Gospel—Jim Hyland
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Let's start the Gospel Meeting this evening with Hymn #20 on the Gospel Hymn sheet.
Behold the Savior at the door. He gently knocked, has knocked before, has waited long, is waiting. Still, you use no other friend, so I'll open the door. He'll enter in and stuff with you and you with him. Let's stand to sing this hymn #20 and if someone will please start it.
Umm, for my last.
Night.
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How thankful we are tonight for the Lord Jesus Christ, and how thankful we are that He is indeed the Savior of sinners. We're thankful for that mighty work of Calvary, for that blood that was shed, of which blood we read it cleanses from all sins. We're thankful, too, to know that that Blessed One is risen, ascended, seated at Thy right hand. We know that His arms are outstretched in love to the Sinner. And we rejoice to realize that the gospel is going forth around this planet tonight.
And now it's still working by Thy Spirit, compelling sinners to come in that Thy house may be filled. And now, as this Gospel meeting has been announced for this room, our God, we pray that we might be solemnized as the reality of eternal issues. That if there's someone here who's lost tonight, our God and Father, we pray that they might have their consciences reached, their hearts touched, that Thy living Word might have its effect, that the good seed might fall on good ground.
And that there might be much fruit for thy glory and honor. We pray that souls might be saved tonight, and the hearts of thine own refreshed. As we tell again the sweet story of thy love and grace, we ask thy help and blessing we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen.
Turn with me first of all, please, to John's gospel.
John's Gospel chapter one and verse 14.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.
The glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth and justice. A little further over in the chapter verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and Seth behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Verse 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he says.
Behold.
The Lamb of God and then a verse in the 19 chapter.
Chapter 19.
And justice, the last three words of verse 5. Behold the man.
We began this gospel meeting by singing Behold the Savior, and that really is what is on my heart this evening in the presentation of the gospel.
Is to point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, I suppose, if we could put a title on this gospel meeting this evening.
It would be these three words that we have just read together. Behold the man. Because it is a man that we present to you tonight. It's the man Christ Jesus. We're not going to present to you tonight religion. We're not going to present to you tonight sociology or reform or anything like that. No, we want to bring before you from the pages of this living word the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know God would have you take a moment this evening.
To turn your eyes to the Lord Jesus, to look to him. You remember it illustrated in the Old Testament, when the children of Israel were in the wilderness, and sin had come into the camp of Israel, and there were fiery serpents sent amongst the children of Israel, And those serpents bit the children of Israel, and they died. Many of them died on that occasion. But there was a remedy. Moses was told to take a brazen serpent.
And to put it on a pole and to put it for all to see And the instructions were.
That whosoever looked at that serpent of brass, a simple look to that serpent on the pole was what healed the person of the serpent's bite. It is what gave them life and kept them from death. And it's a beautiful illustration of the Lord Jesus, the one who went to Calvary's cross and gave himself there. And so we read, look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth.
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Men are looking to various things today. They're looking to reform. They're looking to democracy as the great band aids that's going to solve the walls of the world. They talk about the Arab Spring, all these revolutions that are taking place. And if we just get rid of this government and implement this policy, everything's going to be better. But you know, in the end, men's hearts are failing them for fear today.
I watched them in the airport, in the train stations, in the store, to look into men's faces and women too, and to see the fear that is written in their faces, the fear in their eyes, because they recognize even people in high places recognize that things can't go on the way they are forever. I've sometimes illustrated it like an elastic being pulled to such a point that it's got to snap some time.
And the social and economic and political forces with which this world is trying to deal are like that. Elastic. And men know it has to, has to give at some point. And yet are they looking to the only source, to the only one who can give life, to the only one who can bring about stability? No, they're not. They're looking to themselves. They're looking to their own inventions. They're counting on their own intelligence. But oh, tonight in connection with your soul.
And eternity and salvation. How wonderful that we can turn to the word of God.
And we don't have to speculate tonight on what it is that gives security. We don't have to speculate on the future as far as life after death. We don't have to speculate on eternity. We can rest on security tonight. Uncertainties tonight, because the word of God is the truth. Men have all kinds of theories, and sometimes it's even truth, but it's mixed with error and theory and supposition.
