The Invitation

The title of the sermon today is the invitation. The invitation. Perhaps you have received a wedding invitation this summer, or a graduation invitation, or even a luncheon invitation. Some of the invitations we receive we pay attention to, and others we just kind of throw in the garbage if we do not want those, or we're not serious about something like that. But if you received an invitation that has RSVP, it means they expect a response, and they want to be notified. So do you consider yourself being here today the result of God giving you an invitation to the way? To the way. I'd like you to turn to Acts 19. Let's do Acts 9 first. We'll just do it chronologically. Acts 9.

Read from the New King James. Acts 9 and verse 2. Well, I'll go up to verse 1. As we see the story of Saul, the road to Damascus. Said, then Saul, in verse 1, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. That's one of the first places we hear referred to what we do as a way. The way. Definite article. You can turn to Acts 19. As we know, Acts is a history. History of the first 60 years of the church after Christ had died. Acts 19 and verse 9. And it says, but when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples. Also, go down to verse 23. Verse 23. Said, in about that time, there arose a great commotion about the way. Do you realize you've been invited to be a part of the way? Finally, let's go to Acts 24. Acts 24 and verse 14. It says, but this I confess to you, that according to the way, which they call a sect, matter of fact, the New Living Translation says, a cult, which I've heard that word before. Cult, because we do not worship on Sunday, because we do not believe in the Trinity. We're so different that people find us peculiar, those that follow the way. So I worship the God of my fathers, believing in all the things that are written in the law and the prophets. It's funny how we are considered a cult because we follow the Scriptures. Now in verse 22 of the same chapter, verse 22. But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the way, he adjourned the proceedings. So the disciples were following and being taught a certain way. We have a way about us, if I can use that term. It's funny that it even talks about in Isaiah 30 and verse 21 that in the future, time will come when all will be taught the ways of God in the entire world. And it says these instructions will go to them because as they turn to the left or turn to the right, they will hear a voice of someone saying, This is the way. Walk you in it. So to follow Christ, you go a certain way. We have been invited to a different way of life because we want to follow the way. That way exposes us to not only the knowledge of God, but of God's ways, which are not like the professing religions of this world today. This RSVP is something that you, when you are called, when you are given an invitation, because RSVP actually is a French phrase from French words, meaning responder c'est la vous plait, which means respond if you please. But when you understand the French, someone at the door here, when you understand the French, it really means it conveys a much stronger meaning, which RSVP stands for a response is expected. Morning. A response is expected.

What about us?

Do we respond to the calling, the invitation of the way? Is this something that we understand? That it is a different way, a different walk, that we've been invited to walk down and to follow.

I'd like you to turn to John 6. John 6, gospel of John. John 6 and verse 44, because this is part of our understanding of the invitation.

Chapter 6 and verse 44. Read from the New King James. No one can come to me, Christ is saying this, unless the Father who sent Him, who sent Me, draws Him. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him or invites Him. So you cannot come to Christ if you believe in Christ's words. You cannot come to Him unless the Father has drawn you, unless the Father has invited you. So when are you committed to the way? After you've been invited, where does that begin? Is it at baptism? Is that when you decide that I'm going to follow the way?

I'd like to read, if you will, in Matthew 13. I'll read from the New Living Translation. Matthew 13.

Verse 3, we have the parable of the sower, parable Christ told, and I'll read it from the New Living Translation because it helps us to understand. About this invitation or a calling that God does.

Verse 3, it says, Listen, A farmer went out to plant some seeds, and as he scattered them across the field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow, but the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn't have deep roots, they died.

Other seeds fell among the thorns. They grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still, other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was 30, 60, and even a hundred times as much has been planted. Anyone who has an ear to hear, listen and understand. When Christ's statements say, I just said something very important, listen. Well, His disciples kind of wanted to know, I didn't totally understand this, so He explained it to them.

In verse 18, He said, now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seed. The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message of the kingdom, and they don't understand it. They hear the words, but they don't really grasp it. I've seen many of those, and I'm sure you have in the past too.

You might even have some relatives who actually would read something, and they just didn't get it. They just didn't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. I've seen many people like that. They even are excited for the first few months, see them coming, and then you look around, they start missing, and then they're no longer here. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's Word. You strange people who keep Sabbath, you strange people who don't eat like everybody else in the world, you strange people, because you take everything almost literally that Jesus Christ says.

