Kentucky Conference: 1984

Table of Contents

1. 2 Corinthians 4:16
2. Overcomers
3. The Lord's Presence
4. Come Drink Be Satisfied

2 Corinthians 4:16

Overcomers

The Lord's Presence

Address—G.H. Hayhoe
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
I'd like to turn first of all to a verse in Job Job chapter 22. Job chapter 22.
And verse 21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. Well, what I was thinking of, especially for those who are young here this afternoon, is some passages that bring before us about the Lord's presence.
And how important and blessed this is in connection with everything.
In our pathway here we've been singing in our little hymn, our God the center is his presence fills that land and countless myriads owned as his round him adoring stand. And I'm sure every one of us who know the Lord is our Savior are just looking forward to that day when we'll be in His presence where there is fullness of joy. We know that that's the answer to all our souls need and that's what we look forward to.
Because of what? The Lord?
Jesus has done for us.
But I believe, dear young people, that it is possible for us to enjoy in our measure the Lord's presence even here. And I don't know of anything sweeter upon earth. We know that when sin entered the world, we read about Cain, and Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. That's the natural heart of man. He doesn't like to be in the presence of God.
He fears that because he knows that he is unfit. But as soon as we are saved, there's a change takes place. As someone has said, the Sinner hides from God and the believer hides in God. Your life is hid with Christ in God. But you know, there's always a tendency for us to want our own ways, and in that measure we get away from the enjoyment of His presence.
But surely we can say in the words of the psalmist.
In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. And if we truly believe that heaven is going to be a place of supreme happiness, it will not be because we're away from His presence, but it will be because we're in His presence. They are to enjoy all that His love has provided for us. In the last chapter of Revelation, it says, And his servants shall serve him, and they shall see His face and his name.
Shall be in their foreheads. So what a glorious future is ahead of us. Well, as I said, I'd like to look at a few scriptures and show the result of getting into the presence of the Lord in connection with different things in life. And first of all, I'd like to speak of it in regard to salvation. You turn to Acts chapter 22, Acts chapter 22 and verse 6 and it came to pass that as I made my journey and was come.
Damascus About noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light about me, round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice.
Of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
Well, here we have someone who got into the presence of God for the first time. We know a little bit about this man Saul of Tarsus, and how he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. A very religious man, knew all about the ordinances and rules in connection with God's earthly people, but he had never had any acquaintance with the Lord of glory, with Jesus of Nazareth.
In fact, so much did he hate that blessed name that he received a thought.
From the chief priests, and he was on his way down to Damascus to persecute those who called upon the name of the Lord. When Stephen was stoned, he kept the raiment of those that slew him, and he actually thought that he was doing right, because the Bible tells us later on he made the comment, he said, I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He was something like what we heard about last.
Last night about Naomi and the Syrian, he had thoughts, all his own thoughts, but he didn't desire the presence of the Lord Jesus. But here on his way down to Damascus, he is introduced to that Blessed One, shall I say. He makes his acquaintance with him because the great effort of the enemy is to keep souls from a true acquaintance with God. In fact, that's what repentance really is, because men and women have wrong thoughts about God.
00:05:23
God and it isn't until we get into his presence that we get right thoughts, and we find that alone we are sinners, He loves us, and that He has provided A Savior. And that's what Saul of Tarsus found on that day when that light above the brightness of the sun shone down upon him. He said, Who art thou, Lord? He was beginning thou to make acquaintance with that one. And his answer was, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou.
Accurate us. He didn't understand, I suppose at first just what that meant, because perhaps he thought he wasn't really persecuting Jesus of Nazareth, only those who called upon his name. But you know this, Perhaps we could say this is one of the first intimations in the Bible that Christ and His church are one, because the Scripture tells us that we are members of His body, and when soil of Tarsus was persecuting those who were members of the body of Christ.
He really was persecuting Christ, but here he finds him, and the result was total change in his life, completely round about. This man who hated the name of Jesus and all those who loved that blessed name, Immediately there's a change takes place. He has been brought into his presence. He becomes acquainted with him. He learns to know him from that day on as his Lord and as his Savior. And I hope for any young people.
People here that don't yet know him. Perhaps you have been brought up, you've read the Bible, you've been to the meetings. You may be very devoted as far as coming to the meetings is concerned. But I ask you, have you had a personal acquaintance with the Lord Jesus? It's always a personal matter to get saved, to get into his presence, to find that we're sinners and to find what he has done for us. But oh, what a blessed moment that is. And I say again, if there's a young.
Person here this afternoon who has never yet made that acquaintance. You don't yet know him as your Savior. There's no better time than today. What wonderful, what a wonderful thing it would be if this very afternoon was the time when you made your acquaintance with him as your Savior. And you could say I know him as the one who went to Calvary and bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
Well, this was the first time for this.
This man, Saul of Tarsus, to become acquainted with him, to get into his presence, and later on you can see the result of it. He called himself the chief of sinners. It's always that way. And a Sinner gets into the presence of God. Maybe previously he thinks he's not too bad, he compares himself with others, but in the presence of God he has different thoughts about himself.
He compares himself with infinite holiness, and he finds how sure he.
He has come, and so Saul of Tarsus afterwards.
Calls himself the chief of sinners. He says this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And you notice what he says to the Lord when he found out who he was, when he found himself in his presence, he said, What shall I do, Lord? What shall I do, Lord?
Previous to this he had done as he liked, and I suppose there's nothing more natural to us.
Someone has said, if we're honest with ourselves, what we like most of all is to do our own thing, to do our own will. But you know, when we get saved, there's a new will that comes into our lives. And as I've often said, there is someone who has a right to tell me what to do from the beginning of the day to the end. And I'm glad to recognize him as such because I know he loves me and he'll never ask me to do anything that is not for my own good. Because.
He loves me so much that he's not going to be satisfied with anything less than having my company company and making me supremely happy forever. He loved me enough to go to Calvary. Are you afraid, dear young person, to acknowledge his claims? Are you afraid to say this afternoon if you really know him? Lord, what shall I do? Oh, I hope that if you have never acknowledged Him a Savior, you'll do so today.
And if you haven't given him his rightful place in your life?
That today you will do what Saul of Tarsus did and say, what shall I do? Lord? Did the Lord say, well, Saul, you're going to have a life of fun. It's a good thing and it's a happy thing to be a Christian, and you'll really have a good time. All in all, his life wasn't like that. He was told that he would go into Damascus and find out what he should do. And in another place it tells us that he was told how many things he must suffer.
00:10:29
My name's sake and I can't promise you that if you accept the Lord Jesus that it's going to be a smooth path, but I can tell you 1000 times that it's a happy path.
As a dear servant of the Lord, Mr. Darby said that the path of the Christian is worthwhile if it were 1000 times harder than it is. Because when He saves us, He always promises to be with us. And I'd rather go over a rough Rd. in good company than over the best Rd. in the whole of America and without the company that I love. Yes, it's blessed to be in good company, and you can be.
It's true that we may not always.
Be conscious of His presence, and that's a thing to be desired. But he has promised, dear young person, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So this first acquaintance that we have brought before us here in this passage is the acquaintance with the Lord is our Savior. And owning him as Lord, that is, owning Him as the one who has authority over our lives to tell us what to do.
And I trust that this will be so that you.
One. Well, now I'd like to turn to Matthew, the 28th chapter.
Matthew chapter 28 and verse 16.
Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them, and when they saw him, they worshipped him. But some doubted.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always unto the even unto the end of the world.
Amen.
Well, we've been talking about the Lord's presence. Saul of Tarsus got into the Lord's presence. There he was brought to know him as his Savior. There he was brought to acknowledge him as his Lord. But here we find the Lord Jesus had gone into death. He had risen again. Oh, what a marvelous death that was. That was the work of redemption. That was the center of two eternities. The whole of a past eternity looked forward to that.
