In Genesis chapter 7 verse 1, Genesis chapter 7, and the title of the message is An Invitation from God. An Invitation from God, Genesis chapter 7 verse 1. There the Bible says, And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Lord, we're thankful that you love the righteous We know that you love all of us. But Lord, you save us and you have a desire for us to be holy. And our righteousness is not ours. It's through the blood of Jesus Christ. It's his righteousness. And we're thankful for that. And I pray that you'll just meet with us tonight for just a few minutes as we look at this wonderful word come. In thy name I pray, amen. I've often said that calm is one of my favorite words. I grew up hearing come and get it. And that was mama putting dinner on the table. And calm is a it's a word that comes from the back of our throat. And it's something that instructs us of our ability and our responsibility as well. when we receive an invitation, whether it's an invitation for a wedding, or whether it's an invitation to a party, or if it's an invitation to a special dinner, or just for a visit, it means that that one who has given the invitation, they thank much of us, they invite us, they care about us. And I wanna just talk to you about the invitations from God. You know, there are men who they don't comprehend. They don't know how much God cares for them. There are men today who are without God, and they see the ugly and the worst in the world. And there's a lot to see, isn't there? But they miss the wonderful invitation of God for them to come, to come to Him. And notice these different invitations for just a few moments. First of all, let me say that God invites us to come to a place of safety. God invites us to come to a place of safety. In Noah's day, it was a corrupt, terrible time. The Bible tells us and instructs us that when God would look upon this earth, it grieved him to see the wickedness of man. I wondered how grieved God is tonight. When we look across our land and we see people who are in charge, who I would believe could be the unholy trinity, people who are big on murdering little unborn babies, I can't get past that. I think we've become numb to it in this country. It's murder. It is just horrendous. And I hear, and I wish I had the money to support some things. But I'll hear on the American Family Radio often about how for just so much money you could purchase the ultrasounds for unwed mothers to have an ultrasound. And there's a great, very high percentage who come there for an abortion to murder the little life in them They don't know. They don't know. They've swallowed this Planned Parenthood. What a forest that name is. Planned Parenthood. You know, it's no different than what Hitler did in the gas chambers, you know. And when you hear Planned Parenthood, to me, my mind goes they're going to sit down and write out a plan how I'm going to do this. But what they're going to do is tell you how you can murder your baby. What that lady doesn't know, that young woman doesn't know is that's a scar that will be on her. She killed her own child. I have met Christian women who love God today and who was saved out of a terrible background and who was coached in Believe the Lie and had not just one but several abortions where she murdered her child. And it's affected her mentally. It's a mental way it affects them. And then some of them come to find out that they can never have a child now. and just the tragedies from this, and how the Bible tells us to come to a place of safety. We know what a terrible, terrible time it was in Noah's day, and how Noah was a righteous preacher for 120 years. He rang out the warning, what God had said to him. Oh, there were those who mocked him. There are those who scoffed at him. There are those who belittled him. And I think there are probably those who pitied him and who felt sorry for him. But lo, the day came when God says to him in this passage, The Bible says that God closed the door And I want you to know, doors that God had closed, no man can open. And doors that God has opened, no man can close. And we see here that the voice comes from within the ark. Come, come thou. Oh, I was happy. I was happy when the Spirit of God spoke to me and told me to come. I was just 11 years old. I didn't know a whole lot. You know, aren't children today so much smarter today than what we were back then? Don't you think? I mean, I see kids today, and I see things that they say. I know things that my grandchildren say that are 10 and 5. And, you know, it's hilarious. And the great deaf. I don't think I can watch a nature movie about some salamandered spotted forked toe beast that Maggie knows about, and is already telling me about it. And I said, Yeah, I just thought it was a lizard. And, you know, No, it's an endangered species in Japan, Papa." Okay. And they quit eating sushi on it, you know, it might last longer. But, you know, grandkids today, they know so much. When I was their age, I was throwing mud balls at cars that passed by the house, you know. But understand, he says, come thou and all thy house, into the ark. Now, Noah was invited to come to the ark, and the ark is a type of Christ. All that day that he said, come to me. I was only 11. I wasn't as smart as some of our grandkids and some of your children are at this age. They're so smart. But I know this. The Holy Spirit rang my bell that day. I knew at 11 years old, I wasn't old enough. And my mama was a mean mama. I mean, what I mean by that is, you better do what she says or you're going to get it. We didn't have time out at our house. When we had time out, she was swinging a belt and I was screaming time out, you know, take a chill pill mama, you know, and let me tell you something. She didn't beat me enough. I'm sure I need I got out of beatings that that I you know, I deserved but I do want to say this. I was grateful at 11. I knew that I was a sinner. I knew there was a hell. I believe that God loved me. And I believe that Jesus Christ died for me. Now, I want to say that I'm pretty sure the preacher who preached the message had never had homiletics or hermeneutics. It was probably a