Compel Them to Come In

And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. LUKE 14:23

If the last chapter showed Spurgeon as a Calvinist, this one shows him as an evangelist, and the two cannot be separated without misunderstanding him. The same man who believed that God had chosen His people before the foundation of the world stood up week after week and pleaded with every person in front of him to come to Christ at once. He did not think these were rival truths needing to be balanced. He thought both were in the Bible, and that his business was to preach both with all his strength.

No time for an introduction

His sermon Compel Them to Come In, preached in the Surrey Gardens Music Hall in 1858, opens without the usual preliminaries. He says he feels in such haste to obey the command in the text that he cannot wait for an introduction, and must set about his business at once. And his business is to lay hold of the people in front of him.

He tells them plainly that they have fallen, in Adam and in themselves, and that a just God must punish sin. Then he tells them that God has provided a way of mercy through His Son, who died the just for the unjust, and that the way is simple: whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. All God asks, he says, is that they look at His dying Son and trust Him — and even that, God gives.

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. REVELATION 22:17

What follows is one of the most urgent sermons in the English language. He pleads, he argues, he weeps. He imagines standing by the coffin of a hearer who rejected Christ, and hearing the dead man reproach him: you amused me, you preached to me, but you did not plead with me. He cannot bear the thought. He tells them that he would be destitute of all humanity if he saw someone about to drink poison and did not dash the cup away.

I must do it

At the height of the sermon he pauses to answer an objection he knew would come. There were Calvinists in his day, usually called hyper-Calvinists, who taught that it was wrong to urge the unconverted to believe, since only the elect could, and to press the invitation on everyone was to imply a power in fallen man that he did not have. Spurgeon had no patience with this. “Some hyper-calvinist would tell me I am wrong in so doing,” he says. “I cannot help it. I must do it.” He would not make full proof of his ministry, he tells them, unless he entreated them with many tears to be saved.

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. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:20

He thought this pleading was not in spite of his theology but because of the Bible. God Himself commands all men everywhere to repent. The Lord wept over Jerusalem. Paul could wish himself accursed for his kinsmen’s sake. The preacher who does not plead, however orthodox his doctrine, has not understood the heart of the God he preaches.

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? EZEKIEL 33:11

The Spirit holds the key

Yet the same sermon ends in a way no Arminian preacher would have ended it. Having pleaded with every argument he had, Spurgeon turns from his hearers to God. He has preached the gospel earnestly; now he appeals to the Spirit. “I cannot compel you,” he says, “but thou O Spirit of God who hast the key of the heart, thou canst compel.” He points out that the Christ who stands at the door and knocks in Revelation is the same Christ who holds the key of David. If knocking does not prevail, He can open.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. REVELATION 3:20

This is how Spurgeon held the two truths together in practice. He did everything a man could do, as if everything depended on him. Then he threw the whole matter into his Master’s hands, confident that God would not let His word return void. The sovereignty of God did not make him passive. It made him bold, because it assured him that his pleading was not in vain.

Calvinism and Calvary

He was also honest about the danger on his own side. In a sermon on The Sweet Uses of Adversity he confesses to his congregation that ministers, himself included, can dim the lustre of grace. “Often am I afraid lest I should prefer Calvinism to Calvary,” he says, and he fears putting the sinner’s sense of need like a hedge around the cross, keeping poor sinners from coming near. It is a remarkable admission from a man so committed to his system. He knew that doctrine could become a wall instead of a door.

Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. JOHN 6:37

His sermon The Sinner’s Friend makes the same point from the side of Christ. The Pharisees called Jesus a friend of publicans and sinners as an insult, and the insult became the glory of His name. The Saviour is not waiting for sinners to become respectable. He seeks them where they are.

What this asks of us

Most Christians today do not preach to thousands. But the question Spurgeon’s sermon puts is not only for preachers. Do we believe that the people we know are really lost without Christ? Do we believe He really receives anyone who comes? And if we believe both, why are we so rarely in earnest?

The reader who does not share Spurgeon’s Calvinism will still find him a searching guide here, perhaps more searching than many preachers who do. And the reader who does share it will find in him a standing rebuke to any theology that makes evangelism optional.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Read Luke 14:15–24 and notice who is invited, who refuses, and who finally comes in.

2. Ask honestly whether your theology — whatever it is — has ever become an excuse for not speaking to someone about Christ.

3. Think of one person you know who is far from God. Pray for them by name every day this week, asking the Spirit who holds the key to open their heart.

4. Look for one natural opportunity to invite someone, warmly and without pressure, to hear the gospel.

5. If you tend to plead but not to pray, or to pray but not to plead, ask God to give you both.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, Friend of sinners, You sent Your servants into the highways and hedges, and You found me there.

Forgive me for how rarely I plead with anyone. I have been more afraid of embarrassment than of their eternal loss.

Give me earnestness to beseech, and humility to know that I cannot compel. You hold the key of the heart.

Fill Your house, Lord, and let some of those I love be among the guests. Amen.