Gospel—N. Berry
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Well, it is our joy to be able to speak of the gospel, of the grace of the glory of God.
Not so much to bring before you, dear friend here tonight your condition that would be if you turned to God or to the Lord Jesus Christ, but rather to look at this glorious message.
As coming from God himself, this message of grace.
Has come to this earth because of what God is.
He has sent his beloved son down in Greece to meet our needs. But oh, what a story this is that we tell tonight, and we just trust that each one here will realize the solemnity of this hour that is before us if we're left here.
Now I want to speak of the facts of this gospel, of the grace of the glory of God, the facts of the gospel. And there are a number of points of the help of the Lord that we might turn to the Scriptures, that we might turn to to see from the living word of God the message that He has for each one here tonight.
Just trust as I look into your faces tonight, that your thoughts might be centered not on me, but on on that blessed one that I want to point to tonight, the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And secondly, that there might be awakened in you that conscience, that you have a God-given conscience of your responsibility as you sit here tonight.
To a holy God, you have a responsibility.
With God's help, you're going to hear this message, but with the hearing of it, you're going to be that much more responsible for having come in here tonight. Now we might turn to the word of God, and we're going to look at some different facts.
1St is this that God loves you.
God loves you. I believe that this is a very hard thing to realize as you might sit here tonight.
God loves you.
I visited down in Nova Scotia one time with a brother that had been very long in the service of the Lord and we were going from house to house visiting and we went to one particular house and outside the door I said to this brother, what do we say to the people inside that house? And he said tell them that God loves them.
Now in contrast with that, there was a young man that came to know the Lord in our city and he had just been saved about a year and he was at our table and his sister was coming to the house to visit unsaved girl. And we were saying, and I said to him, what will we tell her? And this young man said tell her that God loves her. Well, I thought that was a nice testimony from 2 ends of the scale.
An old one that had been many years on the road and he had the same message as that young brother.
God loves you. Let's look at the verse that tells us this John's Gospel, chapter 3.
Well known verse.
16 verse Just a few words from it.
For God.
So loved the world.
What a.
Message This is I remember hearing of a man who had spent many, many years in China, and he had preached the gospel in those years, and he came back to his home and someone heard him walking up and down as he meditated. And these are the words he said.
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God so loved the world.
Oh dear friend, tonight if this can only burn into your heart.
That God the Creator loves you. Individually, He loves you. My dear friend, God loves you. This is of paramount importance for you to realize. First of all, God loves you.
God so loved the world. Oh, the immensity of it. Just think of it, dear friend. God loves this world. What a sight he must see as he looks into the world tonight. God loves this world. He loves you, my dear friend, with that love that we're going to read off in a little while, He loves you. That's the first thing now.
There's another thing God knows you. This is the second point God knows you. Let's turn to the book of Amos, a little book in the Old Testament.
5.
Now these are very important facts, a dear friend that you need to get a hold of. This is a fact. That's the word of God, and it's a message to you first that God loves you, but now he knows you. I don't know many here, but God knows you. And these are the words that God says in the book of Amos, chapter 5.
And verse 12.
For I know.
Your manifold transgressions and.
Your mighty sins. Now it's not very often that God uses that term. I don't know of any other in connection with sin, But oh, my dear friend, I want to make you cause you to realize with this God's help, that in God's sight those sins.
That you and I have committed in his sight they.
Are mighty oh, if you and I could only realize.
What sin is in the sight of a holy God? It has been said that if I realized what how serious sin is in the sight of God and I committed a sin, I'd be sick all day. This just gives us a little idea of what this verse means.
God knows he knows about every sin that you have committed. Oh, I often think as I speak to older people and to young children, I find that the children are more concerned about this fact than older ones. Why would that be?
Believe it's this because of the hardness of sin, that it even hardens the conscience.
So that as a person gets older, there's a less of a consciousness of sins, and of the seriousness of it. Now here God tells you, my dear friend, and he tells me this message to that he knows I know your manifold transgressions.
And your mighty sins. Now let's turn to one other little portion in the 11 of Ezekiel just before that.
11Th chapter of Ezekiel.
Now this is just a little bit more advanced than the previous one.
Ezekiel, Chapter 11.
And verse 5.
Middle of the verse Ezekiel 11 in the middle of verse 5.
For I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. My dear friend, as I look into your face tonight, I want to warn you solemnly be in God's presence.
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That God knows every evil thought that has ever come into your mind. He says so here.
