I want to work on something tonight
that I've been thinking about and arguing about and considering
for a while, and I think it's a neglected truth. I think it's
a most important truth. I think it may have a bearing
upon the way that we present the gospel and the way that we
listen to the gospel and our attitude toward the gospel. And
that is Romans chapter 10, verse 16. It says, But they have not
all obeyed the gospel. Now, my friends, you obey a command. You obey a command. And what
I'm saying tonight is this, and that for which I'm contending
is this, the gospel of Jesus Christ is a command. Now, I know we hear a lot today
about the gospel invitation, and much stress is put upon the
gospel invitation. Will you let God save you? Will you surrender to Jesus? Will you let Christ be your Lord? Will you accept Jesus as your
personal Savior? Will you? Will you? God wants
to save you. Like one preacher said recently,
well, Jesus sits down in heaven and says, well, Father, I've
done all I can do, and that's up to them. If you want to come right down
to it, the word invitation does not appear in the Word of God
anywhere. It's just not there. It's not
there in connection with the gospel. It's not there in connection
with gospel preaching. It's not there anywhere, from
Genesis to Revelation. We have coined this phrase, the
gospel invitation. Actually, the word invite is
not in the Bible. The word invited is three times.
But the word invited, and that has to do with Absalom inviting
some fellas to dinner, and Esther inviting some folks to come see
her. That's the type of invitation.
But it's not ever used in reference to the Lord God of heaven inviting
Charlie anybody to do anything. That's just not there. Now, I
don't want to be contentious. I don't want to be offensive.
I don't want to be true to the Word of God. Now, let me clear that
up and say this. I may invite people to hear me
preach. I do invite you. I do invite
you for your soul's welfare and well-being. I invite you to flee
the wrath to come. I invite you to come to the house
of God. In fact, I persuade you. Paul
said, I persuade men. I persuade men. He said, I beseech
you, be you reconciled to God. I urge you. I urge you. But my
friends, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords does not invite
His subjects to obey Him. It's just not in keeping with
His character. The Lord of Glory, the King of
Kings, does not invite men to believe Him. He commands them
to obey Him. He commands them to believe Him.
He commands them to honor Him. Now let me show you a few what
we generally call invitations, but I want to show you what they
are. Turn to Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Now, really, an invitation
from a king is a command. Now, you can use the word if
you want to, call it an invitation, call it any, whatever you want
to, but it carries with it the expectation of obedience. But now in Isaiah 45, you say,
look at verse 22. Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and
there's none else. More than an invitation, that's a direction.
That's a direction. In the preceding verse, he says
this. There is no God beside me. I'm a just God. I'm a Savior. There's not anywhere else to
look, so you better look to me. That's what he's saying, giving
you direction. It's not just a plea. It's not an invitation.
He is saying that I'm the only one who can save you. I'm the
only just God and Savior. There's none beside me. You better
look to me. That's what that is. You better
look to me. Look to me. All the ends are
there. That's direction. Look to me. Don't look anywhere
else. Look to me. As Moses lifted up the blazing
serpent in the wilderness. Now where else are they to look?
Moses says look to the serpent. That's the only place to look.
That's direction. Now turn to Matthew 11. Now look
carefully at this verse, Matthew chapter 11. Here's one we use
all the time. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
but there's a verse that goes before that. There's a verse
before that, and the Lord gave verse 28 in the same message,
the same sentence in which he gave the preceding verse. Now
watch it, verse 27. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. Everything's vested in Christ.
Everything's put in Christ. All things. Life, redemption,
sanctification, justification. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. No man knows the Son but the
Father, and no man knoweth the Father except the Son. And he
to whomsoever the Son will reveal him, so come to me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, that ye might have life." That's the
direction, Bob. There's life in me. You see that,
Joe? You better come to me. That's
where life is. The Father's put everything in
Christ, and no man knows the Father but the Son, so you better
come to me. That's not just a plea, an invitation,
urging men to do what they ought to do. He said, that's where
it is. It's in me. So you can go through the word
like that and you'll find that our Lord commands men to believe. The gospel is a command. A sovereign
Lord does not invite people to obey Him. He does not invite
people to believe Him or to honor Him. He commands them to do so.
