Gospel—Randy Hale
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Begin the gospel meeting tonight by singing together hymn #9 Come every soul by sin oppressed.
Mercy with the Lord and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His word for Jesus shed.
His precious blood rich blessings to bestow. Plunge now into that Crimson flood that washes white as snow.
Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way that leads you into rest.
Believe in Him without delay and you are fully blessed.
Come then and join this holy band and on the glory goal to dwell in that celestial land where joys immortal flow. Only trust him. Only trust him now. He will save you. He will save you now.
#9 come every.
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2018 How about you?
So him starts off come every soul by sin oppressed. There's mercy with the Lord. Last night some of us were down in the cafeteria singing hymns together, and one of the hymns we sang.
I don't remember the exact words, but it was to this effect that there was coming a day when the Lord Jesus would cease to call sinners to repentance. And someone at the table said that's a very sad song. And I thought about it. You know, I've never known a day in my life. I'm 48 years old and I've never known a day.
When the Lord Jesus wasn't calling sinners to repentance. There is nobody in this room, no matter how old you are, that's ever known a day when the Lord Jesus was not calling sinners to repentance and saying, come unto me.
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But there is going to come a day.
Just think of it, there's going to come a day when the Lord Jesus is not anymore going to say, come unto me.
And nobody knows when that day is going to be.
Maybe it's today, maybe it's today. Let's look to the Lord for help, our blessed God and our Father.
We thank thee for the gospel of thy grace. We thank thee, Lord Jesus, for that mighty work accomplished at Calvary without its lay down thy life. We thank thee, Lord Jesus, that thou art still inviting sinners to come, that thou art still looking and searching out those who need a Savior. And we thank thee, our God and Father too, that we can have a gospel meeting here in this room tonight and proclaim the good news of salvation.
But we know too, that there is coming a day when that call will cease to go out, and never again will there be another opportunity for sinners to be saved. Oh, Father, we pray if there's anyone in this room here tonight that doesn't know the Lord Jesus as their own personal Savior, that they'll make a decision for Christ before they leave this room, before they leave their seat tonight. Lord Jesus, we pray that they'll decide for Christ this very night. Our Father, we look up to Thee and pray for help as we open Thy precious word. We feel our weakness keenly.
And we just pray that Thou will take thy word and use it in blessing here in this in this room tonight. And we know Father too, that on this Lord's Day evening, the gospel is going out in many places across the land and across this world. And so, Father, we just pray blessing upon Thy word. Thy hand is not shortened that it cannot save. And we pray for the salvation of sinners because we know that that day is soon coming, Lord Jesus, when those of us who belong to Thee are going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
But all our God and Father to think of those left behind, perhaps those two who have listened to the gospel many times over and over again.
Left behind for judgment, never again to hear those wonderful words of the Lord Jesus. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Father, we just pray for the salvation of souls. We ask these things, giving thanks and the precious name of the Lord Jesus our Savior, Amen.
I'd like to turn to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 16.
16th chapter of Acts.
And begin reading at verse 16. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, there are certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this she did many days. But Paul being grieved, turned and said to the Spirit.
I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her Master saw that the hope of their games was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace.
Unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrate, saying, These men being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe being Romans.
And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stalks.
And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God.
And the prisoners heard them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loose, and the keeper of the prison awakening out of sleep.
And seeing the prison doors opened, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they speak unto him the word of the Lord.
And to all that were in his house, and he took them the same hour of the night.
And washed their stripes, and was baptized he and all his straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the Sergeant saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul.
The magistrates have sent to let you go now therefore depart and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly, uncondemned being Romans, and have cast us into prison. And now do they thrust us out privately? Nay, verily, but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates, and they feared when they heard that they were Romans.
And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
And they went out of the prison and entered into the House of Lydia.
And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed.
Well, this little story that we've read together begins with It Came to Pass as we went to prayer.
And, you know, just down the hall, I'm sure most of you are aware, there was a little prayer meeting just before this gospel meeting.
And brothers came together last night and tonight, and they prayed for the salvation of souls.
Why did they do that?
They did that because they loved you.
You have brethren here. I look around and I see a lot of children and young people of the Saints, and your brethren are concerned about you. They're concerned that perhaps there's some of you that still don't belong to the Lord Jesus. And so there was prayer made. But you know, I was thinking of another man who prayed. In a certain sense, the Lord Jesus told the story, and it wasn't a parable. It was a true story about a very rich man. And you know, this rich man, he says he fared sumptuously every day, yet everything he wanted in this world.
