no
wisdom, I have no power.
There's nothing within me apart from what you
give me, and have chosen to give me
over the years.
God, I lay before you the little bit
that I've been able to prepare, and I
ask, O God, that you touch it with
the fire of your holy presence.
God, bring it to life, Lord, and give
it the anointing of the Holy Ghost.
Lord, touch every heart, touch every life in
this house tonight.
Let your kingdom come and your will be
done in our hearts, here on this earth,
and in this city, and in this church
as it is in heaven.
Father, we thank you for this in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
If you'll turn with me to Luke chapter
14, please, in the New Testament.
Luke chapter 14, Tasting the Lord's Supper.
Tasting the Lord's Supper.
Hallelujah.
A special welcome again for all of our
first-time visitors.
We believe that if you'll open your heart,
that Jesus will touch you with his manifested
presence in your life, and bring you further
on your journey from image to image, and
glory to glory, in doing in your heart
that which only he can do.
Luke chapter 14, beginning at verse 15.
And when one of them that sat at
meat with him heard these things, he said
unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat
bread in the kingdom of God.
Then said he, that's Jesus, unto him, A
certain man made a great supper, and bade
many, and sent his servant at suppertime to
say unto them that were bidden, Come, for
now, for all things are now ready.
And 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.
And another said, I have bought five yoke
of oxen, and I go to prove them.
I pray thee, have me excused.
And another said, I have married a wife,
and therefore I cannot come.
Interesting that the man who had married didn't
even beg to be excused, he just assumed
that Jesus would understand.
So that servant came, and showed 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.
And the servant said, Lord, it is done
as thou hast commanded, and yet there is
room.
And 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.
For I say unto you, that none of
those men which were bidden, shall taste of
my supper.
Tasting the Lord's supper.
Now, this was midway, I guess, in the
book of Luke, in the teaching ministry of
Jesus.
And he was teaching, if you'll back up
just a few verses from verse 15, he
was talking about preparing a dinner.
He said, in verse 12, he said, When
you make a dinner or a supper, don't
call your friends or your brothers, neither your
kinsmen nor your rich neighbors, lest they also
bid thee again, and a recompense be made
to thee.
In other words, when you're calling a feast
or a banquet, he was giving a principle,
he said, Don't just call those that can
repay you, but if you really want the
heart of God, call those who can't pay
you back.
He said, in verse 13, When you make
a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the
lame and the blind, and thou shalt be
blessed.
Now, blessed, in the original text, is the
word, Markios, and it means, you will be
fully satisfied.
Now, wherever you see this word, blessed, it
means the same thing.
Fully satisfied.
He said, just do this, and you will
be fully satisfied, for they cannot recompense thee,
for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection
of the just.
And I can see this particular person, it
doesn't say who it was in the Gospel
of Luke, being overwhelmed, just momentarily, and it
says, And one of them that sat at
meat with him heard these things, and he
said unto him, Blessed, that means fully satisfied,
is he that shall eat bread in the
kingdom of God.
And in effect, what this man was saying
to Jesus, O Lord God, this is the
longing of my heart.
The longing of my heart is to be
fully satisfied.
And folks, that's the longing of everybody's heart
in society.
It's what drives people to drink.
It's what drives people from relationship to relationship.
It's what makes the wealthy businessman never satisfied
with what he has in the bank.
He still has to gamble and attempt to
gain some more.
It's what causes people to search for satisfaction
in the things of this world, in relationships,
and all this world has to offer, because
there's something in the heart of man that
is never fully satisfied, but yet longs to
be fully satisfied.
And this man who was sitting at meat
with him, hearing him speak and hearing the
principles of the kingdom of God, all of
a sudden his heart just gushes out.
And he says, fully satisfied, or blessed is
he that shall eat bread in the kingdom
of God.
Now his perspective was futuristic.
He was saying, one day the kingdom of
God is going to come.
One day Messiah is going to come.
The Roman rule will be broken.
And knowing perhaps that scriptures from Isaiah said
there's going to be a day of the
righteous reign of eternal almighty God over the
earth and over man.
All things will be created new.
There'll be a new heaven, there'll be a
new earth.
There'll be no more tears, no more sorrow.
Prophet Isaiah had promised these things in the
spirit of God.
And you hear this man saying, Oh, I
can hardly wait for that day.
I'm going to be fully satisfied.
And everybody who eats in that kingdom is
going to be fully satisfied.
And that, unfortunately, is the perspective of even
many of God's people today.
Coming into the house of the Lord and
saying, Oh, when we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that's going to
be.
In the dear by and by we shall
meet on that wonderful shore.
Their whole perspective is one day we're going
to be there.
One day we're going to be fully satisfied.
One day we're going to taste of the
things of God in their fullness.
Now Jesus, instead of answering this directly, gives
them a parable.
And the reason He spoke in parables is
made clear, I believe, when we read the
Old Testament through the prophet Isaiah in particular,
that the gospel was given only to those
who had the heart and the ears to
hear.
You cannot hear the gospel if your heart
is not engaged to the things of God.
I think it's one of the greatest tragedies
of all time that you can sit in
any generation under the purest gospel that God
may give to that particular people at that
time and still not have the ears to
hear it.
Maybe incorporating into the natural mind concepts of
theology but not hearing really what God is
saying.
And this is what was happening in this
entire generation.
Israel was unable to hear.
Their Messiah had come.
The Messiah they were waiting for.
He was there.
He was in their midst.
Fully aware.
Fully able to set up the eternal kingdom
of God.
But something had happened to the hearts of
the people that He had redeemed by His
power and with a mighty hand out of
the slavery of Egypt and brought into their
own place of promise.
And so He begins to speak to the
people with a parable.
And even today as it was in those
days really if you don't have a hungry
heart and if I don't have a hungry
heart we will learn perhaps words and lessons
but we will never be able to fully
appreciate or advance in the kingdom of God.
Fully satisfied said the man.
Fully satisfied will they be.
Now Jesus is about to change His perspective
if He has the ears to hear it.
And that's what this message is about tonight.
For those who have come into this house
and in your heart you're saying Oh one
day.
