Gospel—Jim Hyland
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This evening with hymn #4 on the gospel hymn sheet, Christ is the Savior of sinners.
Christ is the Savior for me, long I was chained in sin's darkness.
Now by his grace I am free hymn #4. If someone could please start it.
Now there is no contemplation. This is the thing therefore being.
The day girl and girl standing like me.
Shaking his life for my granddaughter, this is the danger for me.
Let's ask God.
We're going to take some time at the beginning of this gospel meeting and read a number of scriptures.
And I realized that to the casual reader or listener, these scriptures may seem very disconnected.
These scriptures might seem like some of them at least very strange scriptures.
To begin a gospel meeting with but I believe if you listen closely that you will find.
One thing at least in common with these scriptures that we read.
We may not comment on all these scriptures specifically, but we're going to read them because, you know, tonight.
Blessing depends on the living word of God in all its power. That's where the blessing comes.
Thank God it's not our ability to explain the gospel that is going to bring about salvation tonight.
But it is the word of God in all its living power, because the Scriptures tell us here and your soul shall live.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. We're born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. And so, as I say, we're going to take some time and read these scriptures, and then we're going to seek, with the Lord's help, to tie them together in as simple a gospel message as we can. The first scripture I want to read is in the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 21.
Genesis chapter 21 and I'm going to read verses 3.
And verse 5.
And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him.
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Isaac and Abraham was 100 years old.
When his son Isaac was born. And now we're going to go over to the New Testament.
To John's Gospel, chapter 21.
John's Gospel, chapter 21.
And verse 10.
Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes on 150 and three, and for all. There were so many, yet not was not the net broken.
And then in Luke's Gospel chapter 15.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 15.
And verse four, what man of you having 100 sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the 90 and nine in the wilderness?
And go after that which is lost until he find it. I want to read a verse in the book of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah, chapter 3.
And verse one then he lies ship. The high priest rose up with his brethren, the priests.
And they builded the sheath gate. They sanctified it and set up the doors of it even under the tower of Mia. They sanctified it under the tower, under the tower of Hannah Nel. And now one more portion for now in Marks Gospel, Chapter 4.
Mark's Gospel chapter 4.
And verse 14.
The sower soweth the word.
And then just drop down to verse 20 and these are they which are sown on good ground.
Such as hear the word and receive it and bring forth some 30 fold, some 60, and some an hundred. Well, as I said, these may seem like very strange scriptures to read at the beginning of a gospel meeting, but I believe you'll find that these scriptures bring before us a number, the number 100, and the number 100 has a great significance in the word of God.
As we often point out, numbers in Scripture often have significance.
And the number 100 has the thought of complete or full salvation. I'm going to show you something in my pocket in a few moments that brought this subject to my mind recently. But I began back in the book of Genesis because there we find that when Isaac was born, he was born to Abraham. And it is not insignificant that Scripture records the age of.
Abraham when Isaac was born.
Abraham was 100 years old because Isaac was the son of promise.
And if we were to go on and read through that the different chapters in Genesis that follow, we would find that Isaac is a very beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I began with this portion because we want to, at the beginning of the Gospel meeting, bring before our souls that the gospel is concerning God's beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who was sent into this world. And so if we were to go on to the 22nd chapter of Genesis.
We would find there that Abraham is told to take his son.
The son of his old age. The son of promise. The son that he waited so long to have.
And he is told to go and to offer him as a sacrifice on a mountain that God was going to appoint. And that chapter I believe is a very beautiful picture in the Old Testament of the Father and the Son going to the altar. And the Son offered up as a sweet smelling sacrifice, summed up no doubt in that precious verse in first John chapter 4 where it says the Father sent the Son.
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To be the savior of the world because tonight it's the savior of sinners that we are presenting.
And so it all began in Isaac's life, with his father being 100.
Years of age, I rarely bring an object lesson to a gospel meeting.
But I'm going to show you something that was bought a few days ago.
