Gospel—Jim Hyland
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Let's begin the gospel meeting with hymn #15 on the gospel hymn sheet. Oh blessed gospel sound. Yet there is room. It tells to all around. Yep, there is room. The guilty may draw near. Though vile they need not fear with joy they now may hear. Yet there is room hymn #15, if someone will please start it.
Nsnoise.
Oh, and congratulations, comma. Yeah, yeah, that kind of thing.
And that's a great thing And how you put on, Yeah. But I know I never get the room.
Dial Benjamin.
Uh-huh. I'm doing well. I don't know, but.
Let's pray no more about that.
Let's ask God's help and blessing. Our blessing God and Father, how thankful we are to this evening for the glorious gospel message, how thankful we are that it's going forth to whosoever will, and that Christ is still the Savior of sinners. And now, as we've come to the end of these meetings today, we thank thee that we can proclaim once again.
The glorious Gospel that we can present the Lord Jesus in all his loveliness and beauty, And our God we pray that as we open and read thy word, that thou work mightily by thy spirit, that thou D open the eyes of the blind to see beauty in Christ, and that by thy spirit thou will draw souls to that blessed one work. We do pray amongst any that are lost in this room, and refresh the hearts of thine own as we speak again of the precious things of Christ.
So we asked thy health and blessing. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory.
Amen. I'd like to read several portions of the word of God at the beginning of the Gospel meeting. The first one is in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews, chapter 10.
Hebrews, chapter 10 and verse 5. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, He saith, sacrifice and offering, Thou wouldest not but a body hast thou prepared me? And then in John's Gospel, chapter 14.
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John's Gospel, chapter 14.
And verse 2.
In my father's house, there are many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. And then in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25 and verse 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And then in Psalm 23.
Psalm 23.
And verse 5.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and just one more portion in the book of Amos.
Amos, Chapter 4.
And just an expression near the end of verse 12 prepare.
To meet thy God. Well, as these verses indicate, I have it on my heart and seeking to present the gospel this evening.
To speak a little bit about preparation, I think even the youngest here understands what it means to prepare.
I suppose those who've never hosted a conference like this little realize the preparation that our local brethren put in to having us together. Things have run so smoothly today. We've parked in the parking lot. We've come in, we enjoyed breakfast this morning. We sat down in this room on these chairs. We've had some wonderful meetings. In between the meetings there were refreshments, there were was a meal. After this meeting there's going to be another meal, Lord willing, with a lot of preparation.
Why did things run so smooth today in the logistics of meetings like this? Because our brethren paid attention to details. They made preparation, and we make preparation every day. Those of us who have traveled to these meetings from out of town, we made preparation as well. There was some Pennsylvania, some planning. We sent our names in hopefully, and we then made plans to have the time off to make sure our vehicles were in proper order for the the journey.
We set aside time to travel here. We made sure we had some extra funds so that we could afford gas and a meal along the way. Maybe there's someone who came from a further distance that had to stay overnight somewhere. But there was preparation. Went into these meetings both by our local brethren and by those of us who have attended these meetings. Even this morning, there was preparation. We got up, we got it, took a shower, perhaps. We got dressed, we got in our vehicles, and we came here.
But oh, tonight, for a few moments, we want to talk about preparation that is vital. Preparation that has to do with not just some event here in this world like these meetings, but preparation that has to do with attending the marriage supper of the Lamb, preparation for eternity. You know, there were some who prepared to come to these meetings and things hindered them. I was at the Jenkins a day early and there were some calls and some emails that came in, some cancellations of people who had planned to be here, but.
For one reason or another, they were hindered and sometimes we do make preparation for things.
And as careful as we lay those plans and make those preparations, those plans get frustrated. But oh, tonight it is so vital. It is important that we prepare for eternity. But before we do that, I want to speak about preparation on God's part. Just like there was preparation on the part of those who have invited us here this weekend, so the one who has invited us to come to the marriage Supper of the Lamb has made.
Full and abundant preparation and provision for us.
And so we read of the Lord Jesus. A body hast thou prepared me?
We've been speaking in these meetings of the Lord Jesus coming into this world in incarnation.
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It's interesting that if you were to go to a secular dictionary this evening and look up the Word incarnation, you will find something like this.
