Gospel—J. Hyland
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This evening with hymn #7 on the gospel hymn sheet, God loved the world of sinners lost and ruined by the fall. Salvation full at highest cost. He offers free to all. I'm going to suggest we stand up to sing this hymn hymn #7 and if someone could please start it.
God loves the world.
There's lost and.
More happiness.
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh 001111 11 1.
Connect several portions of the Word of God. But I'd just like to say this before we begin.
Do open your ears tonight to listen to God's Word, because as we have just quoted in prayer, Scripture tells us he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And tonight blessing here is going to depend not on our ability to present the Word, but it's going to depend on the Word in all its living power.
Applied in the power of the Spirit, because it tells us concerning those of us tonight who are saved.
That we were born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. And as you open your ears tonight to hear God's precious Word, our prayer is that you would listen like it's the last time you're ever going to hear it, because you know it might be.
Would it make a difference tonight if someone in this room knew with certainty that this was the last time they would sit in a Gospel meeting, that this was the last time they would hold a Bible, or see a Bible opened and read in their presence? Would it really make a difference how we listened tonight?
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On the 29th of October.
I flew from Toronto to Denver.
And from Denver I had a connection on United Airlines to Tucson, AZ.
I went to the arrivals or to the departure lounge.
And there were people there, casually talking.
Some families laughing together.
The flight was called and we boarded single file row by row.
I usually ask for an aisle seat, but for some reason I got a window seat.
And we took off from Denver.
And it wasn't very long before I realized that there was a problem, and a serious problem too.
We took off from Denver.
And it was evident.
That the pilot couldn't get any altitude.
He turned NE a little bit. I figured perhaps he was going to try to make Cheyenne.
But he came on.
The PA system.
And he said don't anybody panic. We're OK, but we do have a problem.
He said you're going to hear a noise in a few moments.
And that noise is the landing gear of the plane.
Going down.
You could have heard a pin drop on that plane.
All the casual conversation.
All the joking, all the story telling or reminiscing was over.
I've never sat on a plane.
Where there was such dead silence, at least as to conversation.
He did indeed put the landing gear down and I could see the planes coming toward us.
I won't speculate how low we got. I realize you can't always get a proper perspective from the window of an airplane, but we got very low over the planes.
Finally, we could feel some thrust and we knew we were gaining a little altitude. The story wasn't over.
The captain eventually came on. This is about 20 minutes now after we've taken off from Denver.
And he said we're OK.
We're going to put the landing gear up and we are going to go on to Tucson, but, he said no one, not even the flight attendants, will leave their seat.
There will be no cabin service between here and Tucson.
You know, it wasn't long until people began to talk again. Businessmen pulled out their laptops, began to work on projects. People pulled out their books and began to read. People returned to their newspapers.
Until we began to come over Tucson.
The captain came on and said don't anybody panic, we've got plenty of time, plenty of fuel, but we can't land this plane the way it is.
The newspapers closed.
The laptops were put away, the books were shut and the conversation ceased.
It was solemn.
We made four very large swoops.
Over that part of Arizona.
Finally on the 4th turn, the captain came on and said the landing gear is going down. We're getting ready to land in Tucson. You could see the runway was lined with emergency vehicles.
By the mercies of the Lord, we landed safely.
Do you know what amazed me?
Immediately the joking began. Even the pilot, when he stepped out of the cockpit, the flight attendants, the passengers, how quickly people lost the sense of reality, the sense of eternity when we were suspended in space.
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And told we weren't able to land, there was seriousness.
When we were coming towards the Earth and told we couldn't get any thrust to the plane, people were serious. But oh, tonight we're talking about going to talk about eternal issues. We're going to talk about reality. And please, for a few moments, let's be serious.
You know, as I stand here, I can see into the very back rows of this room. I think sometimes young people sit on the back rows because they think the preacher can't see them, but I can see it tonight.
And more solemn than that, because it doesn't matter what I see. More solemn than that, the eye of God is resting on you and he sees not as man sees. For God looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Let's begin by connecting 3 portions of the word of God. The first one is in the book of James James, chapter one.
James Chapter One.
And verse 17.
Every good gift.
And every perfect gift is from above.
And cometh down from the father of lights.
With whom there is no variableness.
Neither Shadow of turning. And now I want to read a verse in the Old Testament in the book of Ecclesiastes, Psalms Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, chapter 5.
Ecclesiastes, chapter 5.
And verse 19.
Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him the power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor. This is the gift of God.
I want to read one more portion for now. It was already read to us the afternoon. We'll read it again in Second Corinthians Chapter 9.
Two Corinthians Chapter 9 and verse 15. Thanks.
Be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
These portions of the word of God that we have read together came before one soul this afternoon.
In connection with the subject of giving.
Because you know, as was brought before us, God is a giving God. You know the enemy Satan, and there's a very powerful enemy. Satan is not your friend tonight, and Satan wants you not for what he can give you, but he wants you for what he can get out of you.
I fly a considerable amount, not by choice, but by necessity.
And often I need to leave home at 3:30 in the morning. We live an hour from the Ottawa airport, and usually to make any kind of a connection, I have to take the 610 flight to Toronto.
And I watched these businessmen in the airport at 5:00 in the morning.
Men that are being melt by the corporate world, and I'm not criticizing them, they know that if they don't produce.
14 hours a day, five days a week, and go to the office on Saturday to get caught up or bring homework home. That there's ten guys lined up behind them to take their job. But I watched them. They're frantic. They rush into the Ottawa airport. They don't even have to stand in line if they're just going to New York or Toronto or Baltimore or somewhere for a seminar that day or business meeting. They rush up to the electronic check in, they put their Air Miles card in and their boarding pass spits out in a moment.
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They rush through security.
They paced the waiting room talking on their cell phone as soon as the captain says they can turn on their electronic devices. Outcome the laptops and they feverishly punch at their laptops. They can't even sit and enjoy a cup of coffee on a flight from Ottawa to Toronto at 6:00 in the morning. The minute they land, they either go to the VIP lounge to fax their information or their car is waiting to take them downtown. And at 7:00 tonight, they're going to reverse it all.
That's the corporate world. That's the business world. They only want those men and women for what they can get out of them.
You know, in the Old Testament there's a very graphic picture of Satan.
In Pharaoh, and you remember well how the children of Israel.
In the land of Egypt, we're under the ******* of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Egypt is a picture to us of this world. Pharaoh, as I say, a picture of the enemy, Satan. It's a little picture of where we are naturally speaking.
Without hope and without God and in this world.
But in our family reading some time ago, we were impressed to notice how that Pharaoh only wanted the children of Israel for what he could get out of them as long as they were building his cities.
And there even came a point.
When he wouldn't provide so much as the straw to make their bricks, but they had to keep up the tally of bricks, that's the enemy, Satan. But oh God is a giving God. God is a God of love. God desires the blessing of sinners. And so we began. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Light, with whom there is no variableness.
Nor shadow of turning.
There's two categories there, good gifts and perfect gifts. And that's really why I read the following two scriptures, because when we go back to the book of Ecclesiastes where we find things looked at by Solomon from a natural standpoint, as we often say under the sun.
We find that he, by inspiration, writes that for a man to enjoy what the fruit of his labor, it's the gift of God.
And the fact that God has given him monetary possessions, the fact that he's given him food, the fact that he's given him health. And if we were to turn back to the third chapter, you'd find a similar statement twice in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon recognizes that what we enjoy as mercies, as temporal mercies, come from the hand of a giving God. In fact, it tells us in another place that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.
The farmer who's a Christian.
Reaps the benefit of the proper amount of rain and sunshine, just as the man next door reaps the benefit. Though he's not a Christian, he may be an ungodly man, but he reaps the same benefit. The rain doesn't stop at the line fence of the Christian farmer. No, it falls on the just and the unjust. And yet we have just had a day called Thanksgiving here in the United States, and we had one back in October.
Because our Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October.
And yet, how many people really recognize who the giver of All good is?
