Gospel—Jim Hyland
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Let's begin the gospel meeting this evening with hymn #37 on the gospel. Hymn shape the gospel of Thy grace. My stubborn heart has won for God so loved the world He gave his only Son that whosoever will believe shall everlasting life receive. I'm going to suggest we stand up to sing this and if someone would please start #37.
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We're going to begin this evening by turning to five portions of the word of God. The first one is in the Old Testament. It's in the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel, Chapter 33.
Ezekiel, chapter 33 and verse 4.
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning.
If the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
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He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning His blood shall be upon him.
But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. And now for a portion in Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 7.
Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 7 and verse 24.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine.
And doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man.
Which built his house upon a rock and then a familiar portion in John's Gospel chapter 3.
John's Gospel chapter 3 and verse 16.
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, and then in the 4th chapter.
Chapter 4 and verse 13, Jesus answered and said unto her.
Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up.
Into everlasting life and one more portion for now in Romans chapter 10.
Romans, chapter 10.
And verse 13.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Well, this might sound like a rather disjointed group of portions from God's Word to read at the beginning of a gospel meeting, but the careful reader will notice that there was one word at least, that was consistent through all these five portions of the Word of God. And it's the Word that I have on my heart, distress, and connection with the gospel message tonight. And that is the Word whosoever, because you know it has been impressed upon my soul of light.
That the gospel is universal, the gospel is for all.
And there's nobody tonight in this room that can say they're excluded from the message.
You know, sometimes messages go out in various ways in this world, and they're for a certain and select group. There are places too, that I suppose if we were to show up tonight at the front door, even here in the city of Saint Louis, for one reason or another, we would be refused entry. We would be told that we weren't members, we hadn't paid certain dues, we didn't belong to a certain club or group.
I have sometimes seen those turned away from the business lounges in the airport because they don't have.
The proper status and credentials, and they're refused entry into those places.
Those places are exclusive and reserved for certain people that have certain status. But all the wonderful thing tonight about the gospel is that it's for whosoever often, said the little girl, one time at the end of a gospel meeting, was asked if she understood what the word whosoever meant. Why, she said, Of course it means you and me and everyone else, and that's how simple it is tonight.
The gospel is for everyone here. It doesn't matter if you are young, a boy or a girl.
Able to understand what is being said. It doesn't matter if you're a young person. It doesn't matter if you're what we would refer to as middle-aged. It doesn't matter if you're what we would refer to as a senior citizen. It doesn't matter what your social class is. It doesn't matter you're standing in life. Know the gospel is for whosoever and how thankful we are. And you know, in the day in which we live, the gospel is going out to corners of this world.
Where it's never gone out before you realize that the Bible this very day is being translated into languages and dialects that it's never been available before.
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Gospel literature in many, many languages is going out around this world.
By various means. But tonight we are not so much concerned with somebody else. We are concerned with you. We are concerned with those right here in this room, in this building this evening. Because the gospel is for you. And I do pray that you would open your ears tonight to take in the precious word of God, and that the word of God would have the desired effect tonight, and that there would be such a work that before this meeting is over.
You would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. And we started with this very, very solemn portion in the book of Ezekiel.
Because we find here that there is a warning to whosoever doesn't listen when the trumpet sounds. You know, the trumpets in the Old Testament, they were for various reasons, and sometimes those trumpets were to give warning. And if the trumpet gave a signal that indicated warning and they didn't listen, they didn't take heed to it. They had nobody to blame but themselves.
You know, it is a serious thing to realize tonight that if you end up in a lost eternity.
You will have nobody to blame but yourself. In fact, I sometimes wondered if that isn't the most frustrating part of a lost eternity.
Apart from the fact that there's no hope, the fact that you will realize.
That you had warning and you didn't heed it and when the warning was given in Israel.
And the Watchmen had delivered his soul. Then it was up to the individuals to take heed to that warning.
And if they didn't take heed to the warning, then when the sword came and they came under judgment, I say they had nobody to blame but themselves. And you know, if you don't get saved tonight, you have this gospel meeting to rise in judgment of you in a coming day. Isn't that serious to consider that you will remember this gospel meeting in a lost eternity and you will remember not, perhaps, what was said in commentary.
But you will remember the word of God. You will remember these portions of Scripture that have been read in your ears.
And they will come back to rise in judgment of you. They will come back to show to you.
As you are there in that place of awful torment called hell or the Lake of Fire.
