Urgent Calls

Amen. Well, if you have your Bibles, we’re going to get right into it. Is that okay? Is everybody okay with that? Okay. Now, someone — I’m not going to mention any names, but he’s a young pastor on staff — was giving me a hard time, because when I teach, we kind of go through a lot of Scripture, and he was comparing how much he goes through and how much I go through. I’m like, listen, listen, listen, it’s the Word we’re getting. I’m digging on him a little because he always digs on me.

But we’re going to go through a little bit of Scripture. I actually refined it down. I dropped it down a little bit, not because there’s a lack of content, but because I think what the Lord has for us is so powerful. I really believe that what the Lord is going to be speaking to us about today is a word from heaven. It’s a word from Him for this time. Amen?

How many of you know God speaks to us in real time? Amen. He knows exactly what we need. He knows exactly what to do. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I go through life and I’m like, I don’t even know what to do. But how many of you know, if you know the Lord, we can always call on Him? We can always ask for wisdom. And I believe that the Lord is leading us so clearly in this time.

We’ve been in this series called The Spirit and the Bride. Everybody say that: “The Spirit and the Bride.” And that sounds kind of mystical. It sounds kind of abstract. But the Lord’s been speaking to us about the Holy Spirit and the bride, which is us, the church — how the Lord is preparing His church for the times that are coming. And we’ve been talking about how the Lord wants to bring about a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on His church, for the establishing of His church, for the establishing of His kingdom.

If you have your Bibles, we’re going to turn to two places, and we’re going to spend our time in these two chapters. So I’m going to invite everybody to turn there in your Bibles. How many of you know it’s important to bring your Bibles, because you can mark up your Bibles as we’re talking and we’re opening the Word together? Amen. We’re going to have the scriptures on screen, but I want to encourage you, as the Lord speaks to you, that you would highlight, that you would circle those things that the Lord is highlighting or speaking to you, so that you can meditate on them.

How many of you know His Word is food to us, right? Sometimes we can get spiritually dry. Amen? Anybody else? No? I’m the only one? I’m getting some nods, but I’m looking for some interaction here. Can we interact a little bit? Okay. You get spiritually dry, and how many of you know there’s a nourishment that comes when we open the Word of God together? Amen. The food that we really need is the Word of God. And so I want to encourage you, as we go through these scriptures, that you don’t just let it be a Sunday thing, but you come back to them through the week and allow the Lord to speak to you and bring to remembrance some of the things that the Holy Spirit is going to highlight to you today.

Blessed are those who are called

But if you have your Bibles, turn with me to Revelation chapter 19 and chapter 22. Revelation 19 and 22. We’ve been in this with some of our key scriptures. It’s the Revelation of Jesus Christ. And the title of the message today is “Urgent Calls.” Everybody say, “Urgent calls.” Urgent, meaning there is an urgency. There is a need. There is a compulsion. There is a necessity of something that the Lord wants to take place.

And I want us to start in Revelation chapter 19, starting at verse 6. And it says, “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”’”

I want to just read this again, and I want to highlight a couple of things. This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the apostle John. He has this vision, and he is up in heaven, and he’s seeing these things that are taking place. And it says, “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude.”

You know, something that’s so powerful, and something that has really helped me press into those times of worship — how many of you know, whether you’re in a packed room or you’re alone in your bedroom, when you begin worshiping the Lord, there is a multitude of angels joining with you? Isn’t that powerful? That we are coming into the throne room of heaven as we lift our praise and worship to Him. When our atmosphere on earth matches the atmosphere in heaven, we come right into His presence.

It says that there was a voice of a great multitude, “as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!’” That means all-powerful. “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory,” notice, “for the marriage of the Lamb” — talking about Jesus — “has come, and His wife” — talking about the bride of Christ, or the church — “has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” How many of you know the Lord is preparing His church? Amen. That He is purifying us, that He is cleansing us, that He is preparing us for the things to come.