People may stop on one day of the year before they partake of a bountiful meal and bow their head.
And perhaps in a ritualistic way.
Thank the Giver. Thank God. But what about today, A day later?
How many people in the city of Saint Louis today, before they partook of their food, stopped and thank God for that food?
How thankful are each one of us here?
I know that many, probably most of us.
Here in this audience tonight, know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.
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How thankful have we been today?
For health, we've sat here this afternoon in these meetings and taken one breath after another.
We ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live that interesting we ought to say if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. But live He giveth to all life, and breath in all things. He's the preserver of all men.
How thankful have we been?
For the food that we have partake enough today.
How thankful were we for the comfortable vehicle?
That we arrived at the conference in.
You know, it's one of the characteristics of the last days. Unthankful people today are unthankful. And I just want to say before we pass on again to those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, let's not fall into the category of being.
Unthankful.
That a man eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of his labor. It is the gift of God.
Every good gift is from above.
You and I in our lifetime have enjoyed many good gifts.
But not only is every good gift from above, but every perfect gift.
And that's why we turned to 2nd Corinthians Chapter 9 and.
And read this beautiful statement. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Again, many people yesterday stopped, perhaps, and I'm thankful that at least one day of the year they stop and do it. But they stopped and thanked God for many of the temporal mercies that they have enjoyed over the last year.
But I wonder if we were to take that percentage of people.
And then find out how many actually.
Included in their list of things they were thankful for.
God's perfect gift.
The gift of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because I suggest that this gift here is the gift of the Son the Father sent the Son, and that verse that we so often quote in the Gospel meeting. God so loved the world that He gave.
His only begotten son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish.
But have everlasting life.
Again, let me challenge every heart here, including my own.
When was the last time you really stopped? And from your heart thank God for his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, if someone has done a great deal for you, maybe someone saves your life. Maybe someone pays a great debt.
You don't think that person just wants. Every time you see that person, you say thank you. I'll never forget what you did.
My father's with the Lord, but many years ago my father helped.
A Christian family.
With several small children.
Who really were having a difficult struggle.
And my father took those children.
As the cold Canadian winter approached.
And he bought the mall snow suits, made sure they had warm gloves and warm boots.
Get them through the winter.
And you know, that man, that father, that husband, he never forgot that until his dying day. And I can remember as a boy growing up, and when we would see that father, the head of that home, no matter what the occasion, he'd put his hand on my father's shoulder and he'd say, Harold, I'll never forget what you've done for us.
Didn't seem like a big thing, but he appreciated it. He valued it. He thanked my father time and time again over the years.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. And if we were to go back in these chapters.
We would find that Paul is speaking to the Corinthians as to the joy, the privilege and responsibility of Christian giving.
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And at the end of it all he bursts out, and he says, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Has your heart been so full today?
That you maybe not audibly, but you burst out, as it were, and said, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Ed Spencer.
Was an Olympic athlete.
And in 1896?
As a swimmer, he won one of the first gold medals.
For the United States of America. Tremendous, terrific swimmer.
He was a student at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, on the shores of Lake MI.
And one night there was a storm raging.
And Ed Spencer was in the library of the university studying.
And all of a sudden the door burst open.
And a young man came in and he said there's a ship. Was the Lady Elgin.
And it was marooned on the rocks.
And being smashed to pieces by the waves of Lake MI.
Ed Spencer rushed out into the storm with some others. They rushed down to the shores of the lake.
And they could indeed see the flares of the ship through the darkness distress signals.
And they knew.
That souls would perish if something wasn't done.
And Ed Spencer being the swimmer that he was.
He tore off all the excess clothes. He could get rid of Indiana a hurry.
And he dove into the cold waters.
Of Lake MI.
Wasn't long till he returned and he had on his back a.
Perishing soul.
Hands reached out to take that person, and Ed Spencer dove back into the cold waters of Lake MI.
Another soul saved.
Time and time again, 1213141516, His friends by this time were pleading with them. Ed, you've done what you can. You're going to ruin your health. You're going to lose your life you can't do anymore, he said. I've got to do my best. There's an old hymn written by Philip Bliss based on that very expression.
