Gospel—H. Brinkmann
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A head sheet.
In #6.
God in love.
Greater division.
Right now.
That we're here to blame the ************.
Blow the flowers.
Around.
Every month.
See, you drop crying. It's like a fall.
We pray.
Maybe we can still sing another song Hymn #10.
You know, I sang that song as a boy in Germany.
We had that obviously translated from the English There's a savior.
On high in the glory, the Savior who suffered on Calvary's tree as Savior is willing to save. Now as ever, His arm is almighty. His love, great and free, will come now to Jesus. The dear loving Savior receive him this moment and peace shall be dying.
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There is a savior.
Our world is great.
I really do.
I love you. I love you.
Here you are crying.
As long as you are praying.
God and I will not be.
I go. I am.
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In my day.
In my heart.
I like to preach the Gospel tonight from an Old Testament story, and I hope you will see as we go along that this story is a beautiful story that can be used to preach the Gospel we read in Second Kings Chapter 5.
From verse one on, now Naman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper.
And the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captives out of the land of Israel.
A little maid. She waited on Naman's wife.
And she said unto her, Mistress, What God, my Lord, were with the prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of this leprosy.
And one went in and told his Lord, saying thus and thus set the mate, that is of the land of Israel. The king of Syria said, go to go, and I will send a letter on to the king of Israel. And he departed and took with him 10 talents of silver, and 6000 pieces of gold, and 10 changes of Raymond.
And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is cometh to thee, behold.
I have therewith sent Naman my servant, to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God to kill, and to make a life that this man does send unto me to recover, a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel.
Against me. And it was so when Elisha, the man of God, had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes.
Then he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there's a prophet in Israel.
Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the House of Elijah.
And Elijah sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan 7 times, and I flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But mayhem was wrong, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
Are not Abana and Papa rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel?
May I not wash in them, and be clean. So he turned, and went away in a rage, and his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, my father, If the Prophet had bit thee to do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much, rather than when he says to thee, wash and be clean, then when he down, and dipped himself seven times.
In Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, And his flesh came again, like under the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God he and his company, and came and stood before him. And he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore I pray thee, take a blessing.
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Of thy servants But he said, As the Lord liveth before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it, but he refused. And Naaman said, Shall there not then our clay thee be given to thy servants to mute burden of earth? For thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord.
In this thing the Lord will pardon, pardon thy servant, that when my master goes into the House of Raymond to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the House of women, then I bow down myself in the House of women. The Lord pardoned thy servant in this thing, and he said unto him, go in peace. So he departed from him a little way, but deja.
The servant of Elijah, the man of God, said, behold, my master has spared me a man, the Syrian. It's not not receiving at his hands that which he brought, but as the Lord liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat off him. So he's I followed after Niemann, and when Niemann saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him and said, is it all well? And he said all is well.
My master has sent me saying, Behold, even now there become to me from Mount Isaiah two young men of the sons of the prophets. Give them, I pray to your talent of silver and two changes of garments, And Niemann said, be content, take two talents, And he urged him, and found two talents of silver in two bags.
With two changes of garment, and laid them upon two of his servants, and they bare them before him.
When he came to the Tower, he took them from their hands and bestowed them in the house.
And he let them the men go, and they departed, But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elijah said unto him.
When cometh thou said his eye? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not my heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money and to receive garments?
And olive yards and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants, The leprosy therefore of Namen shall plead unto thee and unto thy seed forever an event out from his presence, A leper, his wife, and snow.
Well, I think the children here all have heard the story of Naaman at one time or another, and I really have this story on my heart, mostly for your benefit, because we like to hear that story again, don't we? It's a wonderful story in the Old Testament.
And what touches me, especially in this story, is the place that that Little maid played.
In Neiman's life.
And I have sometimes thought, what would I have done?
If I would have been that little maid, you know, here the armies of the Syrians come to the land of Israel and they take captives and they kidnap that little girl. She couldn't have been very old.
She was a little girl.
And she ended up in the House of Naman, the captain of the host of the Syrians. He was the supreme commander of the army of Syria. That's how we would call him today. He was quite a great man.
And I'm afraid if I would have been that little girl.
I would not have had in my heart such kind thoughts and pity as this little girl manifested. You know, she really manifests a Christian spirit, doesn't she? You know, under the law, it was eye for eye and tooth for tooth. You know, she could have been angry with the Syrians for taking her away from her family. How would you like to be taken away from your dad and from your mom?
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And perhaps never to see them again. You nowadays and all day we get into the car and we drive hundreds of miles in one day.