Verse 9 says — now, this is what I want us to notice — “Then he said to me, ‘Write.’” In other words, he’s saying, John, don’t miss this. Make sure you write this down. He says, “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Blessed are those who are called. Everybody say that: “Blessed are those who are called.” Say it one more time: “Blessed are those who are called.” How about let’s do it this way. Say, “I am blessed because I’m called.” How many of you know, if you have been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, you are blessed?

Sometimes we take for granted the things that we’ve been given. I don’t know about you, but you kind of see it with kids that get everything they want. They become spoiled, and they just want more and more and more. Sometimes you can take for granted the things that you’ve been given. And sometimes we can do that with our salvation. Amen? Where we’ve been given so great a salvation — so encompassing, so vast, so eternal — and we treat it like it’s on the back burner. We treat it like it’s not the priority. And we can get so consumed with all these other things, and we say, well, what’s the big deal, right? Jesus is available to everyone, so what’s the big deal that I’ve received Him?

Well, how many of you know, according to recent studies, there are still to this day over one billion people in the world who have never heard the name of Jesus? One billion who have never even heard the name of Jesus. How many of you know it’s significant — number one, not only that you’ve heard the name of Jesus — it is significant that you responded? “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

How many of you know, if you have made Jesus Christ your Lord, you are blessed? You’re not doomed to eternal destruction or to eternal separation from Him. No — you can have life with Him, to become one with Him, to become a part of the bride. Everybody say this with me: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Amen.

I want us to recognize this first. If you’ve received, say amen. You’re blessed. You have been given something that some people haven’t even heard about. You’ve received something. Not only did you hear it; you responded to it. Your heart was in a place — the Lord worked on your heart to be in a place — to receive the call of salvation, and you responded. You’re blessed. How many of you know we already have everything we need? Amen. You’re blessed.

Behold, I am coming quickly

Now I want us to go to Revelation 22, keeping this in mind. Go to Revelation 22. This is the last chapter in the Bible, all right? The last chapter. And I’m going to highlight three verses that kind of give us an overview of the theme of this chapter. According to Pastor David, I would read the whole chapter, but we’re not going to do that today. I’m going to highlight three verses. Okay? Three verses.

Revelation 22, verse 7. Notice, Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Revelation 22:12, Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give everyone according to his work.” Revelation 22, verse 20 says, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

Listen, how many of you know the theme of the last chapter in the Bible — the emphasis — is Jesus telling His church, “I’m coming quickly. Behold, I’m coming quickly.” In other words, behold — look. You should see it. You can tell. You can feel it in the air. I’ve shared the story of someone that we run into at Target oftentimes, and she was commenting — we asked, “How are you doing?” and she says, “I’m doing great, because Jesus is coming again.” And I was like, okay, I can feel the Spirit. Because she’s like, “I can smell it.” I was like, I don’t even know what that means, but amen, right? It was awesome.

But sometimes, if you have been a part of the church, you can grow numb to that. When we say Jesus is coming again, we go, yeah, yeah. How many of you know we don’t want to grow numb to the word of the Lord, especially in these days? Because Jesus Himself is speaking to His church three times in the last chapter of the Bible: “Behold, I’m coming quickly.” “Behold, I am coming quickly.” “Surely I am coming quickly.” As sure as sure can get, Jesus is saying what? I’m coming back. I’m coming back. Everybody say, “He’s coming back.”

I feel like the Lord is saying these are not the days to grow numb to My Word. These are not the days to go from day to day with the status quo, according to your goals, according to your priorities, according to your own life. These are not the days to do that. These are the days to begin to look to the Lord and to behold — to look to Him in all of His glory, to call on the name of the Lord, to say, Lord, come do what only You can do. Come restore Your kingdom. Come and do what You have said You would do. Come, Jesus. Come quickly.

Jesus is speaking. He’s saying, “Behold, I am coming.” Listen, if you do not believe that, you are believing a lie. If you do not believe that Jesus is coming again, you are believing a lie. If you do not believe that He’s going to judge the living and the dead, you are believing a lie. There is coming a day where all will stand before Him face to face, and you will either be a friend of God or you will be His enemy. There is no in between. And the only way is to receive the call of Jesus, the call of salvation. Somebody say amen. And there are people that need to know what you have received. Amen.

