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Gospel—R. Thonney
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Let's start our meeting this evening with #23 on the hymn sheet.
Behold, behold the Lamb of God on the cross.
For us, he shed his precious blood on the cross. Oh, here the overwhelming cry.
Eli Lama Sabachthani, draw near and see the Savior die on the cross.
Let's sing #23.
Holding all the Lamb of God.
On the cross. On the cross.
Over us, it says.
On my cross.
On the ground.
Who is here? He goes.
I heart like Brown.
I'm not proud.
On the ground.
Explorer. You will have to bear that.
To rain, but all of them's way what I'm doing is what the.
M #21 on our hem sheets.
Decide for Christ today and God's salvation. See.
Yield soul and body, heart and well.
To him who died for thee, Christ alone can say, Break the power of sin.
Christ that fully satisfy the heart that cleaves to Him.
Maybe we can stand up and sing #21.
Today I must always come to you.
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And who would apply for the game?
Like to turn to begin with to a verse in Matthew chapter 27.
That contains a question.
Matthew, Chapter 27.
And verse 22.
Pilate saith unto them.
What?
Shall I do then with Jesus?
Which is called Christ.
Just that question.
Want to press home as we start this meeting tonight?
It's a matter of decision for Christ, this matter of salvation. It has all to do with what you do with Jesus.
In three days there's going to be elections in this country.
Choice is going to be made.
And I suppose looking around, it's been impressive to me at how fickle the heart of man is, how easily he swayed one way or another. Another thing impresses me is how little ability there is on the part of people at large to.
Make a decision based on truth.
That doesn't seem to enter into people's mind any longer at all. It's a matter of how it will affect me.
And that is the reference point in connection with choices that are made.
Tonight's not my purpose to dwell on the elections to take place in this country.
I want to talk about Election Day in Jerusalem.
A number of centuries ago.
When there were two.
That were to be chosen.
At least there were two.
And they had to choose one to live and the other one.
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To die and I'd like to read a good portion of this chapter.
So that you will have the picture of those that were involved.
In this election, let's start with verse one, when the morning was come.
All the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against.
Jesus to put him to death, and when they had bound him.
They led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor.
Now let's drop down to verse 11.
And Jesus stood before the governor.
And the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews?
And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered.
Nothing.
Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was one till release unto the people a prisoner whom they would, And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas.
Pause here. In other gospels it tells us that Barabbas was a prisoner and he was thrown into prison for a rebellion he was leading in which he had committed murder. It also tells us in another gospel that he was a robber, so he was not the best kind of a person.
Verse 17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate saith unto them.
Whom will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas?
Or Jesus, which is called Christ, for he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent it to him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that? Just man.
For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas.
And destroy Jesus.
The governor answered, and said unto them, Whither of the twain will ye that I release unto you?
They said Barabbas didn't seem to be any question in their mind.
As to the person they wanted, Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?
They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done?
But they cried out the more, saying let him be crucified.
When Pilate saw that he could prevail, nothing but that rather a tumult was made.
He took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying I am innocent.
Of the blood of this just person see you to it. Then answered all the people and said his blood.
Beyond us and on our children. Then release T Barabbas unto them.
And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him.
To be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall.
And gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers, and they stripped him.
And put on him a scarlet robe, and when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it on his head.
And a Reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him.
Saying, Hail King of the Jews, and they spit upon him.
And took the Reed and smote him on the head. After that they had mocked him. They took off the robe from him.
And put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of sirens, Simon by name.
Him they compelled to bear his cross when they were come.
Unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar.
To drink minkled with gall. And when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him and parted his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Prophet. They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
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And sitting down, they watched him there and set up over his head, his accusation written.
This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left?
And they passed. They that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple.
And Bill listed in three days. Save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Likewise also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said.
He saved others, himself he cannot save.
If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
He trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him, for he said I am the Son of God.
The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
Now from the 6th hour there was darkness over all the land until the 9th hour.
And about the 9th hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani.
That is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken?
Me some of them that heard that stood there when they heard that, said This man calleth free lias, and straightway one of them ran.
Took a sponge and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a Reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, Let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. Behold, the veil of the temple was rent entwined from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks ran, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city.
And appeared unto many now, when the centurion, and they that were with him watching.
Jesus.
Saw the earthquake and those things that were done.
They feared greatly, saying truly this was.
The Son of God.
It was impressive to me this morning.
For I think it was this afternoon, the two verses that.
