Gospel—E. Staggs
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
This evening by singing hymn #2 but her brother, please raise the tune.
I was thinking tonight as I called out this hymn. I'd actually read it earlier before I came up here.
That it says here come.
Come tis Jesus.
Gently calling.
You know, some time ago I remember hearing a tape.
And on that tape, it went back to the Garden of Eden.
Where Adam and Eve had first fallen.
And.
They hid themselves.
Behind the fig leaves and in the woods. In the forest.
And they said that God came down looking for Adam and looking for Eve.
And he said, where are you?
Where have you hidden?
And immediately when I heard that, I said that's not the way he did it.
That is not the way he did it because I believe.
That God wants your heart.
And that God wants you to know.
That though he does not accept your sin, he cannot accept your sin.
He loves you.
It is a gentle calling from a loving God who has provided richly for the poor lost Sinner.
I would like to start out this evening by reading Isaiah chapter one.
And verse 18.
Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord.
Though your sins be a scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
Though they be red like Crimson.
They shall be as wool.
You know.
I have thought tonight that I would like to take this as a scene.
In which God?
As it were, pulls up a chair.
And he sits beside each one in this room.
And he says, let's have it out.
Let's talk about it.
Let's talk about your sin.
And as God is sitting there next to you.
He says.
Your skin, your sins are as scarlet, and I love you, and I desire to make them as white as wool.
00:05:09
Well, there might be a little discussion, there might be a little defense I was thinking this morning.
About a couple of things that a couple of brothers said during the first reading meeting this morning.
And it was this.
That until God can reach your conscience.
He can reach your conscience.
And you own what you are before a holy God. It's not until then that God can pour grace towards you.
And that's my desire to night. My desire tonight is that.
You might have your conscience reached.
That it is. You might come to that point.
Where you can only cry out to God. What do I do?
What do I do?
Let's turn now.
To Romans, chapter 3.
Starting with verse 12.
Let's start with verse 11.
There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way. They are all together, become unprofitable.
There is none that do it good. No, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre.
With their tongues they have used deceit.
The poison of ask is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood.
Destruction and misery are in their ways.
And the way of peace, have they not known?
There is No Fear of God before their eyes.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that 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.
We'll go down to verse 23, for all have sinned and come short.
Of the glory of God.
I'm going to stop right there. You know, I believe the important thing is, is that first of all that we find ourselves all to be in the same group.
And that is that everyone is guilty of sin.
You know, I have thought, I have to admit that I've been thinking about this gospel all night long.
And all through the day.
And I was thinking how? How can I get?
Those in this room that are still lost in their in their sins.
To come to the realization that they need a savior.
I've come to the conclusion.
I cannot.
The best persuasions in the world will not convince you.
I can maybe use clever ways, or I can tell you stories of my past, or I might tell you of those who have died.
00:10:02
And yet you still will not be persuaded.
I had come to the conclusion today that the only way that you would be persuaded.
Is by hearing the word of God and the word of God only.
The word of God says everybody in this room is a Sinner.
Now I will say, if I might just clarify this, that.
There are those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
And they're not sinners anymore, are they? But there are those in this room that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
And they're still lost and guilty in their sins.
I had thought maybe I'd scare them into accepting the Lord as their savior.
I really did. You know what I was going to say? I was sitting there next to my wife and I said what I'm going to do is I'm going to say everybody that's ever been to a funeral, raise your hand. Well, I know everybody raised their hand.
And then I tell you how dangerous it is, see how sad it is. But you know that won't persuade you.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
If you're not going to receive just this simple message, simple. It's very simple.
I realized today as I was thinking about this message, I was trying to make it too complicated.
Maybe I wanted to be clever, I don't know.
But it says here.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
It's plain and simple.
Everybody in this room is a child of Adam.
Adam was a Sinner and we're just like our Father.
You know God had given the law on Mount Sinai chapter 19.
And the children of Israel both believe and proudly said all that the Lord has said we will do.
And all it really did was absolutely convinced God.
And man, that he was a Sinner.
But I read something that was kind of startling to me when I first thought about it, and then after I said that's really quite nice, I understand exactly what he's saying.