But this book is true from cover to cover. It's God's Word, and above all, it presents the man Christ Jesus.
You know, wherever we read in the Word of God, it wouldn't matter tonight whether we turned to the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi, or in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation. We wouldn't have to read very far to realize that the subject is Christ, that God's desire is to direct our focus to the man, the man Christ Jesus. Yes, it's many things about his person and work by type and shadow in the Old Testament.
But it's Christ and his life. In the Gospels we see the exaltation of Christ in the Epistles and the development of Christianity and what blessings the Christian has been brought into, and their relationship with God the Father and the Lord Jesus. In Revelation, as we've been enjoying in these readings, we look on to the fruition of things, the full exaltation of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And many of us are hearts thrilled as we think of that, because God's heart will never be satisfied.
Until his son is fully vindicated on this planet that spit in his blessed face.
God's heart will never be satisfied until his Son has his rightful place here in this world. That said, away with Him, crucify Him. And it's going to happen. Yes, it is. It's going to happen, but it's going to mean different things for different people. And that's why we've scheduled a gospel meeting tonight to direct our focus to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we find that the that John in writing.
He says We beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
Full of grace and truth, John could open his epistle by saying.
We have looked upon in our hands of handles of the word of life. John had the privilege.
Of walking in this world in company with the Lord Jesus, one of the special apostles, disciples that was called to be closest to the Lord Jesus during his public ministry. John with the others accompanied with the Lord Jesus. They saw those glories, those moral glories that shone out. But more than that, there were times when there were little flashes beyond that.
00:15:12
Peter said we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty that time on the Mount of Transfiguration, when there was a little preview of the coming Kingdom, the coming glory, when they came to take him in the garden, and there was a little flash of his glory that knocked them to the ground. It must have been wonderful to company with the Lord Jesus as he walked here in this world.
But you know, the Apostle Paul said. Henceforth know we know man after the flesh.
Though we knew Christ after the flesh, henceforth know we Him no more.
And tonight we're not presenting the Lord Jesus walking in this world.
The way John and John the Baptist and so many others saw him. John the Baptist, as we read, proclaimed twice. Behold the Lamb of God.
On one occasion, he added, which taketh away the sin of the world. You know that hasn't happened yet.
And it won't happen fully until the eternal state I love that hymn we sang.
This morning I believe it was all taint of sin shall be removed, all evil done away.
And we shall dwell with God's beloved thru God's eternal day. What a day that's going to be when sin is completely done away and we're invited to a scene where sin will never penetrate again. But tonight, the question is, what about your sins? Are your sins taken care of? Are they gone? Are they washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus? Have you looked to the one who is indeed the Lamb of God? Who can take away your sins tonight if you come?
In repentance and faith, because it is repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It's to realize, first of all, that you are a Sinner. But it's to realize more than that, too. I say that because if we were to go out on some busy street corner in a nearby town or city tonight, I think if we were to interview passers by, most people today, even today, if they're really honest with themselves, will admit they've done wrong things.
We'll admit that they are sinners, but to admit that they're helpless sinners with no ability to get rid of their sins or better, their position before God is quite another matter. You know, you've often heard me say this, but I'll repeat it. I have nothing against home remedies. We use them in our house too. I'm not a person that runs to the doctor every time I have a sniffle or some little ache.
But you know, as long as you feel that you can administer some home remedy to cure your sickness, whatever it might be.
You will never seek the advice of a physician. But when you come to the point you're sick and you come to the point where you realize your home remedy is not helping, it's not doing any good to cure you, Then and only then are you going to seek the advice of a doctor. And we've heard stories about people who've left it too late. They've administered their home remedy and thought they could cure themselves, but they finally realized that they needed to go to a doctor and they found it was too late.
And the doctor has said if you'd only come a month earlier, if you'd only come a few weeks ago, if you'd only come last year, I could have done something for you.
That's why the Lord Jesus said they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
He said. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance and so often as we read through the Gospels.
It was the sinners, those who realized, or though I should say those who realized that they were sinners, that came to hear the Lord Jesus, the Pharisees, and the other self-righteous elite of the day. They didn't have time for the Lord Jesus. They thought they were good in themselves, that they didn't need what the Lord Jesus was presenting to them. And then you'll read something to the effect, Then drew near all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. How thankful we are for statements like that.