Mike read before the meeting or at the beginning of the meeting. It's.
Speaking in James about Abraham the friend of God and then reading that other verse that talks about.
He that is a friend of the world constitutes himself an enemy of God, and it really accentuates the fact that there is no neutrality in the question of your relationship with Jesus Christ. People want it to be thought today that you can be a Christian, you can be a believer in Jesus and still embrace the world system that we see around.
That is impossible. There has to be decision. There is no way to avoid making a decision on this matter. Some people want to just kind of float through life without making any decisions at all. And I say to you, if that's the way you think about life, if that's your philosophy of living, I say you're going to go the wrong direction.
Because the way of least resistance is always down.
Don't take that route, I ask you. Here we see in Jerusalem this night was election time.
One of the persons that was there was Jesus.
Who was this person? We know from other parts of the Word of God that he is the eternal Son of God. He is the creator of the universe.
That we know. And when I look at the universe and see the extension of it, it gives me in some small measure an understanding of how great, how wise, how powerful is the God of the universe that made it all. But it is the same person that we're talking about tonight that became a man and came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. He veiled himself.
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So that men, when they looked at him, did not see anything else but a normal, ordinary man. They said this is the Carpenter. We know him, we know his Father and his mother, we know his brethren. They're with us today. They didn't see anything more than that. But he was the eternal God made flesh in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He had come to save. He had come to show to mankind.
That God is love. Oh, how God loves. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Sin is an awful thing before the eyes of God, and in today's world it is played upon for enjoyment, for entertainment.
We've been speaking about some of the tendencies of our culture today.
Extremely serious tendencies, tendencies that are leading this country downhill to destruction and judgment. There is no way that there's going to be any way to avoid it unless there is repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This world system is condemned. It's under judgment, but God is holding forth the word of life to you tonight in the gospel.
So that you as an individual can repent and believe the gospel and be saved from the judgment. That is unavoidable for this world. It's going straight in that direction, and there is no reason to believe that this world is going to change course.
It is determined it made its decision basically this day in Jerusalem. Here on the one side was Jesus, the eternal Son of God. His presence here in this world was always a blessing.
He dispensed food to the hungry. He healed the sick.
He raised the dead. He gave sight to the blind everywhere he went.
It was blessing, and that's why I say how fickle man's heart really is.
They loved it, they came to be fed. They wanted their sick ones healed.
That here in a moment, the whole picture changes under the influence of these religious leaders. They changed completely and are crying for him to be given the worst kind of death known in the history of this world, crucifixion.
Who was the other person? We already mentioned it. He was a dangerous criminal, a murderer, one who fomented sedition, rebellion.
And he was a thief. He took what did not belong to him. Those were the two choices that were before this world that night in Jerusalem. And Pilate said, what shall I do with Jesus?
Their response was immediate. Let him be crucified. There was no question in their mind what they wanted.
Says in Lukes Gospel pilot gave in. He delivered Jesus to their will. What was their will for Jesus?
Crucifixion. What was their will for Barabbas? Barabbas, come, you're the man we want. Can anybody blame God for the situation this world is in tonight?
The awful warfare, the killing, the terrorism that goes on in this world.
Sometimes I hear people say, why does God allow it? God gave man his choice there in Jerusalem that night. He could choose Jesus or he could choose Barabbas. And their choice was clear. It was Barabbas. That's the one they chose. No wonder the world is in the situation that we find it in tonight.
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And so Pilate here in this chapter, it says he washed his hands before the multitude in verse 24. You don't wash away guilt of condemning an innocent man by washing your hands in water. And Pilate may have done that to try to relieve some of the guilt that was on his own soul, but it will never, never relieve the guilt that he has.
I'm looking forward to a day when it will be Jesus on the judgment seat and Pilate will appear before Jesus. What a difference. What terror, Because you cannot avoid Jesus, you must meet him. Like it or not, believe it or not, it makes no difference.
You must meet with Jesus. It's unavoidable. You may say I don't want to have anything, that I don't want to think about it even now.
I've got too much to live for. OK, that's your choice. But I say you will meet Jesus today. You can repent and be saved and have a glorious future in front of you.
But if you avoid the issue, you must meet him because the question of your sins.
Is something that is unavoidable. You must deal with the question of your sins and if you.
Choose not to deal with them now. You will appear before Jesus as He sits as a judge.
In that coming day to cast those who do not accept His offer of salvation into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. That's the option that is reserved in all these nearly 2000 years since Jesus was crucified. The gospel message goes out and whosoever believes can have salvation from that coming judgment.
