Gospel—J. Hyland
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Pancakes.
Will be long.
Shall we ask the Lord's help and blessing? We thank thee tonight, our loving God and Father, that we can sing of that One who is still the Savior of sinners. We thank thee for each one in this room who can sing that he is their Saviour. But we thank thee too, that the invitation is still going forth to the lost. We thank you that the invitation has come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We thank thee for that Saviour whose arms are open wide tonight.
And we pray that as we're here on an occasion like this, that our hearts might be solemnized as we take up from Thy word the reality of eternal issues. We pray that Thou use Thy word in the power of the Spirit in blessing to any who are still lost. And on that broad Rd. that leads to destruction, we thank Thee that we can look to Thee and we can count on Thee for a blessing because we know Thy heart is a heart of love, and that is delight to bless the Sinner. And so we would pray.
In confidence and dependence tonight.
For Thy blessing on My word. And we pray that each one of us might be refreshed as we hear the story of Thy love and grace touch our hearts afresh. We do pray as we have the old, old story before us. And so we ask Thy blessing. And wherever Thy word is going forth tonight, and by the many means that Thou art using to spread the good news, we pray Thy richest blessing on it for Thy glory and honor and for the salvation of souls. And so we look to Thee as we give thanks.
In our Savior's name, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. I'd like to turn to two very familiar scriptures this evening. The first one is in Romans chapter 3.
I'm sorry, Romans, chapter 6.
Romans chapter 6 and verse 23.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And then another familiar verse in First Timothy 1.
First Timothy chapter one and verse 14. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
You know, I find it a tremendous challenge tonight to look into the faces of those who have heard the gospel over and over and over again. Sometimes I have the privilege and responsibility of presenting the gospel to an audience where I feel that perhaps most are not saved and perhaps many have never heard a clear gospel message from the heart of God. And that is a tremendous responsibility. It is a tremendous challenge.
To present the gospel clearly and simply to present Christ.
All his loveliness and his beauty and his saving power. Recently I had the privilege of being in Nassau and the privilege of going from school to school, a privilege we do not have in the country of the United States and Canada where I come from. And sometimes I would have as much as an hour with as many as 1300 students. And I say it was a tremendous responsibility to present the gospel clearly and simply. But you know, as I look into the faces of an audience like this this evening.
It burdens my heart. I find it perhaps even a greater challenge and responsibility.
Because I know that perhaps everyone here has heard over and over and over again the glad tidings of the gospel. You've heard verses such as we've read this evening. You've sung the familiar gospel songs. You've come to conferences like this with your parents. You've come as young people to these times, and you've enjoyed being with the other young people. But all I wonder if there's someone here tonight and you've heard the gospel so many times.
And still you're indifferent to the claims of God, still you're in your sins, still you're in on that broad Rd. that leadeth to destruction. We had before us this afternoon the account of Judas and how Judas passed with the people of God for perhaps three years and he there was no reality in his heart. He heard the warnings that the Lord Jesus had given him are given to others as he had presented the truth as the Lord Jesus.
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Had spoken faithfully.
As he had stood on that last day, that great day of the feast, and cried, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He heard those appeals, he heard those warnings, and yet they went unheeded. And we know the sad history of Judas, how he betrayed his Lord, and then went out and hanged himself and entered into a lost eternity and all. How solemn, how sad, if there's someone here and you come perhaps with your parents again to meetings like this.
And you're going to go out that door tonight.
You're going to go back where you live, and perhaps you're still lost. Perhaps you still do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Many in this room will remember my uncle Harold, who preached the gospel so faithfully for so many years. And I remember one time he told us an incident that took place in England many years ago. And I never forgot the story that he told us. He said that many years ago in Sheffield, England.
An evangelist was holding some gospel meetings and as he was staying in a home.
In the town, he said to the people he was staying with, how do you sleep with all those hammers and that equipment going? We know that Sheffield is noted for its steel mining, and they could hear this equipment going 24 hours a day. And his host said to him, if you stay here long enough, you'll get used to it. You know, I fear there are many. And they get used to hearing the gospel. They hear the pounding. They hear the appeals from the heart of God.
They hear, they have their conscience pricked from time to time as the gospel is presented and God's Word is opened and read, but they get used to it. But you, I want to impress upon you tonight that there was a sequel to that story because one time the equipment failed and the whole town woke up. And you know, I fear, I fear that the time will come. I know that the time will come when the gospel will no longer go forth.
