GOD’S URGING
I Mark Webster
Acts 17:30-31
Luke 14:16-23
Romans 5:7-8
In the first passage that I have read, Paul speaks of God enjoining men. In the second passage the man whose great supper it was, and who is a figure of God, says to his bondman “Go out into the ways and fences and compel to come in”. That word ‘enjoin’ is not one that we use very often in common English today. Both it and ‘compel’ convey the thought of urging with a sense of both urgency and importance. I would like to draw on these passages to speak of divine urging in the gospel.
Now this may be something which you have not thought of before. You may have come under the sound of God’s word in the gospel preaching many times; the terms of it may be familiar to you. You may have been brought from your youth to the preaching, but you may have remained unaffected. What these scriptures bring out is that there is urgency in the gospel. God Himself is urging. It is not exactly the preacher that is doing it, and it is certainly not the men of this world: it is God. Now if that lays hold on you, dear friend, then it is not only incumbent upon you to heed what He says, but it is urgent for you to do so too. God, and His word, cannot be trifled with.
There are two things that I want to speak about, both of which have been spoken of many times before in the gospel preaching, and I seek to show you that behind both of them is God’s love. The first, which Paul takes up with these Athenians, is the matter of repentance. It lies at the start of our moral history with God. Paul says to these godless persons that God “enjoins men that they shall all everywhere repent”. By the inclusion of “all everywhere” it is clear that Paul had the whole of mankind in mind, and that comes right down to you at the present time. It includes all responsible persons. Sometimes there is a lot of discussion about the age at which we become responsible. Well, in the gospel I think the answer is very simple. If you understand what is presented to you in God’s word, you are responsible to heed and obey it. And God is urging you afresh in the gospel tonight that, if you have not come to it before, you come to the point of repentance; it is essential.
Much could be said as to what it means. Sometimes we are helped in our understanding of things by seeing what they are not. So, for example, things may arise in our relations together where we do what is wrong and we apologise; we say we are sorry. Maybe when we are children we do so at our parents’ urging rather than as a result of our own concern. We say we are sorry for something we did, some offence that we caused. If I might put it very simply, that is not repentance. Repentance involves that we see things, and see ourselves, sinners as we are, as God sees us. The scripture says, and I am sure that you have read or heard it read before, that “…all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”, Rom 3: 23. The truth of that can be readily understood; the whole race is blighted by that disease - sin - and the consequence of it, which is that we sin and come under the penalty of death. Sin came in through one man and it has passed upon all: “For this cause, even as by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death; and thus death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”, Rom 5: 12. The words “all have sinned” in those two scriptures in Romansbring the matter very close home to each one of us. Have you reached that point in your life, dear friend, where you have recognised before God that you are a sinner and on account of that you sin, and that your sins are offensive to God? Sin and sins are an affront to the holy God “with whom we have to do”, Heb 4: 13.
Now you might do something which offends another person, and he or she may have their view of it as to whether it is small or big. And one person might have a view and someone else might have a different view. But in the gospel we have to do with God: what a view He has of your sins. How obnoxious they are to Him! He is a sin-hating God; sin and sins are offensive to Him. And when you sin, whether the matter be small and insignificant in your eyes, or whether you consider it large, whatever it is, it is offensive to God. What a need there is therefore in your soul history to come to the point when you recognise before God that you are a sinner; that you have offended Him, that whether you have taken account of what you have done in its totality or not, He certainly has. He takes account of everything, every one of your sins. What a God He is! You might readily forget something that you have done that is wrong. You might not even recognise it as such, but God takes account of it. He sees and takes account of everything. And He sees into your heart too, and He sees into mine. He knows what is going on there, the thoughts and intents. What is in the heart becomes expressed through what we do. God not only takes account of what we do, but He knows the motives of our hearts. The heart of man naturally is wicked. Right at the outset of man’s history, God observed that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was “only evil continually”, Gen 6: 5. What a view He has. And so, as it says here in Acts, He “enjoins men that they shall all everywhere repent”. How important it is to come to do that; how urgent it is too.