One day I'm going to be fully satisfied.
One day way in the future when I've
left this earth and this physical body I
shall taste of the bread of heaven in
the kingdom of God.
And then Jesus said to him A certain
man made a great supper and bade many.
Now this is inevitably God the Father made
this great banquet feast.
The banquet feast of His word.
The banquet feast of His love.
His power.
His protection.
His heart revealed to humanity from even before
the beginning of time.
Coming down to this earth to redeem a
people unto Himself.
He made a great feast and bade many.
If you'll go with me just for a
moment.
Put a marker in Luke 13 and go
to Revelation.
The last book in the New Testament.
Chapter 19.
Just to prove a point really.
Revelation.
Now this is something that the Lord has
shown John that's coming into the future.
Revelation chapter 19 verse 7.
Well let's go to verse 6.
John says And I heard as it were
the voice of a great multitude and as
the voice of many waters and the voice
of mighty thunderings saying Alleluia for the Lord
God omnipotent that means all powerful reigns.
Let us be glad and rejoice and give
honor to Him for the marriage supper of
the Lamb has come and His wife has
made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen clean and white
for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints.
And He said unto me Write blessed Now
the word blessed is makarios the very same
word that is in this particular passage of
Scripture in Luke chapter 14 we've just read.
He said to me Write fully satisfied are
they which are called to the marriage supper
of the Lamb.
Are you called to the marriage supper of
the Lamb?
Are you called?
The Bible says It doesn't say fully satisfied
are those who arrive in heaven but fully
satisfied are those who are called to the
marriage supper of the Lamb.
And He said unto me These are the
true sayings of God.
This is true.
You and I are called to the marriage
supper of the Lamb and therefore there is
something that God's trying to speak to our
hearts about that full satisfaction that comes to
the hearts of those who can hear who
are called to this marriage supper.
In verse 17 This man in verse 16
he says A certain man as God the
Father made a great supper and bade many
in other words it was an invitation to
many many of his people that he had
redeemed.
And he sent his servant at supper time
to say to them that were bidden Come
for all things are now ready.
Now I believe that as we go through
this parable that Jesus is talking about himself.
He's talking about the Father in verse 16
and now he's talking about himself in verse
17.
The word servant is doulos and it means
one who is in a permanent relationship of
servitude to another his will being altogether consumed
in the will of the other.
This servant was an absolute manifestation of the
will of the Father.
This is what he's speaking about and he
sent his servant at supper time Now he
said in John 6 38 Jesus said I
didn't come down from heaven to do my
own will but the will of him that
sent me.
In other words he was speaking of himself
in this verse.
My will is completely wrapped up in the
will of the Father.
Now this verse becomes interesting because he's now
sitting in the midst of his people Israel.
You know the story of Israel you know
how I don't have to go through all
the patriarchs and through the lineage of the
Old Testament into Egypt and out again by
the strong hand of God and through Joshua
into the promised land to claim their possession
and now the Messiah that's been promised to
them is right in their midst and he
came he said at supper time it wasn't
two thousand years before supper he came right
at supper time in other words it's time
to eat this was the message of Jesus
when he came it's time to be satisfied
it's supper time I thank God when I
was a child and my mother used to
come out the door and I'd be out
playing baseball in the back alley with my
friends and she'd shout my name and say
supper time supper she'd call me well I
knew that it was time to eat and
this servant came and he came at supper
time to tell them that were bidden he
said come for all things are now ready
they're now ready and Jesus was saying to
those who could hear it I came to
you the word of God became flesh and
I came to tell you that now is
the time that you can begin to taste
of the Lord now is the time that
the satisfaction this complete full satisfaction that you
have put to a futuristic date has now
arrived this full satisfaction was in Jesus Christ
it was in no other person it was
totally within the grasp of Israel to receive
Jesus Christ as their savior and he could
have set up his kingdom right at that
time but God being omniscient that means knowing
all things from the beginning of time knows
knew that the people would never do that
that's why through the Old Testament prophets he
was able to prophesy that the message of
the gospel would be no longer restricted to
just Israel his chosen people but now would
be released to the Gentile nations throughout the
entire world thank God for that for folks
if that didn't happen then you and I
would be without hope here tonight now in
verses 18 to 20 Jesus begins to expose
the reasons why many of that generation will
never know the blessedness of the fullness that
they seek they will never know the rest
and the peace that was being freely offered
to them it's really an incredible thing when
you think about it because the people are
in the presence of the living son of
God they or that generation are being invited
to partake of the feast that the scripture
says is now ready and yet other sources
of trust apart from God had gripped their
hearts so that with one consent they began
to make excuse verse 18 it says they
all with one consent it appears that something
had come into the society it seems as
a whole that there was no division in
this thing yes Israel was coming to the
temple yes they were going through the religious
duty on the Sabbath day they're offering up
the lambs and the bullocks and the turtle
doves and the kids and all the rest
of these things they're going through the ritualistic
offering of incense and making prayers but something
is in their heart and Jesus is identifying
that thing that has gotten into the hearts
of his people that is keeping them away
from realizing on this side of eternity the
full satisfaction that he had come to give
them he was saying I've come it's here
and it's now the kingdom of God is
now here the kingdom of God this was
the message of John the Baptist make your
way straight for the kingdom of God is
at hand the kingdom of God was manifested
through Jesus Christ he was the kingdom of
God come down to earth God incarnate in
flesh and everything that every man had ever
wanted was to be found in him and
he made an invitation come he said all
ye who labor and are heavy laden and
I'll give you rest take my yoke upon
you learn of me I'm meek and lonely
in heart and you shall find rest for
your souls this is not something just for
heaven this is something I've come to give
you on earth that's why Jesus himself said
I've come to give you life and I've
come to give you it more abundantly not
only eternal life in heaven but life here
on the earth I've come to satisfy you
I've come to fill the longing of your
hearts I've come to take away the aching
loneliness I've come to heal those that have
been wounded in their hearts I've come to
open prison doors to those that have been
bound by circumstance around you I've come to
give sight to the spiritually blind and to
open the ears of the deaf and to
tell you that now now is the acceptable
year of the Lord this is the time
and that's the message that Israel couldn't hear
what a tragedy the very people of God
couldn't hear when their Messiah came into their
midst I can't think of anything that's more
tragic than that I can't think of anything
but worse than people coming to the temple
of God and going through the ritual of
worship going through the ritual of sacrifice and
weekly and monthly and daily attendance in the
house of God and yet never experiencing the
fullness that God has intended them to have
through His Son never entering the fullness Jesus
said it was a great supper and I
was sent to the Father and I bid
them to come but with one consent they
began to make excuse and they said the
excuse in the original text here's what the
excuse means the word they began to make
excuse it's to beg a person's release I
beg you in other words they're saying let
me go from this thing that you're calling
me to to beg a person's release by
expressing a reluctance to agree to the demand
or by implying that the thing asked for
is too difficult to obtain and really what
he's saying is with one consent they began
to come before me as I offered them
the fullness that they were looking for but
with one consent they began to say this
is too hard what you're asking us to
do you're in effect asking us to release
what we've come to trust in and to
lay hold of something that we can only
really adhere to by faith because we don't
see it and you're asking us to release
what we can see to lay hold of
what we can't see and can only understand
by faith and so with one consent they
say it's too hard I can't let go
of this oh folks I tell you throughout
the 2,000 years of the church there
have been so many people who have missed
the fullness of God whether or not they
missed heaven that's really between them and God
but I tell you there have been many
people who have missed the fullness of God
because what they held in their hand they
considered so precious and were unwilling to let
it go that they may obtain something that
can only be given and begotten by faith
it's by invitation it's like what Jesus was
walking on the water and they were rowing
in the storm and he came walking on
the water and stood before the disciples they
had with them at that time the security
of the boat they had with them the
security of fellowship they had the security of
the oars and some sense of direction and
all of a sudden this voice begins to
beckon and Peter because his heart he so
yearned for the Lord he said oh if
it's you bid me to come if it's
you God give me the courage to leave
what I have trusted in give me the
courage and he just said come the invitation
was given and Peter stepped out and began
to walk in a place that's impossible for
the natural man to walk in and God
calls to you and God calls to me
we're not called just to sit and trust
in the things of this world there's a
high calling on our lives on every one
of our lives now they were saying to
him it's too difficult to let go of
these things and he was saying to them
many of you will not come because you
hold too dear what you already possess and
to release it for something that you've not
yet seen yet it is promised to you
verse 18 one man comes and says to
him I have bought a piece of ground
and I must need to go and see
it I pray thee I pray thee have
me excused I pray thee don't ask me
to give this thing up now here's a
man this is an incredible irony he said
his security was in real estate he says
I bought a piece of land and I
have to go see it now the irony
is that before him is the man who
had brought this people into the land and
given them that which they possessed in the
first place it was the son of God
Jesus the Old Testament says was the rock
that went the fire in other words he
was the one that went before them through
the wilderness he was the captain of the
the Lord's host that met Joshua as they
went into the promised land he was the
one that fought for them and give them
the power to defeat giants that were much
more powerful than they were and brought them
into the land and now he stands before
them and says I've come to make you
complete I've come to fill you I've come
to give you all you ever long for
and the first man stands before him and
says but you know I have I've just
bought some real estate and I have to
go see it you know it's incredible because
having possession in the land that he brought
them into the first place they now view
this as their security and their future and
once again as in Exodus chapter 14 the
people were entangled in the land and unable
to see the God before them who could
lead them through to their heart's desire Psalm
37 verse 4 says delight thyself also in
the Lord and he shall give thee the
desires of thine heart delight thyself in the
Lord second man or person comes to him
and says in verse 19 I have bought
five yoke of oxen and I go to
prove them I pray thee have me excused
oxen the son of God is inviting him
into the fullness of fellowship he's inviting him
to be complete and satisfied and he says
I've got ten cows that I've got to
go and look at five yoke of oxen
you see he views these cattle as his
strength I go to prove them to see
if they're as good as I've been told
and if they are they will be the
strength of my future I see this man
saying oh look at the fields I'm going
to be able to plow with these oxen
and this is going to be the college
fund for my kids and this is going
to be my retirement I'll be able to
look after my aging parents and we'll be
able to buy a nice home I go
to prove these oxen you know it's so
tragic and hurtful that the strength of Israel
sits before them and yet once more the
people's tendency is to choose what they can
see over what they cannot once more just
like in the days of Moses they're choosing
a cat this particular man is choosing cattle
over God you know that tendency is always
in the heart of man to trust what
we can see and to trust what we
think is the source of strength to trust
what we think will give us a future
when Jesus is saying I came to fully
satisfy you fully satisfy a man who trusts
in cattle will always be worried about his
cattle and God in his mercy maybe sends
some kind of a foot rot disease to
those cattle so that his heart will turn
back to God again I go to prove
them he said I go to prove them
and see if they're as strong as I've
been told to see if they're as good
contrast that to David you remember the psalmist
David when Saul tried to put his armor
upon David and David said I haven't proven
these things but I have proven him and
he takes off all the man-made armor
all a trust in the devices of the
flesh and steps out with just five smooth
stones and a sling and a confidence in
God and with that confidence defeats a giant
that's been taunting the armies of Israel David
said in Psalm 28 verses 7 and 8
he said the Lord is my strength and
my shield my heart trusted in him and
I am helped therefore my heart greatly rejoices
and with my song will I praise him
the Lord is their strength he is the
saving strength of his anointed in verse 20
scripture says another said I've married a wife
and therefore I cannot come here's a man
or a woman or a man in this
case saying I'm trusting in other relationships turning
down the eternal bridegroom's extended hand for that
which seemingly offers more of an immediate satisfaction
I have married in other words my heart
is already betrothed to someone or to something
else I beg of you I beg of
you Lord don't ask me to leave off
giving this love of mine my fullest attention
and affection God I've found something that has
enamored my heart I've found something that grips
my heart and Lord you're asking me to
give it up you're asking me to let
it go it's been my dream I remember
one time a young lady who no longer
attends this church I've shared this before came
to Christ and was gloriously converted I remember
the tears I remember the zeal I remember
the joy and I remember the day the
Holy Spirit began to speak to her about
giving up a certain career and she met
me back behind the platform one night and
she said it can't be it can't be
it can't be I said what can't be
and she said it can't be that God
would be asking me to give up this
thing it's been my heart's desire since I've