There will no longer be an appeal from the heart of God, and there are those who are going to wake up and realize.
The awful reality of rejecting Christ. But it will be too late.
The Lord Jesus said the word which I have spoken the same shall judge Him in the last day. How solemn to have in that day a verse of Scripture like we have read this evening before you, and yet no longer have it applicable to you as to a point of refuge. That verse will rise in judgment. Have you ever heard John 316 before? I'm sure you have, and I'm going to quote it now, for God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I'm sure that's not the first time you heard that verse.
But oh, how solemn in a lost eternity to have that verse rise in judgment and you realize that you had opportunity. You know there will be no one in the lake of fire, no one in a lost eternity who will be able to blame God because God is faithful. God gives warnings, He makes a way of escape. And those who wind up in a lost eternity, they will be there without excuse. They will think back.
To times when they heard the gospel, they'll think back to times when they said not tonight.
Tonight, not tonight. Times when they put it off and all. How sad to neglect to put off. The boys and girls here understand what it is to neglect to put something off. You come home from school and mother says, do you have any homework? And you say, well I have a little bit, but I'm going to go out and play first. And then dinner time rolls around and mother says, did you get that homework done? And you say, no, I'll do it right after dinner and time for bed comes and mother says.
How did the homework go? And you say, oh, I've put it off. And she says it's too late, it's time to go to bed. And the next day there's a little difficulty at school. Perhaps you have to stay in at noon hour to catch up.
But in the long run, it's over and done with. But all those who neglect their sole salvation, it says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? And those that lift up their eyes in a lost eternity will lift them up with the realization, I've lost my soul. Oh, how solemn to lose 1 soul. Well, we began here with this familiar verse in Romans chapter 6.
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Because God is very faithful and all through the Word of God He gives one warning after another, and here He tells us, warns us of the sad consequences of sin. The wages of sin is death. You understand that one time we were driving through Paradise, Nova Scotia. And as we drove through Paradise, Nova Scotia, it was indeed a quaint, picturesque town, but we realized it really wasn't paradise.
Because up on the hillside there was a large graveyard. And you know how death entered this world. It says by one man's disobedience, sin entered and death by sin. So death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. You know, that's not popular. And I know I'm not preaching a popular message tonight. We had a prayer meeting before this meeting. And there were many who were burdened on on your behalf tonight if you're still in your sins.
Many who were there in prayer on behalf of the Gospel.
And I noticed that there was a little sign up on the blackboard in the prayer room this evening. It said that which is popular is not always right, and that which is right is not always popular. That's the gospel message. The truth of God is not popular. It's the truth, but it's not popular. You know, if people could only realize tonight how much God loves them, if they could only realize the truth and the solemnity of God's Word, if they could only realize the solemnity of eternal issues.
When gospel meetings were called, there wouldn't be room to contain the people that would want to hear. But man is indifferent to his condition before God. He's indifferent to God's love. He doesn't realize really the heart of God. And he does not like to like to hear that he is a Sinner. And he not not only does he not like to hear that he's a Sinner, but he does not like to hear that there's nothing he can do to merit favor before God.
Not one thing he can do to better his position. And I believe that that's why in a land like this where the gospel has gone forth so for so many years and the light of the Word of God has been blessed over the centuries, I believe that's why today man is setting aside God's Word. That's why they don't allow it in the schools, because man doesn't want to hear that he's a Sinner. He doesn't want to hear that he's helpless, that he has a fallen nature. He likes to think there's something good in himself. And so he sets aside the light of God's Word.
Queen Elizabeth the 2nd sits on the throne of England today.
But many years ago, Queen Elizabeth the First ruled.
In Britain and Queen Elizabeth the first was a very vain person.
And you know, as she got older, she did not like to see herself in a mirror.
And you know, one of the ones who one of the artists who was commissioned to paint the royal family painted a true likeness of her in later life. And so disappointed was she with that painting that that man was sentenced to prison for the rest of his life.
And her ladies in waiting took the cue. And for about the last 20 years of her life, they were very careful to make sure that Queen Elizabeth the 1St.