House of Calvary and the whole of a coming eternity is going to look back to it, because the Lamb was foreordained before the foundation of the world, and the song of the redeemed is worthy is the Lamb. That's the center, I say, of two eternities. The Lord Jesus had accomplished that mighty work and had risen again from the dead. He had gone there to die in our place, but now He immediately wanted to have.
The company of those for whom he had died. And it's always so when there's somebody that we love, we want to be in their company. That's what we desire above everything else. If we love somebody. I've often said that the test of true love is that you don't tire of a person's company. You get tired, then there's something that just isn't right.
But you know when there's real love flowing between 1:00 and another, why you just love to be in their?
Their company. It's so in marriage, it's so in the home, and above all, it's true with the Lord Jesus. You can't have a happier path than to walk in His company.
Well, as I say, I hope each one knows him a savior. But now.
The Lord didn't tell him. Well, you can just meet just as you like, and in the place and in the way that you like, that isn't this nice here? After he rose from the dead, the Lord's appointed a place where he would meet with them.
You know, they could listen carefully to those directions and so that they would know just exactly where he wanted them to go. And after you're saved, there is a common expression that is often used to go to the Church of your choice. But here you could certainly say that these disciples didn't go to the mountain that they chose. It was a mountain that Jesus appointed them. And I want to say that if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, have you searched his word? Have you?
00:15:13
That He would show you how you could meet, for here they came and they worshiped Him. I believe it's a very, very important and precious thing for us that we should seek His direction in this. And I believe that it's an immense privilege that we have here in this world to seek together. Not according to our own thoughts, not according to our own plans, not according to the way we choose the people we'd like to be with.
They had nothing to do with even choosing the people.
That they would like to be with. It was the mountain where Jesus appointed them. And if you had asked anyone of that that day, why are you going to that particular place, I believe every one of them would have said we're going to meet the Lord.
Perhaps you say, I don't understand how it is that you folks say going to meeting. It's a very common expression, going to church. But what is this about going to meeting? Well, I'm sure that's exactly the answer you would have got from those who were going to this place that the Lord had appointed. They were going to meeting. They were going to meet the Lord. A friend of mine back in Ottawa, he's now with the Lord.
He was on his way to gather with a few who were gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus. And as he was passing by the corner, there was a lady waiting for the bus. It was a neighbor. And so he asked her if she'd like a ride and she said thank you very much and I'm going to church this morning. And she said, and Mr. Devlin, where do you go to church?
Well, he hesitated a minute and he said, well, the place where I go, the church goes.
To the meeting, well, that's the way we're part of the Church of God and we just go to meet the Lord. And you know, this was the purpose that these had when they came. It was a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And I am not going to outline the truth of gathering this afternoon, but I'm sure of this one thing that the Lord has promised. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.
God, or whether I speak of myself, if the Lord really wants to meet you, and he does, and you want to meet him, you can be quite sure that He will direct you. And He says also in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Well, they came to that place and it says when they saw him, I don't know what kind of.
A gathering place it was.
It doesn't even describe it here because the building is not important, it's just a convenient meeting place. But it says when they saw Him, and I think this morning in the measure in which we saw the Lord, the same result was produced in us. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him. The measure in which we see the Lord calls forth worship from our hearts. How can we help but worship and thank Him when we think of Him?
I'm sure that as they saw that blessed Savior for in this occasion it was.
By sight, they would see those nail prints in his hands, they would see that mark in his blessed side and their hearts would be just overwhelmed. And it says and they worshipped him. But it wasn't a perfect group, as you know. If you were looking for a perfect group, why you would be disappointed because.
I'm not perfect and you're not perfect and so I never have looked for a perfect group, but I have a perfect savior and I have his word and here we find there is some doubted I often.
And say some people tell their feelings and others don't. We know Thomas doubted because he said he did. He said he wouldn't believe unless he saw the marks in the Lord's hands and feet. But here the scripture says some doubted. So Thomas wasn't the only one. Perhaps you have inner feelings. Not perhaps doubts about your salvation, but doubts about all kinds of things.
Why did this happen this week? Why did this take place and all those kind of things?
Because then they come in, right when we sit in the Lord's presence. We wish they didn't, but they do, They do. It doesn't change the fact that the Lord is there. But poor humans as we are, those kind of things come in to spoil. And what did Jesus say? Isn't this lovely? What he said? He just, it says, Jesus came and spake unto them. And he said, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Brethren, young people, isn't this the answer to every doubt?
Why do we doubt? Well, because we doubt His power. We say, why, if He has power, does He not remove or change this situation? But He does have all power. Angels and authorities and powers are subject to Him. And so if there is a doubt in your mind, there's something that's troubling you, let me tell you this. All power is given unto the Lord. He could change it in a moment if it were His will. And this gives us peace.
00:20:28
Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace. Don't just have him as an acquaintance that you know as your Savior, but one who you know as the gathering center, one who cares about you. And so it says in heaven and in earth. Well, this was a, shall I say, a preliminary to their service, because I believe in the Scripture we find that principle that worship precedes service.
Their service, their public service, really has.
Hadn't begun after the Lord Jesus was taken up. Then he did say before he left them going into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He gave them a large parish. He told them that the message was to go out. But first of all, he had them around himself. There they were as worshippers, learning his power, learning that he was the one who had accomplished redemption.
And just quietly sitting and enjoying his presence.
And now after this, they can go forth and serve Him and serve him in an acceptable way. Perhaps he could turn over to Exodus here and we'll find the Lord's presence in connection with service.
It also is preceded by.
Says here in the seventh verse of Exodus chapter 33, verse 7. And Moses took the Tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out into the Tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
There was a place where they too could meet the Lord.
But now in the 12TH verse.
And Moses said unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast found grace in my sight. Now therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight. And consider that this nation is thy people.
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
Isn't this supremely beautiful? Here we find Moses.
And the Tabernacle of the congregation had been pitched without the camp. Those that sought the Lord went out there. But there was a service for Moses to do, and it wasn't an easy one. We're told that those people that he was called upon to lead were a disobedient and rebellious people. And you know, it's not easy often to serve the Lord. There are many trials. Paul spoke of the trials and affliction that came upon him.
And not only from without. He said that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
He said, who is weak and I am not weak, Who is offended and I burn not. He felt for God's people. He entered into what they were passing through because he loved them. And it's right if we're going to serve the Lord that we have a love for God's people because they're so dear to him. I used to wonder at that little verse that says if a man desire the office of a Bishop or an overseer, he desireth a good work. I thought. I wondered why it said that because.
Thought it seemed like he wanted to put himself up, that he would be an overseer over God's people. Why? It said it was a good work. But as you read other scriptures, you find that the thought is that the Lord finds joy in anyone who has an interest and care for his people. It says neither is being Lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. And you know, if you show a kindness to one of my children, you show a kindness to me because I love.
Children and kindness shown to my children really is much appreciated. Well, the Lord loves his people and any kindness that you show to the Lord's people, the Lord values it. And what the Lord is really saying, if you have an interest in my people and if you're trying to watch them and help them and care for them, he said, that's a good work. It's a good work in my eyes. And Moses was called upon to lead the people and dear young people to have an interest in the other young people.
00:25:14
And to seek their good you may not always be appreciated. Moses wasn't there was a time that they spoke of stoning him. And he said to the Lord, Lord, what shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me. And did the Lord say, give up, Moses, it's no use. They don't appreciate you. Is that what the Lord said? Now listen to these words. Let them sink deeply into your hearts. The Lord said, go on.
Before the people, go on before the people.
Brother said many years ago, he said there's 3 words, there's 2 words that the servant of the Lord must never forget. And those who are go on, go on. And so here we find that the Lord was going to use Moses and Moses said, who are you going to send with me? Because I, I just can't, He said in another place.
I'm not able to bear the burden of this people alone.
And a brother said to me, well, he said, the Lord never asked him to bear it alone, did he? And you know, sometimes we think that too. He said, how are we going to handle this alone? But we're never asked to do it alone. And so when Moses said, Lord, who will you send with me? The Lord didn't appoint some human arm that he could lean upon. But oh, how beautiful, how lovely, his answer.