At Tenukaliki, which is the very famous bazaar in downtown Cairo, Egypt.
I asked one of the young brothers that was with me to haggle for this thing that's in my pocket, and he did, and I brought it along to night. What I have in my pocket is a set of beads.
And of these beads, if you were to count them, there are 99 beads.
On this necklace, these beads are very important to a Muslim man.
And you can have a look a little a little closer. Look after the meeting if you like.
But you will find that on these 99 beads there is an inscription on each one in Arabic. Because if we were to pull the Koran tonight, the Muslim Bible, so to speak, we would find that there are 99 names for the Muslim God. We generally refer to him as Allah, but there are 99 names in the Koran for their God.
Not 100, but 99, and a very devout Muslim man will take this set of beads every day and finger them and repeat the 99 names of his God. When you look a little closer at these beads, you'll find that they are divided into three sets, each consisting of 33 beads.
If a man is not so devout, he may recite.
66 of the names of his God and if he's a little more casual about his religion.
He will recite just 33 and it is divided in that way for that purpose. You can get sets of these that are very expensive, that have semi precious stones and you can get sets of them without the names of their God engraved on them. Because a man who does this all his life, he doesn't need a set with the names on them, he knows them by heart and every time he recites this these names.
This helps him to get another foothold on Eternity and hopefully.
Heaven. But you know, it's interesting to me and the reason I bought this and the reason I brought it tonight.
It's because whatever Satan seeks to copy, it always falls short of the truth of God. And it's interesting, isn't it, that there are 99 names that a Muslim man will repeat, 99 names of his God, But there's one that's missing. It comes short of God's salvation, and as different Christians over the in Egypt have told me.
The one name that's missing is the fact that God is a God of love.
They do not know God as a God of love, and you're not over there amongst them very long before you realize.
That they do not know their God as a God of love. If they knew him as a God of love, they could add another bead to this string.
And there would be salvation available to them.
But here we find Isaac, this beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus.
And he is taken and he is placed on the altar. And I realize that there was a substitute for Isaac. I realized that there was a ram caught in a thicket. But, you know, we find in the New Testament that in figure in type to the heart of God, Isaac was offered as a sacrifice because it pictured to God as Isaac was bound and laid on that altar.
And as Abraham raised that knife to plunge it into the heart of his son to God he was thinking.
Of a time when his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come into this world.
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Go to Calvary's cross, and there be offered as that great and supreme sacrifice, because while there was a substitute for Isaac, he was but a pale reflection. He was but a feeble foreshadow of what was really in the mind and heart of God.
Yet for the Lord Jesus there was number substitute. He bowed in the garden in his agony, sweating as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And he said it, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But he rose from the garden to do the Father's will nevertheless. Not my will, but thine be done. He went on to pilots Judgment Hall. From pilots judgment hall he looked out towards Golgotha.
And he knew what was going to take place out there. And we read in John's Gospel, He bearing his cross, went forth. Yes, he did. He went forth, and there they crucified Him.
There he hung for those hours as a spectacle for men and angels. There there were those who passed by and reviled him.
Others sat down and watched him. In his agony. One tried to give him vinegar to drink.
But then there was a moment in time, a moment in the history of this world.
For something tremendous happened.
Where the sun at high noon was darkened, God said that's enough.
And he darkened the sun so that no eye could penetrate.
Well, my sins were laid on the Lord Jesus.
Where I can say he bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
Can you say that this evening? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior?
Are your sins taken care of by the work of Calvary? At the end of those hours of darkness, the Lord Jesus bowed his head. He gave up the ghost. He died in a way that no other could or never has or ever could. He lay down his life.
Some time later, a soldier came along and with a spear, pierced his side.
And Scripture records again in John's Gospel forthwith came throughout blood and water.
And we read throughout the scriptures the things like the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
We read in the Old Testament without the shedding of blood is no remission.
The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar.
