Broad Street Church of Christ
Sermon Notes
19 November 2006
Morning Worship
GOD'S GRACIOUS INVITATION TO SALVATION
II
Corinthians 5:21
21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.
12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
16
Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17
And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come;
for all things are now ready.
18
And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him,
I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee
have me excused.
19
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I
pray thee have me excused.
20
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21
So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of
the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets
and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the
halt, and the blind.
22
And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there
is room.
23
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and
compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24
For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of
my supper.
Introduction:
a. Ever been invited to a special event?
b. What about someone you admire?
c. Receiving an unexpected invitation
I. GOD'S INVITATION IS BY GRACE:
A. Man Can Never deserve to be Invited:
1. Man is not worthy
8
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were
bidden were not worthy.
2. Man is an enemy of God
10
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his
Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
3. Man is an alien
12
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world:
4. Man is dead
1
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
B. Man Can Never Deserve God's Grace:
1. Grace is God's unmerited favor. If man could merit or deserve it, it could not be grace
21
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law,
then Christ is dead in vain.
20
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin
abounded, grace did much more abound:
21
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 11:6
6
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more
grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no
more work.
8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God:
9
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
2. God's invitation is a gift of His grace
15
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence
of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace,
which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
II. GOD'S MEANS OF EXTENDING The INVITATION:
A. God Invites By His Word:
1. The Word enlightens the lost
14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how
shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they
hear without a preacher?
15
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring
glad tidings of good things!
Isa
52:7
16
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report?
Isa
53:1
17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on
him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
130
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the
simple.
2. The Word is the Sword of the Spirit
12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart.
17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God:
3. The Word quickens (makes alive)
18
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind
of firstfruits of his creatures.
23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
4. The Father draws the sinner through the Word
44
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I
will raise him up at the last day.
45
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every
man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto
me.
Isa 54:13
B. God Invites Through the Holy Spirit Inspired word of God:
1. The Spirit quickens (makes alive)
63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
2. The Spirit convicts
7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away:
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart,
I will send him unto you.
3. In salvation, we are born of the Spirit
8
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that
is born of the Spirit.
C. God Invites via the plan of salvation:
1. The Great Commission
18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth.
19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and,
lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
2. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth
15
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the
pillar and ground of the truth.
3. God adds the saved to the church -Acts
III. IT IS DANGEROUS TO REJECT GOD'S INVITATION:
A. death may come before you obey
27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
B. The Door Of Opportunity will one day Be Closed:
1. Genesis 6:3
3
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he
also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
2.
I Peter 3:20
20
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited
in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is,
eight souls were saved by water.
3.
II Peter 2:5
5
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher
of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
4.
Proverbs 1:22-31
22
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight
in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23
Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will
make known my words unto you.
24
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no
man regarded;
25
But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27
When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me
early, but they shall not find me:
29
For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with
their own devices.
Conclusion:
a. God Warns Against The Hardened Heart
7
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa
95:7
8
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in
the wilderness:
Psa
95:8
9
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Psa
95:9
10
Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in
their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Psa
95:10
11
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Psa
95:11
12
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief,
in departing from the living God.
13
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence stedfast unto the end;
15
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation.
Psa
95:7,8
16
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of
Egypt by Moses.
17
But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18
And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them
that believed not?
19
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
b. Death May Come Suddenly
1
Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring
forth.
c. you cannot afford to refuse the royal invitation
7
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power;
THE
RECEPTION OF SALVATION
John 1:12
12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
11
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Isa
28:16
1
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou
art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou
doest, except God be with him.
3
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter
the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
7
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that
is born of the Spirit.
9
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest
not these things?
11
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that
we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe,
if I tell you of heavenly things?
13
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of man be lifted up:
15
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.
18
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
19
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.
21
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made
manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Introduction:
a. there is not ENOUGH EMPHASIS on the plan of Salvation
b. Salvation must be received, but this cannot be done without receiving
Christ, one cannot receive Christ except on his terms!
I. WHAT IT MEANS TO RECEIVE SALVATION:
A. What You must do
36
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the
same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
1. It means to receive Christ
12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
2. It means to believe with all the heart
9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
3. It means to confess the Christ
37
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
4. it means to repent of sins
30
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men
every where to repent:
31
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in
righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given
assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
5. it means to be baptized into Christ
38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost.
27
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
B. WHAT YOU MUST NOT DO:
1. Refuse to obey
15
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature.
16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned.
2. Obey the commandments of men
9
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men.
Isa
29:13
Mark
7:7
3. hear only and then not obey the Word
22
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own
selves.
II. THE RESULT OF RECEIVING SALVATION:
A. We Receive a New Birth:
1. We become sons of God.
12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there
is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he
is a liar, and the father of it.
2. We are born again
7
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
13
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God.
23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
B. Our Sins Are Forgiven:
1. They are washed away by God
7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace;
11
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
2. Which sins are forgiven by God?
a. Past sins
38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost.
b. Present sins
7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin.
8
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us.
9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not
in us.
16
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be
healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly
that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three
years and six months.
18
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth
her fruit.
19
Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way
shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
3. What happens to our sins?
a. They are removed as far as the east is from the west
12
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our
transgressions from us.
b. He casts them behind His back
17
Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins
behind thy back.
c. They are cast into the depths of the sea
19
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our
iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
C. We Receive Eternal Life, if we remain faithful
10
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall
cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have
tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life.
D. We are Justified
1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ:
8
And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we
say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Conclusion:
A. HEAR AMD BELIEVE
B. REPENT OF SINS
C. CONFESS THE CHRIST
D. BE BAPTIZED AND THEN BE FAITHFUL
