Gospel—Tim Ruga
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Good evening and welcome to the Gospel meeting. So we all sing on our hymn sheets. Hymn #35.
Oh, what a Savior that he died for me from condemnation. He hath made me free. He that believeth on the sun saith he hath everlasting life #35.
Oh.
Oh my, Merry Christmas and I will not die.
All I can't have come happy.
And.
I'm like grinding the sun.
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OK, now we're going to pray and ask the Lord's help, but before we do, I just want to say a few words.
Something that came to my mind earlier today when we were traveling here. My wife was reading in the car and something that she read caused me to think about something else related that I had never really thought much about before.
And just to say that in terms of what may happen tonight, there is something.
That might happen tonight. That has never been true in the history of the world before, and that is tonight, this very night. It could be possible.
That there will not be one believer in the Lord Jesus Christ on earth.
Not one.
You probably figured out pretty quick if you've been hearing things that are said in groups like this along what I'm talking about. The Lord Jesus is coming and he may come at any moment, and when He does, the ones who are left here.
Well, not be believers in him, he will take all the believers home and so for a short time at least.
There will be no believers on Earth. That has never happened before.
But that's not the important thing.
The important thing is this, that it's possible that there may be one person or another in this room that would be among that group of no believers on earth.
Now after that time, we don't know how long after.
Some will believe.
Many will believe, but if you happen to be one of those ones, you will not be one of those, I believe.
That is believed savingly because I don't mean to say by this that you don't believe in anything. We all believe in something.
And that's one of the problems that we face in a meeting like this. Everybody believes in something. I was talking to a man not long ago and a brother and the Lord and we were talking about.
This fact that everybody believes in something. And I said, well, what about the atheists, the materialists, the humanists in this world?
He said, oh, they have the greatest faith of all.
So what do you mean?
He said they believe in death.
They believe in death.
They are counting, they are taking everything on this idea that when they die, it's over. There is no God, they don't have to give account, and when they die they go into nothingness and they don't have to answer for their sins.
We're going to pray, but first let's turn to Hebrews Chapter 9, verse 27, and we're going to see what God has to say about this.
And quite frankly, tonight.
If you don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, you do indeed believe in something.
But it doesn't matter what you believe.
Because the only thing that matters is what's true.
And tonight I'm going to be speaking to you. I don't know who you are.
You know, God knows.
The vast majority here, I believe, are the Lords. They're on their way to heaven.
But if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior, I am speaking to you. Hebrews 927 as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment, we will stop there because that's what I want to start out with.
This is what God has said.
Yes, there's death, and after death there's judgment. I don't know what you believe in. I don't know what your faith is. But even if you have a faith like that, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what is true.
Let's pray.
Their God and their Father, we come before thee for this hour.
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And we bring this burden to thee.
For any person in this room who may yet be in their sins, having not believed in thy Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray our God and our Father that thou would work by thy spirit.
In their hearts and minds that that would bring thy word home with power into the heart of that one they've caused them to see.
Their awful peril and caused them to understand their need of a Savior and that they would this very evening come to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. We pray for help as we continue on to open Thy word. We pray that I would make it plain here tonight and above all, that the love of a Savior would come out.
We pray and ask it in His name, Amen.
Some time ago I read a story that impressed me.
So much that I put it away, kept it for time like this, and I just want to read it today. The story, a true story from history.
And it has to do with what is on my heart to speak on tonight.
The story goes like this.
In 75 BC.
25 year old Roman nobleman was captured by Sicilian pirates who infested the Mediterranean Sea.
The Romans had never sent a Navy against these pirates because they offered the Roman senators slaves.
And they needed these slaves for their plantations in Italy, so they cooperated with the pirates. And because of this, piracy was very common there.
But here was the problem, these pirates had no idea that the man that they captured was none other than the future Lord of the Mediterranean, Julius Caesar.
1St when the pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents.
Julius Caesar burst out laughing. He said. You don't even know who it is that you've captured. He volunteered to pay 50 talents.