Next commercial

And I always think of this when I think of the end times, and I think of our tendency, right? Our tendency to just kind of push things off, our tendency to delay. I remember when I was young, my parents were going out for the evening. We had dinner, and they said, “Hey, we’re going to go, but we want you to wash the dishes. We want the kitchen to be clean. We’re leaving that to you. We’ll be back.” And I was like, “Okay, okay, I got you.” Right? I sound like my kids. “I got you.”

And I remember they left, and I’m like, man, I just ate. I’m a little tired. I’m just going to sit on the couch and watch a little TV, right? And so I flip on the TV, and these were back in the days when you had to sit through TV commercials and things like that. It wasn’t streaming. There were commercials, right? Raise your hand if you’re old enough to remember commercials. Okay. Or YouTube ads, I guess — that’s still relevant. There are still ads out there.

But I remember I was sitting there on the couch, and I was just watching TV, and at every commercial I would be like, oh, I should get up and wash the dishes — but, you know, next commercial. Right? And so I would sit there, and I’d watch my television program, and the next set of commercials would come on, and I’d be like, oh, next commercial. I’m not going to do the dishes yet. Next commercial, I’ll do the dishes. And then I’d watch the television program, and the next commercial would come on, and I was like, next commercial, right? And I just kept pushing it off.

Well, soon enough, I’m sitting there on the couch, and all of a sudden it’s nighttime, and I see the car headlights turn into the driveway, right? They shine through there, and I bolt up. I stand up, and I start splashing the water everywhere, acting like I’ve been doing the dishes this whole time — like it’s going to take hours to do dishes — and I’m acting like I’m all busy. And my parents come in, and my dad says, “So you’ve been watching some TV, huh?” Right? I didn’t do what I was asked to do, because I kept pushing it down the road.

And I would say that as believers, that’s often what we do. We kick the can, and we say, well, sooner or later I’ll get to the things that God has for my life. Sooner or later I’ll give Him the attention that He’s actually asking of me. Sooner or later I’ll walk in obedience and I’ll go to church. Sooner or later. But how many of you know we don’t know when He’s coming? No one knows when He’s coming back. And in fact, I’ll even say this: nobody knows how many days they have left.

We cannot kick the can down the road. Why? Because, behold, Jesus says, “I’m coming quickly.” We don’t have time to say, next commercial. We don’t have time to just delay and to say, well, let me do this first. Let me get my career set first. Let me get out of debt first. Let me get some wealth, and then I’ll start tithing. How many of you know we don’t have time to do those things? We need to be people who behold the Lord and walk in obedience to the things He’s asked us to do. Amen? Come on, somebody say amen.

And so here’s the emphasis of chapter 22. Jesus is saying what? I’m coming quickly. I’m coming quickly. And I want us to go back to verse 12 in Revelation 22, and we’re going to break this down just a little bit. Revelation 22, starting at verse 12. Jesus says, “Behold, I’m coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

Verse 14: “Blessed are those” — everybody say, “Are those” — “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they might receive the right to the tree of life.” Notice it says, “Blessed are those,” meaning that there are multiple categories of people being talked about right here. Blessed are those who do His commands — but there are also those who do not do what He says. But notice it says, blessed are those who do His commands, that they “may enter through the gates into the city.” Meaning they may respond to the call and be saved. And it’s reserved for those who do His commands.

Now, we can hear this sometimes and we say, well, “blessed are those who do” — but I thought we were saved by grace. How many of you know we are absolutely saved by grace? Amen. We’re not saved by works. We don’t earn our way into heaven. Our salvation is a gift of God, and it is given freely. But if you have been saved by grace, then how many of you know it should be evident in your life that you take that grace, and now, because of that grace, you are free to walk free from sin and to follow the Lord? Amen. And so it says, blessed are those who what? Who do His commands. Everybody say, “We got to do what He says.” I’ll say it again: we got to do what He says.