And you will remember that you had opportunity and you didn't take heed to it.
And you know this whosoever has no exclusions either, you know, there's going to be no excuses, as people sometimes imagine at the gate of heaven, there's going to be no excuses raised at the Great White Throne judgment tonight. If we were to go to the courtrooms of this land, we would find that people are caught red handed on a videotape, they're seen committing crimes and they have all kinds of excuses.
To present to the judge and before the jury all kinds of reasons why they are not guilty.
All kinds of reasons why they shouldn't come under the penalty of the law and sometimes people.
If they get a good lawyer or the judge is lenient, they may get off. Or there was some loophole or some typo in the report when it was written up. They may be let go without having to bear the penalty of their crime against society. But all those who stand at in that courtroom in that day every tongue, shall be silent. Everyone will stand there realizing their guilt.
And realizing not only their guilt, but the justice of the penalty.
That they will bear for all eternity when they are bound hand and foot, and cast into the lake of fire.
Where there's weeping or gnashing of teeth, you know Susanna Wesley raised twenty children.
Imagine 20 children. I can hardly take that in. But she raised twenty children.
Two of which were John and Charles. Charles will be long remembered for his hymns.
Which are still sung around the world today.
John will be remembered for his unceasing laborers.
In preaching the word of God, sometimes four or five times a day, often to thousands of people on the hillside and other locations. But you know John, when he was a boy, he was rather frivolous and careless, and he didn't seem to have much concern for his soul and eternal issues. And one day, he flippantly said to his mother, he said, oh mother, how can you will you be happy in heaven?
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Without me there. She looked at John. He was a young boy, but she said to him, John, if you go on refusing God's offer of mercy when you stand at the great white throne, I'm going to stand with Christ, and I am going to see the right rightness agree with the rightness of what is done when you are taken and cast into hell. You know that never left him, and it wasn't very long after.
That he began to seriously consider eternity and the awful consequences of going on without Christ.
And eventually he did come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior, and God raised him up as a mighty preacher in those days.
And he preached the word faithfully for many years. And so I want to plead with you.
Before we pass on to these other verses, I wanna play with you not to turn away from the warnings that God is giving you tonight. And I suggest many of you have had warnings prior to this on many, many occasions. Because you know God said my spirit shall not always strive with man. God isn't always going to warn you. God isn't always going to give you opportunity to sit in meetings like this.
And so we read in Matthew's Gospel Chapter 7. I didn't read the whole story there.
We know the story well. Most of us have heard it in Sunday school and from the days of our youth about the wise man and the foolish man. There's a song that the children sing in Sunday school with some actions about the wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man in contrast, he built his house upon the sand. But here we find the Lord Jesus. He tells this story.
And he says that.
Everyone that heareth the therefore, Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man. Are you going to be wise or foolish tonight? You know, I'm afraid there are a lot of foolish people in this world, people who know the way of salvation, people who need know that they need to be saved. But you know, they go on.
Neglecting, they go on rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, and God says they're foolish.
The Lord Jesus said that the foolish man is like that man who built his house upon the sand. There was nothing lasting, there was nothing abiding. But whosoever listened to the word and heeded the word, was like a wise man who built his house upon the rock. Now if we were to go through the word of God, we would find over and over and over again, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
That the Lord Jesus is brought before us as the rock because a rock speaks of something solid.
A rock speaks of something unmovable, something firm. What are you resting your eternity on?
On the shifting sand of the beach? Or are you resting your soul's salvation on the solid rock, that rock being Christ. Just a few weeks ago I was in England and I was visiting in Bridgewater, which is near the City of Wells where Wells Cathedral is. And not far away from the city of Wells is a place called Barrington Comb.
And Barrington Comb is a rather insignificant piece of real estate.
Except for the fact that it is where Augustus top lady.
As the story goes, wrote that timeless hymn that is sung around the world this very night.
Rock of Ages cleft for sin Grace hath hit us safe within and we went out to Barrington Comb one afternoon and I stood at what is still known today as the Rock of Ages. Again, it's a rather insignificant quest in the Rock. It's not so much what it looks like, but what it represents. Because there again, as the story goes, is where Augustus Montague, top lady.
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In, I believe the year 1763 stood.
In that rock, sheltered from a storm on his journey from one town to another.
