Compel Them to Come in

Q: What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

The Bible invites all to come to Christ and assures that all things are ready for those who believe. In Luke 14:15-24, Jesus shares a parable depicting God's invitation for all to come to Him, emphasizing His desire for everyone to partake in His salvation. The message is clear: 'Come, for all things are now ready.' This signifies that salvation is fully prepared through Christ's work and requires only a willingness to accept that invitation. Notably, God's grace ensures that no one is excluded by their past failures or present struggles, as the call is made to the poor and the powerless, who represent all of humanity in their need for redemption.

Q: How do we know election is true?

Election is rooted in God's sovereign choice before the foundation of the world, as revealed in Scripture. Election is the biblical doctrine that God has chosen certain individuals for salvation before the world's foundation. This is affirmed in Ephesians 1:4-5, where Paul states that God chose us in Christ according to the purpose of His will. The notion that election limits God's grace is misguided; it actually opens the door to mercy, ensuring that none of God's chosen will be lost. Those who respond to the call of the gospel do so not because they have earned an invitation, but because of God's sovereign grace that compels them to come, illustrating that none can claim their own merit as the basis for salvation.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand God's grace?

Understanding God's grace is crucial as it underlines the foundation of salvation and frees us from self-reliance. God's grace is the unmerited favor that enables sinners to come to Him for salvation. In the parable (Luke 14:15-24), those called to the feast represent humanity's inherent unworthiness. Recognizing that we can do nothing to merit God's favor helps believers depend wholly on God’s grace rather than their own works. This understanding fosters humility and gratitude, reminding us that our salvation does not rest on our performance but entirely on Christ's completed work. Grace also empowers us to live obediently, knowing that we are accepted because of Christ's righteousness imputed to us.

Q: What does 'come to the feast' mean in the Bible?

'Come to the feast' symbolizes an invitation to accept salvation and partake in the blessings of God's grace. The phrase 'come to the feast' in the biblical context, as seen in Luke 14, represents God’s earnest invitation to all people, especially those who acknowledge their need for salvation. This feast is a metaphor for the gospel, where God's grace is freely offered to the undeserving. Throughout Scripture, this invitation emphasizes God's desire that none should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). To accept this invitation means to relinquish all excuses and recognize one's need for a Savior, ultimately understanding that salvation is entirely by God’s provision and grace.

Q: How can I be sure I'm one of the elect?

Trust in Christ and His promises; all who come to Him are accepted and saved. Assurance of being among the elect derives not from introspection or feelings, but from the promise of God's Word. Romans 10:13 assures that 'whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' This foundational truth emphasizes that the call to come to Christ is universal, offering hope to all who respond. It is not about mere existential wondering but the active response to Jesus’ invitation. If you feel drawn to Christ, that is evidence of God's work in you, pointing to His electing grace. The absence of qualification means that if you seek Him, you can be confident in His promise of salvation.

