Salvation: Invitation

Salvation: Invitation

Saved at the Bottom of the Sea
Off the Florida coast, Mike, a professional diver, was engaged in salvaging parts of a ship which had sunk some months previously. He had just descended one morning and was making his way slowly toward the sunken hull when he noticed something white in the mouth of an oyster or shellfish of some sort.
Stooping, Mike picked up the small piece of white paper and turned his marine light on it. A gospel tract! He read its message slowly and carefully, and conviction struck home to his heart. If God's message of mercy in Christ had pursued him to the bottom of the sea, he could not hold out any longer.
Standing where he was that morning, Mike accepted Christ as his Savior. When he returned to the surface, he took with him the little tract which had followed him to the bottom of the ocean.

Let Him In
One day the great artist, Michelangelo, stood outside a window. Inside he saw a canvas with a few brushes and paints next to it. All that was missing was the hand of the artist. "Oh," cried Michelangelo, "if I could only be inside, what a picture I could paint!" That's exactly what Christ wishes when He stands outside your life. "Oh, what I could accomplish, if only I could get in!" Allow Him to get in. Open the door of your heart. Believe on Him. Then He will bring peace to your troubled soul.

Get on Board
Suppose an artist sees a piece of canvas on which he desires to paint a beautiful picture. However, if that piece of canvas does not belong to him, do you think the painter would work diligently on that canvas? No! Yet people want Jesus Christ to bestow His grace upon them in taking away a bad temper or some other sin, though in their hearts they have not yielded themselves to His command and His keeping. It can not be. But if you will come and give your life into His charge, Christ Jesus waits to be gracious; Christ Jesus waits to fill you with His Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit alone who by His indwelling can make a spiritual man.

Taste and See
There was a little fellow who was returning home from a store with a pail of honey in his hand. A gentleman who walked beside him saw him slip one finger down into the pail. Then, because his mother had told him never to wipe his sticky fingers on his blouse or trousers, it found its only logical destination, his mouth. It really tasted good. After he had done this several times, the gentleman approached him and said, "See here, Sonny, what have you in that pail?" "Some honey, sir." "Honey-is it sweet?" "Yes, sir." "How sweet is your honey?" "It is very sweet, sir." "Well, I do not understand you. I asked you how sweet your honey was, and you have not yet told me. How sweet is it?" "Why, it is very, very sweet, sir." "Well, you are a funny little fellow; I asked you how sweet your honey is, and you just tell me it is very, very sweet. Now, can't you tell me really how sweet your honey is?" The little fellow was impatient by this time, so he stuck his finger down into the honey, and holding it up said, "Taste and see for yourself."

Seize the Opportunity
Long ago, in one of the old Greek cities, stood a remarkable statue. Every trace of it has vanished now. However, we still have an epigram which gives us an excellent description of it and the lesson which those wise old Greeks meant it to convey. The epigram is in the form of a conversation between a traveler and the statue:
"What is they name, O statue?"
"I am called Opportunity."
"Who made thee?"
"Lysippus."
"Why are thou on thy toes?"
"To show how quickly I pass by."
"But why is thy hair so long on thy forehead?"
"That men may seize me when they meet me."
"Why, then, is thy head so bald behind?"
"To show that, when I have once passed, I cannot be caught."
Remember, Christ says, that the present opportunity may never be yours again, seize it while it is near you.

Putting Salvation Off
An old man said to his pastor, "When I was seventeen, I began, at times, to feel deeply about settling my soul's estate, and this continued for two or three years. But I determined to put it off until I was settled in life. After I was married, I reflected that the time had come when I had promised to attend to religion. But I had bought a farm, and I thought it would not be convenient for me to become religious until it was paid for, since attending church would take time and money. I then resolved to put it off ten years; but when the ten years came round I thought no more about it. I sometimes try to think about it, but I cannot keep my mind on the subject one moment." The pastor urged him not to face death as an enemy of God, to repent, but he said, "It is too late; I believe my doom is sealed; and that is just as it should be, son, for the Spirit strove with me, but I refused."

Jump, I Am Here
When a fire broke out in a tenement house, everybody managed to escape except one child. Through the smoke-filled room he made his way to the window, where he started to cry, "Daddy, Daddy, how can I escape? I can't jump; it's too high. I can't get out through the door because it's full of flames." Because of the dense smoke, the child couldn't see the crowd in the street, but he heard their cries and especially the voice of his father. "Son, I'm here with my arms open to catch you. Jump and I'll save you. Never mind if you can't see me. I'm here."

Whosoever Will, Come-the Final Invitation
It was Dwight L. Moody who said, "Many men fold their arms and say, 'If I am one of the elect-in other words, one of those God willed to be saved-I shall be saved; and if I am not, I shall not. No use bothering about it.' I have an idea," he said, "that the Lord Jesus saw how men were going to stumble over this doctrine of election, so after He had been thirty or forty years in heaven, He came down and spoke to John. On the Lord's Day in Patmos He said to him: 'Write these things to the churches.' John kept on writing. His pen flew very fast. Then the Lord, when it was nearly finished, said: 'John, before you close the book, put in one more invitation: "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." ' "