It's through that blood that we have the forgiveness of sins. I grew up singing that gospel song. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And there's no substitute tonight for the death and the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I say again, Isaac was just a pale reflection of what was really in the mind and the heart.
Of God, but there is complete salvation offered now.
Based on that work that the Lord Jesus accomplished on Calvary's cross.
And there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
And that's why I read the portion in John's Gospel chapter 21.
Because there we find that the disciples having acted under the direction of the Lord Jesus.
They cast this net into the sea and when they drag it to shore.
Scripture is very, very precise as to the number of fish.
In that net.
The bigger numbers in scripture we have to breakdown a little bit, but you'll we found here there were 150 and three fish. Again, 100 has to do with complete salvation.
50 has to do with the day of Pentecost. And you know, it was on the Day of Pentecost that the Christian era began.
Because as if we were to go to Acts chapter 2 This evening, we would find that after the Lord Jesus.
Had risen from the dead, and after he had remained on earth long enough.
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To give complete testimony to his own that he had bodily risen from the dead.
A moment came on the side of the Mount of Olives at Bethany.
Where he lifted up his hands and blessed them, and his feet left planet Earth, and the cloud received him out of their sight, and they saw him no more. And Scripture doesn't leave us in any doubt as to where the Lord Jesus went.
The Scripture leaves us in no doubt as to what took place on the other side of the cloud.
And we know from many scriptures that the Lord Jesus return to the Father.
And that he is seated there tonight as the Savior.
Of sinners.
This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever, sat down.
On the right hand of God, Hebrews 10 tells us.
But after the Lord Jesus had gone back to heaven and time had been fulfilled according to scripture.
On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God descended in the bodily form of a dove, and that was the beginning of Christianity. That's the day. That's the time. That was the place where the Church of God was formed. There were about 120 believers gathered together in that upper room, and the Spirit of God came and formed what we call the Church of God.
And aren't we so very thankful that from the day of Pentecost until this very day?
The Spirit of God has been working, and through His spirit we read, the Lord added to the Church daily Such as should be saved.
And the fact that we're here tonight in this hall and the fact that we can preach the gospel is a proof.
That the Spirit of God is still here in this world, and the Spirit of God is still working.
And God is working by his spirit. And maybe there's someone here tonight.
And the Spirit of God is striving with you, but I want to warn you.
Solemnly in the presence of God tonight, that God has said, my spirit shall not always strive with man.
God speaks once, yeah, twice. Yet man perceiveth it not. And we find all through Scripture that God often spoke, and often he spoke more than once to get the attention of various individuals and peoples. But you know, the day always came when the voice of God was no more heard in that way, I suppose the most outstanding example that comes to many of our minds.
Is in connection with the flood. You know, it's remarkable that it says that the flood came and took them all away.
You know there must have been children, there must have been young people living on planet Earth at that time.
But you know when the judgment of God fell on this earth in the days of Noah.
It was no respecter of persons. It didn't matter how old you were, how young you were.
It didn't matter how often you'd heard Noah preach righteousness for those, I suppose about 120 years.
It didn't matter your social standing. It didn't matter if you were a person of religion. It didn't matter if you were God fearing. It didn't matter if I can put it this way, if you were walking The Dirty side of the broad road or the clean side, the flood came and took them all away.
And there is a moment coming in this world when judgment is going to come again.
Because you know the Lord Jesus, before he went back to heaven, he told his disciples He promised them.
That he was going to come again. And there are many scriptures we could turn to. One that comes to mind is.
When once the master of the house hath risen up and shut to the door, then they are going to become and begin to knock, and they are going to say, Lord, Lord, open unto us, we have the parable. Of the 10 virgins, five were wise and five were foolish. Five were ready and went into the marriage, And when the other five came and knocked, they were sincere at that point.
They said open to us.
But the door was never opened again because when God's voice.
Ceased us to speak in the power of the Spirit of God in connection with the gospel of the grace of God.
