Tuesday, June 14, 2011

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.

Bring Them In

(Preached on Sunday Morning, June 12, 2011 at Hope Baptist Church of Bettendorf, Iowa)


Luke 14:21-24 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.

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.


Lu 14:23* 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.


We sing the old hymn:

Hark, 'tis the Shepherds Voice I hear,

Out on the mountains dark and drear'

Calling the sheep who've gone astray,

Far from the Shepherd's fold away.


Bring them in, bring them in!

Bring then wondering ones to Jesus!


This is more then just a great old song; it is a Biblical mandate.


Intro: Three parts to the Lord's command

1. Go

2. Compel

3. (Purpose) "that my house may be filled."


Bring Them In


1. Everyone can go

Mark 16 - go ye


2. Everyone must go

If not me, them who? If not now, then when?

3. They are out there

"and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind."


The poor

Ps 34:6* This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.


Isa 25:4* For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.


The poor have nothing to offer. You will not gain materially reaching the poor. But as one Pastor taught me, "Jesus went to the poor; the rich came to Him." In His sermon in the mount in Matthew 5 Jesus began with, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." When it comes to God, none of us have anything to offer Him that would make Him richer.


"Evangelism is just one beggar telling other beggars where to find Bread."


The Maimed and the halt

Isa 61:1* The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;


Eze 34:16* I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.


People are wounded. People are hurt and hurting. God's people have the remedy. Would a doctor withhold medicine from the sick?


The blind

Isa 42: 5-7 ¶ Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.


Isa 42:16* And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.


Mt 11:5* The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.


Mr 10:51* And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.


4. The alternative is horrible

Lk. 14:24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.


Conclusion: We are compelled to go. We are compelled to bring them in. You don't really have to go far to find someone who needs Christ. Go find them!

Bring them

Compel them

That my house might be filled!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

"Therefore Have I Hope"

"Therefore have I hope"

Preached at Hope Baptist Church, June 5th, 2011)


21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:21-23).


INTRO: Lamentations is a one-of-a- kind Book. The prophet Jeremiah lived in the time of the Kings in Isreal. Zedekiah was a wicked evil king during the life of Jeremiah.


11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.

(2 Chronicles 36:11-12).


In judgement the Bible says God "stirred up the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia"... and waisted Isreal...


Lamentations is a book of mourning after the judgement of God fell on Isreal.


Imagine the sorrow of Jeremiah...the anguish....the frustration with the wickedness of his day...Yet, in this passage Jeremiah makes this statement..."I have hope.." How can a man of God in these deplorable circumstances have hope?


"It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed."


1. We can be saved only because of God's mercy.

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;


2. We can have your prayers answered because of God's mercy.

Ps 69:13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.


Da 9:4* And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;


3. Our sins are forgiven because of God's Mercy.

Ps 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.


Mt 9:13* But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.


4. We can walk with God because of His mercy.


5. We can face trials by His mercy.


Ps 39:7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.


We have seen history transpire this year.

We have seen our gov't. rocked in scandal.

We have seen terrorist attacks on Americans; on foriegn soil and here at home.

We have seen all sorts of natural disasters.

Major diseases (ie. AIDS, herpes. new strains of hepatitus) are at epidemic purportion.

Crime, violence, poplitical unrest.


Pastor what is the answer to what seems like a hopeless situation? "My hope is in Thee." My hope is in God's mercy!


21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

My hope is not:

A. In government

B. In my recourses

C. In luck

D. In this world


1.My hope is in my anchor.

Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;


2. My hope is in the past.

Ps 78:38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.


3. My hope is in His promise.

Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;


4. My hope is in the Salvation.

1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.


In our darkest hour there is hope. The hope given us in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