You Have Been Invited...But Will You Be There?

You Have Been Invited...But Will You Be There?

Matthew 22:1-14  NASB "Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who held a wedding feast for his son. And he sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

There are many parables that Jesus said that refer to our invitation to come to Him and become part of the Kingdom of Heaven.  

For more 2,000 years the invitation has gone out. Broadcast by word of mouth, by radio, print, television, telephone, cell phone and computer. 

It's sad to say that many millions of people are among those who have rejected the Lord’s invitation.  

They have committed the unpardonable sin. That singular sin that there is no forgiveness for. 

Those people are in that place of weeping and gnashing of their teeth.  People, who, one second after death find themselves where nobody WANTS to be. People who believed Satan's lies about life and living. Who trusted in themselves rather than in Jesus Christ for salvation. 

You and I, everyone who breathes the breath of life, has been invited to come to Christ for salvation.  But in many cases excuses abound. 

People believe the same lies as the millions before them. 

They are more concerned about their personal happiness and well-being in the here and now, having no regard for the impact of that choice on their eternity. 

Every person given life in this world faces eternity after death. 

Every person given life in this world decides to either spend it in Heaven or in Hell. Regardless of their point of view on the reality of the God of the Bible, that's the truth for everyone. 

You may not believe in God. Doesn't change His desire that you not spend eternity in torment in Hell. But He also will not look the other way concerning your disbelief and your sins. 

You may not think that you're a bad person. That you sort of think that there's maybe a higher power out there. But know that isn't enough. God will not look the other way concerning your sins. 

You may even think you have a really good life, a really good heart and don't deserve what the Bible says about sin and death. It doesn't change God's Word. Sin must be dealt with. Either by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ which takes it away or by you suffering for it yourself. 

You may believe some other religion. That doesn't change things either. The Creator of all things has revealed more than enough of Himself to the world to let people see His attributes. Your decision to believe something else doesn't replace or remove God's need to deal with sin.

You have been invited regardless of where you are in life. 

Jesus is standing at the door of your heart knocking. But there will come a day when He won't be there. 

You must choose. You must come. You.

There will be no acceptable excuses for not coming to Christ for salvation. 

None.

You are more important to God than all your excuses.

Until Jesus came, lived a sinless life, until He suffered and died on a cross. Until He arose 3 days later to become the way to be saved, there was no hope for mankind. Those who died before that moment who looked ahead at that day coming and were still saved.  Those who saw it who believed were saved. Those who look back in belief are saved.  

You have a choice to make. You have been invited. 

But you cannot come unless you are giving your life to Jesus.  You cannot sneak into Heaven. 

You must come through Him. 

This is a limited time offer.  This isn't going to go on forever.  

Salvation is free. Your rejection is also free. But both have eternal consequences.