He was not in want for anything.
But there was one thing he neglected.
He wasn't rich toward God. He left God out of his life. He had no thought of his responsibility to his Maker.
And the Lord Jesus said that man lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torment.
And you know what he said when he was there, he looked off, and he saw Abraham. And he said, I pray thee.
Send a messenger to my brethren that they come not to this place of torment. You see, he had five brothers that were still living, and he prayed that someone would go and tell them.
About salvation and tell them.
Where he was so that they wouldn't come to that awful place. And I thought to myself, maybe there's someone tonight that you know, that's passed out of this world.
And maybe in hell they've lifted up their eyes and maybe there's someone that's very nice, that's praying that you would not come to that place of torment.
We're getting very near the end of this dispensation. As I said at the beginning, soon the Lord Jesus will not invite sinners to repentance anymore.
But that door is still open, Dear friend, there may be that you have mothers and fathers that have prayed and are still praying for the salvation of your soul. I know that we have family that we love, friends that are around us, and we pray for the salvation of their souls. And friend, there's not much time left. The young people and children, I hope you've taken up with the offer of salvation because the time is short. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Well, as they went to prayer, it says a damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us.
Herein comes this young lady and she has a problem. She has a very serious problem and there's a lot of problems in this world, isn't there?
There's a lot of people with some very serious problems.
I had a neighbor one time and he was a very confident man. He was a very intelligent man and he thought that he could have all the answers. He was sure that his own mind could figure out all the deep questions of life. But you know, there came a day when his wife was very sick and he didn't feel so confident anymore. And he asked for prayers for his wife.
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You see, he realized that he wasn't able.
He finally came to the realization yet. But you know, it's sad to say his wife got better and you know what happened.
That man went right back to his old ways again, and he still today feels that he has all the answers.
You know God speaketh once, CA twice, and man perceiveth it not. How many times has he spoken to you? How many times have you sat in a gospel meeting like this and you've heard the way of salvation and you're still turning away? God speaketh once. Yeah, twice. Maybe he won't speak anymore.
Well, this young lady, she had a serious problem, a lot of problems in this world today. But you know what?
She found an answer to this problem.
No, you'll notice it says which brought her master's much gain by soothing. You see, this lady wasn't her own. She wasn't making her own decisions.
And there's a lot of people in this world, in particular young people, who think that they have the world by the tail, so to speak, and they're going to make their own decisions about life. They're going to make their own decisions and run their own life. But I want to tell you something.
You're not free to run your own life.
There's 2 powers that are greater than men in this world. One is the power of God and the other is the power of Satan.
And if you're not under the protection of the power of God, there's another one whose power you fall under. Man is not a free agent that chooses he please. If you haven't put yourself under the protection of the Lord, the devil is your master. The devil is your master. And you may think you make your own decisions, but you don't. You don't. Because that one, that devil, that that's Satan, is far more clever than you or I or anyone in this room. He's had 6000 years of practice.
To deceive men and women and children and young people, you're no match for them. Not a person in this room is a match for them. So I urge you, this young lady found release from these masters and she found it in Jesus.
And it doesn't matter what the problem is, you're gonna find the answer in Jesus. Some of you here know, because I've said it many times, that one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible is the 107 Psalm, verse nine. And it says he, Jesus, satisfieth the longing soul. And I know, I know particularly you, dear young people, some of you have some real deep longings down in your heart. Every one of us have deep longings, you know, and nothing in this world can satisfy it.
You may find someone you love very much. Maybe you have a wife or a husband and you have children.
And maybe there's a lot of love in your home, and it's a wonderful thing. I'm very thankful for natural love. That's of God too. But even in a case like that, there's times that come when there's a longing inside that nothing can feel. And I don't, I want to tell you now that nothing will ever fill it in this world. There's nothing in this world that will satisfy that Jesus is the only one He satisfied the longing soul. And those deep things that you feel inside can only be satisfied by Jesus.
Well, this young lady, she found a release from her masters. You notice what she says though in the verse 17.
She followed Paul and she cried, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation.
You see, she knew that these men had the key to her happiness. She knew that these men spoke the way of salvation.
But as we read through the narrative, we never read that this young lady was ever saved. Oh, she came into blessing all right. She enjoyed the benefits of this wonderful news. And she believed that these men knew and and told out the way of salvation. Maybe there's someone here and you've heard the gospel and you know the way of salvation just as much as anybody else in this room.