Christ come in human form. Isn't that interesting? What else could it be? The first time I looked in Webster's dictionary and saw that exact definition, it kind of took me aback. And then I thought, what else could it be? No one else ever came into this world the same way the Lord Jesus came. There is no one else. Whoever came into this world in incarnation, You know, in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus appeared to various of his own in different forms.
But it never was permanent. It was never reconsidered incarnation. There were those who said they had seen the face of God. In fact, Manoa, Sampson's father, He was afraid they were going to die because they had seen the Lord. But then there came a moment in this world where the God the Father sent forth his son, born of a woman, born of a virgin. In fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy unto us, a child is born. Unto us, the son is given.
A body hast thou prepared me. This was the Lamb, who was verily foreordained before the foundation of the world.
And he came, and oh, it stirs my soul to think of it. Depiction in my mind.
The Lord Jesus is a baby in Bethlehem's Manger, and the angels looked down, and they see for the first time their creator. This was the first time the heavenly host had seen their creator. And no, there was no stir in Jerusalem or Bethlehem or Israel.
There he was, lying in a Manger, upholding all things by the word of his power.
And the angels, what did they do? They went out to the hillside outside Bethlehem.
And an Angel announced to the shepherds the birth of the son of God.
And has the Angel announces the birth of the Son of God. There's a blazing glory, a blaze across the heavens, and all of a sudden with that Angel there's a heavenly host of angels praising God and saying glory to God in the highest peace on earth, goodwill to men. How could the angels keep silent when they look down into that Manger and saw their creator for the first time, the Son of God?
A body hast thou prepared me?
Lord Jesus grew up. The wise men came, they saw a young child, and they worshipped him.
At 12 years of age, he goes up to the temple with his parents and sits in the midst of the doctors asking questions and answering the very questions he asked because they were all amazed at his understanding and answers.
His public ministry begins at about 30 years of age. The Blessed Lord Jesus traverses the dusty streets of Palestine.
From 1 town and city to another, dispensing blessing on every.
And then the moment comes when he allows wicked hands to take a hold of him.
And they take Jesus, and they lead him away to Pilate's judgment Hall.
He shuffled back and forth between Pilate and the high Priest, and back and forth and back and forth.
They lit their hands to pluck the hairs of his cheek. They slapped him. They spit upon him. They scourge him. They put a crown of thorns on that blessed head. They beat it into his brow. They mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews.
And then they laid hands on him again, it says. And they took Jesus and led him away to crucify him.
Roman soldiers nailed him to a Roman jibbett, and there he hung bodily as a spectacle for men and angels.
And then the moment came. Yes, it did. The moment came when God said that's enough.
And God crowded the sun and darkness, and in those hours of darkness he bore my sins in his own body on the tree. Can you say that today that he bore your sins in his own body on the tree? I thank God that I can say that.
Later on, after he had laid down his life, because he said of his life, no man taketh it from me. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
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The commandment have I received of my father, And after he laid down his precious life, a soldier with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came throughout blood and water.
God never let wicked hands touch the Lord Jesus. Again, Joseph of Arimathea came and it says he begged the body of Jesus, that precious body that had been prepared from a past eternity that had come in incarnation.
Joseph and Nicodemus, with loving hands, took that body down and laid it in Joseph's tomb.
A new tomb in which never a man laid as had been prophesied. And then, as we've had at some length today, the moment came when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. The tomb couldn't hold him, death couldn't hold him and he rose from the dead. And that's why we preach not only Christ crucified, but that he died, he was buried and he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures. It's what sets Christianity unique from all the other, shall I say so, so-called great religions.
That are practiced and preached in this world. Today we have a tomb in Christianity, but it's an empty tomb.
The body of the Lord Jesus has come out, and the Lord Jesus after we had this afternoon.
Remaining on earth long enough to give ample and complete testimony to his own, He left this world and bodily the Lord Jesus is seated at the right hand of God today, and there He's 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.
If we were to read the context of this portion in Hebrews 10.
We would find that the body of the Lord Jesus is brought before us, in contrast to the bodies of those beasts that were sacrificed in the Old Testament, we sometimes sing a hymn that sums it up so very well. Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away its stain, but Christ the Heavenly Lamb took all our guilt away, a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they.
