Why Give the Invitation? (Part 2)
The Spirit and the bride both give the invitation to come and drink of the water of life. We read in Revelation 22:17, “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 the water of life freely.” The very ending of the New Testament contains an invitation!
Now, if Jesus, Peter, Paul, John, the Spirit, and the Bride gave an invitation, who am I to say that I am NOT going to give an invitation? The disciple is not above his Master (Matthew 10:24)!
The basic truth of the matter is this. We either believe that people need to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ or we do not. If we do not, then there is no use in giving an invitation. If we do, then we must make every effort with all of our heart, soul, and mind, to appeal to that person who needs to repent. We are finite humans who are limited in knowledge. We just do not know if there is someone listening who needs to respond to the gospel of Jesus. Do you want to gamble with someone’s soul by not offering them the opportunity to respond to the invitation? I sure don’t.
The invitation of Jesus is basically this. If you are a Christian and you need to publicly repent, then please come forward now and we will pray with you and for you. If you are a Christian and are in need of the prayers of the church for any other reason, then the church stands ready to receive you and pray for you. If you are not a Christian, then you need to become one by hearing the gospel (Matthew 7:24-27), believing it with all your heart (John 20:30,31), repenting of your sin (Luke 24:47), confessing Jesus as the Son of God (Matthew 16:16) and being baptized for the remission of your sins (Mark 16:16; Matthew 28:18,19). This is God’s invitation. Let’s give it!
God bless you and I love you.
Kevin Cauley