Never had a mirror before her. Why did she not like that mirror? Why did she not like that painting? Because it showed her true condition. That's why man doesn't want the word of God. That's why they rejected the Lord Jesus. He was the light of the world. He came in faithfulness. The light shone in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. And they cried away with him. Crucify Him, They said in their hearts, We will not have this man.
To reign over us. But I say God is faithful and the wages of sin is death.
And there is nothing, there is nothing that you can do tonight in yourself to rid yourself of your sins. I'm going to tell a little story for the sake of those who are younger.
Couple of summers ago we were holding gospel meetings in an area in northern Maine and through the kindness of a brother, we were staying in a trailer near where we were holding the meetings. And as my wife and oldest daughter were sitting down to breakfast, we looked out the window and we noticed coming across the lawn a large white cat. And as that cat got closer, we noticed that in the jaws of that cat.
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There was a big fat chipmunk and we noticed further that as that cat approached, that chipmunk was still very much alive. And I guess my wife is a little more tender hearted than I am, but she thought since that chipmunk was still alive, she would rescue that chipmunk from the jaws of that cat. Because we could see that left to itself, that chipmunk was going to become the breakfast of that cat and perish.
At the on at the jaws of that cat. And so she went outside and she released that chipmunk.
And we thought that naturally that chipmunk would take off for the woods, which was not too far away. But to our amazement, that chipmunk went about 3 feet from the cat. And then he stood up and he faced that cat, and he gave that cat an awful scolding. And you know what happened? It wasn't very many seconds until that chipmunk was right back in the jaws of that cat. And my wife went out and released it again. And we thought, surely the chipmunks learned its lesson.
He did the very same thing again. And after he had done that three times, my wife finally brought the cat in and gave it a saucer of milk. And we kept it in until that chipmunk realized that the cat was gone and he went off into the woods. And as I stood, sat, and watched that little drama, I thought of those who received warnings from the heart of God. I thought of those in Christian homes who hear the story of salvation.
Who hear that they're in the jaws of sin and holding with those cords, and yet they toy with danger. They put it off. You know, man likes to take chances. He's a gambler at heart. And I'll never forget three young men who came to some tent meetings. We were holding in Curling, Newfoundland one time. And as I was preaching the gospel that night, I noticed these men on the back row. They had come before and I saw that that night their intent was no different than it had been.
And that was that they would, they had come to disrupt the meeting and to keep others from hearing the good news. And so afterwards they were standing outside the tent door and I went up to them and I said, boys, tell me. I said, is it worth? Is it worth the risk? Is it worth taking the chance and saying we'll have another opportunity tomorrow and putting off your soul salvation? I tremble to tell you what they told me. They said we'll take that chance.
Man likes to take chances and man sometimes does gamble and he loses much. But all I say again, if you gamble concerning eternal issues, if you gamble concerning your soul salvation.
All I say there will be, there will come a time when you will land in a lost eternity. And I think one of the most awful things about hell is this, that there's no hope. There's no hope. You know, if you're sick or you're in pain, there's you can get through today because there's always hope that tomorrow things will be better.
But hope is gone in a lost eternity. The Lord Jesus told about two men. You know, if you were writing a book about two men or you were writing a biography about someone, the story always end, has to end with their death. That's as far as you can go. And as far as this world's concerned, it's over. But you know, the Lord Jesus and Luke's gospel, he told about two men, and you can read it there in the 16th of Luke. And when he came to the end of their life, the story didn't end there.
He drew back the curtain and he told what happened to those two men after they drew that last breath.
When we draw that last breath, it's not all over. We do not die as a dog. We are responsible to God. It is appointed unto man wants to die. And after this the judgment we must do with God. And God has appointed the day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And he told of the Lord Jesus told of two men, one went to a place of blessing, one had left God out of his life.
And he lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torment, but it wasn't just that he was in torment, but there was no relief and there was no exit from that place for all eternity. He only wanted one drop of water to cool his tongue. You know, it's interesting that when he cried out, he didn't cry out for deliverance from that place because he knew his destiny was fixed. But he wanted relief in that situation. He never got it.
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And he never will. Well, how solemn. And I would be less than faithful tonight if I did not warn you as to the awful realities of a lost eternity. But thank God that's not the end of the gospel. Thank God the verse we read in Romans doesn't end there. It's true the wages, the consequences of sin are death, but all the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God has provided a remedy.
God has provided salvation just like that chipmunk I was telling you about. My wife went out and she was able to eventually rescue that chipmunk who could not rescue himself.