Now then, to believe Him is to reap great reward. For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. To
believe Christ is to reap great reward. Not to believe him, to
refuse to believe him, is to incur great sin. Turn to 1 John
5.10. Listen to this. This is the consequence
of not believing him, of not hearing his word, of not receiving
him. 1 John 5.10. Listen. He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that
believeth not God hath made him a liar. That's serious. Because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God
hath given us eternal life, and this life's in his Son, and not
to believe that is to make God a liar. That's serious. That's not an optional thing,
you know, that's dead serious. And also, not to believe, to
refuse to believe, is to be damned. Our Lord, when He sent His disciples
out, He said, Go unto all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Shall be damned. Now let's go back to the text
in Romans 10, and let's look at some things here. Now this
is what we're saying. We invite men to come to hear
us preach, we invite men to consider the things which we're saying,
we persuade men to look to Christ, we beseech men to be reconciled
to God, but I'm saying that the King of kings and the Lord of
lords, he does not just invite men or beg men to do anything,
he commands, he sets forth a command. Now let's look at Romans chapter
10 beginning with verse 12. And let's notice several things
here and see if we can make good on this. For there is no difference,
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. There
is no difference between Jew and Gentile, male and female,
bond and free. There is no difference. Now my friends, what does this
mean? Well, it doesn't mean there's no difference between people.
You know, I don't know how far you can carry this thing, all
men are created equal. It's certainly not true. There's
some smarter than others, no question about that. Some people
are born with more potential and more wisdom and more brains
and more ability. Some be more talented than others.
That's right. Some people are prettier than
others. Some people are stronger than others. Some are born with
very weak, frail bodies. Some are born with robust bodies.
Some are richer than others. Some are freer than others. What
does he mean here, there's no difference? There's no difference.
Well, there are two ways in which there's no difference. The first
one is this, there's no difference in that all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. That's the first place where
there's no difference. There's no difference. All of
us are sons of Adam, all of us are born under the condemnation
of the law, all of us are born under the curse of the law, and
all of us are born guilty before God. The second place there's
no difference is this, watch it, there's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek by the same Lord. The same Master, the
same King over all. He's over all. He has authority
over every son of Adam, all flesh. The same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call on Him. Rich in mercy and rich in grace
to all who call on Him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved, because he is rich in
mercy. Because he's the Lord of mercy,
whosoever of any nation, any tribe, any kindred shall call
upon him the name of the Lord in his true redemptive character
shall be saved. Shall be saved. Go where you
will, when you will. to whom you will, and command
anyone to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if he believes
on Christ, he shall be saved." The only thing that keeps you
from the mercy of God is your unwillingness to believe. The
only thing that keeps you from the grace of God is your unwillingness
to bow, your unwillingness to submit, your unwillingness to
receive Christ. But verse 14, now watch this,
How shall they call? How shall they call intelligently? How shall they look intelligently
with some discernment and understanding? How shall they call on Him in
whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they haven't even heard? And how shall they hear
without preaching? That's what we're doing, we're
preaching the gospel. Don't underestimate the power,
the necessity, and the glory of preaching the gospel. God
has ordained, turn to 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21, God has ordained
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Listen
to it, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21. After that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, but it pleased God by
the foolishness of preaching to save them to believe. Guess
what we're doing? Declaring the gospel, preaching
the gospel, defining the gospel by preaching men are saved. By
preaching the word of God, faith is born. He beget us with the
word of truth. Of his own will, beget he us
with the word of truth. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel, it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it. By the preaching of the word,
comfort is given. By the preaching of the word,
men grow in grace. By the preaching of the word,
God is glorified. Now turn with me to Isaiah 52. Isaiah chapter 52. I want to
show you a verse of scripture. Isaiah 52. Now those who preach
the gospel, are not just folks that are going out here to reason
with men and plead with men and try to get some kind of confession
out of men. Actually, turn first of all to
Isaiah 40. First of all, to Isaiah 40. Let
me show you something here in Isaiah chapter 40. Don't underestimate
the preaching of the gospel. Now, here's what Paul is saying.
Let's build this up here. He said there is no difference.
No matter where you find people, there's no difference. Whether
it be a Jew or Gentile, white or black, rich or poor, smart
or ignorant, male or female, there's no difference. They've
all seen. And the same Lord, Master, King over all is rich
in mercy and grace to all who call on Him. For whosoever, wherever
you go, to whomsoever you go, no matter when you go, whosoever
shall call with some discernment and some understanding shall
call upon the name and his name is his attributes, his character,
his true person. Whosoever shall identify in his
heart and identify with his understanding and identify who Christ is, what
Christ did, why he did it, where he is now, call on the name of
the Lord Jesus. Whosoever intelligently and willingly
with some understanding and discernment shall plead and call and look
to Christ shall be saved. But now how are they going to
look to Him, and how are they going to believe on Him, and
how are they going to call on Him if they don't know Him? If
they've never been introduced to Him? If they've never heard
of Him? And how are they going to hear
of Him if somebody doesn't preach? You see? If somebody doesn't
preach. And He said, how beautiful are
the feet of them that preach the truth. How beautiful on the
mountain are the feet of them that come with the good tidings,
and the good news, and the gospel, and the truth about God. Now
what is their message? Now watch here in Isaiah 40.
