Now, here's our subject this
morning. We're going to hoe some corn. I'm going to take on the
whole, just about the whole religious world today with this message.
The title of the message is, The Gospel Invitation. Now, that's
the short title, The Gospel Invitation. But the long title of this message
is, The Gospel Invitation as Opposed to today's altar call. Now, I'm turning to John chapter
7, verse 37 and 38. You want to follow in your Bibles.
It says, In the last day, that great day of the feast, the Lord
Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink. And he that believeth on me As
the scripture had said, out of his belly, his innermost being,
shall flow rivers of living water. Now I've preached a lot of meetings
in these past 35, 34, 35 years in a lot of places. And in some
places I've been sharply criticized by some people in this way. They say, you don't give an invitation. You don't give an invitation. Well, I beg your pardon. I solemnly
beg your pardon. I most certainly do give an invitation. Every time I preach without fail,
I sound forth clearly a gospel invitation. I invite men to Christ. To Christ. And I expect to extend
that same invitation to you this morning. I invite you to Christ.
No, I do not give an altar call. I do not. I never have. The Lord
willing, I never will. There is an altar. There is an
altar. We have an altar. The book of Hebrews says we have
an altar. But an altar where penitent, broken-hearted sinners
come to confess their sins, and to seek the face of God, but
that altar is Christ. That altar is not a bench down
at the front of a church building. Now that's not where Christ is.
I don't give an altar call. I do call men to Christ who is
our altar. We have an altar, but that altar
is Christ. I do not give, I do not invite
men to the front of the church to be saved. Now listen to me,
listen to the whole sentence. We do not invite men to the front
of the church to be saved. Salvation is not in the front
of the church, it's in Christ. That's where salvation is, it's
in Christ. Salvation is not coming to a
place, it's coming to a person. That's where salvation is. It's
not a physical move at all. It's a spiritual commitment.
I challenge anybody to question that. Salvation by faith, not
by footwork. Salvation is coming to a person,
not to a place. Salvation is looking to Christ,
and receiving Christ, and loving Christ, and submitting to Christ,
and knowing Christ. Not in coming down to the front
of a building, or to a mourner's bench, or to an altar. I do not
invite men to come and shake my hand for salvation. I don't
know where all this began, do you? Who started all of this?
It's not in the Word of God. There's no man who has the power
in his hand to bestow salvation. The only hand in which salvation,
from which salvation can be received, has nail prints in his hand,
Christ's hand. He said, is my arm too short
that it cannot save? Is my ear too heavy that it cannot
hear? You don't come to me for salvation,
you come to Christ. To Christ, not to an altar, though
we have an altar. I'm not discounting confession
of sin. I'm not discounting looking to
Christ. I'm not discounting weeping and
grieving over our transgression. But it's not to be done as a
public display of our emotion. It's to be done in secret before
God. We do not invite men to come
to us. I heard a man just the other day say, now come to the
front, and then he looked out to the television audience and
said, if you've committed your life to Christ, write to me.
Why should I write to him? What's he got to do with it?
Well, he wants me on his mailing list. He wants my name so he
can write and get some money. He wants my name so he can brag
about how many souls he won to Jesus. He wants my name so he
can report it on his report to his supporters. But I'm telling
you this, there's nothing to be gained by coming to a bench.
There's nothing to be gained by coming to the front of the
church. There's nothing to be gained by shaking a man's hand.
But my friend, with compassion I say to you, there's everything
to be gained by sincerely, solemnly, completely, willingly, lovingly
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you, I'm concerned
about our generation. I see the floods of people moving
to a man. And moving to the front of a
church, I see them in just droves, moving down to make a decision
and moving down to make some kind of commitment, just like
a whole host of people going down. But salvation is not down
here, salvation is in a person. And these people make these commitments
and these decisions and have these experiences and sign these
cards and all these other things, dealing with earthbound human
mortals, sons of Adam. We must deal with Him against
whom we've sinned. We must look to Him who is the
one sacrifice and the one sin offering and the one atonement.
