Let me say it's been a delight
as it always is to be with you. I am so privileged to be here
with you and Canada, real honor. Thank you for taking such good
care of me. Also want to say, I believe I
see the Lord's blessing on this assembly. That's exciting. Verse 15, And when one of them
that sat at meat with him heard these things, what did he hear? Well, he heard what our Lord
said when He said, When thou makest a dinner or a supper,
call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen,
nor thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again, and
a wreck of bids thee made thee. But when thou makest a feast,
call the poor, the lame, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt
be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed
at the resurrection of the just." Now, this man heard this, and
he liked what he heard. He agreed with what he heard,
and look what he said. And when one of them that said
it meet with him heard these things, he saith unto him, he
said to the Lord, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the
kingdom of God." Now, who would disagree with that statement?
It's a good statement. I agree with it. Indeed, blessed
is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God, but what
does it mean? I believe this was the speech
of a man that believed himself to be sympathetic toward the
kingdom of heaven. But he himself had never truly
came to Christ. His religion was all talk. Nothing more. Now whenever I
hear something like that, it scares me. Lest my religion be
nothing more. Every time I read something like
that. And verse 16 says, Then said he unto him, The Lord spake
a parable unto him. Now that is a mercy. God saves
people like this man whose religion was all in talk. Aren't you thankful
for that? The Lord saves people like this.
And He spake this parable to him. What an act of mercy. And He said unto him, A certain
man made a great supper, and bade many. Now that certain man
is God the Father. And the great supper is the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He bade many. And that word,
bade, is the word that's usually translated called. Many are called. He called many. Verse 17, And He sent His servant
at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all
things are now ready. The servant represents gospel
preaching. And this is the message of gospel
preaching. We talked about that some yesterday.
It's come. It's not go away. It's not go
and do. It's come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen to me real carefully.
The gospel, in its very nature, is not exclusive. It's inclusive. You see, we're already excluded.
The gospel doesn't exclude people. It doesn't keep people from being
saved. It saves people. It doesn't exclude
people. It brings them in. We're already
out. We're already excluded. Gospel
doesn't do anything to exclude us. We're already excluded. But
the gospel message brings people in. Aren't you thankful for that?
He bade many come. All things are now ready like
we That scripture in Revelation 22, 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." Come and welcome to the banquet
of God. You are welcome to this great
feast. You. Yes, you. are welcome to this great feast. All things are now ready. Not come and they will be ready,
but come, they're already ready. There's nothing for you to bring.
There's nothing for you to do. It's all ready. It's all prepared. The Lord said to His disciples,
I go and prepare a place for you. He's not talking about going
and getting a room ready. He's talking about going to the
cross. I go and prepare a place for
you. And when He said it is finished,
that place was prepared. When you say dinner's ready,
the preparation has been completed. We preach. a completed salvation. Let me show you a couple of scriptures.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 30. But of Him are you
in Christ Jesus? This is talking about all of
God's elect, every believer. But of Him Are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us? Not will be
made unto us. Not something out there. He is
made unto us. Wisdom. Righteousness. And sanctification and redemption.
That's complete. Not something that will be. It's
something that already Turn to Colossians chapter 2, verse 9. For in Him, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. And what is all
that? I don't know, but it's... What would I say? It all dwells
in His body. And look at this next statement.
And you will be complete in Him. Didn't read that right, did I?
And you are complete. That's ready, isn't it? Do you
know that if you're in Christ Jesus, you cannot get any more
saved, you cannot get any more holy, you cannot get any more
perfect, you cannot get any more justified, you cannot get any
more acceptable than you are right now. And you are as holy
right now as you will be in heaven. You can only believe that by
faith. Because when we look within, we don't see that, do we? But
in Christ, I am complete. I lack nothing. All things are right now ready. Do not dare bring anything of
your own. It would be an insult. Come just
as you are to this great gospel feast. Our minds think, well,
is this including the non-elect? Why do we think stupid things
like that? Just listen to it as it is. Come! You, come. All things are now ready. Back to our text. Look at the
response to this glorious message. verse 18, and they all, with
one consent, as one, they all began to make excuse. They weren't interested in coming,
every single one of them, to whom this message was brought.
And what a wonderful message. Come, all things are now ready.
Every single one of them, without exception, with all, with one
consent, began to make excuses. And look at these frivolous excuses.
The first said unto him, I bought a piece of ground, and I must
need to go and see it. I pray thee, have me excused.
Would you ever buy a piece of ground when you haven't seen
it first? Not too many people do that. But they did. And another
said, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. Seems
like you ought to have proven them before you bought them.