So then he sent his followers out to various cities cities to raise his money.
And when they left, he was there with just one friend and two servants among these Sicilian pirates who were known to be some of the most bloodthirsty and ruthless men that existed at that time.
And when he was alone or pretty near alone with them, Julius Caesar treated them so high handedly that whenever he wanted to sleep, he was sent to them and tell them to stop talking.
For 38 days, completely unconcerned, Caesar was with him. He joins in all their games and exercises, just as if he was their leader instead of their prisoner. He also wrote poems and speeches, and he read them aloud to them. He entertained them. And if they failed to admire what he wrote?
He would call them to their face illiterate savages.
And he would often laughingly threaten to have them all hang.
They were very much taken with this and attributed his freedom of speech to a kind of simplicity in his character, or a boyish a boyish playfulness.
However, the ransom arrived from Melita, and as soon as he had paid it and then set free, immediately manned some ships and set sail from the harbor of Melitus against the pirates. He found them still where they had been lying at anchor just off the island, and he captured nearly all of them.
He took their property as spoils of war, and put the men themselves into the prison at Pergamon. He then went in person to Marquez Junius, the governor of Asia, thinking of property, that he, his praetor in charge of the province, should see to the punishment of the prisoners.
Julius, however, and cast a longing eyes at the money, which came to a considerable sum, and kept saying that he needed time to look into the case, So Cesar paid no further attention to him. He went to Pergamon, took the pirates out of prison and crucified a lot of them, just as he had often told them they would do when he was on the island, and they just thought that he was joking.
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So we know Julius Caesar, but I don't know if you knew that story. I hadn't before I read this.
And this has to do with what I want to talk tonight, this idea of a ransom.
Julius Caesar.
Was a prisoner. However he may have acted among those pirates. He was a prisoner and he needed a ransom.
A ransom is a price that is paid.
To secure a release or a pardon.
And Julius Caesar was able to pay for that.
He paid the ransom and he went free.
And so this is where I want to start tonight because the fact of the matter is.
Without Christ.
You are a prisoner, and not only you are, are you a prisoner?
But before God, you owe a great debt that you cannot pay.
And then ransom needs to be paid so that you can be set free. Again, As I said before, it doesn't really matter if you don't believe that. The only thing that matters tonight is whether or not it's true. And we're going to look at the word of God. It's God's Word, It's not my word. And we're going to see what God has to say about this. And if you walk away from this meeting and say, I don't care, I'm going to keep going my own way and I'm just going to do my own thing.
Then you do it at the peril of your eternal.
Life that you've been warned.
Let's turn to start with the Psalm, chapter 49.
Psalm 49, verse 7.
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God.
A ransom for him?
For the redemption of their souls is precious, and it ceaseth forever.
This verse speaks about a ransom that God requires.
It says nobody can give that ransom.
It's not possible, but this is where we start tonight.
Our story was about pirates.
We're not talking about pirates now.
We're not talking about some unfortunate incident where you've come into bad times. We're talking about your actual situation as a person in this world and the fact that there is a God.
A God with whom you have to do. A God that you will personally answer to.
And this verse tells us that there is no one who can give a ransom for his brother.
You can't give it to God.
It says further here, the redemption of their souls is precious. It's costly. In this word, souls means life. We're talking about your life tonight.
You have a life, you can hear what I'm saying, and as long as you have that life, you have a chance.
You have a chance. You're here.
As soon as that life is gone, as we read in Hebrews Chapter 9, then that appointment from God has come.
That appointment with death and after that, there's only one thing that happens. That is judgment. God will judge you.
He will judge everyone who has not believed in his son.
Let's go and see another verse, Micah chapter 6 about this ransom.
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Say, what can I do?
Before God.
Maybe you haven't said that.
If you haven't, I hope before this meeting is over you'll come to that point.
We're gonna see why it's so important.
But we'll start right now with what this ransom is.
Verse seven. Micah 6. Verse seven. Will the Lord be pleased?