Or we go on the plane and we fly across the United States in 4 hours, or maybe six hours from the east to the West. You know, that took a year to travel for the early settlers, that great distance. You know, when they undertook a journey in those days, they might never see their relatives again. And she certainly had no promise from those Syrians that they would ever turn her back and give her back to her parents.
They wouldn't even know where she came from, you know, to take her back there.
But he or she meets.
This master, this new master, and she finds out he is a leper, and she pities him.
And she desires that that man would be healed of his leprosy.
You know we some of us here in this room that know the Lord Jesus.
Have a similar desire in our heart for you.
Because you might not have leprosy.
But you do have a disease.
Of which leprosy is a picture. Leprosy in the Word of God speaks of sin.
And Agent One in the world that is not Sinner.
Everyone is a Sinner born into this world.
Of sinful parents, a Sinner by nature and by practice, and the word of God says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And if we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar. The picture tonight at one time was a Sinner.
And.
Was guilty before God.
This deadly disease of sin dwelt within.
And controlled my life, you know, I was even singing that him that we sang tonight in a choir before I was saved.
I remember singing to him, almost persuaded.
Before an audience in the choir and I myself had no assurance of salvation, I had not come in personal faith to the Lord Jesus. I was like this name and.
And you are like that, Naaman, if you have not come to the Lord Jesus to be cleansed of your sins.
How wonderful.
This little girl desired the blessing of this man.
And what pain did this maid have if he only knew about the prophet of God?
You know, she was not very old, but she had heard of the prophet of God.
You know what a prophet of God is?
A prophet of God is a man that speaks.
For God to men.
Messenger from God.
And she knew him to be such a man, and she had faith that if this man near, men would come to their prophet.
His prophet could heal him of this disease.
You know it is not by chance that you have come to this meeting tonight if you are not safe. I believe that God has directed you and your steps so that you would be in this audience tonight, that you would hear the gospel of the grace of God. But there are certain things that you have to accept, just like Nehemiah had to accept. First of all, isn't that a wonderful fact?
That this little girl had a lot of credibility with her Master and her mistress.
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That they would even pay attention to what this little girl said.
I'm sure this little girl did not only have pity and mercy for her Master, I believe that she conducted herself in that home in such a way that when she spoke of their prophet that lived in her homeland, she was believed they believed her.
Now I would like to ask you tonight.
Don't accept anything because I say it. You might not even know me.
But except what I read to you and what I call to you from the word of God.
You know salvation comes by hearing.
Hearing the word of God.
At this time.
There was a prophet to whom God would speak.
Now today we have the word of God, the written word of God, And when we read this word, it is like God speaking to you, and you have to come to realize that you have to do with God. It does make very little difference what you think of me, of any other question in this room. What makes the difference is what you think of the word of God, whether you accept the word of God as the word of God.
And the spirit would.
Desire to accomplish that tonight in your life.
But then.
The king heard about this.
The king was interested in getting this useful mighty man that headed up his army healed of that disease. You know, leprosy at that time was an incurable disease. I understand medicine has been able to arrest that disease with many today, but not at that time. Celebrity in the word of God is a picture of an incurable disease.
Some of us here have had the privilege of visiting in India, where there are many lepers.
You know, it's a real pitiful thing to see them sitting there.
With the fingers gone, the feet gone open, sores leprosy, and it keeps on eating.
And destroying the body, you know, until finally at least to death.
And this is what is true of sin. Sin eats away in a spiritual way, destroying you.
You know the devil uses sin and deluxe.
To lead you into deeper and deeper sins, destroying your soul.
But God is not desiring the death of the Sinner. He desires that all be safe, that thought desire.
And that they come to the knowledge of the truth.
But this Naaman and the king of Syria had to learn that they had to go to the right place.
In order to find help for Naaman, you know they sent to the King of Israel.
And expect that he would cure this man. They must have not quite understood what this little girl was saying. They must have thought that the king was the one that the girl was talking about.
And.
Here the king is in distress.
You know, this king of Syria is only looking for an occasion to go to war against me. There will be more problems for my people and for myself.
Am I God?
He says yes, only God can heal the sin that is in you and in me, or in this case leprosy. Only God can heal it.
God has to cure.
So here he comes to the king. The king can help this man.
But the Prophet hears about it, hears about it, and he sends to the king.
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And then Niemann comes to the House of the Prophet.
But Neiman had to not only learn that he had to come.
To the right place and his thinking.
You know, he had his own ideas and that's what we find in the world today.
People say there are many ropes that lead to Rome. That's true. But there is only one Rd. that leads to heaven. And the Lord Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.
The Sinner has to give up his own thoughts and accept God's way of salvation.