Jesus Christ says. Verse 22, the seed that fell among the thorns represent those who hear God's words. But all too quickly, the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. And then finally, in verse 23, the seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's Word and produce a harvest of 30, 60, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.

Is it possible to follow the way but not to walk? Because some people talk the talk but don't walk the walk as we've seen many times. I'm reading a book now that I hope to have a sermon on sometime later on this year about false Christianity, those who profess and those who make people stumble. And it's actually an account that says too many Christians give a few a bad name. So, that's something that I'd like to ask you today. Is it possible that we are more in the way than following the way? More in the way than following the way?

That Christ is trying to do something with us but we seem to get in the way and we hold him back for what he really wants us to do. There's a saying that says even when you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there, which is true. Do you respond de sule vous plait? Do you respond because a response is expected when God sends an invitation out?

You know, people really love sports. Some people do. It's all-consuming. Can't get anything out of their minds except this sport that they seem to be obsessed with. They are totally committed to knowing everything about that sport. They never get tired of talking about it. And they're kind of committed kind of the same way that God wants us to be committed to the way. Are we excited about the way? Are we excited about the invitation that God has given to us? I had a guy that actually was a friend of mine, worked with me for quite a few years, at least six or seven years. He was obsessed with NASCAR.

Does everybody in here know what NASCAR is? It's a southern driving car racing kind of thing. Of course, if you grew up in the South, people typically keep up with it or you hear about it. Well, this gentleman was totally committed to NASCAR and to, I can't even remember, some driver.

He knew that driver's number and he knew everybody's number on the side of all the cars. And he knew exactly when all the races were going to take place and he would go to a race and they would get up like before daylight to drive to that race and sit there. I listened to a race or two on the radio. I might have seen a little bit, but I never really became a NASCAR fan, per se.

It just seemed like the key was 200 miles an hour and just turned left. Whenever there was a curve, just turned left. And you would go around for three or four hours. Now, I know there's more to it than that and I won't mock NASCAR because some people really love it. But I understood from this guy, it was everything. He would tell me all about the races because they raced every Sunday and he would tell me about it on Monday. Did you see the race? Well, no.

Well, let me tell you. And he would just, he was reliving it. And he would, if there was any way he would go anywhere at any time there was an event that he could afford. One event was Talladega, which is in Alabama. There's a big race scene in the middle of a field and nothing else out there but a racetrack. But I guess 100,000 people or more. So he talked, Mary and myself, into going with them one time.

So we had to get up, like way before, because we had drive down there. So we were getting up at five in the morning on a Sunday to make this three and a half hour drive to there. And then you walked through this field and went through the stands with another 100,000 people crowded in. And there was a little bit of excitement in the stands. You could see everybody had shirts on with somebody's name but us, I think.

And so they were all excited. And so here they had some preliminary runs. They did around the track or something. And then we found out, wow, that's, you know, it's kind of something to see. We paid like 70 bucks, 60 bucks a ticket or something. It was expensive, plus this thing here. I suppose had good seats and we were sitting there. And so the race just gets started.

The pace car comes out and they raise the flag and it goes around, you know, shoo, shoo, shoo. Three times around the track. And then it starts to rain. Rain. Thunderstorms. Rain. Heavy rain. A flood where we had to go out into the van that we came in and water was standing in the field that deep. And we sat and we sat. Two hours, two and a half hours, still raining.

Until finally it was canceled the race, put it off till the next day. So we got a chance to drive all the way three and a half hours back on. After being soaked. And you know, I'm going, I think I've just gone to my last NASCAR race. But you know, with them, that didn't matter. They got rained on. Now we saw three. It didn't matter. They were there. What an event.

So I ask you, are we as excited about God's next big events as they are? You see, because we've been invited. We've been invited to the next big event. I know you can turn to Genesis 1 and verse 14 and it talks there at the very big creation of not only the Sabbath day, but it says, we're signs and seasons.

And the word season in Hebrew is mo'ad, mo'adah, for singular or mo'adim. And those words mean religious appointments. So God has given us religious appointments. We are invited to these religious appointments to meet with God. Do we realize it? And that He's invited us.

