Gospel—N. Whatmough
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Good evening. I'd like to welcome each one of the gospel meeting this evening. We're going to sing out of this hymn sheet. And if you happen to have picked up this one here, I'll tell you what the number is in this one because the him I've chosen is in both. It's #13 in this home shoot. And if you happen to have picked up this one by mistake.
This number six, the number 13 in the same sheet, God and mercy send his Son to a world by sin undone. Jesus Christ was crucified, was for sinners. Jesus died.
#13.
God and mercy.
Jesus Christ.
Twice for seven Jesus.
Sorry for the blood.
Jesus now?
Everything.
All praise.
Shine.
Praise the Lord will come again and.
And.
Every time.
That last fall.
Jesus Christ.
Lord.
Shine Shining.
Lasagna.
And all he said from God.
The Book of the Lord for His help.
Our blessed God and Father, we do thank thee for our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, and we thank Thee that thou has revealed thyself and the person of thy Son. And we thank you that we can sing. God is light and God is love and we just look up to thee, our blessed God and Father, as a God of light who knows the true condition of every part in this room this evening, to look up to Thee to as a God of love that desires a good and blessing of each one in this room this evening.
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Who look to be our blessed God and Father for thy help, as He would speak of thy Son and the wonderful work that He did on the cross, that men might be brought to thee in a condition that is suitable to thee.
And so we just pray for each one in the room, each one that's from the youngest, that's old enough to understand that the oldest in this room, that each might come to a settled peace with thyself this evening. Our blessed God and I know thee, our blessed God as their own Father, to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior. And so as we open my precious word, we thank thee, our blessed God and Father, that it is not the opinions of men are cunningly devised fables, but it is.
Word of God and that it can reach the heart and conscience of each one in this room this evening. And so we pray for our help as we use it this evening to touch the hearts and consciences and just pray for blessing. We pray for Thy servants wherever they stand up this evening. And we just would pray that the Lord Jesus Christ would be well spoken of here and elsewhere. So we just thank you and look to be for Thy health and our Savior's precious name, Amen.
We use words and this is called a gospel meeting and I wonder if we know what the word gospel means. It means good news.
Hiking down here on an airplane like some others.
And everywhere we were confronted with newspapers on the front of those newspapers were filled with very, very sad news and sad pictures. The last one is I picked up my baggage. Somebody left a newspaper there in the counter, and it was a big picture of the ocean filled with people's things floating on the water. They've been in a plane and it crashed. I just thought of that newspaper, that it was just filled with such sad news and such sorrow.
But we're very thankful this evening that we can give out the gospel. It's maybe an old English word, and it means good news.
What I have to pronounce tonight is not the bearer of bad news, but it's good news. And so I just trust that each one will listen and that the Lord will help me to set this forth in a way that you would desire. I want to ask you a question before we start. There's a little Kim in this book.
And it asks a question, and I'm going to read this question that this book asks.
This him asks.
Are you truly SAVED But saved? Are you truly saved?
Are you sure your saved? Are you sure you're saved? Do you know your sins forgiven? Are you on your way to heaven? Are you SAVED?
Are you saved? I want to ask that question personally because we're going to read a chapter tonight which I think really exposes.
The heart of man and the heart of God, like no other chapter in the Bible, I believe this chapter exposes the true condition of man's heart and God's heart. And that's the 23rd chapter of Luke. And we want to look at that tonight. But I want to ask you that question, Are you saved now? Perhaps you may be saved. What does that word mean? Now, when I was a young man, I was given a book for my birthday by the son of the author of this book.
And he markingly said we shouldn't use words like say people don't know what that means.
But we're going to talk about what that word save means, and we want you to know what it means. We want you to leave here not only knowing what the word means, but being able to say I'm saved. It's a wonderful word.
We're not going to read the whole chapter, but we're going to read a few verses to set the backdrop of this.
And after we read a few verses, we're going to talk about the Lord Jesus before we go on to what is on my heart in the latter part of this chapter.
Verse one of Luke chapter 23 And the whole multitude of them arose and led him to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar.
Saying that he himself is Christ a king.
We found this fellow perverting the nation.
I want you just to stop, and I want to talk about who they're speaking about here, because they were speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. We found this man. I'd like to tell you something, first of all, that they didn't find the Lord Jesus at all. The Lord Jesus found that for the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And if we look in the third chapter of John's Gospel, it says no man has ascended up into heaven at any time.
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Nobody went up to heaven to bring the Lord Jesus Christ down. He came down seeking for you.
It says in the prophet I was found of them that sought me not so they didn't find the Lord Jesus at all.
But the Lord Jesus came looking for man, and I want to start there because there's many, a lot of great deal of lack of clarity as to who the Lord Jesus Christ is. At the first of John's gospel, it says in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Now I want to turn back the clock right back to the beginning of this creation of this earth in which we're standing. And I want to take you to that scene before this earth was created. And I want to take you to a scene in space for the sons of God. Watch the angels, watch the Son of God bring this universe into into existence. He was there in the beginning was the word.