very ragtag, put-together, disjuntled message. But the Spirit of God can bless His Word, and He did that day. And I came forward. And my uncle, who is a missionary Baptist pastor, Cecil Adams from Sykeston, Missouri, on this side of the altar. And he looked at me. My nickname was Ricochet. And because I guess I bounced off of everything in the house, went running through the house. And I remember he looked at me and said, Ricochet, do you do you want to get saved? And I said, Yes, I do. And that day, I entered into the ark, because he said, Come, you see, the ark was large enough to accommodate all those that came in, but it only had one door. How many have seen the ark there in Kentucky? It's incredible, isn't it? If you haven't seen it, you ought to see it. There's three things that, well, there's several things you ought to see before. That'll be on your bucket list. You ought to see the ark. You ought to go to Jerusalem or go to Israel. And you should go to Hawaii twice and everything. And wives are really enjoying this message right about now. But the ark was large enough, and when you go to the ark to see it in Kentucky, when you take a picture of it, it doesn't even look real. When you see the little people standing by it, It's the only thing that makes it clear that those are real people and that this thing is actually this size. And as large as it was, it can accommodate all that came in. And I want you to know God's grace is accommodating to all who will simply come. come as you are, just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, dear Lamb of God, I come, I come. And we see in John chapter 10, verse 9, Jesus says, I am the door, by me if any man enter in, He shall be saved. Saved from what? Saved from the penalty of sin. Saved from the hellish damnation of a damnable eternal life. Saved from the penalty of sin and saved to the Savior. He says, I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. You see, it was large enough to accommodate as many that would come, but there's one door to come into. And when God closed it, it was closed. God invites us to come to this place of safety. Now, we don't worry about rain falling from the sky as much. We have seen that. We've seen the tornadoes. Some of us have seen the hurricanes. We've seen the winds and the waves, and we've seen the storms that take place. We understand that. And we know that when it gets bad enough, we better find shelter. And God invites us to come to a place of shelter today, and the ark is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's where we can rest and we can know we're saved and we have safety. Not only does he tell us to come to a place of safety, but he tells us to come for personal cleansing. He says in Isaiah 1, verse 18, Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet They shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. He tells us to come for personal cleansing. I think that Pilate, piously, when he found nothing, no fault in the Lord Jesus Christ, he gave a demonstration. He had a basin brought, and he piously washed his hands of this man's blood. And I believe tonight Pilate's in hell and he's trying to scrub the blood of Jesus Christ off of his hands. You see, the cleansing is necessary because we are stained with sin. When did we get stained? When we emerged from our mother's womb. In sin was I conceived, and when we were birthed, we were born sinners. Nothing that we can do will remove the stain. All people try, don't they? They get baptized. They join a certain kind of church. They start doing the tit for tat and see if they can balance the scales. Can they do enough good to balance the guilt for the wrong and for the sin that they've committed? But it's a stain that is there. And it's only only purged. It's only washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. The older I've gotten, the harder it is to hit my mouth. I know you find that hard to believe, I do too. But half of my food, I tell you, if I wore a tie, I'd have to take it off and put it in the refrigerator, so much food would be on it. It's gotten terrible. And Debbie will say, how you got that little spot there? So we, in our hamper area, she has a place for whites and she has a place for colors and she has a place for stains. I think she opened that just for me. And I'll have my favorite shirt. It never happens when you're wearing some ripped up sweatshirt. It's when you got your favorite shirt on. And I've got a couple of favorite shirts. They're old. They're old. They're a little bit faded. But that's why they're my favorite. They're comfortable. I hate new clothes. I have new clothes hanging up. And I don't ever put them on. I put on the old stuff. I like it. And when I see it get on one of my favorite old shirts, I'll say Debbie, don't just watch this. Remember, put the dawn on this, you better get the shouted out on this. I got you know, it's dressing, it's gravy, it's chocolate, it's something. And it's a state that needs to be purged out. And I want you to know the blood of Jesus Christ is the only purgent agents that will wash our sins. You see, in first John, chapter one, verse seven, the Bible says, But if we walk in the light as he is a light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ. His son, look, cleanses us from all our sin. There's things that I've done in my past that I would be ashamed of. I think all of us would fit that. Things that we would not want our children to know and certainly not our grandchildren to know. But I'm happy to say that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. We have 1 John 1.9, and while we use it often to speak to people about the Lord, it's written to the saved. If we confess our sins, He is faithful. and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You see, He invites us to come to a place of safety. He's the ark that we enter in. He invites us to come for personal cleansing. His blood takes away every stain. He invites us to come to find satisfaction. All the world always promises satisfaction. Can we go back, Dean? Dean, can you and I go back? And Mickey? And Rick Perry, for sure. There's no doubt. Can we go