I pray thee have me excused." Another said, I have married
a wife, and therefore I cannot come. They began to make these
frivolous excuses, and the reason these men made these frivolous
excuses is they really did not want to come. They were not honest
enough to tell the master of the feast what was really in
their hearts, how they had no love for their master, and did
not want to come. They weren't bold enough to say
that. You know, you don't really run
across many people who, after they hear what you say, they
say, well, I hate that message you're preaching. I hate the
God you're preaching. I don't want to have anything
to do with Him. I'm not coming. Too many people say that. They'll
make excuses. Excuses. They're all too busy. If I was in a house that was
on fire, And you said, get out! And I said, well, I'm too busy
right now. You'd say, you're plumb-dumb. These people began to make these
excuses. Well, let's go on reading verse
21. So the servant came and showed
his lord these things. Then the master of the house
being angry. And you can be sure of this,
if you make an excuse in not coming to the Lord Jesus Christ,
you offend God Himself. The master of the house was angry. What did he say? 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. Now this refers to the effectual
call of God. Go out and bring them in. He
doesn't say invite them in. He says bring them in. As a matter
of fact, they can't get in. They're crippled. They're disabled. They're blind. Go out and bring
them in. This is the call of effectual. Irresistible grace, the effectual
call of God. Now these people picture you
and I, poor, destitute of merit, maimed, that means literally
disabled. This speaks of the inability
of man. Halt. Halting between two opinions. Going back and forth. Blind. Unable to see the beauty of Christ. Unable to see my own sinfulness. Unable to see the glory of the
gospel. Blind. Now, he says, you go out
and get these Named people. These blind people. These crippled
people. These poor people. And bring
them in. And you know, that's exactly
what our Lord did on the cross. These people were brought in.
He brought me in by His death on the cross. And I love the
language of that. He brought me in. I was out. He brought me
in. You see, when He ascended back
to His Father, you know who went with Him? All the company of His elect
were brought in, in the fold, into their... I'm right now seated
in heaven in Christ Jesus. That's how secure every believer
is. He brought me in. He gives the poor the riches
of His righteousness. He gives the disabled the ability
to believe. I do believe now. There was a
time I didn't, but I do believe now. He gives them the ability
to repent, the ability to love. He makes the halt to stop halting
between two opinions. He gives the blind eyes to see
the beauty of the gospel. And I see the beauty of being
saved by Christ. You see that? I see the beauty of every attribute
of God being fully displayed in the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I see the beauty of that. I see the beauty of how He can
be just and yet justify somebody like me. I see the beauty of
that. I see the glory of that. I see the power of that. He gives
the blind eyes to see. Verse 22, And the servant said, Lord, it
is done as thou hast commanded. Now, isn't that the way it always
is? It's done exactly as He has commanded. But what a precious
word of encouragement, yet there is room. It's done as you commanded. You know, Christ, When he died, he saved all of
God's elect. Everybody he represented, he
saved. Nobody will be saved but those
for whom he died. He accomplished salvation for
everybody he died for. Yet there is room. There's not a more encouraging
word in all the Word of God than that. Yet there is room. Now listen to me. Election, divine
predestination, Christ's effectual atonement for His people, that
doesn't shut people out of the Kingdom of Heaven. It brings
people into the Kingdom of Heaven. We can always say, yet there
is room. Is it too late for me? No. Yet
there is room. Don't say the day of grace has
passed for me and there's no hope for me. No. Yet there is
room. Now these are the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And what a blessed word this
is. Yet there is room. That gives me some hope. Verse 23. And the Lord said unto the servants,
Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come
in, that my house may be filled. Now here's another verse filled
with grace. Go out into the highways as people
who are far away. Go out into the hedges. Evil
people hiding in the hedges in fear. He says, smoke them out.
Compel them. Constrain them. Urge them to
come in. Now the word compel means put
constraint upon. Put constraint upon. By persuasion. By threat. By entreaty. by force, compel them to come
in. What grace there is in the Master
of the Feast. What mercy that He would compel
us to come in. Boy, I want Him to compel me
to come in, don't you? I want to be forced in by the
invincible, irresistible grace of God. I want to come in with
my full consent. Don't get me wrong. I want to come in because
I want to come in. But I want Him to force me in. You know,
how many times have you heard people say, regarding what you
believe. You make people into robots.
You ever heard that? You make people into robots.
You know, I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. I wouldn't mind
being a robot programmed to do His will. Would you? Compel them,
force them, constrain them, urge them, cause them to come in.
I would persuade. It's insane for you not to. I
would use entreaty, we beseech you in Christ's stead. That's
what Paul said, and I wish I knew how to do this. I mean, I talk
about it, and I know, but Paul said, we pray you in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God. I wish I'd learned what all that
means, but it's powerful, isn't it? I beseech you in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled. I would threaten, you'll go to
hell if you don't. I would force, using the irresistible
work of God the Holy Spirit, thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power." Now, I believe the spirit of this text is to
compel men to come to Christ who are making excuses not to.
That's the spirit of this text. Men all have excuses for not
coming to Christ, and they're all lame excuses, and I know
it because I've made every one of them. I know something about
what I'm talking about. The excuses men make in not coming
to Christ. Here's the first one. I'm going
to give you seven or eight. I'm afraid I'm not one of the
elect. You know, I've spent a lot of time trembling over that.