Would you turn to Luke, Chapter
14? Luke, Chapter 14. Tonight, I'm going to be speaking
out of John, Chapter six, verses 47 through 58, where the Lord
spoke of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. And we're
going to consider what our Lord meant by that. And tonight we're
going to observe the Lord's table together. Let's begin reading in verse
12 of Luke chapter 14. Then said he also to him that
bathed him, When thou makest a supper, Call not thy friends, nor thy
brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, lest
they also bid thee again, and recompense be made to thee. But
when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame,
the blind." Now what a feast that would be
with this crowd there. What a feast. And thou shalt
be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed
at the resurrection of the just. And when one of them that sat
at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed
is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Will anyone argue with the truthfulness
of that statement? I sure wouldn't. Blessed is he
who eats bread in this kingdom. Can you imagine what a blessing
it would be to be a part of this great feast? And that's what
he's saying. Blessed is he who eats bread
in the kingdom of God. Nobody will disagree with that,
but what does it mean? What does it mean? I believe
that this was the speech of a man that believed himself to be sympathetic
for the things of the kingdom of heaven, but he'd never really
come to Christ. His religion was all talk, nothing
more than that. I mean, you would agree with
what he said. Everybody in here will agree. Blessed is he who
eats bread in this kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. I mean, it's
a blessed thing, but what does it mean? This is a man who expressed
sympathy This is a man who said he agreed and said this would
be a blessed thing, but he never really come to Christ. He never
really entered the kingdom of heaven. So look at verse 16.
Then said he unto him. Now, the Lord is speaking to
a specific person. Then said he unto him, this man
who made this statement of agreement and even a good, accurate statement. But it was meaningless. It really
didn't mean anything. Anybody would agree with this.
He spake this parable to him. Now, the only safe way for you
and I to look at this passage of scripture is just assume you
are the him he's speaking to. I pray that God will give me
the grace and you the grace to assume that you're that person
that he's speaking to. I mean, you maybe think, well,
I hope so and so hears this. Well, I hope I hear it. I hope
you hear it. He spake this parable unto him. A certain man. Made a great supper. And bade many. And sent his servant
at supper time to say to them that were bidden, come. For all
things are now ready. And they all, with one consent,
began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I've
bought a piece of ground and I must need to go see it. I pray
thee have me excused. And another said, I've bought
five yoke of oxen and I go to prove them. I pray thee have
me excused. And another said, I've married
a wife and therefore I can't come. So that servant came and
showed the Lord these things. 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, not invite, but bring in
hither the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind. Now,
these people couldn't get in on them. The only way they can
come to this feast is if they're brought to this feast. No other
way of coming. You're going to have to bring
them in. Verse 22. And the servant said, Lord, it's
done as thou has commanded. And yet there is room. And there's not a word filled
with more grace and all the word of God than right there. Yet
there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant,
verse 23, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them. to come in, that my house may
be filled. For I say unto you, that none
of those men which were bidden, or invited, or called, shall
taste of my supper." Now remember, the Lord gives this man who said,
Blessed are they who eat bread in the kingdom of God. He gives
this parable to this man. He's sympathetic with the things
of the kingdom of God. He would even say he agrees with
them. But his religion was in cause. Notice when our Lord gave
that statement, you bring in these people to your house. He
didn't think anything about that. He just thought about eating
bread in the kingdom of God. It's basically a meaningless
religious statement. And he spake this parable to
him that a certain man is God the Father. And the great supper
is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he bade many. And
the word bade is actually he called many. Many are called
to this supper of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 17, And he sent
a servant at suppertime, saying to them that were bidden, Come,
for all things are now ready. Now, this servant represents
gospel preaching. And here is the message of gospel
preaching. It's come. Come in. You are welcome. Come to the great banquet. The message of the gospel is
not go away. It's come. The gospel in its
very nature is not a message that keeps people away. It's
a message that brings people in. It's not exclusive. It's not excluding people. You're
already excluded by nature. The message of the gospel is
not something to exclude people and keep them out. But it's inclusive. It brings them in. I read that passage of Scripture
from Revelation 22, 17. And the Spirit and the pride
say what? Come. Come and welcome to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And let him that heareth say
what? Come. 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. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord says to me, you're welcome. Come on in. Look what he says
next. All things are now ready. And notice that word now. All
things are right now ready. Not they will be ready if you
come. They're ready, right now. All things. You don't need to
bring your own anything. You don't need to bring something
to help out. You don't need to bring a dessert.
All things are now ready. You just come. I want to look at a couple of very familiar
