The Banquet Table- THE MAIN COURSE

Like most American families, our Thanksgiving celebration is an extraordinary feast.  It starts with appetizers and progresses to a big turkey, several dishes of vegetables, salads and multiple deserts, followed by several hours of football and leftovers for dinner.  I am a blessed man as my wife and daughters are great cooks with everything but the meats.  The men prepare the meat.  Did I mention that we pick out a real big turkey and sometimes a ham to go with it?  Even so, we all get excited about the pies and cakes waiting for us at the end of our meal.  But this is my question.  What if we only had desserts for that Thanksgiving meal?  Would it be a meal?  Would it be nutritious?  Would it be a feast?  I don't think so, although my grandchildren might disagree.  That goes to the next point.  It is the child that only wants sweets.  They do not know better.  But this is also true of many believers and their appetite for spiritual matters for they do not know any difference or they don't care.  They only want what is easy to get to, that which accommodates a low threshold of commitment and a sweetened up theology that doesn't challenge political or social norms that try to rule our life now days.  We must understand that God's Word and the leadership we derive from it will be counter culture to the world we live in.  That is a historical and present day fact.  Therefore, we will not find that which is promised by scripture to teach, reproof, correct and train us toward righteous ways if we do not get into the uncomfortable and challenging part of the meal which is the main course.  So let's talk about the main course.

The main course then moves to the New Testament and the Gospel.  A good taste of John 1 starting with verses 1- 5 sets the table:

Next we read about the presentation in the main course, for the chef presents all special dishes.  We see in John 1:14 this presentation -

Finally the main course is served for us to enjoy.  It is titled The Gospel.  We read about it in John 3:16 -

When Jesus became the center piece of the main course, He taught a critically important message that needs to be heard loud and clear now days, for today there are some false prophets and false messages that are being delivered that teach a contrary message than His.  Jesus made it clear about Himself and He declared it in John 14:6 -

This statement by Jesus is the meat of the Gospel.  Jesus is not "a way," as some declare.  He is "the way," and He doesn't leave us an option to see it any other way.  If we believe and follow Him, we understand that any message, any pastor, any church or any religious activity that doesn't have this understanding and message as the centerpiece of what they are dishing up, then they are teaching a false doctrine and need to be avoided.  Any church that doesn't take offense when the precepts of God or the teachings of Jesus Christ are diluted or skewed in order to make them socially acceptable or politically correct under the name of tolerance and acceptance, is serving up a table of sweets that will not feed or sustain God's child.  They are doing more harm than good to the people they say they care for.  They are removing the power of the Gospel from the ears of the listener, and they remove the help that their people need.