[0:00] Good morning everyone. A warm welcome to the service this morning. And if there are any who! are visiting with us, I haven't spotted any yet. You're also very welcome. There's tea and coffee at! the end of the service. If you're able to stay behind please do so. There are a lot of notices that have been on the screen. I'm not going to take time to go through all of these. I'll just highlight a couple of them. The first is to see the evening service is at six tonight and I'll take that God willing. Scott's on holiday for the next few days and the YF will meet tonight after the evening service.
[0:42] Tuesday at six o'clock, Tuesday 9th at six o'clock, short Kirk session meeting. So if the elders could please note that. Prayer meeting on Wednesday at half past seven and we're going to have Stuart Weir from CAIR who should have been here earlier in the year but he's here this week and he's going to be sharing about about that ministry and I think he may work a little with Anthony Latham. So we may hear a little from Anthony that evening as well. This next weekend is the communion weekend so we have services on Saturday and Sunday next weekend. Saturday a preparatory type service and that will be at seven o'clock and then Sunday 11 o'clock is the communion service, six o'clock Thanksgiving service and then fellowship after that. The minister is Dan Patterson who I don't think has been over anywhere on the islands actually in the time that he's been in ministry. He's over Poole, Uau Bay, excellent minister, young people in particular please be encouraged to come. He's very concise, short, direct, easy to listen to. So whether you're young or older be encouraged to come to the services. So that's Saturday and Sunday. Dan will take all these services and if there are any who have not yet come to the Lord's table but who are trusting Christ, the command is clear. Jesus says if we are saved by him we are to remember him, remember his death and so please be encouraged to do that. Be challenged to do that perhaps some, those who've been trusted in Christ for many years but have been holding back the call, the command is to come and to remember his death as we take the bread and we take the wine. If you want to speak to me or any of the elders beforehand please feel free to do so. The last one I'll highlight is the Lewis Christian
[2:57] Conference which is on the 18th to the 20th of June. Is that next weekend? No, that's the weekend after that isn't it? So you maybe remember that face, some of you won't but Robert Smith Jr. preached here I don't know how many years ago it was now, it must have been seven or eight years ago. He was in this Lewis Christian Conference before, huge big booming loud voice and he was absolutely amazed by the Gaelic Psalms because he said he recognized these psalms, the line getting thrown out from the gospel singing that he was brought up with in a slightly different culture. So he was a real encouragement when he was here so you can note that weekend also. These I think are all the the notices I need to highlight just now, you can read the rest at your own convenience. Let us now worship God and we'll sing to his praise. The first praise is a hymn, it's not in the books but it's on the screen.
[4:10] Though the nations rage and we are conscious of how much they do, kingdoms rise and fall, there is still one king reigning over all. So I will not fear, for this truth remains, that my God is the Ancient of Days. We'll stand to sing in just a moment.
[4:36] Amen. Amen.
[5:36] Amen. Amen.
[6:36] Amen. Amen.
[7:36] Let's bow our heads and unite their hearts in prayer.
[7:57] Let's pray. Amen. Loving God, our Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can come before you on this, your day, as your people.
[8:17] And we thank you that we have the promise that when we wait upon the Lord, our strength is renewed. We thank you that as we wait and put our hope in the Lord, you're the God who inclines your ear to hear us and to help us.
[8:38] So we pray that as we come before you in the stillness of this place, that we would know that you are God and that you are with us.
[8:53] And we pray that for each of us here this morning. You are the God who is the eternal God who rules over heaven and earth.
[9:07] And yet you are the God who is made and who knows every single one of us. And you know how we have come this morning.
[9:19] You are able to search each heart. And some of us may have come this morning feeling discouraged, cast down. And we pray that as we look to you that you would lift us up.
[9:35] That we would be able to say with a psalmist that we are trusting in God. Some of us may be distracted.
[9:48] And weighed down by worries and concerns. And we pray that we would receive the peace of God. That passes all understanding.
