With Jesus, We Have An Open Invitation

We have a standing invitation - by Roger Roark

John 21:1-19 -(key verse 12 )

John 21:12

Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

Summer time is on us. Barbecues, mowing yards, pool parties, t-shirts, sandals, flipflops, mosquitos, ticks.

Summer time is a great time for come as you are.

In the text, John 21:1-19, we see that the disciples had been fishing all night.

We can imagine, that they were tired, smelly ,sweaty, bad breath and all.

But Jesus gave the invitation, come and dine, or come as you are.

He gives us that invitation today, come as you are.

God’s invitation is for everyone. God is always waiting for our fellowship.

All through the Bible, God has a standing invitation to us.

Isaiah 55:1

"Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!

Matthew 11:28

Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

John 6:35

Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst.

1 Peter 2:4-5

Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him.

[5] And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.

Rev. 22:17

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let each one who hears them say, "Come." Let the thirsty ones come—anyone who wants to. Let them come and drink the water of life without charge.

This is the kind of God we have. He invites us to come as we are.

Who does God invite? Is His invitation just for the perfect, the ones who never make any mistakes"?

Is it for the self righteous, the more spiritual than you are crowd?

NO. His invitation is for all.

Let’s look at some examples of who Jesus invited.

1. tax collector

In Jesus’ day, the tax collector was despised, and hated because some of them were very dishonest. They worked for the Roman government, and sometimes most would take a cut of the money for themselves.

Yet Jesus invited Matthew, who was a tax collector, to be one of His disciples.

2. Samaritan woman at the well.

The Samaritan race was also despised by the Jews, yet Jesus invited the woman at the well, to drink from His living water, and she would never thirst again.

3. The woman caught in adultry.

Jesus offered forgiveness and compassion to this woman who was caught, and some wanted to stone her . Jesus told the crowd, " Let him who has no sin cast the first stone.

4. One of the thieves on the cross.

Jesus offered the good thief paradise, as they hang on the cross. Isn’t that just like Jesus? He ministered to others, even when He was in pain Himself.

Sometimes I think that we as the church, have missed it.

Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost.

Jesus never said stay as you are, He said ,"come as you are.

One of the bus lines used to have a slogan, leave the driving to us.

Jesus says, come as you are, and leave the changing to me.

HE says, come, and I will make you well.

Or to put it another way, you don’t have to be good before you are invited to be God’s friend.

When you have God as a friend, you begin to get good.

You don’t say, "I will go to the doctor, when I get well. You say, " I am sick, and I am going to see a doctor.

The same should be true with the Church. You shouldn’t say " I will go to church , when I become a better person.

If you haven’t come to Jesus, Come just as you are.

Jesus says, I will take you just as you are, but I won’t leave you that way.

Just as the hymn, Just as I am says---

Just as I am without a plea--- But that thy blood was shed for me --and that thou biddest me come to thee.-- Oh lamb of God I come . I come

II. Even when you let Jesus down, He still says come as you are.

John 21:7

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and swam ashore.