God's gracious invitation to the unconverted is extended through His creation, the preaching of the gospel, and His own persistent call. The sermon emphasizes that God is compassionate, gracious, and long-suffering, yet humanity has largely refused His outstretched hand. Despite this rejection, God offers forgiveness and a righteous standing through Christ's sacrifice, providing unspeakable privileges in this life, such as deliverance from sin and the world's corruption. The terms of mercy are simple: to wash and be clean through faith in Christ's finished work, with God supplying the grace needed to respond to His call.
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in our Bibles this morning to the first chapter of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter one. And we also want to turn to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter one. Proverbs one beginning at verse twenty. And we shall read to the end of the chapter. Proverbs one twenty. With them cryeth without. She uttereth her voice in the streets. She cryeth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates. In the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity?
And the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called and ye refused. I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded. But ye have said it not all my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind.
When distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof, Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Now from Isaiah chapter one, we want to begin our reading in verse eighteen. Isaiah chapter one and verse eighteen, a passage that is very familiar to most of the Lord's people. Where we read, Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Here in this eighteenth verse we have a gracious invitation from the Lord. But don't forget verses nineteen and twenty.
For verse nineteen says, If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with a sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Now let us look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father? Let me just remind the young people that tonight at six o'clock, our brother Neil Roberts is going to be ministering next Lord's Day evening at six o'clock.
Eric Rudd is going to be ministering the word and just that word to the young people. Now for a number of Lord's Day mornings, four of them we looked at the great subject of conversion what it means to be converted and I was hoping that today I would get permission from the Lord to begin a book study I have never taught first Corinthians and of all the books in the New Testament that are written I believe first Corinthians is a contemporary book furthermore I believe that First Corinthians is the only book that is really written to us.
Timothy was written to Timothy. Titus was written to Titus. Oh, I know there's great messages there. When you get to First Corinthians, it says it's not only written to the Corinthians, but to all that in every place call upon the name of our Lord. However, the Lord didn't give me permission to go into First Corinthians yet. In fact, He's given me two more messages on the subject of conversion that He wants me to bring. And this morning I want to speak to you on the subject of God's invitation to the unconverted. If you're here without Christ, you're invited by the God of the universe to come to Him.
So let's pray. Now, Father, As we again pursue thy holy word, we pray that we may hear thy voice speaking to us. May it speak with power and with authority. For the Lord Jesus' sake, amen. Now we have already examined the great subject of conversion from four different aspects. First of all, we examined the marks of the unconverted. then the necessity for conversion. Our Lord said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. Then we looked at the nature of conversion, what it means to be born of God.
Then we looked at mistakes concerning conversion. Now when I speak of the, and use the word conversion, I mean that change that occurs. When a person believes the gospel, because God has given that person a new heart in regenerating grace. This is called the new birth in John chapter three. And our Lord told Nicodemus, it was absolutely necessary. Now this morning as we think of God's invitation to the unconverted, we're not just simply talking about an appeal that he's put by a preacher at the end of a gospel sermon.
We're not talking about that appeal, beloved. Well, that appeal is an invitation to sinners. But what we're doing, we're talking about the call of God that comes to all men. There is not a person in the world to whom the call of God does not come. The general call of God comes to all men. In Romans chapter ten, where we read that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The question is asked in the next verse, verse eighteen of John ten. But have they not heard? And the answer is given, yes, verily they have heard.
Their sound went to the ends of the earth. And that expression they have heard, their sound went to the ends of the earth. Is a quotation from the nineteenth psalm. And the nineteenth psalm begins with the words, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth forth his handiwork. God has revealed himself in creation. And beloved, the God who created, who made all things, who takes full responsibility, is the one who has provided redemption for sinful men. And it is he who calls.
And if a man looks about him and he beholds a creation, he has to look at the order in creation. He has to be amazed at the wisdom of God. But he also should think of the sinfulness of man, what man has done to God's fair creation. And beloved, in this we hear and man receives, whether he perceives it or not. He hears the call of God. And then the call of God comes in a specific way to the preaching of the gospel itself in the Word of God.
So therefore, when we consider God's invitation to the unconverted, our first consideration must be, who is it that invites men? Who is it that invites men? In Proverbs chapter one, God says, Unto you, O men, I call. In Isaiah chapter one and verse eighteen we read, Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Who is this God? Who is this God who invites? May I remind you first of all what he's written in the eighty-sixth Psalm and verse fifteen.
The psalmist in describing God says, But thou, O Lord, are they God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering and plenteous and mercy? Think that verse over. What is he saying? He's talking about the long-suffering of God. You know what that word long-suffering means? Well, just the opposite of short-suffering. A person who is short-suffering. That's how we are most of the time. But our God is long-suffering. He didn't cut me off in my sins.
