Gospel—J. Dods
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I would like to begin the meeting tonight by asking you to sing with me.
#2 Come to Jesus gently calling ye with care and toil, oppressed with your guilt, however appalling Come, and I will give you rest for your sin. He once has suffered on the cross. The work was done, and the word by God now utter to each weary soul is come, come. The Father's house stands open with us, love and light and song.
And returning to that father, all to you may now belong.
From sin's distant land of famine, twirling Neath the midday sun, to a father's House of plenty, and a father's welcome come. Perhaps some brother could start this for us.
Jesus.
Wake up.
My heart.
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Perhaps we could open our Bibles tonight, just for a moment, to the First Epistle of John.
First Epistle of John in chapter 4.
Chapter 4.
And verse 8.
And I would like to begin the last clause of the verse.
And we read here, for God is love.
In this was manifest that the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him here in his love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Now this has been announced as a gospel meeting, and I believe that the word gospel means good news.
And I believe that we have good news to tell tonight.
And that is that God wishes to speak to you.
God wishes to communicate to the human race, but more than that, God wishes to speak to you.
It's one thing when our Prime Minister makes an address to the entire nation, but it would be another thing if the Prime Minister were to call you or myself personally and speak to us. And I believe friends tonight that the gospel is that God has something to say to you individually you.
We live in a land that calls itself Christian, but each one of us here knows that the Christian world is in confusion. And so tonight God would speak to you.
And I ask you, do you have an open ear to listen to what God would say to you?
We have read 3 words, God is love.
And you know, I believe that that's what God would tell you tonight is that he loves you.
God, the Almighty Creator, the one who gives you the breath that you breathe.
The one who created everything. He wishes to tell you that he loves you. Oh, my friend, when you stop and think about it, you may not be very old, or you may be in your youth, or you may be older, but isn't it wonderful to know that we have a communication from God? And He tells us in the communication that we have that He loves the human race and that He loves each one of us.
Personally, I can't think of anything any greater news than to tell you that that God loves you personally.
Now I know that in this room tonight there are those who can truthfully say, I know God's love, I have felt God's love, I know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. And there may be those in the room tonight who have to say, I can't really say that I know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. And so I would say tonight that it is to you that I speak. There are many who love the Lord Jesus who are certain about their salvation. And I would ask you to bear with me tonight.
While I would seek by God's grace to speak to those who cannot say that they know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, and I would like to turn to another passage in which the love of God is shown out to the human race and to an individual. So can we go now to Luke's Gospel, chapter 15? We'll return perhaps at the end of this hour to the first John chapter 3.
It's.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 15.
You know, I said that God wishes to communicate with each one of us.
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But because God is so great and mighty and we are nothing but human beings, it is difficult for God.
To communicate to us, to we who are so low. And so God came into this world in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. God has come to this world in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. And in the first chapter of John's gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ is given a name. The name is the word.
If I wish to express something to you about how I'm feeling, I use words. The Lord Jesus Christ is the expression of how God feels to you, how he feels toward you. His life, His acts, His words, they express to you, my friends, how God feels to you. And here we have a story, and the Lord Jesus himself is speaking, and he's going to tell a story which will show how God feels to each one of us.
And we read in the ninth verse and the 10th verse rather. Now remember, this is the Lord Jesus speaking, and he was the very God. And he says, likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth. And he said, a certain man had two sons, and the younger them said to his Father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided onto them his living.
And not many days after the younger son gathered altogether and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there rose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country. And he sent him into the fields to feed swine, and he would feign have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said.
How many hired servants of my father's have bred enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger?
I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.
And I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants.
And he arose and came to his Father. But when he was yet a great way off, his Father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the sun said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and I'm no more worthy to be called thy Son. But the Father said to his servant.
But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
And bring hit her the fatted calf, and kill it. And let us eat and be merry for this. My son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found, and they began to be married.
Now, I'd just like to draw your attention to a few things that this Scripture tells us. And again, I would say that I believe that the Lord Jesus is showing us the heart of God. He's showing us what God thinks of those who are sinners. Let us begin with verse 12, and then perhaps we'll return to verse 10 later.
Their two sons and one of these sons said to the father, Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
I believe that what the Lord Jesus is saying to us there is this.
You, my friend, are not satisfied. You're not content. You're looking for something. This young man said give me. Why did he say give me? Because he wasn't satisfied with what he had.
Now my friend, is that true of you?
Is it possible that you are not satisfied? Perhaps you're not willing to admit that you really are not satisfied, but you know, some of the greatest men in the world have had to admit that they weren't satisfied.
There was a well known businessman in Canada.
And he had everything that he could want. And his biographer says of him, he gives the appearance. He gave the appearance of a man who had everything but still lacked, still lacked. And he seemed to know it too. So my friends, if you're still in your sins, if you haven't had a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, I suggest to you that God is saying to you.
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You're lacking and you know it.
There's something that you need, Oh my friend, God is your creator and you can never be satisfied. You can never be satisfied until you're in tune with him, until you have a relationship with him. And so you may look for that which satisfies this young man said, give me. And so his father gave it to him. And then we read in verse 13. And not many days after, the younger son gathered altogether and took his journey into a far country.
Saw the young man leaves now and he goes at a distance from his father, and that is just like you.
You are at a distance from God, your Father, and when we opened this meeting tonight, we opened it with two hymns. It began with come because the God that you have gone away from is deckening to you and saying, come, I've got something to give you. He's beckoning to you and saying come, I can satisfy. I can fill that longing in your heart. I can supply what is missing.
But you're in the far country. You're at a distance from God.
Oh, my friend, at a distance from God, you cannot be satisfied. You may, it's as true, have some temporary pleasures. The Bible doesn't deny that. If you go your own way, if you turn your back on God, the Bible doesn't deny that there won't be pleasures for a season.
And for that's what sin is. It's to go your own way, it's to leave God out of your life. And so this young man, as it were, he said, I don't want anything more of the Father's restraint. And he went into the far country, he was at a distance from God and saw you.
So you need to come back. You need to come to God. And I would say this to the boys and girls here. First of all, you need to come to God. And God the Father loves you. He is love, and you need to come to him. Won't you come to you young people here who know the way of salvation, who have had fathers and mothers, who have told you the story of God's love over and over again, and you know it very well. Oh, I say to you, you need to come back to God.
It's time you came to him, To you perhaps who don't know the story of the gospel, of the grace of God so well. I say to you, friend, you can come back. You don't need to remain at a distance from God, but you can come right near to Him.
Let's see what happened next. This young man, he went into a far country. He got as far away, I suppose you would say, from his father as he could get. He didn't want the restraint. And perhaps there's someone in the room tonight who doesn't want the restraint of God in their lives.
Perhaps there's someone here tonight who would like to say I'm going to put God out of my life and I'll live it the way I choose. Oh, my friend, you saw you're in a far country. Your condition before God is that of a lost soul. Your condition before God is that of one who has no hope.
And I say to you, God is decking, come back from that far country tonight and be satisfied. This young man after he went into a far country, he wasted his substance with rioters living.
Now you say, there, I knew there was a catch. I haven't done that. Perhaps I have never personally accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, but I'm not such a bad person. But my friend, how do you think this young man's father felt when he walked out and closed the door behind him? Didn't the father feel that there was a distance between himself and his son? And it may be that you have not gone into the depths of sin that others have. It may be that we can't say about you that you're wasting your.
Substance in rioters living.
But if there's a distance between you and God, God still beckons you to come. And you need to come. As I say, when the door was closed, there was a wall that went up between the Father and the Son. And if you're at any distance from God at all, you need to come back to God. And so God invites you tonight. God invites everyone in the room to come back to him. And that's what this story is about to show.
Now it is true that perhaps there's no one here who has wasted his substance and riders living in the same way that this young man has.
But on the other hand, perhaps there is someone who has. But I'd just like to say to you that it doesn't matter. God loves each one of you. The Lord Jesus stood there, went to that man who was out of his mind. He was running among the tombs, naked and unclothed because sin had brought him so low.
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And the Lord Jesus said it tells us in the Scripture that the Lord Jesus had compassion on him. An old friend. It might be that there's someone here who has gone into the depths of sin and feels that God doesn't care about you. Let me say to you, God loves you. God loves you, and he would delight to show you his love. He would delight to make you feel the warmth of his love. Would you come to him? Then? There may be someone here tonight who says well.
I'm not so bad.
I haven't gone in the depths of sin. I have sin. But you know, if you go through the Gospels, when the Lord Jesus was on this earth, we read over and over again that he had compassion on the multitudes. So it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you're like. The Lord Jesus loves you. God loves you, and he wants you to come back.
This young man was soon to discover.