There must be a living, vital union established between us
and the Son of God. And then if you want to come
tell somebody about it, do so. John 6.37 said, All that my Father
giveth me shall come to me. Not to a man, not to a representative,
not to a preacher, not to an evangelist, not to a place, not
even to a theological position. But all that my Father giveth
me will come to me, and him that cometh to me I'll in no wise
cast out. He stood that day in Matthew
11, and he said, Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. You wonder why so many loved
ones have made professions of faith in these so-called revival
meetings under the psychology of a preacher and a a choir singing
a hymn and people crying and so forth and make their decisions
and they go to church about a month or two months or six months or
a year and then quit and you never can get them back inside
the building. What happened? They were so gloriously
saved two years ago, so gloriously saved in the revival meeting
a year ago. No, they came to the front. They
came to an altar. They came to a preacher. They
never came to Christ. And that's sad. And it's doing
nothing but giving people a false hope, and a false assurance,
and a false salvation. It's a salvation that won't save.
And a redemption that won't redeem. It's so when preachers all over
this nation give the impression that if a man goes to the front
of a building, or to an altar, or to a bench, he's saved. And
that's not so. If a man gets to Christ, he's
saved. Now then, you listen to me carefully. I'm telling you
the truth. If you savingly come to Christ,
as the old timers used to say, if you in your heart have laid
hold of His mercy in Christ Jesus, If you feel that you have a saving
interest in Christ, this matter's been settled not between you
and some high-pressure preacher, not between you and some evangelist
that's come in to reap and to rape the community of its money,
not settled between you and some soul winner, this matter's been
settled between you and God Almighty in Christ Jesus. If that's been
settled, and you have been brought to the feet of Christ in true
repentance and true faith, and you want to confess Him, If you
want to publicly declare that relationship, the waters of baptism
are the place for you, my friend. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. That's exactly right. And you
go through the New Testament, and you won't find Peter, Paul,
James, and John out running a citywide meeting trying to see how many
first-time professions they can get down the aisle, or how many
rededications they can get down the aisle, or how many tithers
they can get down the aisle, or how many full-time service
they can get down the aisle. They went out here and people
were converted. and they baptize them as a confession
of faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. That's so, that's what
scripture says. I have no objections to people
coming to the front. I have no objections at all to
declare their faith in Christ. But I object to anybody coming
to the front hoping to find salvation down there. It's not that. I
object to any preacher inviting any lost sinner to come and shake
his hands and get saved. Salvation is not in a ritual,
it's not in a tradition, it's not in a custom, it's not in
a journey down a sawdust trail. Salvation is in Christ. and he
walked that trail of tears and that trail of blood from Pilate's
hall to Golgotha's hill and died for our sins and if we can look
to him and we can love him and we can embrace him and we can
lay hold upon him and we can believe on him and receive him
personally, individually, lovingly, willingly in our heart and bow
in confession to Christ then you come down to the front and
tell folks about it and declare that God's done something for
you, it's been settled it's been settled, settled at Calvary settled
in my heart and settled yonder in my bedroom or somewhere where
I got along with God without some human being messing me up
and trying to make a Baptist out of me or a Methodist out
of me or a Presbyterian or a Catholic out of me or a Calvinist out
of me but the Lord Jesus Christ spoke peace to my heart, I'll
tell you this If man talked you into a profession, another man
talked you out of it. But if Jesus Christ gave you
the gift of eternal life, all the devils in hell can't take
it away from you. Never, never, never. If Jesus
Christ the Lord dealt with you in your heart by His Spirit through
His Word, and brought you to love Him and trust Him and believe
on Him and spoke peace to your heart, Well, there's no man can
lay anything to your charge and there's no conflict or confusion
or trial or tribulation or temptation that can take you away from Christ.