Now there are many reasons why we should consider the matter of repentance to be urgent. One of them is given here in Acts. Paul says that God “has set a day, in which he is going to judge the habitable earth in righteousness by the man whom he has appointed”. It does not say when that day will be; it could be very soon. I wonder where you would stand in that day of judgment. Is it a fearsome matter in your eye? It should be, dear friend, if you are in your sins. God cannot overlook anything. He does not desire to judge you; that is not in His heart. Judgment is “his strange work”, Isa 28: 21. But on account of what He is in His holiness, He cannot overlook sin. What is unjudged has to be dealt with. And there is one Man alone, the Lord Jesus, who is qualified and able to exercise judgment, and whom God has appointed. Judgment will be undertaken “in righteousness”. Nothing will be overlooked; nothing will be unfairly considered; everything will be considered in righteousness before God. What a day that will be. What urgency therefore is attached to this matter of repentance. How important it is that we recognise before God that we are sinners. He is going to judge “by the man he has appointed, giving the proof of it to all in having raised him from among the dead”. There is one glorious Man, the Lord Jesus, who alone is able to take up the whole matter of judgment before God. Morally He is fully qualified to do so. All others have failed; you and I have failed and come short. Jesus never came short, and God has given the proof of that, and His qualification to exercise judgment in that He has raised Him from among the dead. His qualification cannot be gainsaid; it cannot be challenged. There it stands in all its proof. One glorious Man will take up the whole matter of judgment for God. What a solemn day that will be. What a solemn day for this poor earth, beset by sin, when everything that has remained unjudged will have to be dealt with summarily.
Now we do not preach judgment. We often say that and it is right. But it is a backdrop, and what a solemn backdrop, to the preaching of the gospel. So I say again, how urgent it is then, if you have not done so already, to come to this point where you recognise before God that you are a sinner. It is the starting point to your blessing. It is not the end; it is the starting point, and how essential it is. And I seek to speak graciously to the children here tonight. Do not think, ‘Because I am young and I have not done very much, and I have been brought up in a Christian household and I have been taught what is right and what is wrong, and there has been that at home and in the company of the brethren that has enfolded me and preserved me from the worst of the world, somehow I am different and I do not need to repent‘. Remember “all have sinned, and come short of God’s glory”. Only one glorious Person has never come short, and that is the Man to whom Paul refers here in relation to judgment, our Lord Jesus.
Now, in Luke there is the matter of the great supper, and that brings me on to the second thing of which I wish to speak. What I have spoken of so far is very solemn, but essential for us all to face in our experiences. But here in the parable of the great supper we are introduced to something which involves what is for the heart of God and for the blessing of men. The great supper is a provision of God to meet His desires and to effect your blessing. I do not want to speak much about those who were invited at first. I suppose they may have been persons that knew the man who arranged the supper, honoured guests who perhaps felt some entitlement to be there if they wished, but they refused the invitation. They speak of God’s earthly people Israel. How favoured they were. The invitation was graciously extended to them but they turned their back on it, and the One in whom it came, the Lord Jesus. They had other things to occupy their time and interest. Would God accept that? No; others were brought in from the streets and lanes of the city. But there was still room and it comes to this point where the man says, “Go out into the ways and fences and compel to come in, that my house may be filled”. Now that speaks of the day in which we are. It is a day in which those that are in the ways and fences are being compelled to come in. Who are they? I will tell you who they are. They are sinners like you and me. The ways and fences would be a little bit like what you might see in certain parts of London or other big cities; decrepit, gloomy areas where people loiter together and often get up to no good. Such persons paint a picture of what we all are as unsaved and in our sins. There is nothing in us that is pleasing to God, and that merits His favour. Far from it; and yet how wonderful, just like the man here, God is saying, “compel them to come in”. That is the day in which we are. I would like to convey that to you dear friend. God is compelling you. He is urging you from the bounty of His heart and with all the resource at His disposal to come in and participate in all He has prepared. What He has prepared is available in a great sphere of blessing. The great supper of Luke’s gospel is provided where there is blessing and provision and safely. Where is that? It is the house of God. How blessed that is. Are you going to come in? Are you going to yield? You can come in through repentance and through faith in our Lord Jesus. The way in is through Him. As we sometimes sing:
By Christ, the door, now enter in.
(Hymn 245)
That is the way in.
God has made provision for you as a sinner. How wonderful that is. He has made a provision for you in Christ. He has made a provision for you in Him, the One who has borne and exhausted the judgment of sin at the hand of God Himself, and who has borne in His body the sins of all who believe on Him. Nothing has been overlooked. God could not bring you into the environment of blessing in His house in your sins. How could He do that? It would be unrighteous of God. But oh, what assurance to have, what a joy to know, that God has made full provision for you and for me in the Lord Jesus. That One is now risen and glorified. He is the One in whom everything has been settled for God. I can assure you of this, that as you stretch out in faith and believe on Him, you can have the absolute certainty that nothing can take away, that all that you are and all that you have done has been settled at the cross by Jesus. As the hymn writer puts it:
All our sins, so great, so many,
In His blood are washed away. (Hymn 410)
How wonderful that is! What a work has been done, and how great the One that has done it. It is a work that has involved immense suffering for the Lord Jesus on the cross, His death, the shedding of His precious blood and His burial: all necessary in order that everything should be clear before God. And if I can bring it to you, dear fellow believer, I trust, all that relates to your history, and mine, so obnoxious to God has been cleared, totally and fully, with every claim of the throne of God being met. And the One that has done it has been raised. What greater proof do you need that the work has been completed and that God is fully satisfied in the One who has done it? But how wonderful it is: He has raised Him. How right it was. It was impossible that He should remain in death; He has been raised and glorified.