Outside are dogs

Verse 15 says, “But outside are dogs.” Do we have any dog lovers in here? Come on, don’t raise your hand if you like some dogs. My friend back in the back, he’s got some funky-looking dogs, but they’re really cute. What is that kind of dog called? Whippet. So they’re crazy-looking. I have a chocolate lab. Do we got any cat lovers? Any cat lovers? Okay, we’ll pray for your deliverance after service.

But the dog lovers, right? We love dogs. Why? I have a 13-year-old chocolate lab right now, and I call him the old guy. He’s getting gray. He’s getting old. He’s about to turn 13 years old. But he’s super obedient, and I’ve really come to enjoy my times with him. We go on walks, and he’s kind of limping around, and things like that.

And I think that because of recent animated films, we can kind of personify our pets a little bit, where we think they’re like people — like they think like we do and they act like we do. And then I’ll be taking him on a walk, and all of a sudden I’ll see him eat something, and I’ll be like, oh yeah, you’re a dog. Things that I would never eat. It could be a dead animal in the middle of the road, and I have to avoid it, because if we walk by, he’ll scoop it up. I’m just like, that’s disgusting, right? It’s so gross. There are times where, as much as I love my dog, and as much as he’s a part of our family, per se — he’s a dog. You know what I mean? I love him. I cherish him. But he’s a dog.

And this is what this is saying. It says, “But outside are dogs.” It’s talking about those who really, at the core, are just doing whatever they want to do. They’re living life according to their feelings, according to their emotions, according to whatever whims of the world, or whatever is in vogue, right? It’s just people who are living aimlessly. It says, “But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

In other words, those who do His commands — what? They come into the city of salvation. But outside of that are people who are living in lawlessness, living according to their compulsions, according to their desires, according to the sins of the world. And notice: “and whoever loves and practices a lie.” What is the lie? That Jesus really isn’t coming back. That He’s really not going to judge the living and the dead. That we can just live life and just say, He’s not coming back.

How many of you know the enemy would love for you to believe that there is no urgency here? The enemy would love for you to be in a place where you’re just living life and you’re saying, next commercial. I’ll get to that next time. I’ll start praying tomorrow. I’ll start praying next week. I’ll start praying when I finish this project at work, right? We can keep kicking the can down the road. But the Lord is saying, no. Behold, I am coming quickly. There is something that we need to be about.

The Spirit and the bride say come

Verse 16 says, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And this is what I want to get to. Verse 17 — everybody pay attention, verse 17: “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

Notice: the Spirit — talking about the Holy Spirit — and the bride, the church of Jesus Christ — they say, “Come.” Everybody say, “Come.” Now, I’m going to get a little bit nerdy, but this is relevant, so stick with me. That word come in the Greek is the word erchomai. And number one, it’s a verb, right? It’s an action — that we are calling on Jesus to physically come, to come back, to return, to establish His rule. It is a verb, but it is in the aorist tense, which means that it’s not an ongoing come. This is a snapshot in time. In other words, this is an event of His coming. It will happen, and then it’s done. It is a verb and an action in a moment of time. But it’s also in the imperative mood, which means there is an urgency to this cry, an urgency to this call — that it must happen.

And so my question is this: why would this be urgent? Because probably most of us are living lives that are blessed. Most of us are living lives where there is comfort, there is security, right? If you’re blessed, say amen. We’re living a blessed life. So what is the urgency that we want Jesus to come?

I want you to think about who is writing and receiving this Revelation of Jesus. This is John the apostle. He was a disciple of Jesus, and he is right now on the island of Patmos. He’s in prison, and he is getting this revelation of Jesus the Christ, the glorified Christ. And he’s about a hundred years old at this point. It’s been about 60 to 70 years since he walked with Jesus. He’s been in ministry for 60 to 70 years at this point. Most of the other disciples, the apostles — they’ve been martyred. They’ve been killed. Most of his friends are gone. Churches are collapsing. Believers are being persecuted. And here’s John. He’s getting this revelation, and Jesus is saying, “Behold, I’m coming quickly.” And look at verse 20. What does John say? He says, “Amen. Even so, come.” Right? We need You to move. Things are falling apart.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus

Come on — if you look at things and you look at the news, how many of you know it seems like things are falling apart in a lot of ways? I don’t know about you, but there are times where I’ll watch the news, or I’ll see a video on my phone, and all of a sudden I’m like, oh Lord, we need You. Jesus, would You come? Jesus, we are lost. Jesus, it’s so dark. It’s so difficult. There’s so much turmoil. There’s so much anger. There’s so much hatred. There’s so much division, even amongst Your body. There’s so much going on. Jesus, we need You to come. Everybody say, “Come.”