He was patient. He made it patiently for me to repent. He was gracious. He was loving. And in tender mercy, he manifested himself to it. And this is what the psalmist says. in Psalm Eighty-six and verse fifteen. Who is this God who invites the unconverted to come unto him? He is the God who is full of compassion and who is gracious. The God who created all things. He invites men to come unto him and to reason with him. For the more, in Proverbs one we read and we hear God saying unto us, turn you at my reproof.
Through the prophet Ezekiel God says, Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die? Sayeth the Lord of hosts. It is God who is speaking. Now the sad part that we have to consider as we consider the great invitation of God is the fact that all have refused God's invitation. There isn't a one who hasn't. They have all refused. God says, Because I have called unto you, I have stretched out my hands and no man regarded. That's what God says in Proverbs chapter one.
And when it comes to this general call that comes to all men from a gracious creator, from a long-suffering creator, God says, I've stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. And you consider that, my friend. When God says you have not regarded it, it's something to consider. Man has rather turned his back upon the gracious invitation of God. Yet Micah says in his prophecy, in chapter seven and verse eighteen, who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity?
You see, when we consider God's gracious invitation, and when we think that man has not regarded the invitation of God, we need to remind ourselves of what Malachi said, just before we put down his pen in the last book of the Old Testament, chapter three, verse seven, Malachi cries out, return unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you. This general call, beloved, that comes to all men, is not merely the voice of man. It is not merely the voice of man. It is the voice of God, be a sovereign lawgiver, creator, and judge.
He is the one who says today, Come. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be a scarlet They shall be as white as snow. The mercy of God, beloved, follows man and pleads with him to turn. What is mercy? You see, we use terms. There is mercy and there is grace. There are two words, mercy and grace. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don't deserve.
Mercy and grace. And God's mercy follows man. God could have cut me off. Oh, the foolish things I did. But God in His mercy followed me. His mercy didn't slay me. And then in due time, He reminded me of Himself. And He called me effectually. He caused me to hear. He stopped me. We call that conviction of sin. Scholars call it an effectual call.
But when God caused me to hear, He stopped me in my mad rush, having my own way. And when He did, I was brought up short and I realized I had offended the mighty sovereign lawgiver, creator and judge. And I'm going to have to give an account. But then I learned something. And I learned the second thing. Who is the one who invites? It is the very God who created. But the second thing is the doors of heaven were opened to me. In the twenty-fourth psalm we have those great words, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in.
You see, the everlasting doors of the grace of God, with a promise of an abundant entrance, were opened to me that day, when my ears were opened to hear the gospel. And I heard that through the blessed work of the Savior on Calvary's cross, It's possible for me, a guilty sinner, to enter into the very presence of a holy God and not without fear because of what the Savior did there on the cross on Calvary's Hill. And when I speak of the everlasting doors of salvation being opened in that effectual call of God, that effectual call came, arise and view the map.
of another world. And you know, beloved, that map is the good news of the gospel. And that good news of the gospel issues in eternal life. And after I viewed the map of another world, you see there are two other worlds. There's a world in which the righteous enter. It's called heaven. There is a world in which the Christ rejecter enters, and he's called the lake of fire, and to use our dear brother's verse from Revelation chapter twenty, verse fifteen, and whosoever name was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
You see, the gospel issues in eternal life to all who believe the message. When we think of the map of the other world, I'm reminding myself of the twenty-sixth chapter of the Acts. Remember when Paul was taken a prisoner back in Acts chapter twenty-one and he had that long stay at a place called Caesarea Philippi. Two years he was there in prison before he ever was put on the ship to go to Rome. for he appealed to Caesar. But while he was there in prison, he spoke to men in authority.
He spoke to a man called Festus. He spoke to a man called Felix. And he spoke to a man called King Agrippa. And King Agrippa was the last of the Herods that are mentioned in the New Testament. And as Paul spoke to King Agrippa, and he outlined how God had appeared to him on the Damascus Road and how God in sovereign grace had come into his life and he had experienced conversion and he used the Old Testament scriptures to teach his message. He turned to King Agrippa and he said these words and they're found in Acts twenty-six and verse twenty-seven.
He said this, King Agrippa, believers saw the prophets. He knew that King Agrippa, because of his relationship with the nation of Israel, he knew what the prophets said. And may I say to you this morning, because of your relationship with Christians, you too. Oh, you may not have much knowledge, but you have a smattering of knowledge of the map. The gospel that is outlined in the Word of God, You see, if you believe the map that God has given us, then you know something of the glory of the city of God that awaits those who are truly born of God.