[10:02] That we would be enabled even at this time to cast all our cares upon the Lord, knowing that he cares for us. Some of us may come this morning with questions and seeking guidance on direction and decisions.
[10:23] And we ask, Lord, that as we open your word and as we bow before you, that you would guide us and direct us. You have said, as we acknowledge you in all our ways, you will direct our path.
[10:35] And some of us may have come here this morning with hearts that are hard. With no expectation.
[10:48] And no real desire even. To meet with the living God. Some may even sit wondering whether God is really there.
[11:00] And we pray that you would draw near to any such person. That you would soften.
[11:11] That you would even break through hearts that have become hard and calloused. You're the God who is able to do by your spirit what we are not able to do with our words.
[11:24] And Holy Spirit, we pray that you would be at work. Touching each heart. Lifting each head.
[11:37] Causing us to look to the Lord Jesus. We thank you that on this, the Lord's day, we are reminded and we are able to rejoice once more.
[11:48] In the fact that the Saviour died. But rose again, triumphant over the grave. We thank you that he pleads our cause.
[12:00] At God's right hand. Omnipotent to save. Lord Jesus, we pray. That as we look to you, that we would know your salvation.
[12:11] That we would know the restored joy. Of your salvation. And we pray that we would know that life. That resurrection life.
[12:22] That we taste in this world. And which we will know in full measure. On your return. To this world. We pray that we would be ready for that day that you return or call us home.
[12:40] And we thank you that we can be ready. Simply by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Confessing our sin. And looking in faith to him.
[12:51] So, hear us and cleanse us as we do confess our sin. The thoughts, the words, the actions. The action, the inactions.
[13:03] We can think about many things. That we are conscious. Have grieved your spirit. And we pray that we would be cleansed in the blood of Christ.
[13:14] That we would know life through his death. That death that we are called to remember. And we pray that as we approach a communion weekend.
[13:27] That all of us would be remembering the Lord Jesus' death until he comes. And if there are any who are trusting in Christ.
[13:38] And maybe have been for many years. But have been trusting secretly. We pray that they would be given the courage and the obedience.
[13:48] To come forward. As Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea did. To say that they, that we, are trusting in Christ.
[14:00] That we are not ashamed to say that he is our Lord and our Saviour. We pray, Lord, for the nations as we sang.
[14:11] The nations rage. Kingdoms rise and fall. And we can think through many stories in the news over this last week. Which have distressed us.
[14:21] Some as we see unrest and almost chaos on the streets of our own land. Other stories that take us to other nations.
[14:31] Where we see unrest. Where we see conflict. And we see those who are innocent suffering. As we think of these situations that may be far removed from us.
[14:45] And beyond our reach. We bring them to you. And ask, Lord, that in your sovereign power. You would rule and reign. And that you would bring peace where there is trouble.
[14:59] That you would bring relief where there is suffering. That you would bring justice where there is injustice. And we pray for our community, Lord.
[15:13] We are always conscious of those who are sick. And those who are sad. Wrestling with grief. Those who struggle with many different things.
[15:24] And as we come before you. And name in the silence of our own hearts. As we ask that you would meet them. As we pray that you would meet us at the point of our need.
[15:36] We thank you that we can take everything to the Lord in prayer. We thank you that we have a friend. Who sticks closer than a brother. In the Lord Jesus.
[15:49] And Lord Jesus, we pray. That you would hear us. And that you would receive us. As we bring all these things in your name. And for your sake. Amen. Amen.
[16:00] Boys and girls, would you like to come forward, please? Boys and girls, would you like to come forward, please? How are you guys all today?
[16:23] Going to be like that, is it? Does anybody know what this is? Do you want to take a closer look?
[16:42] What's that? It's a card, yeah? Good start. And what is the card doing? Girls, do you want to come round here? Get a wee closer look.
[16:56] What do you think, Benjamin? What's that? Is that a birthday card? Nope. What do you think, Finley? Not sure?