But maybe you're still turning away.
Brother Neil spoke in Hebrews 6 about those who enjoyed the benefits of Christianity. That is, they enjoyed the blessings that came with that profession, but they weren't real. They didn't know the Lord Jesus as their own personal Savior. And you know, the great fear of those of us who are parents, those of us who are in the assembly, is the fear that maybe some of the children and young people, the Saints, are just like this young lady. They could tell you the way of salvation themselves better than I could.
But you're not saved. You're still not saved. You never read about this young girl ever being saved. She got a blessing, but it seems she didn't take Jesus as her Savior. Don't be like her, young people, children of the Saints. I look around and I don't see anybody that I haven't seen before.
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Don't. Don't play with fire, young people. If you're not saved, you better make that decision tonight before you leave this room.
Well, she knew the way of salvation, and it says this she did many days, but Paul being returned and said to the Spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ.
To come out of her and he came out the same hour. You see, the blessing was there and she enjoyed it.
Maybe you're in a Christian home and you enjoy the blessings of a Christian home, stability and love.
But you don't want the one who gives that stability and love.
That's Jesus.
Well, we see that Paul commanded his spirit to come out, and this girl was blessed. But you know what happened? I didn't take long before her masters found out that she was of no use anymore. And you know what the devil is like that the devil is your master tonight. If you haven't come to Jesus and taken him as your Savior, the devil is your master. And he's just like these masters. They cared nothing for this young lady. All they wanted was what they could get out of her. And that's what the devil wants to. He just wants what he can get out of it. He promises you all kinds of wonderful things.
He holds out the world to you and he makes a glitter and he says, come on, you can have a good time.
And all Owen that there's pleasures of sin for a season. The Bible tells us that there is pleasure in sin, but it's only for a short time. And I'll tell you something just like these masters, once he's finished with you, the devil just cast you sign. You know, you read about it in Proverbs. Maybe we should look at it. I think it's Proverbs chapter 5 and I'll just read a couple of verses.
In chapter 5 it speaks about the strange woman as a little picture of this world, and it says verse four or verse three. The lips of a strange woman drop as in honeycomb, but her, and her mouth is smooth than oil. But her end is bitter as Wormwood, sharp as A2 edged sword. Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. And this verse is important, lest thou should ponder the path of life. Her ways are movable.
That thou canst not know them. You know the devil is very clever. He'll let you think that you can figure things out for yourself.
And that you have the world by the tail, but you don't and you never will because you have three enemies. You've got the world, the flesh and the devil. And the devil is an expert at combining those other two things, you know, outwit you every time. And her ways are movable. You'll never figure it out. I know a lot of people. That man I spoke about my neighbor, he thought he could figure out all the answers. But there's going to come things in your life you won't be able to figure out the answers.
And her ways are movable. The devil is an expert deceiver. That's one of his names. That's what he's called the deceiver. And then at the end down here in that same chapter, it says.
Verse 11 And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. And that's what the devil does as a master. He'll just take you and use you for what he can, and he'll leave you consumed in the end. Some people don't follow after that Master. Turn to the Lord Jesus right now. He loves you. He loves you more than anybody ever could or ever will. You may have parents that love you, and that's a wonderful thing, but nobody loves you like the Lord Jesus. Let me tell you how much He loves you.
I wanna tell you how much he loves him.
He says.
Speaks about a woman.
And a sucking child.
And she says that's not a woman.
Uh.
Uh, pity her sucking child. Does she not have compassion?
On the child of her womb. Will she forget the child of her womb? He says, yeah, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee? Behold, I've graven thee upon the palms of my hands. And I think it's wonderful. The Lord puts things in a way that we can understand. We can all look around and see mothers with babies here and we can see the love in their eyes. But the Lord Jesus says even a mother might forget her little one. He says, but I'll never forget you. I have you engraved upon the palms of my hands. And for all of eternity He's going to have those marks of those nails in his hands, dear friend.
That's like your name engraved upon there. He can never let you down. Nobody loves you like the Lord Jesus.
Well, we'll go on here and see what happens. These masters, they lost all their hope and gain, so they just tossed her aside and we read about her no more.
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Verse 19 It says, When her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrate, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city.
Here were these men who could tell out the way of salvation, and they said they trouble our city.