And the comment was this, that the law never told you how bad you are, it only told you you were bad. And I'll give you an example what I mean by that.
If I'm driving down the road.
And I'm speeding, and a policeman pulls me over and he says, Ed, you're speeding. You broke the law. I say, yes, that's true.
He gives me a ticket but it doesn't tell me how bad I am, it just tells me I broke the law.
The prisons are full of people who have broke the law.
But it doesn't tell them how bad they were.
It only tells them they broke the law.
That God has to bring us to a point.
Where he displays in.
US just how absolutely corrupt we are.
And God says that there is no good in US.
Let's turn, I'm going to just real quickly, let's turn to Hebrews because we, we do want to make this.
Hebrews, Chapter 9.
Verse 27.
It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him.
00:15:03
Shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation? I really want to focus on the fact that.
That there's going to be a judgment God has to meet out of judgment.
But let's go back now and let's find out what we're really like. Let's go to the Gospel of John, chapter 15.
And verse 22.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sinned.
But now they have no clothes for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my father also.
If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now have they both seen and hated both me and my father.
But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated me without a cause.
When God gave Israel the law, he gave them a perfect law. He gave them a perfect religion. He gave them a perfect priesthood. He gave him His presence. He guided them through the wilderness. He spoke to them.
And God did everything he could to give man an opportunity to prove that he could please God by the flesh.
When Israel failed, he delivered them over to Babylon.
Because it was the absolute evidence that man could not please God in the law.
After he.
Through Cyrus allowed Israel to go back and Ezra and Nehemiah to build the temple and the wall.
And God had prepared now for the Messiah and when the Lord Jesus came into this world.
He came to manifest God's heart to the people in this world. He came down and he did things that no man ever done. Let's go to Matthew Chapter 11.
In verse 4.
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do here, and see.
The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, and the lepers are twins, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.
What a wonderful God.
What a wonderful Lord. He comes down into this world amongst the children of Israel and he reaches over and he heals a leper he raised as a poor widow's son from the dead. He feeds the multitude. He steals the sea and the and the waves, the the the wind and the waves.
He rides on a mule that's never been written on before.
He causes a fish fish to gather up into a net so much that the Nets begin to break. Another point. He calls over a fish with money in it to satisfy the taxes. He he goes along and he.
Has compassion on the Syrophoenician woman. He comes into this world manifesting what is in the heart of God.
But what did man do?
They rejected them, didn't they?
He says if I had not come.
But because he did come, and because he did manifest the love of God, and he did give the word of God, he says, now you have no cloak for your sin.
00:20:01
It was the absolute evidence that man was absolutely corrupt to the core.
He was absolutely unredeemable.
Let's go to.
Matthew.
Chapter 16.
21.
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto disciples how that he must go on to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Matthew, Chapter 17.
In verse 22.
And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorrowful. Sorry, chapter 20.
Verse 17.
And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the 12 disciples apart in the way.
And said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death.
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him.
And the third day he shall rise again.
Luke Chapter 9.
Verse 22.
The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain.
And be raised the third day.
Chapter 20. Verse 27. But I tell you of a truth, there will be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God. And it came to pass about eight days after the same. After these sayings he took Peter and John, and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was wide and blistering.
And behold their talk with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
Verse 44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears.
Where the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. And they understood not this saying.
And it was hid from them that they perceived in it, it not, and they feared to ask him of that, saying, verse 51. And it came to pass. When the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. There's more, but I'm just going to read one last one.
Chapter 24 of Luke.
Now upon the first day of verse one. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning.
They came onto the sepulchre being, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others.
With them, And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining raimans. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them.
00:25:14
Why seek ye, the living among the dead? He is not here.
But is risen. Remember how he spake unto you, when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of Sinner sinful men, and be crucified. And the third day rise again.
And they remembered his words.
You know, I read all of those.
Because I believe that.
There was a man who heard each and every time that the Lord Jesus made those comments.
But he never heard the last one from the angels.
And his name was Judas.
All the while that the Lord Jesus walked upon this earth, all the while he manifested.
What was going to happen to him?
All the while, Judith walked along with him.
And yet Judas rejected him. Judas betrayed him.
