Gospel—Al Coleman
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Let's open our gospel meeting tonight by singing hymn #10 There is a Savior and 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. Oh come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior.
Receive him this moment, and peace shall be thine.
I was.
At A at the supermarket counter.
A little while ago and just behind the counter there are magazines. Some of the magazines are just vile.
Terrible. But one caught my eye was this. It was Robin Williams. Well, you know what? He was the comedian.
And Robin Williams died not too long ago.
And, uh, on the.
Magazine cover, it says he could have been saved. I think of that. He could have been saved and we're going to save the same thing tonight. That if you're not saved, you could be saved. Why? Because there's a Savior on high in the glory that's wanting and willing to save you, and he wants to save you. So let's sing this hymn.
There is a.
Glow and the glowing.
There's problems in Iraq.
There's problems in Afghanistan.
Mr. Putin is ready to pounce on Ukraine.
The little country of Israel is having all kinds of problems.
What about America?
I think one of the biggest things is that giving up of God altogether.
And that's coming apostasy. It's coming slowly but surely, and we know that after the Lord comes, it'll be just a total giving up of God.
In the apartment that we are to move into in about in a little while.
The folks there wondered in the interview with us and so we came and had this interview with them and they wanted to know all about us. Now this home that we are going to was built by the Baptist. It's no longer run by the Baptist.
And on the front of the building is this caption. This building was built to the glory of God.
Beautiful.
But some of the residents in that building there are bucking up this take out God, take out joy.
The total giving up of God.
And I'm gonna mention why the water. Excuse me, One other thing.
The gathered Saints.
Little by little, the numbers are going down.
I believe that it's just going to be a feeble view. When the Lord comes, just take us home and how we long for his soon return. How we long for his soon return. Mm-hmm. You know, I come to the conclusion one thing.
And I, and I believe that everyone here would agree with me that we're just on the threshold of the Lord's coming. He's coming.
It's so very, very soon. Maybe tonight.
And so, uh, in the preaching of the gospel, we preach the love of Christ, don't we? The love of Christ, the cross of Christ on which God's beloved Son was crucified. There on Calvary's cross, he was crucified for you and I. He bore our sins in his own body and the tree on that cross when he was alone, forsaken.
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He shed his precious blood.
To wash away all our sins.
And again I say the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. We'll never get to heaven without the blood of Christ. We'll never get to heaven without the work of Christ and Calvary's cross. There we go.
It's all provided free. The gift of God, as we had this morning, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's a giving God, giving God.
That God wants to give, and to give and to give.
But you know, the tragedy is that many don't want to take, don't want to take.
It's a solemn thing.
And so tonight.
I want to.
Because of the wonderful gospel message, I wanna give a a few.
Verses from the Book of Job.
And these verses, one of a few, many of these verses are solemn because in the preaching of the Gospel there is the warning, the warning.
Because one day we will be too late.
The gospel won't go out anymore. You won't have these meetings here won't go out anymore.
And so there's a danger of still not knowing Christ as your Savior.
Is there some young followers here in this room tonight that don't know the Lord as their savior?
Is it possible that?
A young man can grow up in a Christian home and go to gospel meeting every day, every every Lord's day, and hear the sound of the gospel and yet still be a stranger to him. Never come. Is it possible?
I'm going to say yes. You know why? Because right here, right here. And thank God he he had to deal with me and save me.
As I got older.
Is a wonderful savior.
I've been gathered to the Lord's name for over 50 years.
I've done the Lord Jesus as my Savior for over 60 years. He's never failed me once. He said all the way home, Savior.
And that's a wonderful person that I've gonna meet shortly.
He's coming.
Job Chapter 36.
Job Chapter 36.
Verse 18.
Because there is wrath.
Beware.
I'll repeat that again.
Because there is wrath, beware.
Lest he take thee away with his stroke, then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
Because there is wrath, beware.
And so tonight.
If you don't know Christ as your savior, I'm saying to you, and I believe God is saying the same thing to you, beware. Beware.
If the Lord was to come in 5 minutes.
And you hadn't accepted Christ your Savior. You'd be lost forever.
In a thinner as hell forever.
Does God want to send you there?
No, absolutely not.
The verse I always like to quote in the gospel meeting is this. It's in Ezekiel 33.
