Luke 14
Grace is characteristic of the Gospel of Luke, and a very striking illustration of its urgency is found in the parable of the great supper. When the supper is prepared, it is simply said that its provider "bade," or "invited," many; and hence, when the servant goes forth, his message to those that were bidden is only, "Come." After, however, these had all refused the invitation they had received, "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," etc. Then last, when it was reported that "yet there is room," the servant was commissioned to "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."
This gradation in the nature of the message-"come," "bring in," and "compel them to come in"-is most instructive.
A word or two will explain. Adopting the usually received interpretation, which we fully endorse-that the first invitation is to the Jewish nation as such; the second, to the remnant, consequent upon the rejection of Christ by "His own"; and the third, to the Gentiles—we learn that the activity of the heart of God was only intensified by the wickedness of man. It was in grace surely, though in fulfillment of promise, that Christ was presented to the Jew; and it might have been thought that, when that grace was slighted and contemned, God would have retreated, so to speak, from man altogether, into the circle of His own blessedness. But it was not so; for His heart yearned to bless the objects of His counsels of love and redemption, and therefore He, by the power of the Spirit through the preaching of the gospel at Pentecost in Jerusalem, "brought in" the poor of the flock. Nor did this satisfy the extent of His desires; for from that day to this, and from this day till the coming of the Lord, He has been working, and will work, to "compel" poor sinners to come in; and He will not rest until His house is filled—until there is not an empty place left.
It might be a profitable question for many of us, whether we are in the power of this compelling urgency of grace in dealing with those who are not saved. For it should never be forgotten, that every believer is intended to be the expression of the heart of God to the world. Another question might be put; that is, whether the feeble results of the preaching of the gospel in many places may not be traced to a want of apprehension of the nature of the grace that is now going forth toward sinners. This once understood, there would be no expectation from earnestness or appeals, or from anything whatever, save from the power of the Spirit of God. He alone can compel sinners to come in.