back? I can't get no satisfaction. Can we go back? Who was that? Was that the Beatles? Was that who that was? I know who it was. I just know that you know who it is. Mick Jagger. I can't get no, my Aunt Frankie and Aunt Alice were teenagers and lived with us and I played that 45 on the back of my record player when I was just a little kid. I can't get no satisfaction. And I didn't understand a word about it, but boy, I could flat sing the satisfaction part. The world talks about satisfaction. The world screams at us that it's going to satisfy. The world says, here, drink this. Hey, here, go with this woman. Go with this man. Hey, take this and let it into your skin, and your world will become better, better, better, and better. The world always promises fulfillment and satisfaction. The world shouts it at us. The world has the bright lights to get our attention about it. but the world never delivers. Jesus Christ says, come and find satisfaction. I love Isaiah 55, verse 1 and 2. Look what it says. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." See, the world promises that it's going to deliver. Only Jesus satisfies. Hasn't he satisfies my soul in medicine? Only Jesus satisfies my soul. Only Jesus can satisfy the longing of the heart of man. The invitation is simply for us to come for those who are thirsty, come for those who are hungry. And then lastly, let me say I have a drink of water here. We're invited to come and find rest. In Matthew 11, verse 28, the Bible says, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. I think when we read this, we think that we trade the yoke of the devil. Can I tell you? Listen, we all have a yoke home. We have the yoke of the devil or we've got the yoke of the Lord. I think that we have this concept, and I think some easy believism and some of this prosperity gospel lends to it, that if we get saved, we're on Primrose Lane, and we're on Easy Street, and, you know, we're in a bed of rose— we have a rose garden. That's not what the Lord says here, but he says this, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. In comparison to the devil, his yoke is easy, isn't it? I mean, there's requirements, there's expectations, there's principles that God has of us. But His burden is light. He says in verse 28, Come unto me, all you that labor. Remember the laboring when you're lost? And you know you're lost. And there's a great labor there. It's like a mother in child labor. And you're trying to mentally, emotionally, spiritually sort it out. And it's a, it becomes a heavy laden, it's heavy for us. And what we need is rest. And remember when the Spirit of God deals with us and shows us and draws us, how all of that dissipates immediately. And the joy of the Lord rushes in. You see, Christ will lift the burdens of sin from us and he'll give us rest. We're in a very restless time. There are people who are petrified about what's going to happen this week. We don't know. We've seen things happen at the Capitol that we've never seen before. I want you to know I rest in the arms of God. I rest in his hand. I do. I think that we should be sensible. I think we should be reasonable. I think we need some savvy on how to stay out of, you know, potential places that could be trouble and problems. But I want you to know this, I don't worry about who's in the White House. I don't worry about the economy. I don't worry about, you know, if gas goes up to $5 a gallon, God forbid, but by this time next year, if gas is not, if gas is not $4 a gallon, I'll eat my socks. But if it is, listen, it's been $4 a gallon before, and we got through it, and we'll get through it. God sustains His children, and God's children have grace. It's saving grace, it's sustaining grace, it's sufficient grace, and it's there for us. Now, coming to Christ will mean that we find a place of safety, a personal cleansing, and rest and satisfaction for our soul. Aren't you glad you've got the Lord tonight? Listen, have you received your invitation to come into the ark? He tells us in Romans 3.24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. He tells us in Romans 8 verse 1, Romans 8 verse 2 says, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are made new. In all these passages, the common denominator in Romans 3.24, Romans 8.1, Romans 8.2, 2 Corinthians 5.17 and many others is the phrase, in Christ. And that's where our liberty and our freedom is. Hallelujah. Would you stand with me? Lord, we're thankful that we can come. We come to a place of safety. And in this next few days and years to come, as you tarry, the world's going to get darker and more wicked and more violent. But Lord, you are our strong tower. You are the ark in which we come. And you invite us, come in, and you close the door. Lord, you are the God of personal cleansing. any sin in our life, anything that's a hindrance between us and our Heavenly Father, we can have cleansed personally just by coming to you. And then, Lord, we come to you and we find rest and satisfaction for our soul. While there's others who are about to hyperventilate, others who are about to spill out on the floor with anxiety, while we don't have any of the answers, We have Christ. We are in Christ. And because of that, we rest and we are satisfied in our heart and our soul. Thank you. For these invitations. And we know they're not just for us, but they're for the whole world. Lord, I pray that we'll rest in these things knowing this. And by name, I pray. God speaks to your heart tonight. Think about some burdens that you got. Bring it to the altar tonight. I think wonderful things happen at the altar. Got married at the altar. Got saved at the altar. Dedicated my children at the altar. Come to the altar tonight. Come tonight and pray for your country. Pray for our government. We have a corrupt government and we need to pray and ask for God's protection for us. and for others. Say yes to God tonight. If you're wrestling with something, if you've got a feeling that's not right, if you've got something that the Lord can't bless, confess it for the sin. That is, don't walk in unbelief or disobedience. Be right with God tonight. You come, come now.