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked would turn from his evil way. And then he says, turn, ye turn for a while when he died, turn me, turn me, for why will you die? He wants you to come to him tonight. God's time is now. He says, Behold, now is he accepted time.
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Behold, thou is a day of salvation.
That's the solemn part of the Gospel. Beware the warning. Upcoming judgment.
Now I'd like to tell you something wonderful about the gospel, and let's go to Job.
34.
And verse 14.
I'm gonna give you a little experience about this verse. I'll tell you that every gospel meeting I've taken in the last few years, I have read this first.
If you can imagine.
I love, I love gospel verses, of course. And, uh, umm, in our assembly, Bruce Anstey got up. He was, uh, he turned to this first and uh, he looked at me when he was reading this purse as if to say, well, here's a verse for you. And, and I, I tell you, I just about left out of my seat.
An incredible verse here it says. It says if he set his heart upon.
Man, if he gathered unto himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to the dust.
Now let now let me quote you from Darby.
If he only thought of himself, and gathered unto himself his spirit in his breath.
All flesh would perish together, and man would return.
To the South, to the dust.
I'm gonna ask you this question.
Did God think of himself?
No, absolutely not. And that's the joy of this verse. God did not think of Himself. Who did you think of? He thought about you. He thought about me.
Uh, he thought, uh, my condition is a guilty lost Sinner. He saw me and all my sin.
Almighty love arrests that man.
Go ahead. Did not think of himself, it says. He could have gathered his spirit and his breath, and man would have perished.
Man would have perished.
At the cross of Christ, the Lord Jesus had at his disposal.
10 legions of angels.
I believe that man could have been completely exterminated at the cross for what they did to God's beloved Son.
If he gathered unto himself his spirit in his breath.
All flesh would perish. All flesh would perish.
But now here's the answer.
Where do you go for the answer to this first? John 316 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God didn't think of himself, He thought, You and I, God, love this world. God sent his Son.
What a wonderful God.
MMM. And you know this wonderful God.
Thank you, thank God He opened my dark heart to see beauty in him.
God so loved the world.
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Let's go to Job chapter 33.
Job 33.
And I'm going to go down in this chapter.
And go probably verse by verse.
Starting at verse 13.
Thank you. So thankful for Elijah that spoke to Joe. Uh, it was Joe was a was a proud man. It was.
The pride of man is lost. Is is the last thing to give up.
Joe had to get down and you know, before you get a blessing in your life, you're going to have to get down, down the feet of Jesus. That's where the blessing comes from.
To get down.
The The prodigal son could say, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight I'm no more worthy to be called thy son.
You think of this, there's the prodigal son, and the father sees it will fly far off.
And, and he's waiting. He's waiting eagerly for him to come.
And he comes to, he comes to the Son comes to him and says, Father, I've seen to get into heaven in thy sight no more worthy to be called this time. What did the Father do? He wrapped his arms around that son. Yes, he did. You think that was good?
What? What did the sun smell like?
He, uh, he, he was in the, he was in the pitch tie.
He must just smell awful. You know, I think the same thing for myself. What do I smell like when I when I came to the Lord? But yet he accepted me. This man receiveth sinners and eateth with him. Yes, he does. He received the most vile Sinner in this world, and save him.
Or to think of so many of the.
No. Incredible.
The stories of the grace of God and saving lost souls.
It's the grace of God that I am here today. It's the grace of God I am here tonight.
And for each one year, tonight that knows Jesus as the Savior is the grace of God.
It's all his grace. We didn't deserve it. We didn't deserve one thing.
It's all what he's done there.
You think of that blessed One there, hanging on Calvary's cross.
There alone Forsaken.
By a holy righteous sin hitting God. And there he was in that cross.
The most terrible, Terrible.
Suffering that any, any, any person could could have was lacrosse.
And he bore there on that cross for me.
Why was he there? Why was he there? Because he saw me in all my lost condition. That's why he was there.
Verse 13.
Why dost thou strive against God?
Why does thou strive against him?
I'm gonna ask you a question.
Why are you putting off the question of your soul's salvation?
Why are you waiting? What are you waiting for?
Everything's been done for you.