I'm going to tell you a story that took place near my hometown of Smiths Falls some years ago. We live on the Rideau River and it's quite a resort area, quite an area for boating and the the Rita Waterway and so on. But in the winter time, it gets very, very cold where I come from and some usually the ice freezes and sometimes it freezes perhaps a couple of feet deep on the Rideau River.
And sometimes in the spring, particularly if there are rains that come, there's flooding because of the ice.
Ice breaks up that may not always flow with the current of the river. And so they have workers who go out in boats and they stick dynamite in the ice at different places to blow up the ice to keep the flow of water moving. And the Rideau River flows through Smith Falls down towards Ottawa. And there it goes over what they call the Rideau Falls into the Ottawa River. And some years ago there were some men out in several boats.
And it had rained very hard, and the ice that was there had sunk a little bit. And so there was quite a bit of water on top of the ice, and it was causing considerable flooding. And so they were out in boats strategically placing dynamite in different places. And one of those men was in a boat alone, and that boat capsized.
And he was able to climb up on top of that boat out of the frigid waters. And the current is very strong there because it's flowing towards the Rideau Falls.
And someone saw the peril of this man, and they very quickly called the fire department. And the fire department came very speedily, and they were over a bridge just before the waters plummet over the Rideau Falls. And as that boat came along with the current and that man on top, they lowered a rope down from the bridge for that man to hold onto.
But sad to say, he didn't grab the rope. And as he went under that bridge and as he went over the Rideau Falls, he was heard to cry. I'm frozen to the boat.
And as that crowd that had been watching dispersed, someone was heard to say, if only they lowered a man.
If only they'd lowered a man. He didn't need a rope. He wasn't able to grab that rope. If they'd lowered a man, he, that man could have helped him and they could have been put. He could have been pulled to rescue.
To safety. But all tonight, thank God, the gospel messages that God has sent his Son down into this world. He's not only told us of our total depravity, He's not only told us that we're helpless, guilty sinners and the consequences of sin, but he has given his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul could burst out in Corinthians and say thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
You know God has given many gifts to man. In fact, it tells us in the book of James, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. God has given gifts because God's desire is to bless. It says in Ecclesiastes that a man should eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of his labours. It is the gift of God. God has given many mercies.
The rain falls on the just and the unjust.
How sad that man is willing to take all that God will give him in a temporal way, but he doesn't want the giver. I often think of the prodigal son in that connection. He wanted all that the father could give him. He wanted what he felt was his due and the part of his inheritance, but he didn't want the father. He said, father give me. Isn't that the heart of man? Greed. He wants everything that God will give him in a temporal way. But he says, don't tell me about the blesser. Don't tell me.
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About the giver, don't tell me about the heart of God, the heart of the Lord Jesus who died.
You know, I don't often get a chance to read a newspaper, but I was staying in a home some time ago and there was a paper lying on the table. And I picked that paper up and I just read the headlines on the front page. And I put it down. And I said to the man I was staying with, I said, there isn't one bit of good news on the front page of that paper. And yet, you know, as you pick up the paper and you see this world right for the judgment of God, you see things out of control and sin and violence.
And rebellion against authority on every hand.
And yet and yet, man, seeing this and reading it from day-to-day.
When he hears the good news of the Gospel, he doesn't want it. He'll absorb all the bad news. He'll shake his head in disbelief. He said, I don't know where the world is going to end. We who know Christ as our Savior know where the world is going to end. It's going to end in judgment. This world is not getting better. It's winding down. It's right for the judgment of God. The Lord Jesus. Feeling the solemnity of coming judgment, he said, now is the judgment of this world.
You know, there is a lot of talk today about the environment and saving this planet. And I want to be careful because I believe that man has abused what God has given and given him in creation. He's given him all things richly to enjoy. And we have not been faithful stewards of what God has given us in creation. But I believe on the other hand, that Satan is busy today to keep man insensitive to his ruin, to keep him from thinking.
Of eternity.
And as long as Satan can keep man cleaning up this world and occupied with the betterment of this world, he's not thinking about his eternal destiny and where he will be when he leaves this world. Someone clipped an article out of the Ottawa newspaper some time ago and handed it to me and it was.
An article on environmental issues. But what was striking to me about that article was the last sentence. And this is what it said. It said any attempt to save this planet.