Look at this carefully. In verse 6, the boy said to me,
Cry! Cry! He's speaking to God's prophet. Cry! And I said, well what shall
I cry? Tell me what to cry. I'm not
just going to go out there and holler. That's what a lot of
preachers do. Grab my ear and scream. Entertain sinners on
the road to hell. He said, cry. I said, well, what
shall I cry? He said, it's a two-fold message.
Number one, you tell them all flesh is grass. That's what it
is. Just grass. Just grass. We don't even bother to rake
it up. Grass is a nuisance. Cut the grass. Cut the grass. Get rid of the grass, you know.
Rake up the grass. Burn the grass. All flesh is
grass. And read on. And you tell them
all the goodliness. What is the goodliness? The glory
thereof is like the flower of the field. The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth. It's not worth anything. Spirit
of God bloweth upon it, and the people is grass. The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth. But the word of God endureth
forever. O Zion, that brings good tidings,
get you up on the mountain. O Jerusalem, that brings good
tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, don't be
afraid, say unto them, what else? Twofold, behold your God. That's the message, the twofold
message. Now listen, the twofold message of evangelism. He sends
out his prophet here, chapter 40, starts out, comfort my people,
comfort my people. Go out there and preach and cry.
And I said, well, what will I cry? What's my message? All flesh
is grass. All the glory of man is the flower
of the field. It withereth, it fadeth, it passeth
away. What else? The holiness of your God, the
glory, the majesty, the sovereignty, the power, the might of your
God! Not just some little peanut puppet
up yonder, not just some figurehead, but God! Behold your God! That's the message! And look at Isaiah 52. Now watch
it. Isaiah 52. Here's another scripture
that needs consideration. Isaiah 52. And I'll tell you
this, if you look hard at these things, sit there, sit some time,
and don't read the Bible just to get your daily Bible readings
in before you go to bed. Don't read your Bible just to
be pious and say, I read my Bible every day. The thing to do is
get this like Isaiah 52.6 and look at it! Isaiah 52.6, Therefore
my people shall know my name. You can't call on it if you don't
know it, and that's what we've been talking about, isn't it?
If you call on the name of the Lord, you'll be saved, but they
can't call on Him whom they hadn't believed, David, and they can't
believe they hadn't heard Him. You're calling on a God that
can't hear, you're calling on a God that can't save, you're
calling on a God that doesn't exist, a figment of your imagination. My people, verse 6, shall know
my name, therefore they shall know my name. In the day that
I am he that doth speak, and I'm going to know it till I tell
him. He's going to know it's my name. I'm going to say, Behold,
it's I. Now who's going to tell him? How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. This is the very
verse Paul's quoting in Romans. Hold that right there and turn
back to Romans 10 and look at it. Romans chapter 10. Turn back there and look at it.
The whole book of verses is open there together. He said, there's
no difference. They're all alike. Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord, God will be saved. But
how are they going to call on the name of the Lord? They haven't
heard it. How are they going to believe in Him? They haven't
heard it. How shall they hear it without a preacher? Verse
15, how shall they preach except they be sent? It is written,
how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Now back to Isaiah
52. Look at it, verse 7. How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation, that saith unto Zion, God wants to save you, but you
won't let him. Won't you give God a change?
The Lord's up there just wringing his hands and crying his eyes
out because you won't let him have your way. That ain't what
it says for him to say. It says, you go out there and
you say, thy God reigneth. That's what I'm saying. Listen
to the amplifying. Isaiah 52, 6 and 7. Therefore
my people shall know what my name is and what it means. Therefore
they shall know in that day that I am he who speaks. Behold, I
am. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that brings good tidings, who publishes peace,
who publishes salvation, who says design, your God reigns. Your God reigns. He reigns in
creation. He reigns in providence. He reigns
in salvation. He reigns in all things. He's
the immutable, indisputable, infinite, almighty, sovereign
God, whose ways cannot be questioned. That's not being preached, or
what I'm saying is, the feet of folks preaching today is not
very beautiful on the mountain. Because they're not bringing
good tidings of good things. But, verse 16, but, this is what
you're going to run into, they have not all obeyed the gospel.