In this very story.
16 souls rescued, he dove in again.
17 souls, and his strength was completely spent.
He flopped unconscious on the beach.
And loving hands lifted him and carried him to the university Infirmary.
Where he was nursed back to health, but not quite.
He never swam again, he never competed in an athletic event again and most of his life was spent as a semi invalid.
Years passed and he moved to Phoenix, AZ.
And one day there was a man visiting in Phoenix.
Who had remembered the story of Ed Spencer?
And knew that he lived in Phoenix, and so he made a point to look him up.
He found Ed Spencer, that great athlete in very humble circumstances, in a little cottage on and out of a way St.
He knocked on the door.
Came in and had a visit with Ed Spencer.
He noticed his humble circumstances.
And as the visit was concluding, he said to Ed, he said, you know, it was a wonderful thing that you did back there years ago on the shores of Lake MI.
And glancing around the room, he said. But you know, I'm sure some of those souls that you rescued.
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Return from time to time to help you out and to thank you.
For saving their lives.
Ed Spencer's eyes filled with tears.
He said not one of those 17 souls ever returned even to say thank you.
Isn't that solemn? We say what ingrates pulled from the?
Cold icy waters of Lake MI.
Saved their lives, but not one ever returned to give thanks. And we shake our heads and we say what ingratitude.
To our fellow man. But what about you Tonight The Lord Jesus and I speak carefully and reverently. He did not risk his life to save us.
He gave his life.
He sold all that he had. He was that merchant man who sold everything to purchase the Pearl of great price.
It speaks of imperfect give all the substance of his house for love. That's what he did. He came from glory. He came down into this world.
He was so poor when he walked here he had to say show me a penny.
He was so tired on one occasion he had to lay his head on a borrowed pillow and a borrowed boat.
He was so thirsty on another occasion he had to ask a woman who came to the well for a drink.
He could say Reproach hath broken mine heart.
He suffered physically.
And at the end of it all.
Were they thankful for that gift sent into this world? Indeed, they were not.
They took him and they nailed him to a Roman cross.
After they had cried away with him, crucify him.
Not this man, but Barabbas.
They took him outside the walls of Jerusalem.
And a hammer was lifted and nails driven through the hands and feet of my precious.
Blessed Savior.
And there he hung with a crown of thorns, beat into his blessed brows.
And sitting down they watched him there.
He was despised and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. You know, when we go back to the birth of the Lord Jesus, there should have been great rejoicing in Israel. Here was the promised Messiah. Here was the one that had come to his people, as prophesied in the Old Testament, was there rejoicing at the birth of the Lord Jesus.
Well, there were a few who rejoiced, but not very many. A few shepherds directed by the angels come.
And what rejoicing? There was an Anna and a Simeon, and a few who rejoiced.
I got a call yesterday morning.
6:10 I'm not a morning person. Every minute of sleep before breakfast is precious. It's the best wake up call I ever had.
And it was a young man.
On the other end of the phone, who had walked into a hospital a few minutes before with a husband's heart and called me with a father's heart, he said. I want you to hear this.
I'm not an emotional person.
And the few tears I do shed, I try to shed in secret, but I wept on the phone for joy. And there's great rejoicing because a first born son has come into a family and we all rejoice and the Father rejoices and the mother rejoices. And Scripture tells us that's what happens when a child is born. There's rejoicing.
And I thought as I hung up the phone.
When the Son of God was born into this world.
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Who rejoiced?
A few poor, humble shepherds.
Out on the hillside.
A couple of elderly people.
Anna and Simeon.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Does that mean something to you tonight?
I want to go on now and I want to connect a couple of further scriptures in connection with this expression, the gift of God.
Let's go to Romans.
Chapter 6.
Romans chapter 6 and verse 23.
For the wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Just hold your finger here. I want to read a verse in Ephesians chapter 2.
Ephesians chapter 2.
And verse 8. For by grace are ye saved through faith.