And if there's someone here tonight and you have never looked to the Lord Jesus for salvation?
Well, tonight I want to tell you the way is open. It's like the children of Israel in the wilderness. A simple look of faith to the Lord Jesus is what saves the soul. Realizing we're sinners, yes, but realizing that there's a cure, there's a remedy. And that remedy has been provided through the work of the Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross. But all I want to stress before we pass on to There is no other cure.
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No other remedy apart from what God has provided through His Son and that sacrificial work that was taken up so long ago. There are not many roads to heaven tonight. There are not many ways to be saved. The Lord Jesus in John's gospel, before he left his disciples, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.
Oh, behold the man tonight, the man Christ Jesus. Behold the Savior at the door. He gently knocks, has knocked before he's there. He's here, so to speak, and he's knocking. He wants entrance, but you must open the door. If I can put it that way, you must let him in through faith in himself and what he has done.
Behold the man.
I want to turn to a verse now in Luke's Gospel chapter 23.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 23.
And verse 35.
And the people stood beholding.
And the rulers also with them derided him, saying he saved others, let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the people stood beholding. You know, this is a very interesting statement. Here was the Lord Jesus. His trial was over. They had led him out to Calvary. They had nailed him to a Roman cross.
And there he hung between heaven and earth as a spectacle for men and angels.
And there were many who beheld the Lord Jesus as he hung on that cross.
There were many who beheld that loved him. There were the women. There was John himself, to whom his mother he committed his mother. Later on there were many who beheld the Lord Jesus. There were some who passed by, and they wagged their head and reviled him. There were others who sat down and watched him suffer in his agony, those who had no love for the Lord Jesus, But oh, tonight I want to pass us by the cross.
I want us to take a look by faith at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, to behold Him hanging there, as it were, to see that mighty sacrifice, and to realize.
That he died there for sin and for sinners. And I am thankful to be able to stand here tonight and to say with the apostle Peter, who wrote later on he bore our sins in his own body on the tree.
If Peter were to come here tonight, we could stand here together and say that verse in plural our sins, because he bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
But can you say that tonight? Could you honestly say that tonight? I don't know what goes on within your heart. You know, from a vantage point like this, I can see right into the back rows. I think sometimes young people think you can't see into the back rows, but I can see right into the back rows. I can often tell whether someone is texting or passing notes or whatever else you might be doing.
But you know, there's one who looks down tonight and he sees right into your heart.
His eye is upon you, and he loves you so very much.
Oh, as he looks at you, what does he see? What does he see? Does he see those stains of sin? Or can you say He bore your sins in his own body on the tree? Can you say that your sins are gone, completely gone, washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ?
I'm thankful too that I can stand with Peter and say redeemed, not with corruptible things as silver and gold.
But with the precious blood of Christ.
Perhaps I've mentioned this before, but just a few weeks ago I was back in Guyana, South America.
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It's one of those countries that has a dollar that is absolutely worthless.
It's a dollar where they knock a few zeros off the end of it once in a while so that it brings it back into some sort of line or reason.
We would go every morning and exchange money. I would take 150 or $200 US, depending on what we were going to be doing that day and what I felt we'd need it we'd need.
I take that money to the money changer and.
The brother who had the contact, he would go into the money changer and he would take my 150 or $200 US and he would literally come out with a box of money.
And the the value of the money today wasn't necessarily the value of the money tomorrow. You know, money changes in value. Even gold and silver change in value. And if we were to go to the newspaper on Monday morning and check the value of gold and silver as well as money, the your the euro against the US dollar and the Canadian dollar and the Japanese yen, we might find that they'll be very different than they were when the markets opened last Monday.
Or even when they closed on Friday. Money changes. Gold and silver changes in value. And perhaps you're more aware of it in a country where it changes sometimes every hour. But I'm thankful that I'm redeemed, not with something that changes in value, but I'm redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. And that blood is as valuable to the heart of God today as it was when it was shared at Calvary's Cross.
I know we've often, but I want to stress the value of the blood of Christ tonight. And I know we've often gone in our minds eye to that scene at Calvary where the Lord Jesus after those hours of darkness. And maybe I'll just say this as we pass by, there was part of the work that no one beheld. The Lord Jesus was shrouded in darkness by God for three hours when he bore my sins in his own body on the tree, when God took up the question of sin, when he punished His Son for my sins.