He turned when that 5,000 had walked off and left and he turned
to his beloved 12. He said, will you go away? And
they said, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And they got that salvation, they got that assurance, they
got that confidence straight from Christ and not from some
high-pressure evangelistic campaign. That's so. Now, before we think,
to look back to our text again. We need to hear this. This generation
needs to hear it. Like I said to you, I'm taking
on the whole religious world this morning. But I'm doing it
on purpose because it's a note that needs to be sounded. It's
a word that needs to be spoken. It's a warning that needs to
be sounded. Because folks are looking for
salvation everywhere but where it is. It's in Christ. It's a
personal matter. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart God raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. In our text this morning,
in John 7, verse 37, it said, In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus Christ cried with a loud voice, If any man
thirst, let him come to me. That's what I'm trying to say.
Let him come to me. Don't get mad at me. Don't get
upset. You say, well, everybody's doing it. Well, when in the days
of our Lord, one man was looking for Christ, that was Simeon.
Two men entered the promised land out of the two million that
left Egypt, Caleb and Joshua. And just because a lot of folks
are doing something doesn't make it right. And I'm saying to you
this, that salvation is to look to Christ, is to come to Christ. Now here are four things that
must be pointed out concerning this text in John 7.37. First
of all, the place that these words were spoken, the place,
it was Jerusalem. Our Lord stood and cried with
a loud voice, if any man thirst, let him come to me." You know
where he said that? He didn't say it down in some pothole,
or some pub, or some honky-tonk. He said it in Jerusalem, standing
on the steps of the temple. standing right there in Jerusalem,
the capital of religion. Jerusalem, the stronghold of
tradition. Jerusalem, where were the priest
and the temple and the ceremonies and the sacrifices and the theologians. It was the place where people
came supposedly to learn about God. That's where this invitation,
this gospel invitation was sounded in Jerusalem. And I'll tell you
this, you know the best mission field in the world today? Our
churches. There are more people in our
churches who've missed Christ. They've got the mechanics, they've
got the zeal, they've got the enthusiasm, the activities of
religion, and missed the person. The biggest mission field in
the world today is the average church. The place was Jerusalem. And secondly, the occasion. It
was a solemn feast. It was the Feast of the Tabernacles.
It was a religious gathering, a most important religious gathering,
to which every religious Jew from every nation had come. These
people had come from everywhere, all nations, for this day of
celebration. Many sacrifices, these days of
solemn, serious feasting. Rituals and ceremonies and sacrifices
and all these things were carried on during these special holy
days. Now wait a minute, wait a minute. The time when Christ
said it was the last day. They had been there seven days.
It was the last day. It was the great day. The ceremonies
were over. The last sacrifice had been offered.
The last blood had been shed. The water from the pool of Siloam
had been poured on the altar. Nothing to do now but go home.
It was over. They had come from everywhere
to Jerusalem, the religious capital. They had come for the Feast of
the Tabernacle. They had assembled there from everywhere. Now all
they could do was pack up. Get the kids together and load
the camels and the caravans and go home. Go home just as empty
as when they came. Go home just as hungry as when
they came. Go home just as guilty as when
they came. Go home just as hopeless as when
they came. If a man came to this place seeking
God, he found him not. If a man came to this place looking
for some hope, he found it not. No hope, no gospel, no peace,
nothing but tradition. Nothing but games. Nothing but
ritualism, nothing but ceremonialism, nothing but legalism. It just
probably was from a feast like that that the Ethiopian eunuch
was returning to Ethiopia from a feast like that. He'd gone
up there to worship God, to try to find out something about God,
and salvation, eternal life, and forgiveness, and on the way
back he's reading the Bible, Isaiah 53, and he met Philip. And Philip said, do you understand
what you're reading? He'd just come from Jerusalem. He didn't
get anything up there. And he said to him, I don't understand
it. Who's he talking about, himself or some other man? And Philip
began at the same scripture and pointed him to Jesus Christ.