And yet there are so many that are waiting, waiting, waiting. They go to a gospel meeting, they go home. They go to a gospel meeting, they go home and still not saved. You see, this is very important tonight.
Because it might be the last one you'll ever hear.
The last one, and that's a solemn thing.
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Because there is wrath. Beware lest he take thee away with a stroke, and then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see light, but the wrath of God appideth in him.
Think of that. The wrath of God abideth on him.
It's just as if, OK, here I am, I am the judge and you are standing there.
And you come before the judge.
And the judge says you're guilty.
You're guilty.
And the sentence is passed, The wrath of God abideth on him.
All that's left now is the execution of that judgment.
Balzette is the precarious position of a lost soul.
What a what a precarious position.
Why do you strive against him?
He's come to you many, many times.
And wants to save you. What are you striving against him?
Why are you putting it off?
Verse 14.
For God speaketh once, gay twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
Let me read this first. Little bit different for God speaketh once. Yeah, twice. Yeah, three times. Yeah, four times. Yeah, five times. How many times?
A Six times.
Uh, yeah.
It's a very solemn thing.
God is speaking to you and God is speaking to this world. Yes, he is.
God is speaking to this world.
In a dream, in a vision of the night when deep sleep fall with one man and some rings upon the bed.
Never lay in your bed at night.
You know.
I enjoy some of those times in bed at night.
Sometimes Kathy doesn't know what I'm doing, what I'm, what I'm thinking about.
It's nice, those those quiet times.
When you can be with the Lord.
I enjoyed this because, uh, Kathy and I were have been, uh.
Just enjoying.
Job. These verses, these chapters.
And so on our flight across the country, I had about four hours or so to meditate and to go through these verses.
Wonderful so we're never going to get to the bottom of this precious book. It's God's word and how wonderful it is that you can just have those quiet times just to.
Meditate in a dream, in a vision of the night, on deep sleep, palleth upon men, in some rings about upon men. Then he opened the ears of man, and sealed at their instruction.
God is talking to you. Are you listening?
I take my hearing aids out so I can talk better.
But that's the problem these years, they don't hear sometimes and when God speaks.
Are you like me, turning the deaf ear?
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
My brother-in-law.
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I probably told you about this before.
His name is Wes.
He has rejected the gospel for over 50 years and I'll tell you, for over 50 years I prayed for my brother-in-law.
And still he's not saved. You know what he is now? He's kind of like a recluse.
He lives at home alone. We had to rescue my sister out of that home.
And for her health.
He drinks.
Oh, he hates the gospel.
He doesn't want it.
He told my sister that I drink because you're a Christian.
He's a miserable man.
Living alone can't do a thing. He can't drive a car anymore. He can't do anything anymore.
He has social workers coming to help him to bath them and things like that. He's living alone and still he don't know prices his Savior. And still every day I pray for West Hollingshead and still he's not saved.
What a solemn thing.
If Wes Hollingshead went out of this world tonight, still a lost soul, he'll have all eternity to think of all the Gospels that he heard and all the news of salvation and the testimony of his wife.
It's a solemn thing. He'll have all eternity to think about that.
Very solemn.
Friend tonight, don't put off this question of your salvation come tonight.
For God speaketh once, yet twice.
Verse 17 That he may withdraw a man from his purpose and hide pride from man.
You know man would like to go in a certain direction away from God.
What's he say?
Withdraw a man from his purpose and hide pride from man.
Back home in in Richmond, we've had the 14th chapter of John in our readings. You know the first part of the 14th chapter of John. It says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
You know, and it took us two meetings to go through those four, those first 14 verses. They're beautiful. They come from the heart of the Savior.
Philip says to the Lord says, how can I know the way? How can I know the way? Ah, Jesus is the way the only way?
Lovingly he calls us so the scriptures say, whoever will let him come today, the blessed Savior is the only way.
Yeah, he said.
Dear young boys, dear young girls.
Are you saved?
Are you saved? You know you're in a gospel meaning tonight. You know this is a solemn occasion.
To think of.
Are you saved?
You have to do with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 18 He keepeth his soul from going down in the pit again. I want to I want to quote that verse and Ezekiel 33. I take no pressure in the death of the wicked.
From going down to the pit.
I believe that it says here three times in this chapter, verse 28, he will deliver his soul from going down to the pit.