I'm gonna pause a moment and ask you tonight, are you washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus? Because it's the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, that cleanse us from all sin.
It's through that blood that we have the forgiveness of sins. I'm thankful that I'm redeemed not with corruptible things as silver and gold, not something that changes in value on the market from day-to-day, but I'm redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, and when it says precious, that's God's value of it. I'm thankful that I'm not redeemed on the basis of my estimation of the blood of Christ. I I hope that everyone here.
In some measure can say the blood of Christ is precious to our souls, but I am not redeemed on the basis of my value of the blood of Christ.
Because that's feeble at best. That may change at best. But my redemption tonight is based on God's value of the blood of Christ. And it is as precious to the heart of God tonight as when it was shed on Calvary's cross. And it will be as precious to the heart of God for all eternity when we sing about it there, gathered around himself from every kindred and tongue and people and nation in the Father's house. And that brings me to the next portion that we read, because there's something else that has been prepared.
The Lord Jesus said to the disciples before he went to the cross. I go to prepare a place for you.
Now sometimes when this verse is read, we think of the Lord Jesus up there, getting the house ready, getting it prepared.
You know, when we have company, there's a great deal of preparation goes in to us having company. And that preparation sometimes takes place right up until the company is driving in the driveway. And sometimes we have to slam a closet door too, because the preparations weren't quite complete and we don't want anybody to realize. But that is not the thought in what we have here. The reason the Lord Jesus spoke of it here in the future tense was because two things had not yet happened.
The Lord Jesus had not gone to the cross and accomplished the work of redemption, nor had the Lord Jesus risen from the dead and ascended back to the Father with the marks of atonement in his body. But the moment the Lord Jesus ascended back and sat down at the right hand of God the Father with those marks of atonement in his hands and in his feet and in his side, the house was prepared. The place was prepared. The only thing that is hindering the Lord Jesus from coming now is that the Church of God has not been completed yet.
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There's another person to be saved, and maybe it's you tonight. Maybe God in his grace, long-suffering that not willing and not willing that any should perish. Maybe he's waiting for you to come tonight. You know, wouldn't it be wonderful if the last soul to be saved was in this room and before we conclude this gospel meaning and say Amen, you got saved and we were all out of here. Wouldn't that be great? It might be.
Maybe God, in his long-suffering grace, is waiting for you.
Oh, come tonight, don't put it off because there's a wonderful place prepared. There's a home prepared for. You gonna recount a little story?
True story about a singer by the name of Ruthanna Metzger. Maybe some of you have heard her. She's a fairly popular singer, especially in Christian circles, and Ruthanna and her husband Roy were invited some time ago.
To a wedding in Seattle, WA. This was a very posh wedding. In fact, it was to be held on the top two floors of the Columbia Towers, the highest skyscraper in the city of Seattle. And two floors had been reserved for this wedding of a very wealthy couple.
Ruthanna was to sing at the wedding and she and her husband Roy were very excited to be to be invited to such an event.
After the wedding ceremony was completed.
The guests approached a glass and brass stairs that led to the top floor of the Columbia Tower.
Someone ceremoniously cut the ribbon and the guests ascended, following the bride and groom up those stairs.
But at the top of those stairs there was a maitre-d' and he had in his hand a bound book. And you can well guess what was in that bound book. It was a list of the guests who were invited to the reception.
And as Ruthanna and her husband approached, they were asked for their name. Ruthanna said. I'm Ruthanna Metzger and this is my husband, Roy. The maitre-d' turned to that book and he ran his finger up and down the columns.
He said. I'm not finding it. Could you spell it? She spelt it out very slowly and carefully again. He looked to make sure he hadn't missed it. He said, I'm sorry, it's not here. He motioned for one of the waiters to come, and this waiter was asked to usher Ruth, Anna and her husband out of that, out of that. Those towers, as they were ushered to the service elevator. They passed tables loaded with bounties, They said there were whole smoked salmons.
Ice sculptures in the middle of the table. They passed an orchestra in white tuxedos, tuning up to play during the reception. All kinds of wonderful things were going to take place in the next hours.