And so he brought this universe into being by the power of his word. That's the one we're going to speak about. A man didn't go looking for him, but he came looking for man because nobody could go up into the presence of God. God's roles in life that no man can approach onto.
But we read that wonderful verse. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glories of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
That the God, Creator God of this universe became a creature, a body. Thou has prepared me. That the one who called this universe into being by the power of His word became a man and came down to this earth to seek and to save you. God has revealed himself. And I think that's an essential thing that we get hold of, that the Lord Jesus was not just a good man, but He was the creator God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything.
Was made in Him was life, and the life was the light of man, but we also read the light shine in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it, or the darkness comprehended it not. Is that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. Can you imagine? I just want you for a moment to imagine that you were there. The earth is created, the oceans are created, and He filled by the power of His Word, the oceans with the mighty, with the fish and the mighty creatures in the ocean.
And then he looked at the ground, and he filled the beast of the field by the power of his word. He filled the field with all the beasts of the field by the power of his word. This divine architect, this creator God that he passed through the heavens and he came into this world. We read in the second chapter of Luke regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, when he became he said it was said of him prophetically. A body that was prepared me.
That the angels looked down and they said, glory to God in the highest peace on earth and goodwill toward man, or goodwill in man.
In that Manger lay the one who sustained the universe. Why does the moon stay where it stays? You can talk about gravity and all of the rest of the things, but he sustains the universe by the power of His word. And this one came into the world and he became a man. God had to look over the earth, and he had to say, There is none that doeth good. No, not one. A Muslim man once asked me.
Was once offered to come in to teach me how to read the Bible in Arabic and so I've done in some kindness.
And so I asked him a question. I said, Hussein, how will God accept you? He said, if I'm a Goodman, God will accept me. I said, what is a Goodman?
What is a good man? And he kind of hung his head and I said, what is good? Six sins is good and seven sins is bad. And he hung his head and he couldn't actually shrugged his shoulders and said there are no good man.
And that's what the Word of God says. There's nothing to do with good. No, not one. And I want to ask you a question, God, which sin could God allow into heaven? We see the corruption and sorrow that has been brought into this world. Which sins have got it? Allow God allow into heaven. God is light and God is holy. That means he delights in good.
And because he delights in good, he have pours evil. He abhors evil.
Told you that I like to have a white shirt and I had a little spot of ketchup on it here. And you came up and you said, you know, you have a spot of ketchup on your shirt. And I said I love to have a white shirt. And I said, well, what are you bothering me for? What's a little spot of ketchup? He'd say, well, why doesn't he wipe it off? I want to speak reverently that God is holy and he does not want anything to mar those scenes of his presence. And so he could not allow one sin into his presence because it would not be.
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Oh, bright and blessed scenes where sin can never come, God delights in good.
But he also delights in the sons of men who desire us to bring you into blessing. That's the gospel. God loves you and God desires your good and happiness in a natural sense. I look out in those trees and I look at the mountains and I see a creator God, the delighted in man's happiness in an actual way.
You see a father playing with a child, You see a grandfather with a child on his knee. Who made those once God did. God delighted to see that man was happy. God wants you to be happy. And yet we're living in a world that is filled with sorrow. The first cause of death among young men between 30 and 49 years old in Canada is suicide.
It's been replaced by that other awful disease, but it's a terrible thing. Man is unhappy, unhappy and it's and why God desires you to be happy. Well, I read this first. The whole multitude arose and let into pilot and they began to accuse him. The Son of God came into this world and we read and they cried. Let's go down and say verse 18. And they cried all at once, saying away with this man.
And release unto us Barabbas.
Who for a certain sedition in the city and for murder was cast into prison. They did not want the Lord Jesus Christ. Now perhaps you say, well, I didn't, I wouldn't want the Lord Jesus crucified. But you said I just want to live my life in peace. I just want to live. I don't want to get all involved with religion and these things, but it's exactly the same thing. Away with this man.
Supposing and I had the kindness of people lending their heart apartments or houses.
But supposing you lent me your apartment in your house and you came to the door and I said, oh, I'm not interested in having you in right now.
Go away, I just want to have peace. And you say well I'm the owner of this apartment and I say well I'm keeping it very tidy and my I'm not doing any harm, but just go away and leave me alone. So people say I'm a good man, I keep my things tidy, I try to be good and so on. Well, you might be happy that I was keeping your apartment tidy instead of messy, but the end result is the same is that I exclude you.
And they said away with this man, and what did they want for rabbis? Now, whose picture is up on your bedroom wall? You go into your friend's bedroom walls. Your pictures are up in the hallways of the cafeterias at your school, and so on.
The pictures of those that says that do wicked things. And he says they take pleasure and then they do them. The idols of this world, the stars of this world are not moral people. And so you say, I don't want Barabbas, I just want to live my life in peace.
But May God search your heart. Have you just shut the door? Are you living in God's earth? You didn't make this earth. I didn't make it.
God made this earth. Have you just shut the door and said, well, I just want a little bit of religion. I just want a little bit of God. I want to enjoy the things of God. Yes, I'll say my prayers once in a while. I'll go to church once in a while, as people say. But really, you close the door and you said not this man. But now I want to speak about the great facts of the gospel because the heart of man is shown out and the heart of God is shown out.
And so I'd like us to go to the cross because I believe that it is that the cross.
Where our hearts are really shown out and where the heart of God is shown out. And so let's just go down now here we can't comment on the 27th to the 34th 1St. I would have liked to, but I believe that we must move on for the sake of time. But I just want to say this in connection with these verses. I should read them and just make a few little comments. There's so much here, but.
The Lord Jesus was taken out. As we know the story well, I don't think there's anybody who's taken out of Jerusalem.
To be crucified in verse 27, there followed him a great company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.
You know, people are touched. People are sentimental. About a year ago this time, I think we were in Mayfield, KY, and we heard the news that Princess Diana died and we're. People were touched sentimentally. They lined the streets, they made mountains of flowers and so on, and they were touching by the tragedy of this young woman's life being cut off. And here people were touched by the.
Sadness of this event in a natural way.
But you know, the Lord said to them, weep not for me.
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Believe for yourselves. The Lord doesn't want man's sentimentality. He doesn't want man's tears. In that sense, we think we'll not save me.
But the Lord hear this cruel act of rejection. He done so much good, you know, He said the 5000 he raised the dead. He made the lane to walk the blind sea to death to hear.
He raised the ruler of the synagogue's daughter to life, and who was there to stand for the Lord and to stand up for the Lord in defense of the Lord who was there?
You know what happens when criminals do dastardly things are Civil Liberties Union and all kinds of people that come to their rescue and so on. But who was there for the Lord of glory to speak up for him? They were there to weep as he passed off to the cross.
But there was nobody there to stand up for the Lord. But he said weep not for myself. He wasn't thinking about himself, he was thinking about that.
And so.
You say, well, perhaps I'll deal with this issue later, but you know, it may be as with these ones here.
That when later comes.
The people will say that the rocks follow us and hires the rock of the lab that you won't be crying out for mercy.
But that you'll be desire to hide from God just like Anna. So now is the time of salvation.
But here, I think in this story we're going to pass on here now to the 33rd verse and I'm going to read down to the end of where I'd like to go. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors.
One on the right hand and the other on the left.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
And they parted his raiment and cast lots, and the people stood beholding.
And the ruler is also with them derived in saying, He saved others, let him save himself. If he be the Christ, be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greece and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews.
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not? Dost not thou fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we indeed for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing amiss.
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
And it was about the 6th hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the 9th hour, and the sun was darkened. In the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried, with a loud voice he said, Father, into thy hands I command my Spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God.
Saying certainly this was a righteous man.
Well, you see the Lord.
Was taken to the cross, then they said away with this man, and we all not have this man to reign over us. And we've read through this story and the testimony even of the malefactor was that this man has done nothing amiss. You know, there's not a person in this room that can say that, and there's nobody in this room of whom we can say that except the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know anybody who's never done anything wrong?
I don't.
But that was the testimony concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. But He was taken with these two malefactors, and these malefactors have done wicked things.
And so they took the Lord Jesus to crucify him, and he said, Father, forgive them.
What was in the heart of God? What is the heart of God towards you tonight?
Is God a hateful God? So God desires your blessing and your good.
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God desires your good and your blessing, but you have to be with God.
And the people that stood there.
And so in the face of His grace, what did they do? They took his clothes and they parted his raiment. They spread it among themselves. They wanted the Lord's face. They wanted to take the Lord's clothes and divide them among himself. And even in spite of this kindness and goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ, they just wanted to take the Lord's friends and divide them among themselves.
You know, we're talking about a creator God and maybe you'll go off to the beach and God intended you to enjoy the beach in his way out, in the way that people enjoy it. But I know God's way He intended you to enjoy. Are you going to go enjoy God's speech? You're going to go enjoy God's mountains, God's smell and shut God out. He said, well, I wouldn't have done such a cruel thing right there at the cross to strip the Lord of his clothes and part of his clothes.
But there's a testimony everywhere around. We talked about the glory of His grace, but the glory of His creation that bears testimony to your conscience that God is a creator God.
And that he's a good God and you're going to take and enjoy those things and ignore it. And that's what they were doing. They took this ring and they passed lots. It was worth having.
And so the people certainly beholding them there.
They were just looking at the Lord, looking at the Lord, and what did they see? What could they see but their conscience said it. You know, I see people and perhaps you have the same experience to see people and you remember them for the kind of things that they did to you. You associate that with the face. You look at different ones. You think of words of encouragement. They've given you things that little things they've done for you. A happy time you've enjoyed together.
Because that's not your experience when you look at somebody and they stood beholding the Lord and what could be their only recollection of the Lord. I'm sure that when people look at me, they Remember Me saying maybe something not very nice or maybe doing something sometimes. Perhaps they remember some kindness.
But you know, here they were looking at a man on the cross being cruelly punished, the most cruel punishment that could be inflicted on that, and there could be no recollection or thought under their mind except acts of kindness and good.
Could you think of those people looking and seeing those male pierced pants without thinking about what those what good those hands have done?
And yet they stood there beholding him.
And I want you to stop and consider the Lord Jesus Christ, because we do learn about the life of the Lord Jesus in the Bible.
And you really, though you are removed by 2000 years in history from this, you do have to take your place with one of these companies. You're either going to take your place with those that stood there and behold, just watch the Lord. You're going to take your place with those that set away with this man. I don't want this man, but you're going to take your place with this one who went to be with the Lord in paradise.
But you cannot remain indifferent, because God brings us to that place.
Because we're talking about a living savior.
Well.
The rulers derided him, saying He saved others. What a testimony He saved others. Imagine those rulers standing there saying He saved others. Why was he on the cross? Because those rulers had cried away with this matter, and yet their testimony was He saved others. They knew, people know that the Lord Jesus did good that he saved others. He said, What does this word save mean?
What does this word save me? You know, this has happened to me more than once and I'm going to tell you a little story. A man was young man with sandblasting a house down the road for me, and I needed some of that kind of work done.
So I went down to speak to him and he had some workers there. And so before too long he got speaking about the gospel and he said, you sound like my brother.
And I said, tell me about your brother. He said, well, he said he saved. I said, oh, that's wonderful. I'm glad to hear that. He says, what does he mean? I said, well, tell me what happened to him. He said, well, you used to be a very miserable character. He said I never used to want to be near him, so if he lives 30 miles away, he said, if I didn't see him in two years, I would be happy. He said, you know, some people, just to be in their presence, they're miserable and unhappy.
And he said and his wife was he was what, Miserable and unhappy with his wife and with his children?
And I said, well, what happened? He said he got saved. He said he's happy now. He says, I like being around them. I said, oh, thanks, interesting. What happened to him? He said, well, he was walking down the street one day and there was a man lying there on the sidewalk who'd obviously drunk too much and he wasn't shaving. And he put out his hand and he was smoking. And the man put out his hand. He says, friend, give me a cigarette. He turned out and he looked at him and he says, get a job and buy your own. And he walked by and he said, why was there such?
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In my heart and hardness in my heart, he said, my brother told me. And he said when he suffered those words, he started to think. He said, why is my heart so filled with bitterness and anger? And he said my brother started to read the Bible.
And then he said he's saved now, but he said he was happy. His kids are happy. What does he mean? I said, you know what he means, He got saved.
And that's what the Lord wants. And the people could bear testimony. We're going to talk a little bit more specifically about how God saves the soul, but you could see the evidence of it. I don't know to this day whether that young man.
Because I had a debt and that debt had to be paid. That debt had to be paid. You know, there's a brother in our meeting and he had an all terrain vehicle and one night a young man who worked in the factory and had a very good job.
It wasn't known at the time, but it was later discovered broke into his shed and he stole this out train vehicle and he drove it off and he abused it and he did a fair bit of damage to it. So he, the man was apprehended and that the all terrain vehicle was recovered and there was about $1200 damage to this. And so the brother Jim, he went to court and he had to testify that yes, this was his altering vehicle and yes, it was in his shed and no, he hadn't landed to this man.
We didn't know who he was and so the judge found the young man guilty of taking this thing.
And so he said, I asked the prosecutor for getting any other convictions, and he said no. So he said, well, I'll give him a suspended statin. So then the prosecutor said, but who's going to pay for the damage to this ATV? Who's going to pay for this damage? And the judge just sort of shrugged and he said.
Let this young man go off as he smirked. Just laugh. But I'm going to tell you that there's a godly, holy and debt. My debt had to be paid. That the world may have unrighteous judges, but God is not an unrighteous judge.
I had a student and I told this story before, but I had a student one day and he was guilty of driving under the influence. And there's very severe laws for that, thankfully in Canada now that they they are a terror, evil doer. And he told me I'm not going to be in school tomorrow because I have to go and answer to a drunk driving charge. He said it's my second one. I said, oh, I said I guess you won't be back then because it's an automatic jail sentence.
And he said no. I said this time I got a good lawyer and he'll get me off. And I said he'll get you off. He said yes. He said he knows somebody at the courthouse.
And she sends to put the papers in an envelope and sends them off to the wrong courthouse. And he certainly gets his clients off. He says he's expensive, but he said he'll get me off.
I said I believe you, but I said I want to ask you a question. I said, does he not fear to stand in the presence of God one day and give an account of how he made his living? I said do not fear to stand in the presence of God and give an account of how you got off this thing.
And his face turned about the whitest the pages of this violence. And he said I never thought about that.
And you know, maybe earthly judges are not right, but God payment must be paid for sin.
You know, even the children understand that if somebody stole your bicycle and I said to that child, oh, I forgive you, that's OK, and you're without your bike. So when you're walking to school and you see this child riding the school on your bicycle and you said, well, Neil forgave them for taking my bicycle, wasn't that time. God is not that kind of God. God is a holy God and payment must be required.
But you see, there's a little bit of a problem. If it was a matter of $1200 or paying a fine or spending some time in jail, I could do that.
But there's something that I could not do. I could not pay for my sins. I could not undo what I have done, nor can you.
And so the Lord Jesus Christ could not save himself.
And the Scripture tells us why for two reasons. Love trained too deeply flow Because Christ loved you, and if he didn't come as your Savior, he would come as your judge, and you would be separated eternally from God because God cannot have sin in his presence. And I ask you, if God was to allow sin in his presence, which sin would he allow in his presence? Lying, stealing, covetousness.
Adultery. We think of all the sorrow that has been caused in this world. Which sin could God allow in His presence? He could not allow sin in His presence.
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And so there must need to be a savior if God was not just to send us all to hell and to be banished from His presence. But He loved us too much, so he could not save himself. Love stream too deeply flowed. He loved us too much, and so he went to the cross.
And so they mocked the Lord Jesus. They recognized that he saved others and perhaps he said, well, the Lord is a Goodman. Don't think that that somehow is bears some merit in God's presence that you say the Lord Jesus is a good man because it's only an admission that you have refused a good man. It's only an admission that you recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ is a good man and you didn't want him. You wanted a malefactor like her rabbit.
And so we need to have our consciences touched by these things, and I'm speaking even to the young children.
And maybe you think that you're just going to go on and justice, neglect the Savior, but the Lord Jesus, he loves you and he desires to save you. And these issues are real. We're going to speak a little bit, a little bit later to children. But here the soldiers mocked him and coming to him, offering him vinegar. You know what vinegar is? Those of us who speak French know what it is.
Sour wire, his wine gone bad. What did the Lord do at the Canaan of marriage? The marriage of Canaan. He turned the water in the wire. He wanted the people to be happy. And what was their insolent act to the Lord is that they took that which was the joy of man, And the sour wine they gave to the Lord, they gave nothing. What does man have for God?
On Lord's Day this Sunday, what is man going to be doing? What does he have for man for God? He'll be golfing, he'll be skiing, he'll be hiking in the mountains, he'll be doing something. But he doesn't have anything for God. And if you applied to bring God before him, you get a bitter answer.
But you know, the soldiers, they mocked the Lord Jesus and they gave him vinegar. But he, this was the one who said, Father, forgive them. So they know not what they do.
Now the Jews said, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. Now, you know, even this wasn't honest because people say, well, you know, the Bible says this and the Bible says that, and the Bible says the other thing. And often it's because they've never read the Bible. And sometimes it's because they have read the Bible and they know better and they're not honest. You know, when the wisest men came from the East and they came to Herod and they asked the question, where is he that should be born king of the Jews? They opened up the word of God and told them exactly where.
Should be born. And the wise men went there, and they found them.
And those very same Jews, they said, if thou be the king of the Jews, say thyself, they knew from the word of God that he was the king of the Jews. They knew it. People said, well, the Bible, you know, it's hard to understand. I don't understand the Bible.
Man said that to my brother at work and said I don't understand the Bible. Said what didn't you understand?
Said well Bible says I'm a Sinner. Give this to the Bible. Confused. Quite those words. You understood the Bible.
But they knew, they said, if thou be the king of the Jews, they'd already opened up the scriptures and told Herod where he would be born. They knew that he was the king of the Jews.
Now the malefactor is one of the malefactors which were hanged rails on them. You know, it says in another gospel that they both railed on them.
But the second one he repented. I like the way our brother explained that is that it's from that French word ru Paul say it needs to rethink. And if we looked at another gospel and they both continue that way.
And perhaps you've been thoughtless for the Lord Jesus, but I just trust you'll take your place with this second malefactor and rethink what you said and thought about the Lord Jesus. But this man said, if thou be the Christ, save thyself and us.
Now why did that malefactor wanted to be saved?
He wanted to get down off the cross and live to please God.