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Verse 30 to bring back his soul from the pit.
Think of that. What a God, What a God that does not want to send a man to hell.
He chased it also with pain upon his bed, in the multitude of his bones with strong pain, so that his life of of horth bread and his soul dainty meat, His flesh is consumed a way that it cannot be seen in his bones that they were, they had been sticked out. Yay, his soul draws near into the grave, and his life unto the destroyers. Now these verses, if there be a messenger among him.
An interpreter.
One amount of 10A, one among the thousand to show a man uprightness, One among 1000. I just want to say this is one among 10,000.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Then he is gracious unto him.
And said, deliver him from going down into the pit. I have found a ransom. I found a ransom. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.
There is a way in which man can be saved tonight. It's through the cross of Christ. It's through the death of Christ.
It's through the blood of Christ. The only way to be saved is through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On it. To think that we have our risen Savior. He's not dead. He's not dead. He is alive. That Blessed One is now on high in the glory, alive.
A risen savior.
Man would like to think he's dead. No, he's a lie.
His flesh shall be fresher than a child. He shall return to the days of his youth.
Odd that this reminds you of going back to the fifth chapter of of of second Kings name in the Syrian. What happened when he dipped himself three times in the Jordan and he came out and his flesh was the flesh of a child?
He had a new life and you know if you come to Christ, he'll give you a new life and a new outlook in life.
Everything will be new.
And then it says, He shall pray unto God, and it will be favor unto him.
This is a a safe soul, one that prays. But now I wanna talk to you about.
We we moved out of our suite on Wednesday.
And to get to picture this, we have a huge Catholic Church right next door and our window faces out to the parking lot.
And many of the residents of our apartment complex.
Are moving heads. They're moving into our suite and there's the lady upstairs moving in and they come and they wanna move into our apartment because they wanna go next door to pray.
To pray to who?
To who?
There was this sweet little old lady and she's 9092 years old and she saw that we were moving and it was a big day for us and we didn't have a a lunch or anything, so she provided us lunch.
Just the sweetest little old lady that you, that you and, uh, the lunch that she got was from the, uh, umm.
Uh.
Uh, yeah, Where you get free food right at the food bank. And, uh, she, uh, she had a chicken there and she shared it with us. And so we got to talking to her about, uh, salvation and about the Lord, but she goes next door to pray to Mary.
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Tamarind.
2092 years old.
I don't know whether she's saved. You know, it could be a life with her. She might have touched the hem of his garment. I don't know. She knows about the Lord Jesus Christ and the cross of Christ.
So there's another lady in our coffee circle that we have coffee every Wednesday morning. And Wanda, she, she's 8086 is it? And, uh.
She not saved Wanda. We're gonna give you a Bible, OK. And so wanted to get this Bible and she takes it upstairs and about too late, weeks later, she comes down and she says here I can't, I don't want this. I don't want this, the word of God. What about eternity? Well, she says, I worry about that. Well, you know, if you know Christ as your savior, don't have to worry about it.
You can calmly face the future when the blood is on the door.
We don't have to worry about about the future. Our future is all settled in Christ.
There's a man.
There's a man that I know that I grew up with.
And this man is.
He had a great position in the United Church up the street.
And it was very important there and all the things that he did and he used to tell me what, uh, what all he did for the church there. And, uh, he got prostate cancer.
And.
I went to see him and we sat on. I sat on the bed beside him and talked to him about the Lord. I gave him some gospel trash to read.
And as he was talking to me, he said, well, he said pretty soon I'm gonna go and see the man upstairs.
What man upstairs, what is his name? He didn't even know the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a solemn thing to pass out of this world. Well, I was, I did, you know, I was a great church man, and I did all those things in the church. I looked after this, that, and everything else in the church. But were you saved?
Did you know Jesus as your Savior?
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us.
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Is a wonderful God.
I want to look around this room tonight and see is there a soul here tonight that is still saved? It's still not saved.
God speak at once. Yeah, twice. Are you listening to what God says? He wants to save you. A savior on high in the glory. A savior who suffered on Calvary's tree.
It says, Come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior, God's time is now. God offers salvation full and free to whosoever will. But there is one condition.
And that condition is.
Now.
Don't put it off for an for an for another day. Come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior.