Sermon # 94

Title: Come To Jesus

Text: Revelation 22:17

Reading:

Subject: The Gospel Invitation To Sinners

Date: Sunday Evening - December 11, 1988

Tape #

Introduction:

It is my blessed privilege and honor to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to lost men and women, urging them to come to Christ and be saved. It is my happy employment to find arguments from the Word of God to persuade fallen, depraved sinners to be reconciled to God by faith in Jesus Christ. Tonight, I want to try, one more time, to persuade you who are lost to Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus Christ and live. How can I persuade you to come?

1. First, hear this: God has planned, purposed, and predestinated the salvation of a great multitude of sinners. God will save some men and women. That is certain (Rom. 8:29-30). He saves them by grace alone, without condition or qualification. If God has purposed to save some, perhaps I am one, perhaps you are one. It may be that he has kept you alive these many years so that he may be gracious to you tonight.

2. Second, the Lord Jesus Christ has fully met and satisfied every requirement of God for the salvation of his elect. There is nothing for you to do, nothing for me to do. Jesus Christ has done it all. All who are saved are saved upon the basis of and by the merits of Christ’s obedience to God as the sinner’s Substitute (Rom. 5:19).

- He has finished the work of righteousness (John 17:4).

- He has finished the work of redemption (John 19:30).

3. Third, God the Holy Spirit will effectually regenerate and call every elect sinner to life and faith in Christ (Psa. 65:4; John 6:63). Christ will save his sheep. Not one God’s elect will perish. The Son of God shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Christ’s blood was not shed in vain. God’s purpose will not be overturned. The grace of God cannot be frustrated.

4. Fourth, every sinner who comes to Christ in faith is saved. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36). Faith in Christ is the proof of eternal election, effectual redemption, and saving grace. If you trust Christ, you have life. It really is as simple as that. :Your faith is the fruit and result of God predestination, Christ’s redemption, and the Spirit’s call.

5. Fifth, every sinner who hears the gospel is called, invited, and urged to come to Christ and live (Rev. 22:17). you are invited, you are called, you are urged to come to Christ. The blessings held forth to you in the Word of life are rich beyond expression. The invitations given to you in the gospel are as free as sunshine. Throughout the Scriptures every encouragement is given to sinners to “lay hold upon the hope that is set before you” in the gospel. Everything in the Book of God is designed of God to encourage sinners to come to Christ and live. There is not a word in the Bible to discourage any sinner from trusting Christ. And here, at the close of the Inspired Volume, invitations are heaped upon invitations from every quarter, urging you to enter the door of mercy before it is closed. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”

My message to you tonight is a sermon in three words: Come to Jesus. I want you to come to Jesus. Everything I say, I will say to persuade you to come to Jesus. May the Spirit of God graciously compel you, as I preach, to come to Jesus.

Proposition:

If you will come to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith you shall have eternal life.

Divisions:

1. The gospel invitation come to you from three sources.

2. The invitation is free and universal.

3. The invitation is easily obeyed.

4. Obedience to this gospel invitation is richly rewarded.

I. The gospel invitation in this text comes to you from three sources.

I know that sinners are commanded to trust Christ. And I know that it is the responsibility of every sinner to do so. Yet, the Lord Jesus, by his Spirit, in the gospel, also gently woos and invites needy sinners to come to him, and tenderly urges them to do so (Matt. 11:28-30; 23:37). In our text the spirit of the passage is not so much that of an authoritative command as it is that of a tender, loving, urgent invitation. It is an invitation from three sources.

A. First, the Spirit says, “Come.”

It is the office work of God the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ to men and effectually bring sinners to him in repentance and faith, causing them to look to Christ and be saved (Zech. 12:10; John 16:7-13). He began to work in the world as soon as Christ was enthroned in heaven as King, and will continue it until he comes the second time.

1. The Holy Spirit began calling sinners to Christ on the day of Pentecost.

2. Through the preaching of the apostles he wrought his powerful operations of grace upon elect sinners.

Whenever the Word came in power, it came in the power, not of men, but of the Holy Spirit, who alone can conquer the hearts of men and bring them effectually to Christ (I Thess. 1:4-5). Only God the Holy Spirit can give life to the dead, faith to the faithless, and grace to the graceless. The success of the gospel is not determined by the ability and ingenuity of the preacher, but by the power of God the Holy Spirit.

3. The written Word of God is the Holy Spirit’s testimony to Christ, and throughout the Word he says, “Come!”

4. By the ministry of his servants, preaching the gospel of Christ, the Holy Spirit pleads with and beseeches sinners to come to Christ (II Cor. 5:18-21).

The gospel we preach is the ministration of the Spirit. It is the Word of life. We preach by the authority of God the Holy Spirit. And by our voice the Spirit of God urges you to come to Christ.

5. Sincere as these invitations are, they will be unheeded by you, unless the Spirit of God graciously arrests you, compels you, and forces you to come.