Bill Gates has not been invited. Warren Buffett has not been invited. Barack Obama has not been invited. But He has invited us. Will we show up? Will we show up? These events, these high days, the feast days, are for who? You. The chosen few. That's right. The chosen few who God has invited.

Maybe you've received an invitation before. You kind of open it up because you're not really sure what it is. Maybe it's an invitation to a wedding. Maybe it's an invitation to some big dinner. But no matter who sends you an invitation, no matter how fancy that invitation is, none can compare to the invitation that we have been given by God. Can you imagine if we could actually see God in His glorified state, as we've talked about before? Like many of the servants we read about in the Bible, when they came into the presence of God, they were literally awestruck, knees knocking, humbled, dropped to their knees that they were in the presence of God. And yet, God is inviting us to be at this religious appointment. As a matter of fact, Jonathan, you want to help me? Will you help him?

How important is the invitation?

Perhaps you have opened up an invitation and been excited because you've been invited somewhere, maybe to a wedding.

So I'd like you to open that up and look at your invitation. Did you respond to last year's invitation that God gave you? I'd like you to turn to John, John 15. John 15, verse 16. John 15, verse 16, it says, He's called us to walk this way of life, to follow the way, and to bear fruit. Ephesians 1.4, you don't have to turn there, it just says, just as He chose us in Him, God did the choosing. God did the inviting. The invitation is from Him. Peter talked about it in 1 Peter 2, 9, and said, you are a chosen people. You are a chosen people. What would you do if you had this special event, and maybe it was this great banquet or dinner, and you had paid all this money. You made all these preparations because you cared about these people, and it cost you thousands of dollars, and you sent out these invitations, and you put RSVP because you needed a response. And hardly anybody sent a response back. They just really didn't care. It was just not that important. What would you think? Scripture says many are called, but few are chosen.

A written invitation, like this one, a written invitation from the White House is a big deal. Don't know if you've ever been to the White House, ever been invited, because you cannot just walk up to the White House and say, I think I'm going to go see the prayers today. It doesn't happen that way. I had a member of story my father told me in his town, short distance from where I was born in Indiana. They, in the 1960s, they were all tied up in the elections, and in this certain county in Indiana, south of Chicago, people were mainly Republicans. There were a few Democrats, and those few Democrats, Republican, just like they do anywhere, they argued back and forth as it's been going on for years. But this friend of my father, he always had a kind of a warped sense of humor. And so he decided, he went over to, because he had friends on both sides of this, well, in 1964 elections, Lyndon and Baines Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater. And so, because it was this small county, and this one person in our city had helped fundraise for Johnson, and Johnson won, he got an invite to the ceremony swearing you in. I guess they call it the presidential ball or whatever they have. And there were not a lot sent out, but on the invitation, and on the outside the letter was the actual presidential seal. So it was something that when it came through the mail that you paid attention to, because you knew it came from the White House. Well, this friend of my father's thought it'd be funny, since he was over at this man's house, to take his invitation and borrow it for a day, to which he had another friend who owned a copy place. And they decided that it would be funny to make about a dozen copies and send it to the top Republicans in the county, inviting them to the White House, to this ball. Now, my father said, you know, his friend thought it would be hilarious to see them open that and see them find out why would he invite me? To which they did. To which he did not know that it is against the law to replicate the presidential seal, a federal offense. To which one of the people that he thought it would be so funny to actually sent his to the White House, demanding to know why he was sent this. To which Secret Service came down and he had to do a lot of talking and months before he got out of there.

God has invited his chosen to come before him to study, to fellowship, to rejoice, and to celebrate. To actually try to picture the future, to get a vision of what the next world is going to be like. We see this time at the Feast of Tabernacles, even, that is on your invitation, described in Leviticus 23 and also Numbers 29. But I'd like to go to Deuteronomy 16 and just touch this one verse, a couple verses.

But Deuteronomy 16, actually in verse 13, from the New King James, it said, You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, and when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress, and you shall rejoice in your feast. So he's actually saying, I'm inviting you to this feast, and I want you to rejoice. You and your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord. See, it's his feast. It's not a Jewish feast, it's a feast to the Lord. Your God, in a place which the Lord chooses because the Lord your God, will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands so that you surely rejoice. So he's saying, if you'll keep this, I'm going to prosper you so that you can rejoice. To God, it's very important because we see it's a religious appointment. These are appointments. You know, the Sabbath, each Sabbath is a religious appointment. He is here, and so are his people. And we are to keep that. And he just asked us for seven times in a year, seven times in a year. Keep this religious appointment with me.

RSVP, respond. Respond to the invitation.

Christ understood what it meant to count the cost. He came down in his ministry and he had to count the cost. I'm going to have to be made fun of, mocked, beaten, and killed.

But for some reason, these puny humans are worth it. He counted that cost. He said, we're worth it. And then he said, some of those puny humans that can count the cost, I'm going to invite to spend time with me, both physically and spiritually.

I'd like you to turn over to Luke. A very tragic story in Luke. Very, very tragic story. Luke 14.

Let's start in verse 15, if you will. Luke 14 verse 15. He said, now, when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Then Jesus Christ said to him, A certain man gave a great supper and invited many. The invitation. And sent his servants at supper time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. But they all, with one accord, began to make excuses. The first one said to him, I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. The invite? I don't care. I got a piece of land worth more than that. Would you come and see me on the Sabbath? I don't care. Don't care. I got something else better to do. Verse 19. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going to test them. I ask that you have me excused. Don't care. Not that important.

Still another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and reported these things to the master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servants, Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. And the servant said, Master, it is done as you commanded. And there still is more room. Then the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be full. But I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper. None of those that I invited and they cast aside shall be taste the kingdom of God. They're not going to be in the kingdom of God that plain.

Then he goes on to explain even further of counting the cost. Verse 25, And great multitudes went with him, and he turned and he said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate, or hate everyone by comparison, his father, his mother, his wife, and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life also cannot be my disciple. Who's first? It can only be one. Only one. He thought so much of us that he gave his only begotten son. And after that point, he gave part of his very essence, the Holy Spirit, to us. And then he said, What? Now I'm going to invite you. Invite you just once every seven days and then seven times during the year to come and fellowship with me.

But he said, What? You put things before me. You put your family before me. You put your wife before me. You put your mother, your brother, everyone before me. And I died for you and you won't even show up.

Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Verse 33. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. Unless you're willing to put him first every single day, you can't be his disciple. More important than your wife, more important than your children. Because you see, as we went through on the sovereignty of God, he owns everything anyway. He controls everything anyway.

What are you going to do? Do we have any choice? So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. You know, certain people, when I talk to them, they call me and I've actually worked with some people in prison. And they're getting out of prison. And so they've studied this way. And studying six, seven, eight hours a day in prison. And so they are excited. I go to the prison. I talk to them about the way. And as soon as they get out, they want to be coming. But I tell them each time, it's different when you get out. You've got life, life to contend with. It's going to be a struggle. There are going to be all these things pulling you away. There's going to be all these things that are going to take up your time. All of a sudden, you're going to have to worry about your family. All of a sudden, you're going to have to worry about your wife. You've got all these things. You've got to be willing to keep him first. And you know, over the years, I've known very few, very, very few that could ever hang on.

They get pulled away by the things of this world. They get an invitation, but all of a sudden, it's not very important. They find other things. Verse 34, it says, Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It's talking about us. We're the salt of the earth. But if we have no flavor, if we're no different than the rest of the world, what good are we?

Go out and put sand in a salt shaker, and then put it on your food. You're not going to like it. There's no seasoning there. But if you use real salt, it flavors the world. It preserves the world. We are that salt, but if we lose what makes us salt, the way we're useless to God. 35, it is neither fit for the land nor for the dung hill, but men throw it out, and then what he says, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear.

You're useless to God. Invited to his way, his walk. Each Sabbath. Each Sabbath it is about God, not about me. I've invited to the feast, and it's been 35 years, 40 years since I've kept all the feasts, since I have not kept the feast. And seven times God asked us to come before him, just like this invite here has. That's all.

And you know, when I was in sales at a company, I went to a sales seminar or some type of presentation every year. Every single year I'd find something out, somewhere to go. Why? Because it made me better. It kept, it was a training tool to help me become a better salesman. The feasts of God, the Sabbath of God are here to help us be better Christians, to be more like Christ.