They're stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart, obstinate, ripples,
they will not believe. They will not believe. They haven't
obeyed the gospel, the gospel's a command. Now let me give you
three things here. Number one, we preach the gospel
of peace, the glad tidings of Christ as a command because that's
just exactly what it is. But here are three reasons. It
is not optional, it is not optional to men to believe God, his word
and his son. That's not optional. That's a
command. Not to believe God is to make
him a liar. That's not optional. Not optional
at all. It's a command. And secondly,
it's not optional whether or not you bow to Christ. That's
not optional. To refuse to bow, to refuse to
bow is to incur the judgment and wrath of God. Not optional. It's a command. Kiss the Son,
bow. In fact, he said in that day,
Cecil quoted in his prayer, every knee is going to bow, every tongue
is going to confess, this is an order, this is God's design,
this is God's decree, that every knee bow to Christ. So it's not
just an end, won't you bow to Christ? No sir, bow to Christ. That's the gospel. Down sinner,
down. Then it's not optional to believe
the gospel of the righteousness and death of Christ. It's a command.
Turn to Acts 17.30. Listen to this. God invites you
to repent. The Bible doesn't say that. In
Acts 17.30, listen to this. And the times of this ignorance
God winked at, but he now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. He commandeth all men everywhere. To change their attitude toward
themselves and toward God. To repent. Turn to Mark 1 15. Listen to this, Mark 1 15. In
the first chapter of Mark, verse 15. Listen to our Lord Jesus
Christ here. Now listen as he goes forward.
In verse 14 of Mark 1, Mark 1 14, now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God and saying, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God
is at hand, repent ye and believe the gospel. That's a command.
That's a command. That's so different from what
we're experiencing today. I watch preachers on television
and other places, and they just, they seem to be just this sort
of thing, you know, appealing to men to let God have His way,
give God a chance, this sort of thing. But the old prophets,
the men of old, went forth and commanded men to worship God. They commanded men to bow down. They commanded men to believe.
They commanded them. Even our Lord said as He went
forth, repent and believe. That's a command. Now, why is
it a command? Here's the second thing. Why
is it a command? Well, I hear three reasons. I want you to
think about these. Number one, it's a command in
keeping with the honor and character and works of the Lord God. It's
a command in keeping, first of all, with His honor. A great
king does not beg men to do his will. A great king does not bargain
as with an equal he commands. He says, to this one go, and
to that one come, and they obeyed. A great king. Now God said, let
there be light, and there was light. God said, let the dry
land appear, and it appeared. Let the dry land be separated
from the water, and it was so. Let us make man, he made man.
Everything God says, it's done. My counsel shall stand. He will
accomplish his will. And then do you think he leaves
the glory of his son in the hands of sinners at their discretion?
Oh, no. It doesn't fit his character,
it doesn't fit his honor, and it doesn't fit his other work.
Now watch this. Turn to Matthew 28. Matthew chapter
28, verse 18. Matthew 28. Here's the second
thing. The gospel is a command, first of all, because it's in
keeping with the honor and character and work of our God. Secondly,
the gospel is a command to give boldness to God's preachers and
God's ambassadors and God's witnesses. In Matthew 28, our Lord is standing
here, and he's about to ascend to the Father, about to take
his place on the right hand of God. His disciples are gathered
about him, and he says this to them. Now watch it, verse 18.
And Jesus came and spake to them, saying, All authority All authority,
power, is given to me in heaven and earth. He later, he earlier
said, all authority over all flesh is given to me. But here
he says, all power and authority is given to me in heaven and
earth. Go ye therefore, go ye therefore, because I have all
authority, because I have all power, you go and teach all nations
and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. Because I have this power, you go. We don't represent a
weak Messiah, a weak Christ, we represent a sovereign king
and we go forth in the boldness of God's spirit, in the boldness
of God's word, with a declaration, believe and be saved, reject
and be damned. And then thirdly, now watch this,
this will help a lot. Somebody said when I was talking
about this the other day, they said this gave me a little, a
little comfort, a little assurance. The gospel is a command, first
of all, in keeping with the honor, character, and work of God. The
gospel is a command to embolden and encourage his ambassador. We do not fail. We do not fail. Thanks be unto God, who always
causes us to triumph in Christ. Always. He said, Paul said, our
gospel is a savor, a fragrance of life unto life and death unto
death, but it doesn't fail. My word shall not return unto
me void. It shall accomplish my purpose.
