Reese, Joe: Greenwood Hills Spring Conference 1996-04 ~ Divine Invitation

I don't know if you've ever been in a no-win situation. What I mean by that is, no matter what you do, it seems to be the wrong thing. If you say yes, it's the wrong answer. If you say no, it's the wrong answer. If you say maybe, it's the wrong answer. You're just in a no-win situation. Someone once asked a question like this, and I think it's a no-win situation. Have you stopped beating your wife yet? Now think about it. Yes, I have stopped beating my wife. No, I have not. It's a no-win situation. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ found himself and the forerunner, that is his, uh, the one who was to herald his coming, John the Baptist himself, in a no-win situation with the very people that he came to be their king. I want you to turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter eleven, please. Matthew chapter eleven. uh As we're thinking about a no-win situation this evening, I also want you to think about this. What if you were to receive a gold-embossed invitation from the White House to attend supper with the President? Now just think about it for a minute. You say, well, I didn't vote for Clinton. Well, uh, whether you voted for him or not, he is the President. And uh, if I know anything at all about you and you know anything at all about me, we would probably weary our friends by telling them that we had an invitation to attend the White House for supper. Or what about the Queen herself of England? Suppose she sent you an invitation. Uh, would you be a little bit, uh, excited about that? Would you be a little bit, uh, surprised to get an invitation? Would you be a little bit, uh, joyous to get an invitation like that? Well, perhaps you would. But tonight we're going to think of two things. Number one, we're going to think of a no-win situation. And secondly, we're going to think about an invitation that doesn't come from the White House, or doesn't come from the Queen of England, but comes from the very throne of heaven. An invitation that we might call a divine invitation. Yes, indeed, from the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Reading in verse sixteen, Matthew chapter eleven, The Lord Jesus speaking, and he says, But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows and saying, We have piped unto you, and you have not danced. We have mourned unto you, and you have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, behold, a man gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, but wisdom is justified of her children. Let's pause for a moment in our reading and see if we can understand what the Lord Jesus is saying. He is simply saying this, we have done everything that we could do to bring you the message of the gospel of the kingdom. The forerunner has come. His characteristics, his lifestyle was of such that he did not eat, he did not drink, he did not involve himself in the local customs of that day. He did not associate with the people of that day. Remember him? He came out of the wilderness, didn't he? A man with that with rough clothing, uh, a man who came as a voice of one that cried in the wilderness. Oh, they sent down from Jerusalem to find out who he was. He wouldn't even give his name. He said, I'm a voice. I'm a voice, and he's come to declare the word, the Lord Jesus. And he said, he came neither eating nor drinking, and you said he's got a devil. On the other hand, the Lord Jesus came, and he identified in every way with the people that he came to reach. He was the friend of sinners. He ate with them, and he drank with them. Now, he wasn't a drunkard. He didn't associate with them in their evil ways. He never once partook of their evil desires or their evil ways, he, but he came associating with them. You know what they said? He's a drunkard, he's a winebibber, he eats, he's a friend of sinners. And so it made no difference how they came. They came proclaiming the grace of God, the good news, the kingdom, the Messiah is here, and they rejected on every hand. He puts it like this, we piped to you and you didn't dance. We've lamented to you and you didn't mourn. He says we've done everything that we could to reach you, but you would not listen. All right, let's go back and continue our reading. Look at verse twenty as he gives some examples of his earthly ministry. Then began he to upbraid the cities, and you ought to mark this now, where most of his mighty works were done. Now, why did he upbraid these cities? Why did he reprimand these cities where most of the mighty work was done? Notice, because they repented not. Now keep that in your mind. Most of the mighty works were done. Verse twenty one, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And thou Capernaum, interestingly enough, Capernaum is called the city of Jesus. Thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. What is he saying to these people? He's saying, look, you have had the gospel preached. You have seen the miracles performed. You have seen the evidence that the Son of God is indeed all that he claimed to be and who that he claimed to be, and you rejected the evidence. You have rejected the experience. You have rejected God's divine blessing upon you and showing you every proof possible of who he is and who his message is. Said if the things would have been done in these, uh, cities here had been done in the cities like Sodom, would have repented long ago. Mrs. Billy Graham, in nineteen seventy one made this statement. If God does not judge America, he's going to have to raise up Sodom and Gomorrah and apologize to them. Folks, that was nineteen seventy one. I don't know if Mrs. Billy Graham thinks that she's a prophet or not, but I'll tell you, she could have not spoken truer words. We are having things happen in our country of the United States of America today that would make some of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah blush, I'm persuaded. Things have got worse and worse. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. Did you happen to see your news on television last night? Some three hundred homosexuals married yesterday in the, in the, uh, city or in the state of California. Not recognized by the state, but covered on national television. What are we getting back to? He, he, what he is saying is this: if the mighty works that had been done in, in, in, in these places had been done in a place like Sodom, the Lord said Sodom would have repented. Now, you, you need me to make the application, or are you getting it? The application is very simple tonight. You can turn on your television and you can hear the gospel. You can pick up a magazine, you can hear the gospel, read the gospel. You can turn on your radio. Oh, I know there's a lot of kooks out there and a lot of perversion, but I'm telling you, there's not a nation that I know of under the face, under the sun today that has had more gospel, more truth, more teachers, more preachers, more missionaries, more people come and tell us the truth than right here in your own country. What are we doing with it? It's running off of our backs, just like water off of a duck's back. It's running o- o- off of our minds and off of our hearts. We're not listening to it. It's become commonplace. We're not interested in it. We say, oh, that's okay. Oh, that's good. Yeah. And then we hear about somebody receiving Christ. We say, well, that's nice. What's happened to us? Don't we care anymore? The words of the Lord Jesus Christ ring in my ears tonight, and I could say the mighty works that you have seen here in your own country, in your own community, in your own assembly. They've been done in Sodom. Perhaps Sodom would have repented, and some have not repented. Some have not got excited. Some have not gone on. Some have not been committed, but they've had it over and over and over again. Let me read again in verse twenty eight. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. A no-win situation. No matter how they presented the gospel of the kingdom, these people rejected it, rejected it, rejected it. I want to go so far as to say, assembly young people enter in to this principle or this situation. I don't know of another group that have had more Bible knowledge, more good teachers, more evangelists come across this country than the assemblies of God's people as we know them. You've had the truth taught to you, you've come, uh, Sunday after Sunday, you've seen, uh, the example of worship and remembering of the Lord Jesus and good teachers. What are you doing with it? What does it mean to you? And what does it mean to us as adults? God the Spirit never wastes words, folks. You don't have a fat Bible full of words that have no meaning. Do you see the first word in verse twenty eight? The word come, interesting word. There are thirty nine variations of that one word in the Greek New Testament. Listen to some of the variations. Come, come into, come out, come through, come upon, come down, come forth, come near, come together, become, come up, come over, come against, come about, and on that list goes. But the Spirit of God chose a particular variation of that word to use in this. And you know what that word means in this context? This word come? It means this: come in a way that is not expected. You see, the context was this: we have piped to you, we have lamented to you, we have tried to reach you in every way, but you've not come the right way. You have not, uh, repented. You have not responded the right way. And all of these cities where the mighty works were done and they did not repent, now he turns his attention and he says, come in a different way. Come in a way unlike the other ways in which these people responded. Come because you have heard. Don't be like the others in the way that they have responded. Oh, I'll tell you, this word is interesting. The Hebrew form of this word appears back in Genesis chapter seven. You will remember that God had told Noah to build an ark. And then one day, God said this, Noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark. I want you to watch some of your newer translations. I don't like it. I'll tell you why. It says, go into the ark or enter into the ark. You say, what's the big deal? Well, let me show you the big deal. If I said to you, uh, come into this room, where am I? I'm in the room, right? And I say to you, come into this room. If I say to you, go into this room or go into that room, where am I? Well, I'm out here, and I want you to go in. What did God say to Noah? Come into the ark. You see, God was already in there, and he said, Noah, you better come in with me. This is the place of safety. A little word. Even the Lord Jesus himself put it like this: For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. And then we hear the disciples as they met the Lord Jesus, and as they run to tell their relatives, what do they say? Come and see. And here we have from the lips of the Lord Jesus himself the divine invitation from heaven, coming away not expected, coming away different from others. Listen, I'm going to tell you tonight, be an individual as you stand before God. Don't let the crowd dictate to you the way that you come. Come in a way not expected. Oh, I wonder how we expect people to come today. I wonder if in our minds we say, well, no one's going to come anyhow. Uh, people won't come today. People won't do this today, and we don't expect them to come, so they don't come. Come in a way then that's not expected, the Bible says. Come. The divine invitation that he extends. The Bible says if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. All right, let me take you to the next two words. I want you to notice not only this divine invitation, but notice the explicit direction that he gives. God never tells us to do anything. He doesn't give us direction or explanation or details of what to do. God doesn't just say, go do something. God always tells us what to do. And now he says, come, but then notice it is come unto me. Notice what he did not say. He did not say come to religion. He did not say come to church. He did not say come to ritual ceremony, come to form, come to organizations, come to men, come to choirs, come to music, come to concerts. He said, come unto me. The only one who can help. And believe me, we talked about it the other night. It is not come near to me, you must come to me, come unto me. You must get close enough to touch. You remember the story in the Gospels, the woman that had the, the issue of blood, the Bible says, for twelve years, she was just fainting away and fainting away and fainting away. She sold everything that she had. She sold her possessions. She, she used her money. She sold her house. She sold her possessions. It seems as though she's ended up in the mercy of some friend's house, perhaps laying on a dirt floor, and someone whispers in her ear, the, the man called Jesus is passing by. And if you could just get to him, maybe he could help you. She spent all of her living, the Bible says, on physicians, neither could be healed of any, and got only worse. Well, some way, somehow, with what energy she had, and I don't know how it happened, but she got up, she got out into that street. There was a throng of people there. She made her way as best she could, and as he passed by, she reached through that crowd of people, and the Bible says she touched the border of his garment. Well, you see, that was enough. And through that whole event that day, that woman, exercising what little faith she had, came to the only person who could help her, the Lord Jesus. That account tells us that that woman was healed that day, that that little seed faith that she had in the person of the Lord Jesus was honored that day. Oh, I'm also reminded of the picture of the prodigal son, aren't you? You remember he gets his inheritance, he wastes his inheritance, he has lots of friends till all of the money is gone and the parties are over, and he finds himself in the lowest position as a young Jewish boy could find, feeding the swine. There, the Bible says, he came to himself. But not only did he have to come to himself, he had to come unto his father as well. He gets up out of that pig mire. He, he makes his way back. He said, I've sinned against heaven and against thee, and he finds his father. Do you know what happens? His father saw him coming. Nothing undignified about an old man running, is it? The father ran to meet him. Amazing story, but there was contact, and the prodigal came back, and the Bible says they embraced and they kissed and they found one another again, and there was rejoicing again. Where did he come? He came to the only one who could help him. So the Lord Jesus says, come, and he gives explicit direction, come unto me. Folks, I'm going to tell you something. We don't preach church or religion here. We're not trying to get people to join a church. We're trying to tell them that Jesus Christ is their only hope. Several years ago, in the western part of the United States, a train was making its way through a blinding snowstorm. A man sitting on the same car, uh, with a woman and a little baby noticed that they were quite anxious about the trip and about the storm. And as the coachman would come along and make the announcements on, uh, on the next stop that the train would make, finally the gentleman said to the woman and the little baby, said, look, said, I know this route very well, so don't be anxious. I'll tell you when it comes to the stop before the one you're to get off at. So she relaxed and got some rest, and finally they announced the, the stop before the one the woman wanted to get off at. So he got her attention, and he said, OK, lady. He said, now the next stop will be the place for you to get off. The train went on for a ways. Finally, it came to a stop. The lady got to the front of the coach, nodded to the man in gratitude, and got off. A few minutes later, the train went on. It didn't go on too far until, uh, it stopped again. And the man thought, well, there's not another stop here. Why is the train stopping again? And, uh, so he, he said, where is this stop? And the, and the conductor said, well, this stop is such a stop, and that's the stop where the woman was to get off. He said, no, wait a minute, that was the last stop you made. He said, oh no, he said, we had trouble with one of the cars, and said we stopped only for a few minutes, and then we continued on. They found that lady the next day, don't you know? Her and the child both frozen in that snowstorm that night. It was the tragic results of what? Wrong direction being given. I'll tell you folks tonight, don't listen to me, don't listen to an angel, don't listen to any preacher that points you to any other than the person of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He says, Jesus said, come unto me. All right, let's notice who can go unto him. Not only does he give us the invitation, not only does he give us direction, but he gives us a description now of those who can come. Notice it again. Come unto me, notice all. Everyone. Doesn't make any difference what color your skin is, what side of the tracks you live on, what kind of house you live in, what kind of automobile you drive, what kind of education you have. The gospel message is for all, young and old, for anyone, for everyone. In this particular passage, he breaks it into two categories. Notice, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Those who labor and those who are heavy laden. I believe those who labor could represent for us a category of people who earnestly and honestly feel that some way, somehow, through the efforts of the flesh, through their own conduct, through their own lifestyle, they are gaining favor with God. They are working their way to heaven. They are doing something that's going to enhance or to add to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're going to work their way there. You'll see them sometimes on a Saturday morning or other mornings, they're out knocking on doors. If you can get one of them to be honest, you know what they'll tell you? We have to do this. This is the work. We must work. We must earn. Well, uh, if we're ever going to get the divine favor of God, we must be worthy of it. There are folks I want to tell you tonight, you'll never be worthy of it. You could work yourself every day into a frenzy and never gain favor with God, because the Bible says, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his mercy has he saved us. The Bible is very clear, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works. Oh, you see, if, if we worked our way into heaven, then when we got there, you and I'd have an argument. I'd say, how did you get here? You didn't work near as hard as I did. I mean, I gave my whole life. I gave up my job. I gave up my family. I gave up, I gave up, I gave up. And what did you give up? Well, how could you ever get here? There'd be an argument in heaven. Oh, I'll tell you one day, by the grace of God, when we get to the glory land, there won't be any arguments about who worked the hardest to get there. All of the glory will go to him. For without him, none of us would be there. Not by works of righteousness which we've done. And we'll say, glory to the Lamb and praise to the Lamb. He did the work, he accomplished, he gave the sacrifice. But there are some people, you meet them, they say, well, I'm working on it. And even if they don't admit it, if they're not honest enough to admit that they're working their way to heaven, I'll tell you what it is. They are quietly doing it, and they say, well, I'm being as good as I can, and that's all God expects. You ever hear that? God doesn't expect you to, you know, to, to be perfect. Just do the best you can. I'm going to tell you something tonight. There's not a one of you in this auditorium tonight that's doing the best you can. Several years ago, when I was confronted with the claims of Christ, I realized that I wasn't even living up to the standard that I had made. Be good. How many of you are good? The Bible says none good. No, not one. And so we don't live up to our own standard. How do we think we can live up to someone else's standard? A long distance phone call. A young man out west in Bible school said, my father lives in, in your area in Ontario. He's dying with cancer. Said, will you visit him? I said, by the grace of God, I will. I got his name, I got his address, and next day I was over there. His wife was a registered nurse. They had a hospital bed right in the home. He was in the final stages of cancer, and she was nursing him until he died. I walked into there, said, I'd like to speak to your husband. Your son called me yesterday, told her who I was. She said, he's very sick. I don't know if he'll, uh, uh, want to listen to you. I said, well, could I please try? I walked in, and this poor man pulled himself up on his elbows with what little strength he had and, uh, acknowledged me, and I told him that his son had called, and I said, listen. I said, your son is concerned about your soul, and I want to know something. Have you ever received Christ as your own personal savior. You know what he said? When you compare me with others, I'm not that bad of a man. I said, Mr. Bob, God does not compare us with others. He compares us with himself. How do you compare with God? He looked to his wife, he looked back to me, and he said, I think you'd better go now. Three days later, that man was in eternity. You compare yourself with me, you'll always be just as good or better. So will I if I compare myself with you. Did you ever compare yourself with God? Only then will you see how far short you fall, and you will never work your way. Listen to me, if you could work your way into heaven by being good, by laboring, by giving, by doing, God made the biggest mistake of all eternity. He sent his son to die for you, and you don't need him. You can do it by good works. Oh no, the Bible is very clear. Not by works of righteousness which we have done. Matter of fact, the Bible says your righteousness. Listen, not your sin, not the gross immoral, the not the despicable heart and mind that you have, not the ugliness of sin. Your righteousnesses, the Bible says, is like a filthy rag before a holy and a righteous God. You won't make it. The Bible is very clear. God didn't make the mistake. You have made the mistake, and you need Christ. So those who labor, the self-righteous, they're trying to work their way into heaven. He says to them, you come. But then look at the other category. It says, and are heavy laden. I would like to suggest that these who labor and are heavy laden could represent now another category of people. These are the people that say, preacher, you don't know me. I've, I've, I've done some bad things. I've done some things so bad that God could never forgive me. I'm too burdened down with it. It's got me down. It's a, it's a burden, and, and, and the Lord could never forgive me. I remember after a meeting, a young couple came to me, just, uh, in their twenties, I suppose, nice looking couple, and we talked to them about salvation, and this young lady said to me, she said, I couldn't be saved. She said, I've done some things so awful I could never be saved. Well, I looked at her, and she looked like some kid raised in a Sunday school class. She had a face like an angel. And I thought, well, she's never done anything too bad, I'm sure of it. I mean, what could be too bad? So I said sort of off the cuff, I've learned better since then, I sort of said off the cuff, I said, well, you never killed anybody, did you? She said, well, I stabbed a man three times, but he didn't die. I said, good night, you know. She just, she just looked like an innocent little girl, you know. But here's the point. Now watch the point. Suppose she had killed someone, can God forgive that? Suppose she had committed some evil thing, could God forgive that? I'll tell you that there's no sin too big, too ugly, too sinful for God to forgive. They're just people too big to ask God to forgive them, that's all. Just people that says you could never do it. Listen, the unpardonable sin, the only unpardonable sin that exists today is to reject Jesus Christ. As long as you reject Jesus Christ, you can never be saved. And so he says, for those of you who think your sin is too great, for those of you who think you've gone too deep, I'll tell you, Jesus Christ will jump down in the hole with you and say, you follow me, I'll get you out of here. That invitation is for all. Everyone is invited, those who labor and those who are heavy laden. The Bible puts it like this, whosoever will may come. Several years ago, there was a, uh, an evangelistic meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. I happen to know the man who was in charge of that. And after the meeting, it was in a gymnasium, and after the meeting that night, there were several people that stayed for counseling. And one of the people that stayed for counseling was a great big black. Now we're in Birmingham, Alabama. He had enough courage as it was to even come to this meeting, but now he even comes for counseling afterwards in a, in a, in a state like that. And here was a white man, and this black man came to this white man for counseling, and they went down into the change room in this gymnasium down there to talk about salvation. And, and the, and the man said to me, the man that was down there told me the story. He said, this man was angry. He was angry with everybody. He was angry at white people, and he was angry at God. And he said, no matter what I tried to tell him, he got madder and more angry. And he said he walked by, there was a Venetian blind over one little window, they pulled it right off the wall in anger. He said, I looked around, I found out he and I were the only two left in that basement. And he said, I was getting a little bit concerned. No matter, I said, well, God loves you. He said, God doesn't love me. White folks spit on me. Nobody loves me. And man, this guy was getting worked up. And he said he just remembered just the scriptures, just give him the scriptures. And so every time that he, uh, shut up long enough for this man to get a word in, he just give him a verse, you know, just God so loved the world that he gave his only son, give him John three sixteen. or for by grace are you saved, uh, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, just little darts, just little words into the conversation, and, and, and then he said this, but as many as received him, except the black man, to them he gave the right to become the Son of God. He said, where does it say that? He said, right here, read it for yourself. He took him to John chapter one verse twelve and he read it, and it says this: But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. He said, it didn't say except the black man. He said, that's right. Even you. Even you. See, none are unreachable. God's long arm of salvation reaches all the way from heaven to earth. And I'll tell you, in nineteen seventy it reached to a little town in Alabama and saved me. And no one would be more unlikely to become a Christian