Preach Christ to him. Preach Christ to him. Now, who
was the speaker? If any man thirsts, standing here in Jerusalem, standing
in Jerusalem, On this great occasion, the Feast of the Tabernacles,
when people had been there for a week, making a pretense of
worshipping God, on the last day, when everybody was leaving,
going home, our Lord stood and cried with a loud voice, and
He said, If any man is thirsty, thirsty, thirsty, let him come
to Me. Now you've come to everything
else. You're like the woman with the issue of blood. You've tried
many positions. You've spent all you have. You've
gone through the whole motions and the whole methods and the
whole bit. You've tried everything. Now you come to me. And out of
your belly your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.
If I can get to him. That's what I'm saying. We brought
him to the front, we brought him to the altar, we brought
him to the baptismal pool, we brought him to the sacraments,
we brought him to our hands and shaking hands with him, we brought
him to sign our cards, we've taken him to the inquiry room,
we've done everything known to man and beast to get people saved,
and it hadn't worked. It looked like somebody, somewhere,
would resort to the old time way of pointing men to Christ.
Because everyone that comes to him, receives mercy and life
everlasting. Now I want to give you three
or four things. First of all, now listen to me. The gospel
invitation calls men to Christ. The gospel invitation calls men
to Christ. It commands men to come to Christ.
Now preachers tell them to come here and there and yonder, but
the gospel invitation tells men to come to Christ. Wherever they
can, come to Christ. Lay hold upon Christ. Embrace
Christ. First, there's a condition stated.
Now, my friend, listen to me. This is so important. Our Lord
said, hold. Listen to me. If any man thirsts. Now, every invitation of Christ,
every promise of Christ is always conditional. That's right. Based on this condition. A need. Every call and promise and invitation
is based on a recognized need. Listen to it. The well don't
need a position, that's what Christ said, but they that are
sick. You go learn what that means, he said. I am come not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is only valued where there's a need. Where there's no need,
he's not loved. Where there's no need, he's not
wanted. Where there's no need, he's not valued. Where there's
no need, he's not sought. You know when water becomes precious?
It's when there isn't any. You know when food becomes precious?
When there isn't any. That's exactly right. And I'll
tell you when forgiveness becomes precious, when you can't find
it anywhere else. When you know you need it, and
you can't find it anywhere but in Christ. That's when he'll
become precious. He said, I am the bread of life.
If any man hungry, let him come to me. What is this thirst? If
any man thirst? Well, I believe it's the thirst
that David felt when he wrote, as the deer panteth for the water
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Oh, he said, purge
me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Forgive me according to
thy loving kindness. Let thy mercy. I believe it's
the thirst the publican felt in the temple who said God be
merciful to me a sinner. I believe it's the thirst that
the thief on the cross felt when he said I'm getting what I deserve
but this man's done nothing amiss. Oh Lord remember me when you
come into your kingdom. That's the thirst. When I see
the guilt of my soul before God, when I feel the wrath of God
against sin, when I see death approaching and judgment awaiting
and eternity stretched out yonder through the millenniums. If any
man thirsts, how important are these words. It's not when I
feel good, it's not when I feel worthy, it's not when I feel
holy that I take the first step toward God. It's when I'm brought
low in the dust of guilt and seek mercy. And call upon him
for his grace, if any man thirsteth." Anybody out there thirsty? Anybody
hungry? Christ said, I'm the water of
life. Anybody hungry? I'm the bread of life. Anybody
in darkness? He's the light of the world.
Anybody dead in sin? He's the light. Anybody naked?
He's the robe of righteousness. Kunye sinners, poor and needy.
Weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love and power. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to fill your need of him. Come ye sinners poor and needy,
bruised and mangled by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you'll never come at all. That's the first thing. There's
a condition supposed. There's a condition presented.
He said, oh, if any man thirsts, well, what's the remedy? What's
the remedy? Get religion. Go to church. Sign
a card. Be baptized. Tithe your money.
Write to me. You know what the remedy is?
If you're thirsty, come to me. Come to me. That's what he said.
Come to me. Don't come to one of my disciples.
