"And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room," Luke 14:22. The parable told by the Saviour in the verses 16-24 makes the point that heaven will be filled only after much labour on the part of the servants of Christ. Here is no "easy believism!" The great work of redeeming sinners from everlasting damnation is resisted all the way by the devil, by the world and above all, by sinners themselves. Stephen's words to those who listened to his impassioned pleading in the gospel resisted him and drew from that gentle soul this rebuke: "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye," Acts 7:51. Here we read in verse 18: "And they all with one consent began to make excuse." Despite man's resistance to God's mercy, the Lord strives with men regarding their souls' salvation. Our text illustrates the love that burns in our Saviour's heart for lost sinners.