With thousands of Rams, or with 10,000 rivers of oil, shall I give the first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin?
Of my soul.
Now we're talking about why there's even a problem.
The redemption of their souls is costly.
Why? Because of sin. And the question is here, what can I do? Can I give anything to God for the sin of my soul?
Have you thought about that? Is there anything I can do to come to God?
And because of the offense that I have done to him.
Will the Lord be pleased with that?
Maybe you think yes. Many people think yes. It's another faith in this world.
They say I don't know about all those things, but I'm hoping in the end God will think that I've been good enough.
Good enough. So many people say that. Believe me my friend, good enough. It's far less than what this question is. This is someone going far further than just trying to do well enough in my life. He's saying 10,000 for thousands of Rams or 10,000 rivers of oil giving. Someone that's very precious to me, my own child, to God, for the scent of my soul. Can I do it?
It's a rhetorical question. That means the question just asked to illustrate a point. The obvious answer is no, it can't be done.
And what is the problem?
Julius Caesar laughs at the pirates.
So what do you think? 20 talents. Look at how valuable this prisoner is that you captured. I'll pay you 50 myself.
You think you can come to God that way?
You really think that you can come and give something to God?
The problem is there's no value in the object.
You have nothing to give to God.
In fact, the actual case is completely the other way around.
Your offense before God is so awful.
That you've got nothing but a debt and an awful debt that your brother can't pay. That you can give nothing for it to pay besides yourself? Forget it.
The word of God says.
That from the head top of the head of the sole to the sole of the foot, there is no soundness in it but bruises and wounds and putrefying sores. That's how God sees us as sinners, and we have nothing before him but an awful offense. That's the debt that we owe. That's the offense of our souls, the sin of our souls.
What can you give for?
Your soul we know you have is the sin of your soul to offer.
There's nothing, nothing at all that you can bring before God.
And until you come to this point where you see that yes, indeed, I am guilty before God and I've got nothing to offer, then you're still going to stay playing around with fire, with danger. You're still going to go on maybe with your friends who love the Lord Jesus pretending.
Getting other people to think that you're a Christian while inside you know you're not.
And you're gonna play that foolish, foolish game.
Because.
You haven't faced up to reality. You have some sort of a faith in something else.
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And then, in the end, it's all foolishness.
Maybe you're afraid. Maybe you're afraid of what some of your friends or other acquaintances will say.
Well, fear this. The Lord Jesus said you fear Him, that it's got the power when he's killed to put your soul and your body into hell. And when you get to hell, this is what you're going to find there. Revelation 21 tells us about the ones who are there, and it tells us.
What characterizes them? You know what the first thing is on the list.
But the fearful.
You're afraid? OK, You'll be in a place filled with people who are afraid. Is it worth it?
To go to an awful place to face that judgment just because you are afraid of what somebody might say on earth, what an awful decision to make. Second thing is unbelieving.
Abominable and so on. They'll all be there.
That's where you are.
Can you face that tonight and accept what God has said?
The Lord Jesus said about people of his day, He said, you know you, you've heard about that tower over there in Siloam and you heard about the people who were there.
And do you think, really, do you think that those people, we're centers above all men, they're worse than you and me? Well, Jesus couldn't say me, but I can't. You think those people are worse?
He said no, but I tell you, except you repent, you will all likewise perish. There are people going out of the world every day right now, today, people have died and gone to a lost eternity. And except you repent, you will likewise perish. And so this is the starting point in this meeting where we have come to preach good news of the gospel is to see first of all the bad news. And the bad news is that you and I have nothing.
Nothing to offer, nothing to bring, and that we are completely guilty and condemned before God.
And when you come to that point, then it is you're in the place where God is able to help you. Until then, you're not even listening.
Let's go to Job 33.
Get on to the good news.
Job 33, verse 24.
Then his gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit I have found.
A ransom.
Who could do that? If nobody could ever give a ransom to God, then who is this the founder ransom?
It could only be God.