The question of sin has been addressed by God himself through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came not to live, He came to die.
And we have the story here. Notice verse 26.
When they had said his blood be on us and on our children.
They said then it says He released Barabbas unto them and when he had scourged Jesus he delivered him to be crucified. Notice in verse 24 he says the blood of this just person and then he takes them out and scourges him. What kind of justice is this? Say this is a just person and then take him to scourge in the Romans scourging.
I understand, I've read accounts of what it involved but they tied the person to a stake.
And they used the Roman whip and it cut deep gouges in his back.
It was called by some the living death. It was awful and they stood by to watch, to make sure.
That the victim did not faint and if a fainted they.
Tried to revive them by throwing water over them.
Then he took them and gave them to the soldiers. Notice verse 28. They stripped him. Think of it. They stripped the Son of God, and verse 29 they plaited a crown of thorns.
Those thorns were awful.
I've had to deal with those thorns when we lived in Bolivia.
They have thorn trees in abundance down there and sometimes.
They have gone into the tires of my vehicle and they're as bad as nails. They go straight in, they do not break. They crowned Him with thorns. They took that stick and they beat that crown of thorns into His face, into His head. They spit in His face and then they let Him out to crucify him and notice.
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In verse 34, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall. It was something that they gave convicts that were going to be crucified to lessen the pain of crucifixion when he had tasted thereof, not drink it, no, he was going to feel the awfulness of crucifixion. And then it says in verse 35 and they crucified him.
Think of it, the glorious Son of God that was this world's response to Jesus. They stretched out his hands, they nailed him to a cross, they lifted him up between heaven and earth, and then they sat down to make fun of him. He says in the book of the Psalms, Reproach has broken my heart and I'm full of heaviness and I look for some to take pity.
And there were none. And for comforters. But I found none. Not only did he suffer those intense physical pains.
But he suffered as well that awful reproach that broke his heart.
Then something else took place on Mount Calvary. It was those hours of darkness. Verse 45. From the 6th hour there was darkness over all the land until the 9th hour. In about the 9th hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice. Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani, that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
In three awful hours of darkness from what we would calculate to be 12 noon to 3:00 PM.
Nobody could see what was happening on that cross, but from other scriptures we know that it was in those three hours that God took the load of judgment.
That was on us, those sins that we had committed and laid it on Jesus.
And Jesus bore the punishment for our sins. Somebody had to pay it if I was to be forgiven. If you were to be forgiven, somebody had to pay the price. And Jesus paid the price in full. There at Calvary, at the end of those three hours, he cried with a loud voice that says, here it tells us what he cried in John's gospel.
It is finished. All the judgment that was against me as a lost Sinner was gone. Thank God there's salvation now for sinners through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then after a soldier came up that hill and pierced his side and out flowed blood and water. That's the blood that can cover.
And remove sin from the eyes of God.
God can see everything, but he does not see the sin that has been washed away with the blood of Jesus. Jesus paid it all on that Christ, and God was so satisfied with the payment that he made that Jesus made, that God raised him from the dead. Tonight we have the news, the good news that Jesus is a living Savior, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead.
Is one of the most well established facts in human history even.
Apart from the testimony of the Word of God, Jesus lives. He ascended up on high.
And he's sitting a real man of flesh and bones at God's right hand tonight, powerful to save to the uttermost all that coming to God by him.
That's the story of the cross. That's the story of that Election Day in Jerusalem.
But I want to speak of the importance of decision.
You know, we were speaking about Sodom and Gomorrah today because the chapter we were studying.
Speaks about it.
That city.
By which a certain lifestyle today is designated. It's called ******.
Homosexuality.
And God showed what he thought. God gave an example of how He's going to treat people that engage in that kind of sin. I'm not saying that there's not salvation for those kind of people when they repent and believe the gospel.
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But this is God's estimation of that awful sin.
And if we would read the Old Testament account, it is a solemn account how God came to Abraham as he dwelt out on the mountain, and he had with him 2 angels. And then as he left there the Lord stayed with Abraham, while Abraham plead for those he knew in Sodom that were living there. He had.
A nephew in Sodom called Lot, and Lot was a righteous man, it tells us.
In the New Testament, he was a man that believed and that night as the day was declining.
Two men enter Sodom. Nobody realized it was Sodoms last night of existence. Nobody realized these two men were those two angels, and Lot had the discernment to recognize that these were no ordinary men.
