Sermon Outline By Steve Mays
Where: Faith Baptist Church
When: Dec 1999
Title: 'Excuses'

Text: Luke 14:16 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.

Thoughts on this parable:

It's called a great Supper..... God's provision to Satisfy the Soul's Hunger..

Characteristics of the Gospel:

It's Readiness: Nothing for a man to do but come.. The supper provider paid all the expense
It's Reach: The parable lays out that it went to the Jew first, the Gentile-the whole world
It's Ram: Not force - But earnestness..

Opposition to the Gospel and Work of God comes from:

The Proud
The Preoccupied
Reception to the Gospel and Work of God comes from:

The Needy
The Neglected

We have a shortage of a lot of things:

A. Godliness
B. Character
C. Holiness
D. Prayer
E. Witnessing
F. Faithfulness
G. Punctuality

But we have no shortage of Excuses for any of those things;

I. The Dilution of Excuse Making...

A. Excuse making manifests our lack of knowledge of God

God is omniscient
Jeremiah 5:3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

B. Excuses don't change the judgement of God

God knows how to get right to the heart of the matter...

Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Most excuses are a lie anyway... just making judgement worse for the individual making excuse..

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.

1. Instead of saying preacher, I just can't get up for Sunday School why don't we say, I'm too lazy to get up..

2. Instead of saying preacher, I can't afford to tithe, why don't we say I'd rather spend my money on my cigarettes and my vacations, and some new clothes

3. Instead of saying preacher I can't come back on Wednesday nights cause I'm too tired from Work, why don't we say, Jesus doesn't mean enough to me to suck it up and go when I've worked a little hard..

One Church got so tired of hearing the congregations excuses they decided.. to have "No Excuse Sunday" and the following will be provided:

A. Cots will be placed in the vestibule for those who say, "Sunday is my only day to sleep."
B. Murine will be available for those with tired eyes--from watching TV too late on Saturday night.
C. There will be steel helmets for those who say, "The roof would cave in if I ever came to church."
D. Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot.
E. We will have hearing aids for those who say, "The minister speaks too softly" and cotton for those who say, "The preacher's too loud."
F. Score cards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.
G. Some relatives will be in attendance for those who like to go visiting on Sundays.
H. There will be TV dinners for those who can't go to church and cook dinner also.
I. One section of the church will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature.
J. Finally, the church will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have never seen it without them.

Excuse making is the way of the defeated.

God's work is not limited to our Excuses..

Our fleshly mind set determines to place God on the back burner... God isn't limited.. when his invitation was bidden, God took it somewhere else... it type he was dealing with Israel.. and for 2000 years the focus has been off of Israel and ON A Gentile World.. why? They rejected the invitation.. Said no!

II. The Defiling of Excuse Making

Rejection of a Blessing..

This was a free feast that this crowd missed out on .. do you think they got more nourishment laying out on the blessing? I trow not..

The Reasons

1.) Making money - bought ground - Most of these Supper's were at night
2.) Worldly cares - got some new oxen - Again, Most of these Supper's were at night
3.) Indifference - got a new wife - Flat out lie - could have taken the bride with him... just didn't want to come..

Nothing new under the sun... Next time you make an excuse.. remember, God has heard it before..

It's a Removal of the Truth.

I marvel at moms and dads who are unfaithful to the house of God but have the gall, or just bold ignorance, to blame some carnal Christian for the sorry state of their kids.

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

It Retards Growth.

It is the earmark of the immature

Proverbs 12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) said,

"An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie; for an excuse is a lie guarded."

It Reproduces

"Winner never quit, quitters never win and champions never make excuses."

One generation doesn't do right, blames everyone else.. "I don't go to Sunday School because a Choir member is a Hypocrite" - You'd have to be an idiot to think that that works.. but I'll tell you what it will do, it'll make some kids just like them... It'll reproduce..

Hey Mom and Daddy, your kids got all their lame excuses from you.. next time you try to influence your kids for right or to a spiritual truth and they give some lame excuse... think.. did I teach them this excuse? You probably did..

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) said,

And oftentimes excusing of a fault
Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse.

III. The Dead End for Excuse Making

No Excuses at the Judgement Seat of Christ ---

1 Corinthians 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

1 Peter 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

No Excuses when we get to the Great White Throne!

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

God didn't extend that invitation for ever did He?





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