[17:11] Joseph? Shawnee? Okay. Exactly.
[17:24] It's a wedding card. It's a wedding. Do you know the special name for cards that come? To do a wedding. It's a wedding. Emily?
[17:37] Invitation. It's a wedding invitation. Hazel. Is Janangus here today? Yes, yeah. And Isabella. Hazel and Stevie are getting married at the buyer in Enshira, Perth.
[17:51] A hotel was obviously going to be too expensive, so Janangus has got a buyer. So, I've got an invitation to go to that wedding.
[18:06] And to help them to get married. Any of you guys going to be too much? Any of you guys going to any weddings this year? Yeah? What weddings are you going to, Finley?
[18:18] Julian and Hugh. Julian and Hugh have been in love for a long time, haven't they? And they're going to be getting married soon. So, you're looking forward to that wedding?
[18:28] Yeah, yeah. Any other weddings coming up? Look at Don McRae smirking there in the back. That one's coming up too.
[18:42] We're all waiting for any rotations to come through. And, Shawnee? Kate and Stuart. Kate and Stuart. That's not happening this year. That's happening next year, isn't it?
[18:54] Knocky's shuddering. And then there is Duncan and Emily. It's coming soon.
[19:05] So, there's lots and lots of weddings over the next wee while. So, wedding invitation is something that comes when a wedding is going to be coming soon.
[19:17] Now, if you get a wedding invitation, what do you do with it? What do you do with a wedding invitation? Do you just take it and put it in the bottom drawer and say, Oh, well, I'll leave that there.
[19:34] No, you don't, Anna, do you? What do you do? What do you do, Emily? Pardon? You tell them if you're coming, don't you?
[19:46] Because if you're invited to go to... What about a birthday party? Have you ever been to a birthday party? So, you get an invitation and someone will say, Do you want to come to my birthday party?
[19:56] And you say, Yes! Do you want to come to my wedding? Yes! There'll be roast beef. There'll be chicken. There'll be crisp. There'll be wedding cakes.
[20:08] I can remember when I was your age at weddings. See, this is a wee tip for you. After the dinner is served, they used to put after eights on the tables in the middle.
[20:22] And then they would be having the coffee. But there was about ten minutes between the time that the coffee was finished and the waiters came to take all the after eights away. So if you organized all your cousins, you could get around all the tables, fill your pockets with after eights, and you could be munching after eights for the whole of the rest of the night.
[20:43] Just one of the amazing things about a wedding. And so, you want to go to a wedding, don't you? Now, in the passage that we're going to be reading today in Matthew 22, Jesus compares heaven to being like the most amazing wedding feast.
[21:07] Does that sound exciting? Oh, we're low energy today. The most amazing wedding feast.
[21:20] That's what heaven's going to be like. I remember one day when I was about your age. I was in church. And I was sitting in church like this, and I was fidgeting with this thing, and I was fidgeting with that thing, and I was fidgeting with the next thing.
[21:32] And somebody said to me, Would you sit still? It's only an hour. Imagine heaven. It's going to be a church service that goes on forever and ever. And I remember thinking, Is that heaven?
[21:45] A church service that never ends? Well, Jesus doesn't give us that picture. He doesn't give us that picture. He gives us a picture of an amazing wedding feast with lots of joy and amazing food and friends and laughing.
[22:05] Do you want to go there? Do you want to go to heaven? Yes. How do we get to heaven?
[22:18] Do you know what we have to do? We have to respond to the invitation of Jesus. Jesus came from this world, from heaven to this world, and it's like in the Bible, he's giving us an invitation, and he's saying, Do you want to come to heaven?
[22:39] Do you want to come to be with me? Have your sins taken away, be given life that's everlasting, and go to a place where there's no sickness and no sadness and no fighting and no wars?
[22:50] Jesus says, Do you want to come? And do you know what we have to say? Yes, please. We have to accept Jesus' invitation, and we accept Jesus' invitation by trusting in him.