And wrote on the back of a playing card, which was the only piece of paper he had in his possession, the words of that hymn Rock of Ages. You know, that hymn has a very interesting history. It was translated into Latin by the very famous Prime Minister of England, Gladstone. He translated, and I don't know Latin, but they tell me it was a very nice good translation. And Prince Albert, who was the husband of Queen Victoria.
Requested on his deathbed that that him be sung to him just about the last words that he heard.
This side of glory were the words of Rock of Ages, but there Augustus top Lady stood sheltered.
From a storm that raged along that part of England that afternoon, and his mind turned to spiritual things.
And he penned those wonderful words. Are you shut safe in the rock? Are you resting on the Lord Jesus Christ like Augustus top lady was? Oh, many have come to know the Lord Jesus and found shelter not from a storm here in this world, but a storm of judgment that is coming on this world in a future day. Because God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness.
By that man whom he hath ordained, and the shelter from that storm that's coming in his future day.
Is not in some rock, some cleft in England or any other country?
Because in that day they're going to cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb and the face of him that setteth upon the throne.
And they're not going to find shelter. Why? Because they refused the Rock of Ages. They refused to find shelter in the only shelter there is from that coming storm of judgment. Are you scared when we speak of judgment? I hope you are. I hope it concerns you. I have seen people concerned as a hurricane rages across the sea. People get, people get concerned, they start moving.
They start making preparations and I have had opportunity and it's a very disconcerting thing, but I have had opportunity to help make preparations in wake of a hurricane that's going to hit in a certain place. You know, when you're on an island, there's nowhere to go. If you're on the Gulf Coast, you can start heading inland, but when you're on an island, all you can do is get some plywood and close the shutters and nail things down as secure as possible.
But there's nowhere to go. And people, they take those warnings very, very seriously. When a volcano starts to rumble, people take those warnings very, very seriously. But what about the warning of judgment? Are you wise or are you foolish? Are you taking it seriously tonight? You know, sometimes when I stand in a position like this and look into the back row, sometimes I see people, young people and.
Sometimes those who are not so young and they don't take it seriously.
Sometimes you see people laughing and talking and passing notes. They're not heeding the warning that God is giving. But these things are serious. We're passionate about it tonight, because from the word of God we know that these things are a reality. All people say, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they are until now.
Let's think of it in another way tonight before we pass on to these other scriptures. Suppose you were to draw your last breath tonight.
You know, there was an elderly lady laid in her grave.
This afternoon.
A lady that I knew, I wouldn't say very well, but I have visited.
On a number of occasions and we always enjoyed something of the Lord together.
And for many years she has been ready to leave this world and meet the Lord Jesus. And I can say with every confidence she's absent from the body and present with the Lord. But you don't have to be elderly to be laid in your tomb.
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You know, I wondered today in thinking about it, how many young people or even boys and girls were laid in their graves in cemeteries around this world? That we don't know at all.
I would imagine if we were able to pull some statistics this evening.
Of those who have died, even just in the United States, and have been buried today.
I think we would be surprised at the vast range of ages.
Of people who have entered the grave this very day.
We have heard, some of us of a young sister in the Lord, 21 years of age, who is clinging to life.
It doesn't look good, naturally speaking, but you know the last time I was in the city of Regina?
I sat at a table in her home and after the meal was served, we got out the Bibles and we enjoyed the precious things of Christ together.
If she passes away this night, I have every confidence that she is absent from the body.
And present with the Lord.
But I wonder if you were to be carried out of here tonight on a stretcher and it was confirmed that your life was gone.
And that the body and the Spirit were separated, which constitutes physical death.
And someone turned to me and said, do you think that person was really the Lord's? Would I be able to say or anybody else in this room with confidence? Yes, we know that boy, that girl, that young person, that older person is really the Lord. We saw it in their life. We heard it in their words. They had confessed Christ, They enjoyed the things from the Bible that we've enjoyed in these meetings.
Or would we have to turn away with some sadness and say I don't really know.
Wouldn't that be awful? Wouldn't that be awful to just have to turn away and say, well, I hope so, but I don't really know.
If you're not saved tonight, you know this meeting is more or less half over as to the time that was scheduled on our card for this meeting, and I am not going to promise you that the other half of this meeting is going to conclude.
You know time goes by very quickly. In fact, time always goes by faster for the speaker than the hearer.
But here's something else to think about in time. Do you realize that as we sit here tonight?
A decade of this century has slipped by.
Think about that.