He was insulted that that prophet didn't even have the courtesy to come out.
And then do what he thought he should do.
Well, that man had to learn that he had to come God's way, that he had to accept the word of God and submit to the word of God in order to be healed.
And he had to also learn they had to get off his high horse.
You know God is no respecter of person when it is a question of sin, everybody is equal before God. God doesn't make any difference whether somebody is the Chief of Staff of the Army of the United States.
Or whether it is a pauper, a beggar.
You know, we had a happy experience with a Gordon needed his car fixed while he was in Mozambique, and we went to a man that fixed the car very quickly for him. And then he took us for a ride in that car and he asked what brought you here to Wisconsin and why are you, where are you going? And so on. So we told him.
He's a servant of the Lord and he's on his way to a Bible conference in Walla Walla.
And he'll go ahead and we will follow later, but we'll meet there again, he said. I have to tell you a story, he said. I used to be on Skid Row. Do you know what Skid Row is?
For the Chuck used to preach there once a week, you know, Skid Row.
That's where the bums are.
You can't get very low or very much lower than being a bomb on Skid Row and his man was saved.
And he gave the credit to the Lord. It doesn't make any difference.
Whether you are a bomb on Skate Roll or whether you are one of the Princess or the generals in the world greatly honored, you have to come as a Sinner, you know, and the Lord Jesus is able to make the vilest of sinners clean.
You know, it's a wonderful thing if there are people in this audience that have not been on Skid Row and have not lived immoral lives.
And have been.
Leave it living as decent citizens in their communities, but they're still sinners, still sinners, and they have to come like that. Farm and skate, roll to the Lord Jesus for salvation.
He's the only one that can cleanse from sin.
We had the privilege of visiting a cousin of mine.
In Berlin on our recent trip to Europe. He's my age, a month older than I am. He's not saved, and it was one of our exercises to go to Berlin to see this cousin and speak to him about the Lord.
And we had an opportunity to speak to him about the Lord.
And he said at first he said, yeah, he said, I know the Lord Jesus died for all of us, but, you know, he said I lived a pretty decent life and I believe he did. He had a high position as a police officer in Berlin and lived a decent family life. He didn't follow in the mire. He said, I know the Lord Jesus died for us, but I live pretty decent and I believe he will accept me on that basis.
Well, I said to him, he won't accept you on that basis.
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There's no hope for you on that basis, Well, he said. I think I'm quite satisfied.
It'll do for me. Well, we had an opportunity to read the scriptures to him the morning we left.
And read Ephesians 2. By grace are you saved through faith?
Not by works, lest any man should boast.
And in tightness where we read not by works of righteousness, which we have done.
But by his mercy he saved us, and I pleaded with him. I said, please don't take that round of standing before God on the basis of your decent life. It certainly is good that you haven't been on Skid Row following in the mire, but God cannot accept you that way. There is no hope for you, one sin of eating from a tree that was forbidden eating of that fruit.
Plunged Adam and the whole human race into position of sinners.
And he was driven out of the garden.
Away from the presence of God, he didn't permit murder. He didn't live an immoral life.
But he was disobedient to God. He ate of the forbidden fruit. I believe he was touched. You can pray for him. Secret is his name. But how sad this is where a lot of people are.
They trust in their decent life and yet.
If they're honest with themselves.
Is there anyone who can say I have never lied, I've never done anything wrong?
Well, the holiness of God cannot accept anybody, even if he only has.
Committed one sin that alienates you from God and you will be separated from him for all eternity.
Well, Niemann.
Had his own ideas.
And people still have their own ideas how they think they can be acceptable to God.
But God cannot accept anything from a guilty Sinner.
You know, a Sinner cannot atone for his own sin.
Just think those who don't accept the Lord Jesus are going to be cast.
Into the lake of fire and are punished for sin for all eternity.
And never come to the point that they will pay for their sin or make atonement for their sin. It's only punishment for sin that they will endure for all eternity. Only a sinless victim can become the Sinbara. The one who knew no sin was made sin for us.
Sin for me so that I might become the righteousness of God.
In him.
Why wonderful truth, that is to be able to present to guilty sinners that God has found a way how sinners can be brought back to him, how they can be made whole. You know the Lord Jesus is not only going to.
Bear your sins so that you don't have to go to hell. He will also deliver you from the power of sin, from the power of the devil.
And enable you to live a life pleasing to God.
After USA.
Well.
Naman was angry.
He didn't want to do what the word of God had told him. You know, when this prophet was speaking to Nehemiah, that was really the word of God that was given to Naomi.
But Naman didn't accept it as the word of God.