Says.
It tells us in the 4th chapter of Hebrews that everyone is naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. My friend, I want to warn you that the word of God tells you that every act, every thought and every deed that you have committed is against God, as we heard this afternoon, against thee. And the only have I sinned.
Said David, my friend, Those sins that you have committed, they are recorded in God's book.
And there they are. And if you die with those sins, on you, my friend.
Or how I tremble to say this, you are going to stand before God in your sins.
You are going to stand when there is no earth. It's gone.
When there is no light, it's darkness and you're going to stand alone. You might laugh about this sometimes. Speaking on the street, I watch the faces of people and I see them laughing at the at the word sin. But Oh dear friend, it's no laughing matter. You're going to stand alone. The earth fled away.
From the face of the Savior. And there he's going to open the book that contains the list of your sins, and you're going to be judged for every sin that you have ever committed in your life. God knows every one of them. They're recorded in his book. Oh, my friend, I want to. I don't want to be emotional about this, but I want to warn you solemnly that you're going to stand before God someday. The Russian man that went out into space, he said that he didn't see God out there.
Oh, the word of God tells me that if he dies without Christ, he's going to see God in space.
So will you.
That's the second fact, my dear friend, that I want to bring before you, you young boys and girls. Here you may hide the sins from your father or your mother, your brothers and your sisters, but they're not hidden from God. They're known, every one of them. Everything is naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do second thing. That is that God knows all about you.
Now the third one.
And that is this, that you have an appointment with God. Let's turn to the book of the Acts.
Chapter 17 of the book of the Acts.
Verse 31.
Acts 17 verse 31.
Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world. That's the world that God loves.
Which?
Judge the world in righteousness.
By that man the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Now here's an appointment, as has often been said, that you cannot avoid.
You may have your own thoughts about this, many thoughts you might have, but oh, my friend, I want to tell you again that the word of God tells us tells you that there is an appointment.
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And not only so, but it's a day. A day God has set that day, that day. Or just think of it, dear friends, a day is appointed and you are appointed for that day.
If you die with your sins on you, the place is appointed.
It's out in space.
Black Darkness, Let's turn to it. Revelation.
I want to show you from the word of God.
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 wasn't 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 death and the grave are held delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works, 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.
Oh dear friend.
Though these words burn into your heart and your conscience tonight. Do you say I'll escape some way? Oh, my friend, it's God that is warning you. You have that appointment with him and that nothing will stop. You might miss appointments on this earth. Very important appointments.
But you're not going to miss this one. I want to warn you. God loves you. And secondly, God knows all about you. And thirdly, there is an appointment for you.
The day is appointed, The judge is appointed even. Who is that one, that man who he has raised from the dead? That is the judge the none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
God, beloved Son, he is going to be the judge. Are you going to stand there, my friend? Oh, what an awful thought as I look into this audience tonight. And I think that there might be somebody here that will be that you are sitting here at this moment and that you alone will be standing before the blessed Lord Jesus Christ and to meet him as a judge.
Oh, what a son.
What a thought.
The appointment is set. The judge is set. The place is set. The circumstances are set. The books are there. Nothing is missing as far as God is concerned, and you won't be either. You're going to be there. I don't want to sing. I don't have anyone in mind when I speak of you.
In particular, but I just want to tell you this that if.
You do not know the Lord is your savior. This is what is going to happen. People say we don't know the future. Oh yes, we do. We have the word of God. They laugh at the word of God, or they can laugh all they wish. The student in Montreal, he had a newspaper under his hand and we were preaching the gospel one night. And I walked over him to talk to him and he said what you've got under your hand is the same as what I've got under my hand.
Under my arm. And I looked to see what he had and he had a newspaper and I had the Bible. He said, you, you don't know anything more from that, but you booked that you've got than the newspaper that I have. Oh, my dear friend, are you under that illusion, that delusion of Satan, that God hasn't got a book of truth? Who he has? Yes, he has. The appointment is set forth.
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Oh, this is wonderful.
God loves you.
God knows all about you.
God has an appointment.
Now I have a lovely message to tell you.
Love gave.
Love gig or isn't that wonderful?
Love has given. The very first time that love is mentioned in the word of God is in the 22nd chapter of Genesis. We won't turn to it, but there was a man by the name of Abraham who had a son that he loved, and he was asked to give that son on an altar.
In a sacrifice to God.
He didn't give his son he was willing to.
