THE GREAT INVITATION
‘Come; for all things are now ready.’
There are many things that inspire one about this glorious invitation of the Gospel.
I. Its splendid note of confidence.—There is too much apologising for the Gospel in these days. The old preachers never apologised for Christianity.
II. There is something touching in the personal invitation.—God, Who made you, Who has watched over you from your very cradle, Who knows all about you, He speaks to you by name.
III. There is an intimation of the long and costly preparation.—It wanted the Son of God to come down from heaven to earth and live here; it wanted Him to take human flesh; it wanted Him to go through the agony and the bloody sweat and to die upon the Cross; it needed His going back to heaven to purchase the key and unlock, as it were, and let out the greater blessing of God. What are you waiting for—you who care nothing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
IV. Underneath all is the pressing note of urgency.—Whatever opportunities there may be in the other world, as far as it is revealed to us in the Bible, ‘now is the accepted time and now is the day of salvation.’
—Bishop A. F. Winnington-Ingram.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE SATISFACTION OF THE GOSPEL
When we hear this glorious invitation it makes us ask this question: ‘Has it been justified by results?’ There are certain things which very much tell against a confident answer. It is something which ought to oppress the soul of every good man and woman, that only eighteen out of every hundred in the great city of London go either to church or chapel. Now, that of itself is something which certainly prevents one from giving a confident answer; but those who can look back over a long experience among the dying, the sick, and the troubled, are able to say that they know that there has been satisfaction found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the mind and for the conscience and for the heart and for the spirit of mankind. The Gospel satisfies—
I. The mind.—Take the mind first. Do you mean to say you never thought at all why the world was made? Do you never think on a starry night, Who made these blazing suns? And what is the answer? Does any one know? Does any philosopher know? Does any astronomer know? You ask, and they will tell you they know nothing at all of Who made the stars. They can trace the stars in their courses; they can tell you how things gradually came about. But what is the centre of everything? All the old philosophers asked the question: Was there a Person in the centre of the Universe at all? And, as thinking men and women, every day it is a source of intellectual satisfaction to us that we have been told what is at the centre of the world. There is not an insensate force, but a Person, Who has made the world. Herschel said there is a mark of mind on every created atom. And is not there a mark of mind upon the universe? It is just as impossible for the atoms of the universe to throw themselves into shape as for a box of letters to throw themselves into a play of Shakespeare. I find satisfaction for my mind in this. It is the good news. I can tell what is the Centre of the universe, and I thank God on my knees that I know there is a God, a Living Person.
II. The conscience.—Then, is there no satisfaction for the conscience? The character of Jesus Christ not only satisfies the conscience, but educates it at the same time. In other words, in the character of Christ there is something far more perfect than we could have thought possible if we had sat down to think by ourselves. I say that the life of Christ has satisfied the conscience.
III. The heart.—What about the heart? In the Gospel there is satisfaction for the heart (see Illustration).
IV. The Spirit.—And what about the spirit? I speak to living spirits—you are spirits. I ask the man who has prayed for years and has been to the Holy Communion, whether he has not come back with what the Prayer Book calls a heart strengthened and refreshed by the Body and Blood of Christ; and whether in answer to his prayers he has not received the peace of God which passeth all understanding?
Then, if the mind and the conscience and the heart and the spirit are satisfied with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are we not right when, at the end of two thousand years, we as Christian ministers stand before you, and with the same old confidence say, ‘Come; for all things are now ready’? This is a true satisfaction for the needs of men. Why are you not coming to the satisfaction of your souls?
—Bishop A. F. Winnington-Ingram.
Illustration
‘The Bishop of London has mentioned a story which illustrates the satisfaction there is in the Gospel for the heart. He was standing one day in his room in Bethnal Green, where he was rector, and he was called away to a particularly sad scene in a working man’s home. There were three children—all ill, and while they were in that room altogether the three children died, one after the other, in an hour. What had the Christian minister to say to the father? What could the clever sceptic say to him? Nothing at all; the sceptic would have had no comfort for that poor man. But, thank God, the Christian minister could tell him of the Good Shepherd Who had taken up the lambs into His bosom and taken them safely to be with Him for ever. That man had comfort in that he believed the message. In the Gospel there was satisfaction for his heart.’
(THIRD OUTLINE)
WHY MEN HESITATE
Let us consider why men hesitate to accept this glorious invitation, ‘Come; for all things are now ready.’
I. In doubt.—‘I am so much in doubt,’ says one. ‘My mind is overclouded by doubts, and that is why I do not come.’ Do you remember what Thomas did when in doubt? Did he leave the Church? Did he go away altogether from the things of God? He stayed with the Church, he stayed with the others, praying for light, and therefore he received a revelation of Christ. If you will stay with the Church, and get some help for doubts and difficulties, you too will receive the revelation from Christ Himself.
II. A wrong conscience.—But you say, ‘It is all very well to preach to me; my conscience is wrong.’ Yes; when are you going to get that conscience so that you have the answer of a good conscience before God? Get your conscience right. God is right enough; there is love enough and grace enough; and, therefore, get the conscience right. Then the conscience will see its ideal in Jesus Christ.
III. The heart is wrong.—You say the heart is wrong. ‘I love the world, I love pleasures, I love enjoyment, I have no taste for these heavenly things.’ But you must have some taste if you are to enjoy the life of heaven. When you are wondering what your future is to be, remember you make your future yourself. We carry heaven and hell with us. Take a man to-day whose whole joy is lust of the flesh and sensual pleasure. Put him in heaven. He would hate it; and therefore we have to train our liking, our hearts and characters here, that we may love the pure joys of heaven when we have them.
Come, then; that is the ending as it was the beginning. ‘Come; for all things are now ready’; make a resolution that with clear minds, with true consciences, with liberated hearts and loving spirits you will make another trial of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and you will have this satisfaction, that not only will you live stronger, happier, brighter lives on earth, but you shall sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Bishop A. F. Winnington-Ingram.