And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
The wages of sin is death. Perhaps we should back up just for a moment in our thoughts tonight.
Because maybe there's someone here and you say, well, it's all right for the preacher to present his message, but it's really not the right kind of message for this kind of audience. If he was off in the West Indies or the jungles of Africa or the heart of India, maybe so.
But you know, people aren't so bad in North America and here in the United States, and I think people are pretty thankful and I think people appreciate what they have.
But let's just bring us all back down to the same level for a moment.
Sinners.
And the wages of sin is death.
Exactly 3 weeks ago today.
I was on a plane.
In Phoenix, AZ. But let me back up just a moment. I got to the Phoenix airport in good time and I checked in.
And I went to the departure lounge and in that part of the Phoenix airport there are big plate glass windows and so you can see the planes coming in and out and taxiing by.
I was flying from Phoenix to Toronto.
The plane was coming from Toronto and it was 10 or 15 minutes late coming in, but no big deal.
It pulled up to the gate. Finally, we could see it. It took them another 15 or 20 minutes to line up the jetway. They were having a little difficulty.
So people could get off and we could eventually get on.
Eventually folks did get off and we were called to board.
And as I stepped onto the plane, I heard out of the corner of my ear the pilot and the head flight attendant talking about some kind of a security check. That's all I heard.
I took my seat. I was at the aisle. There was an empty seat beside me and a man at the window. The empty seat beside me must have been just about the only seat empty on the plane. It was a pretty full flight.
320 Airbus Big Plane.
I noticed the man at the window was very nervous.
I didn't think a whole lot about it. A lot of people are nervous flying. Some people don't fly very often and so I've often seen people jittery as they prepare.
To get on a plane and the plane to take off, I didn't think a whole lot about it.
But you know, circumstances were brought to bear very shortly to show that that man was not nervous simply because he was going to fly in A320 Air Canada Airbus.
But he had something on his conscience.
Everybody was seated. The cabin bags were stowed.
The seatbelts were clicked.
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The captain came on the PA system and he said we need to as quickly as possible gather all our belongings and be plain.
The man beside me says What do you think is the matter?
Not thinking, I said. Well, I heard something about a security check when I was getting on the plane. His face went ashen.
I never saw somebody turn white so fast, he says. What kind of a security check? I said, Sir, that's all I know.
We deplaned, and somewhere between his seat.
And the departure lounge. He disappeared two hours later. When we left Phoenix, they were still looking for him.
This is why he had something on his conscience. You know, maybe there's someone here tonight and you're watching the clock and you're saying, well, I'm glad there's only 18 minutes left of the Gospel Meeting because you've been squirming around and you have something on your conscience and you don't like to hear that you're a Sinner and you don't like to hear about unthankfulness.
And hell and a lost eternity.
Maybe you like that man on the plane.
And you're watching the clock, and the clock is moving ever so slow. You know, the clock moves a lot faster for the preacher than it does the audience. But you think the clock is moving ever so slow.
And you'll be glad, when we're given liberty to rise out of these seats and walk out of this room.
The story came out that there had been a tip.
And that this man who was sitting next to me in 15 C.
Had checked something through that had got all the way through security and was in the hold of the plane.
They tore that plane apart. They took every piece of luggage out of that plane. They searched every piece of luggage.
When my bag came the next day.
There was a large notice both inside and outside that that luggage had been checked thoroughly by security. They found what they were looking for.
I don't know what it was. They wouldn't tell us. I don't know if it was smuggled goods. I don't know if it was knives. I don't know if it was explosives. They would not tell us. But they did tell us that they had found.
The bag and the goods they were looking for.
And we were, eventually.
Reloaded on that plane and took off.
I was going to try to follow up as to what happened and life got so busy when I got home. I didn't do it. I don't know where that man went. I don't know where he is. I don't know whether they caught him or not. But wherever he is, he has a conscience of sin and a bad conscience.
And what about you tonight? Are you trying to hide something? That man thought he was pretty clever and he got that bag through the X-ray and through security and the metal detector and maybe the dogs and whatever.
But it eventually came out and you may hide for a while.