I don't think so. You know, many people would like to be saved. They send out ship sinks and they buy SOS. I think of that Swiss airplane that crashed in the ocean and I think many people would have been glad to be saved. But how many of those people, if that plane had landed safely at Halifax, could have gotten out of there and said, I want to live to please the Lord and I want to live to please God?
You suppose if this Halifax has been taken down off the cross that he would have lived a different life.
Save ourselves. People want to be saved, they want to be kept from danger, and God occasionally does that.
00:40:08
I want to say that something in connection with that later on to the children, but he said it's saved by yourself and not so many people would like to be saved with terrible diseases, saved from death and saved from all kinds of things, and they would even pray to God for such salvation.
But it's not to live to please God, it's not to give thanks to God, but it's just to live for self. But here with this malice, the other rebuked him, saying, dust down, I fear God.
You know, here with this man right on the threshold of eternity and he was speaking against God. You say, well, I'm not on the threshold of eternity. How many people do you think God on to swift there that thought that they were on the threshold of eternity? Very few. I think I read that the money changer sold a few insurance policies. He said there's always a few. There's a few that perhaps thought that maybe they were in some danger.
He had a little hobby class at her house from time to time.
And you know, there have been three children under the age of 10 years old that are now an eternity.
I stopped reading my Bible in my room one night and not the distance from me to this motorway. Two young boys died in a fire. The houses are close together and they were ushered into eternity.
They used to go into the home on Friday night saying there's something more than gold. Oh yes, Oh yes, there's something more than gold. But those two young boys are eternity.
The young boy and his sister that came to our hobby class, he was in the broad sites not too long ago. Several weeks ago was walking home from a park in the middle of the day. A young man drunk came up and hit the boy, a girl named the Eternity. So these things I'm speaking about are real and this deep here. Here he was right on the threshold of eternity, knowing he was dying.
And careless as to the peril of his soul.
He said, well, I'm not in that kind of peril. They're careless. You know, there's a big breakwater out in Saint Thomas by the lake there, and there's a big warning. And they put warnings up from the ocean when the water is rough on Lake Erie to warn people. And there's big warnings not to vote on this pier. And some young men went out on that pier. Young man went out on that pier. He was swept into the water and he was swept into a tree.
And you know what happened just a few days later?
There were fifty young people out there again, and another one was swept into eternity.
And his friend jumped in to try to save him, and he couldn't.
I don't think the first one was even buried yet, and there were two more taken into eternity. People are careless as to their soul. And here was a man hung across a malefactor without any fear of God.
I want to warn you that God is holy and man is going to not give an account for God, but God is going to give an account of man.
It's not going to be man standing before God explaining why he did this and that, but is God going to give now his assessment at the great white throne of what man has done? And this thief came and he hit one thief. He had repented, he rethought, he had railed on the Lord, and now he rethought. He said, just thou not fear God.
If you're God, don't worry about me. Don't worry about the person sitting next to you, about your mother and your father. You have to do with a living God.
And God is righteous and God is holy, but God loves you.
And so he confessed that he said we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. Have you ever said that? Do you really believe that God you deserve to be sent to hell for your sin?
Well, I many people would say not hell, not hell, but I think which God has offered a way of salvation and you refuse it.
And so it says there was number, place was found for them. God has a place.
Where all the redeemed are going to be. And a man comes in and he says, I don't want to be redeemed. I don't want the Savior. There's no place for such a lie.
And so he's put in a place that was not made for man at all, but for the devil and his angels.
A way of as deepest than me. Are you going to take that way of escape?
No place was found for that.
For he alone that God we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing amiss.
00:45:01
There's two things that we need to realize that you're a Sinner and that Christ is whole of you, That you've done nothing wrong.
I want to tell you how to get saved.
My brother has a very ungodly neighbor and I'm going to repeat this story because her brother. You automatically collect stories about the gospel and I think that this is one of the nicest ones I ever heard.
No, there's a little meeting in his house and sometimes people have to you have to be very careful about what you leave in your car and even fellow have their tires tampered with and so on. Very own job and neighbor. And one night this neighbors son came to the door and he said you have Bible meetings in this house. Don't and said yes. He said, well I want to let you know I got saved. He said I'm your neighbor and he looked and was kind of almost confused. Which house? He said next door.
He said.
How did you get saved? How did you get saved? He had a young lady beside him there. He said he kind of looked surprised and said, oh, I took my place as a guilty tenor before God and was Steve Christ as my savior.
That's how you get saved. It's not complicated. You don't need to go to Bible school. You need to do what this these days own that you're a guilty Sinner before God and receive Christ as your savior. So a little bit of Scottish, he turned to the young lady beside him and he said to him, and how did you get faith? And she got a very surprised look on her face. She said, oh, exactly the same way.