scriptures. Would you turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. All things are now ready. They're already prepared. There's nothing for you to bring
or do. It's already ready. It's already ready. You don't
need to be anything. You don't need to do anything. You don't need to experience
anything. He says, come, come to me. All things are now ready. Now,
look here. These are very familiar passages
of Scripture, but I want you to see, look at them from a little
bit different angle. Verse 30. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God will be made unto us if. I didn't read it
right, did I? Who of God is made unto us. Not he will be if we do this.
All things are now ready. Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter 2 verse 9. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you will be complete if, no, it doesn't
say that at all. All things are ready. You are
complete. Isn't that a wonderful message?
There's nothing you need to bring. There's nothing you need to experience.
There's nothing you need to do. Just come. Well, I need to understand
more. I need to feel more conviction.
No, just come. Come and welcome to the Lord
Jesus Christ. All things are ready. Don't bring
a thing. Come on in. You are Welcome just
as you are come to this great gospel feast, whosoever will
let him take the water of life. Freely. Isn't that a wonderful
word? Freely, no. No causing you. No, just just come on. Verse
18. And they all. With one consent,
they were at agreement here. They began to make excuse. Now, this is the natural man's
response to the gospel. You know, we never really know
how bad a man is until he hears the gospel preached. That's when
you find out what makes up a man, when he hears the gospel preached.
Now, these fellas might have been real nice fellas, real good
guys. But all of a sudden, when they hear the gospel preached,
They all, with one consent, with complete agreement, began to
make excuse. They weren't honest enough to
say, I don't have any interest in coming. No, they had to make
up an excuse. They weren't honest enough to
say, well, I hate the master, and I don't want anything to do with
him. No, they began, with all, with one consent, began to make
excuse. And look at the frivolous excuses
they make. The first said unto him, I bought
a piece of ground, and I must need to go see it. Now, don't
you see the piece of ground before you buy it? Generally speaking,
you do, don't you? But this fellow says, I've already
bought it, and I need to go see it, so I can't come. Another says,
I bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. Now, wait
a minute. It seems like you had approved
them before you bought them. But this fellow says, no, I've got
to prove them. I've already bought them. I've got to prove them. Have
me excused, please. And another said, I've married
me a wife, and I cannot come. These were all frivolous excuses. They were all too busy. They
were just too busy. They were immersed in the world.
How insane. If I were in a house that were
on fire and you cried out to me, fire, fire, get out, escape
for your life. What if I said. I'm too busy
right now. You'd say you're crazy, you're
insane, yes, yes, that would be your response. Let's go on reading verse 21.
So the servant came. And showed his Lord. These things,
these excuses, these men made, 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 here. I
can't make that. Could you tell us who got to
the feast? I mean, look at this description of them. They were
maimed. They were blind. They were halt. They couldn't
have made it into the feast. They couldn't walk there. If
you invited them, it wouldn't do them any good. They had to be
brought in, didn't they? No other way for them to get
there unless they are brought in. Go quickly into the lanes
and streets of the city and bring in hither the poor and the maimed
and the halt and the blind They can't get there on their own,
and this is a picture of you and I. This fourfold description. It's a picture of you and I.
Perfect. Poor. Poor. You and I do not have a nickel's
worth of merit. Not one single thing, not one,
that can recommend me to God. Absolutely poor. Don't have anything. Not only are we poor, We're maimed. That word means
literally disabled. Disabled. Not only do you not
have anything, you lack the ability. I lack the ability to believe,
to come, to see the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lack the
ability. I'm disabled. I'm maimed. I'm
disabled. Crippled. Not only are we poor, not only
are we named, but we're halt. Halting between two opinions. Going back and forth. Not only are we halt, we are
blind. Unable to see the beauty of the
gospel. Unable to see the glories of
Jesus Christ. Unable to see myself, how I really
am. Unable to see the simplicity
of the gospel, just unable to see, blind, can't see. Now this pictures what you and
I are by nature. You see that. You see that. And
how's the only way that these people are going to be brought
in? It's not going to be because they walk in. They're going to
have to be brought in by the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, these
people are brought in. He brought them in by death on
the cross. You know what I was brought in when Christ died?
I was brought in. When He ascended back to the Father, I was right
there with Him as my representative. I ascended back with Him. I was
brought in then. He brings them in by His irresistible grace.
He gives the poor the riches of His righteousness. He gives
the disabled the ability to believe and the ability to repent. He
gives those that are halting between two opinions the grace
to stop halting. He gives the blind the eyes to
see the beauty and the glory of the gospel. You see the gospel
is beautiful. It's altogether glorious. Maybe
at one time it was a dull and uninteresting subject to you,
but now you see the glory of how God can be just and justify
the ungodly. It's beautiful to you. He brings
those people in. Verse 22, And the servant said, Lord, it is done as Thou hast commanded
And yet there is room. Now there is not a more gracious