And he gets up because he's sitting in the gate of Sodom. He had taken a place of preeminence there in that city.
And he gets up and he invites them into his home.
They didn't want to come at first, but they finally were persuaded to come into his house.
And the story of what happened is rather awful. The men of that city.
Be set around that house and they called the lot to bring out the two men.
That it entered into his house and lot, even though he was a righteous man, the Scripture tells us.
Had become so affected by the living of that city that he actually offers to the men of the city his own daughters.
To use as they would want to.
How awful a Christian can get to that point.
Yes, that may happen. It did in the cases of a lot awful what Lot did that night. The Lord was merciful to Lot and He was outside trying to reason with those men that were beastly in their instincts and they pulled him back into the house and blinded those men out there. People are blinded as to their end.
Today and they said to Lot, who do you have in this city?
Sons, daughters, sons in law, tell them that we have come to destroy this city.
Something had to be done, a decision had to be made to get out of that city.
But Lot went to talk to his sons in law and they thought he was joking.
Isn't that awful?
You don't know what kind of conversation he must have had with him.
Before, but they thought he was joking.
And so the next day dawns and it says the Lord was merciful to lie. And the Lord laid hold on one or the angels, took a hold of Lot and his wife, 1 Angel and another Angel, his two daughters, and drugged them out of that city, pulled them out of that city and said there's the mountain, flee to the mountain, don't look back.
Yes, it was necessary. Decision was necessary, and they fled. But I want to go over to Luke's Gospel, Chapter 17. I believe it is.
For a few verses.
Verse 26.
And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man.
They did eat, they drank, They married wives.
They were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark.
And the flood came and destroyed the mall.
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The majority is often wrong.
In Noah's day, it was the case.
Eight were right by believing God and getting into the ark. The rest were wrong.
Verse 28 when we come to a different person likewise also as it was in the days of Lot.
They did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted.
They build that notice it doesn't say anything about marrying and giving in marriage.
That was given up, as it is in our country today, it's given up.
But the same day that lot went out of Sodom, it reigned.
Fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed the mall.
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man.
Is revealed in that day he which he shall be on the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away. He that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Verse 32 remember.
Lot's wife What happened to Lot's wife, the story in the Old Testament tells us.
There were those four. They were told to go as fast as possible.
Be overtaken with the destruction of that city, and not to look back. And as they were going, the Lord reigned fire and brimstone.
Mentioned it today in the reading Brimstone is sulfur.
In Spanish, that's the word. It uses fire and sulfur. Over on the Chilean border with Bolivia there is big sulfur mines, and it's interesting that that stuff is very flammable.
So when the Lord reigned fire and brimstone out of heaven, it was big chunks of fire, sulfur on fire that came on and stuck to people as he reigned and destroyed that city. And so here's Lot, his wife and his two daughters, and they're going. And all of a sudden Lot's wife, whose heart was in Sodom, all that she lived for.
All that she wanted was going up in smoke, and she turns around to look.
She was not decided.
And she turns into a pillar of salt, the Scripture tells us.
Remember.
Lot's wife, what is it that keeps you from decision for Christ? What is it that makes you want to continue to embrace part of this world system when God has declared it's under judgment?
Remember Lot's wife, there was not decision. She was going out in body, but her heart was back there in Sodom.
Oh, how important it is to make a decision. There is no way to avoid the matter of the question of your sins either. You deal with it now.
By repenting and believing the gospel or you will have to face Jesus in that coming judgment day when he sits on the throne. There is no way to avoid it. Jesus died.
So that we can offer to all free and full salvation.
But my friend, if you do not accept him as your savior.
If you refuse to accept that offer of salvation that has been offered now for almost 2000 years.
The time will come when you will face Jesus.
You must face him face to face with Jesus on that throne of judgment.
It's called a great white throne. Jesus will sit.
And the souls are called to present themselves before him. There they stand, the small, the great, the mighty men, all the ones that have died without faith in God from the beginning of time. There will stand Cain that went out of the presence of the Lord. It's been a long time since Cain died.
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But he too will be called to stand before Jesus.
On that judgment throne and their books are opened God.
Is a good record keeper and all the story of our lives, every sin we've ever committed.
In fact, in Word, in deed is all recorded there. Sometimes people remind me of things I've done years ago, totally forgotten about Him, don't remember a bit of what they tell me. I suppose they're right. But the Lord has got it all recorded above.
And you're not going to escape giving account for everything you have ever done.
We plead in the name of the Lord Jesus if there is somebody who has not.