But God knows your heart.
And he may bring circumstances in this life to bring out what's in your heart. And if He doesn't, it will be fully revealed in a coming day when you stand before the Lord Jesus as the judge and the books are open and the records, and there it is in black and white.
And you're sent forever to hell, to a lost eternity. The wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Our Lord.
God is offering salvation this evening as a free gift.
In that fact, that's what constitutes a gift. It's free to the recipient. But you know, as has often been said, the gospel is free, but it's not cheap.
It cost God his Son. It cost Jesus his life. It cost him the shedding of his blood. And we read this afternoon in Ephesians, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. What a cost, What a sacrifice.
Charles Gordon, reputed to be one of the great British military men full time.
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And at the end of his career, he was offered.
By the British government for his years of service.
To his country many rewards, monetary rewards, and he was offered several titles.
And he refused the mall. The only thing he did except was a gold medal.
With his name engraved on it.
And history tells us that he prized that medal.
But you know, in a certain part of England around Manchester.
There was a great famine.
And Charles Gordon.
Packed up that metal.
And sent it to Manchester.
With instructions that it was to be melted down.
And sold the proceeds were to feed the poor and the City of Manchester.
And the day he sent that medal.
He made a notation in his diary that went something like this.
Today.
I have given.
The one and only thing that I prize in this life to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the willing giver we were Speaking of this afternoon. That's giving cheerfully.
And all God has given his Son willingly and the Lord Jesus has given his life willingly, so that now.
He can offer eternal life. Oh, there's a cost. You know, I think sometimes we get the impression that God has reached into his treasure chest of blessings and dispense them to us freely. And that's true from our standpoint. But with every blessing that has ever been dispensed to man, there's always been a cost connected with it. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. What is the cost? A soldier with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came throughout blood and water.
He gives eternal life. What is the cost? He lay down his life for us.
For those who know him as savior and will join.
In that circle around the throne in the coming day, he will give a crown to each. Granted, we cast those crowns back at his feet, but a crown given what is the cost? They plotted a crown of thorns and they beat it into his blessed head. I only say this to show that every blessing that man has ever received and ever will receive has a cost involved.
We don't have time, but you can trace it out. If you were to go back to Genesis and read Concerning the Fall of Man, there are seven things that are pronounced.
Because of the fall of man.
And if you trace those seven things through Scripture, you'll find that everyone of those seven things.
The Lord Jesus.
Took upon himself in some way.
So that there could be a gospel meeting in the city of Saint Louis tonight. So.
So that you could be saved. Does that touch your heart, so that heaven will be filled in the coming day with God's children, all there with And like his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, are you the possessor of divine life, eternal life this evening?
And if you're not, why not?
Are you ready for eternity?
Some time ago I stood.
On a hillside in the village of Fancy, Saint Vincent. It's as far north as you can go on the island of Saint Vincent.
And I stood outside a crowded building because there wasn't room to get in.
And I listened to the funeral service of a brother in Christ.
Whom I knew very well and had visited a number of times over the years in his home just up the mountain.
00:50:03
Brother Bowens.
Brother, when you sat down on his porch, he wasn't concerned about the weather. Oregon, the current events.
In about one sentence, the subject came around to Christ.
But I stood as.
The gospel was faithfully presented.
And as I was standing there mopping my brow under that big Equatorial tropical sun, I looked over and I saw the funeral coach that was about to carry Brother Bones from that building.
To his grave.
At first I was rather amused and then I was rather startled.
To read the name on the side of that funeral coach, the name of the Funeral Home.
This is what it was.
The ever ready Funeral Home.
You smile. I smiled first too, and then I thought, How appropriate.
The ever ready Funeral Home and I thought there's a message there for everyone at this funeral.
Yes, they heard the gospel, and I'm thankful. But even if they hadn't heard the gospel as they passed that funeral coach, there it was ever ready. Are you ready tonight?
Are you ready to pass out of this world? Are you ready If the Lord Jesus came tonight? You know, when I was sitting here at 6:50?