[23:13] So boys and girls, are you trusting in Jesus? Have you asked him to take your sin away? Have you asked him to come in and be your Lord and your Savior?
[23:24] Because if we do that, then he tells us, not only will he be with us in this world, but he'll take us to heaven to the most amazing wedding feast.
[23:38] So we pray and speak to him now. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you love us, and we thank you that you came from heaven to this world.
[23:54] to take our sin away so that we can have an invitation to go to be with you in heaven forever. We thank you that the price is paid.
[24:06] We thank you that the way is open. We thank you that all we have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus, and we have the promise that we will be saved and that we will be with you forever.
[24:21] And we thank you for all these pictures that you give us of heaven. A place where there's great joy, like a feast. A place where there's no sickness and no sadness.
[24:34] A place where there's no wars and no fighting. We thank you that it's a place of perfect peace and perfect life. And we ask, Lord Jesus, that you would take us there when it's your time.
[24:50] And we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening, boys and girls. We're going to sing now from Mission Praise 1008, The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want.
[25:02] And in the chorus it says, and I will trust in you alone. Amen. The Lord's my shepherd, shepherd, I'll not want.
[25:27] He leads me high in my church tree. He leads me by the still, still waters.
[25:40] His goodness restores my soul. And I will trust in you alone.
[25:52] And I will trust in you alone. For your endless mercy follows me.
[26:05] Your goodness will lead me home. He guides my ways in righteousness.
[26:15] And He adjoins my head with oil. And I will trust in you alone.
[26:28] And He saw His pure delight. I will trust in you alone.
[26:40] I will trust in you alone. For your endless mercy follows me.
[26:54] Your goodness will lead me home. I will trust in you alone.
[27:06] I will trust in you alone. I will trust in you alone. For your endless mercy follows me.
[27:19] My goodness will lead me home. I will trust in you alone. I will trust in you alone. I will trust in you alone.
[27:29] I will trust in you alone. okay boys and girls if you head through to sunday school remember to pray for them as they go if we could turn to matthew chapter 22 please matthew chapter 22 and we're going to be looking at this parable both this morning and this evening i was preparing i was seeing the sermon starting to develop and i was remembering many occasions in my house when i would be asked over the course of a sunday afternoon she's gone now don't you think that might have been two sermons worth and it was never a question so uh this will be a passage that we look at over the morning and the evening matthew chapter 22 and verse 1 and again jesus spoke to them in parables saying the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for a son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast but they would not come again he sent other servants saying tell those who are invited see i have prepared my dinner my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered and everything is ready come to the wedding feast but they paid no attention and went off one to his farm another to his business while the rest seized his servants treated them shamefully and killed them the king was angry and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city then he said to his servants the wedding feast is ready but those invited were not worthy go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you can find and those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found both bad and good so the wedding hall was filled with guests but when the king came in to look at the guests he saw a man who had no wedding garment and he said to him friend how did you get in here without a wedding garment and he was speechless then the king said to the attendants bind him hand and foot and cast them into the outer darkness in that place they will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called but few are chosen amen and may god bless that reading of his word to us we're going to sing again now to god's praise from psalm 34 and we'll sing verses 8 to 10 of the psalm of taste and see that god is good who trusts in him is blessed fear god is saints none that in fear shall be with want oppressed the lions young may hungry be and they may
[31:30] lack their food but they that truly seek the lord shall not lack any good these two verses of psalm 34 in gala who are men seated to sing and god oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh
[32:37] Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
[33:39] Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
[34:41] Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh If you could turn back to the passage that we read please.
[35:31] We'll just pray for a moment as we go there. Heavenly Father Heavenly Father Again we thank you for your word which we have been singing and which we have read and which we now come to study and we recognize that we need the help of the Holy Spirit to be able to understand to be able to listen to be able to preach to be able to respond and so Holy Spirit we pray that you would be at work this place and in our lives we pray that you would be at work in all the congregations that are connected to us as well we think of places around us in Tarbert and South and North Harris and Scalpy congregations where your people gather around your word as we do and as we ask for help and for a blessing for ourselves we pray that also for them and we pray for those who prepare to preach in different places and we ask that you would help them. We thank you for Gordon and Julian being with us today.