I'm afraid I'm not one of the elect. Well, let me say this. Election
is indeed true. God chose, literally selected,
who would be saved before time began. And they're the only ones
who are going to be saved. That's just true. Do you know
election never kept a sinner out of heaven? It doesn't keep
people out, it brings people in. If a man doesn't come to
Christ, he can't blame election. If a man doesn't come to Christ,
it's because he doesn't want to come. The Lord said, Him that
cometh to Me. I will in no wise, for no reason
whatsoever cast out. If you come, you have this promise.
He won't cast you out for any reason. Isn't that wonderful? Here's another excuse. I've made
this one a lot. I'm trying to believe I can't.
I want to believe, but how can I? I mean, doesn't the Scripture
say, no man can come to me except the Father would simply draw
him? I mean, the Bible says that I lack the ability to believe.
I try to believe, but I can't. You know, when we say something
like that, we're looking to faith and not to Christ. If I say I
want to believe, I never do. Faith, listen to me real carefully,
faith is not a choice. You don't make a choice to believe.
You believe something because it's true. Isn't that right?
That's why you believe. You believe something because
it's true. Now, you choose to believe error. There's no doubt
about that. If you believe in error, it's
because you chose to believe that error. You choose to believe
error. But you don't choose to believe the truth. You believe
the truth because it's true. Now, don't say, I want to believe,
but I can't. Let me ask you a question. Is the gospel true? Is the gospel
testimony true? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? Do you believe that? Is it true? Faith comes from believing the
testimony. It doesn't come from trying to
believe. If you're trying to believe, you've never believed.
You believe something because you believe it's true. You believe
the testimony. Somebody says, well, I just don't
know about coming to Christ because there's so many hypocrites in
the church. Well, that ought to be an encouragement
to you. That means there's room for you. Isn't that wonderful? He saves people like that. That
gives me a lot of hope. Well, I'm afraid I can't come
to Christ because I'm too sinful. That ain't going to wash. He
already saved the chief of sinners. Paul himself said, this is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the
chief. If he saved Paul, you can't say
I'm too good. You can be too good to be saved,
but you can't be too bad to be saved. How can I be sure what you're
preaching is true? I hear you, but how can I be sure what you're
preaching is true? There's a lot of other folks who have a lot
of beliefs, and they're just as sincere and just as serious
as you are. How can I know that what you're preaching is really
true? Well, you've got the Bible. Look and see if what I'm saying
is according to the Scriptures. And as far as that goes, you know what I'm
saying is true. You know it, deep down. Somebody says, well, I'm afraid
I'm not invited. or I should command him. That's better anyway, isn't it? God commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. Are you in that group? All men
everywhere? Now that's God's command. So
do you. God commands you to come to His
Son. And your right to come comes
with His command. Your right to believe comes with
His command. He commands you Well, I intend to soon enough. Boast not thyself of tomorrow,
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Now is the accepted
time. Today is the day of salvation. Now I want you to turn to a passage
of scripture we've already looked at by Brother Harmon, Romans
chapter 10, verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever. That's a wide word. I'm one of them. That's better than if it said
Todd Niverton. Because there might be other Todd Nybergs,
I hope not, but there might be. And it might not have been me.
But whosoever, that's me. Now here's an important word.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. That's not just talking about
his being able to articulate his name. His name is who he
is. His name is His attributes. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord, I call upon His sovereignty
to say, Lord, save me as an act of Your will. I call upon His
power. Lord, save me by Your power.
Save me by Your grace. Save me by Your mercy. Save me
by who You are. That's the important word. It's
not just any old name. It's the name of the Lord. It
won't do you any good to call on a false Jesus. We call upon
the name of the Lord. And here's a simple word. Whosoever shall call. Like Peter, Lord, save me! You can tell me you can't do
that? You can call on His name right now by His grace. And here's a sure word. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's a sure word. Now instead
of using lame excuses, let's use a little bit of inspired
logic. Let me quit with this. Turn to
Romans chapter 5. Two scriptures I want you to
look at in closing. For when we were yet without
strength. He doesn't say when we were weak.
He says when we were without strength. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. Are you without strength? without any personal spiritual
strength. Are you ungodly? Then you can conclude that Christ
died for you. That's a scriptural conclusion.
Turn to 1 Timothy, chapter 1. I've already quoted it once,
but I want you to see it in print. Verse 15, this is a faithful saying. You can rely upon this. God says
this is a faithful saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to receive this
as the most glorious thing they've ever heard in their life. And
here it is, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save One thing I love about this is
the absence of an adjective. It doesn't say he came to save
believing sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
repentant sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
sensible sinners. It says he came to save sinners. Are you a sinner? If you are, and I mean by what
the Bible means by the word sinner, that means all they do is sin. That's it. Nothing else. If you're
a sinner, I can guarantee you Christ died for you. And you know what? If Christ
died for you, you can't run the risk of the hazard of the possibility
of being anything but saved. Isn't that so? Quit making excuses. Quit waiting for an experience.
Quit waiting for something to happen. Quit waiting to get better. Quit making these excuses and
believe on Christ right now. Believe! on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. That is a command. Yet there is truth.