been a child and now I've attained it
and now the Lord is telling me to
give it up oh it can't be God
it can't be the voice of God now
folks we'd never preached on this thing it
was the Holy Spirit speaking to her heart
she was coming forward and what was really
happening is Jesus was saying I've made a
supper for you I've got a banquet for
you I've got satisfaction for you that you've
not ever dreamt about I've got a plan
for your life I've got a purpose for
you first of all let go let go
of this thing that grips your heart it
was the Holy Spirit that was wooing her
the Holy Spirit was drawing her but she
as the scripture says stood before the Lord
and said I can't let it go it
can't be your voice asking me this has
been the love of my life it's been
my heart's desire I've attained it it can't
be God it can't be God and then
a few weeks later she came back behind
the platform one day and she said oh
it's not it wasn't the voice of the
Lord I'm convinced of it now God would
never ask me to give this thing up
now I wasn't saying anything I just said
obey God whatever he speaks to you you
should do it and then I watched now
as the tears began to stop the stop
responding to the altar call started sitting a
little farther back and within about a few
months gone out of the house of God
gone I pray thee I pray thee excuse
me I pray thee Lord have me excused
have me excused how tragic how foolish to
ask God the Son of God to be
excused from being complete in Him now think
it through for a moment is there anything
more tragic in the life of a Christian
is there anything more foolish in the house
of God than to ask God please excuse
me I'll come to your house I'll offer
up goats and donkeys and I'll give Him
the offering and I'll sing my heart out
Sunday morning but don't ask me to give
this thing up in my life I beg
you God excuse me excuse me from this
you know the Lord is a gentleman He
will never force you or I to do
anything never it is a complete voluntary thing
that we do on our part He's given
us a free will He didn't create robots
in the garden of Eden that He could
just wind up and would worship Him and
serve Him He gave us a free will
because it's always been in the heart of
God to have fellowship He wanted a bride
that's all He's ever wanted now I don't
fully understand that but I'll tell you something
tonight that I know that I've come to
a knowledge of that I meet a need
in the heart of God and you meet
a need in the heart of God there's
a need in God's heart that nobody else
can meet but you or I I don't
know if it's because God is lonely I
don't fully understand these things I just know
that in His love there was a need
to create and there was a delight in
His heart to come down in the cool
of the day and to fellowship with Adam
and create different forms of creatures and to
see Adam begin to name them and to
give Him dominion over these things and to
help Him share in His creation that was
the heart of God the desire of God
and since the day that Adam fell there's
only been one desire in the heart of
God it's to bring you and bring me
back again into that fullness of relationship with
Him where we are satisfied and complete as
Adam was that day in the garden Hallelujah
now in verse 21 it says so that
servant came and showed his Lord these things
and then the master of the house being
angry we're going back again to God the
Father 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 now
we're still in Israel at this time God
the Father knew that even though He sent
His Son that the people of that generation
with one consent would make an excuse not
to come into the relationship that He had
determined and designed that they should enter into
and so His Son is still in Israel
for the three years that He was in
public ministry in verse 21 and He's talking
now about Himself but it's in a parable
and the Father it's just being angry and
sometimes you know we look at these things
and we miss a couple of words now
Jesus was the very express image of His
Father what was in His Father's heart was
in the Son's heart and it's hard to
imagine that God the Father would be angry
at this I think angry that His people
were robbed of the fullness angry that after
all of His kindness that they made a
choice to worship cows and people and all
these other things pieces of ground and real
estate their hearts were enamored and entangled in
all of these things and then He told
His Son or His servant He said go
quickly into the streets and lanes of the
city now keep in mind in Israel that
it was only a three year period and
bring in hither the poor the maimed, the
halt and the blind now put a marker
there and go with me to Matthew go
back to Matthew chapter 21 now this is
exactly what Jesus was doing at this moment
He was calling those who could hear in
Israel the Bible says the Father was angry
the man who had made the feast and
sent His servant and said bring in the
poor the lame, the blind and the maimed
Matthew chapter 21 verse 12 we see Jesus
manifesting the heart of the Father and it
says and Jesus went into the temple of
God and cast out them that sold and
bought in the temple and overthrew the tables
of the money changers and the seats of
them that sold doves and He said unto
them it is written My house shall be
called the house of prayer but you have
made it a den of thieves and the
blind and the lame came to Him in
the temple and He healed them what did
the master say go get the blind go
get the lame go get the maimed and
bring the men to the banquet and that's
what Jesus did He set out to bring
those who could hear you think of it
now in His three year ministry who were
the people who followed Him harlots, prostitutes, lepers
the lame, the blind the maimed those that
had no education those that the Pharisees could
stand on the hillside with all of their
righteous indignation with all of their phony doctrine
that kept them and their followers out of
the kingdom of God with all of their
hardness of heart with all of their entanglement
in the land and stand and sneer and
scorn at this man and his ragtag band
of followers who seemed to be pressing in
en masse for something that they thought was
perhaps just foolishness in their generation and Jesus
went into the temple manifesting the heart of
His Father and overthrew the tables of the
money changers and the seats of them that
sold doves and He said it is written
My house shall be called the house of
prayer but you have made it a den
of thieves He was saying your entrapment you've
tried to bring your love of the land
your love of cattle, your love of ease
your love of relationship you've tried to bring
this into My house and yes you have
succeeded, you brought it in and what you've
done is you've taken away the reverence of
who I am you've taken away from you've
robbed the widows of their right you've robbed
the orphans and the poor of their right
to find Me as God you've given a
false understanding there's no longer prayer this lackadaisical
attitude in My house to who God the
Father is has produced this thievery in the
house of God where people come in and
all they're interested in doing is getting a
good deal on a goat or on a
dove and they're forgetting that they're meeting with
a Holy God they're forgetting that I'm all
that they'll ever need to be satisfied the
lack of prayer the lack of seeking Me
is evidence that your hearts are entwined in
the things of the land all around you
and as such you've made My house that's
supposed to be a place of reverence it's
supposed to be a place of seeking Me
it's a place where there is a constant
cry an awareness of the holiness of God
and an awareness of the power of God
to meet every man, every woman every young
person's need you've robbed the people you've made
it a den of thieves that's what He's
talking about it wasn't just the money changers
and the selling of doves you've taken away
My presence from the people you've robbed them