That he was away from the Father.
He was to discover that the substance that he had was gone. He had wasted. It isn't that sad when we waste, when you are wasting what God has given you. Perhaps you have an intellect that is not being used for God. Perhaps you have a voice that is being wasted, not being used for God. Perhaps you have looks not being used for God.
Perhaps, friend, you have money.
That's not being used for God. Well then God can say you're wasting your substance. You're leaving God out of your life. And the Bible says the fool has said in his heart there is no God. Oh my friend, that doesn't mean that you go around saying I don't believe in the existence of God. No, that means that in your every day-to-day actions you don't show any acceptance of the fact that God is any place in your life.
And so, friends, tonight I ask you, are you wasting your living?
This young man found that he came to the end of the enjoyment he had a pleasure which lasted for a season. And could it be that in the room tonight there's someone who is coming to realize that some of the pleasures that you thought were so great weren't quite what they were supposed to be? Could it be that you're starting to wonder, Isn't there something else to life?
As a teacher, I find many students who say to me, there must be something more than this.
I thank God that there is something more than this. But friend, you must realize that the things which are seen.
Are temporal. When you look around and see the pleasures of this earth, when you look around and see others having a good time, you must realize that those things are temporal. That is, they're going to pass away. And if the pleasures that you are enjoying pass away, what will you enjoy then? What will you have then?
The things which are not seen are eternal, and I say things like your relationship with God that cannot be seen, but those things are eternal. In the Bible, sometimes the word eternal and real are interchanged and it tells us in First Timothy chapter 6 to lay hold on that which is real life.
To lay hold on that which is really life, what is really life, I say to you, friend.
It is knowing that the world can give you nothing, the pleasures that the world offers are no good to you and then you. It is knowing that there is something that is lasting, that there is a God who loves you and a God who cares for you.
And saw this young man, he finds that he has nothing now and there's a famine in the land.
And he is now in despair. And so he goes to feed some pigs.
That's not a very high calling in life to feed pigs, I suppose, especially under the circumstances in which he went. Because he was forced to go. He had no other way of making a living. He had no other source of enjoyment. He had nothing to satisfy them at all. So there he is now with the pigs.
And he doesn't enjoy this. And you know, I believe that every day I meet people who, as far as their spiritual life is concerned, they are feeding the pigs. They are about as low as they can go.
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And so, friends, God sometimes allows human beings to go pretty low.
But this young man, it says here, when he came to himself.
Oh, I would to God that each one of you here in the room tonight would come to yourself. He began to think. He knew what his father's house was like. He knew about the food back in that home. He knew about the love. And he began to think, how much do you know about God's love? Or if it's only the very smallest bit, you know, And I can tell you that it's far better than anything that you can find in this world.
I say again that to have a right relationship with God is far better than any pleasure that you can find in this world.
This young man knew about his father's house, and so he began to think.
He began to puzzle in his mind. Wasn't it better off there than where I am now?
I said to a young man, a young electrical engineering student, a few months ago. I said, Kenneth, why do you not get things right with God in your life?
And his answer was very honest. He said I know how to get things right with God. It's a matter of whether I wish to or not. He was honest. He knew.
Away and it may be friends that there are some in the room who do not really know the way we trust that we can point you to that way. We're not talking now, but joining a religion. We're not talking about joining a church, but we're talking about coming to God, having a right relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. Well, this man, young man here he arises, it says.
It goes over all that he thinks, and then it says in verse 18, I will arise and go to my father's house.
And he starts to think up a story that he'll tell his father. You see, he's not too sure whether his father is going to receive him back or not.
And it may be, friends, that you do feel, in a sense, your sin and your emptiness. The Bible says you should. It says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And so it may be that you feel that, but you're not just too sure how God would receive you.
This young fellow wasn't sure how he would be received and so he started with a story that he would tell his father.
It reminds me of a story that I heard and I've had it confirmed to be true. There was a group of university students traveling on a train. Exams were over and they were on their way home and they were feeling pretty good and they got on the train and there were a few other people on the train who weren't with them. But because of the merriment and found that they were having, most of the people started to join in with them and sing along with their songs and so on.
But there was one man who didn't even accept, didn't give any recognition of the fact that he knew they were there. And so they decided, we're going to talk to this fellow. We're going to make him laugh too. We're going to have some fun with this fellow. So they started to talk to him and they started to try to feel him out a little bit. And they discovered a sad story. The man had just been released from prison, and he had spent, I believe it was 10 years in prison.
