Would you turn to the 12th chapter
of the book of Hebrews? Verse 25. see that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escape not who refused
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we
turn away from him that speaketh from heaven." does speak. And how utterly foolish that
one is who does not have a great interest in what he has to say. God does speak. He speaks by creation. And if I can't see that, It's
because I'm willfully blind to it. The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the earth showeth forth His handiworks. The creation
says God is. The invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Creation renders a man excuseless
before God. God speaks by providence. Everything that happens in time
is a reminder of his goodness or a warning concerning his judgment
and his wrath. The cry of a newborn, the laughter of a child, the last breath that you just
took, the disaster that was, the disaster that almost was,
the good you have received and experienced, say loudly that
God is, and men ought to worship Him. God speaks by creation. God speaks by everything that
happens in providence, most especially God speaks by his word. God speaks by this book we call
the Bible. Now, somebody may say, now, how
can you know it's God speaking? Men wrote it. There's all kinds
of room for error with men writing it. Well, I realize how we could
think something like that because of men. But the fact of the matter
is, He who had the power to create the universe, and He created
the universe, has the power to preserve His Word. And He speaks
by His Word. Now, if a book came hot off the
press that claimed to have God as its literal author, I bet
it would be a bestseller. People would be getting it all the time. We do have a book
that claims God as its author. All scripture, this is the Bible's
testimony of itself, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. I can't prove that to you. Don't
feel like I need to. I know it's the word of God. I know by reading it. This is
the voice of God. God speaks and He makes Himself
known in His Word. Now, in the context, the Word
tells us that God speaks through the blood of sprinkling. Look
up at verse 24. You've come to Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. Now, you remember when Cain killed
his brother Abel, And God said to Cain, Where's your brother?
He said, How should I know? Am I my brother's keeper? And
God said, The blood of your brother cries to me from the ground.
It had something to say. It said, Vengeance. Pay him back. He's guilty. I'm the hard evidence.
But the blood of Christ has something infinitely greater to say than
the blood of Abel. Now, the blood speaks of the
death of Christ. his pain, his suffering, physical,
mental, and spiritual, his death, his blood shedding. Why did he
die? It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He died because God put him there. When he said, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God forsook him. He died
because the sins of his people became his. And he became guilty
before God. God is just. All sin must be
punished. He became guilty before God. That's the reason he died. He
got what he had coming. The justice of God demanded his
death. That's why he died. He was guilty.
What did he accomplish by that blood? The complete salvation
of everybody he died for. Here's what that blood of sprinkling
has to say, forgive him. Forgive him. It demands the forgiveness
of those for whom he died. Yes, it cries for justice, but
in a much more eloquent way than the blood of Abel cries for justice.
It says, given his just deserts, Christ has died for him, he has
no sin. Oh, the blood of Christ speaks high and glorious things. Do you hear what the blood of
Christ has to say? And notice, he speaks of the
blood of sprinkling. That has to do with the application
of that blood. Remember that blood that was
shed on the Passover night? It had to be applied to the door. You didn't apply it. You can't
apply the blood of Christ to yourself. God does that. And
when he applies the blood, you'll believe the gospel. When he applies
the blood, that means you're justified. That means you're
sanctified. That means you're glorified.
That means you have access right now into the very presence of
God through the blood of Christ, having therefore boldness to
enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. by a new and living
way. Now, God speaks through the blood
of sprinkling. And the writer to the Hebrews
says, you see that you refuse not him that speaketh. Now, you're
hearing high and glorious things. You better make sure you don't
refuse him who speaks. It would be one thing to refuse
what I'm saying. It's another thing to refuse
what he says. Now, the word refuse in our text
means literally to beg off. To ask to be excused. To reject. And in our text, when
we do that, we're said to turn away from him that speaks. He speaks and I turn around because
I don't want to hear it. See that you refuse not him that
speaks. Now, there's many ways we can
refuse him. By indifference. By neglect. How shall we escape
if we neglect so great a salvation? What do you do when you neglect?
You don't do anything. That's all you got to do is nothing.
We can refuse by procrastination. I think of what Paul said to
Felix, it says in Acts chapter 20, verse 25, and after certain
days when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, which was a Jewess,
he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
And as he reasoned of righteousness. Temperance and judgment to come. Now, there's the gospel. Righteousness,
the work of Christ for you. Temperance, the work of Christ
in you. And judgment to come. Hear Felix's
words. Felix trembled and answered,
go thy way for this time. When I had a convenient season. I've got a lot of things on my
mind right now. I've got a lot of irons in the fire. I see there's
something to what you're saying, but I'll think about it later. Procrastination. You can refuse
by misapprehension of what is said and building up a straw
man and beating it to death. You can refuse by avoiding. The
word is sometimes translated avoid. You can refuse by rejecting
what's being said and preferring your way to God's way. Now, the writer to the Hebrews
says, see that you don't do it. And what came to my mind was
that passage of scripture I just read in Luke chapter 14, where
he said, compel them to come in. And that's what I want to
do tonight. By God's Spirit, I want to compel
you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to compel everybody
in this room to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in the Lord
Jesus Christ is where all of God's salvation is. Would you
turn back to Luke chapter 14? Verse 23, And the Lord said unto
the servants, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel
them, persuade them, force them, do whatever you can to compel
them to come in, that my house might be full. Now that's the
word of the scripture, compel them to come in. Salvation, all
of God's blessing, All of God's favor is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're in him, that means
you have all of God's blessing. All of God's favor, all of God's
salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the days of Noah,
when God sent the flood, where was the place of safety? In the
ark. Outside of the ark, There was
no safety. When God said he's going to come
by and smite the firstborn, where was the place of safety? In the
house with the blood on the door. Outside the house with the blood
on the door, you would be destroyed. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. I want to be in the house. I
want to be in the ark. I want to be in the place of
God's favor and God's blessing and God's grace. Now, if you've
not come into the ark, if you've not come into the house, I want
to compel you to come in. And that's what gospel preaching
is. The spirit and the bride say,
come. And let him that heareth say,
Come, and whosoever is thirsty, come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. Now look back up in verse 15
of Luke chapter 14. And when one of them that said
it meet with him, He heard these things. He heard what the Lord
was saying. He said unto him, Blessed is
he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Now, who would
deny that? I want to be one of these people
eating bread in the kingdom of God. And indeed, blessed is that
person. But so what? I mean, is that the gospel? I
could see an unbeliever saying that, you know, he was showing
some sympathy for the things of God. But this statement was
really kind of a useful statement, wasn't it? Blesses he that eats
bread in the kingdom of God. Y'all agree with that, but so
what? Now, the Lord addresses this parable to him, this one
who made this statement. Then he said unto him, verse
16, this one who made that statement, A certain man made a great supper
and bade many. Now here's a thought I want to
give you. Why he said this to him. Far too many people have kind
of a generic religion. And they don't ever really come
to the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want to be one of those
people. That's what this man was. He said some good stuff. You would have agreed with him,
but so what? Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of
God. And the Lord spake this parable to him. A certain man
made a great supper and bade many. Now, Matthew's account
tells us that it was a wedding feast. The Great Supper is the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is the gospel call God
commands all men everywhere to repent. That is the gospel call. Verse 17, And he sent his servant
at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all
things are now ready. Now, here's gospel preaching.
The message of the gospel is come on in. The gospel is not
an exclusive message that keeps people out. You're already out.
It doesn't keep people out. It brings people in. That's the
message of the gospel. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. You are welcome. God commands
all men everywhere to repent. Are you one of those people?
Then you are commanded by God to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's why we can come. All
things are now ready. There's nothing that you need
to provide. Do I need to bring anything?
No. Nothing is needed. Well, I don't
have anything to wear. The wedding garment is provided. You can read about that in Matthew
chapter 22, that wedding garment. Remember the fellow that was
speechless because he didn't have a wedding garment? When you came into the
wedding, that wedding garment was provided. And that fellow
thought he could get in. He thought, well, mine's good
enough. The true wedding garment that will make you accepted and
beautiful and perfect in that great feast is provided the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't bring anything. Come without
money and without price. You are welcome. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. The Lord made this promise, him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise." Cast out. Truly, there is no excuse to
not come. And any excuse that you or I
come up with is not valid. Whosoever will, Let him take
the water of life freely. Now, the message is being sent,
and his servant at supper time said, Come, for all things are
now ready, verse 18, and they all, with one consent, began
to make excuse. Now that word excuse is the same
word that's translated refuse in that passage I just read from
Hebrews chapter 12 verse 25. What percentage of them began
to make excuse? All of them. They all with one
consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I bought
a piece of ground. And I must need to go see it.
I pray thee have me excused. I've got something important
to do. I bought that gram and I need to see it. Well, I'm glad
you bought the gram, but you can see it tomorrow. As far as
that goes, why did you buy a piece of gram when you didn't see it
in the first place? I mean, you ought to see it first, shouldn't you? I mean,
most folks will look at what they're going to buy. What about the next fellow? And
another said, I bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them.
I pray thee have me excused. Can't that wait till tomorrow?
I believe it could. I think the oxen will still be
there tomorrow. Another said, I've married a wife and therefore
I cannot come. We'll bring her with you. That's
easy enough. All these excuses they made were
not valid. They were groundless. Verse 21. So that servant came and showed
his Lord these things. They weren't interested. In Matthew's
account, it says they made light of it. It really was not that
important to them. I mean, they wouldn't have said
it's not important to them. They said, oh, I have an excuse.
They tried to bring a justifiable excuse, but they really didn't
care about being at this great meal. That's why they began to
make excuses. It was not important. You see,
if there's something you want to do, you can always find a
way to do it. Always. And if you don't come, it's because
you don't want to. Now, 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, said to his servants, 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. Don't invite them. Bring them
in. The poor. Those who have nothing.
The maimed. Those who can't walk in God's
law. The blind. Those who can't see why God would
have anything to do with it. You go, bring them in. And that's
exactly what our Lord did on the cross. These people, described
right here, He brought them in. When He ascended back to the
Father, He ascended back with all His people with Him. That's
what took place on the cross. He brought in the poor and the
lame and the blind and the halt. Verse 22, And the servant said,
Lord, it's done as thou has commanded. And here's one of the most glorious
statements in scripture. Yet there is room. Yet there is room. There's room for you. There is room for you. Don't think about anybody else
right now. Think about yourself. There's room for you now on the
cross. He accomplished what he set out
to do. He saved the poor. He saved the halt. He saved the
lame. He saved the blind. He didn't
just make them savable. He saved them and he brought
them in. And yet there is room. Verse 23, And the Lord said unto
the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, the farthest
places away, and compel, urge by persuasion By force, by entreaty,
urge, compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. Now, this is God's Word to me.
This is God's Word to you. Compel them to come in. And let me give you four reasons
to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, before somebody says, what
do you mean by coming to Christ? Well, it's a spiritual thing.
Coming to Christ and believing on Christ is the precise same
thing. You believe on Christ. You believe
who he is. You believe what he did. You
believe he's God the Son. You believe that he accomplished
salvation. You believe that he is all you need. to make you
acceptable before God. You believe that if He died for
you, you must be saved. That's what His blood accomplished. You really believe that, and
you're relying on Him. You won't plead anything else
but Him. Now, if you do that, you've come
to Him. Now, let me give you four reasons
to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. First, you will go to hell if
you don't. Hell is an awful place, but it's
real. It's the unbeliever's reality. It's eternal torment. And if you don't come to Christ,
you will spend eternity in the lake of fire. That's the truth. I hate talking about that, but
it's so. That's a good reason to come
to Christ, isn't it? I don't want to go to hell. I want to
be saved from that awful place. But here's another reason to
come to Christ. It's crazy not to. All things
are provided. You don't have to bring anything.
You don't have to provide anything. It's free. Come without money
and without price. It's absolutely free. It's crazy
to not come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing prevents you but yourself. Here's a third reason to come
to Christ. You'll be received if you do. He said, these are the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Him that cometh to me, I will in
no wise cast out. Everybody who comes is received. And what joy you will have in
coming. Oh, we read of the joy and the
peace of believing. Now, the spirit of this text
is to compel men to come in who are making excuses. And you know,
I pretty much know every single one of them. I know them by experience. Somebody says, well, I fear I'm
not one of the elect. I fear I'm not one of those people
that God chose before time began. So how can I come if I don't
know whether or not I'm one of the elect? Well, the great, glorious,
holy doctrine of election is true. God did choose who would
be saved before time began, and they are the only ones who will
be saved. They are the only ones who Christ
died for. But you don't come to Christ
because you're elect. You come to Christ because you're
a sinner needing His mercy. You don't even have to worry
about election. Election's true, but it doesn't say whosoever's
elect can come. It says whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
freely. Election doesn't keep anybody
out of heaven. Election brings people into heaven.
Thank God for election, but you don't need to figure out whether
or not you're one of the elect. All you're to do is to come to
the Lord Jesus Christ as a sinner needing his mercy. Just forget election. I don't
mean forget it in the sense of, you know what I mean by that.
Election is true, but that's not going to keep you from Christ.
You come as a sinner needing his mercy. Somebody else says,
well, I can't believe. I've tried to. I've tried to,
but I cannot believe. That's the problem. You don't
try to believe. If you try to believe, you won't
believe. You can just write that down. Nobody tries to believe.
You believe something not because you tried to and it worked. You
believe something because it's the truth. That's why you believe.
Two and two is four. Do you try to believe that? No,
you believe it because it's true. You believe the gospel because
it's the truth. That's why you believe. You don't
try to believe. You believe something because
it's the truth. As long as you try to believe, you won't believe. You
believe the truth? Come to Christ. You believe the gospel because
it's true, and you believe the testimony of God and faith will
come out of that. Here's another reason people
hesitate in coming to Christ. Well, there's too many hypocrites
and so much inconsistency among people who profess to believe.
Well, you ought to feel real welcome then. You'll do right
fine there. I mean, to say something like
that is pure hypocrisy on your part. So, good, you're ready. You're a candidate. You're a
candidate. Come. Somebody else makes the excuse,
well, I'm just afraid I'm too sinful. Too sinful. Paul the Apostle already said
he was the chief of sinners, and he said that under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, so he's got you beat. So that argument will
not work. You cannot be too sinful to come
to Christ. Now, you can be too good to come
to him, but you can't be too sinful. Somebody says, I'm afraid I won't
persevere. You'll perish for sure if you
don't come. And if you do come, he'll give you grace to persevere.
I'll assure you that the only reason I'm kept up to this point
is because I'm kept by the power of God through faith and salvation.
It causes his people to persevere. Yes, you will be saved apart
from perseverance, apart from continuing to walk with Christ.
But he gives you the grace to do it. So don't stay back because
you're afraid you won't. Well, you won't if you've left
yourself. But if you come to Christ, he'll give you the grace
to persevere. Well, here's another objection. How can I be sure the gospel
is true and not just a fairy tale? Every one of us have thought
that before. I have. Thought it recently,
as far as that goes. That being said, the truth recommends
itself as the truth. And I know this is the truth. speech to my conscience, I hear
the gospel and I say, I know that's true. I know God is, as
the Bible presents Him to be, He's a sovereign God, utterly
in control of all things. I know that men are evil, unable
to save themselves. I know that salvation is by grace. I just know this is true. The
truth recommends itself. Well, I don't believe. Well,
that's because you're willfully blind to it then. But I know that if
when you go to bed at night and all the restraints are taken
away and all that, you know God is. And you know this is true. What am I supposed to do? Believe. Believe the truth. Somebody says, well, I'm afraid
I'm not invited to go. Well, you're right about that,
you're not invited, you're commanded to. That's where you're right
to come comes. God commands you to God commands
all men everywhere to repent. Is that you? You're commanded
to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, an invitation, as far as
that goes, if you turn down an invitation, that's really not
a sin. I've been invited places where I I declined. Was I committing
a sin and declining? No. But if I'm commanded to come,
if my dad said you're commanded to be here, if I don't come,
I'm in trouble, aren't I? No, the gospel is a command. You are commanded by God to believe
the gospel. And it's not an act of presumption
of you to do what God commands you to do, is it? You're commanded
to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody says, well, I don't
feel anything. Well, it doesn't say whosoever feels shall be
saved, but whosoever believes shall be saved. Feelings come,
feelings go, feelings are deceiving. Quit waiting for a feeling. Quit waiting to feel saved. What's that supposed to feel
like? Quit waiting for an experience. Your experience, you'll question
it the rest of your life. You don't need experience. I
don't need experience. I need Christ. Quit waiting for
something to happen. And this is one of the difficult
things for people, particularly young people raised up hearing
the gospel of God's grace. They weren't raised in a work
church. They were raised hearing the gospel and they keep waiting
for something to happen. It ain't going to happen. If
not, Believe on Christ now. Don't wait for anything. Don't
wait till you know more. Don't wait till you have a better
experience. Don't wait. No. Believe on Christ right now. God, listen, God commands all
men everywhere to repent. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. What if I've committed the unpardonable
sin? What if it's too late? Well,
what if it's not? What if it's not? You know, I don't know how
many times I've been scared to death that I've committed the
unpardonable sin. Well, I'm coming to Christ as a sinner. I know
that. Let me show you a couple of verses
of scripture. Turn to Romans chapter 5. Verse 6, For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. Now, where do you fit in there? Would that describe you? without
spiritual strength, powerless, ungodly. Does that describe you? Then my dear friend, Christ died
for you. Now, if that doesn't describe
you, I can't give you any assurance that Christ died for you. But
if that's you, Jesus Christ shed his precious blood for you and
you don't have any sin. It's all gone. It's all washed
away. And I'm saying that on the authority
of God's word. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. First Timothy chapter one. And this, verse 15, this is a
faithful saying, this is something you can rely on. It's a saying,
it's something that believers ought to be saying all the time.
It's a saying, it's not just words, it's a saying. It's a
faithful saying. You can rely on this and it's
worthy of all acceptation. You ought to embrace this. And
here it is, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Now, if I'm a sinner, that means
I can conclude that Jesus Christ came to save me. You can make
that conclusion. It doesn't say repentant sinners
or believing sinners or sorry sinners, or I thought all sinners
were sorry. It doesn't put any adjective
in front of us. It just says sinners. If you
fit in that group, Christ came to save you. And yes, He did. What is your excuse? It's not
valid. It's not valid. Quit waiting. Come to Christ right now. Believe on His name. Believe
that who He is, is all that's needed to make you perfect before
God. He promised, Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. Just as I am without one
plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst
me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. Let's pray. and your work is promised.