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It's going to be too late for anyone who's ever who's heard it before and it is going to be too late for you. I can say with full assurance that everyone of understanding in this room.
Who rejects Christ and goes into a lost eternity or is left behind when the Lord comes, is going to be left behind for the judgment of God because you'll be without excuse.
Very serious to think about, isn't it? You will be without excuse.
Because you have heard the way of salvation, and we are seeking feebly to present it again tonight.
And these verses that we quote these verses if you reject them as to a point of refuge.
If you reject them as to your soul's salvation, they will rise in judgment of you in the coming day.
The Lord Jesus said the word which I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day.
To go into a lost eternity and remember the verses from Scripture that you heard.
In a gospel meeting like this.
Those verses will rise in judgment of you. I'm going to quote a familiar gospel verse that I suppose perhaps everyone in this room has heard before, but I'll quote it again.
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.
Have you ever heard that verse before? I'm sure you have, and you've just heard it again. But it will be a serious thing for you to remember John 316 in a place where Scripture says the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.
And to remember that verse in a lost eternity, that verse will nag at your conscience.
Forever and ever and ever, because you will realize that that verse could have been your soul salvation.
And so there were 150 and three fishes. Why three? Well again, 3 is a picture, 3 is the number of death and resurrection. He died, he was buried, and he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures. And in that regard I just want to again stress for a moment the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We stress in the gospel the fact that he died.
We stress the fact that he shed his precious blood. We stress the fact that he was buried.
But as Paul said in writing to the Corinthians, the gospel that he preached was summed up in these simple words.
He died, he was buried, and he rose again the third day.
According to the scriptures, I want to stress that for a moment, because if Christ be not raised.
Your faith is in vain and ye are still in your sins.
But thank God he was raised again for our justification, and we want to tenaciously hold on.
To the truth of the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus, I know that there have been those down through the ages.
Who have propagated the false doctrine that the Lord Jesus only rose in spirit?
But he said to his disciples, Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone, as ye see me have.
I know sometimes we repeat our stories and illustrations, but I am often in stressing the resurrection on an occasion like this.
Reminded of the story of two missionaries who some years ago.
We're working in one of the busy cities in India and one day they were on a crowded, noisy St. in India.
And they were startled by a large procession coming down the road.
And they made inquiries as to what was happening and they were told that supposedly.
A bone of Buddha had been found and the followers of Buddha were rejoicing.
As this bone was carried down the road by the priests of Buddha in some very ornate box.
Well, the missionaries watched this for a time and when they retired to their quarters and talked over the matter.
They were struck by that, and, as they said, the contrast in Christianity, because they concluded that if a bone of the Lord Jesus were found, it would not cause great rejoicing amongst the believers, it would cause great sorrow. But thank God, a bone of the Lord Jesus will never be found in this world. He rose from the dead. The tomb was empty. The stone rolled away the napkin and the clothes that were wrapped around him in order.
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So that they could see very clearly, And then to remain on earth, as I say for as long as He did, to confirm to his own His bodily resurrection. And this is the man in the glory who is the savior of sinners. There is a savior on high in the glory, a savior who suffered on Calvary's tree. A savior is willing to save. Now as ever, his arm is almighty, His love great and free. And the invitation it tonight is, oh come now to Jesus.
That dear loving Savior, receive him this moment, and peace shall be thine.
You know, you realize very quickly when you're in a Muslim, a Buddhist, A Hindu or a heathen country that there is no peace. And I have seen people who have spent their whole life trying to appease their God or gods. It is a very solemn and a sad thing. And I have heard those that wail out their cries at the hour of prayer five times a day.
And it is a very sad thing. It is not a happy thing. And although I don't understand it, because it is all in Arabic, you can tell just by the expressions and the tone of the voice that it is a very woeful and sorrowful thing. But you know, tonight we don't have to make peace with God because we never could. If we had eternity to do it, I could never make peace with God. But thank God I don't have to. He's made peace through the blood of his cross.