It's to me it's just as if he said that's enough and he shut man out. Man had abused the Lord Jesus for hours and hours and hours. They had reviled him. They beheld him suffering in his agony. And God said that's enough. And God shrouded the scene in darkness while he laid my sins on his sacred head.
But then later on, after the darkness was over and it was suggested that those bodies, the body of the Lord Jesus and the two malefactors that were crucified with him.
Be taken down from the cross.
We find that when the soldier came to the Lord Jesus, he had already laid down his life, because the Lord Jesus had said of his life, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. He had bowed his head and said, Father into thy hands. I commend my spirit.
And a soldier with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came throughout blood and water. And John records that he saw it. John beheld that event, He that sought their record, And his record is true. And he knoweth that he saith true, that she might believe. Do you believe that? Do you believe that the blood of Jesus was shed? And it says, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanses us from all.
Sin I have never been to Evergreen Cemetery near New York City, but I am told that there is a large monument in that cemetery.
That has one word on it, the word forgiven. You know, that's enough.
Because it's through that blood that we have the forgiveness of sins.
And there are so many buried in graveyards around this world who are absent from the body and present with the Lord because the blood of Jesus.
Has cleansed them from every stain of sin.
I had the privilege recently of taking a funeral of a brother who was very dear to my heart.
A brother who is absent from the body and present with the Lord.
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And you know, as his mind became more and more confused in the years leading up to his.
Passing on out of this scene, there was one expression that always came up in conversation.
I wanna go home.
And his mind became so confused that you weren't always sure which home he was living in the past.
You weren't always sure whether it was the home he grew up in, whether it was in Coleman, TX, or whether it was the father's house or what it was.
But you know, it didn't really matter.
And I was told just two days ago.
That when the graveyard called to see what his widow wanted put on his tombstone, she asked that these words be put on his tombstone. I thought it was so appropriate. Praise God, I'm home. Isn't that great? Praise God, I'm home. No uncertainty there. No. Well, maybe he's with the Lord. Well, I hope he was ready. No. Praise God, I'm home.
You know, we talk about those who have gone ahead as departed, and from our perspective, they have. They are. And it's certainly a scriptural expression, but, you know, they're the ones that have arrived. They're the ones that are our home, and they're there because of the work of the Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross. But what if you were to pass out of this world tonight? What if you were to draw your last breath tonight? What if the Lord Jesus were to come tonight? You know, we've been talking about.
A wonderful day, that yet future in these meetings, the day of Glory. But you know before that day dawns, there's an event going to take place that is going to impact every man and woman that has ever lived in this world. And that is what we refer to as the rapture or the second coming of Christ. The Lord Jesus is going to descend from heaven with a shout. He's going to give that shout and every believer.
Whether they're dead or alive is going to hear that shout. Everyone from righteous Abel right up to those of us who are alive and remain. And it might be before this gospel meeting is concluded. Yes, it well might be, but everyone who knows Christ as their Savior is going to hear that shout.
You know, it is a solemn thing to look into the faces of an audience like this.
So often in the course of a year I have opportunity to look into the faces.
Of those that I feel perhaps have never heard, a clear gospel message.
Many who are perhaps hearing it for the first time, and that is a very, very solemn thing. It is a very, very serious responsibility to seek, by the grace of God, to present the gospel simply and clearly to those who've never heard it, or at least never heard it clearly.
But I sometimes wonder if it isn't even more of a challenge to look into the faces of an audience like this tonight, where you have, for the most part, heard it over and over and over and over again.
Sometimes there is more indifference and more hardness in an audience like this.
Than an audience in the middle of the jungle in Guyana, South America or Trinidad or wherever it might be.
Because you've heard it so many, many times.
And in reading the story of Elijah, I've often been solemnized to realize that when Elijah was caught away to heaven in a whirlwind, a chariot of fire, it wasn't initially the general populace in Israel that missed Elijah. That was the sons of the prophets.
And I often wonder if the Lord Jesus were to come before a gospel meeting like this is over.
