I've Got A Golden Ticket
Luke 14:16-24 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.
Rev 22:14, 17 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. . . . 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
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There is a well-known children's book entitled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by the author Ronald Dahl. The best-selling book was made into a hit movie several decades ago and has recently been remade into a movie that has just been released. I have never seen either of the movies and neither have I ever read any of the books. My connection and knowledge of the story comes from a song off the soundtrack of the first movie that is on a CD of children's songs that I have in my library. The song is entitled "I've got a golden ticket." God speaks to me sometimes in weird ways and the words to this song so stuck with me, that I had to go online and find some plot summaries to see what the story is all about.
In the plot, it seems that Charlie is a poor boy with an ill uncle who has grown up in the shadow of the largest candy and chocolate factory in the world. Charlie has no joy nor excitement nor hope and is largely depressed and lonely. The reclusive owner of the chocolate factory decides to give five children a chance to tour the chocolate factory and also win a lifetime supply of candy. The five children would be chosen by a prize lottery and within five chocolate candy bars, would be placed a golden ticket. Those five who received the golden ticket won the grand prize.
Four of them were won by rich kids who were spoiled rotten brats and who consumed so many candy bars that it was no surprise. But Charlie was so poor that he could only afford to buy and eat one candy bar a year and so the entire family erupted with joy when he peeled back the wrapper to find a golden ticket. Charlie was on the way to the chocolate factory and eventually to the surprise ending of becoming heir of the entire works!
The song lyrics that have stuck with me go thus:
I never thought my life could be
Anything but catastrophe
But suddenly I begin to see
A bit of good luck for me
'Cause I've got a golden ticket
I've got a golden twinkle in my eye
I never had a chance to shine
Never a happy song to sing
But suddenly half the world is mine
What an amazing thing
'Cause I've got a golden ticket
I've got a golden chance to make my way
And with a golden ticket, it's a golden day
One golden ticket changed his entire viewpoint of his life and of his circumstances. He was still poor and still despondent and his uncle was still sick, but the golden ticket brought hope and encouragement. He could smile -- because of the promise that the golden ticket represented!
And so I felt like God spoke to me and said "you've got a golden ticket, you know!" But it's not a golden ticket to a chocolate factory, but to a city where the streets are paved with the purest gold! It's not for a lifetime supply of candy, but for an eternity's worth of happiness! It's not for a chance to inherit an earthly fortune but rather the riches of the One who created the universe!
My golden ticket was not given to me when I opened up a wrapper, but rather when I received the Spirit of God and took on His name in water baptism, having my sins washed away! The Holy Ghost -- remember -- is much more than just a great feeling experience for this earth, but the scripture says:
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. NASU
The Holy Ghost is my ticket out of this world! Even if I die before it's time to go, if the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me, then it will bring me back to life to fly away to glory! And listen to what John the Revelator says about that glorious destination:
Rev 21:10-11, 18, 21 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. . . . 18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. . . . 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. NASU
A golden city! With streets of gold! With costly brilliance! And we who are on this earth in the end times, maybe can't see it yet with our physical eye, but with our spiritual eyes, we are in the shadow of this magnificent place. It's almost here! And there will be no more crying and no more heartaches and no more pain and no more anguish and no more persecution and no more "no more." What a wonderful place, and it's real and if you stand filled with His Spirit and washed in His blood, then you hold a ticket -- an invitation to come to this beautiful place! It's no wonder that in our text John wrote:
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
It's a blessing to be able to serve Jesus! It's a blessing to be able to live for God! It's a blessing to be able to understand and obey His commandments, because it's my ticket and invitation out of this world and to a great place. I've got a golden ticket!
And so if there ought to be anybody with a pep in their step and if anybody in the world ought to have a "happy song to sing." If anyone on this planet ought to have a "golden twinkle in their eye," it ought to be Holy Ghost filled, blood bought, Apostolic, Bible living believers because you've got a golden ticket far beyond the worth of Charlie's find! You've got a golden ticket to heaven! You've had an invitation to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
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What an honor to have such a promise and invitation! And yet, with such an invitation to a yet future event comes a tremendous responsibility. In our other text, we read a parable of Jesus Christ of an invitation given to a great feast:
Luke 14:16 But He said to him, " A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; NASU
The scene here is of a well known and famous man in a city who decides to throw a big bash. He sends out the invitations and it's an honor to be invited. The key point here is that the invitations are made and the "tickets are given out" before the actual day of the event. No doubt the people were excited to be a part. Imagine what some of you would be like if a King or Queen were to visit San Antonio and throw a huge party and send you a personal invitation. You would show that invitation to everybody. You would be excited and happy. You'd be like Charlie opening his candy bar. Everything would be happy even on a bad day because of the ticket that you held!
Luke 14:17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.'
Now the time has come to actually cash the invitation in. It's time to use the golden ticket. No doubt there was some time that passed between the invitation and the actual event, and so the master sends his servant out again and said "tell it's ready!"
Luke 14:18-20 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.' 19 "Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' 20 "Another one said, ' I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.'
Everybody that had been invited began to make excuses as to why they couldn't show up! Things had come up between the invitation and the event. Their focus had changed between the golden ticket and the actual day at the chocolate factory. These excuses are pretty flimsy to miss out on the planned event, but they allow these reasons to keep them from actually coming to the supper.
And so we find that in the story:
Luke 14:21-24 "And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' 22 "And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' 23 "And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'" NASU
Jesus was telling this story to a room full of Jewish religious leaders and the point is obvious and powerful. In the last verse, the "you" is plural and so it's obvious that it is Jesus speaking to His audience "I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner."