So the way in to the great supper is available to you. And God would compel you through His word. Do not refuse it: come in now. God, in the depth of His love for you would say, ‘Come in now; do not put it off’. Do not put it off another moment. You can come in by faith in the Lord Jesus now. I can remember when I was young occasionally a preacher would say, ‘You can come in quietness on your knees in your room and speak to the Lord Jesus’. Well, of course that may be true, but I would say something else: do not leave it until then! Do it now, dear friend. The Lord Jesus is available to you now, right where you are. He knows your heart. He knows what is going through your mind and in His love and in His compassion He would cause that you might have to do with Him. How wonderful that is. We sometimes sing, ’God waits in grace’, (Hymn 123). He has waited in grace to this moment. Maybe He has waited for you to this moment. You know if that is the case but do no keep Him waiting any longer. He would compel you to come in now.
Now what a place of blessing you are brought into in God’s house, a place of wonderful provision. It is not heaven; it is here, although the atmosphere in God’s house reflects what is happening in heaven. And it expresses and it values the preciousness of the One that fills heaven. How wonderful that is; the house of God. It is a place of safety and certainty, of security, of food and of blessing, where all that is centred in and related to our Lord Jesus is known and experienced with others that have been compelled to come in. You can come into it and enjoy it. God desires that, and He says, “that my house may be filled”. It cannot remain unfilled. The provision is fully sufficient for all. He knows how many will be there, and provision is sufficient for everyone. Are you going to come? How sad it would if you resisted God’s compelling and missed His wonderful provision for you. How sad it would be to refuse it when God in His grace has provided so much for your blessing and enjoyment. Do you not owe it to God to yield? Dear friend, do you not owe it to yourself to come in? What glad tidings of divine grace they are. Everything for you is provided and centred in that glorious Man, our Lord Jesus Christ. How blessed that is.
Well, I trust these things, that have been said many times before, might lay hold of you. How urgent is the moment. How urgent that you have to do with God in relation to your sins, in the recognition of what you are and of what you have done, if you have not done so before. And as you do that now you will find that God is not against you. He recognises your condition and He says, ‘I have made full provision for that. And not only for that, but I have made full provision for your blessing, because I have you in my heart’.
Now it is often said that the early chapters of Romans bring out the teaching of the glad tidings - and so they do and in an order. When we get to chapter 5 the believer who has received the Holy Spirit, a divine gift that I trust you are conscious of receiving. You can as it were at that point in your experience take a look back over the way God has taken with you, and on account of the Holy Spirit shedding abroad God’s love in your heart, you are able to say, ‘Behind it all was His love’. How wonderful that is. Paul says, “scarcely for the just man will one die”; we can understand that, but then he adds, “but God commends his love to us, in that, we being still sinners, Christ has died for us”. Can you say that? Dear fellow believer, have you looked back on your moral history and reflected on it, and come to the blessed realisation that behind God’s operations in your soul, His promptings in your conscience, the wonderful way in which He has operated towards you in Christ is His love, and that He commends it to you, and that the Holy Spirit is shedding it abroad in your heart. How blessed that is. How feeling the glad tidings are.
I have spoken of what is very solemn at the beginning, but the gospel of God’s grace goes forth and because it is His grace it brings out the depth and fulness of His feelings. What bounty of love is His. Do not overlook it, dear friend. Do not turn aside; do not say, like those persons in the parable, ‘Not for me’. Oh, how solemn it would be if the house were to be filled and you were not in it. Do not allow for that; do not assume anything. Dear young soul, here tonight, may I say to you again, do not assume that because of the congenial circumstances in which you have been brought up in a Christian family, that you are any different. We are all the same; we are all sinners. We all need to go down the same path. Our personal experiences along the way may be different in the detail, but the points reached - repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus - must be the same. I trust these may be established milestones in your history and that consequent upon coming that way you are able to speak of experiencing the blessings of the great supper, the environment of joy and provision that is experienced and known in God’s house. And as experiencing that I trust you are able to look back and say, ‘Thanks be God; what love is His; what love has operated towards me!’
May it be so for the Lord’s Name’s sake.
Preaching of the glad tidings in West Norwood
14th May 2017