It's a very sobering thought
to know that there are some in this room that have never in
their heart came to the Lord Jesus. Salvation is coming to Christ. And there are some who have never
come. And it's my prayer to God that
this night you will come. that God will cause you, and
the only way you'll do it is for him to cause you to do it,
but that God will cause you to come to Christ. If you've already
come, I pray that God will enable you and me to come once again. That's what I want to do tonight.
I want to, in my heart, whatever it means, in my heart, I want
to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Now do you hear that? If you
haven't come to Christ, he says, him that cometh to me I will
in no wise, for no reason, cast out. Now I've entitled this message,
I Would and You would not. Now, let me say at the outset,
if you do not come to Christ, it's because you would not come
to Christ. And let's read this verse of
scripture again together. In Luke chapter 13, verse 34,
the Lord says, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, never been a city so privileged
as the city of Jerusalem, the city of the great king. And this
is where our Lord was going to be crucified. He said, a prophet
can't die outside of Jerusalem. And he knew these people he was
speaking to were going to kill him. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which
killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent to thee."
Now think about what he's saying. God sends you prophets and you
put them to death. You kill them. If you don't kill
their bodies, you kill their character. You won't listen to
them. You stone those that are sent to you. This is the hatred
you have for their message. You stone them that are sent
to thee. Now what a accusation, as it were. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together
as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and you would
not? How often would I have received
you? How often would I have gathered
you together as a hen gathers a brood under her wings when
the hawk's coming and she's going to protect it? And you would
not. I would, and you would not. Now somebody in here is thinking,
how can you reconcile this with election and effectual redemption? and regeneration being the work
of God the Holy Spirit. Well, they don't need to be reconciled.
They're not at odds, not in any way. Christ is willing to save
all who are willing to be saved. Are you willing to be saved? Now, I didn't ask you if you're
willing to not go to hell. Nobody wants to go to hell, but
are you willing to be saved by Christ, by God, on God's terms? Are you willing to be saved? I love what our Lord said to
that impotent man. Will thou be made whole? Are you willing to be made Oh,
are you willing for Christ to save you? I am. Lord, come and save me. During the meeting in Florida,
and I'm going to preach on it here before long, but I'm kind
of going ahead of myself, but during
one of the meetings, Greg Elmquist, said, may this be on our heart,
where Peter saw the Lord walking on the water. And he said, bid
me come to thee on the water. Command me to come to thee. Cause
me to come to thee. That was his first prayer. And
that's my prayer right now. Lord, cause me to come to thee. Cause me to. By invincible, irresistible
grace, cause me to. Don't leave me to myself. Cause
me to come to thee. And then his second prayer, was
when he saw the waves boisterous and he began to seek. He said,
Lord, save me. Oh, I reckon that's the prayer
I pray more than any other prayer. Lord, save me. Save me from myself. Save me from my sins. Save me
from the mess I've made. Save me. Bid me come to thee
and save me. I pray that that's the prayer
of everybody in this room. Christ is willing to save all
who are willing to be saved. Are you willing to be saved by
him? Now, if you're not saved, if
I'm not saved, the fault lies at my door. The fault lies at
your door. You can't say, well, Christ wasn't
willing to save me. I came for salvation, and he
turned me away. No. He said, I would. Now, this is the word
of God. Somebody says, well, how can that be reconciled with
so many other things? You say, I'm not worried about
it. I'm really not. I'm not trying to be consistent.
I'm just trying to preach what the word of God says. If it contradicts
something I've said in the past, I'm sorry. I don't know what
to do about it. This is what our Lord said. He said, I would. Now, this is his words. He said,
I would. and you would not. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which
killeth the prophets and stoneth them that are sent to you." And
this is a reminder to us of the response of the natural man to
the gospel. They hear the gospel. God sends
prophets. God sends His Word. And what
do they do? They kill them. They stone them. They say, we don't want to hear
this. You see, the natural man, the carnal mind is enmity against
God to the extent that, to this extent, if God left me to myself,
if God left you to yourself, we'd be one of those people putting
Christ to death. I think of that passage of scripture
in Luke chapter 23 where it says, he was delivered to their will. And what was their will? Their
will was to put him to death. If God leaves us to ourself,
we will not come. And as a matter of fact, we'll
hate the message. We'll put to death the messenger
because we'll hate the message, he preaches. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent
to thee. He says, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood
under her wings, when the hawk is overhead. And you know, I
watch hawks out here. I'll go out and look. There's
hawks flying all over the place around here for some reason.
