Invitations of the Gospel

Acts of the Apostles 2:40. 'And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying , "Be saved from this perverse generation."'
2 Corinthians 5:20. 'Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.'

 

Revelation 18:4 "Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:"

22 For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! for there shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto this people.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished. Lu 21

35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth [Revelation 18:24], from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. Mt 23

Gill on Acts 2:40:
"...saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation: meaning, the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, and elders of the people, chiefly, who were a perverse generation of men; and upon whom, for their impenitence and unbelief, for their rejection of the Messiah, and their evil treatment of him, wrath and ruin would come upon them, to the uttermost, very quickly; wherefore the apostle exhorts to separate from them, and not partake of their sins, lest they should also of their plagues; but come out from among them, and so, in a temporal sense, save themselves from the destruction that would quickly come on their nation, city, and temple; and so the Arabic version renders it, "escape from this rough generation"...."

 

If you were the ambassador from England to America, to whom does your duty lie? It's definitely not to persuade Americans to become English. Your duty lies to the English that are in America.

 

"The Works and the Song of Moses and of the Lamb" | Baptist Christian Forums (baptistboard.com)

 

You dare to say "Lord save" because you have become aware of your true state, and the saving work of Christ. And someone has explained to you in the form of a proposal, or an "offer" of pardon, accompanied by warnings should you refuse, that you can come and be forgiven. That is an invitation.

Even the strongest high Calvinist divines had no problem expressing it that way. Even those who believed in the total predestination of every minute action of men had no trouble saying that all this occurs with men's rational faculties and reasoning being fully involved.

Even if you purely preach "Christ and him crucified", somehow it has to be conveyed to the hearers that there is a way they can avail themselves of this. That then becomes an invitation.

There may be better words to use than invitation because in English we use that to mean an option to attend an event or party. It's better expressed as an offer of pardon to condemned men where "invitation" seems an awkward way to put it. Maybe also, Pastor Beebe would have overlapped Finney in time, and maybe was aware of the tendency of people to get all worked up and come to Christ in a state of an emotional high and not really be saved.

But if he really has no place in his ministry to propose to people the gospel message, with the added fact that people are invited to come, then what was he doing?

 

Seen it a thousand times. It disgusts me, the playing on the emotions.

 

I've even seen where something unrelated to the gospel, like the story of a soldier dying to save his comrades, or a child who finally comes home to see his mom, is used to get you all softened up an emotional state where you are easier to manipulate into coming forward.

 

If you care to look at the Greek of 2 Corinthians 5:20, you will see that the word "you" is not there. In the KJV, NKJV and NASB it is in italics. The strictly accurate translation would be: 'Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.'
So whom is Christ imploring? Not the Corinthians particularly. If you will read 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, it appears that the Corinthians to whom he was writing were already Christians. So he is explaining his modus operandi as a servant of Christ. He pleads and implores all men - everyone he meets - to be reconciled to God.

An ambassador's duty is to the people who employ him; namely the government of the nation he serves. So if the government of Britain is concerned to have Americans to be reconciled to Britain, his duty is to implore them to be so.

The word of God must go out to everyone. And while it is certainly a command, it is also a gracious invitation. Matthew 22:4. "All things are now ready. Come to the wedding." Read Isaiah 55:1-5. Here God is pictured as a street trader, calling out to everybody who passes by.

I will just add that you have gone to seed on AD 70. So long as you read your Bible only through that lens you will be deceiving yourself.

 

Emotionalism, who would do something like that?

Luke 15:20. ..But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him...​

Some of the first verses one usually memorizes are invitations.

Matthew 11:28–30 (NASB 2020)
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”


John 7:37–38 (NASB 2020)
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

Rob

 

Good point. I like "warm" preaching. I just meant stories about unrelated things that get you in a state, so to speak. I like to listen to audios of Martyn Lloyd Jones and he sometimes even cranks it up pretty good.

 

1Pe 4:17 For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?

I am sorry guys, there is no place in the Christian faith for an ethereal <zap> into the faith and the guy who is waiting for it will never get it. One must <obey> the gospel by believing it.

 

...or horses in a flaming barn that refuse to escape even after the doors have been opened and people are coaxing them to come out.

 

So? You've never had need to be reconciled to God AFTER becoming a Christian?

18 But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself [Romans 5:10], not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech [you] on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. 2Cor 5

Synopsis: Ye have been reconciled. Be ye therefore reconciled unto God. Summary of the Gospel | Baptist Christian Forums (baptistboard.com)

Synonymous with: If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. Galatians 5:25

I never denied that. It's the ambassador's duty to do as he's told:

28 Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood. Acts 20

Real cute Martin. Where'd you pick that slang up?