And now he was on his way.
Home, at least he hoped. He was on his way home, hadn't heard from his wife for a while, so he'd sent her along a letter saying I'm on my way home. I don't know whether you want me back or not, but I'm coming. And if you want me back, there's a tree out behind our house from which which I can see on the rail on the train. And if you want me back, you hang a red flag on the tree and I'll get off at the station and come home. But if you don't wish for me to come back.
Why then I'll just keep on going. You don't put up the flag and I won't.
Get off. And, you know, these university students, they were touched by this. And so they said, well, we're going to watch to see whether the flag is on the tree. And the gentleman said, please do. He said, I can't, I can't bear it. I'll just sit here and you just let me know if the flag is on the tree. And so as the train went on, the suspension became a little greater. And as they rounded the corner, there was a tree completely covered in red. Oh, his wife wanted him back. And she showed it by completely covering that tree.
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And so I'm told that in that train car, there was one big cheer went up. And Fran, that's just like God. He's waiting for you. If you're doubting whether God would have you to come to him, why, friends, he's waiting for you to come. It doesn't matter about your sin now. He wants you to come to him. The red flag is out. The tree is covered. And he would have you come. Oh, have you come? Would you be willing to consider coming to God? And I say again, we're not talking about joining a church. We're not talking about a religion. We're talking about coming individually, you personally dealing with God.
And so this young man came back and he had this story made-up. He wasn't too sure what his father was going to say, but it says here.
In verse 20 and he arose and came to his father. So he returns, I told you, but that other young man by the name of Kenneth that said.
It's a matter.
I told you about that other young man by the name of Kenneth that said it's a matter of whether I wish to come to the Lord or not. I know the way. I can tell you the end of that story. One Sunday morning after the Sunday morning service, he took my hand and he said I have decided.
And tears came down his face.
I believe that he was like this man. He had made-up his mind to come. He wasn't sure what God would do with him, but he was ready to come. And so, friend tonight, would there be someone in the room who would be willing to say to God, I have decided to come to you?
I have decided to come back. I'm tired of my sin, I'm tired of everything that the world can offer me and I would just love to. I want to come.
And it says here, but when he was yet a great way off, his Father saw him and had compassion. Oh, here is the God of love showing that he had compassion. Remember, this is the Lord Jesus telling a story to show you what the heart of God is like. And the Father represents God and he had compassion. And it says when he was yet a great way off, the young man went into a far country. And you know, for a variety, the translators used the words here a great way off, but it's really the same word.
When He was yet in a far country, or when He was yet a great way off. And so the Father, as it were, was watching Him as far as He went into the depths of sin. The Father was watching Him, and He was waiting. How do we know He was waiting? Because the robes that He put on Him in the next verse was already ready. The robe was there, and there was a.
The Father didn't have to say to the servant. Now go and pick out or choose a robe. The servants knew which robe the Father was waiting.
And so, friends, tonight, the God of love, the God of this world, he's waiting for you.
To come back to him. He's waiting for you individually to make the decision to return. And if you do that, you will find that here is a God who loves. Here is a God who cares. Here is a God who can give purpose to life. He can make life have real meaning. You can now lay hold on that which is really life by coming to God. And so we appeal to you.
To get right with your God.
And we read here then in verse 22 That the Father said.
Well, I'd like to read verse 21 and the sunset on the Father. Unto him I have sinned.
I just like to take a moment and say.
That I wish that every person.
Young person, old person, child.
Really felt the weight of sin. I wish that I could say for certainty that every person in this room has said to God I have sinned and met it.
You own to God your sin.
The Bible says there's no difference. That means it doesn't matter whether you're a great Sinner or a small Sinner. In the eyes of God, there's no difference. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Oh, will you own that? Will you say to God, I have sinned?
Are you holding back? Do you not think that you really are a Sinner? Oh, God loves the Sinner, so don't hold back. He's waiting.
For you with a heart of compassion, with a heart of kindness, with a heart of love. He's waiting for you to say I have sinned.
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And then in verse 22.
The father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.
This young man had been feeding pigs.
And I guess he didn't smell very good.
And he had run out of money. SI suppose his clothes were pretty old and tattered.
But that didn't stop the Father from running out and putting his arms around him and kissing him to show him his heart of love. And it doesn't matter how far you've gone in the sin. It doesn't matter what you're like. God wants you to come to Himself.