Exactly the same way, you know, sometimes our testimonies, their house testimony to how stubborn we are, all the rigmarole that the Lord has to go through to find us. But what a wonderful thing just to be exactly in the words of that young man is to say, I take your place as a guilty Sinner before God and receive Christ as your Savior. This young man, this man on the clock couldn't do anything. His hands were nailed to the clock. He couldn't do anything.
I gave a Bible to a young man some years ago, 25 years ago, and later I learned that he died in an accident and justice. Recently I learned what happened when he lost both his hands and both of his teeth in a farm accident. He lay dying for five hours. What is it going to take for you? He couldn't do anything. He couldn't pay anything, He couldn't repay anything. He could not do anything. This thief could not do anything to save himself.
But we're going to find out what happens. And so if you think that you're going to earn your salvation by being good, this seat could do nothing except confess that he was a Sinner and that Christ was a just man.
He couldn't do anything and you know what if we could do anything to earn our salvation, we would ruin it because everything that manuscripts he is ruined everything that manis touched his ruined. But this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, he was the only man who got nothing in this. That's why the Angel said glory to God in the highest peace on earth and goodwill toward manner goodwill in man is the angels knew that this was going to be a man who was.
Who was going to do nothing amiss?
A child born into the world. And we know from the time that first cry is uttered that there's going to that they're going to be a Sinner, that they're a Sinner and that they're, if they grow up, they're going to be a they're going to practice their nature.
And then he said to Jesus, Jesus, that's his name. We each have a name. There's David's here, and there's a couple of David's here. There's.
Dawn here, different names. Here you have a name, Lord. Jesus as a man have a name. His name meant Savior. He was a savior God and people knew him as Jesus. But you know he turned to him and he called them Lord.
Than, Lord, have you ever called Jesus? Lord, we've heard about Jesus. Have you ever called him Lord?
He turned to Jesus and he said, Lord, I'm going to tell you something. And we sang that in our hand.
I'm going to guarantee you, I don't know. I trust that everybody in this room will be saved, but I can't say that for certainty. But I can tell you something of an absolute certainty about everybody in Denver, everybody in the United States, everybody in this world, that everyone in this world is going to own that Jesus Christ is Lord.
That every set of letters and everything is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father.
There is going to come a time when everybody is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But this man, he repented, His heart was changed and his thoughts were changed towards God. He had railed on the Lord, and now he turned on Jesus, and now he turned to him and he said Lord.
00:50:01
Whoso calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He can be saved tonight. He can know that you're saved. You can know that your sins are forgiven, not because I said so, but because God said so.
And so here we see what the Lord said.
Jesus said on the him, and he said unto Jesus, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.
We just want to say this, but where there's repentance, there's intelligence. We were talking a little bit about the disciples, and they said, when wilt thou restore the Kingdom to Israel? But I think this thief was more, this malefactor was more intelligent than the disciples because God had said he would overturn, overturn, overturn, tell he who's right it is coming that he would give it to him. And this thief realized that the Lord was going to come in his Kingdom.
And I just want to warn anybody here that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come. You know, the 8th anatomy prophesied the cold, He cometh with 10,000 of His Saints. And you know that the men and women of Denver are going to perhaps be in their lifetime the Lord Jesus Christ come out of heaven.
Not as a savior God, not as the meek and lowly Jesus riding on a full of an *** but to execute judgment.
He's going to come in his Kingdom, man once said to me. He said things aren't fair. I said when the Lord comes, he's going to make all things right. He said I hope he comes in a hurry. I said He's going to make all things right. He said. I hope he doesn't come too soon.
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes, He's going to make all things right. He's going to set everything right. And so that there's going to be no open wickedness or no open sin in this world. And who shall stand in the day of His appearance? I want to warn you that He's going to come in his Kingdom.
But this thief, you know, he realized that it wasn't just the Kingdom restored to Israel, but that Jesus was going to come. Not as the meek and lowly Jesus, but he was going to come.
As King of kings and Lord of Lords to reign over all the earth. Because the 1St man Adam had brought the world into ruin and confusion. But God had his man and he was going to send his man into this world and there was going to be blessing on this earth. And that even if you worry about what the 1St man has done to the environment, it's terrible what the 1St man has done to this work. He polluted it terribly. But when the Son of God comes.
It says that the creatures, they wait in hope for the Son of God to come.
They do the Young Lions look to God for their meat and it's going to be a happy day for the beast to the field when the Son of God comes to rule. But if you're a Christ rejecter, you're in terrible peril because he is going to come and rule in power. There will be no rejecting him then. But he said, Remember Me when thou comest in the into thy Kingdom.
And Jesus said, Jesus said unto him, Verily I stand to thee today. Thou shalt be with me in paradise.
You know the Lord made a wonderful revelation to this man.
He was not only going to be in happiness, but he was going to be in paradise. You know, sometimes you're in a place like this and there's a door, and maybe you've ever been in a room and there was a door and you didn't know what was on the other side of the door.
And you know, people knew, if I may put it this way, that.