And so many, most, no doubt would go from this room. Would there be the sons and daughters of praying parents left behind to look around and see the empty chairs and to know exactly what had happened initially? I say initially because I believe it is just those who will be very quickly sent a strong delusion from Satan that they believe a lie. You know, that delusion isn't necessarily sent to the heathen.
It's sent to those who have known the truth, but because they receive not the love of the truth, they're sent.
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A strong delusion that they might believe a lie, you say? How could that be?
Well, God will make sure it happens. In that solemn to think about, you'll look around initially. You'll know what has happened, like the sons of the prophets missing Elijah. And then it won't be very long until this lie is propagated. And you will actually swallow that lie. You will believe that lie. That's why we're serious tonight in the presentation of the gospel.
Let's go on to another portion in Mark's Gospel chapter 16.
Mark's Gospel, chapter 16 and verse 6. And he says unto them.
Be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified.
He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.
We have stressed the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ and that blood that was shed on Calvary's cross. But there is another very important vital element of the gospel that we want to focus on for a few moments now, and that is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. You know, when these ones that were early to the Sepulchre came, I believe they fully expected to look into the tomb and behold the dead body.
Of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they were told to come and look in the tomb, not to behold the dead body of the Lord Jesus Christ, but to behold the place where they had laid him. To see that the tomb was empty, that the Lord Jesus had bodily risen from the dead. Because if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, and ye are still in your sins.
I suppose one of the reasons that people over the centuries have tried to discredit the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Is because they don't want to deal with the fact that they are responsible.
As to him, Because as soon as they recognize that he rose from the dead.
They have to recognize that they're responsible to him as a risen man.
And they don't want to do that. But he is risen. And oh, how thankful we are that we present to you tonight.
A savior who died, yes, but a savior who is risen?
There was a man giving out some gospel tracts in a village one time, and he was going from door to door and handing out these gospel tracts and saying a little word for his savior.
And he came to the door of an elderly lady.
And ** *** answered the door, and he asked her if she wouldn't like to have.
A gospel paper concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, she said. Oh, I often look at him.
Well, he wasn't sure what she meant by that response, and so he asked her, what do you mean? I often you often look at him, She said, Come into my kitchen and I'll show you. And she took him into her kitchen, and there on the wall was a figure of the cross, with a figure hanging on that cross to represent the Lord Jesus.
And she said, You see, Sir, I often look at him, But he told her, Oh, ma'am, it's wonderful to consider the fact that the Lord Jesus died on the cross, but he's not on the cross now. And we direct people's gaze in the gospel to our risen Christ. And as he talked to her, he realized she was a believer, that she understood that the Lord Jesus had died for her on the cross.
And that she even understood that he was a risen savior. But the import of it just hadn't hit her in that way to realize that he was no longer on the cross. He had risen from the dead, and so the Lord Jesus remained on earth.
After his resurrection, and appeared to various of his own, even to about 500 of his own at one time.
To give ample and complete testimony that he had bodily risen from the dead. He didn't just leave them with an empty tomb, he left them with himself. He ate in front of them on one occasion and said, handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone as you see me have. You'll forgive the repetition of a story that's often been told, but I think it illustrates this very well. There were some missionaries, a couple of missionaries, some years ago.
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Working in one of the busy cities in India and one day they.
Were on a street in that busy city and they were startled by a large procession coming down the road.
And they asked what the all the commotion and celebration was about.
And they were told that supposedly a bone of Buddha had been found.
And they were carrying it in a box down the road. And the followers of Buddha were rejoicing that this bone of Buddha had been found.
Well, the missionaries watched this for a time and when they retired to their quarters and talked over the matter.
They were impressed with that and, as they said, what the contrast would have been in Christianity.
Because they concluded if supposedly a bone of the Lord Jesus had been found in Christianity.
It would not have caused great rejoicing amongst the Christians. It would have caused great sorrow.
Because it would have been the proof that the Lord Jesus hadn't bodily risen from the dead. But thank God, a bone of the Lord Jesus will never be found in this world. He rose bodily from the dead and I'd like to follow this out by reading a verse now in the book of Acts.
To take this just a little step further, Acts Chapter One.
And verse 9.
And when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken up in a cloud, received him.