You know, when I was at Bible Truth some weeks ago and we were preparing to ship 2010 calendars, that really stirred my soul. Because, you know, it just seems like yesterday everybody was worried about why 2K and what was going to happen when the calendar flipped over to the new century and there's a new Millennium or however people referred to it, and where they're going to be. Crashes in the computers and our cars wouldn't start the next morning and all this kind of thing. Why, it doesn't seem very long ago at all and yet a decade of this century.
Has slipped by and we're going to turn in a few weeks the calendar to 2010.
Time stands still for no one. We're rushing on to eternity.
But you know, the clock of life is wound, but once, and no man hath the power.
To know just when that clock will stop at late or early hour. I was on the island of Cannawan one time and I saw those words engraved on a tombstone. I thought it was an interesting epitaph.
I was in a cemetery not long ago, just walking through the graves and looking at the tombstones. Very interesting to see what's graved on tombstones. But I came to a certain tombstone and it had one word on it saved.
I thought that was beautiful. It didn't need anything else. Evidently the person that was buried beneath that stone knew the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior.
And with confidence, whoever was left behind to take care of their affairs and perhaps at the request of the deceased.
Had had on that tombstone engraved, that one word saved.
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I've never seen it, but I am told that there is a certain graveyard.
In the state of Louisiana, that has another word on it.
Waiting. Someone there, buried beneath that stone.
Who's waiting for the Lord Jesus to come? Because you know the Lord Jesus is coming.
The coming of the Lord draws nigh.
We don't know when the Lord Jesus is coming. We haven't been told. But I like the little chorus that the boys and girls often sing Jesus will come again. And though we don't know when, the countdowns getting lower every day, do you realize that as we sit in these seats tonight, we have never been closer to the Lord's coming than we are right now? We have never been closer to the Lord's coming.
Than we are right now. Think about it.
Things indicate in this world that the coming of the Lord is very near.
That this world is ripe for the judgment of God. And I want to impress upon your soul tonight that when the Lord Jesus comes.
And every true believer is gone from this world.
There will be no opportunity for those who sat in a Gospel meeting like this.
There will be no further warnings or invitations to come to the Savior.
For any who have heard the gospel of the grace of God.
And have either neglected it or rejected it. It is so serious when once the master of the house has risen up and shut to the door. Scripture tells us that they're going to come and they're going to knock and they're going to say Lord, Lord, open unto us. You know, the very fact that they say Lord, Lord indicates that they knew the way they knew about the Lord Jesus. Wherever you get that expression in scripture, Lord, Lord, it always denotes profession.
Those who have heard and perhaps professed to know the Lord, but there was number reality in the heart.
And they come, and they say, Lord, Lord, open unto us, But they had opportunity.
And those words come back to ring in their ears for all eternity.
Depart from me. I never knew you. No. The door of grace, the door of mercy, The door of heaven will never be opened again.
To those who have refused God's offer of salvation, I plead with you.
Not to be foolish tonight. And then we read that well known verse in John's Gospel, chapter 3.
You know my I've often told about my father. He was a man who kept copious notes, in fact.
I suppose we filled after his passing boxes with notebooks, and some of them were interesting, but some of them we had to get rid of, and they went, I'm afraid, in the dumpster. But my father kept notes on lots of things. He was always writing things down, and my father told me before he passed away that he had kept track of the Gospel verses that preachers began their gospel meeting with.
Gospel meetings that he had been had attended over the years, I suppose Maybe notes that went back 50-60 years, I don't know. But he said when he added it all up that more preachers started their gospel meeting with John 316 than any other verse. I thought that was very interesting and this verse is one of the perhaps the best known verses.
In the whole word of God, we heard the other night about a man who preached from this verse for seven nights in a row.
And it was fresh every time for God. Southern loved the world.
Are we thankful for the love of God tonight? We have been speaking at great lengths about judgment.
But you know, judgment is God's strange work because God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten son. God has proved his love.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt in this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. He so loved the world that He gave. We had read to us in these meetings that verse that says thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift, That's the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Light.
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With whom? There is no variableness nor shadow of turning. We have just passed Thanksgiving.
And Solomon, the wisest man, whoever lived apart from the Lord Jesus, he said twice in Ecclesiastes, For a man to eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of all his labor, it is the gift of God.
When we sit down to a meal, the very fact that we have food and the strength to enjoy it is a gift from God. Yet I wonder how many people on a daily basis stop for a moment before they partake of a meal and thank God for that gift. But the most wonderful and outstanding gift that God has ever given to man is the gift of his Son. That unspeakable gift, the Lord Jesus. Have you ever stopped and thanked God?