And based on that work of Calvary I have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a very sad thing to hear people wail out their hearts at the hour of prayer and often to pray to someone who is in the tomb. And not only that, but I have been to Hindu countries where it is extreme idolatry.
And to see people take their sacrifices and sometimes take food at the expense of their own hunger and the hunger of their families, and offer it to their gods.
It is a very solemn thing. There's no peace.
They never obtain any peace or rest of soul for their whole lives, and sad to say, they go to a lost eternity. But oh, tonight we have full salvation. We have these scriptures and so many more.
And this number 100 that brings before us God's full salvation, because there's full and free salvation tonight based on the work of the Lord Jesus. I read in Nehemiah chapter 3 because there we find Nehemiah and those that were with him raised up by God to build the rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. And it's interesting that the first gate that's mentioned is the Sheep gate.
Again bringing before us the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, the one of whom it was declared, Behold, the Lamb of God.
That sheep lead, that lamb LED as a sheep to the slaughter, and as the shears before her shears, as a sheep before her shears is dumb, So he opened not his mouth. That sacrifice of which those sheep in the Old Testament again only pointed forward to the sacrifice of God's lamb, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's interesting that there were two towers mentioned in connection with the sheep gate.
The first one is the tower Mia, You know it's still the Arabic word for 100.
Still the Arabic word for 100. And isn't it interesting that as soon as we have the Sheep gate, Speaking of the work of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, we have that which denotes salvation? We have the tower Mia. Why is it a tower? The Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runeth into it and is safe. I've seen in my travels in Europe and many other countries some of the towers of this world.
Some of those towers that were built back in ancient times, back in Roman times, back in medieval times and so on.
And we talk about the Tower of London and various towers.
I realize the Twin Towers came down in a few hours.
Back a few years ago.
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A wake up call by God, I believe to those of us in the Western world.
But a tower in Scripture so often speaks of a place of refuge and a place of strength.
And when you look into the history of why those towers were built in ancient times?
They were usually built for that very reason. They were built sometimes so that the.
They could watch for the enemy to come. And when they saw the enemy coming, often those who were in those edifices, they ran to those towers. Those towers were their place of refuge and safety from the onslaught of the enemy. And oh, there's a place of refuge and safety tonight from coming judgment on this world. It's the tower, Mia. It's the Lord Jesus and the salvation.
That he's provided. Interesting that the other tower that's mentioned in Nehemiah 3.
Means the grace of God, because you know, it is the grace of God tonight that we want to present in connection with the gospel, because by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And oh, how wonderful that God has provided His grace, He's provided salvation through His grace, by His grace He's working by His Spirit, I have no doubt.
In this very room tonight, are you going to say no to the grace of God?
Are you going to shuffle off the grace of God? Are you going to spurn the grace of God?
Are you going to say that's not for me? I don't want it.
You say I don't deserve it, but it's grace. Grace is the undeserved favor of God.
I don't deserve to get saved. I was a Sinner, rotten through and through.
With a fallen nature altogether, born in sin, conceived in iniquity.
But thank God, I love to stand and tell you that by the wonderful grace of God.
He picked me up in my need. Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found was blind. But now I see. And I know there are just so many here in this room tonight that rejoice as we speak of the saving grace of God. But you know, as we had in these meetings already, grace takes us farther than that.
Grace is what carries us through this world. You know there's many empty, aching hearts in this world tonight.
No doubt there are many in the city of Regina who are just saying I can't go on. Life is empty, or life has its too many difficulties, insurmountable problems. I can't go on. But you know, if you come to know the saving grace of God tonight through the Lord Jesus Christ, you will then be able to to experience a preserving grace. Grace that is sufficient to carry you through every circumstance of life.
It's not necessarily that God is going to take us out of the problems and difficulties.
You know mercy takes us out of difficulties.
And we are so thankful often, aren't we, for the mercies of God.