[36:37] We pray for them as they prepare to head off to Helmsdale for a couple of months for a placement and we ask Lord that you would help them that you would equip them Lord step by step as you have called them to serve you.
[36:53] We thank you that you're the God who leads as you call and we pray that they would know you're leading step by step as they seek to follow on the course that you would have them be on.
[37:06] We pray on for Scott and for Fiona and we ask Lord that you would bless them as a family, prepare them for ministry and grabber and we ask Lord that they would know your blessing and that they would be a blessing that they would be enabled to lift up the name of Jesus in that place.
[37:25] And for others as well Lord we commit them to you. We pray on for Stuart and for Joyce in the early stages and we ask Lord that you would guide them that you would lead them and we ask that as they serve you we hope in this place over the next couple of years that they would know your blessing and that we would know your blessings through them.
[37:46] So go before us we pray. We pray for the children as well week by week that they would look to Jesus that they would trust in Jesus and year by year we pray that we would see them walk with Jesus and we ask all these things in his name and for his sake am I.
[38:05] Amen. All of us know what it is to receive invitations of different kinds.
[38:23] In the early years of life it tends to be invitations to birthday parties that's what excites the wee ones as they think about the whole idea of invitations.
[38:35] As you get up in years my invitations seem to come more so these days from the NHS and the HMRC and people like that. They're less exciting.
[38:46] The invitations that come from these organizations and invitations are something we're familiar with. Sometimes we can get unexpected but welcome invitations.
[39:00] Maybe a text from a friend that we haven't seen for a while wanting to go for a cup of tea. Sometimes we receive invitations even summons to attend a meeting. Not always a meeting that we want to be called to attend.
[39:15] So some invitations excite us. Some can cause us anxiety. Some invitations cause us to groan. But probably the best invitation to receive in our normal life is the invitation to go to a wedding feast.
[39:36] And that's what Jesus was talking about as he tells this parable. And as I said, we'll look at this parable in the morning and in the evening this week.
[39:50] And we'll look first of all this morning at verses one to three. And we'll think about this under three headings. First of all, salvation. And thirdly, sadly we read about rejection.
[40:10] So if you've got the passage open in front of you, we'll just step through these verses. First of all, salvation. Verses one and two. And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.
[40:33] So that's the picture that Jesus begins to paint. He starts to paint this picture of a wedding feast that a king gave for his son.
[40:48] And when we think about a wedding, we immediately are thinking about something big and lavish. We're not thinking, when we think about a wedding, we're not thinking about cold tea and stale sandwiches and soft biscuits.
[41:04] We're thinking about a feast. We're thinking about smoked salmon and roast beef and Yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings. We're thinking about sticky toffee pudding and cheesecakes and rich wedding cake and tablet and a sweep of after eights in between courses.
[41:24] It's a feast. And that's the picture that Jesus is painting for this crowd that are listening to him as he speaks.
[41:36] He's telling them, he's telling us about a wedding feast. But as we look at the detail of what Jesus is saying, he's not talking about a normal wedding feast.
[41:49] This is a royal wedding. This wedding is going to be put on by a king who is giving a wedding feast for his son.
[42:02] So this feast will not be a normal wedding feast. It's going to be the most amazing, the most royal wedding feast. That's the picture that Jesus is painting.
[42:14] John MacArthur says, A wedding feast that a king prepared for his son would be a feast of all feasts.
[42:25] And Jesus was therefore picturing the most elaborate celebration possible. So that's the picture.
[42:37] And we have to ask the question as we go through a parable. What is this a picture of? What is this supposed to be speaking to us about? And this is a picture of God's salvation.
[42:50] J.C. Ryle says, The salvation of the gospel is compared to a marriage feast. There is in the gospel a complete provision for all the needs of a man's soul.