And he had his ideas, you know. He knew how dirty that river Jordan was and how much better some of the rivers in Damascus were in the land of Syria.
And why should he go there into that dirty water? And why couldn't he bathe in one of those rivers that he mentions here?
Well, the Jordan in the Word of God is a picture of the death of the Lord Jesus.
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That's what the Jordan speaks of.
You know, and we have to, as it were, appropriate for ourselves by faith, the work of the Lord Jesus accept that except his person and His work, in order to be cleansed.
You know why I can tell you that? That Jordan is a picture of the death of the Lord Jesus. You know when those children of Israel came out of Egypt into the Promised Land, that Jordan was one of the places that they had to go through, just like the Red Sea.
You know, and the stones were put into the middle of that river, 12 Stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel where the ark had stood. And 12 Stones were put on the other side, You know, that spoke of those 12 tribes of the children of Israel. You know, they were, as it were put out of God side as sinners, and they were, as it were new creatures in Christ on the recollection side.
The River Jordan, that which speaks of the death of Christ, is what was given to this man as a way for cleansing his sin. There is no other way for us today but the death of the Lord Jesus, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.
And let me emphasize from all sin, from all sins, you know, we bought our first house in Mosinee from a former school teacher and she became later on our renter. So we had quite a bit to do with that Lady and.
She was a dear soul and she said, I know the Lord Jesus died for my sins, but there are some sins that I have to atone for.
That's what she was taught by the system.
Into which she had grown up, and we poured at the Bible to her.
I don't know how many times the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sins.
You know there isn't a sin that that blot cannot cleanse and it will cleanse the violence of sinners.
You know, we might think that the violence of Sinner is the fellow that lives on Skid Row lives an immoral life, has murdered somebody.
No Paul who could say of himself.
That he was found blameless as far as the law is concerned.
Speaks of himself as the chiefest of sinners. Sinner #1, why he had persecuted the Church of God.
And how Solomon is?
Not to accept the work of the Lord Jesus and the work of the Lord Jesus only for the cleansing of all of our sins. But now this man comes to this river after his servants pleaded with him. Now isn't that a wonderful thing? That's what we like to do tonight. We like to plead with you if you have pushed it off and belittled.
God's way of salvation.
Please listen to the word of God, just like these servants pleaded with their masters who we would like to plead with you except what the Word of God says. Go God's way, not your own.
You know, in Romans we read of the obedience of faith.
You know, we see that twice in the book of Romans, at the beginning and at the end. Yes, there is such a thing as obedience of faith to accept God's word and act on it. That is what secures salvation.
So he goes to that river.
He listens to his servants.
But what did he have to do?
Like I said already, he had to get off his high horse. He had to take that uniform off. You know, you have seen sometimes how these generals are decorated, you know, and when you think of how they were.
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Dressed during World War One, You know they don't don't have their uniforms quite so glorious anymore as it was in the past, but they still.
Make quite an impression when they stand there with all their decorations and honors.
But he had to take that all off.
You know, he had to go into that river just as a guilty Sinner would, without expecting God accepting him because of any position that he had in life.
So let's read some verses in the New Testament that.
Show that God delights to bless and to save those that are esteemed little.
In Man's Eyes First Corinthians chapter.
1.
Verse 26.
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
You know Queen Victoria.
I believe came to know the Lord Jesus and she was so glad that the word of God.
Did not say not anything it said. Not many, you know, their salvation available for even those who are high born in this world or in high positions, just like this man was. But they had to come as guilty sinners. God could not accept them and gave them a more favorable treatment because of who they were in this world, you know.
The gospel is a leveler of all men. Puts the mall on the same grounds before God.
And they have to come God's way. They have to, in humility, bow down and accept.
God's way of salvation. And God desires that they do get saved, and so he climbs into that water.
And he goes down.
One time.
2 * 2 * 3 times Was he clean? No, only after he had dipped down seven times.
You know, and his flesh was even better than before he got this disease. Like a little boy's flesh. You look at the flesh of a little boy compared to a man that is 50-60 years old. Well, how wonderful God's grace can cleanse and make us whiter than snow. The word of God says how wonderful.
We have the Savior of God.
But we have to accept his word. We have to come his way.
You know, he had to learn something else.
And that is that he.
Could not.
Buy could not use money.
And clothing to earn anything or gain anything.
That was all free.
You know the Prophet did not even speak to him. He sent a messenger out to him when he came to his house. But after he was cleaned he does come out to him and.
He speaks to him and he makes it clear.
Not silver or gold we sing has wrought our redemption. Not by anything that we can pay can we be saved.