But, you know, grace carries us through the difficulties grace carries us through. You know, the Apostle Paul, he got saved. He was Saul of Tarsus. He got saved. You know, it didn't mean he didn't have any problems. No, he had lots of problems. And he had something that he called a thorn in the flesh, and he prayed three times that it might be removed. The Lord said, no, Paul, I'm not gonna remove it, but I'm gonna give you the grace to go through it.
He said My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness.
You know the believer. When we know Christ as Savior, we're invited to a throne of grace.
That we may obtain two things, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help.
In time of need, this is the positive side of Christianity.
Because sometimes when people hear the gospel, they think of what they'll have to give up.
If they get saved. The only thing I gave up when I got saved were my sins. And I'm glad they're gone. As far as the East is from the West, so far as he removed our transgressions from us, He's blotted my sins out as a thick cloud. They're washed away in the precious blood of Christ.
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You know, if it said he'd remove them as far as the north is from the South, that wouldn't give me a whole lot of comfort because you can measure North and South, but you can't measure east and West, See how accurate scripture is. But thank God they're gone and gone for gone forever.
But then we read that little story. While we didn't read the story, you know it well. The story, the parable of the lost sheep. You know, the context is here that the publicans and sinners drew near to hear him. Those who knew they had a need, those who recognized that they were sinners. I trust that everyone of us in this room tonight recognize that we are sinners before God. You know, a person is never gonna get saved till they realize they're a Sinner.
Degree. And you know, it's more than just realizing you're a Sinner tonight. It's realizing too, that there's nothing you can do to get rid of your sins. You know, if we were to go out on the streets of Regina tonight and ask passers by on a busy street, if they're sinners, I think even today people, if they're really honest with themselves, will admit that they've done wrong things. But to admit that they're lost and guilty and there's nothing they can do to better themselves before God is quite another matter.
If you are sick and you feel there's some home remedy, and don't misunderstand me, I'm not against home remedies. But if you feel there's some home remedy to cure your illness, you're not going to seek the advice of a doctor. But as soon as you realize that your sickness is beyond any home remedy or herb tea that you can take, then and only then are you going to seek the advice of a physician. And the Lord said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And so we find here the Lord Jesus tells this story.
A story about himself as the Good Shepherd, the shepherd that had 100 sheep.
And he lost one.
Doesn't seem like very great odds.
I'm not so sure that an earthly shepherd would risk his life.
Or go out on a stormy night to find one sheep that was lost. Maybe they would. I know nothing about the care of sheep, but here we find in the story that's so valuable. Were these sheep as individuals to the shepherd that he goes out to seek the one that was lost. He only had 9999 names of Allah on this set of deeds. Come short, doesn't it?
The shepherd came short with his sheep, and so he goes out again, a very beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus, the one who came to seek and to save that which was lost. And he goes out and he searches for that sheep until he finds it and he brings that sheep back, rejoicing on his shoulders. You know, we don't read that the shepherd scolded the sheep. We don't read that the shepherd slapped the sheep and told it to get back to the fold and how bad it was and.
It better smarten up. No, that wouldn't have done any good. No, the shepherd lovingly took that sheep. He placed it on his shoulders, and the sheep never got off the shepherd's shoulders until it was safe back with the other sheep. Oh, it might have struggled, It might have got a footloose here and there, but it never got off those shoulders of strength. Because when I got saved the Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
The Lord Jesus is that great shepherd of the sheep. He picked me up, he put me on his shoulders, and he's been carrying me on his shoulders ever since. Oh, I've struggled. Believe me, I've struggled. I've got a footloose here and there in my own will and my own way. But thank God, thank God, he's never going to put me down till I'm safe home. And when the shepherd came home, when he came back with the sheep, there was rejoicing.