[43:05] There is a supply of everything that can be required to relieve spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst. Pardon, peace with God, lively hope in this world, glory in the world to come, are set before us in rich abundance.
[43:26] It is a feast of fat things. And that's the picture that Jesus is painting of the salvation that he is offering.
[43:46] This is the picture that Jesus wants us to see as we hear him calling us to come to him.
[43:59] My observation over the years is that some people, many people actually, hesitate.
[44:13] They even refuse to give their lives to God because they think, Well, if I become a Christian, especially if I'm young, if I become a Christian, I'm going to lose sight on so many things.
[44:31] Maybe there's teenagers here and that's the way you're thinking. Well, it's fine for the old folks. It's good for old folks to be Christians because they're getting awful close to heaven.
[44:44] But for me as a teenager, why would I want to do that? Why would I want to waste my life becoming a Christian? I'm going to have to lose sight on so many things.
[44:55] I'm going to have to lose sight on so many things. And we have this warped picture in our minds of a God who is waiting to take every good thing away from us and say, Give me all that stuff!
[45:07] and it's such a it's such a worked picture it's false it's a picture that the devil paints for us to take hold of and to believe you know the truth is when we come to Jesus yes it's true that there are some things that he wants to take away from us he wants to take all our sins and he wants to take all our guilt away from us and if we trust him if we come to him he'll take all our sins all our griefs all our guilt and he'll carry them away to the cross he'll bear them in his body on Calvary's cross that's what he wants to take away from us and if we come to Jesus he wants to take our anxiety our cares away from us he says in 1st Peter chapter 5 and verse 7 cast all your cares on me because I care for you you know everything we would want to lose
[46:42] Jesus is willing to take from us and in return he gives us salvation forgiveness of sin a clean slate as if we had never sinned he gives us peace with God no sense of fear and dread as we think about having to meet God peace with God if we come to Jesus he gives to us rest for our souls so that when we put our head on the pillow tonight we can say with the psalmist in Psalm 4 verse 8
[47:47] I will lie down and sleep in peace for you O Lord are with me he gives to us wisdom and contentment two rare things in this life he gives to us safety and death he gives to us security for all eternity he gives to us and we could go on and we could go on from text to text to text and all these things and more are packed into that word salvation and all these things and more are part of the picture of the feast that God provides so as we sang in Psalm 34 in the gospel we are invited to taste and see that God is good and that tasting begins now when we trust in Jesus we taste something of the goodness of God in this life we taste and see something of the wedding feast in this world but there's better to come the real feast the marriage supper of the Lamb as it's called in Revelation 19 will be enjoyed forever in heaven by those who receive
[49:51] God's salvation so that's where we begin point number one as Jesus begins to paint this picture he's giving us a picture of salvation he is the saviour and he's showing us a little of what salvation looks like second point is invitation verse 2 the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for a son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast now we understand this it's not a concept that's alien to our culture we understand that you don't just turn up at a wedding feast you have to be invited and we love to be invited I've been invited to a lot of wedding feasts over the years mainly because
[50:54] I'm marrying the couple but each time Mary and I are invited to go to a wedding our girls would ask over the years are we going have we been invited and 9 out of 10 times the answer was no because well the average cost of a wedding is about 100,000 pounds I don't know what it is these days but recently there was great excitement when for Julian and Hugh's wedding they learned it was an invitation for the whole family see when we receive a wedding invitation we're thrilled now back on the day that Jesus told a story you won't be surprised to learn that the wedding invitation it wasn't sent by email you didn't get a link to a wedding website page the invitations were personally delivered and with a royal wedding the king sent his servants with that personal invitation to come to the wedding feast feast so that's the picture that Jesus is painting there's this wedding feast there's this celebration and then out goes the invitation and it's a picture of the gospel again it's not difficult all these pictures are simple because