Nervously awaiting the hour to stand up and preach the gospel. You know what went through my mind?
I wonder if there will ever be a Gospel meeting here in this room in Saint Louis. Because, you know, I was looking for the Lord to come before 7:00. I really was. I thought the Lord might come.
And if he had.
Would you have looked around?
And seen a lot of empty chairs.
Would you have waited for someone to stand up here?
And found an empty pulpit.
Pretty solemn, isn't it? But it's a reality The coming of the Lord draws nigh. Are you ready? Are you ever ready?
Just a few days later, I was on the Grenadine island of Canawan.
I had stopped there briefly on a previous occasion, but never had opportunity to do any gospel work Oregon visiting. And so I had suggested to Brother Garvin Seymour, who serves the Lord in that part of the world, that we perhaps.
Get on the boat and make that one of our stops than we did.
But as we were passing a graveyard on the island of Cannawan.
A headstone caught my eye. It caught my eye because engraved on that headstone was a large alarm clock.
Don't see many alarm clocks engraved on headstones. I'd never seen one before.
We stopped.
And under that alarm clock were penned these words. The clock of life is wound, but once.
That was it.
I recognized it, of course, as the first line of a longer poem. The clock of life is wound but once, and no man hath the power to know just when those hands will stop at late or early hour. To lose one's wealth is sad indeed. To lose one's health is more to lose one's soul is such a loss that no man can restore all those words went on just the first line.
There was a lady buried there by the indication of further engravings on the stone.
She had lived to be almost 90 years of age, just a few days short, it seemed, of her 90th birthday.
The clock of life for her went a long time.
But what about you? You have no guarantees.
If the hands were to stop tonight.
Where would you be in eternity? The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I want to read one more verse in closing. Matthew Chapter 11.
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Matthew Chapter 11.
And verse 7.
I'm sorry, it's not verse 7.
Singing of the verse that says about giving good gifts.
I can't put my finger on it.
But I'll quote it as best I can.
The Lord, speaking to those in his day, said, If you, as natural or evil men, know how to give good gifts unto your children.
How much more your Father in Heaven?
711.
Thank you. Let's read it. Chapter 7, verse 11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good gifts?
To them that? Asked him.
What I want to emphasize at the end of this meeting is the asking.
Because he tells us here that your Father in Heaven gives good gifts to those that ask.
This gospel meeting is over.
We have had some scriptures read and quoted as to the heart of God and as to his being a giving God and how he's offering the gift of eternal life tonight.
Have you asked?
He's waiting.
It's just as if he's bending low to hear some boy, some girl, some young person.
Say yes, Lord Jesus.
To ask, ask and ye shall receive, we read in another place.
All just come tonight. I'm going to pray in a moment. And if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior.
You can speak to him in your heart. You don't have to say one word aloud. He knows what's in your heart, and you can just receive him as your savior. Reach out as it were, and take that gift it's being offered. Receive it, take it, Ask, and you shall receive.
He's waiting. He's holding it out, as it were. Are you going to go out these doors and say not tonight, are you going to say no to God? Are you going to refuse his gift?
There was a prayer meeting just before this gospel and a number of brothers on their knees pouring out their hearts for blessing tonight.
And there were at least two brothers, maybe more, but at least two brothers who prayed that at the end of this Gospel meeting.
There would be an attitude with those of us who know the Lord as our Savior.
An attitude that would commend the gospel and an attitude so that the enemy.
Will not be able to pluck away the seed that has been sown, because as surely as I pray and say Amen, the enemy is going to be busy. And as conversation begins, he's going to be busy to ****** away the seed if he can.
And I just beseech my brothers and sisters in Christ.
As we rise from these seats.
Let us not say or do anything.
That the enemy can use.
But let us continue in an attitude of sobriety and prayer.
So that if there's a soul here tonight who's exercised, the spirit of God can work.
And they'll be brought.
To the knowledge of sins forgiven.
Be on their way to heaven, having received the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's not of ourselves, it's only of grace as we read, but it is a free gift, and His grace is sufficient to save your soul. Tonight, let's pray.