Last night there was a faithful gospel message went out in this room. A faithful and a very plain gospel message went out here and.
Tonight, by the grace of God, the gospel is going out again.
Time and time again the gospel goes forth. Does it trouble you? When you sit here and you listen to the gospel, does it trouble you? You feel kind of like you'd like to get out of here and go and do something else. That's what these men said. They trouble our city. If you're a friend, if you're still in your sins, I hope you are in trouble. I hope the Lord doesn't leave you alone until you make a decision for Christ.
Well, they tucked them and it says the multitude rose up verse 22 together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. Well here we see a whole multitude was stirred up against these men. A whole multitude. You know God says in the Old Testament, he says thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.
And you know something, if the multitude's doing it, it's probably wrong. It's probably wrong the young people you've heard over again, I'm sure everybody's doing it, can't be wrong if everybody's doing it. But God tells you the opposite to that. He says, thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. And if everybody's doing it, young people, you can pretty well be assured that it's wrong and it's going to get you into trouble and.
That's what happened here. Everybody was caught up in the multitude. Be careful, be careful. The Lord Jesus said there's few that find that narrow Rd. There's few that enter in by the straight gate. So be careful young people, don't follow the multitude.
Well, they beat them and they handed them over to this jailer. And this is the man that we're going to spend a little bit of time on here. Verse 24. Uh, the jailer who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stalks. Now here we see a man.
And I have no doubt that he was probably a man that had been through some very rough times.
A job like this, I don't think it was an easy job even today to look after prisoners. It's not a very happy job. And so I think this man probably was a pretty tough customer.
And you know, he received a charge to keep these men safely. And in those days, if he let those men go, if they escaped, he would pay with his life.
So you see, he really earnestly wanted to make sure that these men didn't get away. He didn't want to lose his life. And so he took them and he thrust them into the inner prison, and he made their feet fast in the stocks and they couldn't move.
So this man, he had a charge given to him.
Maybe you have a charge too. Maybe you've got a job to do and it's so occupying you that you have no time to think about Jesus. Maybe you're going to school, maybe you're going to university and you really enjoy it and you're really looking forward to getting ahead. You've got a charge and you want to get ahead in the world, and so you have no time for Jesus. We're going to find out that this man came to a time in his life when it just didn't matter anymore.
You know, there's a lot of people in the world that are climbing the ladder to success.
But you know when they get to the top, they're going to find out that the thing was leaning against the wrong wall.
Because there's no blessing. They're going to get to the end of their life and I've seen them before. They get to the end of their life and all they've got to look forward to is a grave.
Oh dear friend, if you don't have Jesus, you've got nothing.
Well, verse 25 says at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. Isn't that a marvelous thing? Here were two men. They weren't like this jailer. They weren't busy. They were in stocks. They were thrust into the inner prison. They were probably rats around and all kinds of things and dampness. I'm sure they were very uncomfortable, but what were they doing? You'd think they might have been moaning and complaining and groaning, but no.
They were praying and singing praises to God. Isn't that marvelous?
Do you think that you could be in a situation like this and sing praises to God? Well, that's what happens when you have Jesus. Jesus is your savior. You have a new life, something that nobody understands. The world will never understand the true Christian. You'll never understand the true Christian. Well, there they were, and they were singing praises unto God. And there's something I'd like to mention to those of us here who do belong to the Lord Jesus, and that is these men were singing praises to God.
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You know there's.
There's people today that would encourage you and say, don't waste your time. You go to that little meeting and and you go there and you remember the Lord. That's not really important. The important thing is to get out there and preach the gospel and get sinners saved. Well, I don't deny that that's important. That's why we have a gospel meeting here tonight to tell you the way of salvation. But you know something, the very first thing, those of us who know the Lord Jesus is Savior, the most important thing and comes first.
Is worship. Every service begins with worship. There were a few of us here this morning and we came together and we remembered the Lord the way He asked us to so very simply. And it was wonderful. He had the Lord in our presence who sang praises to him. And you know what? It was to God. It was a sweet favor to God.
God appreciated.
It was a sweet saver to her. Do you think that's a waste? No, it's not a waste of time. And as a matter of fact, you'll notice what it says at the end of the verse. The prisoners heard them. Was there an effect? Yes, there was. Not only was it a sweet favor to God, but there was an effect on others. The prisoners heard them and you know.
When you worship the Lord, there's other people looking on and they see it in your face. You go home from the morning meeting and your neighbors look on.
They know what you've done, they know where you've been. They may not understand a great deal, but they know where you've been and it has an effect on them.
So you just go right on praising the Lord. He appreciates it. It's a sweet favor to him. And you'll find out that it does affect others. It does bear a testimony to those around you. Well, verse 26, God comes in here because He has his eye on that man, and God has his eye on you tonight as you sit in your chair. He knows the number of hairs on your head. That's how much He knows about you, and He loves you. He's got an interest in you, and He wants to save your soul and bless you.
And so.
With this man, it says in verse 26, suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Along comes this mighty earthquake that God sent and the foundations of the prison were shaken. And not only that, it says the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed. You ever been in an earthquake? I'm not talking about a physical earthquake. I've been in an earthquake too. Not a big one or anything like that, but I felt the earth shake and it's a, it's a strange feeling. It's a strange feeling because you just feel the power of God and how He can take this earth.
And shake it and do it every once.
But I'm talking to another kind of earthquake.
You ever had an earthquake in your life? Maybe somebody really close to you has been taken away in death.
That's an earthquake. That's an earthquake. It hurts and it shakes you up.
Maybe it's your job. Somebody's giving you a hard time and you have to face it every day and you can't get away from it and you're tormented or at school. That's an earthquake. That's something that shakes you up and you don't know what to do about it. There's a lot of questions. Fear is another earthquake. A lot of people are afraid today. You know, men's hearts are failing them for fear right now of the things that are coming upon this earth. That's an earthquake.
Loneliness that can be an earthquake.
Well, you know something, God sends earthquakes. He sent this earthquake, and maybe that earthquake in your life He sent to because he has something to say to you. He's got a message for you.
He's got something He wants to say to you. Well, this earthquake came and it shook the foundations of the prison. And what happened? The doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed. You know what the Lord wants to do with that earthquake in your life? He wants to loose your bands and set you free. That's what He wants to do. If you're like that young lady we spoke about and your master is is Satan. He wants to set you free from those bands and that's why the earthquakes come, so that you'll turn away.
And look at Jesus, and you'll come to him, and he's the one with the answers. I don't have the answers. The wise men in this world don't have the answers.
They don't, but Jesus does.
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You know it was all things that he has all the answers. So if there's an earthquake in your life, I hope you're listening because God's speaking to you and what he wants to do is loose your bands. He wants to save your soul. Lord Jesus said if the sun shall make you free.
You shall be free, indeed, the truth shall set you free.
And that's what Jesus wants to do.
You're just saying, well, I have some problems in my life. Maybe you've got some besetting sin, something that you really find hard to shake off. And you say, well, I don't know if I could be a Christian. I got these things that I don't think I could stop.
You know what, it's just like that girl. She was captured by something, but the Lord set her free. And the Lord could set you free too. He can not only save your soul, but He can set you free from that sin that's beset him, from that difficulty that you have. He has all the answers. Well, their bands were loosened. Now what happens about this keeper of the prison in verse 27, He awakening out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing.
That the prisoners had fled. This man, he was there in the earthquake. All the prisoners bands were loose, the doors were opened and he thought it was all over for him. He thought all those prisoners were going to run away and he'd have to pay with his life. So you know what he was going to do? He was going to kill himself.
He was going to kill himself.
That's a real problem today, you know, especially among young people.
And we've all been touched by it.
We've all been touched by people we know.
It's an awful thing, isn't it, when someone takes their own life?
You know, we're not our own. We don't have the right to take this life. Life comes from God. He gives life.
But there's a lot of people who think that they can get away from their troubles.
But you know what God says? It's appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment, after this the judgment. And death is not the end. Death is not the end. You may think so, but God warns us solemnly, it's not the end. You're going to have to stand before God. And what then? What then? That's going to be far more fearful than anything you have to face here, no matter how bad it may be.
If you stand before God in your sins.
In Revelation, it tells us about a great white throne.
And the one who sat on it, from whom the earth and the heaven fled away, there was found no more place for them.
And and John says he saw the small and great, The dead small and great stand before God in that throne.
And the books were open and they were judged out of those things that were written in the book according to their deeds. And if you don't know Jesus as your savior, and you leave this world in death, whether it's by your own hand or some other way.
If you lead this world, you're going to stand before that great white throne.
And my friend, I'm going to tell you something.