statement in all the Word of God than right here. It's done
as thou has commanded. Isn't that the way it always
is? It's done exactly as he commanded. And yet there is room. What a precious word of encouragement.
Yet there is room. It's always done, as He said.
It's done. I mean, it's finished. It's done,
as He said. It's not, it will happen if...
No, it's done, as He said. Now, when our Lord walked upon
this earth, He did so as a representative of His people. He did so for
God's elect, those the Father gave Him before the foundation
of the world, and He saved them. It's done, as He said. Everybody that Jesus Christ represented
he said it's done as he said all of God's elect everybody
the father gave him shall be saved they are saved it's done listen to me real carefully election
doesn't keep anybody out of the kingdom of heaven now God chose
who'd be saved and they're the only ones who can be saved isn't
that so? You notice it's what the Bible teaches. Somebody that
doesn't believe that doesn't believe the Bible. They don't believe grace. The election of grace. He chose
who would be saved before time began and it's done as he said. He said this is the will of him
that sent me that of all which he had given me I'd lose nothing.
But raise it up again at the last day. Everybody Christ died
for is saved. It's done as he said. Election doesn't keep anybody
out of the kingdom of heaven. It brings people into the kingdom
of heaven. If there wasn't an elect, nobody here would be saved.
Isn't that so? Don't you know that's so regarding
you? If God didn't choose you, you wouldn't be saved. Thank
God for election. It doesn't keep people away.
It opens the door of mercy open. It doesn't close it. It opens
it. The only thing that keeps a man
from Christ is you can't say, well, I wasn't elect. No, you
don't come to Christ because you don't want to. That's the
truth. If you don't come to Christ,
it's because you don't want to. Not because He keeps you from it. Election
brings people in. It's done as He said. And yet,
there is room. For me? For me? Let's go on reading.
Verse 23. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and
hedges and compel them to come in that my house might be full. You go out into the highways,
people that are far away, and it's done as he said. All the
elect are saved. That's finished. Christ Jesus
accomplished salvation for everybody he died for. It's done. That's
the truth. Yet there is room. That doesn't
mean maybe there's some non-elect that will get in. You know it
doesn't mean that. And when we're preaching the gospel, we're not
trying to make sure none of the non-elect come in. I mean, some
preachers preach that way. They act like they're afraid
somebody will get into the kingdom of heaven that doesn't belong there. Now,
I don't want to be guilty of that. Oh, may the Lord deliver us from
that. Here's the message. All things are now ready, yet
there is room. There's room. What good do's?
So the master in his graciousness, he says, you go out into the
highways and hedges, the highways, people that are far away, the
hedges, people that are ashamed in their sin, ashamed to come
out, go smoke them out, smoke them out, compel them to come
in, urge them to come in, that my house might be full. Now, the word compel means put
constraint on it. by persuasion, by threat, by
entreaty, and by force. That's what the word means. You
go out and compel them to come in by persuasion, by threat,
by entreaty, by force. What grace there is in the Master,
what mercy that He would compel these people to come in. And
it's my prayer that the Lord will compel that one who has
not yet come to Christ to come in. Now, I would persuade you.
I would persuade you. Come. The door of mercy is open. Come. I would use entreaty. We beseech you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God. I would threaten you. If you
don't come, you'll come to hell. That's what will happen to you
if you don't. I would threaten you in that sense. I would use
force. The irresistible work of God
the Holy Spirit. You know, He does use force.
He makes people willing. in the day of His power, compel
them to come in. Now, I believe the spirit of
this text is to compel men to come to Christ who are making
excuses. Men all have excuses for not
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're all lame excuses. And I know every one of them
because I've made one of them. I have some familiarity with
what I'm talking about. So I want you as God enables
you to listen real carefully as I attempt. And I know I can't
compel anybody to come in, only God can do it. I pray that God
will compel somebody to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
here's the excuses we make. You ever made this one? Well,
I'm afraid I'm not one of the elect. I'm afraid I'm not one of the
elect. I'm afraid God did not choose
me. Election never kept a sinner
out of heaven. It doesn't keep people out. I've
already said this. It brings people in. If a man
doesn't come to Christ, he can't blame election. If he doesn't
come to Christ, it's because he doesn't want to come. People
do what they want to do. Now, do you hear that? People do exactly
what they want to do. And if you do not come to the
Lord Jesus Christ, it's because you didn't want to. Now, he's
made this promise, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise, for
no reason whatsoever cast out. So you can't say election keeps
you coming from Christ. The Lord says if you come, I
won't cast you out. Now that is His promise. Now here's another common excuse
for not coming. I can't believe. I lack the ability
to believe. After all, John 6, verse 44 says
no man can come to me. Except the Father which has sent
me drawing. Now how can you expect me to do something that I can't
do? I lack the ability to come. I lack the ability to believe.
It doesn't seem right for you to call on me to do something
I can't do. Now, let me say something to this person. I've done that.
I know this one. You're looking to faith and not
to Christ. That's exactly what you're doing.
Now listen to me real carefully. If I say I want to believe, I