[52:26] Jesus wants us to latch on to them to get hold of them this is a gospel picture so in this parable who is who well who is the king in the parable well God is the king what is the wedding feast well God salvation is the wedding feast and who are the servants who are going out with the invitation well the servants the messengers of God are the prophets and these prophets were sent out by God with the invitation to come and to receive God's salvation and the Jewish religious leaders those whom Jesus was locked in dialogue with at this time those who were in the front row of the congregation as Jesus spoke on that day the Jewish religious leaders they were the so called experts in the prophets of God that they had read they had received they were experts in the invitation so they had it but let's be clear that we too have received the same invitation we have received the invitation to be saved now some of us might have been going to church all our lives some of us may have been going to church only for the last few weeks but supposing we were only here one week and this book is opened the invitation goes out and it's the invitation to be saved whenever the
[54:25] Bible is opened whatever the gospel is preached we are hearing God's messengers saying repeatedly and personally to us come everything is ready salvation is waiting it's purchased it's prepared you just have to come Isaiah 55 is just one example of the call through one of the Old Testament prophets to come and receive God's salvation Isaiah 55 and at verses 1 to 3 come everyone who thirsts come to the waters and he who has no money come buy and eat come buy wine and milk without money and without price why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food incline your ear and come to me hear that your soul may live it's just one exhibit of
[55:41] God's invitation to be saved and this morning you are here and you are here because God has ordered your life in such a way that you would be here and you are invited to come to receive the salvation that God has provided in and through Jesus the prophets point us to Jesus and they say come come Matthew 11 28
[56:47] Jesus says come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest J.C.
[57:02] Ryle says there is nothing lacking on God's part for the salvation of sinners souls no one will ever be able to say at last that it was God's fault if he is not saved the father is ready to love and receive the son is ready to pardon and cleanse the guilt away the spirit is ready to sanctify and renew angels are ready to rejoice over the returning sinner grace is ready to assist him the Bible is ready to instruct him heaven is ready to be his everlasting home one thing only is needful and that is the sinner must be ready and willing himself so in this parable we see a picture of the fullness of God's salvation invitation and in this parable we hear the the wideness the the fullness of God's invitation and if you're hearing this you're called to come you have opportunity to come the question is will you come let's pray heavenly father we thank you for your word we thank you for the fact that you are the God who saves we recognize that we are people who are sinners and who are in great need that we thank you that God so loved the world that he sent his son to be the savior so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life we pray that if we have heard today the call to receive salvation that each one of us would not resist and reject as we read on that so many did but we pray that we would come and in this world taste something of the feast that is prepared for all who come to Jesus and we thank you thank you that in this world it is just a taste because in the world to come for all those who are in
[60:33] Christ there is far better and as we think of some who have gone on ahead of us from this world it comforts us to see something in our minds eyes of the beauty and the wonder and the richness of all that they enjoy we pray that as we think about ourselves that we would not miss out on the blessings that are offered but that we would respond by saying to you Lord Jesus please take my sin away please be my saviour please give me a place in that wedding feast that will be eternal and we ask this in Jesus name Amen We sing to conclude from hymn number 683
[61:39] I hear thy welcome voice that calls me now to thee for cleansing in thy precious blood that flowed on Calvary and then the response I am coming Lord!
[61:55] I hear thy welcome voice that holds me!
[62:21] Lord thee moment! moment is to perfect hope and peace and trust for earth and heaven above.
[63:18] I am coming, Lord, coming down to thee. Wash me, cleanse me in the blood that hold on Calvary.
[63:39] If Jesus will confirm the blessed work within, my adding grace to welcome grace where it's the power of sin.
[64:01] I am coming, Lord, coming down to thee.
[64:12] Wash me, cleanse me in the blood that hold on Calvary. O'er the gift of Christ our Lord, our strength and righteousness.
[64:46] I am coming, Lord, coming down to thee. Wash me, cleanse me in the blood that hold on Calvary.
[65:10] Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all now and always. Amen. Amen. Amen.