He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee.
Rest. That is, the same one who met us when we found Him as our Savior, who washed away our sins in his precious blood. The same one who has given us the immense privilege of gathering around him in simplicity in his appointed way, is the same one who also says, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And never, never undertake any service that you think you have to do.
Alone, because I'll assure you of this, he'll make a mess of it.
Anything I've ever tried to do by myself, I have always done just that. But you know, if the Lord is there to help you, why you can turn. He understands, He enters into all that you have to do.
We sometimes say when we're going to try and undertake some little service for the Lord, the question is not are we able to do it, but does the Lord want us to do it? Because if He wants us to do it, then he's going to be the one who's going to provide in every way. And above everything else, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Now this isn't the rest of salvation.
But I think it's the little thought that Mister Darby had in that beautiful hymn.
Rest, Lord, in serving thee. When we get home to glory, there will be a service that will go on continually in his presence, but it'll be eternal rest. And I believe there's some measure in which we can enjoy something of that down here too. And so it tells us here that Moses replied, and he said unto him, If thy presence, go not with me.
Carry us not ah. Hence, he said. Well, I just don't want to undertake.
Anything without thy presence. And I say to you, dear young people, how do you believe the Lord has something for each one of you to do? Every Levite had a service and a burden, and you're going to find those two things. If you try to follow the Lord, you'll have a service and you'll have a burden. You might like the service, but maybe you don't like the burden. But they always go together. Everyone was appointed to his service and to his burden, and they knew what they were going to do.
Because they were appointed to that by Aaron. Well, you and I don't have an Aaron on earth that we can go to, but we can look up to the Lord, like Saul of Tarsus, and say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Well, He will appoint to you that.
And it speaks of this, that in Galatians chapter 6, it says that every man shall bear his own burden, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. That is, there's a certain joy in doing what the Lord wants you to do.
You may, you can spend your life wishing that you were doing something that somebody else is doing, but you know, the importance of the work is not in what's done, but whether it's what the Lord wants you to do. So let's remember this to in every service of the Lord, just have him so very near to you that you feel his presence right there. And I'll tell you it'll be a happy service.
00:30:09
Sometimes when there's a little job to be done, why it's nice.
Just to have my wife come along and say I'll help you. And you know, it's an awful lot in doing something for the Lord. Just to feel the Lord right there and he knows all about our needs and about our service. And he said to Paul one time when he felt that he had a thorn that made his service difficult, he said.
My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. So we have His presence then in worship. Now we have His presence in service. Any little thing that we undertake to do for Him. I'd like to turn to another one now in Matthew chapter 14.
Just notice the 15th verse.
And when it was evening, his disciples came to him saying, This is a desert place, and the time has now passed. Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and by themselves victuals.
And Jesus said unto them, They need not depart, give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have but 5 loaves and two fishes. He said, Bring them, hit her to me.
Now passing on to the 24th verse.
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tasked with waves.
For the wind was contrary, and in the 4th watch of the night.
Jesus went unto them walking on the sea, And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is the Spirit. And they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
And he said come, and when Jesus was come, and when Peter was come down out of the ship.
He walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried, saying, Lord, save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased.
Well, here we find in the beginning of the chapter something of the weakness of the disciples, something that we all feel at times.
Here was the end of the day and they wanted to send the multitude away. We get pretty tired sometimes of service when we undertake to do it. And they looked at their little resources that they had, and they didn't know how they could ever feed that great multitude of people. And the Lord said they need not depart. Give ye them to eat.
And when they looked at their feeble resources, just five loaves and two fishes, why, they thought, what's that among so many? And perhaps some little services opened up to you. And you say, well, I don't have anything, I can't do anything.
But are we willing to give what we have to the Lord? That was the great question. 5 loaves and two fishes given to the Lord was enough to feed this whole multitude of about 5000, besides women and children. And you know who can tell a blessing of a willing heart.
We find that when Andrew was brought to the Lord that he found his brother Peter and brought him to the Lord.
And we don't read of Andrew in any great event of blessing like Peter. But you know, we can say this, that Andrew was the one that brought Peter to the Lord, and then Peter was afterwards mightily used. And perhaps when we get to glory, we're going to find someone whom God mightily use. And perhaps that person was brought to the Lord by a person you didn't know anything about, nor did I.
Are we willing to just do that little quiet service the Lord wants us to do, even if it seems hidden and not noticed?
You say, well, I can't, I don't have much. They only had five loaves and two fishes. What were they among so many that when they brought them to the Lord, then it was sufficient. He took that little bit they had and used it. Oh, may we be willing to present the little we have to the Lord? Who can tell the blessing that will result? Who can tell a blessing? If all of us here were just willing to say, well, I'm willing to give my time and energy.
00:35:02
And all that I have.
To the Lord, oh what a blessing it could be. Don't look at yourself and just say what can the Lord do? Because the Lord was the one who did it. But now what I particularly want to bring before you was this occasion when the Lord let them go out in the boat and they went out and a big storm arose. The Lord Jesus, it says, went into a mountain apart to pray. Little picture of how the Lord Jesus is now gone up on high.
He went away to pray, and it says when the evening was come, he was there alone. And there's my precious Savior and yours up there in the glory. And here we are toiling and rowing. Here we are in all the storms of life. Does he care? Is he concerned about all this?
Is it just happening by chance that all these storms come into life? No. The Lord allowed these storms in order to teach the disciples that dependence upon Him and how He was sufficient. They were to learn something of what we've been talking about. His presence, His presence. And oh, let me say again, is there any young person here and you're really in a turmoil. And I think it's interesting here that it says it was in the 4th.
Watch that Jesus came. You know there were 4 watches. Why didn't He come in the first? Why didn't he come in the second? Why didn't he come in the third? It wasn't until the 4th watch that He came. Doesn't the Lord seems to let things go sometimes and lets it come to the 4th watch when it just seems that He doesn't care. He isn't concerned. But the Lord was up there praying. Perhaps He was praying for them. At least I'm sure in His blessed heart He was.
Thinking about them and seeking their good and their blessing. But it wasn't until the 4th watch that the Lord came. And when they saw the Lord walking on the sea, it says they were terrified, they were afraid. And sometimes when we see things happen in our lives and we think, why did the Lord allow this? I acknowledge that it was the Lord the one who has all power and who loves me and who died for me, that He's the one who has allowed.
Nevertheless, sometimes we just look at things in a natural way, but sometimes we're even more terrified when we realize it's the Lord that's allowed it because all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth. And so and they looked out, and they saw the Lord walking upon the sea. It says they were afraid, they thought it was a spirit. And it says here straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying.
Saying.
Be of good cheer. It is I be not afraid. Oh, what a what a moment that must have been to their hearts. And I want to say if there's anyone here and you're just in that situation, perhaps you say the problem that concerns me is not so much that of worship, because I believe that I have sought to respond to the Lord's desire. I am gathered to his name.
Perhaps you say I have tried to do some little service for the Lord, but things have just all gone.
Wrong in my life and I don't know why, and it just seems that the Lord has allowed me to be tossed upon the waves. Well, isn't this beautiful? May this speak to your heart, and to mine it is. I be not afraid. Be of good cheer. So if there's some discouraged young person here, may those words sink down into your heart, the Lord Jesus.
Blocking on top of all this trouble on the waves and saying be of good cheer.
It is I be not afraid.
So Peter said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me to come, And the Lord said, come.
And so he started out and he was starting on the water, walking to go to Jesus, but you know, he got his eyes off the Lord.
He lost, as it were, a sense of what we've been talking about, the divine presence. Some of you may have heard me say something that I think affected my life when I was a young person that a brother, an older brother said to me. He said I never asked the Lord to be with me because he's promised to be with me. He's promised never to leave me nor forsake me. But what I ask him is for a sense of His presence. And that's what we need, dear young people.
To feel that he's always near, to feel that he's there, that he cares. And so Peter thought, well, if it's the Lord who is there, then I can go out and walk upon the waves. And perhaps you started on some venture. You have done just that. You've stepped out of the boat, as it were, and you started and you thought that you were really trusting the Lord. But you know, even in our service.
00:40:16
We fail even in our service. We can get our eyes off the Lord.
We can. It tells us that there were those in Philippi that were preaching Christ even of envy and strife. It's an amazing thing how even in our service we can get our eyes off the Lord. We can think about ourselves. We can be concerned about what other people say and think about us more than having the Lord's approval. Paul's great desire in his life was that he might have the Lord's approval. I don't mean that we shouldn't listen to advice from others.
We need it at times and it's good for us.
But I say that we need to seek the Lord's approval. Every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Well, Peter started out walking on the waves, and then when he saw those waves so boisterous, then he began to sink.
Well, you know, why should we think, as another has said, we couldn't walk on smooth water any better than on rough water with our eyes off the Lord. We have to have our eyes upon the Lord to walk on the very smoothest water. And I can't handle the easiest things of life without the Lord.
The children of Israel, after they entered the promised land, they thought, we can't handle Jericho, That's a big city, but we can handle AI. That's just a little thing. And isn't it just like us, We say, well, there's some things I think I can handle, but there's some things I can't. But dear young people, we can't handle even the small things.
It's often we go down to defeat like they did at AI. We go down to defeat in the small things. It's the things that we thought we could handle, the things that we thought we had good enough character and stability to handle. But the Lord has to show us that we can't do one thing in our own strength. Jesus said without me, he can do nothing. And so here we find this storm. And I say again, because I want to apply these things.
Practically, to myself and to you, there may be some young person here and it's not so much the problem of service, but it is that something has happened in your life that's just like what we have here and there's a storm come up in your life.
And you've really tried. You said, well, I'm going to try to step out of this problem and really go to Jesus. But still, there was something of that confidence that didn't thoroughly and entirely count upon him. And so the Lord didn't let him sink, did he? And the Lord will never let us sink down either. As soon as he cried out, Lord.
Save me. The Lord reached out his hand and caught him.
And the precious Savior is up there on high. He knows just a moment that we need his help in a special way, and he ever lives to make intercession for us. And if there's a young person who's in this situation, would you just look up and say, Lord help me? The Lord may not remove the trouble at once. He didn't hear the storm didn't stop when the Lord put out his hand and caught Peter. Now it wasn't until they got.
The ship that the Lord, the storm's depth when they gone to the ship and you know, when we get, so to speak, safely home to glory, then all the storms will be over then. But down here, that's the way the Lord has allowed it. And some things, it's just a question of having that confidence in him. He doesn't always remove the difficulty, but he's with us in it. And there was the Lord so close to Peter that he just reached out his hand and.
Again, he's close by. Do you do you feel his presence in the trial? Well, then it's going to be a blessing because when Paul was in prison, he said the Lord stood by me and said, be of good cheer Paul, for as thou hast born witness testimony for me at Jerusalem, Thou must also bear testimony at Rome was at the end of his trouble and trial.
Not by any means, but the Lord stood by him.
And that was a moment I'm sure that he never could forget. Later on, when the ship was tossed in the waves in the 26th chapter of Acts, he again had that beautiful experience. And he said, There stood by me this night the Angel of the Lord, whose I am and whom I serve, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul. Oh, how good it is when in these trials we feel His presence. Oh, you say, but I got into the problem by my own.
00:45:10
Sake Well, Paul was Paul was told not to go to Jerusalem. And that's why I've always thought it was so wonderful. There he was. He shouldn't have been there because he was told by the Spirit not to go. And the Lord knew just how down he would feel. He would say here, it's my own fault I'm in this situation, I shouldn't have, I shouldn't have come here. But the Lord stood by him.
And so it is in all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them. Even in the troubles we bring on ourselves, the Lord never forsakes us. He's there ready to help. And that brings us to another one where we have restoration, I believe, and that's in John 21.
John, Chapter 21.
Verse 2. There were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus, Nathaniel of Canaan, Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing.
And that night they caught nothing. And when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, and the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore. And now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith.
Unto Peter it is the Lord.
Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he gird his Fisher's coat about him, for he was naked and had cast himself into the sea.
In the 15th verse. So when they had died, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yeah, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
He saith unto him again the second time. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yeah, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me, Peter? It was grieved because he said unto him, the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Well, here we find Peter, a leader in taking these other disciples off on a fishing trip long before the Lord Jesus had called them. And he had said, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. But the Lord Jesus had gone to the cross, and now he was risen, and they felt they had really lost him. And now Peter thought, well, I guess I'll just go back to fishing again. And he took the other.
Disciples with him.
That sometimes happens when we get away from the Lord. We influence other people. You know, Peter had denied his Lord, as you know before, and now he's an influence on all these five other people. You know what I want to say to you, dear young person? If you're away from the Lord, maybe you're affecting somebody else too. Scripture says none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
So Peter, here was an effect upon these others, and he led them away.
Too, but again I say the Lord hadn't forsaken them.
And when they spent that whole night and caught nothing, it tells us here that in the morning the Lord Jesus stood upon the shore. He knew all about that venture that they went out to fish. He didn't allow any fish. As our brother Brown used to say. He told all the fish there in that lake, don't swim into Peter's net tonight. He's the one who's the Lord of creation. And they didn't swim into Peter's net and he caught nothing.
And now I guess he's feeling quite down and discouraged. And it says the Lord was there. He didn't recognize him at first. Sometimes when we get away from the Lord, we don't recognize him. We don't realize his love. We don't realize that he's seeking to restore us. The 23rd Psalm says he restoreth my soul. And this is what's going to take place with Peter.
00:50:00
There's going to be this public restoration and.
So Peter was naked on the ship and so it is, you know, we can get away from the Lord, and it's sad how far away we can get. But still Peter's heart responded when he realized it is the Lord.
When they were toiling and rowing, he said it is I, but John said it's the Lord.
That's the very start of Christian life, is to own him as the Lord and as the way to get restored too. It's to come back and own his Lordship, his authority, his rights in our life. And so he said, John said it's the Lord. And Peter now jumps in and goes in the water to go to Jesus. And then the Lord deals with Peter publicly here. I believe he was restored privately, but now publicly the Lord talks to him and he.
Asked them three times. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
The first time he says, Lovest thou me more than these? There is, I really believe the reason the Lord said that was because Peter had boasted and said that he did love the Lord more than the rest. He said, though all should deny thee, yet will not I? And sometimes we see others go astray, and we say, I wouldn't do that, I I wouldn't do that.
But we don't know our own hearts. We're capable of anything.
And so Peter, the one who did the boasting, was the one who publicly denied the Lord in such a way as he did. So the Lord asked them three times. Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And Peter is broken down. Now Peter is brought back. Peter is restored. And where was he restored? In the presence of the Lord. The presence of the Lord. That's what restoration is to get back into His presence to.
The whole situation and have to do with him and so we find his presence in regard to restoration. Is there any young person here and you've got away from the Lord. You know you've been away. You knew you know that you're not walking in his company. Maybe you're just like this poor Peter, you're influencing others and here he was naked on the ship, but the Lord wants to restore you. Wouldn't it be nice if these meetings here in Columbus were the time when he came appeared to you.
When you realize it was the Lord and when you came back to Him. And then the Lord gives Peter something to do, feeding his lambs, feeding his sheep. Oh, how beautiful this is. Oh, I see again, dear young people, the Lord's presence is everything. The Lord's presence is everything. It's when we meet Him and get to know Him as our Savior. He's the one that is our gathering center. He's the one too. When there's any service that we undertake, we can't.
Do it without Him. And so too, when we have troubles, it's the Lord we need, because we can't face the troubles of life alone. We can't bear the burdens of life alone. And then too, if we've got away, it's His presence we need to restore us. And then there's a day coming just before we close. If we could look in Revelation chapter 5.
The eighth Verse. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and 20 elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of Saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof. For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue, and people and nation.
And then in the last verse, I just like to read the last verse here. And the four beasts said Amen. And the four and 20 elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever.
4 and 20 elders represent all redeemed. There were 24 courses of priests in Solomon's temple, and they represent to us all the redeemed. And someday all the redeemed faith will be changed to sight, and we'll all be around the Lord. And what will we be saying? Thou art worthy. And it tells us that every one of them gold and vials.
And harps, I believe when it speaks about the harps, it means that our praise.
Be perfect there. And those golden vials full of odors, it says, are the prayers of Saints. And how many prayers have gone up desires that we have. And when we get to glory, we're going to see the answer to everything that we ever desired, not just perhaps in the way that we desired it.
Back to top

Come Drink Be Satisfied

Address—G.H. Hayhoe
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Isaiah chapter 55, beginning with verse one.
O everyone that thirsteth, come me to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yeah, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me.
And Ichi that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Incline your ear and come unto me. Hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you. Even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God.
And for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified.
Thee seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be.
That goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where two eyes entered.
For ye shall go out with joy, and be LED forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the Myrtle tree. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
I'd like you to turn also with me please to.
The Gospel of John in the 4th chapter and the 13th verse.
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 the 7th chapter of John.
7th chapter of John.
And the.
37th verse.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
And then just one more passage in the very last book in the Bible and the last chapter. Revelation chapter 22. Revelation chapter 22.
And verse 17.
And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, come, and let him that is athirst come, And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Well, in our chapter that we have read here in the 55th of Isaiah, we find an invitation to come and have a drink of that water that truly satisfies.
Oh, dear friends, how wonderful it is that God's heart is yearning for the blessing of man.
When God created this world, He created it beautiful, and He gave it to Adam and Eve to enjoy. He told them that they could enjoy all the trees of the garden that he had given them, but just one little command so that they would recognize His rights. But they reached out for that which was forbidden, and so they lost the enjoyment of that which He had been provided. But immediately we find God going to work. And so the very first words that God.
00:05:05
God spoke after sin had entered the world. Are these Adam? Where art thou? God became a seeking God, and dear friends, he still a seeking God. He may be seeking someone in this room, someone who doesn't yet know him as the one who can truly fill and satisfy your heart. And he's seeking you. But at Calvary's cross, a work was done to meet your soul's need. But perhaps you haven't yet come to that Savior.
The work has been accomplished, the Lord Jesus on the cross cried, it is finished, and the blood, as we had last night, is on the mercy seat. God has provided a way of approach and it's open for you. But have you come? And he's seeking you tonight, and He wants you to find that full and free pardon that He so freely offers. And so the question that we want to bring before you tonight.
Is what shall I then do with Jesus?
Which is called Christ.
Pilate asked that question when he had the Lord Jesus before him, and the people that listened made an awful answer. They said let him be crucified. And I want to ask you tonight, what is the answer of your heart? What shall I then do with Jesus? Do you joyfully answer and say I've received him, he's my savior, He has pardoned me. Or are you still trying to go on without him? Are you still rejecting his love? And.
Grace. Well, dear friends, he hasn't given up on you. The Lord hasn't yet come, and the door of mercy is still wide open. But it does tell us in the Gospel of Luke when once the master of the house hath risen up and shut to the door, then shall they begin to knock, saying, Lord, Lord open to us. There won't be a hall in this whole state large enough to contain the people that would like to have one more opportunity, just like.
Having tonight, yes, when the Lord has shut the door, then people will be wide awake as to their need. But why, dear friend, would you not come now? Because God has set a time limit upon the message of pardon and salvation. And I don't know when that time is, but I do know one thing that He says now is the day of salvation. And I want to ask you, what do you expect to lose by receiving the Lord Jesus?
Well, thank God.
God, you will lose something, and that is you'll lose your sins. Because it says you'll cast your sins behind his back. He'll cast them into the depths of the sea. Wouldn't you like to be rid of your sins? Wouldn't you like to know that they're gone? Like the young people sometimes sing? You ask me why I'm happy and I'll just tell you why, because my sins are gone. Wouldn't you like to know that in the depths of your heart? Oh, you say the Lord wants to take away other things from me. No.
God is a giving God. That's what that woman in the 4th chapter of John had to find out. She didn't know that God was a giving God. And so he is tonight. Surely we can see the evidence of it in all the good things He gives us in creation.
But now he wants to do something more. I've sometimes thought like this, that when sin entered the world and spoiled it, God said as it were, You've spoiled this world by your sin. But I have an invitation to you for something better than what you have spoiled. Oh, isn't that wonderful, friends? Sometimes our children spoil things, but we usually didn't offer them something better than what they had spoiled. But that's what God does. That's the heart of God. Friends, when man spoiled this world through.
Sin, he said, I'm going to open heaven to you. It'll cost me a great deal. And it did. But still he didn't stop at the cost. 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 so this beautiful passage here in the 55th of Isaiah is just a little sample as I read in the other verses here. There's the call to.
Satisfy your thirst. When that sinful woman came to the Lord Jesus, why He wanted to satisfy her thirst. When a group of religious people came up to Jerusalem to keep the feast, the Lord knew that their religion would never satisfy their hearts. And so on the last day, and it was the last feast of the year, the whole cycle of feasts had gone by. There had been There were 7 feasts in the land of Israel, and they all gone by except the last one.
And the Lord waited till the last day of the last feast, and he said to those religious people, Is there anyone that's still thirsty? If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. And so here we find he's inviting people that are thirsty, A sinful woman who was trying the path of sin to satisfy her inward thirst. He said, I'll give you water that will really satisfy.
00:10:21
Springing up into everlasting life, religious people. And then he couldn't close his book.
Without giving one final invitation, the very last book in the Bible, in the last chapter, he's still issuing the invitation. He's still saying come and so do your friends. He's saying it tonight and would to God that your heart would be opened to receive that pardon. That he wants to bestow that pardon from sin. Because without that, you and I could never enter the courts of glory.
Sin has spoiled this world, and God's not going to.
Let it spoil heaven, if it entered there, it would spoil it. But he says there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh the lie, but they that are written in the Lamb's book of life. And it speaks two of those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That's the only way, dear friend. Well, isn't this a lovely call here?
Hull, everyone that thirsteth.
Has life really satisfied you? Someone said that every person of Adam's race has either found out or will find out that the world can't satisfy. Perhaps there are young people here tonight and you haven't found that out yet. You say, well, life is before me and I am going to have a good time, but oh, how many a young person has come to realize.
That trying the different things this world has to offer.
Has not satisfied.
Oh dear friend, if that's what you're doing, I can tell you what Jesus said, and it's true. Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. You will never, never. And all the things this world has to offer find it that which really satisfied. You'll always be after something else. Because it's not possible that this created, this created world in which we live can really satisfy.
The Creator himself alone.
Can satisfy, but tonight the Lord is given the invitation. You know, Isaiah is often spoken of as the gospel prophet. And you know, I like to read so many very wonderful things in the gospel, in the book of Isaiah that really present the gospel to us.
If I could express it as though God couldn't wait until his Son had done the work. And so he tells us in some little way what's in his heart. It was many years after Isaiah wrote that the work of redemption was accomplished at Calvary. But it says in the 1St chapter of Isaiah, Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be a scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as wool. And sometimes.
We have good news. We can hardly wait till a time. It's really supposed to be told out. We want to tell it before it's so good. And dear friends, God wanted to tell it. And as soon as sin entered he, he mentioned it away back there in the Garden of Eden, when he said that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. When he called out Abraham, he said, in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And here in this Isaiah, the prophet, he says, are your.
Sins of scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. He didn't tell how because redemption hadn't yet been accomplished, but he showed that he was a pardoning God. He was one who wanted to pardon. In the 53rd chapter he tells us prophetically how this would take place and announces about the coming into this world of His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus, and tells us about the work that he was going to do.
And those verses so well known to many of us.
In the 53rd of Isaiah where it says.
It says He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Well, that was written hundreds of years before the work was done, but God, if one can speak reverently, 1.
To tell beforehand what His blessed Son was going to do. And then in this lovely chapter that we have tonight, he's giving this invitation. Is there someone here tonight? And there is in your heart an inward thirst. You've been trying different things. You're like the woman who came to Jesus and she had that issue of blood, and she tried everybody else before she came to Him. Isn't that like our hearts? We just try everything before we come to Him.
00:15:27
We try pleasures, we try religion, we try all kinds of things before we come to him. Our proud hearts don't like to come and say I can't do anything myself. I need Jesus. He's the only one. But you know, God has to bring us friends to the end of ourselves. He has to bring us to the point where we say I'm bankrupt, I have nothing.
I can't pay the debt of sin.
He has to bring us, I say, to that point. It says in the 33rd chapter of Job he looketh upon men, and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which is right, and it profited me not, he will be gracious. He will deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom, that is.
God himself is not listening for you to say. I'll turn over new leaf. I'll try and.
Do better, I'll give some money to the church. No, that's not what he's listening for. He's listening to hear you say from your inmost heart, I have sinned to take your true place before him because there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner that repented. Now of course I know this, that after you're saved, you're going to want to please the Savior.
Someone wrote a little poem that goes like this.
I could not work my soul to save for that my Lord has done, but I would work like any slave for the love of God's dear Son. And God is not wanting works from you until you have come to the Lord Jesus. People came to the Savior when he was here upon earth and said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? And you know what the Lord Jesus said? He said this is the work of God.
That you believe on him whom he has sent, that's what he wanted. That's the first thing you can do that is pleasing to God is to believe what God says about His blessed Son.
And so this invitation goes out to you tonight. Are you thirsty? Is there something lacking in your life? Do you long for the knowledge of forgiveness and pardon? Perhaps some sorrow has come into your life. Some loved one has been taken away.
Some sad event and you said, oh, I wish I had peace, perhaps as you stood by the death bed or in the cemetery.
In the cemetery and saw a loved one buried, it all came up in your mind, am I ready? Where would I be if this were my case? Oh friends, it's because you haven't had a drink of the water of life. You don't have the Savior. If you knew him as your savior, you would have peace in the presence of death because the scripture says all things are yours, whether life or death.
It says again, Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave.
Where is thy victory?
The strength of sin is the law, but thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is that victory, there is salvation. Well, it says here, You don't have to pay. He that hath no money. Let him. It says, he that hath no money, Come ye by and eat. Yeah, come by wine and milk without money.
Money and without price. You see, I don't quite understand that. It says to buy and it says to buy without money. How could you buy without money? Well, I've done that. I've gone into the store to buy something and a friend put the money down on the table and I didn't pay. It wasn't that price didn't have to be paid, but I didn't pay it. It was somebody else that paid it for me. And dear friends, that's just exactly what the Lord Jesus did.
He came down to pay the price and people say, oh, that's too cheap. Well, it isn't that the price is low. The price is far greater than I could ever tell you. I'll never fully know what the Lord Jesus suffered on Calvary's cross when he paid the price of sin. Sometimes when a friend pays something for you, they don't want you really to know how much it costs because.
00:20:10
They were glad to do it, and they don't want you to know.
And dear friends, you'll never find out and I'll never find out how great the price of sin was. But one thing I'm absolutely sure is that Jesus paid it all. Because as we had the other night, he cried. It is finished. And the Bible clearly assures us that the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
Dear friends, the work of redemption was a greater work than the work of creation.
As you think of this wonderful world in which we live and all the marvels of God's creation, you look up into the starry sky and you see those vast orbs, many of them far larger than this earth. And you know that God was the creator of them all. And how did he create them? The Bible says he spake. And it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. He could put all those mighty orbs in space just by speaking. But to fit one soul for.
Heaven was a greater work than the work of creation. He couldn't fit your soul or mine from heaven for heaven unless the price of sin was paid, and there was only one who could do it. We hear the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane just before he went to the cross, and he said, O my Father, if this cup may not pass from me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.
There was no possible way of that.
My sins or your sins could be put away unless the Lord Jesus went to Calvary's cross and paid the debt. Oh, dear friends, never, never think that it's too easy because it wasn't easy for the Savior. He had to pay the price and He did it. He paid the price and He's offering it to you freely.
And he asks you a question here, Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Doesn't it amaze you sometimes how much money is spent in this world for entertainment? You know, it's really tremendous and it's growing all the time. All kinds of new forms of entertainment are coming out. And it amazes you sometimes people that say they don't even have enough money to buy.
Food for their natural bodies. They still seem to have money for those kind of things. Oh, yes. Man can't be alone with his thoughts. He's afraid to face reality. And so he must be entertained. He's got to have something to take his mind off himself and his problems and his troubles. And so he lives in an unreal world full of pleasure and entertainment. And you know, it's the way, as our brother said, it's just the way, Satan.
Dressed up this world, the Bible speaks of this world as Satan's palace. And it says when a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he cometh, he taketh all his armor wherein he trusted and divideth the spoil. And Satan's trying to dress up this world so you'll think it's a nice place to be and not think of what's beyond. But there's a stronger person that came and he defeated Satan. He went to Calvary and.
When he defeated Satan and he set his captives free, the Lord Jesus has set the ones who believe free, and He has given us pleasures that abide. He's given us a drink of the water of life, and he wants to give you a drink tonight. He wants you to receive from that fountain that so freely flows, and he's asking here.
Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfies?
Oh, how hard people will work for that which will not satisfy one man. His ambition was to be a millionaire and a friend of mine said to him, and what will you do when you get your $1,000,000? And this was his candid remark. He said I'll be the most miserable person on earth. He knew it wouldn't satisfy, but the only pleasure was in striving for it. And how true.
Is the people that have the things in this world they have found they don't satisfy they can't my friend, but there's one who can give you a drink of the water of life. Yes, he can do more than that. Just like he said to the woman in the 4th of John, he can put the well in your heart so that when she had met the savior, it tells us in the 4th chapter of John, she left her water pot and went into.
00:25:09
The city, I like the way someone put it. They said she left her water pot and went away with a well. Yes, dear friend, she came to get a drink from Jacob's well, and she knew that she had to do this every day because she thirsted again. But the Lord said, I'll, I'll give you a drink of that which will satisfy a well of water springing up into everlasting life. And so she went away and she invited others too that.
They might come and meet that person who had met her need. And that's what I'm trying to do tonight. I'm just a Sinner saved by grace myself. And I'm just happy to have the privilege to tell you that the one who saved me can save you. He's mighty to save. That work of Grace, that work of redemption on the cross of Calvary is sufficient to meet your need. And you can come tonight because he's never turned anyone away who came. He says him that cometh.
To me, I will in no wise cast out and he'll invite you. He'll receive you. He'll just come.
So he says, Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. He asks you to listen.
I'm glad that you've come in tonight to listen to the gospel, but you know, you might hear my voice and nothing more, A young man said to me one time. He said I often went to the meeting. I went there to satisfy my girlfriend because she wanted me to come. And then he said one time as I sat in the meeting, he said I just felt as if the Lord was really speaking to me. And he said that day I got saved. And dear friends.
May hear my voice. You may have come here to please a friend. I'm glad you're here if you did. I'm glad that boy came, even though it was to satisfy his girlfriend. But the day at last came when he heard more than the preacher's voice. He heard the voice of the Lord Jesus himself calling him, and his heart responded. And he came, and he received the Lord Jesus. And I hope tonight, if you've just come for some other purpose, that you will hear something beyond my voice. I hope.
You'll hear the Savior saying, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest because he's calling you tonight. I'm just the instrument. I'm trying to carry the message from him. That's all I can do. Paul said now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's dead be reconciled to God. He said I'm just a representative.
And I have the privilege of carrying a message, but the message is from the heart of God.
And so it says, Incline your ear, and come unto me here, and your soul shall live.
If you're not saved, you know as far as you're standing before God is concerned, why you're dead in trespasses and sins.
You don't possess that new life that he gives, but that's what God does. It says he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he wants to give that gift to you. It's a gift. It says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's a gift. I say it's not just something that's offered as a bargain. Many people think of salvation.
And they rather.
Think of it like that, as though it were in terms of a bargain. It's very easy, but you do have to do something. You know, if you go into a store and you see something that's worth $50 and it's offered for five, that's a bargain, but you still have to pay something for it. It's not a gift, it's a bargain. But salvation isn't a bargain. It's free, friends. It's offered to you without money and without price. It isn't that. It isn't worth what God says it's worth. Why?
The Scripture speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ, but it's offered freely. Oh, it says, incline your ear and come unto me. It's an invitation to come to a person. It's not just accepting a certain number of facts that you might believe historically. There are many things that we believe historically, and I suppose most people in this room believe that Jesus did come into this world and that he was born in Bethlehem.
Him and that he did die upon the cross of Calvary. I expect you believe that Paul stood before Agrippa and said, King Agrippa, believeth thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Did that mean that King Agrippa was a saved man? No, he even himself said almost Thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Sure, you can believe things in a historical way.
00:30:22
But the scripture says if thou shalt believe in thine heart.
That God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Believing in the heart means that you believe it's for yourself. You might have a swimming pool here, and you might have a very good lifeguard there, and it might be written up in the paper that this lifeguard had saved many people, rescued them when they would have otherwise been drowned. And so you read it. You read it with great interest, but it doesn't mean anything to you because you weren't one of those.
People, But supposing that when you see that you were one of the people that he rescued, if it hadn't been for him you would have drowned, does that not mean a great deal more to you? You say to your friends, I was one of those people. He rescued me. And dear friends, that's what I want to tell you tonight. He rescued me from my sins. He saved me from hell, which my sins deserved, and he has washed me and made me one of his children. And believing in your heart means.
That you see that that work was for you, Paul could say, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
So he wants you to hear, and your soul shall live, receive everlasting life. And then I like the end of this third verse. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. Even the sure mercies of David, God's offering to give a promise to you. And what is the promise that he wants to give? He wants to give you not only the promise that if you believe you'll be saved, but that he will never let you go.
It says an everlasting covenant, and it says all the promises of God in him are Yeah, and in him Amen to the glory of God by us. It is all God's promises are not depending upon something in me they depend upon. This was the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
Sufficient to put away our sins? Was God's God satisfied?
In the work that his son accomplished, well, he was. He was because his word says.
His word says that he He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon him, and with His stripes we are healed. It says He was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. And another lovely verse in Hebrews 10 says, by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Yes, that work.
Is sufficient. It's efficient for your needs. You can't have too many sins that his blood can't blot them out. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Will. God wants you to get this promise. He doesn't want you to go to this room doubting, dear friends, He wants you to accept what he says here. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
It doesn't depend upon your feelings either. It depends upon the work that the Lord Jesus accomplished. Your feelings really have nothing to do with it. The question is, is the work of Christ enough? Does the blood cleanse from all sin?
Suppose and I lived in a house and you said to me, Gordon, do you own that house you live in? Well, I say I feel pretty good about it. I've lived there for quite a while and I really have pretty good feelings about it, so I think it must be mine. Wouldn't you think I was kind of funny to talk that way? But I might say to you, well, yes, I own it and I could show you the title deeds for it and they're registered in the registry office. Why? It doesn't matter about my feelings. The question is, are those papers that I have?
Really bona fide papers and is it registered in the registry office? And so, friends, your feelings have nothing to do with it. The question is, has the work of Christ been accepted before God? And when you believe, why, how blessed to know that your name is written in heaven? That's God's registry office. It says rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Another verse says the Church of the first born, which are written in heaven. You see, I'm a church member.
00:35:02
Well, my church role is up in heaven. That's where it is. And I didn't have to join it because the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. That's where the church role of true believers is. It's up there in heaven. And if you know the Lord is your Savior, why, you're part of his church. Your name is written there. Oh friend, don't let the devil get you doubting if you've taken the Lord Jesus.
You're entitled to know that you're saved. We had a lovely verse today in our Bible reading, it says.
Says it says these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. You can know it.
But then the next verse says I've given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. We know we need that in our pathway here.
Since I've been saved, there's been a lot of things that have risen in my life that I needed direction. But I learned in the Bible that the Savior who saved me is the captain of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory. He can be trusted. He knows the way through this wilderness world which we pass. Are you having problems and you're trying to?
Solve them yourself. Oh, why won't you come to the Lord Jesus?
And let him save your soul. And then he will be a leader and a commander. That is, he'll show you the way.
He doesn't show it to us all at once. You know, the day we get saved. Why He shows us that the work of redemption is complete. But all through life he's still the one. He says my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And he says, he putteth forth his own sheep. He goeth before them. And if we run ahead of him, it says, he says, thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying, this is the way, walk ye in it.
When ye turn to the right hand or to the left, oh, we have a wonderful savior. He saves. He directs us. And if we're so impatient we run ahead of him, He he comes behind us. Sometimes our children would run ahead of us when they were small. When we'd see the danger, we'd see them make a wrong turn or get into some position where they were in danger. We didn't like them running ahead of us, but we didn't just forsake them because they did. And we call to them and said.
This is the right way. We pointed it out. That's the kind of a savior that we have. He's a leader and He's a commander. And Oh dear friend, I'll tell you this that He's, He'll bring me home to glory. He'll not let you down long away. He paid too much for you. That price that He paid at Calvary. And then it goes on in the sixth verse. It speaks of other nations beside Israel in the fifth verse because God was dealing with that special nation. But now.
The grace of God goes out beyond Israel, and I'm a Gentile and he saved me. And so God in his goodness and grace was intending to reach out beyond that favored nation. But now the sixth verse says.
Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near.
Now there is a time, as we said at the beginning, when the door will be shut, when people will come and knock, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. And so there's a time limit here, and I must press it upon you with all earnestness. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. I know that if you'll come tonight, he'll save you, because he says now is the accepted time. But I can't tell you that he'll.
Tomorrow, because two things might happen. The Lord Jesus might come or death might overtake you. Many years ago, DL Moody preached in Chicago and there was a huge audience listening to him. And at the end of the meeting he told the people to go home and think it over and come back next week and make their decision. Well, that week the Great Chicago Fire took place. The meeting place where they gathered was burned down.
And he never.
Saw the most of those people again. Many of them were burned to death and they didn't, they couldn't come back the next week. And he said afterwards, he said I'd give my right arm if I could call that back. He said I'll never do that again. And friends, I'm not going to tell you to go and think it over. Why should you think it over? If you were drowning, you wouldn't say to the person who came to rescue, well, give me a day to think it over.
You're just glad that they came and they came right where you were and they wanted to.
Ask you, you. And so people say, well, I don't like to be pushed. Well, if I was drowning, I wouldn't care if he pushed me around or what he did as long as he rescued me. And dear friends, people talk very strangely about this because they don't realize that it's God's goodness. Now, I'm not going to push you, but I say the Lord wants to push you. He wants to bring you in before it's too late.
00:40:25
It was the same love that spread the feast that sweetly forced me in. And that's what he does by his spirit. He catches you by the arm, as it were. My brother was over in England one time and he got off the train at one of the stops to buy something at the little stand at the side of the road. I wasn't too accustomed to the way the trains operated, and he didn't notice that the train was just starting to move, but the guard saw it and he grabbed him by the arm.
Pushed him in the door and he said I was awfully glad of that push. He would have been left with his family in the train and he himself outside. Well, dear friends, if God is catching a hold of your arm tonight and giving you a little push, yield. He's doing it for your good. He wants you to be saved. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near, because he says my spirit shall not always.
Strive with man. There will be perhaps a day when God will stop striving, when he'll as it were, let you alone. But it says, woe unto them in that day when I depart from them.
Well, it speaks of the solemnity of deciding now.
Then it says, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will.
Abundantly pardon.