The waiter unceremoniously ushered them into the service elevator and pressed G for grudge.
They were taken down to the bottom of those towers and silently they walked to their car.
They got in the car and they drove for several minutes before Roy spoke to his wife, he said. Sweetheart, what happened?
Tears filled Ruthannis eyes, she said. You know, when the invitation came, I was busy and I didn't bother to RSVP.
She said. I didn't think I had to. I was the singer at the wedding. Why would I have to?
But you know what that Maitre-d' had told them before he had them ushered out, He said. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, if your name isn't in this book, you cannot attend this reception.
You know, I'm afraid that there are many people who are going to hear similar language to that.
From the lips of the Lord Jesus in a coming day, it doesn't matter who you are.
It doesn't matter what you've done.
He's no respecter of persons, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags all the best things we could do.
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But there is a place prepared for those who avail themselves.
Of the finished work of Calvary. But there's another place prepared. But it's interesting that the place prepared in Matthew was never prepared for man. It never was prepared for fallen man. Scripture is very specific as to why hell was prepared. It was prepared for the devil and his angels.
But I believe we find in the context of that and from other Scriptures that those who go on without Christ, those who refuse God's offer of salvation and who will never enter that place called the Father's house, God will have no choice, no choice In His just and righteous character. He will have no choice but to send.
Men and women and young people to a lost eternity. I just want to repeat something that I know has often been repeated in a setting like this. Do you know? As I look into the faces of this audience, I realize that most, if not all of you have heard before the gospel story, and many of you either are or have been brought up in a Christian home.
You know, I've always it's always searched my soul in reading of the ascension of Elijah.
When he went to heaven, the whirlwind, the chariot of fire, to realize who it was that missed Elijah when he was gone.
It wasn't, shall I say, the general populace in Israel. It was the sons of the prophets.
Not solemn. And I wonder if the Lord Jesus were to come today, before this meeting is completed, if there would be some of the sons and daughters of Christian parents left behind in these chairs with the awful realization of what has just taken place.
You know, it is those who have heard the gospel many times and refused it that will be sent a strong delusion that they believe a lie. Not the heathen. Not the heathen. It will be those who've heard the truth. But they received not the love of the truth. They refused it. They hardened their hearts. They were indifferent to it. They rejected it. They neglected it. It doesn't matter. But they didn't avail themselves of the work of Calvary, God's offer of salvation through his Son. And they are the ones. You are the one.
Who will be left behind? If the Lord Jesus comes today or you're taken in death, you will be the one who will realize what has happened because the Lord Jesus is coming, he said in John 14. I will come again, and make no mistake about it, when the Lord Jesus comes, there will be for you no second opportunity. Yes, there will be a gospel after we're gone, called the gospel of the Kingdom, but that gospel will be for those who have never had.
Opportunity to receive the gospel of the grace of God, but for those who've had opportunity now.
It says they come and they begin to knock, and they say, Lord, Lord, open unto us.
You know, mostly when you read that expression, Lord, Lord, it's profession. It's those that have known they've had the light, like the virgins, the 10 virgins, the five that were foolish and so on. It's those that have had the light. They said, Lord, Lord, they've made out with profession without inward reality.
But that door will never open. When once the master of the house has risen up and shut to the door, then they begin to knock. But from the other side of that door come those awful words depart from me. I never knew you. And so there are two places prepared. The Father's house, prepared for all those who will come and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ receive him as Savior hell, not prepared for you.
But the end result, if you reject, will be the cat be cast hand and foot into the lake of fire. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Every time I quote that verse I think of a man from Scotland who was in Johannesburg, South Africa some years ago, and he was walking down the street and he saw what looked like a bulletin in the gutter and on it he he saw $5000 reward.
Well, you can imagine his curiosity was tweaked by what he had to do to get $5000. And so he stopped and he bent over and he picked up that piece of paper. And on the other side it said for the answer to the question, How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? That question remains unanswered, but you and I know, you and I know from the word of God what the end result is to those who receive.
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Who do not receive the Lord Jesus, those who obey not the gospel.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ. But something else has been prepared, and that's why I read that well known statement in Psalm 23. Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies, because for a moment or two I want to stress upon our souls that in getting saved, it's not just that he has prepared something for the future. Not just that there is a hope in the Father's house set before us. And then we stumble through the rest of this life on our own.