Because now He has a new robe to put on you, just like this Father had. That is, God wants to clean you now, to give you a new, to make you a totally new person. God is willing now to forgive your sins, to forget your sins, to close you now, not in those tattered clothes that you may have received, as you have tried this pleasure and that pleasure, and as you have turned your back on God.
Your clothes, your spiritual clothes that I can use that were to become tattered. God would give you a new robe now.
That he could look down upon, and when he sees that new robe, he can say the sins of the past are gone forever. And I can tell you, and we'll turn to some verses in a moment, that God is saying that you can walk out of this room tonight totally cleansed.
Totally cleaned of your sins.
You can walk out of this room tonight with the past forgiven and forgotten forever because God loves you and has made a way that that is possible. If you will say to God, I have sinned.
Oh, it depends on you now. God has made the way.
Will you come?
Now, I'd just like to say on verse 23, after the young man came back, he received a robe, He received a ring, which was a symbol of the Father's love. And God has given us many symbols of his love. He gave him shoes, new shoes to wear. You know, sometimes when I talk to students, they say, well, the gospel sounds good, but if I were to become a Christian, if I were to accept Jesus Christ, I couldn't act like a Christian.
So God has given shoes for you. God has given not only the new robe now so that you are perfect before Him, but He has given strength now so that you can live your life that way, so that you can live to please Him.
Would you like to turn your back now on the past, the sins of the past, the purposes, the aims of the past, and come to the Lord Jesus, be clothed by Him so that there are no sins, and be given strength to live to please Him?
And then there's the fatted calf. And bring Hitler the fatted calf, and kill it. And let us eat and be merry.
There they were, this son that had been far away.
Had wasted his living and now he's back in the Father's house. What's he doing? He's sitting down to a feast and we never read that this feast ended. He's sitting down to enjoy the Father's love and the Father's good heart.
But how could he do this? How could this man sit down to a meal that, according to this story, never ended because the fatted calf had been killed?
And all my friends, we have told you that God wants you to come to Him and to be cleansed of your sins.
God is willing to forgive and to forget the past, but as you see from this story, it has cost God something to do that.
Because in the story, the father had to supply the robe, the father had to supply the ring, the father had to supply the shoes, the father had to supply the fatted calf.
And I just like to suggest to you that when.
It's one thing to tell you that you can come.
And that's another thing to tell you why you can come. And I'd like to take a few moments now.
And they'll tell you why you can come and have your sins cleanse.
Can we return back to First John chapter 3/4?
First John chapter 4 and verse 8 for God is love.
In this was manifest the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
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Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Now, in the story that we've just read, the cast had to be killed so they could enjoy this feast.
I would like for a few moments just to consider that in this way.
That in order for us to announce the gospel, in order for us to tell you that you can come and have your sins cleansed.
That someone had to die.
Someone had to die.
And that's someone who had to die. Was the Lord Jesus Christ, God's only beloved Son.
He had to die.
There had to be an offering made for your sins.
God could not in holiness Passover those sins. And so now I'm telling you why you can come because the Lord Jesus Christ died for you.
It says there in the story that we read that they went and they brought the fatted calf. This was a specially chosen calf for the occasion and it wasn't possible for just anybody to die.
But in the Old Testament where God gives us some pictures about the Lord Jesus Christ who was to come to die for us.
There is a little picture of him. They were to find an offering and they were to take the skin off this offering to be sure that there was no spots on it. There were to be no outward spots, but perhaps underneath the skin there would be some spots. And so they were to take the skin off to be sure that there were no spots. There was to be a special animal and then they were to cut the animal up into pieces to be sure that inwardly there was nothing wrong with the animal. This animal is a tight is a picture of the Lord Jesus.
Who was offered to God for us? It couldn't be just any person.
And so you know when the Lord Jesus Christ stood before Pilate at the crucifixion.
Pilate says, I find no fault in this man. Had to be a spotless man, had to be a man without sin. But that didn't satisfy the people. So Pilate said. Having examined him before you all, I find no fault in this man. God could for the first time in the history of mankind, look down and see his Son on this earth and say, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, For the first time in the history of man, there was a man on the earth that delighted the heart of God.
But that man who satisfied God's heart had to die, and so he went to the cross of Calvary. We read here in verse 10.
Herein is love, not that we love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
This man had to lay his life down.
So that we could invite you to come to God. This man who had never sinned, who had a nature, who could not sin, he had to lay his life down so that you and I could be invited to come. Friend, if the Lord Jesus Christ had not died on the cross, we couldn't have as much as a gospel meeting such as this. I would not dare to invite you into the presence of God and into the presence of His Holy Word if the Lord Jesus Christ had not died.
For that would be bringing you, a sinful you, into the presence of a holy God. But all my friends, if you were to come into the presence of a holy God, and the Lord Jesus not having died, you'd be struck dead.
But I am thankful to be able to say that we can invite you even where His Holy Word is in our midst.
We can invite you to come under the sound of this blessed word, and more than that, we can say, don't only come into the room, but come to Christ. Come and have your sins forgiven. Why? Because Jesus Christ died for you, for you. When Jesus hung on that cross, there he was with his hands outstretched.
And the sun became darkened.
Why? Because God was laying on Jesus thy sins.
Because God had to do with Jesus for my sins.
Jesus Christ died for me, and I can tell you on the authority of God's Word.
That he died for you. And I can invite you to come just like that prodigal son, just like that son who'd wasted his living. I can invite you to come to God through Jesus Christ because he has died for you, because He has given all that He could give for you.
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There was once a young intellectual student in Europe.
She had been brought up in a Christian home, a nominal Christian home at least, and she had decided that Christianity wasn't for her. But she said, I must do this intellectually. I must be intellectually honest about this. I must prove to my local priests that Christianity does not work and cannot therefore be true.
So she went to her local priest and she said.
Sir, I can prove to you, I can give you arguments to show you that Christianity cannot be the truth.
He said go ahead. So she did. When she was finished, she said now what are your answers?
He said. I'm sorry, I don't have any answers. I can't answer.
That young lady said, now I've won the battle, I know that Christianity is not true. But then she thought maybe I should go to a higher level. So there was a local Bishop visiting her city, a very well known man in Europe, a teacher.
She went to him, she made an appointment to see him, and she decided, if I can prove to this man that Jesus Christ was not God, if I can prove to this man that Christianity is not true, I know for certain it's not true. So she made an appointment to see this man and she said to him, I've come to give you my reasons why I do not accept Christianity and why I will not believe in it. And he said, that's fine, I have 1/2 of an hour.
May I have the 1St 15 minutes and you can have the last 15 minutes, she said. OK, that's fair.
This young lady said as I stood in front of that priest.
He told me of a Savior who came from heaven because he loved me. He told me of a Savior whose sweat has a word, great drops of blood, as he knew he would go to the cross to die for me. He told me of a Savior who hung on the cross, who had a sword pierced into his side, who bore my sins. He told me of a Savior who went into death. He told me of a Savior who rose from the grave and was gone back to heaven. And he did it in 15 minutes.
And then he said to me, now I'll hear your side of the argument. You know what her side of the argument was? Tears. She bowed. She bowed her head before him and said, I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. All my friends, I know of no argument greater than God's love to persuade you that God really exists.
God has manifested to this world in the giving of His Son. That He exists, He has manifested.
To you, to me, that he loves us. I can't think of any other argument to win you over, but I can say this if you still have any doubts. If they're honest doubts.
Then I'd like to make a suggestion.
You go home and you get down on your knees and you say to God, I'm honest.
I want to know whether you're up there or not.
I want to know whether Christianity is true or not.
I want to know whether Jesus Christ was really God.
I say to you, friend, if you're honest with God, he'll be honest with you.
There came to my home a few weeks a few months ago a young man who said.
The gospel sounds nice. Christianity sounds good. This young man had been brought up as a Buddhist. But he said, how do I know? How are you going to persuade me that this is the truth? And I said those words to him. Joseph, go home. Get down on your knees.
Be honest with God and see what He will do for you. We didn't hear from him for quite a while. Received a call from him in June last June saying I'm returning to Malaysia. Didn't hear from him again for a long time and then in September we received another call and back in Ottawa. Can I visit you?
And he said, when I returned to Malaysia, I had time. So I did what you said to do. I asked God, if you're there, show it to me. If you really love me, show me. And I opened up my Bible and God showed me from his word that he really loved me. And so he said, I have accepted Christ. Oh, my friends. And I know that sometimes there are honest doubts and I know sometimes that you have intellectual problems. I'd just like to say that God has an answer for those too.
So whatever your need is, is it because you are not enjoying the pleasures of sin anymore?