Come to me. Don't even come to a building that says it's my
house. Come to me. If any man thirsts,
let him come to me. That's what I've been preaching.
Let him come to me, not to my law, not to the ordinances, not
to the front of a vehicle. Come to me. And no prophet ever
said that. Moses said, come thou with us,
we'll do you good. Paul said this, the Apostle Paul
said for us to look to Christ, to turn to Christ, Isaiah said
come to the water, but our Lord said come to me. No preacher
ever said that, John the Baptist said look, behold the Lamb of
God. The Apostle Paul said we preach Christ, but none of them
ever said come to me. None of these prophets or preachers
ever invited people to come to them. They told them to look
to Christ, every one of them. Look to Christ. No law ever invited
a sinner to come to that law. The law condemns and repels.
He only can invite the hungry who has spread the table. He's
the bread of life. He only can invite the thirsty
who is himself the well, the water from the well of life. He only can invite the weary
who can give the weary peace. He only can invite the guilty
who can give the guilty pardon. Now, the reason I don't invite
people to come to me is I don't have any of those things to give.
But our Lord does. He only can invite those in darkness
to come to Him because He's the light. And He only can invite
the dead because He's the light. Let Him come to me. If any man
thirsts, let him come to me. Now, who is this to whom we're
invited to look or to come. First of all, it's the one whom
the father had sent. It's the one whom the father
had sent. He said, the father said, this is my son, hear ye
him, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. I exhort
you to come to Christ because he's the one anointed of the
father He's the one commissioned of the Father. He's the one sent.
God sent His Son into the world. Secondly, He's the one who died
for sinners. Now, my friends, there's a God
to be reconciled, and there's a law to be honored, and there's
a justice to be satisfied, and there's an atonement to be made.
And Jesus Christ is the one who did all those things. Now, we've
got to get to Him. We've got to look to Him. Because
he's the one in order of the Father, and he's the one who
accomplishes all that the Father demands, and all that the Father
requires of me. And listen to this. We are to
look to him because he is the one mediator between God and
men. Now you read your Bible in 1 Timothy 2, verse 5, it says
there's one God, and one mediator between God and men, and that's
the man Christ Jesus. It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, whoever liveth to make intercession for us. He's the
one Mediator. And I must insist, now listen
to me, I must insist on this. This coming to Christ is not
a physical coming at all. And I believe you're misled when
somebody tells you to do something physically in order to be saved.
It's a spiritual coming. It's a spiritual laying hold
upon Christ by faith. By faith you're saved. Not by
works, lest any man should boast. It's by faith that we're saved.
It's laying hold upon Christ by faith. Secondly, it's closing
with Christ in the heart. Repentance is a heart work. Faith
is a heart work. Belief is a heart work. And then
thirdly, it is receiving Christ. Willingly receiving Christ into
our hearts. He said, he came unto his own,
and his own received him not, but as many as received him.
To them gave he the right to become sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. Now you have every right to ask
me, well preacher, what is faith? What is this receiving Christ?
What is this believing on Christ? Three things, now listen. Knowledge,
confidence, and commitment. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I know who he is, I know what
he did, I know where he is now. He's the son of God, he's the
sin offering, he's the substitute, he's the mediator. I'm confident
he's able to do all that he said. I believe that Christ is that
suitable, sufficient, effectual sacrifice. I believe he can say
to the uttermost of them that come to God by him. I have committed
it unto him. Between Christ and me, I've committed
it to him. So the gospel invitation is,
any man thirst, let him come to me. And out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. It'll be an inward life. It'll
be an inward glory. And it won't be something you
go to the church to get pumped up every Sunday. It'll be in
you. My Father and I will take up our abode with you and in
you. Any man have not the Spirit of Christ is none of his. Now
I have two messages on this tape. The Life Look, the Gospel Invitation. If you want them, write to me,
send two dollars, and we'll mail them to you. Till next Lord's
Day, may the Lord bless you, is my prayer.