There’s an urgency. We’re calling on the Lord, and it’s an urgent call. We’re looking at the destruction. We look at the pain around us. We see the things. And sometimes we can get so caught up in our life, and because you’re secure, we assume everything’s fine. But how many of you know there are many in this world whose lives are not secure? They are not safe.

I just was praying and I was asking the Lord, Lord, why is there this urgency? And I felt like the Lord was just giving me some downloads, just some simple reasons why it’s important that Jesus comes back. And here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to say them, and when I say them, I’m going to invite you to say, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” These are reasons why we need Jesus to come.

We don’t want one more baby to be aborted. We don’t want one more child to be abused. We don’t want one more person to suffer from starvation. We don’t want one more child or adult to be sold into sex trafficking. We don’t want one more believer taken from their family and imprisoned for their faith. We don’t want one more person mistreated by racism. We don’t want one more child to be tempted and in bondage by the twisted perversity of this world. We don’t want one more child to be deceived into thinking they are anyone else other than who God has created them to be. And we don’t want one more woman lured into a lifestyle of prostitution with a lie that is just temporary.

Many of us here are blessed. The Lord has covered us. He’s protected us. We’re safe. There are many who are not. And we can get so caught up in our day-to-day, so caught up in our agenda, that we lose sight of what’s most important: that there are people who are hurting, that there are people who are being taken advantage of, that the weak are dying, that there are people who are abusing, that there is darkness, that there is division. And we can just go about our lives.

And how many of you know there are many believers whom the enemy has in a lullaby, because all they can see is what’s right in front of them? All they can see is what’s in their checking account. All they can see is the work projects that are due. But Jesus is saying, look to Me. Look to Me, because I’m coming. And there is an urgency — that we would see the state of the world and that we would look to Jesus and we would say, come quickly. Come bring Your righteousness. Come and show us Your glory. Come and do what only You can do. Come bring healing. Bring revelation. Come, Lord Jesus, come. How many of you know we must look to the Lord and begin to call on the Lord? Amen.

And notice again, it says, “the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” Notice this: “And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’” I was like, is the Bible just repeating itself? And I was asking, Lord, what is this? There’s the Spirit and the bride, and the bride is included — they say come. And then it says, “And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’” It’s not talking about unbelievers. It’s those who have heard the Word of God.

And I believe that there is a distinction that is taking place here. We’re seeing two categories of the bride of Christ here. There is a part of the bride who has died and is present with the Lord in heaven, and then there’s a part of the bride who is alive and here on earth. You guys with me? There are these two separate categories.

And here’s what’s interesting, and here’s something that we all need to be aware of: this life that you have here on earth is the only life where you can make sacrifice to the Lord. This is the only time where you can make a sacrifice of praise. This is the only time where you can make a sacrifice and get up in the morning and put aside your routine and pray. This is the only time where you can make a sacrifice of giving of yourself, a sacrifice of serving and putting others before you. This is the only life where you get to make that sacrifice.

There is a part of the bride of Christ that is dead and is in heaven and is with the Lord. Amen. But there is much of the bride of Christ that is here on earth, alive. So what are you going to do with it? Are we going to just go about our day-to-day? Are we just going to go about our priorities, our agenda? Or are we going to be moved with compassion, and are we going to call on the name of the Lord and begin to call out and ask Him to come? We only get one life to make sacrifice to the Lord.