Oh, the Bible describes it as a city of transparent gold, garnished with all manner of precious stones. When our Lord Jesus was here on earth, Satan came to the Lord, and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. from a very high mountain we read in Matthew chapter four and then he said to him all these will I give you and the glory of them if you'll bow down and worship me you'll have the world and the glory of it if you bow down and worship me and the Lord Jesus refused but on the other hand he took a cross he said I'm going to the cross and at the cross I'm going to redeem man.
And in redeeming man, I'm going to save them from this very world that you're offering me. And beloved, this morning, all listen to this. This morning, the doors of heaven are opened by the gospel. And our Lord Jesus offers the glory of heaven. And he says, To you and to me in his invitation. All this will I give you if in righteousness and holiness you come to me and worship me.
And the offer is real. There are no strings attached. It is real. And it was purchased for us through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see the doors of heaven which are now opened by the gospel. It's an entrance into a blessed kingdom, beloved. It's a kingdom of glory. It's a kingdom of righteousness. It is a kingdom of peace. Yeah, it is an everlasting kingdom. Have you come? Have you entered in? Oh, don't miss this. Here's the invitation that a gracious God gives to the unconverted.
But the third thing I want you to notice is this. God gives unspeakable privileges in this life. You know, we sing occasionally, there's a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar. For the Father waits over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there in the sweet by and by. But I like what Dr. Barnhouse did to that hymn. And I've done it also. He changed the words and he says, There's a land that is fairer than dead. And by faith we can enter it now. With my will free from death I can sing.
Ex-King death. Leave the throne. Leave it now. And oh, what a blessing it is to realize that the blessings of conversion are not fully reserved for the future. You see, God places much in the hands of His people right now. First of all, we are redeemed from the dominion of sin and Satan. I got up a little earlier this morning than I normally do. In fact, we got to the breakfast table this morning about a half hour earlier than we normally do. And the morning paper was there.
And I took and read a little section of the morning paper because it struck my eye. It had to do with the lady who lives in number ten Donning Street in Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher. And I was quite interested in a number of things. Her father operated a grocery store and she knew what it was to work. She came from a poor family. And she always had that drive. And when she'd want to do what other people wanted her to do, her dad would say, why do you do what others want you to do? Why don't you do what he's right? Why aren't you different? Why aren't you different?
And you know, beloved, you and I are living in an age of conformity. And I'm a bit disturbed over the conformity of our age. I'll be honest with you. Now we all enjoyed, I think I'm speaking for everybody, the piano playing last week of Richard Barlow. I'll tell you this, he has two beautiful daughters. Beautiful red hair. And both are through college, I mean through high school, and both are going to be in college this year. The one already has finished the first year at University of Maryland.
And you know neither one of them have dated. Oh, they've been asked. They've been asked. But you know what those both girls said? Oh, I want you to listen to this and you young people listen and listen well. Each one of those girls said, Most young people we know have tried everything by the time they're sixteen years of age. There's nothing left in life for them. They've experimented with everything.
This is the me now generation. I want it now. I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait. That's the generation we're living in. And both of these girls said we're willing to wait. We're willing to wait. First of all, in the Lord's choice. On the Lord's choice. And second, we're willing to wait in order that when we marry, it's going to be a blessed experience for us. We haven't experienced marriage before we're married.
How important. Let me ask you, in all seriousness, do you realize that conversion brings with us not only blessings in the future, but blessings right now. We are delivered, beloved, from this present evil world. What does it mean to be delivered from this present evil world? I usually translate it a bit different than that, you know. I usually say it's being delivered from Burlington, North Carolina. Or you might have to say it's being delivered from Whitson. Or being delivered from Kynesville. Or being delivered from Gibsonville. Or Nevin.
But that's where your present evil world is. What does it mean? To be delivered from this present evil world means that prosperity will not destroy you. To be delivered from this present evil world means that adversity will not separate you from the love of God. That's what it means. For our Lord Jesus has delivered us from this present evil world, and he has delivered us from the power of the grave, the King of Terrors. And the King of Terrors becomes to us a very messenger of peace.
You see, God bestows upon his own blessed, unspeakable prerogative. He is our friend and he is our father. John fifteen says, Greater love hath no man than this than a man laid down his life for his friends and you're my friend. The hundred-third Psalm says, Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that trust him. You see, when you marry a prince, or a king he gives as a prince and a king can afford to give and that's what we possess as the children and as the bride of the king we have free access into his presence he listens to us when we pray I remember one day Oh, this goes back years ago.
This goes back about eighteen years, maybe only fifteen, but a long time. I got a telephone call one day and will you go visit a woman? I went. She was in desperate need, ready to commit suicide. She found her husband was unfaithful to her. ready to commit suicide. And as I sat and listened and I began to talk with her, I said, may I remind you of something? You can't even pray. You can't pray.