of an understanding and as He said these
things the blind and the lame came to
Him in the temple and He healed them
also in verse 28 He said what do
you think, what think ye a certain man
had two sons this is Matthew 21 again
28 and he said to the first son
go work today in my vineyard and he
answered and said I will not but afterwards
he repented and went and he came to
the second and said likewise and he answered
and said I go sir and went not
whither the twain did the will of his
father they say unto him the first Jesus
said unto them verily I say unto you
that publicans and harlots shall go into the
kingdom of God before you for John came
to you in the way of righteousness and
you believed him not but the publicans and
harlots believed him and ye when you had
seen it repented not afterwards that you might
believe him he said I give you an
invitation and you refused it but the publicans
and the harlots prostitutes, tax gatherers the offscouring
of society, they heard it they heard the
invitation and they've come in and they're going
to receive the fullness but you yourselves are
going to be left out and verse 22
said the servant said Lord it is done
as thou has commanded and yet there is
room oh thank God there's room thank God
thank God there is room in his kingdom
and the Lord said unto the servant now
I see this to be the church in
verse 23 Christ did what he was commanded
to do and now he has sent us
as his body to be his body on
this earth and to do this last work
that needs to be done and 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 compel
them now that's an interesting thought Jesus said
go into all the world preach the gospel
to every creature baptizing them in the name
of the Father the Son and the Holy
Ghost and Lord he said I'm with you
always even to the end of the world
compel them to come in to my house
that my house may be filled I believe
this to be the present ministry of Christ
through his church now the word compel is
interesting and when we look at it, it
becomes difficult to some degree to understand this
passage in the original text it's anakazo and
here's what it means to force, to compel
by external violence to compel in a moral
sense as by an authoritative command by troublesome
or persistent persuasion and by prevalent example that
sounds a little bit radical when you first
read it in other words, force them so
prick their conscience so move upon them it's
as if you're standing before people and commanding
them to come into the kingdom of God
by troublesome and persistent persuasion and by prevalent
example that really sounds like many of us
when we first got saved, doesn't it?
you remember when you first got saved I
remember when I first got saved we have
so much zeal and so little wisdom I
remember Pastor Patrick, can I tell you a
story tonight?
wouldn't mind if I Pastor Patrick was telling
me we were sharing one night about when
we first came to the Lord and the
zeal that God used to give us I'll
tell myself first I was in a church
service one time and I was invited, it
was Police Appreciation Sunday the police force sent
me to represent the Ottawa police force that
I was part of at that time and
then there were Royal Canadian Mounted Police Ontario
Provincial Police and all these different police officers
there and they were appreciating us which was
very nice and I was sitting in the
front row Free Methodist Church, it was a
very moving ceremony very moving message and then
the pastor at the end, he got up
and dismissed the church, no altar call no
opportunity to receive Christ, I'm a brand new
Christian and so I jumped to my feet
and I turned to the church and I
said wait, hold it, hold it, nobody can
go and then I began to preach to
them I said pastor, no offense, but we
cannot dismiss this church without giving people an
opportunity to receive Christ as their Savior and
I began to tell them what God can
do in their lives, now normally you get
thrown out of church, but I'm in uniform
with a gun beside me when the police
stand up and begin to do that who
are you going to call to kick him
out?
but that was not my motivation there was
a zeal inside that said you compel them
I was not able to contain it I
thought, I couldn't stand the thought of one
person in that meeting today, having been moved
upon by the Spirit of God, not knowing
how to be saved so I preached the
message to them and led them in a
sinner's prayer and asked for a show of
hands, the whole gambit we had a wonderful
time in the house of the Lord Pastor
Patrick told me the time after he got
saved, we were sharing this the other day
because we've been asking the Lord with wisdom
now, God bring us back to our first
love if we're drifting away, if we're becoming
religious if we're becoming goat sellers and dove
sellers in the house of God, if these
things are getting into our hearts, if we're
being enamored by even ministry and even in
that, are losing out on the fullness that
we've been called to in Jesus Christ, God
help us Holy Spirit get a hold of
us first as the ministers of the Lord
we were walking, we were sharing these things
and Pastor Patrick, Pastor Neal's got some great
stories, he'll tell you sometime about these he
was worse than I was but Pastor Patrick
got saved and he shared with me that
he was angry and before he came to
the Lord and he was into body building
and weight training, all this stuff and he
came to the Lord and God just radically
changed his life and he was at home
with his family and they're watching the football
game on television and in the middle of
the football game, he got up and stood
in front of the TV and raised his
hands and said Oh God, save my family,
they're lost God save them, God save them
now his family thought that he'd lost his
mind but he hadn't there was something in
him that was forcing him the kingdom of
God had come into his heart and was
manifesting through his life with this burden to
see others brought into the kingdom of God
now folks, I want to tell you something
about new Christians, you may not like them
on your job, but you have to deal
with them you have to deal with them,
there's no putting them away, they're in your
face all the time all the time, because
there's a zeal, they're apprehending something they're laying
hold of something that you don't have I
remember before I got saved, there was this
this Christian policeman that used to read his
Bible in the lunch room, every day now
in the lunch room, the police force, it
was card playing and cursing and swearing, and
that's usually what went on at lunch time
stories about what was going on, on different
calls and shifts, and then right in the
middle of this is this guy with his
Bible, and he'd sit there and he'd just
read his Bible, that's all he would do
and he would unnerve the whole room the
whole room being a virtual uproar because this
man, all he did was read his Bible,
you have to deal with these new Christians,
I wasn't saved, I remember and I'd say,
Vince for goodness sakes, why do you have
to do that here, why do you have
to bring all this stuff on your head,
I said all you do is come under
criticism all the time and he says, you
know I said why don't you at least
just stand up for yourself, just stand up
for yourself why do you sit there and
take all of this abuse that's heaped on
you, all the time, and he said the
Lord will look after me, the Lord will
protect me and I remember one day I
was in the lunchroom and these guys were
railing on him and I said to some
of them at that time I was fairly
wild and I said you guys knock it
off, you leave him alone he's not hurting
you, he's not hurting me, he's not hurting
anybody else, I remember Vince just looking at
me and saying, see I told you, he
said the Lord will look after me compel
them compel them to come into the kingdom
of God, now go with me please quickly
to Matthew chapter 11 because in that chapter
is a clue to what this really means,
