Jesus Never Begged
Jesus never begged sinners to come to Him. He didn’t do it. Jesus never begged one time. Not once. He always spoke truth and left it at that. He didn’t plead with unrepentant sinners to come to Him. Jesus Christ knew who was His own and who would reject Him, so He never begged sinners to receive salvation.
The Lord did openly preach the Gospel. Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14-15). Jesus preached the Gospel, but He didn’t beg. He called people to repent, but He didn’t plead with them to receive Him as their Lord and Savior.
Man With The Withered Hand
Mark 3:1-6 says: And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
Rich Young Ruler
Jesus was angry with the religious leaders because they had hardened their hearts, but He didn’t beg them to receive Him as the Messiah. Mark 10:17-22 talks about the rich young ruler’s encounter with Jesus. And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. Jesus loved the rich young ruler, He had compassion for him, but Jesus did not beg him to sell everything that he had and beg him to follow Jesus. He spoke truth to him and left it at that. Jesus let the rich young ruler walk away from Him.
Don’t Abide In Darkness
In John 12:46-50 Jesus says: I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
Jesus constantly, consistently spoke the truth. The one true Messiah shared the Gospel wherever He went. He was always pointing people to God and the only way to God is through Jesus alone.
Jesus Made A Way For Guilty Sinners
Jesus Christ suffered, bled and died on the old rugged cross to make a way for guilty sinners to be made right before God. He died on the cross and rose victoriously from the grave three days later. He suffered God’s wrath over sinful men while He hung on the cross. He took the punishment that you and deserve. We are the guilty party. All of us have offended the great Creator God by our sinful ways. We are the ones who have rebelled against God. But God sent His only begotton Son to suffer on our behalf. God poured His anger over our sins out upon His own Son.
The Lord Jesus suffered unimaginable pain as an atonement for guilty sinners. He did all of this, yet He never pleaded with sinners to turn from their sins and turn to Him. But my friends and I are not Jesus. We are saved. Our sins have been forgiven. We have repented from our sins and put our faith in Jesus. My friends and I have received everlasting life. We have been redeemed. We have been bought with a great price, the same great price I just described to you.
We Are Not Jesus
Because we are not Jesus; because we do not know whether you have hardened your heart like the religious leaders I mentioned earlier, we do plead with you to come to Jesus. We do beg you to get right with God. We implore you to repent and believe the Gospel. My friends and I do plead with you to repent and trust Jesus and receive everlasting life. We don’t want to see you die in your sins and suffer God’s righteous wrath; His just indignation over your rebellion against Him, because that punishment never ends.
We plead with you tonight because the apostle Paul said we should plead with sinners. In 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Paul says: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We Beg You To Repent
Again in 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul says: Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. Paul says we are to beseech you. We are to implore you to be reconciled to God. We are to beg you to repent and put your faith in Jesus.
So that’s what we are out here doing. We are warning you that all have sinned against God. Every one of us have offended the Holy God of Heaven and earth. None of us are righteous. None of us are good. We have all gone astray. But some people use this fact that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God as a way to excuse their sins. You shouldn’t do that. Standing before God on Judgment Day and saying everybody else sinned will not be a valid defense.
In fact if Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Savior, you will have no defense on Judgment Day. You will have no excuse. Romans 3:19-20 says: Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
You Cannot Save Yourself
You cannot justify yourself. You cannot make yourself holy. None of us can make ourselves right with God. We can’t clean ourselves up enough for God to accept us. We can’t undo any of our sins and on Judgment Day your mouth will be stopped. You may think that you have hundreds of questions that you are going to ask God after you die, but you won’t ask any of them, not a single one. No, if you die in your sins, you will hang your head in shame, you will bow your knee and confess with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. Then He will have His servants cast you into the lake of fire and brimstone, which is eternal damnation and everlasting punishment.
This is why we come out here and beseech you to repent and trust Jesus. The horrible fate that awaits you is why we plead with you to turn from your sins and turn to Jesus. This is why we beg you to get right with God through repentance and believing in our Lord and Savior. We are not Jesus. We don’t know whether you will receive or reject this great salvation that is offered through Jesus Christ alone. So we do stand on the street corner here and beg you to come to Jesus.
We Plead With You
We plead with you to turn and live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? (Ezekiel 18:20-23).
Turn And Live
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye (Ezekiel 18:3-32).
Turn and live ye. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but unrepentant sinners will suffer God’s righteous anger for all of eternity. Don’t reject this great salvation that is available through Jesus Christ. Repent and put your faith in Jesus. We are not Jesus Christ our Lord, who never begged sinners to come to Him. So we do plead with you tonight. We beseech you tonight. We beg you to repent and trust Jesus. Surrender your life fully and completely to Him. Do this tonight. Don’t put it off. Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
(This message was lifted up in downtown Springfield, MO on January 6, 2017)