Attempt to save ourselves. Oh, how deceived man is. Oh, how clever the enemy of your soul is, because there is an enemy tonight. Satan does not love you. He wants to drag you down to a lost eternity. He says all this world is getting better and better, and you work for its improvement and its betterment. Oh, let's be careful that we don't work for the betterment of this world at the expense of considering.
Eternal issues.
You know, there is another way that Satan is keeping man insensitive to his ruin, and I believe it's through the tool of amusement. You know, it is remarkable that the word muse is the Latin word which means to think, and the word amuse means not to think. And when has there been a day when amusement is as prevalent as the day in which we live? What does Satan do doing? He's absorbing a man's mind so he doesn't think.
About the reality of eternal issues. But thank God Lord Jesus has come and we can turn to a well known verse like First Timothy 1:15.
And we can proclaim once again that there's a Savior for sinners. You know, just before an occasion like this, two young people were talking.
And they were overheard to say it's just another gospel meeting. It will probably end around 8:00. It probably will end around 8:00. But no gospel meeting is just another gospel meeting. It is a thrill to our souls to present once again the Savior of sinners in all his beauty, in all his glory, and in all his love. It's not just another gospel meeting. In fact, I believe that as a as a gospel meeting rolls around.
Word of God is opened and read once again. It is a proof of the love, the grace, and the patience that's in the heart of God. The fact that he has not closed the door, the fact that the gospel's still going forth, the fact that there's still refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, the fact that in 1993 the gospel is still going forth. I say it's a proof of the love that's in the heart of God. All tonight, I wish I could tell you how much God loves you.
I wish I could tell you, because if you could just realize how much God loves you, you wouldn't stay away.
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You come and receive the blessing that he has, but the heart of God is such, and the love of God is such that it passeth understanding, it passeth knowledge. And I can't tell you tonight how much God loves you, but oh, I just trust that it can be impressed on your soul a little bit, the love of God and His desire for your blessing. How did God prove His love, the giving of His Son? This is a faithful saying.
And Paul had heard and been and from God.
Faithful warnings he received, one finally on the road to Damascus. No wonder he could speak in the verse before of how the grace of God had been exceeding abundantly toward him. Here was Paul. He hated Christians, he thought he should kill them. He thought he should take any who preached the name of Christ or believed on high in the glory. One whose arms are open wide tonight.
To receive all those who come as repentant sinners. You realize you have a need tonight. You realize you're a Sinner. You realize that God loves you and that He has provided a remedy for sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. I speak reverently. He has lowered a man. That Lord Jesus came right where we were, just like that man on the boat. He had no one to come down and rescue him. But the Lord Jesus has come as a man.
He's come in grace. He went to the cross.
There he allowed his creature, the ones he had created. That very thing that he had pronounced as being good is the very thing that takes him and nails him to the cross of Calvary. All the heart of man was displayed at Calvary like never before. All the hatred, all the enmity, and yet he allows man to take him and to nail him to the cross. They slap his blessed face, they spit, they moth, they ridicule. But that didn't save my soul, terrible as that was.
Terrible as that display was there at Calvary's cross, and there I see my heart represented, but I say that didn't save my soul. Oh, there as the sun was shrouded in night, God dealt with him as to the question of my sins. And I'm thankful that I can stand here tonight and with assurance and confidence on the authority of the word of God, I can thank him that he died and bore, bore my sins in his own body on the tree and died for me.
It was for me. Can you say that? Has it become a personal with you? It's easy to look at others. It's easy to say, well, Christ died for all, but it's a personal thing tonight. What think ye of Christ? What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? Those questions were asked. They were personal questions. You know, sometimes when the gospel is presented, we look around at others and we say, well, they should come to the gospel meeting.
They need the gospel, they need to be saved because you know, wherever we are in life, we can always look around and find somebody that we feel is a worse Sinner than ourselves.
Somebody who is worse, you remember they brought a woman taken in adultery to the Lord Jesus and they brought her and they set her there. But he said to them, he that is without sin, let him cast the first stone. You know, there is an interesting verse, I believe it's in the book of Corinthians. It says men measuring themselves by themselves are not wise. You know, sometimes when the gospel is presented to those who are morally upright and those who are looked up in the community.