But watch this. If the gospel is a command, and
it is, it encourages the humble seeker. and the genuine seeker. If Christ commands me to believe
on Him, then Joe, I'm at full liberty to do so. See what I'm
saying? If Jesus Christ commands me to
believe on Him, commands me to receive Him, then I'm at full
liberty to carry out His command. For example, our Lord stood face
to face with a man with a withered hand. That hand, one hand was
good, strong, the other was twisted and withered and probably up
his sleeve like this. And our Lord Jesus Christ didn't
invite him to stretch out his hand. Why don't you stretch out
your hand? I can't. Our Lord Jesus Christ
said, stretch out your hand. You see what I'm saying? Brother,
he did it. With the command came the enabling
grace. I command you to stretch out
your hand, then you've got no reason not to. If he, if the
Christ has all authority, and all over in heaven and earth,
his word is where the word of the King is this power. And here's
the one who speaks with authority over the angels, over the kingdom
of heaven, whose father does everything he desires because
he purchased that right. He commands you to stretch out
your hand. Now you have no reason not to.
Our Lord Jesus Christ stood by a man that was lying on a bed,
been there 38 years, I believe the scripture said, with that
infirmity. And he didn't pass by and say
to him, Invite him to take up his bed.
He stopped and talked with him and he said take up your bed
and walk Take it up and walk Brother he took up his bed. Well,
he didn't say well coulda or canna or shoulda or maybe I will
he just did it Lazarus come forth Brother that's a good illustration
He'd been dead four days. His body was already rotten and
stinking He was held in there by human weakness and death and
a rock and everything else, but when the King of Glory speaks,
it's a command. And with the command comes the
enabling grace. And I'll tell you this, the gospel
of Jesus Christ, I say it to you, it is a command. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ is not optional, it's a command. Believe
the Word of God is not optional, it's a command. Bow to Christ,
surrender to Christ, receive Christ is not optional, it's
a command. And men are going to do it. They're
going to do it. And that ought to encourage us. If God commands me to do something,
then I'm at full liberty to do it. And enjoy the results of
it, and enjoy the benefits of it. Now, here's the third thing.
We talked about everybody has not obeyed the gospel. Well,
what is this obedience commanded by the gospel? What is this obedience?
What does the gospel command us? What is this obedience? Four
things. Number one, we're commanded to
hear. To hear. Our brethren, faith
cometh by hearing. And hearing by the word of God.
God gets to the heart through the ear. That's right. He says, Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God is one God. If any man hath ears to hear,
let him hear. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life. Where
to hear? How shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed, and how shall they believe in him of whom they have
not heard? My sheep hear. That's the first
thing, hear. And what do you hear? You hear
the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing not the logic of men, or the reasoning of men, or the
arguments of men, but the Word of God. This is what God uses
to create life, to convince of sin, and to reveal Christ. The
Word is the seed. The Holy Spirit is the agent,
but the Word of God is the seed. Make much of the Word of God.
Then secondly, we're commanded to repent and believe. That's
what he said, repent and believe the gospel. And then thirdly,
we're commanded to confess Christ publicly. Turn to Acts 2, Acts
chapter 2. In the second chapter of Acts,
verse 36, when Peter summed up his message at Pentecost, he
said in verse 36, therefore let all the house of Israel know
assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ." Now, when they heard this, when they heard
this, they didn't hear some woeful plea for them to do certain things. They heard a declaration of what
God had done, of who Christ is. They heard this declaration,
and when they heard it, they were pricked in their hearts
And trembling, they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
well, what shall we do? Well, what shall we do? They
heard. You see, they heard. Now they said, what shall we
do? He said, repent, bow down, be
broken, contrite spirit. This thing of repentance, it's
a godly sorrow. It's a sorrow toward God. It's
realizing my sin is against God. Realizing that God is just when
he speaks and right when he condemns, and I'm justly condemned. I need
mercy and Christ is my only hope. It's looking to him with the
right spirit and the right attitude. It's being turned in your soul
and turned in your mind and turned in your heart and turned from
yourself to God. Repent, now watch it, and be
baptized. Brethren, that's a public confession. You can't be baptized in your
kitchen. You can't, especially in this
day here, you can't be baptized in a closet. You go to a closet
to pray. You go out in the public to confess
Christ. Repent and be baptized publicly
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you'll
receive the Holy Ghost. Our Lord said, he that's ashamed
of me, I'll be ashamed of him. You confess me before me and
I'll confess you. And then we're commanded to obey
his word. Turn to John 15. This gospel
command is fourfold. We're commanded to hear, hear. Secondly, we're commanded to
repent and believe. Thirdly, we're commanded to confess
Christ publicly. And then he said, this is my
commandment, that you love one another. This is my commandment.