All the fear you've ever known will be nothing like the fear you feel when you stand before that throne. And fear will cleave right through to your soul because you'll know what's coming. You'll know that you're gonna be cast into that lake of fire, and it won't be for a million years or 2 million years. It'll be for eternity. You'll never get out of there.
There's nothing that you've ever experienced yet that can be compared to the kind of fear you'll feel in that day. But you don't have to be there. You don't have to stand before that great white throne.
You can come to Jesus just as you are.
Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. Maybe you've done some pretty awful things in your life. The Lord knows all about them because all things are naked and open under the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He knows the secrets of your heart. It tells us in the Bible. But He still loves you. And He went to that cross of Calvary to bear your sins in His own body on the tree. If you'll accept Him as your Savior, He shed His precious blood.
And it tells us in first John, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin, not just some sin, all sin, no matter how bad they are.
Precious blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. You don't have to stand before that great white throne.
You can have Jesus as your Savior, and there will come a day when the blood of Christ will speak on your behalf. Well.
00:40:00
This man was really shaken up.
But what did Paul say? He cried out with a voice, with a loud voice, and he said, do thyself no harm, for we are all here.
And I want to tell you that God doesn't want to harm you.
God doesn't want to harm you. He doesn't want to judge you.
Let's read a verse in in Genesis chapter three. I think it is. Just turn back there for a minute.
Genesis chapter 3.
And we know the story of Adam and Eve, I'm sure everyone here does, and how Adam and Eve sinned and then they hid themselves in the garden. And verse nine it says, the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou?
You know, when I was younger, I used to think that God was saying to Adam, where art thou? Because he knew he'd sinned and he wanted to punish him. And there's a lot of people like that today. They think that God wants to punish them for all their sins. And so they try to hide. They don't want to look God in the face. They don't, they don't want to have anything to do. They just want to hide like Adam. But you know, that's not the sense of that verse. When God said, Adam, where art thou? It was the call of a broken heart.
Because God desired to have Adam's company, and Adam had spoiled it all. He's the one that had brought in a separation by his sin. And God said, Adam, where art thou? It was the call of a broken heart. He didn't want to punish him. He wanted him to bless him. He knew all about what he'd done, but he loved him. And dear friends, the Lord knows all about you, all the things you've done or thought, everything in your life, and yet he still loves you. And he says, where art thou?
He wants to bless you.
Why don't you come now? Why don't you come now while there's still time?
Well, Paul cried with a loud voice, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here, and he brought them out, or I'm sorry, I skipped verse 29. Then he, that is the jailer, called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas.
This is important. You know the work of salvation was accomplished 2000 years ago on that cross account.
The work, the mighty work of redemption has all been accomplished. Jesus did it all long ago.
But there's one thing that's necessary for you and I, and that's repentance towards God. The Bible says God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed a day into which he will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And that man is the Lord Jesus. There's a need for repentance.
There's a lot of people today will tell you about the love of God.
And that's certainly true. God is love. It's his very nature. But God is also light. God is also light. And sin must be paid for. And so God commands all men everywhere to repent. You know, God wants truth in the inward parts. And just a light confession of the Lord Jesus is not good enough. It's gotta be hard work. It's gotta be hard work. He looks for truth in the inward parts.
With this man it was heart work. You see, it says he came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas. Have you ever trembled before God? Have you ever got into His presence as a Sinner and seeing yourself as He sees you?
You know the story of Job.
God had a had a good opinion of him. God said he was a perfect man, upright, one that is chewed evil.
But you know what Job finally had to say when he got into the presence of God? He said I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever really seen yourself as God sees you?
This man came trembling. There needs to be repentance, dear friend. It's gotta be real. You can't just be with the lips, it's gotta be with the heart. Well, he called for a light, this man.
And this is the light of God that I hold in my hands. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Thy word, the entrance of thy word, giveth light. And this is where you're going to find the answers. That's what we're talking about tonight. It's not my ideas. It's what's written in this book.
And he says, he called for this light, and he came and trembled, and he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And what was the answer? It was so simple, so simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Isn't that a simple thing? Salvation is not hard. We used to sing a little song in Sunday school. A little child of seven or even three or four can enter into heaven.
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Through Christ, the open door, little children three and four years old can understand that they've done bad things and they need a Savior.
Salvation is not hard to understand, dear friend, don't use that excuse at all. It's too complicated. It's not complicated. Jesus did everything long ago and all you have to do is come and believe. But I say again, it's got to be real. There needs to be repentance towards God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they didn't stop there.
He said, And I have Thou shalt be saved in thy house. You know, that's a wonderful verse, and I'm so thankful that it's in the Bible because I have children.
And there's people here tonight. You have children.
And maybe you're worried about him.
Maybe you're worried about them. Well, I can tell you this much. If you pray for the salvation of their souls, you're in communion with God. You pray in communion with God because God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. You know something else a young sister once told me a good number of years ago, she said, I don't believe that God gives us children to raise for hell. And I thought about that an awful lot. And you know, I always appreciated that over the years.
Because God doesn't give us children to raise for hell.
He doesn't.
And you know, you can trust God for your children. You can trust them for those children. It's hard to do because probably the things we love most in this world are our children.
But we can trust God for them. We can trust God for them. You know what? You know what Joseph said way back in chapter 50 of Genesis when his brethren came to him, he said, fear not, I will nourish thee and thy little ones.
And he was just a picture of Jesus.
Jesus will nourish those little ones and he'll save them. He'll save them.
You trust you count on him for those children of yours and you.
Well, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved in thy house. And then it says, they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. Isn't it wonderful? You know after you get saved, God gives you a new life, He gives you a new desires, and now you have a thirst for the things that are in the word of God. And so they opened up the Bible for this man.
You belong to the Lord Jesus. Don't neglect the meetings come to the reading meetings. Take the time to read the Bible yourself because it's nourishment for you. You need it. What would you think of a person who who said I'm not gonna eat any more food. I think they were pretty foolish because you know they'd get sick while a Christian gets sick if they don't read their Bibles. You need to take in the word of God. It's refreshment. And so they they speak the word of God to him in all his house and what did he do? He took them verse 33 the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straightway.
And when he had brought them into his house, he said, Meet before the men rejoiced, believing in God.
With all his house, you see, there's the promise. I was just speaking about children. You notice there's a progression. The promise is thou shalt be saved in my house. And then it says the word of God was spoken to him and to all his house. The word of God was brought before his children. And then finally it says he rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And I've always taken those verses as a promise from God for your family, for your children. You may see a lot of things. The Lord may use those children to humble you.
And even bring sorrow into your life because maybe it's necessary. But I believe God promises you. Trust me for those children and I'll take care of them. Well, they believed in God the whole house, and they rejoiced. And I want to tell you something. If you come to Jesus, He'll give you joy in your soul, down deep in your heart, that nothing will ever take away from you. Nothing.
You may go through some pretty awful sorrows, and Lord doesn't promise us that when we could become Christians, we'll have an easy time. In fact, He promises us tribulation. But I want to tell you something. He'll give you joy down deep in your heart that no problem will ever take away from you. You may have tears, you may have deep sorrow, but there'll be that joy inside that nothing can take away because God gave it to you rejoicing. Rejoice in the Lord evermore. That's wonderful too, because you know, it was mentioned, I think, in these meetings.
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God wants you to have a happy life. He didn't save you so that you could be miserable. He wants you to have a happy life.
Not just for eternity. He wants to save you for eternity. That's wonderful. But he wants you to be happy here too. And.
And so they rejoiced.
But now we're going to notice these men, these magistrates. In verse 35 it says when, the day, when it was day, the magistrate sent the Sergeant saying let those men go.
And the keeper, the man, Miss Philippian jailer, he came back and he thought he had good news. He said, He said, saying unto Paul, the magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart and go in peace.
But it was all covered up, you see.
Magistrates wanted everything covered up.
It says.
Verse 37 Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly, uncondemned being Romans, and have cast us into prison. And now do they trust us out privily? Nay, verily, but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the sergeants told these words under the magistrates, and they fear when they heard they were Romans. Now is the time of the magistrates to be afraid. Now it was the time for the magistrates to be afraid. And you know, it's not easy confessing the Lord, is it? It's not easy to let people know that you belong to Jesus.
You. You suffer for it, don't you?
You tell somebody you belong to the Lord Jesus, they might laugh at you.
They might do something else. It's not easy to do, is it?
But I wanna tell you something. There's coming a day when the Lord is gonna display his church, each one that's been redeemed by his precious blood. He's gonna display them to this world in all its beauty. In all its beauty. And then they're gonna look and they're gonna see those ones that they that they marked, those ones that they looked down upon and laughed at, and they're gonna see them with Jesus in the glory. And it'll be their time to be afraid. It'll be their turn to be afraid, because they won't have anything to look forward to except judgment.