Out of their sight, I want to stress for a few moments, not merely the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
But his bodily ascension back to the Father, You know, the resurrection, the ascension, and the glorification of Christ are God's. Amen to the work of Calvary. God has raised him from the dead and seated him at his own right hand. That's why so often we sing that old gospel hymn. There is a savior on high in the glory, a savior who suffered on Calvary's tree, a Savior as willing to save now as ever.
His arm is almighty, His love great and free. Yes, the Savior we present to you is the man Christ Jesus. Not in this world, not hanging on a cross, not in the tomb, not walking this world in resurrection, but one who is at the right hand of God. If you ever want ever doubt whether God is satisfied with the work of the Lord Jesus, just look up and see where He is now.
Seated there as the glorified man. Do you know this man?
Have you beheld the man, the man in glory? And isn't it wonderful to realize too?
That having returned to heaven with the marks of atonement on his body.
Those marks in his hands, in his feet, and in his side, which He showed on more than one occasion to His disciples in resurrection.
With the marks of atonement in his body, He's entered heaven, and the place is prepared for all those who will come in faith and receive that that offer of salvation, the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, I thrill as I think of the time when I'm going to enter the Father's house with the Lord Jesus, to be with the Lord Jesus to be in that scene of glory.
When I was in Saint Vincent a few weeks ago, the first three days I was there, I attended 3 different funerals.
The first funeral I attended was of a lady, a sister in the Lord by the name of Irma Collins.
For me it was a very touching experience. I had known Irma for many, many years.
Irma was born into this world, a cripple. Severely crippled at 8 years of age. Her parents dropped her off at what we call the poor house.
I won't even try to describe it to you tonight.
The stench, the vermin, the heat, the humidity, the filth, the grime.
If you think I'm exaggerating, just talk to brother Hans Buchanan or Caleb James. They've been there with me on more than one occasion. It was almost more than I could do to visit Irma every time I was in Saint Vincent. I don't have a weak stomach, but it was very difficult for me to go into that place. But there she was, in her corner.
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Dropped off there. She'd lived there since she was 8 years old and she passed out of this world at 75. So you do the math.
But she was a bright testimony. Her face would light up when you walked in. She'd always want you to pray. She enjoyed the scriptures and anything you could take her to read concerning the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
My own souls rebuked as I even think about it.
But I attended her funeral.
And all I could think about was that expression far better.
And I know this isn't good English, but it's the only way I can describe it.
Per Airman was more far better than most.
To go from the filth of that corner in that ward in the poor home, to the glory of the face of the Lord Jesus Christ must have been something. I know it's something for everyone. Don't misunderstand me, but all just to think of a contrast. Why is Irma in the presence of the Lord tonight? Because she had to spend most of her life in the poor house. Because she was a good person. No.
Because as a young girl, Irma in that poor house came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as her savior. She was resting on the finished work of Christ. And as I looked into that coffin and saw the peace on that body and yet knew that her spirit was with the Lord, oh, it did something to my soul that I'll never be able to explain.
The very next day, I stood up to take the funeral of an elderly sister in Dickson Village, Saint Vincent.
350 people crowded that room. In that courtyard, she had a tremendous testimony. She too had known the Lord Jesus as her savior. She was, I believe, 94 years of age.
Saved as a young woman in that village gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful in her quiet testimony and witness for all those years.
She lived with her daughter the last few years of her life, but I remember visiting her in her home, a home that might have been twice the size of this platform.
A home very unlike the home that most of us came to these meetings from or will ever live in. But oh, she was a joyful soul. She was a soul that loved the Lord Jesus, and I knew she was safe home. I could stand up and take her funeral with confidence.
The next day I attended the funeral of a man I don't think.
He's in. He's in heaven. I don't think he's with the Lord. Only God knows a young man brought up in a Christian home. His mother is gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in Camden Park. Saint Vincent. He left home and went his own way. He went off to Trinidad and he lived a wildlife, such a wildlife that it brought upon him a dreaded disease.
And a few weeks before he died.
At 29 years of age, he came home to die in his mother's house.
But his mother's not sure that he ever came to repentance.
Or put his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a contrast.
How solemn?
Some of the hardest things I've ever done is take the funerals of unbelievers. It is a very serious thing. There is no comfort. And if you pass out of this world tonight in your sins and someone stands up to take your funeral, there will be no comfort for those that are left behind. There will be warning, yes for those that are left, but no comfort.