than me. No one would have ever thought that I would have ever surrendered my life to Jesus Christ and become a child in the family of God, and not only that, go on to tell others about him. I was the most unlikeliest person that you ever met to do that. But I'll tell you, there are none here tonight, whether you're laboring or whether you're heavy laden, the Bible says, whosoever will may come. And so that's a description of those that come. Now I want you to notice the personal interest that he shows. Notice this, uh, come unto me all ye that labor and the heavy laden. Now watch your Bibles, and it says, and I. Can I tell you tonight, Jesus Christ will never refer you to anybody else. Now, there may be some professional people here tonight, and I got to be careful what I say here, and I hope you'll take this as it in the spirit in which it's given. But sometimes professional people disappoint us. You ever make a, an appointment with a, a doctor or a lawyer or, uh, an accountant, or maybe, uh, even to, uh, to have your automobile fixed or your, or your pet's nails to be clipped or something. But when you got there, they say, well, Mr. So-and-so, he's in his office right now. Just sit right here and have a cup of coffee. Now, they got a thirty-cup coffee pot there. You ought to know right away something's wrong. He'll be out in just a minute. Right. So I'm about seventeen cups into this thirty-cup coffee pot, and and I say, now, is it going to be much longer? And she said, well, you know, Mr. So-and-so was called out. Well, man, how did he get out of here? I mean, I've been right here the whole time. All these people have escape hatches, I'm sure. I mean, they have secret doors and panels in their offices. Somehow they get out and you can't find them. You don't know where they went. But she said, but his associate would be glad to see you. I don't want to see his associate. I had an appointment with him. I wanted to see him. I wanted to talk to him. And you go away very disappointed. Would you listen to me? Jesus never refer you to anybody else. He takes your case personally. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I, the Lord Jesus said, I'll handle the case. I'll see to it. You and I will have a personal interview, the interest that he shows. Now notice next, it says, I, notice the next word, will. This is the determination that the Lord Jesus promises you. I'll take your case, and I will. That is, if Jesus says that he will handle your case, Jesus will handle your case. Jesus said this, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Boy, we got that verse so mixed up that none of us really understand that verse. Now watch this. The Lord Jesus Christ says, I will build my church. I'm doing it. I'm the constructor. I'm the contractor. I'm the superintendent. I'm the one doing this. I'm doing the work. I'm laying the building blocks. I'm building my church. And notice what he says, the gates of hell will not prevail. Now we sort of think, uh, here's, here's the poor Christians, here's, here's the church. We sort of got our armor on, we're behind the shield here, and here comes hell as hard as it can come. Boom, boom, boom, but it won't prevail. Come on, okay, we can stand our ground. That's not it at all. That's wrong. He said, I'll build my church and the gates of hell, listen to me, when they are assaulted, when we move into enemy territory, when we start making ground and taking ground in enemy territory, and the gates of hell are there, we prevail against the gates of hell. The church is on the move, folks. Church is not defensive, it is offensive. We're not to sit down and do nothing, we're to get up and get going. And as we get going, the gates of hell cannot stop us. You believe that? I don't know if you believe that here. I don't know if you believe that you can go out in this community tomorrow, in the power of the Spirit of God, and witness to people of the grace of God and see the power of God working in people's life. That's what he promised. Doesn't depend on you. Doesn't depend on me. Listen to this. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Why, Paul? Tell us why you're not ashamed. For it is the power of God, not me. We've too long put all the power in the package, in the frame, in the way we present it. Hey, folks, I'd rather have a stumbling, bumbling idiot go out and tell somebody about Christ than a spit-shine orator that's depending on himself. I'll tell you, the gospel of Jesus Christ dynamites men and women and boys and girls out of the prison of darkness, and the Lord Jesus Christ said, I'll build my church, and the gates of hell can't stand against us. We will prevail. That's his promise. You drag your heels if you want to, but there's some that believe that today, and there's some that are going on and gaining ground for our blessed Savior today in his power and in his name. He says, I will. No wonder he can make a promise like that, because God says to him, son, you can have it all. And he says to his disciples, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. You can't get any more than that. Your salvation is in jeopardy if anyone can overcome your Savior, but no one can overcome. No one. There's none greater, the Bible says. There's none more powerful, the Bible says. Well, what are we worried about? Why are we so concerned? Why don't we get up and get going and do something for the Lord Jesus Christ? Here he says, come