Is it because intellectually you're having problems? Whatever your need is, God has an answer for it. You must be honest with Him.
00:50:10
And so we can tell you that you can come back to God.
We can tell you that your sins can be washed away because Jesus Christ died.
For you.
We can tell you that you can know what it is.
To have your sins forgiven, you can know what it is to leave this room and be perfectly cleansed.
We can tell you that on the authority of God's Word.
Now what are you going to do with it? Are you going to say, like the prodigal son, father, I have sinned? Or are you going to turn your back on us and reject it?
Well, that's solemn. A few years ago, after the meetings here in Montreal, I went to visit a young man.
Young university student.
And he knew the gospel. He told me that when I hear religious arguments, I can quote the Bible. I can tell the story of God's salvation through Jesus Christ better than you can, said I learned it over at the meeting room at Newman Place.
But he said I have decided not to accept Jesus Christ.
Oh, what to God that you could just that young man had come to his senses.
If you could only see them now solo. He turned his back on God.
You know, there are people in the old, in the Book of Revelation who are called earth dwellers because they choose, they chose the things of earth and they turned their back on God's testimony to them, on God's Word to them. And so they're called earth dwellers. They chose earth in France. The Bible tells us that they will be judged as those who chose earth.
There is judgment for those who reject God's love. That young man that we read about, he came.
There's been no judgment for him, but if you refuse to come, there is judgment.
God's word tells us that there is judgment, and I'm just going to make one reference to it now in the story that we read. It tells us that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth. So when a Sinner comes and says, Lord, I have sinned, all heaven breaks forth in joy.
And we never read of that joy ending as we never read of the merriment ending with the prodigal son.
Except when we turn to the Book of Revelation just before, just before God is about to judge this world, we read that heaven was silent for the space of 1/2 hour.
And that means that though heaven was to break forth in joy.
At the announcement that a Sinner had been saved, that before God punishes those who reject Jesus Christ, heaven will become silent.
Heaven will become silent. Why? Because God has no heart to judge.
The angels and all that have burst forth in joy. They will have never seen the likes of this before.
And they'll all be silent, and the judgment that falls will be for eternity.
The judgment that falls will be forever. God has offered free salvation through the work of His beloved Son.
For those who reject them, they will die in their sins. They will be punished in their sins.
Now I just would like to close by asking you a simple question and then telling 1 short story.
Are you going to die in your sins?
Or are you going to come to the Lord Jesus? Remember, I'm speaking to those of you who do not know the Lord Jesus as Savior. Are you going to die in your sins? Or are you going to come and have your sins washed away?
There was once a young man, about 30 years of age.
His wife had died.
He had a little girl, six years old.
He went home the first night after the funeral.
And he lay in his room, This little girl lay in her room across the hall.
And he said to himself, is this all that there is to life, or could it be that there is a God who cares?
00:55:00
And then the thought occurred to him, How could I ever meet a poor human being?
How could I ever get to know God?
He's so great, so far off, how could I ever come to know him? So much confusion in my mind.
Just then his little girl called and said, Daddy, are you there in the dark? And he said, yes, I'm here.
The thought occurred to him then. Just because there's darkness between me and my little girl doesn't mean I'm not here.
And justice, because there's darkness between God and me doesn't mean that he's not there.
It's all for the first time a little ray of hope started to dawn on his into his life.
Then his little girl called and said, Daddy, do you love me in the dark? And he said, yes, I love you even though it's dark.
And the thought went on in his mind. Could it be that even though I don't understand about God, even though there's much that I don't understand, that same God could love me?
The hope grew brighter.
And then the little girl called and said, Daddy, I'm coming to you in the dark.
So she came into his room, he comforted her and put her back to bed. And then he said to God, I'm coming to you in the dark.
And so I suspect that there are some tonight perhaps, who do not really totally understand God's love.
But would you be good enough to say to God, I'm going to come to you just as I am? When that young man arose to come to the Lord, to come to his father, it was just as if he said, I'll come now. Not much to me, nothing good about me, but I'll come. I'll just Lord, if he'll just Father, he'll just take me as I am. I'll come. That's the way God wants you to come. Perhaps you don't understand at all.
But you would like to have your sins forgiven. You'd like to have a be in a true relationship with God.
Come.
Shall we close by singing?
#12.
Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come #12.
I am.
Without sleep.
I love God for me.
I am glad of him. It's me.
Comes early.
All I.
Did.
I.