Sometimes I'll see them chasing birds, and imagine a hawk out
flying, and little chicks, and there's the hen, and the hawk's
coming down, she gives her squawk, and the little chicks come and
hide under her wings, and she protects those chicks. David said, hide me under the
shadow of thy wings. How excellent, O God, is thy
lovingkindness! Therefore the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. This is an often
repeated concept in the scripture. David said, In the shadow of
thy wings will I trust. And then he said, under the shadow
of the ring, thy wings will I rejoice. Now, if you're in danger and
want safety under the shadow of his wings, he desires to gather
you under the shadow of his wings. I just want to know if you're
somebody with a hawk chasing you. That's all I'm asking. Is a hawk
chasing you? You're in trouble. He's willing to receive you.
He's willing for you to find safety and security under the
shadow of His wings. And what salvation, what security,
what safety there is under the shadow of His wings. He is willing
to save everybody and anybody who wants shelter under the shadow
of His wings. Now, here's what I'm asking you.
I'm not asking you if you're elect. I'm not asking you if
you believe. I'm asking, do you want shelter
under the safety of his wings? Do you want protection? He says, I'm willing to give
it. Are you in danger? Is the hawk
after you? Come to him and you will be received. Now that's his promise. Now listen
to me, everybody in this room, He says, I would. I would. And if you don't come to Christ,
it's not because of an unwillingness on his part to save you. It's
because you would not. And that's the greatest crime
anyone can ever be guilty of, is to not come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He would. and you would not. And that's the saddest testimony
to the depravity of man I know of. I would and you would not. Now the teaching here of our
Lord is that he is willing to save all who are willing to be
saved. Isn't that precious? He's willing
That man in glory who is God is willing to save and to receive
all who are willing to be saved by him. I repeat, if we're not
saved, it's not because Christ was unwilling to save us. It's
because we were not willing to be saved. In John chapter five, verse 39,
The Lord made this statement, you, you might want to look at
it, John 5, 39. You will not come to me that
you might have life. Now I want you to think about
that statement. You will not come to me that you might have
life. The natural man does not have
spiritual life. You will not come to me that
you might have life. But bless God, there is life
in Christ. You will not come to me that
you might have life. And beloved, there is life for
everybody who comes. Everybody. No exceptions to this. You will not come to me that
you might have life. If you come to the Lord Jesus
Christ, you will have life. Life before God. Life before
God's holy law. You'll have life in your soul.
You'll have life to believe. You'll have life to repent. You'll
have life to love Christ. You'll have life to love His
people. You'll have life. And then, do not have the will
to come. He said to those people, you
will not come to me that you might have life. Their will is
so fallen, so corrupt, so wedded to sin that they will not come
to Christ for life. What a crime. You know, I think
of the Parable in the next chapter, in Luke chapter 14, where the
king made a great feast. He said, come, all things are
now ready. And the scripture says, they
all, with one consent, began to make excuse. Every one of
them. Everyone who was called to this
glorious feast began to make excuse. And I'm so happy when
you read going down where the Lord said, go compel them to
come in. Force them to come in. urge them
to come in, cause them to come in, that that my house might
be filled. But they all, with one consent,
began to make excuse. Now, Christ is willing to save
you if you're willing to be saved. Now, somebody says, well, suppose
I'm not elect. Suppose Christ didn't die for me. Suppose the
Holy Spirit's not calling me. Can I still come? That's just
supposed nonsense. Really, it really is. In John
6, 37, the Lord says, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. And him that cometh to me, oh,
I love this verse of scripture. This is all I got. Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. I don't come to Christ on
the ground of me being elect. I don't come to Christ on the
ground of Christ dying for me. I come to Christ on this ground.
He said, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. That's the only ground I got
to come on. And that's the only ground there is. Now, what I
want more than anything else for myself, what I want more
than anything else for you, you young people, you young people
who have not truly come to Christ and you're waiting on something
to happen, you're waiting on some kind of feeling or some
kind of, I want you to come to Christ right now. You old people,
if you've never come, I want you to come to Christ right now.