And left to make it the best we can. I say that because I think sometimes when the Gospels presented.
The reaction is, well, I'd like to be saved, but I could never make it. As a Christian, I could never make it either.
Except for God's provision, you know, it tells us in connection with the believer. He's given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. You know the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If you come and receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior this evening, you'll get a new life, the very life of Christ. A perfect life. But you'll get more than that. You'll get the power for that life. You know the divine life is a perfect life, but it has no power of itself.
The power for that life is the spirit of God, and not only do you have power for your life.
But we have the word of God as direction for our footsteps. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. We have the living word. We have it for comfort, for edification. We have the Lord Jesus right beside us. Lo, I am with you always, even under the end of the age. He cares for us. When we're down, He carries us and underneath of the everlasting arms, and on and on and on it goes. We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
In Christ, this is a positive side of the gospel. It's the positive side of Christianity.
Sometimes when the Gospels presented people, think of what they'll have to give up if they come to know the Lord. Oh, I gave up were my sins, and I'm glad they're gone. As far as the East is from the West. So far. He removed our transgressions from us. He's blotted them out as a thick cloud. Thy sins and iniquities. I will remember no more. I've said this before, but I'm going to repeat it because I enjoy this. You know it is a.
Interesting expression. I will remember no more. You know, God doesn't forget. I know the children, and I'll sing it too. But in the sea of God's forgetfulness, my sins are gone. And so on. But God doesn't forget. That's human weakness. But there are things he chooses not to remember. Only a divine person can do that. You know. The things I want to forget, I remember. And the things I want to remember, I often forget. But there are things God chooses not to remember. My grandmother had an expression. I forgive and forget, but I always remember.
Well, that's human nature, isn't it? But not with my savior. He's. He doesn't remember them anymore. They're gone. They'll never rise in judgment against me because they're gone once and for all. But have you been brought into this place a blessing? Do you know the Lord Jesus as your savior, or are you going to just shrug it off? You're watching the clock and hope that preacher doesn't go overtime and remembers that the meeting's only 45 minutes long?
This evening and you're waiting to get out of here and have a good time with the other young people and your friends and.
Nothing wrong with that. But oh, I beg of you tonight, in light of what God has prepared, don't spurn God's offer tonight. He's prepared a table before us here in this world, in the presence of our enemies. He's prepared many good things. What would you think of someone who went to a lot of preparation to invite you to a special dinner and you refuse their invitation? You know, there were people like that that the Lord told of He told about a man who made a marriage for his son. And when the right time came for the guests, they had all kinds of excuses why they couldn't come.
And then he said, go out into the highways and byways and as many as you find bid to the marriage.
He said that to his servants. That's what God's servants are doing tonight around this world. That's what I'm trying in my feeble measure to do tonight, bid you to the marriage. But you know that's not the end of it. Because when you have that same story in another gospel, he sends out a servant, singular, And he tells them that servant to compel them to come in. That's the Spirit of God. The Only the Spirit of God can compel you. I conveyed you to the marriage. I convinced you to come to Christ tonight, But thank God, the Spirit of God can compel you to come in. That's why before a gospel meeting, we pray that the Spirit of God will work and take the living Word and apply it in that power.
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That you might be saved tonight.
Prepare to meet thy God. We're coming close to the end of this Gospel meeting.
Are you prepared to meet God? You know, the fact that we've had almost 40 minutes of Gospel Meeting tonight is a proof of the love and the mercy and the grace that's in the heart of God. We have sat here for almost 40 minutes because God loves you, God is gracious, and God is giving you one more opportunity to be saved.
During the First World War, there was some heavy fighting at the front in Europe, and I've been to some of those battlefields of Europe and some of those monuments. It's very sobering to stand on those battlefields and look out. You can still see the ridges of ground, where the trenches were and so on, but there was a battle raging and.
Some men were falling, and it was A certain man was hit and wounded, and he fell back from the line of fire into the trench. And his comrades saw what had happened. And he jumped down beside him, took his coat off and put it under his comrade's head to make him a little more comfortable, because he realized that he was mortally wounded and that he was going to die.