Judgment is ahead for this world because it's guilty of murdering the Son of God.
You ever think of that God as a controversy with this world It murdered his son to?
2000 years ago and he's gonna deal with this world. And if you don't know Jesus as your savior, and he should come tonight and take us home, you'll be left behind for that judgment. And that's not the great white throne. That's that's yet to come after, but you'll be left behind for the judgment that's coming on this earth too. And then and then in 1000 years, it tells us in the Bible, then you'll stand before the great white throne as well.
It's a solemn thing to reject.
So great salvation, don't reject the Lord. Well, now the magistrates were afraid, and verse 39 they came and besought them and brought them out and desired them to be to depart out of the city didn't want anything to do with them. And if you become a Christian tonight.
Maybe some of your friends won't wanna have anything to do with you anymore.
But you ask yourself this question, is it worth it?
Is it worth it to spend eternity with that rich man in hell who lifted up his eyes being in torment?
Is it worth that losing a few friends?
You better weigh it carefully, but don't take too long because the Lord's coming. You make that decision for Christ tonight. Well, the last verse, verse 40.
And they went out of the prison, that is Paul and Silas, and entered into the House of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren they comforted them and departed. Last week we were in Rio Ferry, and there was a brother who got up and he spoke a little bit about comfort. And I appreciated it very much because this is a day when there's a lot of.
Difficulty, sorrow, anxiety in life and people are looking for something to comfort their hearts. Even Christians, we often look for something that comfort our hearts. Maybe we get a little bit away from the Lord and and we get all upset about things and anxious about things.
And so we like to have a little comfort. Well, God is the God of all comfort. It's a wonderful thing. There's been a lot of sorrow lately, hasn't there? Among the people of God. The Lord has taken a lot of dear ones home, hasn't he?
And it's hard to understand. Some of them were a real help.
And we wonder why? Why did the Lord take that person home? And.
And there's things that we just don't understand.
But you know, God is the God of all comfort.
And he can comfort you.
Tells us in Corinthians He is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we might be able to comfort those who are in any tribulation. And that's why the Lord allows difficulties to come in your life and in mind.
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That's one of the re, the reasons so that we can be a help to others. If I have a problem and somebody comes to me and I know that person has been through the same kind of a tragedy, the same kind of a trouble, uh, that person can really comfort my heart because I know they've been through it and they can put their arm around me and they can tell me. I understand. I understand. And so God, those of us here who belong to the Lord, let's not be weary. It's hard, it's getting harder, it's not getting any easier.
And the sorrows are getting greater all the time. But God is the God of all comfort, and He allows things in our lives so that we can be a help to others, not just so that we can break down, but so that we can be a help.
And a comfort to our brethren. Not a wonderful thing, you may have thought.
When it says here, when they seen the brethren they comforted, you may have thought that it was the brethren that comforted Paul and Silas because they'd been through all this prison and and put in the stocks and beaten. But it wasn't. It was Paul and Silas that Co that comforted the brethren. So you see, God puts you through trials so you can be a comfort to your brethren. He's the God of all comfort and he's the God of salvation.
Read it in. But you know, the greatest comfort of all in the Bible, I believe, are those verses in Thessalonians.
And it says, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.
With the voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God, And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and listen to this soul. Shall we ever be with the Lord? And the Spirit of God adds, Comfort one another with these words. I don't know of any more comforting words in the whole Bible than the coming of the Lord. So shall we ever be with the Lord? He's just about ready to come.
Those of us here who belong to Him were looking and were longing for that day. And there's nothing more comforting than that. Let's not lose that, brethren, because the devil is working to take that away from us. All the tragedies and the sorrows of life, He's trying to, he's trying to take away from us that hope of the Lord's coming. But He's coming soon. And if you're sitting here in your sins, He may come tonight. Don't you put it off. You accept Him now. Let's sing #8 I believe it is in closing.
Shall we gather at his coming?
Yes, we'll gather at his coming, His glorious, glorious coming. Gather with his Saints at his coming. If washed in the seder's blood #8 shall we go?
000 0359748 hours to go over it out and uh yeah, you're doing the same.
Time.
In the morning to save your money.
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Employer, yes, and it's already on.
Your way to my sister and daughter.
In the center.
1/5, 30989.
10/14.
Will be in a month for love and grace and praying for the same.