The first requirement of being a disciple of the Lord Jesus is that we have a genuine born again experience of salvation. The next step is the experience of sanctification, or the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as exhorted by apostle Paul in Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." We must remember that we are not our own, for we have been bought with a price, the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are also His by the right of creation, so shouldn't we willingly and gladly submit ourselves to Him, soul and body, to be used as He sees fit? And more especially so, since He knows just what is best for us and will guide us in the ways that will make us the most profitable in the kingdom of God and bring us the very greatest reward in life to come.

The Apostle Paul was completely submitted to God without any reserve whatsoever, and we know what a marvelous work he did in the advancement of the kingdom of God. I do not suppose any other person ever endured so much persecution and survived as did he. But through it all he was able to praise God and know that the things that happened to him were for the furtherance of the gospel. And when he came to the end of the road, he knew, in his heart, that he had been faithful in the work that God had called him to do, and he could say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord , the righteous judge, shall give at that day: and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing." Can you think of anymore wonderful testimony than that? I am sure that I cannot. We know from his accomplishment and from his writings that this testimony is sincere and true. We cannot all be a Paul or do the things he did, but we can all, every one of us, give ourselves over completely to God and let Him use us as He sees fit. If we do this we, too will have the approval of God upon our lives and love His appearing as did the great Apostle Paul.

Be Clothed With Humility

Luke 14:7---They chose out the chief rooms---It is an act of selfishness to pick out the best for ourselves and leave the inferior for the other fellow. We are commanded to esteem others better than ourselves and when we do that we are going to be as much concerned about their welfare as we are about our own.

Verse 8---Sit not down in the highest room---To select the best seats for ourselves generally indicates pride. Proverbs 16:5 tells us, "Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord." We must always be careful not to do thing to displease the Lord in any way.

Verse 9---Give this man place---Just for our own peace of mind it would be much better to take a station a little lower than that to which we are entitled than to take a higher one and run the chance of being reproved for it. The Lord is not pleased when we try to draw attention to ourselves.

Verse 10---Friend, go up higher---It does not prove humiliating to be given a more honorable place than that which we had taken. The disciple of Christ must ever strive to conduct himself so as not to bring any reproach upon himself or upon the work of the Lord.

Let God Do The Exalting

Luke 14:11---Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased---Jesus said that if anyone wanted to become great in the kingdom of God that he should be the servant of all. We cannot have favor with God if we try to be great in our own strength. We are to let God have His way in our lives and give Him the glory and honor for whatever we are able to accomplish for Him and let Him do the exalting.

The Parable Of The Great supper

Luke 14:16---A certain man made a great supper---In this parable the certain man probably refers to God and the supper to the gospel and the servant to Jesus.

Verse 17---For all things are now ready---When Jesus began preaching saying, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The Gospel dispensation was ushered in and salvation could be had by all who would humble their hearts and receive it.

Verse 18---And they all began to make excuse---That is just the way it is today. When the pure soul-saving Gospel is preached to them and they get under conviction, ,they let the devil give them a hundred and one reasons why they should put it off a little longer. The spirit has witnessed to them that they ought to heed the call and get saved, but they listen to the devil and let him cheat them out of the greatest blessing available to man.

Verses 19-20---If the first excuse does not work the devil is right there to propose another one. The Bible plainly tells us that we are not to listen to the devil nor give him any place at all. I do desire to impress upon the hearts of all sinners that might read these comments, that when they feel the Spirit striving with them, it is the goodness of God trying to lead them to repentance, and instead of listening to the devil and making excuses, they should thank God for His goodness unto them and give their hearts to Him right then and there.

Verse 21---Bring hither the poor and the maimed---The gospel was first preached to the Jews but they would not accept it for we read in the first chapter of John that Jesus came unto His own and His own received Him not, but unto as many as received Him to them He gave power to become the sons of God. So then Jesus directed His preaching mainly to the poor and the unfortunate.

Verse 23---Go out into the highways and hedges---He means by this that we are to leave nothing undone to win all the souls we can. We can compel them to come in by laying hold of the promise given in 1 John 5:16, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death." Now this scripture is just as true as any other one and we can seek God for a greater burden for the lost and really lay hold on this promise and see precious souls saved.