But he didn't. But all I want to tell you now is we turn back to that third chapter of John's Gospel and we see what love gave.
John's Gospel chapter 3.
Now we go on in the 16th verse.
For God.
So loved.
The world.
That he gave.
His only.
Begotten son, this is the measure of the love of God. Do you get this, my dear friend? Tonight this is how we measure divine love. Here is the apex of that love, as it were. Here is love rising up to its very height, that God who knows you who loves you.
Who has that appointment with you if you die with it? Christ, God tells you tonight.
On this evening that he has given a Savior for you, He so loved you, my dear friend, that he has given his beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is, you might say, Well, that's the whole world. What about Galatians 2 and 20? We won't turn to it. I'll quote it to you, the Son of God who loved me. Oh, isn't that a contrast to the world, The world in all its immensity? Tremendous numbers of people coming right down to 1 Little person, you and me.
God.
So loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
How could I say those words with any feeling, how little I grasp, but I must confess but all to think, that God so loved me that he gave his only Son to die on that cross of Calvary.
Oh, dear friend, this is the love that God offers to you tonight. It's love. Love always gives, and love has given, He's given. God has given the darling of His heart. He has spared that blessed one from His side. The blessed Savior has come down to this earth and lived here in absolute obedience.
And holiness and sinlessness before his God and Father, and has offered himself as a sacrifice for your sins. You may never have heard the gospel before. I was speaking to a man the other day, and he said I'd heard the Bible preached for many, many years. But I heard once in in later life that God loved me. Oh, dear friend, does this fall on your ear tonight?
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For the first time, God loved you and He has given us.
Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. And there on that cross of Calvary, the blessed Savior allowed himself to be nailed to that cross in love to your soul that shall go on and on and on in throughout eternity.
But I cannot tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins unless you are willing to take that place tonight as a Sinner in God's sight. I can say the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I ask you this. Can you say it?
Can you bring this right down to a personal transaction with God? You must. You must.
That blessed One hanging on that cross.
Hung there in love to you.
He died.
But before he died, there were three hours of darkness.
God shut off the sun in the noonday right at its zenith. The world went dark when God punished the Lord Jesus Christ for my sins. Those sins that would have put me into hell forever. I never could pay. I never could expiate the demands of a holy God if I spent an eternity away from God.
Never could I pay that price, my dear friend.
Oh, do you realize what this though so feebly, what this must have meant for that blessed sinless one to the made sin? They made sin, and in those hours of darkness the world shut out, not being able to see this.
This these moments when judgment fell out of heaven upon that blessed one in love for your soul, Oh dear friend. And at the end of those three hours he could cry out with a loud voice. It is finished. Three words triumphant message, my dear friend, that the work of redemption was being completed.
On that cross then.
That precious blood of Christ.
The blood of Christ.
That washes away those stains of sin.
The precious blood of Christ was shed from that cross. That alone can wash away your sins.
Let's turn to a verse that tells us this Hebrews Chapter 9.
Verse 22.
Hebrews 9 latter part of verse 22.
Without shedding of blood is no remission. Now this is a fact, dear friend, that God says that God gives us. It's a fact that those sins of yours are going to be paid for by your death, by your being. Castaway. From God's presence, the word cast is used almost.
Each time.
That the person is being referred to as put into hell. It's not put there. It's cast, or an awful word cast away from God's presence. There is only one way that those sins of yours can be paid for, and that is by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or as I said, you will pay for them yourself. It's as simple as that. Not because God doesn't love you, but because you would not take this gift that He offers you this night.
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Oh friend.
Do you realize this is this message getting into your heart? It's not a sermon I'm preaching. I trust that you're getting this message that God is giving you these facts.
That the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ alone can wash away your sins. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Let's turn to another verse that makes it very plain, The First Epistle of John Chapter One.
The end of verse 7.
And the blood. This is a fact, dear friend. This is a fact. This is the inspired word of God. Listen to it. Not what I say. It's what God is saying to you tonight. Or get this message, friend. Get it. It's vital for you. It's maybe the last time you're ever going to hear it. Get it, Get it.
God is speaking to you tonight.
The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanse of us from all sin. What a glorious fact that is.
Oh, I well remember the day that I yielded my heart to the blessed Savior. This was the verse that came right before says. That faithful man pointed me to a Savior, and I took him as my own, the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son.
Cleanseth us from all sin. He said that verse many, many times I had the privilege to speak at his funeral, and I reminded those who of his family who for many, many years had quoted this verse. I want to quota to you once more, dear friend. There it is.