You know, isn't this what people tried to do? You know, reform all kinds of societies and do good to the poor and things that that is something that God can accept for them. I used to work at a hospital, Jewish hospital in Chicago, and they had formed a club, Jewish club for crippled children. And it was certainly a very noble thing they were doing, but it was all based on doing something.
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That would make themselves acceptable before God.
We cannot by works, nor by money.
Gain salvation.
And how sad is that his eye?
Goes after this man. He was covetous.
And he spoils this perfect picture of the Gospel in the Old Testament by asking for silver, asking for Raymond Flying to get it.
Isn't that a painful thing to see, this man being associated with the Prophet of Jehovah?
A servant of this prophet.
And then to spoil his life by covetousness.
How sad.
I believe that is a very solemn lesson.
That we have in the servants of the Prophet.
Elisha.
I believe that if he would not have fallen in that way, he might himself in due time has become a prophet of Jehovah.
But we find later on in his life in the 8th chapter.
That this man, although he was a leper.
Is in the court of the king of Israel and entertaining the king with the works that he had witnessed.
Done by Elisha.
Yet he was a leper.
You know, according to the law, he wants to be outside. You know, calling unclean gives you an insight even how unscriptural the king of Israel behaved in allowing even this man in his court.
You know, isn't it true that people entertain?
People by using things from the word of God.
You know, they even invite people to come to the churches because there is a jester there who will clown around using the word of God. A comedian, a Christian comedian. Well, that's the kind of thing that this man was doing. But how solemn the leprosy of Neumann was on him and on his seat forever.
But what a wonderful character this Neil Man manifests. He did not only get cleansed from leprosy, he came to know the true and living God.
You know, the gospel is not only to make sure that you get rid of your sins and that you're not going to go to hell. The gospel also wants to familiarize you and make you to know a God of love, have a personal relationship with that God.
And he had attend a conscience, you know, he had a conscience about bowing down in an idle temple.
You know, and he was the servant of that king, and it was apparently part of his duty that he had to.
Support the king. Maybe the king was an old man, you know, and he had a conscience.
Now isn't it wonderful that the prophet doesn't say don't do this and don't do that? He sees a conscience, a tender conscience in name, and he says go in peace. I'm sure the Lord took care of Nehemiah. Maybe he never had to bow down in the House of women. Now isn't that nice to see that this man not only got cured of that which is a picture of sin, but that he also comes to know the true and living God?
You know, we come to know God through the Lord Jesus in a more intimate way than any Old Testament ever knew God. No Old Testament Saints could ever speak to God as his Father. He was not in that kind of a relationship. But we can. We are all the sons of God to faith in the Lord Jesus. The scripture says we have an intimate relationship to God.
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When the family of God where heirs of God and fellow heirs.
With Price, is that wonderful that God wants to have children and wants to have a family?
And he has decided that those who at this time during the day of grace accept his Son, the Lord Jesus, will be part of the family of God, be into that, be in that intimate relationship. To know God as Father, to be able to say ABBA Father. You know, we have had the privilege of being in the Middle East a number of times, and I tried to familiarize myself.
To some extent, with Islam, with the religion of Islam. And you know what they say.
They believe that it is.
Blasphemy.
To say that God wants us to be his children.
They say God wants us to be his slaves.
That's the teaching of Islam. How wonderful to have a God through the Lord Jesus. No, a God that is a God of love, a God of grace, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ and he has made known the Father and that you can come to him like a little child would come to his Father.
In confidence.
Being that close to him, don't you want that for yourself?
To have a Father like God and have God as your Father. He has a Father's house for us, where we spend eternity with the Lord Jesus.
Oh, I trust there's nobody in this room that will be so foolish.
Of turning away from that which God in his grace is offering today.
Today.
The only way you can come to know God and to know your sins forgiven and to know to be underway to heaven is by coming God's way by accepting his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the work that he has done on Calvary's cross.
He alone.
Can make atonement and has made atonement for sin. And you can know tonight that your sins are forgiven when you by faith accept the Lord Jesus.
God is just and the justifier of him that believeth on Jesus.
You know God cannot go back on His word word. He has said that if you accept the.
The Lord Jesus, you will be cleansed from all His guilt. You will be justified from all things.
Oh, how wonderful the gospel message is. I hope there is none in this room tonight that will.
Passed up the opportunity and will not accept the gospel message except the Lord Jesus. You know today is the day of salvation. Today when we hear His word harden up. Your heart is what the Word of God says. It's a very solemn thing to reject God's message of mercy and God's way of salvation. The only way is to Christ, the Son of God. Let's pray.