all that labor and are heavy laden to me, and I will. Listen, you can count on it. Notice what he says. I will give. Give. Oh, I'll never forget my, how you learn over the years. I was in James Bay having some meetings among the Cree Indians. And you know, being a boy raised in Mississippi, you have certain cultures, cultural things and cliches you grow up with. And I was talking about salvation being free. You know what I said? I said, and God is no Indian giver either. For the good night, what did I say? And all these people just, you know, looking like this. But you know what I mean? God doesn't give you something and then take it back. That's not the kind of God we have. God, you might say, well, and a lot of people say this, they say, well, if it's free, it must be cheap. I never got anything free that was any good. Then you didn't get salvation yet then. It is free, but it's not cheap. Matter of fact, it cost God the highest price he could pay. His son. Any of you here that have children tonight ought to be able to relate to that. How about going to, uh, one of the federal penitentiaries and going to the superintendent there, the warden there, and say, Warden, uh, take my little boy here and put him on death row and let that fellow on death row go. Do you think that'd be cheap? Be free to him, though, wouldn't it? He didn't do anything to deserve that. You just walk in there one day and give your son for him. You say, Preacher, I couldn't do that. And you know what? Neither could I. But I tell you one that gave his little boy Jesus for you. And we were on death row, the whole bunch of us. The wages of sin is death. We were all on death ro- row. We're waiting for the execution, that's all. And one day God stepped into our life and said, I'll give my boy for him. Free to me, but not to God. Never forget the time that I met this man. He took me into his basement, and he showed me a gun collection that I'm telling you would cover that wall, standing them up one by the other ones. I like guns. I'm interested in guns. It's just a hobby of mine, and I was very interested as he took each one of those guns and told me its history, told me about it, showed me mechanically how it worked. As we were going along, I noticed a gun above the rest of them. It was in a glass case. You couldn't open it, you couldn't handle it. I noticed the gun right away. I'm not, uh, very up on these things, but many of you here would know if I told you it was an old Model ninety four thirty thirty Winchester. There'd been a kazillion of them made. I said to him, I said, Fred, uh, I must be a special gun. You must have shot a big bear with that, or a moose or something. And uh, Fred dropped his head and he shuffled his feet. He said, uh, no, he said, that was my son's gun. He said he shot himself in a hunting accident with that gun, and he couldn't talk about it. We went upstairs. He put on the coffee, and as we talked, I tried to tell Fred about the grace of God, that God loved him, and God wanted to save him, and that salvation is a gift. It is a free gift. He says, no. He said, I don't believe that. He said, you see all this stuff I got? He said, I worked hard for it. Everything you see here, I sweat and I bled for it, and I paid good money for it. He said, you, I, I don't believe in this free stuff, giving it. He said, it's no good if it's free. I said, Fred, uh, you know that gun downstairs, the one in the glass case? Yeah, he said. I said, would you sell that gun? He said, a million dollars couldn't buy that gun. And then he said this. I couldn't sell it, but I might be able to give it away. I said, that's the point I'm trying to make. Some things are too precious to put a price tag on, and God won't put a price tag on his son. The Bible says, the gift of God is eternal life. Listen, you can't earn it, and you don't deserve it tonight, but God will give you eternal life. It's a gift. Not a payment, not a temporary loan, but a free eternal gift. Notice the next word. I will give you. We might say, who is the you? Who's he talking about? I'll give you. Don't make it hard. Not the ones that look, not the ones who think, not the ones who pray, not the ones who want, not the ones who guess, not the ones who talk about it. It's the ones that come. You, you, you have to come. You say, how do I come? You just come by faith. You just come just as you are. You just come right where you are. You don't have to get out of your seat. You don't have to walk down here. You don't have to raise your hand or nod your head or cry, but you have to admit that you're a sinner and that God's right and you're wrong, and that his son paid the penalty of your sin, that he he died for you, he was buried for you, he rose again for you, and he's coming back for you. You must admit it. You must forsake yourself, and you must grab and cling to God and to his promises. That's the way you come. And for those who come, what does he promise? Notice the last word. Rest. That's what the world needs today, you know that? Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Rest from your labors, and rest from your burdens. Lay all your burdens down. Lay all of your efforts down, and listen to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ as he says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Let's pray. Father, we ask you to bless the preaching of thy word tonight to some lost soul, and stir up thy people for Christ's sake. Amen.