It is interesting, because there is no record in Scripture of anyone in heaven praying — just Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is alive. He’s in the flesh. He’s like you and me. This is the time for us to pray. This is the time for us to make intercession. This is the time for us to look to the Lord, to call on the name of the Lord, that He would come and that He would come quickly.

This is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:19, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” How many of you know the only time you get to do that is when you’re here? The only time we get to do that is when we’re here on earth. I don’t know about you, but that motivates me a little bit differently, because how many of you know this life is just a flash in the pan? We put so much emphasis on it. But there are things that we can do in this time while we’re on earth that we will never get to do again, right? We’ve got to stop kicking the can down the road, because the flash goes quick, and eternity is coming, and there are people around us that are perishing. There are people that need to know.

Two urgent calls

And so there are two categories of believers. But I want you to know: “the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’” Who are those who hear? That’s us, right? Those who have heard the Word, those who have heard the gospel, those who have received the call — let them also say come. So how many of you know that’s us? We need to be calling on the Lord.

And then it says, “And let him who thirsts come.” Well, now this is a change, because it’s no longer talking about Jesus coming. It’s talking about those who thirst — talking about unbelievers, those who need to know. Let them come. Let them also come and receive. And so these are the people on earth who are unbelievers that are thirsting for the Lord — talking about those who need salvation. They need freedom. They need healing in their hearts.

And so here’s what I want to share with us today. We’re seeing here in this verse there are two urgent calls. There are two urgent calls. Number one: we must urgently call on Jesus to come. We must urgently call on Jesus to come. Lord, come. Put a stop to the wickedness. Put a stop to the turmoil, to the suffering, to the injustice. We must call on Jesus to come.

And number two: we must urgently call unbelievers to come to Jesus. Let those who thirst come. How many of you know we must call unbelievers to the Lord? I didn’t get a big enough amen. If they don’t hear it from us, who’s going to tell them? If we don’t call people to look to the Lord, if we don’t call people to salvation, if we don’t share with them the good news, if we don’t compel them, if we don’t urge them, then who is going to call them?

You have received, and you are blessed — not only because you heard, but because you responded. But there are many who haven’t even heard. There are many who haven’t even had a chance or an opportunity. And we can just go about our life acting like nothing is coming. Let it not be so. There is an urgent call to call on Jesus to come, and there is an urgent call to unbelievers to come to Jesus, that they would come to salvation. These are urgent calls. Everybody say, “It’s urgent.” The time is coming, because Jesus is indeed coming soon.

“Let him who hears say, ‘Come!’” Let me ask you this: are you hearing today? Are you someone who hears the word of the Lord? Are you someone who has heard and received the call? Then go and tell someone, and call them. We can’t just go on with our lives. And the things that are important to us are important to God. How many of you know your career is important to the Lord? Your family is important to the Lord. He cares about them more than you do. But we put so much priority there. And how many of you know all of the priorities of life pale in comparison to people receiving salvation and coming to the Lord?

And in the midst of the confusion, in the midst of the division, the protests, the hurts, the lies, we must be people who can hear the Lord and call out and say, come. Come to the Lord, all those who are around me. Come — you must see what I see. You must receive what I’ve received. Two urgent calls. And I believe this is something that the Lord is bringing to us today.

How many of you know the Bible says darkness will increase as the days go further, right? Deep darkness covers the earth. We should not be surprised when things are getting darker, because the Bible already said that. But there is a response that we are to have. We’re not to get caught up in the fight everybody else is getting caught up in. We’re not supposed to just get caught up in political rhetoric. No. What we’re supposed to get caught up in is pointing people to the Lord and saying, there is a hope. There is a salvation. Come. Come and receive what I’ve received. Come and be satisfied. Those who are thirsty, come to the Lord. You must look to the Lord.

Compel them to come

And so I’m going to invite us to stand. We’re going to close. But I want us to stand, and I want us to remember Revelation 19, verse 9: “Blessed are those who are called.” Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And this is what I want to come to: this is our church. This is our family. If we don’t call people to the Lord, who’s going to call them? Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. You’ve been called. Who’s going to call the others? You’ve been called. You’ve heard. You’ve received. Who is going to call them? And I believe that there is an urgent call — that we are the ones who are called, and He’s calling us to invite people and bring them in. Amen.

I want to close with just this portion of Scripture. Follow along on screen, because I have you standing already. But this is a parable from Jesus, about the marriage supper of the Lamb. Jesus says, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, everything is ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I bought a field, and I must go see to it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master.” Talking about God.

“And the master of the house” said, “That’s okay”? Is that what he said? No. “The master of the house became angry and said to his servant” — some translations say he ordered the servant — “‘Go quickly to the streets and the lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, bring in the crippled, bring in the blind and the lame.’”

God is saying, listen, the people that I originally invited — they’re making excuses. They’re saying why they can’t come. They’re saying why they can’t do what I’ve said. They’re saying why they can’t walk in obedience. They have their own interests. They have their own priorities. So go and find people who are desperate, because My table is ready, and there is room at the table. And He’s saying, go get them.

“And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you have commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant” — “Well, we tried”? No. What does he say? He says, “‘Go out to the highways and the hedges and compel them to come, that my house may be filled.’” Don’t stop. Don’t stop.

Listen, if you are here and there are people in your life that you have been praying for — it could be a family member, it could be a friend, it could be a work acquaintance — listen, if you have been praying for them to receive salvation, do not stop. Don’t stop speaking truth into their lives. Don’t stop encouraging, and don’t shy away from what you have received. Don’t shy away from the gift God has given to you. Freely you have received; freely give. Amen.

There is something that we’ve been given, and the Lord is saying it is urgent. Compel them to come. Why? Because eternity is on the line. That word compel means to force, to press, to influence. And we’re like, well, why do we want to force people into the kingdom? Because there’s so much at stake. Now, we’re not going to grab people and drag them in. No, that’s not what this is about. But it’s about stepping out and offering and giving them what you’ve received. People think they have so much time, but no one knows how much time they have. So let him who hears say come. Are we hearing today? Are we hearing?

And so what do we do? We should call on Jesus to come and establish His kingdom, but we should urgently call people to Jesus. Here’s what I want to do real quick. I was just asking the Lord how He wants us to close this time. And you’ll see that on your chairs there should be a group of invite cards. Do you guys see those? Okay. I would like for everybody to hold those in their hands. Grab them. There should be an array — some blue ones, some black ones. We’ve had these out for a few weeks, but I really have felt like we actually needed to pray over these, and that we actually invite the Lord to use these and to use us as people who bring hope, people who point people to the Lord.

Listen, these cards are not the fix-all. How many of you know what I’m talking about goes beyond just people coming to church? It’s about ministering and being empowered by the Spirit. It’s about declaring the gospel to those around you. But I was reminded of these cards that we just recently got, which are really inviting people to come — to come and fill the house, to come and receive what we’ve received, to become a part of the body, to become a part of the bride of Christ. And I was reminded that we should pray over these.

And so here’s what I would like for us to do. I believe that every person here, if you’re a believer, has someone in their life that they have been praying for, someone that they want to see come to the Lord. And what I would like for us to do is to just hold the cards in one hand, and with the other hand, put your hand on those cards, and we’re going to pray over those cards. Each one of those cards, I believe, represents a life. I believe each one of those cards can represent an eternity.

And here’s what Jesus said. Jesus said, don’t just go out and tell a story. I want you to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit, because when you receive the Spirit, you will be empowered to be a witness. And so we’re going to pray for two things. We’re going to pray over these cards — and I want you to just begin, as I pray, to pray over the people that you have in mind — but I’m also going to pray that you would be filled with the Spirit. Because when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, if you are a born-again believer, you receive power to be a witness. How many of you know we’re not just telling a story? We’re not just inviting people to church. We’re not inviting people to be a part of a club. We’re inviting people to encounter Jesus, the glorified Christ, the name above every name. You guys with me?

And so let us pray. Hi — she’s run up to the altar. Okay. So can we pray? We’re first going to pray over these cards. Again, put your hand on these cards, and I want you to just begin praying for those people. If you have your spiritual language, begin praying in the Spirit, but just begin to pray.