For his unspeakable gift, Paul bursts out at the end of that chapter in Corinthians.
And in going over some other gifts and the joy of Christian giving in that chapter, he says thanks.
Be unto God for his unspeakable gift God gave his Son.
I'm thankful that I can stand by the apostle Paul and say the Son of God who loved me.
And gave himself for me. In fact, I like to stand and say it this way.
The Son of God who loved Jim and gave himself for Jim. Could you come up here tonight and stand with me?
And put your name in that verse. Oh, if you can't tonight remember God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever there's our word again. Whosoever that all inclusive word, it's you're not. Don't stay away because you have some fear of being refused. Maybe sometimes you stay away from something because you say, well, I don't know if I'll really be accepted when I get there.
You don't knock on a certain door because you say I don't know if they'll really want me or let me in. Oh, don't stay away tonight because you're afraid of being refused. No, tonight the gospel is for you that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Are you gonna perish tonight in your sins?
Are you gonna pass out into a lost eternity without hope? You know there's nothing worse than a hopeless situation. Hopelessness, I think, is about the worst word in the English language. To go to the doctor and to be told that the case is hopeless, To know that there's no cure, nothing that can be done. What a sad thing that is, especially for the unbeliever who only has the natural life.
To cling to but all your taste tonight as a Sinner is not hopeless. It's hopeless in your own strength, that's true.
But it isn't hopeless because God has a cure. The Lord Jesus died on Calvary's cross.
He shed his precious blood and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son.
Cleanse us from all sin. Do you realize that there is a sure cure for sin tonight?
You know, you go to the doctor and he gives you some antibiotic or some other medication or treatment and you know, he might have to say, well, I hope this works. I think it should. It's worked in others.
But you know, there's a sure cure for the disease of sin tonight. We don't have to wonder at the value of the blood of Christ. There's power, power, wonder, working power in the precious blood of the lamb. I'm not going to tell you tonight to avail yourself of the blood of Jesus, and hopefully it'll work. The doctor may say that about some antibiotics, but I'm going to tell you tonight, avail yourself of the blood of Christ and your sins will be gone, and they'll be gone forever.
He'll blossom out as a thick cloud, and as far as the east is from the West, so far as he removed our transgressions from us. And we have forgiveness through the blood of the Lord Jesus. Oh, there's only one cure, but it is a sure cure tonight. And so whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Can tell you a little story at this juncture in our Gospel meeting.
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Because not many weeks ago I was in on the island of Saint Vincent, just north of Grenada and South of Saint Lucia and West of Uh Barbados. And there is a village which I visited many times in northern Saint Vincent called Sandy Bay.
And that evening, in the cool of the day, I leaned back on the railing of the veranda of a little home owned by a man named Esford. And Esford told me a very interesting story as I stood there with brother Garvin, Seymour and this man that I had met on a previous occasion but never had much contact with. And he told me a very interesting story that happened.
In 1986. In 1986, Esford owned a boat, and that boat would often travel from Sandy Bay, Saint Vincent, about 26 to 30 miles across the open water to view Fort St. Lucia. He would often take people that wanted to go over to Saint Lucia. He would often go out and fish in various things, but one day they had planned a trip to Saint Lucia. He.
And four other men. The main thrust of the trip was to take a man from Sandy Bay whose name was Mr. Charles.
Over there a Christian man, a believer in the Lord Jesus, to pick up some parts for his vehicle.
We still have to go to Saint Lucia and Trinidad for car parts. Brother Hans, who's here tonight, will attest to the difficulties of getting car parts. Sometimes it takes literally weeks and days, and after you get those parts, it takes sometimes days to get them put on and so on, And sometimes they're not the right parts, and they make them fit and they make them do and so on. But they were going to make this trip on a certain afternoon.
That morning, Esper got up in Sandy Bay and he got on his motorcycle to go down to Kingstown, which is in the South of Saint Vincent and is the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He made that trip. It would have been in those days, about two and a half hour trip. It's a little bit less now with the better roads, but even today it's still a windy coastal mountain Rd. and he made that trip down there to do a few errands and to secure the proper paperwork.
For himself and his poor traveling companions who were hoping to leave late that afternoon.
For Saint Lucia, he ran his errands in the city and got his paperwork and he started back out.