Made that decision. You cannot remain neutral as to this.
It's always been, it always will be a matter that you must decide with God.
You know, in the Old Testament there was.
A rival?
God, that was called Baal. Baal.
Is a word in Hebrew that means Master or Lord and there's many people.
Today that have other masters in life.
And they recognize them, and they serve them well.
And there was a time when there was a prophet called Elijah who came to Israel.
And he said, how long halt ye between two opinions?
If Jehovah be God, follow him. If Baal.
Follow him. You can't remain neutral. You must decide. And so.
There Elijah proposed a contest. It was on a mountain called Carmel, there in Israel, in the northern Kingdom. And there on that mountain there were two altars set, one for bail. There was 450 prophets of bail, and they killed an animal and put it on the altar.
And they called all day for Baal to answer them.
And there was number answer.
That is the false gods that this world wants to embrace.
They will not save you in your hour of need.
Then, at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah built the broken down altar of the Lord.
And put the wood on it and put the ox that he had killed on top of the altar. And then he told them to bring 4 barrels of water and pour it on there. And they poured 4 barrels of water on that sacrifice 3 times.
And then he prayed, and the Lord answered with fire, and that fire came down.
And consumed the sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the water. There was nothing left.
And the people seeing the dramatic way that God had answered Elijah.
Said the Lord. He is God, The Lord he is God.
And Elijah immediately said, take all those prophets of Baal, immediately take him down and he had them executed because of their crime of leading those people in the wrong direction. You can't be neutral. There is no way of being neutral. He could not deal lightly with those men. They were all.
Executed. And I say, young people, if you own Jesus as Lord.
There's things in this light, in the culture in which we live that cannot exist with him being Lord in your life. There's music, there's certain kinds of lifestyles that absolutely cannot be embraced.
If you own Jesus at lower as Lord, those things must be cut out of your life.
That's what repentance means. It means a change in your mind as to those things.
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But you know, in the story of Israel, and I want to carry this through if you go on a few chapters further.
In the story of Israel, there was another king that came along after.
Wicked King Ahab, his name was Jehu. And it's interesting, even though Elijah had made such a clean sweep of the prophets of Baal at that time and had executed 450 prophets.
Why the religion of Baal had come again to the people of Israel, and Jehu tricked the people.
Insane.
If Ahab served Baal little, all serve him much, and he announced a great feast for the people, for the God Baal.
And those people had seen that dramatic way that God had answered.
God answers prayer. He does. It's evident.
And they had seen it, how dramatic it was, the answer that the Lord had given.
And still those people were not decided, because they went back to that religion of Baal again, but this time there was no mercy for them. This time there was no sacrifice from an Elijah to take the place of the judgment that had to fall. And when they were in this House of bail, all the followers of bail.
Jehu had his armed forces surround the place and completely kill absolutely every person that was in there.
God is offering mercy to you tonight, but if you do not decide for Christ, there is only one thing ahead for you.
And it is the most awful judgment that this world has ever seen.
It must have been awful when God destroyed this world with a flood.
As people were, as the waters rose, those people, as they scrambled to get the highest point and they were all taken away, absolutely every one of them that was not in the ark.
It must have been awful when God judged the city of Sodom and Gomorrah.
That awful day when he rained fire and brimstone out of heaven. But the Lord Jesus has said about the judgment that is getting close for this world system to day says there was there. This time will be a time of tribulation that this world has never seen before or will ever see after. That's the judgment that's reserved and the awful, awful desperation.
Of people when they realize that the door of salvation is shut forever.
And that there's no more salvation.
Oh, how we plead. Dear young people, dear children, if you can understand what I'm talking about tonight.
Dear older folks too, you know who you are if you have not truly made.
This matter of Jesus a personal matter. Tonight with all those that truly believe in this room, we want to plead with you to accept the Lord Jesus.
I present the question as Pilate presented it. What shall I do then with Jesus? What are you going to do with Jesus? Remember, you cannot embrace Jesus and embrace this world at the same time. Impossible. It is Jesus or this world. What is your decision? Oh, you say I have my rights. Yes, you may have your rights.
In this world that we live in, in this country that we live in.
But be careful that having your own rights lets you.
Choose the wrong thing, and it be the loss of your soul for all eternity. God commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day in the which you will judge this world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained in giving faith to, having given faith to all men, in having raised him from the dead.
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What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?
I ask you to consider it seriously. In the presence of God, accept Him.
Believe the Gospel, for if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.