compel them to come into the kingdom of
God Matthew chapter 11 verse 12
now here this is an incredible scripture and
I've heard a lot of misinterpretation of this
scripture over the years but here's what it
says, Jesus said and from the days of
John the Baptist until now the kingdom of
heaven, so he's talking about a very short
period of time, he's talking about the time
that John appeared on the scene until now
is when he's actually speaking, we're not looking
at a very large period of time here
but he's talking about there's been a new
something new has arrived the kingdom of heaven
was somewhat exclusive at one time now he's
saying from the days of John the Baptist
until now the kingdom of heaven suffered violence
and the violent take it by force now
there's a lot of really strange people even
in the body of Christ that have taken
this verse and they go into the streets
with plastic swords and they do all kinds
of foolish things thinking that this is what
this scripture is all about all they'd have
to do is get a concordance and look
it up and find out what it really
means and save themselves a lot of heartache,
now one American translation says it this way
I went through many translations plus the original
text to get the meaning of this and
I'm going to try and give it to
you the kingdom of heaven suffered violence one
American translation puts it this way from the
time of John the Baptist men have been
taking the kingdom of heaven by storm, they've
been taking it by storm and then it
says and the violent take it by force
I'll read you some translations the Christian New
Testament says men have been using force and
seizing it the Moffat translation says these eager
souls are storming it, the Williams translation says
this, they are seizing it as a precious
prize, here's what Jesus is saying from the
day of John the Baptist till now something
has been happening men have been taking the
kingdom of heaven by storm and they are
seizing it as a precious prize, that's what
Jesus meant when he said compel them compel
them to come in the Hendrickson commentary says
our Lord is describing the energy with which
some souls are pressing in and urging the
need of such energy if salvation is to
be obtained what do you mean by this
pastor, well this is what I mean, Jesus
walked by Jericho Matthew chapter 20 verses 29
to 34 he walked by Jericho and you
remember the story of Joshua coming and the
people walking around and shouting a great shout
and the wall fell and there were two
blind men the scripture says standing or sitting
by the way and when they heard he
was passing by they began to cry out
Jesus thou son of David have mercy on
us this is the end of side one
you may now turn the tape over to
side two the people
around them told them to be quiet be
quiet, be quiet this is the son of
God, be quiet this is the anointed prophet
that God has sent to Israel, but they
would not be quiet, they were pressing in
they were taking it in a sense by
force they were moving towards God and they
said Jesus I believe the more people told
them to be quiet the more they began
to shout Jesus Jesus son of David have
mercy on us and the scripture says Jesus
stopped and had the men brought to him
and said what would you have me to
do they said Lord that we may receive
our sight and the bible says he touched
their eyes and immediately they received their sight
and they began to follow him, immediately their
eyes were opened and they had the knowledge,
this is the son of God, this is
the Messiah everything that we long for is
found in him, certainly the man who can
give us sight, but it was the cry,
it was the cry that was in their
heart, that caused them to take notice it
was the cry that caused them to call
them near to him and touch their eyes
and give them their sight and then give
them the will and the power to follow
him Mark 5, I think the woman with
the issue of blood pressed through the crowd
having suffered many things by the physicians of
her generation spent all her money and pressed
through the crowd and said if I can
just touch him I will be made perfectly
whole and ironically it was not the religious,
it was not the knowledgeable other than perhaps
a few like Nicodemus and others and Joseph
of Arimathea and others who should have had
the knowledge of who he was it were
the harlots and the publicans and the blind
the lame, the maimed that were pressing in
as a storm and seizing heaven as a
prize now Jesus said the Lord said unto
that servant go out into the highways and
hedges and compel them to come in that
my house may be filled and the word
of God to you and I today is
that we are by our pursuit of God
by simply our pursuit of God to compel
those around us who do not know him
to have to stand up and take knowledge
that indeed God is with us to compel
them and folks I want to tell you
something that is why new Christians usually win
more people to God than people who have
been 10 years in the Lord because new
Christians are pressing in, they're pressing in, they're
violently pressing in to the kingdom of God,
they want every grain of truth that's in
this book, they say God I will not
be denied, I've been denied all my life
but now I've found truth and I will
not be denied one measure of freedom that
you purchased for me and they press in
almost with the violence in a sense, they
press in, being undaunted, not stopping and it
causes all around them to be compelled in
a sense to come into the kingdom of
God remember when I first got saved there
were so many people that came to Christ
in those first couple of years I feel
that I'm safe on heaven's ground to say
somewhere between 50 and 100 people in the
first few years of my walk with God
came to the saving knowledge of Christ now
whether they walked with God or not eternity
reveals that why did they come, is it
because I didn't even know the Old Testament,
I couldn't even find some of the books
there, but I knew Him and with all
my heart I was pressing in and the
ferocity with which in my heart I was
pressing into God was compelling other police officers
that I worked with to ask what is
different about you what is it that we
see in your life why this insatiable pursuit,
why don't you ever talk I had one
of my partners say, why don't you ever
talk about anything other than Jesus he got
saved by the way I used to share
freely because there's nothing else on my mind
I'm not interested in yesterday's football score, I'm
not interested in all these other things Jesus
has changed my life and I want to
grow in Him, I want to know Him
I want to learn about Him, compel them
by lifestyle, compel them by singleness of the
eye compel them by your own storming in
and possessing Christ as a precious prize compel
them lastly by coming to the place of
being able to say I am full, I'm
full I'm complete everything God has promised me
He has given me I have peace in
my heart, I have understanding in my mind,
I'm set in my right mind, I know
where I'm going, I know where I've been,
I know where I am I know my
source of strength, I know my life, I
know that I'll bear fruit till the day
I die because God's Spirit is upon me
compel them to come in by your pursuit
of God that's what the message is all
about you see a church that stops seeking
God and pursuing God becomes a place of
death becomes a place of buying and selling
and religious doves and all these things begin
to come into the house of God then
in come the poor and the lame the
blind, those that need God the death in
the people of God causes the truth of
the fullness that's available to be stolen from
them, and that's why in Times Square Church
when we call to fasting and to prayer
it's not just an empty religious exercise, Paul
the Apostle said to Stephen, he said stir
up the gift that is in you, stir
up yes God is the source of my
strength and yes He's made covenant with me
to carry me and to give me all
the power that I need what do I
have to do on my part?
