many refuse Gospel invitations
August 16, 2021•221 words
We read that when the servant announced that all things were ready, those who were invited "all with one consent began to make excuse." [Luke 14:18] One had one trivial excuse, and another had another. In one point only all were agreed--they would not come.
We have in this part of the parable a vivid picture of the reception which the Gospel is continually meeting with wherever it is proclaimed. Thousands are continually doing what the parable describes. They are invited to come to Christ, and they will not come. It is not ignorance of religion that ruins most men's souls. It is lack of will to use knowledge; or love of this present world. It is not open profligacy that fills hell. It is excessive attention to things which in themselves are lawful. It is not avowed dislike to the Gospel which is so much to be feared. It is that procrastinating, excuse-making spirit, which is always ready with a reason why Christ cannot be served today. Let the words of our Lord on this subject sink down into our hearts. Infidelity and immorality, no doubt, slay their thousands. But decent, plausible, smooth-spoken excuses slay their tens of thousands. No excuse can justify a man in refusing God's invitation, and not coming to Christ.
—J.C. Ryle, 'Expository Thoughts on Luke’