I love it. First time a person has a feast of tabernacles and really goes and enjoys it. You see the joy, because the perfect physical and spiritual bonding that happens through his Holy Spirit and the blessings and the amount of God's Spirit that's there with all those people, it's an event. It's a happening.

You know, when we are invited to the way, to his walk. And we accept it. We accept that we will be at that religious appointment with God every Sabbath. And nothing's going to get in our way.

And then we're invited to seven times a year, and we keep those seven times. Then we will be invited to the marriage supper.

And if we're in the marriage supper, we're invited to eternal life. And when we have eternal life, we've been invited to be part, an actual heir, for the family of God. That's how big it is. It's that big. Some people said it's no big deal. I've known people who have actually didn't care anything about it.

And you can read in Revelation 20 and verse 15 to those who were given the invitation, and they didn't care. And they just threw it away. Those says that anyone not found in the Book of Life.

Those who RSVP'd, they never responded. You know, they were called. God gave them opportunities. They rejected. Says they will be cast into the lake of fire.

You're calling, my calling, brethren. It is a privilege. It is a privilege to receive one of these invitations. If you looked at 7 billion people in the world, and just those who keep the Sabbath as I worked on the other day, from all the groups and dug it out, it's less than 1% just keeping the Sabbath in the entire world. Nonetheless, the Holy Days, unless all the other things that come involved with the way. Very small! It's a privilege. It's like, well, that's kind of a small group. I had some woman call me from Coconut Creek. She called me a while back. And I wanted to know about her church. She studied a few things. She said, yes, I think I like to go. How many people do you have there? And I said, well, a good day about 40. Usually it's 35 to 40 people. And she said, oh, that's too small. I don't want to be involved in something that small. I thought you were a big church!

I thought you'd have Bible studies classes, teenage classes, class for the kids, everything. I thought you were a big church. No, I don't want that.

It is a privilege to come into God's presence. It's an honor, isn't it? It's an honor. We sometimes forget that because we have all this stuff in the world that wants to drag us down. In the year 2000, I had the opportunity, Mary and I did, to take a tour of the White House. They give tours of the White House, but we were, because we knew someone, no one, anybody I knew, but someone I knew, a relative of mine, knew someone that decided to have two White House aides who worked in the White House and give us our own tour. So we didn't have to even stand in line with the hundreds of people. They just took us through. They were military guys, but they were very sharp, very intelligent guys. It was interesting because they would take us and they would tell us stories that went on in the White House, explain what this was, and we went from room to room on this tour. And I so remember because they were very well dressed, but they stood it back straight, just very proper. And as they were explaining things to us, the rest of the people that could go through, they would kind of want to just hang over and listen to the stories that these people were telling us, because they said, right here is where President Clinton met with the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. They would explain what was going on because they were actually standing in those positions there as a type of guard. And one of the young men was explaining something, telling this wonderful story about this beautiful house, the White House. And a boy came through, not even really knowing, paying attention, maybe 20-ish, and he had a hat on. And I so remember that story because he stops talking, and he looks, and he said, Sir, with the commanding voice, the guy turns around, remove your hat. He didn't ask, could you please? Oh, would you mind? He just said it. Sir, remove your hat. You don't do that in the White House. There's respect that needs to be shown here. I thought it was interesting because I read a story after that about President Reagan, that when he went into the Oval Office where the president is, he would not go in there during the week unless he had a jacket and a tie on. That was his office for eight years. But on the weekend, he might slide in there, but during the week when it was business, he never once entered that room without a jacket and a tie. Because he said, this is not my office. I'm just a caretaker, and I must show respect when I walk in there. How about us? The invitation that we show the respect and do to God. So as I wrap up, how honored are you for receiving your invitation from God?

It is important. Yes, some of you may say, well, it's a little hokey. I don't think so. I think it's very important that we realize just how special our calling is and the invitation is.

So responde, c'est les vous plaît. A response is expected. Have we made sure that God knows? Have we said, thank you. Yes, I will be there. It'll be my privilege. It'll be my honor. I will be honored to come into your presence and to follow the way.