Text: Rev 22:17

The Bible is great partly because of the many warnings it contains Were it not for these great warnings, many of us would fall into the abyss of great despair because of the foolishness of our own decisions and the error of our ways Jer 10:23; Prov 14:12 & 16:25, 16:9, 19:21 The Bible is also great because of the gracious invitations that it extends to us Some of the best news for the lives of people can be found in the invitations in the Bible

The Bible would be a great book even if it contained only one gracious invitation from our creator to the created However, from the beginning it contain countless invitations The God who made man and placed him in the garden with companionship and a pleasant occupation has been seeking to create within his creation a condition that would make possible the restoration of fellowship that has been stripped of them by their sin Rom 3:23, 6:23; Jer 29:11

As we come to the last chapter of the Bible and almost the very last verse, it is evident the Holy Spirit of God led the inspired writer to repeat God’s great invitation to us once more There is something very dramatic about God’s final recorded invitation If you study it closely, you will find that all the persuasive powers of divine love are wrapped up in this verse The Holy Spirit extends the invitation The Bride is the Church The Church is in the world to extend God’s invitation to people Individual believers are encouraged to extend this invitation The text encourages people to recognize the hunger for God in their hearts and to respond to the divine invitation to find life in its fullness

There is something quite touching about God’s final invitation Why should our great God extend more than one invitation for people to come to the banquet table prepared by divine grace It is of great interest to note that Jesus often offered words of invitation throughout His ministry hear on earth…we will look below at some of these

On one occasion Jesus expressed deep regret that people were refusing to come to Him and receive life (Jn 5:39-40) On another occasion He speaks of bringing life abundant (Jn 10:10) One of Jesus’ many parables deals with the gracious invitation to come to the great banquet table that God has prepared for those who are willing to come (Lk 14:16-23) Jesus came to offer forgiveness to those who have sinned against God…He invites people to come to Him that they may have life (Jn 10:26-28)

Mk 1:16-20 He called these men to a life of discipleship that would produce great fruitfulness if they would forsake their nets and follow after Him Jn 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

Our Lord is eager to do something more that just give you a ticket to Heaven He wants to lead us to true fulfillment in life In order for this to happen we must give up our self- centeredness and give ourselves wholly to the service of our Lord (Lk 9:23-24) We must with the help of the Holy Spirit put the selfish to death We must let the living God live within us and as we do so we will find life in its fullness

Mt 11:28-30 Our Lord extends a gracious invitation to those who labor and struggle under the burdens of life He speaks words of invitation to those who labor under a heavy burden of guilt, frustration, and failure He extends a gracious invitation to those who find the burdens and responsibilities of life to be crushing and difficult to bear He promises, not to remove the burdens completely, but to give us the assistance we need-that which can bring peace and encouragement to our hearts

Because of Jesus’ divine adequacy, He is able to extend this wonderful invitation We are robbing Him of the privilege of blessing us when we refuse to respond to His invitation We are robbing ourselves of the rest and help that we need for overcoming life’s responsibilities

Jn 1:39 “He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).” The disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus because of their curiosity, their deep hunger for insight into who He was, and their desire for a better grasp of the purpose of God The Lord was gracious to them He invited the to spend the day with Him He continues to extend this same invitation to “Come and see” to us today

We have the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we study and pray and look for purpose and meaning in our lives Our Lord is eager to give us light for the road ahead He will provide us with the wisdom we need in these days We need to hear His invitation to “Come and see” and to respond, not just on the Lord’s day, but everyday

As Jesus near the end of His time on Earth, He spoke of preparing a place for those who loved and followed Him (Jn 14:1- 3) Mt 25:34-40 In this parable Jesus implies that those who have given themselves in service to others will have the privilege of entering not just into the Father’s house, but also into a divine eternal inheritance We do not earn our way into the Father’s house This privilege is granted to us by the Father for our faith in His Son However, in order to have a rich and wonderful spiritual inheritance in Heaven, we must give ourselves to Christ here on earth by ministering to others One simple way to do this is to help the helpless, unfortunate, and needy Jesus teaches us that, “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

The invitation in our text this morning is the most gracious invitation ever extended It is given by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit It is repeated by His Church and individual Christians alike It can be understood by any individual who has the desire for the Bread and Water of Life This gracious invitation offers salvation and security, forgiveness and cleansing,-eternal life as the gift of God

It is the will of God that people respond to His invitation in order to receive His blessings 2Pet 3:9 If you have not yet come to Jesus Christ for life and forgiveness of sin, there is no greater time than now Then you may spend the rest of your life responding to the Gracious invitations of God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son