TEXT: LUKE 14: 7- 24 7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out chief rooms; saying unto them,

8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

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.

16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper and bade many:

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18 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.

19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

21 So 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.

22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

23 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.

24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. (KJV)

Today I would like to deliver a message entitled “REVIVAL OF REVERSAL.”

The reversal between Christians and unbelievers now may be occurred in the end time. This is surprising thing, yet the Bible seems to say so. We would like to see that.

Let’s look at the text.

7 “And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out chief rooms; saying unto them.”

The word, “There are last which shall be first,” will be fulfilled in the end time, though there are many who choose out chief rooms.

8 “When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.”

The Lord said here the parable of a wedding. A wedding in the Bible refers to the marriage of the Lamb and is the parable of the marriage between Christ and the bride, the Church.

The Lord said here the possibility that those who thought to be sat in the highest room would take the lowest room with shame. This will happen as is written.

Now, we Christians should be careful, for the day is coming when “there are last which shall be first.”

10 “But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Those who humble themselves in this age will be exalted on that day.

12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.”

Here comes the parable.

A dinner and supper are, in short, meals. Meals are to eat, and to drink, and to eat bread, the Word, and to drink water of life, the water of the Holy Spirit.

Brethren and kinsmen are metaphor of the same family, the Christians. And, rich neighbors are those who are self-conceited that they have kept the law from their childhood like the parable of rich young man. It means that we should not focus on calling only such people to meetings of God.

13 “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.”

This word says, “When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.” This is also the parable. It says to call rather spiritually “the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.”

14 “And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

These people will not be able to recompense spiritually. But, if they are made righteous at the spiritual feast, we “shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

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.”

The story from here is “he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”

16 “Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper and bade many.”

A certain man is God or Christ. The Lord has planed the great supper at the end of the world and bade many, as is written, “Many be called.”

17 “And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.”

At time of supper the master sent his servants and called the invited people first. Likewise, at the end of the world the Lord will call Christians through His servants. That is the invitation to the true revival of water of life and to the restoration of the Word, the true bread of life, in the end time.

18 “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.”

But, surprisingly, the invited people all began to make excuse with one consent. One rejected the invitation with the reason that he bought a piece of ground.

We should grasp that the word ground has intimate meaning to Christians. It should not be the case that we laugh at such a man to reject because he bought a piece of ground. This is related to us. Ground is to be sown and to make wheat grow. Wheat is the metaphor of Christians with the Word.

Therefore, this man says he should go and see the ground, the land of evangelism. It is not other people’s affair. Well, he rejected His invitation with the good reason as a Christian.

19 “And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.”

Next man also rejected with the good reason as a Christian. Oxen and sheep are metaphor of Christians who are shepherded. Therefore, to prove oxen may mean to prove Christians. But, the point is that he rejected the invitation.

20 “And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”

The next one also rejected with the very good reason. The meaning of the metaphor of a marriage in the Bible is that between Christ and believers, that is, salvation.

The word of a marriage of a Lamb on Revelation and the word about a marriage referring to that between Christ and the Church seem to support this. So, this man says, what, that as he is saved he cannot accept this invitation. His reason is good, but he rejects it any way.

Therefore, we know that the issue of these people is not the reason but that they all reject the invitation of Christ. The reason why these parables are written is that they give us hint to know what kind of people they are. We should read them.

Yes, so, we should be very careful. For, the Bible surely suggests that many good Christians will reject that invitation on that day.

This was surely fulfilled in the days of Jesus. At that time Jesus Christ prophesied in the Bible came and many people were invited to the supper, that is, bread and water of God, restoration of the Word and anointing of the Holy Spirit. But the God’s people who were invited first, the Pharisees and scribes, rejected His invitation.

It is as written below.

JOHN 7: 48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? (KJV)

As a result, the invitations to this feast were given to the Gentiles.

21 “So 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.”

As the Pharisees, the representative of the God’s people, did not attend to the feast, the representative God’s people will not attend to the restoration, the revival, in the end time. They will refrain not to be trapped in doubtful cultic revival. But, it is a pity that their judgment is wrong before God.

“The poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind” said here are totally the same of those on verse 13.

They are the ones who exalt themselves according to the above explanation. So, what the Bible says in this. That is to say, the judgment will be done on those who exalt themselves on that day. The judgment will come upon those who do not rely on God but on their own judgment, calling themselves, “The rich, the healthy, no lame, no blind.”

22 “And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

23 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.”

As the people who are invited first reject, there is room in the feast. So, the salvation will be shifted to the people by the highways and hedges, that is, unbelievers now.

Do remember again that the same thing happened in the days of Jesus. As the God’s people, the Jews, rejected the feast of Jesus, the salvation was send to the Gentiles.

The supper of the feast means bread and wine, the Word of Jesus and the revival of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The Jews did not accept the Word of Jesus or the revival of Pentecost. To the contrary they persecuted Peter, John and Paul who followed His teaching, calling it the sect. So, they rejected to attend to the feast.

The same thing will happen in the end time, too. The revival of the end time and the restoration of the teaching will not be accepted by the God’s people of the New Testament, because they consider them as heresy. They will conversely begin to reject to attend to the feast of the end time. As a result, the following word will be fulfilled.

24 “For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”

We should ask God to open our eyes to see the work of God in the end time.

Let’s do the will of the Lord in the end time.

End.