This is not an invitation. This is not an exhortation. This
is not something that you have an option to perform or not to
perform. This is my commandment. He said,
you're my friends if you do what I command you, if you do what
I command you. And this is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.
You're my friends if you do what I command you. I hope you'll give some thought
to these things. This is something that I've looked
into and thought about and studied a long time. And I don't want us to go out and just tell people,
well, there's nothing in the Bible that invites a sinner.
That's not the way to put it. Not the way to put it. I invite
men. I literally persuade men. He said, on behalf of Christ,
I persuade you, I beseech you in the name of Christ, be you
reconciled to God. Let nothing take the pathos away
from us, and the compassion away from us, and the concern for
people away from us, and the will to witness, and the desire
to witness, and the plea. Oh, turn ye, why will you die?
You say, turn ye, why will you die? There's a rock in a weary
land. There's a rock nearby. There's
a shade in the wilderness. There's a well nearby. Drink!
Come and drink! We cry to him, but my friend,
listen to him. I'm simply saying this, that
the King of kings and Lord of lords commands you to believe
his word. It's not something you can argue
about. This thing of believing the Word of God, you don't believe
the record God has given. You make God a liar, and that's
your own serious ground. I know a lot of people who say,
well, I'm not a Christian, maybe I will be someday. Do you realize
you're making God a liar? Do you realize you're refusing?
The general has given an order and you said I'm not going to
do it? The king has issued a command, and you say, I don't have time.
He said he sent men out and said, come to my feast. One fellow
said, not now. I bought a piece of land. Another
fellow said, not now. I bought some equipment. I got
to try it out. The other said, not now. I married
a wife some other time. He said, you won't eat of my
feast. He was angry. Wasn't that what it said? You
won't eat of my feast. You mean a fellow just gets one
refusal? Perhaps. Perhaps, they did. He said, you
go out in the highways and the hedges and you compel them, because
you find the lame and the haught and the hungry and the miserable
and the blind, and you compel them to come in that my house
may be filled. My house is going to be filled.
So this is what I'm saying. I'm trying to secure some kind
of balance on this thing of being a preacher with compassion and
with concern and with pathos. and a broken heart for sinners,
and with patience, patience with men, knowing the only reason
we're not in the pit is God lifted us. The only reason that we're
not in the sinking sand is He lifted us. The only reason we're
not on our road to hell is He stopped us. The only reason I
know Christ is He revealed Him. The only reason I have faith
is He gave it. But brother, that does not give
you an excuse to stay there once He's commanded you to come out.
It does not give you an excuse to lie on your bed of affliction
when he says, take up your bed and walk. It does not give you
the right to remain in your tomb and grave of sin when he says,
come out. And that's a command. Come out,
Lazarus. Come out. Right now. And with the word, where the
word of the King is, is power. There's authority. Not this 1983 evangelistic reasoning. It's authority. So I say, emphatically
and plainly, I believe the gospel is a command. Our Father in Heaven, Thou art a great God. All flesh
is grass. Thy God reigneth. These are things
that we have been taught by Your Word and by Your Spirit. In the
flesh dwelleth no good thing. Indeed, there is no darkness,
no weakness, no lack of power or strength. The arm of God is
not short that it cannot save. The ear of God is not heavy that
it cannot hear. With thee all things are possible.
The judge of the earth will do right. Thou art the King of kings
and Lord of lords before whom we bow. And we know that the
command has come forth from the halls of heaven, from the throne
of our God. Bow down, kiss the sun, lest
it be angry. Come to the feast. Come! For
all things are ready. They're now ready. And you've
called us to come. You've commanded us to come.
With that glorious, blessed invitation to the feast is the word of authority. You don't have a right to turn
it down. To turn it down is to destroy
your own soul. I say come. Come. May we all
come, willingly. with a broken heart, with a grateful
heart, with a submissive heart, may we all come with a thankful
heart to Christ, who commands us to come. And having given
us the command, we have the right to come, we have an encouragement
to come, because where he gives a command, he gives that enabling
grace. Jesus, I come, out of my bondage,
sorrow and night, into thy freedom, gladness and light. Jesus, I
come. I come to thee. O Lord, in thy
name we pray these things, and for thy sake we trust. Amen.