I can imagine some men saying, "Mr. Moody has not touched my case at
all. That is not the reason why I won't accept Christ. I don't know as I
am one of the elect." How often I am met with this excuse--how often do
I hear it in the inquiry room! How many men fold their arms and say, "If
I am one of the elect I will be saved, and if I ain't I won't. No use of
your bothering about it." Why don't some of those merchants say, "If God
is going to make me a successful merchant in Chicago I will be one
whether I like it or not, and if he isn't I won't." If you are sick, and
a. doctor prescribes for you, don't take the medicine, throw it out the
door, it don't matter, for if God has decreed you are going to die, you
will: if he hasn't, you will get better. If you use that argument you
may as well not walk home from this tabernacle. If God has said you'll
get home, you'll get home--you'll fly through the air; if you have been
elected to go home. I have an idea that the Lord Jesus saw how men were
going to stumble over this doctrine, so after He had been thirty or
forty years in heaven, He came down and spoke to John. One Lord's day in
Patmos, He said to him, "Write these things to the churches." John kept
on writing. His pen flew very fast. And then the Lord, when it was
nearly finished said, "John, before you close the book, put in this:
'The Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say;
Come.' But there will be some that are deaf, and they cannot hear, so
add, 'Let him that is athirst, Come;' and in case there should be any
that do not thirst, put it still broader, 'Whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely.' '' What more can you have than that? And
the Book is sealed, as it were, with that. It is the last invitation in
the Bible. "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."
You are thirsty. You want water. I hold out this glass to you, and say,
"Take it." You say, "If I am decreed to have it, I am not going to put
myself to the trouble of taking it." Well, you will never get it. And if
you are ever to have salvation, you must reach out the hand and take it.
"I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name, of the Lord."
Why did he not take his Wife along?
Take the excuses. There wasn't one that wasn't a lie. The devil made
them all; and if the sinner hadn't one already the devil was there at
his elbow to suggest one, about the truth of the Bible, or something of
that sort. One of the excuses mentioned was that the man invited had
bought a piece of ground, and had to look at it. Real estate and corner
lots are keeping a good many men out of God's kingdom. It was a lie to
say that he had to go and see it then, for he ought to have looked at it
before he bought it. Then the next man said he'd bought some oxen, and
must prove them. That was another lie; for if he hadn't proved them
before he bought them he ought to have done so, and could have done it
after supper just as well as before it. But the third man's excuse was
the most ridiculous of them all. "I have married a wife and therefore
cannot come." Why did he not take his wife along with him? Who likes to
go to a feast better than a young bride? He might have asked her to go
too; and if she were not willing, then let her stay at home. The fact
was, he did not want to go.
A Good Excuse.
If you have got a good excuse don't give it up for anything I have said;
don't give it up for anything your mother may have said; don't give it
up for anything your friend may have said. Take it up to the bar of God
and state it to Him; but if you have not got a good excuse--an excuse
that will stand in eternity--let it go to-night, and flee to the arms of
a loving Saviour.
Excused at Last.
It is a very solemn thought that God will excuse you if you want to be
excused. He does not wish to do it, but He will do it. "As I live, saith
the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the
wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways;
for why will ye die, O house of Israel." Look at the Jewish nation. They
wanted to be excused from the feast. They despised the grace of God and
trampled it under foot, and look at them to-day! Yes, it is easy enough
to say, "I pray Thee have me excused;" but by and by God may take you at
your word, and say, "Yes, I will excuse you." And in that lost world,
while others who have accepted the invitation sit down to the marriage
supper of the Lamb, amid shouts and hallelujahs in heaven, you will be
crying in the company of the lost, "The harvest is past; the summer is
ended, and I am not saved."
The Invitation.
Suppose we should write out here to-night this excuse, how would it sound?
To the King of Heaven:--While sitting in the Tabernacle in the City of
Chicago, January--, 1877, I received a very pressing invitation from
one of your servants to be present at the marriage supper of your
only-begotten Son. I PRAY THEE HAVE ME EXCUSED."
Would you sign that, young man? Would you, mother? Would you come up to
the reporters' table, take up a pen and put your name down to such an
excuse? You would say, "Let my right hand forget its cunning, and my
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I sign that."
Just let me write out another answer:
"To the King of Heaven;--While sitting in the Tabernacle, January---,
1877, I received a pressing invitation from one of your messengers to
be present at the marriage supper of your only-begotten Son. I hasten
to reply: BY THE GRACE OF GOD I WILL BE PRESENT."
Who will sign that? Is there one who will put his name to it? Is there
no one who will say, "By the grace of God I will accept the invitation
now"?