I ask you, are you determined to go on in the paths of sin? Are you determined? Are you saying right now as you sit, I want to live in my sins for a little bit longer and then I would like to be saved? Oh, friend, that's exceedingly dangerous because the wages of sin is death, and after death, the judgment. It'll be an awful thing to meet God as a judge.
When the judgments begin in Revelation, it says that.
The Tabernacle of God was opened in heaven and John saw the ark of his testimony. And I think that's a very solemn verse that when God brings that awful judgment, he opens heaven and shows what our brother was talking about last night. There is the there's the mercy seat and the blood was on it as though God were saying, I didn't want to act as a judge. I.
Put the blood on the mercy seat so they could approach. And he says just before the judgment falls, God says there was the way of approach provided, but they wouldn't have it. Oh, how dreadfully solemn, dear friends. And so I plead with you tonight, Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Perhaps you have all kinds of thoughts and you say, well, I have a lot of questions. I've had people say that to me, but I've got a lot of questions. Well, dear friends, I plead with you, you can go on questioning forever and you can find yourself in a lost eternity with all those questions unanswered. The most important question tonight is just one what shall I then do with Jesus?
Which is called Christ, and you're not going to be called upon.
To answer a whole lot of questions in that day. But the great question will be, what did you do with Jesus? A little hymn says, What shall I do with Jesus? What shall the answer be? Someday your heart will be asking, what will he do with me? Dear friends, it's intensely solemn. Are you going to cling to your thoughts?
And your ways. God wants to have mercy upon you. He wants to.
Abundantly pardon. Don't you love that word? I do abundantly pardon. When God pardons, he pardons fully and completely. We're not that way with our friends. Sometimes they say they're sorry and kind of half heartedly we we forgive them, but we don't forget. But God casts our sins into the depths of the sea. He says your sins and iniquities, I will remember no more. This is the kind of a God that wants to be your savior.
A Savior God who provided the Lord Jesus to wash away your sins, He'll abundantly pardon. And it says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. I've heard people say, well, there's so many things about what God does that I don't understand. But you know, God is above us, isn't he? God is a man. God is not a man. It says you and I are.
00:45:25
Hear about God is supreme. Can you think of a person who can control this whole universe?
That controls this vast universe, knows all about us, numbers, the hairs of our head. There's so many things about God that are beyond our mind. How foolish to think that unless we could understand all God's ways that we wouldn't receive the salvation that He offers. Do you ever go to the doctor and say doctrine?
I can fully understand my condition and all about these treatments and medicine. Why, I don't want anything from you. No, dear friends, you're glad that there is somebody that does understand, who knows a little bit more than you about things, and who is able to help your condition. Well, the doctor might fail, but the great physician, he'll never fail if you'll come to him and just commit it all to him and say, Lord, there are many things I don't understand.
But one thing is very, very clear to me, I'm a Sinner and I need a Savior and salvation has been provided. And so that's what God wants to bring to you tonight, that pardon that He has to offer.
Many of the questions in life will not be answered till we get home to glory. It says you know, it says his footsteps are not known. Another verse says his ways are past finding out. So I'm content to leave a lot of things that I don't understand till that coming day. But one thing I do understand and as someone said, I'm not going to let the things I don't understand what spoil the things I do and I understand.
Very, very simply that I am a Sinner and that Jesus died for me.
And so he says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. And then he tells about, you know, the rain coming down, and the snow from heaven and returning, not hit her.
That is, God sends the rain down, and He sends it for a purpose of blessing upon his earth. The Bible says He sends his rain upon the just and upon the unjust, in spite of the fact that man doesn't appreciate all his goodness. Why? He sends it, and it accomplishes the purpose that he please us. And you may have heard the gospel 100 times.
And it doesn't mean because you reject it that heaven is not going to be full.
There won't be any empty seats in heaven. The Bible talks about that place. It speaks about just in a figurative way. It says, and I saw 4 and 20 seats, and upon the seats 4 and 20 elders. And they represent the redeemed, because they're saying thou art worthy, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
The Bible tells us that.
My house may be filled. God's house is going to be filled, but hell will not be. The Bible says Hell and destruction are never full. Heaven. Hell is not going to be filled. Perhaps you'll be there. I hope not. But heaven's going to be filled. And the purpose of God's grace in sending this wonderful message is that my house may be filled, it says.
And so here he says that just as the rain comes down and accomplishes the purpose of God, so the message of pardon goes out. It accomplishes the purpose of God. And I'm just sorry for you if you reject it, because God's house is going to be filled. Are you going to fill one of those seats? Are you going to be in that company that will sing? Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us a God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue.
And people and nation, by matchless grace, I'll be there, not because I'm any better than you, but because I've been washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus, the blood of the Lamb. And I'm going to sing about his worthiness. And He wants you to be there too. He wants you to be among that number. Well, it's going to accomplish His purpose. It says it won't return to him void, but God is just waiting until the last one closes in.
He has purposes of grace and he's waiting. One brother said to me, I'd like to be preaching the gospel when the last soul gets saved. He said, wouldn't it be wonderful you're preaching the gospel? The last soul says yes to the Lord Jesus and he comes and takes his own away. It's going to happen sometime, friends, and it might be tonight too. And God is offering this salvation to you. Will you come?
00:50:23
Well then it says here in this 12TH verse, he shall.
Shall go out with joy and be LED forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. You can go to this meeting with joy in your heart and knowing that your sins are forgiven. You can go out of this room with peace in your heart, because it says, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It says you shall go out with joy.
And be LED forth with peace, because if you receive the Savior, you're not going to go to here alone. The Lord's going to lead you out. He's going to take your hand. And he's promised, as we had the other day, He's promised, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. He'll always be with you. And He wants you to go out of this meeting just exactly that way, where the joy of salvation in your heart and knowing that the Lord Jesus has taken your hand and as the captain is going to lead you.
Home to glory all perhaps you say, but oh, I just see some mountains in the way. It's easy for you to talk that way, but there's just some big mountains that I, I just don't know. I, I don't know whether I can handle this affair or that affair. But it says the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. God will take care of those difficult situations, those problems that you think.
Impossible. They are not impossible to God. He is able for them. And so how often God has come in and problems that we saw, God turned those very problems into a blessing in our lives. We all have those mountains, but faith can remove the mountains. The Lord can undertake. And so I ask you, don't let anything hinder you. Don't let the devil put obstacles in your way.
Our brothers spoke the other night about Naaman. He saw a problem. He said he he didn't want to go back into the House of ramen, the House of a heathen God. And the prophet said go in peace. In other words, God would take care of the problem that he saw ahead. And you may see a problem. But I can say if you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, why his name is wonderful counselor, the mighty God.
The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
He can take care of that problem, He can take care of that difficulty, and He'll lead you forth with peace. He'll put joy into your heart. And so just as we had those different verses, God wants to do that. He wants to give you friends a drink of the water of life. And let me say again, the close of this meeting, the Bible closes with the final invitation. It says the Spirit and the Bride say, come. We who are Christians would love to meet.
Our Savior, we're longing to see his blessed face. And so the Spirit of God and the Bride say, come. And it says, let him that heareth say come. And so we who know this wonderful Savior, we're saying, come, whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. And won't you come to the Lord Jesus tonight? Oh, it's terrible if you should reject him, that you should say no to him. And I must say.
In closing, that if you reject him, it's not just missing salvation, but it's to meet him as a judge. And have you thought of the awful, awful solemnity of meeting the one who has the nail prints in his hands, who died on Calvary's cross to save you and to mediate him there at that great white throne, and hear him say, depart from me, curse it into everlasting fire. Oh, I hope no one in this room.
We'll have to meet him as a judge tonight. You can meet him as a Savior tonight. You can say yes to the Lord Jesus tonight. You can just come as a Sinner and he'll abundantly pardon. The work is done, the blood has been shed, and salvation is offered. May God grant. Does anyone who hasn't come that you will come tonight and receive Him.
He wants to save you and he wants to save you now.
Back to top