And so from all of these clues, we can recognize that the people that were invited were Israel and the Master throwing the feast is Jesus. If anybody was ever given a golden ticket to the eternal kingdom of God, it was the Jews. Prophet after prophet was given to preach the Word of God to them. Elijah called down fire from heaven no less than three times! Moses was sent to deliver all two million of them plus from Egypt and Joshua led them in the supernatural conquering of the Promised Land.
But the greatest part of all of this blessing was the promise of a Savior and a Messiah that was to come! God told Moses that there would come a deliverer "like unto thee" that would set the people free from this world. David was promised that the King of Kings would sit upon his throne. Isaiah prophesied that a virgin would conceive and give birth to a savior and that His name would be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Prophet after prophet proclaimed that the Messiah was coming and would present a feast of God that would far surpass anything the world would ever see and that the Jewish people would be privy to it!
I want you to understand that the Jews realized that they had the golden ticket to the savior and the kingdom of God. From the earliest years on, the Jews taught their children that the Messiah was coming. They even set a plate every year on a special occasion for Elijah who would come and announce their Savior. They knew the stories. They knew where He would be born. They knew what He would do and that the power of God would work miracles and signs and healings through Him! In the times of Joshua it was exciting to think about. In the times of David it was something to shout about. In the time of Ezra, the people's purpose was renewed and enflamed! They had the golden ticket! They had the invitation! Soon the kingdom of God was going to come to them and they would be able to partake of it's blessings and power!
But there was a delay between the invitation and the dinner. And in that delay, the Jews grew stagnant and became distracted. They were so secure that they were invited that they missed watching the calendar with carefulness and so when Jesus Christ showed up and began to fulfill the scriptures, they had excuses -- the flimsiest excuse -- and therefore missed out on the event! They were proud to be invited, but making the event was not the most important thing to them, and so they missed the point. They were proud to shout about having the golden ticket, but didn't bother to make it a priority to show up at the factory and cash it in!
And so God turned to the Samaritans and then the Gentiles! He turned to those who were not invited in the first place and let them partake of the feast of blessings. It fulfilled scripture of what God said that He would do if they lost their focus as a nation. God told Moses:
Deut 32:22 ' They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation, NASU
In other words, if you take my invitation lightly, then I will turn to people who were not invited and will bless them! Thank God that those others are us! Here we stand tonight not being a physical offspring of Abraham, but invited to participate in the blessings of Abraham! We are not physical descendants of David but yet we are invited to come and be "kings and priests" with Jesus Christ! We have never been in Solomon's feast hall, but we have been invited to a marriage supper with the One who is the "greater than Solomon!" You and I -- the most undeserving as far as heritage and past goes -- have been invited to partake of the blessings and powers and heaven lies! We truly have a golden ticket to the things of God! The invitation is ours! We will belong when that day arrives!
We have a golden ticket to heaven. We have a golden ticket to revival in this city. We have a golden ticket to God's kingdom that He is wanting to establish here and now. The promises of the Word of God are for us! We can rejoice because of the invitation that has been extended!
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But we must also beware lest we fall into the same trap that Israel did. We must be careful that lest we become so proud and excited about having the golden ticket, and yet miss out on the event itself!
I have seen time and time again people's excitement when they find God. The look of peace when they come up out of the water; the joy and passion that burns when they are filled with the Holy Ghost. The awe and wonder of how great God is as they learn and understand more and more about His Word. It's an awesome feeling to know that you have been handed an invitation to the blessings of God in your life. That you are to be a part of an end time revival of something that is real and that is going to sweep this community. "God is awesome" they exclaim at the time. And they are excited enough to tell everyone when they are issued the invitation to the heavenlies!
But I have also seen the danger of being distracted from that purpose. Time passes between the time of the invitation and the event. God has promised great revival, but first He has to work on us and the banquet. And so instead of everything exploding, there is some work involved and some delay between the invitation to partake and the actual blessing. And then the revival comes and the feast is laid out and they miss it because of trivial excuses with which they got distracted with.
Hear me now: it's a great honor to have the tickets, but if you don't cash them in and actually be there when the dinner takes place, what good was the tickets? I've heard numerous people over the last five years have their life changed in this church and testify "God is doing something great here!" "God is going to build a church that is a revival church and that will change this community and county!" And many of the things that were promised us by God are happening even daily and yet they are no where around to receive those blessings? They got excited about the tickets, but they got distracted before the event! Other things pulled on them before they could actually partake of the feast!
The three excuses mentioned here by Jesus are by no means all of the possible excuses, but they cover three very broad categories:
1. Possessions
2. Business and career
3. Family relations and social ties.
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The kingdom of God can be summed up in "sowing and reaping!" The more seeds you sow, then the more harvest that you can look forward to, but what good does sowing a seed and even rejoicing if you do not hang around to watch it grow, or if you let the devil steal the fruit? Just like it's pointless to have a golden ticket and never cash it in, so is it worthless to have the promise of harvest and not be around for the reaping! Jesus told another parable that He likened to the kingdom of God:
Mark 4:26-29 So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear , after that the full corn in the ear . 29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
Some of us are excited to see new life and that's great, but don't forget that it's not the complete point. Some of us are excited when we see maturity in our life began to blossom, but don't forget that that's not the point either! The point is to have a harvest of ripe and sweet fruit! The point is to be ready when the time comes for the final harvest and be around to experience the reaping of all the good things that you have sown!
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God will build His church, but it's your decision to be apart of it or not! I want to remind you of how our original parable ended:
Luke 14:23-24 "And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'" NASU
His house will be filled! Jesus will build His church! If you choose to let distractions and excuses keep you from cashing in the golden opportunity that has been given you, then God will raise up a people who will take part, even if He has to go to the gutter and the ditches to find such a people! But someone make up your mind to be a part no matter what happens! You've got a golden ticket, but make up in your mind not to get distracted so that you don't cash it in!