Thank You, Lord. We thank You, first of all, for the gift that we’ve received. Lord, that we have heard the call, Lord, that we’ve responded to the call, that we are now one with You because of what You did for us — that You gave Your life so that we could have life with You forever. And so Lord, we pray over these cards, as a representation of people — of those who are thirsting, those who need You, those who don’t even know that they need You. They’re looking; they’re searching for answers, and they don’t even know that You are the solution.

Lord, we pray over each one of those people right now in the name of Jesus. Lord, that You would open their ears, that You would open their eyes to receive Your truth, to hear the call and to respond to it. Lord, that there would be a sense of urgency, because we believe that You are coming again, that You are coming quickly. And so Lord, we pray over each one of these cards that represents a life. Lord, that You would bring them in. Lord, that You would bring them to salvation, that You would bring them to the knowledge of the truth and an understanding of who You are, of Your great love for them.

Lord, we break the assignment of the adversary to keep them away, to hold on to their life. Lord, we break that yoke. We break that bondage, that sin that is entangling. And Lord, we just pray for a supernatural thirst and hunger in the lives of those whom we have been praying for, whom we have been calling into Your kingdom. To say, come. Lord, we say in the name of Jesus, come. Come — let them come, Lord, from the north, from the south, from the east and the west. Lord, let them come, that they may receive life in You forever.

And Lord, I pray over every person here who has made You the Lord of their lives. Lord, You have said, I will send the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, to you, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses. And Lord, I declare over every person that You would fill us afresh to be witnesses for Your kingdom. That we would be people who declare Your truth with boldness, that we would declare Your truth with signs and wonders. Lord, that we would be people who declare Your truth full of the Holy Spirit, full of love, full of grace, full of mercy. Lord, that the Holy Spirit would be resonating and dripping off of our very lives.

Lord, that You would fill us today for the building of Your church, for the establishing of Your kingdom, because eternities are at stake. Lord, give us compassion for the lost. Give us compassion for those who are hurting. Lord, give us compassion in the face of the darkness and the injustice. Lord, give us a heart of compassion — that we would not just protest and do what everybody else does. No, but that we would call on You, that we would call on the name of the Lord, that we would rise up in faith knowing that You hear our prayers, that You hear our call, and Lord, that You are coming quickly.

Lord, let us see You. Let us know You as we look to heaven. Lord, that we would behold You as our Savior, as our King, and as our soon-coming King. You are holy. You are worthy. And Lord, we just pray over each one of these cards — that as they go out, they would be effective. Not even that they would come to this church, Lord, but that they would be effective to make Your name known, that it would be a part of the journey and the story of people coming back to faith in You. We just bless those cards, in Jesus’ name. And Lord, we pray for every person that is hurting, every person that is thirsty, and we say, come. Come to the Lord. Now is the time. Come, in Jesus’ name. Amen. If you agree, say amen.

Thank You, Lord. Hey, real quick — we’re going to dismiss in just a moment, but I want to encourage you that you actually take those cards and give them out. You’d be surprised. Because we prayed, you’re going to be surprised who you’re going to run into. You’re going to be surprised at the encounters that you have. I know for me, I prayed over one, and I ran into somebody that I hadn’t seen for about 10 years, and they asked, “How’s the church? What’s going on?” And I was able to give it to them.

Listen, the Lord is empowering us to be a witness, and this is just a tool. It’s just a tool. I want to encourage you to give those out. I carry them in my back pocket. I just have them, and then I take them out. If I have some left over, I put them on my nightstand, and then the next morning I get ready and I put them back in my pocket. It’s just a tool. But listen, let’s be expectant. Let’s begin to pray. Let’s ask the Lord: come, Lord. Reveal Yourself to them the same way You revealed Yourself to me. Amen.

All right. If you are encouraged, can you just say amen? I hope you’re encouraged, because the Lord is coming. He’s coming for you, but He’s coming for those who are around you, too. And let them be on the right side. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.