Come

by Chris Simmons

The scriptures are clear that all are invited “through our gospel” (II Thessalonians 2:14) to partake in the eternal spiritual blessings that are found in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-5). Peter realized this before preaching the good news to Cornelius and his household when he stated in Acts 10:34-35, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” We read of God’s invitation through “the Spirit and the bride” in Revelation 22:17 in one simple word, “come.” Yes, God desires all to be saved but the invitation has qualifications on it. In the parable of Matthew 22:1-14, it needs to be noted that the invitations to the wedding feast were only for certain ones: those who were willing (verse 3), those who heard and valued what the feast offered (verses 4-5; i.e., those who paid attention), and those who were prepared and properly clothed (vs. 11-13). In fact the context closes with the words “many are called but few are chosen.” The invitation to “come” is not defined by whether one is Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female (Galatians 3:28) but by whether they are:

1. Those who hear. The invitation to come is to those who will listen to God and His revealed will. It is to those who will listen to someone other than themselves and direct their attention to God. Those who come will heed the words of Moses to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 27:9-10, “‘Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God. You shall therefore obey the Lord your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.” Jesus spoke of His disciples as sheep in John 12:27 who would “… hear My voice …” and “… follow Me.” God was clear when He said in Matthew 17:5, “This is My beloved Son, with who I am well-pleased; listen to Him.” We can’t come if we haven’t listened and don’t know what to respond to.
2. Those who thirst. The invitation to come is for those who recognize that they have a need that nothing in this life can satisfy. Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” To those who were focused on the temporal needs of life, Jesus said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life, he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” This is a hunger or thirst that we are to maintain throughout our lives as Peter wrote to those who were already Christians in I Peter 2:2-3 to be “like newborn babes” who “long for the pure milk of the word.” David clearly expressed his thirst for being right with God in Psalms 63:1 where he said, “O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Why is it then that we spend so much of our time, energy, and effort pursuing that which will permanently satisfy? The prophet Isaiah asked that very question in Isaiah 55:1-2, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.” We have to recognize our spiritual needs to respond to the invitation to come and realize how desperately we need the forgiveness and hope that is offered through Jesus Christ. That is the basis for Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28 to come to Him that is directed towards all who are “weary and heavy laden.”
3. Those who wish. Perhaps the word “wish” is an unfortunate translation as that word has become to mean that which we dream and passively long for. Rather, the word refers to the exercise of the human will to choose. “Wish-power” is meaningless. “Will-power” is what we need to respond to the Lord’s invitation. David again understood that his will-power was essential to his ability to please God and in Psalms 51:12 it is recorded of David after his sin with Bathsheba, “Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.” We often wonder why some won’t obey the gospel or why some turn away from following God faithfully. The answer is simply, they didn’t want to. We’ve got to work on our “want to” – that is, our will, if we are going to come. Saul (and those that followed his example) also failed to follow God’s will and Samuel recorded that the reason was that he simply didn’t want to. Note I Samuel 15:9, “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.” In referring to the Israelites and the ten spies who came back from scouting the promised land and said that they couldn’t take the land as God had said, God explained that it was not that they couldn’t take the land but that they simply didn’t want to do what God said to do. We read in Deuteronomy 1:26-27, “Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; and you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.’” We can come if we are willing to do so as Jesus said in John 7:17-18, “If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.”

The Lord’s invitation to “Come” is for those who hear, thirst, and will.