To be able to pray means you have to have a relationship with the Lord. And God can't, and He will not listen to you. Proverbs one said, They shall call upon me, but I will not answer. Oh, what a terrible condition. Today God invites. They shall call upon me and I will not answer. And that afternoon I opened the map, the Word of God. And I pointed that woman to the one who can comfort in trial. And that afternoon that woman swung the heart's door open to the person of Christ.
Well, I'll tell you something, things didn't get any better. For quite a while they got worse. They got worse. But I'll tell you this today. Her children are in college. Her husband is with her. They're united as a believing family. And that husband who despised me, they live in a distant city. That husband in North Carolina, by the way, that husband who despised me, despised me. He comes to see me whenever he's in the city.
And you know what we talk about? We talk about the gospel, the person of Christ. God's gracious invitation to the unconverted. God's grace. You see, God gives as a king. We have access. He's a father. He hears our prayers. And he holds free communion with us. You see, his blessings rest upon us. Our enemies serve us. And he works all things for our good. God's word says, Come now.
And let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. God's invitation to the unconverted. Number four, the terms of mercy are brought as low as possible to you. The terms of mercy. God has stooped to where the sinner is. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan, as he journeyed, he came where he was in order to lift the man and to lift his load. Now God is not the author of sin, and God will not stay in His holiness to save a sinner. What God does in salvation, beloved, He does it righteously.
He will never lower His righteous standard to receive you or to receive me. Never. You see, there are two things under the law covenant of the Old Testament that were necessary to be done according to the tenor of that covenant. First, that we should fully satisfy the demands of justice for past offenses. And second, that we should perform personally, perfectly, and perpetually the whole law for time to come. And who can do it? No one.
I can't even remember all my past offenses, let alone make justification for them. and all have failed. You see, but when we come to the New Testament, I hear the words of the Savior say, Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. And in his life of obedience and in his death at Calvary's cross as a curse for us, he fully fulfilled all that the law demands. And when a person comes to Christ, he not only receives forgiveness for his sins, but he receives the righteousness of the Savior himself, which he earned by his sinless life here in the world.
On the invitation of the Savior is this. He invites us to come and receive him, receive his forgiveness. and his justifying righteousness. But you know there's something wrong. We prefer to do something big instead of simply coming to Christ. Remember that story in the Old Testament of Nehemiah? Nehemiah the Syrian? The fifth chapter of two kings? Seven ducks in muddy water? You remember the story? You remember... he was a leper and he came to Elisha the prophet eventually and Elisha said go dip seven times in the muddy in the Jordan River and oh he said oh the rivers of Damascus are much better and clearer than this muddy Jordan and one of his servants said to him the prophet didn't ask you to do anything big he just asked you to go wash and be clean And that's the invitation of God to you.
He says, Wash. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses from all sins. Wash and be clean is a voice from heaven. Wash and be clean. You see, His invitation is to receive the work done for us. Come now, God says, and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. There's a fifth thing I want to leave with you concerning God's invitation to the unconverted. It is this. God supplies all the needed grace to enable you to come.
It is God's invitation. It is He who invites. And it is He who enables you to be clean because at the cross the Savior did all the work. Furthermore, in Proverbs chapter one, where God invites men, he says, I will pour out my spirit unto you. And it is God who says, Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. While of you and yourself can do nothing, by his spirit enabling, you can come. And when God says come, he means it. And when you come, he receives.
Oh, my friend, respond to that invitation, come unto him. In closing, I'd like to mention three things. Number one, while no man regarded in Proverbs chapter one the outstretched arm of God, all this proves is man's desperate need and his awful depravity. It shows the lustness of sinful man. But God says, call upon me. Oh, if you're here this morning and you haven't come, I invite you, call upon the Lord.
Ask him to forgive your wretchedness. The fact that he has his arms stretched out and you haven't regarded it, it just shows how wicked you are on the inside. Call upon him. There's forgiveness with him. The third thing I'd like to leave with you is this. Come to him in genuine faith. When Nehemiah dipped seven times in the Jordan River, he simply believed what the prophet said. He said, Go wash and be clean. When you come to Christ, you simply believe what he said, and you come and you receive the work of Christ, and the saving is his business, and he does it.
Oh, my friend, Will you come? Will you come? I'd like to sing a hymn in closing this morning, hymn number three hundred fifty-one in your hymn book. Behold the Savior at the door. He gently knocks. He's knocked before. He's waited long. He's waiting still. You use no other friend so ill. Open the door. He'll enter in and sup with you. and you with him. Three hundred fifty-one. This invitation hymn may be unfamiliar to you, but when you hear the tune, it's very easy to sing.
The tune is the same as that great hymn. Let's be the tie that's mine. Let's stand together, sing all three verses to E fifty-one. Will you come to Christ? Brother Rick.