I want to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I want. I
want that for myself and I want that for you. So, what's it mean?
Well, turn with me in John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Because, you
know, the concept of coming to Christ is not an easy concept
because I can't see. I can't see him physically. He's
at the right hand of the Father. I can't get to him physically.
What does it mean to come to the Lord Jesus Christ? How do
I go about doing it? I want to do it. How do I come
to Christ? Well, look in John chapter 6
verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Coming to Christ and believing
on Christ are the exact same thing. He that cometh to me shall
never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. What must I do to be saved? The
Philippian jailor asked. Believe on the Lord, Jesus, the Savior, Christ, God's
prophet, priest, and king. Believe. That means rely upon. You trust Him only as all that
God requires of you. That's what it means to believe
on Him. It doesn't simply mean to believe in His existence.
The devils believe in His existence. You are relying on His precious
blood as your only sin payment. You don't claim anything else.
You are relying on His righteousness as the only righteousness you
have. Believe on the Lord. He's the
Lord. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that Jesus Christ is Lord? Do you believe he's running this
show, that he's in absolute control? Do you believe that he's the
Savior? That's what I call his name, Jesus? God sent him to
save. Do you believe he's God's prophet,
the very Word of God, God's priest? If he brings you into God's presence,
you must be saved. He's God's King. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's a command. That's a command
to you. Don't wait for something to happen.
Don't wait to get better. Don't wait to improve. Don't
wait till you understand more. Don't wait till you know more.
Don't wait for anything. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. John said, whoso believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now, do you believe that
Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe that? You believe
that Jesus is God's Christ. If you do, you've been born of
God. That's what the Bible says. What
hinders me from being baptized? The Ethiopian eunuch asked. Philip
replied, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he replied, I believe. He didn't say, I believe I'm
saved. I love this. He didn't say, I believe I'm
one of the elect. He didn't say, I believe Christ died for me.
He didn't say, I believe I've been born again. He said, I believe
that Jesus is the Son of God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the eternal uncreated Son of God, the only Savior of sinners? That's what faith is. That's
what it is to come to Christ. It's to believe that he is the
Christ. It's to believe that he's the
son of God. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Our Lord refers
to that that took place in Numbers chapter 21. Would you turn with
me there? Verse four, Numbers chapter 21.
And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea
to compass the land of Eden. And the soul of the people was
much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against
God and against Moses, Wherefore have you brought us out of Egypt
to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither
is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. This manna from heaven had become
light bread to them. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of
Israel died. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, We've sinned, for we've spoken against the
Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take
away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people,
and the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, just
like the serpents that bit the people, and set it upon a pole,
and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when
he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass
and put it upon a pole, then came to pass that if any serpent
had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."
Now, look. Don't look at the snakes. Don't
look at the wounds. Don't try to look for ways to
keep them away from you. You look to that brazen serpent
hanging on a pole. You look to Christ. You look,
just look. Someone says, I can't see. Look
anyway. Look anyway. Look and live. He says, look unto me and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there's
none else. In Matthew chapter 11, verses
28 through 30, the Lord said, come unto me. Come unto me. Now this is a command.
This isn't good advice. This is a command. Come unto
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Do you labor and
is sin a burden to you? You labor and heavy laden under
the burden of sin. He says come to me and I will
give you rest. He's willing to do it and he's
able to do it. Now rest. And this is another
example of what it is to come to Christ. To come to Christ
is to rest in Christ. What are you doing when you're
resting? It's a response to a work that's already finished. There's
nothing to do. Rest. They which believed have entered
into a rest. To come to Christ is to rest
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody says, I can't come.
Well, neither could that man with the withered hand. He couldn't
come. But when the Lord said, stretch forth thy hand, boy,
his hand went out there, didn't it? You see, when he commands,
you'll come. The ability comes with the command. Are you laboring and heavy laden
under the burden and guilt of sin? Come to Him for rest. In Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25,
it says, He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to
God by Him. I love that word, the uttermost.
I don't care what your condition is. I don't care how far off
you are, how far you've fallen, whatever it is you've done. You
come to Christ by Him, and He's able to save you to the uttermost. You don't have anything to do
with it. This is all about Him. Now, do you come to God by Him?
Dare we come any other way? I don't come to God in any other
way but by Him. Oh, just pleading His name. May
He be the one to bring me in. But the Scripture promises He
is able to save them to the uttermost. Somebody once said, from the
guttermost to the uttermost. I like that. He's able. You see, the entire emphasis
of faith is believing His ability. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. He's able. He's able
to save all who come to God by him to the uttermost. Now, dare
you come any other way? Right now, I'm coming only by
him, pleading his precious name. I don't want, oh, that I may
win Christ and be found in Turn with me to Revelation 22. Revelation 22, verse 17. And
here's what God the Holy Spirit has to say. And here's what the
bride, the church, has to say. And the Spirit and the bride
say, Come. Right now. Kind of like Moses
said to Hodab, he said, come with us and we'll do thee good.
The Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. The spirit and the bride
say, come, not go and do, not wait till you get better, not
wait till you understand more, come right now. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor a fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requireth
is to have a need of him. I got that. I got that. I might not feel it as much as
I ought to, but I know this, I have a need of Him. The Spirit
and the Bride say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. Come and welcome to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, I would. And let him
that is a thirst, come. And whosoever will. Don't you
love that? Whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life freely. Nothing you have to do to make
yourself fit. Nothing you have to do to make yourself deserving.
Whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
freely. Without a cause. And that's the only way I'm going
to get it. Is if it's without a cause in me. How often Would I have gathered
together thy children as a hen doth gather her brood under her
wings? True story, we sing this hymn all the time, Jesus, lover
of my soul, that Charles Wesley was up in a bell tower. It was
a cold winter day, and he was watching a hawk chasing a sparrow. And I'm sure he felt sorry for
it. I see a hawk coming down on a sparrow. I pity that sparrow.
I mean, he's getting ready to get eat. And he was watching
that fly around and everything. And he said, all of a sudden,
this really happened. All of a sudden, that sparrow flew into
my bosom and sought protection and sought safety. And he said,
you know what I did? I protected it. I wasn't going to let that hawk
get that little sparrow. He was safe with me. And that
inspired him to write the words to that hymn we love so much,
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly while the
nearer waters roll. While the tempest still is high,
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, Till the storm of life is past, Safe
into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, Hangs
my helpless soul on Thee, Leave all, leave me not alone, still
support and comfort me. All my trust on thee estate,
all my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wings. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and leave the blind. Just and holy is thy name. I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with thee is
found. Grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams abound. Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life the fountain art,
freely let me take of thee. Spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity. I'm like that sparrow, and you
know the Lord is willing to receive everybody who comes to him like
that sparrow did. Now, I want to close with this
thought. Do you wonder about Christ's
willingness to save you? Do you even fear that he's not
going to make you willing? Turn with me to Mark chapter
1. verse 40 of Mark chapter 1, ìAnd there came a leper to him, beseeching him and kneeling down
to him.î Matthewís account says he worshipped he worshipped. He was a leper.
Luke tells us this man was full of leprosy. You would have been
repulsed by his appearance. And according to the law, he
wasn't supposed to be around people. He was supposed to have
a rag over his mouth crying, unclean, unclean. But here he
comes to Christ. Here's a man who we know did
come to Christ. Here's a man who we know did
worship Christ. He came kneeling, and what did
he say? If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Now, can you get that far? You
know he's able to make you clean. You're just not all that sure
that he's willing to make you clean. And you can see why he
wouldn't be willing to make you clean. You see that. You understand
that. You couldn't charge him with
injustice. You see, anybody who ever comes
to Christ knows they have no claims on God. Whatever he does
is right. But here he comes. If thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean. Verse 41. And Jesus moved with compassion. Now, if you come to Christ like
this, like this man did, do you know he's moved to compassion
with that? You know, when Wesley received
that little sparrow, there wasn't anything worth that sparrow,
but when that sparrow came to find shelter in his bosom, he
received it. And anybody who needs safety
and security and comes like this leper, and Jesus moved with compassion,
put forth his hand and touched him, and saith unto him, I will. You know, there's something about
Christ saying I will. It's not like me saying I will.
You ask me to do something, I say I will. Well, I might have lied. Hope not, but I might have been
unable to do it. But when Christ says I will,
that's like no other I will, isn't it? I will. Be thou clean. Christ is willing to save you. Are you willing to be saved? Well, I am. Lord, save me. Let's pray.