Perhaps they might say, well, that's the right kind of message to take to the drunk in the gutter. And so you go and you speak to the drunk and he says, well, he says, I don't hurt anybody. I hurt myself a little bit. But take that, that message to the man who goes out and steals from others. He needs the gospel. And so you take the gospel to the to the thief, the one who robs from others. And he says, well, he says, nobody really gets hurt in the long run, and everybody's a little dishonest.
Take that message to the man behind prison bars who's murdered someone. You see, you can always find someone who's worse than yourself, who you feel needs that kind of a message. But all I say again, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It's all inclusive. And even if I had only done one sin, and I've done many, but even if I'd only done one sin, that would be enough to keep me out of the presence of God. Christ would have had to die for me.
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His blood would have had to been shed.
To cleanse me from that one stain of sin. But thank God, though I have done multitudes of sin, it says the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. You've envisioned in your mind, no doubt that scene on Calvary's cross where the Lord Jesus, at the end of those three hours of darkness, he cries, it is finished. He bows his head, He gives up the ghost.
And then there was one who bore a record, and he says there in the end of John, that he saw and bear record, and he knew that his record was true. What did he bear record of? He bore record of that soldier who came along, and with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith flowed there out blood and water. I like that little word forthwith. You know, God's heart is a heart of blessing. He cannot delay to bless when the opportunity is given. And if it just said.
There flowed out blood and water. That would be wonderful. But forthwith, oh, think of it, that crowning act of man's hatred.
Think of the hatred in that man's heart, representative of my heart, as he takes that spear and he plunges it into the side of the Lord Jesus. And God, as it were, says, this is the opportunity I've been waiting for. Blessing is going to flow from this crowning act of man's hatred, and forthwith, without delay, there flows out blood and water. I want to speak very plainly to those who are younger, to the children, to the boys and girls, and to the young people.
Have you availed yourself of the precious blood of Christ?
You know, if I were to go up and down these rows and ask each one, how would I get to heaven? How can a lost, guilty Sinner have his sins forgiven and eventually reach God's happy home in a future day? I'm sure even the youngest here perhaps could tell me how to be saved because the gospel is very, very simple and God has made it that way so that even a little child of seven or even 3 or 4 May enter into heaven.
Through Christ the open door. But all it's not. Do you know the way of salvation?
The question is, have you availed yourself of it? Have you made it your own? Can you say that Jesus has died for you? You remember back in Exodus chapter 12 when the children of Israel were in Egypt under the ******* of Pharaoh, who is a picture of Satan in this world? And God said He was going to deliver them and bring them out, but he said it was going to have to be in the way that he had ordained and they were going to have to take a lamb.
And they were going to have to slay that lamb. They were going to have to place the blood in a basin. But that wasn't the end. You know, if they had just done everything up to that point and placed that blood in the basin and, and said, well, God says when he sees the blood, he'll Passover us and there won't be judgment. If they had done that, they would have fallen short. They would have been brought under the judgment that night that fell on Egypt and that fell on the first born as the Lord passed through the land and slew the oldest.
In each family.
There was more to it than that. They had to take that blood and in the way God had instituted, they had to apply that blood to the door of their home, down the side and across the top and down the other side, and only then could they enter in that door with a feeling of certainty and assurance. Only when they knew that the blood was on the door, that it had been applied to that house in which they entered in, has the blood been applied to your heart tonight?
Are you washed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus?
All we cannot, we cannot make too much of the blood of Jesus. People don't speak so often today about the blood of Jesus, but it's God's remedy. It's God's cure for sin. And can you say honestly before God, who looks into your heart tonight that you know Jesus as your Savior? I'm going to tell about a little girl that I've told about before. She was five years old.
She came to some gospel meetings we were holding in Truro, NS some years ago, and I knew that that little girl knew Christ as her Savior, 5 years old, and she came morning after morning. And one morning she brought her friend who was probably about five years old as well. And they stayed behind that morning because that friend who had come for the first time wanted to be sure that her sins were forgiven.
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She wanted to be sure that the Lord Jesus was her Savior.
And so someone sat down with those two little girls and I believe before they left that morning, both of those girls, not just the one who knew Christ previously, but I believe both of those girls knew Jesus as their Savior. But I'll never forget what happened as those two little girls walked hand in hand out of that tent door that morning, the one who had been saved previously and had brought her friend, she said to her little friend. Now you can say.
That Jesus died for you. Oh, how wonderful, how simple, how precious. This is a day of complications. This is a day when accusations are given of things being presented in a way that's far too hard to understand. But has God made it complicated the things which we have spoken of tonight?
They hard to understand that we're sinners, that we need a Savior, that God has provided a Savior in Christ Jesus, that the blood is the remedy, the cure for sin, that it's the blood that washes our sins away and makes us fit for the presence of God. Is that difficult to understand? And if there's someone here and you don't understand, I trust you won't leave this room this evening until you speak to someone because I know there are many in this room who would be just too happy.
Just too glad to speak to you.
The work of Christ concerning the blood of Jesus concerning the simplicity of coming as a as a Sinner and receiving him by faith. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Not only has God been faithful, but now there's one that's worthy of acceptance. Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior? Have you accepted the truth of God from God's word, the truth concerning your condition, and then the truth concerning?
His son, the Lord Jesus.
Have you made it your own? Is it real and personal with you, worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came? You know, God, as I say, has given many gifts to man, but the greatest gift that he ever gave was his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, was ever a gift given like that His son whom he loved? His son who was with him from a past eternity?
And yet, he says to his son, you go, you go into the world.
Did He know how they would treat Him when He came? God knew. God knew how they would treat His Son. He knew what would be at the end when the Lord Jesus came in obedience. Did He know what the end of His pathway was going to be? Indeed He did. You know there are many beautiful pictures in the Old Testament of the Father sending the Son. I love when it says the Father sent the Son.
Isn't that more than if it just said God sent Jesus? It was the Father, the one who had that affection for the Son. It was the Son who came the object of the Father's love and affection.
The father sent the son. We'll just cite a couple of illustrations in the Old Testament you'll find when.
When?
Israel sent Joseph to his brethren.
They treated him horribly, put him into a pit, eventually sold him into Egypt, and Jacob didn't see his son for many, many years. And I have wondered, as I read that I have read that account, if Jacob had had any idea on that occasion how they would treat his son Joseph, the one that he loved above all his brethren. If he had had any inkling that he wouldn't see his son for many, many years, would he have sent him on that occasion?
And if Joseph had known how his brethren would treat him, and how he would not see his father for all those years, would he have been so willing to go on that occasion? I wonder if Jacob wouldn't have kept Joseph home on that occasion if he had had any idea what was going to happen.
Again, you find that Jesse sends David to the camp of his brethren, and I've wondered again if Jesse had had any idea that David was going to go down and fight with the champion of the Philistines. I wonder if he wouldn't have kept him home that day. But all God knew when he sent his son what would happen to him here. He knew the treatment that his son would receive from his creature. He knew they would nail him to a cross.
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And he knew too, that his Son would be would suffer the judgment of a holy God against sin in those three hours.
Of darkness I have told before, but I'm going to repeat an incident that took place in history that to me is very, very beautiful and illustrates this thought.
When I was going to school in Canada, we studied British history.
And as we study British history, we studied concerning the explorer David Livingston. But, you know, as I was going to school, I never realized from my social studies that David Livingston was not just a great explorer, but he was a missionary who loved the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. And David Livingstone had two objects before him as he went to Africa, not just to map out much of that continent for the British government before little was known about it.
But he also wanted to take the message of God's love and grace to those who had never heard before. And David Livingstone and his wife and their baby were staying in a village and preaching the gospel. And David Livingstone that knew that just down that river a few miles, there was a there was a tribe of Africans who were noted for their savagery. And he knew that they had never heard the good news of the gospel. And all his heart was burdened for those souls.
But they had warned him.
Not to go to that tribe, but finally the burden was too great. And so one day with his wife and their child, they got into a boat. They began their journey down that river and they were startled as they approached the area in which that tribe lived to hear blood curdling, war whoops and all kinds of commotion. They saw men running through the trees waving Spears and all kinds of weapons.
And as they approached the shore, they tried to make those individuals realize that they had come in peace, that they had come with a message of good news and further blessing. But they couldn't seem to make them understand.
And finally, David Livingstone said, with a great deal of feeling, he said to his wife, give me the baby.
You can just picture the scene, those souls on the shore not realizing what was in the heart of David Livingstone. David Livingstone and his wife and their child in the boat. And he says, give me the baby. There was a few moments hesitation, and then his wife handed him the baby. And as they approached the shore, he held out that baby in his outstretched arms. And they say that the effect was amazing.