But oh, I trust, and there are so many here who are praying at this very moment for your soul.
That before you leave this room, you will come to know the Lord Jesus as your savior.
And that you too will be looking forward to being with the Lord Jesus in the glory where He is now and where He is waiting for that moment when he's going to give that assembling shout that's going to call everyone home who has been washed in His precious blood. Let's go to Revelation Chapter One.
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Revelation, Chapter One.
And verse 7 Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him.
And they also which pierced him, and all the all kindreds of the earth, shall wail because of him Even so. Amen.
This verse has a very solemn aspect to it. This is the day when the Lord Jesus comes back in judgment.
And the heavens are going to open up someday to reveal the Lord Jesus not coming as the Savior of sinners.
Not coming in loneliness and grace, but coming in power and glory to execute judgment. And if we were to read on in this book, we would find that there are those who are going to cry for the mountains and the rocks to fall on them and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb and the face of him that sitteth upon the throne.
There's a day coming when they're going to look up and they're going to see the Lord Jesus coming.
And oh, what an awful sight it's going to be, what note of bread it's going to strike in their hearts.
But there will be no escaping. They will seek death even, but they will not be able to find it, And in the final analysis they will stand at the Great White Throne judgment.
And there they will behold the Lord Jesus not as the lamb, but as the judge, one whose sight to look upon will be awesome. It will be terrifying. And they will stand there, and they will be judged for their works, and they will be judged because they rejected or neglected. So great salvation. I trust there's nobody here.
Who's going to be left behind for this awful event? Again, the way of blessing.
Is open. Let's in contrast, notice a verse in the 17th chapter of John.
John's Gospel chapter 17 and verse 24. Father, I will.
That they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou gavest me.
For thou lovest me, before the foundation of the world, there are those, as we have said, who are going to look into the faith of the Lord Jesus as their judge.
But there are those who are going to see his glory and the desire of the Lord Jesus is to have his own.
Around himself, that they may behold his glory. His heart is going to be satisfied to have us there.
And those of us who know him and are going to be there, we're going to be satisfied. When we awaken His likeness, what a wonderful, mutual feeling of satisfaction and joy. He'll joy over us with singing. He'll be satisfied. We'll join in raising in joining in the eternal song. We'll be satisfied in His presence and will behold for all eternity his glory. Oh, what a day that's going to be, I thrill to think.
Of that day. But maybe it strikes terror in your heart. Oh, it doesn't have to tonight.
I want, in closing, to turn to one more scripture now it's in the book of the Acts.
Acts Chapter 7.
Acts Chapter 7 and verse 56.
This is Steven talking and said behold, I see heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. I'm going to take this verse a little bit out of its context at the end of the gospel meeting.
Because I want to apply it in this way.
The Lord Jesus is the Savior of sinners.
Is standing tonight, as it were, on the very threshold of heaven.
I see heaven open, and the Son of man standing, or shall I say for our purposes tonight, the Son of man standing.
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And why is he standing tonight on the threshold of heaven? He's standing to receive anyone who will come to him as a repentance center.
He's bending low over this room tonight to hear the faintest whisper of faith and repentance. He desires to receive you to himself. His arms are outstretched in love, waiting to embrace you tonight. Are you going to come as he stands on the threshold of heaven, waiting to receive you if you go out of this gospel meeting tonight, rejecting or neglecting Christ?
You're going to cause great sorrow to his heart.
His desire is to bless you. He desires your blessing far, far more.
Than any other human being, and thank God he does.
Oh, don't disappoint him.
Don't grieve his heart tonight, but if you come, there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner that repenteth.
You wanna bring joy in heaven tonight, come as a Sinner.
Repent, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Oh tonight. Behold the man. He's there in the glory. Look up by faith and behold him and take hold of what he's offering.
Eternal life. The forgiveness of sins. A happy life down here.
Not necessarily problem free, but a happy life down here.
And a blessed, a blessed and a wonderful eternity in that coming day of glory.
Something that defies and is beyond description in human language. But all tonight, all tonight, it's available. Come tonight, behold the man, let's pray our God and Father how thankful we are tonight again for the Lord Jesus, that blessed Savior.