This is the good news of the gospel, God has said. I'm going to be gracious to them.
Deliver.
Him from going down to the pit, I found it Ransom.
God has found the ransom.
And there was nothing that you could do. There was nothing anyone could do for you. But God can. Julius Caesar could go out and raise his own ransom, but you can't.
And now we're going to talk about someone who is remarkably different from Julius Caesar.
Julius Caesar paid the ransom.
God paid the ransom, but he did it and the person of one man.
We're going to speak about him.
Matthew, Chapter 20.
Verse 28.
The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
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Now here's a wonderful thing.
Here's someone who actually could give his life a ransom. You say, how can that be? Well, here was one who was ordained of God. God the Son came in person as a man to this earth, perfect and holy and spotless, for the express purpose of becoming the Lamb of God and going to the cross of Calvary so that he might die for sinners. He said he came to give his life a ransom for many.
And so tonight in the gospel, this is what we are proclaiming, and I'm sure you've heard it before. As I look around and I see the faces who are here, so many are, who have been to meetings like this before.
But if you have never heard it, or if you've heard it before and said I don't care, listen to it tonight as if it's your first time. Because God looked down and he saw that everyone on earth was helpless and lost in sin. And knowing that left alone that way, he would have to put everyone in hell because there was no one that could pay the debt for their sin. He sent his own son to be the ransom.
And the Lord Jesus Christ.
God the Son, whoever lived in eternity with the Father.
In perfect love.
Left the Father who sent the Son into this world, and he came down here and he humbled himself. He took on him the form of a servant so that he might walk here in this world and become that perfect sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary.
And the Lord Jesus Christ.
Having accomplished everything that his father gave him to do.
As a man on earth and went and did that one last thing and he went up to the cross.
And there on the cross of Calvary.
He allowed men that were exactly like me.
With wicked hearts exactly like mine.
And yours?
Who drives nails into his hand?
And put him on that cross and then hang him up there.
Where they mocked him and they did their absolute worst to him.
But that was not the ransom.
That did nothing to save you.
Who would you pay for the debt of yours then? Or mine?
No, there came a time there on that cross where God had to take the sun and say now it's time to stop shining.
And he drew a veil of darkness across what happened there.
And shut out the view of every single person.
And then God.
Reached out and punished Jesus Christ.
And he put all the debt.
Of my sins upon his blessed head.
He paid for me and he paid for so many who are here.
He paid that debt for everyone who will trust in him.
So that God could, say, deliver his soul from going down to the pit, For I have found a ransom.
God could not say that lightly. He couldn't just forgive it. His nature was too pure to let you just go the way you were on to the end of your life and then say, OK, forget it, come to heaven anyway.
God can't have sin in his presence, and so it all had to be paid for and put away. And the only way he could do that?
Was to cause his Son to come into this world and Jesus Christ and his love for your soul willingly get it.
He paid all the debt.
Well, where are we today?
That's the story.
God meant for us to tell it.
Let's see that again. First Timothy, chapter 2.
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First Timothy, chapter 2.
And 1St.
Three, the end of the verse is God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man and man the man Christ Jesus.
Who gave himself a ransom for all?
To be testified in due time, we're unto I am appointed a preacher.
I was asked to preach to you tonight.
And so we have this privilege of doing what God has ordained.
To be testified in due time. Due time is now. The Lord Jesus has come and he's done it and there's still time. You're alive. And so this is that due time. And we preach the Savior.
We preach one who gave himself.
A ransom here, as it says for all. Why does it say that?
Because this message is going out freely to every single one who can hear it. It is not limited.
If you can hear what I'm saying, you can accept it.
Why did the Lord Jesus say that He came to give his life a ransom for many?
Why?
Think about it.
God offers you this freely tonight. You can receive it at no cost to yourself.
Why did the Lord Jesus say He came to be a ransom for many?
We'll answer that question in a minute.
But right now, we're preaching.
That he gave himself a ransom for all.