And where? Who was The Who was rejoicing? Oh, I believe the shepherd's joy was the greatest joy. There was joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner that repenteth. Do you want to cause joy in heaven tonight? You want to cause rejoicing to the heart of God the Father? You want to cause joy to the heart of the Lord Jesus. You want to cause a stir in heaven. Tonight all you have to do is come as a repentant Sinner confessing your sin because it's repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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And you will cause such a stir in heaven, a stir in heaven that will bring great joy.
Oh, it's wonderful when a soul gets saved. And it's wonderful to see the joy of salvation after repentance.
But oh how wonderful to think of the joy in heaven when one Sinner.
Comes to the to the Savior, I read in connection with the Sower in Mark's Gospel.
Because again, we have this thought of 100 and we find that when the seed is sown.
And really, in the context here, the Lord is the sower. And of course the word is the seed. And so we find here the seed. The sower is perfect. The seed is good. It's sown correctly. It's sown faultlessly.
But it lands on different kinds of ground. We find that it lands.
By the wayside it lands, perhaps on the hard surface of the road.
And there's no, there's no root, there's no work, there's no fruit. As a result, that's the wayside hearers I trust. There's no wayside here.
You know God can work and soften your heart tonight.
Then there was the Stony ground, and it's interesting with the Stony ground that it sprung up, there were leaves, there was a show. And when the disciples asked the Lord Jesus about the meaning of the parable.
He told them that this, that which fell on Stony ground was were those that Anon received the word with joy.
You know, I used to read that and puzzle over it because it seemed good that they received the word with joy. But the point is again, there was no inward work. There was no hidden work. There was no root. In other words, there was no repentance, because repentance is not joy. Repentance is godly sorrow. The joy comes after. But there was no work. And so when the sun came out, when circumstances were brought to bear on that which looked like it was going to grow and bear fruit.
Why? The leaves just withered away. I hope there's no one here.
Who makes a profession a mere simple, a mere profession of being a Christian?
But there's no reality in the soul. God will bring to bear circumstances that will bring out what's in your heart. You know, when the children of Israel went up out of Egypt, it says there went up a mixed multitude. And God brought to bear circumstances in the wilderness that brought out the reality, whether there was reality in their hearts or not. And it says with many of them, God was not well pleased and they fell in the wilderness.
How solemn to make a outward profession without an inward work.
Then there was the thorny ground.
Those who were choked by the things of this world.
And you know, the enemy seeks to use the world in various ways.
It's interesting because I remember the one of the first times I was in Egypt.
I said to some of the believers as we sat around between some meetings. I said, does it bother the believers in Egypt that we use Egypt as a type of the world? You know, you don't want to be over on their turf and bad mouthing their country even from scripture. And I just wondered what the reaction of those Egyptian believers would be. They all looked at one another and smiled. And then they looked at me and said, no, Jim, it's so clear in scripture that we understand.
The application. But Egypt is a type of this world.
Pharaoh is a type of Satan seeking to keep souls from coming under the good of redemption.
And deliverance. Pharaoh didn't want the children of Israel to leave. He wanted to keep them in ******* in slavery.
And that's what Satan wants to do. He wants to hold us with the cords of our sin.
And keep us in *******. But you know, there's another side of the world too. You know, it's interesting that Moses.
Wasn't trained to be the son of Pharaoh. That's the harsh side of the world.
He was trained to be the son of Pharaoh's daughter. That's the nice side of the world. That's the culture of the world. That's the affluence of the world. I never realized until I visited Egypt.
And I have been there by the grace of God 10 times. I never realized.
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When it says Moses esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt, just exactly what that meant. Egypt is a base Nation Today, but it was not a base nation in the days when the Pharaohs were there. It was not a vast nation in the days of Moses. The treasures of Egypt, the science, the understanding that they had of the universe.
Is remark A remarkable part of history, And yet Moses being trained in the culture, and it tells us he was trained in all the wisdom and learning of the Egyptians.
That's the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but he had to forsake that if he was going to take his stand with the Lord and the people of God.