And as he bent over to make his friend comfortable, his friend looked up at him.
And he said, Can you tell me the way to heaven?
Interesting, isn't it? Men will shuffle all aside in good times, when there's peace, when there's health, but they're facing eternity. They wanna know the way to heaven. Well, you can't tell a dying man that he's gotta be baptized, or he's gotta keep certain commandments, or he's gotta do certain things. And so his friend in distress looked at his comrade and he said no, I can't tell you the way to heaven, but I'll try to find out.
He jumped back to his post. He asked his comrade beside him. Can you tell me the way to heaven? His friend shook his head. And down the line it went. 16 men. Imagine, all facing the barrels of the guns of the enemy, and none of them knew the way to heaven. Finally, the 16th man pulled a New Testament out of his pocket. He opened it to John. 316 He put his finger on it. He said to his to the 15th man.
Send this testament back down and keep everyone keep their finger on this verse and this is the way to heaven.
And also carefully they passed that thought, that New Testament back down that line of men. Every man was careful to keep his finger on John. 316 Finally it came to the last man. And with his finger on that verse he jumped down beside his dying friend. He read to him those life giving words. His friend drank them in, and he looked up and he said to his comrade, I believe in the Lord Jesus.
And he was ushered into eternity. That was pretty close, wasn't it? But what about you? You might be closer than you think tonight. Yes, you might be closer than you think tonight.
Eternity. Where will you spend eternity? Prepare to meet by God, you know, when we were children, we used to like to lie out in the backyard and we'd find an Ant hill and we'd watch those ants in the summertime. And those ants were always busy. What were they doing? The Book of Proverbs tells us what they were doing. The Book of Proverbs tells us that the ants are small and feeble.
But they're wise because they prepare their meat in the summer. And we would watch those ants and they would have crumbs and things that they were carrying. Sometimes those pieces of food looked like they were three or four times the size of the Ant. But that Ant would struggle to get that food down into that Ant hill down below where the storm was going to rage in a few months. Because by instinct, that aunt knew that it needed to prepare its meat in the summer. You know, sometimes the lower creation by instinct follow their creator better than we.
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Who have a God consciousness.
But Scripture cites those ants as being wise because they make preparation. What preparation tonight have you made for eternity? Have you prepared to meet God? You know, there is another example, and I just want to cite it in closing. And this is particularly for the encouragement of any parents or grandparents here who are praying for their children and young people this evening, you know, it says in Hebrews Chapter 11 of Noah.
He prepared an ark to the saving of his house. I find great encouragement in that, and I want to just pass it along to you, you parents who have prepared for eternity, you parents who know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you seek in one way and another, whether it's in the home, whether it's bringing your young people to meetings and Gospels and so on. You seek in one way to bring before them.
That preparation that is needed because we can't save our children and young people, but we bring them to the Lord. And in that way, I believe we prepare an ark to the saving of our house and be comforted to realize that God is interested in our children and our young people. And I believe that one reason why the Lord Jesus hasn't come yet is because he's long-suffering to us. Word. I want to quote that verse we often quoted in the gospel and we misquote it.
Sometimes we quote it like this. God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. That is not what it says.
He says he's long-suffering to us, Word not willing that any should perish. Now he's long-suffering to the lost, that's true. There's plenty of other scriptures to bear that out. But he's long-suffering to us. Word who are praying for loved ones, praying for our children, praying for our young people, praying for a family member, maybe someone that you have been bringing the gospel before at work or school. Why hasn't the Lord come? Because he's long-suffering to you.
Knowing that you want to see that person saved and Noah, I suppose for about 120 years preached righteousness and prepared an ark to the saving of his house. That was only 7 souls himself and seven other souls wasn't a very good record, was it? They replace a preacher like that today, but scripture records. He prepared an ark to the saving of his house. I trust everyone of us here are prepared for eternity. Full provision has been made, Full preparation.
On the part of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And now he says all things are ready.
Com. That's correct. Our God and Father, we thank Thee for the glorious gospel message, and we pray that not one person will get up out of their seat this evening without receiving the Lord Jesus making that preparation to be there in the Father's house in that coming day of glory. Now we thank Thee for this happy day, asking blessing on the rest of our time together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.