And so if you can hear what I'm saying, you can accept this. It says in John chapter one and verse 12.
As many as received Him, to them gave he the power, or the right, or the authority to become the children of God.
Will you receive him?
Simply by faith tonight. If you do, then He gives you that right to become his child.
Many has received the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself said, John 316 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Whoever believeth in him is that simple. You could never pay that ransom.
Think about it my friend.
Julius Caesar, who is a mighty powerful man. He laughed at the small ransom that was being asked for him, and he paid a much greater one. You have nothing to offer.
But what is our story about?
One who is infinitely greater.
Saint Julius Caesar.
Came down into this world.
And became that ransom for you.
Oh, there couldn't be a greater difference in these stories.
The story we're telling tonight is the greatest story ever told, or everywhere ever will be told. You walk away from it. It will haunt you also for eternity. You accept it. It will be your joy for eternity.
Men enjoy trivialities. That's stories that we told was interesting, but compared to this story that we're telling here, it's triviality. There's nothing to it.
Unless you take care of this question, you're wasting your time.
And so we find that the Lord Jesus Christ gave up everything to pay your ransom.
And we preach that tonight. One further thing I wanna say before we discuss again that difference between many and all.
Let's go and see something else the Lord Jesus said in John chapter 8.
John, Chapter 8.
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Verse 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
If you haven't believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are not free, Then you have no possibility of being free except by this one means. And that is the truth of the Gospel which we have preached tonight. It's your only chance.
There is no other way.
Verse 36.
If the Son therefore shall make you free.
You shall be free indeed.
You accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
By believing in him tonight.
Turning in faith and repentance to him and saying there's nothing I can do Lord Jesus, I simply accept that work that you did for me on Calvary's cross and I believe in you.
You come to him just that way, right now, while you're sitting in your seat.
And the Sun will set you free. And if he sets you free, you are free, indeed completely free right now.
I have No Fear before God and I know the vast majority in this room have No Fear before God. We have been set free.
By the authority of God's Word, he cannot deny himself.
We are perfectly free and you can be tonight as well. Now let's go to Job Chapter 36 for one.
Final first.
Verse 18.
We'll end this meeting where we began it.
Because there is wrath. Beware, lest he take thee away with his stroke.
Then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
Solemn words.
God also has the power over your life.
He decides how long you have.
And he is not cruel, he's a loving God.
But in his patience, he knows when time is time enough.
And he has given you enough time to hear these words tonight.
Beware.
Because there is wrath. Beware unless he takes thee away. The wrath of God is real. Hell is real, the judgment is real. The Lord Jesus spoke about that torment that would be in hell, and he spoke about it as being never ending.
Where the worms dieth not and the fire is not quenched. I can't speak of anything more awful. There are people who say you shouldn't get up and speak in front of people like this because you can't scare people into having. And that's true, we can't.
But if I could, I would be muddy tempted to do it.
The apostle Paul said, Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade man.
It's an awful thing.
Hell is real. There is wrath.
Says beware, let's see, take thee away with this stroke. And when God does that, the opportunity is over.
He says then a great ransom cannot deliver thee, it's over. God himself can't help you. Then he too is found by his word. He will not go back on it.
Your time is now. It isn't even later tonight. It's right now.
Don't even let this meeting end before you've taken care of this problem. The problem of your soul and what you're going to give to God is a ransom for it.
And just confess that there's nothing that you can and accept the ransom that God has provided.
Will you do it?
If so, the sun will set you free, and you will be free indeed. Let's close by singing #36.
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Oh, do not let the word depart.
Why not tonight? That would be saved. Why not tonight?
Hold.
Bloomington, IL.
This is prayer, our God and our Father. We just commit this message to the.
And we would just close this meeting and ask thee again to bring it home with force and power to any who are still lost.
We just pray above all that the Lord Jesus would have received glory here tonight and that others would be brought into blessing. We thank Thee so much for thy love and for the love of the Savior as we commit this time to Thee in His most precious and worthy name. Amen.