never do. If I say I want to believe, oh
I just want to, I can't but I want to, I never do. You see, faith is not a choice. Do you understand that? You do not choose to believe. You only believe because you've
got no choice. It's the truth. It's the truth. You don't choose to believe.
You believe that which is true. Now, you have to choose to believe
error. If I say 2 and 2 is 4, you don't say, well, I'm going
to choose to believe that. No, you just believe because
it's so. Isn't that right? You believe it because it's the
truth. Now, you'd have to choose to believe it's 3, though, wouldn't
you? Or you'd have to choose to believe that it's 5. You'd
have to make a choice to believe that error, but as far as believing
the truth, you believe something because it's true. Now here's
what you and I are called upon to do, to believe the true testimony. Is the Gospel the truth? Then believe it. Faith comes
from believing the testimony. Is Jesus Christ the truth? Is
He the Son of God? Then believe the testimony. Faith comes from believing. You don't choose to believe.
You believe that which is true. Don't say, I want to believe,
but I can't. If the gospel is true, simply
believe the testimony and faith will come out of that. Here's
another objection. There are just so many inconsistent
people claim to believe. There are too many hypocrites
in the church. I mean, you look at the hypocrites there. Well, get
in line, then. There's room for you. Room for you. You'll fit in just right. This
is good news. Yes, there are plenty of them. But thank God he saved sinners. But I'm afraid I won't hold out
and endure. I've seen people start and fall
away. I've seen people start and look
where they ended up. I'm afraid that's going to happen to me,
too. Boy, that is plumb stupid reasoning. I've made this one too, but it's
stupid reasoning. What's going to happen if you don't come? You'll perish. I can but perish
if I go. I am resolved to go. I can perish
if I stay. I am resolved to go. I mean,
that doesn't make any sense at all. If you don't, I'm afraid
I won't endure. Well, if you don't go, you know
you'll be damned. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Somebody else says, but I'm just afraid I'm too sinful. I'm too
sinful to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's not going
to wash either, because you know that Paul has already given us
this information that Christ Jesus has already saved the very
chief of sinners. I don't care how bad you are. Paul was worse.
Ask him. He'd tell you that. You think
you were bad? Paul is worse. He 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 chief. So you can't be too
bad to be saved. You can be too good to be saved.
No doubt about that. But you can't be too bad to be
saved. Somebody else says, well, how
do I know what you're preaching is true? There are a lot of other beliefs,
and there are a lot of other people who sincerely believe
that what they believe is true. So what makes you think what
you're saying is true? Well, you have the Bible to see. You
can read the Bible just like I can. You can read and see if
I'm preaching this word, and you can see whether or not it's
true. And as far as that goes, everybody in this room. Now, you might not agree with
me. I realize that. But everybody in this room, deep
down on a very deep level, knows what I'm saying is the truth. You know, if God is, this is
the way it must be. You know that. Now, people may
end up objecting to it because it doesn't fit in with their
plans. But no, everybody knows. You
know that this is the truth. Somebody says, well, I'm afraid
I'm not invited. He might have, I know he came to save the elect,
but I'm afraid I'm not invited. Well, this is better. You're
commanded. Acts chapter 17, verse 30 says,
God commands all men everywhere to repent. You're commanded. And for you to not come is disobedience
to the command. You don't need to worry about
whether or not you're invited. Don't worry about that. Well, I intend
to tomorrow. Most not by self, but tomorrow.
For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Well, I'm afraid it's too late
for me. I've sinned against such light. I've sinned against such
grace, I've been so hard hearted, I'm afraid it's over for me.
I'm afraid it's too late. Listen to this scripture. Behold. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day. Of salvation. Now, would you turn with me for
a moment to Romans Chapter 10? Verse 1, Paul said, Brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. For I bear them record, they
have a zeal of God. I'm not talking about heathen.
These are very religious people. They believe in the God of the
Bible. They stand for the Bible, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness. And here's what
people do who are ignorant of God's righteousness, they go
back to establish their own righteousness. You see, if you ever come to
see and if I ever come to see God's righteousness, I will be
utterly convinced that I don't have any. What is a self-righteous
person? A self-righteous person is a
person who has personal righteousness. It's that simple. If you have
any personal righteousness, you've never seen God's righteousness,
because if you had, you believe you don't have any. I'm sure
of that. Let's go on reading. They've been ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness.
They've not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
They've not submitted themselves to His righteousness in their
damnation. And they've not submitted themselves to His righteousness
and salvation, the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ being charged
to their account. They've not submitted themselves.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. For Moses described the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by it. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on
this wise. First, it tells us what not to
say. Say not in your heart who shall ascend into heaven. That
is to bring Christ down from above. Don't say this in your
heart. What can I do to get Christ to come down here and do something