- You have no ability to come (John 6:44).

- You have no will to come (John 5:40).

- Only God the Holy Spirit can make you willing and give you the ability to come to Christ (Psa. 110:3).

The Spirit says, “Come.” Do you hear this voice? Has he smitten your heart and awakened your conscience? Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart.

B. Secondly, the bride says come.

The bride is the church, the Lamb’s wife. Because she has experienced the blessedness of salvation, she is anxious for all around her to know its delight. Those who have experienced grace are anxious to see others experience grace.

In the Song of Solomon, the church cried, “Draw me, and we will run after thee” (1:4), as if to say, “Draw me and I will not be content to come alone. I will do everything in my power to bring others with me.” This is the work of the church in every age. She is the pillar and ground of the truth. She supports the truth, proclaims the truth, publishes the truth, and seeks to bring men and women into the knowledge of the truth.

· Sunday School

· Preaching

· Missions

· Tracts, tapes, books

· Conferences

The church of God unites with the Spirit of God, and says, “Come.” “Come to Jesus. See what a wonderful Savior he is. See in me what Christ can do for you. You are far off; but Christ can bring you nigh. You are strangers, foreigners, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; but Christ can make you heirs of God. You are dead; but Christ can give you life. You are lost; but Christ can save you. You are sinful; but Christ can made you holy.” “Come, and see!”

C. Thirdly, “And let him that heareth say, come.”

You who have heard and believe the gospel, everyone of you, are to be actively engaged in the furtherance of the gospel. Use every means at your disposal and every opportunity given to induce sinners to come to Christ. Each of you is to be a preacher in your own circle, repeating there what you hear here (John 1:35-49).

II. This gracious invitation is free and universal.

It is an unconditional offer of grace to all who will but come to Christ.

A. If you are thirsty, you are welcome to come.

The invitation is to you, “And let him that is athirst come.” Every mourning, broken, heavy hearted sinner in the universe is bidden to come.

Perhaps you think, “I am not thirsty enough. I would come, but I do not really pant and thirst for Christ as I should, as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks. “If I had greater thirst, then I could come to Christ.” Let me ask you a question: Are you willing to come to Christ?

B. If you are willing to come, you are welcome to come.

“And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Are you inclined to come to Christ? Do you desire to come to Christ? Will you come to Christ? If you will come, you can come and may come. That is the rub - Will you come to Christ.

1. Will you be saved by grace alone?

2. Will you be saved by the righteousness of another?

3. Will you be saved by the blood of Jesus?

C. If you are willing to come, the invitation is free and unconditional.

· “Let him take,” by personal faith.

· “The water of life,” Christ Jesus.

· “Freely,” without cost, condition, or cause.

III. The invitation is easily obeyed.

Here is what you must do - “Come.” And the coming is not a physical act involving the body. It is a spiritual act of the heart and mind. Right where you sit, without moving a muscle, come to Jesus Christ now. To come to Christ is to trust him.

· Come like the leper - In submission

· Come like the woman with an issue of blood - In desperation.

· Come like Bartemaues - In earnest.

· Come like the Gadarene - naked and vile.

· Come like the publican - A sinner.

· Come like the thief - For remembrance.

· Come like the adulterous woman - With all your accusers.

IV. Obedience to this gospel invitation is richly rewarded.

Hear me now, and hear me well, if you do come to Christ, you shall be saved. Come anyway you can, but come to Christ in faith and eternal life is yours.

A. The blessings of grace in Christ are called the “Water of Life.”

The source from which this water of life flows is the Lord Jesus Christ himself (Rev. 22:1). As the waters gushed out of the smitten Rock in the wilderness to supply life to Israel, so our Lord Jesus Christ, smitten by the rod of God’s law, pours out the waters of salvation upon perishing sinners (I Cor. 10:4). Christ is the Fountain of Living Waters, who gives life and grace to thirsty sinners (Rev. 21:6; John 4:10-14; 7:37-38).

1. Pardon is found in the Fountain of Living Waters (Zech. 13:1; Isa. 1:18; I John 1:7).

2. Holiness is found in this Fountain (Ezek. 36:25-27).

3. Eternal glory and everlasting life is found in this Fountain of Living Waters (Psa. 36:8-9).

B. This Fountain of Waters, Jesus Christ, is a fountain opened to sinners.

Not a sealed Fountain - An opened Fountain!

Not a secret Fountain- An opened Fountain!

- Opened in the covenant.

- Opened at the cross.

- Opened by the gospel.

C. None who drink of this fountain shall be disappointed (John 7:37-39; 4:14).

Application:

Let me try to persuade you to come to the Fountain (II Cor. 5).

1. The terror of the Lord (v. 11).

2. The love of Christ (v. 14).

3. Perfect reconciliation (v. 17).

4. Finished redemption (v. 21).