That when they died, people who died in faith knew that they were going to be happy on the other side of the door, if I may put it that way, if you could call that door death, that it was going to be happiness. But this thief learned a wonderful thing that he was not only just going to be happy like Lazarus who was in Abraham puzzle, but he was going to be with the Lord. What a wonderful thing. You see that? That's why death is our servant. You can imagine yourself standing at the door and walking through the door.
So the brother that promoted the glory, you know, it's like walking through that door and walking out of this scene of trial and difficulty and walking into the very arms of Jesus. That's what that seat did, that malefactor did. He said today thou shalt be with me in paradise. The brother, Chuck Hendrick, said something this afternoon. I wish I could repeat it exactly, but you know, I want to express the thought.
That being in heaven is being with and like the Lord Jesus Christ if you're not saved.
That the last place you want to be, last place you want to be is to be with the Lord if you're not saved.
The last place that this malefactor wanted to be, he said save thyself enough. He wanted to get down off the cross and go his way and let the Lord go his. The last place you'd want to be is in heaven if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
And but this man now this loving Savior, he said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise was about the 6th hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the 9th hour. And the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was ranked in the mid. When Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
00:55:20
And so we learn in the Word of God that light and immortality are brought to life through the gospel. And so we learn what happens to a soul when they die.
To a believer, when they die, because the Lord would see he died, he took his body and related in the grave.
But the Lord Jesus was absent from the body, if I may put it this way, and present with his Father, Father in the thy hands I commend thy spirit, who is a man who brought out impossible took out an ad that was impossible verses in the paper in Saint Thomas and he came to my office and he talked about how the Lord went into hell. It goes 3 days now the Lord didn't go anywhere such place his body was laid in the grave.
And his spirit went to be with his Father, and then he said he raised himself by the power of God.
He raised himself that he took his body again, and he raised on the third day, and he rose victorious.
Because death had lost its ties, He paid the penalty of sin, and death had lost its stain. And I'm going to tell you death is extinct for you if you don't know Christ as your Savior. Because your body, soul, and spirit. And there is going to be a resurrection when you are going to be raised. And you're going to stand before the white, great white stone of God. And God is going to open the books. And it's not going to be you giving an account to God, but God giving His account of your deed.
It's not going to be you giving your little explanation the way you maybe did to your teacher at school.
For your boss at work, it's going to be God giving his account of you, and whosoever was not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be cast into hell.
Serious and a solemn thing, but for this man, this malefactor, he was not only absent from the body and present with the Lord, but there was the Lord in the foot with the Father. And so many we have known and have three families that they died, and death has been like a servant to take their spirit, to be right with the Lord. Their bodies have been laid in the grave, and they're waiting with us for the day that the Lord would come and raise those bodies and raise us up with glorified bodies.
Body, soul and spirit to be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. What a wonderful thing. And so this man is deep, you know, I don't know where his body is.
But it's laid in the grave somewhere. But there's going to be a day when the Lord is going to come with a shout, and the dead in Christ shall rise 1St and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together, be forever with the Lord and ever with the Lord, and we're going to be there that these bodies going to be raised. Now he's UN quote. There's a spirit in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ, but his body is in the grave.
But the Lord, his body rose, and there's a real man in the glory, with a real body.
A glorified body and he's there in the glory and he's waiting for me.
You know the Lord Jesus Christ as your own savior. I'm not talking to you. Subscribe to a certain religion. I'm not talking to you. Learn your Sunday school versus not talking. Do you help your mom? What are you safe?
Even the young children can go home, and they can, before they even go home and justice, bow their heads like this beast, saying, We indeed justly so, we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing amiss. Whoso shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Now people are here, time is bad and we're going to just leave it there, but just don't leave this room. I want to tell you either without knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as your own Savior, his trust him, believe God's word. He said it that peace is there with the Lord now and just as certainly as that deep is there with the Lord and glory. You can be safe tonight and you can walk out of this room and say I know.
That the Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior, That He died for me.
Well, I just trust that each one of this room would repeat the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior.
I'd like to thank and see our kind of craft, but nevertheless.
I like this thing. The first and last. First of #9 comes with Jesus gently calling. He would care and fall of threat with your guilt. However following come, and I will give you rest for your skin. If He wants to suffer on the cross. The work puts on, and the word by God now utterly to each weary stole His calm. Come for Angel host amusing, or the spiteful strangely sad.
01:00:04
May God be teaching man, refusing to be made forever glad no. We spoke about a little bit about this in the meetings today, that the angels that kept not their first estate, their chains and chains of everlasting darkness. There was no hope of redemption for a fallen Angel. And so here are these elect angels looking down on you and there's a possibility that you could be redeemed and you're saying no.
They're quite frankly puzzled by it. Well, let's think the first and last person #9.
Where?
Is.
The.
World.
So I'm.