He had to even forsake that. And so there are the thorns that choke the world. It may not be the raw side of the world. It may not be the degradation that many get into.
But there are those things. The nice side of the world. There was an old brother. He's with the Lord now. He used to say. Culture is the embalming fluid that keeps the old man from stinking. And isn't that true? Isn't that true? But then we come to the good ground where we read, and we find that on that good ground the seed fell and it brought forth some 30 fold, some 60 fold, and a full head was a hundredfold.
Because the good ground is prepared ground and the things that are fatal to the unbeliever.
May hinder growth and fruit in a true believer.
To reject the word of God, the seed has the seed is good.
There's nothing wrong with that. It's perfect but to reject the word of God.
Is to, as it were, let the seed fall by the wayside on the Stony ground, on the on the thorny ground.
But oh to let it fall on the good ground, so let it spring up and bring forth fruit.
But I just want to say, as this meeting is concluding, to those who know Christ as our Savior.
He doesn't want us just to bring forth 30 or 60 fruit, he wants us to bring forth one hundredfold.
He wants full fruit in our lives, fruit for his glory.
Fruit that will be manifested in a coming day. In that regard, I would like to turn to one more Scripture in turning.
It's in this same book of Mark and in the 10th chapter.
Mark's Gospel, chapter 10.
And verse 28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife.
Our children are lands for my sake and the Gospels, but he shall not receive an hundredfold.
Now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions, and in the world to to come eternal life a hundredfold. You know, that's 10,000%.
That's that's pretty good in return on your investment, isn't it? I don't think there's any investment agency, any bank, any Trust Company that can offer 10,000% on your investment. But here with Peter, and Peter felt that he lost a lot to follow the Lord. Perhaps he felt it more than the other disciples because Peter is the only one from scripture that we read of that had a wife.
The reason we know that is because he had a mother-in-law. And to have a mother-in-law, you've got to have a wife. And his mother-in-law was sick on one occasion. And he might have felt, well, Lord, we've left the comforts of home and family. What are we going to get in return? Oh, the Lord said, you'll reap A hundredfold. And he gives them a sample list here. And then it ends. And in the world to come, eternal life. And so there's provision, there's blessing for this life and then for that which is in another world.
Ahead for us. I want to tell one more little story before we close to illustrate this.
Mr. Kelly, William Kelly, whose commentaries are still sold and I trust appreciated by many, Mr. Kelly, was one of the great minds of England back in the days when the recovered light, the truth of scripture was being brought out again. And Mr. Kelly, I believe it was a nephew he had, was attending one of the great universities of England. I can't remember which one, whether it was Cambridge or Oxford, or what it was.
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But this young man was excelling in his Greek studies, and so the professor and the Dean of the college realized.
That this young man might be must be getting some help, some extra tutoring with his Greek studies.
And so they questioned him about it, and he said, well, yes, His uncle William was giving him extra tutoring. And so the Dean of the college arranged for an interview with Mr. Kelly, and he was astounded in the the presence of one of the great minds of the day.
And finally he leaned across his desk and he said, Mr. Kelly, you could be a great man in this world.
Mr. Kelly looked him straight in the eye and said which world?
Which world and which world are we living for? Do you know Christ as your Savior? Are you the possessor of eternal life? The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And if you know Christ as your Savior, are you living in view of that harvest day?
So that you will reap bring forth not just 30 fold, not just 60 fold.
But a hundredfold. That's what he wants. That's the fruit he wants.
From everyone who knows the Lord Jesus as their savior, and so we have looked at these scriptures.
We've looked at them so very quickly tonight. I trust again if there's someone here and you haven't experienced God's full salvation, that tonight you won't leave your seat. But that as we pray, you'll come to know the Lord Jesus and not leave your seat until you have settled the question, until you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. And remember that every false religion ever propagated in this world always come short.
99 beads But thank God we can turn to his word and speak of full salvation.
As we have taken up the number 100 tonight, let's pray.