The blood of Jesus Christ his Son.
Cleanse us from all sin. Every vestige of sin, every stain of sin, can be washed away from that book of recordings in heaven by the blood of Jesus Christ and nothing else. Will you avail yourself of this offer tonight that God is giving to you?
That if you will take this blessed Savior, there is forgiveness of sins for you every sin. It's every, all, ALL, every sin that you have committed, you young boys and girls that are here tonight.
The older ones maybe all getting on into 40506070 years of age.
Oh, what about those sins? The blood of Jesus Christ is able to wash those sins away. Will you accept this savior tonight?
The blessed Savior died. That is a fact that God tells us he died. He didn't go into any trance as they tried to say, Oh no, my dear friend, he died. But that's not the end of the story.
He lives. He lives.
We were one time visiting with our brethren in Italy and we were going over to to Spain and we the plane. We had to change planes in Rome and we had an hour or two and people had often spoken about the glories of Rome. And I said to Miss Barry who I will take an hour and we will get a taxi driver to take us to all the spots that he thinks are the most important.
In the city of Rome. And we did, and we took a whirlwind trip around the city, and we saw all that he considered as the most important points on the city of Rome. And when we got finished, I said to Mrs. Berry, every one of these things that he has pointed to remind us of death. Every one of those people, those great monuments and so on, They're all the celebration of some death.
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Not a word about life. Oh dear friend, I point you to a living savior. Tonight we sang that beautiful hymn written by Mr. EB Hart. There is a savior on high in the glory. Oh, glorious fact, my dear friends, that Jesus lives. He lives in heaven tonight. Where is heaven? I don't know.
But I know that a man is sitting up there in heaven tonight, my Savior.
My Savior God, He died on the cross. He shed his precious blood to Washington. My sins away. And I stand here before you tonight cleanse by those by that precious blood. God has raised him from the dead. If he still is in his grave, there's no salvation for any one of us. Not one soul tonight will ever be in glory if the Lord Jesus Christ didn't rise from the dead.
15th chapter First Corinthians tells us this that if Christ be not risen from the dead, you are yet in your sins. Everyone in this audience tonight you are either in your sins tonight. Here as you sit, Oh dear friend, where do you stand?
Have you put your trust? Are you believing in a risen savior? Oh, isn't that wonderful to know that that savior is alive now?
In that lovely story about Joseph.
When?
He was made known to his brothers.
He told them to go back, told them to make haste and go back.
He told them what to say as they went back. He told them to tell his father of his glory in Egypt, that he was the governor of Egypt. They went back. They burst into their father's presence and they didn't do what they were told. They didn't tell that story of the of Joseph's glory. They gave this message. Joseph is yet alive.
Oh, wasn't that a beautiful message to give to their aging father and broken hearted one too. Joseph is yet alive. But oh, I've got a more glorious message to tell you tonight, dear friends, you boys and girls, you older ones that are here, you teenagers. Oh, it's a glorious message that the Lord Jesus Christ lives. He lives.
One more fact.
John's Gospel chapter 3.
Last verse.
36th verse of the third chapter of John's Gospel.
Now this is not the means of salvation.
Safety, certainty, and enjoyment, That excellent little booklet that has stood the test of time for many years, brings this glorious fact before us. It's the blood of Jesus Christ that makes us safe.
That's what the blood of Christ does. It cleanses from all sin.
That doesn't make me sure.
I can be saved. I can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and not be sure, and there might be some person here tonight who is that way. I visited a a sister, a woman in Montreal just a little while ago, and she was a believer, but I asked her about any confidence that she had that she's going to be with the Lord and she said no. I hope so, or you might be hoping so if you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you tonight.
Have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the blood that he shed on the cross. You're saved, but you may not be sure of it. Now. This verse can make you sure. God wants you to be sure. As I said, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ makes me safe forever. The word of God makes me sure. And if you want to be sure tonight?
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Listen to this verse John's Gospel chapter 3, verse 36. He.
That believeth on the sun. Or isn't that simple? Isn't that simple He that believeth individual she Oh, yes, but it Is it the world now? No, it's the individual. You, my dear friend, you.
He that believe us on the sun.
Who is that? The Lord Jesus Christ believes in the heart? Oh yes, sincerely, yes. Not with the head, with the heart.
Often tell the story. Being in Jerusalem one time saw two people.
I saw two people in the same day.
