1. Luke 14:16-24 (NKJV) 16 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19 And another said,

2. Luke 14:16-24 (NKJV) ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. 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 here the poor

3. Luke 14:16-24 (NKJV) and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23 Then the master said to 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 to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’”

4. EXCUSES, EXCUSES Luke 14:16-24

5. Excuses, Excuses  Have you ever had anyone give you an excuse for not doing something?  Have you ever given an excuse for not doing something?  An excuse is often defined as a reason someone gives for doing or not doing something

6. Excuses, Excuses  For most, there is a difference between an excuse and a reason  An excuse, as the Bible defines it, means to cloak; a pretense or show  In other words, an excuse is not normally the real reason for something, but rather an answer given to cloak the real one

7. Excuses, Excuses  An excuse may work with people, but it doesn’t quite work the same with God  God knows all and sees all, therefore we cannot cloak the reality of our situations or the purpose behind our decisions  There are many in the Bible who tried it with God, yet it never works with Him

8. Excuses, Excuses  Tonight, we want to look at some biblical examples of those who made excuses before God  We want to see how God handled those situations  We need to take a good look at how this applies to what we do in our lives

9. Examples, Examples  We don’t have to read very far into God’s word to see the first example of an excuse  In fact, the very first sin brought about the very first excuse  Adam and Eve had disobeyed God’s only “thou shalt not” (Gen. 3)

10. Examples, Examples  Notice Adam’s excuse first (v. 12)  Then God turns His attention to Eve (v. 13)  The excuses given in the garden of Eden were based on Adam and Eve not obeying God as they should  God did not accept their excuses and drove them from the garden

11. Examples, Examples  Then there is the example of Moses in Exodus 3 & 4  Moses was told by God that he would be the spokesman and leader to bring God’s people out of captivity  Moses made 4 excuses before he finally just asked God to send someone else

12. Examples, Examples  Notice that Moses was making excuses for why he did not want to follow God’s commands  Ultimately, God did not accept His excuses either  God eliminated every excuse and even provided Moses with help

13. Examples, Examples  King Saul was no different when it came to excuses  In I Samuel 15, Saul was told to utterly destroy everything in Amalek  Saul did not do all that God had commanded him, leaving King Agag alive as well as the best of the livestock

14. Examples, Examples  So when Saul was called on it, what was his excuse?  He blamed the people for taking the plunder and claimed he had done what God asked (vs. 15, 20-21)  God did not accept his excuse, rejecting him from being king (v. 23)

15. Examples, Examples  What about the NT, do we see any examples there?  Luke 14:16-24  They all began to make excuses why they could not attend the supper  The master was angry! (v. 21)

16. Examples, Examples  The master obviously represents God in this parable  The master was not happy, nor did he accept the excuses that were given  So he went out and invited others to come in the place of those who made excuses

17. Examples, Examples  Jesus spoke in another place about those who made excuses (Matt. 25)  He was speaking of those who would enter into eternal life and said they fed Him when He was hungry, gave Him drink, took Him in, visited Him and clothed Him  Then He spoke of the wicked

18. Examples, Examples  Jesus said they did not do those things  Their reply (excuse) was, “Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?” (v. 44)  Christ did not accept their excuse as to why they did not serve others

19. No Excuse  The bible never excuses anyone from their rebellious behavior  Everyone is responsible for all that they do  Jesus spoke of those who rejected Him as those who “have no excuse for their sin” (Jn. 15:22)

20. No Excuse  Paul said the Gentiles were without excuse because they could see that God existed from nature (Rom. 1:20)  No one is excused from their sins  Everyone will give an account of their actions before God (Rom. 14:12; II Cor. 5:10)

21. Our Excuse  What about us? Are we guilty of making excuses?  Do we make excuses for why we cannot be here on Sundays and Wednesdays?  Do we make excuses as to why we do not read our Bibles like we should?

22. Our Excuse  Do we make excuses when we do not pray?  Do we make excuses when we fail to help others in need as we should?  Do we make excuses as to why we have not obeyed the gospel and put on Christ in baptism?