Why they realized as He held out the baby that He had come for their good and for their blessing. It was the display of what was in His heart. And all I say tonight, God has displayed His heart fully in the giving of His Son. And this was manifest the love of God toward us in that He laid down His life for us. He gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. It was the proof. It was the manifestation of His love.
To mankind and the Lord Jesus came. In obedience and love, Christ Jesus came.
Into the world. Yes, he did. He came into this world. He walked through this world.
As the as a perfect man, he went about showing out the heart of God his Father.
That's why he had come. He went about healing the sick, cleansing the leper, giving sight to the blind, giving hearing to the deaf. He rose, and he raised from the dead.
But he went farther than that. He not only came into this world, but he went all the way to Calvary's cross. And there he died for you. He died for me. Christ Jesus came into the world, and God doesn't leave us in any doubt as to why Christ Jesus came into the world. It's here in God's Word. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
That was his purpose for coming.
I think of a question raised in the Old Testament as David went down to the camp of his brethren.
And they scoffed at him and they said, why camest thou down hit her?
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Why had David come? God had allowed it because there was going to be blessing and a victory in Israel that day, as David was, to go down into the valley and slay the giant. And David could say with confidence to his brethren, is there not a cause? Was there a cause in God sending His Son into this world? It's given to us here very plainly. He came into the world to save sinners. I say again, do you realize your need?
Because until you realize your need, there will be no blessing, the Lord Jesus said. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
He said, David, our whole need, not a physician, but they that are sick. When the scribes and Pharisees wouldn't listen, it says, then drew near unto him publicans and sinners, for to hear him. They were the ones that realized that they had a need, and they were the ones who received blessing.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. I like that because here was Paul who had experienced the grace of God in a very wonderful way.
He says I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the worst Sinner that ever lived, and if the worst Sinner that ever lived is in eternity in heaven tonight.
Then there's no excuse for anyone else. There's no excuse because the worst Sinner is safe home in the glory he. Paul spoke of how he was going to be absent from the body present with the Lord. What about you? If you were to leave this world tonight, If the Lord Jesus was to come tonight, and he in all probability may, because the Word of God tells us the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. And if he were to come tonight.
Where would you be?
I'm going to speak again very plainly to those who have Christian parents, those who have Christian grandparents who have brought you to these meetings. If the Lord Jesus was to come tonight and call every Christian, every blood bought child of God to be with himself in that happy home in heaven, would you be left to look around? Mother gone, father gone, brother gone, sister gone?
You would realize what happened, you know, when Elijah was caught away to heaven in a whirlwind. Who was it that missed Elijah? It wasn't the general people, we might say. It was the sons of the prophets.
And all I fear, I fear that there are going to be many who have had Christian parents.
And when they're gone, you're going to know what happened. You're going to think of those warnings and those gospel meetings and those pleadings from the heart of God. But it's going to be too late. All come to Jesus tonight. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
And believe in my heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. God loves you. And there's a solemn question raised to punch. It was raised a Pontius Pilate long ago. What will ye do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? What will you do then with Jesus? The question echo still from the lips of Pontius Pilate, who yielded to the people's will.
Oh, how solemn that question is still being asked.
Said to say Pilate.
Delivered up Jesus to be crucified. He rejected but all I hope there's no one here who's going to reject or neglect God's offer of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, but I hope you're going to accept his offer of salvation. We read that verse. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ is our Lord and God on the basis of that supreme gift that he gave his Son, he's now offering.
Eternal life, we just reach out and take that gift, accept it and say thank you. Oh what blessing and joy you'll be brought into. Shall we pray?
We thank Thee, our loving God and Father, for the glorious news of the gospel. We thank Thee for that word, that Thy word that we can open and proclaim that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And we would be burdened to think that perhaps there is someone here this evening.
Who has heard the message once again, and is still lost? Oh, may Thy love constrain them, speak to their hearts, touch their consciences, and draw them to thyself. May they not leave this room until they have settled the question of their soul salvation. We pray for Thy word wherever it has gone forth this night and is still going forth. We ask Thy blessing as we commit ourselves to Thee. We would again pray for our brother Eric Pilkington tonight, and for his wife and for his family as we do so with Thanksgiving.
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In our Savior's name, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.