And as he was coming back out and in some of these countries, they don't worry about whether you have dotted lines or solid lines or curves or not.
Everybody's in a hurry to pass everybody else and get where they want to go, And he pulled out to pass a Jeep. But what he didn't realize was, as he pulled out to pass that Jeep, a motorcycle behind him had decided it was going to pass both he and the Jeep in front of him. And you can see you can well imagine the inevitable. There was a motorcycle accident, those two motorcycles sideswiped and Ashford was thrown off his bike.
And of course he didn't have a helmet on and he was thrown into the ditch where he was badly bruised.
And hit his head.
There was a house right there on the side of the road, and a friend of his, who, ironically enough, was going to be part of the party that went to Saint Lucia that afternoon, was standing in his doorway and he rushed out to try to save Ashford from banging his head on the rock. He wasn't able to do it, but he was right there, and he was able to minister to him physically. After a while, it was determined that he wasn't seriously hurt. He had a bad headache and a few bruises.
Didn't seem like there were any broken bones and the friend of his was a mechanic as well.
And so they did. A few adjustments to the motorcycle, and Esford headed on his way back up to Sandy Bay, telling his friend that he would see him a little later in the day. When he got home. He wasn't feeling just the best, and his wife pleaded with him not to make the trip that afternoon and not feeling so good. He decided that her advice was probably the path of wisdom, and he agreed to let the other four go with his boat, but he wouldn't make the trip.
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That afternoon, when they were ready to launch the boat, he went down to the water, down to the beach to see the other four off, along with his cousin David.
As they were about to launch, the other four said to David, why don't you come along with us? Take Ashford's place. Apparently he had the necessary paperwork already, as he made regular trips across there, and though he wasn't really prepared for the trip, he knew that he had friends and relations on the other side that would take care of him for the night that they planned to spend there. And so at the last minute, they persuaded him to jump aboard.
And away they went. They made the trip over to View Fort, and then by a Jeep they traveled up to up to the north to Castries, which is the capital of Saint Lucia. I've made that trip many times myself. They secured the parts they needed and did their business, stayed overnight with friends and family, came back down to Beaufort, got in their boat, were seen by another party who was leaving, and they headed back across the water.
Later that evening, the other party that had seen them leave landed in Sandy Bay, Saint Vincent, and they made inquiries in the village as to whether the others had arrived back safely.
They were told that they hadn't seen them, that the boat hadn't arrived, and so after some time they became concerned and the boat that had come over from Saint Lucia went back out to sea to look for the boat that hadn't returned.
And to this day, no one has any idea what happened to that boat and those five men.
There's still today a great deal of pirating that goes on in those waters. There's a lot of drug trade and smuggling, and still today many people disappear. But to stand here and speculate as to what happened would be simply that speculation. Did they? Were they capsized by a wave? Did an undertow pull them under? Were they overtaken by pirates or smugglers? Nobody knows. To this day, only God saw what happened out there on the open waters.
But as Esper told me that story, it was with a great deal of emotion.
Because as he related to me, his cousin David, who took his place, was not a believer.
He did not know the Lord Jesus. Mr. Charles did, and I don't know about the others.
In the boat, but David did not. Now what happened in his last moments, we don't know. Hopefully he considered eternal issues and turned to the Lord Jesus. But here was a man who took Ashford's place.
He had left a wife and five children behind and he's gone into eternity.
I have wondered as I have recounted that story in my own mind.
What would have happened if you were in that boat, if I was in that boat?
And not only that, but to take it a step further in connection with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here was David, who took Ashford's place in that boat, not knowing.
That he would never return to Sandy Bay Saint Vincent, not knowing that he would never see his wife and children again.
But you know, the Lord Jesus came into this world, and he took my place at Calvary S Cross.
He died for me. He shed his precious blood, and when he came into this world, he knew exactly.
What was going to happen? He knew that his pathway would lead to the cross and that he would give his life for me. But he also knew something else too, that a moment would come when he would rise from the dead, and a moment would come when his feet would leave this planet and he would return to heaven. And he knew that as the savior of sinners, there would be a vast multitude saved down through the ages as a result.
And that the day would come when he will give a shout. And it hasn't happened yet, but soon as we've been saying.
When he would give a shout and the fruit of the work of Calvary, those who came to know him as savior.
Would all be gathered home to the father's house around himself. But I want to say again, as we have recounted the story the best to the best of my memory, as to the details.
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Where would you be tonight if you had been in that boat? You know, all Ashford could say to me was God knows best, and God has a plan.