stir myself up come to Him like the
two blind men did, if there's an area
in my life that I'm not gaining the
victory if there's an area in my life
where I've not known freedom call out to
Him and say that Son of David have
mercy on me, and then when I finally
feel that I'm full, it's not to stop
there because it's not all just about me
it's about other people who don't yet know
God the same cry out to be in
the church in this generation to say Lord
God, Son of David have mercy on them
have mercy on the blind in this society,
and the lame, and the poor and the
maimed, and the nobodies, the nothings who don't
have anybody to cry out for them God
I cry out for them, have mercy on
them have mercy on them hallelujah and then
he says something really tragic in verse 24
he says, for I say unto you that
none of those men which were bidden shall
taste of my supper none of those who
are indifferent to the fullness that I offer
them none of those who hold to other
affections securities and trusts, none of those divided
in eye and heart, will taste of my
supper oh yeah, they may come into my
house they may wave their hands and sing
the songs, but they will not taste of
my supper now I'm going to show you
what this means, one last scripture, Psalm 34
please, turn there with me Psalm 34 you
love His word tonight?
amen I hope I'm not being too hard
on you Psalm 34, what is the Lord's
supper?
you're going to be surprised I think verse
7 the angel of the Lord encamps round
about them that fear Him and delivers them
here's the Lord's supper, oh taste and see
that the Lord is good do you see
that there?
this is the Lord's supper here it is,
this is the banquet, this is the fullness
of God, here it is, right here it's
right here, oh taste and see, oh taste
and see taste and see that the Lord
is good, but folks, you've got to press
in, you've got to want it you've got
to take it with violence, by storm, you've
got to seize it as a precious prize,
that means you've got to let go of
the cattle, you've got to let go of
the land, you've got to let go of
the other relationships and say this is the
source of my life, this is my strength,
this is the abundance that God promised me,
it's all in here and I want it
with everything within me hallelujah taste and see
that the Lord is good and blessed, guess
what the word blessed is satisfied, fully satisfied
is the man that trusteth in Him, oh
fear the Lord ye his saints, for there
is no want to them that fear Him
the young lions do lack and suffer hunger,
in other words those who are self-seeking
or led by their own desires and power
and cunning shall never have enough, but they
that seek the Lord shall not want any
good thing, he's saying I will satisfy you,
blessed blessed are those who taste of bread
in the kingdom of God, Jesus was saying
it's now, if you want it it's now,
it's all here, if you desired, if you
want it I'm
stirred church of God, I'm stirred in my
heart, I want to live, I want to
live for God, I want to love Him,
I want to serve Him all the days
of my life, I never want to get
smug or ministerial or satisfied or powerless or
powerless I want to seek Him as much
now as I've ever sought Him in my
life and I'm trusting Him for the power
and God says but you have to want
it, you have to want it not just
for Bible knowledge, not just so that I
can tell you another Greek meaning of another
word, but I have to want it I
have to want this fullness in my own
life and desire it and God says if
you do, your life will compel them to
come into the kingdom of God hallelujah, hallelujah
I want people to be compelled to come
into the kingdom of God not necessarily by
my words, but by the pursuit of my
heart this is the call to the church,
this is the call to Times Square church,
that when we leave this sanctuary, when we
go into our homes and our communities and
our neighborhoods and even throughout the world as
a missionary church, that our lives compel people
to come into the kingdom of God, compel
them to come in hallelujah, folks let me
tell you I know we're running a little
late, but I gotta tell you this when
I was young in the Lord I most
times didn't have to say anything there was
just something I was so hungry for God
I'd run, I'd go down the hall so
that I could sneak into the bathroom and
open my little, I used to have what
I call a derringer this is a sword,
a derringer is a little Bible, just a
little small one, and I'd be able to
open it up and I'd get another passage
of scripture and oh, oh, this is good
stuff and I, God God, I oh I
want to be like that, I want to
be like that, I want to do that,
God I'd love to be able to preach
your word, now I was fearful at that
time, but I said oh I'd love to
be able to preach your word and I'd
put it away and come back down the
hall, come back into my office and I
remember one day a guy sitting at the,
at his desk his name was Tom, he
had been put in the office because he
was dying, he had diabetes and the diabetes
had gone into his hands and his feet
and it was really he'd suffered six massive
strokes and they had put him there just
to answer the phone literally until he died,
I remember walking into the office and I
never forced Christ on anybody and I would
tell them once when I'd get a new
partner I'd say I'm going to tell you
this one time and I'm not going to
talk to you again about it unless you
want to know it's funny, you know, I'd
talk to some guys and we'd drive for
three weeks together and then all of a
sudden he'd say something back to me as
if our conversation had never ended, in other
words they're still thinking about it, well what
do you mean by, they'd never left, I
remember one day walking into the office and
Tom said to me he said there's just
something different about you you know it's not
like I was preaching to everybody but I
had an insatiable hunger for God I was
pressing in, as Jesus said I was seizing
it by violence, this is mine, and I'm
not going to have this taken from me,
and Tom said to me one day he
said what is it that's different about you,
and then I just opened my mouth and
began to tell him, I said I found
Jesus as my savior, Tom he's the longing
of my heart everything I've longed for I've
found in him, he's changing my life and
he's given me hope and even beyond that
I know that I'm saved I know, I
know, I know that I'm saved, my sins
are washed away, and as I began to
speak to him, his whole countenance began to
change, we prayed together in the office he
surrendered, he gave his life to Christ and
God healed him, God healed him within a
couple of weeks the doctor told him, he
went to the doctors and the doctor said
Tom, you have experienced a miracle the doctor
said to him, you've got somebody upstairs that
loves you, he said because this disease is
not reversible and yet your disease is going
away, it's vanishing in your body, compel them
compel them to come in compel them times
square church compel them by your pursuit of
God, don't get caught dead in the church
don't get caught religious don't get caught selling
doves instead of seeking God, don't get caught
changing money instead of seeking the master, don't
get caught in form and tradition and the
deadness and stench of religion, let it be
a living relationship, a living pursuit of a
living God, from this day till Christ comes
and takes us home hallelujah my holy call
is very simple tonight there are those that
are sitting here saying pastor you're preaching right
into my heart I am getting entrenched in
the land I am trusting in cattle I
am getting enamored with other relationships and there
are other loves getting into my heart and
I smell the death of religion starting to
get a hold of me, so a few
people are now asking for a reason for
the hope that is in me I'm not
leading people to Christ I don't have the
desires I once did Lord you spoke to
the church in Revelation you said get back
to your first love again, remember where you've
fallen from, I'm coming back but this time
I'm coming back with knowledge this time I'm
coming back with a renewed passion God I
want to serve you with everything that's in
me and when the church calls for prayer
and fasting, I'm going to pray and fast,
not as a religious duty but because I
want you with all of my heart, I
want my life to compel the people in
my neighborhood to come to the saving knowledge
of Christ the people in my office, the
people that I meet on the street, I
want my life to compel them to come
into the kingdom of God, this is my
heart's desire Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah I want to
taste of this book again I want this
book to be life to me I want
this book to be my desire, the absolute
word of God, if that's the cry of
your heart tonight there's some here tonight that
say pastor I've got to repent and there's
some others that say I just need this,
I don't even understand it but the Holy
Ghost is speaking to me and what you're
saying is mine, it's for me I want
it with all of my heart you know
folks if I could jump off the platform
without hurting myself I'll join you at this
altar tonight but if that's in your heart
as we stand together, would you please come
we're going to pray together and ask God
to send a Holy Ghost revival, call it
whatever you will but just to send an
anointing of seeking Him like never before that
we can taste and see that the Lord
is good Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord
Thank you Jesus Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah God
I thank you Lord Lord I thank you
for your grace and your mercy I thank
you for your forgiveness we come before you
tonight Lord we ask you that in every
area of our hearts you've gathered us as
a people just like you gathered Israel, you
set them in a certain place and you
set us in a certain place and yet
the land and the businesses of the day
and relationships began to crowd you out to
the point where you came and they no
longer knew who you were Oh God because
of it they couldn't taste of your supper
they couldn't taste of the provision that you've
provided for them to fully satisfy them here
and now Oh God I pray in Christ
name Lord for the areas in our lives
Lord where we have failed you God the
areas where other loves are coming in and
threatening to crowd out the hunger that we
once known for you Oh God I pray
that for Times Square Church I lift up
this church and this body I ask for
the purging fires of the Holy Ghost God
I ask you to come in Jesus come
in with mercy and overthrow the tables Oh
God throw out the doves Lord throw out
the doves out of this house Oh God
out of our lives out of our hearts
we are the temple of the Holy Ghost
Lord all religiousness Lord throw it out God
all of the hypocrisy coming into your house
with other loves in our heart God throw
it out Holy Spirit drive it out of
us Oh God it is written that our
house this house should be a house of
prayer God move upon us to seek you
again move upon us to seek you in
a new way Lord like we may not
have been seeking you for years gone by
God drive out form and tradition Lord let
there be a passion for you Oh God
a passion that compels others who are without
the knowledge of God to have to acknowledge
that indeed you have come and you dwell
within these earthly bodies hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Oh Jesus thank you Lord thank you God
thank you for hearing our cry tonight Oh
God thank you Lord for not turning away
from us thank you for your compassion and
your mercy Lord we want to taste we
want to taste of your supper Oh God
we want to taste it we want to
taste it and to love it and to
know it we want to be full and
satisfied here on this side of eternity God
bringing into your kingdom as many of us
who can hear the word of God everywhere
we go and in what we do we
ask you Holy Spirit for the power to
release from our hearts anything that would take
us away from loving you with all of
our heart soul mind and strength God we
believe that it's reasonable to love you it's
reasonable to give you all of our heart
and all of our life hallelujah you are
the God who created us oh Jesus thank
you Lord thank you Father hallelujah hallelujah pray
with me please right now Lord Jesus I'm
hungry for you I want to taste of
you your word says oh taste and see
that the Lord is good there is no
want to them that fear him oh God
take out of my heart all things that
offend you and put in my heart a
love and a desire for your word your
truth and your manifested presence I love you
Jesus I want to love you with all
of my heart until the day that you
come and take me home don't let anything
else don't let religiousness crowd out the fullness
that you want to bring into my life
Holy Spirit I call upon you now quicken
me enable me to seek God anew and
fresh in his word and through prayer and
in his house and among his people oh
Jesus thank you for hearing my cry like
the blind men on the side of the
road you touched them and like the woman
with the issue of blood she touched you
and you healed her and I believe tonight
that as I cry out to you you
have touched me you have healed me and
you're drawing me once again back to the
place of life and satisfaction in the things
of God let my cry come before you
morning noon and evening at home, at work
and in the house of God oh Lord
Jesus so touch me with your fire that
your presence in my life will compel those
who live in darkness to come into the
house of God thank you for hearing my
cry in the mighty name of Jesus my
Lord my Savior my God Glory
of thine oh God thank
you Lord thank you Father Hallelujah Hallelujah this
is the conclusion of the message