And Judas hung himself.
I say that because there's a room full of Saints here.
With children, perhaps friends.
Who have heard the message many, many times.
Have you still rejected the message thus far?
The Lord Jesus said I'm sorry back in Isaiah chapter one. It's as though your sins.
Be a scarlet, I shall make them white as smell.
We had showed you in the word of God that every man is guilty before God.
Every man is a Sinner.
It is through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That they shall be as white as snow.
The Lord Jesus foretold his death on Calvary's cross.
And when he went to Calvary's cross, and he hung there as a spectacle between heaven and earth.
I've often thought.
That this was a man who had come for the purpose to die.
This was a man who came as a gift of love from God, her poor lost sinners.
As he hung up on that cross, and the judgment of God fell upon him.
He cried out. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And during that time in which he cried out.
The.
All the judgment.
That I deserve.
Was dealt there and the blows on him.
And the shedding of His precious blood as it came forth from His side was the power to wash away every stain of Stand is your Savior tonight, if you would look up at that blessed One.
And see that he's the provision of God. Every sin you've ever committed will be washed away.
You, as a child of Adam, would be put out of the sight of God forever.
And he would see you.
Through his Son as being absolutely holy and righteous.
And God, looking down upon his Son, having been laid in the grave on the third day, raised him from the dead, and placed him at his own right hand in the majesty on high.
When we were out in the desert the other day.
And Glenn mentioned it again today. I don't know that he's here tonight, but he said that often times you can enjoy what you have.
In the Millennium or in the glory through the negatives.
I didn't understand what he was talking about and I asked him what does that mean?
00:30:00
He told me, he said.
That there will be no more tears.
There will be no more pain.
There will be no more death, no more sorrow.
I was thinking tonight that we live in a world of sorrow alone.
We live in a world of pain.
But God has something much better for us if we would accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
That we would have a portion with him where he is.
For all eternity in God, the light to save.
The judgment is a strange work.
He longs that poor lost sinners would accept His Son as their Savior.
That they might live with Him in eternity in the Father's house.
But there is another portion for the one who rejects the one who says I will not have.
The Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior, but God cannot dwell in the presence of sin.
And so he has to remove that one out of his presence for all eternity.
Revelation chapter 21.
I'm sorry, Chapter 20.
Verse 11.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great stand before God, and the books were opened.
And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and dead, and held delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their work.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.
When my children were young.
I used to read this portion to them not because I was.
Trying to scare them, but I was showing simply that God has a judgment in the end.
And it always interested me that when it confronted those that would be judged and cast into the lake of fire for all eternity, it said books.
But when it talked about those that would enter into eternity, it said.
Book.
And I thought that was a solemn thing. I believe in all things. God would have the preeminence.
But there.
But perhaps it's a book because all of the sins have been dealt with on Calvary's cross and it just has the name.
But every man will give an account for every sin he has ever committed. And if you do not have the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
You have absolutely no other hope at all.
You cannot earn your way to heaven. You cannot work your way to heaven.
There is nothing that you can do personally.
I'll just make a comment and then I'm going to close. Oh, I'll sing a hymn. But when we were in the desert this weekend, we came across a Jewish couple. And as we were talking to this Jewish couple, they had made this comment. They said that God is a loving God and everything is going to work out in the end.
And we talked to him for some time, an hour and a half about.
Different things in the scriptures.
But one of the things that.
Were asked them if if God is a loving God.
00:35:00
And everything is going to workout in the end.
Then is what you have today in this world, is that what you're willing to settle for?
A God that doesn't care about murder.
A God that doesn't care about disease.
A God that doesn't care about sin.
Well then, we're just looking for a God that just satisfies ourselves, aren't we?
Even in the Garden of Eden, where just one sin, one single sin, was enough to take him out of the garden.
And cast him out of there forever. And then they died.
Well, they said they would think about that.
So I would ask you to think about that tonight.
Can you think of one sin that you've committed? Just one? I can think of many.
But if you can think of justice, one sin tonight.
It's enough to keep you out of heaven for all eternity.
It's enough to keep you out of the presence of God.
We sing #1.
Almost persuaded.
Our God and our Father.