Interesting, isn't it? God does know best, and God does have a plan.
But God's desire for you tonight is that you would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ.
As your Savior, God's desire is that you would be saved.
Tonight I read the verse in Romans chapter 10 Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.
Shall be saved. You know, that's the third time that verse appears in the word of God.
It appears in the book of Joel. It's quoted by Peter when he preached on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.
And we have it for the third time here. Isn't that interesting? Three times. You know, when God says something once, we need to pay attention God. When God speaks, it's serious. God means what he is saying. But when God repeats something three times, doesn't that give import or impact to what he says? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.
Shall be saved. Have you called upon the name of the Lord tonight?
You know, it's that simple tonight. It's that simple. It's that easy.
And the word of God abounds with stories of people who did that very thing.
Do you wanna be saved tonight? Do you wanna go out of these doors in a few moments with the assurance that you're on your way to heaven? All you have to do is speak to the Lord in your heart. You know you don't have to say anything aloud.
Because he knows what you say, even though you don't utter one word aloud, but just to speak to him in your heart.
To confess your need to tell him that you want to be saved, that you receive his gift, the gift of God being eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But I want to read in closing, two further portions of the Word of God. These two portions are found in the Book of Revelation, First of all in Revelation chapter 20.
Revelation Chapter 20.
And verse 15.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life.
Was cast into the lake of fire. You know, this is a solemn contrast with the statement that we read in John's Gospel chapter 3, because there we read whosoever believeth in him.
Should not perish. But here we find that whosoever's name was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. You know what? The Great White Throne judgment books are going to be brought out and records gone over, and lots of time to go over those records. Nobody's going to be hurried through in the courtroom of God today. They throw cases out and they rush things through for the sake of time, and the courts are jammed with case after case.
And things aren't always examined properly, but you know, the Great White Throne judgment.
Is the last great act of time and the first great act of eternity. And there will be lots of time to go over things, and even the book of life will be brought out to show to the person that their name wasn't there.
Lest there's still a doubt in their mind that they had, that they that their name should have been there, and that they should have received mercy, there it is, as we would say in black and white, a blank, shall I say, a blank line where their name could have been. But the book is brought out, not to prove to the Lord Jesus, but to prove to the individual that their name is not found written there, and whosoever, no exclusions.
Whosoever.
Was not found written in the book of life. Was cast into the lake of fire. But I want to end on a little different note than that.
Just turn over to the last page of your Bible, Revelation chapter 22.
And verse 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And let him that is a thirst say, Come and whosoever.
Uh, I'm sorry, I let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will.
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Let him take of the water of life freely. Here is the last invitation from the word of God. You know to me it is so precious to realize that almost the last words of Scripture are one more invitation you're having tonight at the end of this gospel meeting. One more invitation, and it's to whosoever, just as the invitation at the beginning of the meeting was to whosoever.
So it's still tonight at the end of the meeting to whosoever do you have a thirst tonight. I don't mean a physical thirst, Maybe you are thirsty tonight and waiting to go out and get a cup of water, but do you have a spiritual longing and thirst?
You know, I've had opportunity to visit on the island of Dominica, a little bit of trivia, but Dominica was the name of Christopher Columbus, father. That's why you have the Dominican Republic and Dominique and you have the name several times in the islands. Dominica, Columbus was Christopher's father. But nevertheless, the island of Dominique is a very poor island, I think next to Haiti. It's one of the poorest islands, one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean. It's subsistence living and people eking out an existence every day.
But you know, there is one tremendous natural resource on that island and they say.
And I have checked it. You couldn't prove it by me, but they say that on the island of Dominica, there are 365 rivers, streams, tributary springs, some kind of water, fresh water on the island of Dominica, you know, that's one for every day of the year 365. But you know, tonight at the end of this meeting, God is offering you the water of life. Because, you know, whenever I'm in Dominica, I never seem to be able to satisfy my thirst. It is so hot and humid on that island.
That I never seemed to satisfy my thirst from the water from those springs and tributaries, and actually.
From many of those springs I wouldn't drink the water. I often buy bottled water. But you know there is a tributary tonight flowing from God, the Lord Jesus himself, the water of life. And it will satisfy your thirst for 365 days of the year, and it will satisfy your thirst for all eternity. And the invitation is to whosoever to come all tonight, come to the Lord Jesus, whosoever will.
May come and take of the water of life freely.