for me? You ever said that in your heart? What can I do to
get him to do something for me? He says, stop it. Don't say that
in your heart. Verse seven, or who shall descend
into the deep? That is, bring up Christ again
from the dead. Don't say, what can I do to make His death work
for me? Don't say anything like that.
That is works. That's what it is. It's work.
Don't say, what can I do to get Christ to come down and do something
for me? Don't think I can do something to make His blood work
for me. That's just works. But what saith it, verse 8, the
Word is nigh thee. Listen to me. It's so close to
you right now. It's nigh thee. Even in thy mouth
and in thy heart, that is the Word of faith which we preach,
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, Do
you believe He's the Lord? Do you really believe that He
is the Lord Jesus? And do you believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead? Do you believe that He
so satisfied the Father for everybody He represented, that He so completely
put away sins, that He so saved all His people that God raised
Him up from the dead? Do you believe that? Do you believe
He's Lord? And do you believe that God raised
him from the dead? Do you believe? What then? Thou shalt be saved. That's what
the word of God says. For with the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. Now, with all my heart, I believe
that Jesus Christ is my only righteousness before God. I believe
that with the heart, with the mind, with the affections, with
the will, with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness
and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. For there
is no difference, verse 12, between the Jew and the Greek, for the
same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever,
this is one of the great words in the scriptures, whosoever,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Abba whosoever. There may be other Todd Norberts.
Hope not, but there may be. And if it said Todd Norbert,
it might have meant somebody else. But whosoever, I'm one
of them. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. What a word, whosoever. I'm one
of them. That's a big word. You can fit yourself in that
group. The name of the Lord. There's the important word. That's
who He is. Does He have power to save you? The name of the
Lord, is His name enough to bring you into heaven? Do you believe
if you have His name on you, you're accepted? Whosoever shall
call, you can do that right now. Lord, save me! Have mercy on
me! Help me! Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And what a word! Shall be saved. Now, instead of using lame excuses,
let's use a little inspired logic. You're there in Romans. Turn
to Romans five. Verse six. For when we were yet without
strength. In due time. Christ died for
the ungodly. Now, I want to ask you a question.
If Christ died for you, will you be saved? Now, I realize there are people,
most people, believe that Jesus Christ shed his blood for everybody.
And he died for everybody. And many of those people that
he died for won't be saved. Because they didn't do something
to make his death work. Now, that just works. That just
works. That's all you can call it is
works. If Christ died for you, you'll be saved, won't you? You
believe that? If He shed His precious blood for you, your
sins are gone, aren't they? Well, how can I know if He died
for me? How can I know? Well, it says, for when we were
yet without strength. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. Now, here's a two-fold description
of the people Christ died for. Number one, without strength. Do you have some spiritual strength?
Well, I can't give you any promise that Christ died for you, but
if you're without strength, and here's the second description,
ungodly. Would that be you? No? Well, I can't tell you Christ
died for you, but if you're without strength and if you're ungodly,
without question, Jesus Christ died for you. Now, I can say
this. He died for me. I know He did. Because I did that description.
That's me. That's me. He died for me. And you know
what? If He died for me, I'm saved. I Timothy 1. Verse 15. This is a faithful
saying. You can rely on this. Everybody
here, you can rely on this statement, this saying. It's always true.
It's worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to embrace this
and believe this and welcome this and glory in this. And here
it is, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Now, what I love about that verse
of Scripture is the absence of an adjective. It doesn't say
He came to save teary-eyed sinners, although He does. It doesn't
say he came to save repentant sinners, although he does. It
doesn't say he came to save sensible sinners. It doesn't say he came
to save believing sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
any adjective to describe those sinners. It says he came to save
sinners. Of whom I am the chief. Well, if that would describe
you. He came to save you now quit waiting. Quit waiting for
an experience. Quit waiting for something to
happen. Quit waiting to get better. Quit waiting to understand more.
Quit waiting for anything. Stop the lame excuses. Believe
on Christ right now. Acts chapter 16 verse 30 says,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a command. That's a command. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. He commands you to believe. And
your right to believe comes with the command. Amen. Let's pray.

Compel Them to Come in

What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

How do we know election is true?

Why is it important for Christians to understand God's grace?

What does 'come to the feast' mean in the Bible?

How can I be sure I'm one of the elect?

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Compel Them to Come in

What does the Bible say about coming to Christ?

How do we know election is true?

Why is it important for Christians to understand God's grace?

What does 'come to the feast' mean in the Bible?

How can I be sure I'm one of the elect?

Sermon Transcript

About Todd Nibert

Comments

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