One of them in the very heart of Jerusalem, was with his face in the mud, in the dirt. He was lying. He was kneeling down, and his face was right in the dirt, right in the heart of Jerusalem, right beside the temple grounds. And I looked in amazement to find what he was doing, and he was worshipping an idol. There he was.
We were the same day over on the Mount of Olives and there was a little Arab boy and we spoke to him and we asked him about the city of Jerusalem, if that was the city of Jesus, and he said yes.
I said to him, there are many ways of knowing about Jesus, and he said, yes, there are. And he pulled back his little white robe, and he pointed to his heart, and he said, I have Jesus right in here, not up here. In here, standing on the Mount of Olives, there was a little boy that was trusting in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was sure that he had eternal life.
And there was a man kneeling down to a dead idol, my friend, which describes you.
Are you kneeling down before the idols of this world? Wherever it might, whatever it might be, might be quite harmless. It might be horrible because they're coming in like a flood these days, and Satan is trying to delude men and women, boys and girls.
By all the poison of these last days, my dear friend.
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are bowing down to an idol, whatever it might be. Oh, bow the heart to Jesus tonight. Bow the heart the last fact.
He's coming back.
Coming back?
I asked that little Arab boy, I said, is he ever going to come back again? What is the date when Jesus comes back? And he looked at me in amazement and he said nobody knows. And then he looked up into the sky and it was a Starlight night and he said maybe tonight.
Oh, my dear friend. That little boy was looking for a savior to come. He's coming, my friends.
Oh yes. And he's only going to come once. There's not going to be any warning. You're getting the warning tonight. Here it is. He's coming back.
He's going to come in the clouds and he's going to give one shout for Thessalonians 4 and he's going to call everyone. No, no, he's going to call. If he comes, it's 25 past eight. If he comes at 8:30, this room is going to be cleared of everyone who has put your trust in the Savior. And if you have not, my friend.
Be warned that you're going to be left here, sitting in this seat.
I often tell that nothing filled my own heart with more horror and more fear as I used to sit her in the gospel meetings and look around. And I remember one time looking and not finding one person that I knew was not saved. I believe that they were all saved. And the man was speaking about the Lord coming. And I said to myself, I'm going to be left behind. Oh dear young boys and girls, are you going to be left behind of the Lord Jesus Christ comes tonight. He's coming.
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Oh yes, be wise. He has come to this earth. If he had never come before, we might say, well, how do we know? We've never seen God? Oh dear friend, He has been here. God has visited this earth, and the Lord Jesus Christ is coming.
And when he comes, if one shout, he's going to call, he's going to lift out of the graves and those who are alive, everyone who has put their trust in him.
Are you going to go?
Are you going to go?
Dear boys, girls, teenagers, older ones, here, I just leave this message with you. I'm not going to try to appeal to you. I believe that is only the spirit of God that can work in your heart tonight. But oh, I pray to God that there will be somebody here whose conscience will be awakened to your awful need of a savior, and that you will simply confess to him tonight as you sit here.
That you are a Sinner. Would you do that?
We don't ask for any public demonstration. We just say realize, my dear friend, the reality of God, and you're going to stand before him and tonight.
On this evening in March, he offers you the gift of eternal life, if you will, but confess to him that you're a Sinner.
And that you will take the gift that God offers to you tonight, the Lord.
Jesus Christ, you can go to that door tonight, assured by the word of God.
That you have everlasting life. What a glorious message. May God awaken you to your need of a Savior to that awful destiny that lies ahead of you. If you die without Christ, I may never see you again.
And of God's love that offers you that Savior at such a cost, that precious blood that is able to wash away your sins tonight, if you will take him as your Savior and the blessed word of God that makes you sure that you have eternal life, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, You can go to that door tonight.
Having.
Everlasting life through the gift that God offers you.
But.
In closing that awful warning again.
If you pass out of this world with your sins still on you, that you will be raised with your sins still on you, you will stand before God the Lord Jesus Christ with your sins on you. That book will be scanned for your name, and it's not there.
Oh dear friend.
Whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. May God grant that there will not be one soul here missing when that blessed Savior comes, but that we will all be together in that glory. We're going to see the face of that blessed man that.
Died on the cross. Oh, what a moment. Awaits those who know him as savior. Maybe this very night we're going to rise triumphant out of this earth to be with that blessed one forever. Are you going to be left behind? This is the time. Or then be wise, accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior and receive eternal life? That's bound prayer.